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  East of Jiangling, Liu Bei's army set up a large camp.

  Liu Bei stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes scanning the map hanging high above. In the four counties of Jingnan, three had already been marked with a red symbol, only Lingling County remained, where Zhang Fei was still campaigning.

  Behind him, the secretary sorted out the documents and said: "Prime Minister Kongming's prediction was indeed correct. The four counties of Jingnan are not worth a blow. I think it won't take long for our lord to receive the good news that Yide has taken down Lingling."

  Liu Bei, with his back turned, had a hint of satisfaction flash across his pale face. When he turned around, he had already put on an expressionless calm demeanor. He said calmly: "The four southern provinces are all wall-top grass, whoever is stronger will turn towards them, and it's also reasonable that they can't withstand a single blow. However, what surprised me was that Ah Feng took the two counties of Xiangdong so smoothly."

  Liu Bei's tone was full of obvious praise, and Mi Zhu's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he smiled: "Han Xuan is just an ignorant soldier, Ah Feng has at least experienced the battlefield, dealing with this kind of person is not a problem."

  Mi Zhu made every effort to belittle Liu Feng's achievements, trying to prove that Liu Feng was able to take down the two counties of Xiangdong so smoothly not because he was strong, but because his enemies were too incompetent.

  "Han Xuan may be a mediocre person, but I've heard that the old general Huang Zhong in Changsha is not to be underestimated. Ah Feng can understand how to use the strategy of sowing discord to defeat his opponents without bloodshed and take down Changsha. It seems that this child is indeed a talented individual. When I took him as my adopted son, I didn't misjudge him."

  Liu Bei is not so easily fooled. He was very clear about the course of the Battle of Changsha, and he was also very aware of Liu Feng's brilliant performance in this battle.

  Liu Bei's repeated affirmation made Mi Zhuo feel increasingly displeased, and for the time being, he had no choice but to shut his mouth and bury his head in sorting out documents.

  At this time, Liu Bei suddenly smiled and said: "Zi Zhong, your vision is not bad either. If it weren't for your recommendation to send Afeng to conquer the two counties of Xiangdong, these two counties wouldn't have been obtained so quickly, and I wouldn't be able to see clearly what this child's talent is."

  Now he has a feeling of picking up stones and hitting his own feet, Liu Bei's approval is like slapping himself in the face. He is obviously very unhappy, but can only smile awkwardly: "I also wanted to give Ah Feng an opportunity to gain experience, didn't expect..."

  "Unexpectedly, he didn't die under Huang Zhong's sword, but instead subdued this old general, right?"

  Liu Bei's sudden interjection was like a whip soaked in water, striking heavily on Mi Zhu's heart. He suddenly raised his head and collided with Liu Bei's calm and peaceful eyes, but he could feel that beneath the calmness was an unfathomable undercurrent surging.

  A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and at the moment when his attempt was exposed, Zou Shi only felt a buzzing in his head, and for a while he was flustered and didn't know how to respond.

  "Alas——" Liu Bei suddenly let out a sigh, and in this sigh, it seemed to imply many helplessness. "Zizhong, having followed me for so many years, although I am your lord and you are my subject, we are actually like close friends. I have always thought that I handle things with stability, but the matter at Xia Kou was really not done properly."

  Finally, after several months, Liu Bei's old affair was brought up again.

  His face exposed a hint of shame, and he lowered his head to say: "That matter was indeed my fault, I shouldn't have brought it up in front of everyone, causing you distress. But I also had the intention of investigating the cause of little sister's death, and in my anxiety, my mind became disordered. I hope you can forgive me."

  Liu Bei patted the shoulder of Zuo Ci and sighed: "The death of my wife is the most unbearable for me. If she really died unjustly, I will definitely investigate until the truth is revealed. But what happened? Based on some speculation, Ah Feng was publicly accused of being the real culprit, forcing him to reveal the truth. Good intentions led to bad consequences, why did this have to happen?"

  The truth that Liu Bei referred to was what Liu Feng said, his sister Mi Shi was killed and humiliated by the Cao army, and she committed suicide to preserve her honor. It was this truth that made Liu Bei feel embarrassed and humiliated again.

  However, in Liu Bei's tone, Mi Zhu detected a few points of resentment towards Liu Feng.

  "Actually, my guesses are all reasonable and well-founded. Master, haven't you ever thought that the truth A Feng spoke of was just another lie he made up to shirk his responsibility?"

  Liu Bei's sparse and light eyebrows slightly condensed, neither opposing nor agreeing.

  Under the gaze of Zhen Yu, Mei Zhu immediately followed up and said: "If Ah Feng has a heart that is loyal to his lord, then even if what he said was true, he should not have spoken out in front of so many people. Instead, he chose to clear himself at the expense of his lord's dignity. Doesn't this make one suspect that his so-called truth is not worth believing?"

  After several clever words, Mi Zhu successfully turned his own fault into Liu Feng's mistake. Although the reason was a bit far-fetched, it was enough to move Liu Bei, because as he said, the truth about Liu Feng was indeed a great loss of face for Liu Bei.

  On that expressionless face, the loose flesh would twitch slightly at times, and a complex look would flash in his brown eyes from time to time.

  "After a long silence, Liu Bei let out a sigh: 'Today's words, just understand them as they are. From now on, never mention it again. At this moment, it is the time for me to use people, I don't want this matter to affect our internal unity.'"

  Liu Bei's words actually showed that he acknowledged Zuo Ci's words to some extent, but for the sake of the overall situation, he had to pretend as if nothing had happened.

  His heart was not reconciled, but he didn't dare to mention it again. He turned his eyes and said: "At the beginning, the lord had no children under his knees, so he adopted Ah Feng. But now that the lord has Ah Dou, although Ah Feng can still be treated like a child, Zuo thinks it's not suitable for him to be used greatly, lest he becomes a phenomenon in the future and becomes a disaster."

  Liu Bei sneered, "He is the one I trust most, and there are some things that I might as well tell him frankly. Now that I am contending for the empire, relying only on my two younger brothers and Zhang Fei's few capable generals is far from enough. Since Ah Feng has the qualifications in this regard, it's just right to cultivate him for my use. As for the future, if he really shows signs of becoming a threat, does he think I won't have any means to control him?"

  It turned out that everything was in his hands all along.

  Meng Zong let out a sigh of relief, knowing Liu Feng's true intentions. A huge stone that had been hanging over his head for a long time could finally be put down.

  Just then, a close attendant came to report that the Crown Prince Liu Feng had sent a letter. Liu Bei ordered him to present it and, after glancing at it for a moment, his face suddenly showed displeasure.

  "Your Excellency, what does the letter from Ah Feng say?" asked Zou Ji.

  Liu Bei said coldly, "This stinky little brat actually wants to promote Huang Zhong and that Wei Yan as generals. He just praised him as a talented individual, but immediately learned how to curry favor."

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