To the north of Tancheng, Langxi County governs Kaiyang City.

The city gate was wide open, and Cao Hong and Zang Ba flew out and stood outside the city to greet them.

Not far away, dust and mist rolled in, and a large army hurried north, and Cao Cao rode his horse to take the lead.

"Greetings to my lordship." Zang Ba was the first to step forward and bow to the ground.

Cao Cao turned over and dismounted, helped Zang Ba up, and comforted: "Xuangao, you have worked hard to defend the city. ”

He ignored the clan general Cao Hong, but he cared for Zang Ba and showed great courtesy.

Zang Ba hurriedly said: "This is all the responsibility of the last general, where is the hard work." ”

The two ministers said some polite words, and the generals welcomed Cao Cao into the city.

Entering the county hall and entering the lobby, Zang Ba was sent to rest, but Cao Hong was stayed.

"Zilian, how many days can Zang Ba be honest?" Cao Cao asked.

Cao Hong arched his hand and said: "In the past few days that the lord has gone, Zang Ba has been keeping to himself, and he has offered to send his son to the front line to fight against Su Zhe with the lord, as far as the current point of view, his intention to surrender is still very credible." ”

"That's good, that's good." Cao Cao nodded slightly, very satisfied.

Zang Ba is also Tao Qian's old subordinate, since the time of Tao Qian, in the name of exterminating the Yellow Turban thieves, gathered a group of soldiers and horses, and occupied the northernmost Langxi County in Xuzhou, called Loyal to Tao Qian, but in fact in a state of self-reliance.

After that, whether Liu Bei sat on Xuzhou Mu or Lu Bu led Xuzhou Mu, Zang Ba has always stayed out of the matter.

Until now, Su Zhe, the strongest prince of the Central Plains, killed Xuzhou, and Zang Ba realized that once Su Zhe took Xuzhou, he would no longer be able to maintain his independence.

Therefore, when Cao Cao led his army south from Qingzhou, Zang Ba decisively chose to surrender to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was naturally not completely at ease with Zang Ba, so when he went south, he left the clan generals Cao Hong and Zang Ba to guard Kaiyang City, which was also a kind of surveillance in disguise.

He said a few words to Cao Honggang, and the soldiers outside came to report and said: "Qi Yu lord, Liu Bei came to Kaiyang with a team of defeated soldiers, and wanted to ask to see the lord." ”

Cao Cao's eyes moved, and he sighed: "Sure enough, as I expected, this Liu Xuande has really come to join me, let him enter the city to see me." ”

Cao Hong said with a vigilant face: "Lord, this Liu Bei is also a powerful character, and he has taken refuge in many people, I am only afraid that he will come to defect this time, and he may not be able to be sincerely loyal to the lord." ”

Cao Cao said: "Liu Xuande is a hero in the world, of course this kind of person will not easily surrender to anyone, but this is only a threat in the future, in the face of Su Zhe, the biggest threat in front of him, your worries are not worth mentioning." ”

Cao Hong was silent.

After a while, Liu Bei, who had a gloomy face, walked into the hall and arched his hand: "Xiaguan Liu Bei, meet Cao Gong." ”

As a pastor of Xuzhou, he is logically on an equal footing with Cao Cao, the former Yanzhou pastor, but now that he wants to send someone under the fence, he has to put down his body and call the other party Cao Gong.

Cao Cao hurriedly got up, helped Liu Bei up with his own hands, and said with a smile: "Xuande is really polite, I have long admired the name of Xuande, and it is really an honor to see it today, come and come, sit down." ”

He personally pulled Liu Bei to sit down, and called for wine and snacks, and was extremely courteous and polite.

Liu was flattered, and he was secretly relieved.

After drinking a few glasses of conjurious wine, Liu Bei sighed bitterly and laughed at himself: "Bei was taken away by that Su Zhe, and he came to rely on Cao Gong so embarrassed, he is really ashamed, where can he be worthy of the word hero, Cao Gong should not torture me again." ”

Cao Cao laughed and said: "Xuande Mo should be discouraged, victory and defeat are a common thing in soldiers, although you are defeated today, he will recapture Xuzhou one day and defeat Su Zhe, the word hero, you still deserve it." ”

Liu Bei saw Cao Cao giving him face like this, and he couldn't help but secretly rejoice in his heart, and his previous worries were also gone.

After a few glasses of wine, Liu Bei's expression became serious, and he said: "That Su Zhe has the ambition to swallow the world, I expect that after he captures Qu County, he will definitely go north to kill Kaiyang, and Cao Gong has to be on guard early." ”

Cao Cao drank a glass of wine and snorted coldly: "Su Zhe coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, his ambition is known to everyone in the world, as long as he is not blind, he will come to attack me Kaiyang, although he is here, I am still waiting to find him to learn the shame of Yanzhou's defeat that day." ”

Cao Cao's arrogance slightly infected Liu Bei, which made him feel a little more at ease, and then said: "But I don't know how Duke Cao plans to deal with that Su Zhe." ”

Cao Cao asked rhetorically: "I have only fought with that Su Zhe once, but Xuande, you have fought with him many times, you should know him best, how do you think we should deal with him?" ”

Liu Bei pondered for a moment and said: "This Su Zhe, what he is best at is to win by surprise, this person is extremely deceitful, and every time he uses tricks, we often can't imagine it, so if Cao Gong fights with him, he must not compete with him in terms of wisdom and strategy." ”

Cao Cao nodded slightly, thought for a moment, and said: "I understand, to deal with this Su Zhe, we must respond to all changes with the same, as long as I stick to Kaiyang without fighting, even if he has the wisdom of the sky, even if he is the head of the Nine Wonders, I will see what tricks he can play." ”

"Cao Gong is wise." Liu Bei complimented.

Cao Cao laughed, then raised his glass and said: "Let's work together to meet Na Su Zhe for a while in Kaiyang City, this time, we will break his invincible reputation no matter what!" ”

Liu Bei also raised his glass and said angrily: "I am willing to serve Cao Gong for the work of dogs and horses." ”

The two of them raised their glasses and drank them all, laughing.

……

Hundreds of miles away, Mijiazhuang.

The team had left Qu County and headed north for Kaiyang City, but Su Zhe did not leave for the time being, but came to Mijiazhuang, which was more than ten miles away.

He's waiting for someone.

In a short time, a fine dust rose from the west side of the avenue, and a group of people and horses escorted a carriage slowly.

The carriage stopped in front of the village, the curtain was lifted, and Mi Zhen, who looked haggard, hurriedly got out of the carriage.

Su Zhe took a few steps forward and stretched out his hand to her.

Mi Zhen hesitated for a moment, but still put her hand in Su Zhe's arms, and let him help her get out of the carriage.

"My brother...... Where's the brother? Mi Zhen's voice was hoarse, and tears were already forming in the corners of her eyes.

"Inside, I'll help you in." Su Zhe took her cold hand and walked away with Zhuang Nei step by step.

When Mi Zhen stepped into the mourning hall full of white flags, two coffins came into view in the huge hall.

It was the coffin of Mi Zhu and Mi Fang.

In an instant, tears came out of the corners of Mi Zhen's eyes, her legs were weak, and the whole person fell down as if she had collapsed.

Su Zhe hurriedly stretched out his hand to catch it, and his soft and boneless body fell into his arms.

"Big brother, second brother, you ...... How can you leave your little sister behind......"

Mi Zhen, who was extremely sad, where could she still take care of the defense of men and women, so she collapsed in Su Zhe's arms, crying silently, extremely sad.

Su Zhe hesitated, but still put his hand down, gently stroked her black hair, and comforted this sad and poor beauty with silent movements.