Ji Han Liu Zhang

Yellow and white city.

General Duan Wei of Ningji raised his wine glass and saluted Liu Zhang, who was sitting at the top of the table, saying, "Congratulations, sir. This time, we captured Guo Si alive and took down Huangbai City in one fell swoop. Guanzhong is now safe... Now the people of Guanzhong can enjoy peace, all thanks to your merits."

Duan Wei narrated Liu Zhang's achievements and contributions to the Han Dynasty.

"It's a pity that Li Jue escaped, so we couldn't achieve our goal, and there are still troubles in the war." Liu Zhang raised the wine glass in his hand, responding to Duan Wei's salute, and at the same time he sighed.

Duan Wei first drank up the wine in his hand, and after indicating that the wine in the cup was empty, he said comfortingly: "Li Jue is alone and fleeing for his life. Now he is just a bandit. Even a county lieutenant can capture Li Jue. You don't need to worry too much."

After saying this to comfort him, Duan Wei expressed his loyalty and said, "From Huangbai City to the north, I know the distance, the streets and the fortresses... If you agree, I am willing to lead the troops to the north to chase and intercept Li Jue for you. I will definitely capture Li Jue alive, otherwise I will never see you again."

Hearing this, Liu Zhang smiled calmly, shook his head and said, "The pursuit of Li Jue is already supervised by Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu. I expect that there will be victory reports sooner or later. So there is no need to trouble Duan Qing... It is enough that you have this intention."

Duan Wei nodded briskly and agreed, "I heard that Zhang Ren is a famous general in Shu, with unparalleled riding skills and a big spear, and few can match him. And although Zhang Xiu is young, he can be regarded as a rising star in Liangzhou. Among the younger generations in Liangzhou, Zhang Xiu has few rivals. Even Li Jue's nephew Hu Feng, who is tough and difficult to control, is no match for Zhang Xiu... If these two people pursue Li Jue, as you said, there will be victory news sooner or later."

"I hope so." Liu Zhang raised his glass and returned the toast to Duan Wei.

Duan Wei drank the wine Liu Zhang offered him in return, and then after putting down his glass, he sighed: "Li Jue and Guo Si have been causing trouble in Guanzhong for many years. They have held the emperor hostage and oppressed the ministers. The court system and national etiquette have all been ruined by them, causing unrest in the world... The children of Guanzhong have been particularly harmed by them. The people are living in misery, and the scholars and common people are almost wiped out."

Duan Wei listed the crimes of Li Jue and Guo Si, and at the same time, he was also drawing a line between himself and Li Jue and Guo Si: "Wei has always had the ambition to fight against the bandits, but unfortunately, his forces are too weak to fight against Li Jue and Guo Si. He can only stay in Huayin, preserve one side, and wait for the opportunity."

Duan Wei arrived, bowed to Liu Zhang, and said, "Thank God you have sent troops to Guanzhong to revive the government and save the people of Guanzhong who are in dire straits... Although I am a military man, I also know the great cause. From today on, I am willing to serve you and accept your orders. There is no other way."

After the previous casual conversation, Duan Wei now revealed his true feelings. He expressed to Liu Zhang his idea of ​​becoming Liu Zhang's lackey, and decided that from today on, he would serve under Liu Zhang, a monarch with first-class benevolence and martial virtues.

"In today's world, it is not the king who chooses his subjects, but the subjects who also choose their king." Duan Wei bowed his head to express his submission. His idea was to serve a wise king, just like Liu Zhang now. He knew that he was not talented enough to rule a region, so it was better to choose a wise master to serve.

However, Duan Wei had never met the wise leader in his mind, so he just stayed in Huayin and watched what was happening in the world. Even if he met the wise leader in his mind today, he would surrender to him without hesitation.

Liu Zhang stood up, walked to Duan Wei, stretched out his hands to help Duan Wei up: "With Mr. Duan's help, I don't have to worry about the Yongliang incident."

……

The territory of Yao County, Beidi County.

Ever since he deceived Guo Si and abandoned his cousin Li Huan to flee north, Li Jue had been on the run for his life, not daring to breathe for a moment. He knew that if he fell into the hands of Shu army, there would be no reason for pardon for his past crimes.

Especially the two elder brothers of Liu Zhang, the monarch of the Shu army, Liu Fan and Liu Dan, both died at his hands. Liu Zhang's father Liu Yan also fell ill and died because of the deaths of Liu Fan and Liu Dan. Therefore, Li Jue, who directly killed Liu Fan and Liu Dan and indirectly killed Liu Yan, understood that he and Liu Zhang had a paternal feud and the two were in an irreconcilable situation.

Thinking of this, Li Jue shook his head and laughed contemptuously. Under such circumstances, how could he and Guo Si stay in Huang Baicheng and defend it foolishly?

With the Shu Army's advantage in military strength and the fact that they have powerful weapons like the Thunderbolt Chariot, Huangbai City will become a dead place, a dead place with no hope of survival!
Therefore, since entering Huangbaicheng, Li Jue understood that he must not stay in Huangbaicheng. Huangbaicheng would be breached by the Shu army sooner or later. By then, if he fell into the hands of the Shu army, he would be cut into pieces or executed by slow slicing.

"Guo Aduo, it's not that I want to betray you, but the situation does not allow me to hesitate. One of you and I must stay in Huangbaicheng to hold on and delay the Shu army, so that the other can have a chance of survival." Li Jue thought of Guo Si, who was deceived by him, and he felt a little ashamed for betraying Guo Si's trust.

After just a moment of shame, Li Jue forgot about Guo Si. As long as he could survive, he could use his cousin Li Huan as a bargaining chip to gain Guo Si's trust. So what was the big deal about deceiving Guo Si?

His moral bottom line has always been very low and he has almost no psychological burden.

Li Jue looked up at the sun, and under the dazzling sunlight, he couldn't help but half-close his eyes: "Such a good sunlight, I don't know how many times Guo Si can see it, but I can enjoy it for a long time."

Just as Li Jue was enjoying the warmth of the sunshine and lamenting Guo Si's fate, his other cousin, Li Ying, came up to him on horseback from the back of the team and said something that ruined his good mood.

"Brother, the scouts reported that the Shu army cavalry are following the trail and heading towards us, and they are not far away from us." Li Ying's voice trembled and his expression showed a hint of panic.

Upon hearing this, Li Jue could not help but frown. Without taking time to think, he asked a key question: "How many people are there in the Shu army, and who is the commander?"

"About 1,500 cavalrymen. As for the commander, the name on his flag is 'Zhang'. If I'm not mistaken, he must be Zhang Ren, the cavalry commander under Liu Zhang." Li Ying told the news he got from the scouts one by one.

"1,500 cavalry."

'Zhang Ren, the cavalry general.'

After hearing the details of the pursuers, Li Jue showed a solemn expression. He glanced around and saw that he had abandoned Guo Si and fled, and he had only more than 500 cavalrymen under his command, which was far less than the number of the pursuers.

Not to mention him running away, the morale of his soldiers was low, and all the soldiers had a look of decadence and decay on their faces. In this situation, his soldiers were not able to fight, and if they were to fight against the pursuing Shu army, they would most likely be defeated. "I am willing to stay and block the Shu army for my brother, so that my brother can escape." Li Ying gritted his teeth secretly and said with a stiff upper lip.

Li Ying knew that his brother, for the sake of his own life, had used Li Huan to gain the trust of Guo Si in exchange for his family's escape. Now he would use his life to delay the pursuit of the Shu army.

Even though Li Jue would certainly have such an idea, Li Ying thought it would be better for him to bring it up and try to move Li Jue's hard-hearted heart to see if he could get Li Jue to assign other people to delay and stop the pursuing Shu soldiers.

Li Jue was surprised by Li Ying's decision. He shook his head and said, "Our army is small in number and morale is low. We cannot compete with the Shu army. Leaving you here to stop the Shu army will not bring us much benefit. You will not be able to stop the Shu army for long."

Li Jue soon made a decision: "Now that the Shu army is approaching, the situation is critical. The plan now is for you and I to act separately. In this way, you and I may not be completely wiped out by the Shu army, and leave one or two bloodlines for my Li family."

"Ah." Li Ying said in surprise. He was very surprised that Li Jue actually had such an idea and planned to act separately from him.

You know, the primary target of the Shu army chasing them is naturally Li Jue. This is almost certain. If he and Li Jue acted separately, the Shu army would definitely chase in the direction of Li Jue's escape, which means his chance of survival would be greater.

This was totally inconsistent with Li Jue's character. Li Ying became suspicious and at the same time he felt uneasy, thinking that Li Jue might have dug a big hole, waiting for him to jump into it.

While Li Ying was feeling uneasy, Li Jue looked at him with a smile and said earnestly, "A Ying, how has your brother always treated you?"

When Li Ying heard this, he instantly felt a bad feeling in his heart. He probably guessed what Li Jue was planning.

Facing Li Jue, whose eyes were half-closed and looked like a hawk stalking its prey, Li Ying could not hesitate at this moment, so he immediately responded: "Brother, you treat me like a parent loves his child. Without you, I would not be where I am today."

"Yeah." Li Jue nodded. He was very satisfied with Li Ying's answer.

After Li Jue nodded, he said emotionally: "If you and I split up our forces, the Shu army will certainly split up their forces to pursue us. The Shu army will definitely take you as their primary target and rush towards you with your banner... Ah Ying, you should be able to escape. I also hope that you can pour a glass of wine in front of your tomb at this time of year, so that you will not be exiled to your grave."

Li Jue's words were moving, but to Li Ying's ears, it sounded like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue. The slippery snake tongue kept going in and out of Li Jue's mouth, which was clearly a signal of danger.

"I absolutely cannot agree to this." Li Ying first gave himself a big warning. Having been with Li Jue for many years, he knew that if he agreed to let Li Jue sacrifice himself to save him, he would probably be harmed by Li Jue immediately.

Beads of sweat flowed down Li Ying's back. His brain was working frantically, thinking about how to respond. Soon, he knew the answer in a flash of inspiration. Li Jue's unspoken answer was: "Brother, the Li family can be without younger brothers, but it can never be without brothers."

"Oh." Li Jue replied with a little doubt.

Hearing Li Jue's slightly puzzled response, Li Ying knew that his answer was correct and in line with Li Jue's wishes. He then continued along the meaning of the previous sentence and said, "If there is no brother, there will be no Li family. If brother is still alive, Li family will still exist. I am of humble talent and my reputation is far inferior to that of brother. I am indeed unable to be the pillar of the Li family."

At this point, Li Ying's thoughts became clearer. With a slight tremor in his voice, he said emotionally: "Brother, you can let me wear your armor and control your banner. In this way, the Shu army will abandon you and lead everyone to chase me... In this way, you can escape, and there will be hope for the revival of the Li family in the future."

"A Ying." Li Jue held Li Ying's hand and said, "I didn't expect you to be so righteous. I am very happy... Even so, I can't be soft-hearted and evade responsibility. I will leave it to you to lead the Shu army away."

"Don't worry, brother. Leave it to me." Li Ying spoke with great righteousness, but in his heart he was cursing Li Jue's mother. He felt very disgusted that Li Jue wanted him to lead away the pursuers but did not say it clearly.

"We, your cousins, are all your human shields." Li Ying cursed in his heart, but his face was full of emotion, and he looked at Li Jue affectionately.

Time waits for no one, and the Shu army's pursuers are right behind them. Li Jue did not have much time to talk to Li Ying about brotherhood. He quickly exchanged clothes with Li Ying, with Li Ying wearing the armor of his commander-in-chief and serving him, while Li Jue put on Li Ying's armor.

Li Jue also made a distribution for the soldiers under his command. He gave 300 cavalry and his large banner to Li Ying, and he led 200 cavalry. It was not that Li Jue loved Li Ying, but Li Jue considered that Li Ying, who was pretending to be the commander-in-chief, should have more people than him, which was in line with the facts.

"Brother, I am leaving now."

When everything was ready, Li Ying bowed to Li Jue and said goodbye. His words trembled, but not because of emotion, but because he knew that if he left, he would be hunted down by the Shu army, so he felt panicked.

"Yeah." Li Jue nodded with a dignified expression and watched Li Ying walk towards the northwest. After Li Ying walked for a distance, Li Jue led his cavalry towards the northeast.

Not long after, Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu, who had been chasing here, temporarily stopped their pursuit. Looking at the two groups of horse hoof prints on the ground, they realized that Li Jue was planning to divide his troops.

However, they still needed to learn the specific situation from the scouts. The scouts were on horseback and reported to Zhang Ren and Zhang Xiu, "General, the bandits are divided into two groups. One group is heading northwest, and the other is heading northeast."

"Which team is Li Jue's flag in?" Zhang Ren asked with concern. His target of this trip was Li Jue, and he didn't care much about the others.

"Li Jue's large banner is among the troops heading northwest, and Li Jue's golden helmet, shining brightly, can also be faintly seen among the troops heading northwest." The scout reported to him in detail what he had learned.

Without waiting for Zhang Ren's order, Zhang Xiu immediately requested, "General, if Li Jue goes to the northwest, you can lead more than a thousand men to pursue him, and leave 500 cavalrymen with me. I will pursue the bandits going to the northeast and not let any of them have a chance to escape." (End of this chapter)