At night, in the temporary courtyard, after Cao Xin asked someone to settle Mrs. Zou, he returned to the study and wrote two letters, arranging for someone to send them to the military advisor Cheng Yu and the main Bo Maoyu.

In the letter, he told about Cao Hong leading troops to surround Zhang Xiu's mansion and forcibly extort Mrs. Zou.

He thinks that this kind of thing is not good for Boss Cao's reputation, and hopes that the two of them will persuade Boss Cao to take Zhou Gong Zhaogong as an example and be a good prime minister.

After the messenger left, Cao Xin took off his armor and prepared to take a bath.

Dodo~

There were several knocks at the door.

"Come in!"

He thought it was a servant who brought hot water, but when the door was pushed open, Zou Liniang came with a plate of food and lotus steps.

"Why is Madame here?"

Cao Xin was slightly surprised.

Zou Liniang smiled slightly, and before she could speak, a flush rose on her cheeks.

"General, I heard that the general hasn't had dinner yet, so the concubine took matters into her own hands, borrowed the kitchen in the courtyard, and made a bowl of soup balls for the general, please don't dislike it."

Cao Xin looked at the woman in front of the desk, as the saying goes, when you look at a beauty under the lamp, the more you look at it, the more beautiful it becomes; If you want to be pretty, you must be filial; The most beautiful woman who can cook.

And the woman in front of her has all three, she is wearing a plain white dress, her cleaned face looks more beautiful and lovely, and a smile seems to hit the weakness of a man.

Mrs. Zou's cheeks were dizzy when he saw it, but she stubbornly met his gaze, "The general hesitated, but he was worried that the concubine was poisoned in the soup pill?" ”

Cao Xin laughed and suddenly stopped, "That's true." "His [resistance] is not high, and he is not invulnerable to all poisons, so he will be extra careful when eating.

Mrs. Zou looked slightly aggrieved, flicked up her sleeves, revealing a white jade-like wrist, took out a small bowl in the soup can with a wooden spoon, held the small bowl with both hands, and took two sips.

"General, can you rest assured?"

Mrs. Zou put down the small bowl and asked.

Cao Xin nodded slightly.

Mrs. Zou breathed a sigh of relief, picked up another small wooden bowl, and prepared to serve him soup.

"Madam, I heard that there is a way to poison the mouth of the bowl, please use your bowl to serve me soup."

Mrs. Zou was stunned, a trace of shame flashed on her face, and her eyes suddenly turned red.

"Uh, don't cry, madam, just kidding, haha~."

Cao Xin took the wooden spoon, filled a bowl, and filled Zou Liniang's small bowl.

"Madame, eat some more, there is still a lot of soup."

Zou Liniang stared at him quietly, her eyes not blinking.

Cao Xin shrugged his shoulders, took a sip of soup with a bowl, and nodded with satisfaction, "Madame's skill in mixing the spoon is very good, it is more delicious than the soup made by Xu Du's imperial chef, thank you Madame." ”

Zou Liniang lowered her head and whispered in a small wooden bowl, "In recent days, the general has often come to Zhangfu to practice martial arts, and the people below often praise the general, saying that the general is a righteous gentleman, a great husband, and a great hero, but the general is bullying a weak woman." ”

Cao Xin was slightly embarrassed, and laughed with a smile, "It's because they are wrong, I am not a righteous man and a hero, but a bandit leader." I think when I was mixed in Xuzhou, Qingzhou, I went down the mountain to rob the rich when I had no money and food, and the big families in the Qingxu area were a scourge to me, calling me a thief, haha, how can a person like me be a gentleman? ”

"Generals should not be presumptuous."

Zou Liniang pursed her lips and said softly, "The concubine heard that the general only robbed the rich and unkind, and every time as long as the money, grain, salt and iron, it did not harm people's lives, and the general also helped the local people to exterminate many bandits and the wandering Yellow Turban rebels, saving countless lives." ”

"Well, you know a lot."

Cao Xin laughed.

Zou Liniang's face was slightly red, "I heard that the year before last, Prime Minister Cao Cheng conquered Xuzhou and prepared to slaughter the city, it was the general who made a direct admonition, saying that those who win the hearts of the people win the world, and the people can carry the boat or overturn the boat, and the people will suffer, and the people will suffer, how can a person who can say such a thing be a bad person." ”

Zou Liniang chuckled at the corner of her lips.

Cao Xin laughed.

In 192, the third year of the first peace, Cao Cao pacified the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, won more than 300,000 soldiers, collected its elite, formed the Qingzhou soldiers, and helped Yuan Shao defeat Liu Bei, Shan Jing and Xuzhou Mu Taoqian armies.

Therefore, he formed a bond with Tao Qian.

In the spring of the fourth year of Chuping, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shu, the Black Mountain Army, and the Southern Xiongnu at Kuangting, and Xuzhou Mu Taoqian took advantage of the emptiness in Cao Cao's rear to lead his army to attack Rencheng in the south of Yanzhou, almost causing Cao Cao to lose his lair.

Cao Cao led an army to conquer Tao Qian and conquered more than ten cities in Xuzhou.

It was also in that year that Tao Qian sent people to hunt down and kill the Cao family, if it wasn't for Cao Xin's timely action, half of the Cao family would have died.

The feud between the two families is even deeper.

In the following two years, the two sides fought continuously, winning and losing each other, until Tao Qian died in the fourth year of Chuping, and Cao Cao fought Liu Bei and Lu Bu.

Due to the large population of Xuzhou, it is extremely difficult to manage, and it consumes more troops.

After conquering the city, Cao Cao wanted to slaughter the city, and he was gone.

Cao Xin felt that the slaughter of the city was too cruel, and he couldn't do it anyway, so he copied a lot of famous sayings to Cao Cao, persuading him not to kill people indiscriminately, and it was easy to lose the hearts of the people.

Cao Cao didn't listen to it all, as long as someone in the city dared to riot, Cao Cao would still raise the butcher's knife and show no mercy.

Cao Xin shook his head and drank an extra bowl of broth.

Zou Liniang pulled up her wide sleeves and took the initiative to help him serve the soup, and the soup was hand-blended with slender and slender hands, which was full of color, flavor and flavor, and couldn't help but make his index finger move.

"General!"

Liao Hua shouted at the door.

"What?"

"General, Cao Hong is here, and he has a warrant from the prime minister, asking the general to send Mrs. Zou to Cheng as soon as possible."

Liao Hua said.

Yes~

Mrs. Zou's hand shook, and the wooden spoon fell into the soup can.

"Madame, don't worry, I'll take care of everything."

Cao Xin comforted and said to Liao Hua outside the door, "Yuan Jian, tell Cao Hong that I am asleep and can't take orders, and I will talk about something tomorrow." Tell the brothers to go to the courtyard wall, stretch their bows and arrows, shoot whoever dares to break into the door, don't shoot the vital point, just shoot the injury, it's a big deal to compensate them for some soup and money. ”

"Yes, General!"

Liao Hua clenched his fists and left.

"General, will you be punished by the prime minister for doing this? Because of the concubine's body, the general was punished, and the concubine's body was difficult to redeem. ”

Zou Liniang pursed her red lips and sobbed softly.

"Why are you crying again?"

Cao Xin took out a silk handkerchief and handed it to her, "Don't worry, I and the prime minister are brothers, and the relationship is definitely closer than you think, not to mention a warrant, it is a military order, as long as there is something wrong, I dare to disobey, and I will be scolded at most a few words afterwards, it is not a big problem." ”

"The general should not be careless."

Zou Liniang folded the silk handkerchief and said softly, "As the old saying goes, the more you use it, the thinner it gets, although the general is the prime minister's brother, don't be too careless, often have dirty encounters with the prime minister, and it's not good for the general... It's Liniang who is too talkative, and the general is wise, so why do you need me, a little woman, to talk too much. ”

Cao Xin looked at her, smiled lightly, stood up and asked,

"Li Niang, would you like to remove your armor for me?"

"Huh?"

Zou Liniang's face turned red instantly, Cao Xin only had inner armor and underwear left on his body, helping him take off his inner armor would seem too intimate, and generally only people in the room would do this kind of thing.

"Is the general joking?"

Cao Xin shook his head, looking at the woman's rude-like face, like a blooming red rose, he said while untying the rope of the inner armor,

"Born in troubled times, for women, born too beautiful, destined to have a bumpy fate, some people choose the right man, enjoy the rest of their lives, some choose the wrong person, continue to wander, or die alone.

And more often you don't have a choice, this time for the sake of Mrs. cooking soup for me, I will give Mrs. a chance to choose, you can choose to go back to Zhang's Mansion, go to the Prime Minister's Mansion, or stay, I can help you achieve it, you have one night to think about your future. ”

Zou Liniang's face gradually turned from red to white, and after a moment of silence, she slowly got up, plucked up the courage to walk in front of him, and helped him untie the rope of the inner armor.

Cao Xin smiled lightly and pinched her hot cheeks,

"Congratulations Liniang, you chose the right one."

Zou Liniang lowered her head, and her face turned even redder.

Cao Xin laughed.

"General, hot water is ready."

The old servant shouted outside the door.

"Send it in!"

As the door was opened, there was a burst of shouting, roaring, and screaming from outside the courtyard, Cao Xin shook his head and closed the door again.

There are a few guards in Liaohua, and he is very relieved.

——