The scholar came back and exaggerated the attitude and speech of Zhang Lang and his subordinate generals to Cao Pi. Cao Pi was furious, turned his head and reprimanded Xu You: "It's all you, let us be insulted in vain!" Xu Yu hung his head and had nothing to say.

A scout rushed in and reported: "The west gate of Xuchang is open, and Lu Bu's army is leaving the city. ”

Xu You immediately said: "Lu Bu was afraid of the prestige of the lord, so he abandoned the city and fled!" We should attack the city now! ”

Sima Yi said: "The current situation is unknown, and I am afraid that there will be changes if we attack the city rashly!" Xu You said: "It must be that the news of the loss of Luoyang has spread in the city, so Lu Bu has to abandon the city and leave." He is already poor in donkey skills, what else can happen? Then he hugged his fist at Cao Pi and said: "Our army should quickly control Xuchang, so as not to destroy Xuchang, then it will be too late to regret it!" Cao Pi felt that what Xu You said made sense, but this time he learned the previous lesson and did not act rashly, but first sent a large number of scouts to determine the actions of Lu Bu's side, and at the same time ordered all armies to prepare for battle.

Soon after, the scout reported that the number of Lü Bu's troops out of the city was not too large, and that traces of Lü Bu's cavalry in ambush in the woods around the city were also found.

Cao Pi concluded that Lu Bu's army went out of the city because Lu Bu was playing a conspiracy, dispelled the idea of attacking overnight, and scolded Xu You. Xu You couldn't hold back his face, and left the big tent in a daze. Walking to a secluded place near the big tent, Xu You turned his head to look at the big tent and scolded in a low voice: "Huangkou Xiao'er, I don't know anything about Corporal Lixian!" He flicked his sleeves and went to his tent.

Zhang Lang saw that Cao's army did not succeed, so he withdrew the army to Xuchang.

In the hall, Zhang Lang was fully dressed and discussed with Jia Xu: "Wenhe, the news of the loss of Luoyang has spread in the barracks, I'm afraid this Xuchang can't hold it!" Jia Xu pondered for a moment, then clenched his fists and asked, "The lord is going to give up Xuchang?" Zhang Lang smiled bitterly: "It's not that I want to give up, but if I don't give up, I can't do it!" I originally wanted to defeat Cao Pi by surprise, but Sima Yi was treacherous, which caused my intention to be completely frustrated! Judging from the current situation, it will not work without retreating! Besides, I'm worried about whether Cao Jun will capture Luoyang and attack Guanzhong? ”

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "The lord doesn't have to worry about this!" Sima Yi would never let Zhang Jaw do that! After the capture of Luoyang, the first thing is to seize the Tiger Pass, or retreat to the second stage of our army's withdrawal to the Tiger Pass. Otherwise, Cao Jun in Luoyang is afraid that he will fall into a trap! Therefore, in the short term, it is safe whether it is Guanzhong or Mergezhou! ”

Zhang Lang's worried heart eased a little, and nodded: "I hope so!" After a pause, "I plan to abandon the Xuchang retreat tonight, and the army will go south to meet Huang Zhong and Ma Chao, and then retreat to Nanyang." Jia Xu nodded and said, "This is the most appropriate!" Zhang Lang said: "Since Wenhe is meaningless, go and give me an order." Jia Xu clenched his fists and promised, and left Xuchang in a hurry.

Zhang Lang walked to the door, looking at the starry night sky, his brows furrowed, he was very worried about Huang Yueying's safety, what happened to her now?

The armies in the city received the order and immediately prepared to evacuate, and the city of Xuchang, which was originally quiet at night, became noisy. The people of the city were carried out by the movement outside, and looked out through the windows and doors, and saw the light of the torches illuminating the night sky, and the sight of people everywhere, and their hearts could not help but be worried and confused.

The money in the treasury that had not yet had time to be removed had been moved out and loaded with thousands of mules, and the royal family and the imperial court had already received orders and were nervously preparing to pack. At the same time, a fire squad of several thousand people was ready. What do you do when you prepare a fire brigade? Set on fire, of course! Zhang Lang originally didn't want to destroy Xuchang, such a prosperous city, Zhang Lang was reluctant, but Jia Xu said: "Xuchang is the largest and most prosperous city in the entire Central Plains except Luoyang, with prosperous humanities and rich people, and it has an unimaginable agglomeration effect for the entire Central Plains!" If it is in our hands, it is naturally good, but if it is in the hands of Cao Pi, it will not be a good thing for us, so it must be destroyed, so that Cao Pi will not be able to launch a large-scale attack on us in the short term! Jia Xu's words made Zhang Lang make up his mind.

Bang bang! There was a terrifying sound of slamming doors everywhere in the city, and at the same time, the soldiers of Lu Bujun shouted loudly along the streets and alleys: "Cao Jun is about to enter the city, and there will be no people, livestock, chickens and dogs left, and those who don't want to die should flee for their lives!" Zhang Lang did not want the millions of people in the city to be reduced to ashes along with the city, so he sent people everywhere to encourage the people to flee for their lives.

The vast majority of the people were unassertive, and when they heard such words, they panicked and dragged their families out of the house, and even those scholars who hoped that Cao Jun would hurry into the city were shocked when they heard such words. In the night, the crowd surged, talking, shouting, crying, scolding, and the faces of the people were full of helplessness and pathos.

The people were led to the west, east, and north gates, and the south gate forbade the people to come, and all the people who came were stopped by the sergeants and led to other places.

Zhang Lang and the others stepped on the war horses in full clothes.

Jia Xu rode a horse and led several officers to gallop over, reined in his horse, hugged his fists and said: "My lord, all the armies have been prepared, and the people have gathered near the east gate, north gate, and west gate. Zhang Lang nodded. Jia Xu said: "My lord, my subordinates think that the east, north and west gates should be opened first, and the people should leave first......"

Zhang Lang understood Jia Xu's intentions, he wanted to use the people to attract the attention of Cao's army, and then the army retreated safely. Zhang Lang shook his head, "It doesn't have to be like this. Command the gates, and open the gates at the same time. Jia Xu sighed secretly, clenched his fists and promised, turned his head and ordered several officers under him: "Go and give orders!" Immediately several officers turned their horses' heads and galloped toward the gates on all sides.

Zhang Lang waved his hand: "Let's go." And he led the people to the south gate.

After walking a few steps, I saw two knights rushing towards me in a hurry, the knight at the head was Xu Huang, and the servant who followed should be a herald.

The two galloped in front of Zhang Lang and reined in their horses. Xu Huang clenched his fists and said urgently: "General, Luoyang's emergency military situation!" Zhang Lang expected the official news of the loss of Luoyang, and couldn't help frowning. Looking at the herald, he asked, "Has Luoyang been lost?" Is Yueying okay? The herald hurriedly clasped his fists and said: "Return to the general, the Cao army that attacked Luoyang has retreated, and Luoyang is safe and sound!" Miss Huang is safe and sound! Everyone was taken aback and felt incredulous.