311. Liu Bei's Underground Movement

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When he left the location, he was welcomed by the sight of his men fighting in the wall with Lie Fan's men taking him by surprise, and before he could relay an order to his men, Ji Ling who saw Gongsun Kang immediately led a handful of his best men toward Gongsun Kang, who in return also saw him and tries to flee but it was too late as Ji Ling was much faster and using his war trident handle he knock Gongsun Kang unconscious, capturing him while his men handle Gongsun Kang's soldiers.

Seeing Gongsun Kang being knocked out by Ji Ling, Gongsun Kang's soldiers tried to save their Young Lord but unfortunately, Ji Ling's men were much stronger and managed to hold them off.

Ji Ling approached Gongsun Kang and tied him up with a rope, and when he finished he heard the sound of the gate being opened forcibly by the battering ram, and Lie Fan's men entered the town with Lie Fan leading the charge with his bodyguards.

The moment Lie Fan entered with the rest of his army, Gongsun Kang's men who were facing Chao Bo's unit quickly overwhelmed by the arrival of Lie Fan and the rest of his Army, especially with Lie Fan leading the charge no one could stop him.

The people of the town all hide in their houses, not daring to go outside after the sudden appearance of Ji Ling and Chao Bo alongside their unit, so they were they don't become innocent casualties.

Of course, Lie Fan has instilled in his soldiers and generals to not harm innocent people, even though the times of ransacking or looting have long passed due to the Qin Dynasty shoeing that not doing so allows a much easier integration.

That's why many Warlords knew the importance of not doing so, especially with the Han Dynasty now heavily influenced by Confucianism teaching, of course, there's an exception amongst them such as Dong Zhuo who rather burned Luoyang and let the people suffer than let the coalition hold the capital.

That's why the moment Dong Zhuo oppressed the people and even harmed them to such a degree, his fate was already put in stone because there was no way he could unite the land in his tyrannical way, even if he managed to do so, his dynasty wouldn't last long as rebellion will surely pop up.

In about 20 minutes, Lie Fan and his army managed to defeat Gongsun Kang's army and consolidate their rule over the town. Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Gong immediately began bureaucratic work handling the town's government.

Ji Ling and Chao Bo brought the unconscious and tied up Gongsun Kang to Lie Fan who was handling the town's government alongside Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Gong with the rest of Lie Fan's generals.

Seeing that Gongsun Kang was still unconscious, Lie Fan had a servant who trembled in feat have a water basin being poured over Gongsun Kang's head, which woke him up immediately and he began to check his surroundings after remembering what happened before everything turned dark.

Lie Fan: "Gongsun Kang we finally met, I didn't expect that you were a coward, unlike your father who would surely take on Ji Ling, even though he knew that he wouldn't win against him."

Gongsun Kang: "Lie Fan! I'm not a coward! Someone sane and logical knew when to back off when they saw someone they couldn't defeat! I'm nothing like you, who would scheme all day long to reach the position you have now!"

Lie Fan: "Haha! What's wrong with scheming to rise to power, didn't your father also do the same thing as me? But his starting line was much more ahead of me when Dong Zhuo rose to power, he was pretty smart to focus outside of China rather than participating in the war to unite the land."

Gongsun Kang: "My Father was a man who could see the future, he knew that it was much better for him to expand outside rather than participate in these powder keg! When we become strong enough, we then will attack all of you and unite the land!"

Jia Xu: "Trying to become the Oriole, while the mantis stalks the cicada. This an ingenious point of view by Lord Gongsun Du, but unfortunately, he doesn't realize that he is the mantis while My Lord is the Oriole, Young Lord Gongsun Kang it's a shame that your father's dream will never bore fruit."

Gongsun Kang: "How dare you?! Who do you think you are daring to say so?! Lie Fan you better teach your dogs to not bark while the masters are speaking! If you can't do so, I gladly teach y-*pack!!*"

Gongsun Kang who was angered by the sudden intrusion on his conversation with Lie Fan Jia Xu, insulted Jia Xu by saying that he was a dog and Lie Fan better teach him, if he can't Gongsun Kang will help him teach his dog, but before he finished his words he was slapped by Lie Fan.

The slap was so loud that it reverberated loudly across the room, Gongsun Kang's right cheek which was slapped by Lie Fan turned bright red and he also spit some blood since the inside of his mouth was injured due to the force of Lie Fan's slap.

Lie Fan slapped Gongsun Kang in a fit of anger, he didn't expect one of his longest serving advisors with Sun Qian and even to consider his teacher insulted by Gongsun Kang as a dog that needed teaching, which caused Lie Fan to snap.

Lie Fan slapping Gongsun Kang surprised everyone but soon warmed their hearts because this showed that Lie Fan a red for his retainers and can't take it that they were insulted, Jia Xu was especially touched by Lie Fan's action because he knew that Lie Fan can be very stoic when he wants to.

After slapping Gongsun Kang, Lie Fan doesn't want to say any words to Gongsun Kang, so he tells Ji Ling and Chao Bo to have him put into a room that is heavily guarded and have a doctor check his injuries, and then ignores Gongsun Kang who cursed at him.

Ji Ling and Chao Bo brought Gongsun Kang who was tied with some of their men and left the hall, Lie Fan then continued to handle the government matters with Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Gong.

While in You Province Lie Fan and his army were running amok, managing to capture around 70% of Gongsun Du's domain and even captured Gongsun Kang his eldest son, at Xinye Liu Bei and his retainers saw an opportunity that could be taken in the chaos.

The moment the news of Lie Fan attacking Jiangxia Commandery and Sun Clan attacking Liu Biao as well reached Xinye, Liu Bei held a secret meeting alongside his advisors and generals away from Liu Qi, Fu Xun, and Liu Pan's ears and eyes.

Since he arrived at Jing Province, Liu Bei has taken Jing Province as his own domain which would happen sooner or later, of course, all of those thoughts were thought by him alone, and doesn't tell anyone about this, not even his wife Lady Gan.

He asks Ju Shou and Wang Xiu about the progress of the task they have done since they arrived at Jing Province and be stationed at Xinye, and proceeds by saying that it's not he was in a hurry but afraid that Lie Fan and Sun Jian will take Jing Province first.

Even though Lii Bei wanted to sound upright and calm, everyone in the room could hear the desperation and ambition inside his voice, something that they had never heard which surprised them, especially Guan Yu and Zhang Fei but thought that hype heard it wrong.

In both of their eyes, Liu Bei is a very moral and upright person who cares for the people who suffered due to the war and strives to restore the Han Dynasty which was the ruling dynasty to stop the chaos.

So they instantly ignore what they heard thinking that they heard it wrong, while Ju Shou and Wang Xiu were taken aback but don't think that it was abnormal for Liu Bei to be sounded like that, they were happy that Liu Bei has begun to change slightly to have some ambition other than caring for the people.

In their mind having those thoughts was truly noble, and that's why they followed Liu Bei but it was also a shortcoming since in the fight for hegemony, there's no right and wrong but winner and loser, if you want to become a winner than choosing to be moral rather than pragmatic is a suicide.

Ju Shou after clearing his thoughts, replied to Liu Bei by saying that both he and Wang Xiu have managed to recruit many people to their side, especially the nobles and merchants clan at Xinye.

They agreed to support Liu Bei but in return, Liu Bei had to control Jing Province or at least Xiangyang which was Liu Biao's capital to prove himself, if he managed to do so then they would stand behind Liu Bei 100%.

As for outside of Xinye, they only managed to recruit mediocre amounts of people, which was below their target but there are signs that the Kuai Clan agreed to support Liu Bei, but it was still vague since the Kuai Clan responded with a letter which filled with acceptance and rejection equally.

Hearing that so many people in Xinye agree to rally around him and even the Kuai Clan's vague support makes Liu Bei excited, their support will be valuable in his rise to power especially the Kuai Clan which was an old noble clan in Jing Province.

After managing to calm himself down while not showing excitement in his face, Liu Bei then asked if this was the right moment to truly begin an underground movement to scheme for Jing Province, with Liu Biao's attention now on Lie Fan and Sun Jian.

Wang Xiu told Liu Bei that it was a perfect time since Liu Biao's soldiers were also sent to the front line to face Lie Fan and Sun Jian's army, leaving his core territories defenseless.

Ju Shou agreed with Wang Xiu but added that before truly launching a full scale underground movement, Liu Bei should persuade Liu Qi to his side since Liu Qi's support to him will make Liu Bei had some legitimacy to rule Jing Province in the eyes of the people, and when Liu Bei wanted to ask how to persuade Liu Qi to his side, Ju Shou takes out some letters and said to Liu Bei that it contains evidence of Liu Biao and the Cai Clan choosing Liu Cong as the heir and not Liu Qi anymore.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu

Age: 29 (196 AD)

Level: 16

Next Level: 2,462,000

Renown: 725

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 1,071,700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 936 (+20)

VIT: 598 (+20)

AGI: 583 (+10)

INT: 587

CHR: 93

WIS: 509

WILL: 397

ATR Points: 0