C274

When night fell, Yuan Shu ordered the trees to be chopped down to make torches. Then, they headed towards the Xuzhou along the official road. From afar, the group of forty thousand people looked like a giant fire dragon. The dazzling light spread to a very far distance.

"General, they're here!"

"Xuzhou Army is blocking our way?" When Yuan Shu heard this news, his already gloomy face became even more unsightly. He shouted angrily in a low voice: "What is Liu Xuande trying to do? I am here to help him, not only is that fellow not welcoming us into the Xuzhou City, he even sent troops to stop us, it is truly preposterous! "Men, go and ask them what they want to do!"

A few scouts turned their horses around and started running.

"General, the people from Huainan Army are coming again!"

Zhang Fei nodded and his expression quickly eased up. When he found out that there was Xuzhou Army blocking the way, he did not go against her, but chose to send someone over once more. It was clear that he did not want to become enemies with Xuzhou Army right now. If he dealt with it properly later, it should be able to resolve the crisis that could appear in the Huainan Army.

Not long later, the scouts of the Huainan Army s ran over a mile away, and shouted loudly in Zhang Fei's direction: "Are those people in front of us the subordinates of the Envoy Liu?"

Zhang Fei nodded, and one of the personal guards replied loudly: "That's right! We are the Xuzhou Army, are you the subordinates of Yuan Shijun? "

"Exactly! My master is heading towards the Xuzhou City to discuss an important matter with the Envoy Liu, why are you blocking his way? "

Hearing this, Zhang Fei heaved a sigh of relief, as long as Yuan Shu was not planning to turn hostile on the spot, at worst, he could just follow what his brother said, and promise to give Yuan Shu enough benefits, and allow him to continue carrying out his agreement with his brother, and head north together to deal with Gongsun Zan.

He instructed in a low voice: "Tell the person on the other side, that the reason we are waiting here is only to welcome Yuan Shu towards the Xuzhou City, and it has no ill intentions."

The janissary obeyed and passed Zhang Fei's intention onto him.

"So that's how it is! "May I ask who your general is?"

Zhang Fei shouted loudly: "I am Zhang Fei! He had been waiting here for Yuan Shijun for a long time! I hope that Yuan Shijun can meet us as soon as possible! "

The Huainan Army scouts on the other side did not speak any further, and quickly rode their horses and left.

"General, it seems like Huainan Army has no ill intentions!"

"It seems so!" Zhang Fei nodded his head: "But we cannot be careless, let the young men continue to maintain their defensive formation, if Yuan Shu suddenly attacks, after resisting for a bit, we will quickly retreat!"

"Here!"

"Zhang Fei?" After Yuan Shu heard this name, his tensed up face also eased up, and he muttered to himself: "Zhang Fei is Liu Xuande's sworn brother, and also the general that he trusts and values the most. Liu Xuande will definitely not give up on this person! From this, it can be seen that Liu Xuande and I are also wary of each other, but we have no intention of falling out! "Let's go and take a look!"

Yuan Shu had always been arrogant and cold-blooded, not putting other people's lives in his heart, but he deeply valued his own life. Even though he was eighty percent sure that Zhang Fei would not act against him, he did not rashly step forward to meet Zhang Fei. Instead, under the protection of a large group of people, he slowly, vigilantly advanced.

He was not afraid of ten thousand, just in case. Furthermore, the rumors said that Yuan Shu was a temperamental person, if he did not follow common sense and suddenly gave the order to attack, the three thousand people in his possession would find it difficult to escape.

Outside the place where the arrows were coming from, Yuan Shu waved his hand and stopped the convoy. He took two steps forward and asked loudly: "Is this General Zhang Zhang Fei in front of us?"

Zhang Fei urged his horse forward, and loudly replied: "That's right! I am Zhang Fei! My elder brother has to return to the Xuzhou City first. He told this one to wait for Yuan Shijun here, and then welcome Yuan Shijun to head to the Xuzhou City. "

Yuan Shu's right hand that was holding onto the sword hilt slowly loosened, and laughed loudly: "Then, thank you General Zhang! General Zhang, is the Third Old Servant dead or alive? "

Zhang Fei sighed, and shouted in disappointment: "Run! How hateful! That fellow actually ran away! "

Yuan Shu shook his head in disappointment and shouted sternly: "With tens of thousands of people surrounding and attacking, you actually let that bastard escape? Could it be because Envoy Liu was careless? "

In truth, Yuan Shu had already guessed that Lv Bu had escaped, if not he would not have rushed back to the Xuzhou City without waiting for him. It was just that his previous performance was too terrible. For his own sake, he had to sue Lv Bu first to push the blame of Lv Bu's escape to Liu Bei.

Zhang Fei was furious, if not for the fact that the Huainan Army that Ji Ling led could not even withstand a single blow, how could Lv Bu have escaped? It was just that Liu Bei had repeatedly warned him before he left that he should not cross swords with Yuan Shu, so even though he was filled with rage, he did not dare to flare up on the spot.

Seeing that Zhang Fei did not answer, Yuan Shu would not be so childish as to think that the other party had nothing to say. Since Zhang Fei did not make him lose face on the spot, he would put this matter aside for now. If it was as Liu Bei had said, Guan Yu led the huge army to the Xiao Pei to capture Gongsun Xu alive, then this time, they would be in an invincible position. Going to the Qinghe County was just a simple march, and what they got in return was enormous benefits. Even if he hated Yuan Shao, who stole his position in the clan, to the bone! Even if Guan Yu were to die, he would definitely not let Gongsun Xu break into the Qinghe County City! I have to be more magnanimous, and put aside my previous hatred and sincerely cooperate with Liu Bei!

Thinking about it, Yuan Shu shouted loudly: "Then, I'll have to trouble General Zhang to lead the way!"

"Of course! I will lead the way! " Zhang Fei replied, then ordered the people beside him: "Light the torches!"

Since Yuan Shu was not hostile, Zhang Fei would no longer hide himself. After all, there were too many hidden dangers in the darkness. Just like Yuan Shu, he knew that the other party had not given up on being wary of him, so he only agreed to lead the way and did not invite Yuan Shu to travel with him.

Yuan Shu saw the countless torches lit up in front of him, and his heart was finally at ease.

The two squads walked in a straight line, one in front and the other behind, separated by about two li of distance, but they no longer conversed.

When ugly, Xuzhou City.

"What time is it?" Liu Bei who was standing on top of the city south looked at the darkness outside the city and asked without turning his head back.

Chen Deng whispered from behind: "Reporting to my lord, just now, when I was being ugly!"

Liu Bei tightly furrowed his brows, and said in a deep voice, "It has been eight hours since we last came back, why is there still no trace of third brother? Could it be that Yuetao has really disregarded the big picture and is now fighting with his third brother? "

"I don't think so!" Chen Deng shook his head without thinking, "If Lv Bu were to die, Road Yuan would very likely go back on his promise to Master, but now that Lv Bu is still alive, as long as Road Yuan did not go crazy, he would definitely not fall out with me!"

"Even though you said that, you still can't be at ease!" Liu Bei sighed, and turned his head to look at the northern night sky, "There's no news from Yun Chang's side, it's really worrying for me!"

Chen Deng advised softly, "Master, the troops brought by the General Guan far exceeds the defensive strength of the Xiao Pei City. Furthermore, there is the assistance of internal force to attack the city and capture Gongsun Xu alive is not a problem, Master, do not worry! There should not be any big problems with General Zhang, if Yuan Shu went back on his word, there would definitely be someone who would come back to report, this subordinate thinks that General Zhang will return very soon! "

Liu Bei had heard similar words many times in a day, but he had actually thought that nothing bad would happen to Guan Yu. It was just that Guan Yu had not received any news yet, which made it hard for him to feel at ease. He suddenly shouted, "Someone come!"

"What orders do you have, sir?"

"Send someone to rush to Xiao Pei overnight to see what is going on there! If you meet Yun Chang's messenger on the way, come back quickly and report it! Oh right, send another team to welcome Yi De! "

After a while, the city gates slowly opened a gap. Two squads of cavalrymen left the city gates, one towards the north and the other towards the south. They quickly disappeared from their line of sight.

Chen Deng looked at the closed city gate and said in a heavy voice: "Master has toiled for an entire day and night, why not go back and rest first?

Liu Bei had already felt dizzy and tired after hearing Chen Deng's words. He yawned a few times consecutively and reluctantly nodded. Just as he turned around to leave, he suddenly saw a streak of light appear in the south. The flame became brighter and brighter. Soon, a torchlight that spanned several miles appeared before his eyes.

"Yi De is back!" Liu Bei cried out in surprise, the tiredness immediately disappearing.

Chen Deng smiled and nodded his head, in truth, the pressure he had to bear was not any less than Liu Bei. After all, he was the one who gave up Lv Bu's plan to drown in the water, and the people who executed it were all servants of the Chen Family. However, Lv Bu seemed to have known of his plan in advance, and ambushed Zhang Fei, causing the Xuzhou Army to lose a lot of troops. Even though Liu Bei did not express any dissatisfaction, he knew that Liu Bei definitely had some grudges against him. If Yuan Shu suddenly went back on his word, and caused Zhang Fei to lose more soldiers, or even lose his life, unless Liu Bei left Xuzhou's place as Mu, the Chen family's future in Xuzhou would be completely ruined. Thus, other than Liu Bei, he was the one who hoped the most to see Zhang Fei return safely.

Right at this moment, the group of people who had went out of the city to welcome Zhang Fei earlier rushed back with their horses, and shouted at the entrance of the city: "Reporting to my lord, General Zhang has successfully returned.

Liu Bei asked softly, "Yuan Long, do you think Yuan Du had any ulterior motives?"

"I don't think so!" Moreover, he brought a large group of soldiers and horses to the Xuzhou City. It was obvious that he was prepared to fulfill the agreement with the Lord, it did not look like he was going to go back on his words! But in order to be safe, if road Yuan proposes for the army to enter the Xuzhou City, my lord must think of a way to reject it! "

Liu Bei nodded his head, without Chen Deng's reminder, he would reject Huainan Army's people from entering the city.