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

South Gate of Puyang City.

The incessant sounds of battle that had lasted for seven days finally subsided at dusk.

Eighty thousand Chu soldiers lined up in front of the city.

Liu Bei immediately gripped his sword and gazed at the city walls of Puyang.

Under the setting sun, the tattered "Wei" character flag finally fell slowly.

The battle flag bearing the character "Chu" slowly rises.

The city gate slowly opened, and the drawbridge was lowered gently.

Thousands of Wei soldiers, having removed their armor and discarded their swords, left the city dejectedly and knelt outside the city gates awaiting reorganization.

Several riders rode out, and the one in the lead was Jiang Ji.

After being inspected by the guards, the group dismounted and walked to Liu Bei's horse.

"Your Majesty, I, Jiang Ji, pay my respects."

Jiang Ji, his face grave and filled with remorse, knelt before Liu Bei's horse.

Liu Bei quickly dismounted, helped Jiang Ji up, and comforted him with a smile:
"Zitong, you single-handedly saved the entire city's inhabitants. You have rendered a service to me; what crime have you committed?"

Hearing these words, Jiang Ji secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his guilt lessened somewhat.

But he still didn't dare to get up and continued to apologize:
"When Ji served under the King of Wei, he repeatedly offered the King strategies that led him to oppose Your Majesty. Your subject..."

"Zitong, you are mistaken!"

Before he could finish speaking, Liu Bei waved his hand to interrupt him, smiling magnanimously:
"As a minister of Wei, you are fulfilling your duty as a subject by offering advice and strategies to Cao Cao. It is your duty to do so."

"Furthermore, I have long heard that you strongly opposed Cao Cao's poisonous plan to dig up the Ji River, which is enough to prove that you have a benevolent heart and are not in cahoots with Cao Cao and his son."

"I have long admired your wisdom and character."

"Now that you have submitted to me, I am overjoyed and would not care about anything else."

The lingering concerns in Jiang Ji's heart were completely dispelled by Liu Bei's heartfelt words, and his anxious heart was finally at ease.

When he helped Liu Bei to his feet, his eyes were filled with admiration.

I admire Liu Bei's magnanimity, his clear sense of right and wrong, and the broad-mindedness of this King of Chu!
Liu Bei then patted Jiang Ji on the shoulder and solemnly said:

"Zitong, let's not dwell on the past. But there is one thing I hope you will remember."

"I hope you will remain true to your original aspirations and serve me as you would Cao Cao, offering loyal advice and speaking your mind without reservation!"

Jiang Ji was deeply moved and his eyes welled up with tears.

So he immediately straightened his clothes, bowed solemnly to Liu Bei, and said with great emotion:
"Your Majesty treats me with the respect due to a national hero, and I will repay you with my life. I will serve Your Majesty with my life and my brains, without hesitation!"

Liu Bei laughed heartily, then helped Jiang Ji up, and they were about to enter Puyang hand in hand.

The generals all laughed heartily, and they all stepped forward, ready to enter Puyang to drink the victory celebration wine.

Puyang was the last city south of the Yellow River for the Wei Kingdom. The capture of this city meant that this northern expedition, which lasted for several months, had finally come to a successful conclusion.

After the battle was over, the generals naturally relaxed their vigilance and looked forward to drinking and having a good time.

"Your Majesty, I believe that Your Majesty need not rush into the city."

Xiao He, who had been observing quietly, suddenly spoke up and stopped Liu Bei.

Liu Bei stopped and turned back to look at Xiao He with a blank expression.

The Wei army has surrendered, and Puyang has fallen. If we don't enter the city now, when will we?

"Cheng Yu was holding Puyang with the belief that he would die. With his intelligence, it should not have been difficult for him to see that Puyang could not be defended."

"He should have anticipated that if the situation turned unfavorable, the Wei army would very likely defect."

"If that's the case, he should have been on guard. Why was he so easily controlled by Jiang Zitong's mutiny, and why did he surrender the entire city to the King so readily?"

"Does Your Majesty not find something suspicious about this?"

Xiao He's words revealed his inner suspicions.

Liu Bei's eyes flickered slightly, a hint of doubt flashing across his face. He frowned and nodded.
"Bowen is right. Cheng Yu is a man of great wisdom and resourcefulness, and he is not to be underestimated. He is full of tricks."

"According to what you've said, Bowen, Zitong's coup and seizure of power was indeed a bit too smooth."

This statement came out.

Jiang Ji's expression changed slightly, and he quickly bowed to Liu Bei:

"I swear to Heaven that my sincerity in submitting to Your Majesty is as clear as the sun and moon. If there is even the slightest deception, I am willing to die without a burial place!"

Clearly, Jiang Ji had misunderstood, thinking that Xiao He suspected his surrender was a conspiracy with Cheng Yu, and that there was something fishy going on.

Xiao He smiled and waved his hand in comfort:
"Zitong, don't be anxious. The king and I have no doubt about your sincerity in surrendering."

"What I mean is, you sincerely surrendered, but you took Cheng Yu so easily and succeeded in the coup. There may be other motives behind it."

Jiang Ji looked blank, his eyes darting around.

Suddenly, a slight chill ran through him, and he said urgently:

"Does Grand Commandant Xiao mean that Cheng Yu anticipated my opposition to using the people as a shield, and therefore used this to provoke me and induce me to mutiny and defect?"

"Was it all his doing that I and these thousands of soldiers surrendered the city to Chu?"

Xiao He smiled but said nothing.

Although Jiang Ji's wisdom and strategy were not among the top in Wei, and he was still inferior to Cheng Yu and Sima Yi, he was still above average.

Although he guessed Xiao He's implication, his expression grew increasingly bewildered, and he couldn't help but ask again:
"Grand Commandant Xiao, please forgive my ignorance, but what is Cheng Yu's purpose in doing this?"

“If he wants to be a loyal subject of Cao Wei, he should fight to the death and perish with Puyang City.” “If he is afraid of death and wants to surrender to the King, he can simply surrender the city himself. Why resort to this method?”

Liu Bei and the people around him all nodded slightly, clearly sharing the same question as Jiang Ji.

Xiao He did not answer, but instead bowed to Liu Bei:

"Your Majesty, I request that you temporarily postpone the opening of the city and immediately send a team of men into the city to conduct a thorough search of the entire city to see if Cheng Yu has hidden any flammable materials such as firewood or kerosene within the city."

Liu Bei was taken aback, not understanding the meaning behind Xiao He's actions.

Jiang Ji's eyes narrowed, and he suddenly realized something, and hurriedly said:

"Could it be that Grand Commandant Xiao suspects that Cheng Yu has secretly stockpiled firewood and oil throughout Puyang City, waiting for Your Majesty and our army to enter the city and, without any warning, order his trusted confidants to set the city ablaze!"

"In this way, he can burn Puyang City to the ground, sacrificing himself and all the people of the city to perish together with the king?"

"That's why he induced the ministers to mutiny and defect, his intention being to cover up his treacherous plan to burn Puyang, so that Your Majesty could lead the army into the city without any warning and fall into the trap he had secretly laid!"

"Grand Commandant Xiao, is Ji's guess correct or incorrect?"

Xiao He nodded slightly, acknowledging Jiang Ji's conjecture.

This is why he asked Lao Liu to send people into the city to search it first.

Since Cheng Yu was plotting something, his purpose was naturally aimed at Liu Bei and the hundreds of thousands of Chu soldiers.

Xiao He thought and thought, but he really couldn't think of any other way Cheng Yu could kill Liu Bei and hundreds of thousands of Chu soldiers while he was captured and a prisoner, besides burning Puyang.

After all, he had also carried out a plan to burn down a city like Xinye, so he naturally knew best how powerful this plan was.

Liu Bei suddenly realized what was happening and gasped in shock:
"This scoundrel Cheng Yu is so ruthless that he's willing to sacrifice his own life and the lives of all the people in the city to perish together with me?"

A hint of sarcasm flashed in Xiao He's eyes as he sneered:
"As I said before, this villain is already infamous. Unless Cao Cao gains the world and protects him as a meritorious minister, the historians will record this truthfully, and this villain will surely be infamous for ten thousand years."

"What he did today was nothing more than risking his life to die for Cao Cao and gain a reputation as a loyal minister."

"If his wicked plan succeeds by chance, he will be able to accomplish everything in one battle, turn the tide in one fell swoop, and become the number one contributor to Cao Cao's unification of the world."

"In the future, under the strong pressure and instruction of Cao Cao, the historians of Cao Wei will not only erase Cheng Yu's evil deeds of cannibalism, but will also deliberately beautify him and write him as the most loyal minister in history.

"Then he will not be remembered for his infamy, but for his good name."

Liu Bei suddenly realized.

Cheng Yu is risking his life for a good reputation after death.

Even if he fails, at the very least he will be known as a loyal minister of Cao Wei, which can somewhat offset his infamous reputation for cannibalism.

If successful, he would be Cao Wei's greatest contributor, and would gain a lasting reputation!
"That Cheng Yu! He's so vicious! I've never seen such a ruthless, cruel, and vicious person in my entire life!"

"Such despicable and shameless scoundrels, no different from beasts, I will surely kill them!"

Liu Bei was furious, his eyes burning with murderous intent.

Immediately, at Xiao He's request, he dispatched several teams of men to search the city.

The Chu army, however, did not enter the city for the time being, but waited in place for the outcome.

As night fell, the advance team finally sent back the results.

Just as Xiao He had predicted.

Several thousand advance teams dug deep and searched the entire city of Puyang, and indeed found a large quantity of hidden firewood and kerosene.

The sheer number of them was enough to turn the entire city of Puyang into a sea of ​​fire within an hour.

In addition, nearly a hundred of Cheng Yu's trusted subordinates who had been lying in wait were also captured.

Barrels of kerosene were carried out of the city and placed in front of Liu Bei.

One by one, Cheng Yu's confidants, who were kneeling on the ground, confessed the secret orders that Cheng Yu had given them.

Cheng Yu told them that if Puyang City fell, Liu Bei would surely lead a large army into the city and hold a grand celebration banquet to commemorate the recovery of the entire Yanzhou region.

At that time, taking advantage of the Chu army's laxity in defense, they set fire to all the hidden fire oil and firewood.

A single fire reduced Liu Bei, the Chu army that had entered the city, all the people of the city, and the entire city of Puyang to ashes!

When the truth came out, the generals were shocked and filled with indignation.

"I never imagined that Cheng Yuzhi would be so vicious—far beyond my expectations!"

Jiang Ji gritted his teeth and cursed angrily.

Then, startled, he broke out in a cold sweat and quickly bowed to Xiao He:

"Fortunately, Grand Commandant Xiao was a brilliant strategist who understood people's hearts and saw through Cheng Yu's treacherous scheme."

"Otherwise, Ji would have unintentionally caused a great disaster, and how could he have the face to live on in this world?"

"I am deeply grateful to Grand Commandant Xiao for saving my life. Please accept my deepest gratitude!"

Xiao He helped Jiang Ji up and comforted him:
“Zitong, you are a kind and righteous person. It is understandable that you did not expect Cheng Yu to be so inhumane. There is no need to blame yourself too much.”

Jiang Jixin felt slightly relieved.

Liu Bei was furious and immediately ordered Cheng Yu to be brought to him.

A moment later, a carriage drove out of the south gate of Puyang City.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and Cheng Yu was dragged off the carriage under the angry gazes of the crowd.

Oil drums piled up beside the car, Jiang Ji kneeling prostrate beneath his confidant, glaring angrily…

When Cheng Yu saw all this, his previously composed expression suddenly changed drastically. (End of Chapter)