Three Kingdoms: Mistakenly Becoming Liu Bei's Adoptive Father at the Start

"What? Hulao Pass has fallen?! Liu Bei has entered? And there are mountains of grain and weapons?"

Yuan Shu grabbed the messenger by the collar, lifting him so high he was almost touching the ground with his toes, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

The junior officer was so frightened he could barely speak: "Yes, yes... the garrison inside the pass ran away on their own, Liu Bei didn't fire a single arrow..."

Yuan Shu shoved the man aside, paced back and forth in the tent a couple of times, and then suddenly turned to stare at Yuan Shao.

"Brother! Liu Bei is using a trick! What did Liu Liang say in the tent yesterday? 'Hulao Pass will not be difficult to break now,' he knew all along!"

Yuan Shao didn't reply; his face was so dark it looked like you could wring water out of it.

Gongsun Zan coldly remarked from the side, "He knows more than he does. He's deliberately provoking us, using a feigned retreat tactic! He's certain we won't believe him, so he can reap the benefits without lifting a finger!"

These words struck a nerve with everyone.

The tent was deathly silent.

A moment later, someone walked out.

Wang Kuang, the governor of Hanoi, was the first to step out of the tent, followed by his personal guards who jogged after him.

Next came Qiao Mao, the Prefect of Dongjun; Yuan Yi, the Prefect of Shanyang; Kong Zhou, the Governor of Yuzhou… one after another, no one greeted Yuan Shao anymore.

Yuan Shao remained seated in the main seat.

Yuan Shu grew anxious: "Brother! They've all left, aren't you going to say a word?!"

Yuan Shao straightened his robes and said, "Send down the order: our army will break camp and advance westward immediately!"

On the official road leading to Luoyang, various warlords gathered.

However, it is not uniform and coordinated.

Instead, they fought amongst themselves, pushing, shoving, and shouting insults.

Yuan Shu urged his horse on while cursing himself for being stupid.

"Faster! Faster!" Yuan Shu roared at his generals, "Get to Luoyang, ahead of everyone else!"

The subordinate general caught up and asked, "My lord, what are you robbing?"

Yuan Shu was taken aback.

What are you robbing?

he does not know.

But Liu Liang went to Luoyang, and Cao Cao also went to Luoyang, so there must be something good in Luoyang.

Gongsun Zan's cavalry and Yuan Shu's supply wagons collided at the camp gate, neither side willing to give way, and the shouts of insults filled the air.

Gongsun Zan leaned out of the car: "Gonglu, what are you doing?"

Yuan Shu reined in his horse and retorted, "You go your main road, I'll go my own narrow path; let's each rely on our own abilities!"

Gongsun Zan snorted coldly, shrank back into the carriage, and ordered the driver, "Ram them!"

The driver was stunned: "Huh?"

"Collide!"

The two carts collided, the wooden shafts broke, and grain sacks rolled all over the ground.

Gongsun Zan's men rushed forward to seize the grain, while Yuan Shu's men drew their swords to protect it, and the two groups of men clashed at the camp gate.

When they finished fighting and looked up, Liu Dai and Qiao Mao's troops had already bypassed them and rushed seven miles away.

Yuan Shao couldn't wait any longer and was about to get up and send troops to Luoyang when someone suddenly spoke up behind him.

"My lord, please wait."

The one speaking was Ju Shou.

Ju Shou stepped forward and said, "Let them go."

Yuan Shao was taken aback: "What did you say?"

Ju Shou said, "If all the feudal lords rush to Luoyang, they will inevitably fight amongst themselves. Whoever charges ahead will become the target of everyone's attacks. They are a pack of hungry wolves, baring their teeth around their prey, none daring to make the first move. What we need to do now is wait!"

Yuan Shao asked, "Wait? Wait until how long?"

Ju Shou said, "Once the prey falls, they swarm in, bite and won't let go, even biting their own kind. Liu Zishan was the one who brought down the prey. Now these wolves are going to steal the meat. My lord, take it slow, proceed cautiously, and wait for them to settle their dispute before you go in and clean up the mess."

Yuan Shao asked, "Shall we not go to Luoyang?"

Ju Shou said, "Let's go. But not this way. We'll go around to the north, cross the river to Hanoi, and then cross the river at Mengjin. It will take two days longer, but there won't be anyone blocking our way."

Yuan Shao glanced at the warlords heading west, sneered a few times, and turned his horse to go in another direction.

On the roads of Luoyang, smoke and dust obscured the sun.

Of the eighteen warlords, only Yuan Shao was still slowly reorganizing his army in the rear; the other seventeen were all on their way.

They chased each other, neither willing to give way.

No one cared about the leader's orders, the rules of the allied forces, or the righteous cause of suppressing Dong Zhuo anymore.

Rob.

Whoever grabs it gets to keep it.

When they met on a narrow road, the two generals would curse at each other across their carriages. When the cursing got heated, they would draw their swords, and blood would be drawn.

When a grain truck got stuck in a mud pit, the rear team took a detour to overtake it. The front team cursed the rear team for not following the rules, and the rear team cursed the front team for blocking the road and saying they deserved it.

Some scouts ran in the wrong direction. They were clearly heading west, but they bumped into another scout. The two groups asked each other, "Where is your lord?" Neither of them could answer.

Liu Liang and Zhao Yun's five hundred cavalry had long since disappeared.

But no one could catch up with him, and no one wanted to.

They were chasing after Luoyang, not Liu Liang.

Yuan Shu's troops lagged behind.

It wasn't that he didn't want to hurry, it was that there was too much baggage.

Grain carts, fodder carts, siege equipment carts, and carts carrying gold, silver, and valuables—a long string of them, stretching along the road like a centipede that can't move.

Ji Ling turned back from the front, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "My lord, the road ahead is blocked. Wang Kuang's grain carts have overturned in the ditch, and Kong Zhou's men are seizing them. Neither side is giving way."

Yuan Shu cursed, "A bunch of idiots! Stealing grain? There's enough grain in Luoyang to feed them for three years!"

After finishing his tirade, Yuan Shu added, "Make way for them. We'll proceed slowly and wait until they've finished their battle before entering."

Ji Ling accepted the order and left.

As Yuan Shu sat in the carriage, he mentally cursed Liu Liang's ancestors for eighteen generations.

He heard Liu Liang cough twice in the tent that day.

He heard Liu Liang say that Hulao Pass could be breached that day.

But he thought it was nonsense.

Now things are much better; the one who farted got into Hulao Pass first, and got to eat meat and drink soup.

He, Yuan Gonglu, came from a family that had produced three high-ranking officials for four generations, but now he's just a nobody.

"Give the order!" Yuan Ju suddenly lifted the carriage curtain. "Travel light! Leave the provisions and supplies to the rear guard; the elite cavalry will follow me first!"

The guard was stunned: "My lord, what about this grain...?"

"No more!" Yuan Shu's eyes were red. "By the time you dawdle to Luoyang, you won't even get a sip of soup!"

Several days later, as the sun began to set, the outline of Luoyang finally appeared on the horizon.

Gongsun Zan, who was at the forefront, reined in his horse and stared blankly at the ruined city.

There was smoke at the city gate.

It's not black smoke, it's cooking smoke.

Someone has already arrived.

Gongsun Zan's heart sank. He looked again and saw the flag clearly.

"Cao".

Cao Cao.

Gongsun Zan breathed a sigh of relief.

Cao Cao has arrived, but Liu Liang should not have arrived yet.

Liu Liang's five hundred cavalrymen left early, but leaving early doesn't necessarily mean leaving fast.

It might be more to come.

Just as Gongsun Zan was about to urge his horse into the city, a cloud of dust suddenly rose up behind him.

Looking back, Kong Zhou's men had arrived.

Next came Yuan Yi, Qiao Mao, Liu Dai...

The seventeen warlords gradually gathered outside Luoyang.

Gongsun Zan drove his horse to the city gate, reined in his horse, and looked up. He saw the tightly closed city gate and the city walls densely packed with archers.

"Open the gate!" Gongsun Zan shouted, pointing his whip at the city wall. "We have come here to punish the traitors on the orders of our leader. How dare Cao Cao block our way?"

No one answered from the city wall.

After a long while, someone poked their head out from the city wall; it was Cao Ren.