New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Yuan Shao trembled, like a punctured balloon. The ferocious tiger stripe on his face and the white shark fin on his arm quickly faded away, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to his normal human form.

Liu Bei was overjoyed. "Cao Mengde, Cao Mengde, you always appear out of nowhere when I'm in my most perilous time! You're a lifesaver, my great benefactor!"

He immediately waved to signal Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Tang Sanzang to dispel the supernatural transformations, and then turned his gaze toward the entrance to the command platform.

Cao Cao strode in from outside the hall, nodded slightly to the crowd, and wore a calm smile.

He walked straight to Yuan Shao, grabbed his arm, pulled him aside, and angrily rebuked him in a low voice:

"Yuan Shao, do you have a death wish? I told you, Liu Bei still has great uses. How dare you take him on your own?" His voice was so low that no one else present could hear him except Yuan Shao.

Yuan Shao gave Cao Cao a cold look, and retorted in a similarly low voice:

"Liu Bei has repeatedly insulted me, and I simply cannot swallow this insult. I was merely teaching him a lesson, not taking his life; I only wanted to take Gongsun Zan's soul. What's your hurry? Do I, Cao Mengde, need to interfere with my actions?"

"Yuan Shao!" Cao Cao glared at him, his voice trembling slightly with suppressed rage. "Dong Zhuo's army is about to arrive. If you drive Liu Bei away, who will stand against Lü Bu? Do you even have a brain? Do you even want to live?"

Yuan Shao then realized the seriousness of the situation. He glanced at Liu Bei instinctively, only to find the other man's expression calm and unreadable.

He knew he was in the wrong, but in front of Cao Cao, he couldn't bring himself to back down, and stubbornly said, "Alright, alright, he's just a commoner who weaves mats and sells shoes. I'll give him some compensation."

Having said that, he turned around, quickly putting on a friendly smile, and said to Liu Bei:

"Xuande, I drank too much just now and acted foolishly. I apologize for any offense I may have caused. To express my remorse, I will compensate you with ten thousand elite soldiers. From now on, I will provide for your troops' food, supplies, weapons, and daily expenses. What do you say?"

Liu Bei watched this unfold, a cold smile creeping across his face. A smiling tiger is still a smiling tiger; his ability to change his expression is faster than turning the pages of a book.

However, he would never agree to this deal. He knew better than anyone that this was no longer the chaotic Three Kingdoms period, but a world utterly corrupted by something strange.

What are mere soldiers compared to that? In the new Three Kingdoms, Yuan Shao had a total force of 700,000 at the Battle of Guandu. Compared to that, these 10,000 elite soldiers are just a drop in the ocean, a tiny fraction of a drop, a mere speck on the tip of a feather.

Once he recruits Zhuge Liang into his ranks, he can continuously train troops with money and provisions.

He vaguely remembered that during the Battle of Hanzhong in the new Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei's army numbered as many as a million, more than the combined forces of Cao Cao and Sun Quan.

Liu Bei shook his head and coldly refused:

"Brother Benchu, I have over a thousand elite soldiers under my command, and I don't lack soldiers. What I lack are generals who can command them. Even if you give me ten thousand elite soldiers, I still won't be able to manage them. How about you give me a few generals instead?"

Cao Cao watched from the sidelines, secretly relieved. As long as Liu Bei could be kept in check, the situation was still under control.

Several generals? Yuan Shao frowned slightly. He really dared not negotiate with Liu Bei anymore; he hadn't recovered from the suffocating anger he felt from Liu Bei's exorbitant price list.

Just when Yuan Shao was in a difficult situation, Cao Cao stepped in to help him out.

"Brother Benchu, Brother Xuande, Brother Gonglu, let's put aside the misunderstanding for now. I have an urgent military matter that I need to discuss with you immediately."

Urgent military intelligence? Liu Bei's heart skipped a beat, but he remained outwardly calm, merely nodding slightly in agreement.

With Zhang Fei around, he wasn't afraid of Yuan Shao reneging on his promise. If Yuan Shao dared to go back on his word, he would open the gate and let Zhang Fei out, allowing this brute to hurl a torrent of abuse at Yuan Shao.

He had almost been ambushed by Yuan Shao through teleportation; he had been careless and had been caught off guard by the enemy's information gap. He would remember this lesson.

However, if they were to truly clash head-on, the transformed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei would be no less formidable than Yuan Shao.

Seeing that no one had any objections, Cao Cao nodded, gestured for everyone to sit down, and then sat back down in the main seat.

Remembering Cao Cao's words, Liu Bei turned his head and whispered a few words to Yuan Shu, signaling him to recite the lines and push the plot forward.

Yuan Shu nodded slightly, indicating that he understood, then turned to look at Cao Cao with a puzzled expression:

"I just heard you say, Brother Mengde, that Sun Wentai's defeat was entirely within your expectations. May I ask, Brother Mengde, what makes you say that?"

Cao Cao chuckled, stroked his beard, and answered Yuan Shu:

"Because although Sun Jian is brave, he is too eager for victory and has led his army deep into enemy territory, becoming arrogant, and arrogant armies are bound to be defeated!" He then changed the subject, turning his gaze to Yuan Shao, "May I ask, Alliance Leader Yuan, how do you plan to respond at this moment?"

Liu Bei's lips twitched almost imperceptibly. All the bad mood he had just been in while being chased by Yuan Shao vanished instantly, and he was amused by Cao Cao's words.

This "Cao Family Art of War" was originally created by Cao Cao in the new Three Kingdoms novel, but now, because of his intrusion as a time traveler, it has been plagiarized to the point of being completely lost.

Yuan Shao pondered for a moment and slowly replied: "Immediately send the report of Sun Wentai's defeat and the military intelligence of Dong Zhuo's personal expedition to all departments, and summon the lords of various towns to discuss the strategy for defending against the enemy."

"No!" Cao Cao immediately rejected the idea, his tone resolute.

"You must not inform the other warlords of Sun Jian's defeat. Instead, you should tell them that Sun Jian has won, and won a great victory! Dong Zhuo is the one whose army has collapsed like a house of cards. Now we are just waiting for everyone to rush in, take Hulao Pass, and head straight for Luoyang."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and emphasized, "Otherwise, once the various warlords hear of Sun Jian's defeat, they will surely be filled with fear. Once morale collapses, the allied forces will be finished."

Yuan Shao nodded thoughtfully, agreeing with Cao Cao's words. Liu Bei and Yuan Shu, however, almost burst out laughing.

[Rule 2: The way Cao Cao thinks in the new version is the opposite of ordinary people. To others, this is madness; to Cao Cao, it is political cunning.]

Recalling the second rule of the discussion on the feudal lords over wine, Liu Bei felt that the rule was terrifyingly accurate.

Cao Cao's way of thinking was not only the opposite of ordinary people, but it was downright insane.

What I just said was pure self-deception. Which of the various warlords didn't have their own intelligence network? Didn't they know whether Sun Jian had actually lost or not?

By this time, Yuan Shao had been corrupted by the strangeness to the point of being delirious, and his mind was far less sharp than before.

He slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire room, his pale face forcing a show of authority befitting the leader of the alliance.

"Send word: a banquet will be held at the command platform to celebrate General Sun's victory!"