The Three Kingdoms: Hindsight is 20/20, and the Three Revivals of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 159 Those who are not of one mind with Liu Bei will be schemed against by Zhuge Liang (4th update)
The gloomy young man was none other than Gongsun Xu, the son of Gongsun Zan.

Although he had made a solemn vow to Zhang Yan and other leaders of the Black Mountain tribes, saying that he would use their old friendship to persuade Liu Bei to join him in attacking Yuan Shao, he had not taken any action for a long time.

The reason is that the so-called "old friendship" actually only existed between Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei, and had little to do with Gongsun Xu himself.

When Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan parted ways, Gongsun Xu was still a young boy who couldn't even hold a spear steadily, and the two rarely interacted.

More importantly, Gongsun Xu, relying on his lineage from the Gongsun clan, which had been noble families for generations, and being a descendant of powerful figures in Youzhou, held Liu Bei in utter contempt. Liu Bei had started out as a weaver of mats and a seller of shoes, and had been driven out of Gaotang by the Yellow Turbans, fleeing to Youzhou like a stray dog.

Gongsun Xu, who had regarded Liu Bei as his own father since their first meeting, was now a poor friend who was freeloading on food and drink. In addition, after Gongsun Zan killed Liu Yu, Liu Bei quickly fled to Xuzhou, which made Gongsun Xu even more contemptuous and disdainful.

It was this deep-seated contempt that made Gongsun Xu linger outside Zhen Ding City, reluctant to meet Liu Bei.

Seeing that Liu Bei was imitating Liu Yu and forbidding his soldiers from harassing the people and plundering woodcutters, Gongsun Xu was reminded of Liu Yu. If Liu Yu hadn't been opposing the Gongsun family at every turn, how could Yuan Shao have gotten such an advantage?

"If Liu Bei is unwilling, hmph!"

Gongsun Xu took a deep breath, suppressing his contempt and dissatisfaction with Liu Bei, and rode his horse straight to the city gate.

"I am an old friend of General Zuo from Youzhou. Inform him immediately!"

Gongsun Xu sat on his horse, looking down at the guards at the city gate.

Seeing that Gongsun Xu was arrogant and claimed to be an old friend of Liu Bei from Youzhou, the guards dared not be negligent. The first guard cautiously asked, "May I ask your honorable name, General?"

Gongsun Xu's expression changed drastically: "How dare you ask such a question? How can you be so rude?"

They inquired with good intentions, but were humiliated by Gongsun Xu. All the guards were furious with Gongsun Xu: "General Zuo has a kind and amiable face, and his words are like a gentle breeze. How could he have such an arrogant and domineering old friend?"

However, Gongsun Xu remained arrogant and seemed oblivious to the anger of the guards.

The guards had no choice.

We had to assign someone to make the announcement.

After a while.

The messenger returned and bowed to Gongsun Xu: "General Zuo requests your presence."

Gongsun Xu frowned: "General Zuo, why don't you come out of the city to personally welcome us?"

Upon hearing this, all the guards wanted to curse, and were just short of shouting: Who the hell are you? You don't even give your name, and you still want General Zuo to come out of the city to welcome you?
The messenger, barely suppressing his anger, said, "General Zuo has only been awake for a moment. If you are unwilling to enter the city, you may wait here while I go and inform him again."

Gongsun Xu frowned, thinking to himself: Who knows how long this back and forth will take? What if Liu Bei doesn't come out of the city to personally welcome me? Wouldn't I be ridiculed by these lowly soldiers?

Mind this.

Gongsun Xu rode into the city, but his tone remained arrogant: "Lead the way!"

When Gongsun Xu arrived at the Prime Minister's residence where Liu Bei was temporarily staying, he was even more agitated when he did not see Liu Bei at the gate. He demanded of the guards, "Did you really send word?"

The guard clenched his fists, barely suppressing the urge to pull Gongsun Xu off his horse and beat him up. He lowered his head and said, "Please wait a moment, General, and allow me to report further."

however.

Gongsun Xu received the reply that "General Zuo is discussing confidential matters with Prime Minister Tao and cannot receive guests for the time being. General, you may stay at the post station in the city for the time being."

This reply infuriated Gongsun Xu so much that his teeth almost trembled. He demanded of the guards, "If you are discussing confidential matters, why do you say that the Left General has invited you?"

After being questioned repeatedly by Gongsun Xu, the guard lost his temper: "This is what General Zuo ordered, how dare I ask more questions? I still have my duty to patrol the gate, farewell!"

Then, the guards simply left Gongsun Xu standing in front of the Prime Minister's residence and ran off. "You've gone too far!" Gongsun Xu gritted his teeth in anger.

After waiting for a long time at the city gate, and then not being able to see Liu Bei after entering the city, Gongsun Xu had to go to the post station to stay temporarily. This made Gongsun Xu feel extremely humiliated!

"Humph!"

Gongsun Xu turned his horse around and left, but instead of going to the inn in the city, he went straight out of the city.

After a while.

The guards then reported Gongsun Xu's departure from the city back to the Prime Minister's residence.

Hear the words.

Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh, "The son of Gongsun Bogui is so impatient."

He then looked at Zhuge Liang and said, "Strategist, please spare his life for my sake."

Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan, his eyes blazing: "My plan is not against Gongsun Xu, but against Zhang Yan and the other Black Mountain commanders. As long as Gongsun Xu doesn't do anything stupid, he can save his life."

What Gongsun Xu didn't know was:

Sending soldiers out of the city to farm with the people was part of Zhuge Liang's strategy: it was both to show "goodwill" to the Black Mountain leaders and to cover up spies gathering intelligence.

Therefore, although Gongsun Xu did not reveal his name today, his identity had already been recognized.

If Gongsun Xu had been more courteous today, Liu Bei might have reminisced with him out of respect for Gongsun Zan and discussed a solution to the problem.

As a result, Gongsun Xu, relying on his status, did not consider the occasion at all. If Liu Bei met Gongsun Xu directly at the Prime Minister's residence, how would Tao Sheng, the Prime Minister of Changshan, bear it?

Since Gongsun Xu had left the city, Liu Bei naturally couldn't ruin Zhuge Liang's plans for the sake of Gongsun Xu alone.

the other side.

After leaving the city, Gongsun Xu rode straight to see Zhang Yan.

Upon seeing Zhang Yan, Gongsun Xu angrily rebuked him: "Liu Bei is despicable. Not only does he disregard the old friendship with my father, but he also banished me from Zhen Ding City."

Noticing the strange expressions on the faces of Lei Gong and the other leaders, Gongsun Xu feigned, "I know that Brother Zhang has concerns and is unwilling to go to war with Liu Bei, but Liu Bei has come to Changshan this time to search for young men from Heishan to recruit as soldiers in order to help Yuan Shao march south."

The words fell.

Lei Gong and the others, who originally wanted to mock Gongsun Xu, swallowed back the words that were on the tip of their tongues.

This wasn't the first time Yuan Shao and his generals had searched for and captured able-bodied men hiding in the mountains to recruit soldiers. Coupled with Gongsun Xu's angry expression, the lie seemed even more believable.

Da Mu, with his impatient nature, said sternly, "If Liu Bei really dares to do this, we will not sit idly by and wait to die! Commander, why don't we retreat back into the mountains and use the terrain to our advantage to fight Liu Bei again!"

Zhang Yan remained noncommittal, but instead comforted Gongsun Xu, saying, "Brother Gongsun, you must be tired from your journey. You should return to camp and rest first. I will discuss with everyone a good strategy to deal with Liu Bei, and then we will definitely get revenge for you."

Gongsun Xu glanced at everyone's reactions and suggested, "Why don't we send more people into Bingzhou and ask the Four Battalions of Tu Ge and the Yanmen Wuhuan to send troops to help us?"

Fu Yun couldn't help but say, "The Tu Ge people of the Four Camps and the Wuhuan people of Yanmen have even plundered our people. Asking them to send troops to help us is like inviting wolves into our house."

Gongsun Xu snorted, "As long as we can defeat Liu Bei, we can attack Ye City again. At that time, the entire Ji Province will be ours. What does it matter if the four camps of Tu Ge and the Yanmen Wuhuan plunder a few people? Those who achieve great things cannot be stingy. If we are not willing to pay any price, how can we compete with the heroes for the world? Brother Zhang, what do you think?"

　Chapter 4 is here! Please vote with your monthly tickets!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)