"The latest reports say that Qu County and Yufu have both fallen!" Yan Yan swept his gaze across the crowd and spoke word by word.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"Where did they get the troops?!"
Everyone was so shocked that they hurriedly rose to their feet, no longer caring about etiquette. They bombarded Yan Yan with questions, and the hall instantly became as noisy as a marketplace. Even Zhang Ren stood frozen in place, forgetting to drink the tea that had already reached his lips.
After a long while, Huang Quan was the first to calm down. Turning around, he reassured the others before looking toward Yan Yan and asking, "Who is leading the troops? How many soldiers are there? Where did they come from?"
"According to the reports we've received, the commander is the General who Conquers the East, Marquis of Martial Stability, Guan Yu—Guan Yun Chang. He has around ten thousand troops. As for where they came from, they could only have crossed the Daba Mountains. Otherwise, there's no explaining how General Guan, who was in Xuanhan moments ago, suddenly descended upon Qu County like a divine soldier." Yan Yan's expression grew heavy as he spoke. When he finished, everyone drew in a sharp breath.
The native Yizhou faction collapsed into their seats. Their faces turned pale, and their bodies trembled like sieves. At that moment, they finally understood why Yan Yan had stopped Wang Lei from cursing aloud, why he had addressed Gan Ning as General Gan, and why he no longer called Guan Yu by name, instead piling on one respectful title after another.
With Qu County and Yufu taken, the passage between Jingzhou and Yizhou had been completely blocked. The entire route was lined with formidable passes, built specifically to guard against enemies from