The exchange of hostages couldn't be hidden, and it immediately came into Yang Xiu's ears. Yang Xiu was Cao Cao's staff, and was valued by Cao Cao because of his quick thinking and literary style. But Yang Xiu is Cao Zhi's good friend, the reason is very simple, they are all talented scribes, they are all arrogant and arrogant people, and they smell the same, so they came together.

Cao Zhi was surrounded by many scholars of this young Zhuang faction, and as soon as he heard the news, he passed it on to Yang Xiu, who was the backbone.

When he heard the news, his mind came alive.

Judging from the ages of Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, Cao Cao's heirs are either A or B, and they will never be able to do it in the hands of these two. So the competition between the two became fierce. Cao Zhi's personality is more like Cao Cao, and his talent is even better, and he is often favored by Cao Cao. Cao Pi is more stable and careful, and has not shown a trace of flaws in his conduct, and he seems to be old and serious.

Yang Xiu also thought of a lot of ways to help Cao Zhi add points, but Cao Pi did not fall behind at all with the assistance of Wu Zhen and others.

This time Cao Pi was arrested by others, and Wu Zhen had just offended Cao Cao, which was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you can make a move at this juncture, maybe Cao Zhi's position as the heir will be stable.

At this time, Cao Zhi was still far away in Xudu, but Yang Xiu was ready to take action himself.

Knowing that Cao Cao had asked Cao Zhen and Wu to send someone out to negotiate, he sneaked out of the city the next day, came to the camp in Beida, and secretly met with one of the generals of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

It stands to reason that a strategist and a military general can't meet each other, and it will always arouse suspicion, but Yang Xiu's cleverness lies in this, he borrowed the convenience of his position and found an excuse casually, so no one suspected anything.

The general of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was called Han Jian, an inconspicuous low-level officer who led a small detachment, but was a pawn planted by Yang Xiu and Cao Zhi.

Yang Xiu pulled him aside, and whispered: "In three days, you are going to leave for Xindu, do you know what to do?" ”

Han Jian looked confused and said, "General Xiao Cao said that he wanted to reconnoiter the terrain, but he didn't say anything specific. ”

Yang Xiu sighed, Wufu is like this, although the task was not explained above, but in fact, the clues were already so obvious, and they hadn't seen it yet. So he analyzed it sentence by sentence, and when he heard it, Han Jian nodded again and again, and said, "Master Yang is really smart, and he even thought of such a thing." ”

Then he shook his head again and said, "Dispatching tigers and leopards to ride and preemptively attack is too dangerous for the hostages. ”

Yang Xiu almost cursed, this guy actually cared about Cao Pi as a hostage, and he didn't seem to know his position at all.

"When the time comes, all you have to do is ......"

He whispered something in his ear, and Han Jian suddenly realized, but then said: "If it is found out, it will be difficult for General Cao to deal with it." ”

Yang Xiu hated iron a little: "When our son-in-law sits in a stable position, don't you have what you want?" Becoming a king and defeating a villain, in one fell swoop, he was released. ”

Han Jian had long been a member of Cao Zhi's faction, and he nodded immediately.

A few days later, Han Jian's troops set off first, sneaking around the main road, the journey was very slow, and it seemed that they were deliberately avoiding something. Everyone has nothing to say, after all, they are guests, and the Yuan family is deeply rooted here, so be careful.

Then he approached Xindu, and at this time Cao Chuncai announced the biggest task of the trip, to intercept and kill Yuan Xi's team.

"Listen, the prince is now in their hands, and our goal is to keep them without harming the son. Therefore, after the hostage exchange, we must wait until the safety of the prince is guaranteed before attacking. But one more thing to be careful about is not to hurt the woman. ”

The soldiers were a little confused, what a woman.

Cao Chun also got Cao Cao's order, so it was not appropriate to speak too much at this time, so he said: "Anyway, don't kill a woman, understand?" ”

"Understood."

The predetermined location was in a clearing outside the city of Xindu, far away from the city, which was also Cao Jun's attempt to prevent the defenders in the city from interfering with this exchange. Han Jian's team was ambushed in a nearby bush, and the position was very hidden, but there was no obstruction in the line of sight, but because it was on a slope high above the flat ground, it was better to see it clearly.

As soon as they laid an ambush, it took several hours before they heard the sound of wheels, and saw a carriage coming from Cao Jun's side. This time, it was Cheng Yu who escorted the hostages, and he was also a high-powered adviser, which is enough to prove that Cao Cao attaches great importance to this matter.

As the sun reached the middle of the day, the surrounding trees began to sound with joyful insect chirping, and the climate seemed to be hot.

Cheng Yu wiped his sweat and rested beside the escorted soldiers. Although the date and time were agreed, the ancients had a poor concept of time in this regard and did not have a precise concept. Therefore, waiting is also a common thing, but Cheng Yu and others don't care.

After another hour, the sun gradually set in the west, and there was a sound on the other side.

Cheng Yu hurriedly stood up and leaned forward to look forward.

A large group of people came, a man with a disheveled hair on a prisoner cart, his hands firmly tied, his head drooping, and he couldn't stop shaking with the jolting of the prisoner cart.

And the few people riding horses next to him were Yuan Xi and his personal guards, Zhao Yun, Lou Jingshu, and several masters all arrived at the scene to suppress the formation. Everyone had a serious look on their faces, their eyes fixed on the movement on the other side.

Cheng Yu took two steps forward, but he didn't dare to stand out too much, and hugged his fists and said, "What do you call it?" ”

"Yuan Xi."

Cheng Yu was taken aback, and the people at the scene were also taken aback, such a thrilling scene, the other party actually came in person, and generally only sent one person to meet, and he couldn't risk himself.

"Oh, in the next Cheng Yu. I've seen Yuan Ergongzi. ”

"Okay, have you arrived?"

Cheng Yu said: "It's in the carriage, the second son can ask someone to inspect it." ”

Each side sent one person to examine the hostages. Yuan Xi was Zhao Yun here, lifted the curtain of the carriage and glanced at it, and then nodded at Yuan Xi.

And Cao Jun's side is more troublesome, they have to pull Cao Pi's hair away and carefully check his appearance. This prince has only been in shape for more than a month, and his face has also lost weight.

Seeing this, Cheng Yu couldn't help but be furious: "Didn't you say before that you shouldn't torture hostages?" ”

Yuan Xi said lightly: "We didn't torture the hostages, if you look at his hands, not a single finger is missing." As for the rest, it's his own problem. ”

Cheng Yu was speechless for a moment. At this time, Cao Pi was still in a comatose state, and he didn't know what was going on. He called out, but was not answered.

Yuan Xi said again: "I'm afraid that your son is lamenting all night, and he is tired at this time, come and wake him up." ”

As he spoke, two people came up, took a leather bag containing water, and poured it on Cao Pi's head.

Cao Pi was so excited by the cold water, he suddenly opened his eyes, looked out blankly, and gurgled in his throat.

Cheng Yu called twice, and finally confirmed that it was correct.

"So, let's swap it......"