At the gate of Pengcheng, Sun Ce brought a team of guards to wait there.

From afar, he saw a group of people walking towards this side.

The man who walked over looked about five or six hundred.

Seeing the team coming towards the city gate, Zhou Tai, who accompanied Sun Ce to greet him, said: "Yuan Xianfu is really a big show. It's not too far from Hebei to Xuzhou. He actually brought so many people here. Could it be that the bandits along the way knew it was him and would dare to rob the road halfway?"

"Since the Yuan family in Hebei defeated Gongsun Zan, he has become more arrogant day by day." Sun Ce replied: "Yuan Xianfu brought so many people to Pengcheng, just to ask the Chu Hou to see the Yuan family's strong soldiers and horses, even if he can bring so many people when he goes out."

"The two sides don't start a war, so what's his mighty appearance in front of the Chu Marquis?" Zhou Tai curled his lips: "If I were really capable and killed more generals under Cao Cao on the battlefield, I would still agree with him."

"Cao Cao has many talents, relying on Yuan Xianfu..." A strange smile appeared on the corner of Sun Ce's mouth, and he did not continue.

The team coming was getting closer and closer. Seeing that the person ahead was Yuan Shang, Sun Ce greeted Zhou Tai and took the guards to meet him.

When he arrived in front of Yuan Shang, Sun Ce bowed and bowed: "General Xianfu came from afar. The Marquis of Chu should have come to greet him in person, but Xuzhou has too many affairs and is unable to get out of here. Let the general wait here, please don't blame Xianfu."

"I think it is, it turns out to be Sun Bofu from Jiangdong." Yuan Shang replied with a smile on his face but was not very pleasant to listen to: "I really have something I want to ask you for advice, but I don't know if I should ask."

"General Xianfu is a guest from afar. I will welcome him on behalf of the Marquis of Chu. Of course, I must do my best to be a landlord." Sun Ce replied: "The general only asks if he has something to do. If he cannot answer, I will tell you inconveniently. As long as he can solve his doubts, he will definitely tell you everything he knows."

"What I want to ask is of course you can answer." Yuan Shang lowered his voice and asked Sun Ce: "You were so good in Jiangdong, why didn't you be the lord of Jiangdong, but instead fought for Lu Fengxian with the entire Jiangdong? Although our Yuan family is an alliance with him, I have heard that his reputation is not very good..."

The words Yuan Shang asked changed Sun Ce's expression.

Zhou Tai, who was following Sun Ce, heard this, his face turned cold and about to explode.

Before Zhou Tai could speak, Sun Ce winked at him.

Zhou Tai swallowed it back again after saying that he had already reached his mouth.

"General Xianfu asked this, I can only reply one thing, you don't know much about the Chu Marquis." Sun Ce's tone did not show any displeasure, and replied in a humble and arrogant manner: "The Yuan family and the Chu Marquis have already agreed to an alliance. Now Xianfu has arrived in Pengcheng, but he said in front of the Chu Marquis' general that he is not. If Yuan Gong knew, I wonder what he would think?"

Speaking of this, Sun Ce added: "I won't comment on how Chu Hou is. I will only say that Xianfu said in front of me that he is not good, so how good can he be?"

Although Sun Ce's tone was not strong, his words were very unpleasant. Yuan Shang's face suddenly changed and he glared at him fiercely: "Sun Bofu, I respect you as a hero from Jiangdong, why did you say anything to me?"

Before Sun Ce could respond, someone came up behind Yuan Shang.

This man is about 30 or 40 years old. After he walked out, he smiled and said to Sun Ce: "The third young master has always been straightforward in his words. General Sun should not take it to his heart."

The person who came out was Cui Yan, who had once picked up Tian Feng from prison.

Someone tried to smooth things over, and he also found that Yuan Shang, who was speaking inappropriately, didn't say much.

Sun Ce also looked indifferent and said to Yuan Shang and Cui Yan: "Xianfu and I are just talking about family matters, and it doesn't matter. This is not a place to talk. The Chu Hou is still waiting, so I'd better go see the Chu Hou first with me."

After saying a few words to Sun Ce, Yuan Shang's face was not very good.

However, Sun Ce did not follow the topic and talked about it. Although he was unhappy, he was not in a position to recover the losses he suffered in words.

"There is Lao Bofu." Yuan Shang bowed to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce resigned to the side: "General Xianfu, please!"

Accompanied by Sun Ce, he entered Pengcheng and Yuan Shang looked to the left and right sides.

Before coming to Pengcheng, he thought that it must be very depressed and there should be no few people on the streets. After all, Xuzhou is a place of several battles, and Pengcheng was even slaughtered by Cao Cao.

After entering the city, Yuan Shang discovered that his previous perception was completely wrong.

Pengcheng is not only prosperous, but the people passing by the streets are also calm and indifferent, and they don’t seem to be worried about Cao Cao coming again.

"Are the people of Pengcheng used to war? Now that Xuzhou is likely to be attacked by Cao Cao at any time, why are the people still so calm?" With doubts in his heart, Yuan Shang couldn't help but ask Sun Ce.

"Why do you still have to worry about life and death even though you know you won't die?" Sun Ce replied: "Cao Cao returned in vain when he led his troops to attack Xuzhou twice. After the Battle of Xia Pi, he had never even stepped in to the territory of Xuzhou. Pengcheng is the capital of Chu Hou, and the people here live an extremely stable life. Why are you worried that Cao Cao would lead his troops to kill him?"

"In terms of military strength, Lu Fengxian should be much worse than Cao Cao." Yuan Shang said: "With the troops and horses of Xuzhou and Yangzhou, it would probably not be that easy to compete with Cao Cao. I think if it hadn't been an alliance with our Yuan family, Cao Cao would have raised an army to attack Xuzhou long ago, and he would not have any more scruples."

"What General Xianfu said makes sense." Sun Ce smiled slightly: "But has the general thought that the first two times the Chu Hou repelled Cao Cao was when the Cao family and the Yuan family were in alliance. In addition to Cao Cao, the Yuan family also tried a lot to Xuzhou. What was the final result? It was not that Xuzhou was not at all damaged, and Cao Cao retreated. As for the Yuan family's son..."

Speaking of this, Sun Ce smiled and shook his head: "Now that the Yuan family and the Chu Hou have reached an alliance, so there is no need to mention the unpleasant things at the beginning."

Although Sun Ce did not continue, Yuan Shang knew very well that what he was talking about was Yuan Tan's attack on Mount Tai. Although he obtained two cities, the city under the Yuan family in Qingzhou was seized by the soldiers under Lu Bu. In the end, Yuan Tan still needed to get a lot of money before he could redeem the city.

With an even ugly face, Yuan Shang said to Sun Ce: "I always thought Bo Fu was a powerful general on the battlefield, but I didn't expect that he was also a sharp-tongued person."

"Thank you for the compliment of General Xianfu." Yuan Shang said that Sun Ce was sharp-tongued. Not only did Sun Ce not be angry, but he also smiled and thanked him.

After his thanks, Yuan Shang really didn't know what to continue to say.

After being stunned, Yuan Shang asked Sun Ce: "Have you followed Lu Fengxian for a long time, and even Bo Fu's temperament has changed?"

"General Xianfu and I were not familiar with each other in the past." Sun Ce replied: "If it were the cousins ​​of the general's family, I would be very familiar with each other, but those people now do not have the majesty of General Xianfu."

Of course, what Sun Ce is talking about is the young masters under Yuan Shu.

In the past, Yuan Shu in Huainan played a role in the army of tens of thousands and was one of the best heroes in the world.

Unfortunately, he was short-sighted and could not withstand the instigation of Yang Hong and others. After obtaining the imperial seal, he saw that the Han Dynasty was about to overthrow it and become the emperor.

Yuan Shu was the first hero in the world to be emperor, and his approach also attracted condemnation from all walks of life.

Lu Bu, who was still under Cao Cao's command at that time, found this excuse and led his army to attack Yuan Shu. In the end, he encountered Sun Ce, who was planning to seek some benefits in the Central Plains, thus seizing Huainan and subduing Sun Ce.

When Sun Ce mentioned Yuan Shu, Yuan Shang suddenly remembered that the jade seal of the kingdom was presented to Yuan Shu by the former lord of Jiangdong in front of him, in exchange for troops to retake Jiangdong.

After taking out thousands of people to exchange for the imperial seal that caused the death of life, Yuan Shu really lost money in that business!

Looking at Sun Ce, a cold smile appeared on Yuan Shang's lips: "If you want to say that my uncle is not very close to our family, he even met his father in a war. I have probably forgotten what his cousin looks like. What do Bo Fu Ti and the others do?"

Cui Yan, who accompanied Yuan Shang to Pengcheng, saw that he was always at the disadvantage of Sun Ce in his words, deliberately changed the topic: "Does General Sun know when the Marquis of Chu plan to attack Cao Cao?"

Cui Yan talked about the topic of Lu Bu's attack on Cao Cao, and Sun Ce knew that he shouldn't respond casually.

With Yuan Shang's ability, he can still deal with it. Cui Yan is indeed a famous scholar today. Although his tone of speaking is not alarmed, every sentence is secretly impressed. Once something is wrong, it may cause a lot of trouble to Lu Bu.

"Although I'm with Mr. Chu all day, I'm not very clear about some things." Sun Ce replied: "I think it's more appropriate to ask Mr. Chu for this question."

Sun Ce refused to answer, so Cui Yan stopped asking questions.

But Yuan Shang was a wink. Seeing that Sun Ce did not respond directly, he asked, "Could it be that Lu Fengxian was afraid of Cao Cao and intended to betray the alliance with our Yuan family?"

Sun Ce did not respond to Yuan Shang's rudeness and provocation.

He just smiled slightly and said to Yuan Shang: "General Xianfu still asked him in person when he saw him leaving Chu Hou."

Since I met Sun Ce, I have not received any benefits from him in words.

Cui Yan's words made Sun Ce's bad response, and Yuan Shang would not let go of the opportunity easily when he got it.

He asked Sun Ce jokingly, "Can I be right?"

Knowing that if he had a conversation with him, he would say even more unacceptable words later, Sun Ce would ignore him.

Accompanying Yuan Shang and others to the vicinity of the government, Sun Ce said: "Please ask General Xianfu to let his entourage go down to rest first, and only bring a few close-fitting entourages to see the marquis of Chu with me."

"I heard that Lu Fengxian is extremely brave. Could it be that he is still afraid of the entourages I brought?" Yuan Shang said: "If he would even worry about my entourage, it would be okay if he didn't see him today."

"If General Xianfu is not in a hurry to see the Marquis of Chu, I will report back." Sun Ce did not let him go and replied: "When the Marquis of Chu has free time next time, I will invite General Xianfu to meet again."

"Sun Bofu!" Sun Ce did not allow anything. Yuan Shang was a little annoyed and shouted at him.

Cui Yan next to him hurriedly said, "The third young master brought too many entourages. He led all entourages to meet the Chu Hou. It is indeed inconsistent with etiquette. I also asked the third young master to allow the entourage to rest first, and I will accompany you to meet the Chu Hou."

Before leaving Yecheng, Yuan Shao had instructed Yuan Shang that Cui Yan was the main one in everything.

He had to follow what Cui Yan asked him to do.

With Cui Yan coming from the scene, Yuan Shang didn't have much to say, so he waved his hand and signaled his followers to leave with a team of Xuzhou troops led by Zhou Tai.

Only five or six strong guards stayed by Yuan Shang and Cui Yan, so Sun Ce stopped saying anything and led them into the government.

Lu Bu had already received the news of their arrival and had been waiting in the front hall of the government.

Seeing Sun Ce leading Yuan Shang and Cui Yan into the government office, Lu Bu smiled and greeted him: "Xianfu and Cui Gong came from afar, thank you all the hard work along the way. I have too many things to do and have not come out to greet him in person. Don't blame me!"

"General Lu has a lot of affairs, so we can understand it." Yuan Shang replied, and then said with a cold face: "This time I came to Pengcheng, I was actually on the order of my father to come to ask General Lu when he would send troops to attack Cao Cao?"

"It was supposed to send troops long ago." Lu Bu replied: "It was just that I encountered some changes, which were delayed."

"I dare to ask what happened?" Yuan Shang asked again.

"There is a problem with the armor of the soldiers in the army." Lu Bu did not hide it and said to Yuan Shang: "The soldiers do not have enough armor. Even if I want to send troops, I can't. I can't bring a group of soldiers in civilian clothes to fight with the Cao army? The soldiers also have wives, children and parents. Since I follow me, I have to consider their lives."

"I didn't expect General Lu to love soldiers like his sons." Yuan Shang replied: "But I don't quite understand. Since I love soldiers, why are there problems with the armor of the soldiers in the army?"

"I can't control many things." Lu Bu replied: "When I discovered it, the armor had been distributed to the army. I forced the order to be taken back and re-trained, which delayed the time for sending troops."

"My father and Cao Mengde were in the alliance, but they never had these problems." Yuan Shang said: "After all the time, it was still General Lu's fault."

"Xianfu is right, it's a mess here." Lu Bu asked with a smile on his face: "Director Yuan ordered Xianfu to come to Pengcheng. Is it because he came to relieve my worries?"

Originally, Lu Bu had the upper hand in words, but when Lu Bu asked this suddenly, Yuan Shang was stunned: "I just came to question General Lu on behalf of his father..."

"Question?" Lu Bu smiled and said, "Mr. Yuan and I are just an alliance, and we are not subordinate to each other. I dare to ask Xianfu, where does the word "Question" come from?"
Chapter completed!