Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator

The next moment, not only Guo Jia, but also the other scholars present smelled the strong odor and turned their heads to look at Pang Tong.

This strange smell emanated from Pang Tong's bedding as he sat up.

And what would a half-month-old stench be like?

Wherever this smell went, almost everyone who smelled it changed color.

Guo Jia didn't hesitate to say,

"Someone, quickly, quickly get this genius out of here..."

...

After Li Ji left the lecture hall, he naturally didn't know about the little farce that had happened inside. Instead, he quickened his pace to leave Rende Academy and quickly returned to the State Duke's mansion.

When Li Ji returned to the State Duke's mansion, not only Liu Bei, but also Guan Yu, Zhao Yun, Jia Xu, Mi Zhu, and others had already arrived.

"Zikun is back."

"Military Advisor..."

"Lord!"

Li Ji responded briefly to each of them, and then sat down in the leading seat of the civil officials on the right.

This was undoubtedly an emergency gathering to discuss matters. There were still some vacant seats, but after Li Ji had already sat down, Liu Bei didn't wait any longer and directly said,

"According to reports from our spies, Liu Zhang, who was returning to Yizhou, was attacked, and it is very likely that Liu Zhang has fallen into the hands of Liu Jingsheng. I have summoned you all to hear your opinions on how Yangzhou should decide on this matter."

As soon as these words came out, they undoubtedly caused a stir in the council hall.

Intellectuals like Jia Xu understood that this was the calm before the storm. It not only involved the two states of Yi and Jing, but it was also likely to drag the surrounding states and counties into the vortex.

Li Ji's expression didn't change much, but he had already generally understood the course of events from the urgent report given by Guo Jia.

After Li Ji speculated that Liu Qi's behavior was abnormal, Liu Bei listened to Li Ji's advice and subtly warned Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang was by no means an ignorant person. Even if Liu Zhang personally didn't feel that Liu Qi would be detrimental to him, he gradually and intentionally distanced himself from Liu Qi.

Moreover, for the sake of safety, Liu Zhang specifically waited until Liu Qi had left Wu Commandery first after the "Grand Military Exercise" before he began to prepare the route to leave.

In addition, Zhang Song also offered Liu Bei a plan. On the surface, he still arranged for ships to return to Yizhou via the Yangtze River as usual, but secretly he took the land route back to Yizhou from Jingnan, which was not firmly controlled by Liu Biao, in order to ensure safety to the greatest extent.

Li Ji also paid attention to this matter at the time, but he couldn't find any fault with it for a while.

Unexpectedly, something still happened.

"Lord, I wonder if the scouts have further verified this matter? Could it be that someone is framing Liu Jingzhou in order to provoke the relationship between Yi and Jing states?" Jian Yong said.

Mi Zhu nodded in agreement and said,

"This is indeed a possibility. Moreover, it stands to reason that Liu Zhang was so careful when he left, it wouldn't be easy for Liu Jingzhou to really find Liu Zhang's location. Besides the Lord, the only other people who know Liu Zhang's return route to Yizhou should be..."

Gradually, Mi Zhu's voice trailed off.

Liu Bei, who was sitting in the main seat, also frowned and said,

"Zizhong is right, Liu Zhang was attacked in Jingzhou, but in the eyes of the world, I'm afraid my suspicion is no less than Liu Jingsheng's."

"Perhaps, this is also to deliberately provoke a conflict between the Lord and the other two kinsmen State Dukes."

Li Ji slowly said, and a feeling of being schemed against also rose in his heart.

In the current situation, Li Ji was very clear that Liu Bei was innocent, but in the eyes of the world, it was not so. It would not even be easy for Liu Bei to clear himself of suspicion.

Liu Qi and Liu Zhang often went in and out of entertainment venues, which would make the world think that Liu Qi and Liu Zhang had a close personal relationship.

Moreover, Liu Qi left Wu Commandery first, and then Liu Zhang, who left quietly after a long delay, was attacked in Jingzhou.

In the eyes of others, this might even look like an attack that Liu Bei deliberately framed Liu Biao for.

On the way back to the State Duke's mansion, Li Ji had already carefully deduced the whole story and slowly said,

"Lord, however, I am more inclined to believe that all of this was still done by Liu Jingzhou."

"Why do you say that?" Liu Bei asked.

Li Ji slowly said,

"In my opinion, Liu Jingzhou had planned this from the beginning. Liu Qi took the initiative to befriend Liu Zhang. If he could lure Liu Zhang to Xiangyang, that would naturally be the best. Even if he couldn't, this abnormal behavior would attract our attention."

"After that, Liu Jingzhou expected that the Lord would persuade Liu Zhang to actively distance himself from Liu Qi out of consideration for the overall situation. Liu Qi could take the opportunity to get away and clear himself of suspicion before returning to Jingzhou, and then Liu Zhang, who left secretly later, would be attacked, which would naturally cause the Lord to incur great suspicion."

"In this way, even if the Lord sends someone to Jingzhou to question Liu Jingzhou, Liu Jingzhou will definitely deny his innocence. But if the Lord raises troops, in the eyes of the world, it would be more like the Lord deliberately framed Liu Jingzhou in order to seize the land of Jingzhou."

It can be said that this matter seems simple, but it is actually full of layers.

Liu Zhang was attacked, and Liu Biao seemed unable to escape suspicion, but he also dragged Liu Bei into the water.

More importantly, this also cut off Liu Bei's reason to attack Jingzhou to a certain extent, otherwise it would be even more difficult for Liu Bei to clear the infamous name of attacking Liu Zhang, framing Liu Biao, and then engaging in fratricidal warfare.

This series of speculations caused everyone in the council hall to fall into deep thought.

After a moment, Zhang Fei slapped his head and said,

"Ah! It's so complicated. In short, Mr. Zikun's meaning is that the old man Liu Biao is preparing to pin the attack on Liu Zhang on the head of our Big Brother, right?"

Li Ji replied.

"This is just my speculation, and there are other possibilities."

Now that Liu Bei has stood up among the lords of the world, he will inevitably be subjected to various schemes, and it is not impossible that someone is deliberately provoking conflicts between kinsmen State Dukes.

It's just that, no matter how you look at it, the biggest beneficiary is always Liu Biao.

With Liu Zhang in hand, he has the key to open the door to Yizhou;

By dragging Liu Bei into the water, he can also make Liu Bei temporarily afraid to attack the rear of Jingzhou.

And these are precisely the two major obstacles for Liu Biao to seek Yizhou, how to open the door to Yizhou, and how to avoid Liu Bei taking the opportunity to attack the rear of Jingzhou.

"It's just, how did Liu Jingzhou accurately find Liu Zhang's location?"

Jian Yong asked in confusion.

After all, not to mention that Liu Zhang was secretly returning to Yizhou through Jingnan, besides Liu Bei and Li Ji, no one else knew that Liu Zhang was not on the Yangtze River waterway.

Moreover, Jingnan is also a typical area with a vast land and sparse population, and Liu Biao's control over Jingnan is also limited.

In this case, it would be extremely difficult to find Liu Zhang's hundreds of people who sneaked into Jingnan and left in a low-key manner.

Even if he was discovered by someone with ulterior motives, by the time the news was sent back to Xiangyang and Liu Biao mobilized his troops to attack, Liu Zhang would have already left Jingnan and arrived in Yizhou.

It is precisely because of this that even if Liu Zhang was attacked in Jingnan, in the eyes of the world, Liu Biao's suspicion is not considered great.