Although Qinghe State and Wei County are adjacent to each other, there is still a long way to go from Ganling to Yecheng.
Zhou Ping led everyone from Ganling to the west toward Yecheng.
At this time, the news that he had broken through two levels in a row reached Cao Cao's ears, which made Cao Cao quite angry.
"Cheng Zhongde underestimated Zhou Ping and Zhang Fei! They could break out of the city, how could a few hundred people stop them! Now that he has entered Jizhou, if he meets Yuan Benchu and persuades him to withdraw, then all our efforts will be in vain.
Got it!"
Guo Jia said: "Ming Gong, it's not just that Zhongde looked down upon them. It's true that there are no more troops in Yanzhou and most of the troops are here. Zhongde must have thought that Zhou Ping would go to Yecheng from Jiyin.
He deployed heavy troops in Jiyin, and he was able to set up two passes in Dongping, which is considered his best effort. Duke Ming should understand Zhang Fei's bravery, and there are dozens of soldiers to protect him, so it is normal that he cannot stop him."
Cao Cao sighed: "Alas, there are many soldiers guarding Xiapi City. Liu Bei patrols the city very strictly, and Ju Shou has no intention of attacking by force. It will be really difficult to break the city!"
"Now it seems that there is no need to rush into Xiapi. We can only plan slowly. When there is insufficient food in the city, the city will be afraid and collapse. At that time, we can destroy ourselves without attacking. But... I am afraid that Zhou Ping will persuade General Yuan to let him go."
Jizhou soldiers and horses retreat!" Guo Jia's words were full of worry.
Cao Cao stood up and walked around for a few steps, then suddenly stopped, with a stern look in his eyes, and said: "We must not let Zhou Ping see Yuan Benchu!"
"Zhou Ping has arrived in Jizhou, how can he stop him?" Guo Jia looked very helpless.
Cao Cao took a few steps closer, leaned over and whispered to Guo Jia: "My son is cultivating in Yecheng and has secretly raised a group of dead soldiers. He was originally going to use them when escaping from Yecheng in the future. Now it seems that we can only let them secretly assassinate Zhou Ping."
, so Liu Bei must think that Zhou Ping was killed by Yuan Benchu, and Jizhou’s troops will not retreat, hahaha..."
Guo Jia was secretly shocked after hearing this. He didn't know about Cao Ang secretly raising dead soldiers in Yecheng. It seemed that Cao Cao had been prepared for his son to escape from Yecheng when he fell out with Yuan Shao.
"Ming Gong, hundreds of people can't stop Zhou Ping. It would be extremely difficult to assassinate him!" Guo Jia couldn't help but feel worried.
"I know it's extremely difficult, but no matter how much it costs, I must kill him!"
After Cao Cao decided, he immediately sent his confidants and rushed to Yecheng day and night to inform his son Cao Ang, who was a hostage in Yecheng, and asked him to send dead soldiers and try every means to assassinate Zhou Ping.
At this time, the siege had been going on for a long time and there was a shortage of food and grass. Cao Cao had sent Cao Hong to Pei State to collect food and grass from Luo Jun, the governor of Yuzhou.
Liu Bei in the city patrolled the city every day. Although Zhang Xiu brought 20,000 troops and set up camp behind the Jizhou camp in the south, which frightened the soldiers in the city, everyone was looking forward to the good news from Zhou Ping and Liu Bei to comfort him.
People are not that afraid.
Liu Bei was also worried about the situation in Yangzhou, but now that the city was heavily guarded on all sides, it was difficult for the soldiers delivering the message to sneak into the city, so he knew nothing about the situation in Yangzhou.
After Zhang Xiu led 20,000 soldiers and horses to set up camp behind his own camp, Jushu sent 5,000 soldiers and horses to the east city to set up camp behind Yan Liang's camp to prevent the people in the city from breaking out of the city from the east again.
In December of the third year of Jian'an, Zhou Ping, Zhang Fei, Xu Chu and others finally arrived in Yecheng and moved into Chuanshe.
Yuan Shao is a general now, so he doesn't mean he can meet him anytime he wants.
Zhou Ping first sent someone to find Guo Tu and told him that he had arrived in Yecheng and wanted to ask to see General Yuan. He hoped that he could inform Yuan Shao and arrange for him to see Yuan Shao as soon as possible.
Guo Tu is now Guang Luxun. Because of his role in rescuing the emperor and moving to Yecheng, he is currently the most powerful and most important person under Yuan Shao's command.
And the reason why he is where he is today is because Zhou Ping asked him to persuade Yuan Shao to send troops, and he led the troops to besiege Xudu, so that he could save the emperor and move to Yecheng.
Therefore, he still slightly thought about Zhou Ping's kindness to him.
Yanzhou and Jizhou soldiers and horses were besieging Xiapi. Zhou Ping appeared in Yecheng at this time. Guo Tu certainly understood his intention to come to Yecheng and must have wanted to persuade Yuan Shao to retreat.
In fact, it would be beneficial to Guo Tu if Yuan Shao retreated.
Because Jushou, Yan Liang and other Jizhou people would not make great achievements because of this, Guo Tu did not want Jushou to become the Three Dukes faster than him.
Guo Tu agreed to Zhou Ping's request and said that he would mention it to the general tomorrow and let him see the general as soon as possible.
Zhou Ping was delighted when he received the reply. Guo Tu was willing to help, and he should have no problem meeting Yuan Shao.
As for when we can see him, we can't say for sure. It might be tomorrow, or it might be a few days later.
Zhou Ping also had a box tied to his body, which contained the imperial seal. This was a very important thing, and he didn't even take it off when he was sleeping.
"We have worked hard all the way here. Let's take a good rest tonight. However, we still need guards outside my door, but not too many. Five people are enough. Ziwei, you lead five people to guard until midnight. Zhongkang, you lead guard
The five of us stayed for the rest of the night."
Zhou Ping believed that when he arrived in Yecheng, he was out of Cao Cao's sphere of influence and no longer needed to worry or be on guard.
After all, Yuan Shao still doesn't know that he is coming to Yecheng with the imperial seal. Even if he knew, he would surely have guessed that he was here to present the imperial seal to him and would not send anyone to snatch it.
His subordinates are even less likely to come to rob it, and they don't dare to rob it. It would be useless if they rob it.
Therefore, it is enough for Zhang Wu and Xu Chu to take five guards each and take turns guarding them.
Zhang Fei has a different identity, so Zhou Ping cannot let him keep vigil for him.
After dark, the lamps were lit.
Zhou Ping felt tired and sleepy. He lay on the bed. He didn't think of Liu Bei, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, but he thought of Gan Qian and Da Qiao.
As he was thinking about it, he fell asleep without realizing it. The box containing the jade seal of the country was still tied to his body.
Zhang Wu stood outside the door with a bow and arrow on his back, and five other guards stood scattered outside the room.
Until midnight, Xu Chu brought five other guards to take over the guard, and asked Zhang Wu and others to go to sleep.
During these days on the road, they were busy during the day, and when they rested at night, Xu Chu and Zhang Wu took turns keeping watch, so they were used to it.
Xu Chu held the handle of the knife and stood outside the door of Zhou Ping's house, like a giant pillar. Compared with him, the guard next to him looked very lean.
About half an hour later, Xu Chu stood still, looking at the dim moonlight in the courtyard. The world was very quiet.
Suddenly, he seemed to hear the sound of arrows piercing the air, and instinctively moved his body to the right, but was still too slow. He only felt pain in his left arm, and an arrow hit his left arm.
At the same time, all five guards nearby fell down, probably all shot by arrows.
Xu Chu had just come to his senses when he saw several figures jumping down from the opposite roof into the courtyard, holding knives in their hands and rushing toward the door.
"Hey! He's not dead!"
Someone saw Xu Chu still standing outside the door and seemed very surprised.
But without saying another word, he rushed towards Xu Chu and slashed with his sword.
Xu Chu quickly drew his sword in his hand and shouted: "There is an assassin! There is an assassin! Come and protect sir!"
While shouting, he swung his knife and blocked the incoming knife at once, shocking the opponent so much that he took a few steps back.
It seemed that the other party was very powerful and wanted to kill Xu Chu with one blow.
The others originally wanted to break into the room, but when they saw Xu Chu fighting back his own man, they all gathered towards Xu Chu and slashed with their swords.
Xu Chu could also feel from the blow just now that these people were not ordinary assassins, and their skills seemed to be even more powerful than those of his brothers.
He roared angrily and swung his sword forward, immediately forcing all the opponents back a few steps.
Zhou Ping had already woken up in his room. Hearing the sound of fighting outside, he felt strange in his heart.
It stands to reason that with Xu Chu and five guards guarding the outside of the room, it would be impossible for ordinary people to stop him.
But now listening to the sound, it seems that only Xu Chu is fighting with the assassin, and the five guards seem to have been killed.
If this is the case, the origins of these people are not simple.
However, Zhou Ping was not afraid. They failed to rush in. At this time, Xu Chu shouted loudly again. Zhang Fei, Zhang Wu and other soldiers quickly came to help. These people would have retreated if they were not killed.
He hugged the box tightly, thinking in his mind, who would send the assassins to kill him, or did they not want to kill him, but came for the imperial seal?
"Ah, this guy is too cruel, what should I do?"
Zhou Ping heard someone injured and screaming in pain outside the room, and the sound seemed to be that of an assassin.
"Their help is coming soon. Rush into the room and take out the head of the person in the room!"
"Don't even think about entering the room!"
Zhou Ping could tell that it was Xu Chu's voice.
Then another scream was heard, and it seemed that someone fell down and hit the door.
Zhou Ping was really frightened this time. He stared at the door nervously, fearing that the door would suddenly open and a stranger with a knife would rush in.
"Sir, I'm here!"
Zhou Ping heard Zhang Fei's voice coming from far away, and there were many footsteps. It must be that soldiers heard the sound and came.
Two more screams were heard, and the fighting outside seemed to have stopped. Zhang Fei was heard asking: "Where are they?"
"Three died, and the rest ran away." Xu Chu replied.
Then the door suddenly opened, and Zhang Wu burst in, holding a long bow in his hand.
Seeing Zhou Ping sitting blankly on the bed holding the package, Zhang Wu relaxed his tense expression and asked urgently: "Young Master, are you okay?"
Zhou Ping calmed down and said with a smile: "I'm fine, is there any chance of survival?"
Zhang Wu shook his head: "Three of them died, and the rest escaped. Zhongkang said there were eight people in total, and one was stabbed by him."
Zhou Ping got out of bed, put on his shoes and walked outside the room.
I saw three corpses lying on the ground, two of them had arrows stuck in their heads. It seemed that these two people had been shot to death by Zhang Wu.
They were all wearing ordinary martial arts uniforms. Although they were not masked, their identities could not be discerned.
"Sir, who could they be sent by?"
Zhang Fei looked at it carefully for a while and couldn't figure out why, so he had to ask Zhou Ping.
"It's definitely not someone sent by the general. As for who it is, I'll leave it to the general to find out."
"First move the body aside, and immediately notify Prefect Tian and Guo Guang Luxun to come and see for themselves."
Zhou Ping ordered everyone to move the three corpses to the side, and sent people overnight to notify Tian Feng, the prefect of Wei County, and Guang Luxun Guo Tu.
Then people were sent to find a doctor, who pulled out arrows to heal Xu Chu's wounds. Zhang Fei stayed in the room, Zhou Ping sat on the bed, still holding the box tightly, and Zhang Wu led his soldiers to wait outside the room, waiting for Tian Feng and others to come.
.
At dawn, Tian Feng, the governor of Wei County, arrived first.
He brought a group of soldiers, and first arranged for the soldiers to guard outside the transfer house. He personally led a dozen soldiers inside and came to the outside of Zhou Ping's house to look at the three corpses carefully.
Zhou Ping took Zhang Fei and Xu Chu out of the room and asked Tian Feng, "Does Mr. Tian Fu recognize them?"
"I don't recognize you." Tian Feng looked at Zhou Ping with doubtful eyes, "General Zhou, when did you arrive in Yecheng? And what happened tonight?"
Zhou Ping replied: "I just arrived in Yecheng today. As for what happened tonight, Zhongkang, please tell Mr. Tian Fu."
Xu Chu agreed and explained in detail what had just happened.
At this moment, Guo Tu arrived with his people. As soon as he saw Zhou Ping, he asked: "General Zhou, how are you? Are you injured?"
Zhou Ping looked calm and replied: "I have nothing to do. Zhong Kang, please tell Guang Luxun what happened tonight in detail."
Xu Chu had no choice but to recount what happened again.
"I didn't expect that the emperor was in Ye, and assassins were running rampant in Ye city. Mr. Tianfu, this is a dereliction of duty on your part!" Guo Tu said to Tian Feng with a cold face.
Tian Feng also had a cold face and did not answer Guo Tu's question. Instead, he turned to Zhou Ping and asked: "General Zhou, as far as I know, Xiapi is surrounded by the imperial army. You should be in Xiapi at this time. Why are you here?"
You said you arrived in Yecheng for the first time today, so who knows about your arrival in Yecheng?"
Guo Tu's face changed slightly after hearing this. Zhou Ping had just sent someone today to ask him to arrange a meeting with the general. As a result, assassins came to assassinate him at night. Now Tian Feng asked this again. It was obvious that it was difficult to remove the suspicion on him.
.
"Xiapi is surrounded by soldiers and horses from Jizhou and Yanzhou. Naturally, I came to Yecheng to ask the general to withdraw his troops and rescue the siege. As for who knows that I have come to Yecheng..." Zhou Ping looked at Guo Tu and saw that his face was nervous, but
He didn't appear panicked, "Guang Luxun knew it, and Cao Cao also knew it. He deployed troops and horses in Yanzhou to intercept him twice. It was because of the hard work of my guards that I was able to reach Yecheng safely."
Tian Feng glanced at Guo Tu. Based on his understanding, Guo Tu and Zhou Ping seemed to have a good relationship, and it was impossible for him to send someone to assassinate him.
"General Zhou, let me investigate carefully, and I will definitely find out who is behind this."
Tian Feng left with the three corpses, and Guo Tu also left, saying that he was going to see the general and report the situation to the general.
Zhou Ping asked people to bury the five shot dead guards first, and waited for Yuan Shao's summons at the Chuanshe.
It was not until noon that the General's Mansion sent someone to tell them, and the General asked them to come into the Mansion to meet them.
Zhou Ping took Zhang Fei, Xu Chu and Zhang Wu, as well as thirty soldiers, out of the Chuanshe and outside the general's mansion.
Zhang Fei was holding a Zhangba snake spear in his hand, and Zhang Wu was carrying a bow and arrows. Neither of them could enter the house. They guarded the door with thirty soldiers. Xu Chu followed Zhou Ping into the house with a sword.
After entering the mansion and arriving at the door of the meeting hall, Xu Chu could only stay outside the door while Zhou Ping went in alone.
Entering the hall, Zhou Ping saw that in addition to the general Yuan Shao sitting at the top, there were also Guanglu Xun Guo Tu, Shizhong Fengji, Jinwu Xu You, Guanglu doctor Xin Ping and Weijun prefect Tian sitting on both sides.
rich.
Now Jushou is leading the army in Xuzhou, and Shenpei has been appointed as Yin of Henan. Among the Jizhou faction, there is only Tian Feng, and the rest are from Yingchuan and Nanyang.
