Thief Emperor

Chapter 389 Half-year appointment
Since the Pinglu Army has voluntarily withdrawn its troops, no matter what Zhou Gui said, the fact is that the Pinglu Army no longer wants to and is unwilling to besiege Yangzhou.

Moreover, they began to withdraw their troops without Li Yun agreeing to any conditions. This shows that no matter how frank Zhou Gui's words were, the actual situation was that the Pinglu Army had almost given up Yangzhou.

At least for now, Yangzhou has been given up.

Now that he has gained the upper hand in the situation, Li Yun must of course say a few harsh words at this time, otherwise wouldn't all his hard work during this period be in vain?
After hearing what Li Yun said, Zhou Gui's face showed no expression. He just said calmly: "If Envoy Li has the ability to occupy Yangzhou, he will naturally be able to wait for my general in the future."

He looked at Li Yun and smiled, "My general will leave Yangzhou tomorrow. He is very curious about Li Shijun and wants to meet him. I wonder if Li Shijun dares to do so?"

Mr. Li curled his lips and said, "You said something provocative like that. Do you think I'm a teenager?"

"I am in Yangzhou City. Go back and tell General Zhou that if he has the courage, he can come into the city to see me. I promise not to hurt a hair on his head."

Zhou Gui shook his head slightly: "A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall, let alone a noble man like the general? It is impossible for the general to enter the city."

"Tomorrow, our Pinglu Army will retreat completely. At that time, we can set up a reed tent outside Yangzhou City. Each side will bring 200 men and meet under the reed tent."

Li Yun was not going to agree at first, but after thinking about it, he suddenly rolled his eyes and said with a smile, "Since we are meeting, it would be too awkward for each of us to bring 200 people. I will not be disrespectful to the general. How about we each bring 50 people?"

Zhou Gui looked at Li Yun with strange eyes and shook his head firmly: "I heard that Envoy Li can fight one hundred at a time. Fifty people will not be enough. At least two hundred people are needed."

Li Yun's thoughts were exposed by him, but there was no embarrassment on his face. He just smiled and said, "Well, since you are the ones who proposed the meeting, I will decide the time and place. Tomorrow at noon, I will be waiting for General Zhou at the Shili Pavilion outside the south city of Yangzhou."

Zhou Gui nodded, stood up and bowed, saying: "In this case, I will take my leave."

Li Yun glanced at him and said with a smile: "Brother, you are very eloquent. If you can't make it in Qingzhou in the future, you can come south to find me. I, Li, can also give you a meal here."

This Zhou Gui came to see Li Yun twice. He spoke in a very unique way and could even say that he was right when he was not right. He was a talent in "diplomacy".

As for Li Yun, he is actually quite short of talents in this area.

Zhou Gui was startled, turned his head to look at Li Yun, and said with a bow, "Your Excellency is too kind."

"I am a servant of the Zhou family. I will never betray my master in my life."

After saying that, he turned and left.

Li Yun was too lazy to stand up to see him off. He just looked at his back as he left and shook his head with emotion.

After decades of family assets, the family has finally accumulated some talents. These people in the Zhou family of Qingzhou Sasuke all have some abilities.

Including Captain Shen, who died at the hands of Li Yun, he actually had some talents.

After Zhou Gui left, Li Yun was lost in thought for a while before he got up and walked to the back room.

In the inner room, Du Qian was drinking tea. When he saw Li Yun coming in, he stood up and said to Li Yun with a smile, "I said a few days ago that the Pinglu Army wouldn't be able to fight for too long. Although General Zhou's behavior is a bit absurd, he is really a very smart person."

"If you see that the situation is not right, you can make up your mind and withdraw immediately."

Du Qian sighed, "In the future, he might be a difficult person to deal with."

When Li Yun was talking to Zhou Gui just now, Du Qian had been listening in the inner room and heard it all.

Li Yun found a seat and sat down, feeling the same way.

"He is indeed not easy to deal with. He is much smarter than his son."

"He is now withdrawing from Yangzhou. It is obvious that he wants to occupy the entire Huainan Road except Yangzhou."

Li Yun said softly: "We are temporarily unable to stop him."

For Li Yun now, it is already quite difficult to defend Yangzhou, let alone places outside Yangzhou.

Du Qian put down the tea in his hand and whispered, "The Pinglu Army gave up Yangzhou, which means they temporarily put aside the conflict with Erlang and turned around to get other benefits. It just so happens that we also need to put this dispute aside for the time being."

"However, there will be a fight between Erlang and General Zhou sooner or later. After all, he now occupies Huainan Road, and Erlang you..."

"He also serves as the recruiting envoy of Huainan Road."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "As the Huainan Road Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy, I can neither recruit nor suppress now."

Du Qian smiled and said, "After all, Erlang started too late."

"When Erlang can recruit troops to attack Huainan Road, it means that we have already defeated the Pinglu Army. That's when we will do that."

"Erlang can now look at the world." Li Yun nodded silently, lowered his head to take a sip of tea, and said softly: "Tomorrow, I will go out of the city to see what General Zhou looks like."

…………

The next morning, Li Yun first took his men to clean up the area around Shili Pavilion. Near noon, the Pinglu Army searched the area around Shili Pavilion to make sure that Li Yun had not laid any ambush.

When it was almost noon, Li Yun arrived at the Shili Pavilion first, and General Zhou, dressed in a brocade robe, followed soon after. After getting off his horse, he looked at Li Yun from a distance, then stepped forward. Before entering the pavilion, he clasped his fists from a distance with a smile on his face.

"Envoy Li, Envoy Li."

Li Yunying came out of the pavilion, clasped his fists in return to Zhou Xu, and said with a smile: "This humble official greets the general."

The two of them were clearly fighting each other a few days ago, but now they act as if nothing had happened, and they really seem like colleagues.

The two of them entered the pavilion one after the other and sat down. After they sat down, General Zhou took a look at Li Yun and said with emotion: "Envoy Li is really tall and majestic. No wonder he was able to create such achievements in just a few years."

Li Yun was also looking at the Pinglu Jiedushi.

I saw that General Zhou was of medium height, a little fat, with a beautiful beard on his face and a golden hair crown on his head.

Although he was not very good-looking, and was even a bit ugly, but when he sat here, he naturally exuded some aura.

This kind of aura can only be developed after being in a high position for many years.

But at the moment, Li Yun is more murderous.

"General, you are too kind. I only know how to serve the country. I joined General Su's army a few years ago and was promoted by him. I am where I am today."

"General Su..."

Zhou Xu sighed and said, "General Su was a famous general of the time, but he didn't have such a good ending. What a pity."

At this point, he changed the subject and smiled at Li Yun, "However, no matter which army a young and talented person like Li Shijun joins, the generals will be happy to see him. If Li Shijun had joined the Pinglu Army and joined the barracks, he would at least be a lieutenant."

Li Yun smiled dumbly: "To be honest, after I joined General Su's army, I was immediately promoted to a lieutenant."

Zhou Xu coughed and skipped the topic, then looked at Li Yun and asked with a smile: "Now that Envoy Li has occupied Yangzhou, what are you going to do next?"

"General, I am not occupying Yangzhou. As the Huainan Road Recruiting Envoy, I am here to protect Yangzhou and prevent it from falling into the hands of others."

"If it weren't for my inability."

Li Yun smiled and said, "I am also prepared to defend the entire Huainan Road."

Zhou Xu shook his head slightly: "Envoy Li, it is not easy for you and I to meet each other. We don't know when we will meet again. It is useless to say these polite words now."

"Seeing that the envoy led the troops to fight, he had some rules and regulations. It should be obvious that this time Zhou took the initiative to release Yangzhou, which was a release for the envoy."

Li Yun looked calm: "Then the general may come back. I will not leave Yangzhou in the short term. I can accompany the general and train the army well."

Zhou Xu ignored Li Yun's words and pretended not to hear them. He continued, "Envoy Li should have heard something about the news in Guanzhong and the Central Plains."

"Once those people have decided who is the better of the two, they will try every possible means to divide up the entire Great Zhou, regardless of whether it is you, Li Shijun, or our Pinglu Army."

"I'm afraid we all have to face the pressure from those people. At this time, as neighbors, you and I should help each other instead of fighting each other like this."

Li Yun smiled and said, "If the general was still in Qingzhou and the Pinglu Army had not crossed the Huai River to the south, we would indeed be neighbors. However, now most of the Pinglu Army's forces are in Huainan Road, so we can't say we are neighbors."

"If you say that, isn't that an insult to me as the Huainan Road Recruiting Envoy?"

Zhou Xu smiled dumbly when he heard this: "Li Shijun, the Huainan Road Recruiting Envoy, was appointed by the imperial court."

"But now, if you want to secure this position, you have to earn it yourself."

General Zhou looked at Li Yun and continued, "General Li, empty words are useless. Speak something real."

"Yangzhou can be given to you temporarily. I won't touch you for at least half a year."

"In half a year, the world will change again and again, and nothing will be decided by you or me."

"For the past six months, Envoy Li has behaved himself. How about we not offend each other?"

(End of this chapter)