webnovelfull Chapter 474 The Tragic Zhou Cang, the Excited Liu Bei
Chapter 474 The Tragic Zhou Cang, the Excited Liu Bei
The personal qualities of people at the bottom of society are somewhat worrying. It is common for them to swear and spit everywhere. Liu Bei, who came from a humble background of weaving mats and selling shoes, was no exception. Don't expect to hear anything nice from him.
Regardless of ability, in terms of personal qualities alone, Liu Bei was quite similar to his ancestor Liu Bang, that old rogue.
Therefore, upon hearing the news of Zhou Cang's return, he immediately cursed, "What the hell did you say?"
Without waiting for the soldiers' reply, he jumped up on the spot, rushed down the city gate and ran towards the steps, shouting as he ran: "Quickly send a fast horse to Nanzheng to inform the military advisor, and tell the military advisor to come to see me as quickly as possible."
Zhou Cang is now Guan Yu's personal messenger. The fact that he crossed the Daba Mountains to come to Hanzhong must mean that something extraordinary has happened on Guan Yu's side. This kind of matter must be discussed with Zhuge Liang.
As they were talking, Liu Bei ran down the steps, not even bothering to mount his horse, and galloped towards the county government office. Even Guan Xing, who was fast, might not have been able to outrun him.
Since the victory of the Northern Expedition, Liu Bei has been rejuvenated, like a withered tree sprouting new buds or an iron tree blooming again. He has not only experienced a second spring, but even his white hair has started to turn black, leaving Zhuge Liang stunned.
Judging by this trend, people would believe that Old Liu could live to be a hundred years old.
Liu Bei rushed into the county government office at top speed, and as soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Zhou Cang sitting on the ground, panting.
At this moment, Zhou Cang was disheveled and dressed in tattered clothes. His coat was scratched by tree branches and had become a tattered rag. His pants were in even worse condition. The left pant leg was missing below the knee, and the right pant leg was torn all the way to his waist. His exposed leg had several scratches and claw marks from several different animals.
His feet were in the worst condition. The sole of his right shoe had long since separated from the upper, and half of his straw sandal was missing from his left foot. His feet were covered in wounds, making him look utterly miserable.
Upon seeing Liu Bei enter, Zhou Cang scrambled to his side, grabbed his trouser leg, and wailed, "Your Majesty, I'm so glad to finally see you! This journey has been so arduous. I brought three pairs of shoes with me, and they've all worn out. I almost didn't make it to see you again, boohoo..."
Recently, the three parties of Han, Wei, and Wu have all been quite busy, constantly on the move without a moment's rest, but Zhou Cang is definitely the busiest of them all.
When Zhou Cang came from Jiangdong, Jingzhou had not yet been recovered by Guan Xing. He could only travel over mountains and along narrow paths. After finally passing through Jingzhou, he had to cross the Daba Mountains. It was a miracle that he didn't get lost after crossing so many mountains.
Touched by his miserable state, Liu Bei let the man's filthy hands soil his newly changed clothes, bent down and patted his shoulder to comfort him, "It's alright now, let's go home. Have you eaten?"
No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhou Cang's stomach rumbled, and he replied without batting an eye, "No."
Liu Bei hurriedly ordered his men, "What are you all standing around for? Go and prepare food for General Zhou. Get the best of it... But wait, he's been starving for too long, so let's just make some millet porridge."
After saying that, he personally pulled Zhou Cang up and helped him sit down. He then poured a glass of water and brought it to Zhou Cang, waiting for him to finish drinking it before eagerly asking, "How is things on your second brother's side? Is there something you need me to do?"
Zhou Cang took his sword, gripped the hilt, and twisted it forcefully, trying to unscrew it and retrieve the intelligence hidden inside to hand to Liu Bei. However, his hands were too dirty and slippery, and he was too hungry to exert any strength. After several attempts, he still couldn't unscrew it, so he had to dictate: "During this period, Cao Ren led an army of over 100,000 to occupy Wanling, and then sent troops out of Shicheng and Danyang to besiege Jianye City. He is confronting the old general outside Jianye City."
"At the same time, Sun Quan, not wanting to be idle, appointed Lu Xun as acting Grand Commander, leading 50,000 elite troops, claiming 200,000, to attack the Jinqu Basin, attempting to recover the entire territory of Kuaiji and then seize Wu Commandery, joining forces with Cao Ren to attack the old general. The old general was left to hold off Cao Ren alone, ordering the young general to rush to Damu to resist Lu Xun..."
Upon hearing this, Liu Bei's heart leaped into his throat, and he said with trembling teeth, "What? Second Brother actually wants Anguo to resist Lu Xun, who is leading 50,000 Wu troops?"
Liu Bei was so anxious that his voice cracked at the end of his sentence. It was bad enough that Cao Ren was leading an army of over 100,000 to attack Guan Yu, but Sun Quan and Lu Xun also came to join in the fun. How could Guan Yu and his son possibly resist?
Guan Xing, in particular, is young, inexperienced, and has few troops. How can he possibly stop the cunning and shrewd Lu Xun?
Given the current situation, the Eastern Expedition is Sun Quan's only chance. It's obvious that Sun Quan will send out all his elite troops. Those 50,000 Wu troops for the Eastern Expedition must be the absolute elite of Eastern Wu. The commanders of the army must be veteran generals of Eastern Wu such as Han Dang and Xu Sheng. How can Guan Xing, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy, possibly resist them?
Although Guan Xing captured Zhang Cheng twice and made a name for himself, could Zhang Cheng compare to Lu Xun and Han Dang? Could Zhang Cheng's private army of aristocratic families compare to Lu Xun's battle-hardened Wu army?
Even he and Zhuge Liang might not have been able to maintain stability in this situation, let alone Guan Xing.
If Guan Xing were to suffer any mishap, allowing Lu Xun to successfully sweep through the entire territory of Kuaiji and reclaim Wu Commandery, how could Guan Yu, facing a pincer attack from Cao Ren and Lu Xun, possibly fare well?
Liu Bei swallowed hard and asked in a trembling voice, "And then, how did Anguo deal with it?"
While asking the questions, she stared intently at Zhou Cang's face, as if it were her first time entering the bridal chamber, so nervous that she could clearly hear her own heart pounding many times faster.
Zhou Cang was still straining against the hilt of his sword, not having time to look at Liu Bei's face. He calmly said, "Han Dang, Xu Sheng, Pan Zhang, and Liu Aquan have been killed by the young general. Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, He Qi, Ding Feng, Zhou Fang, Lü Ju, Bu Xie, and Li Yiquan have all been captured. Shi Xin has surrendered voluntarily. Oh, and when I arrived in Wushang from Jianye, the young general also captured Lü Dai and Dai Liang, who came from the sea. Lu Xun's 50,000-strong eastern expeditionary army has been completely annihilated by the young general. The young general is currently reorganizing his troops to prepare for the recapture of Nanchang."
What the hell?
Liu Bei was stunned, as if he had been hit on the head by a meteorite flying at the speed of light. He stood there, staring blankly, motionless. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was dead.
Although Liu Bei hadn't died yet, he was close. His head was spinning, and his soul seemed to have flown away. After a brief, intense ringing in his ears, he suddenly went deaf and couldn't hear anything. Even his vision was completely blurred, and he couldn't see anything.
At this moment, Liu Bei's mind was in a daze, he lost the ability to think, his eyes were filled with white light and he was temporarily blind, and his ears were also temporarily deaf. It was no different from being dead.
If Zhou Cang were to swing his sword at this moment, Gu Ying Sword Saint Liu Bei would be utterly powerless to resist.
When Zhou Cang finally couldn't get a reply from Liu Bei, he looked up from his sword hilt and saw Liu Bei staring blankly. He quickly reached out and gently nudged him to wake him up, but this only made things worse. Instead of waking up, Liu Bei fell straight down like a corpse. Zhou Cang was terrified and instinctively grabbed Liu Bei's belt to try to pull him back. However, he used too much force and fell down himself. He hit his head on the ground and was then pinned down by Liu Bei.
Liu Bei was wearing armor, and this almost made Zhou Cang faint from the pressure.
Zhou Cang pushed Liu Bei away and struggled to sit up. Finding that Liu Bei still didn't react, he became uneasy and almost lost his temper, shouting, "Quickly, go and fetch a doctor!"
While shouting, he quickly climbed onto Liu Bei and, following the first aid knowledge taught by Guan Xing, pressed on Liu Bei's chest with his hands crossed. After pressing several times without effect, he pinched Liu Bei's nose and performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After repeating this several times, Liu Bei finally responded, his whole body trembled violently, and he took a long breath.
Upon seeing this, Zhou Cang was overjoyed and wept, saying, "Your Majesty, you scared me to death!"
Liu Bei was still somewhat dazed. He stared at the ceiling for a long time before his eyes gradually focused. After a while, he finally came to his senses and reached out, saying, "Help me up."
Just as Zhou Cang helped him sit up, Zhao Yun, Chen Dao, Liu Feng, and others rushed into the room in a panic, asking with worried expressions, "Your Majesty, what's wrong?"
Upon learning that Liu Bei had fainted, the generals guarding the surrounding city gates rushed over immediately, and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that Liu Bei had regained consciousness.
Liu Bei sighed, "This is a long story. Zhou Cang, bring out the battle report from Anguo and show it to everyone."
"Oh, oh, oh..." Zhou Cang hurriedly grabbed his sword and frantically twisted the hilt to retrieve the battle report, but the more he rushed, the more mistakes he made, and the harder he was to twist it.
Finally, Liu Bei couldn't stand it any longer, so he snatched the sword hilt and said, "I'll do it. Tell me how to do it?"