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After seeing the silver-blue light, Guan Yu immediately ordered a fast rider to hurry to the border of Qingzhou and asked Taishi Ci to come quickly. This was a precaution arranged by Chen Xi beforehand.
To be honest, it wasn’t that Chen Xi didn’t want to stealthily transport the twenty thousand troops to Jizhou, but he simply lacked the capability to do so. Even Guan Yu and Zhang Fei’s one thousand trusted aides had to enter in several groups disguised as merchants. To think of sneaking twenty thousand troops across the border was nothing short of a joke; even if they invoked fog and rain, the commotion would be too great.
The breaking of Nanpi City caused such a commotion that the entire Nanpi Camp could hear it, but not a single soldier dared leave the camp without orders. The reason was simple: without military orders, mid- and low-level officers had no authority to mobilize the soldiers of Nanpi Camp. The customs handed down from the Han Dynasty were still observed at this time, recognizing only the seal ribbon, not the person.
Furthermore, the loss of Nanpi City was the concern of the Guard General of Nanpi, but if Nanpi Camp were lost, it would truly be a major disaster for the whole southern part of Jizhou.
Because of this, Nanpi City and Nanpi Camp were in a strange state of calm. Despite Nanpi Camp having thirty thousand seasoned elite soldiers and Nanpi City having only one thousand of Guan, Zhang, and Zhao’s trusted aides, both sides were on high alert, not daring to march out and face the enemy.
"Hahaha, Zichuan, look at the Nanpi Camp, they have thirty thousand seasoned elite soldiers, and now they are just on high alert, not daring to leave the camp to fight," Zhang Fei was the only one who could joke about this situation at this time.
"Ju Gong, your Jizhou soldiers are indeed remarkable, maintaining previous protocols even in the face of unclear circumstances. Though rigid, they would prove troublesome to defeat," Chen Xi didn’t even bother with Zhang Fei, turning to speak to Ju Shou instead, but also meant it for Zhang Fei to hear.
"Hmph, we were captured by you, and in uncertain times, the army can only avoid warfare by strictly adhering to military discipline. Even without our three leading, your forces would suffer heavy losses to conquer our Jizhou mighty army!" Ju Shou spoke coldly.
However, Zhang Fei’s words were good news for Ju Shou at the moment. As long as the thirty thousand seasoned elite soldiers rely on the strong military formation of the camp, and lead by mid- and low-level military generals to defend resolutely, it would be impossible to win, but they certainly posed a threat capable of inflicting considerable damage on Qingzhou.
"Hehe, Ju Gong can rest assured. If it were a chunk of fat meat, my Qingzhou would have swallowed it already, but there is no need to bother with an unnecessary tough bone," Chen Xi opened his folding fan, gently shaking it a couple of times as he spoke, "Now, I ask Ju Gong to stay here for one more day. Once Ziyi arrives, I will naturally let Ju Gong leave."
Meanwhile, Guan Yu’s messenger rode hard to the border of Qingzhou, where Taishi Ci had already been eagerly waiting. Seeing his own messenger arriving, he immediately rejoiced!
"What is the situation?" Taishi Ci didn’t wait for the messenger to dismount, charging over to meet him and asking loudly.
"Troops out of Qingzhou, raiding Nanpi!" the messenger shouted.
"Assemble the troops! Full speed ahead, march through the night, encounter no rest, forced march!" Taishi Ci roared. The army, which had been on alert, all got up, took the rations Taishi Ci had ordered to be prepared, and under the leadership of their Team Leaders, began marching towards Jizhou.
As for the defensive troops that were on alert upon Ju Shou’s orders, they all strictly defended without a single one going out to block the enemy. Their task was to fend off the enemy only after receiving orders. At other times, they merely needed to protect their respective cities. The responsibility of guarding the homeland of the Bohai Sea fell to the Nanpi Camp.
Ju Shou’s approach wasn’t wrong, and you could even say it was quite good. After all, each county town didn’t have much defensive force, so instead of letting them block the enemy, it was better to rely on the city walls for defense, which could stall for more time!
Another important point was that if Mount Tai didn’t uproot these towns, and then retreated after a defeat, having their escape route cut off would leave them with only a dead end. Therefore, if Qingzhou really intended to attack Jizhou, they had to take each city one by one, at least creating a secure retreat path. Otherwise, should misfortune strike, the whole army would be in danger of collapsing.
However, Taishi Ci was well aware that they weren’t there to besiege and capture territory, but purely to make a swift raid on Nanpi. Even if something unexpected happened, the fact that Guan Yu could send a message like this was a clear sign that Nanpi had already been attacked. As long as these twenty thousand men entered Nanpi, it didn’t matter whether they could come out or not.
The contingency plan of "blooming at the core" was something Chen Xi had considered before setting off. He left Fa Zheng in Licheng to calculate the timing, ready to inform Liu Bei to press down on Jizhou under the guise of an alliance meeting if things went awry, but that was a last resort.
Fortunately, everything went as Chen Xi had estimated—Ju Shou, just like in history, was cautious, and valued the bigger picture, which led him directly into Chen Xi’s trap. After all, Chen Zichuan’s youthful appearance easily labelled him as impetuous and reckless.
This time, Chen Xi thoroughly exploited Ju Shou’s character, setting a trap for him. "Be cautious, focus on the big picture, think of me as young and rash," Chen Xi seemed to say, "I’ll show you rash! I’m simply bullying you—what are you going to do about it?"
Chen Xi’s smugness was so evident that even Ju Shou could see it. But upon seeing this, Ju Shou actually felt reassured. At least Chen Xi still fell within the range of youth—if he appeared too mature and consistently concealed his emotions, then Ju Shou would need to consider whether to use his death to warn people like Tian Feng, Xun Zhan, and Xu You, to prevent them from underestimating Chen Xi and allowing the situation to spiral out of control.
Since Chen Xi was clearly exhibiting pride, Ju Shou felt much more at ease. As long as he was still young, he couldn’t avoid arrogance. Ju Shou was already planning to boost Chen Xi’s reputation after this event, inflate it until the world admired him, until Liu Xuande himself grew wary!
Ju Shou didn’t believe that with such high renown, Chen Xi would be able to maintain his composure. "A young man suddenly in power and acclaimed by all," Ju Shou thought, "I don’t believe he won’t be brought down by universal praise. You’re full of cunning plans, are you? Well, I’ll make you a stepping stone this time, show your wisdom for all to see, and if you don’t earn acclaim from all corners, then I’m not Ju Gongyu!"
Of course, Chen Xi had no idea that Ju Shou was already scheming against him, but that was inevitable. In a turbulent world, it boiled down to you plotting against me, and me against you. The entire situation in the world was the result of strategists plotting. It was simply a case of meeting force with force, and handling situations as they arose.
"Ju Gong, why don’t you join us? I think you’re quite capable," Chen Xi said as he had someone fry a rice dish for him, then served a portion to Ju Shou and also took one for himself, casually trying to persuade Ju Shou as they ate.
As Ju Shou ate the fragrant fried rice, he felt that there was something amiss with how he had eaten before. Hearing Chen Xi’s words, he looked up and said, "Not to mention that a loyal minister does not serve two masters, you, Chen Zichuan, don’t really have the heart to persuade me, do you?"
"Isn’t this just idle chit-chat over a meal? I’d feel ashamed to bring it up at any other time," Chen Xi said nonchalantly.
"If you have no such intention, and yet you understand my feelings, why bother saying such things?" Ju Shou asked, frowning in confusion over Chen Xi’s words.
"Isn’t this just shooting the breeze? I’m not close with Ju Gong, just looking for something to talk about," Chen Xi replied offhandedly, uttering words that seemed to infuriate Ju Shou.
