A small village somewhere in the mountains between Hua County and Fei County.
This village originally had only a dozen households and dozens of dilapidated thatched huts, but now hundreds of people passed by.
This team was extremely large, with not only hundreds of vehicles, but also hundreds of cavalry and infantry. They were equipped with swords and guns, and everyone had a piece of blue cloth wrapped around their foreheads.
The old village chief, leaning on a wooden stick and tremblingly carrying a bowl of eggs, went to greet the group of uninvited guests. What greeted him was a steel knife.
Zhang Kai put the knife back into its sheath and held the bowl of eggs steadily with his other hand. Then the old village chief's body fell into the muddy water.
Zhang Kai turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "Kill them all."
After hearing this, the soldiers under his command rushed into the village with knives like wolves and tigers, dragged the men and women inside out of the house and killed them, and the attack was very clean and neat.
At that time, in the troubled times, the nobles were superior, the generals were normal, and the soldiers were inferior.
As for the common people, they can be tools for farming and growing grain, they can be soldiers' reserves, they can be objects of plunder, they can even be the grain itself, but they are not counted as people.
As a commoner, he might die hastily and quietly one day, just like the villagers in this village.
The whole process happened so fast that the villagers didn't even have time to react. The only sound left in the village was the crowing of chickens and dogs.
After a while, the barking of chickens and dogs disappeared.
Zhang Kai peeled an egg open with one hand and threw it into his mouth. He chewed it twice and swallowed it. Feeling that his throat was a little dry, he took out a water bag and drank a few sips of water. Then he jumped off the horse and walked towards the carriage in the middle of the group.
He knocked on the side of the carriage and said, "Mr. Cao, do you want some eggs?"
The car door opened, revealing Cao Song's smiling face, "Thank you for your hard work, Captain Zhang. I'm not hungry yet, so I'd better leave it to Captain Captain's subordinates."
Zhang Kai was holding the eggs, but his eyes were looking at the trembling plump concubine behind Cao Song, and his eyes stayed for a long time.
Cao Song understood and quickly said with a smile: "If the captain is interested, I will give this woman to the captain."
When the concubine heard this, her face became even more horrified.
Zhang Kai laughed loudly: "No need," he raised the bowl in his hand, "I'm still more interested in eggs."
After saying that, he turned around and left with the bowl in hand.
The concubine breathed a sigh of relief and complained to Cao Song: "Master, how can you give up?"
Cao Song's face was gloomy: "Shut up!"
The concubine was so frightened that she quickly kept silent.
Cao Song thought for a while and asked his concubine to call Cao De in the car behind. After a while, a young man in his twenties hurried over with the hem of his gown and got on the carriage.
The concubine in the back saw the car door slamming shut and had no choice but to stand outside.
When the soldiers passed by her, they looked at her plump body wrapped in silk clothes unscrupulously, which made her even more frightened and uneasy.
Cao Song said in the car: "Where are you?"
Cao De hurriedly said: "We are almost arriving in Feixian County."
"After passing Feixian County and heading north, we should be able to meet Ying Shao, the prefect of Mount Tai, coming to greet our team."
"Besides, my eldest brother has already sent troops to attack Taishan County and Langya. The army is nearby. No matter who we encounter, they should be safe."
Cao Song looked gloomy and said, "We can't get there."
Cao De was surprised: "Why?"
Cao Song sneered and said, "I met this guy the day before yesterday. I think he has bad intentions."
"It was called an escort, but many soldiers took the opportunity to knock on the cart containing the goods. Apparently they were eyeing what was inside!"
"I'm afraid they will be jealous of money and kill us when the time comes!"
Cao De was shocked: "If this is really the case, we only have a dozen guards and the rest are coachmen. How can we resist?"
"Why don't you give half of your belongings to them?"
"Idiot!" Cao Song said with a gloomy face, "They can take everything if they kill us. Why only take half? Would you do it instead?"
"The reason why they haven't taken action for so long is probably because they are looking for a suitable place to start."
Cao De was even more frightened after hearing this, "Isn't this a very suitable place?"
Cao Song said in a deep voice: "It may be here, or it may be Feixian County, but we will never be allowed to go north again."
Cao De wondered: "Why Fei County?"
Cao Song hated the iron and said: "If you are half as capable as my brother, I won't be so tired!"
"Because they need a place to hide their hands!"
"This village is too small, and it is not easy to cover up the traces of so many vehicles. They are also afraid that your eldest brother's cavalry will appear at any time and hunt them down!"
"But it's different in Feixian County. The city has just been massacred there, and the city must be full of dead bodies."
"When the time comes, throw our bodies inside, divide the belongings in the car, destroy the car and burn it, and there will be no traces left!"
When Cao De heard this, he asked anxiously: "What should we do?"
Cao Song's face was gloomy: "When night falls, you find a servant to put on your clothes and stay in your car. You find a way to find a horse and go to the north to find someone to rescue us."
When Cao De heard this, he was frightened and said, "I can't do it!"
"If we can't do it, everyone will die!" Cao Song shouted.
"Imitate your elder brother, he is always gambling with his life. What about you?"
Cao De didn't dare to say anything, but he thought that man was a scoundrel. I am his legitimate son, how can I be like him?
Seeing that Cao De couldn't help him up, Cao Song snorted coldly: "Then you just stay here and wait to die."
Cao De said quickly: "I'll go!"
He finally figured it out. If he stayed still, he might die tonight, but if he went out, no matter what, he could at least live for a few more days.
Zhang Kai walked around the room, staring at the hundreds of large cars outside, his eyes flashing.
These people can be killed at any time, the key is how to kill them.
I set out from Yangping County, Donghai County, thinking I could intercept Cao Song and his party heading west.
But Cao Song didn't know how he got the news in advance, and he actually went northwest. Unexpectedly, Zhang Kai ran more than 200 miles north before meeting Cao Song.
But it was a bit embarrassing at this time, because this place is only a few dozen miles away from Feixian County, and Cao Cao's army may be encountered at any time.
Although the people sent by the spies said that Cao Cao's army suddenly turned north to attack Jimo, Zhang Kai did not dare to bet on whether Cao Cao's army was nearby.
After all, he heard that Cao Jun had another unit appearing in the east!
Zhang Kai was very greedy. Not only did he want to kill Cao Song, but he also wanted to take away the property. Moreover, he appeared to be a general under Tao Qian, but in fact he had secretly defected to Yuan Shu!
The order Tao Qian gave him was to take Cao Song hostage and return to Yangping. If things couldn't be done, Cao Song's family could be killed.
But Yuan Shu's order to Zhang Kai was to kill Cao Song!
Zhang Kai knew what Yuan Shu was thinking.
By killing Cao Song, Cao Cao will fight against Xuzhou, and the pressure on Yuzhou in the south where Yuan Shu and Sun Jian are located will be greatly reduced.
Moreover, if Cao Cao attacks Xuzhou, Tao Qian will definitely be unable to support him, and he will have no choice but to surrender Xuzhou to Yuan Shu!
Zhang Kai was bribed by Yuan Shu a long time ago, and he has been hesitant these days. Now he finally made up his mind to betray Tao Qian and defect to Yuan Shu.
After all, Yuan Shu has the ability to dominate the world, but Tao Qian is far behind.
But Zhang Kai also had his own small calculations. He wanted high-ranking officials and generous salaries, and he also wanted gold and silver.
The problem he faced now was how to leave Xuzhou safely without being discovered and go to Yuzhou to join Yuan Shu with a hundred carts of treasures after killing Cao Song!