Zhang Liao waited for Cao Zhi's army and horses to leave, and then he looked indifferently at Lu Rong's small team, urged the horse forward, and suddenly saw that Chen Sheng was also there, and couldn't help asking, "Why is Ziyun here?" Chen Sheng was still roped at this time, but he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Lu Rong hurriedly jumped off the war horse, personally stepped forward to untie him, and said, "I have offended Brother Chen, don't blame me." ”

Chen Sheng was relieved but ignored him, hurriedly saluted Zhang Liao, and said, "It's because my uncle is here, otherwise it will be a big disaster." ”

Zhang Liao looked at Lu Rong coldly, and didn't say a word, it was indeed difficult to forgive such a disaster, but the severe punishment would not have the trust of Wen Hou and Mrs. Diao Chan in the past. What's more, this matter also involved his brother Zang Ba for many years, which really made Zhang Liao embarrassed, Jiang Wei rushed behind him, saw Zhang Liao silent for a long time, knew his meaning, and said: "The general doesn't have to be in a hurry, it's better to go back to the city first and then make plans." ”

Zhang Liao nodded and said, "You can send someone to General Cao's camp, and say that Runan is urgent, and I don't dare to leave it for too long, so let him go north with the Marquis of Linjiang." I will return to Runan and not go to Youzhou. Jiang Wei took the order and left, Zhang Liao ordered the army to be collected back to Guangping City, Lu Rong and Chen Sheng both silently followed behind Zhang Liao, booing and forbidding.

Zhang Pu, the general who defended the city, opened the door to welcome him inside, and Zhang Liao ordered him to lead the army to disperse, and returned to the military tent with Chen and Lu. After waving off the guards, there were only three people left in the tent, Zhang Liao sat down in the middle, and then ordered the two to take their seats. Chen Sheng sat down calmly, but Lu Rong walked in front of Zhang Liao, bowed to the ground, and said, "My niece is tired of my uncle, please punish my uncle." ”

Zhang Liao looked at Lu Rong in front of him, but for a while, he didn't know how to reprimand, stared at it for a long time, and only said lightly: "Do you know where Zhang Hu is now?" ”

Lu Rong replied in amazement: "My niece doesn't know, isn't she with my uncle?" ”

Zhang Liao said: "I learned about you and others from Boyo, so I arrested Zhang Hu, beat him, and imprisoned him in the house, but he fled that night. Didn't he come north to find you? ”

Lu Rong said: "Brother Chen has always been by my side, and Brother Zhang really never came. ”

"That's it, leave him alone for now." Zhang Liao changed his words and asked again: "Rong'er, how does your uncle treat you?" ”

"Grace and righteousness." Lu Rong said solemnly: "If there is no uncle, there will be no niece." ”

"Okay." Zhang Liao nodded and said, "Uncle doesn't have anything else to ask you, it's just that my uncle is very old, and he has been feeling unwell recently, so I'm afraid time is running out." Now that your eldest brother Zhang Hu doesn't know where to go, you have the right to be my own daughter, with you by your side, how about supporting your uncle? ”

Lu Rong raised his eyes to look at Zhang Liao, tears welled up in his eyes, and he kowtowed again and again: "Uncle, my niece can't implicate you anymore." The niece knew that the crime she had committed was very serious, but she was afraid that Cao Pi would not spare it. ”

"Needless to say." Zhang Liao said: "I did not report the matter you conspired with Xuan Gao to the imperial court, but I personally led the troops to earn Xuan Gao, ensured that he entered Beijing to serve, and made Cao Zidan take charge of the Qingxu military power." You take out the letter that Xuan Gao gave you. ”

Lu Rong didn't dare to disobey, and hurriedly took out the letter, Zhang Liao tore it to pieces without looking at it, and said: "Don't mention this matter again in the future, if you can hide it for a while, you can hide it for a while." Rong'er, Xuan Gao and I are both old people, how can you bear to let him not be idle in his old age? ”

Lu Rong said again: "Cao Zhang, Cao Zhi knows about this matter, how can he hide it?" ”

"Cao Zhang will not be defeated in the future, and with his temperament, he disdains people who are still on their backs when they die." Zhang Liao said: "As for Cao Zhi, I will try my best to protect him, and he will definitely not say much." You step back first, and all your subordinates will stay, and I will make other arrangements for the guards. Lu Rong didn't dare to say anything more, so he had to get up and leave.

After Lu Rong left, Zhang Liao called someone into the account and ordered all his subordinates to be killed, so he let out a long breath and said to Chen Sheng: "Ziyun thinks there is anything wrong?" ”

Chen Sheng watched Zhang Liao protect Lu Rong like this without saying a word, and he was also very moved in his heart, and when he asked, he said: "Uncle Gao Yi, the little nephew admires, but Rong'er is very strong-minded, I am afraid that there will be another incident in the future, Gao Ping has led the army in Eastern Wu, so I must guard against it." ”

Zhang Liao had already heard about Gaoping's affairs, but he had no right to go to Dongwu to arrest people, so he had to say: "I can't do anything about this, I can manage Rong'er for a while, count it for a while, and the future will depend on you." Why don't you go back to Runan with me? I need people like you around me. ”

"Uncle is called, and the little nephew should obey his fate." Chen Sheng said: "It's just that Captain Jia is still in Cao Zhang's army, and he doesn't know whether he is alive or dead." Rong Er promised me to accompany him to Jizhou, so that he could keep the old man safe, but now he can't. And let the little nephew save the captain and escort him back to Beijing, and then ask for a decree to come to Runan for his uncle to send. ”

Zhang Liaofang knew about Jia Xu's affairs, so he asked in detail one by one, so it was difficult to force Chen Sheng, so he had to order someone to prepare dry food and horses and send Chen Sheng out of the camp. He and Jiang Wei were stationed in Guangping for two days, and learned that Cao Zhi and Cao Zhen sent troops to Youzhou together, thinking about the defense of Runan, so they set out to return to the south.

Not a day, he went to the city of Runan, at this time Li Dian and Le Jin were both deceased. Zhang Liao went north, but he was the son of Le Jin, and Le Lin and Wen Qin guarded the place. The two heard that Zhang Liao had returned to the army, and together they led people out of the city to greet each other. Back in the city, Zhang Liao returned to his house to raise his account and asked about recent military affairs. At that time, Liu Bei of Shu Han and Jiangdong were in a stalemate, and they had no time to look north, because they were not enough, but Wen Qin reported that in Lushan City, Sima's soldiers and horses were frequently transferred, and he was afraid of bad intentions.

Sima's heart, everyone knows, Zhang Liao did not dare to be careless, hurriedly ordered someone to take the map, looked at it for a while, and said: "Now that the Yue cavalry generals are trapped in the party, I heard that His Majesty wants to destroy them in one fell swoop, and pour Luoyang, and the soldiers of Hanoi go north." Gyeonggi is empty, but I am afraid that Sima has a heart of disobedience, if he raises troops to make it difficult, there is no danger to rely on all the way, and the army can come to Luoyang City in ten days, and the princes can have a good plan to prepare? ”

Wen Qinnai said: "Sima Buchen's heart has been around for a long time, and now Wu Shu is too busy to take care of himself, and the general will not ask for an order to raise troops to destroy him?" If His Majesty is gracious, Cao Zilian and Zhang Junyi can raise the troops of Chang'an, go out of the Qingni Pass to the east, and the general will lead the troops out of the ancient city to the west. Two pinching attacks, Sima will be defeated. ”

Zhang Liao was very happy when he heard this, and said: "The general's words are very true. If I can break Wancheng, I can also comfort the spirit of the first emperor in the sky. On the same day, he ordered someone to repair the seal, while contacting Cao Hong, while preparing the army and horses, he wanted to raise a division to defeat Wancheng Sima.

The remnant sun was like blood, and there was a shout of killing up and down the kettle. This pass is built close to the Taihang Mountains, there are cliffs on the left and right, and there is only a three-zhang male pass in the middle. In the past, when Cao Zhang went south, he knew that this place was easy to defend and difficult to attack, so only Liang Xi was left to garrison it to protect Shangdang and Jinyang Grain Road. Knowing that Liang Xi actually betrayed his lord and forgot his righteousness, Cao Xiu's army was approaching, and he surrendered without a fight. Cao Zhang, who thought that he was the impregnable gateway to the east of the state, had instead become the strongest stronghold of the enemy army on his grain route.

For five days in a row, Cao Zhang watched his elite sergeants rush forward one by one, but the corpses were closed down one by one, and he was both hated and angry in his heart. It is true that the elite cavalry of the Yan Dynasty swept Mobei, but it rarely fought such a battle, and the pass was guarded by Cao Xiu, the son of the Cao clan. This person is quite talented, and Cao Cao praised him in the past: "This is my family's thousands of miles away." "There is a law to keep it. Cao Zhang attacked for several days, losing nearly 10,000 soldiers in vain, but he was not allowed to cross the thunder pool for half a step.

Another wave of offensive was closed and resisted, and Cao Zhang's heart was dripping blood, and all the dead and wounded were his subordinates who had followed him from birth to death for many years. They never fell in the vast desert, never died in the Wuhuan Iron Cavalry, but they were finally buried in the land of Bingzhou that they had operated for many years, and died under the same costume of the Great Wei sergeants. Who is to blame for this? Himself, or Cao Ziheng sitting on the throne of Emperor Luoyang?

"Prince, the brothers have suffered too many casualties, so let's withdraw first for the time being?" Cao Zhang suddenly turned his head and glared at the general who entered the speech, and he was suddenly frightened. Cao Zhang waved his hand and whipped him, hit the door in front of him, and shouted angrily: "You go, you bring someone to rush up for me." ”

"Yes." The general hugged his fist at Cao Zhang, took the knife in his hand, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, follow me." "Rush to the gate with the men and horses. Suddenly the arrows rained down, the boulders rolled into the wood, and the fire oil and dung juice also poured down. Cao Zhang's subordinates lost half of them before they rushed to the pass, and many warriors were able to dodge the arrows and barely climb the pass, but there were a few, or even a dozen defenders, who immediately surrounded them, and in the end they could only die in battle.

After another half an hour, this attack ended in failure again, when Cao Zhang saw that the man was about to be crushed into a boulder, he howled like a wolf, and was about to rush forward himself, but was desperately stopped by the left and right. The countless corpses that closed and closed, the bloody smell in the air, and the occasional whining of war horses all made Cao Zhang feel completely helpless and helpless.

"Prince, I will go again." Cao Zhang waved his hand and said weakly: "Forget it, that's the end of today." The army retreated first, and a certain self-cut back. Everyone took the order and left, Cao Zhang listened to the sound of the retreating horses' hooves, looked at the northeast direction, and silently said in his heart: Lu Rong, where are your reinforcements?

Back in the camp, Cao Zhang had no intention of eating, just drank a few glasses of spirits, then took the map and thought hard about how to break the barrier. Cao Zhi, Lu Rong has not had any news for a few days, but I am afraid that there is no hope, a nerd like the third child, he should not have pinned his hope on him. As for Lu Rong, the catastrophe is coming, there is no grace in the past, and there is no benefit in the near future, how can there be a reason not to fly separately? It's just that the 100,000 brothers who follow him are suffering, and the grain and grass in the army are only used for a few days, and they can't break through the Huguan Pass and open the way north, even if they are hungry, they can starve themselves to death here.

Cao Zhang thought about it for a long time, but finally had no good plan, and his heart became more and more depressed. Suddenly, I heard shouts outside the tent, and when I listened carefully, it was: "There are assassins, arrest assassins." Cao Zhang hurriedly got up and drew his sword in his hand, his tens of thousands of troops were on his side, and someone really dared to assassinate? Hehe, do you really think that I, Cao Zhang, am just a sick cat?

When Cao Zhang arrived with people, he saw Jia Xu being escorted aside by two sergeants, and another person was dressed in black, fighting with the left and right sergeants with his sword, and he was vigorous and stabbed several people down again and again, but he did not hurt a single bit.

The war has not been going well in the past few days, Jia Xu is detained in the army, Cao Zhang has no mental awareness, but there are still people who want to save him. "Stop." Cao Zhang retreated from the army, stepped forward and said: "Chen Sheng, you want to rescue Jia Xu in our army alone, but you don't want to take General Ben in your eyes." ”

Chen Sheng put away his sword and stood up, and said, "If you just want to rescue Lord Taiwei, what is it very difficult?" It's just that the last general still has something to ask to see the prince, so he leaks his whereabouts. ”

"Something to see me?" Cao Zhang's gaze swept over the two of them and said, "Take them all to the tent for General Ben." "Turn around and go. Chen Sheng also smiled faintly, put the sword back into the sheath, and stepped forward to help Jia Xu to return to the account with Cao Zhang.

Cao Zhangju sat down in a handsome position and asked, "What is the matter to ask to see General Ben?" ”

Chen Sheng looked left and right and asked, "Can you retreat?" ”

Cao Zhang waved his hand to signal the guards to retreat, and then said, "Can you say it now?" ”

Chen Sheng smiled and said: "Retreating left and right, it is really for the sake of the prince and the marquis, and the last general will say a word, but I am afraid that the army's heart will be completely chaotic." Without waiting for Cao Zhang to ask again, he continued: "Marquis Linjiang has already joined General Cao Zidan's army to enter Youzhou in the north, and the reinforcements that the prince is looking forward to are afraid that they will not come again." ”

"What did you say?" Cao Zhang's attack on the case, then sat down again, and muttered: "Okay, you are a third child, you actually stabbed me at a critical time." ”

Jia Xu said loudly: "The prince can't break through the Xiongguan Pass and return to Jinyang at this moment, and then there will be the army of Da Sima and General Xu to attack the party, there is no available food inside, and there is no reinforcement outside." If this is the case, why not plan a good plan early? ”

"A good idea?" Cao Zhang sneered a few times and said disdainfully: "Doesn't the boss mean to let me surrender to Ziheng again?" Can his character spare me for treason? Left and right are death, why not try your best? General Ben would rather die on the battlefield than in prison. ”

"The prince is brave and fierce, and the old man knows it." Jia Xu sighed: "It's just that the prince doesn't understand the lives of tens of thousands of soldiers under his subordinates? In the past few days, the old man has also tried to look out from the camp, and the casualties are tragic, and all of them are my Great Wei Erlang, who did not die in the battle formation of Wu and Shu, but died of the selfish desires of the prince and the marquis. Don't princes feel ashamed of them? Moreover, after they die, they will be charged with rebels, and if they have a small family, once they are found, it is inevitable. These are the subordinates who have followed the prince for many years, how can the prince bear it? ”

"Shut up." Cao Zhang was annoyed and angry by his words, and pulled out the sword at his waist, and pointed at Jia Xu with a halberd: "This general remembers that you are old, and you are also treated politely in the army, so don't confuse the army's heart here." Cao Zhang was furious, Chen Sheng also hurriedly protected Jia Xu, and when the sergeant outside heard the movement, more than ten people also poured in, surrounded the two, and waited for Cao Zhang's order, and cut the two into meat sauce.