Chapter 481: The Arrival of Liu Bei
Chapter 481: The Arrival of Liu Bei
September 25, 2017
Weizhou, Ye City, atop the city walls.
Lu Zhi, with a worried expression, gazed at the vast enemy camp undulating outside the city. As a longtime rival of Zhang Jiao, Lu Zhi could sense the formidable momentum of Zhang Jiao's massive army, determined to achieve victory.
"Has the Bingzhou Governor's reinforcements not arrived yet?" Lu Zhi asked those below him.
"Reporting, sir," one of them replied, "according to our intelligence, the Bingzhou Governor's troops entered Jiuzhou several days ago and have already destroyed the two county towns of Shangai and Yuanshi along the way. They have now reached Zhongqiu, but it will take at least three days for them to reach Ye City."
Lu Zhi's brows furrowed upon hearing this news. "Zhongqiu? They can get here in three days? How many troops did he bring?"
Over the past four months, Lu Zhi had studied the map of Jiuzhou so thoroughly that he knew the distance from Zhongqiu to Ye City was such that a conventional army could never make it in three days.
"Reporting, sir, the exact number of troops the Bingzhou Governor brought is unknown, but it should be less than ten thousand, around five thousand, and they are all cavalry!"
Hearing this, Lu Zhi became even more disheartened. "It seems General Ding Yuan was right; we really can't rely on the Bingzhou Governor!"
Lu Zhi didn't believe that a mere few thousand cavalrymen could make much of a difference against the enemy's hundreds of thousands of troops.
In reality, Lu Zhi himself knew that it was impossible for Lu HaiKong to arrive here in a short time after suddenly receiving orders. The current situation, along with Ding Yuan's presence by Lu Zhi's side and his occasional disparaging remarks about Lu HaiKong, plus Lu HaiKong's background as a eunuch and a former mountain bandit, had already given Lu Zhi a negative impression of him even before meeting him.
Under these circumstances, it was only natural for Lu Zhi to blame Lu HaiKong.
However, Lu Zhi didn't have much time to spare on Lu HaiKong. He needed to focus more on the city's defenses.
A battle, unlike any experienced in the past four months, was about to begin, and he had a lot of work to attend to.
Before Lu Zhi could start working, someone from below approached him again.
"Sir, there's a man who claims to be your student and a descendant of Zhongshan Jing Wang, Liu Xuan De, who wishes to see you!"
"Liu Xuan De?" Lu Zhi was taken aback for a moment before vaguely recalling that he might have had such a student.
At this moment, with the impending battle, he had no time to meet him. Just as he was about to dismiss the messenger, the man said, "That Liu Xuan De has led a two-thousand-strong volunteer army and seems to want to join our forces."
Upon hearing this, Lu Zhi's face softened. "It's rare to have such a thoughtful student at this time. Bring him up; I'll meet him."
The messenger soldier responded and then left to fetch the man.
Soon, the messenger returned, leading two men to Lu Zhi.
One of them stood seven feet and five inches tall, with his hands hanging below his knees, and his ears visible. He wore a simple coarse cloth garment, and while he didn't exude any particularly outstanding aura, he gave off a very gentle and comforting feeling. This man was none other than the renowned Liu Bei, also known as Liu Xuan De.
Standing a step or two behind Liu Xuan De, deliberately highlighting Liu Xuan De's leading position, was not Guan Yu or Zhang Fei.
This person wore a long scholar's robe, his black hair casually tied back, and his eyes were clear and deep. His entire being radiated a profound and graceful air. If not for him intentionally standing half a body length behind Liu Bei, Lu Zhi might have mistaken him for Liu Bei at first glance.
However, Lu Zhi could tell that this scholar was a loyal follower of Liu Bei, and he was meticulous in considering every detail for Liu Bei's benefit. Being able to win over such a capable person, Lu Zhi couldn't help but hold Liu Bei in slightly higher regard. But it was only a slight increase in his estimation.
Lu Zhi didn't spend much time on Liu Bei. After confirming that Liu Bei had indeed come to join the army, Lu Zhi hastily assigned him the honorary position of a commander and arranged for Liu Bei's troops to be settled. Then, Lu Zhi quickly got busy with his own affairs.
At this time, Lu Zhi only had a vague impression of Liu Bei and a slight favor towards him, but he didn't place much importance on Liu Bei.
After Liu Bei was assigned a position, he obediently took up the post, appearing as if he were just an ordinary person who had come to seek refuge with his teacher.
...
Outside Zhongqiu City in Zhao Kingdom, Jiuzhou, Lu Hai Kong was leading the First and Second Camps to rest. After three consecutive days of intense battles and travel, the soldiers of the First and Second Camps were exhausted, so Lu Hai Kong decided to take a short break here.
During the rest, Lu Hai Kong also planned to wait for his first camp merit reward exchange.
The camp reward exchange was a unified system, conducted on the 1st and 16th of every month. Now, it was the 30th of August, and this world followed the lunar calendar, so it was a good time to exchange rewards.
Lu Hai Kong checked his records. During the ambush in Taiyuan, he had earned 100,000 merit points for defeating Meng County, another 100,000 for capturing Yuanping, 150,000 for Shangai, and the three Mystic Territories had contributed 500,000 points.
Lu Hai Kong should have had 850,000 points, but when he opened his task list, he found that he already had 950,000 points. Lu Hai Kong was stunned for a moment, then realized that Gao Shun must have captured another county in Taiyuan.
Although this was unexpected, Lu Hai Kong didn't mind having more such surprises.
While Lu Hai Kong and his group were resting and wondering what they could exchange with around one million merit points, Ma Pin returned.
Lu Hai Kong's main forces could rest, but Ma Pin's Phantom Guard couldn't afford to take a break. At this time, Ma Pin also helped Lu Hai Kong gather intelligence in Jiuzhou.
After all, Lu Hai Kong was currently behind enemy lines, so intelligence was even more crucial for him.
Ma Pin's return brought Lu Hai Kong some not-so-good news.
"What did you say? Zhang Jiao is organizing a massive army to capture Ye City?" Lu Hai Kong was stunned when he heard this news.
"I had just entered Taiyuan when the entire place fell into chaos. I knew they were planning to capture Lu Zhi, and they didn't want me to cause trouble. But I didn't expect them to move so quickly. If they could act so soon, why did they go to such lengths to stop me from entering Jiuzhou?"
Lu Hai Kong was unaware of the internal situation of the Yellow Turbans, so he couldn't piece together a logical chain of events.
However, logic or illogic wasn't essential at the moment. What mattered was the situation in Lu Zhi's battle. Once Lu Zhi was captured, Lu Hai Kong might face a scenario where he had to confront the Yellow Turbans alone, which wouldn't be a favorable situation...
(End of Chapter)
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