mesbooks Chapter 414 The Good News Shocks Guan Yu
Chapter 414 The Good News Shocks Guan Yu
Upon hearing this, Guan Yu quickly looked at Zhou Cang, his eyes filled with anticipation.
He was more concerned about the war situation on Liu Bei's side than Guan Xing's safety, after all, he had several sons, but only one elder brother.
Zhou Cang did not answer, but instead took off his belt and trousers on the spot. Under the astonished gazes of Guan Yu and Wang Fu, he tore the trousers open along the seam and handed them to Guan Yu, saying, "The Wu army checkpoints along the way are quite strict, so I sewed His Majesty's letter into trousers."
Liu Bei didn't have any blank paper; his letters were all written on silk, and they would be perfectly fine if sewn into clothes.
Guan Yu took the trousers and examined them carefully. After looking at them, he handed them to Wang Fu and sighed, "Brother, at this critical juncture of the Northern Expedition, you are still concerned about our safety. I am truly ashamed!"
The letter contained no instructions, only concern and admonitions, telling Guan Yu to take care of his health and be cautious, and to think about a way to retreat if he was no match for the Wei army, and to try to retreat back to Bashu if the battle went badly.
Liu Bei had fought battles and knew that the battlefield was ever-changing. He knew that it was pointless for him to remotely command from Bashu. So he completely delegated power to Guan Yu and let him do as he pleased. In short, he said, "Second brother, fight however you want, just be careful not to get yourself into trouble."
After Wang Fu finished reading, Guan Yu snatched the trousers, stuffed them into his clothes, mounted his horse, and looked at the two men, saying, "Zhou Cang, you've been traveling for so long and must be tired. Rest in the city for a few days, and then come out of the city to meet me."
"Guoshan (Wang Fu's courtesy name), I'm leaving the city to you. Report to me immediately if anything happens."
Wang Fu bowed and said, "My lord, rest assured, Jianye has been much more peaceful since Han Dang and Xu Sheng died in battle. As long as the front line is not defeated, nothing will happen in the city."
Whether the rear is stable depends on whether the front is victorious. If the front reports good news frequently, the evil spirits in the rear will naturally not dare to make any rash moves.
Conversely, if the front lines were to suffer a series of deaths like Wu Jun's, even the most secure rear would be thrown into turmoil.
Guan Yu thought it made sense, so he said no more and rode away. Halfway there, he suddenly remembered something and turned back and said, "Write a letter to Anguo in my name and tell him that he must report anything in the future and not to act so willfully. Although a general in the field may not obey the emperor's orders, there must be a limit. What will others do if everyone acts like him?"
"Yes..." Wang Fu bowed and accepted the order, but in his heart he was cursing wildly.
Don't you, as his father, know what kind of person your son is? Do you think he'll listen to me?
Besides, he's far away in Linru right now, how am I supposed to send the letter over?
After seeing Guan Yu off, Wang Fu turned around and returned to his residence to continue handling government affairs.
After more than ten days of peace, Guan Yu returned to the city. Upon arriving at the headquarters, he immediately summoned Wang Fu and asked, "Is there any news from Anguo?"
Wang Fu asked in surprise, "No, why?"
Guan Yu frowned and said, "There have been unusual movements of the Wei army at the front lines these past two days, as if they are retreating. I'm not sure if Cao Ren is trying to lure us in, or if something has happened that we don't know about."
"If something really has changed, it must be from Anguo. Could Anguo have already completed its battle plan and wiped out Lu Xun?"
“Otherwise, if Lu Xun and An Guo continue to confront each other, Cao Ren will have no reason to retreat. Furthermore, if Lu Xun wins, Cao Ren will have even less reason to retreat. If Lu Xun wins, he will definitely sweep through Kuaiji and head north to Wu County. In that case, Cao Ren will only take the initiative to attack to prevent the Wu army from stealing the victory, instead of retreating as he is now.”
Wang Fu pondered, “What you say makes sense, but it is also possible that something has happened to the Wei army’s rear, or that His Majesty has won the northern expedition.”
The long distances and inconvenient communication made it difficult for the major war zones to exchange intelligence in a timely manner, causing them to hesitate and delay in their operations.
Guan Yu said, "There's no use in guessing here. We need to find out the specifics first. Send your men to Da Mo immediately to question Shen Yi and see what exactly happened there."
"Furthermore, if Anguo has indeed won the battle, the good news should be arriving soon. Have the guards at all the city gates keep a close watch and notify me immediately if any messengers from Kuaiji arrive."
“Look…” Wang Fu turned to leave, but as soon as he stepped out of the room, he saw Deng Hong, led by the guards inside the mansion, walking quickly with a pigeon-toed gait.
Deng Hong has been fighting Guan Xing recently, and even went to Linru with Guan Xing. What does it mean that he suddenly appeared in Jianye City?
Still need to ask?
Wang Fu stared wide-eyed, gasped, and shouted without turning his head, "My lord, Deng Hong is back."
Guan Yu, who had just sat down at the table and taken a sip of hot tea, suddenly shuddered, spitting out the tea. But he didn't bother to clean himself up and quickly got up, leaping over the table and rushing toward the door.
Then Deng Hong came running quickly, only ten meters away from him.
Upon seeing Deng Hong, Guan Yu calmed down, straightened his back, put his hands behind his back, and waited for Deng Hong to come over and bow before saying in a nonchalant tone, "Come in and let's talk."
After speaking, he turned and went into the hall to sit down again. He raised his sleeve and wiped away the footprints he had just left without leaving a trace before asking, "Deng Hong, did you come back at this time because Anguo has won another victory and wiped out Lu Xun?"
This time it was Deng Hong's turn to be surprised. He asked in astonishment, "Your Excellency already knows?"
How did you know that?
I returned to report the news as soon as the battle ended. Despite my injuries, I ran day and night. What messenger could be as fast as me?
"What, it really is..."
Upon hearing this, Wang Fu gasped in surprise again, but stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Guan Yu's calm demeanor. He quickly put his hands in his sleeves and said, trying to appear composed, "Continue."
Deng Hong, without suspicion, honestly replied: "After the young general infiltrated Linru, he first captured Ma Zhong, then contacted Peng Qi's bandit army and the traitors within the Wu army to kill Pan Zhang, then annihilated Yu Han's reinforcements and captured Liu Zan alive, then captured Yu Han and took Zhuge Jin prisoner, and finally joined forces with General Shen Yi to launch a pincer attack from the east and west, annihilating Lu Xun's tens of thousands of troops in the Yushan area, and capturing Lu Xun, Ding Feng, Zhou Fang, Lü Ju, Shi Xin, Bu Xie, Li Yi and all other Wu generals alive. Currently, Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin and others are on their way to Jianye."
"Bang..." Guan Yu clenched his fist tightly, crushing the teacup in his hand instantly. The shards cut his palm, drawing blood, but he seemed oblivious, staring at Deng Hong in disbelief and asking, "Say that again?"
Although he guessed from the unusual movements of the Wei army that Guan Xing had won a battle, he did not expect that Guan Xing's victory was so thorough that he wiped out the entire Wu army's eastern expeditionary force, from the Grand Commander down to the ordinary soldiers. How did this rebellious son manage to do that?
Lu Xun, Zhuge Jin, Pan Zhang, Zhou Fang, Ding Feng, Shi Xin, Bu Xie, Li Yi, plus Han Dang and Xu Sheng from before—this long list could probably not be written on a single sheet of paper.
Compared to this list, his achievements of beheading Yan Liang and Wen Chou, capturing Yu Jin and killing Pang De are simply pathetic.
Wang Fu also lost his composure, the demeanor he had carefully cultivated vanished instantly, and he began to count on his fingers in his sleeves, trying to figure out how many famous generals Guan Xing had captured. The more he counted, the more alarmed he became.
Guan Xing killed more famous generals in this battle than Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei combined in their entire lives, including even Zhuge Jin, the Grand Commander of Eastern Wu and Zhuge Liang's elder brother.
Who was the Grand Commander of Eastern Wu? He was second only to his lord Sun Quan, the number one military figure in Eastern Wu, second only to the emperor. He was equivalent to Guan Yu of Shu Han or Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun of Cao Wei. He was someone who could shake the world.
With all these people captured, what is left of Sun Quan?
Deng Hong was startled by Guan Yu's terrifying gaze and dared not refute, so he continued, "In addition, when I returned, the young general had already ordered Wang Tao to infiltrate Hanxing to intercept Lü Dai. Lü Dai is probably about to be captured."
"What?" Guan Yu could no longer maintain his composure and stood up abruptly, questioning sharply, "Are you sure it's Lü Dai, the Governor of Jiaozhou, Lü Dai, the Marquis of Duxiang?"