“What about Cao Mengde’s place?” Liu Mang asked.

“Cao Cao does not have any enmity or fondness for our army but he too, refused to sell any provisions. Xun You said that they would be willing to sell us a hundred thousand provisions if we could satisfy their conditions?” Xu Shu cupped his fist in reply.

“What are their demands?” Liu Mang could guess the conditions Cao Cao would give but he still hoped to hear otherwise.

“Cao Cao is becoming more demanding. Aside from the ballista, he also wants our catapult!” Liu Mang then waved his hand to stop Xu Shu from continuing.

Liu Mang became angry. If Cao Cao had only wanted the ballista, it would not be so bad as Cao Cao’s timely assistance had saved Xu Shu’s life and that he was also paying a hundred thousand provisions. Liu Mang felt a bit guilty when he was conspiring against Cao Cao earlier but that feeling was gone since this was a purely business relationship. Cao Cao dared to hit others when they are down to the extent that he wanted both the ballista and the catapult.

The ballista must not be given to Cao Cao. With the ballista, the three brothers would no longer be able to go against Cao Cao even if they were work together. Cao Cao would be able to defeat them easily and then turn his sights against Liu Mang.

“There is no need to dispatch envoys to Cao Mengde anymore. Since he does not want to give us provisions, there is no need to contact him. He won’t obtain any ballista or catapults from us! If he wants some, he is better off coming here instead! What about the other places?” Liu Mang immediately rejected Cao Cao’s offer and asked about the remaining places.

“Milord. The last place is Jingzhou.” Xu Shu looked at Liu Mang. A trace of anger could be seen in his eyes. Liu Mang continued to wait for Xu Shu to talk about JIngzhou but the man was suddenly silent.

“Yuanzhi. Why are you suddenly silent?” Liu Mang was puzzled. Jingzhou was the most prosperous area around. If there had to be a place that was still untouched by war, Jingzhou would be it.

The other places such as Xiliang, Hebei, Yangzhou and many others already been desolated by the war between various groups such as Cao Cao, Lu Bu, Liu Bei, Dong Zhuo, Ma Teng and others. On the other hand, Jingzhou remained untouched. Even the battle between Liu Biao and Sun Ce were done at Jiangxia and not JIngzhou. Zhang Xiu guarded the North of Jingzhou while Zhang Lu at the South was already too tired for war and was happy enough that Liu Biao did not attack instead. Jingzhou also had the Yangtze River as a natural barrier, protecting it even more.

It was for this reason that Jingzhou was conveted by many. As everyone could be considered enemies to Jingzhou, the prices of provisions from Jingzhou would be high. Even then, Liu Mang was willing to pay even if it was three times more expensive than the market value.

“Milord… this is…” Xu Shu’s stammering made Liu Mang feel depressed. All of these were bad news. For Jingzhou to refuse selling provisions would be like hitting someone when they are down. Yet, Xu Shu was only stammering now, which proves that the news from Jingzhou was worse than the others.

“Speak! Since when have you become so overly sensitive?” Liu Mang became discontented. Xu Shu had always been calm and collected. Acting like this was unbecoming.

“Milord. The envoy we dispatched to Jingzhou did not return.” Xu Shu finally spoke.

“Did not return? What do you mean? Is Liu Biao willing to sell provisions? How much is he charging us? If it is just the price, it is something negotiable.

Xu Shu shook his head in reply. “No Milord. Our envoy was killed. He could not even make ha return trip.”

“What?” Liu Mang jumped up in shock. His expression was full of rage. “Does Liu Jingshen want to start a war against us? If that is the case, we will grant him his wish!” Liu Biao had no reason to kill Liu Mang’s envoy even if he did not want to sell provisions. The Yuan brothers treated the envoy well while Cao Cao even provided the envoy with good food and drinks. Even Sun Ce who had robbed the envoy had let the envoy go free.

To kill an envoy meant the declaration of war. Although Jingzhou was protected by the Yangtze River, it is not as though he has no territory across the river. Liu Mang could attack Huangzhou from Lujiang and then enter Jiangxia. He can then strike Xinye from there. If he was ruthless, he could even have Gan Ning’s navy sail across the current and attack Jingzhou.

Since JIngzhou would not give him provisions, he could just rob them.

“Men. Send Father-in-law a letter and determine a time to dispatch the troops!” Before this, Liu Biao had been indifferent, causing Liu Mang to become angry. Now, they had even killed his envoy to make his anger even worse. If he doesn’t strike back at this moment, there would be no more reason to lead the soldiers.

“Milord. Liu Biao is not the one that killed our envoys but…!” Xu Shu quickly tried to stop Liu Mang. It was fine if it was just to take provisions. However, if Liu Biao were to go to the extreme and burn down Xinye, both Liu Biao and Liu Mang would suffer losses and gained nothing. This would allow the third party to gain from them.

“It is not Liu Biao that killed my envoy?” Liu Mang could not understand. The envoy was dispatched to Jingzhou and if the envoy was intercepted in between, Liu Mang would know and dispatch another envoy. He would not hear this from Xu Shu at this point.

“The one that killed our envoy is not Liu Biao but Liu Bei!”1

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How hard is it to say that Liu Bei killed the envoy from the start? They get to avoid chances of “Liu Mang declaring war on the wrong person via misunderstanding”, save precious time, breath, and saliva while I don’t have to translate 5-10 paragraphs of useless drivel such as stammering and the hypothetical scenario of a bad idea.