Luoyang City, South Wall Root.

Sun Ce carried several pheasants and hares to the entrance of a small courtyard.

Sun Ce looked at the courtyard wall to the side. He didn't know who it was, but he had words such as "coward" and "coward" written on it in black ink.

Originally there was one on the courtyard door, but it was washed away with water, and only some ink stains on it seeped into the cracks of the door.

Sun Ce frowned and took a deep breath, feeling extremely depressed and uncomfortable.

After hesitating for a while, he raised his hand and knocked on the courtyard door.

A woman's confused voice came from the yard, and Sun Ce said loudly: "Sister-in-law, it's me."

"It turns out that Brother Sun is here. Wait a minute, I'll open the door right now."

The courtyard door opened, revealing a woman in her early forties. She looked haggard, her eyes were red, and her hands were stained with ink stains from cleaning the courtyard door.

"Brother Sun, what is this?" The woman looked at the pheasant and hare in Sun Ce's hand, with a hint of expectation in her eyes.

Sun Ce handed the things directly to the woman and whispered: "Take it to stew and give it to Brother Zhou. Don't tell him that I have been here."

The woman reached out her hand to take it gratefully and bowed to Sun Ce.

It's not that the family has no money, but now even if she has money, she can't buy food. As long as she goes to the street to buy, vegetables will be thrown into pieces. Everyone calls her man a coward who runs away from battle and a coward who is timid without fighting.

No one was willing to sell anything to her family. The family had been without food for several days. If the two sons hadn't secretly gone to other markets to buy some supplies and brought home supplies, the family of four would have starved to death.

The most troublesome thing is that the husband was beaten with internal injuries on the battlefield, and he may not survive long because they can't even buy herbal medicine.

Sun Ce seemed to be prepared. He took out a porcelain bottle from his arms and said, "This is a medicine passed down from my family. My sister-in-law dissolves one pill with water every day and asks Brother Zhou to take it."

"This..." The woman was overjoyed when she heard this, but immediately hesitated, "Brother Sun, this medicine is very valuable at first sight. My family..."

Sun Ce directly put the porcelain bottle into the woman's hand and said in a deep voice: "I don't want you to return it. Lao Zhou and I have a life-long friendship, so don't shirk it."

"Ahem, Bo Fu, but you're here?"

At this time, a weak and hoarse voice came from the room.

Sun Ce's expression changed, he cupped his fists and said, "Brother Youping, it's me."

The door curtain of the room opened, and a tall, but extremely skinny man walked out, holding on to the door frame.

Seeing this, the woman hurriedly went up to help him.

The man pushed the woman away and said in a deep voice: "You foolish woman, we can't buy food, how can it be that Bo Fu can buy it? You have troubled him so many times, how do you know what he eats and drinks on weekdays?"

The woman was stunned.

Sun Ce wanted to say something, but his stomach suddenly growled.

The woman then remembered that Sun Ce was also one of the "deserters". Their family was not well-received, and Sun Ce was afraid that life would be difficult for him.

"Brother Youping, I'm fine. It's just some food. Why are you so polite to me?" Sun Ce said awkwardly.

The man raised his thick eyebrows, pointed to the pheasant and hare on the ground, and said to the woman: "Take it and cook it, and then dig out the jar of wine in the corner. I, Zhou Tai, will have a good meal with Brother Bofu today."

"The head of the house?" The woman's expression changed and she wanted to persuade her husband to drink alcohol and harm his health.

But Zhou Tainong frowned and glared at her, and the woman could only go and get ready to eat.

"Bo Fu, come inside and sit down." Zhou Tai and Sun Ce looked at each other.

Sun Ce responded with cupped fists. Although he felt something was wrong with Zhou Tai, he could not persuade him anything.

The two of them knelt down in the room. Zhou Tai seemed to be injured. After coughing for a while, he said: "Bo Fu, you have also seen my situation. I'm afraid that I don't have much time. After I leave, I hope you can help me."

I take care of the three of them."

Sun Ce frowned slightly and said hurriedly: "Brother Youping, don't say any depressing words. I will continue to persuade General Yuan and ask him to send someone to treat you."

Zhou Tai shook his head and smiled bitterly, patted Sun Ce on the shoulder, and said: "Don't do that useless work. The higher ups are going to send someone. They have been sent a long time ago. How can we wait until now? Half a month has passed. Who do you see to express condolences?"

Have you passed?"

Sun Ce pursed his lips, not to mention condolences. He had actually asked to see Yuan Shu many times, but so far he had not even entered the Yuan Mansion.

The tiger fell to Pingyang and was bullied by the dog. He was now a child without a father. Yuan Shu did not take him seriously at all. The reason why he took him in was simply because he valued the navy left by his father Sun Jian.

But now that Yuan Shu can't protect himself, how can he have time to deal with him?

The two of them were relatively silent, both feeling concerned.

At this moment, there was a sound of footsteps in the yard, and then Zhou Tai's eldest son was heard shouting: "Mom, is my father awake?"

The woman was busy in the kitchen. When she saw her son coming back, she wanted to scold her, especially because her youngest son was injured and ran around, which made her even more worried. But before she could say anything, she saw two tall men following her son.

, a uniform with a sinister air.

"Who are you two?"

"Excuse me, we are from the Wei City Guards. My lord asked us to bring the medical servants over to treat Brother Zhou's injuries."

"Mom, do you know who we met? It's Lord Wei. He also said that he wanted to recruit my father to serve in the city guard."

In the room, Zhou Tai and Sun Ce were startled at the same time.

Especially Sun Ce, when he heard the words "Wei Shijun", he immediately thought of Wei Cheng.

Looking at Zhou Tai again, Sun Ce didn't know whether to congratulate him or say something. Fortunately, Zhou Tai was saved. Wei Cheng not only recruited him, but also sent a medical servant... What about himself?

Sun Ce recalled what Wei Gong said back then, and a hint of bitterness suddenly arose in his heart.

···

"Sir, what you ordered has been completed. However, several of them refused to join the city guard."

In the imperial garden of the imperial palace, Wei Cheng was sitting by the pond fishing.

Hearing Hua Cun's voice, he nodded slightly and said, "Just forget it if you refuse to join. Go tell Yuan Gongluo and let him take care of you."

Hua Cun clasped his fists in a salute and nodded in response.

Lu Ling, who was sitting on the futon next to him and looking at Wei Cheng, moved the fishing rod in his hand slightly and looked sideways at Wei Cheng.

"What's wrong?" Wei Cheng asked.

Lu Ling shook his head, looked at the buoys floating on the water, remained silent for a while, and said: "I don't understand either. I always feel that those people are pitiful. In the end, they are just victims of political struggles. I don't know what they are holding on to."

"You mean those people who don't want to join the city guard?"

"Yeah."

Wei Cheng smiled slightly and said: "Actually, it's very simple. They are just foolish and loyal. They are still looking forward to being recognized, and refusing to join the city guard is the best proof. It proves that they are not cowards, proves that they are loyal, and proves that they are related to our Wei family.

The situation is irreconcilable."

Lu Ling frowned slightly, confused. Could it be that face and dignity were more important than joining a better force?

As expected of Lu Bu's daughter, Lu Ling felt that compared with her own future, her mere reputation was not worth mentioning.

And she was very sure that those who refused to join the City Guards would regret it one day in the future.

If they refuse Wei Cheng's solicitation, not only will they not be reused, they will continue to be despised and helplessly watch their former colleagues rise to great heights, leaving them far behind.

"Hua Cun, go back and tell Uncle Wen, pay more attention to the direction of public opinion in the city, and don't make any more troubles. Especially at this juncture, public opinion can easily be taken advantage of by people with malicious intentions." Wei Cheng said.

Hua Cun clenched his fists in response and asked curiously: "Sir, since there are people who want to create public opinion, why don't you just arrest them?"

Wei Cheng sneered, raised the fishing rod, caught a palm-sized carp, and said: "For those who are unwilling, we only need to make them more unwilling, and unwilling to despair. Killing them all will only make them become

Just men who serve the country and the people, that would be too easy for them."

Hua Cun nodded thoughtfully, bowed and stepped back.

Wei Cheng untied the carp from the hook, looked at it for a while, and then threw it back into the pond. He said to himself: "It's strange, why didn't that big fish take the bait?"

···

Hulao Pass, also known as Sishui Pass, got its name because King Mu of Zhou imprisoned a tiger here.

As an important military area guarding the eastern gateway of Luoyang, Hulao Pass has always been heavily guarded.

And now that the Wei family has captured Luoyang, they will naturally send people to garrison here, and this person must be the God of War.

Zhang Fei has been stationed at Hulao Pass for more than ten days.

On this day, a carriage came from the south. There were two people sitting in the carriage. One of them had a heavy face and the other had dangling ears.

"Second brother, I didn't expect that third brother has achieved such great fame now, and even the people have begun to build temples and statues in his honor."

A newly built temple outside Hulao Pass was full of incense. The people enshrined in it were none other than the mighty war gods Zhang Fei and Zhang Yide.

Just because more than ten days ago, when Zhang Fei was stationed at Hulao Pass, he cleared away the mountain bandits and water bandits in the surrounding area, helped the villagers build roads and bridges, and distributed a lot of free medicine to treat diseases.

Those who win the hearts and minds of the people win the world. The Wei family has been trying to appease the people's hearts since they captured Luoyang. This is something they learned from Liu Xuande.

Guan Yu nodded slightly, and said with emotion: "You and I, the three brothers, are now considered to be successful. The eldest brother is also loved by all the people in Jingnan, but a certain... reputation is a little worse, haha."

In order to make great achievements as soon as possible, Guan Yu went crazy in Jingnan. He not only killed Sun Jian with a trick, but also massacred several county towns.

Liu Bei frowned slightly and reached out to pat Guan Yu's thick arm to express comfort.

Guan Yu didn't care about these false reputations. He looked towards the north with his phoenix eyes, and a plump and graceful figure flashed before his eyes.
To be continued...