In Jicheng, Youzhou, a group of carriages took advantage of the darkness and called the door at the city gate. The defenders lowered the rope at the top of the city, got the opponent's token, and quickly opened the door to welcome the convoy in.
The motorcade arrived in front of Jicheng's official residence. Zhao Yun had already heard the news and came out from the mansion to welcome him. He asked Guo Jiaqi, who was hurrying out of the carriage, "Why are you here, sir?"
Previously, Guo Jia and Tian Yu went to Beixin City to guard against the Southern Huns, and Zhao Yun was stationed in Jicheng. But now Guo Jia rushed back quietly or entered the city overnight. Zhao Yun wondered what kind of emergency was going on?
With a solemn look on his face, Guo Jia directed his soldiers to carry a large bundle of bamboo slips out of the carriage and said to Zhao Yun: "Go in and talk."
Seeing that Guo Jia had never been so nervous, Zhao Yun quickly took Guo Jia into the study. Guo Jia was not polite after entering the room and asked someone to open the bundle, and tubes of bamboo slips fell out.
He bent down to pick them up, placed them on the table one by one, and said, "General, please take a look."
Zhao Yun didn't know why, so he quickly opened the rolls and found that they contained intelligence from various places in Youzhou in the past few months.
Guo Jiadao: "Guorang is responsible for collecting intelligence in Youzhou, so during this period, all military information and spy reports were sent to Beixin City."
"But I checked the intelligence a few days ago, and the more I saw, the more something was wrong."
Zhao Yun looked at the piles of bamboo slips and was so anxious that he couldn't figure it out. He quickly said: "Sir, please clarify my doubts."
Guo Jia took a tube of bamboo slips, unfolded them, pointed and said: "This is a routine inspection cavalry sent by Youzhou. The route is from Youzhou to the coastal dock in Xuzhou."
"It set off from Yuyang Piaoyuyi Pier and went all the way south along the coast. It successfully passed through the Bohai Sea in Jizhou, but when it entered Qingzhou, it was stopped and told that it could not pass."
After hearing this, Zhao Yun wondered: "Could it be that Yuan Qingzhou was dissatisfied with the Donglai naval battle, so he deliberately made things difficult?"
Guo Jia shook his head and said: "But the docks for sea and sea ships are always open. If that is the case, why do you want to stop the cavalry of the Yuan family?"
He pulled out another bamboo slip and said, "The spies from Jizhou said that south of the Yellow River, small groups of unknown troops have been mobilized many times, especially at night."
Zhao Yun asked in confusion: "How many people are there? What's the abnormality?"
Guo Jia said in a deep voice: "It's not that many, about one or two hundred people."
Zhao Yun just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Guo Jiadao: "But this situation has been going on for more than a month, and it's not just this one road, there are several roads like this!"
Only then did Zhao Yun become alert, "In which direction are you going?"
Guo Jia replied: "It's Taishan County in the easternmost part of Yanzhou!"
Zhao Yun's expression turned solemn, "If the intelligence is true, the scale of this troop deployment is indeed quite large, but why Taishan County?"
"Could it be that Cao Cao is jealous after seeing Yuan Tan recruiting Taishan thieves and wants a piece of the pie?"
Guo Jia sighed: "That's the problem."
"It does make sense to say that they mobilized their troops in batches with the intention of sneak attack on the Taishan bandits. However, the longer time passes, the easier it will be to expose them. There is no news about these soldiers now. What are they doing?"
He pulled out another bamboo slip and said, "This is the information sent back by spies from Qingzhou and Langya."
"Soldiers under Yuan Qingzhou's command were deployed on the border, and their whereabouts were discovered from Taishan County in Yanzhou to the north of Xiapi in Xuzhou."
"Why did Yuan Qingzhou do this?"
Zhao Yun understood that this matter was indeed strange and said, "Could it be that these two parties know each other's details and want to attack each other?"
He immediately shook his head and said, "No, there's something wrong."
"Such a large-scale deployment of troops cannot be carried out without aim, and there must be a plan."
"The key is, has Yuan Qingzhou informed the young master?"
Guo Jia stroked his hands and said, "The general has hit the mark!"
"If Yuan Qingzhou uses troops, he will definitely tell the young master. After all, both parties are descendants of the Yuan family. If nothing is known, misjudgment will inevitably happen."
"If you inform the young master, it means that he is acting openly. Even if you don't tell the inside story, there should be some hints."
"But if you hide it and keep the young master in the dark, I'm afraid the problem will be huge!"
Zhao Yun was horrified, "Sir, are you saying that Yuan Qingzhou wants to harm the young master?"
Guo Jia sighed: "I don't know either, but based on Yuan Qingzhou's movements, I discovered that we had overlooked one thing before."
"After this incident, Yuan Qingzhou may have a grudge in his heart, or even worse!"
Zhao Yun asked hurriedly: "What's the matter?"
Guo Jia had a solemn look on his face, "The young master has given birth to a boy!"
"That's enough, the key is two!"
"These are the only two male heirs of the third generation of the Yuan family. What do you think Yuan Qingzhou will think?"
Zhao Yun was horrified, "Sir, you are right, Yuan Qingzhou's mentality may indeed change greatly because of this!"
"Do you want to send a letter now to remind the young master?"
Guo Jia sighed: "It will take at least seven or eight days to send a letter to Xuzhou now."
"After all, after calculating the distance, the young master has already arrived in Xuzhou. It would be better if he reaches Guangling. After all, there is General Taishi there, so he should be able to be safe."
"But if it's in Haixi."
Zhao Yun suddenly stood up and said, "Mr. Trouble, please take charge. Yun will lead his troops to Xuzhou now!"
"If we wait for something to happen to the young master, it will be too late to leave!"
Guo Jia nodded and said: "The general is right, I think so too."
"Now our line depends entirely on the gathering of young masters. If something happens to him and Youzhou is taken over by the Yuan family, where will we go?"
"Young master, nothing can happen to you!"
Zhao Yun strode out, "Yun understands!"
"When there is business in the city, I will trouble you sir!"
Not long after, Zhao Yun led hundreds of heavily armed elite cavalry, ordered the gates of Jicheng to be opened, and galloped towards Piaoyuyi Pier in Yuyang County.
Zhao Yun took the lead, holding a torch and leading the cavalry in a hurry in the night. He looked back at the soldiers behind him. They were the most elite and experienced group in Youzhou.
Not to mention the equipment, from weapons to armor to stirrups, they are all the best. Now is the time to put them to use!
In Donghai Qucheng, the banquet was still going on. Jushou and Mi Fang were talking to each other, and they had a rough idea of what Donghai was doing.
He frowned and said: "The prefect thinks that these conflicts with Yuan Qingzhou have not saved Liu Yuzhou any face?"
Mi Fang was already a little drunk at this time. When he heard this, he became angry and slammed the wine baron onto the table. He slurred: "I, let me tell the truth!"
"I admire Master Xianyi very much. At this age, Mr. Xianyi has accomplished things that I might not be able to do in my lifetime, or even dare to think about. I admire him very much!"
"But I really don't admire Yuan Qingzhou!"
"He has no affection for us at all, and he goes too far to bully others!"
"If I hadn't taken the overall situation into consideration, I would have started a fight with him long ago!"
Jushou and Yuan Xi looked at each other, "Does General Guan think so too?"
Mi Fang looked unkind, "Who knows!"
"I can't control him!"
"He just trains the navy all day long. Does the East China Sea need a navy?"
"Yuan Qingzhou was provoked several times by ships, but General Guan actually tolerated it. He was bullied to the door, and he still swallowed his anger. If that's the case, what do you do as a naval officer?"
After saying that, Mi Fang took another swig of wine.
Jushou looked out and saw that it was getting late and said, "General Guan has been training his navy?"
Mi Fang said incoherently: "That's right, he didn't even come back at night and just stayed on the boat. I don't understand what he was thinking!"
Seeing that Mi Fang was getting more and more confused, she turned sideways and whispered to Yuan Xi: "Master, I always feel that something is not quite right."
"General Guan didn't come to the banquet today. He probably wasn't neglecting the young master. I'm afraid there must be a reason for him to be on such urgent precautions."
Yuan Xi listened and nodded: "I think so too. It seems that the situation in Xuzhou is weird and not as good as I thought before."
"I should at least meet with General Guan and ask carefully what happened."
Mi Fang was so drunk that she stood up unsteadily, pulled Yuan Xi and walked out, "Young master, why don't you come here once? Why don't you meet my little sister?"
Yuan Xi smiled bitterly and said, "I'm afraid it's not in line with etiquette."
Mi Fang said drunkenly: "What's not polite? I'm her brother. I agreed, so it's polite!"
"Does the young master hate my little sister?"
Yuan Xi said helplessly: "It's nothing."
When Lu Xun, the judge, saw this, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. Although Mi Fang now had a high official position and could be regarded as entering the ranks of the nobles, she was still a little careless in her behavior.
Several people present, including Sun Li, knew that they were going to the inner chamber of a female family member, so they couldn't follow Yuan Xi there. Jushuo looked at Lu Lingqi, who was chewing her elbow, and Lu Lingqi realized what she was doing.
She reluctantly put down her elbows and walked out, mentally scolding Mi Fang for disturbing her dinner.
When Yuan Xi went to meet his good friend, wouldn't it look stingy to go along alone?
She slowly followed Yuan Xi. Mi Fang turned around and said, "Female, Jun."
Yuan Xi hurriedly said: "She will go with me."
Mi Fang had no choice but to drag Yuan Xi to the small building where Mi Zhen was, and shouted loudly: "Little sister, the envoy is here to see you!"
Mi Zhen had already seen a few people coming through the window of the small building. She was feeling uneasy and wondered why brother was acting so ridiculously!
What does this appear to be?
As a result, Mi Fang opened her voice loudly, and when Mi Zhen heard it, her eyes instantly darkened.
She was so ashamed and angry that she almost wanted to jump off the building. How could she have such an obscure brother?
Mi Fang called a few more times, but when there was no response, she laughed and said, "My little sister is thin-skinned, I'm afraid she's shy."
Mi Zhen's vision went dark again, and she immediately wanted to lift the table and throw it down, knocking Mi Fang unconscious.
Mi Fang called a few times, but when she saw that there was no sound inside, she said angrily: "You can help yourself, I'll go back and drink with you first."
He pushed Yuan Xi forward with a meaningful smile on his face, "This is a great opportunity, so don't miss it."
After saying that, he staggered back.
Yuan Xi stood on the ground awkwardly, and Lu Lingqi laughed and said: "This brother is really extraordinary."
"How about I leave too?"
Yuan Xi was so busy: "No, if you leave, I won't be able to wash you away even if I jump into the Yellow River. It will also damage the reputation of the girls of the Mi family."
Lu Lingqi said with disdain: "You have a thief's heart but no courage!"
At this moment, a maid pushed open the door and came out, saying respectfully: "My lady, please ask you and your wife to go upstairs and have a chat."