Early the next morning, Zu Zhao and his entourage bid farewell to Wuzhong County and continued to set off south along the official road.

The spring sun is shining brightly, and the west wind is gentle, which is quite pleasant.

Just as Xu Wuyi was marching and feeling the warm weather, the scout who was exploring the way at the front of the team suddenly turned back and hurriedly reported to Zu Zhao what he had found on the road ahead. Zu Zhao immediately signaled the team behind him to slow down, and led Han Dang, Zu Cheng and several cronies to gallop from the horses to the hill on the side of the official road, and raised their eyes to look at the farthest part of the winding official road.

"Where?"

"It's on the official road, and it's almost there."

Before I could reach it, I saw a group of black shadows at the intersection of the official road and the horizon in the distance, led by seven or eight people on horseback, followed by more than twenty people on foot. Because he was far away from Shang Yuan at this time, he couldn't see what kind of person or what kind of dress he was for a while.

Zu Cheng stepped forward from behind, wrinkled his brows and said, "This is still riding a horse, it is definitely not an ordinary person." Eldest son, look, could it be a bandit from somewhere? ”

Zu Zhao slowly shook his head and said, "Nine times out of ten, it shouldn't be." In broad daylight, there are only such a few people, if it is really a bandit and a grass coward, how dare he take the official road so unevasively? ”

Hearing Zu Zhao's analysis, everyone else felt that it made a lot of sense, so they more or less slowed down their minds.

After waiting for a while, the scout who was on standby asked Zu Zhao for instructions: "Eldest prince, what should I do now?" ”

Taking a slow breath, Zu Zhao thought in his heart, he naturally couldn't just wait here, so he ordered: "Ah Yu, you take a few people to the front to have a look." ”

The scout named Ayu immediately nodded in response, "Yes." ”

Before leaving, Zu Zhao told Ah Yu and the others to be careful, not to rush too far ahead, and to make a decision after seeing the situation clearly.

Subsequently, he asked Zu Cheng to order the brigade still waiting on the official road to cheer up, the riders all lined up, and the foot archers all pulled away from the official road and stood in line on the nearby hills, so that they could immediately react in the event of an accident.

Watching Ah Yu and the three knights trotting away along the official road, the figures of several people became smaller and smaller, and they looked so dry and isolated under the bright sunlight. They were getting closer and closer to the group of people who were coming from this side of the official road, and soon, the other party also noticed the situation here, and obviously slowed down their speed, and two of the knights who were originally in front of the team immediately turned their horses and galloped in the direction they came.

When the two sides were more than thirty steps apart, they stopped, and Ah Yu greeted the group in front of them. The latter soon said something to Ayu, and the originally tense atmosphere from a distance gradually eased up. The two sides quickly walked a few steps closer, and when they arrived at Zuihou, they directly talked face to face. Ayu even pointed to the side of the hills, and shook his hand to Zu Zhao and the others who were watching on the hills, and told them that there was no major incident.

Seeing this, Li Xin said slowly: "It seems that there is nothing wrong. ”

Zu Zhao bowed slightly, and said, "Let's go, go up and have a look." ”

With that, he took the reins, descended from the hill and went up to the official road, and beckoned the people who were waiting on the official road and the hills beside him to continue their advance. A group of people quickly regained their formation and headed towards the other end of the official road. It didn't take long for the two sides to finally meet each other. Zu Zhao had been looking at the other party's team of men and horses for a long time, and most of the knights led by him were young people, all dressed up vigorously, equipped with horse bows and spears; Behind them, the people who followed on foot were basically dressed like ordinary village peasants, but they still had a weapon, or spear, or sword, or scythe.

Judging from these outfits alone, there is a bit of a yellow turban thief or a rebel, but he doesn't have a yellow turban wrapped around his head or his clothes are more ragged.

Ah Yu returned to Zu Zhao and introduced to Zu Zhao and the others first: "The eldest prince, they are the righteous warriors of Wuzhong County, and they have just returned from the county government. ”

Zu Zhao narrowed his eyes and immediately asked, "The righteousness of Wuzhong County?" Just got back from the county? ”

Ah Yu nodded, he knew very well that Zu Zhao Weishenme would be a little surprised, just like when he heard these people report to their homes just now, he just heard that Wu Zhi Yong was about to arrive at the county government, why did these people come back from the county government one night later? Isn't the predicament of the county government resolved?

Zu Zhao bypassed Ayu, came to the front of the riders on the opposite side, and introduced himself first: "There is no Zu Zhao in Xia Xu, dare to ask why the monarchs turned back from the county mansion again?" ”

A young man came out of the queue of riders on the opposite side, politely bowed to Zu Zhao, and then said: "A certain is endless, I have heard of the prestige of the eldest son of Zu, and it is an honor to meet today." ”

Zu Zhao's face was indifferent, he raised his salute and continued to wait for the other party's reply.

After a slight pause, the young man named Gao Hai continued: "I am afraid that the eldest prince of Zu does not know, I have arrived at the northern border of Pinggang County yesterday afternoon, and we also met with the righteous and brave who rushed to the aid of the county government. There were 500 brave men who had arrived a day earlier than us, but they told us that the number of rebels who had attacked the county government in the early hours of yesterday morning had suddenly increased, and that they had surrounded the whole city of the county and even blocked several roads in the vicinity. We, the volunteers from other counties, have no way to enter the city. ”

Without waiting for Zu Zhao to speak, Li Xin, who came forward with Zu Zhao, listened to Gao Hai's words, his face couldn't help but change greatly, and he grabbed the county and asked, "What, the thief's power suddenly expanded?" How many people can be expanded, and they can actually surround the county government? ”

Gao Hai sighed, shook his head and said, "I didn't believe it at first, and later sent a lot of people to investigate around the county government, but ...... Alas, all the men and horses sent out came back and said that there were rebels entrenched in the nearby roads. Two of us were found by thieves and returned wounded. They inquired about the people near the county government, and they all said that the county government had come with reinforcements of two or three thousand overnight, and they had already blocked all seven gates in the city. ”

Li Xin was surprised, and wanted to refute a few more words, hoping that Gao Hai's words were wrong or hearsay. He really didn't expect that it had been eight days since he and Zu Zhao came out of the county government, and the report sent by the county government the day before yesterday didn't say that they had found reinforcements.

He couldn't help but glance back at Zu Zhao, hoping that Zu Zhao could come up with a decisive idea at this time, but also worried that Zu Zhao would be like these volunteers in Wuzhong County, and simply withdraw to protect himself first when disaster came.

At this time, Zu Zhao, who was silent for a moment, suddenly opened his mouth and asked Gao Hai: "Just because the county government is besieged, will you withdraw on your own?" His tone was cold, with a hint of reproach that penetrated into the bone marrow.

Gao Hai and the others were stunned, looked at each other, and then showed different degrees of displeasure on their faces. They don't care what Zu Zhao wants, everyone meets in the water, they have enough respect for him, and they are so arrogant to themselves, how can the young man's spirit be tolerated?