My father-in-law Guan Yu, I persuaded Liu Bei to launch a surprise attack on Xiangyang at the beginn

Chapter 256 I shall assist Chu in defeating Wei to repay Your Majesty's kindness! I beg for a favor for my daughter, that she may be married to Grand Commandant Xiao!
Is his ability to defend the city comparable to Huo Jun's?
Xiao He's words alone were enough to shock the entire audience.

Who is Huo Jun?
That's a legendary doorman of our time!

In the Battle of Fancheng, with only 4,000 soldiers, they withstood the siege of Cao Cao's 150,000-strong army and defended Fancheng as if it were an impregnable fortress!

Huo Jun became famous for this battle, shocking the world.

According to Xiao He, Hao Zhao was comparable to Huo Jun, so wasn't he also a genius at defending the city?
"Who is this Hao Zhao, and how does he possess such abilities?"

Liu Bei clicked his tongue in surprise and glanced at his ministers.

Pang Tong suppressed his surprise and quickly said:

"This Hao Zhao is from Taiyuan in Bingzhou. I heard that he was recommended by Cao Ren. He is only in his early twenties."

"As far as we know, Hao Zhao is indeed unknown and has no remarkable achievements."

"Why does Grand Commandant Xiao believe that Hao Zhao can be compared to Huo Zhongmiao?"

Pang Tong looked at Xiao He with a skeptical gaze.

Although this young phoenix was from Jingzhou, he joined Liu Bei very late, only coming to serve after Liu Bei had already taken over Jiangdong.

Clearly, he had never witnessed Xiao He's ability to recognize talent firsthand, and was unaware that the rough gems under Liu Bei's command, such as Huo Jun and Wei Yan, were all unearthed by Xiao He for Liu Bei.

Faced with Pang Tong's question, Xiao He simply smiled and remained silent.

Who is Hao Zhao? He's one of the two great gatekeepers, on par with Huo Jun.

Historically, in the Battle of Chencang, only 2,000 soldiers managed to hold off Zhuge Liang's massive army of tens of thousands.

Do you think that Wen Ping, with only 10,000 troops, could easily capture Suiyang?

Let alone ten thousand, even if you had an army of one hundred thousand, you might not be able to defeat Hao Zhao.

After all, throughout history, there have been countless famous generals who were good at attacking, but only a handful of generals who were good at defending.

"Although Hao Zhao is an unknown figure, Bo Wen's ability to recognize talent is unparalleled. Since he has identified Hao Zhao as a genius in defending the city, then this person must have extraordinary abilities."

Liu Bei, however, immediately placed his trust in Xiao He completely, and said:
"If that's the case, Shiyuan's plan won't work. We need to think of another way to take down Suiyang."

Zhuge Liang and the others all nodded in agreement, without questioning Liu Bei's decision in the slightest.

Pang Tong was astonished that everyone present, whether Liu Bei or Zhuge Liang, had no doubts about Xiao He's ability to judge people and all believed in him unconditionally.

Seeing this, Pang Tong had no choice but to believe it, and thus said:
"Since this Hao Zhao is as capable as Grand Commandant Xiao said, it may not be so easy for us to forcefully attack and break through the city."

"It seems we need to come up with another plan and outsmart Suiyang City."

Pang Tong stroked his fine beard, but for a moment he had no better ideas.

The atmosphere inside the main hall fell silent for a moment.

Liu Bei's expectant gaze habitually turned to Xiao He:
"Bowen, do you have a good plan on how to cleverly capture Suiyang?"

Xiao He coughed a few times and smiled:

"As for the strategy to break through Suiyang, I have come up with one, but I'm afraid this plan will require the cooperation of that Marquis of Qiao."

Marquis of Qiao... Cao Zhi?
Liu Bei and the others exchanged glances, their eyes filled with confusion.

How is the capture of Suiyang related to Cao Zhi?
It wouldn't be right to send Cao Zhi to lead troops to attack Suiyang.

It's not that Cao Zhi couldn't lead the troops, it's just that while that great talent was skilled at composing poetry, his ability to lead troops was terrible.

As you, Xiao He, have said, the one guarding Suiyang is Hao Zhao, a city-defense genius. Even Wen Ping might not be able to handle it. Sending Cao Zhi would only result in him breaking his teeth.

Xiao He saw through Liu Bei's thoughts and smiled:
"Your Majesty misunderstands. I did not intend to send Cao Zhi to lead troops to attack Suiyang. I intended to..."

Just as he was about to explain, Chen Dao hurriedly entered the hall and whispered something to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei's eyes flickered slightly, and he ordered the military meeting to be temporarily adjourned, leaving only Xiao He, Zhuge Liang, and a few other important ministers behind.

The officials took their leave.

Xiao and the others exchanged glances, all trying to guess Liu Bei's intentions.

"Bring Lady Bian and Cao Zizhi in."

Liu Bei then waved his hand and shouted.

Bian and her son?

Why would this mother and son suddenly come to the palace to request an audience?
It seems there was some secret matter that made Liu Bei temporarily dismiss his ministers.

A moment later, Lady Bian and Cao Zhi entered the hall amidst the speculative gazes of the crowd.

The worship ceremony is now complete.

Cao Zhi took out a letter from his bosom and presented it with both hands:

"Your Majesty, this is a letter sent by a secret envoy from my father. He claims to forgive my crime of desertion and wants to persuade my mother and me to leave Chu and return to Wei!"

"Your Majesty has saved my life, and I am a person who knows how to repay kindness. I would never betray Chu and defect to Wei, nor would I dare to conceal this from Your Majesty. Therefore, I hurriedly went to the palace to report to Your Majesty."

Immediately afterwards, Lady Bian also presented a secret letter, saying:

"This is a letter from my rebellious son Cao Pi. He says that because he and Cao Chong opposed Cao Cao's invasion of the south, Cao Cao publicly rebuked them and drove them out of the Wei palace."

He also said that Cao Cao was angry with him because his concubine and son Jian had abandoned Wei and returned to Chu, which made him live in fear and anxiety, and he would die of worry sooner or later.

"I dare not conceal this letter, and present it to Your Majesty."

Chen Dao took the two letters and presented them to Liu Bei.

At this point, everyone understood that Cao Cao was probably disgusted by Liu Bei's appointment of Cao Zhi as the Marquis of Qiao, and wanted to lure Cao Zhi back.

As for Cao Pi, because his birth mother, Lady Bian, had fled to Chu, he was angered by Cao Cao and lived in constant fear. So he tried to play the victim to Lady Bian, hoping to arouse her love for her son and return to Wei.

Unfortunately, the Cao family's wishful thinking clearly backfired.

Bian and her son Cao Zhi remained unmoved and went directly to the palace to confess to Liu Bei.

Liu Bei didn't read the two letters; his gaze was fixed on the mother and son.
"Since Cao Cao has pardoned your crimes, and I have not placed you and your son under house arrest, why do you not want to return to Wei?"

Cao Zhi cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and said solemnly:

"As the saying goes, if a father is not kind, his son will not be filial. My father wanted to kill me, so I had long since severed all ties with him."

"Your Majesty, however, disregarded past grievances and took me in, for which I have been given a second chance!" "Though I am mediocre and incompetent, I am a person who knows shame and reason. How could I forget your kindness and fail Your Majesty!"

Cao Zhi made his stance clear, his gaze resolute as iron.

Both Liu Bei and his ministers, Xiao He, had a hint of approval in their eyes.

It must be said that, compared to the likes of Liu Cong and Sun Quan, Cao Zhi still had some principles and integrity, and knew a bit of shame.

"Although Cao Pi was my son, during the Ye City Incident, he resolutely distanced himself from me and my mother and sided with Cao Cao."

“If that’s the case, then I have naturally severed all ties with him and his son. How could I, in order to save him from Cao Cao’s wrath, be so ungrateful as to surrender to the puppet Wei?”

"Moreover, I have been married to Cao Cao for many years and know his ruthlessness best. I am sure he will not let my son and me go."

"If we return to the puppet state of Wei, Cao Cao will surely kill my mother and me!"

"Though I am foolish, how could I be deceived by him and betray the kindness of Duke Chu in taking me in, only to lead Zijian and the others back to their deaths?"

Lady Bian also made her stance clear and took the opportunity to expose the true colors of Cao Cao and his son.

Liu Bei nodded slightly and sighed:

"I am very pleased that you and your son have such integrity and character."

"Since you are so understanding and righteous, then stay in my Great Chu with peace of mind. I will treat you the same way now as I will in the future."

Lady Bian and Cao Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly expressed their gratitude.

At this time.

Xiao He's eyes lit up, and he seized the opportunity to say:
"Your Majesty, as I just mentioned, Marquis Qiao can help us out of our wits to capture Suiyang."

"Now that Cao Cao has made the first move to lure Qiao Hou to Wei, this is truly a blessing from Heaven for Your Majesty."

"I believe we can use this opportunity to our advantage and take Suiyang in one fell swoop!"

This statement came out.

Liu Bei's spirits lifted, and a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

Cao Zhi, on the other hand, was completely bewildered and didn't know what to say.

"Didn't Cao Cao want to trick Qiao Hou back? Your Majesty, you can play along and send Qiao Hou to Qiao County under the pretext of recruiting Wei people."

"Seventy li north of Qiao County lies Suiyang!"

"After arriving in Qiao County, the Marquis of Qiao wrote a letter to Cao Cao, falsely claiming that he planned to take the opportunity to go north and escape from Chu territory to return to the puppet Wei, but feared that our army would pursue him, and asked Cao Cao to send troops to meet him."

"At that time, Cao Cao will surely order Hao Zhao to go south to the border to meet Qiao Hou's northward advance, thus creating a temporary troop shortage in Suiyang City."

"At this time, Your Majesty can mobilize all my cavalry and advance westward from Pengcheng day and night. Taking advantage of Hao Zhao's absence and the weakened state of Suiyang, we can launch a surprise attack and defeat them in one fell swoop!"

Xiao He pointed to the sand table and explained the entire layout.

Liu Bei suddenly realized what was happening, his eyes blazing with joy, and his gaze quickly swept between Qiao County and Suiyang.

"I understand now, I understand now! It turns out that Bowen's plan to capture Suiyang was actually a scheme to lure the tiger away from the mountain!"

"At this time, Cao Cao wants to lure Zijian and the others to Wei. We can use this opportunity to our advantage and keep Cao Cao from suspecting anything!"

"Brilliant! This plan is absolutely brilliant!"

Liu Bei was overjoyed and praised it highly.

Cao Zhi then realized what Xiao He meant by what he had just said.

"Zijian, you can—"

Liu Bei was about to give Cao Zhi an order, but then stopped himself from speaking.

Although Cao Zhi had betrayed Wei and returned to Chu, and was now Cao Cao's subject, he was still Cao Cao's son after all.

Forcing his son to plot against his own father was not Liu Bei's style.

He couldn't bring himself to give that order.

Xiao He could see that Liu was in a dilemma. There were some things that the emperor could not say, so they, his ministers, had to say them.

"Lord Qiao, if the King wants to launch a northern expedition against the puppet state of Wei and recover the Central Plains, he must first capture Suiyang."

"You should have understood my plan by now. Would you be willing to lend us a hand and help our army capture Suiyang by strategy?"

Xiao asked the question that Lao Liu was thinking of.

Cao Zhi hesitated for a moment, clearly because he had some concerns.

Bian's eyes widened, and she said seriously:
“Zijian, your father is heartless, cruel, and ruthless. He almost killed us. We have long since severed all ties with him.”

"Now that you are a subject of Chu, you should share the burdens of the King of Chu, fulfill your duty as a subject, and repay the King of Chu for taking you in."

"If you neglect national affairs for the sake of fame and reputation, then you will be condemned by the whole world!"

Cao Zhi suddenly realized what was happening and resolutely cupped his hands in a respectful gesture:

“Mother’s teachings are correct. As a subject of Chu, I should be willing to go through fire and water for the country without hesitation.”

"Grand Commandant Xiao, I am willing to carry out this plan!"

Xiao He smiled and then bowed to Liu Bei:

"Your Majesty, since Marquis Qiao is so insightful and righteous, then I think it is appropriate to proceed with the plan to capture Suiyang."

Liu Bei, naturally, had no more reservations and immediately nodded in agreement.

At this moment, Lady Bian suddenly smiled, curtsied, and said:
"Your Majesty, I have another request, but I don't know if I should say it?"

Liu Bei smiled, indicating to Lady Bian that she had something to say but didn't.

Bian coughed lightly a few times, then smiled somewhat embarrassedly:

"As Your Majesty knows, my daughter was nearly killed when Cao Cao attempted to assassinate her in Gaomi. Fortunately, Grand Commandant Xiao ordered his wife to save her, and she was able to escape with her life."

"Grand Commandant Xiao saved my daughter's life, and we have such a special connection. My daughter admires Grand Commandant Xiao very much."

"Therefore, as your mother, I would like to shamelessly ask Your Majesty for a favor: may you bestow my daughter upon Grand Commandant Xiao in marriage?"

(End of this chapter)