I practiced magic in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 157 Where is the sincerity between people?
"I'm not the worm in Wang Yuanxu's stomach. How would I know if you ask me?"

Yang Hong picked up the dishes with chopsticks and ate leisurely, looking like an experienced and shrewd person. It was obvious that he did not want to reveal more information to Xu You in vain.

Although the two of them cooperated briefly for a common goal, a trend of division had already appeared within the Runan Yuan family. They each served their own master, had their own ulterior motives, and were each pursuing their own little calculations.

Xu You didn't take it seriously after the test was fruitless, and continued the conversation: "It's not hard to guess, actually."

"Oh, what's up, Brother Ziyuan, did you figure out something?"

"Earlier, Marquis Qi had feigned illness to lure out the snake, kill Dong Cheng, and intimidate the young emperor. Now he is sitting still, just using the same old trick again."

Xu You held a wine glass, looked into the night sky and talked freely.

Although his cheeks were flushed and he was drunk, his eyes were bright and clear, and it was obvious that his mind was still clear: "If Marquis Qi wanted to send troops, he should have done his best to appease the noble families in the territory. However, his recent actions are completely contrary to this."

"Maybe he was just stupid and arrogant. The coalition army was defeated in the Battle of Hulao Pass. Under Wang Yuanxu's command, he had outstanding generals such as Lu Bu and Xu Huang, and wise men such as Xun You and Jia Xu. In addition, he had his own unparalleled martial arts skills, so he thought he was invincible, which is why he made such stupid moves one after another."

Yang Hong spoke to himself, still refusing to reveal any valuable information.

This made Xu You very unhappy. He squinted his eyes and said sarcastically, "Brother Uncle, do you believe this nonsense?"

"It doesn't really matter whether you believe it or not."

After Yang Hong had eaten and drunk his fill, he finally put down his chopsticks and wiped the oil stains from the corners of his mouth. He then said leisurely, "My dear brother Ziyuan, let's not beat around the bush in front of others. There's no need for unnecessary probing. If you really want to cooperate, let's talk business. Anyway, no matter what Qi Hou plans, the only choice we can make is to do our best to delay his dispatch of troops."

As descendants of a famous family like the Yuan family of Runan, the two Yuan brothers were obviously different from Liu Bei, a poor man with no connections.

Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu already had their own think tanks when they first started their careers, so all their strategic plans had advisers to help them with strategy and provide suggestions, allowing them to choose the strategies they like and make decisions.

Yuan Shu occupied Nanyang and plotted to take over northern Jing and southern Henan.

Yuan Shao sent troops out of Bohai, eyeing Yecheng in Jizhou covetously.

Obviously, the two brothers have already started to set their sights on their respective favorite prey, and in order to be able to hunt the prey with peace of mind and avoid becoming someone else's prey, they both sent their men to secretly enter the capital and come to Wang Jing's territory to stir up trouble.

To put it bluntly, the two men had the same goal, which was to delay Wang Jing's pace of sending troops so that they could gain time to develop.

The last defeat of the coalition forces had made them deeply understand that Wang Jing was the biggest obstacle on the road to unifying the world.

Xu You and Yang Hong were both smart men. They naturally knew each other's goals, and they also knew that cooperation would benefit both sides. Only by joining forces would there be a chance of defeating the Northern Army.

"Brother Uncle, I heard that you have secretly won over many local nobles who are dissatisfied with the Inheritance Law."

"Brother Ziyuan, we are all the same."

Seeing that Yang Hong was still pretending, Xu You became unhappy: "I mean, when are you going to make your move?"

"Let me take action, why don't you take action?"

"Am I not just waiting for the right time?"

"Then I am also waiting for the opportunity."

The corner of Yang Hong's mouth curled up, and his tone was three parts sarcasm, three parts disdain, and the remaining four parts were watching Xu You acting.

As counselors, each of them serves a different master, so when they get together, they are bound to engage in intrigue. Each of them wants to pay the smallest price and gain the greatest benefit. It would be best if the other party could take the first step and step on the landmine, while they wait in the back and reap the benefits for free.

However, after some probing fights, Xu You discovered that Yang Hong was not easy to fool, and Yang Hong also knew that Xu You was not honest. After a long fight, the two sides finally confirmed that neither of them was a good person.

Yang Hong's ruthless move made Xu You helpless.

After much hesitation, in order to get more valuable information from Yang Hong, Xu You could only take the initiative to reveal: "The rear general wants to seize Runan, and my lord, Marquis of Xiang, also intends to seize Jizhou. The strategic choices of both sides are actually on the table, and you and I know it well."

"As for the moment, the most important thing is to delay the speed of Qi Hou's advance. Otherwise, if he breaks out of Hulao Pass, who can stop the Northern Army's fierce army in the lands of Puyang Liu Dai, Chenliu Zhang Miao, and Yanzhou and Yuzhou? Once Wang Yuanxu takes over the fertile land in the heart of the Central Plains, whether he goes north or south, the imperial dynasty and the Han Dynasty will probably all be renamed Wang in a few years."

Xu You spoke freely. This time, he did not play tricks with Yang Hong. Instead, he expressed his true feelings and spoke from the heart: "Brother Uncle, no matter how much the Yuan family fights internally, we are still blood relatives after all. Now that we are facing a powerful enemy, the only way to survive is to join forces."

Yang Hong rarely refrained from making sarcastic remarks, but instead said in a serious tone, "Tell me, how can we join forces?"

Seeing that Yang Hong agreed to cooperate, Xu You smiled proudly: "You and I have secretly connected with many of the noble families in the four counties. What we need to do now is to force them to rebel."

Xu You was very experienced in matters such as rebellion.

At the beginning, Emperor Ling of Han, Liu Hong, was afraid of the power of the aristocratic families. He believed that the aristocratic families and the powerful families were cancer and blood-sucking parasites lying on the Han Dynasty's country and people. He regarded them as the biggest threat to the imperial power. Therefore, he brazenly launched the Party and Factions Persecution and used eunuchs to suppress the group of literati.

However, the Confucian scholars who were full of talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality did not indulge Emperor Ling's bad habits at all.

In the first year of Zhongping, which was the same year when the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, Xu You colluded with Jizhou Governor Wang Fen, Pei State Zhou Jing and other heroes to plot to depose Emperor Ling of Han and enthrone Marquis of Hefei as emperor. If Emperor Ling had not been secretly alert, they might have succeeded.

This shows how courageous Xu You was.

Xu You was now very skilled in dealing with Wang Jing. He revealed his trump card to Yang Hongliang directly: "I have secretly sent people to inform the court and report that the major noble families in the four counties were concealing their population and land. Didn't Wang Jing say that he wanted to check the land? We should ask him to check it."

"What a vicious plan! The four county families trust you so much. They probably won't know until they die that you are the one who betrayed them behind their backs."

After listening to Xu You's plan, Yang Hong shook his head and sighed, but then he questioned: "I'm afraid this alone is not enough to force the noble families in the capital to rebel, right?"

"It's definitely not enough, so we have to kill one more person to turn this spark into a prairie fire."

Yang Hong suddenly became curious: "Who are you going to kill?"

Xu You's answer was sonorous and decisive: "Liu Bei Liu Xuande!"

Ah~
In the Luoyang County Government Office, Liu Bei suddenly felt a chill on his back and sneezed loudly.

Zhang Fei, with his big beard, was quite considerate. He brought a coat to Liu Bei and said, "Brother, put it on quickly. The weather is getting colder. You are weak, so you should be more careful."

How can I be weak? I am very strong!
Liu Bei was really at a loss for words about Zhang Fei. His third brother was really a black pig-faced, crow-mouthed man with no control over his mouth. But he had no bad intentions, so Liu Bei couldn't get angry with him and could only keep it to himself.

Finally, Liu Bei glared at Zhang Fei unhappily and said, "Then I really have to thank you."

Zhang Fei touched his forehead in embarrassment: "Hey, we are sworn brothers, why are you being so polite?"

"I'm not being polite to you!"

Liu Bei was just about to give Zhang Fei a lecture, after all, an elder brother is like a father.

But at this time, the night watchman happened to pass by the door and beat the gong. Zhang Fei also looked up at the sky and said to Liu Bei, "Brother, it's already midnight. We should rest. We have to set out early tomorrow morning."

When Liu Bei heard this, his eyes twitched with anger: "What do you mean by 'on the road'? This sounds very unlucky. Can't you just say 'set out' instead?"

After cursing a few times to vent his frustration, Liu Bei went to bed in a good mood.

The next morning, the three brothers got up early.

Guan Yu got up the earliest and had gathered more than 200 soldiers with him. After all, in this era, the job of clearing the fields was not peaceful at all. There were many local nobles who privately forged armor and weapons. They were not harmless little cats with pointed ears and round faces, but big white-browed tigers with hanging eyes that could suddenly attack and eat people.

Soon, another twenty or so swordsmen wearing coarse linen clothes joined the team.

The leader, who was very young, saluted Liu Bei and said, "I am Zhai Ping, leading the disciples of the Mohist School, to meet the Magistrate of Luoyang."

"You are all heroes, please stand up quickly."

Although Liu Bei was a student of Lu Zhi and could be considered a Confucian, he was a typical pragmatist. He did not discriminate against the Mohists. Instead, he was eager to recruit talented people and gave Zhai Ping and others very generous treatment. He was even more friendly in his conversation, which greatly increased people's favorability towards him.

Seeing this, the accompanying Mohists such as Zhai Ping, who had been worried that Liu Bei would not cooperate with their work, now felt a lot more relaxed.

Zhai Ping politely bowed to Liu Bei, and then responded: "We are here to assist the Luoyang magistrate in surveying the land and implementing the court's new policies."

Liu Bei smiled and returned the greeting, speaking very politely: "Then I will trouble you all."

Zhai Ping also gave a gift in return: "I don't deserve it. It is our duty to be loyal to the trust of others."

The two sides had a very harmonious conversation, especially Liu Bei, who was very curious about the Mohist doctrine which had recently gained fame. He even held up a copy of the Mohist Classic that had been modified by Wang Jing and kept asking questions to Zhai Ping.

It must be said that Liu Bei's ability to rise from humble beginnings and establish Shu Han was not simply due to luck, but was also closely related to his own intelligence, studious nature and personal charm.

After all, the empire had a vast territory, the descendants of the Han Dynasty were spread all over the world, and there were so many people with the surname Liu, and many of them had a higher starting point than Liu Bei, such as Liu Yu, Liu Dai and others. But why was it that in the end, the person who achieved success and divided the world into three parts was Liu Bei Liu Xuande?

Every loser has his or her own failure, but every winner is often very similar.

For example, Liu Bei himself had great potential to do great things. In his eyes, as long as he felt that something was beneficial to himself, he would do it seriously, study it seriously, and put it into practice, with unwavering determination and perseverance.

Not everyone has such personality traits.

Wang Jingmo's modified Mohism did not make many changes in philosophical logic, but in technology research and development, it conveyed the complete concept of science for the first time, as well as specific analysis and dialectical logic, which made Confucian scholars like Liu Bei, who came from a traditional Confucian school, feel as if their horizons had been broadened.

Just when Liu Bei had some realization and wanted to discuss it in depth with Zhai Ping, the sound of arrows raining through the air interrupted his thoughts.

"Enemy attack!"

Zhang Fei held the Zhangba Snake Spear in his hand and roared loudly into the sky.

Outside Yanshi County, one could hear a tiger roar as loud as thunder, which shook for ten miles.

Zhang Fei was born with supernatural powers, and his physique was rare in the world. At this moment, he breathed in and out suddenly, and his inhalation became wind, and his exhalation became thunder. His solid martial arts foundation made him awe-inspiring.

Haha~
Zhang Fei was seen riding his horse and charging at the enemy with his lance in hand, shouting deafeningly: "Zhang Yide of Yan is here, you rat, come and get killed!"

The peerless tiger general charged into the enemy's camp alone, wielding his snake spear, showing his supreme bravery in sweeping away thousands of troops.

Zhang Fei is worthy of being one of the strongest and top-notch generals in the world. With a spear in his hand, thousands of soldiers are afraid of him. He is the bravest among all the armies. He just rushes into the crowd and kills people on all sides. Wherever the weapon passes, blood and flesh fly and screams are continuous.

Although the black-clad and masked warriors who came to assassinate Liu Bei were fearless and even cooperated well with each other and were familiar with the art of battle, they were killed in chaos when they met an unreasonably strong and extraordinary general like Zhang Fei. The airtight encirclement was also broken by the killing.

"good chance!"

Guan Yu held the crescent blade in his hand and stood in front of Liu Bei, saying, "Brother, follow me and break through!"

When you are suddenly attacked and are unclear about the enemy's strength and deployment, the best option is to withdraw from the battle circle and reorganize your troops and morale.

Guan Yu had been following Liu Bei in his battles for six years, and had already mastered the tactics and methods of warfare. Seeing the soldiers around him panicking and at a loss, he raised his sword and shouted, "Don't panic, follow me and kill the enemy!"

The roar drowned out the entire place. The tall Guan Yu immediately dismounted from his horse and walked on foot. His majestic and heroic figure stood out like a crane among chickens. He swung his sword forward and cut a bloody path.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were both so brave that they could not be matched by any number of men. Every move they made could draw blood and take lives.

The general of an army led by example greatly boosted the morale of the troops. The originally panicked soldiers seemed to have found their backbone at this moment. In order to survive, they gathered around Guan Yu and said, "Follow the captain, kill the enemy and make achievements!"

In this way, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei joined forces to break the formation. In addition, Liu Bei's swordsmanship was superb and his strength was considerable. Therefore, in just a cup of tea, the three of them led Zhai Ping and other Mohists out of the siege.

On an unknown hill not far away, two elegant figures stood facing the wind. They were Xu You and Yang Hong.

At this moment, both of them were in a high position, and they could see all the changes of the entire battle situation.

"The ambush plan failed, Liu Bei is not dead."

Yang Hong stroked his goatee with his fingers and said with emotion: "Three hundred well-trained warriors, using the few remaining Tianzhi crossbows, can't they kill a mere Liu Xuande?"

Xu You also had a somewhat surprised look on his face: "Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are both capable of fighting against ten thousand men. I never thought that a mere Liu Bei would have such a peerless warrior by his side. It's really surprising."

"Liu Xuande's swordsmanship is also extraordinary and should not be underestimated. It seems that the intelligence we have collected is not complete enough."

"What should we do next? We are running out of manpower. Marquis Qi's secret guards have already blocked the entire capital. I still have two hundred death warriors. Should we continue the hunt?"

Xu You pinched his chin and weighed the pros and cons, and finally shook his head: "Liu Bei's life or death is not important, it has little impact on the plan, just continue with the next step."

…………

Luoyang, General Wei’s Mansion.

Wang Jing is studying the remains of Chi You with Shi Zimiao. Recently, Jin Crow seems to have absorbed too much evil spirit from the remains of Chi You, and its body has fallen into a deep sleep.

"Master Xuanming, what's the situation?"

Shi Zimiao personally performed a Taoist ritual to examine the little guy's body, then said with a smile: "Don't worry, Lord Qi, this is a good thing."

Later, after Shi Zimiao's explanation, Wang Jing realized that the evil spirit in Chi You's remains contained a trace of extremely high-quality scorching sun sky fire. This fire was one of the nine divine fires, also known as the Great Sun Golden Flame, which was left by the Jiuli tribe's sacred bird, the Great Sun Golden Crow.

"The Jiuli tribe to which Chiyou belonged was the ancestor of the Dongyi people. The god they worshipped was Emperor Jun, and the Great Sun Golden Crow was the descendant of Emperor Jun. He was born with incredible magical powers and could swallow and spit out the essence of the sun, forming a great sun golden flame in his body that was extremely strong and yang. The Great Sun Golden Flame was the ancestor of all fires and the source of all fires."

Wang Jing suddenly realized: "No wonder Lü Bu and Dong Zhuo were able to absorb the evil spirit from Chi You's remains to cultivate, but I can't. It seems that the Danyu Holy Flame and the Great Sun Golden Flame in my body repel each other."

Shi Zimiao smiled and said, "Yes, each of the nine divine fires has its own uses. Although the Great Sun Golden Flame is the origin of all fires and the most powerful and masculine one in terms of killing, it may not be better than the Danyu Holy Flame, which has infinite vitality and can bring the dead back to life. Also, because there is only one divine fire, it has a very strong exclusive attribute, so it cannot be possessed at the same time."

When Wang Jing heard Shi Zimiao's comments, he knew that the other party was trying to wake him up. The Great Sun Golden Flame and the Danyu Holy Flame each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Since he already possessed the Danyu Holy Flame and had acquired a variety of magical powers based on the "Nine Refinements of True Yang" magical skill, there was no need to rashly switch to practicing the "Immortal Yuan Gong".

However, Chi You's remains still have a strong reference value for Wang Jing. Among the five innate Qi, Chi You focused on gold and secondary on fire, and they practiced the two Qi together. Wang Jing focused on fire and secondary on gold, and he also practiced the two Qi simultaneously. Their ideas for strengthening their techniques are quite similar.

Wang Jing was most envious of Chi You’s strong physique.

However, just when Wang Jing was immersed in studying how to improve his own skills, Shi A received a pigeon message. It was a red secret letter with the highest alert level. He didn't dare to hesitate and immediately found Wang Jing to report: "My lord, Liu Bei is in trouble!"

After saying this, he handed the secret letter forward.

(End of this chapter)