Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 934 Eye to eye
The situation in Jingzhou worsened and Cao Jun's offensive was fully launched. Xu Shu was helpless for a while and could only suggest Liu Bei to find more skilled counselors.

Facing Liu Bei's inquiry, Xu Shu said: "Feng Chu."

Liu Bei immediately checked the numbers in his mind, "Pang Tong and Pang Shiyuan?"

"Master Pang De?"

Xu Shu nodded and said: "That's right. Shui Jing and Shui Jing met each other, and later became acquainted with Pang De Gong. They all called him Pang Gong."

"When Pang Gong was in Nanyang, I went to visit him and met Pang Shiyuan. Although he is young, he has extraordinary knowledge. In time, he will become a great person."

"Now Fancheng is guarded by relevant generals. Cao's army is temporarily retreating, but in a few months, it will be difficult to predict, so everything must be prepared for a rainy day."

"Right now, Pang Shiyuan is following Pang Degong and is living in seclusion in Lumen Mountain near Xiangyang. It is only a few dozen miles away from here. It is a great opportunity to look for him."

"If my lord has help, he will definitely be able to come up with a strategy to stop Cao Cao."

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard this and said, "That's very good. I will go with my husband tomorrow to invite Feng Chu out of the mountain!"

Hearing what Liu Bei said, Zhang Fei snorted coldly, "If you ask me, that fierce tiger has never sincerely helped us!"

Xu Shu covered his face, Liu Bei had already agreed, could he still make him take it back?

"In my opinion, he is just using us. Fortunately, he married his eldest brother's adopted daughter, but he reaps many benefits but does not help us at all. He is really inconsistent with his appearance!"

Only then did he react and glance at Zhang Fei, "Third brother, follow me and act accordingly. Don't talk nonsense."

Zhang Fei was moved and choked with tears. He heard Liu Bei sigh again, "It would be great if our territory could be connected with that of Yuan Shikai. Now, whether it is Jianghuai or Heishan, there are Cao Cao's forces in the middle, which makes it difficult for the two sides to join forces smoothly, especially since Cao Cao has taken Hanzhong. Our situation is really troublesome now."

"In the past two years, we have been struggling to support ourselves in Nanyang, but he has been focusing on his own territory. He has occupied so much space. What benefits have we gained?"

"I'll go with my brother too!"

Xu Shu was about to answer when he saw Zhang Fei rushing in excitedly and said, "I just heard outside the door that the eldest brother is going up the mountain?"

"We met Cao Cao, so we were unlucky, but since he didn't leave us a way out, we naturally had to fight to the death. I believe that sooner or later, we can defeat Cao Cao!"

"I just won't go tomorrow!"

Liu Bei was surprised and asked: "Liu Jingsheng personally invited Pang Gong, but he was not moved?"

He hurriedly said: "Feng Chu behaves wildly and doesn't stick to trivial matters. Please don't neglect me because of this. Besides, his father, Pang Gong, is also a good judge of people. Liu Jingsheng personally asked him to come out, but Pang Gong was unmoved, so my lord, Mr. When you meet, you still have to pay attention to your words and actions. "

Zhang Fei was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Just listen to my brother!"

"Now we are struggling to support Cao's army, but he first occupied Qingji and then merged with the state. Have you ever thought about our difficulties?"

"What's the difference between his adopted son's behavior and Lu Bu's?"

Zhang Fei hesitated: "Shouldn't it be right?"

Liu Bei comforted him: "How could my third brother think so? We were sworn brothers in Taoyuan back then. We didn't say we were born in the same year, the same month and the same day, but we only wanted to die in the same year, the same month and the same day. You have been defeated, but my second brother has never been defeated, and I have never been defeated." ?”

"Not to mention anything else, why did he have to go on an expedition to help us?"

After Liu Bei heard this, he shook his head and said, "Third brother, your mentality is wrong."

Xu Shu had a bitter look on his face after hearing this, and quickly winked at Liu Bei. Liu Bei didn't look at Xu Shu at this time, so he didn't notice Xu Shu's hint, so he said to Zhang Fei: "It's okay to go together, but you must not act rashly. You have to ask me before you take action.”

After hearing this, Zhang Fei had no choice but to agree. He also heard that Liu Bei would not let him go. After Xu Shu left, he said to Liu Bei dullly: "Brother, do you think I am always doing bad things? I have changed a lot!"

"If the two sides join forces, he should just die without saving his life?"

Liu Bei sighed: "Third brother, you are a little dissatisfied. Isn't he enough to help us?"

"From Xuzhou to Yuzhou, if he hadn't come to the rescue several times and saved the family fortunes of the three of us brothers, where would we be living now?"

"Furthermore, fighting for the world is the most cruel thing. We can't even take care of our parents and relatives. It's hard for us to protect ourselves. How can we have the dignity to protect our safety together?"

"Besides, if he hadn't restrained Cao Cao in the past two years, we would have lost even Fancheng and Xiangyang!"

"Third brother, you must know that he is a member of the Yuan family, and the generals around him also have demands. He needs to take responsibility for his subordinates and does not owe us anything."

Seeing what Liu Bei said, Zhang Fei could only say calmly: "But the current situation in Jingzhou is too bad. If this continues, we will lose our foothold again!"

"Not to mention that Cao's army will fight from Hanzhong sooner or later, even Jiangxia, south of Xiangyang, is now in danger!"

Liu Bei was also worried after hearing this. In addition to Cao Cao, Jiangdong was also a big trouble. He was still sending more troops to Jiangxia, and he was obviously determined to win. Although Huang Zu tried his best to stop him, his defeat was obvious, and he was afraid it would be difficult to hold on. .

While Liu Bei was surprised that Jiangdong could organize such an offensive in a short period of time after suffering a major defeat at Chaohu, he was also worried because Jiangxia was located downstream of the Han River and its position was extremely important. In this era, the upper reaches of the Han River were Hanzhong, the middle was Xiangyang, and the lower reaches were Xiakou of Jiangxia, where they merged into the Yangtze River.

Now that Cao Jun has occupied Hanzhong, he is ready to move down the Han River at any time. If Jiangdong takes Xiakou and goes up the river, Xiangyang can be completely blocked. Liu Bei will not be able to retreat by then.

Thinking of this, Liu Bei couldn't help but secretly scold Jiangdong for being shameless. Do they really think they can get benefits by standing with Cao Cao?

After Cao Cao destroys Jingzhou, sooner or later he will attack Jiangdong. When the time comes, he will move down the Yangtze River and advance both by water and land. Does Jiangdong really think he can stop Cao Cao?
Liu Bei suddenly thought of Yuan Xi who occupied Jianghuai, and thought that Jiangdong might have used Yuan Xi as a shield. They thought that even if they couldn't defeat Cao Cao, Yuan Xi would help them block Cao Cao after they retreated to Jianghuai?

But can Yuan Xi really know how to make a wedding dress from Jiangdong?

He is still in Bingzhou and seems to be in no hurry at all. What on earth is he thinking about?

Liu Bei thought about it for a long time and had no idea, so he could only put it aside for the time being. He had no time to take care of others now. The top priority was to find an expert who could find a way to break the situation, otherwise he would really be trapped and die in Xiangyang.

A few days later, Liu Bei took Xu Shu and Zhang Fei to Lumen Mountain and climbed all the way to the thatched cottage where Pang Degong lived in seclusion.

Xu Shu had been here several times with Mr. Shui Jing and Sima Hui before, so he was naturally familiar with the road. He led the way first, followed closely by Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. The three of them soon reached the mountainside and found a circle of houses.

It was already noon. Xu Shu saw smoke rising from the house of Mr. Pang De. He smiled at Liu Bei and said, "It's a coincidence. I just have a meal with Mr. Pang De."

The three of them entered the courtyard and saw the door of the thatched cottage in the middle opened. There was another person in the hall, eating a bowl of wheat rice. Xu Shu took a closer look and said in surprise: "Water mirror?"

"Why are you here?"

"Where's Pang Gong?"

Surprised by Xu Shu's introduction, Liu Bei discovered that the person sitting in the hall eating was not Mr. Pang De, but Mr. Sima Hui, the famous scholar Shui Jing.

Sima Hui was a noble man, wearing a crane cloak and dressed like a hermit. He stood up to greet him and said with a smile: "I came to visit Mr. Pang, but I didn't expect him to go out. I happened to be hungry, so I asked Mr. Pang all the time. My wife cooks for me."

After Xu Shu heard this, he smiled and scolded: "You are not a formal person, how can you be so rude!"

Sima Hui smiled and said: "How can the relationship between the three of us be so transparent?"

Liu Bei also heard about Sima Hui's deeds and wanted to recruit him. Sima Hui took a quick look and understood what he meant. He humbly said: "What Hui has learned is complicated, but it is not the way to manage the world. It is of no use to Xuande Gong. Please give me some permission." Let’s hang out among the mountains and forests.”

"I guess Xuande Gong and Yuan Zhi came here for Feng Chu, right?"

Xu Shu answered, "Exactly, where is Pang Shiyuan?"

Sima Hui smiled and said, "You're cooking for me in the kitchen."

After hearing this, Liu Bei was about to go see him, but when he looked back, he was stunned and thought, where is Zhang Fei?
At this time, Zhang Fei was in the kitchen, holding a wooden bowl in one hand and carrying wheat rice into the iron pot, but there was an embarrassed look on his face.

Behind the stove, there was a young man whose face was covered in stove ashes, obviously from the fire. He was staring at Zhang Fei with his two eyes exposed.

Zhang Fei was feeling guilty because he was stealing wheat rice. Seeing someone staring at him like this, he felt uncomfortable and said: "Who are you? How come you are darker than me?"

As a result, when he saw that the person opposite him still remained silent, he said angrily: "It turns out that this servant boy is deaf or a fool."

As a result, the man opposite said coldly: "Isn't it the way of a gentleman to ask for an uninvited guest without knowing his name?"

After hearing this, Zhang Fei's dark face turned a dark red, just like the bottom of the iron pot licked by the flames between the two of them. He felt that he couldn't get off the stage, so he sneered: "A servant is so sharp-tongued." Li, it seems that Mr. Pang is indeed extraordinary."

"I am Zhang Fei, the third brother of Liu Yuzhou. Have you heard of Zhang Yide?"

The man shook his head, "Liu Yuzhou?"

"Have not heard."

"I do know that Yuzhou is in the hands of Cao Cao now, isn't it?"

Zhang Fei almost couldn't breathe. How could the servant boy opposite him be stupid? He was not stupid at all. He was just pretending to be stupid. What's more, his words were too vicious. Wasn't he clearly mocking Liu Bei for not being able to hold on to his territory?

Zhang Fei was angry and wanted to pick up the servant boy and beat him up. He subconsciously stretched out his hand to catch it, but suddenly thought of Liu Bei's words, and said angrily: "I don't have the same knowledge as you."

He filled a bowl of rice and carried it out, but he heard footsteps behind him and saw the servant boy following behind. He asked curiously: "I'm going to deliver food to my elder brother. Why are you following me?"

"If you don't want to give up a bowl of rice, the worst I can do is give you money."

The man said loudly: "I also deliver food to people, you can do it yourself."

The two snorted at the same time, ignoring each other, and went straight to put on the gloves. However, they saw Liu Bei and others who were about to get up, and they bumped into each other.

(End of this chapter)