Beiyu Camp.
Even though drinking was not allowed in the army, Duanmu Qiu still found a jar at this time, sat in a remote place and drank heavily with a cold face.
How shameful that a son of an aristocratic family who had learned the art of war since he was a child was beaten to the point of falling off his horse and losing his helmet by a mud-legged general from Western Sichuan.
"Fourth brother, what's going on?" Wu Zhen, the third eldest son of Wuliang, Hebei, approached with a frown.
"Third brother, I feel uncomfortable in my heart. It's clear that the little Shu general has almost gone deep alone, but you and I can't take revenge."
"Don't worry, fourth brother. I'll report it to the Sheepherd's military advisor, and I'll send out the army if I don't know. After all, at this time, we still need to be careful of the Shu people's tricks."
"Come and go, once the enemy is alerted, the young Shu thief will probably run away."
Wu Zhen also fell into deep thought.
At this moment, several mounted scouts hurried back to the camp. When they dismounted, several people were just about to go deeper into the camp——
"Hold on!" Duan Muchou put down the wine jar and walked over with a frown.
"Do you have any information about the young Shu thief general?"
Several scouts were silent for a while, "General Duanmu, the thief has not returned. We are still continuing to investigate."
"Then what do you have to report when you return to camp this time?"
Wu Zhen, who was nearby, saw that Duan Muchou's attitude was wrong and hurriedly tugged on his robe and armor.
Unexpectedly, Duanmu Qiu, who was above him, ignored his third brother's stoppage and firmly believed that this information could not be related to the Western Shu thief general.
"How about this? I'll help you pass the information back to the sheepherder's military advisor."
Several scouts looked a little bitter and simply spoke out. Next to it, another scout brought a white cloth wrapper.
"General Duanmu, when I was investigating, I found something left by the thief general on the official road."
"Bring it to me and see!"
Duan Muchou's face was full of anger, he took the white cloth bundle, and when he opened it and saw clearly what was inside, he was trembling with anger.
The white cloth was not a token of some kind, but five dead rats, with words written on the white cloth - Five rats from Hebei, let's go on the road together.
"The Shu thieves bullied me too much!"
Bang!
Throwing the dead rat on the ground with a white cloth, Duanmu Chou roared angrily. He only felt that his face was burning with pain, as if he had been slapped.
"Quickly tell me, where is the Shu thief!"
"Fourth brother, calm down." Wu Zhen, who was standing next to him, hurriedly tried to dissuade him.
"Third brother, that Shu thief is humiliating me, Hebei Wuliang, how can I endure this! I am waiting for the five of us to come out, but we want to be famous all over the world! Now, I am slapped in the face! Hardly!"
Listening, Wu Zhen's eyes gradually became angry. But in the end, he endured it.
"Fourth brother, don't worry. If you and I wait a little longer, the eldest and second brothers will definitely persuade the sheepherders and military advisors to send troops to kill this Shu bandit!"
Duan Muchou's face was gloomy, but he was not a fool after all and nodded.
…
"I'm worried about fraud."
At this time, in the Zhongjun tent in the Beiyu camp, the sheepherder Xun Pingzi spoke in a deep voice. When Chang Sheng goes out, he needs to be careful in this huge camp.
"Military advisor, how do you say this?"
"Changsheng's little military advisor has laid out thirteen food routes. Logically speaking, it should be difficult to distinguish the true from the false. However, it is unreasonable for a fledgling Xishu general to dare to take on such an important task. It is even said that , It’s a drunkard who doesn’t care about drinking. This young general from Xishu has other plans.”
The sheepherder's analysis made many people present, including Yuchi Ding and Xie Yu, all nod seriously.
"Sichuan people are good at using poisonous tricks, we must not fall for them."
"Commander Xun, are you going to let that Western Shu thief general go?"
"Of course not. If you can kill him, it's the best." The sheepherder smiled, "What about this, use the force of eight thousand horsemen to attack him slowly. If he doesn't retreat, he will definitely die here."
"Yes, the military advisor has a clever plan!" Yuchi Ding and Xie Yu both looked at each other for a few times and then breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, it was right to report it to the military advisor first.
…
Dusk is almost evening.
Only after he walked out of the central military tent, Yuchi Ding breathed a sigh of relief, invited several other foster brothers over, and told the sheepherder's plan.
"Brother, if we send troops again tomorrow, I'm afraid the thief will run away!" Duanmuchou looked anxious, "If I don't go to persuade you again, it's best to send troops immediately."
"It's so late at night that it's extremely difficult to pursue and suppress. We still have to worry about whether the Shu people are hiding behind them, so we'll just leave it for tomorrow. Besides, there are always patrols from Beiyu outside the camp. It'll be fine." Yu Chiding comforted.
"Brother, you don't know something...that thief general humiliated the five of us!"
Duanmu Qiu gritted his teeth and told the story about the "Five Rats of Hebei" with added embarrassment.
"If I don't kill this person, it will be difficult to eliminate the hatred in my heart!"
After hearing this, Yuchi Ding's face became angry. But after all, he is the most stable person among the five good people in Hebei.
"Don't worry, fourth brother, we can take revenge tomorrow."
"If he realizes that something is wrong, he scares the snake and then runs away. My brother also knows that when I was riding on the horse, he was so frightened that I fell off the horse——"
"Fourth brother, calm down." Xie Yu, the second among the five, hurriedly spoke to persuade him.
The third child, Wu Zhen, was nearby and didn't know what to do for a while.
"I listen to my brother..." Duan Muchou lowered his head, but his body kept trembling.
Dusk quickly darkened.
In the dead silence of the camp, horse hooves suddenly sounded. First, a cavalry army of three thousand suddenly rushed out of the camp. Not long after, another group of more than 4,000 cavalry rushed out.
Riding on the horse, Duanmuchu's face was full of anger. This time, he vowed to kill the Western Shu thief general who humiliated him!
"Fourth brother!" Wu Zhen, who was chasing after him from behind, kept shouting anxiously.
"Third brother, will you help me? If you don't, please go back, so as not to be implicated by me and be accused of deploying troops without permission!"
"Why do you say this, fourth brother? The five good men in Hebei are like brothers. Of course I... will help you." Wu Zhen, also riding on the horse, sighed with difficulty.
At this time in the Beiyu camp, Yu Chiding was extremely shocked when he heard that his two younger brothers, each with three or four thousand light cavalry, went out to pursue the Shu people.
"Brother... he faked the expedition order and transferred the cavalry camp privately." As the think tank of Hebei Wuliang, Jie Yu approached, his voice full of worry.
"If we catch the Western Shu thief general, the punishment may be reduced, but if we fail to catch him, I'm afraid he will be dealt with by military law."
"Confused!" Yu Chiding gritted his teeth.
"Brother, first report to the Sheepherd Military Advisor. In addition, we also need to send fast horses to inform the Changsheng Military Advisor. Regardless of whether it is a disaster or not, we must not let this matter burn up all at once." Jie Yu thought for a while and spoke.
"Second brother, do it quickly."
"Brother, don't worry."
Jie Yu cupped his hands and quickly turned around and left.
Standing in the night wind, Yuchi sighed and closed his eyes. Now, he just hopes that his two adopted brothers will not suffer any serious disaster.
