Inside the main tent, Sun Ce embraced Qiao Rui and exclaimed with joy, "It's good that you're back, Lord Qiao!"
Sun Ce's generals, including Han Dang, Zhou Tai, and Huang Gai, all offered their congratulations. Qiao Rui, however, looked ashamed, "I am truly incompetent, having been captured by the enemy. I've let you down, Bo Fu."
Sun Ce laughed heartily and said, "Lord Qiao, there's no need to blame yourself. You must have been caught off guard by some villain that day; it doesn't count."
Sun Ce's words only made Qiao Rui's expression more awkward. "I wasn't ambushed; it was a head-on confrontation, and I was defeated in less than three moves."
Han Dang, standing nearby, exclaimed in surprise, "Besides the General, who could defeat Lord Qiao in three moves?"
Qiao Rui sighed and said, "I heard that man is called Taishi Ci. He was originally under Kong Beihai, but later he joined Yuan Xi."
"That night, he led cavalry to charge the city gate, and I, caught off guard, was knocked off my horse and captured by Yuan's army."
Zhou Tai, upon hearing this, spoke up, "This can't be blamed on Lord Qiao. This Taishi Ci is indeed formidable. He fought the General for over a hundred rounds without a clear victor; he is truly a fierce general of our time."
Qiao Rui, surprised, said, "Impossible! How could this man be evenly matched with Bo Fu?"
You must know that Sun Ce is just over twenty years old today, the prime of his physical condition, while Taishi Ci is over thirty, having already passed his peak.
Even if Taishi Ci is slightly superior in experience, what kind of person is Sun Ce? His martial skills and physical strength are both top-notch!
Huang Gai spoke up, "That Taishi Ci is a bit strange."
Sun Ce, hearing this, agreed, "Indeed, his martial arts are very different from mine."
"When I fought him initially, I found that his strength fluctuated unpredictably. Sometimes it was so strong that I could hardly parry, while other times it was elusive, causing me to strike empty air. After a hundred or so moves, his strength actually seemed to increase. I don't know how he did it; he is truly a formidable enemy."
Everyone fell silent upon hearing this. With such a fierce general as Taishi Ci under Yuan Xi, Guangling City would be difficult to conquer.
What made everyone even more embarrassed was that, on that day, more than a dozen generals faced only two opponents, which should have guaranteed a sure victory.
As a result, Sun Ce was provoked by Taishi Ci's words, and the two fought one-on-one for a long time without a clear winner, leaving only an unknown junior general on the enemy's side.
Sun Ce's generals thought he was just a subordinate of Taishi Ci, and it would be unsportsmanlike to gang up on him, but they didn't expect that it was Yuan's ferocious tiger himself!
Even someone as strong as Lu Bu would have been beaten to death by so many people, but the crowd was tricked by that ferocious tiger, who delayed the time to send out a distress signal, leading to failure.
Otherwise, Guangling City could have been taken without bloodshed!
Thinking of this, the generals all regretted their actions, and their mental state became even more unbalanced.
Sun Ce asked in confusion, "Lord Qiao, why did Yuan's forces release you?"
Qiao Rui honestly replied, "I don't know either. I was determined that even if I were subjected to severe torture, I would never reveal any information about Bo Fu's side, but that ferocious tiger only asked me a few personal questions and then released me, which I find very puzzling."
Sun Ce's eyes narrowed. "What did that ferocious tiger ask?"
Seeing Sun Ce's solemn expression, Qiao Rui quickly recounted his conversation with Yuan Xi in detail.
Sun Ce listened and pondered. These words were all very ordinary. The only odd thing was the question about Qiao Rui's daughter, which had nothing to do with the military situation in Guangling City or with himself.
He then asked, "What else did Yuan Xi say to Lord Qiao? Did he make any requests?"
Qiao Rui thought about it again and said, "Indeed, there was nothing else."
The generals were puzzled. A few of them had a faint idea in their minds: Could Qiao Rui be hiding something?
Once this idea took root, it gradually grew in the generals' hearts, and their gazes towards Qiao Rui began to become strange.
Qiao Rui, seeing this, suddenly realized and felt a chill down his spine. This Yuan family's ferocious tiger is so vicious!
The atmosphere suddenly became awkward.
Seeing this, Sun Ce was about to defend Qiao Rui when Han Dang spoke up, "Lord Qiao has the utmost respect for the General; how could he betray the General?"
"This must be a divisive tactic by that Yuan family's ferocious tiger. Don't be fooled."
Zhou Tai slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "I knew that ferocious tiger was cunning! Just look at how he lured Gongsun Zan and ambushed Guangling, you know that this person is good at scheming!"
Huang Gai remained silent. He thought to himself that Qiao Rui was indeed unlikely to betray Sun Ce, but just looking at the tactics, what if, just in case, Qiao Rui really betrayed and used everyone's psychology in reverse?
Seeing the different expressions on everyone's faces, Sun Ce decisively said, "Lord Qiao will definitely not fail me. Yuan Xi's ridiculous tricks will not shake our military's morale!"
The generals roared in agreement upon hearing this.
But as for what they were thinking in their hearts, no one knew.
Qiao Rui was also a sensible person. Seeing everyone's expressions at this moment, he knew that from now on, he would never receive the same unconditional trust as before.
This treacherous ferocious tiger!
His face pale, he said, "What I know is all these things. I was captured at the city gate that day, and after that, I don't know anything about what happened in the city."
Seeing that Zhou Yu was not present, he exclaimed in surprise, "Where is Gongjin? Could it be that...?"
Sun Ce said, "Lord Qiao, rest assured, Gongjin escaped."
"There is one more thing. Did Lord Qiao learn anything about Ce's mother...?"
Sun Ce, saying this, vaguely felt something was wrong and swallowed the rest of the words.
He stood up and walked back and forth inside the tent.
What was wrong?
He felt like he was just one layer of paper away from the truth, but he couldn't break through it, so he walked out of the tent, anxious, and looked at Guangling City in the distance.
The generals were confused and looked at each other, and no one dared to ask.
Sun Ce stared at the Guangling city wall. Zhou Yu escaped, Qiao Rui was released... Wu Furen might still be in the city...
He suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. Could it be that the enemy released Qiao Rui to test himself?
Now that Zhou Yu and Qiao Rui have both returned, there is no need to fight Guangling City to the death.
Except for Wu Furen!
If Sun Ce continues to attack the city now, he will be clearly telling the other party that there are still important people in the city!
But if he doesn't attack the city, the other party won't be suspicious, but wouldn't that be the same as giving up on rescuing his mother?
At the moment, his subordinates only guessed that Wu Furen was missing. As long as they and Qiao Rui said it privately, they might guess that Wu Furen was likely captured by Yuan's forces!
He will have to warn Qiao Rui later not to say anything about the situation in Guangling City!
But this is not a long-term solution at all. There is no airtight wall in the world, not to mention his subordinates, the ferocious tiger in the city will find out sooner or later that Wu Furen was in the City Lord's Mansion that day!
What should I do?
Thinking of Zhou Yu's warning before leaving, not to show any intention other than regaining Guangling, Sun Ce felt even more uncomfortable. He had never fought such a restricted battle!
Sun Ce realized that his best option at the moment was to immediately stop attacking Guangling City.
But in this way, it is equivalent to giving up his mother with his own hands!
At the same time, there is another problem. If the withdrawal is too fast, will the other party see through that he is trying to cover up, and instead intensify the investigation in the city?
Sun Ce's brain was in a mess. He couldn't decide how to protect Wu Furen to the greatest extent. It would be great if Zhou Yu was by his side!
The more he thought about it, the more disgusting he felt, and he couldn't help but yell in the direction of Guangling: "Fuck your mother!"
Guo Jia spoke eloquently for more than a quarter of an hour before explaining to Sun Li the intention of Yuan Xi to release Qiao Rui, as well as all possible responses from Sun Ce.
Finally, Guo Jia said triumphantly: "How is it, boy, can you guess the son's thoughts?"
Sun Li listened in stunned silence, "So there are so many twists and turns in letting someone go?"
Guo Jia smiled and said: "The son is not an ordinary person. I increasingly feel that there is really something in this city that Sun Ce cares about."
"Otherwise, the siege these past few days is really a bit unreasonable."
In a corner of the courtyard, Wu Furen listened to the conversation between Guo Jia and Sun Li in the central courtyard, covered in cold sweat, her hands and feet trembling.
These people are too scary, they have already guessed some clues!
It's thanks to myself that I was full of confidence at the time, thinking that I could easily escape from the city. Now it seems too naive. This group of Yuan's people are not easy to deal with!
Especially this ferocious tiger and Guo Jia are so terrifying at such a young age. I really underestimated the people of the world. Are Yuan's children so powerful?
At this time, Yuan Xi walked out of the house and smiled at Sun Li: "He who knows me, Mr. Fengxiao."
"Actually, my idea is not as complete as what the gentleman just said. There are still many shortcomings, but the gentleman has filled them in for me."
"Sun Li should learn from the gentleman in the future. In terms of tactics, there are few in the world who can compare with the gentleman. So many people beg him to accept disciples, but he is still unwilling."
"The gentleman is willing to teach you things, that is putting a golden mountain in front of you, but you are still pushing back and forth, you really deserve a beating."
Sun Li, hearing this, touched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly.
He muttered: "I also don't know that the son is so powerful that he can see through Sun Ce's conspiracy and tricks at a glance."
Yuan Xi shook his head and said: "Actually, I am not very sure either."
"But the other party showed his feet this time because his intentions and actions were too abnormal."
"I often hear that Sun Bo Fu loves his soldiers like sons and is deeply loved by his subordinates. It is really incomprehensible to me that such a person would attack Guangling wildly regardless of casualties because of a moment of anger."
Guo Jia nodded and sighed: "The way of the military, seeing the slightest and knowing the whole, lies in understanding the other party's thoughts through their abnormal behavior. In this regard, the son has already understood some of the essence."
Yuan Xi, hearing this, smiled and said: "Sir, don't praise me anymore. Actually, what I wanted to do at the beginning was just to relieve the siege of Guangling. Letting Qiao Rui go as a way to test the other party was just a last resort, treating a dead horse as a living horse."
As he and Guo Jia spoke, they walked out of the mansion.
Wu Furen in the house seemed to have realized something.
If you do something too obviously, you will expose your intentions. It is the same if you want to escape.
If I ask about the route out of the city every day and show that I want to leave, I am very likely to be suspected by this resourceful ferocious tiger!
For the present plan, I can only hide myself and do the opposite. Prepare little by little without leaving a trace, and launch it suddenly, so that there is hope of escaping!