In the attic, Cai Yu 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 the hair, the lightly painted face turned left and right from time to time, and a sense of intoxication gradually appeared in the eyes.
"lady."
While he was intoxicated, Liu Biao's voice suddenly came from outside.
Cai Yu was startled, quickly put down the bronze mirror, suppressed the intoxication on his face, and walked out to greet him.
Liu Biao had already crossed the threshold and walked in with a cheerful expression.
"Isn't my husband dealing with military affairs? Why are you back so early?" Cai Yu stepped forward and helped Liu Biao sit down.
"There is a strange situation in Jiangxia. The Jiangdong Army's offensive has been suppressed. Degui's side cannot hold out. Yan Liang's skills are also exhausted and there is nothing important to do, so I will come back early to accompany my wife."
Liu Biao looked proud and spoke confidently, as if he had everything under control.
Cai Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and served Liu Biao with a smile.
Liu Biao 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. Do you like it, madam?"
Cai Yu glanced at the golden hairpin, not feeling too much in her heart, but she pretended to be happy, took the golden hairpin and looked at it lovingly, and thanked her repeatedly.
Liu Biao was proud and said: "Come, I will put it on for my wife."
Cai Yu turned around with a smile, and Liu Biao raised his hand to insert the gift for his wife.
Suddenly, Liu Biao frowned sharply. He discovered the jade hairpin on Cai Yu's head.
The smile on his face suddenly faded. Liu Biao hurriedly pulled out the jade hairpin and asked, "Where did you get this?"
Cai Yu looked confused. When he looked back, his face changed.
Only then did she wake up. She was so confused that she forgot to take the jade hairpin that Yan Liang had given her. She didn't want to show it to her husband.
"This, my brother gave this to me." Cai Yu 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 De Gui have it?" Liu Biao shouted sharply.
Cai Yu was startled. She had forgotten that her husband had also been an official in the capital in his early years. He was a man who had seen the world and knew that things in the palace had their own special marks. How could he be fooled by her few words.
When Cai Yu saw through it, he suddenly looked panicked and didn't know how to deal with it.
Liu Biao said with a livid face: "We in Jingzhou have always respected the emperor. How could we have such a forbidden thing? Only Yan Liang took advantage of the chaos and looted Xudu. Was this jade hairpin given to you by Yan Liang?"
Cai Yu'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 her head and admit it.
"No wonder you tried to persuade me to make peace with Yan Liang last time. It turns out that you took bribes from him secretly. You bitch, you almost ruined my big deal!"
Liu Biao was furious. He waved his hand and slapped Cai Yu.
Snapped!
With a crisp sound, Liu Biao slapped Cai Yu so hard that he knocked Cai Yu to the ground. A blood-red palm print appeared on her snow-white face.
Cai Yu has been doting on her in every possible way since she married Liu Biao. Liu Biao didn't even say a harsh word to her, let alone slap her in the face.
This slap only made Cai Yu 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, Cai Yu screamed at Liu Biao.
The Cai family was one of Liu Biao's two main supporters in Jingzhou. As the daughter of the Cai family, Cai Yu had been arrogant in her life. Now she was slapped by Liu Biao, and out of shame and anger, she instinctively inspired the Cai family to show off.
Liu Biao didn't expect that his wife would dare to be arrogant towards him. He couldn't help but became furious and slapped Cai Yu again with his palm.
"Lord, 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 Biao saw an outsider coming, he immediately raised his hand and glared at Cai Yu fiercely.
Cai Yu 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 Cai Zhong, Cai Yu's clan brother.
"What kind of shouting and decency is this?" Liu Biao glared at him and scolded him.
Cai Zhong wiped the cold sweat from his face and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, Yan Liang's army has crossed the Han River and is now rushing towards Xiangyang."
One word was like a thunderbolt from the blue sky, causing Liu Biao's expression to change with shock.
"How is it possible? How could Yan Liang's soldiers and horses cross the Han River so easily? How about Cai Mao? Why didn't his navy mobilize to intercept it?"
Liu Biao also thought that Yan Liang used warships to transport troops to force the crossing. He thought that with Cai Mao's navy around, how could the enemy easily cross south.
Cai Zhong stammered: "Yan Liang built a pontoon bridge upstream. More than 10,000 troops crossed the Han River in just a moment. My brother had no time to react."
"pontoon!"
Liu Biao was shocked, as if he had heard the most incredible thing in the world.
Building a pontoon bridge on the Han River was an unprecedented event, which made Yan Liang think about how Liu Biao could accept this cruel fact.
For a moment, Liu Biao almost suffocated, staggered and almost fell.
Cai Yu, who was also panicked, quickly stepped forward to support Liu Biao.
"My lord, Yan Liang's army is already on the way. Please come up with an idea quickly." Cai Zhong urged in a panic.
In Liu Biao's eyes, the panic gradually subsided, and extremely strong anger spurted out.
Liu Biao, a majestic shepherd of a state, a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and a famous scholar, has been repeatedly insulted by a humble man like you. How can I swallow this hatred?
In anger, Liu Biao pushed Cai Yu away and said loudly: "Send the order, I will mobilize all the troops, and this time I will kill Yan Liang with my own hands!"
After that, Liu Biao took the sword hanging from the wall and walked out of the door with a murderous look.
In the pavilion, there was no one in the blink of an eye.
After a long time, Cai Yu recovered from the panic. She touched the slap marks on her face with her hands, biting her red lips tightly with her teeth. There was a look of resentment in her eyes... North of Xiangyang.
At the end of the horizon, fierce dust covered the sky and blocked the sun. The earth was rumbling, and the vibrations of landslides and ground cracks spread rapidly from far to near.
On the main road, Yan Liang was galloping on his horse.
After crossing the pontoon and reaching the south bank, Yan Liang urged the army to advance towards Xiangyang without stopping.
Although they successfully crossed the Han River, Yan Liang's troops were still at a disadvantage in terms of military strength.
In addition to Cai Mao's navy, Liu Biao's garrison in Xiangyang still numbered 20,000 to 30,000, and they were still waiting for work.
In field battles, Yan Liang relied on his cavalry and was not afraid even if Liu Biao had a hundred thousand troops.
But if Liu Biao holds on to Xiangyang, it will obviously not be easy with Yan Liang's troops to break through the fortified city that is several times his own strength.
All Yan Liang had to do was to go as fast as possible to catch Liu Biao off guard and maximize the unexpected effect.
The army is advancing rapidly, and Xiangyang is not far away.
A horse came galloping from the south, and it was Wen Chou who came.
"Brother, the scouts ahead are reporting. Liu Biao has personally led his army to fight." Wen Chou's face burst with excitement.
Liu Biao actually came in person.
Yan Liang was also refreshed. What he was most worried about was that Liu Biao would not be able to get out of the enemy's territory.
But I didn't expect that this old guy couldn't calm down and led his army to fight. This would be exactly what he wanted.
"I came just in time. If this old guy dares to come, I will let him see with his own eyes the power of my Yan Liang."
In excitement, Yan Liang ordered the entire army to slow down their march and prepare to meet Liu Biao's army.
In order to ensure the suddenness of the attack, Yan Liang led more than 3,000 divine cavalry and more than 1,000 iron pagodas in this battle, with more than 10,000 infantry troops still behind.
The cavalry needed to rest their horses before launching an attack, so Yan Liang stopped charging wildly and marched normally while letting the horses recover their strength.
The five thousand cavalry continued to move forward. When they were twenty miles away from Xiangyang City, Yan Liang finally saw the shadow of Liu Biao's army.
Yan Liang jumped on his horse and climbed up a small slope, looking far into the distance to get an overview of the enemy's situation.
However, in the field of vision, tens of thousands of Jingzhou troops formed an iron wall-like military formation stretching for several miles, stretching across the main road and blocking the way to Xiangyang.
Huge wooden shields were erected in front of the formation like fish scales, and spears protruded upward like a forest. Behind them, thousands of crossbowmen were waiting in formation, and there were seven hundred cavalry guarding the left and right wings.
The big flag with the character "Liu" fluttering in the wind, the Jingzhou army was in good order and was not panicked by the arrival of Yan Liangjun.
This army is already Liu Biao's most elite division, and now it still maintains its fighting spirit even in the face of Yan Liang's cavalry sweeping through Jingbei.
"The enemy's military formations were being reorganized. It seems that Liu Biao used all his strength and used his strongest soldiers and horses."
There was a hint of approval in Yan Liang's tone.
However, that approval only lasted for a moment, and then, that knife-like face was occupied by hunting murderous intent.
No matter how strong you Liu Biao is, can you be stronger than the Xiliang cavalry? The resistance in front of you, in Yan Liang's opinion, is nothing more than a mantis blocking the car.
"Where is Ziqin?" Yan Liang suddenly shouted.
"The end will be here." Wen Chou jumped up on his horse and responded.
Yan Liang pointed his sword, "I order you to lead two thousand divine cavalry to bypass the enemy's formation. You are only allowed to disrupt the enemy's formation and are not allowed to engage in hand-to-hand combat."
"promise."
Wen Chou received the order, galloped down the hillside, and led two thousand cavalrymen away.
"Where is Hu Che'er?"
"The car is here."
Hu Che'er stepped forward excitedly, and at some point, he took off his armor again, revealing half of his bare arms.
"I have ordered you to lead the iron pagoda in formation and wait for it. Upon my order, you will immediately launch an attack on the enemy formation. You are only allowed to advance and not retreat."
Hu Che'er took the order and left excitedly. A thousand iron pagodas wearing heavy armor formed a formation in an instant.
Although Yan Liang despised Liu Biao strategically, he did not dare to be careless tactically.
Liu Biao knew that his main force was cavalry, and his formation must be equipped with strong bows and crossbows. If he rashly launched a frontal attack, he would surely follow in the footsteps of Gongsun Zan, who was annihilated by his white horse Yi Cong.
What Yan Liang has to wait for now is for Wen Chou to disrupt Liu Biao's army with his light cavalry, and only when a flaw appears can he launch a fatal blow.
"Liu Biao, a celebrity, let me show you what I, a common man, can do."
