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

Chapter 269 Xu Shu was no ordinary person to be able to befriend Zhuge Liang (1st update)
Xun Chen was even more astonished: "I patrol the city with you every morning and evening, how come I didn't know you took a concubine? Yuanzhi is indeed no honest gentleman!"
Su You, standing below the city, was also stunned by Xu Shu's words: "The Left General's Chief Clerk has taken a new concubine? How could I be so unlucky as to encounter such a thing?"

Su You was just a military man. Although he had some intelligence, he was no match for Xu Shu's cunning and indecisiveness, and for a moment he couldn't make up his mind.

Just as he hesitated, Guo Yuan rode forward from behind and whispered, "General Su, don't believe him. The person shouting from the city wall is Xu Shu, the Chief Clerk of the Left General! He's lying to you!"

Upon hearing this, Su You's eyes widened, anger instantly replacing his doubt, and he turned to Xu Shu and shouted, "Xu Shu, how dare you lie to me!"

"Oh dear! I've been recognized!" Xu Shu was slightly surprised, then squinted and recognized Guo Yuan next to Su You, and laughed: "I wondered who it was, it turns out to be Zhong Yao's nephew."

Immediately afterward, Xu Shu exclaimed in surprise, "Something's not right! Weren't you captured alive by Zhong Yao? How did you end up here? General Su, this traitor must have betrayed the General. Capture him immediately and torture him severely. Don't fall into the villain's trap!!"

After being reprimanded by Xu Shu, Guo Yuan felt his anger rising, especially since Xu Shu deliberately raised his voice and dragged out the words when shouting "capture alive," as if afraid that Su You would not hear him clearly.

"Xu Shu is always cunning, General Su, don't be fooled!" Guo Yuan quickly reminded him when he saw the change in Su You's expression.

Su You shouted and lashed Guo Yuan with his whip, then pulled Guo Yuan off his horse, cursing, "You scoundrel, how dare you deceive the General! What conspiracy do you have? Tell us the truth!"

Guo Yuan was stunned by Su You's whip and was thrown off his horse, feeling dizzy and disoriented. He immediately became furious: "Su You, you fool, how dare you treat me like this? This is Xu's treacherous scheme!"

With a sharp crack, another whip lashed at Guo Yuan. Su You shouted angrily, "You scoundrel, you dare to curse me even after being exposed? Are you looking for death?"

On the city wall, Xun Chen was even more astonished: He believed it just like that?

Xu Shu clapped his hands with a smile: "General Su is wise! This kind of villain deserves a beating."

After Su You finished drawing Guo Yuan's sword, he turned to Xu Shu, cupped his hands, and said, "Chief Secretary Xu, I will not ask you why you lied to me just now. Now, may I enter the city?"

"General Su, I am truly sorry." Xu Shu bowed and politely declined. "It is already late today. If your two thousand men were to enter the city, it would surely disturb the soldiers and civilians inside. You should set up camp outside the city, and I will welcome you into the city early tomorrow morning. If I am not mistaken, the General's order to you is to proceed to Hedong immediately, not to stay in Huguan City. Therefore, you only need to pass through Huguan City, and entering the city to rest is not within the scope of the military order."

Before Su You could speak, Xu Shu said sincerely, "I will prepare some wine and meat and send them to General Su's camp later. I hope General Su will understand that it is not easy for me to guard Huguan City. Although the rules cannot be broken, we can still exchange favors."

Seeing that General Xu Shu was both polite and respectful, Su You could only cup his hands and reply, "In that case, I will not bother Chief Clerk Xu any longer. I will return to the camp to interrogate Guo Yuan. I only hope that Chief Clerk Xu can open the gate early tomorrow morning, so as not to delay my time."

Xu Shu assured him, "General Su, rest assured! As long as the documents are in order, how could I dare to obstruct them? It's windy in Huguan City at night, so please add an extra blanket when you go to sleep, so as not to catch a cold."

Seeing Xu Shu showing concern for Su You, Xun Chen also sensed that something was amiss.

The man who served as Yuan Shao's chief strategist during the Battle of Guandu was no fool. After glancing at Su You, who was dragging Guo Yuan away, Xun Chen turned to Xu Shu and said, "Yuanzhi, you have absolutely no trust in Su You."

Xu Shu's smile vanished, replaced by a chilling expression: "None of the spies I deployed at the post station have returned, so how could I trust Su You? Besides, General Zuo has won consecutive battles in Hedong, so why would the Grand General need to send reinforcements? Moreover, Guo Yuan, whom General Zuo deliberately sent to Zhong Yao's place, is also here; there must be a trap." Xun Chen's gaze was intense: "Su You's two lashes were quite severe."

"It's just a ruse, how could it fool me?" Xu Shu scoffed, seeing through Su You's intention in whipping Guo Yuan earlier.

Xun Chen was secretly surprised: No wonder General Zuo kept Yuanzhi in Huguan City. His insight and wisdom were beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"How does Yuanzhi plan to respond?" Xun Chen asked again.

Xu Shu smiled again, and instead of answering, asked, "I am not very knowledgeable in strategy and tactics. Brother Youruo was once the chief strategist of the Grand General, could you teach me some good strategies?"

Seeing Xu Shu's alternating coldness and smile, his irrelevant answers and rambling conversation, Xun Chen felt annoyed: "Are you so ignorant and incompetent? With such ignorance and incompetence, how could the Left General appoint you as Chief Clerk and have you guard Huguan City? With such ignorance and incompetence, how could you see through Su You's self-inflicted injury ruse?"
“Yuanzhi is too modest.” Xun Chen did not want to answer. He turned to look at Su You’s troops who had already set up camp outside the city and said, “I didn’t even see through Su You’s self-inflicted injury ruse. How dare I presume to offer a good strategy?”

Xu Shu's smile widened: "Brother Youruo, I've decided to stand guard at the North Gate tonight. Though the wind is cold, I'm sure it will be very comforting with you by my side."

Xun Chen nearly stumbled and fell, asking in astonishment, "In this freezing weather, you're going to stand guard on the city wall at night? And you want me to keep you company?"

Xu Shu nodded as a matter of course: "I am quite bored on duty alone at night, so I might as well play a few rounds of chess with Brother Youruo."

Xun Chen took a deep breath and said, "Since Yuanzhi has determined that Su You is treacherous, we should strike first. Taking advantage of his fatigue from his long journey and the cold night wind, we can send troops to raid his camp and capture him alive."

“Unauthorized attack on one’s colleagues is a serious crime.” Xu Shu cupped his hands and smiled, “Brother Youruo, you’ll have to think of a reason for sending troops.”

When Xun Chen saw that Xu Shu agreed to send troops to raid the camp without hesitation, he was startled. This meant that Xu Shu had actually been planning to send troops to raid the camp for a long time.

Xun Chen pondered for a moment and said, "Although the Grand General is wary of the Left General, he would never take drastic measures against him at this time. Therefore, the document in Su You's hand is definitely not the Grand General's original intention. It should be that Yuan Shang falsely claimed to be the Grand General's military order in order to help Governor Gao regain control of Huguan City. Yuan Zhi can use this as a reason to send troops."

Xu Shu bowed again, saying, "Brother Youruo is more resourceful and decisive than I am! I will follow Brother Youruo's plan!"

Xun Chen turned his head away from Xu Shu, but the thought of beating Xu Shu up again arose in his mind: You are carrying out your own plan, but you insist on saying that you are following my plan. You are trying to drag me into this and make Governor Gao and Yuan Shang resent me.

Although Xun Chen guessed Xu Shu's intention, he did not intend to point it out.

Xun Chen knew perfectly well that while Liu Bei was fighting on the front lines, someone in the rear was trying to cut off his retreat. To resort to such a foolish tactic, Yuan Shang was doomed. Since Yuan Shang was incapable, Xun Chen naturally needed to find a safe haven for himself.

　Update 1 is here!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)