Though Mei Gan was bewildered, since Yuan Shu had stationed him in a place like Xiang County, he naturally had some real skill.
The moment he heard that Qiao Rui had arrived, he asked:
"Did Qiao Rui come alone, or did he bring troops?"
"How many soldiers does he have? How much baggage? Are there any other generals in the army?"
This soldier had been hastily summoned by Mei Cheng. How could he know such details? After hesitating for a while, he could only stammer:
"General Qiao brought several thousand men. It seems he has no baggage train, and I did not see any other generals!"
Hearing this reply, Mei Gan paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, then asked:
"Since Qiao Rui says our army has fallen into a trap, why is he so certain?"
Questioned by Mei Gan, the lowly soldier panicked. Not knowing how to answer, he could only recount everything he had seen exactly as it was.
Yet this answer happened to give Mei Gan a way to judge the situation before him.
When he heard Qiao Rui say that they had been defeated at Xiapi and nearly wiped out to the last man, Mei Gan nodded without revealing a trace of emotion.
At least this part matched the information he had received so far!
It proved that Qiao Rui was telling the truth!
The problem now was why Qiao Rui, with a routed force, had appeared within Pei Commandery.
He shared Mei Cheng's doubts. After Qiao Rui's defeat, he should have headed south, not come to Xiang County!
But there was no need to guess at this question. He only needed to return to Xiang County and ask directly.
Having thought this through, Mei Gan stopped and looked at the soldier.
"Very