Chapter 237 Liu Bei in a dilemma?
The curse was like a knife, cutting off the last trace of fear in Taishi Ci's heart.

"Hahaha!!"

Laughing up to the sky, Taishi Ci said, "How can such a person be worthy of my service?"

"I lost this bet."

"From now on, I am willing to submit to Marshal Ye, go through fire and water, and never regret it."

"I wish to bring peace to the world and benefit the people."

Liu Yao let out a long sigh, his eyes filled with regret.

He felt upset that he had forced Taishi Ci to rebel, but he was also glad that Taishi Ci did not have to die heroically.

Because Zhao Yun said it clearly, he could live as long as Taishi Ci was alive.

Shaking his head and putting aside other thoughts, Liu Yao looked at Zhao Yun flatteringly: "General Zhao, do you mean what you said just now?"

"Taishi Ci no longer has the will to die, am I the same?"

Zhao Yun laughed loudly, in a very good mood: "Go away!"

"Don't be an enemy of my Lord. There won't be another general willing to die for you next time."

After he finished speaking, the strong energy that had been hovering over Liu Yao's head disappeared. Liu Yao let out a long sigh, clasped his fists towards Zhao Yun, and then fled without stopping.

The Yangzhou soldiers around had dazed eyes as they looked at Liu Yao's spineless appearance. Few of them were willing to leave with him.

Liu Yao wanted to scold those short-sighted subordinates, but when he saw Zhao Yun's interested eyes, he was stunned. He dared not say anything and quickly ran out of the battlefield.

The sounds of fighting became sporadic. Taishi Ci calmed down and looked around: "Brothers, you all know Liu Yao's true face. How can such a person be worthy of us serving him?"

"The emperor is dead, the Han Empire has fallen, and now the one who has the best hope of unifying the world and sweeping across the nine states is Marshal Ye Feng. His reputation has long been known throughout the world. He destroyed the Yellow Turbans, killed the King of Wuhuan, and stopped the Xiongnu. Everything he did was for the sake of the nation and the people. We were blinded by Liu Yao before, and even tried to become an enemy of such a hero."

"Now that I think about it, I just feel my face burning."

"Brothers, why don't you lay down your weapons now and make up for the mistakes we made before?"

Taishi Ci had a high prestige in the army. Many soldiers who had already looked down on Liu Yao knelt on the ground and shouted loudly: "We are willing to serve Marshal Ye and go through fire and water without hesitation."

Looking at the Yangzhou soldiers kneeling on the ground in large numbers, Zhao Yun's smile became even more intense.

"General Ziyi, you will not regret your choice today."

"Let some of the surrendered soldiers go, and let them spread the news that Liu Yao has been completely wiped out by us."

"Ok?"

Taishi Ci was startled: "Why is this happening?"

"Shouldn't we conceal the news and catch the allied forces off guard?"

Zhao Yun raised his lips and looked towards the northern sky: "This is the brilliance of my lord!"

"Cao Cao and Tao Qian are hiding in Xiaopei and have not dared to move. If they don't leave the city, it will be very difficult to completely annihilate them."

"But when they found out that we were targeting Liu Yao, how could they bear it?"

Taishi Ci was startled, with a look of disbelief in his eyes: "Is this the Lord's plan?"

"Destroy all the princes in one fell swoop?"

"Do you really want to swallow up the world in one fell swoop?"

Zhao Yun laughed: "So I said your choice is wise."

The next day, the offensive and defensive drills outside Runan City continued.

However, the attack frequency and the sense of oppression are greatly reduced.

Zhang Fei repeatedly suggested that the archers reduce their shooting, but Xu You said that the city wall was almost breached a few days ago. With just this one sentence, Liu Bei's glimmer of luck just rose up and disappeared instantly. The sky was clear and cloudless, which should have been the best time to attack, but the offensive and defensive drills outside the city were still separated by a long period of time.

On the city wall, Liu Bei frowned and asked, "What on earth is Ye Feng up to?"

"Does that mean he is no longer outside the city?"

Xu You, Sun Qian's eyes lit up, and he was silent for a long time: "Ye Feng's use of troops is real and fake, true and false, and it is impossible to judge based on some known intelligence."

"For safety reasons, we cannot leave the city, otherwise..."

Liu Bei sighed: "I know, but..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a burst of hurried footsteps.

"My lord, news has come from the Yangzhou army outside the city."

"Liu Yao of the Yangzhou Army?"

"Come here quickly, are they here?"

Liu Bei said with anticipation on his face.

Yesterday, Wen Pin, a general of the Jingzhou army, sent a message saying that they had arrived fifty miles outside the city and could provide support to Liu Bei at any time as long as Liu Bei needed it. However, Wen Pin's best advice to Liu Bei was to coordinate internal and external forces to catch Ye Feng off guard.

However, Liu Bei was with Xu You, and after Sun Qian carefully analyzed the situation, he felt that even if the two sides joined forces, they would not be able to confront Ye Feng head-on.

Now that Liu Yao's Yangzhou army has news, they can start making plans. At least Liu Bei doesn't have to worry about Runan City being easily conquered by Ye Feng.

The scout panted heavily, "My lord, the Yangzhou army was attacked by Ye Feng's main force at Gepo, more than 200 miles southeast of Runan. The 40,000-man army was completely wiped out. I heard that only Liu Yao escaped back to Yangzhou with a small number of his personal soldiers."

Liu Bei, who was originally smiling and felt that he was about to make it, turned pale: "How is this possible? Isn't Ye Feng's main force outside the city? When did he quietly ambush Liu Yao?"

Zhang Fei said in a muffled voice: "I said that the camp outside the city is just an empty shell. Ye Feng has already set his sights on attacking other princes."

"Didn't Liu Yao become a scapegoat?"

"We should leave the city immediately and fight a decisive battle. We must not let Governor Liu's sacrifice be in vain."

Liu Bei drew out the double-edged sword from his waist and was about to loudly encourage the morale and go for the fight, when Xu You stepped forward again and said, "Ye Feng has 100,000 men. How many men are needed to defeat Liu Yao's 40,000 men?"

Liu Bei was stunned, obviously not understanding what Xu You meant.

Sun Qian understood and said with a wry smile, "At most thirty thousand."

"That means there are still 70,000 main forces outside the city. With the Jingzhou soldiers brought by Wen Pin, we have an advantage, but it's too small."

"Leaving the city to fight is definitely not a good idea."

Liu Bei frowned, his eyes full of displeasure: "When is the right time?"

"Wait for Ye Feng to come back with 30,000 men, and then we can have a decisive battle?"

"Wouldn't that mean there's even less chance?"

Xu You shook his head: "I have planned to deal with Ye Feng several times. Although I didn't succeed, I do understand Ye Feng's temper."

"This person planned before he acted. He would never have thought that we would take advantage of the opportunity to launch a surprise attack."

"So I am sure there is a trap outside. As long as we go in, it may be the last battle."

"My lord, do you really want to fight a battle where you don't even have a 50% chance of winning?"

Liu Bei was silent for a while, then sighed: "Wait a little longer and see if Ye Feng appears on the battlefield."

"Let's go check out the camp tonight. I want to know how many enemies there are outside the city!"

(End of this chapter)