223. Liu Bei Seeking Cao Cao's Help

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Peng Qiu and Zong Ban thought that this was a chance to gain some merit and a headstart among the defectors, immediately led their men toward the Western Gate where they met with Shi Yi and Zuo Zhengchu who was guarding the rear of Liu Bei's loyalist group, Shi Yi and Zuo Zhengchu also saw them and led their men to guard this line as long as possible to give time for the others to go to Dongpingling.

Shi Yi and Zuo Zhengchu swiftly organized their forces, forming a steadfast line to fend off the relentless attack led by Peng Qiu and Zong Ban. The Western Gate was filled with the clash of swords and roars of soldiers engaged in a fierce struggle.

Wang Xiu seeing this lead the family and loyalists of Liu Bei along with some soldiers to leave Beihai, leaving Shi Yi and Zuo Zhenhchu behind who were holding the enemy off to give them some time heading to Dongpingling to reunited with Liu Bei.

Wang Xiu also send a scout to ride first toward Dongpingling, to inform Liu Bei of what happened and send some soldiers to protect his family and the loyalist alongside their family...

The scout sent by Wang Xiu raced towards Dongpingling, with dust kicked up from the hooves of his horse as he rides toward Dongpingling for several days without rest before he reached Dongpingling.

The guards at the gate were alert when they saw a figure approaching the gate, but when they saw that the rider showed a banner with Liu Bei's insignia they opened the gate for him.

The Guard Captain holds the Scout for a checkup, even though the Scout is a member of Liu Bei's army he still needs to be checked by the first.

Don't have much time, the scout informed the guards of what happened at Beihai, where the guard captain allow Lie Fan to take this letter to Liu Bei, and was sucked by the revelation that Beihai have just fallen to Lu Bu's hand because Beihai is still's Liu Bei's when they leave for Dongpingling.

The scout after rushing toward the Castle, finally meets with Liu Bei who are alongside Ju Shou, Sun Guan, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. Everyone in the room except for the scout was surprised by the news they had just received.

Liu Bei swiftly mobilized a detachment of his most trusted soldiers led by Sun Guan and Guan Yu to meet up and protect those fleeing from Beihai, Ju Shou also suggested that Liu Bei fortify Dongpingling's defenses.

Ju Shou seeing that Liu Bei agreed with his suggestion, asked the scout to tell him how Lu Bu suddenly attacked Beihai and took control of it, what about the 20,000 men Liu Bei left behind to guard Beihai.

The scout proceeded to tell everything in detail that he knew of, how Zong Ban and Peng Qiu sided with Lu Bu, leading the 20,000 men to join Lu Bu but 5,000 of them led by Shi Yi and Zuo Zhengchu creating a safe zone in the western gate for the loyalist to regroup.

He lastly described how suddenly almost all of the key figures official in the city except for Wang Xiu and several of Liu Bei's hardcore supporters, all of them joined Lu Bu when Lu Bu entered Beihai with his army.

Ju Shou: "My lord, this betrayal orchestrated by Chen Gong and Lu Bu must have been meticulously planned since they arrived to take refuge in My Lord. The speed at which key officials turned against us suggests that they have prepared this scheme for some time."

Liu Bei: "Chen Gong's cunning mind and persuasive tongue combined with Lu Bu's ambition have caught me off guard, I should have listened to you Ju Shou to not harbor a wolf inside our home."

Ju Shou: "No My Lord it's okay, they exploit My Lord's kindness to sway such a significant number of officials and soldiers which requires time. Chen Gong likely exploited the time when I and My Lord left Beihai, to support Lord Gongsun Zan which aroused some discontent among our ranks."

Liu Bei: "Their betrayal will not go unanswered. Lu Bu controlling Beihai means the rest of Wing Province is in his hands, do you have a suggestion on how we should proceed, Ju Shou?"

Ju Shou: "We are at a disadvantage My Lord, Lu Bu managed to take over much of our supplies and he has the means to recruit more soldiers, we are at a disadvantage in terms of men and supplies so the only way we can do is seek some support from the Warlord."

Liu Bei: "Seek outside support? Which Lord can we request some support from? I think there are only two choices we can choose from, Cao Cao or Lie Fan?"

Liu Bei closed his eyes after saying that, he actually didn't want to ask for help from these two opportunistic wolves. They accept and treat him kindly, but he knows that his nature is almost the same as theirs but he chooses a different path to embark on.

Ju Shou can see Liu Bei's reluctance, but there's no other way since Liu Bei have lost his base, and the supplies that they had prepared for their army more than half were taken by Lu Bu when he took over Beihai.

They don't have the means to feed their army in the long term, and Dongpingling alone can't support 100,000 men even if they harvest their produce every month, as they also need to feed the common people.

Liu Bei after being silent for some time, finally opened his eyes and agreed to Ju Shou's suggestion, allowing Ju Shou to contact Cao Cao for his assistance in facing Lu Bu.

As the letter was sent by Ju Shou to Cao Cao, Liu Bei couldn't escape the bitter taste of irony. Once a refuge for those seeking his protection, now he found himself seeking shelter from others.

On the outside, news of Lu Bu's takeover of Beihai spread throughout the land, Liu Bei was mocked by mane for taking a wolf and raising it in his home, now his home was taken over by Lu Bu leaving him only with Dongpingling.

The letter arrived at Cao Cao's hand after a week and a half passed by, Cao Cao who received Liu Bei's request for assistance in facing Lu Bu asked the opinions of his advisors.

Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai feels that they should accept Liu Bei's request do support, Kong Zhou is on his last leg right now and they can afford to fight on two front, as Liu Bei will face the brunt of Lu Bu's forces before they finished in their war with Kong Zhou.

Xun Yu and Cheng Yu on the other hand also supported the matter, but the supplies they had right now were not enough to support a prolonged war with Lu Bu, so if Cao Cao wanted to go to war with Lu Bu next, they needed to have a not so active war at least until the next harvest.

Cao Cao sat in silence, he felt that the matter of Liu Bei asking for support could be used to his advantage, Qing Province his ripe for the taking in his eyes since Lu Bu was not that great and would be defeated by him eventually.

Liu Bei on the other hand knows is a different matter, he and Lie Fan are the one he has thought of as his rival in this era, Lie Fan having the same mind as him and Liu Bei with his virtuous path of thinking.

After thinking for some time, Cao Cao said to his advisors that he would support Liu Bei but after they subjugated Kong Zhou, they just needed to some supplies first to Liu Bei to let him hold on for some time.

He also added that he felt they could use this chance to usurp Qing Province from Liu Bei after defeating Lu Bu, so he asked for Guo Jia and Xi Zhicai to devise a plan or a way they could do that after defeating Lu Bu.

Guo Jia, Xi Zhicai, Xun Yu, and Chen Yu cupped their hand to Cao Cao, this is one of the reasons that they chose to support Cao Cao, he truly saw everything that came to his path as an opportunity he could exploit.

Xun Yu as the best writer among everyone, was tasked by Cao Cao to write their letter of agreement to support Liu Bei, but list the condition and the situation that Cao Cao needs to handle before he can support Liu Bei.

The letter was then sent out by Xun Yu, being sent to Liu Bei using the same messenger Liue Bei sent to him, spending the same amount of time riding toward Beihai for a week and a half.

Finally, the messenger arrived at Dongpingling, bearing a letter from Cao Cao. As Liu Bei opened the letter, the contents revealed a cautious willingness from Cao Cao to provide assistance, along with the list of conditions that didn't allow him to support him immediately.

Liu Bei was relieved that Cao Cao acknowledged the shared enemy they had right now in Lu Bu, and he now only waited for Cao Cao's supplies that be sent to him and hoped that Cao Cao could finish his matters with Kong Zhou as fast as possible.

Giving the letter to Ju Shou, Liu Bei ordered the preparations to receive Cao Cao's Supplies. Ju Shou while reading the content of the letter acknowledged Liu Bei's order, he takes his leave to do so while trying to see if there's any hidden meaning in the letter.

All of this activity that was happening between Liu Bei, Lu Bu, and Cao Cao unbeknownst to them, was monitored by Lie Fan through the Oriole network, and all of their movement even discussion was known by Lie Fan.

Knowing that Cao Cao now is focused on Kong Zhou and supporting Liu Bei he feels now is the perfect time to save Yuan Shu's family that was in Runan, fulfilling his promise to Ji Ling since Runan security will not be as high level as before, with Cao Cao sending supplies to Liu Bei and battling Kong Zhou who was standing on his last leg.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu

Age: 26 (193 AD)

Level: 15

Next Level: 938.000

Renown: 645

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 571.700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 906 (+20)

VIT: 578 (+20)

AGI: 563 (+10)

INT: 567

CHR: 93

WIS: 489

WILL: 377

ATR Points: 0