Chapter 76

Immediately, Liu Yao no longer glanced at the two of them and said, "If there are no good strategies, the army will rest for three days. After three days, is there anyone willing to go to Guangzong to challenge, to also probe the strength of the Yellow Turbans?"

Liu Yao was now somewhat worried. It was already mid-October, but there had been no news from Zhang Jue in Guangzong. This made Liu Yao worry if something had changed. Therefore, he wanted someone to go and investigate.

However, after Liu Yao's words, no one responded. Perhaps it was out of modesty, or perhaps they wanted to preserve their strength. This made Liu Yao frown.

At this moment, Guo Jia's eyes twinkled, and he stood up and said, "Lord, I have heard that Sun WenTai, the Tiger of Jiangdong, is a valiant general. With him leading the charge, he is sure to win the first battle."

As soon as Guo Jia spoke, everyone's dissatisfied gazes focused on him. In their view, this was a military camp, and those present were all important ministers of the court. How could a teenager like Guo Jia have the right to speak?

Liu Yao pointed to Guo Jia and introduced him, "This is my military advisor, Guo Jia, also known as Guo Fengxiao."

Everyone was surprised. They didn't expect this young man to be Liu Yao's military advisor and began to take him seriously. To think that Liu Yao would choose an incompetent person as his advisor was something they couldn't believe. Of course, there was one exception, and that was the incompetent Yuan Shu, who was now full of jealousy and anger.

"Jia greets the lords." Guo Jia bowed to them.

Seeing this, everyone returned the bow to Guo Jia. After all, Guo Jia was a favorite of Liu Yao, and it was always good to maintain a good relationship with him.

Liu Yao looked at Sun Jian and asked, "What do you think of Fengxiao's proposal, WenTai?"

"I will follow the order." Sun Jian clasped his hands and said.

Liu Yao nodded in satisfaction and said, "Sun Jian, listen to my command. In three days, take your three thousand troops to challenge. I will personally lead ten thousand troops to supervise the battle."

"I accept the order."

Liu Yao said with a generous tone, "WenTai is brave and valiant. I wish you a victory in three days. Cheers."

"Cheers." Everyone raised their cups together.

Three days later, Sun Jian led his three thousand troops to the city of Guangzong.

As for Liu Yao, Huangfu Song, and others, they watched from half a mile behind Sun Jian. Behind them were the two camps under Liu Yao's command, the Xian and Chongfeng camps.

Seeing the fine equipment and neat formation of the Xian and Chongfeng camps, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, and Cao Cao were not surprised, as they had already seen it before. However, those who had not seen it before, such as Sun Jian, were envious. Yuan Shao was worried, Dong Zhuo looked greedily at the two camps, and Yuan Shu was openly jealous.

Liu Yao, seeing their expressions, nodded in satisfaction. This was the effect he wanted, the effect of intimidation.

"Hey, Zhang Jue, you rebel! Sun Jian, the Han's Colonel of the Breaking of the Barbarians, is here. Dare you come out for a battle?" At this moment, Sun Jian left his troops and rode forward alone, shouting at the Yellow Turbans in Guangzong.

Liu Yao looked at the four generals behind Sun Jian and nodded in appreciation. He thought, "These four must be Sun Jian's loyal old ministers, Han Dang, Huang Gai, Zu Mao, and Cheng Pu. Although their martial skills are only second-rate, their loyalty to the Sun family is probably no less than Guan Yu's."

Inside the city of Guangzong, Zhang Jue, Zhao Bao, and Zhang Liang were in the council hall.

"Report, General, a Han general has come to challenge." A Yellow Turban suddenly burst in.

"Who is it? Is it that Liu Yao?" Zhang Bao asked with some concern. Zhang Liang also looked tense at the Yellow Turban.

"Report to the Earth General, that man claims to be the Han's Colonel of the Breaking of the Barbarians, Sun Jian, not Liu Yao." The Yellow Turban respectfully said.

"Phew." Hearing the Yellow Turban's report, both of them breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother, as long as it's not that Liu Yao, it's fine. But the Han army hasn't attacked for two months. Why are they here now?" Zhang Liang glanced at Zhang Jue as he spoke.

As for Zhang Jue, he remained silent, deep in thought.

"Enough of this. A mere Sun Jian dares to be so arrogant. I will teach him a lesson." Zhang Bao, hearing the continuous insults from outside, became furious. "Let's go, to the city wall."

Saying this, he led the way out. Zhang Jue and Zhang Liang followed closely behind.

Soon, Zhang Bao and the others appeared on the city wall.

Seeing Zhang Jue, Liu Yao was instantly flustered, his face showing disbelief. This was the first time his infallible foresight had failed, and the impact on Liu Yao was significant.

Historically, Zhang Jue should have been either dead or bedridden at this point. Now, Zhang Jue was alive and well, standing before him. Liu Yao's foresight had failed, and the strategy of waiting for Zhang Jue to die before attacking Guangzong was now invalid.

"How dare this Sun Jian insult me so! I will not rest until I have avenged this." The hot-tempered Zhang Bao wanted to charge down and fight Sun Jian.

Seeing this, Zhang Liang immediately held back Zhang Bao, "Brother, don't be impulsive. The Han army lacks supplies. We just need to hold them off for a while, and they will retreat. There's no need to take the risk."

Hearing this, Zhang Bao calmed down and called down to Sun Jian, "Sun Jian, you won't succeed. I won't come out. See what you can do about it."

"You..." Sun Jian was furious. "Zhang Bao, you are a leader of the Yellow Turbans, but you lack the courage? If you have the guts, come down and fight me for three hundred rounds. I'll even let you have one hand. Do you dare?"

However, no matter how much Sun Jian shouted from below, Zhang Bao refused to come out. He also sent a thousand men to engage in a verbal battle with Sun Jian. Throughout this, Zhang Jue did not say a single word.

On the other side, Liu Yao, who was supervising the battle, saw this scene and became puzzled. According to logic, Zhang Jue should be the true leader of the Yellow Turbans, but today's situation was very strange. Zhang Jue had not spoken a single word, and it was Zhang Bao, the Earth General, who was in charge of the entire situation.

"Lord, do you find Zhang Jue strange?" At this moment, Guo Jia, who was by Liu Yao's side, whispered to him.

"Fengxiao, you also think so?" Liu Yao was surprised. He didn't expect that not only he but also Guo Jia had this feeling.

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Yes, Lord. There are two strange things. First, Zhang Jue hasn't said a single word from start to finish. Second, look at Zhang Jue yourself, Lord."

Liu Yao listened and carefully observed Zhang Jue. He suddenly realized that Zhang Jue was unremarkable, the kind of person who would be lost in a crowd. He was suddenly enlightened. "Could it be..."

Guo Jia nodded and said, "Yes, Lord. A general has his own aura, a scholar has his own scholarly air, and as a leader, you have a noble and dignified presence. Zhang Jue, as the leader of a million Yellow Turbans, should have a presence that, while not as strong as yours, should not be lacking. However, Lord, even though it's too far to see clearly, from a distance, Zhang Jue seems like a mere soldier, with no presence at all. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang are more prominent than him. There are only two possible situations for this."

"Please enlighten me, Fengxiao." Liu Yao asked eagerly.

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