"Nie Zefeng, Nie Zefeng, are you a human or a demon? How did you do all this? I don't understand. I really don't understand..."

Liu Bei repeated this over and over again in his heart.

"General, don't worry. Although Nie Zefeng won by chance, he will not be able to go south after fighting against the other side. Since Yun Chang has made the decision to withdraw his army at the opportunity, as long as he can successfully withdraw the 50,000-strong army, our army will not be able to retreat. There is not much loss, so what can Nie Zefeng do?"

Sun Qian was the first to calm down and comfort Liu Bei calmly.

After hearing the chief counselor's analysis, Liu Bei's depressed and restless mood began to calm down a bit, and his old face regained a bit of calmness.

"Xidu's words are reasonable. Even if Nie Zefeng defeats Liaodong, his vitality will be severely damaged. How can I be afraid of him?"

Liu Bei gently stroked his beard, his brows gradually becoming calm.

At this moment, a pro-soldier hurriedly entered.

"Reporting to the general, the scouts reported urgently that General Guan was attacked by Nie Zefeng's Qingqi, and the entire army was defeated. Nie Zefeng took advantage of the situation and captured Xuzhou. General Guan and the defeated army are retreating to Xuzhou."

Hearing this, the entire lobby fell silent for an instant.

Time seemed to have frozen, and everyone's face was frozen in a moment of horror, and there was an illusion that they were about to suffocate.

The calmness that Liu Bei had just recovered was instantly wiped out, replaced by ten times more shock and panic.

"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"

Liu Bei suddenly let out a hoarse shout, jumped up, and ran towards the door in large strides.

The rest of Sun Qian and others woke up from the shock and hurriedly followed him out.

Liu Bei and this group of high-level civil and military officials from Xuzhou left the Dezhou Mufu and headed toward the north gate of Xiapi.

When we got up to the city, we looked far into the direction of Xuzhou and saw a line of fire on the north bank. It was clearly the water camp of Xuzhou burning.

On the Xu Shui River, one warship after another docked in disorder, and groups of disgraced soldiers were supporting each other and heading towards Xuzhou.

Seeing this situation, Liu Bei finally believed the cruel fact.

At this moment, Liu Bei was in pain and confusion. The fact before him was beyond his ability to understand. He had no idea how Nie Zefeng miraculously defeated his own five soldiers after defeating the Xiliang Army. Ten thousand troops.

The subordinates on the left and right were all equally frightened and inexplicable, and everyone fell into an unprecedented panic.

The city gate opened, and the defeated army entered the city sadly.

The people in Xiapi City heard the sound and went out to watch. The soldiers who returned in defeat told the terrible things they had experienced.

Soon, the news of Xuzhou's defeat spread throughout the city. The entire Xuzhou city soon fell into panic, and everyone was full of fear of the devilish Nie Zefeng.

Not long after, Guan Yu also arrived in Xuzhou.

On the top of the city, when Liu Bei saw his sworn brother, he felt both happy and angry.

He was happy that Guan Yu was safe and sound, but he was angry that Guan Yu not only caused his 50,000-strong army to suffer a disastrous defeat, but also lost the important town of Xuzhou.

Guan Yu also looked ashamed and knelt on the ground, admitting that he had no command. He asked Liu Bei to punish him.

In this defeat, Liu Bei's losses were not unbearable. In terms of responsibility, Guan Yu, as the former commander-in-chief of the army, indeed had an unshirkable responsibility.

Liu Bei looked angry and wanted to punish Guan Yu.

At this time, Sun Qian advised: "General, victory or defeat is a matter of military strategism. Although General Mi was at fault for his poor command, the defeat of this battle was ultimately caused by the rapid change of the situation, which exceeded all of our expectations. "

Sun Qian's plea made Liu Bei's anger subside. He pondered for a moment and then sighed: "That's all, I will cut off your salary for three years as punishment."

Guan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Liu Bei for his kindness.

Liu Bei then led everyone back to the Prefectural Shepherd's Mansion. After entering the lobby, Guan Yu had a few glasses of wine to calm his shock, and then he carefully inquired about the process of the defeat.

Guan Yu then retreated hastily until he was attacked by Nie Zefeng's cavalry and told him truthfully.

After everyone listened, they felt as if they felt the same thing. In addition to being angry, their expressions also secretly flashed with admiration.

Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh: "I didn't expect Nie Zefeng's use of cavalry to be so miraculous. If this person is not eliminated, he will really be a serious problem for me in Xuzhou."

All the officials were silent.

When the atmosphere was dull, a report suddenly came from outside, saying that Chen Gui had escaped alive and wanted to see him.

Liu Bei originally thought that his brother-in-law had died in the rebellion, but when he heard that he had escaped and returned, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and called for help.

Not long after, Chen Gui, covered in blood, staggered into the lobby.

When everyone saw Chen Gui's appearance, they all gasped.

When Liu Bei squinted his eyes and saw Chen Gui's terrifying appearance without an ear, he felt as if he had been struck by lightning. He was so frightened that he felt dizzy and immediately fainted to the ground.

On the second day, when the sun slowly shone through countless clouds to this city, Liu Bei slowly woke up. He wanted to see his newlywed wife, Mi Xue.

In the attic, Mi Xue sat leaning on the railing, holding a small bronze mirror in her hand, carefully admiring herself in the mirror.

Those slender hands were caressing the jade hairpin in her hair, her lightly painted face turned left and right from time to time, and her eyes gradually became intoxicated.

"lady."

While he was intoxicated, Liu Bei's voice suddenly came from outside.

Mi Xue was startled, and quickly put down the bronze mirror, suppressed the intoxication on her face, and walked out to greet him.

Liu Bei had crossed the threshold and walked in with a cheerful expression.

"Isn't your husband dealing with military affairs? Why are you back so early?" Mi Xue stepped forward and helped Liu Bei sit down.

Liu Bei, who had just suffered a serious illness, naturally acted extremely confident.

Liu Bei looked arrogant and spoke confidently, as if he had everything under control.

Mi Xue secretly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and served Liu Bei with a smile.

Liu Bei suddenly remembered something, took out a gold hairpin from his sleeve, and said with a smile: "I have been busy with military affairs recently, and I have neglected my wife. This gold hairpin was specially made by the best goldsmiths in the city. Madam, do you like it?"

Mi Xue glanced at the golden hairpin. She didn't feel too much in her heart, but she pretended to be happy. She took the golden hairpin and looked at it lovingly, and even expressed her thanks.

Liu Bei was proud and said: "Come, I will put it on for my wife."

Mi Xue turned around with a smile, and Liu Bei raised his hand to insert this gift for his wife.

Suddenly, Liu Bei frowned fiercely. He discovered the jade hairpin on Mi Xue's head.

The smile on his face suddenly faded. Liu Bei hurriedly pulled out the jade hairpin and asked, "Where did you get this?"

Mi Xue looked confused. When she looked back, her face changed.

Only then did she wake up. She was so confused that she forgot to take the jade hairpin given by Nie Zefeng. She didn't want to show it to her husband.

"This, my brother gave this to me." Mi Xue was panicking in her heart, but her face was very calm. She smiled and tried to excuse her.

"That's nonsense. This thing is clearly a palace item. How could Chen Gui have it?" Liu Bei shouted sternly.

Mi Xue was startled. She had forgotten that her husband was once the emperor's uncle of the Han Dynasty. He was a man who had seen the world and knew that the things in the palace had their own special marks. How could he be fooled by her few words.

When Mi Xue saw through it, she suddenly looked panicked and didn't know how to deal with it.

Liu Bei said with a livid face: "We in Xuzhou have always respected the King of Chu. How could we have such a forbidden thing? Only Nie Zefeng took advantage of the chaos and looted Xudu. Did Nie Zefeng give you this jade hairpin?"

Mi Xue's heart was shocked and her face turned pale. Now that she knew she couldn't hide it, she had no choice but to nod and admit it.

"No wonder you tried to persuade me and Nie Zefeng to make peace last time. It turns out that you took bribes from him privately. You bitch, you almost ruined this general's important event!"

Liu Bei was furious. He waved his hand and slapped Mi Xue.

"Crack!"

With a crisp sound, Liu Bei slapped Mi Xue so hard that he actually slapped Mi Xue to the ground. A blood-red palm print immediately appeared on her snow-white face.

Mi Xue has been doted on in every possible way since she married Liu Bei. Liu Bei never said a harsh word to her, let alone slap her in the face.

This slap only made Mi Xue feel pain and shock. Under all the grievances, tears flowed out like broken beads.

"How dare you hit me, how dare you hit me!"

In embarrassment, Mi Xue screamed at Liu Bei.

The Mi family was one of Liu Bei's two main supporters in Xuzhou. Mi Xue, as the daughter of the Mi family, had been arrogant in her life. Now she was slapped by Liu Bei. In shame and anger, she instinctively inspired the Mi family to show off.

Liu Bei didn't expect that his wife would dare to be arrogant towards him, so he couldn't help but became furious and slapped Mi Xue again with a wave of his hand.

"General, something bad is going to happen, something going bad is going to happen--"

Before the palm fell, a person broke in from outside, shouting in panic.

When Liu Bei saw an outsider coming, he immediately raised his hands and glared at Mi Xue fiercely.

Mi Xue also knew what was going on and quickly got up from the ground, hurriedly wiping away the tears on her cheeks.

The person who broke in was none other than Mi Xue's clan brother Mi Zhu.

"What kind of shouting and decency are you doing?" Liu Bei scolded him, glaring at him.

Mi Zhu wiped the cold sweat from his face and said in a trembling voice: "General, Nie Zefeng's army has crossed Xushui and is now rushing towards Xiapi."

One word was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, which only struck Liu Bei so hard that his expression changed with shock.

"How is it possible? How could Nie Zefeng's troops cross Xushui easily? Where is General Chen Gui? Why didn't his Chen Gui move to intercept?"

Liu Bei also thought that Nie Zefeng used warships to transport troops to force the crossing. He thought that with Chen Gui here, how could the enemy easily cross south.

Mi Zhu stammered: "Nie Zefeng built a pontoon bridge upstream. An army of more than 10,000 people crossed the Xushui in just a moment. My brother had no time to react."

"pontoon!"

Liu Bei was shocked, as if he had heard the most incredible thing in the world.

The construction of a pontoon bridge on the Xu River, an unprecedented event, made Nie Zefeng think about how Liu Bei could accept this cruel fact.

For a moment, Liu Bei almost suffocated, staggered and almost fell.

Mi Xue, who was also panicked, quickly stepped forward to help Liu Bei.

"General, Nie Zefeng's army is already on the way. General, please come up with an idea quickly." Mi Zhu urged in a panic.
Chapter completed!