Tao Qian's expression changed when he heard this,

His eyes suddenly became extremely sharp,

It's as if it can pierce the depths of people's hearts.

But the one who stands before the collapse at this moment,

But he lowered his head and didn't dare to look directly at Tao Qian,

Therefore, I was not able to see this scene,

I sighed in my heart,

Tao Qian closed his eyes slightly,

When you open your eyes again,

There is no sharpness in the eyes anymore,

Still maintaining the previous tone:

"Many of us in Xuzhou now think so."

As soon as this sentence is spoken,

Even if Tao Qian's tone was so calm,

No matter how dull the leader of the guards is,

At the moment, I also feel that something is wrong,

raised his head slightly,

Looking at Tao Qian cautiously,

But he did not dare to speak,

Tao Qian's eyes were calm,

Whispered:

"It's okay, just tell me the truth."

The leader of the guards pursed his lips,

Finally, he spoke:

"Returning to the lord, now Liu Bei's reputation in Xuzhou is not low......"

He felt an unusually dry mouth in his mouth,

The words he spoke became more and more unconfident,

Tao Qian's body immediately slumped,

I feel like I've lost my strength,

Tired, he closed his eyes.

The leader of the guards quickly closed his mouth in recognition,

Don't dare to speak again,

The bedroom fell silent.

"Squeak"

The door was gently pushed open,

A young maid walked in with a tray in her hand,

On the tray was a bowl of steaming porridge,

The little maid stood at the door but did not dare to take another step forward,

Because she also felt the strange atmosphere in the house,

Two people in the house,

At the same time, they both turned their heads,

made the little maid feel even more frightened,

Some of them flinched and wanted to step back,

But behind him is the door that has not yet been closed,

After the heel hits the threshold,

Hurriedly didn't dare to move.

When the leader of the guard was about to speak,

Tao Qian, who was attracted back to attention by the sound of pushing the door, turned his head,

Said to the little maid and Yan Yuese:

"Come in, little girl. It just so happened that the old man was hungry. ”

The little maid timidly saluted,

Then he cautiously walked over with the tray,

Taking a deep breath,

Tao Qian said with some exaggeration:

"Well, it smells so good, what's in it?"

Although the little maid is still a little nervous,

But seeing Tao Qian so approachable,

She's calmed down a lot,

He cleared his throat and replied softly:

"Master, the doctor said that you are overtired, and these are all ingredients that can restore your strength, you can recover earlier if you drink it while it is hot."

Tao Qian nodded with a smile,

The little maid is bold,

Scoop up a small tablespoon,

I put it on my mouth and blew it gently,

Only then did it be handed to Tao Qian.

Tao Qian opened his mouth slightly,

After swallowing that spoonful of hot porridge,

He nodded slightly as if approvingly,

At this moment, Tao Qian is like a kind elder,

People can't help but feel kind,

The little girl finally had a little expression on her face,

With a light smile, he kept feeding the hot porridge to Tao Qian.

Tao Qian drank hot porridge,

At the same time, it is not idle,

When the little maid is busy,

Tao Qian opened his mouth and asked:

"What's your name?"

The little maid hurriedly replied softly:

"Back to the master, the slave maid is called Xiaoqing."

"Xiaoqing? Nice, nice name. ”

Xiaoqing's eyebrows and eyes crooked when she heard the words,

After Tao Qian drank another sip of hot porridge,

Then he spoke:

"If the old man remembers correctly, you should have been the one who helped me unload my armor in the carriage at that time."

Xiaoqing's beautiful eyes widened,

She didn't expect the one in front of her,

At that time, I was able to write down what I looked like.

Immediately, his face was unconsciously covered with redness,

Apparently remembered the scene at that time.

"I haven't thanked you yet."

"That's what a slave should do."

Tao Qian smiled and nodded,

As if inadvertently, he asked:

"Have you heard of Liu Bei?"

The leader of the guard, who always stands on one side,

His eyes twitched unconsciously,

Hurriedly put his gaze on the ground.

Xiaoqing obviously didn't feel anything abnormal,

Tilting his head and speaking, he said:

"Sir, are you talking about the one-armed general? I heard that he is still an imperial uncle, and he is also very kind, although it is scary to see him with only one arm at first, but he is very friendly to people......"

Xiaoqing kept babbling,

But I couldn't see that Tao Qian's face was already slightly stiff,

"Okay, I got it."

Stretched out his hand and gently pushed away the porridge bowl in front of him,

Xiaoqing reacted at this time,

Subconsciously perceived,

It should be that I just said the wrong thing,

Hurriedly knelt on the ground and did not dare to speak.

Tao Qian waved his hand weakly,

motioned for Xiaoqing to withdraw,

The leader of the guards took advantage of Xiaoqing's exit from the room,

Suddenly I saw a young scribe outside the room,

The young scribe was waving to him,

Apparently asking if it would be possible to enter.

The young scribe was thin and weak,

But the appearance is quite square,

This man's name is Sun Qian,

It is quite famous in Xuzhou,

But not because of his personal talent and fame,

but because he was valued by the great Confucian Zheng Xuan of the time,

Recommended to Tao Qian's men,

Tao Qian still attaches great importance to this young man,

Although he does not hold any real power now,

But on many things,

will listen to him.

The leader of the guards glanced at the couch with some embarrassment,

Tao Qian, whose face is ugly,

I can't help but beat the drum vigorously in my heart,

At this moment, even a fool can see that

Tao Qian's mood must be bad,

The young scribe came now,

I'm afraid it's inevitable to eat a nose of ash,

When hesitating to get rid of it,

"What's wrong?"

The voice was made by Tao Qian,

Apparently he had noticed something strange about the leader of the guards.

"Well, my lord, Mr. Sun Qian is waiting outside the house, maybe he has something to report."

After speaking,

The leader of the guards glanced at Tao Qian cautiously.

Tao Qian's brows furrowed slightly,

But he still spoke:

"Let him in. And then you're on guard outside. ”

"Whoa!"

The leader of the guards walked out of the room quickly,

Before Sun Qian entered,

whispered to him:

"My lord is in a bad mood at the moment!"

Sun Qian nodded slightly,

Signaling to the head of the guard that he already knows,

Walked lightly to the bed,

"Ming Gong, Gongyou is here to disturb at this moment, and I hope to atone for my sins."

Tao Qian waved his hand,

signaled Sun Qian not to be polite,

Forcefully said:

"What's the matter with Gongyu here?"

Sun Qian also saw that Tao Qian's face was not good-looking at the moment,

After thinking about it for a while,

Whispered:

"The lower officials are here to worry about Minggong."

Tao Qian raised his eyebrows slightly when he heard this,

"Oh? Why should I worry? ”

Sun Gan shook his hands,

Putting on a very respectful posture, he said:

"Let the lower official say a name, and the Ming Gong will know."

Tao Qian's heart moved,

Hands on the edge of the bed moved up,

Sit up slightly,

Nodding his head, he continued.

Sun Qian still bowed,

Say a name word by word:

"Liu Bei!"

The appearance of this name,

made Tao Qian's face change,

After a long time,

Tao Qian finally spoke:

"Gongyou, are you here this time for me, or for Liu Bei?"

Now Sun Qian is his subordinate,

Tao Qian's question was a little heart-wrenching,

clearly thought that Sun Qian had already surrendered to Liu Bei.

Sun Qian didn't have a trace of panic after hearing this,

With a faint smile on his face, he said:

"Since Ming Gong has already determined this, why bother to ask below?"

Tao Qian let out a long breath,

It seems to have aged a lot all at once,

Slowly asked:

"When?"

The smile on Sun Gan's face was a little strange,

He shook his head but didn't speak.

Tao Qian looked at him inexplicably,

Only then did Sun Qian open his mouth and said softly:

"If the lower official said that he is not currently serving Liu Bei, Ming Gong will not believe it?"

Tao Qian looked at Sun Qian with wide eyes,

From the other party's eyes, he only saw sincerity and fearlessness,

Obviously, the other party did not deceive him,

couldn't help but make Tao Qian feel a little ashamed,

But at the same time, there are some doubts,

Although Sun Qian served under him,

And he also attaches great importance to this young man.

and even gave many privileges,

However, many times overt and covertly,

None of the other party opened their mouths.

This made Tao Qian uncomfortable at the same time,

For this young man is more valued,

I learned from the previous conversation with the leader of the guards and the maid Xiaoqing,

Liu Bei is really good at dancing with long sleeves,

The person who was able to make himself close,

All in such a short period of time,

Have a good impression of it and respect it.

Therefore, when Sun Qian talked about Liu Bei,

Tao Qian will be sensitive enough to think that Sun Qian came this time as Liu Bei's lobbyist,

I couldn't help but smile awkwardly when I thought of this.

Tao Qian hurriedly spoke:

"Please sit down and talk!"

Sun Qian nodded,

I moved a stool from the side and sat down,

"Ming Gong, although Qian has not yet served that Liu Bei, some words may cause misunderstanding when heard in the ears."

Tao Qian waved his hand absently and said:

"If Gongyou has anything to say, even if he says it bluntly, the old man listens to it."

Sun Qian's thin fingers tapped his knees lightly,

After sorting out the wording, he said:

"Duke Ming, at present, the Cao army is retreating in my Xuzhou, but there is still the army of Xiahou Dun close at hand, what does Duke Ming think is the situation between the enemy and us?"

Tao Qian stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyebrows,

He had just thought about this question,

Without any hesitation, he said:

"Now it seems that our army has a great victory, this time Liu Bei came, although he failed to bring reinforcements, but he relieved the siege of the city, and after the Cao army sent that breath, and because the military camp was attacked, and the south side was defeated and retreated, Xiahoudun's troops should not be able to launch a high-intensity attack again in the short term, and it is even very likely to retreat."

Sun Qian listened carefully,

Nodding his head on the side,

"But,"

Tao Qian's eyebrows flashed with a heavy melancholy,

So that the old man who has experienced a lot of storms,

I also feel a lot of worry:

"In the long run, the advantage of the Cao army is still very large, and after this defeat, the next attack of the Cao army is bound to be more violent, and at that time, I am afraid that it will ......."

Shaking his head and sighing,

Tao Qian didn't continue,

But the meaning of that word,

Anyone can understand it.

The smile on Sun Gan's face converged,

Whispered:

"Ming Gong is right. Now it can be regarded as temporarily resisting the attack of the Cao army, but it is very likely that it will usher in a more fierce attack next, and at that time, Xuzhou may be the real crisis. ”

"Is there a good plan for Gongyu?"

Sun Qian did not directly answer Tao Qian's question,

But his eyes were on him,

Inexplicably, he said a sentence:

"Success is also Liu Bei, defeat is also Liu Bei."

Tao Qian's face changed slightly when he heard this,

I repeated this sentence twice in my heart,

However, there are some missing points,

Hurriedly asked:

"What do you mean by that?"

Sun Qian exhaled lightly,

It seems that this word is a little difficult to say,

Inhale deeply again,

"Duke Ming, the siege of the city this time was solved by Liu Bei, and the same is true of Xiahou Yuan's attack on Pi in the south, it can be said that after Xiahou Yuan retreated this time, it is very likely that he will directly return to Yanzhou. The danger of Xuzhou is so solvable. Therefore, it is said that Cheng is also Liu Bei. ”

Tao Qian's fingers gently twisted his beard,

What Sun Qian said is exactly what he said before,

It's just a summary,

He was more concerned about Sun Gan's next words.

Sure enough, Sun Qian continued:

"However, the previous plan of the lower officials and the lord was to drag the Xiahou Dun army here, so that Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu would definitely be ready to move, and when the two of them made a move, the crisis in Xuzhou could be truly resolved, but at this moment, it completely disrupted the plan, which is one of them. The second is that Liu Bei has ill intentions, his move is not only to buy people's hearts, but also to show his authority to Ming! ”

"Demonstrations?"

Tao Qian was shocked,

Sun Qian continued:

"Ming Gong, the two sons are gentle and tame, but they are majestic and strategic, Ming Gong thinks he can catch up with Liu Xuande?"

Tao Qian's hand holding his beard couldn't help but pause,

His face was a little gloomy,

Lao Tzu's heroic dog bear,

This is also a kind of sorrow for Tao Qian,

It's okay for the two sons to be ordinary officials,

If you really take on the heavy responsibility,

That's too much for a strong man.

Sun Qian then asked:

"Danyang soldiers are the best in the world, but Xuzhou Zhang Min has fled, among the rest of the generals, can anyone beat Liu Bei's Guan and Zhang?"

Tao Qian frowned and shook his head.

Sun Qian still refused to relax,

Then another question was raised:

"Xiaguan asked again, how many families of the Xuzhou Shi clan can completely stand on the side of Ming Gong now? Especially the Chen family in Xiapi, whose son Chen Deng is now in Liu Beijun, although the news came out was saved by chance, but ...... Can Ming Gong believe it? If it's not a coincidence, but it's been planned in advance, then what does that mean? ”

A series of words like a cannon,

It didn't stop until this moment,

But after listening to Tao Qian's words,

At the moment, he was stunned on the spot,

Directly shocked speechless,

As Sun Qian analyzed,

His greatest weakness is that

So far, they have not been able to fully control the power of the scholars in Xuzhou.

Otherwise, it would never be as embarrassed as it is now.

Tao Qian was directly hit by these three series of questions and hit the weakest point in the center.

Cold sweat trickled down,

looked around subconsciously in a daze,

It seems that I don't know how to do it,

Finally, he noticed Sun Qian in front of him again,

"Gongyu! Gong Yu! ”

Sun Qian's eyes were as clear as water,

Word by word:

"Riptide Retreat!"