New Three Kingdoms Tales: Starting as the expressionless Liu Bei

Sun Jian's main camp.

Inside the tent, on the left was a group of veteran generals led by Cheng Pu, and on the right were young generals led by Sun Ce; the atmosphere was solemn.

Sun Ce presented a military report to the commander's desk. Sun Jian tore it open, glanced at the words on it, and his expression immediately changed.

He slammed the battle report onto the table, knocking over a wine bowl and spilling wine all over the floor.

"Foolish! Foolish indeed!" he muttered to himself, clenching his fists. "Such a golden opportunity, why didn't we press our advantage..."

Before the words were finished, a loud announcement came from outside the tent: "General Cao has come to see the lord!"

Sun Jian suddenly looked up, his anger still lingering, but his eyes were already brimming with wild joy.

He abruptly rose from his seat, rushed down the stage in three strides, and grasped Cao Cao's arms tightly, his voice trembling with excitement:

"Brother Mengde, you've finally arrived! I've been eagerly awaiting your arrival!"

He leaned halfway out, his gaze passing over Cao Cao's shoulder to look towards the tent entrance, only to see an empty gate and a few guards. The joy on his face instantly vanished. "Where is Yuan Shao? Where is his army? Where are the other warlords?"

Cao Cao sighed heavily, his face showing undisguised contempt, and he squeezed out through gritted teeth, "Them? They're drinking six hundred li away!"

"What?" Sun Jian was shocked and took a half step back in disbelief.

He whirled around, grabbed the battle report he'd torn to pieces from the general's desk, and held it up in front of him, demanding urgently, "Dong Zhuo abducted the emperor and fled west, Luoyang is ablaze, and the Xiliang army is in retreat! Why isn't Yuan Shao seizing this golden opportunity to pursue and kill them?!"

Cao Cao did not answer, but strode to the table, picked up Sun Jian's wine pot, and took a full gulp.

The liquor trickled down his chin; he wiped it away hastily, took a couple of deep breaths, and finally let out the pent-up frustration he'd been holding in all the way.

"Yuan Shao was worried that Dong Zhuo had secretly hidden troops, so he refused to give the order. The other warlords were also looking at each other, none of them willing to be the first to send troops. For a little bit of soldiers, provisions, and a few ruined cities, they almost started fighting among themselves!"

"Only I, Cao Cao, led my ten thousand elite cavalry to rush to your aid under the cover of night, to see you, Sun Wentai."

After hearing this, Sun Jian believed Cao Cao's words without a doubt.

He gritted his teeth, slammed the battle report in his hand to the ground, and cursed:

"Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, those two cousins, are truly a pair of smiling tigers, two black sharks! One is a timid and cowardly man, while the other embezzles rations and weapons, devouring people without spitting out the bones!"

Cao Cao sighed slightly, shook his head while holding his wine bowl, his tone full of contempt:

"Brother Wentai, you're giving him too much credit by comparing him to a smiling tiger and a black shark. In my opinion, he's not even as good as a pig or a dog. He's not even as good as the cricket that a friend of mine used to keep; at least that cricket had some sense of loyalty."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and took another gulp of wine.

Sun Jian paced anxiously back and forth in the tent, his hands behind his back, each step making a thud on the ground.

He abruptly stopped, looked up, his eyes filled with resentment and indignation:

"Yuan Shao, you truly missed a golden opportunity! If it were me, I would not hesitate to send the entire city out to annihilate Dong Zhuo's army and rescue the Emperor!" He abruptly stopped, changing his words to, "...rescue the Emperor!"

Cao Cao waved his hand, stepped forward, and said in a low voice, "Brother Wentai, there's no need for regret. At this very moment, a tremendous opportunity is presented to us."

He stared into Sun Jian's eyes and asked, word by word, "Would you be willing to give it a try?"

Sun Jian paused, then abruptly turned around, a glint of shrewdness in his eyes: "What brilliant idea does Mengde have?"

Cao Cao met his gaze and slowly said, "At the beginning of the alliance, the various lords made an agreement: whoever first entered the capital would be appointed as the General of the Cavalry."

"Luoyang is currently undefended, and Dong Zhuo has fled. Why don't we split our forces? One force can concentrate all infantry to attack Luoyang, while the other can gather all cavalry to pursue Dong Zhuo to the death." He paused, a slight smile playing on his lips. "General Sun, which force would you prefer?"

The excitement on Sun Jian's face slowly faded, replaced by a hint of hesitation.

Cao Cao had just said that Yuan Shao was worried that Dong Zhuo was hiding troops in an ambush and dared not order a pursuit.

Sun Wentai was certainly not a coward, but he had to think twice before betting all his family's wealth on it.

After hesitating for a while, he slowly spoke: "Most of the Jiangdong soldiers in my unit are infantry, and the cavalry... number less than three thousand."

Cao Cao immediately replied, his tone leaving no room for argument: "And I lead only elite cavalry. General Sun, could you hand over your three thousand cavalry to me? I will personally lead them to pursue and kill Dong Zhuo to the death. You, on the other hand, will lead the infantry to attack Luoyang."

Sun Jian's facial muscles twitched suddenly.

If he were to hand over all three thousand cavalrymen, he would have no cavalrymen left to use.

He stared intently at Cao Cao's smiling face, his teeth grinding together, but the damned rules of Chenliu City were like an invisible shackle, pressing down on his throat.

Rule 2: Cao Cao's authority is beyond question.

You must agree with whatever Cao Cao says.

He closed his eyes in resentment and nodded heavily.

"In that case," Sun Jian squeezed out each word through gritted teeth, "I'll have to trouble you, Brother Mengde. I hope you'll treat my troops well."

Cao Cao chuckled and clasped his hands in a fist salute, replying, "Brother Wentai, rest assured, I will treat them well. Without further ado, shall we split up and act?"

Sun Jian took a deep breath, suppressing his surging anger, and returned the salute with clasped hands.

He turned away, no longer looking at Cao Cao's repulsive smile, and whispered to Cheng Pu beside him, "Cheng Pu, hand over all the cavalry to Cao Cao."

Cheng Pu's lips twitched slightly, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped himself.

Sun Jian glared at him, and Cheng Pu had no choice but to swallow his words, lower his head, and mutter, "Yes."

(P.S.: As mentioned in the author's note in the previous chapter, there would be six extra chapters coming up. This chapter is not a bonus chapter, but rather a response to requests for more chapters.)

(The author would like to thank everyone again for their support! Some people said they didn't want to see the author working so hard, so they wouldn't send gifts.)

(But I said I'm not afraid of extra chapters if I receive gifts! Not afraid!)