The news of the fall of Guangling City quickly spread throughout Xuzhou, causing great shock to all parties.
The two parties who felt it most directly were Sun Ce and Liu Bei.
In Xia Pi Tancheng, Sun Ce lost his composure when he heard the news that Guangling had fallen, Qiao Rui had been captured, and Madam Wu's whereabouts were unknown. He punched the table in front of him, breaking it in two, and shouted in a stern voice: "How dare you, little brat of the Yuan family, bully me like this!"
"Yuan family's fierce tiger? I want to see if this fierce tiger can survive in the hands of me, Jiangdong's fierce tiger!"
Zhou Yu looked ashamed, and knelt on the ground, saying: "This battle is my fault, please punish me, Bofu."
After hearing this, Sun Ce hurried forward to help Zhou Yu up and sighed, "This is not Gongjin's fault. This is the cunning tiger. How can there be constant victory in this world?"
Zhou Yu lowered his head and said, "The lady has been trapped in there!"
He explained the situation at that time, and finally said: "Madam Tai insisted that Yu escape and deliver the letter. Yu could not refuse, so he had to come to see Bofu with a thick face."
Sun Ce's face was gloomy and uncertain. He knew Mrs. Wu's temper. She was very opinionated and valued her reputation. She would definitely not ride on the same horse with Zhou Yu, so Zhou Yu could not be blamed for this.
He felt a little annoyed, "Mother told us not to expose her fall?"
"Let us announce to the public that she is dead?"
"Then how can we rescue her?"
"If we can't exchange hostages, are we just going to wait for my mother to escape?"
Zhou Yu's expression changed several times, and he gritted his teeth and said, "I do have a plan."
"Now that Guangling has just been settled, the city must be unstable. There must be many soldiers and civilians who are loyal to Bofu."
"If Bofu strikes back and fights back, breaking into the city at night, he may be able to capture Guangling again!"
After hearing this, Sun Ce burst into laughter and said, "Gong Jin, this is a brilliant plan!"
"I will gather all the cavalry and head straight to Guangling!"
"But Cao is eyeing Tancheng covetously from dozens of miles away. If I leave, the pressure on defending the city will increase dramatically. I will leave Zhang Xun with you. I hope Gongjin will hold the city firmly until I come back."
Zhou Yu heard this and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, Bofu. I will defend this city even if it means sacrificing my life!"
After hearing this, Sun Ce patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder and strode out the door.
Inside the Mi Mansion in Haixi City of Guangling, the place was decorated with lights and was filled with joy. The Mi family had invested a huge amount of money this time, not only giving a huge amount of wealth as a dowry, but also presenting this mansion to Liu Bei as his new home.
Mi Fang walked into Mi Zhen's outer room and saw that the dishes on the table had gone cold, but there was no shortage of food. She frowned at the maid and asked, "Little sister, you still haven't eaten yet?"
The maid replied hurriedly, "I drank two mouthfuls of porridge last night, but today I didn't even touch my chopsticks."
After hearing this, Mi Fang walked to the door of the boudoir, knocked on it, and said, "Little sister, tomorrow is your wedding day. You won't be able to eat for the whole day, so at least eat something today."
Mi Zhen's weak voice came from the room, "Thank you for your concern, brother. I'll go out to eat something when I feel more energetic."
After hearing this, Mi Fang shook her head helplessly and said, "Little sister, think positively. I'm leaving first and will come back tomorrow."
As soon as he walked out of the room, he saw Mi Zhu rushing over with a very unhappy look on his face. He asked curiously, "What happened?"
Mi Zhu whispered: "Things have changed!"
"The lord's wife and daughter have been found!"
Mi Fang was surprised when he heard this and asked, "Sun Ce wants to send the lord's wife and daughter back?"
"This is very strange. I heard that Sun Ce is a very stubborn person, not like this kind of person. Could it be that the envoy has offered some conditions for exchange?"
Mi Zhu groaned, "That's not Sun Ce, that's the fierce tiger from the Yuan family!"
"He attacked Guangling and rescued the master's wife and daughter. He also sent someone to deliver a letter to the master, asking him to send someone to bring his wife back!"
Mi Fang was unable to react for a moment: "Which fierce tiger?"
Mi Zhu lowered his voice and said, "That other fierce tiger is Yuan Xi, who was just adopted and appointed as the governor of Youzhou!"
Mi Fang was stunned when he heard this: "Is it him?"
"Didn't he just get married in Yecheng and go to Youzhou to fight? How could he appear in Guangling, thousands of miles away?"
Mi Zhu sighed, "How should I know? But the news is absolutely true. Sun Ce did lose Guangling!"
After hearing this, Mi Fang laughed and said, "I was right. This guy is really capable of doing things. It's worth it that I made friends with him."
Mi Zhu thought to himself, what kind of friendship do you mean, you almost offended someone to death.
Mi Fang suddenly realized, "What about my younger sister's marriage?"
Mi Zhu sighed and said, "I'm afraid there will be some big twists and turns."
"This news didn't come earlier or later. It would have been fine if my little sister had gotten married, but something like this happened the day before."
Mi Fang said, "That's not right. My lord, marrying my younger sister is not marrying your legal wife. So what if you bring your wife back?"
Mi Zhu sighed, "You don't understand. When the lady was captured in Tancheng, she could be considered dead. The master lost his first wife. It was up to the master to decide whether to marry a wife or a concubine."
"But now that my wife is still alive, we must obtain the consent of the original wife before taking a concubine. Moreover, the most urgent task is to bring my wife back. Marrying her now would destroy our reputation. My lord will never do that."
After hearing this, Mi Fang felt relieved for some reason. He asked, "Is this a failure?"
Mi Zhu glanced at him and said, "It's just a temporary delay. When the lady comes back, it's just a formality. Can she really go against the lord by then?"
After hearing this, Mi Fang said angrily, "This marriage is so awkward, it's better not to get married."
Mi Zhu was upset, thinking that things had come to this point, there was no way back.
He had already given all the money and soldiers of the Mi family to Liu Bei in advance to recruit soldiers. At this time, the Mi family was just a formality. If he did not marry Mi Zhen, wouldn't the Mi family's gamble be a failure?
In the mansion, Liu Bei sat at the head of the table and showed everyone the silk book sent by Yuan Xi. "Yuan Youzhou sent me a letter in Guangling, asking me to send troops to bring back my wife. What do you think?"
Everyone looked at each other, wondering what other ideas we have? Why is the lord asking us?
Zhang Fei shouted, "Of course we will welcome back my eldest sister-in-law, but what about my eldest brother's marriage?"
After hearing this, everyone secretly gave them a thumbs up, thinking that Zhang Fei had finally hit the point, which was not easy.
Liu Bei felt annoyed and thought to himself, I finally got you to express your opinion, but you, third brother, blocked it from me, right?
Guan Yu stood up and said, "The most important thing at the moment is to welcome back my wife and my lord's daughter, but it's not good to delay the marriage with the Mi family for too long."
"At this moment, Guangling is full of Yuan Shu's troops. I am willing to take 500 horse archers to Guangling to escort Madam back to Haixi."
After hearing this, everyone said, "General Guan is right."
Seeing that both brothers had expressed their opinions, Liu Bei knew that the postponement of the marriage was a done deal, so he nodded and said, "In that case, my second brother will gather the troops and go to Guangling."
Guan Yu clasped his fists and accepted the order. When he saw Liu Bei giving him a look, he immediately understood what he meant.
After everyone left, the three brothers sat together again, and Liu Bei said directly: "I'm letting my second brother go this time because there is another important matter."
Guan Yu hurriedly said, "Brother, please speak."
Liu Bei sighed and said, "That day I sent Yuan Long to Yecheng to ask for help, but Lord Benchu refused to see him. But Yuan Xi, for whatever reason, really helped me."
"The bottom line I gave Yuanlong at the time was that whoever could help me take back Xuzhou would share Xuzhou equally with him."
Zhang Fei was immediately unhappy when he heard this, "Why should I give my territory to others?"
Liu Bei sighed, "Third brother, look at how many things have happened in Xuzhou over the past year or so."
"Do you think we can defend Xuzhou alone?"
Zhang Fei was choked when he heard this. He had lost Tancheng and felt ashamed every time he heard it. He dared not mention it again.
Liu Bei added: "I do regret not listening to Chang Wen's words."
Zhang Fei was furious when he heard this: "That dog Chen Qun is an ungrateful person. He actually defected to Cao Cao. If I meet him again, I will tear his head off!"
All three of them were in a bad mood. After the loss of Tancheng, among the officials under Liu Bei, not only the scholars of Yuzhou were unsettled, but the local scholars of Xuzhou also had complaints. Many people took the opportunity to leave. It was Chen Qun who set a bad example.
Guan Yu said, "It has come to this point. It is useless to talk about the past. But I think your idea is very good."
"If we can get Yuan to co-govern Xuzhou, we will have a great helper and a chance to recuperate."
Zhang Fei frowned and said, "That kid from the Yuan family is extremely cunning and never does anything without profit. What if he wants to dig up our roots?"
After hearing this, Guan Yu stroked his beard and said, "Third brother, you are worrying too much."
"We have been here all the way, whether under Gongsun Zan or Tian Kai and Tao Qian, in terms of winning over scholars and spreading our reputation, who has Big Brother ever been afraid of?"
Zhang Fei thought about it and said happily: "That's right, we are the only ones who poach other people's talents, and we have never seen others poach our talents!"
Liu Bei laughed and said to Guan Yu, "This time, my second brother is going to Guangling, first, to bring back my wife and daughter, and second, to have a good talk with Yuan Xi to see if he can persuade him to help us drive Cao Cao and Yuan Shu out of Xuzhou."
After hearing this, Guan Yu clasped his fists and said, "I will definitely live up to your trust, big brother."
He hesitated and said, "What if Yuan Long had negotiated the terms with Yuan Xi in Yecheng?"
Liu Bei hesitated for a moment, "Yuanlong has been staying in Yecheng until now, I'm afraid he doesn't know anything yet, my second brother just needs to pretend he doesn't know."
Guan Yu hesitated for a moment and said, "Yu understands."
Two days after Guan Yu left, Chen Deng hurried back from Yecheng.
He had received a letter from Yuan Xi the day before, in which Yuan Xi apologized to Chen Deng in a very polite tone and stated the difficulties he had gone through to keep the secret. Now that he had captured Guangling, he could be considered fulfilling his promise.
After seeing this, Chen Deng was not angry but very happy. Yuan Xi really kept his word!
However, the letter did not mention anything about the original conditions between the two. Chen Deng thought that since Liu Bei asked him to make the promise on his behalf, he could not play dumb and avoid it, so he hurriedly left Yecheng and returned to Haixi.
As soon as he saw Liu Bei, he said, "I have already promised you that if you can lift the siege of Xuzhou, we can rule together. According to your opinion,
After hearing this, Liu Bei said, "Yuanlong has been traveling back and forth, which is very tiring. I have sent Yunchang to discuss this matter, so Yuanlong does not need to worry about it anymore."
Chen Deng understood the meaning of Liu Bei's words and felt a little cold in his heart.