Chapter 71

"Lord, since this Liu Bei is such a dangerous person, should we eliminate him like we did with Gong Sunzan?" Shi A said beside him. To Shi A, anyone who posed a threat to Liu Yao had to be eliminated.

"There's no need. Gong Sunzan and Liu Bei are different. Liu Bei has Guan Yu protecting him, so it won't be easy to assassinate him like last time. If we confront him openly, it will inevitably lead to some trouble. Besides, he is just a commoner now. How much can he achieve? I can crush him with a wave of my hand in the future," Liu Yao said confidently.

Historically, even with his identity as a member of the Han imperial family, Liu Bei only began to develop his power around 200 AD. Now that he has lost this identity, there is no need to fear such a small figure. By that time, Liu Yao would have grown to an unimaginable extent, and there would be no need to fear a mere Liu Bei.

Everyone looked at Liu Yao's confident and domineering appearance, feeling extremely excited. Liu Yao's demeanor as a leader had become increasingly mature. They were even more convinced that they had not followed the wrong person.

In the following days, Liu Yao and his men were idle in the Han army camp, enjoying a leisurely life.

After all, the current commander of the Han army was still Lu Zhi, so the task of dealing with Zhang Jue was left to him. There was no need for Liu Yao to get involved. In his memory, Zhang Jue would die of illness in October, and Guangzong City would fall on its own. There was no need to do something that would be both tiring and unappreciated.

Lu Zhi had no way to deal with Liu Yao. He had no authority to command Liu Yao. But with just the 50,000 soldiers under his command, how could he possibly have a chance to capture the well-defended Guangzong City? Moreover, there were no fewer than 150,000 Yellow Turbans in Guangzong City, led by the Zhang brothers, with high morale. They were far superior to the Yellow Turbans under Bo Cai and Peng Tuo. It was already quite good that Lu Zhi could hold Zhang Jue at bay.

However, one day, a person's arrival brought a ripple to this peaceful camp.

"Lord, an imperial envoy has arrived," Shi A said as he entered the tent while Liu Yao was dozing off.

Liu Yao, whose rest was disturbed, was naturally not in a good mood. He glared at Shi A and said irritably, "Imperial envoy? You mean a bird man?"

"Um..." Shi A was momentarily speechless. "May I ask, Lord, what is a bird man?"

At this moment, Liu Yao realized that the "imperial envoy" Shi A mentioned was not a winged bird man but an envoy from the emperor. He coughed twice to cover his embarrassment and asked, "Shi A, you said an imperial envoy has arrived. Is it Zuo Feng?"

If someone was coming here as an imperial envoy, it had to be Zuo Feng, the eunuch.

"Lord, your divine calculation is truly remarkable. The envoy's name is indeed Zuo Feng," Shi A was surprised that Liu Yao knew the name of the envoy. He then asked cautiously, "Lord, should we go out to welcome him?"

"No!! The current commander is still Lu Zhi. Let him entertain Zuo Feng," Liu Yao refused without hesitation.

Joking, how could he have the qualifications to meet Zuo Feng, a eunuch? Zuo Feng was just a dog of Zhang Rang. Even Zhang Rang had to curry favor with him, let alone Zuo Feng.

Moreover, Zuo Feng's visit was just to collect bribes. If he went, would Zuo Feng dare to accept bribes? But if Zuo Feng didn't accept bribes, how could Lu Zhi be falsely accused? Liu Yao was eager for Lu Zhi to be escorted back to the capital. With him here, it would be difficult for Liu Yao to deal with Liu Bei.

"Understood," Shi A replied and left the tent, no longer disturbing Liu Yao.

On the other side, the arrival of the imperial envoy was a big deal for Cao Cao and Lu Zhi. They quickly prepared a banquet to warmly welcome Zuo Feng.

The next day, Zuo Feng went straight to Liu Yao's tent to pay his respects. Liu Yao glanced at Zuo Feng and said, "You can do whatever you want here, as long as you don't disturb me." He then gave Zuo Feng a meaningful look and had him escorted out.

Zuo Feng was thrilled when he heard Liu Yao's words. Liu Yao's words clearly indicated that he approved of Zuo Feng's bribery. Thus, in the following days, Zuo Feng began to move around the camp, extorting bribes from those with some status.

But others suffered. Whether rich or poor, they were all heavily extorted by Zuo Feng. Even Cao Cao was no exception. Cao Cao knew that Zuo Feng was a man of the Ten Attendants, Zhang Rang. The Ten Attendants had considerable power in the court, so Cao Cao did not dare to offend him. In the end, he had to endure the pain and send 300 gold to get rid of Zuo Feng.

As for Lu Zhi, the commander of the Han army, Zuo Feng naturally left him for last. However, when Zuo Feng asked Lu Zhi for money, he was sternly refused and scolded.

This made Zuo Feng hate Lu Zhi.

Liu Bei also quietly advised Lu Zhi to pay the bribe to avoid trouble, but Lu Zhi glared at Liu Bei and said, "The army's provisions are already insufficient. Where do we have extra money to give to this eunuch?"

This completely offended Zuo Feng. He left for Luoyang that day, saying before he left, "Lu Zhi, we'll see."

Luoyang.

Zuo Feng, full of anger, quickly returned to Luoyang and went straight to Zhang Rang's residence, telling him everything.

Zhang Rang was furious when he heard this. "Lu Zhi, you old scoundrel, since you don't give me face, don't blame me." He then took Zuo Feng to the palace.

When Liu Hong heard that Zuo Feng had returned, he immediately summoned all the officials to discuss the matter.

In the court, Liu Hong sat high above, looking at the officials below.

"Zuo Feng, what did you gain from your mission?" Liu Yao asked curiously.

At this moment, Zuo Feng, receiving a hint from Zhang Rang, who was beside Liu Hong, immediately knelt down and cried, "Your Majesty, please do justice for me!"

Liu Hong, seeing Zuo Feng's weeping, said displeased, "What is it?"

"Your Majesty, I was ordered to secretly supervise the battle in Guangzong. Lu Zhi had already defeated the Yellow Turbans and killed over ten thousand of them, making the rebels hide. But Lu Zhi kept making excuses and refused to fight. I asked him what was going on."

Zuo Feng choked up and said with a face full of indignation, "But Lu Zhi said I was a eunuch and didn't understand warfare, and he drove me out. Please do justice for me, Your Majesty."

Liu Hong was furious when he heard this. "How dare he! You are an envoy sent by me, representing me. How dare that old scoundrel Lu Zhi insult me? He deserves death."

Then Liu Hong seemed to remember something and asked, "Zuo Feng, did you see my eldest son in Guangzong?"

Zuo Feng, with a turn of his eyes, said, "Your Majesty, the eldest prince is indeed in the camp, and I visited him. But the prince said that Lu Zhi, using his position as commander, was suppressing him and not allowing him to fight."

"Your Majesty," Zhang Rang interjected, "Lu Zhi is clearly harboring the rebels to strengthen his own position, missing the opportunity to eliminate the rebels. He must have ulterior motives. Your Majesty should have him executed on the spot."

"By my command, execute Lu Zhi on the spot," Liu Hong ordered loudly. In Liu Hong's view, even Liu Yao said that Lu Zhi was not fighting. Therefore, Lu Zhi must have ulterior motives. What Liu Yao never said was that Zuo Feng had fabricated this.