Chapter 347: Playing around

Yuan Xi, accompanied by Sun Li and a hundred personal guards, entered Yuan Shang's camp in a menacing manner, causing the generals in the camp to become nervous and they all rushed to stand beside Yuan Shang to protect him.

The counselor Pang Ji and the generals Wen Chou and Zhang He stood on both sides of Yuan Shang. Seeing that Yuan Shang looked very unhappy, they thought that this was understandable. No one would be happy if they defeated the Black Mountain Army, won victory after victory, and forced the other side into a desperate situation, but were reaped the benefits by their own people.

At this moment, Yuan Shang led tens of thousands of troops to break into the Black Mountain Pass, blocking Yuan Xi's way into the heart of Black Mountain. This was equivalent to snatching the credit for defeating the Black Mountain army. How could Yuan Xi not be angry?

Sun Li stood behind Yuan Xi, staring at Yuan Shang like a hungry wolf waiting for its prey. Seeing this, the guards behind Yuan Shang put their hands on the hilts of their swords to guard against a sudden attack from the other party.

They had all heard of the name of the Fierce Tiger. Who knew if Yuan Xi would go crazy and let his guards harm their own young master?

Yuan Xi's face was gloomy. He straightened up and bowed, saying, "Greetings, Master Xianfu."

Yuan Shang saw that Yuan Xi looked unwilling, and he was secretly proud of himself. He laughed and said, "Master Xianyi, oh, no, I should call you Envoy now."

"Why is the unknown envoy so anxious to see me?"

"Sit down and talk, sit down and talk, haha."

The two men sat down separately. Yuan Xi looked angry and said, "The Black Mountain Army is just a small piece of cake. My army alone is enough to annihilate it."

"But now Master Xianfu has entered the battlefield midway, blocking my path to the heart of Black Mountain. I want to ask, what is your intention?"

Yuan Shang laughed, "Master Xianyi, you are going too far. Black Mountain is the Yuan family's great enemy. As a member of the Yuan family and in charge of the army on behalf of my father, how can I just sit back and do nothing?"

"As for saying that I'm blocking the way, that's a bit too much. My army of tens of thousands can only enter the central part of Black Mountain through these few passes. I can't go anywhere else."

"Master Xianyi, are you judging others by your own standards?"

Yuan Xi frowned and said, "Let's not talk about the young master entering the hinterland of Black Mountain. I came here along the way and saw that the young master set up camps everywhere. The mountain roads have been blocked. Where should I go?"

Yuan Shang was very proud in his heart. He had finally gotten ahead of Yuan Xi and blocked him outside the battlefield. All the credit from now on would be his!

He laughed and said, "This is because they are afraid that the two armies will interfere with each other. If they come together and cause trouble, it will be bad."

"Xianyi can enter from another pass."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi's face became even uglier. "This is the connecting point between the north and the central part. There is only one road leading to the hinterland. Apart from this, do I have to take a detour of hundreds of miles and enter from the southern pass between Jizhou and Hanoi?"

After hearing this, Yuan Shang smiled and said, "That's not a bad idea."

"Now that I have attracted the main force of the Black Mountain Army here, the southern pass must be empty, and perhaps no one is guarding it."

"If Master Xianyi leads his troops straight in, he might be able to accidentally enter the heart of Black Mountain and destroy the Black Mountain base camp before I can."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi became even angrier.

Yuan Shang sighed and said, "Well, I'll make a promise."

"It all depends on our ability to see who breaks through the Black Mountain Army's lair first."

"If Master Xianyi wins, I will present his achievements to my father and convince him to give the Black Mountain Pass to him."

"I will never hinder Master Xianyi from doing what he wants. How about that?"

Pang Ji Wenchou and others who were standing aside thought to themselves that Third Master Yuan really had the nerve to say that. Now he was blocking people from entering. Wasn't this obstruction?

Yuan Xi's face was uncertain, and he seemed to have finally made up his mind. He said, "It's a deal!"

Yuan Shang smiled secretly in his heart. Yuan Xi was desperate and was trying every possible means. If he led his men south to the Hanoi Pass, it would take at least four or five days. By then, he would be far ahead!

Yuan Xi saw that there was no room for maneuver, so he took his leave immediately. Yuan Shang wanted to keep Yuan Xi for dinner, but Yuan Xi waved his hand and said, "No need. I hope Master Xianfu can remember his promise."

When Yuan Shang saw Yuan Xi leaving in a hurry, he thought to himself, was the other party really going to lead his troops south?

He suddenly felt a little uneasy, and turned to Pang Ji and asked, "Is he still unwilling to give up and wants to compete with me for credit?"

After hearing this, Pang Ji said, "Master Xianyi has a reputation as a fierce tiger. He has earned this reputation through many battles. How can he give it up just because something bad happens?"

"I speculate that he will definitely rush south and enter the Black Mountains from the South Pass."

Yuan Shang was anxious when he heard this and said, "If that's the case, why are we still standing there? Today we will march out with our entire army to attack the Black Mountain Army to the west!"

Pang Ji heard this and said, "Don't panic, sir. The initiative is on our side."

"We have tens of thousands of troops, while Master Xianyi only has a few thousand men at most. Besides, he has to take a detour, so how can he be faster than us?"

"Even if Master Xianyi gets around to the southern pass, even if the Black Mountain Army doesn't defend, his chances of winning are slim."

"I am actually worried that we will break camp in a hurry. Master Xianyi's real purpose is not to go south, but to follow us and reap the benefits."

"So we still have to leave some people to block the road, so as to prevent Master Xianyi from making a feint."

After hearing this, Yuan Shang snorted coldly: "I understand!"

"Leave two thousand men to guard the pass to prevent Yuan Xi from passing through!"

"The rest of you will follow me and break camp early tomorrow morning to attack the Black Mountain Army!"

After hearing this, everyone accepted the order with a roar.

Yuan Xi left Yuan Shang's camp with Sun Li and a hundred guards. Behind them was Yuan Shang's army, which was spread all over the mountains and fields and had blocked the pass tightly. He did not look back and led everyone back.

Less than two hours later, he arrived at the road leading south from Jizhou to Henei, where Tian Yu was already waiting with an army of horses.

When Tian Yu saw Yuan Xi coming back, he asked, "How is it going?"

Yuan Xi then smiled, "It is just as Mr. Feng Xiao expected."

"Yuan Shang immediately promised that as long as I entered Black Mountain from the South Pass, he would not interfere."

"Our goal has been achieved."

"Brother Guorang, go back and help Mr. Fengxiao guard the Black Mountain Passage and wait for the right opportunity to act."

"I will lead my troops to Hanoi to meet Lu Bu, and by the way, let Mr. Yuanhua treat Qu Yi."

Tian Yu hesitated and said, "It's too dangerous for you to go deep into the enemy's territory alone. What if something goes wrong?"

"How about I switch with you, you stay here and I go to Hanoi?"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said firmly: "No, there may be changes here at any time, and Guo Rang is needed to take charge of the situation."

"This place is extremely critical. If no one guards the passage, the Black Mountain Army's defeated soldiers will move northward into Youzhou, which will cause us great trouble."

"There are many leaders in the Montenegrin Army with high-level weapons. If we want to stop them, we have to ask the country to do so."

"I will ask Yan Rou and Guo Rang to cooperate and do our best to protect the Black Mountain Pass."

After hearing this, Tian Yu could only say, "I will obey your orders, sir!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi finally felt relieved and said to Hua Tuo beside him: "In the next few days, I will have to trouble Mr. Yuan Hua to ride a horse."

Hua Tuo smiled and said, "I have practiced the Five Animal Exercises for decades, and it is not in vain. Don't worry."

Yuan Xi nodded, jumped on his horse, and shouted to the cavalry behind him: "This time, we must rush to Hanoi with all our strength, and there must be no mistakes!"

At the command, hundreds of elite soldiers followed Yuan Xi's horse and headed towards Hanoi like a torrent.

Yuan Xi was riding on his horse, and then he showed an anxious look.

The anger he showed in Yuan Shang's camp just now and his calmness in front of Tian Yu were all pretended.

The war has reached this point, and it is no longer important to him whether Montenegro can swallow it all.

What's more, the Black Mountain Army will definitely fight like a trapped beast. If his several thousand soldiers risk their lives, they will definitely not be able to win. If Yuan Shang is willing to fight head-on, let him go.

What Yuan Xi is most worried about now is, first, the possible loss of Lu Bu's Huaicheng, and second, Qu Yi's life or death.

Yuan Xi and Guo Jia argued for a long time before he finally convinced Guo Jia. Yuan Xi acted to deceive Yuan Shang, and then rushed to Huaicheng in person!

Yuan Xi knew that it was irrational for him to go to the dangerous place in person, but he had a hunch that Qu Yi might not make it back to Youzhou.

Qu Yi was originally sent to Hanoi by me, but he was seriously injured and was in critical condition. If I couldn't see him in time, I would not be able to get over it.

Yuan Xi rushed to Hanoi, Yuan Shang was busy planning the decisive battle with Heishan, but inside Huaicheng there was a scene of singing and dancing.

When Chen Gong was on patrol, he always felt that something was wrong in the city, an indescribable awkwardness, but after patrolling a few times, he did not find any obvious abnormalities.

Am I overthinking?

He did suggest that Lu Bu conduct a thorough investigation of the city, but after interrogating the hundreds of soldiers who had caused chaos in the city for a long time, he did not get any useful information. In a rage, Lu Bu killed them all.

When Zhang Liao rode out of the camp, he saw Gao Shun still inside directing the infantry drills. He said, "General Gao, the banquet is almost over. If we are late, I am afraid that Marquis Wen will blame us."

Gao Shun listened, hesitated for a moment, and said: "I don't drink, I'm really not used to this kind of occasion, so I'd better not go."

"Besides, we have been ordered to monitor the Youzhou Army. So far, Marquis Wen has not withdrawn this order, so I must continue to carry out the order."

"Ju Shou is going to attend the banquet in the city today, but Zhao Yun is still in the camp. If he has any ill intentions, only my Xianzhen Camp can stop him."

Zhang Liao listened and sighed, "Brother Gao, you are too rigid. Sometimes, no matter how much and how well you do official work, it is better to do more private things for the lord and drink more with him."

Gao Shun listened and said calmly: "My temper is just like this, I can't change it."

"Wenyuan, go have a few more drinks for me."

After hearing this, Zhang Liao shook his head helplessly and rode away on his horse.

This time when Lu Bu held a banquet, he explicitly ordered all the generals to attend. Only a man of such a high status and stubborn character as Gao Shun would not give Lu Bu face.

Although Gao Shun was nominally Lu Bu's subordinate, in fact the two of them had a nearly cooperative relationship. Gao Shun trained Lu Bu's troops, and Lu Bu gave Gao Shun a place to stay.

But Lu Bu had a shortcoming, he was too suspicious, especially towards a very capable general like Gao Shun, so Gao Shun became increasingly embarrassed under Lu Bu's command.