In the state capital meeting hall, Zhang Wu was guarding the door with a bow and arrow on his back.
In the hall, the lights were dim. Zhou Ping Mi Zhu and Jian Yong Xu Sheng were sitting opposite each other. It was already dark outside the hall.
"Sir, if Xu Si doesn't come back, will Lu Bu send troops?" Jian Yong couldn't help but ask.
"If they have doubts about Xiapi, I'm afraid they won't send troops here." Mi Zhu continued.
Xu Sheng didn't speak, just looked at Zhou Ping.
Zhou Ping was not sure whether Lu Bu would send troops.
However, he believed that since Lu Bu sent Xu Si to Xiapi to investigate the truth, it meant that they only had doubts about Xiapi, but were not sure.
Now that Xu Bang has been captured by him and cannot go back, they have no news and may become more suspicious of Xiapi.
But with Lu Bu's character, he will definitely not miss such a good opportunity. If he misses it, he will not be able to capture Xuzhou again until Yuan Shu retreats and Liu Bei returns with his troops.
Seeing advantages but not taking them is not Lu Bu's style.
No matter how risky it is, it is not as risky as having dozens of cavalry rush into Zhang Yan's formation of ten thousand cavalry. Lu Bu's courage makes him fearless.
Zhou Ping said softly: "We will know after tonight whether Lu Bu will send troops."
If Lu Bu doesn't send troops tonight, then it's impossible for him to send troops.
The meeting hall fell into silence again.
Not long after, several people heard a noise outside the courtyard, as if someone was hurriedly walking towards the meeting hall.
Mi Zhu, Jian Yong, and Xu Sheng hurriedly turned to look outside the door, but Zhou Ping was playing with the wine gourd in his hand as usual.
A soldier dressed as a commoner hurriedly stepped inside, cupped his hands and said: "Reporting to Zhou Sima, Lu Bu has led his troops to leave Lucheng, with five or six thousand people, heading eastward."
Mi Zhu Jian Yong Xu Sheng felt relieved, and the breath he had been holding in his heart finally relaxed, and his face couldn't help but reveal a look of joy.
It's not that they really hoped that Lu Bu would lead the army to attack, it was just that their inner expectations had come to fruition.
Zhou Ping waved his hand gently: "Let's explore again."
After the soldiers went out, Jian Yong hurriedly said: "Sir, Lu Bu has indeed sent out troops!"
Xu Sheng immediately sat up straight and waited for Zhou Ping to give the order.
The stone hanging in Zhou Ping's heart also fell to the ground. As long as Lu Bu sends troops, everything will be easier to handle.
He immediately sent someone to inform Zhang Fei, Sun Guan and Tian Yu.
Although Zhang Fei and others would also send people to wait and investigate outside Lu City, for the sake of safety, Zhou Ping still had to send people to notify them and let them immediately mobilize troops to help.
The detectives reported back one after another, and Zhou Ping asked them to come back and report every time Lu Bu traveled ten miles.
At this time, Lu Bu's troops were only forty miles away from Xiapi.
However, there seemed to be no movement at all from Cao Bao's Mansion and the Danyang soldiers stationed at the west gate.
Zhou Ping hung the wine gourd on his waist, stood up and told Xu Sheng: "Wen Xiang, take two thousand soldiers to the White Gate of the West City and guard the Danyang soldiers. If they don't resist, don't take action. If they have any doubts,
, just say that Mr. Cao and I will be there immediately, and ask them to calm down."
"promise."
Xu Sheng quickly stood up, accepted the promise and left the hall.
"Farewell, Xianhe, you stay here while I go to see Cao Bao."
Zhou Ping said to Mi Zhu and Jian Yong.
"Sir, go ahead, we are here."
Mi Zhu and Jian Yong stood up and escorted Zhou Ping to the door.
Zhou Ping took Zhang Wu and a dozen guards, and Xu Bang with him, and held a torch out of the Prefectural Mufu Mansion and came to the outside of Cao Bao's Prime Minister's Mansion.
Sun Kang led 300 Taishan soldiers to guard the dark place outside Cao Bao's house. In addition, Xiahou Bo sent another 200 soldiers to guard the other side. It can be said that it would be difficult for Cao Bao to leave now unless he guarded a corner of Baimen.
Qian Danyang soldiers were mobilized to force a breakout.
But as soon as those Danyang soldiers move, the Xuzhou soldiers in the city will also mobilize accordingly.
Ever since Xu Si left, Cao Bao has been feeling uneasy.
He never expected that Zhou Wen'an would actually know that he and Lü Bu had agreed to capture Xia Pi, so he lured Lü Bu into sending troops by leaving his troops, but he also used civilians as soldiers to hide the real soldiers in the city.
And he didn't even know this.
Cao Bao also couldn't imagine what kind of soldiers and horses Zhou Wen'an would deliberately lure Lu Bu to send troops to deal with Lu Bu.
If we only use the few thousand soldiers in the city, it seems far from enough to deal with Lu Bu and his own thousand Danyang soldiers at the same time.
But no matter what, since Zhou Wen'an tempted Lu Bu to send troops, he must have made some arrangements.
Now Cao Bao only hopes that Xu Si will rush back to Lucheng quickly and ask Lu Bu not to send troops.
As long as Lu Bu did not send troops, even if Zhou Wen'an came to question him, he could deny it even to death, but he could not do anything to him.
Therefore, Cao Bao knew that Zhou Wen'an had sent troops to guard his house, but he pretended not to know and never thought about escaping.
But he couldn't sleep well tonight, and he was still pouring himself a glass of wine in the house.
He suddenly heard a noise outside the gate of the mansion, and then a guard hurriedly ran to report: "Master, Zhou Wen'an has led his troops to break in."
Cao Bao, holding the wine glass in his hand, froze for a moment. After a while, he responded: "I know."
The guard exited, and Cao Bao drank all the wine in his glass and looked out the door.
Soon, they saw Zhou Ping walking slowly with a wine gourd hanging from his waist, followed by the young man who was carrying a bow and arrow, and hundreds of soldiers holding torches and holding swords and bows.
Cao Bao sat still, just looking straight at Zhou Ping.
"Isn't it boring for Lord Cao to drink at home?"
Zhou Ping sat on the side seat as he spoke, took out the wine gourd and took a sip, while Zhang Wu stood behind him.
"What does Zhou Sima mean by bringing troops to my house?"
Cao Bao asked calmly.
Zhou Ping smiled and said: "I heard someone said that Lu Bu wanted to lead troops to attack Xiapi while the envoy was leading troops to resist the enemy. He also sent people to make an appointment with the king of Fu and asked him to respond inside. I don't know whether it is true or not.
, so I came here to ask."
"People have made false accusations since ancient times. Since Zhou Sima said that Lü Bu wanted to attack Tapi and sent someone to make an appointment with me, then did Lü Bu send troops? Who did he send to make an appointment with me?"
Cao Bao thought that Xu Si had returned to Lucheng, so Lu Bu would definitely not send troops.
"Lü Bu has led his troops to leave Lucheng this afternoon and is coming to Xiapi. As for who he has sent, you should know for yourself."
Zhou Ping looked at Cao Bao and saw that his hands trembled when he heard Lu Bu dispatching troops. He was obviously shocked.
"Lü...Lü Bu has sent troops? Perhaps he wants to go to Xuyi to help you?"
Cao Bao tried his best to hide his shock.
It is possible that what he said was that if Lu Bu wanted to go to Xuyi, he would first go east along the Surabaya River and then turn south.
"If Mr. Cao Mansion says this, then it means he has not made an appointment with Lu Bu?" Zhou Ping asked with a smile.
"of course not."
"It's okay if you don't. It seems that someone has indeed falsely accused Fu Jun and brought him in."
Zhou Ping shouted to the door, and the soldiers pushed Xu Si into the house.
Xu Bang felt miserable in his heart and looked pale. When he entered the house, he didn't look at anyone and looked up at the roof.
However, Cao Bao was so shocked that his body trembled, his eyes were bulging, and his expression made people know what was going on.
"Who is this person?" Cao Bao pointed at Xu Bang and asked in a trembling voice.
"Xu Si, Lu Bu's lobbyist, doesn't Mr. Cao know this person?" Zhou Ping replied calmly.
"do not know."
"That's good. Someone falsely claimed that this person came to Xiapi to meet Lord Cao and made an appointment with Lord Cao to seize Xiapi. Since this has not happened and Lord Cao does not know this person, can you prove his innocence?
Kill this person?"
Zhou Ping looked at Cao Bao with cold eyes.
Xu Bang's only value to Zhou Ping now is to die at the hands of Cao Bao.
In this way, it will not only allow Cao Bao to maintain his reputation of not rebelling, but also stabilize the Danyang troops in Xuzhou. It will also make him an enemy of Lu Bu. As long as he does not collude with Lu Bu, he will not be able to cause big troubles.
Cao Bao hesitated for a moment and looked at Xu Bang.
Xu Bang also looked at Cao Bao at this moment, with no fear on his face and a look of death in his eyes.
It is better to die than to live and be humiliated.
Cao Bao left the table and walked to Xu Si. He slowly pulled out his sword from the soldier beside him and struck Xu Si.
