At night, in the temporary villa, Cao Xin asked people to settle down Mrs. Zou, then returned to the study and wrote two letters, arranging for people to send them to military adviser Cheng Yu and Lord Bao Maojie.

In the letter, he described how Cao Hong led troops to surround Zhang Xiu's residence and forcibly demanded Mrs. Zou.

He believed that it would bring bad reputation to Mr. Cao if this kind of thing spread out, and he hoped that the two of them would persuade Mr. Cao to follow the example of Duke Zhao of Zhou and to be a good prime minister.

After the messenger left, Cao Xin took off his armor and prepared to take a bath.

Duoduoduo~

There were several knocks on the door.

"Come in!"

He thought it was a servant bringing hot water, but when the door was pushed open, Zou Liniang came with a plate of food and walked in lotus steps.

"Why are you here, madam?"

Cao Xin was slightly surprised.

Zou Liniang smiled slightly, but before she could speak, a blush appeared on her cheeks.

"General, I heard that the general has not had dinner yet, so I took it upon myself to make a bowl of soup balls for the general by borrowing the kitchen in the courtyard. Please don't dislike it, general."

Cao Xin took a look at the woman in front of the desk. As the saying goes, if you look at a beautiful woman under the lamp, the more you look at her, the more beautiful she becomes. If you want to be pretty, be filial; women who can cook are the most beautiful.

The woman in front of her had all three. She was dressed in a plain white dress, and her cleaned face looked more beautiful and lovely. Her every frown and smile seemed to be able to hit a man's weak spot.

Mrs. Zou's cheeks were dizzy at his sight, but she faced his gaze stubbornly, "General, you are hesitant, but are you worried that I may have poisoned the soup pills?"

Cao Xin laughed loudly and suddenly stopped, "That's true." His [resistance] is not high, and he is not immune to all poisons, so he will be extra careful when eating.

Mrs. Zou looked a little aggrieved. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing a white jade-like wrist. She filled a small bowl out of the soup can with a wooden spoon. She held the small bowl with both hands and took a few sips.

"General, are you relieved?"

Mrs. Zou put down the small bowl and asked.

Cao Xin nodded slightly.

Mrs. Zou breathed a sigh of relief, picked up another small wooden bowl, and prepared to serve him soup.

"Madam, I heard that there is a way of poisoning by smearing poison on the mouth of a bowl. Madam, please use your bowl to serve me the soup."

Mrs. Zou was stunned for a moment, a trace of embarrassment flashed across her face, and her eye circles suddenly turned red.

"Uh, don't cry, ma'am, it's just a joke, haha~."

Cao Xin took the wooden spoon, filled a bowl, and also filled Zou Liniang's small bowl.

"Ma'am, please eat some more, there's still a lot of soup."

Zou Liniang stared at him quietly without blinking.

Cao Xin shrugged his shoulders, took a sip of the soup from the bowl, and nodded with satisfaction, "Madam's spooning skills are very good. It's more delicious than the soup made by Xu Du's chef. Thank you madam."

Zou Liniang lowered her head, holding a small wooden bowl and whispered in a low voice, "In recent days, the general often comes to Zhang's house to practice martial arts. People below often praise the general, saying that the general is a gentleman, a great husband, and a great hero, but the general is bullying a weak woman."

Cao Xin was a little embarrassed and laughed and said, "They misunderstood. I am not a gentleman and a hero, but a bandit leader. I remember when I was living in Xuzhou, Qingzhou, I went down the mountain to rob rich households when I ran out of money and food.

The big families in the Qingxu area think that I am a nuisance and call me a Cao thief, haha, how can a person like me be a gentleman?"

"A general must not belittle oneself."

Zou Liniang pursed her red lips and said softly, "I heard that the general only robbed wealthy and ruthless wealthy families. Every time he only wanted money, food, salt and iron, and no human life was harmed. The general also helped the local area to eliminate many bandits and the wandering Yellow Turban rebels.

Saved countless lives.”

"Hey, you know a lot."

Cao Xin laughed and said.

Zou Liniang's face was slightly red, "I heard that Prime Minister Cao conquered Xuzhou the year before last and was preparing to massacre the city. The general went against his words and remonstrated directly. He said that he who wins the hearts of the people will win the world. The people can carry the boat or capsize it. It will be hard for the people to prosper and it will be hard for the people to die. If you can say

How can someone who says something like this be a bad person?"

Zou Liniang had a slight smile on her lips.

Cao Xin laughed.

In 192, the third year of Chuping, Cao Cao defeated the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army and captured more than 300,000 soldiers. He collected their elite troops to form the Qingzhou Army. He also helped Yuan Shao defeat Liu Bei, Shan Jing and Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian's army.

Therefore, he and Tao Qian formed a friendship.

In the spring of the fourth year of Chuping, Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shu, the Black Mountain Army, and the Southern Huns in Kuangting. Tao Qian, the Xuzhou herdsman, took advantage of the emptiness in Cao Cao's rear and led his army to attack Rencheng in the south of Yanzhou, almost causing Cao Cao to lose his nest.

Cao Cao led his army to conquer Tao Qian and captured more than ten cities in Xuzhou.

In that year, Tao Qian sent people to hunt down the Cao family. If Cao Xin had not taken action in time, half of the Cao family would have died.

The feud between the two families deepened.

The two sides fought continuously for the next two years, with each other winning and losing, until Tao Qian died in the fourth year of Chuping, and Cao Cao fought Liu Bei and Lu Bu again.

Due to Xuzhou's large population, management is extremely difficult and requires a lot of troops.

After taking the city, Cao Cao wanted to massacre the city and it was over.

Cao Xin felt that the massacre of the city was too cruel and he couldn't do it anyway, so he copied many famous quotes to advise Cao Cao, urging him not to kill people indiscriminately, as he would easily lose the support of the people.

Cao Cao didn't listen to everything. As long as someone in the city dared to riot, Cao Cao would still raise the butcher's knife and show no mercy.

Cao Xin shook his head and drank an extra bowl of broth.

Zou Liniang rolled up her wide sleeves and took the initiative to help him serve the soup. She spooned the soup with her delicate hands, and it was so delicious and delicious that he couldn't help but move his index finger.

"General!"

Liao Hua shouted at the door.

"What's the matter?"

"General, Cao Hong is here, and he has a warrant from the Prime Minister, asking the General to send Mrs. Zou to the Prime Minister as soon as possible."

Liao Hua said.

Ah~

Mrs. Zou's hand shook and the wooden spoon fell into the soup pot.

"Madam, don't worry, leave everything to me."

Cao Xin comforted him and said to Liao Hua outside the door, "Yuan Jian, tell Cao Hong that I am asleep and cannot take orders. If you have anything to do, we will talk about it tomorrow. Ask the brothers to go to the courtyard wall, draw their bows and arrows, and shoot whoever dares to break through the door.

, don’t shoot at the vitals, just shoot at the wound, at worst, you’ll have to pay them some soup or money.”

"Yes, General!"

Liao Hua clasped his fists and left.

"General, if you do this, will you be punished by the Prime Minister? If the general is punished because of my body, I will never be able to redeem myself."

Zou Liniang pursed her red lips and cried softly.

"Why are you crying again?"

Cao Xin took out a silk handkerchief and handed it to her, "Don't worry, the Prime Minister and I are brothers, and our relationship is definitely closer than you think. Let alone a warrant, it is a military order. As long as there is something wrong, I dare to disobey it. Afterwards,

If you get scolded a few times at most, it won’t be a big problem.”

"General, don't be careless."

Zou Liniang folded the silk handkerchief and said softly, "As the old saying goes, the more you use it, the weaker it becomes. Although the general is the prime minister's brother, don't be too careless. He often gets into trouble with the prime minister, which is not good for the general... It's Liniang who talks too much. The general is very smart.

, there is no need for a little girl like me to talk too much."

Cao Xin looked at her, smiled softly, stood up and asked,

"Liniang, are you willing to remove your armor for me?"

"ah?"

Zou Liniang's face turned red instantly. Cao Xin was only left with his inner armor and underwear. Helping him take off his inner armor would seem too intimate. Usually only people in the room would do this kind of thing.

"General, are you kidding me?"

Cao Xin shook his head and looked at the woman's ruby-like face, like a blooming red rose. He untied the rope of the inner armor and said,

"Born in troubled times, for women, if they are too beautiful, they are destined to have a rough fate. Some choose the right man and enjoy the rest of their lives, while others choose the wrong man and continue to wander around or die alone.

And more often than not, you don’t have a choice. This time, for the sake of making soup for me, I will give you a chance to choose. You can choose to go back to Zhang’s Mansion, go to the Prime Minister’s Mansion, or stay, I can do it.

To help you realize it, you have one night to think about your future."

Zou Liniang's face gradually turned from red to white, and she was silent for a moment. She slowly stood up, mustered up the courage to walk up to him, and helped him untie the straps of his inner armor.

Cao Xin smiled softly, pinched her hot cheek,

"Congratulations Liniang, you made the right choice."

Zou Liniang lowered her head and turned even redder.

Cao Xin laughed.

"General, the hot water is ready."

The old servant called outside the door.

"Send it in!"

As the door was opened, a burst of curses, roars, and screams came from outside the courtyard. Cao Xin shook his head and closed the door again.

With Liao Hua and several gatekeepers, he felt relieved.
Chapter completed!