Liu Qi was about to dismount, but Lu Su held him back and said in a hoarse voice, "General, you have accomplished a great feat, which deserves the congratulations of the army. I will lead your horse for you."
Liu Qi asked hurriedly: "How can this be done?"
"This is not enough to express our gratitude!"
Lu Su was very stubborn. He led Liu Qi from the camp gate to the central army tent on his horse, and the Wu army cheered.
Zhao Yun had already quietly dismounted with a smile on his face, leaving Liu Qi alone to accept the admiration of the Wu army.
Ever since he was ordered to follow Liu Qi, although he was loyal and recognized his abilities after the Battle of Nanyang, he always felt a barrier in his heart.
This time they came to Jiangdong together and practiced sword fighting often. He found that Liu Qi was not as dissolute as those children from aristocratic families, nor was he proud because of his promotion. Instead, he became more diligent and hardworking.
He would run in the camp before dawn every day, doing some movements that he couldn't understand. He also had a very high level of comprehension of swordsmanship. In just one month, he was able to launch a counterattack against him.
After this battle, Zhao Yun was completely convinced and realized that he had always thought that Liu Qi relied on Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang and others, but that he himself was mediocre, even greedy and lustful, and a bit vulgar.
Today we know that Liu Qi is not only courageous, but also wise. Facing Cao Ren's army of tens of thousands, he remained calm and composed and retreated calmly. What kind of courage was this
To thank Liu Qi and to boost morale, Lu Su immediately ordered the soldiers to return to the camp for defense when he arrived at the tent, and sent someone to recall some soldiers to guard the camp.
Liu Qi said, "Cao Ren was frightened and retreated, and was shot by Zilong. He will not dare to come again! The Grand Commander is chasing Cao the thief with all his strength, so there is no need to interfere."
Lu Su thought so too, and helped Liu Qi off the horse, clasping his fists again and saying, "The safety of Jiangdong depends entirely on you, general!"
Liu Qi pointed at Zhao Yun who was following him and laughed, "If it weren't for Zilong's intimidation, would Cao Ren have retreated so easily?"
Lu Su bowed to Zhao Yun again and said, "Thank you, General Zilong!"
"How dare I!" Zhao Yun hurriedly returned the greeting. He had never been respected so much by a famous scholar before, and for the first time he seemed at a loss.
Liu Qi smiled with relief, this action seemed dangerous, but he was actually confident. With Zhao Yun there, at least his life would be safe, so he naturally had to give it a try.
If I were the only one in the camp, I would have escaped long ago and would not have cared about the safety of Jiangdong.
If they really fought to the death, given Sun Quan's character, he might immediately send troops to Jingzhou, and he would probably even call it a brother-in-law helping his son-in-law!
Lu Su relaxed at this time and realized that his whole body was soaked with sweat. He asked Liu Qi to go back to the camp to rest while he went to wash up.
As soon as it got dark, Liu Pan came back with 500 soldiers. They captured the Qibaoshan stronghold and obtained countless food and supplies, as well as 8,000 war horses.
Although the area south of the Yangtze River is rich, it has a huge drawback: there are no horses. Cavalry is the most scarce strategic resource for Jingzhou and Jiangdong.
Liu Pan rushed back overnight because he was worried that the Eastern Wu would divide the horses, so he came to discuss with Liu Qi.
"Whoever takes the supplies will own them!" Liu Qi said as a matter of course, "The battle here is over. After a day of rest, you will transport the supplies back to Jiangxia to avoid any more trouble."
Liu Pan nodded and said with a smile: "During this attack on the camp, we captured an enemy general, who is an old acquaintance."
I waved to the door and saw soldiers escorting a man in. His hair and beard were disheveled and he smelled of alcohol.
The man came in and knelt down to beg for mercy: "General Liu, it's me... For General Zhang's sake, don't kill me!"
"Xiahou Mao?" Liu Qi was a little surprised and said unhappily, "Master Xiahou is General Yide's uncle, how can you treat him like this? Why don't you untie him and take a seat?"
Liu Pan understood what was going on, and he personally untied Xiahou Mi, arranged for him to sit down, and ordered someone to give him some wine to calm him down.
Xiahou Mao thanked him repeatedly, and when he saw the wine was served, he waved his hands and said, "No more, never again!"
Liu Qi asked in confusion, "Didn't you go to Xiangyang to redeem the sword? Why are you in the Huainan army now?"
Xiahou Mao immediately beat his chest and stamped his feet, cursing the defenders of Qibao Mountain. He thought that he would be valued by Cao Cao because of redeeming the Qinggang Sword and presenting the chain of plans, but he did not expect that he would be arranged to guard the food and grass in the Xishan Stronghold.
He had nothing to do in the camp and listened to the military training on the water all day. He was very depressed and drank alone. When he woke up, he found himself a prisoner. When Cao's army fled, no one came to wake him up.
Liu Qi said with emotion: "Fortunately, you were captured by our Jingzhou army. Everyone recognizes you. If you had met the Wu army, you would probably have been beheaded."
Xiahou Mao shuddered, stopped crying, and quickly clasped his fists towards Liu Pan: "Thank you, General, for not killing me."
Liu Pan crossed his arms and sneered, "Who said I won't kill you?"
Xiahou Mao stepped forward and begged Liu Qi for mercy: "General Liu, for the sake of our past friendship, please let me go this time, how about that?"
Liu Qi shook his head and sighed, "Alas, I have always been soft-hearted. It would be hard to explain to Uncle San if I killed you..."
"That's right!" Xiahou Mao nodded repeatedly, "General, I will repay you generously in the future."
"But if I let you go like this, how can I explain to all the soldiers who fought so bloody battles?"
Liu Qi frowned slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "How about this, according to the old rules, you go back to Jingzhou first and let Prime Minister Cao redeem the person, how about that?"
“No, no, no, this won’t do!” Xiahou Mao waved his hands repeatedly, twisting his fingers and laughing dryly, “I just don’t want the Prime Minister and the others to know… about my capture. I beg the General to show some mercy!”
"This is difficult!" Liu Qi frowned, "Ask me to release him for no reason, isn't that breaking the rules?"
Xiahou Mao begged for mercy in a crying voice: "General Liu, I just redeemed the Qinggang Sword and was very proud of myself. If I become a prisoner again, I will be laughed at by everyone in Xuchang and I will never be able to hold my head up again!"
Liu Pan shouted, "Xiahou Mao, don't push your luck! If you don't know what's good for you, I'll kill you right now."
"No!" Xiahou Mao knelt on the ground with a plop, crawled forward on his knees, and grabbed Liu Qi's trouser legs: "General, please let me go this time. In the next life, I will be your slave, even if it means giving you a favor!"
"You are living well now, what's the point of talking about the afterlife?" Liu Qi helped Xiahou Mao up and said helplessly: "You are able to redeem the sword, which shows that you are a trustworthy person. Then you can redeem yourself, okay?"
Xiahou Mao was stunned and asked, "What does this mean?"
Liu Qiyan said: "I can let you go, but you have to sign a document and return the ransom as soon as possible."
"Of course!" Xiahou Mao nodded repeatedly, patting his chest loudly: "My words are as good as gold, and I can't change them."
Liu Qi raised his eyebrows and held up a finger: "Ransom of one million!"
"Ah?" Xiahou Mao took two steps back in shock, his eyes widened: "You want... so much?"
"Why? The eldest son of the famous general Xiahou Dun and the son-in-law of Prime Minister Cao, isn't he worth this much?"
Liu Qi stared at Xiahou Mao, then suddenly smiled and said, "There is also hush money involved. You don't want your father and the prime minister to know that you were captured, right?"
"I..." Xiahou Mao looked painful, "But I don't have that much money?"
"I can give you another half a year!" Liu Qi waved his hand generously and said with a friendly smile: "As long as you sign a written agreement, I will send someone to send you to Qibao Mountain overnight, and you can return to Hefei with the defeated army tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll write it!" Xiahou Mao gritted his teeth, rolled up his sleeves, and shouted solemnly, "Bring me paper and pen!"