Wei Xiaobao's Three Kingdoms Adventure

Chapter 117: Marriage is also a strategy

After returning to Xiaopei, Liu Bei told Zhang Fei and Wei Xiaobao about Zhuge Liang's plan to break the Sishui River embankment and flood Xiapi.

Zhang Fei, Wei Xiaobao and Zhao Yun joined forces, and the three of them led more than a thousand soldiers to the banks of the Sishui River.

It happened to rain heavily, and after the river embankment was dug up, the flood quickly poured into Xia Pi City.

Guan Yu also received Liu Bei's message and led the Pengcheng garrison to camp outside Xia Pi City.

Sure enough, within three days, Hou Cheng, Song Xian and Wei Xu surrendered out of the city carrying Lu Bu's head.

Lü Bu, exhausted from supervising the battle day and night at the city gate, had fallen asleep against a gate pillar. Song Xian and Wei Xu, already resentful of Lü Bu for cutting off their income from brewing and selling wine, saw Xia Pi flooded and Liu Bei's powerful generals, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun, stationed outside the city walls. They seized the opportunity to attack Lü Bu, hoping to save their own lives by killing him.

Wei Xiaobao originally thought he would see a big battle, but he didn't expect that Lu Bu, who was known to be the unrivaled in the world, would die so miserably.

Liu Bei was unwilling to take in Hou Cheng and the other two, so he asked Zhao Yun to send them to Xiaoguan to be handed over to Zhang Liao for punishment.

Zhang Liao, remembering his old friendship with Lü Bu, beheaded Hou Cheng and his two companions, and arranged for Lü Bu's wife, Yan, and daughter to be sent back to their hometown in Bingzhou.

After Liu Bei recaptured Xuzhou, he was worried that the army was short of food and fodder. If Yuan Shu attacked, it would be difficult to defend. So he arranged for Wei Xiaobao to go to Guangling to contact Chen Deng to deliver food.

Wei Xiaobao remembered that he had a beautiful lady named Da Qiao at home. Now that the war in Xuzhou was over, he should send her back. However, he was reluctant to do so and hesitated for several days before setting out for Guangling.

One day, Wei Xiaobao was lying in bed and being lazy when Guan Yu came to visit him.

Guan Yu went straight to the point: "Bozhi, my elder brother assigned you to Guangling to collect grain, why haven't you left in several days?"

Wei Xiaobao said, "Second brother, you were not in Xiaopei at that time, so there is something you don't know."

Wei Xiaobao told Guan Yu in detail about Da Qiao coming to rescue Qiao Rui.

After hearing this, Guan Yu sighed and said, "Bozhi, a gentleman should be trustworthy. Since we have already agreed, and my elder brother has taken back Xuzhou, you should send Da Qiao back to Shouchun."

Wei Xiaobao said, "Second brother, I understand what you are saying, but once this beauty is sent back, we will never see her again."

"How can a man let his children's personal affairs ruin important things?"

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "You fight for the common people, in the most fundamental sense, and you want to become emperor. I don't have such ambitions. I just want money and women."

Diao Chan heard the conversation between Wei Xiaobao and Guan Yu in the inner room. Knowing that Wei Xiaobao was reluctant to let Da Qiao go, she came out and advised: "Xiaobao, you must not disobey your second brother. Besides, there are important matters waiting for you to attend to in Shouchun."

Guan Yu didn't understand what Diao Chan meant, but Wei Xiaobao knew it clearly.

Guan Yu continued to advise, "Each of your three sisters-in-law is a truly stunning beauty, yet you are still unsatisfied and are still lusting after the daughters of Yuan Shu's men."

Wei Xiaobao thought to himself, "I had five, six, seven, or eight wives in the Qing Dynasty, but now I only have three. How can this be possible?"

Wei Xiaobao also knew that there was a shortage of food in Xuzhou City. If Qiao Rui was forced into a desperate situation and went all out, the newly acquired Xuzhou would most likely be handed over to Yuan Shu.

Wei Xiaobao consoled himself by saying, "Forget it. I'm willing to give my pretty wife A Ke to the pretty boy Zheng Keshuang, so I'll just give Da Qiao back to Sun Ce." Guan Yu asked in surprise, "What's the connection between Da Qiao and Sun Ce of Jiangdong?"

Wei Xiaobao realized that he had said the wrong thing and quickly explained, "When I was in Shouchun, I heard that Qiao Rui wanted to marry Da Qiao to Sun Ce and then have Sun Ce form an alliance with Yuan Shu."

Guan Yu pondered for a moment and said, "Although I've never met Mr. Zhuge, whom Big Brother visited in Nanyang, his advice on capturing Xia Pi suggests he's certainly an extraordinary person. Since Da Qiao is crucial to the alliance between Yuan Shu and Sun Ce, we should wait for Mr. Zhuge to come and discuss matters before making any final decision. You should go to Guangling and urge for food supplies. I'll explain Da Qiao's situation to Big Brother. Then, have Zilong lead the cavalry and set up camp to guard against an attack from Yuan Shu."

Wei Xiaobao jumped three feet high, hugged Guan Yu's arm and said, "Second brother, you understand my feelings so well. I will go to Guangling to collect grain now. I'll leave Da Qiao's matter to you, second brother."

When Wei Xiaobao met Chen Deng, he first praised him, of course, all in the name of Cao Cao.

However, Chen Deng originally thought that his merits could earn him the position of Governor of Xuzhou, but he did not expect that he would end up helping Liu Bei instead.

Wei Xiaobao consoled Chen Deng, "Your Excellency, you are trying to win over Liu Bei in preparation for a future attack on Yuan Shao. Xia Pi and Pengcheng are currently short of food. If Yuan Shu seizes this opportunity to attack Xuzhou and then ally with Yuan Shao in the north, then Your Excellency will have to deal with both Yuan brothers at once."

Chen Deng felt that what Wei Xiaobao said made sense, so he allocated half of the grain reserves in Guangling and let Wei Xiaobao take it back to Xia Pi.

Guangling was originally Yuan Shu's rear base and grain base. After it was occupied by Chen Deng's troops, he had long wanted to take it back. However, Sun Ce became increasingly powerful after fleeing to Jiangdong, which made Yuan Shu always feel resentful.

Da Qiao had previously exchanged for Qiao Rui, and this incident gave Yuan Shu's advisers an idea, which was to sacrifice Da Qiao's beauty in order to win over Sun Ce.

Unexpectedly, the lies Wei Xiaobao made up to Guan Yu actually came true.

When Wei Xiaobao returned to Xia Pi from Guangling, Zhuge Liang had already arrived in Xia Pi with his family and servants.

Everyone was an acquaintance, so there was no excessive formality when they met. They gathered in Liu Bei's tent to discuss the matter of Yuan Shu coming to ask for someone.

Zhuge Liang said, "Xuzhou is easy to attack but difficult to defend. Our strategy now is to endure and develop slowly, and then plan for greater things. My lord has already submitted a petition to the court, and this has already caused Cao Cao to relax his vigilance. As long as we can avoid harassment from Yuan Shu in the south and focus on storing food and training troops, we can achieve great things in the future."

Liu Bei said, "Yuan Shu has appointed himself Governor of Xuzhou and has ambitions to become emperor. Now he wants to marry Qiao Rui's daughter, Da Qiao, to Sun Ce. I'm afraid he has ill intentions towards Xuzhou."

Zhuge Liang said, "If Sun Ce can marry Yuan Shu, why can't we? Yuan Shu is courting Sun Ce because he's under attack from all sides and can't split his forces. If Xuzhou doesn't pose a threat to him, Yuan Shu will naturally attack Jiangdong first and then take all of Yangzhou. Now that Da Qiao is in our army, and the Bozhi brothers have long admired her, why don't you help her and kill two birds with one stone?"

Wei Xiaobao almost loved Zhuge Liang to death. Although they had some unpleasantness during their first meeting, he was busy matchmaking for him as soon as he arrived in Xia Pi, which was comparable to the kindness Lu Zhi had shown him.

After thinking about it, Wei Xiaobao started to feel embarrassed again and said, "Brother, Military Advisor, although I am willing to marry you, Da Qiao is not interested in me."

Wei Xiaobao racked his brains to think of a line he had heard on the stage, but after he finished speaking, he felt sour and scratched his head in embarrassment.

Zhuge Liang laughed heartily: "This is easy to do. We just need to capture Qiao Rui again."

Wei Xiaobao quickly asked, "How does the military advisor plan to capture Qiao Rui?"

Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and said slowly, "I have a brilliant plan."

(End of this chapter)