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

Luoyang.

Cao Cao has been having a really exciting time lately. First, he was beaten up in Hanzhong by the little brother he had been chasing for decades, and retreated back to Guanzhong in a sorry state. Before he could recover from his wounded heart, he was beaten up again by Guan Yu in Xiangfan, which scared him so much that he almost moved the capital.

Even young people can't withstand such stimulation, let alone an old man in his sixties who has a history of headaches. Therefore, Cao Cao fell ill as soon as he returned to Luoyang.

The once powerful and ruthless warlord, who had dominated the world for decades, was now lying on his bed, feeling utterly miserable. His son, Cao Pi, led Liu Ye, the chief secretary in charge of the Imperial Academy, into the hall and said urgently, "Father, good news! Huge good news!"

Cao Cao rubbed his forehead and glanced at him, then scolded him irritably, "You're over thirty years old, what kind of behavior is this, so impetuous? What is it? Speak!"

Cao Pi quickly bowed and slowly said, "News has come from Jiangdong that Guan Yu has captured Jianye City."

"W-what the hell?" Cao Cao, as if summoning strength from nowhere, suddenly sat up on the bed with one hand, asking in shock, "How...how is this possible?"

The news was so shocking that even His Highness Prince Wei stammered.

Cao Pi calmly stepped aside, giving the right to speak to Liu Ye.

Liu Ye bowed and said, "Your Majesty, after Guan Yu was defeated at Maicheng, he did not retreat back to Shu. Instead, he went to Dabie Mountain to gather the bandits there and took the opportunity to cross the river and capture Jianye City. This news is absolutely true."

Cao Cao wiped the sweat from his forehead and frowned, saying, "Wait, let me sort this out first. In the Battle of Xiangfan, Guan Yu was defeated by Lü Meng and only a hundred or so cavalrymen remained. Everyone, including us, thought he would break through and escape back to Shu. But instead of doing so, he launched a surprise attack on Sun Quan's stronghold to the east."

Liu Ye bowed and said, "Yes, at that time, the main force of Wu's army was in Jingzhou, and Jianye was more vulnerable than ever before. In addition, since Sun Quan moved to Jianye, there has never been a battle in Jianye, so it is not surprising that the attack was successful."

Cao Cao quickly simulated Guan Yu's attack route in his mind and sincerely praised him: "A lone army venturing deep into the fire to snatch chestnuts, Yun Chang has truly surprised me. But in doing so, won't the entire situation in Jiangnan be thrown into chaos?"

Liu Ye replied, "That's right. The Jiangdong gentry are in a state of panic, and the families of Wu soldiers are all in Jianye City. They probably have no will to fight. What's even more tragic is Sun Quan. His home in Jingzhou has been stolen before it's even stabilized. As a result, the gentry of Jingzhou will have to rebel even if they don't want to."

"He can't stay in Jingzhou, and he can't go back to Jianye. Sun Quan has become a rat in a bellows, and he might be doomed if things go wrong."

"Your Majesty, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. How should we seize it?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao was intrigued and quickly thought, "It is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but this opportunity is also aimed at Liu Bei. Once Liu Bei receives the news, he will definitely lead his army to the east."

Liu Ye nodded and said, "That's right, but the Shu Road is difficult to travel, and most of the journey from Jianye to Chengdu is in enemy-occupied territory. Liu Bei must have received the news later than us. So, we have a greater advantage than Liu Bei, at least we have plenty of time."

Cao Cao pondered, "Then let's do it. You should immediately contact the gentry of Jiangdong, offer them official positions and promises, and try to win them over to the court. Then contact Zhou Tai and Zhu Huan at Ruxukou and try to persuade them to surrender and voluntarily hand over Ruxukou."

"Send another envoy to Jiangling to meet Sun Quan. We can promise him any title or official position. Now is the best opportunity to force Sun Quan to surrender. If we can persuade him to surrender and hold off Liu Bei in Jingzhou, allowing the court to successfully recover Jiangdong, that would be wonderful."

"Order Zhang Liao to return to Hefei immediately and prepare for the southward advance."

During the Battle of Xiangfan, Zhang Liao was ordered to support the front line, but the battle ended before he arrived. As a result, Zhang Liao went to Mobei to join Cao Cao and is currently stationed in Chen County.

Liu Ye bowed and said, "Your Majesty is wise, but I estimate that Sun Quan will not surrender easily. I suggest that we make two preparations. If we cannot force him to surrender, we should settle for a deal with him. In return, we will hold off Liu Bei in Jingzhou so that he can return to Jianye to deal with Guan Yu without worry."

Cao Cao leaned against the bed and fell into deep thought. He now had only two paths before him: either attack Jingzhou or attack Jianye.

The advantage of attacking Jingzhou is that the Han army in Jingzhou has already retreated, the Wu army has weak control, and having lost its stronghold, it has no intention of fighting, making it seem easy to capture.

The downside is that Jingzhou has tens of thousands of elite Wu troops. If Sun Quan and Liu Bei were to cooperate again, they would have to face a pincer attack from the Sun-Liu alliance.

The advantage of attacking Jiangdong is that you only need to face one enemy, Sun Quan. In addition, Sun Quan has lost Jianye, and Jiangdong has fallen into chaos and unrest, making it easy to take advantage of the situation.

The downside is that Jiangdong is Sun Quan's stronghold after all. If he withdraws from Jingzhou and fights to the death with the Wei army, it will be difficult for the Wei army to cross Ruxukou.

The two options are both good and bad, it's really hard to choose.

After a moment of hesitation, Cao Cao suddenly remembered something and said, "Liu Feng and Meng Da of the three eastern commanderies have fallen out, haven't they? In addition, since they didn't save Guan Yu, they will definitely incur Liu Bei's wrath. This may be an opportunity."

"Order Cao Ren to contact Meng Da and try to win him over. In this way, we can tell Sun Quan that our enemy is Liu Bei, not him. At the same time, we should have Cao Ren prepare to march south at any time. Then, send an envoy to negotiate with Sun Quan. If we cannot force him to surrender, we should try to reach a deal."

"As for Jiangdong, have Zhang Liao conceal his whereabouts so that the Wu army doesn't discover him. We'll take turns attacking Jingzhou openly and Jiangdong secretly. Whichever side we take first, we'll hold onto that side and abandon the other. Jingzhou and Jiangdong, those green-eyed bastards have to give me one of them."

"Yes..." Cao Pi and Liu Ye bowed and took their leave to begin preparations.

Cao Cao watched the two figures as they walked away, his eyes flashing with an unprecedented brilliance.

He had thought he would never have the chance to unify the world again, but Guan Yu unexpectedly created an opportunity for him, allowing him to see the hope of unification once more.

Whether we capture Jingzhou or Jiangdong, it will be a crucial step towards unification. As long as we secure a foothold in Jiangnan and establish a firm foothold, the death of the big-eared traitor will be imminent.

That damned big-eared thief, it's time we settled things.

……

Chengdu.

Liu Bei has also fallen ill recently. The reason is simple: he was kicked off the abyss just as he was climbing to the top, and his heart couldn't withstand such a shock.

He defeated the Wei army in Hanzhong and successfully captured the three eastern commanderies, opening up the route for the Han army to advance eastward. Guan Yu then flooded the seven armies in Jingzhou, causing the Wei army to flee in disarray. The situation was very favorable, and it seemed that the great cause of restoring the Han dynasty was about to be realized.

Unexpectedly, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Before he could even recover from the excitement of victory, Jingzhou was lost, Jingzhou was lost...

This is like sprinting at full speed and suddenly crashing into an oncoming high-speed train. It's no wonder you get sick.

Although he was ill, Liu Bei did not take a break because his most trusted strategist, Fa Zheng, was even more seriously ill than he was.

Liu Bei, dragging his ailing body, rushed to Fa Zheng's residence. Looking at Fa Zheng lying on his sickbed, barely clinging to life, he couldn't help but cry out in grief, "The great cause of restoring the Han Dynasty had just begun to show promise when we lost Jingzhou, and now we've lost news of my second brother. And now, Xiaozhi, you too are leaving me. Is Heaven going to destroy me?"

"Xiaozhi, given the current situation, is there anything else you can teach me?"

Fa Zheng grasped Liu Bei's hand and said weakly, "Your Majesty, the only option now is to make a tough decision, to lose territory but save people. Send an envoy to meet with Sun Quan and rescue General Guan first."

"Furthermore, we should abandon the three eastern commanderies and recall Liu Feng and Meng Da. Without Jingzhou, there is no point in keeping the three eastern commanderies. It is better to abandon them. Moreover, Meng Da has rebellious intentions. If we do not recall him as soon as possible, things may change."

Liu Bei sighed, "It seems this is the only way for now. We must first rescue my second brother, and then find an opportunity to settle accounts with the Jiangdong scoundrel. Xiaozhi, you should rest first. I will send an envoy to contact Sun Quan."

As he finished speaking and was about to leave, a guard rushed in and said urgently, "Your Majesty, General Liao Hua has returned. He says he has important military intelligence to report to you on General Guan's orders."