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

Outside the city, the Han camp.

"Zijing actually intends to open the city gates and surrender to me? This is truly a blessing from Heaven for my great Han Dynasty!"

Inside the imperial tent, Liu Bei held a letter in his hand, his face beaming with joy.

Zhang Fei and his ministers were all invigorated.

Liu Bei then showed the secret letter to his ministers.

An hour ago, a man in black sneaked out of Jinyang, claiming to be a trusted confidant of Qian Zhao and delivering a secret letter.

A letter of surrender.

Qian Zhao claimed that he had secretly gathered several thousand anti-Wei righteous men and would launch a mutiny in two days to seize the south gate and welcome Liu Bei's main force into the city.

When the time comes, Liu Bei should mobilize his entire army to meet him outside the South Gate, so that they can seize Jinyang in one fell swoop through a coordinated attack from within and without.

"Qian Zhao has finally figured things out. This fool, after we take Jinyang, I'll definitely give him a good beating."

Zhang Fei cursed under his breath, but his face was full of joy.

Qian Zhao was from Youzhou. He was not only Liu Bei's childhood friend but also his fellow townsman, and their friendship was quite close.

When Liu Bei was conquering Hebei, he instructed Zhang Fei to write a secret letter to Qian Zhao, hoping to persuade this mutual friend to surrender.

Unfortunately, Qian Zhao refused Liu Bei's offer of recruitment, citing Cao Cao's past kindness to him and his unwillingness to become a traitor to Wei.

Now that Jinyang is besieged and in dire straits, Qian Zhao, having no other choice, has finally changed his mind. While Zhang Fei is pleased, he can't help but feel some resentment towards Qian Zhao.

“Zijing is a gentleman with a loyal and righteous heart. He had his reasons for not wanting to surrender in the first place, so please don’t blame him, Yide.”

Liu Bei, however, remained magnanimous, stroking his fine beard and smiling:

"It's not too late for Zijing to surrender now, and he can also help us take Jinyang. It's a win-win situation."

Zhang Fei then stopped complaining.

All the ministers knew about Qian Zhao's relationship with Liu Bei, and now that Qian Zhao was willing to surrender, Jinyang could be captured in a day or two, which greatly boosted their morale.

After all, according to the original plan, even under the most optimistic scenario, it would take at least three to five months of siege before Jinyang could be captured.

The siege will be over in less than a month, ending the war to reclaim Bingzhou. The generals will be able to return home and reunite with their wives and children. How could they not be happy?

"Bowen, what do you think of Qianzizhao's surrender?"

Liu Bei turned his gaze to Xiao He and asked for his opinion.

Xiao He took the letter, stared at it for a long time, and then said:

"I heard that a few years ago, Your Majesty tried to recruit him by letter, but he refused with a stern refusal. This shows that he is not someone who easily gives or takes a position."

"Moreover, His Majesty also said that Qian Zhao is a loyal and righteous person."

"And Cao Cao had shown kindness and support to Qian Zhao."

"Given all these factors, is it really possible that Qian Zhao, besieged in Jinyang and with no other options, will choose to surrender the city to His Majesty?"

This question caused Liu Bei's smile to vanish instantly, and a hint of doubt immediately appeared between his brows.

Liu Bei, his thoughts still racing, couldn't help but nod slightly.

Xiao He makes a good point.

Since Qian Zhao was a loyal and righteous man, he should have remained loyal to Cao Cao to the very end.

Even if one were to surrender to him, it should only be after being captured when Jinyang fell and having no other choice but to surrender.

Given Qian Zhao's character, he shouldn't have surrendered before Jinyang was captured!
Moreover, he also betrayed the State of Wei, staged a coup, and helped him capture Jinyang.

Such actions would surely run counter to Qian Zhao's spirit of loyalty and righteousness.

“Bowen is right. In this light, Zijing’s surrender does seem rather illogical.”

Liu Bei nodded slightly, then examined the letter in his hand again, but asked in confusion:
“But this letter is undoubtedly in Zijing’s handwriting. If he is not truly surrendering, then it is a feigned surrender.”

“Zijing is a gentleman, and he and I are sworn brothers. I really don’t believe that he would use such a trick as feigning surrender to me.” This is where the conflict arises.

Qian Zhao was a loyal and righteous gentleman, so he would not betray the Wei Kingdom, much less sell out Cao Cao.

Therefore, Qian Zhao's surrender must have been a feigned surrender.

Using feigned surrender to Liu Bei, a sworn brother, would contradict the image of a loyal and righteous gentleman.

Isn't that a contradiction?
Liu Bei looked up at Xiao He, seeking a reasonable explanation.

Although Xiao He had doubts about Qian Zhao's surrender, he could not give a reasonable explanation for it at the moment.

Therefore, Liu Bei had to examine the letter carefully again to confirm whether it was indeed Qian Zhao's handwriting.

Liu Bei then roused himself and examined the letter in his hand again, not daring to miss a single word.

As he looked around, his eyes lit up slightly as he noticed something unusual.

The letter bears faint traces of being folded diagonally.

Memories of the past immediately surfaced in my mind.

He vaguely remembered that when he and Qianzhao were studying at the village middle school as children, they had a "secret agreement" that if they were afraid of being intercepted by others when writing letters to each other, they would hide the secret words between the lines.

The so-called secret message is to fold the letter diagonally, and the words on the crease are the real information to be conveyed.

"Could it be..."

Liu Bei suddenly realized something and quickly folded the letter diagonally in half.

"Zhao was forced to feign surrender; the Wei army was actually attempting to break out through the north gate."

Liu Bei's eyes suddenly narrowed, and his face lit up with immense joy. He laughed loudly:

"I knew it! Qian Zijing wasn't that kind of unrighteous person. I was right! I was right! Hahaha—"

When the emperor suddenly burst into laughter and uttered some incomprehensible words, everyone was completely bewildered.

"Yide, Bowen, look..."

Liu Bei suppressed his joy and immediately showed the folded letter back to Xiao He and the others, revealing the hidden secret within.

All the ministers were astonished, only then realizing that Qian Zhao's letter contained such a secret message.

"Your Majesty, what does Qian Zhao mean by that?"

Zhang Fei touched his forehead, his face still blank, not understanding what he meant.

Xiao He smiled and explained on Liu Bei's behalf:

“General Yide, Qian Zhao’s secret message clearly means that he was threatened by Xiahou Dun and had to write this letter of surrender against his will; in reality, it was a feigned surrender.”

"The meaning of this second part should be that Xiahou Dun's plan was to lure the enemy away from the mountain. He pretended to be luring the enemy to seize the city gate and surrender it, but in reality he wanted to move our army to the south gate. He took advantage of the fact that our northern camp was weak and broke out from the north gate of Jinyang."

After hearing Xiao He's explanation, Zhang Fei finally understood.

"So that's how it is. It seems I misunderstood Qian Zhao. It turns out he was forced by Xiahou Dun."

"That treacherous Xiahou Dun is truly both insidious and shameless; I must kill him with my own hands!"

Once Zhang Fei understood, he was furious and began to curse.

Xiao He was unsurprised and simply sneered:

"Whether it's Xiahou Dun or Cao Ren, they only care about the Cao family's empire; they don't care about anything else."

"When faced with a dead end, it is not surprising that he would use Qian Zhao's relationship with His Majesty to threaten him into using this feigned surrender."

Liu Bei nodded slightly, deeply agreeing, and then asked:
"Now that Xiahou Dun's scheme has been exposed, Bowen, what is your opinion on how I should respond?"

Xiao He waved his hand and said without hesitation:
"Naturally, we'll turn the tables on them. Two days later, we'll annihilate the fleeing Wei army, capture Jinyang in one fell swoop, and end the Battle of Bingzhou!" (End of Chapter)