March 20th, 185 A . D .

  Spies from Ye reported back their discovery to Yuan Shao in Nanpi .

  "They have planned to attack the Xiongnu?"

  Tian Feng could not believe his ears . It was too odd .

  "Yes, my lord . We heard that they will mobilize two of their legions . We don’t know about the details, though . "

  "No . That’s enough . Good work . "

  Still frowning, Tian Feng turned to his master, "Your Excellency, I don’t think we should put our faith to this piece of news . "

  Yuan Shao snorted, "It doesn’t matter . It’s not like they will have to guts to invade us anyway . "

  "It does, Your Excellency . If we can confirm that this info is real, we can ignore their borders and proceed with our southern expansion plan . However, if this is fault, we will have to reinforce our borders against Zhang Tong again . "

  "Simple, we’ll take the info as a real piece of news . Ignore Zhang Tong’s military activities for now and concentrate on the south!"

  "We should not let our guard down . Zhang Tong’s strategists are dangerous . We don’t know if this is a ploy to fool us . "

  "If we don’t expand south, it will be the end for us! Gongsun Zan has already taken Ji, and Zhang Tong is reinforcing his domestic and researching new weapons . If we stay still, we will die!"

  "……"

  Tian Feng could not retort . Yuan Shao forces were surrounded by too many enemies .

  They attempted to make peace with Gongsun Zan, but the old fox of the North exploited the mistakes Yuan Shao made during the Yellow Turban Uprising last year and stole their Pingyuan City .

  "How is our progress on Pingyuan?"

  "We have allocated the promised troops into the city . All that is left is to wait for Liu Bei to move according to our plan . Once Liu Bei and his brothers leave for Beihei, the troops will stage a coup and control the city from the inside . "

  "What about the citizens?"

  "It doesn’t look very well . Liu Bei gains fame because of his eccentric manner and his kind nature . Everybody in the city loves him . "

  "Even though we told them that Liu Bei is in cahoots with the Yellow Turbans?"

  "It’s not enough . We need to take a drastic measure to ruin his reputation . "

  "Well, that’s a simple job then . Have Yan Liang disguise as Guan Yu and go pillaging . Use Liu Bei’s banners and Yellow Turban’s banners . "

  Tian Feng’s frown deepened, "Your Excellency, the people have suffered enough . Do not harm innocent civilians . "

  "And do you have a better plan?"

  Tian Feng was silent for a minute . He opened his mouth with a slight hesitation, "Fake his mother’s letter . Tell Liu Bei that his mother is dying, and she wants him home . He’ll head back to Ji City, and he will be trapped in there after we take Pingyuan . Although we can’t discredit his reputation, we can slowly convert and regain our people’s trust as time passes . "

  "Won’t Gongsun Zan recover this man? Liu Bei is his junior of the same mentor, right?"

  "Actually, Gongsun Zan doesn’t like Liu Bei . Sending Liu Bei back will slap Gongsun Zan in the face that his entrusted subordinate is incompetence . Once Liu Bei returns, they will begin plotting against each other because of this small feud, and this will give us some more time to strengthen our forces . We will also need some time to expand southward to Ganling, Jibei, and Beihei before we can settle our score with either Zhang Tong or Gongsun Zan . "

  "Swallowing small forces to prepare for the big fight, right? Go ahead . Do what you want . "

  "Understood, Your Excellency . " ……

  March 30th, 185 A . D .

  The preparation in Pingyuan had been completed . Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei would visit Beihei to investigate about the fugitive Yellow Turbans .

  Jiang Man and Jian Yong stayed behind to look after the city with their soldiers and Yuan Shao’s transferred troops .

  Jiang Man squinted his eyes and glanced at Yuan Shao’s men . He did not trust these people .

  \r \r \r

  Jian Yong, who had not noticed anything, encouraged Jiang Man with a bright smile .

  "Let’s work hard today again, Sir Jiang . We’ll reclaim more farmlands by the end of the day if all soldiers help us . "

  "Of course . Under my brother’s rule, no one should be suffering from starvation . "

  However, Jiang Man had another thought, ’This is not good at all . Most of our soldiers are from Gongsun Zan, and the new soldiers are from Yuan Shao . We don’t have a private force we can trust! Sooner or later, they will create chaos and take over our city under our nose . ’

  Later that day, Jiang Man deployed his soul of virtue to spy barracks of Yuan Shao’s men .

  Unfortunately, it was too late .

  "SHAAAA!"

  "KILL!!"

  Soldiers of Yuan Shao already made their moves . They slaughtered the garrison guards, who came from Gongsun Zan forces .

  The inner city was thrown into chaos as garrisoning soldiers did not know who to fight or who to protect . Their number reduced as the swarm of Yuan Shao men rushed toward the city hall where Jian Yong and Jiang Man were .

  The face of Jian Yong soaked with sweat . His trembling legs could not gather strength to stand still as he tumbled and sat on his butt .

  Jiang Man’s face was unsightly . He glared at Yuan Shao forces in anger .

  "We’ve been had again! Dammit, Yuan Shao! I knew I couldn’t trust you . I should have killed you when I had a chance!"

  Jiang Man picked Jian Yong and piggy-bagged him out of the city hall, fleeing from the army of the rebelling force .

  Running with extra luggage was tiring, but Jiang Man had to escort this person with him . He was still useful to Liu Bei as his stupid brother was inept in domestic management .

  Before he could get out of the inner city area, they were spotted by Yuan Shao’s men .

  "That’s Jiang Man and Jian Yong! Chase them!"

  "They have a bounty! Kill!"

  Their aimed their repeating crossbows at Jiang Man and Jian Yong .

  "Shit!"

  Hundreds of arrows covered the sky and swooped down onto Jiang Man and Jing Yong .

  "NOOOO!!"

  Jian Yong screamed in horror, but Jiang Man used the body of Jian Yong as a shield .

  *PEOK* *PEOK* *PEOK*

  Rained down by the arrows, Jian Yong’s back covered with wooden bolts as if he was a porcupine . However, Jiang Man was unharmed .

  "At least you are useful to me for once . "

  Without someone pulling weight on his back, Jiang Man dashed through the complex of alleys, shaking off the pursuers .

  Yuan Shao soldiers tracked and chased after him, but they lost him after three hours of hunting . ……

  Jiang Man managed to get out of the city in one piece, but everybody else died .

  "Back to square one again . Ugh ……"

  Dejected and discouraged, Jiang Man gazed at the fallen city before he traveled southeast, planning to find Liu Bei and report this incident . ……

  April 7th, 185 A . D .

  Liu Bei and his brothers stopped traveling to Beihei as the news about the fallen of Pingyuan reached them .

  Jiang Man, who was supposed to protect the city, failed his assignment and returned to his brother .

  "I’m sorry . We’ve been had by Yuan Shao . "

  Zhang Fei fumed into a rage . He grabbed his spear and was about to hack Jiang Man to pieces, but Guan Yu stopped him .

  "Let me go! I’ll fOOking murder this stupid idiot!"

  "We all have been fooled by Tian Feng and Yuan Shao . It’s not his fault . If you were there as well, you would also be crying here instead of him . "

  While Guan Yu held off Zhang Fei, Liu Bei looked around, "Where’s Jian Yong?"

  Jiang Man shook his head, "He didn’t make it . Yuan Shao’s men killed him . "

  Tears dropped from Liu Bei’s eyes . He wept for his first minister who was willing to serve him .

  "Ah, Xianhe! I’ll kill Yuan Shao for you! I swear it!" ……

  After everyone got back to their sense, they gathered around to plan about their future .

  "Let’s return to seek help from Gongsun Zan . We can’t survive on our own here . When I escape, I heard that Yuan Shao put a bounty on our head . "

  Zhang Fei bellowed in anger again, "VOOOEEEEE!! I’ll freaking kill Yuan Shao the next time I meet him!"

  Liu Bei was still sulking . Thus, he did not comment on this .

  However, Guan Yu had been pondering before Jiang Man gave his suggestion . He had another idea .

  "Kong Rong is also an aristocrat family . He’s a descendant of the Confucius . Should we seek shelter under him?"

  Jiang Man did not want to join a random no-name lord in history, so he was about to object . However, he remembered that Taishi Ci, the future great general of Sun Ce and Sun Quan, was born in Beihei . Furthermore, during this time in history, he should still be working under Kong Rong .

  A new plan dawned on Jiang Man, "Let’s follow second brother’s advice and join Kong Rong . Since he’s the direct descendant of Kong Zi, he should practice the teaching of Confucius as well . He shouldn’t be a bad person, right?"

  Guan Yu nodded, "Yes . Confucius teaches people to be disciplined and honorable . He shouldn’t be the same with that vile power drunkard Yuan . "

  Liu Bei did not say anything . He just nodded .

  Zhang Fei snorted, but he did not comment on anything .

  "Let’s head to Beihei then . " ……

  The next day, a messenger in the dress-code of Gongsun Zan found Liu Bei and his brothers . They rushed to him and delivered a letter .

  "A letter from my mother?"

  Liu Bei was astonished . His mother was still in Ji City, but he forgot to send letters to her all these years .

  "Yes . She asked us to send this to you before she collapsed in front of the city hall . So, I rush to Pingyuan to find you as fast as I could, but the city ……"

  "I understand . I shall return to Ji at once! I’m sorry, brothers . I wish to return home to see my mother . "

  Zhang Fei and Guan Yu did not mind it, but Jiang Man frowned .

  ’Was there something like this occurring in history?’

  Jiang Man did not believe the messenger, but he could not retort or object Liu Bei’s decision . If he had opposed, Jiang Man would have fallen out with the brothers, which was not a good idea .

  ’Fine . I knew that joining Liu Bei will be troublesome . But it’s for my future . ’

  Thus, Liu Bei and his brother canceled the plan to go to Beihei and return to Ji City, where Liu Bei’s hometown was . ……

  Beihei City .

  Kong Rong received the news about the uprising in Pingyuan and Yuan Shao’s movement .

  "Begin our plans . Send an envoy to Tao Qian, Gongsun Zan, and Zhang Tong . Let’s form a coalition against Yuan Shao, and discredit Yuan Shao’s action! Make him the traitor of the land!"