Xuzhou, Pengcheng.

Huan Qi also made the meal early today, waiting for Hou Cheng to come back.

However, the moment Hou Cheng entered the door, Huan Qi found that he had something on his mind.

Because today Hou Cheng was not a little twisted with himself as usual, but absentmindedly let himself help him change his clothes.

"General?"

"Uh, huh? Miss Huan, when are you ......" It wasn't until Huan Qi called him that Hou Cheng realized that he had already changed into civilian clothes.

"The general has something on his mind today?"

"Ah, something happened in the army."

Huan Qi saw that he didn't want to say more, so he didn't ask anymore, but his expression was a little lost.

Hou Cheng thought she was angry, and hurriedly explained: "Oh, hehe, it's not a big deal, it's just that a batch of good horses were robbed during transportation today." ”

"Oh, these bandits are hateful."

"It doesn't have to be the bandits."

"How does the general know?"

The sergeant who came back said that looking at the posture of the other party, it seemed to be well-trained. And judging by the swiftness of the ambush, it should be a veteran of battle. ”

"This ...... Maybe it was the soldiers and horses scattered by the princes somewhere, and the grass fell into the grass. ”

"Perhaps. Okay, let's not talk about that, Miss Huan, you've been busy in the kitchen these days, and you haven't thanked you yet. ”

"General Meng took him in, and Huan Qi couldn't repay him."

"Just ......"

"How?"

"That period of Xuan hasn't moved for a long time, but it makes me a little uneasy."

Hearing this, Huan Qi's eyes flickered, and he said, "With my understanding of this thief, if he doesn't achieve his goal, this thief will never stop." ”

"Humph! If he dares to come again, I will definitely break him to pieces!" ”

Huan Qi nodded, but her eyes became very strange......

……

Actually, Huan Qi had already met Duan Xuan.

Because Hou Cheng has an order, Huan Qi can come and go at will. Although she rarely went out to avoid gossip, she would still go out every few days, because she had to make sure if Duan Xuan had entered the city again.

The agreed joint location is the alley next to a silk shop in the downtown area.

The two had made an appointment that if they wanted to get in touch, Duan Xuan would leave a secret message, so the two would meet in the alley that afternoon.

Just yesterday, Duan Xuan's code finally appeared, so Huan Qi went out again in the afternoon. In the alley, Duan Xuan informed Huan Qi of the plan, and then disappeared into the crowd again.

Of course, Huan Qi knew that Zhang Fei's horse robbery was also one of them, and what she had to do was to guide Hou Cheng to discover this.

Therefore, when chatting after dinner, Huan Qi inadvertently said casually: "But fortunately, these good horses were plundered by bandits, and if they were obtained by any princes, it would be troublesome." ”

Indeed, although there are some soldiers on all sides today, there is a shortage of war horses.

A cavalry of 500 men, if acquired by a skilled soldier, can exert several times the power of the infantry.

Mobility alone makes cavalry much more useful than infantry.

Of course, Hou Cheng didn't know that Huan Qi's words were deliberately said to him, but he was indeed inspired.

"Miss Huan, what did you just say?"

"I ...... I'm just saying it casually, and if it's wrong, don't blame the general. "Huan Qi also has a certain talent in acting.

"Why didn't I think of it!" Hou Cheng slapped his thigh, suddenly got up and walked out.

"Where is the general going so late?"

"I can't wait, I'm going to see Zhang Liao!"

Seeing Hou Cheng hurriedly walk out, Huan Qi smiled slightly and continued to clean up the table.

……

The next day, Zhang Liao led his army to Xiaopei on behalf of Lu Bu to comfort Liu Bei and others.

The situation at the city gate made Zhang Liao's doubts even more serious.

Now Xiaopei has a lot of people entering the city every day, because Liu Bei has been recruiting soldiers.

After the ceremony, Liu Bei soon led a group of subordinates to come out to greet him.

"General Menglu has taken him in, and he has already felt deeply virtuous, how dare he receive such consolation again?" Liu Bei rushed to Zhang Liao and gave his hand.

"Haha, General Liu and you are here, Cao Cao didn't dare to go east at will, Xuzhou can be so peaceful, General Liu is a great contribution, why be too humble. A little heart, the general can't be denied. ”

"That'...... Anyway, since it was a gift from General Lu, then Bei would be ashamed. ”

After a few polite words, Liu Bei led Zhang Liao into Xiaopei City.

At Zhang Liao's suggestion, in order to improve the morale of the soldiers, he directly transported these drinks and food to the camp and distributed some first.

Although it stands to reason that the soldiers in the battalion should not be allowed to drink alcohol at this time, it is difficult to resist the hospitality, and Liu Bei did not say anything.

After all, it is only issued to some soldiers in the battalion, and the rotating soldiers are stored in the battalion first, so it will not affect the normal city defense.

The whole camp was naturally in a cheerful atmosphere.

After a few more simple greetings, Zhang Liao said goodbye to Liu Bei and others and returned to Pengcheng.

……

"Zizhong, Xianhe, Gongyou, do you say Zhang Liao found out?" Liu Bei looked at Zhang Liao's people who were drifting away, put away his smile, and asked slowly.

"When entering and leaving the camp, there was a soldier beside Zhang Liao who kept staring at the horses, and he must have noticed it." Sun Qian responded.

"It seems that the purpose of his trip is for these horses." Mi Zhu squinted at the dust and smoke that was gradually disappearing.

"Woe to you, but you nodded and let Yide break through, I can't control it." Jian Yong played a scoundrel as always.

Liu Bei knew his temper, so naturally he didn't care, he just quietly put his hands behind his back and stared in the direction of Pengcheng.

Over there, it seems like a gale is about to blow.

……

However, at this time, Zhang Fei, as one of the planners, has completely lost the appearance of a general.

"General, ...... you" Mi Fang looked at Zhang Fei with some embarrassment.

"What? If you lose, you have to be punished for drinking! Me too! As he spoke, Zhang Fei grabbed a wine jar and drank it directly.

"Good!"

"Well done general!"

The soldiers next to him all followed suit.

Mi Fang looked back at Guan Yu aggrievedly, but saw that Guan Yu just smiled and shook his head at herself, so she stopped talking.

Now the three of them are completely trusted by Liu Bei, so the relationship with the three brothers is also closer.

It's just that...... This is too unofficial, how can anyone deliberately lose for the sake of drinking!

Looking at the chaotic scene in the camp, Guan Ping beside Guan Yu asked in a low voice: "Father, don't you care about your uncle?" ”

The relationship between the three brothers is like a relative, so Guan Ping has always called Zhang Fei like this.

When Guan Yu heard him ask, he stroked his long hair and looked at his hanging arm with a smile.

"He's training soldiers, why should I stop him?"

"Training?"

"Hehe, you're still too young. As a general, if you only know how to use soldiers, you are just a mortal. You don't have to think that if you know how to arrange your troops and how to command the charge, you will be a general. A real general should be able to capture the hearts of the soldiers, and he will also be a friend. ”

"No wonder as soon as Zhang Liao left, my uncle hurried over to drink with the soldiers."

"Hehe, you're wrong again. He was so impatient because he was really thirsty for wine. ”

Guan Ping looked at his father blankly, and then looked at Zhang Fei over there, and couldn't help but feel a little envious.

I really don't know when I will have such a brother and confidant.

……

The world is like this, some people are happy, some people are sad.

Zhang Liao's **** team walked quietly on the way back, except for footsteps and Zhang Liao's questioning, there was no sound.

"Do you see clearly?"

"General Hui, it is absolutely clear that those horses are the ones that were stolen the day before yesterday."

"How can you be sure?"

"These good horses are all sturdy, with wide hooves, and they seem to have Dawan blood, which is very different from ordinary military horses."

Zhang Liao didn't speak again, but fell into thought.

Why is Liu Bei like this?

The Yellow Turban Grain Depot has a baggage in hand, what good horses he wants to buy can't buy, why should he risk robbing these horses?

Wrong! He's been recruiting, and he must be doing something.

It was because of these horses that he wanted to snatch them.

He also knew that although the soldiers of Bingzhou were fierce, they were unable to exert sufficient combat strength due to the lack of war horses.

He was afraid that if he got these horses on his side, it would be more difficult to deal with.

Liu Bei! After all, you are short-sighted, do you think that without these horses, our army will be afraid of you!

Because of the existence of Lu Bu and Chen Gong, many times there is no need for Zhang Liao to think about strategies, so at this moment, he still looks at the problem too simply.

In this way, Zhang Liao conjectured the truth of the matter according to his own guesses.

Immediately afterwards, as Duan Xuan expected, Zhang Liao, who was strong in blood, began to mobilize troops and horses after returning to the city.

Although Zang Ba and Hou Chengdu persuaded him to report to Lu Bu first, after all, Zhang Liao was the supreme general of Pengcheng, and this time, he did not wait.

That night, Pengcheng's elite soldiers rushed to Xiaopei.

……

"See what I'm doing? You can figure it out for yourself. ”

In the military conference hall, Jian Yong turned his head away from Zhang Fei angrily.

"Yide, what's next for you?" Liu Bei was very calm, because he knew that Zhang Fei would not do anything unprepared.

"Since that's the case," Zhang Fei saw that Jian Yong didn't buy it, so he had to say himself: "Just return the horse to him." ”

"Hehe, Yide, what are you planning to do?" Mi Zhu asked with a smile.

"It's not here, it's in Pengcheng."

"Oh?"

"It depends on whether the man can do what he says."

"Humph!" Jian Yong spoke up again, "When will you Zhang Yide start to do things?" ”

"Okay, Xianhe, Yide won't come nonsense, let's accompany him to play this time now." Liu Bei persuaded.

"Alas, okay, okay, I can't say it, it's all up to you!"

In this way, facing the fire of soldiers and horses outside the city, Liu Bei led a group of subordinates to the top of the city.

……

"Liu Bei! Why are you so ungrateful! Zhang Liao yelled.

"Wen Yuan, what does this mean? Why did you bring soldiers and horses here? ”

"The day before yesterday, the sergeant of our army escorted the good horse back to the city, why did you rob it?"

"I really don't know about this, I don't know why Wen Yuan must have been robbed by me?"

"I didn't believe it, but when the escort soldiers were **** today, they recognized those horses, and they were all in your camp!"

"Huh?" Liu Bei pretended to think for a while, and suddenly asked, "Isn't it those majestic horses?" ”

"Exactly! Do you admit it? ”

"Hey! Wen Yuanxiu is going to bend us and wait. The horses were sold to us by a gang of horse traders the day before yesterday, and I really don't know where they were obtained. ”

"Don't deny it!"

"Wen Yuan believes me! I'm not lying. Then I will order the horses to be returned. ”

It was far away, and it was night, so Zhang Liao couldn't see clearly, in fact, behind Liu Bei, Jian Yong couldn't help but turn his back and snicker.

It is rare to hear Liu Bei speak in such a tone.

But at this time, Zhang Liao under the city was even more puzzled, Liu Bei was not a cowardly person, so why should he be so?

Looking at the horses that were constantly being driven out of the city, Zhang Liao's doubts were also increasing.

At this moment, a cavalryman who reported the news came behind Zhang Liao. He whispered a few words in Zhang Liao's ear, and Zhang Liao was instantly stunned.

There was a fire in the city of Pengcheng......