The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Was this surprise attack actually Guan Xing's idea?

Zhang Zhao turned around abruptly, his eyes filled with shock as he stared at Guan Xing's disappearing figure.

The news of the victory in Jingzhou had already reached Jianye. The battle report said that when Guan Yu left Maicheng, he only had two or three hundred men left with him, and their morale was low and they lacked food and supplies. They were completely in dire straits.

Zhang Zhao could imagine the horrific scene and knew that in such a situation, a person's mind would be under extreme tension, their thoughts would become chaotic, and it would be difficult to remain calm.

It's incredible that Guan Xing, at such a young age, could not only remain rational in such a critical situation, but also seize the opportunity to allow Guan Yu to launch a counterattack.

To have such keen insight at such a young age, given time he might become another Zhuge Liang.

Zhang Zhao couldn't help but exclaim, "Truly, heroes emerge from among the young, and like father, like son! General Guan has done an excellent job of raising his son; I admire him greatly."

A father naturally feels honored when his son is successful.

Guan Yu beamed with joy at the praise and quickly probed, "It's wonderful that my son has caught Brother Zibu's eye. I've heard that Brother Zibu has a granddaughter who is of age but still unmarried?"

Zhang Zhao served under Sun Quan for a long time, playing the role of Zhuge Liang. His prestige in Jiangdong was unmatched. If Guan Yu could become related to Zhang Zhao by marriage, he would not mind being a generation below him.

Zhang Zhao was startled upon hearing this and decisively refused, saying, "Stop! My girl is already engaged and is not suitable for your second young master. I urge General Guan to find another suitable wife."

Marrying Guan Yu? Are you kidding me?

They are enemies now. If they really become in-laws, how will others view him? Won't they regard him as the number one traitor in Jiangdong?

Zhang Zhao is already sixty-three years old, and he doesn't want to ruin his reputation in his old age.

"That's a pity." Guan Yu knew that this matter couldn't be rushed, so he didn't press the issue and changed the subject, saying, "But Brother Zibu, our Liu and Sun families are relatives after all. Although there have been some unpleasant incidents recently, we are still family, right?"

"Therefore, I dare to ask Brother Zibu to write a letter to appease Zhou Tai, the governor of Ruxu, and persuade him not to defect to Cao Wei. I hope this will not be too difficult for you, Brother Zibu."

Although he successfully captured Jianye City, he also put himself in a more dangerous situation.

The greatest danger comes from Ruxu. If Zhou Tai, the governor of Ruxu, learns of the fall of Jianye, he might grit his teeth and head north to surrender to Cao Wei.

If Zhou Tai surrenders to Cao Wei, a large number of Wei troops will march into the heart of Jiangdong through Ruxu. At that time, what will Guan Yu use to resist these six thousand low-strength bandits?

After capturing Jianye, Guan Yu encountered the same problem as Lü Meng. On that day, Lü Meng ambushed Guan Yu at Linju but did not see him. Fearing that Guan Yu would go north to surrender to Wei, he lost his composure on the spot.

Guan Yu is in the same boat now, fearing that Zhou Tai, who is stationed at Ruxukou, will go north and surrender to Wei, and all his hard work will be for nothing but benefit to Cao Wei.

Two wolves fighting while a tiger sits nearby watching the show—that's a truly unpleasant experience.

Zhang Zhao didn't want Cao Wei to get involved either, so he nodded and said, "No problem, I'll go back and write to General Zhou Tai. But General Guan, my lord has captured Jiangling, and you've captured Jianye. We're even now, shouldn't we start negotiating?"

"I suggest that both sides compromise and restore the Xiang River boundary."

Restoring the Xiang River boundary would mean returning all of the newly captured Jiangling and even the four prefectures of Jingnan, which Zhang Zhao was naturally extremely unwilling to do.

After all, the area of ​​the counties in Jingzhou is no smaller than that of the six counties in Jiangdong. Returning them would be equivalent to Jiangdong losing half of its territory. Who would be willing to do that?

It's easy to put money in your pocket, but getting it out again is a real challenge.

The problem is that they have no choice but to accept it. Guan Yu has occupied Jianye and kidnapped Sun Quan's son. Liu Bei has just won the battle of Hanzhong and his morale is soaring. Cao Wei is also eyeing Jiangbei with hostility. Jiangdong is already in an absolute disadvantageous position. If they do not compromise, they may not even be able to keep Jingzhou, let alone the six counties of Jiangdong.

People under the eaves have to bow their heads.

Guan Yu also did not want to give away Jianye, which he had already acquired. Upon hearing this, he shook his head and said, "I cannot make decisions about peace talks. You should go and talk to my king and strategist."

Peace talks? What a pipe dream you're having!

That damned Sun Quan and Lü Meng attacked me from behind at the crucial moment when I was heading north to attack Wei, causing the northern expedition to fail and almost costing me my life. How could I let such a grudge go so easily?

The situation is clearly in our favor now. If we don't take advantage of Sun Quan's illness and kill him, are we going to let that green-eyed thief betray us again?

On the contrary, if we could take this opportunity to destroy Jiangdong and unify the south, it would be extremely beneficial to the great cause of restoring the Han Dynasty.

Putting everything else aside, at least we no longer have to worry about allies hindering us or betraying us, so we can roll up our sleeves and fight Cao Wei with peace of mind.

Zhang Zhao was also a notorious old fox. He could tell what Guan Yu was up to just by looking at his expression. He couldn't help but sigh to himself, "It seems that this red-faced thief won't give up easily. The road to peace talks is going to be difficult."

Although he felt bitter inside, he didn't show it and said calmly, "Alright, I'll go back and write letters to my lord and the King of Hanzhong."

After saying this, he turned to leave, and Guan Yu not only did not stop him, but also thoughtfully escorted him back.

After seeing Zhang Zhao off, Guan Yu visited Sun Shao, Zhang Wen, and other important officials in Jiangdong, and actively promoted his son Guan Xing to them, attempting to form a marriage alliance with these officials.

Guan Yu was quite pragmatic in this regard. It didn't matter who his son married or how beautiful or ugly his daughter-in-law was, as long as they could get married.

Once they are married, he can use his in-laws' influence to quickly take control of Jianye and even the entire Jiangdong region.

The idea was good, but the problem was that the important officials of Jiangdong were not stupid; they would not tie themselves to Guan Yu's chariot at this time.

In their view, although Guan Yu had occupied Jianye, he had also put himself in unprecedented danger, surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Even if you, Guan Yu, are as brave as the Overlord, you couldn't withstand this kind of ambush from all sides.

As for reinforcements, Liu Bei's reinforcements were thousands of miles away, and Sun Quan's main Wu army was blocking their way. Even if Liu Bei had extraordinary abilities, he couldn't possibly arrive in an instant.

Therefore, Guan Yu had no future and would soon be beaten to death by the mob. Marrying Guan Yu at this time would be like becoming a traitor in 1945 and surrendering to the Nationalists in 1949.

The Jiangdong aristocratic families aren't stupid; why would they take such a risk?

Guan Yu went around trying to sell his son but failed. On the way back, he was displeased with everything Guan Xing did and said unhappily, "Look at you, you can't even find a wife, what can you do?"

Guan Xing retorted speechlessly, "Is this my fault?"

Damn Guan Yu, do you even listen to what you're saying?

Guan Yu glared at him with his tiger-like eyes and scolded, "You dare to talk back?"

Guan Xing: "..."

Do you even have any sense of reason?

He somewhat understood why Mi Fang and Fu Shiren betrayed him; Guan Yu like that, let alone Mi Fang, would have wanted to betray him too.

No, we have to find a way to transfer him away as soon as possible, otherwise he'll be driven crazy to death by Guan Yu's side sooner or later.

The tragic Guan Yu was so bad that even his own son didn't want to follow him, which shows how much of a failure he was as a person.

Guan Xing snorted coldly and turned his head away, ignoring this living father.

The father and son returned to Lü Meng's residence, which was serving as a temporary shogunate, as if in a fit of pique, and summoned the others for a meeting.

In the main hall of the Lü residence, Guan Yu sat at the head of the table, glanced around at Wang Fu, and said in a heavy tone, "Guoshan, tell me about the situation on your side."