Chapter 23: Strange Soldiers

Cao Chong and Han Hao and others discussed the follow-up matters, and then took Wen Pin on the way. Wen Pin brought all his 200 guards out of the city and wanted to leave them to Cao Chong to stay in the camp. Cao Chong refused and asked him to take the 200 people and go south quickly. Pang De, on the order of Cao Cao, brought 500 elite cavalry to pick up Cao Chong. Cao Chong was not worried about Wen Pin playing with any demon moths. This touched Wen Pin very much. He was also very good at being a human being. He took Wen Xiu and Cao Chong and Liu Xian to live with him. All the others were handed over to Pang De to show his sincerity.

Let's not talk about how the two of them dated along the way. More than 700 people only rested on the road for one night. The next afternoon, they caught up with Cao Cao's army going south. Cao Cao had people from Jingzhou as the pioneer and passed through the city all the way. At a very fast speed, when Cao Chong and others caught up with the army, Cao Cao had already approached Fancheng.

"Zhongye, why did you come so late?" Cao Cao quickly stepped forward to support him, and helped Wenpin, who was about to kneel down, laughed and said, "I heard that Zilian and Gong Liu Ke have suffered a lot."

Wen Pin didn't bother to laugh with him, tears came out of his eyes and cried: "Wen Pin is incompetent, and he was entrusted by the envoy Liu to protect the north. Now the envoy has left, Jingzhou has returned to the court, and Wen Pin is ashamed of the envoy."

Cao Cao closed the smile on his face, sighed, and pulled Wen Pin to his seat and said, "Zhongye, Brother Jingsheng was with me in General He's mansion back then. Although he was not right, he had a relationship with him. This time he went south, he didn't expect that he would not even meet him. It was a real regret."

Wen Pin became more and more sad when he heard this. A big man cried in tears. Cao Cao advised him for a while and said, "Zhongye, the past has passed away, so don't be too sad. Brother Jingsheng was in the nine springs. When he learned that Zhongye was like this, he should smile with the nine springs. For the current plan, he should follow me and quickly enter Xiangyang City. Perhaps he could see Brother Jingsheng's remains."

"You should follow the Prime Minister." Wen Pin took away his tears and bowed to salute.

Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction and asked again: "It's just that Liu Bei is guarding Fancheng, Zhongye will see what to do."

Wenpin had no good feelings for Liu Bei. When Liu Bei was guarding Ye County, Wenpin felt that there was nothing wrong with him. Later, he didn't know what method he used. When Liu Biao moved him to Fancheng, Liu Bei took all the elite soldiers of Ye County, which led to Xia Wei in Ye County having no soldiers available and easily defeated him. Xia Wei died in battle. Now when Cao Cao asked him how to deal with Liu Bei, he smiled contemptuously and said, "Prime Minister, don't take him as an intention. Liu Xuande has been scared by the Prime Minister. If the general leads his troops, he may resist. If the Prime Minister comes here in person, he will just act out the story outside Xuzhou City again."

Xun You and others next to him couldn't help laughing when they heard this. Liu Bei was sent by Cao Cao to Xuzhou to intercept Yuan Shu who was heading north. However, when he arrived in Xuzhou, Liu Bei deceived Zhu Ling, who was with him, and killed Che Zhou, the governor of Xuzhou, and handed over to Xuzhou to occupy it. He defeated the troops sent by Cao Cao several times in a row. Later, Cao Cao led his army to go there. When Liu Bei heard that Cao Cao was coming, he was so scared that he ran away in panic. There were not many people in Jingzhou who didn't know about this, and it had become a laughing stock.

Cao Cao also found it funny, but he laughed for a while and said cautiously: "After that being said, Liu Bei's hero and Guan Zhang Xiaoyong still have to be careful."

At this time, in Fancheng, Liu Bei was glaring at Song Zhong, a great scholar who came to announce Liu Cong's order. The veins of the hand holding the long sword were exposed. Half of the sharp long sword was pulled out, and the cold light flashed under the light of the oil lamp. Song Zhong was sweating all over his head, and the elegance and style of talking about scriptures and Taoisms were gone. The back of his thin clothes was already wet. He bent over and stood in front of the angry Liu Bei, so nervous that he didn't dare to breathe.

"How can you guys do this? Cao Cao has arrived outside Fancheng for such a big thing, and I have notified me until now?" Liu Bei roared angrily, and the long sword in his hand choked out of the sheath, pointing directly at the tip of Song Zhong's nose. Looking at his posture, he wished he could slash this famous scholar in Jingzhou with one knife. He usually looked like a polite and polite person.

Song Zhong believed 100% of the time that Liu Bei would split himself in half in anger. He was so scared that he took a few steps back. His legs became weak and he sat on the ground. He said incoherently: "Duke Xuande, Duke Xuande, this is not... not my opinion, it is all... all the ideas of Cai Mao and Kuai Du. This... this has nothing to do with me..."

"Bah!" Liu Bei put the long knife back, turned his back and waved his hand and scolded, "Get out, don't let me see you again."

Song Zhongru got up and rushed out of the door with a general amnesty. He only heard a scattered sound outside the door, and he didn't know what he had knocked over, causing chaos outside.

Liu Bei was so angry that he was confused for two times, and turned around and shouted, "Zilong, please invite Yun Chang and Ji De to come." Seeing that Zhao Yun turned around, he turned around and said to Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang, "Two gentlemen, what do you think about this?"

Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu looked at each other and smiled bitterly, and then said, "Lord, things have come to this point. I am afraid that it is no longer realistic to use our army to resist Cao's army alone. Regardless of Cao Cao's army coming in a flash, our army was not prepared for a while. Moreover, Xiangyang, the north rear, was originally a backing, but now it may have seized our retreat at any time. Under the attack on both sides, the situation is very unfavorable to me. For today's plan, we can only settle for the second best."

After Liu Bei got angry, he slowly calmed down. The stupidity of Liu Cong and others was no longer the most important thing for him, and survival was the most important thing. He had fought countless battles with Cao Cao, with fewer victories and more defeats. Of course, he knew Cao Cao's strength, not to mention that Cao Cao's strength is different from the past, and he was even more unlikely to be his opponent. At present, the only way is to avoid his military attack first and then find an opportunity.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but nod. A burst of rapid footsteps outside the door rang out, and Zhang Fei's loud voice sounded first: "Brother, call me to come late at night, what's the matter? Could it be that Cao Thief is coming?"

In the Jingzhou Palace of Xiangyang City, the western gate general Wang Wei knelt in front of Liu Cong and begged repeatedly. Kuai Du did not catch their handle last time. Although he knew that he might have had sex with Liu Bei, he had no real evidence and had to let him go first. Wang Wei heard that Liu Cong decided to surrender and cried bitterly. He begged outside the mansion for two days, and then he had the chance to enter the mansion and kneel down in front of Liu Cong.

"Wang Sima, can you let me think about this?" Liu Cong turned the circle in a little embarrassedly, his slender eyebrows frowned like a bridge.

When Wang Wei came to see Liu Cong, he gave Liu Cong an idea. He said that Cao Cao knew that we surrendered, he would inevitably relax his vigilance and advance directly. He did not understand the geography of Jingzhou. We just need to find a place with a dangerous terrain, without many people, and ambushing five thousand people, and in one go, we could catch Cao Cao. Once Cao Cao was captured, Liu Cong's reputation would spread all over the world. Then, based on Jingzhou, Sun Quan, Liu Zhang, and Ma Chao, the Central Plains were at their fingertips. Even if we could not take the Central Plains for a while, it would be more than enough to own Jingzhou. In this way, the young masters would not let down the court and the envoys, why not do it?

What he said made Liu Cong very moved. If he really caught Cao Cao, it would be a great achievement. At that time, not only would he no longer have to worry about his brother Liu Qi coming to question him, but he could also face the civil and military officials of Jingzhou with great reason. Have you seen anyone arrested Cao Cao? Look, I, Liu Cong, did it, I was able to do it for granted by Liu Cong, as a presumption of Jingzhou, and General Zhennan was at ease. Maybe the emperor would issue an order to grant me a larger official.

Liu Cong's face was so excited by the imagination of glory that his face became hot, and his blood seemed to burn. He walked two steps, stood in front of Wang Wei, and said in a trembling voice: "Wang Sima, are you sure?"

When Wang Wei heard this, he felt that there was a chance and immediately shouted loudly: "I am sure that the general will not need to send another person, but only take my two thousand people to capture Cao's thief, kneel in front of the general, and let the general fall."

"This... are these two thousand people missing a little?" Liu Cong said with some concern.

"General, don't worry, the two thousand soldiers under my tent are loyal to the general. If you want to kill Cao's thieves, you will definitely be ten and do whatever you want. Although the last general is not talented, the fake Sima Weiyan is brave and resourceful, and is worthy of great use. Moreover, Fancheng is close to you. If you can join forces with Liu Yuzhou and take advantage of the time when Cao's thieves cross the water, you will attack him halfway. If the last general dares to guarantee, the Cao's thieves will be captured by me." Wang Wei's voice trembled with excitement, and he would explain the plan agreed with the fake Sima Weiyan in detail. Liu Cong was so excited that his heart was like the flame next to him, jumping non-stop.

"Since that's the case, you can make arrangements quickly." After hearing Wang Wei's words, Liu Cong gritted his teeth and thought for a long time, and waved his hand vigorously.

"Yes!" Wang Wei responded, lying on the ground, kowtowed three times, and got up and left.

Liu Cong watched Wang Wei strode out the door and stood up excitedly. He looked at the place where Wang Wei was kneeling just now, thinking that Cao Cao might kneel at his feet in a few days. What honor would that be? What would Cai Mao and Kuai Yue think then? Will they still speak to themselves so loudly? Will the brother fall to his feet with conscience and praise that only he is the best master of Jingzhou? Will the wife look at him with admiration and be gentle?

Madam, yes, I want to tell her. Liu Cong suddenly turned around and walked to the back hall. As soon as he turned the curtain, he saw his wife Cai standing there with her lips curled, looking at him with a common look. Liu Cong was used to that look and knew it was full of sympathy and pity. However, he was not angry today. In a few days, when he caught Cao Cao, the madam's eyes must be that kind of fanatic worship, just like seeing the hero in his heart.

"Madam," Liu Cong rushed forward, grabbed Cai's little hand, and said happily: "Madam, I will soon seize Cao Cao and become a real governor of Jingzhou, General Zhennan."

"Is that true?" Cai suddenly laughed and shook his hand hard: "Why do I think you are dead? I'm about to be a widow?"

"What do you say about this, Madam?" Liu Cong was stunned for a moment, looking at Cai's rosy but cold face in confusion.
Chapter completed!