Chapter 124: Internal Chaos, Imperial Seal After Huang Yi received the order, he led his troops out. Twenty miles away from the city, he saw Guan Yu leading his troops towards him. Seeing that their formation had not been formed, he was overjoyed and rode out first, shouting: "Zhong's son-in-law Huang Yi is here. Do the enemy dare to fight me?" Guan Yu had originally divided his troops into two groups, intending to outwit the enemy. However, he saw the enemy army coming out of the city to engage in battle when he arrived at Xincai. When he heard the words "Zhong's son-in-law", he became furious and secretly hated them: "How dare a man who plots rebellion boast so much!" He also saw that the enemy's array was neat but their battle formation was loose, and thought that this guy probably had not fought much in a war, and with such an array, he could be defeated with one charge! He was too lazy to reply, so he rode his horse and brandished his sword, shouting: "Follow me to defeat this army!" With a loud shout, he led his troops to charge towards Huang Yi. Huang Yi was shocked when he saw this, thinking to himself, I have lined up my troops to wait for the enemy, but the enemy troops are not at all lined up? Just as he was surprised, he saw a burly man leading his troops to attack. He had to grit his teeth and lead his troops to charge forward. Seeing Guan Yu in front, he raised his spear and rushed forward to meet him.

As a result, as soon as he received the move, his hands and feet became numb and he was terrified. He wanted to escape, but he felt that Guan Yu was too powerful and it was difficult to shake him off. He had to hold on, and the battle lasted less than a few rounds when Guan Yu chopped him down with all his might. He was unable to dodge and his blood was immediately spilt all over the spot, and he was chopped off his horse. After Huang Yi was killed, his army retreated, and Guan Yu pursued them all the way to the city. When Yuan Yin on the city wall saw this, he was terrified and immediately ordered his soldiers to close the city and defend it, and dared not go out again. When Guan Yu saw this, he carried Huang Yi's body and walked around the city three times before retreating. The soldiers in the city were so frightened that they no longer had the will to fight. After Guan Yu won the first battle, he retreated outside the city and pretended to set up camp. He thought that there were not many soldiers in the city, and if they were defeated again, the morale would probably have fallen to the bottom. At a time like this, as long as we add a little more strength, there is no need to worry about Yuan Yin not coming out! So he simply ordered his troops to retreat and set up camp ten miles outside the city to prevent Yuan Shu's army from finding out the details. He also ordered people to cut wood outside the city, pretending to be preparing to attack, but in fact he contacted Qiao Rui to prepare to take the city. After Qiao Rui divided his troops with Guan Yu, he led more than 4,000 soldiers and horses and marched towards the southwest. Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the southwest corner of Xincai, I saw Guan Yu's letter of report. He took a closer look and saw that Guan Yu had just arrived in Xincai when he defeated the defenders in the city and killed Huang Yi in battle. He was extremely surprised and could not help but sigh: "General Guan is truly a god!" He had seen many brave generals, but it was rare to find one as brave as Guan Yu. In the past, Guan Yu always served as a deputy general under Liu Bei, and no one thought about it, but now it seems that any one of these three brothers is a capable and brave warrior! Seeing Guan Yu's report, he couldn't help but secretly think that Guan Yu's plan was indeed feasible, but the report alone would not be enough to convince Yuan Yin, so he had to cooperate secretly. After thinking for a moment, he ordered his subordinate Qu Du to lead 800 people westward, marching on the road under the banner of Cao's army, setting up camp and pretending that Cao's army had arrived. Then he asked his trusted subordinates to put on Yuan Shu's military uniform and go to report the news. At the same time, in Xincai City, Yuan Yin had listened to Huang Yi's words and asked him to go out of the city to spy on the enemy's strength. Unexpectedly, Huang Yi turned out to be a useless person and died on the spot as soon as the battle started.

Now, the war was not won, but his niece became a widow! Later, when he heard that Guan Yu had withdrawn his troops, he hurriedly ordered his spies to go out of the city to investigate, and also summoned important officials in the city to discuss the matter. Because Yuan Shu was going to the expedition in a hurry, he only brought his trusted men with him among the civil and military officials. There are still former official Hui Qu, famous scholars He Kui, Xu Qiu and others in the old city. Everyone gathered together and heard that Liu Bei's army had arrived. Hui Qu felt a sinking feeling in his heart, while He Kui and Xu Qiao were both delighted. Because neither of them wanted to follow Yuan Shu, they had already intended to leave. However, Yuan Shu refused to release him, so he had to be trapped under Yuan Shu's command. Now that they saw Liu Bei was so powerful and had reached the city of Xincai, they were naturally delighted. Seeing Yuan Yin asking for advice, He Kui stepped out and said: "I heard that Liu Bei is a descendant of my clan. Now that he has led his troops here, I know that Yuan Shu's luck has run out. Given the current situation, we cannot win the battle, so it is better to surrender." "So as to avoid being blamed again when the city is breached in the future!" He was trying to persuade Yuan Yin with good intentions, but Yuan Yin did not appreciate it. Seeing that he wanted to surrender, he said in a deep voice: "I have heard that you, He Shulong, have long intended to leave. Now that you see the enemy approaching, instead of thinking of meeting them, you persuade them to surrender. Why is that?" "If you want to collude with the enemy to harm me, you should be executed!" He immediately ordered his soldiers to take him out and behead him. Although Yuan Yin was timid, he was not a good person. Moreover, He Kui was upright and often ridiculed Yuan Shu. Now that he saw Guan Yu coming, he was afraid that this man was colluding with foreign enemies, so he wanted to find a reason to kill him in order to correct people's hearts! As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Qiu stepped forward and said: "Now that the royal army is outside, why do you say to kill the wise first? Yuan Shu is not accepting the mandate of heaven. This is the truth. How can we kill him?" Compared with He Kui, Xu Qiu was a famous scholar in the country with great fame and a straight back, so he confronted Yuan Yin directly. When Yuan Yin saw this, he felt a little scared. He Kui killed people as he wished, but he didn't dare to touch Xu Qiu. Not to mention him, even Yuan Shu didn't dare to touch Xu Qiu. But now that the words had been spoken, it was difficult to take them back, so he could only glare at Xu Qiu without saying a word. Fortunately, Hui Qu was a double-faced person. Seeing that the two sides refused to back down, he stepped forward and said with a smile: "General, please stop talking. Lord Xu shouldn't be like this!" "Now that we have received the grace of His Majesty, we cannot surrender. We might as well think about how to withdraw our troops first!" Upon hearing this, Xu Qiu looked at him coldly and said: "I will not conspire with traitors!" After saying this, he stepped forward, shouted at the warriors to retreat, and pulled He Kui out of the mansion. Seeing him leave like this, Yuan Yin was furious and gnashed his teeth: "This thief will be killed sooner or later!"

Upon hearing this, Hui Qu couldn't help but smile bitterly, and hurried forward to calm Yuan Yin down, saying: "General, why are you so angry? Xu Mengyu is a famous scholar today. He is upright and has never liked this kind of work. Such people are already bound by this, so why make things difficult for them!" "The external enemies are outside the city, so we should focus on them first!" "There are few soldiers in the city now, and we cannot defeat them. I wonder if the general has asked for help?" Seeing this, Yuan Yin said in a muffled voice: "We have already requested assistance this morning, but since Huang Yi was killed, I am afraid the enemy will take advantage of the situation and attack!" "I thought they should repay my brother's kindness, so I asked them about it. I didn't expect that they were both of this kind. It's really chilling!" When Hui Qu heard this, he smiled and said: "Since you have asked for help, why should you worry, General?" "It's only a few days' journey from Pingyu to here. We just need to hold on for a few days and there will be no worries!" Yuan Yin thought about it and secretly agreed that it made sense. He was frightened by Guan Yu's fierce attack. In fact, Guan Yu only had a few thousand soldiers and horses, so he could defend even if he was attacked forcefully! Anyway, Xincai is not far from Pingyu. If Yuan Shu gets wind of the news, he will surely come to help. What is he afraid of? Thinking about this, Yuan Yin stroked his beard and smiled: "Sir, you are absolutely right. I was worrying too much!" After discussing with Hui Qu for a while, he made arrangements for the city defense. In the afternoon, he heard Guan Yu cutting wood outside the city. He knew that Guan Yu must be planning to attack by force, and he couldn't help but laugh at Guan Yu's lack of strategy. Now that he has Yuan Shu's support, how could he be afraid of Guan Yu's small army! But just as he had calmed down, he received false news from Qiao Rui, saying that Cao Cao had defeated Yuan Shu and was leading his troops to attack. Upon hearing the news, Yuan Yin's mood took a sharp turn for the worse. If Yuan Shu was still in Pingyu, he would naturally not be afraid of Guan Yu. But now, not only has Yuan Shu been defeated, but Cao Cao is also leading his troops here! There are only more than 4,000 soldiers and horses left in his city, and there are two rivals there! Yuan Yin immediately called Hui Qu over again. When Hui Qu heard this, he immediately panicked, thinking that he could still resist Liu Bei, as Cao Cao had tens of thousands of soldiers under his command! Now that Yuan Shu is gone, what can we use to resist Cao Cao’s troops! However, he had been with Yuan Shu for a long time, and thought that Yuan Shu had so many soldiers and horses that even if he was defeated, he would not send only a few people to deliver the message. So he said to Yuan Yin: "Your Majesty has been defeated. This is a very serious matter. Why don't we investigate it?" But when Yuan Yin heard this, he lamented: "I heard that Cao Cao attacked Shangcai fiercely. Our army came to reinforce but was defeated. Now I hear that Shangcai must have been taken!" "Cao Cao is good at using his troops to launch surprise attacks. How can you not believe this news?" However, Hui Qu insisted that Yuan Yin try it out first. Yuan Yin had no choice but to send people out of the city to investigate again. Soon after the spies set out, they reported: "There is a group of people in the northwest, setting up camp. They should be Cao's army!" With the arrival of this news, the two people's hope of getting lucky was completely shattered. Yuan Yin repeatedly sighed to Hui Qu: "Now, Guan Yu is still outside the city, but Cao's army has arrived!" "They have set up camp, which means the vanguard has arrived. Now the enemy is coming from two directions. What should we do?"

Hui Qu was naturally at a loss when he heard this. Their current situation is that they are stuck at two ends. First, they don't know whether Pingyu has fallen, and second, they don't know where Yuan Shu is now. With Guan Yu and Cao Cao coming from both directions, their routes to the west and north have been blocked! In this situation, they only had two choices: one was to grit their teeth and hold on, and the other was to abandon the city and go south to join Liu Xun. But seeing Yuan Yin's condition, it would be a dead end if they continued to hold on. So after thinking for a moment, Hui Qu gritted his teeth and said: "Since we can't hold on, maybe we can abandon the city and head south before Cao Cao arrives!" When Yuan Yin heard this, he was shocked and said: "Sir, you want me to abandon the city? Don't you know that our army's money and food are all in the city?" "If we abandon the city now, won't all the money and food go to the enemy?" When Hui Qu heard this, he immediately advised: "At this point, how can money and food be more important than your Majesty's wife and children?" "You must know that the prince's concubines are all in the city. If we don't leave now, they will fall into Cao Cao's hands and bring more humiliation to your majesty. Is this what the general wants?" Because Yuan Shu was lustful, he had hundreds of concubines, and his son Yuan Yao was also in the city. Since Wancheng, who doesn’t know that Cao Cao loves his wives? There are so many concubines in the city. If Cao Cao gets one of them, Yuan Shu will be cuckolded. Moreover, if Yuan Yao became a hostage, it would be a fatal blow to Yuan Shu. When Yuan Yin heard this, he was extremely conflicted. He was reluctant to give up the money and food, but he also did not want Yuan Shu's family to be captured by the enemy. After thinking for a long time, he gritted his teeth and said: "Well, I'll just follow your advice, sir!" "There is no time to lose. I will go and arrange the troops. Sir, go and persuade the young master and the ladies to set off!" After saying this, he walked out of the mansion again. Seeing that he was asked to go and persuade her, Hui Qu had no choice but to go to the backyard. Originally, Yuan Shu's queen was Feng, but later his wives and concubines became jealous and strangled Feng to death, so Yuan Shu now has no queen. As soon as Hui Qu arrived at the backyard, he reported everything and saw all the young girls crying together. Furthermore, Yuan Shu's youngest son, Yuan Yao, was ignorant and could persuade Hui Qu to do something about it. After much difficulty, he persuaded everyone to get on the carriage one by one and drove out of the palace. However, he heard a shout from inside the city, and in an instant, shouts of killing broke out everywhere. Hearing this, Hui Qu thought something was wrong and thought Guan Yu had already entered the city, so he ordered his servants to speed up and leave the city. When they walked to the street, they heard shouting and killing getting louder in the city, but there was no sound coming from the four gates. When Hui Qu saw this, he was very surprised. While he was wondering, he saw Yuan Yin, covered in blood, leading his troops and shouting: "Xu Qiu and He Kui have persuaded the soldiers in the city to rebel. Sir, please follow me out of the city and head south!" Upon hearing this, Hui Qu was greatly shocked. He did not expect Xu Qiu to be so tough. He just heard the news during the day and dared to rebel at night! Seeing the chaos in the city, he was afraid of dying at the hands of the rebels, so he hurriedly got on the carriage and let Yuan Yin take him out of the city. At this time, Guan Yu was stationed outside the city, listening to reports from his soldiers. Seeing that Qiao Rui divided his troops to create a false front, he secretly praised Qiao Rui for his military knowledge. Just as he was about to lead his troops south to prevent Yuan Yin from escaping south, he heard the spy report: "General, there is turmoil in the city, there may be a mutiny!"

When Guan Yu heard this, he thought he was going to ambush outside, but he didn't expect that there were such loyal and righteous people in the city! He did not move south at that moment, but led his troops to attack Xincai. As soon as he reached the city, he saw the south gate wide open and two armies fighting. Not knowing who his friend was, he shouted: "Guan Yu, one of Liu Yuzhou's subordinates, is here. I wonder who can help us break through the city?" He shouted, and then heard a voice saying: "I am Xu Qiu, Xu Mengyu. General, come and help me!" When Guan Yu heard the sound, he hurriedly led his troops to attack. After a fierce battle, he saw Xu Qiu. I saw him holding a long sword, his body covered in blood. Although he was a scholar, he had a resolute look on his face. Seeing this, Guan Yu could not help but secretly admire him. He did not dare to be arrogant and quickly dismounted and said: "Sir, why are you here? What happened in the city?" Seeing Guan Yu's mighty power, Xu Qiu hurriedly said: "Knowing that your army was coming, I persuaded the soldiers in the city to welcome your army into the city. Unexpectedly, Yuan Yin wanted to abandon the city and flee. We were unable to catch him and are trapped here!" "The imperial seal is in the hands of his son Yuan Yao. General, hurry up and chase him. Don't let Yuan Yin get away and lose our country's treasure!" When Guan Yu heard the words "Heirloom Seal of the Realm", his eyes widened. I wanted to come and take the city, but I didn't expect that the imperial seal was actually in Xincai! Guan Yu immediately jumped on his horse and asked: "Sir, do you know where they went?" Xu Qiu hurriedly pointed towards the southeast. Upon hearing this, Guan Yu hurriedly said to his attendants: "Leave 500 men to guard you, sir. Order Qiao Rui to go north to stabilize the situation in the city. The rest of you will follow me to pursue the enemy." As soon as he finished speaking, he led his troops and hurried towards the southeast. (End of this chapter)