“His Highness the King of Shu is here! Liu Biao of Jingzhou quickly come out and greet!” Guan Hai’s loud voice was resounding. Guan Hai was accompanying Liu Mang while the Xiangyang guards surrounded Liu Mang instead of escorting him.
“Faster!” Guan Hai shouted as more of Xiangyang’s soldiers appeared as time passed. These soldiers wanted to stop Guan Hai from shouting but Guan Hai was so frightening, especially with his scarred face, that they shrank back.
Liu Mang looked towards the large gates of the prison and felt certain that Liu Biao was here. This is because Liu Biao’s guards protecting the place.
“Milord. What if Liu Biao doesn’t come out?” Guan Hai asked.
“He will come out.” Liu Mang did not believe that Liu Biao would not come out. For both Liu Biao and Liu Mang, there were no other choices but for them to meet. Even Liu Mang would have already left Jingzhou if not for the child in Lady Cai’s belly. Similarly, Liu Biao would have no choice but to show his face.
“Keep shouting.” Liu Mang said to Guan Hai.
“Yes.” Guan Hai nodded and continued to shout. As expected, Liu Biao soon showed himself. He came out from the prison with his robes somewhat bloody. His face was flushed with anger.
“Milord!” Huang She called out happily. He went up to Liu Biao and said, “Milord. Give the order to arrest this rebel!”
Liu Biao and Liu Mang stared at each other. Liu Biao could tell that Liu Mang came by horse instead of being dragged here as a prisoner. He then turned around and slapped Huang She in the face.
“Argh!” Huang She was stunned that he got slapped. Liu Biao’s handprint could be seen on his face.
“Useless!” Liu Biao said coldly. Huang She wanted to argue but Liu Biao’s cold expression made him shudder. In the end, Huang She quietly stood aside.
“Liu Biao, you have finally come out.” Liu Mang said from atop his horse.
Liu Biao looked at Liu Mang coldly. As someone who had been in a high position for so long, he naturally had the sense of an overbearing person.
“How dare you not kneel after seeing Milord?” Huang She shouted again. The soldiers all continued to surround Liu Mang.
“Kneel?” Liu Mang sneered. “Based on status, I am the King of Shu! Royalty! Based on position, I am the General that Suppresses the South, that includes Jingzhou! Your Lord is just a governor of the province! Who is the one that should kneel here?” Liu Mang said with ridicule.
“General that Suppresses the South? King of Shu?” The Xiangyang Guards all did not know of Liu Mang’s official position. Liu Mang had never mentioned it either ever since he came to Jingzhou. They had thought that Liu Mang was simply the Lord of Yangzhou just like how Liu Biao is the Lord of Jingzhou.
“How big is that title?” One person asked.
“Very big!” Another replied, pretending to understand.
“Bullshit! You know nothing!”
“He is a General that Suppresses the South. This means he can command the Southern provinces such as Yizhou, Liangzhou and Jingzhou!”
“Does that mean our Lord is His Highness’ subordinate?” One person was flustered. Liu Mang’s high status alone already made them feel like Liu Mang was a big boss. Adding in his high position made them feel suffocated.
“Should we drop our weapons?” Another person was alarmed. What if they were to injure such an important government official?
“Are you stupid? We are in Jingzhou and our provisions come from Jingzhou! Naturally, we have to listen to Liu Biao!” Their loyalty to Liu Biao weren’t particularly strong since their main attachment towards Jingzhou come from the fact that their families live there. However, Liu Biao is the one that kept them fed so they had to listen to Liu Biao.
“You are a fake king!” Liu Biao stepped forward and said to Liu Mang. “The King of Shu of our Han Empire is not you!”
“So is he not the King of Shu?” One soldier asked.
“He is not!” Huang She shouted loudly. If Liu Biao had to admit that Liu Mang was the King of Shu, then he would not be able to capture Liu Mang without offending his superiors. Although the Han Empire was pretty much dying, Liu Biao’s reputation would still be harmed. There were many scholars in Jingzhou. If Liu Biao’s reputation is harmed, the scholars would leave and he would no longer be able to govern Jingzhou. It was for the same reason that Lu Bu only managed to obtain Chen Gong as his advisor. His reputation was so bad that he could not get anyone else. Chen Deng and his father was only pretending to serve Lu Bu while looking for a way out.
With Liu Biao refusing to admit that Liu Mang was the King of Shu, he could do anything and it wouldn’t be considered offending a superior. First he would capture Liu Mang and the rest can be discussed later.
“Haha!” Liu Mang did not bother arguing about this. If he wanted to argue, he still had the official seal of the King of Shu that he can use as evidence. However, it was obvious that Liu Biao had no intentions to talk.
“Liu Biao. Where is Yi Er?” Liu Mang asked coldly.
“Yi Er?” Liu Biao thought to himself for a while and then suddenly became angry. “That slut even told you her name?” This was Lady Cai’s name. Women in that era had no position at all. Only the rich had such names and even then, those names were forgotten after they get married.
That was why she is simply known as Lady Cai. No one knew her real name. Only their parents and siblings knew their true name. The only reason Liu Biao knew her name was because Cai Mao had accidentally said it.
Yet, Liu Mang had somehow found out about her name.
“That slut is already dead!” Liu Biao said malevolently.
Dead? Liu Mang’s eyes grew wide. “Impossible!”
“You see the blood on my clothes? It belongs to that slut!” Liu Biao said again.
“You are courting death!” Liu Mang’s eyes turned cold. His killing intent grew.
“Courting death? Haha. The one that will die is you!” Liu Biao did not care. There were three thousand of his men at the prison. Two thousand belonged to the Xiangyang Guards and one thousand were his own personal guards. On the other hand, Liu Mang’s group only consisted of three people.
“Milord. What do we do now?” Guan Hai asked. They had come here to rescue Lady Cai but now Liu Biao told them that she is dead.
“Liu Mang! Since you like that slut so much, I will send you to her!” Liu Biao shouted fiercely. “Men! Arrest this three rebels! Kill them if they resist!”
“Guan Hai. Zhou Cang. If we survive, I will definitely bring troops here and throw JIngzhou into chaos!” Liu Mang said coldly. If Liu Biao had killed Lady Cai and that Xiao Cui’s words about Lady Cai being pregnant with his child is true, that means that Liu Biao had killed Liu Mang’s child. Vengeance must be given.
“Haha. Milord, when that time comes, allow this Guan Hai to be the vanguard!” Guan Hai laughed loudly.
“Alright.”
“Zhou Cang, what about you?” Guan Hai asked.
“I will go wherever Brother Guan goes!” Zhou Cang replied dim wittedly.
“Let us two turn Jingzhou upside down under the Lord’s command!” Guan Hai’s voice resounded loudly.
“You want to attack my Jingzhou? Think about it after you survive this! Advance!”
“Kill! Kill!” Liu Biao’s bodyguards were the first to move. They were all his trusted subordinates that only listened to him. On the other hand, the Xianyang Guards hesitated a bit. They did not really know what to do as they had received Liu Mang’s favor. They also know that Liu Mang had good relationship with the Cai Family and Kuai Family. They did not know what their future would be like if they were to attack.
“Advance! Do you all want to betray the Lord?” Huang She shouted loudly.
With those words, the Xiangyang Guards no longer had a choice. Most of them were nobles and Liu Biao’s subordinates. They had to listen to Liu Biao’s orders.
“Your Highness. We will be offending you!” Many Xiangyang Guards cupped their fist at Liu Mang.
“Soldiers. Do not worry about such things.” Liu Mang replied at ease.
“He is not the King of Shu! He is a fake king!” Huang She shouted again but was ignored by the soldiers. He could cheat the common people but what was the point of trying to cheat them? Most of them had already spent time with Liu Mang.
“Guan Hai. Zhou Cang. Let us fight our way out! Liu Biao! I will have your life!” Liu Mang said as his shield trembled. He wanted blood. He was so happy when he heard he was going to be a father. When he heard that his son was dead, he felt like he was in hell. “Kill them!”
“Yes!”
***
“Master! Not good! The King of Shu and the Lord Governor is fighting at Xiangyang prison!” One person ran and reported to both Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue.
“Fight?” Kuai Liang was the first to stand up anxiously. “Why are they fighting? Didn’t we let him escape?” The Kuai Family was in charge of the South Gate. The Kuai Family had braved dangers to notify Liu Mang of this to make sure he escape. Why was Liu Mang fighting now?
“Master. People did pass through the South Gate but that person was His Highness’ subordinate Jia Xu and his family. His Highness took two guards with him to see the Lord Governor.” The man replied helplessly.
“Damn it! That idiot! I must go and save him!” Kuai Liang was anxious. He wanted to go straight to the XIangyang prison.
“Come back here!” Kuai Yue shouted. “What’s the point of you going there? What can you even do alone?” There was a fight in Xiangyang and Kuai Liang was just a lone scholar.
“Then are we just going to watch him die?” Kuai Liang’s eyes were bloodshot. He was introduced to Liu Mang by Yang Hong. Initially he admired Liu Mang’s talents and now he thought of Liu Mang like his own nephew because of Kuai Ran. How could he not feel anxious when his nephew was going to die?
Kuai Yue also furrowed his brows in distress.
“Father!” At this moment, Kuai Ran appeared. “Father! I heard that Brother Liu Mang is arrested by the Lord Governor!” Huang She’s actions at the King of Shu’s residence weren’t exactly subtle.
Kuai Ran knew that he and Liu Mang could be considered sworn brothers. He was also the husband of Liu Mang’s sister. When he found out about this news, he quickly ran to his father anxiously.
“Father! Is there a misunderstanding? Didn’t the Lord Governor and brother form an alliance? How did it turn out this way? It must be because of that Huang She! This is all my fault! If it was not because of me, brother would not have offended the Huang Family!” Kuai Ran blamed himself for Liu Mang offending the Huang Family.
“This has got nothing to do with you.” Kuai Yue waved his hand. His head also hurt from this incident. “If it was just the Huang Family then there would have been no problems but Liu Mang went and took Liu Biao’s wife.”
“Sister Cai? Ah! Brother and Sister Cai?” Kuai Ran finally reached an understanding after hearing his father’s words. He used to play together with Lady Cai when they were younger as they were about the same age. However, Lady Cai eventually married Liu Biao and their connection was severed.
“They are a good match.” Kuai Ran also nodded at the thought. One was very beautiful while the other was handsome.
“Well matched, your head!” Kuai Liang said as he hit Kuai Ran in the head.
“Uncle! That hurts!” Kuai Ran rubbed is head unhappily. As Kuai Liang was his uncle, he could not retaliate.
“Brother! Quickly think of something!” Kuai Liang said to Kuai Yue anxiously.
“That’s right! Father! Quickly think of something!” Kuai Ran added.
“No choice.” Kuai Yue gritted his teeth. “Follow me. Also notify the others that the Kuai Family is to close the gates and we are not accepting visitors.” Kuai Yue said to Kuai Liang and his son.
“Father. Why did you bring us here?” Kuai Ran asked as they were brought to the icehouse.
“If you don’t know, just keep silent! Brother. Could this be…?” Kuai Liang said. Although it was an icehouse on the surface, they quickly ended up in a tunnel.
“Correct. This is an underground tunnel.” Kuai Yue explained.
“Father. Why have we not known about this?” Kuai Ran asked.
“Bullshit! Who would use this when there is no emergency?” Kuai Yue said while feeling uncomfortable. This was a secret tunnel to use in emergencies. There were four other exits. One goes outside the city. One goes to the Xiangyang prison, for if they offended the wrong person and get thrown into prison. One exit was the Governor’s residence and the last one was the Cai Family’s residence.
“The Governor’s residence?” Kuai Ran did not understand the reason for this exit.
“We can escape from there if they tried to reenact the Hongmen Banquet.”
“What about the Cai Family’s residence?”
“This is also why your father is always in an alliance with the Cai Family. This tunnel is made by both the Kuai Family and the Cai Family. No matter which family is in trouble, this tunnel cannot be closed off!” Kuai Yue explained.
“Then where are we going now?”
“We are going to see your Uncle Cai. Only he can find a way to save your brother.” Kuai Yue replied. The three of them held torches as they followed the passageway to the Cai Family’s residence. Fortunately, they did not need to walk far as both the Cai Family’s residence and the Kuai Family’s residence were within the inner parts of Xiangyang.
Chapter 542
“Kill! We live and die together with Nandun!” The Yuzhou defenders at Nandun showed astonishing spirit as they shot arrows down the walls.
“These guys are crazy!” Zhang Liao and the others now understood the power of rumors. The defenders and the citizens in Nandun had all been brainwashed by Liu Mang.
Half of Nandun’s citizens were originally from Yuzhou. These people were all extremely loyal to Liu Bei. Their loyalty towards Liu Bei only strengthened when Liu Bei returned their provisions with Cao Cao’s help.
They went crazy the moment Liu Bei said that Yangzhou will massacre everyone in the city. Zhang Liao could see plenty of people not wearing armor on the city walls.
“Charge again!” Lu Bu ordered from the camp. If they cannot capture Nandun, it would be difficult to march towards Runan as they cannot cut off their provisions. Nandun was the trial the Yangzhou Army needed to face.
Lu Bu have seventy thousand troops under his command but he did not have many ways he could use to capture Nandun.
“Milord. This is the third wave of attack!” One soldier reported. Each wave consisted of at least five thousand soldiers and each time they lose more than one thousand soldiers. Even a few men originally from the Urban Army lost their lives in the charge. Yet, their efforts had been in vain. They were unable to attack the city at all.
“Charge again!” The soldier replied. As he was the commander, no one dared to disobey. Another five thousand men charged towards Nandun. Obviously, they failed, repelled by arrows and boiling water. The troops quickly fell into disorder.
“Withdraw!” Lu Bu gave the order. Seeing this scene, he knew that relying on his elites to scale the walls was impossible. Initially he thought of wearing them down through fatigue but now realized that his troops would be worn out before the enemy.
“Milord! Catapults!” After the troops withdrew, Gao Shun reminded Lu Bu about the catapults. With so many troops they could make catapults to attack Nandun.
“Milord! No!” Zhang Liao immediately opposed the suggestion. “Milord! Liu Bei claimed we would massacre the people! If we use catapults, we would cause casualties amongst the populace on the walls. This would certify us as enemies to the people!”
If they were to attack with catapults, the rumors spread by Liu Bei would become facts. They would incite hatred and Liu Mang would no longer be able to use the people. The reason Liu Mang invaded Yuzhou in the first place was to obtain manpower.
“But, if we do not use the catapults, we cannot take Nandun without suffering heavy casualties!” Cheng Yu added. Zhang Liao curled his lips. They needed catapults to win but using catapults would make victory meaningless.
“How about we ask His Highness?” One person suggested.
Although Liu Mang was Lu Bu’s son-in-law, he seemed to be the one in charge instead of Lu Bu. Lu Bu protected Yangzhou’s South while Liu Mang developed Yangzhou.
Lu Bu himself did not expect the debilitated Yangzhou to flourish, even better than Shouchun and Lujiang. That was why Liu Mang was in charge. That being said, it was Lu Bu’s decision as to whether they should consult Liu Mang for advice since Lu Bu was the father-in-law. The others were afraid that Lu Bu would get angry as he came first. Without Lu Bu in front, Liu Mang would not have been able to obtain his current territory.
“Do it!” Lu Bu replied indifferently. He had no choice as his son-in-law was far better than him. Lu Bu understood that he could only be a general. He could not truly conquer lands.
“Oh right. Tell that boy that Ling Er misses him.”
“Yes!”
***
“The people of Nandun are willing to die to defend it? This rabble rousing Liu Bei must die!” Liu Mang said after obtaining the report.
“This Liu Bei can already be considered a traitor to this nation!” Jia Xu said with sorrow. If you could lie to one, you are good at deceit. If you could get hundreds to take you at your word, you have charisma. However, Liu Bei could trick over a hundred thousand people so easily. This was already at the frightening level of witchcraft.
Having popular sentiment would give you power. This is not something people just say for fun.
“We must definitely kill him!” Liu Mang said coldly. Liu Bei’s ability to rally supporters was too frightening. Such a person with wild ambitions is better off dead for peace and stability.
“Afraid of using the catapult? I want both Nandun to disappear forever!”
“Milord?” Jia Xu was shocked. He did not expect Liu Mang to be so cold to the citizens. There were about a hundred thousand of them at Nandun.
“Wenhe. Even if we spare them, would you dare to use them?” Liu Mang smiled bitterly. Liu Mang did not want to be a butcher but these people already treat Liu Bei as a God due to being brainwashed. They would not admit their mistakes even if the facts were laid out in front of them. These kind of people would only bring disaster in the future.
“But Milord?” Jia Xu hesitated as Liu Mang needed the people. This was the reason he attacked Yuzhou in the first place.
“Five hundred thousand men from Yuzhou is enough. In fact, it is already too much. Yangzhou cannot support them!” Liu Mang replied. Yangzhou have over one million citizens. Assuming they obtain eight hundred thousand citizens after defeating Liu Bei, there would definitely be too many people for Yangzhou to support.
Liu Mang could only afford to take in five hundred thousand men. So he might as well treat the whole of Nandun as an enemy to wipe out.
“Milord. You will gain the reputation of a butcher which will hinder you!” Jia Xu pleaded but Liu Mang would not change his mind. “Anyone that holds a weapon is an enemy! Either way, I have already become a butcher once! There is no difference even if I do it again!”
“Give my father-in-law my reply. No matter the cost, I want Liu Bei’s head and his land!” There was no time left. Cao Cao had already begun to meddle with the Central Plains. This showed that his war at Hebei is going smoothly. Liu Mang needed to finish this and strengthen his army in order to face the upcoming obstacle.
“Understood! Oh right! Your father-in-law also says that Madam Ling misses you!”
“Ling Er?” Liu Mang thought of his wife that loves him. They have been separated for several months now. He also thought of his other women including the widowed Lady Zou.
“I must act quickly! Capture Yuzhou and make Liu Biao allow me to go home!” Liu mang said to himself. He then had Jia Xu help him write a letter that stated how much he missed home.
Meanwhile, someone within Jingzhou was also thinking of Liu Mang while filled with grievances.
“Why? Why did I only meet him now?” A beautiful woman grieved as she combed her hair. She was in the Lord’s residence but her heart was not there.
“Milady!” The servant Xiao Cui entered the room.
“Xiao Cui?” The beautiful woman seemed distracted but it did not hide her loneliness.
“Are you thinking of him again?” Xiao Cui asked.
“Do you not think of him?” She would ask every time she thought of him.
“Milady!” Xiao Cui blushed.
The beautiful woman sighed when she looked at Xiao Cui. She felt envious of Xiao Cui. “In a few days, I will tell the Lord to gift you to him.”
“Milady! Are you chasing me out?” Xiao Cui asked feeling frightened.
“Of course not you silly girl!” The beautiful woman replied as she stroked Xiao Cui’s head.
“I want to support Milady forever!”
“Your thoughts is enough.”
“Milady. Are you serious?”
“What else can I do? He is not going to stay here!” The beautiful woman replied with a pained expression.
