Chapter 88: Jia Wenhe's Plan

  Xiangyang, Liu Biao paced back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, feeling extremely annoyed. As the army was about to depart, he repeatedly instructed Wen Ping to pay attention to Liu Xun's safety, actually hinting that he should not send Liu Xun to the front line.

  He could have actually prevented Liu Xuan from going north, but in order to make a gesture and let people think he was resolute in resisting the Cao army, he still allowed Liu Xuan and his two nephews, Liu Hu, to go north and resist Cao.

  It turned out that Wen Ping did not understand his intention, and instead sent Liu Jue to send grain to Liu Bei's military camp, which made Liu Biao furious.

  It's easy to wait for this opportunity, and borrow Cao Jun's hand to get rid of Liu Bei, eliminating the trouble of Jingzhou. However, Wen Ping's unexpected move may ruin this plan.

  Liu Biao was anxious and had already sent someone to deliver a letter to Liu Bei in haste, even using his own illness as pressure. The reason he sent the letter to Liu Bei instead of Liu Xun is that Liu Biao understood his nephew's temperament, and Liu Xun might defy orders regardless of whether he was ill or not.

  But Liu Bei would not let him go, he must force Liu Xuan to leave, otherwise he could not bear the loss of reputation.

  Liu Biao is now worried whether he can make it on time.

  "Damn Wen Ping!" Liu Biao cursed in a low voice, unexpectedly not understanding his own intentions, and still acting as the main general.

  "Dad!"

  Outside the door came Liu Qi's voice, "Can the child come in?"

  "Come in!" Liu Biao calmed himself down and sat back in his seat, not wanting to let his son see his loss of composure, nor did he want his son to understand what was on his mind.

  Liu Qi quickly walked in, knelt down and saluted with a bow, "Greetings, Father!"

  "Hmm! What's wrong, my son?"

  "The child has come especially to visit his father, I wonder if his father's illness is a bit better?"

  Liu Biao was indeed a bit unwell, but very mild, far from enough to summon Liu Qi back, and Liu Qi also understood in his heart.

  However, Liu Qi's idea was not deep. He thought that his father did not want to let Xingdi take risks on the battlefield. Once Xingdi had an accident, his father would have no way to explain it to his deceased uncle.

  So Liu Qi took the initiative to write a letter on behalf of his father to Liu Bei, and must let Liu Xuan return to Xiangyang.

  Liu Bei nodded, "Still a bit of headache, but much better, don't worry, my son."

  "Father, although Brother Jing is skilled in martial arts, he lacks experience in actual combat. It's too hasty to let him go into battle, I'm worried about his safety."

  "Didn't I write you?"

  Liu Biao said somewhat displeased: "Let him come back and it's all right, what else are you worried about?"

  "Dad, that's not what I meant."

  Liu Bei was taken aback, "What do you mean?"

  Liu Qi bit her lip and didn't respond for a moment, making Liu Bei even more curious. He felt that his eldest son was being somewhat abnormal, and this abnormality wasn't just limited to today - he had been acting strangely for some time now.

  Liu Biao was just busy with affairs and didn't have time to ask for the moment, now his eldest son wanted to speak but hesitated, with a heavy heart, making Liu Biao feel it necessary to have a talk with his eldest son.

  Liu Bei's tone became gentle and he smiled slightly: "Go on! I'm listening."

  Under his father's kind gaze, Liu Qi plucked up the courage to say: "I hope Father can arrange for Brother Jing to garrison Jiangxia."

  Liu Biao was stunned. He had not expected his eldest son to propose this plan, letting his nephew guard Jiangxia. Why did he think of Jiangxia and not somewhere else?

  Liu Bei did not immediately question him and after a moment of contemplation asked: "Have you been thinking about this matter for the past few days?"

  Liu Qi has been worried for the past two days, he is actually considering his own power. Since his father and Cai Mao agreed to temporarily put aside the marriage alliance, Liu Qi realized that his father had already made concessions on the matter of marrying into the Cai family.

  Judging from Mrs. Cai's calm demeanor during this period, it is highly likely that in the end, Liu Zuan will marry Cai Shao-yu, and if so, he will have to take a daughter of the Qiao family as his wife and strive for the support of the Qiao family.

  In terms of civil officials, Liu Qi was not worried, with the power of the Kuai and Pang families, he could completely counterbalance the Cai and Huang families, but in terms of military strength, he was slightly weaker.

  The military power of Jingzhou is mainly in the hands of Cai and Huang. Although the Kuai family has Wen Pin, Wen Pin is actually quite neutral and not necessarily reliable.

  Liu Qi then thought of Liu Xuan, and Liu Xuan would definitely support himself. During this time, his father had already begun to consider using the Liu clan to take power. So, could he put Liu Xuan in Jiangxia and have him seize control of the 25,000 troops in Jiangxia, replacing Huang Zu? Kuai Yue told him that his father's next move would inevitably be to make a move against Huang Zu.

  Liu Qi has come to realize that this move is crucial for him to eventually become the master of Jingzhou.

  Although Liu Qi thought so, he didn't dare to say it clearly and could only say ambiguously: "My son has been thinking about this for days. Jing brother and I are blood relatives, we are of the same grandfather, why not let our own brothers control the military power? This is the key to letting our Liu family control Jingzhou.

  "To be honest, all four major families in Jingzhou have their own thoughts. Once Cao's army arrives, how much resistance they will put up, I am very clear about it."

  Liu Qi's words struck a chord in Liu Biao's heart, and this time Cao's army marched south, making him feel extremely uneasy, just like shouting for wolves to come, he had been shouting for a long time, and was almost numb, when suddenly Cao's army arrived at Xinye.

  The wolf really came, and Liu Biao was stabbed with pain. He began to realize that Cao Cao's army would eventually march south, so who would replace him to resist the Cao army?

  He cannot rely on Liu Bei, and the Cai, Kuai, Pang, Huang families of Jingzhou are also for their own family interests and cannot be relied upon. He still has to rely on his own Liu family.

  The eldest son's words made Liu Biao deeply agree, and he smiled: "I don't want to let Jing'er and Hu'er go on an expedition, it's this reason. The Liu family has always had fewer children, I don't want to add frost to the snow, so I want to call them back."

  "So, Father, about Jiang Xia's matter..."

  "This can be considered again in two years! He is still young after all, let him learn more martial arts and strategies, it will be good for him."

  Talking about learning martial arts, Liu Qi suggested: "I recommend that Old General Huang Zhong be your master."

  Liu Biao nodded, he had considered this issue and would definitely not allow his nephew to follow Zhao Yun to learn martial arts again. Huang Zhong was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also good at commanding troops.

  "Let's talk about it after he gets back!"

  "Hold on," Liu Bei asked again, "How did you think of sending Jing Er to Jiangxia County?"

  Liu Bei's eyes were filled with confusion.

  ．．．．．．．．

  The sun has sunk below the horizon, and the red glow on the edge of the earth has faded into a pale pink mist. The sky gradually changed from light blue to pale green.

  Tall willows, luxuriant and dense in the sunlight by the riverbank, have become dark and indistinct in the strange, hazy dusk, contrasting with the pale sky, like a row of black giants standing by the river.

  At this time, a fierce horseshoe sound broke the quiet dusk, and groups of birds that were preparing to roost on the willow trees were also startled into flying up in confusion.

  A cavalry unit approached from afar, numbering over a hundred riders, galloping southward along the official road by the riverbank. It was Liu Jing and his hundred-strong cavalry contingent.

  Liu Jue left XinYe county for ten miles, and on the way they also saw Cao Jun's scouts. Cao Jun's scouts hastily went north, which shows that his strategy was very correct. He shook off the slow infantry baggage, rode a horse at high speed, and in half an hour he could reach the Jingzhou army camp. Even if Cao Jun wanted to intercept him, it would be too late.

  Xinye stretches south almost all flat fields, fertile land, both sides of the river are green and lush farmland, one eye can't see the edge, but in the distance there are also rolling hills, like a giant dragon's back in the twilight.

  Just then, a sudden "whoosh" sound came from afar, it was an arrow, flying over their heads.

  Liu Cong suddenly reined in his warhorse and saw that several hundred cavalrymen had appeared dozens of steps away, blocking their path.

  "It's Cao Jun!"

  Someone shouted out in a low voice, Liu Xuan hastily turned his head and saw that on the opposite bank of the river, a large group of cavalrymen had also appeared. He turned his horse's head around, and behind him, countless dark figures emerged.

  Sweat suddenly soaked through his back, Liu Jue suddenly realized that he had entered the enemy's encirclement, and Cao Jun had already laid out a heaven and earth net.

  "General, over there!"

  A cavalryman pointed northwest, where it seemed there was no encirclement. Liu Jiong didn't hesitate and turned his horse's head, "Go!"

  Liu Cong galloped his war horse and led over a hundred cavalrymen in a dash to the northwest corner. In an instant, they broke through Cao's encirclement.

  Cao Jun's cavalry pursued and surrounded him from all sides, with a vast number of dark horsemen emerging in the twilight, numbering at least two to three thousand men. This sight secretly shocked Liu Xuan, who realized that Cao's army must have made these arrangements long ago, clearly targeting himself.

  But what was strange to Liu Jue was that Cao's army only chased and surrounded them, without shooting arrows or attacking, as if they were hunting and driving the prey into a certain cage, capturing them alive.

  Although he was aware of Cao Jun's intentions, Liu Jiong was powerless to do anything about it. He was forced to flee westward, and the only way out was in that direction.

  "General, there's a hill ahead!"

  A cavalryman shouted loudly, and Liu Jue also saw that it was a low and gentle hill, standing abruptly on the plain, covering dozens of acres, stretching across their front, with countless Cao army cavalrymen on both sides, like a huge pocket, had already surrounded them.

  Although Liu Jue's war horse was a thousand-mile treasure horse, which could completely shake off the pursuit of Cao Jun's cavalry, how could he abandon his companions and escape alone.

  "Up the mountain!"

  Liu Xuan gave a loud order, and the crowd rushed up to the mountain ridge at high speed. The slope was not steep, it was a gentle incline, and in just an instant, Liu Xuan led his men in a charge up the hillside.

  Cao Jun's cavalry did not pursue in a long line, but quickly surrounded the hills, encircling them tightly, with no way to escape.

  Liu Jue and his men reined in their horses, but they had nowhere to go. The Cao army was just over two hundred paces away at the foot of the mountain, with more soldiers constantly arriving, as if they had been lying in ambush all along.

  "What's going on, General?"

  The cavalrymen under his command asked in confusion: "Why didn't Cao's army capture us?"

  "We've fallen into a trap that was set long ago!"

  Liu Jiong bit his lip tightly, he understood Cao Jun's intention, which was already very obvious. "If I'm not mistaken, we've just become bait."

  "Who came up with this scheme, it's really damn brilliant!" Liu Jiong couldn't help but curse a foul word in hatred.

  At the foot of the mountain, Cao's army surrounding the hills had increased to 10,000 men, encircling the hill. Xiahou Dun looked at the hundred or so cavalry on the top of the mountain and couldn't help but cheer, clasping his hands in praise of Jia Xu: "This move is brilliant, sir!"

  Jia Xu stroked his beard with a pleased smile, for this plan was bound to succeed. Even if Liu Xun did not come out of Xin Ye Castle, he would still send someone disguised as a messenger soldier to deceive Wen Ping into coming to the rescue.

  "However, the Prime Minister is very interested in this Liu Xuan, General Xiahou can pass down the order, not to harm him, and must capture him alive."