Li Ru wrapped her fur tightly, went out of the door, got into the car, and drove out of Jinghu.

These days he has been living in Jinghu. Xiangyang City is a military fortress, and he has to practice every day. He beats drums before dawn and sings at night. Although it is a city, it is actually no different from a military camp. Li Ru is in poor health and cannot bear the disturbance, so he lives in Jinghu, where he meets and talks when Sun Ce comes to Jinghu. However, Sun Ce has not come recently. Li Ru is anxious, but he is not good at taking the initiative to find Sun Ce, so he has to wait patiently. Today Pang Lin is ordered to invite him. He is a little surprised, but he dare not neglect. He cleans up and goes out.

After passing Baima Pond, he walked north along the Xiangyang River. After only a few hundred steps, the bustling ahead became lively. There were more and more pedestrians on the road, chatting while walking, with a bit of indignation. After hearing a few words, Li Ru was surprised to find that these people were talking about what Sun Ce was going to go to war. He couldn't help but be surprised.

"The King of Wu is going to go to war?"

Pang Lin nodded silently, but said nothing. Li Ru also knew that this young man was steady and didn't like to talk, and he still had some prejudice against him, so he consciously did not ask again. Anyway, he would know when he saw Sun Ce.

After passing Xianshan, on the south bank of Yahu, the carriage turned east and rushed to the south gate. Li Ru took a long look from the car window and saw that there were crowds of people outside the west gate of Xiangyang in the distance, and even there were many figures on the trees on the roadside. I guess there were too many people watching the excitement and couldn't stand on the roadside, so I had to go up the tree. Listen carefully and listened carefully, and you could vaguely hear the sound of war drums as the army marched.

I entered the city from the south gate. The streets were quieter and there was no sign of too much strangeness, but the sound of war drums in the west direction of the city became clearer and clearer. When I entered Yacheng, a team of knights were passing by the gate. Li Ru had to stop for a while before entering the city. From the battle flag, we can recognize that these knights were Sun Ce's Yi Cong Camp, or to be precise, the Wumeng Camp led by Dian Wei. They had been following Sun Ce and rarely acted alone. They went on a war to further prove that Sun Ce would leave Xiangyang and take action.

Li Ru was uneasy. He lived comfortably in Jinghu, but missed important information. It was a dereliction of duty if something happened and he didn't know it.

After entering the Yacheng, coming to the government, getting out of the car, and walking into the atrium, Li Ru saw Sun Ce at a glance. Sun Ce was standing in the corridor and talking to Sun Yi. When he saw Li Ru coming in, Sun Ce nodded and patted Sun Yi on the shoulder, and then gave a few more words. Sun Yi bowed to take the order and turned around and left. When he passed by Li Ru, he stopped to salute. Li Ru owed to repay the gift. He liked this 16-year-old boy who had just gotten married. His appearance and behavior looked like Sun Ce, but not Sun Ce, but it was deep and scheming, which was unpredictable.

Sun Ce was wearing armor and looked at Li Ru with a smile. Guo Wu was holding a helmet behind him, looking like he was about to travel far.

Li Ru stepped forward to salute. Sun Ce returned the salute and reached out to help Li Ru in the hall. "Sir, do you sit well in Jinghu? These days, military affairs are busy and you have not been able to listen to your teachings. Please forgive me."

"Your Majesty, how dare I?" Li Ruqiang smiled and said, "Is the King going to go to war?"

"Yes, the border is unstable, I want to go out for a walk. Before leaving, please ask the sir to come and explain some things to avoid worrying."

Li Ru suddenly became energetic. He had been here for more than two months and had no results at all. He was worried that Jia Xuruo would ask for it in a letter, but it was hard to explain. Now Sun Ce mentioned it on his own initiative, so he naturally wanted it.

"Jia Wenhe has no letters recently, right?"

"No." Li Ru also found it very strange. In the past, I could receive news from Jia Xu every few days, but in the past half month, there was no news. It was really strange.

Sun Ce waved, Yang Yi took a document and handed it to Sun Ce. Sun Ce picked it up in his hand and leaned it in front of Li Ru. Li Ru was puzzled, so he opened it and looked at it, and his cheeks suddenly slapped twice. This was a court edict. The court generals not only had to review the three auxiliary horses, but also summoned the cavalry from Liangzhou to participate. Thinking of Sun Ce's recession on the border, Li Ru knew what he was doing, let alone he was not stupid at all.

The enemy that Sun Ce was worried about was not the imperial army. Wuguan was in Sun Ce's hands, and it was not easy for the imperial court to enter Nanyang through Wuguan. On the contrary, Hongnong's Xiliang army was more likely to threaten Nanyang or Luoyang. Sun Ce went north to guard against the Xiliang army, and he was worried that Jia Xu would change.

"The king is worried that Wenhe will change his mind when he receives the edict? The king is worried too much, Wenhe..."

Sun Ce waved his hand with a smile and interrupted Li Ru. He looked calm, but his eyes were slightly joking. "The court is now the world of Liangzhou people. Jia Wenhe, as a Liangzhou people, cannot remain indifferent. If he chooses to support the court, I can understand it. Sir, don't worry, life is most likely unhappy."

The more Sun Ce spoke indifferently, the more uneasy Li Ru became. Jia Xu was very smart, but he didn't know Sun Ce enough, at least not as good as Sun Ce's understanding of him. If he was a monarch and his subject, this might not be a bad thing, but as an opponent, Jia Xu was at a disadvantage. Not only could he not accurately grasp Sun Ce's ideas, but also could not accurately evaluate Sun Ce's strength, so misjudgments were inevitable.

At the beginning, we should have insisted on letting Jia Xu come and let him see the situation in Nanyang with his own eyes. Listening to the ears is false, seeing to the eyes is true, and not seeing it with his own eyes, some things are indeed difficult to believe. There have been too many things that have surprised him along the way.

Li Rului thought and made a quick decision. "Can I walk with the king?"

Sun Ce was not surprised at all. "Of course, as long as the sir doesn't feel it's hard."

——

Sun Ce left Xiangyang and went north through the Mianshui River. As soon as he arrived in Shandu, he received news from Jiang Gan. When he learned that Jia Xu was going to coerce the court to take Huangfu Song's head and avenge Dong Zhuo, Sun Ce laughed in silence.

As expected, Jia Xu, the old fox, did not see the rabbit, and did not miss any opportunity. Why avenge Dong Zhuo? He delayed time to observe the changes in the times and responded to his behavior of winning over Dong Yue, forcing Dong Yue to separate him. Dong Yue could not refuse this proposal, and could only advance and retreat with Jia Xu, and then be at the mercy of Jia Xu. He could not accuse Jia Xu of being fickle. Taking revenge for the former master was a righteous act, and no one could blame him, but he would like to praise him, even if he didn't think that Jia Xu had any loyalty in his heart.

Jia Xu is indeed very smart, but smart people can do stupid things, and they can do everything they can, but it is never uncommon for them to lose their lives.

Sun Ce immediately invited Li Ru to inform him of the situation. Li Ru was anxious and could no longer remain calm, so he blurted out.

"What is the king going to deal with it?"

Sun Ce did not answer immediately. He turned his head and looked out the window, tapping his fingers gently on the table, sometimes fast and sometimes slow, as if he was about to make a decision, but hesitated. The boat was moving forward, and the trees on the shore slowly retreated, and the undulating mountains in the distance did not change. The atmosphere was a little depressed, and Li Ru's mood became suppressed unconsciously. He could feel Sun Ce's hesitation and uneasiness.

The court is taking risks, but it is definitely not an unsure of adventure. If the court accepts Jia Xu's request and Jia Xu really sends troops to attack Nanyang, the pressure Sun Ce is facing is indeed not light. Jia Xu is speculating, but it is not completely unreasonable. His choice determines the direction of the world situation to some extent, and he has the qualification to bargain with Sun Ce.

Should Sun Ce choose to compromise or wait? For Sun Ce, the price of compromise is too high and unlikely. Choosing to wait, the possibility of defending instead of attack is the greatest and the risk is the least. Whether the court rejected Jia Xu's request or Jia Xu did not send troops after receiving Huangfu Song's head and was perfunctory to the court, it could greatly reduce Sun Ce's pressure.

"It is important to know each other." After a long time, Sun Ce turned his head and looked at Li Ru quietly, his eyes calmly with a little determination. "I understand Jia Wenhe, and I also hope Jia Wenhe can understand me."

Li Ru was stunned for a moment, and a sense of uneasiness arose in his heart. "King, according to my old opinion, Wenhe did not intend to be an enemy of the king, but... it was just a rare opportunity. He wanted to repay Gong Dong's favor for his appreciation. Not to mention whether the court would agree, even if he agreed, Wenhe might not really send troops to Nanyang."

"I dare not say that what sir said is untrue, but I cannot put my hopes on Jia Wenhe and go back on his word and break his word." Sun Ce's attitude is sincere and firm. "Besides, heroes have a place to use their skills. How many can they be as calm as they want? I am willing to help him and fight him with a dignified battle."

"King..."

Sun Ce raised his hand and interrupted Li Ru. "In the second year of Chuping, I fought with Xu Rong and wiped out 20,000 Xiliang troops. Now I am willing to give Jia Wenhe a chance to avenge him and see if he is better than Xu Rong. Sir, I won't keep you anymore. Please repay Jia Wenhe and ask him to prepare. I will advance to Hongnong and compete with him."

Li Ru was stunned. He never expected Sun Ce's reaction to be so fierce that he refused to wait for a moment and declared war directly.

Is Jia Xu ready?

Sun Ce did not give Li Ru an opportunity to explain and politely asked Li Ru to leave Nanyang. Since he declared war, both sides were enemies, and there was no reason to let Li Ru act freely in Nanyang to inquire about information. He sent someone to escort Li Ru away and prohibited contact with outsiders along the way.

Li Ru was very embarrassed, but could only admit his bad luck. Sun Ce was always very polite to him. It was Jia Xu's choice that made him fall into a dilemma and became an unpopular person. He was deported. He said goodbye to Sun Ce, thanked him for his long-term care, took his luggage and servants, abandoned the boat and landed on a carriage, and rushed to Hongnong. Although the boat was stable, it was not as fast as the carriage. He wanted to rush back to discuss with Jia Xu before the war started to prevent a disaster. If he wanted to convince Jia Xu, letters were not enough, so he could only have an interview.

Seeing Li Ru's carriage disappearing on the official road, Sun Ce laughed. "Fengxiao, what would you react to Jia Wenhe when he received the news?"

"I'm very curious, too." Guo Jia shook the feather fan. "I'm not going to die if I don't see the Yellow River. He is not someone who can be scared. This battle is probably inevitable, and I have to see some blood."

"Can Sin Georgia do it?"

Guo Jia smacked his lips. "Personally, it feels a bit lingering. However, fighting between the two armies is never a matter of two people. As long as you don't make big mistakes, it will be difficult for Jia Wenhe to take advantage of it."
Chapter completed!