The Jagged Cavalry of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 75 075 The Return of Zhang Yan
The night was filled, and the city of Tan was deadly silent. The lights on the city wall were flickered by the wind, and the soldiers guarding the city were also tired, and began to doze off while leaning on their spears.

"It deserves..."

Suddenly, a rush of horseshoes came from a distance, and the guards on the city wall looked out, but saw nothing but the endless darkness.

Tonight, the moon was dark and the wind was high, and the guards became vigilant one after another. They called the Sima, who was guarding the city, and all of them were on the verge of firing their swords, staring wide-eyed at the outside of the city.

A moment later, an afterimage passed in front of everyone. A knight reined in his horse by the moat. Reflected by the faint light, everyone vaguely saw this man's stern face.

"It's General Xiaoqi, open the city gate quickly!" The military commander in charge of guarding the city recognized the knights outside the city at a glance, and ordered immediately.

The knight standing by the moat is none other than Xiaoqi General Zhang Yan.He galloped all night, and finally arrived here at midnight. Looking at the flickering lights on the tower, the figure was shaking, and before he called the door, he saw the suspension bridge slowly lowered.

Not long after, the suspension bridge was completely lowered, and the city gate was opened. The guards, led by a military commander, walked straight towards him.

"Sun Guan, the last general, see General Xiaoqi!" As soon as the army commander came to Zhang Yan, he bowed his hands respectfully.

Zhang Yan looked at Sun Guan for a while, saw that he had thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a burly figure, so he asked, "Do you know me?"

Sun Guan said with a smile: "The general is famous, Sun Guan is like a thunderbolt, and I often hear General Zang Ba mention the general, saying that the general is a hero in the world. When I saw him today, I really had a different reaction."

Zhang Yan searched his memory carefully, and then he remembered that Sun Guan, Yin Li, Wu Dun, Chang Xi, Sun Kang and others were all Taishan bandits who surrendered by Zang Ba, and they are now Zang Ba's generals.

The appearance of Sun Guan here also shows that Zang Ba is also in Tancheng.He immediately said: "I remembered, you are the military commander under General Zang, right?"

"The general has good eyesight, so he guessed it right." Sun Guan looked behind Zhang Yan again, and asked, "Did the general not come with troops?"

"I'm the only one with more soldiers and horses. I'm afraid I may not be able to arrive here tomorrow. By the way, where is General Zang now?"

"My general is resting in the barracks, and I will take General Zhang into the city right now."

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Yan, led by Sun Guan, quickly arrived at the barracks where Zang Ba was.

At this moment, Zang Ba's big tent was still lit with fire, and he hadn't fallen asleep yet.

Zhang Yan followed Sun Guan to the edge of the big tent, and heard Zang Ba's roar coming from the big tent: "What is he, Liu Bei? We are here desperately guarding Xuzhou, Tao Shijun not only Didn't provide us with a single bit of compensation, but handed over the position of Xuzhou Mu to Liu Bei, is there such a thing in the world?"

"No, no..." A group of people echoed.

Zang Ba's voice sounded again: "I'm just wondering, what is Tao Shijun thinking? He passed away once in Kaiyang City. His illness has just improved, and he passed away again today. Since he doesn't want to be Xuzhou shepherd Now, I just need to resign as soon as possible. What are you still doing with this position? Even if you want to give up the position, you have to give it up to General Xiaoqi. The whole Xuzhou, if not for the protection of General Xiaoqi Zhang Yan, would have fallen into the hands of Cao Cao long ago inside..."

"Yes, yes, General Xiaoqi has great achievements in battle, and his reputation spreads far and wide. Even we all admire him. General, it's already midnight, it's so late, so stop drinking, go to bed early, and have business to do tomorrow Woolen cloth……"

"Drinking is business. If you don't have a good drink with me today, don't even think about getting out of this big tent!" Zang Ba said.

While talking, the curtain of the big tent was pulled open suddenly, Zhang Yan walked in from the outside, glanced at Zang Ba who was drunk, and said with a smile: "Why don't you let me have a drink with you!"

Zang Ba was taken aback by Zhang Yan's sudden appearance. He shook his head vigorously, looked at Zhang Yan in disbelief, and asked, "General Zhang? I'm not dazzled, am I?"

"Brother Zang is really good at joking, even if you are dazzled, it won't make everyone dazzled, right? If you don't believe me, you can ask your subordinates to see if I am real?" Zhang Yan walked straight to Zang Ba and said as he walked .

Everyone around Zang Ba nodded and said: "General, it is really General Zhang who is here!"

Zang Ba laughed loudly after hearing this, stood up from the ground, hugged Zhang Yan directly, and handed a full bowl of wine to Zang Ba, saying happily: "You are finally back, Come on, drink this bowl of wine first!"

Zhang Yan took the bowl of wine, drank it down, then sat beside Zang Ba, and asked: "You said just now, who is Tao Shijun going to give up the position of Xuzhou Mu?"

"Liu Bei! What is that Liu Bei? I just can't figure out whether Tao Shijun is bewitched or something. Counting this time today, he has already given up Xuzhou Mu to Liu Bei twice in a row. After Zang Ba said this, he gulped down a large bowl of wine.

When Zhang Yan heard Liu Bei's name, he couldn't help frowning. The efforts he made originally thought he could snipe history, but he never thought that Liu Bei would still appear as usual.

"Apart from Liu Bei, who else is here?" Zhang Yan asked.

Zang Ba then informed Zhang Yan of the people who were coming one by one. When Zhang Yan learned that Zhao Yun and Tai Shici were also in Tancheng, a glimmer of hope suddenly appeared in Zhang Yan's eyes.

Zhang Yan drank a few more bowls of wine with Zang Ba, and then left Zang Ba's barracks with an excuse. He rode a dark cloud and a snow horse, and went straight to Mi's mansion.

Even though it was already late at night, the lights in Mi's mansion were still brightly lit. In the hall, Mi Zhu, Chen Deng, and Sun Qian were sitting separately as guests and hosts, appreciating the tea and discussing matters at the same time.

Suddenly, the butler Mi Qiang broke in from the door, and said in a panic, "Patriarch, my uncle is back!"

"Who did you say is back?" Mi Zhu couldn't believe his ears, and asked again.

"Uncle is back." Mi Qiang repeated again.

As soon as the words fell, Zhang Yan strode in from outside the hall and appeared in front of everyone.

"See General!" Mi Zhu, Chen Deng, and Sun Qian all stood up at the same time, clasping their fists together.

Zhang Yan hurriedly said: "There are no outsiders here, so you don't have to be so cautious. Yuanlong, what you wrote in your letter, does it mean that Tao Shijun is going to give up his seat to Liu Bei?"

Chen Deng nodded, and said: "That's exactly what happened. Tonight, Mr. Tao called everyone together again, and was about to give way to Liu Bei again. Fortunately, we persuaded him, otherwise, the general will be rushed back. I’m afraid it’s useless.”

"Well, when I entered the city, I passed by Zang Ba's barracks, and I heard what happened at night from Zang Ba." Zhang Yan saw Sun Qian when he entered the door, and he went straight to Sun Qian and cupped his hands He said: "Mr. Sun, you are Tao Shijun's staff, Tao Shijun has always followed your opinion, I wonder if you can persuade Tao Shijun?"

Sun Qiandao: "General Zhang, to tell you the truth, I have already persuaded Mr. Tao, and I have also stated my interests. As for what Mr. Tao will do, that is beyond my control."

Chen Deng hurriedly said: "Mr. Sun has been persuading Mr. Tao and recommending a general to take charge of Xuzhou. Mr. Tao is all about letting Liu Bei take the throne, and Mr. Sun has no choice."

"Now the whole Xuzhou wants the general to succeed Xuzhou Mu. Tao Shijun also understands this very well. Even if he wants Liu Bei to be the Xuzhou Mu, Liu Bei will not be stupid to compete with the general. Don't worry, the general. This Xuzhou Mu must belong to the general." Sun Gan said.

Chen Dengdao: "The general came back from hundreds of miles away without hesitation, just for this matter. Once Tao Shijun can't think about it and insists on giving up Xuzhou Mu to Liu Bei, our efforts will be in vain. In order to avoid long nights and dreams, we now Let’s go to the State Shepherd’s Mansion and ask Tao Shijun face-to-face why he didn’t give up Xuzhou Mu to the general. In the whole of Xuzhou, besides the general, who else can be qualified for this position?”

Mi Zhu also echoed: "Yes, Xuzhou must not fall into the hands of outsiders. Even if Tao Shijun insists on giving Xuzhou to Liu Bei, we will take Xuzhou back and let the general take charge."

Seeing that Mi Zhu and Chen Deng were very excited, Zhang Yan said: "It's about this time, I'm afraid Tao Shijun has already rested. There is not much time until dawn, why don't we wait until dawn with peace of mind, and then go to visit together Tao Shijun, how are you doing?"

"General, there are so many long nights and dreams!" Chen Deng reminded.

Sun Gandao: "General, I don't think Tao Shijun will fall asleep tonight. The general came back late at night, and I just took this opportunity to pay a visit to the state pastoral mansion. I will go with the general, and when we are in front of Tao Shijun, we will wait for you." Let’s recommend the general to take over Xuzhou, and Mr. Tao, seeing that we are all united and the general is by his side, will definitely give up the position of Xuzhou shepherd to the general.”

"It's not too late, let's go now!" Mi Zhu said.

Before Zhang Yan could react, Chen Deng and Mi Zhu surrounded Zhang Yan and left the hall. Accompanied by Sun Qian, they headed towards the State Shepherd's Mansion together.

In the state pastoral mansion, Xuzhou pastor Tao Qian couldn't fall asleep for a long time, and his mind was still thinking about whether to give up Xuzhou to Liu Bei.

But Sun Qian's advice, as well as the displeasure of Zang Ba, Chen Deng, Mi Zhu and others at giving way to Liu Bei, are enough to explain a problem, they don't like Liu Bei.In comparison, Zhang Yan was the best candidate in their hearts.If he really gave up Xuzhou Mu to Liu Bei, then how long Liu Bei will be able to sit firmly in Xuzhou Mu's position is unknown.

After some thinking, Tao Qian finally figured it out.

At this time, the soldiers came in and said: "I would like to report to the envoy, General Zhang Yan of Xiaoqi, Chen Deng, Lieutenant of Diannong, Mi Zhu, Lieutenant of Cavalry, Zang Ba, Lieutenant of Cavalry, and Mr. Sun Qian, come to see the envoy."

Tao Qian asked in surprise, "Zhang Yan? When did he come back?"

"Subordinates don't know."

Tao Qian sighed softly, and said slowly: "Everyone who should come has come. Now that they are all here, I will invite you one by one. Let them come in."

"Here!"

(End of this chapter)