Liu Bei Takes Action, Wang Xuan Heads North

Yes, experts capable of externalizing Qi were so physically robust that it was nearly impossible for them to fall ill. But heart ailments were something else entirely—there was truly little that could be done.

Fortunately, Gongsun Zan regained consciousness the day after vomiting blood and fainting. Faced with plummeting morale and unsettled hearts, he had at least managed to barely stabilize the situation.

It was just that, rather than a regional warlord, he was more of a relatively straightforward general. He understood how to deal with the aftermath of a defeat, but he was genuinely poor at handling people's hearts and matters of politics. War, however, had never been so simple.

In Linzi, when Wang Xuan received and read the battle report, he smacked his lips, feeling that even divine powers could not overcome the will of Heaven. Although he had thought of ways to stop or delay the war between Gongsun Zan and Yuan Shao as much as possible, the result remained the same—or rather, it had become even worse.

At least, in the normal course of history, because Gongsun Zan had genuinely prepared to invade Jizhou, he had been better prepared once the war began, and the casualties in the Battle of Jieqiao had not been so severe.

Regardless of whether Wang Xuan was to blame for this, he still had to clean up the mess. This had nothing to do with personal feelings. It was entirely driven by interest: weaken all his enemies as much as possible and work to help Liu Bei sweep across the realm as quickly as possible.

Likewise, Liu Bei was deeply worried about Gongsun Zan's situation. He had received many favors from Brother Gongsun back in the day. Although Liu Bei could not exactly be called prosperous now, if Gongsun Zan