Shouchun City.
After Cao Cao's coalition forces withdrew, Yuan Shu immediately led an army of 100,000 to counterattack. After all, the land of the Huaihe River was Yuan Shu's home base. Xiahou Chun was defeated and Shouchun City was destroyed.
When he returned to Shouchun City, Yuan Shu had known that the palace had been burned down. When he saw the magnificent palace turned into a pile of ashes with his own eyes, he still could not accept the fact. He was so angry that he almost held his breath on the spot.
Yuan Shu was so angry that his face was pale and trembling, and he gritted his teeth: "Cao Cao! Zhang Xiu! Lu Bu! Liu Bei! You villains dare to destroy Gu's palace, Gu swears to punish you!"
"Your Majesty!" Yang Hong knew that Yuan Shu's body was weak and he did not dare to make any noise. He immediately persuaded him: "The palace was destroyed and can be rebuilt. Now our army's vitality is severely damaged. After the rest is completed, we can plan for it slowly."
Yuan Shu nodded, and then asked anxiously: "Who robbed those boxes of treasures? Can you find out?"
What Yuan Shu cares about is not the treasures, but the most important thing: the imperial seal. When they fled south, Hu Sai pretended not to know which box he had put the imperial seal in. After arriving in Huainan, he searched all the boxes but couldn't find it.
Since the dozens of carts of treasures were robbed, Yuan Shu was so angry that he couldn't sleep or eat, causing his thin body to lose a lot of weight. He kept sending people to investigate the matter, but he still had no clue. The treasure of the car disappeared as if it had evaporated from the world.
Only he knew about the loss of the imperial seal, and he did not dare to tell others, but it would inevitably be leaked over time, so he forced his men to actively investigate the whereabouts of those treasures.
Now the most likely one is Lu Bu.
Lu Bu had already returned to the north, so it was difficult to coordinate this matter. He placed a lot of details in Lu Bu's army and prepared for detailed coordination. He also went to Cao's camp to arrange detailed dispatches. But Liu Beijun and Zhang Xiujun did not intervene.
Liu Bei's five thousand troops were his own, and no one could get in; Zhang Xiu's men were either from Nanyang or Xiliang, so he had no way of attacking them.
Yang Hong shook his head and said: "The traces of the carriage have been washed away by the Huaihe River, and they are still being dispatched. Please rest assured, Your Majesty, the general will definitely find it back."
Yuan Shu could only force his hands to investigate. He looked at the charred ruins with regret, and felt a chill in his heart.
At this time, a scout came to report: "Your Majesty, Zhang Xiu was chased by Cao's army and fought in Huoshan. Cao's army was defeated and returned. Zhang Xiu's army is resting in Huoshan and may go south to join Sun Ce and Liu Biao's army."
"Okay!" Yuan Shu was happy and hated at the same time, "Then I'll kill Zhang Xiu first to vent the hatred in my heart. I want you to conquer Zhang Xiu's son personally."
Yang Hong quickly persuaded him: "Your Majesty, now that our army has just entered Shouchun, we must not move lightly. We should rest and recuperate until we can fight again next year. Zhang Xiu's eight thousand troops are heading south in panic and are short of food and grass. He can order nearby counties and counties to guard the food and grass. If they are hungry, Kill them."
Yuan Shu nodded: "Just follow the general's words."
…
Huoshan.
After a day of rest, the fatigue from running around for a day has been relieved a lot. The most uncomfortable thing about riding a horse is the sides of your thighs. Without the help of stirrups, you can only rely on your two thighs to hold the horse's belly for balance. Over time, the pain in both thighs will be severe.
If you don't clamp the horse's belly tightly, it will cause pain in the belly.
Between thighs and balls, everyone unanimously chose thighs.
Even if Zhang Xiu had lived on horses since he was a child, he still couldn't withstand running around for several days in a row, and the pain in his inner thighs was severe. Fortunately, there is a saddle to relieve the bump on the butt, otherwise, it is likely to affect future generations.
At the end of spring in May, the weather in the south has warmed up. Zhang Xiu took off his iron armor and wore a loose straight-skirted cicada coat. He sat sideways on the couch with local melons and fruits from the south beside him.
Wei Yan and Gan Ning came in to pay their respects.
Zhang Xiu motioned for them to get up, pointed to the seat next to them and asked them without hiding it, "Xingba, where did you hide those carts of treasures?"
When Wei Yan transported several carts of boxes, Gan Ning guessed that there might be treasures inside, but he didn't open it. He didn't expect Zhang Xiu to tell them openly, knowing that this was his trust in them.
Gan Ning was deeply moved by his lord's trust: "My lord, I hid those carts of treasures in a cave in Huoshan Mountain."
"Let's go!" Zhang Xiu stood up and said, "Take me to see. I want to see how many treasures Yuan Shu, the fourth generation and the third prince, has in his hands."
After leaving the military tent, Gan Ning led three hundred personal guards to guard Zhang Xiu and walked towards the back mountain. The cave faces north, and there is no sunlight throughout the year. As soon as you approach the entrance, you feel a cold dampness. Zhang Xiu was wearing too thin clothes and couldn't help but shudder.
Gan Ning was prepared and took out his cloak and put it on Zhang Xiu and said, "My lord, all the boxes are placed here, and there are hidden posts guarding them all around."
There were more than twenty large red-painted boxes neatly placed in the cave. Because the air was humid, there were some water droplets on the boxes. Zhang Xiu pointed to the top box casually: "Take it down, open it and take a look."
Gan Ning went over, picked up the box, placed it on the ground, and pried it open. When the treasure box was opened, a five-color light shot out, illuminating the cave and everyone's faces.
Seeing this five-colored light, Zhang Xiu's breath tightened. My mind immediately thought of the scene in later generations' records where Sun Jian obtained the jade seal, and also thought of Sun Ce pledging the jade seal to borrow troops, and then Yuan Shu relied on the jade seal to proclaim himself emperor.
There is a brocade bag placed in the box, and five-colored light emanates from this brocade bag.
Zhang Xiu knelt down, picked up the brocade bag and opened it. There was a small vermilion box inside, which was locked with a gold lock. Opening the gold lock, there was a piece inside: four inches in the square garden, with five dragons intersecting buttons engraved on it; a missing corner on the side was inlaid with gold; there were eight characters in seal script on it: if you are ordered by heaven, you will live long and prosperous.
Seeing these eight words, Zhang Xiu felt that his heart was suppressed and dared not beat, and blood rushed to his face; everyone in the cave was attracted by these eight words, and the cave was silent, except for the sporadic sound of dripping water. Crisp to the ears.
Can that man resist the temptation of these eight words?
Taking a deep breath of moist air, suppressing the desire and impulse in his heart, he covered the small red box, covering up the tempting thing.
"Lord!" Wei Yan swallowed.
At this time, he felt that the destiny had already belonged to Zhang Xiu. Needless to say what the jade seal meant, the fact that it could be transferred to Zhang Xiu's hands fully demonstrated the destiny.
Gan Ning also looked at Zhang Xiu with red eyes in excitement.
"Except for you and me, no other person is allowed to know about this matter, do you understand?" Zhang Xiu glanced at them, his eyes as sharp as a falcon's, and his voice was majestic and unquestionable.
Gan Ning and Wei Yan naturally knew the seriousness of this matter. The two of them immediately bowed to the ground and said, "Understood!"
Asking them to get up, Zhang Xiu put the small scarlet box into a brocade bag, put it in his arms, and then ordered: "Move these things out and prepare. The army will set off tomorrow for Lujiang City."
