Zhang Ren came to his senses and wanted to tear the paper into pieces, but when he looked down, he saw the word "mission" written on the back, and he cried out that he had been cheated.
Just as he picked it up and crumpled it into a ball, Liu Xun was startled by the sound of drums. He brought his men to the junction and inquired about the situation. The defenders reported what had just happened truthfully.
Liu Xun looked at Zhang Ren and said, "General Zhang, what is the matter in the letter?"
Zhang Ren had no choice but to bite the bullet and hand over the letter, explaining: "This is Liu Qi's plan to sow discord. Major General, you must not trust it."
"Hehe, what a good strategy to sow discord!" Liu Xun smiled coldly, turned around and saw the two words above, and said sarcastically: "Liu Qi has conveyed the mission to the general, and this is still a strategy to sow discord?"
Zhang Ren knelt on the ground and shouted, "I am a loyal general. I swear to heaven that I have nothing to do with Liu Qi. If I say even a word of falsehood, I beg heaven to strike me with lightning!"
Liu Xun said in a deep voice: "If there is a spirit in the heaven, it would have eliminated all the traitors and villains in the world long ago. How could our Han Dynasty sink to such a state?"
As he spoke, he drew his sword and pointed it at Zhang Ren, shouting, "To deal with a traitor like you, I should use the sword in my hand to bring retribution in this life!"
Huang Quan and others also rushed over and saw Liu Xun drawing his sword, and hurriedly tried to dissuade him and plead for mercy. Liu Xun handed the letter to everyone, and the man was caught red-handed, without a doubt.
Huang Quan took the paper and saw a few lines of words written on it. Although many words were blurred due to being crumpled, he could still guess the general idea:
When Liu Qi learned that Liu Xun's troops had arrived, he told Zhang Ren not to surrender in a hurry, but to wait for the right opportunity to cooperate with Liu Xun from inside and outside, capture Liu Xun in one fell swoop, and use him as a hostage to force Liu Zhang to surrender.
Huang Quan said: "Although General Zhang advocates defending the city for stability and lacks the initiative, he will never surrender to the enemy. I think this is Liu Qi's plan to sow discord. I hope you will think twice."
Liu Xun was furious and said, "If I think twice, I will become Liu Qi's prisoner!"
Huang Quan advised: "It is easy to get three armies, but it is difficult to get a general. Even if General Zhang has made mistakes, he has made great contributions to the lord. Killing him based on speculation will definitely affect the morale of the army. It is better to wait until the enemy is defeated and confront Liu Qi to see the result."
"How can I confront Liu Qi?" Liu Xun was furious, and suddenly he was stunned: "You said after defeating the enemy? The chief clerk already has a plan to deal with the enemy?"
Huang Quan clasped his fists and said, "This is not the place to talk. Please go back to the tent to discuss matters."
Liu Xun was also worried about the Jingzhou army's spies, so he returned to his tent, dismissed his guards, and wanted to drive Zhang Ren away as well, but Huang Quan stopped him, so he had no choice but to ask, "Master, what good advice do you have?"
Huang Quan said: "Since Liu Qi has sent someone to deliver the letter, no matter whether it is true or false, I don't think he will use his troops in the near future. In addition, there has been no battle for nearly a month, so the Jingzhou army must be slack. If we raid their camp now, we will be able to catch them off guard."
"Great idea!" Liu Xun laughed and clapped his hands, "I will send troops tomorrow!"
Zhang Ren hurriedly advised: "This is Liu Qi's plan. If we send troops, it will be exactly what he wants. General, you must not act rashly."
Liu Xun sneered, "A general should be decisive in killing and fighting, and win in danger. How can someone like you who only seeks stability and is indecisive when faced with opportunities be a general?"
Zhang Ren urged: "I have led troops for decades and I know this is Liu Qi's trick. It will be dangerous if we leave!"
"Hey, old general, times have changed!"
Liu Xun smiled coldly, turned away, and ordered his men to guard the tent strictly and not allow anyone to contact Zhang Ren to prevent the news from leaking out.
Huang Quan was dissatisfied when he saw that Zhang Ren had repeatedly ignored his strategies. He sighed and said, "Although the general is loyal, he is inflexible and only wants to defend himself. When will he be able to repel the enemy?"
Zhang Ren sat alone in the tent, sighing and cursing Liu Qi for his many schemes. He also lamented that he was born at the wrong time and had never met a wise leader.
The confidant who was guarding outside the tent could not remember much of the first part of the words and only reported the second half to Liu Xun. Liu Xun was furious when he heard it and became more and more suspicious that Zhang Ren was planning to surrender to the enemy.
The next day, the troops remained inactive. At night, Liu Xun ordered the entire army to eat and prepare at three o'clock in the morning, and at four o'clock, he ordered the troops to raid the camp according to Huang Quan's plan.
When the troops were about to be dispatched, Zhang Ren was summoned to the tent and ordered, "Since General Zhang claims to be loyal, you will lead the charge. Go attack Liu Qi's camp and capture and kill him. What do you think?"
Zhang Ren advised again: "General, this is Liu Qi's trick. There must be an ambush in the camp! If you insist on going to fight, I am willing to guard the pass and can provide support at any time."
Liu Xun was furious and asked, "Zhang Ren, you asked me to lead the troops and you stayed alone to guard the pass. Are you really treacherous and want to surrender the pass and capture me?"
Zhang Ren had no choice but to clasp his fists and said, "I am willing to be the vanguard. Please leave a general to guard the pass just in case!"
"Are you teaching me how to do things?" Liu Xun was very impatient and waved his hand, saying, "If you don't go, return to Chengdu overnight, and I can also repel the enemy."
Zhang Ren had no choice but to obey the order, mobilize 3,000 soldiers and horses, open the gates and march straight to the large camp by the river.
The night wind was howling, the river was surging, Zhang Renyi had a resolute look on his face, and he couldn't help but think of a sentence: The wind is whistling and the Yishui River is cold, the hero will never come back once he leaves!
It is a pity that Liu Qi is full of tricks. If I meet Liu Qi when I go to rob the camp this time, I will kill him at all costs. If there is an ambush, I will do my best to ensure Liu Xun's retreat. I will die on the battlefield and have no regrets in this life!
While he was thinking, his troops had already approached the enemy camp. He saw that the lights were sparse and the defenses were lax. Zhang Ren didn't care whether it was true or not. He was determined to fight to the death and led his troops to break through the camp and charge in.
In the camp, the Jingzhou army was caught off guard and ran around in panic. When the drums sounded, countless soldiers fled along the river without even having time to put on their armor.
Zhang Ren was confused but did not dare to be careless. He urged his horse to charge straight to the central army tent. If Liu Qi was really there, he would fight to the death.
When he was approaching the tent, he saw a general coming from the side and stopping him. It was Chen Dao. While the two were fighting, Liu Qi also hurriedly rushed out of the tent and retreated under the escort of his personal soldiers.
Zhang Ren was very anxious and wanted to chase and kill Liu Qi, but was held back by Chen Dao. The camp was in complete chaos at this time, with fires everywhere and shouts of killing shaking the sky. The soldiers of Jingzhou fled for their lives, while the Shu army was busy scrambling for supplies from the tents.
At this moment, a general came galloping over from a distance and shouted, "General Chen, please retreat quickly. I will cover your retreat!"
Chen Dao made a feint with his spear and led his troops to retreat. Zhang Fei held up his snake spear to stop Zhang Ren and cursed: "You are here to attack me again. I will capture you today!"
Zhang Ren saw the Jingzhou army fleeing and Zhang Fei falling into the trap and coming to support them. He felt a little shaken. Could it be that he was too cautious and overestimated Liu Qi
While he was distracted, he was almost stabbed by Zhang Fei's spear. He quickly turned around to dodge. The snake spear pierced through his armor. Zhang Fei struggled to push it out: "Come down!"
Zhang Ren snorted slightly, clamped his legs tightly around the horse's belly, drew his sword to cut off the armor, and turned around to hit Zhang Fei with the sword.
Zhang Fei picked up the sword and cursed: "You have no moral integrity and are a disgrace to the Zhang family. I don't know why the eldest master likes you!"
Just as he was raising his spear to kill, his personal guard came to report that the camp at the foot of the mountain had been attacked by the enemy and asked him to return quickly to rescue.
"Liu Xun, this little boy, actually has such a trick!" Zhang Fei was so shocked and angry that he hurriedly led his troops back to the camp.
Zhang Fei walked away cursing, while Zhang Ren sat on his horse in a daze. There was a raging fire all around and the soldiers were busy scrambling for supplies, which was out of place in this lively scene.