I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 385: Killing relatives for justice
"Brother, you should think this over carefully! In today's world, it's either Yuan Shao or Liu Miao! Shu is close to Liu Miao. Even if Liu Miao can't take Yizhou this time, surely he can take it in the future?"

Zhang Song stepped forward, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Brother! Given the current situation, why put up a futile resistance?"

"Liu Miao will take over Yizhou sooner or later! Sooner or later!"

"This is a time of great strife! A weak-willed man like Liu Zhang will have his empire seized sooner or later!"

"If we continue to support Liu Zhang, the day when Shu changes hands will be the day our clan is wiped out!"

Zhang Song's words did not elicit Zhang Su's agreement; instead, they disappointed him even more.

"madness!"

"Brother!"

Zhang Song was still pleading with Zhang Su.

"Liu Miao is about to conquer Shu!"

"The day when my brother and I will rise to prominence is just around the corner! Why can't you understand this?"

Zhang Song wanted to continue persuading him, but Zhang Su had already started shaking his head.

"late."

What's late?
Zhang Song was stunned for a moment, and then he heard a series of steady and powerful footsteps coming from all directions of the courtyard. The heavy sound made Zhang Song's heart sink to the bottom.

Zhang Su: "Before I came, I had already reported my suspicions to His Highness the Prince of Shu."

"These people are probably here to take your money."

Zhang Song's eyes instantly welled up with tears, the bloodshot veins turning his eyes a desperate red.

"Brother!"

"You are my own brother!"

"You, how could you do this?"

"I am your brother! We are brothers born of the same mother, bound by blood!"

As they spoke, fully armed soldiers rushed over and supported Zhang Song, whose legs were weak.

"Brother! Brother! We are brothers! Brother! My son is still young! His mother is not in good health, as you know! Brother! Brother!"

Zhang Song's shouts as he was dragged away by the soldiers made Zhang Su look up at the sky.

Brothers are of one mind, and how could he not know what it meant for him to expose Zhang Song to Liu Zhang?
But he had no choice!
He was from a noble family! He was from a powerful clan!

His stance was destined to never favor Liu Miao!

Zhang Song is always just an isolated case!
Zhang Su and other powerful clans in Shu would never betray their positions!
finally.

Zhang Song was sentenced to death by a thousand cuts.

Because of Zhang Su's denunciation, his family members were not executed, but exiled to Yuexi.

"To uphold righteousness and even sacrifice one's own family is truly difficult!"

Liu Zhang tried to comfort Zhang Su, but the thought that it was ultimately his brother Zhang Song's fault that Baidi City and Jiangzhou had fallen one after another made him feel somewhat estranged from Zhang Su.

Zhang Su was also aware of his current predicament, and therefore specifically offered Liu Zhang a suggestion—

"Liu Miao and Fa Zheng should be unaware that Zhang Song has been exposed. We should take advantage of this to turn the tide of the battle!"

Liu Zhang then became interested: "What does Jun Jiao want?"

"Why not have him bring Liu Miao a fake defense map, making him think we've deployed a large force on the outer waterway? That way, Liu Miao will likely turn to the inner waterway, where we can ambush him and defeat him!"

Liu Zhang's eyes lit up!
Wang Lei, the official in charge, and Huang Quan, the registrar, also strongly agreed with this plan!
"Liu Miao and Zhang Song are not familiar with each other, so they probably can't distinguish between the real and the fake. In addition, Liu Miao wants a quick victory, so he might not differentiate and lead his troops to attack directly!"

The courtiers all thought it was feasible! They then had Zhang Su imitate Zhang Song's handwriting and redraw a defense map, which was given to a servant in Zhang Song's residence, instructing him to deliver it to Liu Miao according to the original plan.

“Your wife, children, and elderly mother are all in our hands. You should understand what to do.”

Zhang Su's words were a mix of enticement and recruitment. "If you can accomplish this, you will be richly rewarded!"

The servant, remembering that his family was in Zhang Su's hands, quickly nodded and said, "Yes, sir!"

------

Jiangzhou.

Upon receiving Gan Ning's military intelligence, Liu Miao immediately went to the area to prepare for a full-scale attack on Shu.

"Internal water, secondary water, and external water."

Liu Miao did indeed encounter this problem at this time.

The choice of which waterway to use to attack Chengdu almost determined the success or failure of the battle.

Because Liu Miao did indeed receive intelligence from Zhou Yu in the Central Plains. Currently, Yuan Shao shows signs of large-scale troop movements near Yanzhou, seemingly intending to take advantage of the situation and plot against Liu Miao's occupied Yuzhou.

Which route should we take?

The fastest route would undoubtedly be through the inner waterways, attacking Fucheng, capturing Luocheng, and then directly marching on Chengdu!
However, neither Fucheng nor Luocheng were easy to conquer.

Liu Miao did not assume he was invincible just because he captured Baidi City and Jiangzhou almost without taking any damage, nor did he fantasize that all his soldiers would become fierce warriors like Lü Bu, tearing apart fortified cities with their bare hands and then leisurely entering Shu.

Just as Liu Miao was pondering, Fa Zheng, who had come with the army, suddenly requested an audience.

"Your Majesty, this man is a servant from Zhang Song's residence! He has brought a map of Chengdu's defenses!"

"Ok?"

I was just about to take a nap, and then a pillow appeared?
Liu Miao was immediately overjoyed and quickly called the other party in.

Upon seeing Liu Miao, Zhang Song's servant immediately prostrated himself on the ground: "Greetings to the Emperor of the Great Han! May Your Majesty be well!"

"I am safe!"

Liu Miao quickly helped the other person up, and smiled happily.

"Did Zhang Song send you?"

"Exactly."

"What is his situation in Chengdu? Especially his elder brother?"

The servant panicked immediately, nearly thinking he had been exposed!
Fortunately, in order to follow etiquette, he kept his face buried in his chest, so the unusual color on his face was not noticed by the others.

"The master is... alright."

"That's good!"

Liu Miao remembered that in history, Zhang Song was killed by his own brother for righteousness in order to help Liu Bei enter Shu!

This shows that his elder brother was no saint either, so Liu Miao was naturally happy to hear that Zhang Song was safe and sound.

Upon learning that Zhang Song had risked his life to bring over the military deployments from Chengdu, Liu Miao was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Once Chengdu falls, Ziqiao will surely be credited with the greatest achievement!"

Liu Miao beat the drum, raised the tent, and summoned his generals.

When generals like Gan Ning and Huang Zhong heard that the specific defenses of Chengdu had been determined, they were all extremely excited!
However, Lu Meng, Lu Yi, Pang Tong, and Sima Yi all wore expressions of hesitation.

"Your Majesty, something feels off."

Liu Miao raised an eyebrow: "Something's not right?"

These were all top geniuses of their time, yet they all sensed that something was amiss.
The now handsome and refined Lu Yi asked Liu Miao, "If Your Majesty were the ruler of Shu, and now that a large army is attacking, would it be reasonable to not guard against the enemy's most immediate inland waters, but instead to neglect the distant outer waters?"

Lü Meng spoke even more bluntly—

"Your Majesty, I request to question Zhang Song's servant again!"

"I find this intelligence report far too suspicious!"

(End of this chapter)