Chapter 686 The idea of ??letting Sun Ce drive the big ship
"Duanzi, eat slowly, we won't compete with you... Oh, I really envy the dumplings. You can eat so much and your figure doesn't get out of shape."
"If you really care about her, you will be very angry...Here, I'll give you this."
While Zhao Xiaotuan was busy nibbling the duck, Cao Ning took out a piece of sweet-scented osmanthus cake from the storage bag.
"I came back in a hurry. I brought it back when I passed by the dessert shop. I don't know if it will suit your taste."
"This is...well, it's the smell of my childhood."
Shi Xiaoxiao took a small bite of the pastry, and a happy smile immediately appeared on his face: "Thank you Cao Ning!"
"Hey...cauldron, where's mine?"
Zhao Xiaotuan, who was busy eating roast duck next to her, was envious again. Looking at the exquisite sweet-scented osmanthus cake, she wanted to eat it too.
Cao Ning seemed to have guessed what Zhao Xiaotuan was thinking, so he took out a few more lettuces from the bag: "Here, I pulled them from the ground specially for you. You're welcome."
Zhao Xiaotuan looked at the few lettuces still stained with fresh soil and wanted to laugh but couldn't.
I could only say awkwardly: "Haha, you are really my big pot..."
...
Early the next morning, the rumble of war drums resounded throughout Dingjun Mountain.
Cao Ning got up and got angry. He came out of the tent wearing big pants, a white shirt, and flip-flops.
"Who is it? Who doesn't sleep so early in the morning? He knocks on things and prevents people from sleeping."
Hearing Cao Ning angrily yelling outside, the fools living in the nearby tents also came out rubbing their heads.
The three of them were very drunk last night, and when they were sent back to the tent, they were all carried back.
"Haizi, what kind of beer did you buy? Why am I still dizzy after drinking it?"
"Can you blame me? There's still no problem with the beer, but who asked you to mix it with white wine and red wine, and you drank it to Old General Huang and fell to the ground?"
"Hey, Brother Ning, haven't we finished the battle? Why are you still restless so early in the morning... Oh, why are you being surrounded again? When did so many soldiers come outside?"
Sun Liang rubbed his eyes and looked at the neatly arranged army horses in front of the mountain and almost thought it was an illusion.
Cao Ning didn't know what was going on, so he immediately called for Cheng Yaojin, who was in charge of guarding.
"Lao Cheng, what's going on with the soldiers and horses outside? Could it be that these guys have rebelled again?"
"No, no, Brother Ning, you misunderstood!"
Cheng Yaojin gasped and explained: "This is the princes led by Etai Shici and Kong Rong. They are the people who have been ordered to come and gather. They are waiting for you to come and receive them."
When Cao Ning heard this, he was surprised: "Someone is really here... Let's go and have a look together."
I thought that all the so-called princes would pretend to be evasive, but I never thought that someone would actually come.
Cao Ning washed his face and led a group of people out of the stronghold to the front of the mountain. As soon as they approached, several people led by Kong Rong all knelt down on one knee with their hands in hand.
"Tai Shi Ci was ordered to lead five thousand troops from his headquarters to assemble. He is now giving orders to Cao Gong!"
"Kong Rong was ordered to lead five thousand troops from his headquarters to assemble. He is now giving orders to Cao Gong!"
"Tao Qian was ordered to lead two thousand troops from his headquarters to assemble. He is now giving orders to Cao Gong!"
"Zhang Miao was ordered to lead two thousand troops from his headquarters to assemble. He is now giving orders to Cao Gong!"
"..."
This time, there were six princes who took the initiative to gather with all their troops. Their total number of troops was 16,000, which was much more than Cao Ning expected.
"Good, very good, very good!"
"You all are indeed people of your word. Now that you are here, we will be brothers from now on. Don't worry, I will treat everyone equally and will never treat you differently."
Cao Ning's words touched the hearts of Taishi Ci and others. They originally wanted to imitate Ma Teng and Xuyi and shirk responsibility, sit on the mountain and wait and see, delaying the assembly time.
But when they learned that Cao Ning had brought tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers into his own camp in one day, none of them could sit still.
Cao Ning's lack of troops had forced them into despair before, but now it is not easy to deal with them.
After careful consideration, they all decided to come over with their own troops and horses to avoid being in an embarrassing situation in the future.
Just when Cao Ning was praising several princes, a team of less than a thousand people wandering on the edge attracted his attention.
"Whose troops are they? Why are they always watching over there?" Cao Ning asked curiously.
Taishi Ci turned around to look and reported: "Go back to Mr. Cao, they are Sun Bofu's men. He brought them out secretly this time. I'm afraid he has some scruples, so he didn't dare to come over."
"It turns out to be Sun Ce. It seems that he has much more vision than his old son Sun Jian."
Cao Ning muttered, then waved his hand: "Let's go, since he doesn't dare to come, then I will go and greet him."
On the other side, Sun Ce wandered around the bushes for a long time, but still did not have the courage to convince himself to join the alliance.
"General, if we disobey the Lord's order this time and come out to assemble without permission, will we be held accountable?" the deputy general asked.
Sun Ce punched the bush and said angrily: "What are you afraid of? My father is an old fool and would believe Yuan Shu's lies. If they could really win, they wouldn't have lost so miserably before. Besides, I'm here now
Well, that can be regarded as a chance to win leniency for my father."
"If that's the case, then why don't we follow the other princes to gather together? What's the matter with us hiding here now?" the deputy general asked doubtfully.
Sun Ce rolled his eyes: "You think I don't want to? Aren't I also worried that Cao Ning will go back on his word and take the opportunity to liquidate us?"
"Young Master, someone from the mountain stronghold is coming towards us."
At this moment, the guard in charge of guarding suddenly reported the situation.
Sun Ce looked up and saw that there were indeed more than a dozen people coming over from the opposite side, led by a young man wearing strange clothes.
Cao Ning stepped forward and joked with a smile: "Brother Bo Fu really knows how to find a place. It's really cool here. It's much more comfortable than standing on the open ground."
"Uh, haha, it happened by chance," Sun Ce responded with an awkward smile.
He knew in his heart that although Cao Ning did not introduce himself, the only one who could make Zhang Fei and the others willing to serve as a foil here was Cao Ning, the Lord of Dingjun Mountain.
Cao Ning walked to Sun Ce with a smile and patted him on the shoulder: "Brother Sun's name is very familiar to me. I have wanted to meet him for a long time, but I have never been able to meet him. Let's go to the big tent to have a meeting together. The place is ready.
After the meal, I’m waiting to have a drink with you all.”
"Ah... thank you so much, Mr. Cao, for your kindness. Sun Ce is ashamed to accept it."
Sun Ce thought that Cao Ning would look down upon him if he came alone to gather, but he didn't expect that the other party didn't mention anything about the gathering, which really made him feel at ease.
On the way back, Sun Ce kept staring at the boat pole sticking out of the cave, and Cao Ning immediately guessed what he was thinking.
"Brother Bo Fu is interested in big ships?"
"Uh... I don't dare, I don't dare, I'm just curious!"
Sun Ce mistakenly thought that Cao Ning was wary of him, and quickly denied it.
After all, the coalition forces at that time had already experienced the power of large ships, so it was normal to have such a vigilant attitude.
But Cao Ning's next operation made him feel flattered.
Cao Ning responded with a smile: "Since Bo Fu is interested in ships, let's go up and experience it. If it's suitable, I think it's not impossible for you to pilot a big ship yourself in the future."
"Really, is it really okay?"
Sun Ce couldn't believe what he heard.
Cao Ning actually proposed the idea of letting him pilot the big ship, but they had only known each other for less than half an hour.
How could he know himself so well?
Cao Ning nodded: "Of course it's true. Since Bo Fu can disobey his father's orders and lead the troops to gather alone, it is a righteous thing. If I have any reservations about you, wouldn't it be my fault?"
