Zong Cheng was furious and faced Yuan Shu, sneered: "The general is really polite. Even a child with Huangkou dares to be so arrogant and speak out without hesitation."

Yuan Shu was very embarrassed.

Sun Ce slowly turned to Zong Cheng, looked up and down, and smiled. "Zong Jun, don't pretend to be noble here. You are just a fool, used by Cao Cao, and you are still showing off your might."

"What are you talking nonsense?" Zong Cheng looked contemptuous and shook his sleeves. "Go away, I don't want to talk to you."

"Don't you want to talk to me?" Sun Ce slowly pulled out his long knife and put it on Zong Cheng's neck. "Do you think I want to talk to you? Don't you know the family tradition of our Sun family? We have some solutions to deal with your fake aloofness, and it is simple and effective."

"Bo Fu!" Yuan Shu was originally thinking of watching jokes, but when he heard Sun Ce say this, he suddenly panicked. He stepped forward and jumped up, stepped over the case table and hugged Sun Ce. "Bo Fu, don't be reckless. Zong Jun is my friend and cannot be killed."

Sun Ce sneered: "General, if you treat him as a friend, he may not treat you as a friend, otherwise he would not be a lobbyist for Cao Cao. Are you not as good as Cao Cao?"

Yuan Shu was very embarrassed, and his eyes looked at Zong Cheng with something wrong. Zong Cheng's heart tightened and his momentum suddenly became three points weaker.

Sun Ce said again: "Yes, you can say that you didn't take Cao Cao seriously, but you were forced to do so. But Cao Cao had a knife, so did General Yuan not have a knife? Cao Cao used a knife to force you, so you became a lobbyist for Cao Cao. General Yuan treated him with courtesy, but you showed a noble face as a famous scholar. Is it appropriate for you to bully good and fear evil? You don't want to talk to me yet, even if you want to, I don't want to. Look at how many times you have come, would I be willing to pay attention to you?"

Zong Cheng was blushing and speechless. Yuan Shu was also very unhappy. Seeing this, he simply let Sun Ce go. If Zong Cheng was more proud, he would just let Sun Ce cut him down with a knife. What a famous scholar, would rather listen to Cao Cao's orders and not listen to me? It's really blinding your eyes. Zong Cheng saw Yuan Shu's change in attitude, and was angry and couldn't help but say loudly:

"Scholars can be killed, but not humiliated. General Yuan, I came out of the city to see you. I was not afraid of death and willing to serve Cao Cao. I just wanted to mediate and save a few people. If you insist on your own and want to completely turn against the Nanyang family, you might as well kill me now. Although my family is not a family, it is a powerful person of great size. Anyway, the manor outside the city has been broken by you, and only this life is left."

"Don't worry, I just scare you and won't really kill you. I want to see if you can still be poor if you lose the manor and continue to be a famous scholar." Sun Ce also put the knife in the sheath and smiled. "Okay, let's talk about the serious business. Since you know that Cai Boyi has come to the camp, you must also know what kind of feats General Yuan dared to be the first in the world and did. Go back and tell Cao Cao that our army is in full swing now. If he knows the morale, he will surrender as soon as possible. If he doesn't know the morale, I will break through Wancheng and cut his head within ten days."

"Ten days?" Zong Cheng sneered, glanced at Yuan Shu in a sneer, and sneered: "Is it enough?"

Yuan Shu touched his nose awkwardly and looked at Sun Ce again. Sun Ce took over the topic: "Don't worry, I will do what I say. If I can't break through Wancheng within ten days, I will never enter Wancheng for the rest of my life."

"Very good, then I'll tell Cao Cao and let him wait for you in the city." Zong Cheng said, leaving.

Yuan Shu was stunned and quickly signaled Yan Xiang to go out to chase Zong Cheng. He took Sun Ce's hand and said, "Bo Fu, are you...are you sure?"

Sun Ce was very straightforward. "No."

"and you……"

"I'm scaring him." Sun Ce scratched his head. "General, this is what I said. At worst, I won't enter Wancheng in the future. But then again, Chang'an is less than a thousand miles from Nanyang. If Xu Rong sends troops from Lantian, the vanguard can reach Wuguan in at most half a month. If we can't take Wancheng down within ten days, we can only fight on two fronts."

Yuan Shu sighed and sat down dejectedly. "After the land was given, the morale was indeed different. Even if we were driven to fight, there should be no risk of turning against each other. However, we lacked enough troops, and it would probably not be so easy to conquer Wancheng within ten days. I have asked Cai Boyi to write a manifesto and send it to each county. If it goes well, give me a month and I can raise at least 20,000 or 30,000 people. Dong Zhuo, an old man, really took Nai Gong's life..."

Sun Ce was also very troubled. Now he wanted to send someone to Chang'an to pay tribute and form an alliance with Dong Zhuo, which was shot in the foot. Dong Zhuo saw the opportunity, not only did not mean to form an alliance, but instead sent troops to threaten to take charge. If he could not fight quickly and conquer Wancheng, he would have to divide his troops to fight against the enemy. The possibility of Nanyang falling is very high.

When things have come to this point, it doesn’t matter whether he brags or not. The situation forces him to take down Wancheng as soon as possible.

"General, leave this matter to me." Sun Ce patted his chest.

Yuan Shu nodded weakly. "Bo Fu, do your best and don't force yourself. At worst, we just retreat to Xiangyang."

——

Zong Cheng returned to the city, and his anger was not gone. He rushed into the front courtyard of the prefect's mansion in one breath, but did not see Cao Cao coming out to greet him. He shouted twice, and a guard came out and told him that Cao Cao was not in the mansion and was patrolling the city. Zong Cheng turned around and went out and went up the city wall. The inner city wall was relatively high, and the horse path was long and steep. When Zong Cheng climbed onto the city, he was already a little panting. He didn't want to lose his composure in front of Cao Cao, so he calmed down and breathed a few breaths. His eyes passed over the rows of houses and looked at the courtyard under the east city, and suddenly his heart tightened.

The war is about to begin, and Wancheng is about to face another catastrophe. The manor outside the city is gone. If the houses in the city are gone, can I be a gentleman who is poor and a famous man who can support himself? As soon as he thinks of this, Zong Cheng's face will inexplicably have a fever. No matter whether he can be a gentleman, his current worries will convince him to be the word "gentleman". What is a true gentleman? A person like Yan Yuan who eats and drinks but does not change his ambitions, a person who cannot be moved by the poor and humble, and cannot be defeated by the mighty and powerful. Pang Degongshu is almost close to him, so what am I?

Zong Cheng felt sad for a moment, his heart was empty.

Cao Cao saw Zong Cheng from afar and turned around and was ready to greet him. Seeing Zong Cheng not moving for a long time, he couldn't help but feel confused. Could it be that his mission was not fulfilled, Zong Cheng didn't know how to speak? He looked back at Xi Zhicai. Xi Zhicai was behind his back with one hand and stroked his sparse beard with the other hand, and looked at him.

"General, it doesn't look very smooth."

Cao Cao looked slightly and looked in Zong Cheng's direction. "It seems that Yuan Gaolu is preparing to attack the city. The direction Zong Shilin is looking at is his house. The manor outside his city has been destroyed. Once Yuan Gaolu breaks through the big city, the family business in the city cannot be saved. Alas, Yuan Gaolu is really a sin."

Xi Zhicai said carelessly: "General, don't you think this is the general trend? I'm surprised that Yuan Gonglu, a noble family, could do this. General, maybe you should reconsider it."

Cao Cao frowned slightly, pondered for a while, and sighed again.
Chapter completed!