Han Ji

No sooner had he left than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei brought in Wang Bi and Zhao Qi.

Wang Bi, a fat man, was ashen-faced. Zhao Qi, on the other hand, held his neck stiffly, displaying an attitude of "death before dishonor."

"Lieutenant Liu!" Zhao Qi spoke first, "We are both under Lord Lu's command, why were you arrested in the dead of night? I demand to see Lord Lu!"

"Lord Lu is asleep." Liu Bei pointed to the several silk scrolls. "You two, take a look at this first."

Upon reading the confession, Wang Bi collapsed to the ground. Zhao Qi, after reading it, turned ashen-faced but still stubbornly insisted: "Zuo Feng threatened me with the lives of his family, leaving me no choice but to act! But everything I said is true! Lord Lu indeed missed a crucial opportunity!"

"Oh?" Liu Bei raised his eyes. "How could it be a delay?"

"We could have launched a full-scale attack on Guangzong in August, but instead they fortified themselves and besieged it, wasting money and supplies!" Zhao Qi became increasingly agitated as he spoke. "What else could this be but cowardice?"

"Do you know how many brothers will die in the August offensive?" Liu Bei asked.

"There are always deaths in war!"

"A dead man." Liu Bei nodded, stood up, and walked to Zhao Qi. "Military Advisor Zhao, have you ever been on the battlefield?"

Zhao Qi was taken aback.

"Have you ever personally cut down the Yellow Turbans? Have you ever seen the look in the eyes of someone whose intestines are spilling out? Have you ever heard wounded soldiers howling in pain in the middle of the night?" Liu Bei stared at him. "You haven't. All you do is sit in your tent calculating casualty figures and think there's no difference between three thousand and five thousand dying."

Zhao Qi's lips trembled, and he couldn't speak.

"Lord Lu is not afraid of the enemy," Liu Bei said, turning around. "He simply wants more people who deserve to live to survive."

The tent was quiet.

Wang Bi suddenly burst into tears: "Commander... I'm greedy, I'm afraid of death... but Zuo Feng said that if I don't comply, my whole family will be imprisoned. My son is only three years old!"

"Get up." Liu Bei sighed. "I'll keep your confessions. But now there's a chance to redeem yourself."

The two looked up.

"Do whatever Zuo Feng tells you to do," Liu Bei said. "But tell me before you do it. If he asks you to write another letter, write it, but the letter must pass through my hands before it can be sent out."

"This..." Zhao Qi hesitated.

"Unwilling?" Liu Bei raised an eyebrow.

"Yes! Yes!" Wang Bi exclaimed.

Zhao Qi remained silent for a long time before finally nodding: "So be it... I have failed Lord Lu."

"If you know you're ashamed, there's still hope." Liu Bei waved his hand. "Go. Remember, none of you came tonight either."

The two men left.

Zhang Fei muttered, "Brother, these three spineless cowards are a menace if we keep them around."

"Even a spineless coward has its uses." Liu Bei looked at the several silk scrolls. "Zuo Feng thought he had their weakness in his grasp, but little did he know that their weakness is now in my hands."

Guan Yu pondered, "Brother, do you intend to... counter Zuo Feng?"

"Not only that." Liu Bei put the silk scroll into his robes. "I'll make sure he suffers this bitter pill in silence."

The fourth watch drum sounds.

Suddenly, a faint commotion arose atop Guangzong City, followed by flickering firelight.

"The city is in chaos," Jian Yong listened intently. "It sounds like... infighting?"

Liu Bei climbed onto the wall.

A fire broke out somewhere in the city, and shouts of battle could be faintly heard, but they quickly subsided.

Like the final convulsions of a dying person.

"Soon," he said.

The wind blew by, carrying the chill of late autumn.

It's almost dawn.

For the next three days, Zuo Feng remained quiet.

He lived in a separate tent, spending his days drinking tea and reading books. Occasionally, he would take a walk in the camp, smiling and nodding at everyone he met, appearing like a kind angel.

But Li, the chief clerk, would come to Liu Bei's tent every night to report on Zuo Feng's every word and action.

"Today he asked me again for the grain consumption records for nearly three months."

"He met privately with seven captains, three of whom were promoted by Lord Lu."

"He instructed Wang Bi to falsify accounts, turning normal losses into embezzlement."

Liu Bei listened and remembered, without uttering a single word.

On the third night, when Clerk Li arrived, his face was unusually pale.

"Commander... Zuo Feng asked me to compile the evidence into a book tomorrow, and he will send someone to deliver it to the capital overnight."

"Where's the booklet?"

Li, the registrar, took out a scroll of silk from his bosom.

Liu Bei unfolded it and read it. It listed twelve major crimes committed by Lu Zhi: cowardice in battle, squandering military funds, allowing his troops to run rampant, accepting bribes, and nepotism. Each crime was accompanied by witnesses and evidence.

Finally, another point was added: Liu Bei "formed cliques for personal gain, bought off the hearts of his soldiers, and plotted treason."

"Plotting treason." Liu Bei read it aloud, then laughed, "That's a serious accusation."

"Commander, if this is sent to Luoyang..." Clerk Li's voice trembled.

"It won't get there." Liu Bei rolled up the silk scroll. "You prepare it as usual and give it to him tomorrow. But the messenger can't leave the camp."

"But Zuo Feng said that this time he would send three groups of people, each taking a different route."

"Then we'll cut off three routes." Liu Bei looked outside the tent. "Yide."

Zhang Fei responded and entered.

"Take fifty cavalrymen and ambush them tomorrow at the ten-mile-north pavilion, the fifteen-mile-east fork in the road, and the twenty-mile-west ferry crossing," Liu Bei said. "Anyone carrying the Zuo Feng command arrow should be detained and their messenger captured."

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Fei grinned. "I've been waiting impatiently!"

Clerk Li was dumbfounded: "Commander... this... this is intercepting the angel's messenger, it's tantamount to treason!"

"Who said it was an ambush?" Liu Bei said calmly. "It was the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who ran rampant and hijacked the messenger. We were too late to save him and only managed to retrieve the body and the letter. Unfortunately, the letter was stained with blood and the writing was illegible."

Clerk Li was stunned, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

This Commandant Liu, who usually appears kind and benevolent, is surprisingly decisive and ruthless in his actions.

"Go," Liu Bei waved his hand, "continue with your work as usual, and don't give anything away."

Li, the registrar, bowed and retreated, his legs still trembling.

Zhang Fei leaned over and said, "Brother, if we intercept the letter, Zuo Feng will definitely be furious."

"Let him jump," Liu Bei said. "The higher he jumps, the harder he'll fall."

The following day at noon, Zuo Feng indeed dispatched three groups of messengers.

The first route was along the official road, with a horse, a command arrow in hand, and the book of incriminating evidence tucked in his pocket.

The second group disguised themselves as merchants, pushing carts, with brochures hidden in the compartments of their goods.

The third route was the most secretive, involving a cook from the camp who, under the pretext of going to Yecheng to make purchases, walked, with the booklet sewn into the lining of his clothes.

Three groups of people, from three directions.

Zhang Fei led fifty riders, divided into three groups, and gave chase.

Liu Bei waited in his tent.

Guan Yu, wiping his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, suddenly spoke: "Brother, if this succeeds, Zuo Feng will surely suspect an internal traitor. Li the Registrar and the others..."

"So they can't afford to give themselves away," Liu Bei said. "When news of the messenger's abduction reaches us, Zuo Feng's first reaction will be that it was the work of the Yellow Turbans, and his second reaction will be that Lu Gong has discovered it. He will try again, but he will be more careful. At that time, it will be time to close the net."

"Closing the net?"

"Let him fall ill." Liu Bei looked at the map on the table. "Guangzong is about to fall, but Zuo Feng has suddenly fallen ill and is unable to attend to affairs. Lu Gong will temporarily take over the command. Once the news of victory reaches the capital, he will recover and return to court... Even if he wants to complain, it will be useless."

Guan Yu nodded: "Draw the firewood from under the cauldron."

As evening fell, Zhang Fei returned.

He was covered in dust, but his eyes shone: "We've intercepted all three routes! The men are tied up and locked in an abandoned temple outside the city, and all the letters are here!"

He slammed the three silk scrolls onto the table.

Liu Bei opened it and looked at it. The contents were largely the same, but the wording was increasingly vicious, even directly accusing Lu Zhi of harboring ambitions of using his military power for personal gain.

"How is he?"