Only more than half of the five thousand soldiers brought by Qiao Rui entered the city. While the people behind were still entering the city, they were attacked by soldiers pretending to be surrendering troops on both sides of the city gate. They were caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.
These pretended soldiers were all Yuan Xi's subordinates. They wore armor covered with linen and looked just like ordinary soldiers. If it was daytime, Qiao Rui and his subordinates might still be alert, because if you look carefully, It's still quite unnatural, after all, his body is much thicker.
But it happened to be dark night, and Qiao Rui was afraid of being suspected by Yuan Yao, so he was in a hurry to seize the city gate and defeat the resisting soldiers. He led his troops in without paying much attention.
After all, his idea is very simple. There are not many soldiers and horses in the city. If he leads his own troops and surrenders them, will he still be unable to defeat the remaining people who want to resist?
As a result, when he discovered that he had been deceived, it was too late, and his retreat was cut off by the trapped camp. Yuan Xi's personal guards at the city gate suddenly attacked, and with their sophisticated equipment, they defeated Qiao Rui's rear army in an instant, and then closed the city gate again.
Qiao Rui led his men to rush left and right, but they were all blocked by Gao Shun's trapped camp. He found that the opponent's defense was so tight that he could not find any chance!
From the houses on both sides of the street, cold arrows were being shot continuously, and people were falling down. Qiao Rui had only one chance now. Only when Zhang Xun outside broke through the city gate and attacked the retreat of the trapped camp, could he break through!
However, this slim expectation was completely shattered by the sound of gold ringing from outside the city and the cheers from the top of the city.
"The enemy has escaped!"
"The enemy is defeated!"
Yuan Xi led his guards around behind Qiao Rui and said, "I didn't expect General Qiao to be the one to take action. This time I took advantage of him. I'm ashamed of myself, haha."
"Now that the situation is over, why bother to increase the casualties of soldiers?"
After hearing this, Qiaorui sighed deeply, threw the Huanshou knife on the ground, and asked his men to surrender.
Gao Shun ordered his men to tie up Qiao Rui and take her away. He said to Yuan Xi, "Shun admires your master's wisdom."
"What other orders does the young master have now?"
He saw that Yuan Xi was playing tricks on Wei Xu, Yuan Yao and others. If a general wanted to admire others, he could only rely on his performance. Now that Yuan Xi had proved his ability, Gao Shun became polite when he spoke.
Yuan Xi thought for a while and said with a smile: "Brother Gao, why don't you go with me to kill Wei Xu?"
Gao Shun was startled, and then he bowed down and said, "Shun understands Young Master's intention, but Shun cannot betray Marquis Wen."
"Although Marquis Wen will definitely not be happy about what happened today, Shun still wants to explain it to Marquis Wen face to face."
"If you kill him and do what you did tonight, it would be rebellion, and it's unreasonable."
Yuan Xi shook his head and said with a smile: "That's such a pity."
He secretly thought that it was a pity that as long as Wei Xu was killed, Gao Shun would be even more suspicious of Lu Bu, because then he would not be able to prove whether Wei Xu was innocent or not, it would all be based on one side of the story.
At that time, Gao Shun couldn't argue at all and could only defect to himself.
To be honest, although Wei Xu and Song Xian's forces were cleared, Yuan Xi also wanted to kill them, but Chen Gong and Gao Shun had to keep their lives.
Only in this way can we prove our innocence in front of Lu Bu and show that we have no second thoughts.
But in Yuan Xi's heart, he really wanted to kill Wei Xu. After all, he took advantage of both sides and put the blame on Wei Xu. It would be disgraceful if some of the things he did were revealed.
But Yuan Xi couldn't break his skin. If he ignored Chen Gong and Gao Shun's objections and killed Wei Xu and others on the spot, it wouldn't be impossible. Or he could directly assassinate Wei Xu. Gao Shun would not be able to escape even if he jumped into the Yellow River. .
But in this way, the fragile alliance with Lu Bu may break down, which is very detrimental to the Lu Bu Youzhou coalition forces that are currently fighting against other forces in Anyi.
Gao Shun is not a fool. If he guesses his intentions, he will despise himself as a human being, so that he will not get his true loyalty.
Thinking of this, Yuan Xi said to Gao Shun, "Just follow Brother Gao's wishes."
"One more thing, please."
"I want to interrogate Qiao Rui."
Gao Shun listened and agreed wholeheartedly. In his opinion, Yuan Xi respected his idea very much. Although he rejected it several times, he did not show any dissatisfaction, which made Gao Shun feel very sorry.
Now he has no reason to refuse such a small request as interrogating the surrendered general.
Before leaving, Yuan Xi said seriously to Gao Shun: "I know that Brother Gao and Mr. He Gongtai are not on good terms, but the two are in similar situations, and they may not always be similar. Brother Gao can think carefully about where to go from now on."
After hearing this, Gao Shun didn't take it seriously at first, but then suddenly thought of something and his face became serious.
Yuan Xi had already turned around and left.
Qiao Rui was taken to a room in a mansion, and several soldiers stood guard at the door of the house.
He was heartbroken now. He somehow managed to save his life last time, but this time less than half a year later, he was caught again by the same person in almost the same way and at almost the same city gate location.
Although he is not as good as Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others, he is still a top general, but he was arrested twice. Could this Yuan Xi be his nemesis?
After more than an hour, when his hands and feet were tied so numb, the sound of footsteps could be heard.
Yuan Xi brought Sun Li into the room. When he saw Qiao Rui staring at him with an unkind expression, he smiled and said, "The general and I are really destined."
He ordered the soldiers to untie Qiao Rui. Qiao Rui got up and moved his hands and feet. Seeing that several soldiers were full of energy and looking at him with eager eyes, Qiao Rui gave up the last thought of escaping.
Yuan Xi motioned Qiao Rui to sit down and said, "I came here this time to ask about the defense situation of Yuan Yao's military camp."
After hearing this, Qiao Rui sneered: "Am I the one who betrays the Lord?"
"You might as well kill me right now!"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "General, don't worry, if you really want to die, you won't be caught by me, right?"
"At that time, if I just scratched my neck with the knife, wouldn't it be all over?"
After hearing this, Qiao Rui said in a deep voice: "How can I turn around and kill my colleagues because I am greedy for life and afraid of death?"
"I owe you two lives, but now I only have one, so just take it."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi smiled even more and said: "The general is a loyal man, but I'm afraid Yuan Shu is not worthy of the general."
"The general has also seen Yuan Yao's ability. I'm afraid he will trick the general to death sooner or later."
"And now that I have captured the general, does he still want to go back?"
"Last time I let the general go back, Sun Bofu was a loyal man, so he could not hold him accountable. Now I am letting the general go back. How can Yuan Yao not be suspicious of the general?"
He leaned slightly and said, "General, if you follow Yuan Shu, you may not have a happy ending. I am short of a few generals here. If the general comes to surrender, I will leave my position vacant. How about that?"
Qiao Rui was moved after hearing this, but he still shook his head dejectedly, "Thank you for your love and favor for an incompetent person like me. If I were alone, I might vote for the young master now."
"But I still have a young family. If Yuan Gongluo knows about it, my family will definitely be miserable."
"So I would rather the young master kill me, and my family will be treated well."
Yuan Xi's eyes flashed, "General, do you value your family so much?"
"In today's troubled times, it is common for people to abandon their wives and children in order to survive. General, you still miss your family?"
"And as far as I know, the general has no male sons, only two daughters, Xiao Qiao, right?"
Qiao Rui was shocked, "How do you know?"
He then smiled bitterly and said: "Your Majesty is well aware of this kind of thing. I won't lose unjustly."
Yuan Xi thought, it's just that your two daughters are very famous.
Qiao Rui thought of her daughter and said, "My wife passed away early. She asked me to take good care of them when she was dying. I don't want to be a broken promise."
Yuan Xi sighed: "I didn't expect that the general is a person who values affection and righteousness. But if the general follows a person like Yuan Shu, I'm afraid his family won't be able to live a happy life, right?"
"Is Yuan Shu going to be emperor soon?"
"When the time comes, isn't the general afraid that all the heroes in the world will attack?"
"When the time comes, will the general be able to stop it?"
Qiao Rui said helplessly, "What you said is right, but I can't look back."
Yuan Xi heard this and said, "I can show the general two clear paths."
"First, I will temporarily imprison the general, and then secretly send people to fetch the general's family."
"Second, when Yuan Yao retreats and the general promises not to be my enemy, I will send the general back. If Yuan Shu becomes emperor, the general will seek refuge with Sun Bofu in order to save his life."
After hearing this, Qiao Rui was stunned for a long time and said: "What good will this do to the envoy?"
"I know how much I weigh, and I am far behind the generals under Shijun. Why can you be so humble?"
Yuan Xi smiled and said: "The general's martial arts skills are not very strong."
Qiao Rui heard what Yuan Xi said so straightforwardly and was hit hard, but she had nothing to say. Who allowed herself to be caught twice?
Yuan Xi added: "The reason I like the general is because he has a good relationship with Bo Fu. To be honest, I admire Bo Fu very much and don't want to become an eternal enemy with him in the future."
"If the general can mediate, I think it would be best if the two parties can turn their hostility into friendship in the future."
Qiao Rui was startled, so this was what the other party had in mind?
But this reason sounds very reasonable, and there is no reason to deceive myself!
He hesitated and said: "Bo Fu is now a subordinate of Yuan Shu. The two Yuan Dynasties are fighting. With Yuan Jiujiu here, I'm afraid Bo Fu will not show favor to the envoy."
Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
"Yuan Jiujiu is greedy and cruel, treats his subordinates harshly, plunders the people, and makes the world angry and resentful. Moreover, his self-reliance is risking the disapproval of the world. I don't think Bo Fu will be stupid enough to die with him."
Qiao Rui felt the same way. Yuan Shu was determined to do things his own way. In fact, many people were not optimistic about Yuan Shu proclaiming himself emperor, but they were all dazzled by the promised benefits. On the contrary, Qiao Rui, who had no ambition and was gradually losing power, had already had the idea. Retreat.
Seeing Qiao Rui's expression, Yuan Xi knew that he had moved, so he finally said: "The whole world will attack the unjust people. Even if the generals die for them, not only will they lose the reputation of loyalty, but they will also be infamous for thousands of years."
"Now that the world is fighting, it is unsafe everywhere, but I have a way out in Guangling, Xuzhou."
"Even if you encounter a military disaster, you can escape by sea ship, and you can go anywhere in the world."
"If Mr. Qiao is not willing to follow me, I won't force him. I just need to work hard to promote an alliance between me and Bo Fu. How about I let the general go back?"
Qiao Rui hesitated and said: "But Sun Bofu's side."
Yuan Xi waved his hand and said: "It doesn't matter. General, do your best and have a clear conscience."
Qiao Rui hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that I'll go back on my word when I go back?"
"Since I can let the general go back, naturally I won't care about the general breaking his promise. Besides, I am still willing to trust someone who can keep his promise to his deceased wife."
After hearing this, Qiao Rui's last doubt disappeared and he bowed: "Rui owes Shi Jun two lives. She is willing to go to persuade Bo Fu for the young master to repay Shi Jun for not killing him!"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi felt convinced that Qiao Rui was currently the most suitable person to contact Sun Ce.
The next two years will be the time to plan and plot against Yuan Shu. If Sun Ce is determined and goes against him, Yuan Xi will not only gain little benefit, but may also be disturbed by Sun Ce.
After all, Yuan Xi still felt guilty about Mrs. Wu. Who knows how Sun Ce would react after learning the truth.
(End of chapter)
