Ji Han Liu Zhang

"There are such strong soldiers in the world."

Ignoring the obstruction of Henan Yin Zhongyao, Cao Ren led his personal guards out of the city to fight fiercely in an attempt to break the enemy siege and rescue more than 300 troops under Niu Jin's command.

However, the Guanzhong troops reacted very quickly. They separated more than a thousand people from the people who besieged Niu Jin and blocked Cao Ren's way like a stone wall, preventing Cao Ren from moving forward.

After fighting for a while, Cao Ren sighed from the bottom of his heart, which was also a compliment to his opponent.

As a veteran general, Cao Ren had fought against many different enemies - the Qingzhou army, the Liangzhou army, the Bingzhou army, the Xiongnu...

However, even with such rich experience in battle and having faced so many types of enemies, Cao Ren felt that they were no match for the Guanzhong troops before him, even the Liangzhou Legion under Dong Zhuo, or the Bingzhou Legion under Lu Bu.

"Brother." Cao Chun held the saddle rope of Cao Ren's horse and gave him a warning: "It is difficult to defeat the troops in Guanzhong suddenly. If you stay here, I am afraid that not only Niu Jin's 300 men will be trapped, but also you, brother."

Cao Chun instructed his men and told Cao Ren that the troops from Guanzhong intended to encircle their group as well. At present, they had not yet completely surrounded them, so they still had hope of escaping. If they waited until the troops from Guanzhong surrounded them from all sides, then Niu Jin and their group would all become prisoners.

Cao Ren looked from afar at Niu Jin's troops who were trapped in the encirclement. He looked hesitant and could not make up his mind for a while.

"Brother." Cao Chun advised again: "If you and I are trapped here, Luoyang City will fall without a fight and be captured by Liu Jiyu. Losing Niu Jin is a small matter, but losing Luoyang is a big matter."

Cao Ren gritted his teeth, and after a moment, he turned his horse and said, "Retreat."

As Cao Chun said, it was impossible to do so. Niu Jin's troops could not break out of the siege, and if they died one after another, Luoyang City would lose its commander, the army's morale would be shaken, the whole city would be in turmoil, and it would be captured by the Guanzhong troops in an instant.

So Cao Ren led his troops back to the city, but Niu Jin's troops, who were isolated and helpless, were defeated by the troops from Guanzhong.

At night, inside the central military tent of the Guanzhong troops outside the city.

"Name." Li Xiu asked the tied-up enemy general with great enthusiasm.

Upon hearing this, Niu Jin below just snorted coldly and turned away without saying a word.

Li Xiu frowned immediately, spat and yelled, "Why are you so proud, a prisoner?" He stretched out his hand to call his attendants and was about to torture Niu Jin to teach him a lesson.

Gan Ning waved his hand to stop the warrior who was about to torture him. He smiled and said, "A real man should leave a name behind even after his death. Otherwise, if a man dies without a name, he is like a wild goose that passes by without a trace... Besides, as a real man, don't you even dare to say your name?"

"Humph, why not?" Niu Jin was moved by Gan Ning's words. He replied loudly, "Listen carefully, I am a lieutenant under General Cao, Niu Jin."

"Which niu?" Li Xiu had a teasing look on his face, and he asked the question even though he knew the answer.

Niu Jin was very displeased with the arrogant Li Xiu. He replied in a strong voice: "The ox can carry heavy loads and till the fields. It is a precious animal of the country."

Li Xiu smiled and said, "You rebels, either your surname is Niu or Ma..." Li Xiu mentioned the Cao army captain Marco who surrendered to them as soon as he was captured: "You are all livestock, none of you have a noble surname, making it seem like I am here to attack a country of beasts."

"You..." When Niu Jin heard Li Xiu insult his last name, he immediately became angry, and his eyes seemed to spit fire, burning Li Xiu who teased him to death. Seeing Niu Jin's angry face, Li Xiu laughed, he wanted this effect, otherwise his words would be in vain, so the angrier Niu Jin was, the happier he was.

At this moment, Li Xiu suddenly heard Gan Ning say to the door of the tent: "Meng Qi, why are you here?"

"Ah!" Li Xiu's face was filled with shock. He quickly turned his head to look at the tent door. If what he just said fell into Ma Chao's ears, he would definitely be hated. Moreover, Ma Chao was highly valued by the King of Qin. His official position was promoted three times overnight. If he made Ma Chao unhappy, he was afraid that he would suffer the consequences.

But when Li Xiu looked towards the tent door, he saw that there was no one there. There was only an empty tent curtain, which swayed occasionally in the wind.

"Hahaha."

Then, Li Xiu heard Gan Ning's hearty laughter. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and looked back at Gan Ning helplessly: "Xingba, you almost scared me to death." After saying that, he let out a long sigh.

"Zi Lang, how cowardly you are." Gan Ning laughed teasingly: "Although Meng Qi has a higher official position than you, you are an old man under the king after all. In front of the king, Meng Qi can't compare to you."

"That's not what I meant." Li Xiu shook his head and said, "A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death. Besides, the eldest son and Meng Qi's sister are engaged in marriage. There is a distinction between close relatives and outsiders, and I dare not anger Meng Qi.

Seeing Gan Ning and Li Xiu talking to each other about everything, not taking him, the defeated general, seriously, Niu Jin was furious and declared loudly, "You can kill me or chop me up, it's all up to you. I am not a coward, nor am I a man without loyalty."

"Yes." Gan Ning ignored Niu Jin's words and responded to Li Xiu: "No wonder Meng Qi worked so hard this time... Meng Qi's sister married the eldest son, maybe she will become the crown prince's consort in the future, and then go a step further..."

"Empress!" Li Xiu and Gan Ning silently chanted these two words in their hearts. The King of Qin planned to make the eldest son the crown prince. This was known to all the civil and military officials in Chang'an. Otherwise, the eldest son Liu Xun's teachers would not have been two heavyweights, Wang Shang and Dong Fu.

"Did you hear me? If you want to kill him, kill him quickly. Don't waste your time." Niu Jin roared. A gentleman can be killed but not humiliated. Gan Ning and Li Xiu's indifferent attitude towards him is more painful than killing him.

Li Xiu frowned, looking very unhappy: "Why are you yelling so loudly? Are we deaf? Can't we hear you?"

Gan Ning also looked unhappy. He waved his hand as if he was shaking off an ant and said, "Take him away with me. I will build a prisoner cart tomorrow and send him to Chang'an to await the king's decision."

"Ah." Niu Jin howled and cursed angrily.

"ordinary man!"

"Shuzi!"

"I am a mere lieutenant, yet you dare to treat me like nothing. This is too much, too much..."

Amidst the constant cursing and roaring, Niu Jin was taken away by the warriors. When Niu Jin was dragged out of the tent, it became a little quieter inside, but Niu Jin's cursing and roaring could still be heard from afar.

"It's quiet now." Li Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. Niu Jin's voice was so loud that it was deafening, and he was really unable to cope with it. (End of this chapter)