My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 287 Capturing Yuan Shu (Bonus Chapter!)

Zhou Yu and Xu Chu never expected Zhang Liao to make such an arrangement; it was as if the great achievement of capturing Yuan Shu had been handed to them.

However, to put it another way, Zhang Liao was the frontline commander of this operation, and Zhou Yu and Xu Chu's men were all under his command. No matter who captured Yuan Shu, he would always get the credit.

If he were to delay important matters because of his ambition for personal gain, Zhang Liao would be the one who suffers the greatest loss.

Even so, Zhou Yu and Xu Chu were in high spirits, their eyes filled with gratitude and excitement as they looked at Zhang Liao. They both replied in unison, "Yes, sir!"

Immediately, Zhang Liao allocated two hundred men to Zhou Yu and Xu Chu for command, while he himself mobilized his soldiers to prepare for action.

At this time, Yuan Shu had 250 armored soldiers guarding the front of the palace, another 250 armored soldiers guarding the rear of the palace, and a thousand armored soldiers patrolling the entire palace city in several waves.

Once we make a move, the other armored soldiers will swarm in, so we must act quickly.

Under Zhang Liao's arrangement, eighty soldiers carrying bows and crossbows took down their powerful crossbows and then each selected a target.

At Zhang Liao's command, dozens of crossbows fired simultaneously. Caught off guard, the Yuan army soldiers guarding the main hall fell to the ground, with thirty or forty men falling in an instant.

The next moment, Zhang Liao took the lead, followed closely by countless armored soldiers, who rushed out of the shadows, crossed the wide square, and attacked the main hall.

"Enemy attack!"

The soldiers of Yuan's army, disregarding the screaming comrades on the ground, hurriedly rang the bell to warn others and summoned other Yuan soldiers to come to their aid.

Yuan Jun's archers immediately stepped forward, drew their bows, and fired rapidly. A large number of arrows formed a rain of arrows in the air, dodging Zhang Liao and his shield-bearing front ranks, and instead scattering towards the rear of Zhang Liao's army.

Almost simultaneously, Yuan Jun's armored soldiers also assembled, forming a human wall in front of the main hall with over a hundred soldiers, looking down at Zhang Liao and his men who were about to attack.

The square, spanning tens of meters, was quickly traversed. Zhang Liao took the lead, using his shield for protection, and charged towards the enemy's armored soldiers' line.

"I am Zhang Wenyuan from Yanmen!"

With a roar, Zhang Liao swung his shield upwards with his left hand, smashing a Yuan soldier away. Then, with his right hand, he slashed down with his long sword, severing the arm of another Yuan soldier on the spot.

Then, Zhang Liao took two steps forward, pulled his right hand horizontally, and the tip of his knife precisely slit the throat of another Yuan army soldier who was charging at him.

The movements were incredibly smooth, as if the other person had deliberately bumped into him.

Zhang Liao's personal guards followed closely behind, charging recklessly into Yuan Shu's armored ranks.

The already somewhat flimsy battle formation was immediately breached, and Zhang Liao's soldiers continued to charge in.

Once the battle lines were stretched out, Zhang Liao's numerical advantage became apparent, not to mention the archers below constantly sniping at the enemy archers.

In what seemed like only a moment, the defensive line formed by more than two hundred Yuan soldiers had collapsed.

Zhang Liao suddenly turned around and shouted down, "Gongjin, Zhongkang, come with me!"

"Here!"

Xu Chu was already filled with excitement. He immediately charged forward, shield in one hand and long sword in the other, following closely behind Zhang Liao as they rushed into the hall.

Inside the hall, Yuan Shu was already quite drunk, watching the singing and dancing in a drunken stupor.

Everyone else had also drunk quite a bit, including the important officials such as Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and Yang Hong, all of whom were quite drunk.

The shouts of battle that suddenly came from outside the hall were so well concealed by the music that no one noticed them for a moment.

Suddenly, armored soldiers rushed in from outside the palace. Amidst the bewildered gazes of the crowd, one of the soldiers shouted loudly at Yuan Shu, "My lord, Liu Bei's army has entered the city! They are currently attacking the palace. Please think of a solution immediately!"

"Attack the palace?"

Yuan Shu, still drunk, repeated himself, then shook his head: "Liu Bei is far away in Ruyin, how could he come to Shouchun, and when did he enter the city?"

"Lord!"

The armored soldiers were getting anxious: "Liu Bei's army has arrived outside the palace! Please leave immediately, my lord!"

"Outside the palace?"

Yuan Shu actually laughed: "How is that possible? How much wine have you drunk that you're so drunk that you're spouting such nonsense?"

Zhang Xun and the others laughed incessantly, all thinking that the armored soldier was talking nonsense in a drunken stupor.

Only Yang Hong and Ji Ling vaguely sensed that something was amiss.

Just as the two struggled to their feet and were about to say something, the palace door was suddenly kicked open, and two burly men rushed in first, followed by dozens of fierce-looking armored soldiers.

After Zhou Yu entered the hall, he looked around and immediately pointed to the middle-aged man in black robes opposite him and said, "That man is Yuan Shu!"

Zhou Yu's shout startled Yuan Shu, making him break out in a cold sweat and even sobering him up considerably.

Yuan Shu's face turned deathly pale, and he shouted at Zhou Yu, "Gongjin, what do you mean by this?!"

"Yuan Gonglu! You traitorous scoundrel, you are no longer tolerated by the Emperor, yet you dare to ask me what I mean?"

Zhou Yu shouted, "Today, we will capture you alive and present you to Liu Zheng Nan!"

Yuan Shu then realized what was happening and immediately burst into a tirade: "You ungrateful traitor, you double-dealing scoundrel! Guards, seize this dog at once!"

As Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, and others led their armored soldiers into the hall, the armored soldiers inside quickly gathered around Yuan Shu, while the dancers, singers, and musicians in the hall scattered in all directions, trying to escape the swords and spears.

Generals Zhang Xun and Ji Ling quickly jumped up and pulled Yang Hong, Li Ye, and others into the armored guards surrounding Yuan Shu.

Apart from those who were completely drunk and fast asleep, the room was clearly divided into two factions.

Yuan Shu was about to continue his tirade when Zhang Liao and Xu Chu led their armored soldiers in a charge.

Yuan Shan, the head of Yuan Shu's personal guards, ordered the armored soldiers to step forward and form a battle formation to meet the enemy. At the same time, he led ten armored soldiers to help Yuan Shu up and run to the rear.

Yuan Shu was still struggling to stay, insisting that Yuan Shan kill Zhou Yu.

But the next moment, when he saw Zhang Liao and Xu Chu wreaking havoc among the armored soldiers like tigers among sheep, he was completely terrified.

Xu Chu's fist was so powerful it could be used like a melon. He punched the armored soldier in the face, and the soldier fell down without a sound, clearly knocked unconscious.

Zhang Liao, on the other hand, was like a tiger descending the mountain. Under the slashing of his fine steel longsword, the armor of the iron-clad soldiers seemed as fragile as silk.

"Quick...hurry up. Quick, get out of here..."

This time, Yuan Shu stopped clamoring to kill Zhou Yu and instead urged Yuan Shan to quickly take him away from there.

Just then, the more than two hundred armored soldiers at the rear rushed into the hall through the back door. Yuan Shan stopped half of them to serve as attendants, while the other half reinforced the hall.

"You must block Zhou Yu and his men and prevent them from chasing after us."

These armored soldiers obeyed the order, but Yuan Shan knew very well that they couldn't hold them off for long.

Yuan Shan escorted Yuan Shu out of the palace, only to find that the palace city was now a battlefield.

Liu Fengjun's large army poured into the palace city in an endless stream, and even launched a surprise attack on Yuan Shu's personal army's garrison, effectively trapping them in their camp.

Let alone coming out to reinforce Yuan Shu, they probably won't even be able to protect themselves.

"General, what should we do?"

Yuan Shan's heart sank considerably at this moment. Looking at the scene before him, he realized that Liu Bei's army had truly entered the city.

It must have been the work of that traitor Zhou Yu; he was the one who let Liu Bei's army into Shouchun.

As for the fact that Zhou Yu was guarding the south while Liu Bei was still in the north, Yuan Shu and Yuan Shan could not have foreseen these circumstances.

Faced with Yuan Shan's questioning, Yuan Shu, pale-faced, was at a loss for what to do.

Yuan Shan asked several questions before Yuan Shu finally came to his senses.

"Go, head east! Exit through the east gate of the palace. There are boats by the Fei River; you can leave Shouchun by water."

When Zhang Xun and Ji Ling heard that Yuan Shu was actually planning to flee, they immediately became anxious.

"My lord, you mustn't!"

Zhang Xun earnestly advised, "No news of the fall of Ruyin has yet come back, which shows that Liu Bei's forces are still on the Ruyin front. Those who have entered the city now are only a small elite force. There are still 20,000 soldiers in the city, enough to fight back. If our lord retreats without a fight, wouldn't Shouchun be handed over to the enemy?"

Ji Ling added from the side, "My lord, what Commandant Zhang said is quite right."

Zhang Xun and Ji Ling's wives, children, and all their property and assets were in Shouchun City. How could they possibly follow Yuan Shu to become empty-handed generals? Not only did Zhang Xun and Ji Ling say this, but Yang Hong and Li Ye also strongly urged Yuan Shu to go to the military camp in the palace first, while ordering Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and other troops outside the palace to enter the palace to rescue the emperor.

After hearing Zhang Xun's words, Yuan Shu still wanted to flee, but he was frightened by Li Ye's words.

Li Ye said that there are 20,000 troops in the city, but you, my lord, cannot defend yourself. If you rashly leave the city, your hundred or so soldiers will scatter overnight. At that time, even a village head can capture a general. What can you do?

Upon hearing this, Yuan Shu was frightened by Li Ye's words. He then decided to first go to the palace barracks to muster his troops. Whether to stay or leave, he needed more troops to accompany him to feel at ease.

Yuan Shu and his entourage headed towards the palace barracks, and along the way they encountered several patrols of Yuan soldiers. They were immediately gathered around Yuan Shu for protection, and his forces suddenly numbered four or five hundred.

However, Yuan Shu's good luck came to an end when he ran right into Pan Zhang's troops.

Pan Zhang's task happened to be to suppress the military camps in the palace, preventing them from sending troops to rescue Yuan Shu.

After completing his mission, he was thinking about whether to send three or five hundred elite troops to capture Yuan Shu, but he never expected that Yuan Shu would walk right into the trap and deliver himself to his doorstep.

Pan Zhang was overjoyed and handed over the siege to his deputy. He then led more than three hundred elite armored soldiers to give chase.

At this point, Yuan Shu was extremely anxious and distressed. Not only had he failed to find reinforcements, but he also had to send several hundred men to intercept Pan Zhang, while he himself turned around and continued to flee.

At this point, Yuan Shu no longer thought about driving Liu Bei's army out of the city; he only wanted to escape as quickly as possible.

With that thought in mind, I naturally and unconsciously turned back.

The more Pan Zhang pursued, the faster Yuan Shu fled.

Yuan Shu never dreamed that he would end up running headlong into Zhang Liao, Xu Chu, and Zhou Yu.

Yuan Shu still wanted to fight to the death, but found that he had few armored soldiers left.

Only Yuan Shan, Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and a few others remained with him; scholars like Yang Hong and Li Ye had disappeared.

They must have either gotten separated or been captured.

"Road Courier, where do you wish to go?"

Seeing that he had finally achieved the greatest victory along the way, Zhou Yu was in high spirits and couldn't help but tease Yuan Shu.

Yuan Shu's face turned red, then green, and finally deathly pale.

Zhang Liao seized the opportunity to persuade him to surrender, saying, "Lord Yuan, please lay down your weapons, otherwise we cannot guarantee your safety."

Yuan Shu glanced around and saw that Yuan Shan, Zhang Xun, and Ji Ling were all looking away, so he realized that they, too, could not hold on any longer.

So Yuan Shu sighed, took off the sword from his waist, and threw it to the ground in front of him.

This move immediately sparked further developments.

Yuan Shan, Zhang Xun, Ji Ling, and the remaining dozen or so armored soldiers who were still by Yuan Shu's side all threw their weapons onto the ground in front of them.

Zhang Liao finally breathed a sigh of relief, waved his hand, and his personal guards rushed forward to subdue the other party.

Only Yuan Shu and Zhang Liao received some preferential treatment, since they ultimately brought great credit to them.

After Pan Zhang scattered the armored soldiers left by Yuan Shu to block the enemy and caught up, he discovered that Zhang Liao's side had already captured Yuan Shu.

Pan Zhang was unwilling, but he dared not compete with Zhang Liao for it.

He wasn't afraid of Zhang Liao's martial arts skills, but rather of Liu Feng and military law.

Watching Zhang Liao escort Yuan Shu to find Liu Feng, Pan Zhang was seething with anger.

If I hadn't seen Yuan Shu before, that would be one thing; it was just bad luck.

But now, there was a clear opportunity to capture Yuan Shu, yet they ultimately missed their chance. How could Pan Zhang, with his ambitious and eager-to-achieve nature, tolerate this?

"Truly hateful!"

Pan Zhang rebuked his soldiers, saying, "It's all because you were too slow. If you had scattered Yuan Shu's personal guards earlier, this great achievement would have been ours."

Pan Zhang frequently cursed and insulted his soldiers, and in the beginning, he even resorted to physical violence, but Liu Feng stopped him.

What's strange is that Pan Zhang's soldiers respected him greatly, and didn't care even when he was scolded. The reason was that although Pan Zhang was greedy and ambitious, he never withheld his subordinates' merits and rewards.

For this reason alone, his soldiers had great faith in him.

Despite Pan Zhang's outburst of insults at them, they were inwardly cursing themselves as well.

If they had been any quicker, they would have captured Yuan Shu right now and would be the ones swaggering around.

After cursing for a while, Pan Zhang said angrily, "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and tell the other side that Yuan Shu has surrendered, so that they can surrender quickly?"

"Right, let those scholars we just caught go and talk to them!"

Pan Zhang had just caught up with Yang Hong and Li Ye, who had fallen behind, and then someone took Yang Hong and Li Ye to the military camp to persuade them to surrender.

Just as Pan Zhang was filled with regret, his subordinate Sima Ma Zhong suddenly approached.

Pan Zhang rolled his eyes at the other party, annoyed: "Speak your mind, or shut up. I'm in a bad mood right now, so don't come here to invite my insults."

Ma Zhong chuckled. He was Pan Zhang's trusted and beloved general, and also a fellow townsman of Pan Zhang, so their relationship was naturally different.

"General, there is no need to be upset. I do have a merit here that may be comparable to that of Yuan Shu."

Pan Zhang looked at the other person in surprise, then rolled his eyes: "What kind of bad idea have you come up with this time? Let me warn you, if this gets to the young master, I won't protect you."

Ma Zhong was warned by Pan Zhang, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he joked, "General, your words have hurt our feelings. I, Ma Zhong, am the most loyal man. Young Master is discerning and will not wrong me."

"You son of a bitch, you bootlicker."

Pan Zhang laughed and scolded, "What is it? Tell me quickly."

Ma Zhong chuckled and said, "Yesterday I was ordered to go out of the camp to deliver gifts, but I ran into two stunningly beautiful young ladies at Qiao Rui's house. I heard they are the daughters of Qiao Rui's cousin. Their fathers have died, and they have come to seek refuge with him."

Pan Zhang's face showed anger, and he said indignantly, "What do you mean by this? You should know that the young master strictly forbids us from harassing the people. If you want to die, you can die alone. Don't drag me down with you."

"Why do you say that, General?"

Ma Zhong said innocently, "General, you only saw some rioting soldiers rushing into Qiao Rui's residence, intending to do something bad. After you rescued Qiao Rui's family, you considered that Qiao Rui was currently guarding Ruyin. In order to prevent his family from being injured and causing trouble in Ruyin, you sent his family to the main camp for care."

After hearing Ma Zhong's explanation, Pan Zhang's mouth dropped open. How could someone say that?
Ma Zhong chuckled a few times and continued, "If the young master takes a liking to the Qiao family's young lady, then it is naturally a blessing for her. If he doesn't, then the general has at least protected the Qiao family members. Isn't that a great achievement?"

"Good! Good!"

Pan Zhang, being a straightforward man, immediately turned his anger into joy and began to praise Ma Zhong: "Your plan is brilliant! I will give you three hundred men right away, so you can get to work immediately!"

Ma Zhong immediately obeyed the order, mustered three hundred soldiers, and headed out of the palace.

Shortly after Ma Zhong left, the five thousand personal guards of Yuan Shu in the camp, persuaded by Yang Hong and Li Ye, believed the fact that Yuan Shu had surrendered and ultimately surrendered as a whole.

Pan Zhang was overjoyed and sent troops into the camp to disarm the army.

At the same time, several captains in this army were separated and sent to the royal palace along with Yang Hong and Li Ye to claim their merits.

The fighting in the city gradually subsided.

The disarmament of Zhang Xun and Ji Ling's troops outside the city proceeded quite smoothly.

Although some people expressed their opposition, the overwhelming force and the cooperation of those remaining inside ultimately prevented any major incidents from occurring.

Especially after the news of Zhang Xun and Ji Ling being captured alive spread, their troops became more stable.

In addition, the fighting within the palace city had largely ended, with only a small number of Yuan Shu's troops still putting up a stubborn resistance.

As soon as news of Yuan Shu's surrender arrived, these stubborn soldiers would often lose their will to fight and surrender.

At this time, Liu Feng had already moved into the main hall of the palace. The dancers and musicians in the hall were moved to a side hall and not released for the time being, so as to avoid any unexpected accidents.

The guests in the hall were asked their names and titles, and then dealt with separately.

There had been a fierce battle in the palace before, and many of these guests were naturally caught up in the fighting.

Therefore, Liu Feng ordered that the wounded be sent for treatment, while those who unfortunately died were gathered together and returned to their families at dawn.

(End of this chapter)