Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 124 A crushing defeat

In the Yongle Palace in Xudu, Liu Xie and Empress Fu sat on the throne, while Wei Xiaobao and Cao Cao stood below.

Liu Xie said, "I heard from the Prime Minister that your mission to Yuan Shu was not going well. I wonder what the outcome was."

Wei Xiaobao knew he was asking about the imperial seal, but since Cao Cao was right beside him, he couldn't explain it directly, so he said, "I only met Yuan Shu, and nothing else happened. I heard that Yuan Shu got the imperial seal and wanted to become emperor, but this matter is too strange. I have to wait until I have investigated it thoroughly before reporting back to the emperor."

"It is a pity that you were unable to attend my wedding. I wonder if you are married?"

"I have already married. Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty."

"My dear, just follow the Prime Minister and serve the court well in the future. Please follow his instructions on other matters."

Cao Cao heard that Liu Xie and Wei Xiaobao were talking normally, so he no longer had any suspicions. After listening to their long-winded chatter about daily life for a while, he said to Liu Xie, "Your Majesty, General Wei has military orders and must leave immediately. Why not wait until he returns and then summon him to the palace to see you?"

Liu Xie nodded and said, "Everything is subject to the Prime Minister's arrangements. I am also tired. I hope that General Wei will complete his mission soon."

Wei Xiaobao understood the meaning of every word Liu Xie said. He knew that Liu Xie was trapped in the palace and was suffering. Now he was forced to marry a wife. He urged Wei Xiaobao to find the jade seal and take him away.

After Wei Xiaobao came out of Yongle Palace, Xiahou Dun had already prepared food and supplies for him.

After returning to Xia Pi, Xiahou Dun handed over the documents, food and other supplies to Liu Bei and returned to Xu Du.

Zhuge Liang had been training his troops intensively during this period. Now that food and grass were sufficient and the army was strong, Liu Bei personally led the army towards Shouchun.

When Yuan Shu heard that Liu Bei had obtained food and supplies from the imperial court and that his army was marching towards Shouchun, he hurriedly sent his subordinate Yan Xiang to escape from the city with the imperial seal and head north to ask Yuan Shao for help.

Although Yuan Shu's previous battle with Liu Bei ended in a draw, he lost a lot of troops. Then Chen Deng occupied Guangling, and he was attacked by Sun Ce at night. His strength is no longer as strong as before. He is missing two great generals, Sun Ce and Qiao Rui, and can only retreat to Shouchun City for defense.

Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang signed a military order, eager to have a big battle with Ji Ling, but Yuan Shu ordered that they could not leave the city, forcing Zhang Fei to curse outside the city every day.

Liu Bei was also worried that a forced attack on the city at this time would cause too much damage, and he spent the whole day worrying in the military tent.

After observing the terrain of Shouchun, Zhuge Liang found that Shouchun was low-lying, flat and close to the Huai River, so he thought of the old method of water attack, but Qiao Rui disagreed.

Qiao Rui said, "Shouchun was the former capital of the Chu State. The waterways within the city walls are ingeniously designed. If there's a heavy rain, the water outside the walls is deep enough for boats to sail, but there's no water inside the city."

After being reminded by Jing Qiaorui, Zhuge Liang also remembered that he had read about the design of the waterways in Shouchun City in ancient books, so he gave up the water attack.

Zhang Liao and his men worked tirelessly to make siege equipment, but there were few trees outside the city, and most of them had been cut down during Sun Ce's last attack on the city. Now, usable wood was extremely scarce.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Wei Xiaobao thought of an old acquaintance, Zhang Kai, who had fled from Xuzhou to Shouchun.

Wei Xiaobao said, "After killing Cao Cao's father in Xuzhou, Zhang Kai fled to Shouchun. He hasn't behaved at all, still robbing people all day long with a group of thugs. I suspect he'll take advantage of the fact that the two sides haven't started fighting before they leave the city to commit crimes. If we can capture Zhang Kai and sneak him into the city, we can then cooperate with him from both inside and outside."

Zhuge Liang said, "You destroyed the gate mechanism when you escaped from the north gate last time. I'm sure it won't be repaired in just ten days. The north gate is probably opened and closed by manpower. If there are not enough people, it will be difficult to open the gate."

Wei Xiaobao was at a loss.

Zhuge Liang twirled his beard and pondered for a moment, then said, "If we can trick Ji Ling into leaving the city, and then have the three generals kill him at the foot of the city, the defenders in the city will surely be in chaos. Then we can lead an ambush at the south gate and wait for the opportunity. When the deserters leave the city, we can attack the city, and Shouchun can be captured." Zhang Liao accompanied Wei Xiaobao to look for Zhang Kai, and sure enough, they found Zhang Kai on the road from Shouchun to Runan.

Wei Xiaobao said, "This kid didn't even know to change his fishing spot. He deserves to be caught alive by me today."

Although Zhang Liao only brought a few guards, it was easy for him to deal with Zhang Kai and his minions. He captured Zhang Kai alive in two rounds.

After Zhuge Liang found out Zhang Kai's way out of the city, he asked Wei Xiaobao to change into the military uniform of Zhang Kai's men, and selected two or three smart soldiers to change into military uniforms together and accompany Wei Xiaobao to sneak into Shouchun.

As for Zhang Kai, Liu Bei had long been annoyed by the disaster he brought to the people of Xuzhou, so he simply ordered his head to be chopped off and taken to Xudu to be given to Cao Cao.

After Wei Xiaobao entered Shouchun, he followed Zhuge Liang's instructions and spread the news that Ji Ling was going to defect to Liu Bei.

Two days later, the news had reached the ears of Yuan Shu and Ji Ling.

Ji Ling knew that Yuan Shu was suspicious by nature, so to show his loyalty, he went out of the city alone to duel with Zhang Fei.

Zhang Fei had been holding back his strength for a long time. When he saw Ji Ling, he was like a hungry tiger seeing a rabbit. Without saying a word, he picked up his Zhangba Snake Spear and started to attack.

After just a few rounds, Ji Ling was beheaded by Zhang Fei.

Wei Xiaobao and his companions had already been lurking on the city gate tower. When they saw their third brother beheading Ji Ling, they shouted loudly, "General Ji is dead. No one can defend the city anymore. Everyone, run for your lives!"

Yuan Shu was also supervising the battle from the city gate tower at this time. He had never expected someone to be so bold. He immediately drew his sword and roared, "Whoever dares to disrupt the morale of the army will be quickly captured and beheaded."

Wei Xiaobao had been on guard against Yuan Shu for a long time. He suddenly rushed out from the crowd, his footwork and body movements changing unpredictably. In a few steps, he circled behind Yuan Shu, stabbed out with the dagger in his hand, and shouted, "Go to hell!"

Although Yuan Shu was a useless soldier, he was born into a wealthy family after all, and his swordsmanship was quite good. He quickly turned around to block Wei Xiaobao's fatal blow, and at the same time he saw Wei Xiaobao's face clearly.

"So it's you! Hurry up and capture Liu Bei's spy!"

It would have been better if Yuan Shu hadn’t said this!

The soldiers on the city wall had already been terrified when they saw Ji Ling being killed by Zhang Fei in just a few rounds. Bewitched by Wei Xiaobao, they had already considered escaping. Now, hearing that Liu Bei's spies had infiltrated the city, how could they not flee?
After a loud commotion, most of the soldiers on the city wall had already run down from the gate tower.

Wei Xiaobao also ran, shouting as he ran: "There are enemies in the north of the city, escape from the south gate!"

The soldiers were so focused on escaping that they could no longer tell who was speaking and only rushed towards the south gate.

The troops in the city didn't know what was happening. When they saw the soldiers in the north city fleeing in panic, they thought Liu Bei's army had already entered the city, so they also fled.

When the gate officer at the South Gate saw his comrades fleeing, he had already opened the gate and escaped first.

The ambush troops arranged by Zhuge Liang also took advantage of the chaos to attack the city. By the time the north gate was opened, there were no soldiers left in Shouchun City who were willing to resist, and the soldiers who did not have time to escape also raised their hands and surrendered.

(End of this chapter)