When Mi Zhen and Lu Lingqi heard the soldiers' shouts, their first reaction was that there was a rebellion in the city!
Then they thought at the same time that Guan Yu had not appeared today, and a frightening thought arose in their hearts.
Is Guan Yu going to take action against Yuan Xi?
Yuan Xi subconsciously said: "Lingqi, you and Sun Li protect the cotton seed box."
Lu Lingqi didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "If the enemy attacks and I lose my life, why do I need seeds?"
Yuan Xi laughed dumbly, "I'm confused."
He then joked: "But even if I die, the Mi family girl will spread the seeds all over this land."
Mi Zhen's face turned pale slightly, "It's already this time, young master, don't joke."
The noise came and the door of the mansion was pushed open with a bang. Everyone looked and their hearts tightened. They saw Guan Yu carrying the Qinglong Yanyue Sword and carrying dozens of life-swords and axemen walking in.
As soon as Guan Yu entered the door, he saw Yuan Xi beside the carriage. He turned around and strode towards the crowd.
Yuan Xi swallowed his foam and pulled out his sword from the carriage. When Sun Li and Lu Lingqi saw him, they also drew their swords and halberds and stood in front of Yuan Xi.
Mi Zhen was anxious, walked a few steps quickly to block the crowd, and said to Guan Yu, "What does the general want?"
Guan Yu had already come closer. He was slightly startled when he heard the words. He cupped his hands to Yuan Xi and said, "I have seen the envoy."
"Yu has something important to do today, so he couldn't greet you from afar. It's rude."
He asked Mi Zhen again: "Where is the prefect?"
Only then did everyone realize that Guan Yu was not here to deal with Yuan Xi!
They all breathed a sigh of relief. Yuan Xi felt that his vest was soaked through. Guan Yu put too much pressure on him. If the other party was determined to kill him, all the people present combined would not be able to stop him!
It's no wonder that Yuan Xi felt uncertain. Although Liu Bei was already a rare benevolent and righteous person in this troubled world, there were also attempts to stab Liu Zhang in the back in later generations. When it came to some life-and-death decision, who knew what the other side would do?
Mi Zhen saw Guan Yu asking questions and replied: "My brother is accompanying the guests."
The sound of footsteps came, and Mi Fang walked out drunkenly with the wine prince in hand. When she saw Guan Yu coming, she laughed and said: "General Guan is here just in time, hurry up and take a seat and have a drink!"
Guan Yu's face was cold, "The war is urgent, and the prefect is still in the mood to drink. When I see my elder brother, I will definitely inform you of what you have done!"
Mi Fang was agitated. She was mostly awake from the wine, and her face was gloomy. "General Guan, how did I offend you? Do you want to target me like this?"
"The current patrols in the city are not causing any problems. Have I ever been slacking off?"
Guan Yu snorted coldly, "It's not the East China Sea, it's Xiapi!"
"What!" Everyone was shocked, Mi Fangjiu woke up completely, "What's going on?"
After Guan Yu said a few words, everyone finally understood that Yuan Shu had actually raised tens of thousands of troops to attack Xiapi!
Now Liu Bei and Zhang Fei tried their best to resist, but Yuan Shu's army was so powerful that the two of them retreated steadily. They retreated into Xiapi City, only to be surrounded by Yuan Shu's army!
Although Mi Fang broke out in a cold sweat, Yuan Xi was also extremely shocked and even blamed himself.
I still regard Yuan Shu as a fish on the sword, which is too optimistic!
The other party is one of the strongest princes, with a territory of several states, dozens of generals under his command, and the ability to raise an army of 300,000 to fight against Yuan Shao!
There are many capable people under his command, and the hall is full of advisers. No matter how unbearable Yuan Shu is, his strength in the world is still second to none. Moreover, once the emperor's edict to attack Yuan Shu and order five groups to attack was issued, how could the other party sit still and wait for death?
From the perspective of counselor Yuan Shu, of course he defeated the weakest one while the five armies were not gathering!
Among them all, Liu Bei is the weakest. His area of Xiapi is easy to attack but difficult to defend. It has changed hands several times and is much easier to fight than other directions. So of course Yuan Shu has to attack Liu Bei first!
Guan Yu said coldly: "As the prefect of Xiapi and the Sima of another department, I have the authority to give special orders in time of war except for the envoy. Now I want to take away all the soldiers in Qu City and rush to Xiapi's aid!"
Mi Fang was anxious, "If the enemy comes, how will Qu City be defended?"
Guan Yu snorted coldly: "This is the rear, where are the enemies?"
"If eldest brother loses, where else do your Mi family want to go?"
"There are defenders in the cities near the East China Sea. When the time comes, the prefect can mobilize his own troops!"
Mi Fang's expression was gloomy and uncertain, and in the end she had to hold her hands and said: "Take the general's orders."
Guan Yu nodded, turned to Yuan Xi and said: "Yu wants to go to Xiapi by water. The Han River is much closer to the Yangtze River than the outer sea, but half of it is in Guangling County, so passage requires..."
Yuan Xi immediately took out a special token from his arms and said, "This is mine. General, hold it as if I were here personally."
Seeing Yuan Xi being so straightforward, Guan Yu's eyes flashed: "Thank you for your righteousness, brother Yudai!"
Yuan Xi waved his hand and said: "General, you are polite. Since both sides are allies, we should be united. General, you can go first. I will send a letter to Guangling now and ask Mr. Yuanlong to send troops to support Duke Xuande!"
Guan Yu fiercely clasped his fists: "Young Master Yi Bo Yuntian, Yu will say goodbye now!"
He turned around, picked up the knife, strode out, and ordered his men: "All the soldiers of Lieutenant General Zhaoji City will set off from the pier southward in half an hour!"
Seeing Guan Yu and his men disappearing into the vast night, everyone looked at each other and felt a little uneasy.
Yuan Shao launched a large-scale attack on Xuzhou. If Xiapi was defeated, the next target would definitely be Donghai and Guangling!
Yuan Xi lost interest now, and immediately called Jushou Lu Xun, preparing to take a boat overnight to return to Haixi. Before leaving, Jushou thought for a moment and said to Mi Fang, "How many days will it take for the general to mobilize troops to the nearest city?"
Mi Fang was startled and thought for a moment, "At least five or six days?"
Jushou nodded and said, "The prefect had better find someone now."
Mi Fang immediately reacted, "What do you mean, sir?"
Jushu sighed: "In these five or six days, Qucheng has been an empty city."
After hearing this, Mi Fang reacted immediately and quickly sent people with warrants to dispatch troops to various cities.
Yuan Xi saw it and said, "Brother Mi, don't panic. As long as you control the dock well, you can protect yourself if the enemy comes in time."
"If the enemy is strong, you can take a boat to Haixi Pier. There are still many soldiers in our city."
Mi Fang beamed with joy after hearing this and thanked her repeatedly.
Yuan Xi said to Mi Zhen: "I will go back to Haixi to set up defenses now. Take care of yourself, girl."
Mi Zhen listened, nodded, and whispered: "Young master, take care of yourself too."
Normally, Mi Fang might have made a few jokes, but now he was not in the mood. He sent Yuan Xi and others to Qucheng Pier, watched the Zhen family merchant ship leave, and then returned to the house with worries.
Seeing that Mi Zhen was still waiting in the hall, he said, "What Jushou said is right. I have been restless these days."
"I have arranged a boat. If there is any danger, you can take the boat to Haixi to join the fierce tiger."
Mi Zhen said uneasily: "What about brother?"
Mi Fang gritted her teeth, "If Donghai is lost in my hands, the Mi family will not be able to hold its head high!"
"I thought about it, but it's still too late to mobilize troops. I will mobilize troops directly in the nearby city!"
Mi Zhen said worriedly: "But just now my brother promised to wait for reinforcements in the city..."
Mi Fang waved her hand and said, "Needless to say, if we always rely on the evil tiger, where will our Mi family's face be?"
"If we can't handle this, even if my little sister gets married, she will be looked down upon by others!"
Mi Zhen still wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Mi Fang, "Don't worry, little sister, I have my own sense of propriety, and I will definitely do this beautifully!"
"Guan Yu has transferred all the soldiers. I still have 500 slaves here. When the time comes, I will take 300 people to mobilize the troops and leave 200 guards for you. You can wait for my news in the city!"
Mi Zhen shook her head and said, "What if we encounter an enemy?"
"Brother, I'd better take all the slaves away. If something happens to me, I'll run away to the sea at worst!"
Mi Fang hesitated again and again and said: "I will set off early tomorrow morning. I will think about it carefully first and then make a decision!"
The commotion in Qucheng lasted for midnight. Guan Yu mobilized soldiers and boarded ships overnight to sail southward from the Han River. However, the aftermath in the city did not stop, and rumors spread quickly.
Countless enemy troops have already attacked near Qucheng. It should be Langya's Taishan bandits heading south!
Seeing that the situation was not good, the defender of Qu City had already led his troops to abandon the city and escape!
In panic, the rumors quickly spread to the city with a population of tens of thousands. Because the city gate was closed, many people fled through the waterway. Those with boats set up small boats, and those without boats simply launched into the water to cross the river.
When Mi Fang was woken up by the soldiers in a daze, he saw that it was still dark outside and was about to curse. When the soldiers told him about the chaos in the city, he jumped up in shock.
He rode out and found that the city was in chaos, with people fleeing everywhere, crowding the entire street.
The city gate has not yet been opened, but tens of thousands of people are already crowding at the city gate, begging the soldiers to open the door in advance. Some of them can no longer hold themselves back and start inciting others to attack the city gate.
Mi Fang saw it and was about to send people to disperse when several more soldiers rushed over and said something had happened at Qucheng Pier!
Mi Fang turned her horse around and headed straight for Qucheng Wharf. She saw the merchant ships of the Mi family's caravan leaning against the shore, and the sailors were in chaos. Mi Fang went over to take a look and started to curse.
There were several smaller boats with their bottoms pierced and almost capsized, while on the larger boats, all the steering rudders on the decks were chopped off!
It would take three to five days to repair the rudder of this kind of ship. Mi Fang was cold all over. He didn't know who the enemy was yet, but the enemy had obviously started to take action!
For the enemy to be able to do this, he must know everything about the city, and he must also know that there are no soldiers in the city!
Thinking that the other party would attack at any time, Mi Fang panicked. Now he had two choices, one was to stick to the city, and the other was to abandon the city and leave.
The first one is almost waiting for death. Who can beat him with only a few hundred slaves?
Now when choosing the second option, there are two options. One is to mobilize troops to other cities, but there is a high possibility that the enemy will ambush you halfway.
The second is to flee to Haixi across the river and seek asylum from Yuan Xi!
Originally, the sea route was the fastest, but the Mi family's merchant ship was destroyed and all the boats escaped last night, so the only way to go was by land.
As long as you walk west along the Huai River from Qucheng for half a day and cross the river at the ferry, you can reach Haixi!
Mi Fang led people away from the dock and saw that the crowd in the city became more and more restless along the way. Some people saw the team and rushed up to ask where the soldiers were.
Mi Fang said nothing with a sullen face, looking at the group of people who were causing trouble, and suddenly she had a plan on her mind.
Don't you want to run?
I will make it happen for you!
In the woods more than ten miles outside Qucheng, a group of elite soldiers dressed as Mount Tai thieves were hiding in full force.
The leader was surprisingly Cao Ying General Xia Houyuan!
When he heard the news that the gates of Qu City were opened and the people were fleeing in droves, he smiled at the generals of Cao Ying beside him and said: "Your Majesty is really a master of calculation. This plan of knocking on the mountain and shaking the tiger is really effective."
"Next, we will follow the envoy's plan to fish out a bigger fish!"
(End of chapter)
