Sun Ce accepted Guo Jia's suggestion and stationed in Fanqiu City. He ordered Dong Xi to lead infantrymen to strengthen the city defense, send people out of the city to cut down trees, and send people to nearby villages to collect food. The noise caused a lot of noise, so naturally he could not escape the scout of Tuo Yi. The news soon reached Tuo Yi's ears.

Tuo Yi was very disappointed. For him, Fanqiu City was not an ideal battlefield, and siege was not an easy task, even if it was just a small city. But he did not give up. The scout had already discovered that Sun Ce was in Fanqiu City, which was a goal that he could not easily give up. Even if he didn't understand what Yuan Shao was thinking in his mind, he knew what Sun Ce meant to Yuan Shao. If he had the opportunity to kill Sun Ce, the dilemma faced by Yuan Shao would be greatly alleviated. In the future, Yuan Shao's founding of the country and rewarding the heroes, he would be a well-deserved first meritorious person.

Ju Hu has already controlled Xiangcheng, and Xun Yan is also leading his troops to attack Huang Zhong and responding to Huang Wan. He has more than enough troops. He doesn't need to rush back, so he can stay in Longyuan to monitor Sun Ce. Neither Sun Ce from Fanqiu City nor Lu Su from Yingyang can cross him to attack Xiangcheng. If Sun Ce attacks rashly, his chance will come.

Both sides remained silent, waiting for the opponent to reveal their flaws.

——

Ziyunling. Xun Yan stood on the hillside, blocking the dazzling sunshine with his hands and looking into the distance.

Five hundred steps away is the Broken Ridge on the west side of Heilonggou. There are flags flying on it, and the sound of drums often comes. After passing the ridge, about three or four miles west, Yu boarded the stage. Huang Wan was trapped there, but Xun Yan attacked for two days, but he was unable to get closer.

He didn't even know if Huang Wan was still alive. Huang Zhong sent people to defend the commanding heights of the mountains near Yu Chengtai, preventing Xun Yan's scout from approaching, and not being able to take a look from a distance. Xun Yan often thought that maybe Huang Wan was dead, and Huang Zhong blocked the news to hold him back, so that he could only grit his teeth and attack even though he knew the casualties were heavy.

The equipment was not as good as the training, the location was lost, and Xun Yan had only one advantage: there were many people. In addition to the more than 10,000 people he had led before, he gathered Huang Wan's subordinates, totaling nearly 30,000. However, it was useless to have a large force. Due to the limitation of the terrain, he could see Huang Zhong's general flag, but he could not attack.

After two days, he had paid the price of more than 3,000 casualties. Not only his subordinates were tired of war, but even Huang Wan's old subordinates didn't want to fight again. This was a desperate battle, and no one was willing to sacrifice in vain. After the subordinates who were loyal to Huang Wan were crippled one after another, the remaining people began to deal with it. It looked very lively, but there was no substantial progress for a long time.

Xun Yan also wanted to retreat, but he couldn't. Before confirming that Huang Wan was dead, he could only grit his teeth and hold on. Huang Wan's status was noble and very important to Yuan Shao. If he died, the impact was too great. If nothing else, it would be a problem for anyone to guard Luoyang. He thought about a few people, but none of them were suitable for Huang Wan. From a personal perspective, Huang Wan and the Xun family had a close relationship, and he could not stand by death and refused to save him.

Knowing that it is impossible is a motto for Confucianism. Xun Yan has always practiced it like this, but he never felt so tired. No matter how hard or tired he was, he was only three or five friends at most. But now, he has to force hundreds of soldiers under Huang Zhong's knife. Those people are Huang Wan's confidants, and Huang Wan promoted them. Now he is in a pool of blood to repay Huang Wan's favor for his support.

What would Huang Wan think when she finds out?

Xun Yan didn't dare to think about it anymore, so he turned around and walked down the hillside. He felt a little regretful. He should be a strategist as much as Xun You. Although strategists also have to decide life and death, they don't have to make decisions in person. A gentleman stays away from the kitchen. When killing is inevitable, turning one hand can relieve some of his sins.

Xun Yan hurried down the hillside, and walked a little anxiously in recent steps. His feet became weak and he almost fell to the ground. Two personal guards hurriedly stepped forward to support him. Han Yao sat in the carriage, opened the window, and looked at Xun Yan with a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

"Xiuru, what did you see?"

"I can't see anything." Xun Yan got into the carriage, sat down, leaned against the wall, feeling indescribable fatigue.

"Will you be dead?"

Xun Yan was silent for a long time and shook his head. "No, Mr. Huang should have three to four days of dry food around him. Save some food, and it will be no problem for seven or eight days." He paused and said, "Mr. Huang is not a person who is easy to surrender. There is no peace in the world and the ideals of the party members have not yet been realized. He will not be willing to do so."

Han Yao wanted to say something but stopped and sighed a few times. Xun Yan knew what he wanted to say, wanted to comfort him, but he stuttered, but he didn't know what to say. After a while, Han Yao suddenly said, "Do you know Chunyu Chong?"

Xun Yan drooped his eyelids and said nothing.

Han Yao ignored him and said to himself: "Although he is Chunyu Qiong's follower, Sun Ce doesn't care. Chunyu Chong has been serving as the Linying Order. Dong Xi came from there, maybe they got along well. Have you ever seen him in Linying?"

Xun Yan raised his eyelids, glanced at Han Yao, straightened his body, and forced him to Han Yao. Han Yao subconsciously retreated, blinked uneasyly, and squeezed out a stiff smile. "Xu Ruo, I..."

Xun Yan raised his hand and signaled Han Yao not to be nervous. He knocked back his hand and knocked on the wall of the carriage, indicating that the driver could leave. The driver shook the whip in his hand and made a crisp whip flower. The carriage slowly started. Xun Yan sat back and stared at Han Yao, saying slowly: "Actually, Yuan Shaosheng or Sun Cesheng doesn't matter to us, as long as we can achieve the goal of our Confucian school. What is the goal of Confucian school? Yu Gong, we hope that the world will be peaceful, the king will be wise, and the ministers will be virtuous. For private matters, we hope that the family will prosper and the descendants will be prosperous."

After hearing Xun Yan call Yuan Shao’s name directly, Han Yao relaxed a lot. “Then do you think Yuan Shao can achieve your goal?”

"No, he can't, and Sun Ce can't." Xun Yan chuckled: "But Yuan Xiansi can."

Han Yao suddenly realized. He stared at Xun Yan for a long time, and suddenly laughed and said, "You are not comforting me, are you?"

"Do I comfort you? You will know soon." Xun Yan turned his head and looked out the window, just about to say something else, but suddenly his eyes shrank, he stretched out his hand and opened the car window, and looked out. Han Yao looked out in surprise, but only saw the green hillsides on both sides and the branches and leaves that occasionally brushed through the car window. After a while, the car door was knocked. Xun Yan opened the car door, and a knight shouted, "General, there is news from the scout."

"Say!" Xun Yan shouted loudly.

"A scout touched Yu's stage, and Mr. Huang was still on the stage. But..."

"But what?" Xun Yan was furious. "Speak quickly!"

"But those people don't look like they've been hungry for a few days."

Xun Yan was stunned for a moment, suddenly realized something, and shouted: "Where is that scout?"

"I was seriously injured and was being treated in the baggage camp."

"Hurry, pass my orders. No matter what method is used, you must save his life and wait for me to come."

The knight responded, whipped the horse and moved forward. Xun Yan urged the driver to hurry up. The driver drove the carriage almost flying. He still felt slow, so he simply called the guards and took the mount. Xun Yan jumped directly from the carriage and rushed towards the camp.
Chapter completed!