The five carriages lined up in a row, all in dilapidation, creaking and screeching as they turned, as if they were going to break down at any moment.

The five horses pulling the cart were also thin and dirty, it was noon, heading south against the sun, and every step was hot and tired, and they were panting non-stop.

The groom, dressed in patched clothes and hats, sat listlessly on the cart, whipping the leather whip in his hand from time to time to urge the livestock.

It's just that each car is hung with gray curtains, and you can't see the details inside.

As soon as Cao Hong flashed his long knife, the coachmen immediately knelt on the ground in fright, trembling, and shouted for the good man to spare his life.

dare to think that Cao Hong is a hero in the green forest who robbed the road.

At this time, Cao Cao and Zhang Liao also rushed to the front, and were about to ask the coachman, but suddenly saw dust and wolf smoke in front of them. The two tall horses came to the front in a blink of an eye with the sound of 'clang'.

Cao Cao waved his hand to brush away the pungent dust, and saw two men in their fifties riding horses, both dressed as people from the rivers and lakes.

"Appeal ....." The two tightened their grips on the reins, and the horse came to a halt in its gallop, and immediately they stumbled one by one, and almost fell off their horses.

Obviously, the two are not good horsemen, and one of them is the most exaggerated, one of them is lying on the back of the horse, retching, obviously a little 'fainting'.

The other shook his head and asked condescendingly, "Is Qinghe City ahead?"

Cao Cao was taken aback, this person spoke with a southern accent, could it be that he was a member of the 'Iron Boat Gang'? In the past few days, there have been accidents one after another, and his nerves can't help but be a little sensitive, because he can't figure out the origin of the other party, so he doesn't make a sound.

Cao Hong was young and vigorous, and when he saw that the other party didn't understand etiquette, he was a little unhappy, carrying a long knife, and looking at the person strangely.

Seeing that no one cared about him, the other party was immediately a little annoyed, and asked loudly again.

A coachman accosted: "Yes, yes, follow the official road all the way, and it will be Qinghe City." ”

At this time, another man also stopped retching, and immediately signaled his companion to go out, don't make trouble, smiled and arched his hand at Cao Cao and the others, and then the two rode away.

Cao Cao laughed in his heart that he was too sensitive, and when he saw the two people going away, he hurriedly asked a coachman: "Where are you going?"

The coachman was so shaky that he couldn't say a word.

Cao Hong's long knife pointed at the carriage and drank: "What is hidden in the carriage?" ”

A bold coachman replied tremblingly: "Everyone, good men, spare your life." The little ones are all small deals, no, there is no money for the good man. ”

"Is there someone hiding here?" Cao Hong said as he walked to the carriage.

"No, no, the little ones are selling some sweet pears, thinking, thinking about going to Dongjun for a little money. ”

Cao Hong gently lifted the curtain and saw that most of the sweet pears were stacked in the car, all of which were bright and big.

Cao Hong looked at all the carriages in one go, and found that each one was full of sweet pears, and Zhang Mei and others who didn't want to look for it.

It turned out to be a misunderstanding!

Cao Cao and the others couldn't help but be depressed, remembering Mo Daxia's agreement, so they sent away these coachmen and carriages, and rushed back.

When I returned to the old mansion, I happened to meet the Mo couple entering the door at the same time, so I asked the two heroes if they could gain anything.

Mo Wenxue sighed: "I caught up with five carriages, but unfortunately the carriages were filled with sweet pears." ”

"Sweet pear?" Cao Cao and the three of them were shocked in unison.

"Yes, it's a sweet pear dealer from Qinghe to Dongjun. ”

Cao Cao immediately briefly explained what happened to him, and everyone felt that there was something unusual about this matter. At this point in time, it was so coincidental that I met a vendor selling sweet pears! And I went to Dongjun to sell pears, one team was due east, the other team was south, the old horses and old cars, slow and reasonable, and it seemed that they were waiting for people to catch up.

Could it be that the pear-selling convoy was a disguise? And Zhang Mei and the others had already been transported out of the city through other means?

Entering the house, Cao Cao and the others found that there was another old man in the house.

Cao Cao recognized that it was Zhang Wenjing, the elder of another Zhang clan.

Seeing Cao Cao and the others coming back, Zhang Zhaozhen hurriedly beckoned everyone to sit down and ordered the family to eat.

After noon, I was hungry, so I ate and talked at the dinner table.

It turned out that the old man Zhang Wenjing was released back by the kidnappers in order to get him back to deliver a message. Because Zhang Zhaozhen and Zhang Wenjing are currently the two highest elders, the kidnappers hope that they can make a total decision and agree to the conditions.

Zhang Wenjing handed a scroll of silk to Mo Ruxue, and then everyone read it one by one.

I saw that the scroll was written: The demon of the Zhang family, the crime is extremely evil, kidnapping the princess and exterminating the nine clans. At present, the big enemy is turning the big thing into a small one, and everyone is happy to send the princess back. Within three days, the top of Ganling, the expiration date, the jade is burned!

This has been said very clearly, the problem is really the so-called princess, the other party decided that it was the Zhang family, so they also painted the gourd in the same way, and came to repay the other in the same way. Judging from the tone of the other party's wording, I hope that the hostages will be exchanged and everyone will be happy, otherwise the jade will be burned.

However, the other party didn't know that Zhang Jiao had become a stranger to Qinghe City. In any case, this account was calculated on Zhang Mei and others who were robbed.

What to do? This is a problem that needs to be solved at the moment.

Cao Cao suddenly realized: "Could it be that this princess has nothing to do with today's imperial court?"

His words almost frightened the two old men, Zhang Zhaozhen's face turned pale, and he stammered: "Young man, don't dare to say nonsense, this is the crime of killing the head." ”

Zhang Wenjing also said: "Yes, yes, except for the imperial court, who dares to encroach on the princess's name." ”

"Don't be surprised, two uncles, if the imperial court really believes that the Qinghe Zhang family has kidnapped the princess, will they still mobilize the people to kidnap the hostages first, and then send a letter to ask for peace?"

"That's right, the imperial court only needs to send an official to come, and it will never talk about the rules of the rivers and lakes and make a three-day appointment. ”

"The point is, where is the princess going to get him back?"

Cao Hong's last sentence can be regarded as asking the point.

What princess does she care about, the key is where are the people?

Zhang Jiao! This time, everyone thought of each other at the same time.

Since the other party kept saying that Zhang Jiao had robbed the princess, Zhang Jiao was the biggest suspect at this time.

Cao Cao decided to go to Julu and his party, and the two old men immediately objected: "Zhang Jiao already hates Shaoxia to the core, and if you go like this, it is equivalent to a sheep falling into the mouth of a tiger and throwing yourself into a net, which is too dangerous." ”

Mo Ruxue strongly supported: "There is a way not to enter the tiger's den to get the tiger, a manly man, where the righteousness lies, I am willing to walk with the young man." ”

"The seniors can't, the juniors are expected to be good, the other party is still in Qinghe City at the moment, the two seniors are strong in martial arts, and they need to stay here to take care of the two uncles, so as not to transfer the other party away from the mountain. ”

After Cao Cao finished speaking, the Mo couple nodded in approval, and Qin Hongyi instructed: "Young Xia should be extremely careful, this time to go to Julu, only to find out the news, once it is true, come back and discuss again, and don't startle the snake." ”

"Oh, there is one more thing, please be careful with the seniors, the juniors met two men on horseback today, speaking with a southern accent, and the juniors once suspected that they were from the 'Iron Boat Gang'. ”

"Well, I've got my own plans. ”

Knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, he prefers to go to the tiger mountains.

There were only three days, Cao Cao and Cao Hong set off immediately after eating, Zhang Liao's injuries had not healed, and he stayed to recuperate for the time being.

Brought the inventory, and brought two iron swords, the two of them are disciples of the Five Fowl Sword School, good at swordsmanship, not used to using knives, this day to make do with a long knife, it is really awkward.

Leaving Qinghe, the brothers ran wildly all the way, eager to get to Julu immediately. Zhang Mei, Xiahou brothers, Cao Ren and the Zhang clan, so many people's lives are related to the two of them, yes, the two of them are anxious like arrows, and they are in a hurry.

In the evening, the two had arrived outside Julu City, at this time, the two could not enter the city, this is Zhang Jiao's base camp, for the people in and out of the check is very strict, in order not to startle the snake, the two decided to wait for the night to enter the city.

The two walked along the tall city walls and moat, from east to north, and walked for about half an hour, until they came to a barren hill, which was overgrown with weeds, and no one cultivated the land.

It is said that this place is called a mass grave, and after killing people in the city, they will throw it to this place, so it is very uninhabited and very desolate.

By the moonlight, the two of them marched along a small road to the top of the hill, because the terrain here was high, Cao Cao was ready to climb to the commanding heights, wait and see the situation in the city, and wait until late at night to enter the city.

It is said that it is a path, but in fact, the weeds have traces of being trampled, and the further you go, the higher the weeds are, and the more desolate they become.

The moonlight is faint and hazy, the mountain wind is blowing, and the unknown small animals around make a sharp sound, Cao Hong who listened to it was a little panicked, he was the youngest, and he was the least courageous, and he didn't dare to go out at night, even if he was anxious at night, he had to catch someone to accompany him before he dared to go out of the house. Therefore, this kind of scene tonight scared him to follow closely behind Cao Cao, for fear of leaving him behind.

As he was walking, Cao Cao suddenly squatted on the ground, as if listening to something. Cao Hong also hurriedly squatted down, not knowing what the eldest brother had found.

Cao Cao listened for a while, and then whispered to Cao Hong: "Fourth brother, don't you realize that there seems to be something following us behind you?"

"What?" Cao Hong was so frightened that he almost lay on the ground, his eyes scanned around in horror, and he grabbed Cao Cao's clothes with one hand, almost sticking to his body.

Cao Cao put his finger to his mouth and motioned for Cao Hong to remain silent. After a while, he stood up and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay, it's probably a rabbit or a wild mouse at night to come out to find food to eat." ”

Cao Hong wiped the cold sweat from his head, took a long breath, and said, "Big brother, people are scary, scared to death." ”

Cao Cao smiled and said, "Look at your appearance, manly man, what is there to be afraid of!" Before the words fell, he heard the sound of gurgling, listened quietly, and it took a long time to understand that it was Cao Hong's stomach screaming.

Also, before the two of them had dinner, they came to this barren mountain and wilderness, and they were cold and afraid, so they felt hungry.

This is difficult, this is a mass grave, and there are no restaurants, where is there anything to eat?

Looking at Cao Hong's expectant eyes, Cao Cao raised his eyes and found that there was a faint light in the southeast, so he took Cao Hong all the way down. Turning left and right, circling down, sure enough, I saw the light in front of me getting closer and closer, and after walking for a while, I clearly saw that several houses appeared in the moonlight.

If there is a house, there must be a family, and if there is a family, there must be food, the more Cao Hong thinks about it, the more beautiful it is, and he walks briskly, and follows his eldest brother to the house.

However, Cao Cao did not go to the house, but turned to the right, Cao Hong did not understand what he meant, and did not dare to stay away from Cao Cao, so he had to follow.

Less than a dozen zhang away, a large field appeared in front of it, planted with a large area of sweet potatoes, green under the moonlight, growing very well.

Cao Cao came to the edge of the ground lightly, squatted down, pulled out the long sword at his waist, and was about to dig sweet potatoes.

Cao Hong suddenly realized this, and blurted out: "Ah, big brother, you are going to steal sweet potatoes!"