"Husband, we are waiting for your return!"

Zhou Ping stood at the door. Gan Qian, Da Qiao, and daughter Zhou Ning stood in front of him. Zhang Wu and twenty guards were waiting outside the door.

It was already dark at this time, and everyone held torches to illuminate the courtyard brightly.

"Well, husband, Sister Qian and I are waiting for you at home!" Da Qiao followed.

"And me, Dad, you must come back soon!"

Daughter Zhou Ning didn't know what her father was going to do. She only knew that it might take a long time for her father to come back after leaving this time, otherwise her mother would not have said that.

Zhou Ping smiled on his face: "Don't worry, I will be back soon. Aning, you have to listen to your mother!"

"Yeah." Zhou Ning nodded heavily.

Zhou Ping waved to them, and then told Ah Shui who was standing behind them: "Ah Shui, I will leave it to you to take care of the family. If you have anything to do, you can go to Zhuge Zhizhong first."

"Young Master, Ah Shui understands." Ah Shui responded quickly.

Zhou Ping turned around and went out. The moment he turned around, he saw tears on Gan Qian's face.

Different from the previous departures from home, this time she was venturing out of the city. No wonder Gan Qian was worried, but she didn't dare to show it too much, fearing that Zhou Ping would be worried about it and miss things.

"Walk."

When he got out of the door, Zhou Ping gave an order, and Zhang Wu and twenty guards followed him to the Prefectural Mufu Mansion.

These twenty guards are Zhou Ping's personal guards. They were personally selected by Zhou Ping and Zhang Wu. They are also instructed by Zhang Wu on weekdays. They are good at fighting with swords and spears or riding and shooting, and they are also good at conveying messages.

, Zhou Ping will also send them to do it.

When they arrived at the Prefectural Mufu Hall, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu Zhuge Jin and others were all there.

Zhou Ping noticed that there was a box on the table in front of Liu Bei.

What is contained in the box should be the jade seal passed down from the country.

After Zhou Pingping sat down politely, the hall fell into silence with no one speaking.

After a while, Liu Bei stood up, picked up the box on the case, walked to Zhou Ping, and said, "Sir, the safety of Xiapi and Xuzhou is up to you!"

Then he handed the box to Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping immediately stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, my lord, Ping will live up to his command!"

"Then, open it and take a look."

Liu Bei stretched the box forward again.

Zhou Ping raised his hands, carefully took the box, opened it gently, and saw a jade seal with a missing corner inside.

"You must carry this with you and don't lose it!"

Liu Bei stared at the jade seal in the box with a very reluctant look.

Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Mi Zhu, Zhuge Jin and others stretched their necks to take a closer look at the contents of the box. In fact, Liu Bei had already taken it out to them before Zhou Ping came.

"promise."

Zhou Ping put down the box, bowed and saluted.

Liu Bei waved, and a soldier brought a square cloth, wrapped the box tightly first, leaving a long section on both sides, and handed it to Zhou Ping.

Zhou Ping straightened his body and asked the soldiers to help him tie the package tightly to his body. After tying it, he pulled hard to make sure it would not fall.

The box was not big, but it still made Zhou Ping feel very uncomfortable.

Not only because of the square box, but also because the things in the box are too important.

"Yide, you must protect your husband!"

Liu Bei turned to Zhang Fei and gave instructions.

Zhang Fei responded: "Brother, don't worry, Zhang Fei is here, sir is here!"

"I'm here, and the things are there!"

Zhou Ping said as he gently patted the package tied to his body.

"Youde and Zhongkang Ziwei escorted him together. I am not particularly worried about your husband leaving the city. What I am worried about is whether he can persuade General Yuan to withdraw his troops." Liu Bei slowly walked back to his seat and sat down.

"If Yuan Benzhu accepts this thing, he will definitely retreat. Do you think, my lord, that he will refuse this thing?" Zhou Ping asked with a smile.

Liu Bei nodded: "Even if Jizhou's soldiers and horses retreat, I'm afraid Cao Cao and Nanyang Zhangxiu's soldiers and horses may not be willing to retreat."

"If there are no soldiers and horses in Jizhou, what does Cao Cao have to fear? As soon as the soldiers and horses in Jizhou retreat, the lord can send people out of the city to spread rumors that the soldiers and horses in Jizhou will take the opportunity to seize Yanzhou. Whether Cao Cao believes it or not, he will retreat.

.At this time, the lord can send troops out of the city to pursue, but it must be the same as before. If the first pursuit fails, you can send troops to pursue again, and you will definitely win."

"Hahaha... what you said is true. If Cao Cao refuses to retreat, he is even more afraid that Yuan Benchu ​​will seize his Yanzhou. If Yanzhou is captured, he will have no place to live!" Liu Bei laughed.

“Sir’s profound thoughts are impressive!”

Zhuge Jin bowed his hand to Zhou Ping to express his admiration.

Guan Yu and Mi Zhu also nodded, agreeing with what Zhou Ping said.

"Sir, are you sure you will leave the city again at Yinshi?" Liu Bei asked.

"Well, that's when the enemy soldiers relaxed."

"Okay, let's go to Dongcheng and wait."

Liu Bei led everyone out of the Prefectural Mufu Mansion and came to the gate tower of Dongcheng.

Xu Chu and Zhang Wu followed Zhou Ping, and the twenty guards and one hundred soldiers led by Xu Chu were waiting at the bottom of the city.

"Sir, do you think Yan Liang is asleep now?"

Liu Bei looked at the enemy camp outside the city as usual. It didn't look like he had experienced an attack on the camp for two consecutive nights.

Zhou Ping smiled and replied: "Maybe he is not asleep at this time, but at Yin Shi, I think he must be in a deep sleep."

It is now near the end of Haishi, and there is still more than an hour before Yinshi.

Liu Bei also told Zhang Fei and Xu Chu that they must protect Zhou Ping, especially when they arrived in Yecheng, they should be even more careful and follow him at all times.

Zhang Wu is Zhou Ping's bodyguard, so there is no need to explain anything special.

Everyone stood on the city gate tower, looking quietly outside the city, and listened carefully.

When midnight arrived, everyone held their breath and listened quietly to the movements of the enemy camp outside the city.

However, there seemed to be nothing unusual about the enemy camp outside the city. There were no special lights, and no sounds of soldiers and horses were heard.

Until midnight, no movement was found in the enemy camp.

At this time, in the enemy's northern camp, there were a thousand soldiers hiding in the dark with weapons, just waiting for the people in the city to attack the camp like they did the previous two nights.

Following the pattern of the previous two nights, they thought that the enemy soldiers in the city would attack around midnight. However, it was already halfway through midnight and there was no sign of enemy soldiers leaving the city.

The soldiers on the watchtower stretched their ears even more, and could not hear any footsteps, nor the sound of pulling out antlers like the previous two nights.

Yan Liang was also sitting in the tent at this time, yawning, and asked impatiently: "What time is it now?"

"General, Zi Shi has been hit."

"Is there any movement in Beiying?"

"No, maybe the enemy soldiers won't leave the city tonight."

"Humph, it only takes three. They came here twice. If they dare to come a third time, they will never come back. I'll lie down for a while and call me if anything happens."

Yan Liang yawned again and lay on the couch.

The captain next to him quickly agreed and sent people outside the tent to inquire about the news about Beiying.

The soldiers who were ambushing in the northern camp were impatient, but General Yan asked them to stay here without saying how long they would stay.

If there was no military order for them to withdraw their troops, they would definitely have to stay on guard until dawn.

"Captain, do we still have to wait?"

The person leading the ambush was a school captain, and a military prince next to him asked.

"Of course we have to wait. What if the enemy soldiers come back later?"

"It will be daylight if we wait any longer. The enemy soldiers probably won't come tonight!"

"It's better if you don't come. Don't make any noise and listen carefully."

The Marquis stopped talking, and after a while he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Time passed little by little, and it was almost Yin time.

Upstairs at the city gate.

Liu Bei held Zhou Ping's hands and was about to say goodbye. He had already said what needed to be said, and saying it now would just be a repetition.

"Sir, be careful along the way. The entire city of Guhe Xiapi, as well as your family, are waiting for your return!"

"Lord, take care of yourself, we will be back soon."

"Yide, Zhongkang, remember, you must protect your husband!" Liu Bei also told Zhang Fei and Xu Chu.

Zhang Fei was tired of hearing: "Brother, I know, don't worry!"

Liu Bei said no more and took Zhou Ping's hand down to the city gate tower.
To be continued...