After two consecutive days of autumn rain, the temperature in Hongze dropped sharply.
The drizzle has finally stopped, and the scorching sun is shining in the sky, but there is a hint of coolness... The red water gathers at the top of the city, flags are fluttering, and colorful flags are flying. If you are visiting this place for the first time, you might think that this is to celebrate the festival.
Prepare.
Dou Lan put on a long robe and led Dou Hu to wait outside the city.
At the end of the road in the distance, there was no one around. The father and son stood under the gate of Hongshuiji City, whispering from time to time.
Among the crowds on the roadside, Cao Peng, dressed in Hufu, stood with his hands behind his hands, accompanied by Jiang Xu and Liang Kuan. Like Dou Lan and his son, they were waiting for the arrival of the Ma family envoy. At the same time, Cao Peng and Cao Peng
I also want to take the opportunity to see what the legendary Jin Ma Chao looks like. As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you will never be in danger of a hundred battles!
"Sir, Dou Lan may not be able to withstand Ma Chao's arrival."
"I know."
Cao Peng replied softly, signaling Jiang Xu not to speak.
In his heart, he was secretly thinking about how to solve this matter. The Ma family's ambition to seize Hongze has been clearly demonstrated. With the power in Ma Teng's hands now, it may not be easy for him to win over Dou Lan.
Easy. After all, Ma Teng still carries the name of Hanchen. To a certain extent, Cao Peng is even weaker than Ma Teng.
I just don’t know what choice Dou Lan will make...
Time passed little by little, and as noon was approaching, smoke and dust suddenly appeared on the horizon.
It was like a long black dragon appearing in people's sight, its iron hooves stepping on the ground, making a rumbling sound. Cao Peng could even feel that the ground under his feet was trembling slightly. His heart moved, and he secretly said: Here it comes!
The long black dragon is getting closer and closer, and the sound of hoofbeats can be heard clearly.
From the end of the road, I saw a group of men and horses galloping towards me. The leader was a general. He was about twenty-seven or eighty years old. He jumped off his horse and was about eight feet tall. He was wearing a bright silver animal mask with a twisted head and a lion face.
He wears a bright silver animal mask, a palm-wide lion jade belt tied around his waist, and a snow-white cloak lined with red satin. Under his crotch is a night-shining lion horse, which looks majestic and murderous. Anyone who comes is as if he is leaving the string.
The arrow arrived in front of Dou Lan and his son in the blink of an eye. When he was about thirty steps away from Dou Lan and his son, the man suddenly reined in his horse.
"Xu..."
He shouted deeply, and the lion Ma Xiyu hissed loudly in the night, and his four hooves were rooted to the ground.
"General Dou!"
The person who came raised his hand, and the cavalry behind him suddenly stopped.
He shouted loudly, and at the same time he threw his legs and jumped off the horse. After walking a few steps quickly, he cupped his hands and said, "Ma Chao is being polite."
"My dear nephew, why are you so polite?"
Dou Lan laughed loudly and took big steps towards the visitor.
In the crowd, Cao Peng looked at the people coming carefully and couldn't help but cheer in his heart.
This horse is extremely long and indeed worthy of the name of "Jin Ma Chao". It has a majestic appearance and a heroic spirit.
Ma Chao's appearance is somewhat of Qiang and Hu blood. His skin is much fairer than that of most people, his cheeks are thin and sharp, like a knife and an axe. His eye sockets are slightly sunken, making his eyes look deep...
The nose is high and straight, somewhat aquiline in shape. The cheekbones are somewhat protruding, giving people a sharper temperament...
Cao Peng couldn't help but frown and nodded secretly.
He has thin lips, but he is a mean and ungrateful person. There is a kind of hawk-like attitude in his movements, which makes people feel very uncomfortable. At least in Cao Peng's view, this Ma Chao's temperament and his appearance are quite unpleasant.
It's too consistent. In other words, his temperament also makes people feel unapproachable, and it's unnatural to want to distance themselves.
Is this Ma Chao and Ma Mengqi?
Perhaps it was because Cao Peng had been staring for too long. Ma Chao seemed to notice something and suddenly raised his head and looked over. His gaze was as sharp as lightning. Cao Peng was secretly startled and quickly looked away. Fortunately, there were people around him.
There were quite a few people standing there, so when Ma Chao looked over, he didn't notice anything, so he turned around and joked with Dou Lan.
Cao Peng looked over Ma Chao's shoulder and looked back.
I saw Ma Chao's entourage, all black-armored cavalry, numbering about eight hundred.
The knights on the horses all looked strong and strong. Cao Peng unexpectedly discovered that the armor and weapons of Ma Chao's followers seemed a little different from those of the Han army and the Qiang and Hu cavalry. The Wuwei cavalry used lances.
It was different from common lances, and was closer to the shape of Western lances. Moreover, the armor was also made in a different style from that of the Han army, with a very obvious exotic style. Cao Peng couldn't help but murmur in his heart.
At this time, Ma Chao and Dou Lan finished their greetings and walked into the city gate together.
The pedestrians on the roadside also dispersed one after another... Cao Peng stood where he was, thought for a while, turned around and said, "Let's go back."
Jiang Xu quickly said: "Master, how about I find a way to go to the government office and inquire about it?"
"No, just let Li Ding handle this matter. It's best for us to stay put."
"But this Ma Chao..."
"Ma Mengqi is just a reckless man and is nothing to worry about.
In my opinion, if he pushes too hard, it may make Dou Lan feel disgusted. Whether they will join is another question. If they really want to join, we will try to destroy them. In short, given the current situation, we cannot act rashly.
."
"Here!"
Jiang Xu nodded to express his understanding.
Cao Peng didn't say anything more. After entering the city, he went straight to the inn.
As he expected, Li Ding was not at the inn. Given his identity and status, since he appeared at Hongshuiji, Dou Lan would definitely let him pass when Ma Chao arrived today. After all, Li Ding, to a certain extent,
It represented his grandfather Li Qi. Only after Cao Peng arrived at Hongshuiji did he realize that Li Qi also had some prestige in Hongze.
However, Li Ding didn't tell Cao Peng anything, which showed that he still had some grudges in his heart.
"Sir, what should we do now?"
"wait!"
"wait?"
"If the situation is unfavorable to us, Li Ding will inform us as soon as possible. After all, this matter is equally important to Li Ding. Wang Shuang, wait until I tell Liang Kuan and Jiang Xu, please be patient for the time being.
For a moment, don’t move around casually.”
Wang Shuang agreed, turned around and left in a hurry.
Cao Peng, on the other hand, wandered around the room, taking a long time to regain his composure.
Although he looked indifferent on the surface, he was also feeling restless in his heart. This time, what he had to face was not an unknown person, but the Xiliang man who had defeated Cao Cao and abandoned his armor.
Jin Ma Chao...
Ma Teng has already made his move, so what choice will Dou Lan make?
This has gone beyond the scope of history that Cao Peng understood, and it is beyond the control of Cao Peng.
I thought it wouldn't be too difficult to capture Hexi, but I didn't expect to face off against the Ma Teng family so early. It was really unexpected.
Cao Peng must think carefully and come up with a countermeasure.
Dou Lan must not be allowed to join the Ma Teng family!
If Dou Lan is willing to join the Ma family, it means that the entire Hongze is very likely to join the Ma family... Cao Peng will certainly not sit back and watch this happen. Even if Dou Lan remains neutral, it is better than Dou Lan surrendering to the Ma family.
