Chapter 387: Scoring a Second Score

Only a dozen of the 5,000 soldiers brought by Qiao Rui entered the city. The rest were attacked by soldiers disguised as surrendered soldiers on both sides of the city gate when they were still entering the city. They were caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties.

These fake soldiers were all Yuan Xi's subordinates. They wore a layer of linen clothes over their armor and looked like ordinary soldiers. If it was daytime, Qiao Rui and his subordinates might have been alert, because if you look closely, they are still quite unnatural, after all, their bodies are much thicker.

But it happened to be dark, and Qiao Rui was afraid of arousing Yuan Yao's suspicion, so he was anxious to seize the city gate and defeat the resisting soldiers, so he led his troops in without even looking carefully.

After all, his idea was very simple. There were not many soldiers in the city. Even with his own troops and the surrendered soldiers, couldn't he defeat the remaining people who wanted to resist?

As a result, when he realized he had been tricked, it was too late. His retreat was cut off by the trap camp. Yuan Xi's personal guards at the city gate suddenly attacked and, with their sophisticated equipment, they instantly defeated Qiao Rui's rear army and then closed the city gate again.

Qiao Rui led his men to charge left and right, but they were all blocked by Gao Shun's trap camp. He found that the enemy's defense was impenetrable and he could not find any chance at all!

Arrows were constantly shot from the houses on both sides of the street, and people kept falling down. Qiao Rui now had only one chance, which was for Zhang Xun outside to break the city gate and attack the rear of the Xianzhen Camp. Only then could he break out!

However, this slim hope was completely shattered by the sound of the gong coming from outside the city and the cheers coming from the top of the city.

"The enemy ran away!"

"The enemy is defeated!"

Yuan Xi led his guards around to the back of Qiao Rui and said, "I didn't expect that General Qiao would come out in person. I got the upper hand again this time. I'm so ashamed. Haha."

"Now that the situation is over, why waste more lives?"

After hearing this, Qiao Rui sighed, threw his ring-handled sword on the ground, and ordered his men to surrender.

Gao Shun ordered his men to tie up Qiao Rui and take him away. He said to Yuan Xi, "Sir, you have a wise plan. I admire you."

"Now, what else do you want me to do?"

He saw that Yuan Xi had Wei Xu, Yuan Yao and others playing around in his hands. If a military general wanted to impress others, he could only rely on his military achievements. Now that Yuan Xi had proved his ability, Gao Shun also spoke politely.

Yuan Xi thought for a moment and said with a smile, "Brother Gao, how about coming with me to kill Wei Xu?"

Gao Shun was startled, then he bowed and said, "Shun understands your intention, but Shun cannot betray Marquis Wen."

"Although Wen Hou will definitely not be happy about what happened today, Shun still wants to explain it to Wen Hou face to face."

"If we kill him, and follow what we did tonight, it will be treason, and there will be no way to justify it."

Yuan Xi shook his head and said with a smile: "That's a pity."

He secretly thought it was a pity. As long as Wei Xu was killed, Gao Shun would become even more suspicious of Lu Bu, because then there would be no way to prove whether Wei Xu was innocent or not, as it would all depend on one-sided words.

By then, Gao Shun would have no way to refute himself and would have no choice but to surrender to himself.

To be honest, although the forces of Wei Xu and Song Xian were eliminated, Yuan Xi also wanted to kill them, but Chen Gong and Gao Shun had to be kept alive.

Only in this way can he prove his innocence in front of Lu Bu and show that he has no ulterior motives.

But in Yuan Xi's heart, he really wanted to get rid of Wei Xu. After all, he was playing both sides and put all the blame on Wei Xu. If some of the things he had done were to be revealed, it would not be very glorious.

But Yuan Xi couldn't just throw his face at someone else. If he ignored Chen Gong and Gao Shun's opposition and forcibly killed Wei Xu and others on the spot, it was not impossible. Or he could just assassinate Wei Xu directly, and Gao Shun would not be able to wash himself clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River.

But in this case, the fragile alliance with Lu Bu might be broken, which would be very disadvantageous for Lu Bu and Youzhou coalition forces who are now fighting against other forces in Anyi.

Gao Shun was not a fool. He guessed his intention and believed that he would despise him as a person, which would make it even more difficult for him to gain his true loyalty.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xi said to Gao Shun: "Let's follow Brother Gao's wishes."

"One more favor, please."

"I want to interrogate Qiao Rui."

After hearing this, Gao Shun agreed without hesitation. In his opinion, Yuan Xi respected his ideas very much. Even though he rejected him several times, he did not show any dissatisfaction, which made Gao Shun feel very sorry.

Now, he had no reason to refuse such a small request as interrogating the surrendered general.

Before leaving, Yuan Xi said to Gao Shun seriously: "I know that Brother Gao and Mr. He Gongtai are not on good terms, but the two of you are in similar situations, and may not always be similar. Brother Gao can think carefully about what to do in the future."

When Gao Shun heard this, he didn't take it seriously at first, but then he suddenly seemed to think of something and his face became serious.

However, Yuan Xi had already turned and left.

Qiao Rui was taken to a room in a mansion, and several soldiers stood guard at the door.

He was now heartbroken. He had somehow survived last time, but this time, less than half a year later, he was captured again in almost the same way, at almost the same location of the city gate, by the same person.

Although he is not as good as Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and others, he is still a top-ranked general. However, he was captured twice in a row. Could it be that Yuan Xi is his nemesis?

After more than an hour, when his hands and feet were numb from being tied, he heard footsteps.

Yuan Xi brought Sun Li into the house and saw Qiao Rui staring at him unkindly. He smiled and said, "The general and I are really destined to meet."

He ordered the soldiers to untie Qiao Rui. Qiao Rui stood up and stretched his hands and feet. Seeing that several soldiers were in high spirits and were staring at him covetously, he gave up the last thought of escaping.

Yuan Xi motioned Qiao Rui to sit down and said, "I came here this time to ask about the deployment of Yuan Yao's military camp."

After hearing this, Qiao Rui sneered and said, "How could I be a betrayer?"

"You might as well kill me right now!"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "Don't worry, General. If you really want to die, I won't catch you, right?"

"Wouldn't it have been all over if I had just slashed his neck with the sword?"

After hearing this, Qiao Rui said in a deep voice: "How can I turn around and kill my colleagues just because I am afraid of death?"

"I owe you two lives, but now I only have one, so just take it."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi laughed even more and said, "The general is indeed a loyal and righteous man, but I'm afraid Yuan Shu is not worthy of the general."

"The general has seen Yuan Yao's ability. I'm afraid he will kill you sooner or later."

"And now that the general has been captured by me, is he still thinking of going back?"

"Last time I let the general go, Sun Bofu was a man of honor and didn't pursue the matter. Now if I let the general go, how can Yuan Yao not be suspicious of the general?"

He leaned forward slightly and said, "General, following Yuan Shu may not lead to a good ending. I am short of a few generals. If you surrender, I will be waiting for you. What do you think?"

Qiao Rui was moved by what he heard, but he still shook his head dejectedly, "Thank you for your kindness, my lord, for taking a liking to a useless person like me. If I were alone, I might have surrendered to you now."

"But I still have a family. If Yuan Gonglu knew, my family would be miserable."

"So I would rather you kill me, my family will still be treated well."

Yuan Xi's eyes flickered, "General, do you value your family so much?"

"In these chaotic times, it is common for people to abandon their wives and children in order to survive. General, are you still concerned about your family?"

"And as far as I know, the general has no sons, only two daughters, Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao, right?"

Qiao Rui was shocked, "How did the envoy know?"

He then smiled bitterly and said, "Your Excellency knows all about this kind of thing. I didn't lose unfairly."

Yuan Xi thought to himself, not at all, it's just that your two daughters are very famous.

Qiao Rui thought of his daughter and said, "My wife died early. She asked me to take good care of them before she died. I don't want to be a person who breaks his promise."

Yuan Xi sighed, "I didn't expect the general to be such a loyal and righteous person. But if the general follows a man like Yuan Shu, I'm afraid his family won't be able to live a peaceful life, right?"

"Is Yuan Shu about to become emperor?"

"General, aren't you afraid that all the heroes in the world will rise up and attack you?"

"Will the general be able to stop it by then?"

Qiao Rui said helplessly, "Your Excellency is right, but I can't turn back now."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "I can show you two clear options."

"First, I will temporarily detain the general, and then secretly send someone to bring the general's family here."

"Second, wait for Yuan Yao to withdraw his troops. If the general promises not to be my enemy, I will send the general back. If Yuan Shu declares himself emperor, the general will go to Sun Bofu to save his life."

After hearing this, Qiao Rui was stunned for a while, then asked, "What good will this do for you, my Lord?"

"I know my own strength, and I am far inferior to the generals under your command. Why can you be so humble?"

Yuan Xi smiled and said, "The general's martial arts skills are not very strong."

Qiao Rui was shocked to hear Yuan Xi speak so bluntly, but he had nothing to say. After all, it was his fault that he was arrested twice.

Yuan Xi added: "I like the general because he is on good terms with Bo Fu. To be honest, I admire Bo Fu very much and don't want to become an undying enemy with him in the future."

"If the general can mediate, I think it would be best if the two sides could make peace with each other in the future."

Qiao Rui was stunned. So this was the other party's plan?

But this reason sounds very reasonable, and there is no reason to deceive myself!

He hesitated and said, "Bofu is now a subordinate of Yuan Shu. The two Yuans are fighting, and with Yuan Gonglu around, I'm afraid Bofu will not show goodwill to you, my lord."

Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "I don't think so."

"Yuan Gonglu is greedy and cruel, he treats his subordinates harshly, and plunders the people, causing the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people. Moreover, his independence is a great offense against the world. I don't think Bofu would be stupid enough to die with him."

Qiao Rui deeply felt the same way. Yuan Shu was stubborn in doing things. In fact, many people were not optimistic about Yuan Shu's enthronement, but they were all blinded by the promised benefits. On the contrary, people like Qiao Rui, who had no ambition and was gradually losing power, had already begun to think about retreating.

Yuan Xi saw Qiao Rui's expression and knew that he had made up his mind, so he said in the end: "People who have lost their moral principles will be attacked by the whole world. Even if you die for them, you will not only fail to gain the reputation of being loyal and righteous, but will also be infamous for eternity."

"The world is in turmoil right now, and nowhere is safe, but I have a way out in Xuzhou and Guangling."

"Even if we encounter war, we can still escape by ship and go anywhere in the world."

"If Mr. Qiao doesn't want to follow me, I won't force him. All he needs to do is try to promote an alliance between me and Bofu, and I'll let the general go back. How about that?"

Qiao Rui hesitated and said, "But what about Sun Bofu?"

Yuan Xi waved his hand and said, "It's okay, General, just do your best and have a clear conscience."

Qiao Rui hesitated and asked, "Sir, aren't you afraid that I will go back on my word?"

"Since I can let the general go back, I naturally don't care if he breaks his promise. Besides, I am willing to trust someone who can keep his promise to his deceased wife."

After hearing this, Qiao Rui's last bit of doubt disappeared, and he bowed and said, "Rui owes you two lives. I am willing to go and persuade Bo Fu on your behalf to repay you for not killing me!"

After hearing this, Yuan Xi thought to himself, it's a success. Qiao Rui is currently the most suitable person to contact Sun Ce.

The next two years would be a time to plot against Yuan Shu. If Sun Ce was determined to go against him, Yuan Xi would not only gain nothing, but might also have his plans ruined by Sun Ce.

After all, Yuan Xi still feels guilty about Madam Wu's incident. Who knows how Sun Ce will react when he finds out the truth.