What good was valor without weapons or armor?
Never mind Guan Yu and Zhang Fei-even Lü Bu would have been turned into a hedgehog by a single volley of arrows!
Yuan Shao held his wine cup, wavering. At last, he ordered, "Bring three hundred armored soldiers and have them lie in ambush inside the palace."
"Take the smashing of my cup as the signal. The instant you hear it shatter, strike!"
"Also summon Yan Liang and Wen Chou to the palace!"
Yuan Shao had not resolved to kill Liu, Guan, and Zhang. He decided to meet them first and see exactly what Liu Bei wanted.
Still, to be safe, he would have men ready in case anything went wrong.
After all, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei's martial prowess was far too formidable.
"Yes, my lord!"
The guard acknowledged the order and withdrew.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei and his two brothers were still waiting outside the palace.
"Elder brother, are we really going to meet Yuan Shao like this?"
"We're completely unarmed. If he has soldiers lying in ambush inside, we'll be doomed."
Guan Yu spoke with a grave expression.
When he first heard his elder brother say they would enter the palace to meet Yuan Shao, he had assumed they would storm the palace and take Yuan Shao captive. But his elder brother had no such intention. He truly only wanted to go inside and meet Yuan Shao, without even bringing weapons.
"If Yuan Shao wanted to kill us, we would already be dead," Liu Bei said. "The fact that he hasn't acted yet means he's still hesitating."
"I suspect it's because of you two."
Liu Bei saw their present situation clearly.
Yuan Shao had troops both inside and outside the city. Meeting force with force would be a road straight to death. Better to face Yuan Shao directly and sound out his intentions.
Zhang Fei asked in confusion, "Because of me and second brother? Is he that scared of us?"
Liu Bei could not help chuckling. "No. He wants to bring you both under his command. That's why he's held off for so long."
Over their many days together, he had noticed every bit of warmth Yuan Shao showed his second and third brothers. Naturally, he could guess what the man had in mind.
But the three of them were as close as limbs of the same body, leaving Yuan Shao no opening.
At this, Guan Yu's expression turned contemptuous. "We brothers swore the Peach Garden Oath all those years ago. How could he understand the depth of our bond?"
"I was merely a fighting man from Xieliang, yet elder brother honored me by treating me as his own flesh and blood. Now that calamity has befallen us, how could I betray that bond and join the enemy? Today holds only death-what is there to fear? Jade may be shattered, but its whiteness cannot be changed. Bamboo may be burned, but its joints cannot be destroyed. Though my body perish, my name may endure upon bamboo slips and silk!"
"I wish only to live and die alongside you, brother!"
Even knowing that entering the palace today offered nine chances of death and only one of survival, Guan Yu felt no fear!
The words they had spoken when they became sworn brothers-"We ask not to be born on the same day, in the same month, in the same year, but only to die on the same day, in the same month, in the same year"-had never been empty words!
Guan Yu's speech set Zhang Fei's blood boiling. He wanted to say something too, but after struggling for a long while, all he could force out was, "Same here!"
"Second brother! Third brother!"
Feeling the profound affection in his brothers' words, Liu Bei's eyes grew moist despite himself. He took their hands and said, "Together in life and death!"
"Together in life and death!"
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei answered solemnly, pledging their very lives!
The three brothers waited outside a little longer before a guard finally emerged from the palace gates-the same man who had gone in earlier to announce them.
"My lord awaits you in the main hall. Please follow me."
The palace before them was vast and shadowy, like an immense beast lying in wait. Who knew what dangers lurked within?
The three brothers exchanged a glance, each seeing the openness and resolve in the others' eyes. Then Liu Bei smiled and stepped forward first, with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei close behind.
"Lead the way."
After sending Zhang He to deliver the message, Liu Xie returned to the Bedchamber.
Yet he lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
I wonder whether those three can escape Ye City. Yuan Shao hasn't already sent men to arrest them, has he?
Liu Xie did not want Liu Bei to die. If he did, would all his efforts today-playing the pitiful victim and sending someone to tip them off-have been for nothing?
He had only just managed to find himself a new way out.
Don't let it get blocked off already!
It should be fine. He's one of the protagonists of the Three Kingdoms, after all. With the Mandate of Heaven protecting him, he won't go down that easily.
Well... probably.
That was all Liu Xie could tell himself for comfort.
Just then, he faintly heard waves of synchronized footsteps in the distance, accompanied by the clang of blades against armor. His heart tightened at once.
He rolled out of bed, crept to the door, and peered outside through the crack.
In the hazy darkness, he saw rank after rank of armored soldiers carrying weapons pass outside the Bedchamber. Every one of them was fully equipped!
Damn! Where did all these soldiers come from?
Liu Xie was startled. At a glance, he could tell these were not the palace guards, but soldiers under Yuan Shao's command!
They looked just like the soldiers who had escorted him from the Yuan Residence to the Imperial Palace that day!
But what are they doing in the palace?
Liu Xie was filled with uncertainty and alarm. The soldiers were not coming for him; they merely passed outside the Bedchamber and soon moved on.
Just as Liu Xie was debating whether to sneak outside and see what was happening, a figure suddenly appeared outside his door.
"Your Majesty, it's me."
The voice was somewhat muffled, but Liu Xie recognized it.
It was Zhang He!
Knowing he had come to report back, Liu Xie asked, "How did it go? Did you give Liu Bei the letter?"
"I fulfilled your command, Your Majesty," Zhang He said. "I delivered it into Lord Liu's own hands."
Liu Xie relaxed a little, then asked, "What's going on with those soldiers just now? Why have they suddenly entered the palace?"
That was what concerned him most.
"Your Majesty, Yuan Shao summoned all of them," Zhang He answered. "He also called the two generals, Yan Liang and Wen Chou, into the palace."
"I heard that Lord Liu and his two brothers have requested an audience with Yuan Shao."
"What?!"
Liu Xie was utterly dumbfounded.
Liu Bei requested an audience with Yuan Shao?
What kind of crazy move was that?!
I sent you a warning so you could find a chance to run, and you actually came straight into the palace to get yourself killed?
If this had been a game, Liu Xie would definitely have reported Liu Bei.
The guy was practically feeding kills!
Chapter 38: Ten Days! Take Pei County Within Ten Days!
After entering the Imperial Palace, Liu, Guan, and Zhang were soon led to the main hall.
Yuan Shao and the others were waiting inside for their arrival.
Besides Yuan Shao and advisers such as Tian Feng and Ju Shou, there were now two imposing, armored generals standing at Yuan Shao's sides.
They were none other than Yan Liang and Wen Chou!
Every gaze in the hall settled upon the three men. Some held vigilance, some murderous intent, and others apprehension.
Faced with all those different looks, Liu Bei remained composed.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei showed not the slightest fear either. They did not even deign to look these men squarely in the eye, their contempt plain.
Liu Bei stopped in the center of the hall and cupped his hands. "Greetings, Grand General."
With the Son of Heaven absent, Yuan Shao had taken the seat of honor. He toyed with his wine cup, looking down at Liu Bei.
"Xuande, didn't you retire to rest because you couldn't hold your wine? Why have you returned?"
"Could you have left something behind in the palace?"
Yuan Shao sneered, a faint edge of mockery in his words.
Naturally, he was referring to the imperial edict.
Liu Bei's expression did not change. "Not at all. I merely recalled that I have been in Ye City for quite some time, yet the matter of borrowing troops remains unsettled. It has left me uneasy."
"That is why I came specifically to ask you, Grand General, for a definite answer."
As though he had not understood Yuan Shao's insinuation, he spoke only of borrowing troops.
He knew full well that Yuan Shao now knew he had privately sought an edict from the Son of Heaven, and that they themselves knew Yuan Shao had learned of it. But Yuan Shao did not know that the Son of Heaven had secretly tipped him off.
In other words, as far as Yuan Shao was concerned, they still did not know they had been exposed.
As long as the matter was not laid completely bare, a final veil of decency remained. That was also their last bit of room to maneuver.
Liu Bei chose to negotiate with Yuan Shao over borrowing troops.
"Borrow troops?"
Yuan Shao laughed at once. He had never expected Liu Bei to dare raise the matter of borrowing troops at a time like this.
He really was taking him for a fool.
Before you continue