Amid the fervor of the crowd, Xia Quan was tempted as well. He had long been dissatisfied with Liu Zhuo and decided to use this opportunity to catch him off guard.
As for why he did not directly raid Chuzhou, it was because Liu Zhuo commanded thirty thousand elite troops. If Liu Zhuo realized where he was headed and led his men in pursuit, Xia Quan's forces could easily be attacked from both front and rear. Though he had somewhat more troops, they were nowhere near as well trained as Liu Zhuo's. In a real fight, he might not be a match for him.
Rather than take that risk, it was better to exploit Liu Zhuo's lack of vigilance and crush his forces in one stroke. After that, Chuzhou would naturally fall into his grasp.
At the mention of raiding, everyone's eyes lit up. They quickly assembled and, led by Xia Quan, charged toward where Liu Zhuo was stationed.
Yang Miaozhen moved alongside him. As Song Qingshu's guard, Song Qingshu naturally stayed by Yang Miaozhen's side.
When the group charged in, Liu Zhuo was still sleeping soundly. He had brought his army here purely for a holiday, while incidentally helping Xia Quan's forces tie down part of Yangzhou's main strength and attention.
In Liu Zhuo's eyes, Yangzhou was Song Qingshu's territory. Now that Song Qingshu was the court-appointed prince of Qi, he surely would not dare truly wage war against the imperial army; the consequences were not something he could bear. Of course, Liu Zhuo himself had not intended to truly fight the Yangzhou army either. He was only here to cooperate with Xia Quan.
Because Yangzhou had previously launched a surprise attack on Xia Quan, Liu Zhuo was somewhat wary of Yangzhou and had arranged several defensive lines against