Chapter 419

"You! You still need to watch and learn more!"

Cao Cao glared at Cao Ren and said earnestly: "There are not many people I can trust; they are all my own family, so you must strive for me! I have high expectations for you, and I hope you can become a commander who can stand on his own in the future. Don't let me down!"

Cao Ren was stunned at first; he clearly did not expect his big brother to value him so much and have such high expectations.

This put a lot of pressure on him for a moment.

But there was more excitement.

He immediately said excitedly: "Thank you for your high regard, Big Brother. I will not let you down. I will learn well, strive to grow, and try to reach your expectations as soon as possible!"

"Hmm!"

Cao Cao was very satisfied with Cao Ren’s reaction, nodded, and waved his hand: "Alright! You go down and rest first!"

"Yes!"

Cao Ren immediately withdrew.

Time returned to a few days ago, on Lu Bu’s side.

Although they tried their best to speed up, because there were still many infantry, the speed naturally could not be truly fast enough to shake off Cao Cao’s cavalry pursuit.

But Cao Cao’s cavalry was not numerous to begin with, and only a few thousand were sent to pursue Lu Bu.

They were almost defeated by a single charge from Lu Bu.

Then, Cao Hong panicked and led the remaining forces to flee; let alone continuing to pursue Lu Bu, he did not even dare to stay here.

"Hehe! Really overestimating their own strength!"

Lu Bu saw this and had no intention of continuing the pursuit. He just gave a disdainful smile, waved his hand to lead the army back, and continued to lead everyone toward Huaiyin.

"Hehe! Congratulations to the lord for repelling the pursuers!"

Chen Gong could not help but smile and congratulate Lu Bu when he saw him return successfully.

"This is nothing!"

Lu Bu smiled lightly and waved his hand: "A mere Cao Hong, with only a few thousand cavalry under his command, actually dared to come and pursue. I wonder who gave him the courage?"

"Could it be that he forgot how I bloodily abused them back then?"

"It seems they are still too forgetful! The impression and lesson I left them were not profound enough! Hehe!"

Thinking back to when they were in Yanzhou, Cao Hong and the others were crushed like dogs by him!

"Hehe!"

Chen Gong smiled and said: "Perhaps it is because we ultimately lost back then, so it gave them confidence, making them feel that we are nothing special?"

It can only be said that Cao Hong thought too much.

The reason they lost back then was not because you, Cao Hong, were awesome!

"Perhaps!"

Lu Bu nodded noncommittally: "If I weren't worried about being caught up by Cao Cao’s main force, I would have had the heart to directly annihilate Cao Hong and the troops under his command just now!"

The main concern was that Cao Cao would send a large army to pursue and encircle them after learning the news.

In addition, he was also afraid of bringing trouble to Su Xuan.

Although he knew this should not be any trouble for Su Xuan, he subconsciously did so anyway.

More than a day later, Lu Bu and his party successfully arrived at Huaiyin City to meet with their families.

Then, they also met Huang Zu, who had been waiting here for a long time.

"Huang Zu greets the Marquis of Wen! After my lord received the news, he sent us to meet you and take you to Xiangyang City in Jingzhou. The ships are all ready! I wonder if you have any other arrangements?"

Huang Zu clasped his fists and spoke after seeing Lu Bu.

"Thank you, General Huang!"

Lu Bu also quickly returned the salute and said: "I have no other arrangements! We can set off at any time!"

"However, the troops I brought this time are thirty or forty thousand. With so many people, are the ships enough?"

"In addition, we didn't bring much grain for this withdrawal; should we collect some in Huaiyin first?"

"No need!"

Huang Zu shook his head directly: "The ships are enough! There is even spare capacity!"

"As for grain, there is even less need to worry; it is already prepared!"

"Since you have no problems, why don't we arrange for the soldiers to board the ships now and set off as soon as possible?"

"Firstly, so you can meet with my lord as soon as possible, and secondly, to avoid being caught up by Cao Cao’s pursuers. What do you think?"

He could receive intelligence from the secret guards in Picheng at any time.

He also knew that Cao Cao had sent more troops to pursue Lu Bu because of Cao Hong’s defeat.

He just wanted to drive Lu Bu away completely and take the whole of Xuzhou.

It is not appropriate for them to continue staying here.

"Can do! Then I will trouble General Huang!"

Lu Bu naturally would not refuse and agreed directly, then introduced his military advisor Chen Gong to Huang Zu: "This is my military advisor, Mr. Chen Gong, Chen Chen Gongtai. For subsequent arrangements, you can directly coordinate with him!"

"Good!"

Huang Zu naturally had no objections and immediately began to coordinate with Chen Gong.

In just a few hours, tens of thousands of troops boarded the ships in an orderly manner. Afterward, the fleet set sail, heading east along the river into the East China Sea, then south to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then westward along the river. It took more than a day to successfully arrive at the naval camp in Xiangyang.

"Haha! Brother Fengxian! You have finally arrived! I have been waiting for you for a long time!"

Before Lu Bu even got off the ship, he saw Su Xuan waiting on the shore with a large group of people from afar.

Among them were his wife and daughter, Lady Yan and Lu spiritual energy.

"Hahaha!"

Lu Bu laughed aloud: "Sorry to have kept you waiting, Su Boyuan!"

Soon, Lu Bu and his party docked with the ships, got off, and went straight to Su Xuan. Lu Bu gave Su Xuan a hug, patted Su Xuan on the shoulder, and then said with emotion: "You fellow, you have become even sturdier!"

"This time, I really owe it to you; otherwise, I wouldn't know where to go!"

"I have come to defect to you completely this time!"

"And I don't intend to continue competing for hegemony!"

"So, the 30,000+ troops I brought are all yours! I won't care how you arrange them!"

"Of course, if possible, it would be best not to disperse my 2,000 personal guards. In the future, I can at least lead them to form a military formation to fight for you. How about it?"

If it weren't for this, he wouldn't even intend to keep his personal guards.

On the way, Chen Gong had already analyzed and warned him that some overstepping things must not be done.

No matter how ironclad the relationship between Lu Bu and Su Xuan is, once he joins Su Xuan’s command, the relationship changes and becomes a subordinate relationship.

The military power that should be handed over must definitely be handed over.

Of course, Lu Bu felt that Su Xuan would marry his daughter sooner or later, so he was not worried that his relationship with Su Xuan would deteriorate in the future.

He still understood Su Xuan very well.

"Can do!"

Su Xuan nodded with a smile, not caring much: "I will let Zhao Zilong handle the handover later!"

"As for your personal guards, just organize them into a separate battalion and let you command them! These are not important!"

"Let’s go! Let’s go inside and talk! The wind is too strong here!"

Saying this, Su Xuan pulled Lu Bu’s arm and walked toward the main hall of the camp.

Lu Bu naturally would not refuse, and at the same time, he was very satisfied and happy with Su Xuan’s attitude.

Sure enough, Su Boyuan hasn't changed at all! And he doesn't care about these things.

But spiritual energy!

Thinking of this, Lu Bu could not help but look at Lu spiritual energy and Lady Yan, who were standing on the side, staring at him without speaking. Seeing their slightly red eyes, Lu Bu could not help but feel a slight ache in his nose: "Madam! spiritual energy! I am back!"

— Author's Notes —

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