Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

Chapter 482: Underestimating Liu Bei?

Sun Jian's words obviously stimulated Cao Zhang. Originally, Cao Zhang was still a little hesitant. After all, he had to face simultaneous attacks from many forces at the same time. In addition, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, the Grave Robbers Captain and the Fachou Lieutenant General under his command only had a total of more than 3,000 people.

The other side had two or even three famous generals including Huang Zhong, and tens of thousands of soldiers. The strength of the two sides was a cliff-like gap. Cao Zhang was about to refuse, but was provoked by Sun Jian's words.

"no problem."

Cao Zhang nodded in agreement. Guerrilla warfare was not positional warfare, so it was not too difficult. All his men were elite. Even if they could not win, they could always run away. They could fight when advancing and run when retreating. No matter what happened, they would not be surrounded by the enemy.

"Well, it's true that a tiger father has like a dog son. In fact, the situation is not as bad as I said. At least, you won't be surrounded by several famous generals, because Jiangxia County and Yuzhang County will have people attacking, and they won't be able to spare their hands to deal with you. Only Changsha County really needs you to deal with it."

Sun Jian did not hide his admiration at all, he just said those words just to test Cao Zhang. If Cao Zhang showed any intention of retreating, he would immediately replace Cao Zhang and let his own people take Cao Zhang's original position, and then let Cao Zhang follow his men to attack.

However, Sun Jian was still very satisfied with Cao Zhang's performance, so there was no need to replace him with someone else to be in charge here.

"Bofu, you will leave immediately and head to the border of Nanyang County to join Dian Wei. I believe Liu Bei will start to act immediately after the New Year."

"The news of my promotion to a legendary general has not been leaked out, so Liu Bei shouldn't be on guard, right?"

Sun Ce said with some doubt that in this action, he thought the opponent was only Jingzhou, so he had never taken it seriously. But now it seems that Sun Jian and Cao Cao do not think so.

As expected, Sun Jian shook his head heavily.

"You underestimated Liu Bei. No, we all underestimated him. We must be fully prepared to fight against a man who went from being a mat weaver and shoe seller to the top feudal lord who controls the nine provinces and was even crowned a king. If you still use your previous views to deal with Liu Bei, then this time, we'd better not start a war as soon as possible."

This time, not only Cao Zhang was shocked, but even Sun Ce was confused. Had Liu Bei frightened their father to this extent?
"Okay, I will rush to Nanyang County after the New Year."

"Remember, you only need to stop one of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Apart from Zhuge Liang, Xi Zhicai and other advisers, you cannot attack anyone else even if they pass under your nose. You must make sure that Zhuge Liang and the others are killed with one strike, and you must ensure that you have a way to retreat before you attack. Do you understand?"

Sun Jian's two words were extremely heavy, and Sun Ce remembered them deeply. Cao Zhang, who was standing beside him, also felt a sense of solemnity.

"I know, Father."

Sun Ce bowed and saluted towards Sun Jian. Sun Jian's eyes moved slightly, and then he patted Sun Ce on the shoulder.

Sun Ce and Cao Zhang took the order and left. Sun Jian sat where he was, staring at the two men's disappearing backs, his eyes dim and unclear, and no one knew what he was thinking.

There are only three days left until the Chinese New Year. Even border cities like Jiaozhi County are decorated with lights and are filled with joy.

Places like Qingzhou, Yuzhou, and Yanzhou in the north were filled with a strong New Year atmosphere. There had not been a major war for nearly half a year, and people everywhere thought the war was over and wanted to have a good New Year.

Some local gentry even opened their granaries to distribute porridge, which was a rare event. It was a wonderful scene.

The palace of Prince Lie in Linzi, Qingzhou, was already hung with red lanterns early on. Fa Zheng had even earlier found a troupe of dancers from Yanzhou and brought them to Linzi, waiting to perform the troupe on New Year's Day to pray for blessings for the coming year.

Wooden plaques representing the two door gods Shentu and Yulei were hung early on on doors of all sizes throughout Prince Lie's palace. At that time, Shentu and Yulei were the door gods of the people. During the New Year, not only would the wooden plaques be hung, but sacrifices would also be offered to them in order to protect the family from illness and disaster in the coming year.

Not only that, Gu Rubing also ordered the purchase of countless fireworks and firecrackers to be set off on New Year's Day. Except for some generals who had to be on duty in various places, the rest had already arrived in Linzi, preparing to celebrate the New Year here.

On New Year's Day, Gu Rubing got up early and ran into Zhuge Liang as soon as he left the room.

"Prime Minister, you got up so early today."

Gu Rubing said with a smile, Zhuge Liang was wearing a black and white crane felt and still holding a feather fan.

"Isn't it the same for my lord?"

The two looked at each other and laughed. The heavy snow began to fall all over the ground last night. By this morning, the sky and the earth seemed to be covered in white snow. The heavy snow made the weather no longer so cold.

Gu Rubing was covered with the fur of Youzhou snow ferrets, but he still felt a little cold in this snowy weather. Gu Rubing rubbed his hands unconsciously. If he did not have the physique of a second-rate general, he really would not be able to bear this kind of freezing weather.

He always felt that the winter at this time was much colder than his previous winters.

"My Lord, are you feeling a little cold?"

Zhuge Liang keenly noticed Gu Rubing rubbing his hands, and asked with a smile, and Gu Rubing nodded.

"It's a bit cold. I haven't seen such heavy snow in a long time."

"Yes, the heavy snow has covered up so many dirty things in the world."

"Why don't we find a place, sit around the stove, make some tea, and play a game of chess?"

Gu Rubing immediately became interested. At this time, it would be great to boil a pot of hot tea, play a game of chess, and chat about local customs and culture.

Zhuge Liang naturally agreed.

"My lord, your chess skills have improved so fast that it is astonishing. I will ask for your advice today."

Zhuge Liang meant what he said. Even Gu Rubing himself was not sure how fast his chess skills improved. Perhaps only Zhuge Liang knew.

However, Gu Rubing thought that Zhuge Liang was just teasing him. After all, he had never won when playing chess against Zhuge Liang. From losing seven or six pieces in the beginning to losing three or two pieces now, although he had been making progress, he still felt that Zhuge Liang had not yet shown his true strength.

The two walked all the way to the screen in the main hall. Although Gu Rubing had long ago given up the title of Qingzhou Mu and was now the Lie Wang, his Lie Wang Mansion was actually still the former Mu Mansion. After being named Lie Wang, let alone expansion, there was not even a slight renovation, and it remained the same, which made the already small mansion even more crowded.

As more people lived there, Ma Chao, Huang Zhong, Huang Zu, Wei Yan, Pang De, and Liu Qi all had their own rooms in Prince Lie's mansion. Gu Rubing and Zhuge Liang found a place in the back half of the main hall, used a screen as a block, and built a place in the main hall for them to play chess and drink tea.

Fortunately, there were basically no servants in Prince Lie's mansion. There were only some maids in the lady's house in the backyard, and the front yard was guarded by soldiers. They were a group of grown men and didn't need servants, so they didn't have to be shy about talking in the main hall.

When they arrived, soldiers had already lit charcoal for them and started a stove. The tea leaves were soaked in the warm water, emitting bursts of tea fragrance.

There are also some oranges placed around the stove, which are cooked by the hot stove. When the skin turns black, the oranges inside lock in their sweetness and no longer feel cold. They taste warm and are Gu Rubing's favorite.

The chessboard has been set up, and the two men sit opposite each other. They never have to guess who will go first, as Gu Rubing always has the first move. As Gu Rubing places the black piece, the game between the two begins in full swing.

When Zhuge Liang and Gu Rubing played chess, Zhuge Liang did not use his full strength, but it was definitely not as Gu Rubing thought that he only used a little strength. It should be said that Zhuge Liang only retained two points, because Zhuge Liang never attacked, but only defended blindly, and then took advantage of Gu Rubing's attack to tear apart Gu Rubing's fragile defense and finally slay the dragon.

However, now Gu Rubing can delay the game until the end, and often the winner can be decided. This is what surprised Zhuge Liang the most. It is rare to be able to reach this level in less than a year of learning chess, because even Zhuge Liang had to learn chess for about two years to reach Gu Rubing's current level.

The two of them played chess for nearly half an hour. The situation on the chessboard had become one-sided, and the number of people in the hall had increased from two to five. Gu Rubing was already three points behind, but he was still struggling to hold on, wanting to try to lose less.

Zhuge Liang sat opposite, looking at Gu Rubing who was thinking hard with a smile. While drinking hot tea, he took half of the orange peeled by Zhao Yun. The other half naturally fell into the hands of Gu Rubing who was also thinking hard.

After a long time, Gu Rubing took out four black pieces from the chessboard, placed them on the board, and admitted defeat.

Xi Zhicai on the side was amazed.

"The Lord's chess skills have increased to a terrifying level."

Gu Rubing glanced at Xi Zhicai unhappily and scolded him with a smile.

"Wenyuan, you are here to make fun of me too, right? I have been forced to this point by the military advisor, and you still say that my chess skills have improved. You are either making fun of me on purpose or flattering me."

"Flattering? What does flattering mean?"

Xi Zhicai asked with some confusion, and Gu Rubing responded immediately.

"Nothing, nothing. Come on, Wenyuan, let's play a game of chess. I want to see how much you, who makes fun of me, can beat me."

"Okay, then I will play a game of chess with you, my lord."

Xi Zhicai stood up from his seat nearby and spoke seriously. He came to Zhuge Liang and bowed to him. Zhuge Liang smiled and nodded.

"Just try your best, but don't give in to me."

Gu Rubing said this with a smile. He did not notice that after he said this, Zhuge Liang, Xi Zhicai, and Guan Yu, a true gentleman who had been watching the game of chess without saying a word, all had strange expressions on their faces.

So the chessboard was moved from the original sitting bed to under the sitting bed, and Gu Rubing and Xi Zhicai began their first game of chess. Xi Zhicai sat upright with his hands in the chess box, ready to guess the first move.

This was also the first time that Gu Rubing played chess with someone other than Zhuge Liang. After he was ready, he placed a black chess piece on the upper right corner of the chessboard.

Xi Zhicai was a little slow to react. He hadn't even guessed the move yet, so how did the move start? However, it only took Xi Zhicai a moment to figure it out, and then he pointed out a white chess piece, placing it at the place where Gu Rubing's chess piece would go.

The game between the two began.

As soon as the game between the two began, Fa Zheng and Liu Ye came to the hall. As soon as they came in, they noticed that the atmosphere was not right and a solemn atmosphere filled the air.

When the two of them walked in, they discovered that Gu Rubing and Xi Zhicai were engaged in a fierce chess game, and the fight on the chessboard was extremely brutal.

Not only did Xi Zhicai have no intention of giving in to Gu Rubing, he also used all his strength at the very beginning of the game, attacking from three sides simultaneously, catching Gu Rubing off guard. Gu Rubing had been the main attacker before, and for a while he was unable to adapt, and was defeated by Xi Zhicai.

When a big dragon was about to form on the chessboard, Gu Rubing finally reacted. He rushed out with one of his pieces and embedded it in the seven inches of Xi Zhicai's big dragon that had not yet taken shape. Since the dragon had not yet taken shape, it must be a dragon. The movement of the dragon was restricted, so it could only be a snake. However, the snake was locked by Gu Rubing at seven inches, so the attack was greatly hindered at this moment.

Xi Zhicai's eyes moved slightly. He naturally saw the importance of this chess piece. Originally, he should have moved here in the previous move, but he wanted to further restrict Gu Rubing's actions, so he was greedy and aggressive, and did not perfect his formation in time, and was immediately seized by Gu Rubing.

Xi Zhicai picked up a white chess piece and placed it on the upper hand of the Dragon-Trapping Nail, intending to eat it. Gu Rubing did not hesitate at all and placed a black chess piece on the left hand of the white chess piece, prolonging the life of the Dragon-Trapping Nail again. Xi Zhicai stopped attacking head-on and started a siege, and the white chess piece fell.

However, Gu Rubing did not continue to extend the dragon-trapping nails, but started a counterattack.

After Xi Zhicai used six white chess pieces to pull out the dragon-trapping nails, Gu Rubing moved the chessboard and a new big dragon was formed. The two sides began to attack and collide with each other.

The advantages accumulated by Xi Zhicai in the early stage were completely disrupted by the two dragon-trapping nails just now, and all of them were returned. Now Xi Zhicai is only half a point ahead of Gu Rubing. Even with this half point, Xi Zhicai dare not say that he can be sure of winning all the time, and Gu Rubing may take it away at any time.

After Gu Rubing launched another attack, Xi Zhicai suddenly changed his style of play. He no longer fought against Gu Rubing, but chose to start killing the dragon.

After seventeen pieces, Gu Rubing surrendered again. This time, he lost two pieces to Xi Zhicai.

By the time the two of them finished their game, the room was already crowded with people. Zhuge Liang, Guan Yu, Fa Zheng, Liu Ye, Lu Su and others who were knowledgeable about chess were standing aside with serious expressions, carefully analyzing the game.

Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Zhang He and Liu Qi, who didn't understand much and only knew the basics, remembered the two men's respective tricks.

Zhang Fei, Ma Chao, Wei Yan and Pang De, who had no idea at all, were attacking Orange.

(End of this chapter)