Liu Xiu took his left and right out of the tent to watch, and saw a man and a horse standing outside the city from afar. He had neither followers nor flags. He was just alone, looking a little lonely or even a little tragic.

Liu Xiu frowned and said, "What? Didn't Liu Yu come?"

Unless Liu Yu left the city in person, it would be impossible for Liu Xiu to talk to a small messenger. An envoy was sent to the other side, and Liu Xiu of course also sent an envoy.

He looked left and right and asked, "Who will answer for me?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a burly man stood up, "I am willing to go and behead his head and offer it to Your Majesty!"

This is a lieutenant from Youzhou Tuqi. He is a famous brave general under Liu Xiu's tent. He has a strong ability to fight alone. If he goes, he will definitely be able to kill the seemingly sick guy on the other side.

Liu Xiu waved his hand and said, "Didn't you see the person coming here with bare hands and no weapons? Look at him, he doesn't look like a general."

At this time, someone smiled and said, "It was sent by the Cattle Herding Emperor to beg for mercy!"

This caused a burst of laughter, and the captain snorted and said disdainfully: "Unarmed man, kill him and dirty my knife!"

Liu Xiu's eyes swept over the ministers around him and stayed on one person, "Huan Qing, would you like to come forward and answer for me?"

Although the sentence structure is a question, it exudes an unquestionable meaning. When it comes to Huan Tan's ears, he feels a bit sarcastic and malicious.

It was the messenger and he again. Huan Tan felt like a pus lump on the emperor's face, which was shaky and annoying, but it could not be removed.

It is certain that the emperor did not like him. Although he has restrained a lot in recent years and no longer writes straightforwardly and says something the emperor doesn't like to hear, his famous scholar's temperament and inadequate words and deeds still cause trouble for himself from time to time. In some private occasions, he often expresses his disdain for prophecies and divination, and his dissatisfaction with some things that the emperor strongly advocates.

Unfortunately, these private occasions he thought were almost transparent to the emperor. These words were heard from time to time, making him lose his holy heart even more. The emperor did not easily touch him because of his great scholar's reputation.

After Han Xin was forced to death, Huan Tan wrote a letter to resign and wanted to return to his hometown. This was a very inappropriate move, which fully demonstrated his political immaturity. In the eyes of the emperor, this was a clear dissatisfaction, which was a grudge against Han Xin, and was therefore flatly rejected by the emperor.

The emperor may make mistakes, but he must not be criticized. He can secretly regret his behavior, but if his subordinates express dissatisfaction in such a way of giving up, it is absolutely unacceptable to the emperor.

Han Xin's death unexpectedly played a protective role in Huan Tan. Due to the public pressure of the world over Han Xin's death, the emperor was more cautious and cautious in dealing with these famous scholars. He did not do anything about Huan Tan. Although he tried his best to keep him in the court, he did not value it. He just let him go and coldly he. The king and his ministers disliked each other, but had to look at each other.

This time, the emperor personally led Huan Tan to unexpectedly bring Huan Tan with him, in addition to bringing some of his confidants and beloved generals. This may be because he was worried about him and wanted to put him under his nose.

Huan Tan just followed silently, and he would not take the initiative to report unless the emperor asked.

It was the turn of answering such a dangerous errand in front of the formation, and the emperor called him the name of a rebellious minister who was unsatisfied. Huan Tan felt unexpected at first, but after thinking about it for a moment, he felt that it was reasonable. Who made him not fall into the emperor's eyes?

Huan Tan lowered his head and replied, "I am willing to go." As he said that, he urged the horse to move forward, slowly entering the range of the powerful crossbow on the top of the city, and approaching the other envoy.

Liu Xiu looked from afar, watching Huan Tan's back getting closer to the city, and had a strange idea for a moment, as if Huan Tan would not stop anymore, but would enter the city directly and throw himself into the cattle emperor.

Liu Xiu unconsciously held the bow, as if he was about to take it off at any time and shot the person in the distance with his own hands.

But at this time, Huan Tan stopped.

The two messengers stood in front of each other and talked, because they were far away, and no one could hear what they were saying.

Not long after, Huan Tan turned his horse's head and returned to Liu Xiu.

Liu Xiu looked at him and asked, "How?"

"Your Majesty, Liu Yu refuses to fight you."

Liu Xiu straightened up and chuckled, "He really didn't dare."

"He said he was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, you are... Your Majesty forgive me, and Liu Yu said you were a traitor, and he lost his identity when he fought against you."

Liu Xiu was not angry, but just sneered, "It's just an excuse from the coward and a rat's excuse. What else did he say?"

"He said he wanted to fight with you, but not courage."

"What power is that?" Liu Xiu was a little curious.

Huan Tan replied calmly: "Liu Yu wants to fight you with strength."

Liu Xiu suddenly fell silent. I have to say that Liu Yu's words hit him the key point. What Liu Xiu was most worried about happened.

Liu Yu's words clearly show his judgment of the situation. He does not rely on victory on the battlefield, but uses powerful state machines to achieve crushing victory with national strength far beyond the Hebei regime.

This is the card played by Liu Yu. He clearly told Liu Xiu that he would win. This contained an arrogance of looking down at the opponent, which made Liu Xiu particularly annoyed and felt powerless.

Liu Xiu gritted his teeth and slowly and clearly said two words: "Siege the city!"

Even if he only has a 10% chance of winning in the siege, this is his only 10% chance of winning. No, there is Tumen Pass and Zang Palace's surprise attack on Tumen Pass has a 10% chance of winning. Liu Xiu had to fight against the four walls. He was going to fight to the death, for the remaining 20% ​​chance of winning.

This was really a difficult task. Three days later, a large pile of corpses were piled up under the Zhending city wall, but the city remained unmoved.

Liu Xiujun's morale was obviously depressed again.

On the fourth day, a letter ejaculated in the city. The soldiers picked it up and sent it to the big tent. Liu Xiu opened it and looked at it, then threw it on the table casually. He didn't seem to care much, but his face turned black involuntarily.

The letter was written by Liu Yu. Liu Yu cared about Liu Xiu in a very sincere tone and asked him if the food was enough? If it was not enough, he could find him at any time. There was food in the city, and anyone who was hungry was welcome to eat. It was the people of the Han Dynasty, that is, his people of Liu Yu, and he would accept anyone who went there.

Liu Yu also asked Liu Xiu's relatives in Handan whether they were safe. Although he was far away in Zhending, he heard that Handan was not very safe. If there was any emergency, Liu Xiu's family would be affected. If such a thing happened unfortunately, he would also feel regretful.

"As the ruler, he is so frivolous!" Liu Xiu didn't know whether he was talking to him or speaking to Liu Yu in the distance.

However, Liu Yu's words still stubbornly penetrated into his heart, making him think deeply. Food and grass and safety in the rear have always been two major things he cared about, and the two most important factors restricting his personal expedition.

Liu Yu knew this very well, and based on the principle of playing cards, he pointed it out clearly, letting Liu Xiu know that he knew Liu Xiu's weaknesses, which made Liu Xiu feel powerless again.

Fortunately, he still has a card that Liu Yu didn't know, that is, Zang Gong, who raided Tumen Pass, and he was waiting for news about Tumen Pass.

Liu Xiu insisted on defending under a strong city that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Half of the reason was that he really wanted to break through Zhending, kill Liu Yu in seconds, and reverse the situation. The other half was to hold Liu Yu's main force, so that he would not have the opportunity to return to Tumen Pass, and create conditions for Zang Gong to attack Tumen Pass forcing the enemy to return.

He was anxiously waiting for news from Tumen Pass.

After a few days, Zang Palace finally sent someone to report that he had begun to attack Tumen Pass and could not say when he would conquer it, but it would be impossible for the enemy to transport military rations from Jingxing.

This made Liu Xiu feel energetic, as if he had seen hope all of a sudden. Tumen Pass was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and it might not be broken. However, Zang Gong's army was there, which was equivalent to cutting off the enemy's food route. Liu Yu's army could only raise food locally. For such a large-scale army, this was a very difficult task to complete.

As long as Zang Gong guards the important road of Jingxing, he will transfer more people, food and grass from Handan and other places, and fight with Liu Yu to the death, he will still have a considerable chance of turning the tables.

Liu Xiu made up his mind and sent someone to draft an imperial edict overnight. He sent envoys back to Handan every two days, ordering Deng Yu, Li Tong, Feng Qin and others from Handan City to immediately send troops to deliver food to support his desperate attempt.

The messenger here just left when a messenger from Handan suddenly came.

The messenger of Handan brought an amazing news, and Handan was in chaos again!

Not only was there chaos in Handan, but there were rebellions in Hanoi and Wei County. Deng Yu and Li Tong asked His Majesty to return to Handan immediately.

Liu Xiu received the news and couldn't speak for a long time.

He didn't understand why he was so heavy when he had hope and was about to do a big fight. This attack was very fatal, almost extinguishing his hope that had just emerged.

If he doesn't return to Handan, the rear will probably change and he will lose his foothold on survival. If he returns to Handan, Liu Yu's choice will increase greatly. Liu Yu can follow him south and extend his tentacles to a more core point in Hebei. He can also go back to Houtumen and assemble a large army to annihilate Zang Gong's troops. No matter which choice, it will bring him a huge threat.

After thinking about it, Liu Xiusi couldn't think of a way to achieve both sides. He had no choice but to do the most important thing first, which was to keep the foundation. Returning to Handan was not only for the sake of fighting for the world, but also because his wife and children were there.

Liu Xiu is an emperor who attaches more importance to family affection. He is not so ruthless that he can completely ignore these things. When he heard the first reaction of the chaos in Handan, he was panicked that the world was about to collapse. His second reaction was his concern for the safety of his family.

So Liu Xiu abandoned Zhending City for the second time and returned to Handan.
Chapter completed!