I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 387 The Affairs of Old Liu's Family

Gan Ning, Fa Zheng, Lü Meng, and Lu Yi led the main force south, passing through Wai Shui from Jiangyang.

Huang Zhong and Sima Yi led infantry across the middle of the river, with the fewest troops, to serve as flanks and provide support to the main force in the south at any time.

Liu Miao, on the other hand, openly displayed his imperial banner and sailed almost all of his large ships toward the inner river, displaying the majesty of an emperor along the way. He traveled at a moderate pace, as if he were there to inspect the Shu region rather than to conquer it.

"What is Liu Miao up to?"

The Shu generals who had been lying in ambush in Fucheng were somewhat dissatisfied with Liu Miao's speed of advance.

Logically, Liu Miao should have immediately rushed forward, then fallen into the encirclement, and ultimately had no choice but to retreat in disgrace.

But what is Liu Miao doing now?
According to the scouts, Liu Miao sent soldiers to collect wild ginger and dogwood from Shu, apparently to use as seasoning.

Furthermore, after arriving in Guanghan, Liu Miao simply refused to leave! He even took the time to resolve several backlogged cases in Guanghan.
There is a case where, because the offender was from a powerful family in Shu (Sichuan), according to the original Han law, he was only fined some money and the matter was settled.

However, Liu Miao insisted on judging the case according to the "Zhangwu Law," and directly executed the criminal without confiscating his property, giving it all to the victim.

It is said that because of this incident, many people in Sichuan are now calling him the Holy Emperor!

"You actually chose to win over the hearts and minds of the people first? Liu Miao, you bastard..."

The Fucheng garrison commander was clearly impatient to see Liu Miao, who was about to fall into the encirclement but was not getting in!
The problem is, not only is he not coming in, but Liu Miao is also trying to seduce the common people?
This is intolerable!

At this moment, these Fucheng garrison commanders were like resentful women who watched helplessly as their husbands were seduced by their own sisters—hateful yet powerless to do anything about it!
"We need to think of a way to lure Liu Miao over here!"

Faced with this situation, the sensible wife naturally had to change into a sexy outfit to lure Liu Miao into her trap!
"Find a way to send troops and then be defeated by Liu Miao!"

Liu Gui and Ling Bao were both famous generals in Shu. Seeing that Liu Miao was not coming in for a long time, they simply thought of using a plan to lure him to Fucheng!

"No!"

General Wu Yi dissuaded the two.

"Liu Miao's military tactics are like a gazelle hanging its horns, leaving no trace for others to follow!"

"If we send troops out to probe too easily, Liu Miao might see through our scheme, and in the end, we'll suffer more losses than gains!"

Upon seeing that it was Wu Yi, Liu Gui and Ling Bao immediately began to mock him.

"Liu Miao isn't that miraculous. If he really sensed something was wrong, why would he still choose to travel through the inner waterways?"

"You people from the Central Plains may fear someone with the surname Liu, but we are not!"

Hearing Liu Gui and Ling Bao's blatant regional discrimination, Wu Yi's eyebrows furrowed.

Wu Yi is indeed not a native of Yizhou.

However, unlike Fa Zheng, who had to seek refuge in Shu because of famine in Guanzhong, Wu Yi's status was far beyond that of Fa Zheng.

Wu Yi was from Chenliu, Yanzhou. His uncle, Wu Kuang, was an official under He Jin, the Grand General of the Eastern Han Dynasty. He joined forces with Yuan Shu to burn down the Qing Suo Gate of the Southern Palace, forcing the eunuchs to flee. He and Dong Min attacked and killed He Miao at the Zhuque Gate and abandoned his body in the garden. Later, he joined Yuan Shao.

With such an uncle, Wu Yi's identity was naturally not simple.

His father had a good relationship with Liu Yan, so he brought his whole family to Shu with Liu Yan. Later, Liu Yan had the idea of ​​establishing himself as emperor, and coincidentally, a person skilled in physiognomy said that Wu Yi's younger sister, Wu Shi, would have an extremely noble status in the future. So he had his son Liu Mao, who had followed him to Shu, marry Wu Shi.

If the normal procedure is followed, Wu Yi's status will be extremely noble!

After Liu Yan's death, his third son Liu Mao should have inherited Yizhou and become the ruler of Shu. As a relative of the emperor, Wu Yi, even if he could not compare with a great general like He Jin, was naturally someone no one in Shu could afford to offend, so it was unlikely that even people like Liu Gui and Ling Bao would mock him.

The problem arose after Liu Yan's sudden death. Liu Mao, who should have succeeded him, did not smoothly complete the transfer of power. Instead, his subordinates, such as Zhao Wei, the military advisor, and Wang Shang, the chief administrator, recommended Liu Yan's young son, who had no roots in Shu, to succeed him as governor of Yizhou, based on Liu Zhang's benevolence and gentleness.

The powerful clans of Shu clearly did not want to see another powerful warlord emerge in Yizhou.

Liu Mao, who initially followed Liu Yan into Shu and often accompanied him, and even married Wu Yi's sister, was clearly not the choice of a powerful clan in Shu.

Thus, Liu Mao was placed under house arrest on the pretext of "madness." Wu Yi, an "old friend" who had initially followed Liu Yan into Shu, was naturally not well-liked by these local Shu generals.

Hearing that even his advice could not be heeded, Wu Yi felt utterly embarrassed and sat alone to one side, recalling Zhang Song, who had been executed by slow slicing by Liu Zhang...

"Deng Xian! You can lead a small number of soldiers to test Liu Miao. It doesn't matter if some people die... no, the more people die, the better! This will make Liu Miao think that our army is weak, and he will definitely be eager to attack Fucheng!"

"Here!"

Having taken this man, who was a bit ugly but utterly harmless, Deng Xian gladly led three thousand soldiers to sneak toward Guangyuan, hoping to give Liu Miao a "surprise"!
Guanghan.

Liu Miao was indeed stalling for time.

The main force of Gan Ning, which traveled via the outer waterway, had a journey that took half a month longer than Liu Miao's.

In the next two weeks, Liu Miao and Huang Zhong, who will take the central route, will have to make some noise to cover for Gan Ning and his men. Ideally, they should be able to get to the outskirts of Chengdu without losing a single soldier!
"It's a pity Deng Ai isn't here, otherwise it would truly have been a divine intervention!"

However, Liu Miao immediately smiled.

Deng Ai is probably only a few years old now, how could he be fit to join the army?

Speaking of which, Deng Ai's mother seems to be a widow as well. Should we search around Xinye when we go back this time...?

Just as Liu Miao was lost in thought, there was a sudden rustling outside, and a moment later Zhou Tai walked in from outside.

"My lord, they say they've spotted enemy activity to the west! A large enemy force is swaggering in from Fucheng!"

"Ha! You couldn't hold back anymore?"

Liu Miao mocked the garrison commander of Fucheng for his lack of endurance, saying that he couldn't withstand being rubbed too much and wanted to take the initiative to attack.
"They've come to test us! Or rather, they're like meat being offered to us for consumption!"

"Ugh?"

Zhou Tai didn't understand.

"Isn't that simple? Youping, let me ask you this: is going to the brothel altar acceptable?"

"Of course! Need I say more?"

Do you have enough money?

Zhou Tai's face instantly fell.

"So, don't fall for women's tricks! Otherwise, you might even lose your diaper! It's best to keep yourself pure!"

Zhou Tai looked at Liu Miao with a puzzled expression. Should these words really come from Liu Miao's mouth?

"That's the gist of it! You'll know once you lead your troops into battle. But remember, you can only lose, not win!"

"what?"

Zhou Tai was once again lost.

"Where have you put all that knowledge of military strategy?"

Fortunately, Liu Miao was always quite patient with Zhou Tai!

"You've been leeching off a beautiful woman, and she thinks you're flirting, so she's practically offering herself to you. Now, are you going to take her or not?"

"Go for it! Of course we'll go!"

"If you go along with it, you'll fall into her trap! What did I just tell you?"

Liu Miao angrily retorted: "We cannot win!"

"But if they've already delivered it to you, then there's only one possibility!"

Zhou Tai asked seriously, "What's possible?"

"First, it will make people think we're incompetent!"

"Went to his!"

"If we go to the brothels every day—no, I mean go to the battlefield—and defeat Yuan Shao, they certainly won't think we're incompetent!"

"second……"

Liu Miao also became serious.

"It might make people suspect that we have ulterior motives!"

"There are only three roads in total. If we don't take this one, we'll definitely take one of the other two."

Therefore! This battle! We can only lose! We cannot win!

Zhou Tai clapped his hands loudly: "Understood!"

"Do you really understand?"

"Understood!"

Zhou Tai's eyes were bright and piercing.

"At this point, we can't let them think we're going down a different path. Instead, we need to prove to them that we like men and are simply not interested in them!"

"..."

Liu Miao covered his forehead.

Although Zhou Tai's explanation didn't seem to have any problems.

But it must be said that the feng shui of Sichuan is really a bit strange!

"Yes! We need to let them know that we don't have any ulterior motives, we simply have no interest in them. We need to finish everything in Guanghan before dealing with them!"

Liu Miao thought about it and realized that relying solely on Zhou Tai to act outside didn't seem to be enough.

I need to create something big to attract the attention of Chengdu.

"..."

"..."

"Ugh!"

After pondering for a long time, Liu Miao suddenly let out a long sigh.

Why does Your Majesty lament?

"I sigh, my innocence is probably going to be lost again."

"Your Majesty is joking. Where does your innocence come from? And why did you say 'again'?"

"Youping, are you itching for a beating? Come on! Let's have a one-on-one fight! I and Zilie will take on you one-on-one!"

"..."

The next day.

The ground in Sichuan was shaken!
This was all because Liu Miao sent an envoy to Fucheng to make a request to Liu Zhang—

[I have long heard of Liu Mao's wife, Lady Wu, whose beauty is unparalleled and who possesses the qualities of a noblewoman... If you can offer Lady Wu to me, I will agree to withdraw my troops and not invade Shu!]

The world was in an uproar!

Liu Miao actually made such a promise for a woman!
Shocked?
Shock!

But when they thought it was Liu Miao, the officials in Shu felt it was surprisingly reasonable for some reason!
After all, there were rumors that Liu Miao had launched an attack on Jingzhou because he coveted Lady Cai, Liu Biao's wife...

Considering Liu Miao's previous actions, this matter, though absurd, seems quite reasonable.
Discussions began to rise.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion.

Even the local people near Guanghan would have strange expressions when they occasionally saw Liu Miao. They would often whisper among themselves and then give him an awkward smile.

"My innocence is proven!"

However, Liu Miao was certain at least that Gan Ning and the others were safe!

Right now, Liu Zhang is probably still cursing Liu Miao's envoy in the Shu King's Palace. How could he possibly think of deploying defenses outside the river?
Therefore, there are some things that Liu Miao should endure.

"I did it all for the Han Dynasty!"

(End of this chapter)