The leader, judging by his attire, could only be Liu Yu, the Grand Minister of the Imperial Clan and Governor of Youzhou.

Liu Wei and Liu Biao immediately stopped and waited.

"King of the Clouds, gentlemen, I thought you were about to leave!"

As soon as Liu Yu arrived, he asked anxiously.

"We are bidding farewell to the King of Clouds and are about to embark on our journey home. We may encounter unforeseen circumstances if we leave the governor for a month or two."

Liu Biao said, "I am very pleased to have been able to get to know the Prince of Yunzhong, a member of the royal family, on this trip back to the capital. Given time, I would like to invite him to visit Jingzhou."

"Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, when are you going back to Youzhou?!"

Liu Yu immediately looked worried: "Zhang Chun of Yuyang took advantage of my visit to Luoyang and, together with the Wuhuan king Dunta, attacked and captured dozens of counties in the three prefectures of Liaoxi, Youbeiping, and Yuyang."

"My troops, including Xianyu Fu, Qi Zhou, and Tian Chou, were mostly infantrymen, but they were no match for the enemy's cavalry. They suffered countless losses and were forced to retreat to Ji County."

Liu Biao was greatly surprised: "Then your troops also have two thousand White Horse cavalry under Gongsun Zan to provide mutual support, right?"

"Gongsun Zan took advantage of the chaos and demanded that I hand over the administration of Ji Commandery, Dai Commandery, Youbeiping Commandery, and Yuyang Commandery before he would send troops."

Liu Yu shook his head helplessly, "I also need to hurry back to Youzhou to take charge of the overall situation, otherwise we will fall into the hands of foreign tribes."

"Even traveling day and night, it will take at least half a month to get to Youzhou!"

Liu Biao said, "The situation is constantly changing. When you return, Your Excellency, you must plan ahead and have a countermeasure in place!"

"Do your best and leave the rest to fate!"

Liu Yu sighed, "King of Yunzhong, the military situation is urgent, so I have come to take my leave."

With the position of Crown Prince already decided, Liu Wei's trip to Luoyang was also drawing to a close.

The next step is to bide our time and wait for chaos to break out in the world.

With Yao Guangxiao in charge of the overall situation in the Hetao and Hexi regions, and Zhang Liao, Xue Rengui, and Di Qing all capable of handling things independently.

Even without Liu Wei, all military, political, and civilian affairs there can be handled smoothly.

Aside from missing Diao Chan, Cai Yan, and Liu Yifei in Hetao, and fulfilling his promise to give Princess Salde of Loulan a grand wedding with all thirty-six kingdoms of the Western Regions attending, Liu Wei didn't really need to go back so early.

Therefore, Liu Wei had long planned to visit Zhuojun to pay his respects at the graves of his birth mother and adoptive parents.

Zhao Zhong was captured, and the reason for the incident was learned. Although the culprit, Empress Dowager Dong, was not executed, Zhao Zhong died.

Guo Sheng and Xia Hui, the two thieves, can also be captured and taken together to Zhuojun to offer sacrifices and appease the enemy.

In addition, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had discovered that Liu Bei and his two brothers were currently stationed in Pingyuan County as subordinates of Gongsun Zan.

Furthermore, Zhao Yun should still be cultivating in the mountains at this time and has not yet left the mountains.

After all, Yuan Shao was still in the capital; he hadn't gone to Bohai to become the governor, nor had he seized Han Fu's Ji Province!

Liu Wei's mission is to bring them all under his control.

Guan Yu ignored him back then, so he just accepted Liu Bei's offer and saw if he would still be so arrogant!

"Zongzheng, I heard you mention a few days ago that you hoped I would go to Youzhou."

"I'm not in a hurry to go back to Hetao, but I'd like to go to Youzhou with you."

Liu Wei smiled slightly and suggested going to Youzhou.

"King of the Clouds, is this truly the truth?"

Liu Yu was overjoyed, but his face darkened as he said, "Your troops are in the Hetao region and Hexi region. It's more than a thousand miles to get to Youzhou."

"Distant water cannot quench immediate thirst!"

"Haha, my guards from Beiman Mountain are enough. Don't you have troops in Youzhou?" Liu Wei laughed loudly.

"That's true. I've heard that the King of Yunzhong also led twenty horsemen out of Yanmen Pass, and in just half a year, he recovered the Hetao region, drove out the Xiongnu, defeated the Xianbei, and now commands an army of 50,000!"

“You will surely achieve great things on this trip to Youzhou,” Liu Biao chimed in from the side.

"Then it's settled. Tomorrow I will bid farewell to my father and head to Youzhou!"

"As the General Who Guards the North, I have a duty to defend the northern border of the Han Dynasty."

Liu Wei shouted loudly.

Liu Yu clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Then I'll have to trouble you, King of Yunzhong! Tomorrow, north of Luoyang, my entourage and I will be waiting for you to travel with us."

Liu Wei exchanged a few more pleasantries with the four people before they all left.

Upon returning to the villa in Beiman Mountain, Liu Wei summoned Wang Fangyi, Shen Lian, Yan Da, Yang Lian, and others.

"I intend to go to Youzhou, with the Imperial Guard and the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun accompanying me!"

"Commander Shen, you will escort Yang Lian and Xun You back to the Hetao region."

Zou Ling naturally couldn't be brought along; this was a trip to Youzhou to fight, not a trip to sightsee while firing cannons.

"As for He Yu, exchange some more gold with He Jin and give it to Guo and Yang. Combine that with what we've already gained, and let them expand their businesses in Guanzhong and Luoyang!"

With Emperor Liu Hong and Princess Liu Hua both becoming distributors, how could this business not grow big?

No one objected to Liu Wei's arrangements; those who were to obey obeyed, and those who were to follow instructions carried them out.

Wang Fangyi and the Eighteen Riders of Yanyun, on the other hand, have been in Luoyang for a month. They haven't had any battles to fight, and they spend their days going to Luoyang to spend money.

If this continues, it will wear down our fighting spirit!

Shen Lian immediately asked, "My lord, how much money should He Yu be exchanged for!"

Shen Lian neither asked nor should he ask Liu Wei's reason for keeping Xun You and exchanging He Yu for money.

"He is He Jin's chief strategist, worth at least two thousand five hundred taels, which is 500 taels more expensive than He Miao!"

Hahaha!

Everyone burst into laughter!

They followed Liu Wei to Luoyang and spent money like water. They visited the brothels in Luoyang many times and had a great time.

The ransom money extorted from He Jin alone was more than enough to spend.

"My lord, I'll have the brothers from the Luoyang Division take care of it immediately!"

“Commander Shen, we will return to Beiman Mountain! You should secretly leave some gold and silver, as well as some spies to assist Eunuch Du.”

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!