Cao Cao stood in the courtyard, raised his head and looked at the bright moon in the sky.

Today is the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, and there are still fifteen days to be the New Year. This is the last full moon of this year, and it may also be the last full moon of his life.

He was not sure what happened outside the city, but he could feel that the morale of the soldiers outside the city had changed. First, the patrol soldiers who were originally perfunctory are now energetic and very vigilant; second, the shouts during training in the camp were more neat and more majestic than a few days ago.

The frost and ice come, and the leaves fall to see autumn. From these subtle details, he smelled a strong sense of crisis.

Today is the last day of the three-day appointment with Xi Zhicai, but Xi Zhicai has no shadow at all. Cao Anmin muttered in front of him several times, saying that Xi Zhicai was a liar. He cheated him of money and had already run away and would never show up again. But he disagreed. He was willing to believe Xi Zhicai, although they had just met.

But some people are born with friends and know when they meet.

There was a rustling sound behind him. Cao Cao tightened his back, but did not turn around, but moved his hand to the long knife around his waist. He lowered his head and took advantage of that moment to glance at the northwest corner from the corner of his eyes. There were only a few wintersweets in the whole yard, which were blooming fragrantly. If someone wanted to touch the yard in the dark, it was the only possibility.

"It smells so good!" a man sighed softly. "Do you not want to smell it at all?"

Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around, spread his arms, and strode towards him, laughing. "Shi Cai, it's really you. I've been waiting for you for a long time."

Xi Zhicai opened his arms, held Cao Cao's four arms, and smiled at each other. "General, I probably didn't break the appointment, right?"

"No, no, it's time."

Cao Cao pulled Xi Zhicai to the hall and shouted to greet people to serve wine and food. Cao Anmin came out and saw Xi Zhicai appearing beside Cao Cao, and was shocked. He was the guard beside Cao Cao. He knew that the yard seemed calm, but there were at least twenty guards in secret, so no one could appear in front of Cao Cao quietly. How did Xi Zhicai do this?

Although Cao Anmin had a lot of questions, he did not dare to ask, so he had to arrange wine and food. Cao Cao invited Xi Zhicai to the table. The two of them drank a few glasses of wine. Xi Zhicai drank several large glasses of wine in one breath, then put down the wine glass, wiped his mouth with the corner of his sleeve, and slapped the table hard.

"General, guess what I saw?"

Cao Cao grabbed his beard and pondered: "From Wuguan, it can't be a reinforcement, it can only be an envoy for conducting. I wonder if I guess right?"

"Yes, but do you know who the messenger is?"

Cao Cao's eyes flashed, his mouth raised slightly, but he shook his head again. "I can't guess this."

"The general must know him when he sees him." Xi Zhicai said in a crooked manner. "Chen Liu's famous scholar, Cai Yong and Cai Bo'er."

"Mr. Bo Ji?" Cao Cao was stunned. "So, is this sent by Dong Zhuo? Yuan Shu and Dong Zhuo want to form an alliance?"

Xi Zhicai stopped talking, glanced at Cao Cao sideways, scooped up a glass of wine again, held it in his hand, and slowly savored it.

Cao Cao's eyes rolled and thought for a while. "No, there may be another mystery here. Although Mr. Bo Ji is a famous scholar recruited by Dong Zhuo, he will not help the evil with his character. It seems that he came to bridge the walls of the Yuan brothers."

Xi Zhicai put down his wine glass. "I don't know why Cai Boji came, nor do I care about it, but I noticed that he was in a hurry. He arrived in one day after two days. Less than a day after he entered the camp, I saw some people leaving Yuan Shu's camp, and more than a dozen craftsmen rushed to Wuguan, in a hurry."

Cao Cao's eyes frightened, then he was overjoyed, moved to Xi Zhicai and stared at Xi Zhicai. "Take it serious?"

Xi Zhicai smiled and nodded solemnly. "I pretended to be a homeless man and lay outside the Jinyang Pavilion for a long time. After seeing the group of people having supper, they set off again. There were more than 200 people in a group, and there were only seventeen craftsmen. But those people were very polite to these craftsmen, especially to the young craftsmen in the lead, they always called Mr. Mo, and they were very respectful. The young man named Mo was as peaceful as if he was used to it. General, is there any master named Mo under Yuan Shu's tent?"

Cao Cao shook his head and said nothing. After several visits by the envoys, especially Cai Mao, he knew that Sun Ce had a Huang Chengyan who was proficient in wood science, but Huang Chengyan was a middle-aged man, and it was impossible for Mr. Mo to be mentioned by Xi Zhicai. But one thing he could confirm was that the envoy had arrived at Yuan Shu's camp, but Yuan Shu sent a skilled craftsman to the direction of Wuguan, probably to strengthen the defense of Wuguan.

In other words, the direction of Chang'an may be threatened, and Yuan Shu is about to face internal and external troubles. For him, this is definitely good news.

"Zhicai, you are a meritorious person. I want to give you another cup."

Cao Cao raised his wine glass and laughed loudly. Xi Zhicai also raised his wine glass, touched Cao Cao, drank it all, and then said, "General, although Wuguan may have changed his mind, the specific situation is still unclear. Since the general is familiar with Cai Boyi, why not meet him and find out something about it from him?"

Cao Cao nodded repeatedly, and the more he remembered, he was happy. Xi Zhicai looked at him, paused for a moment, and said again: "There is still news."

Cao Cao was shocked, and quickly put away his smile and listened attentively.

"Yuan Shu distributed the robbed fertile land of the aristocratic families to the captured tribes."

"Bang!" Cao Cao let go of his hand, and the wine glass fell to the ground, and it was smashed. Cao Cao's face changed for a moment, and he shook his head with a wry smile. "This Yuan highway really can do anything. If it comes, these aristocratic families will be useless."

"That's right, general, let them out of the city. Keeping them will consume food in vain. Let them out of the city and reunite with their families, and see how Yuan Gaolu deals with them. Kill them, arouse public anger. If they don't kill, they will become a disaster."

Cao Cao looked at Xi Zhi for a moment and laughed loudly.

Cao Cao immediately invited Zong Cheng and sincerely asked Zong Cheng to leave the city. He wanted to meet Cai Yong and discuss the negotiation matters. To show his sincerity, as long as Cai Yong enters the city, he is willing to let the aristocratic family go out of the city and let them return to their manor so that they will not be worried in the city.

Although Zong Cheng felt that Cao Cao was not good at his intentions, he also wanted to take this opportunity to save some people. Yuan Shu was sending people to attack the manor, and many people were worried about their family and wanted to go out of the city to understand the situation, but Cao Cao was very careful and they couldn't leave. Now Cao Cao took the initiative to let him go, so he of course he would like to see it happen.

Zong Cheng came to Yuan Shu's camp again to convey Cao Cao's opinion. As soon as he finished speaking, before Yuan Shu could speak, Yan Xiang expressed his objection.

"You can let go of someone, let our family go first."

Zong Cheng sneered. "Yan Jun, I'm afraid you can't help it. Cao Mengde has sent his son away and is determined to live and die with Wancheng. He doesn't care how many people die. But can General Yuan watch his subordinates' families be killed, and can he be incompatible with all the aristocratic families in Nanyang?"

As he was speaking, Sun Ce walked in and heard what Zong Cheng said, he couldn't help but sneer. "Zong Jun, did Cao Cao tell you the truth before you left the city? You didn't even understand what the situation was, so you dare to threaten here. Who do you want to scare?"
Chapter completed!