Silver Fox of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 54 Zhang Xiu
After leaving Liu Biao, Deng Hong brought Shen Chen back home.

Cai likes to read and weave on weekdays. Shen Chen also improved the spinning machine for this purpose, and today he is spinning in the backyard.

Seeing Deng Hong and Shen Chen coming back suddenly, Mrs. Cai came to the front yard in surprise, and asked Deng Hong, "Husband, why did you come back so early today? Don't you need to be on duty in the state capital?"

Deng Hong was bitter in his heart, but he still lifted his spirits and said, "Minggong asked me to go to Nanyang on a business trip. It may take three to five days to come back. I will go home and get two sets of clothes."

Seeing her husband's face was a bit reluctant, Cai was keenly aware of something, and asked: "Is your husband going to a very dangerous place this trip?"

"It's all right." Deng Hongqiang said with a smile: "I haven't seen your husband before? From Xuzhou to the south, he came from the mountain of corpses and the sea of ​​blood. It's just a trip to Nanyang. How can there be any danger in Nanyang?"

"Champion County!"

Cai said with a firm face, "My husband must be going to Champion County to send envoys to those Xiliang troops who passed through Wuguan, right?"

Deng Hong suddenly looked stunned and said, "Ah Wei, who told you that I'm going to Champion County?"

Cai asked: "You tell me first or not."

Deng Hong and Shen Chen looked at each other, and they could see the surprised expression on each other's face.

Today's meeting was held temporarily, and Shen Chen also temporarily asked his uncle to take over the job, Cai couldn't know in advance.

Therefore, there is only one possibility, and that is that Mrs. Cai simply inferred that Deng Hong's expression was wrong.

It is said that women's intuition is very keen, and Shen Chen has seen it today.

What kind of monster did my grandfather marry?

Deng Hong smiled wryly and said, "That's true, but the Xiliang army is newly defeated and they are in constant panic, so they won't do anything to me."

Cai's face suddenly darkened.

I wasn't sure just now, but now I'm sure, her husband will soon be dispatched to the Xiliang Army, which has a very bad reputation, how can this make her feel at ease.

What's more important is that my man knows that although he has some talents, he is not a talent of the world.

Going to Xiliang army as an envoy, I'm afraid they will be swallowed up by that group of cannibals.

Thinking of this, Mrs. Cai shook her head again and again and said, "No way, if a gentleman doesn't stand under the dangerous wall, those Xiliang soldiers are poor and evil, poisoning all summers, how can my husband put himself in danger?"

Either they came from a wealthy family, they read Mencius and Hanshu fluently, and they just quoted scriptures when they opened their mouths. They also compared Wang Mang to the Xiliang Army, and told Deng Hong that it was too dangerous there, and hoped that he would not go there.

However, Deng Hong said solemnly: "I know that Awei is worried about my safety, but since I have promised Minggong, I must do it. I believe that Awei does not want me to be a person who does not keep his word."

"But."

Cai's face was worried, and she couldn't help touching her stomach. There were some words on her lips, but she didn't know how to say them.

Deng Hong laughed, turned his head to look at Shen Chen and said, "Besides, Ah Chen will come with me, Ah Chen can bring our Deng clan back to Nanyang, and also guarantee my safety, what do you think?"

Shen Chen said with a smile: "Yes, Sixth Grandmother, Zhang Ji came to Nanyang to survive, not to die. He will definitely not be able to go back to Guanzhong now, and if he continues to fight Liu Shijun, it will be nothing more than a dead end. So recruiting him is very important to us. For them, it’s all about gain and nothing harm.”

"I see."

Mrs. Cai nodded silently, turned around and walked towards the back room: "I'll help my husband get two sets of clothes."

Seeing her leaving back, Deng Hong said strangely, "Ah Chen, your sixth grandmother is a little weird today."

"What's wrong?"

Shen Chen didn't have much contact with this sixth grandmother, and used to think that she was just a fat lady in the boudoir of a wealthy family.

The last time I was at Gan Ning, my opinion of her changed a lot. I think she is very knowledgeable and very smart.

But that's about it.

After all, he spent most of his time studying in the academy, and occasionally went down the mountain to find Liu Biao to ask about the presence of ancient scriptures in front of him, and he didn't spend much time with this grandmother.

Deng Hong scratched his head: "I can't tell what's wrong, I just feel that she might have something to say to me."

"Maybe I'm worried about my sixth uncle."

"maybe."

"Compared to this, has Uncle thought about what to say after meeting the Xiliang Army?"

"Shouldn't you think about this before teaching me?"

"You have to adapt on the spot."

"That's true, but is it really just the two of us? It's too dangerous."

"Didn't Shijun Liu say it? If you need anything, just ask. Uncle Xingba has always been brave. Wouldn't it be much safer to ask him to bring someone to accompany us?"

"Shout Xingba?"

"Yeah, besides, we don't need to go to Champion County. The Xiliang Army is in a hurry. Wouldn't it be better to find a village pavilion outside the city?"

"That's right, you're still smart, Ah Chen."

Deng Hong slapped his head, why didn't he think of this?

There is no need to go deep into the tiger's den.

Talking with the other party just outside the city means that both sides agree to bring a few people, and the wilderness and villages are endless, and neither side needs to worry about the other party's ambush.

In this way, not only his own safety can be guaranteed, but it is definitely not an offense to the Xiliang Army.

The grandfather and grandson are still discussing the specific content here, while Mrs. Cai has already packed two pieces of clothes over there.

After Deng Hong was reminded by Shen Chen just now, his mind was full of this idea, and he didn't notice that there was something wrong with his wife's face, so he took the burden and said: "Ah Wei, if everything goes well, I will be back in two days, you wait at home I."

"Ah."

Cai nodded lightly.

Deng Hong picked up his bag and walked out of the house, saying, "Ah Wei, let's go."

"Sixth grandmother, you go back, we are leaving."

Shen Chen also said hello.

"Husband, Chen, you must pay attention to safety."

"Do not worry."

Mrs. Cai sent the grandfather and grandson to the street, and there were servants waiting outside the door driving a carriage.

She watched the two get into the carriage, and waved goodbye to her while sitting in the carriage. It was not until the carriage slowly left that she rubbed her belly unconsciously.

In the past few months, she has actually lost a lot of weight. Originally, she was not outstanding in appearance. In addition, she was fat since she was a child and had a low self-esteem.

But since Deng Hong married her, Mrs. Cai left the home that only brought her depression in the past, and after feeling better, she gradually lost more than 20 catties.

But even though she has lost a lot of weight, she is still obese, so she has been pregnant for more than a month, and she doesn't even know that she is pregnant.

If it weren't for the delay in menstruation, I had no choice but to send someone to invite a female doctor in the city to see it, maybe it would take a while to find out.

I learned the news this morning, and I planned to tell him after my husband left in the afternoon.

But now..

Afraid that he would be distracted, how dare you?

.

.

Deng Hong and Shen Chen came to Beicheng in a carriage.

The carriage had the seal of Jingzhou State Shepherd's Mansion on it, and arrived at the Xiangyang Wharf outside the city almost unimpeded.

The city of Xiangyang is actually surrounded by water, and the entire city is surrounded by a moat with an average width of eighty feet, so people must have boats to travel.

Deng Hong was an official of the state government, and he went there with Liu Biao's mission, so the first stop of his trip was not directly to Champion County, but to Fancheng.

Because officials must be accompanied by soldiers for protection when they go on a mission, Zhang Yun must first be found and asked to send soldiers to accompany him.

Then I have to go to Chaoyang, Xinye and Rangcheng to inform Deng Ji, Liu Wei, Wang Jie, Wenpin and others stationed there of Liu Biao's current strategic intentions, so that they can prepare to gather troops and prepare for the worst. .

In other words, it is best to have an agreement, and if there is no agreement, a war will have to be fought.

And even if the talks were settled, they had to be informed of this matter. When the Xiliang army accepted Liu Biao's conditions, they had to give up the city in the north of Nanyang and withdraw their troops to the south.

The grandparents and grandchildren and the two following state officials took a boat across the river and found Zhang Yun in Fancheng. Knowing that it was Liu Biao's order, Zhang Yun did not dare to slack off. According to Deng Hong's intention, he sent Gan Ning, Lou Fa, Shen Mi and others led [-] soldiers to follow.

Gan Ning was overjoyed when he heard about this. He was very happy that Deng Hong, a good brother, did not forget about him. He hurriedly rectified military affairs, took his old team of Jinfan bandits with strong combat effectiveness, and went northward to Chaoyang with Deng Hong.

Fancheng in Chaoyang County is relatively close, but it is also a hundred miles away. It started from Xiangyang in the morning and arrived in the evening. It took about five hours.

Deng Ji's disbanded army was stationed here.

Deng Hong conveyed Liu Biao's order to Deng Ji, rested in the city for a day, set off for Xinye the next morning, arrived at noon, and set off again to arrive at Rangcheng in the evening.

After arriving in Rangcheng, Deng Hong did not neglect, but sent someone to Champion County overnight to deliver a letter, inviting the current leader of the Xiliang Army to come to the village pavilion near Tuanshui for a gathering.

It was not until the morning of the third day that Deng Hong received a reply. Zhang Xiu, the current leader of the Xiliang Army, agreed to his request for a meeting at the village pavilion outside Rangcheng.

The weather was not beautiful in the afternoon, and in mid-February, there was a patter of spring rain in Nanyang.But it's just a drizzle, and it's so small that it doesn't feel anything when it hits the body. It may be a few drops of water dripping from the temples after staying in the rain for a long time.

The spring breeze blowing on people's faces was very comfortable. Deng Hong and Shen Chen sat in the carriage, beside Gan Ning led a small army of about 20 people, and several scouts watched from a distance in front.

Champion County is very close to Rang City, and the location agreed by the two parties is just on the left bank of the Turbulent River in the middle.

The surrounding fields are full of farmland and villages, but at this time, because of the war, a large number of people fled to other places, and the villages and pavilions seemed empty.

At this moment, outside the pavilion, [-] black-armored cavalry were already seen from a distance. They lined up neatly, with extraordinary momentum. In front of them were two general-looking people sitting on horseback.

"That embroidery seems to be in a hurry."

Seeing this scene, Shen Chen smiled slightly, and said to Deng Hong beside him in a low voice: "I'm afraid he would like to have peace talks with us now."

Deng Hong was puzzled, "How do you know this?"

Shen Chen said: "Negotiations can't be rushed, the competition between the two sides is patience. But now we have just arrived, but they seem to have arrived earlier, which shows that Zhang Xiu obviously wants to solve this problem as soon as possible."

"So it seems that there is hope for peace talks?"

"Naturally very promising."

"That's good."

Deng Hong felt relieved, he believed that Shen Chen's judgment would not be wrong every time, and this time would be no exception.

A group of people came to the pavilion slowly, and the drizzle was still falling.

Deng Hong and Shen Chen got off the carriage. They were looking at Zhang Xiu. They saw that he was about 30 years old. The roughness of frontier people.

Behind Zhang Xiu there was another general protecting him. That man was taller and stronger than Zhang Xiu. He was only wearing a white coarse linen jacket on his upper body, and a small Zha Jia on the outside.

Since Xiao Zhajia only protected his chest and back like a vest, his arms were naturally exposed, and his knotted and bulging muscles showed that he was obviously not an ordinary person.

Zhang Xiu was naturally one position ahead, and Hu Che'er was behind.

You must know that the weight of Dianwei's double halberds weighs [-] kilograms is recorded in "Three Kingdoms". Hu Che'er was able to steal his double halberds, and he was able to carry [-] kilograms on his back.

If you don't consider his specific martial arts, it might be really easy to be fooled just by looking at his appearance, thinking that he is a particularly powerful character.

While Deng Hong and Shen Chen were looking at them, Zhang Xiu and Hu Che'er were also looking at their grandparents and grandchildren.

Deng Hong is a Confucian scholar, and he looks handsome, but he is thin and less than 1.8 meters tall, far inferior to Zhang Xiu and Hu Che'er who are more than 1.8 meters and 1.9 meters tall, and his momentum is slightly lacking.

Standing next to him is a child. Shen Chen is already ten years old this year. Due to his daily exercise and eating high-protein and high-calcium foods such as meat, fish, shrimp, and milk, he has grown very rapidly. Mi Maijin looked like a teenager.

Although it is puzzling to bring a young man who looks about twelve or thirteen years old on such an important matter, but Zhang Xiu is eager to negotiate peace now, and he didn't bother with it, but took the initiative to get off his horse and said: "It's Deng Gongcao. ?"

"General Zhang!"

Deng Hong cupped his hands and said, "Jingzhou pastoralist Cao Shuzuo Deng Hong has seen General Zhang."

"Masters are polite."

Zhang Xiu returned a salute.

Deng Hong stretched out his hand to the nearby pavilion and said: "There is wind and rain outside, the general might as well go inside and talk in detail."

"it is good."

Zhang Xiu nodded and went in with Hu Che'er.

Deng Hong, Shen Chen and Gan Ning walked into the pavilion with Zhang Xiu.

The pavilion was not big, but it was fairly clean. Obviously, before they came, Zhang Xiu had already sent someone to clean it in advance.

Everyone sat down in the hall, no one took the main seat, and sat on opposite sides.

After everyone sat down, Zhang Xiu also knew that he couldn't act too hastily. Of course, he didn't know that Shen Chen had seen through the details, so he pretended to be calm and said, "I don't know why Liu Jingzhou sent a meritocracy here. ?”

Deng Hong glanced at Shen Chen, and saw that the old god was there, so he hesitated to speak, hesitated for a moment, after all, he had no choice but to follow the words explained before, gritted his teeth, and said in a non-surprising way: "General, come today Now, I am declaring war on the General on behalf of Liu Shijun, and the general's death is approaching, don't you know it?"

(End of this chapter)