At the beginning of November, in the palace, the residence of the Empress Dowager Liang. The Empress Dowager Liang Yan of the pen fun pavilion www.biquge.info, was smart and virtuous when she was young, proficient in scripture and history, entered the palace at the age of thirteen, was established at the age of twenty-six, in the first year of Jiankang, Emperor Shun died, Liang Yan was the queen mother, and at the age of thirty-nine she came to the court to listen to the government. On this day, the Queen Mother was having breakfast, and the general Liang Ji came over to discuss the matter. Liang Ji is seven feet tall, with broad shoulders and a round waist, eyes like wolf eyes, and his speech is slurred.

"Brother, why are you here so early?" Liang Yan asked.

Liang Ji sat down uninvited, and said in an urn voice: "Two days ago, Liu Wen, a retainer of Liu Garlic, the king of Qinghe, went to Du Qiao's house. According to my eyes, Li Gu is also there. ”

"So what?" Liang Yan didn't care.

"Don't you think it's weird? Li and Du once strongly recommended Liu Garlic as the emperor. ”

"Li Gu has been removed from his official position. In this earthquake, Du Qiao has not been reinstated, and now they are idle at home, what can they do? Liang Yan replied.

"Don't underestimate Li Du and the others, they are very prestigious, and this matter makes me restless." Liang Ji said.

"Brother, Li Du and Li Du are both talented and virtuous people, but you have always been at odds with him, and my sister finally fulfilled your wish, what do you want now?" Liang Yan was unhappy.

"The prince of Qinghe has long coveted the throne, if he recruits Li Gu and Du Qiao again, it will definitely be a big trouble in the future."

"So I have been protecting Li Gu and Du Qiao, so that the two of them can concentrate on serving the master, but you have been doing the opposite. Now the two of them only eat Yulu, and there are no officials. Even if the prince of Qinghe took the opportunity to recruit them, it was you who gave him a chance. Liang Yan said angrily.

"The two of them have no official titles, why do they still keep them to eat? Just kill it. Liang Ji said.

"Brother, why do you only know how to kill, kill, kill? How many more people are you going to kill? Who are Li Gong and Du Gong? Can it be easily killed? These two people are stricter than the hundred officials, if you kill them, how will the government and the opposition talk about it? You can rest assured that they are all great Confucians, and they will never collude with others to do disobedient things. ”

"Sister, why are you always a woman's kindness?" Liang Ji said angrily.

"Brother, I also advise you today, if one day, you dare to do things like Wang Mang and provoke the Liang family to be infamous through the ages, I will clean up the door on behalf of my father." Liang Yan warned.

"What are you talking about!" Liang Ji was annoyed and walked away.

Five days later, Li Jian of Chenliujun led the people to revolt and proclaimed himself emperor. Within three days, Liu Wen of Qinghe and Liu Kun of Nanjun jointly raised Liu Garlic, the prince of Qinghe, as the emperor, and rebelled at the same time. The Son of Heaven was young and panicked for a while, Liang Ji laughed loudly and sent heavy troops to suppress it. Within ten days, Li Jian, Liu Wen, and Liu Kun were all killed, and Liu Garlic committed suicide unjustly. Liang Ji took the opportunity to put Liu Wen's visit to Du Qiao and Li Gu in the court, and framed the two of colluding with Liu Wen to rebel, and no one could refute it.

Liang Ji imprisoned Li and Du in Chengbei Prison and ordered them not to visit the prison and to be isolated from other prisoners. Li Gu and Du Qiao were given special treatment, and the prison cells they were taken in were heavily guarded by heavy soldiers outside and three inside, each with two guards guarding them. Without a warrant from Liang Ji, even the prison officer could not enter.

There is a cell in Chengbei Prison, more than 40 years old, nine feet tall, with a bare face, broad shoulders and a round waist, and a thirst for alcohol.

Two days after Li and Du were imprisoned. At dinner time that night, the guard said, "Why is the wine master eating today?" What about Old Man Wang? ”

The wine master replied: "Old man Wang is infected with the wind and cold, let me work for a few days." ”

The guard said, "I've been drinking with the wine master for the past two days." ”

The wine master replied: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say." "When the wine master entered the door, the guards immediately closed it from the outside.

Du Qiaomu was in shackles, his feet were shackled, and his clothes were stained with blood. Although he has become a prisoner of prison, he is still iron-clad and dignified, and he is sitting with his eyes closed at the moment.

When the wine master saw this, he immediately moistened his eyes with tears, opened the prison lock, and attached himself to Du Qiao: "Lord Du, do you remember the villain?" ”

When Du Qiao heard this, he opened his eyes to look at the person who came, and exclaimed, "Zhong Lijian, why are you?" How did you end up here? Why didn't you come to me when you were in trouble? "It turns out that this wine master's name is Zhong Lijian, and he is Zhong Liquan's brother.

Zhong Lijian replied: "Liang Ji raided my house, I escaped alone, and I was afraid of causing trouble to adults, so I changed my name and surname to become a prison here." Recently, I heard that adults had suffered such a catastrophe, so I bought a food prison and came to see my lord. Adult, the villain brought some food and drink, so you can talk while eating. Zhong Lijian opened the food box, poured a glass of wine, and fed it to Du Qiao.

"My lord, they have punished you?" The wine master looked at Du Qiao's bloodstains all over his body, and couldn't help but get angry.

"Liang Ji regards me and Li Gu as thorns in the flesh, and does everything he can. But you also know that Li Gu and I are human beings, how can we succumb to unnecessary things? Ducho replied.

"Adult, the villain fought for his life, how about taking you out?" Zhongli Jian's blood surged.

"This must not be done. Even if I lose my life, I must not escape from prison. You are incognito, and you can finally have a peaceful life, how can I implicate you? Du Qiao flatly refused, "Besides, your brother Zhong Liquan is looking for you." There is a person in my mansion named Yang Zhang, and he can take you to see Zhong Liquan. ”

"My lord, is my brother still alive? I thought he was dead. My lord, what do you have to say to your family? I'll go to your house tonight. "Zhongli Jian wanted to bring a message to Du Qiao.

"Let them not worry too much, the queen mother and the emperor will investigate the case and give me and Li Gu justice. Don't talk to them about the punishment of me and Li Gu, so as not to worry. Ducho said.

"My lord, I don't have much time, I'm going to see Master Li now and see if he needs me to do anything. I'll come back tomorrow to deliver food, and if there's anything you want to eat, just ask. Zhongli Jian said.

Zhong Lijian packed up the lunch box, walked more than ten meters to the inner room, and saw Li Gu. Zhong Liquan identified himself and repeated Du Qiao's words, and Li Guyan said: "Alas, Shu Rong has always been optimistic. I'm only afraid of one thing, if Liang Ji harms the two of us, he will definitely cut the grass and eradicate the roots. Don't listen to Shu Rong, inform our two families immediately, and run for your life quickly. After Zhongli Jian heard this, he didn't dare to delay time, came out of prison, and went straight to Li and Du's mansions.

Who knew that Liang Ji had already sent people to guard the gate and strictly scrutinize those who entered and exited, and Zhong Lijian had no choice but to enter over the wall. Li has one daughter and three sons: daughter Wen Ji, married to Zhao Boying; The eldest son, Li Ji, and the second son, Li Zi, are both doing long histories in other places; The third son, Li Xie, is only thirteen years old and is still at home. When the children heard that their father was in prison, they all returned. Listening to Zhong Lijian's words, Wen Ji and the two brothers immediately studied countermeasures; At Du Qiao's house, Mrs. Du and Yang Zhang and several of Du Qiao's former officials and protégés also discussed a way out. Yang Zhang informed Zhong Liquan of his whereabouts, and Zhong Li simply said that he would take care of Lord Du and Master Li in prison at the moment, and he could not take care of his own brothers.

Li Gu, Du Qiao's former protégés, and former officials respectively wrote to the imperial court, avenged grievances for the two adults, and secretly arranged for their families to flee from Luoyang. For three days, Li Gu and Du Qiao fought to the death for the name of the tree, refused to give in, and were finally tortured and sentenced, with hatred in prison. Liang Ji saw that the two of them were unyielding to death, and he was even more resentful, and ordered the corpses of Li and Du to be displayed in the north of Luoyang City, and they were not allowed to be buried. For a time, all the people spontaneously came to cry and mourn, and some people kept vigil day and night to drive away insects and ants for the corpses of the two adults. Liang Ji saw that the situation was out of control, and he was even more annoyed, and finally ruthlessly cut down the roots of the Li and Du families. Li Gu's eldest son Li Ji and second son Li Zi were both killed in Yunzhong, and Li Wenji fled to Xuzhou with Li Xienan and went incognito; Yang Zhang fled all the way west with Mrs. Du and the baby Du Zhen.

This day is the light snow solar term, the air is cold and the snow is coming, the ground is cold and the snow is not big. The three drove to Wangjia Village in Gucheng and stayed at a villager's house. Wangjia Village is located on the Chang'an Ancient Road, close to the bank of the Yellow River, and to the west is Hangu Pass. Therefore, since ancient times, the land has been a battleground for soldiers, and there are only about 20 families in Wangjia Village. Night fell, the cold wind howled, families closed their homes, and there was silence in the canyon.

"Dada...... Drive...... Drive...... "Suddenly there was the sound of Yufu and the horse in the night sky.

"Woo...... Neighing...... "The sound of people drinking horses and neighing horses are intertwined." The villagers didn't know what to do, so they got up at night to take a look, and it turned out that it was a heavily armed iron horse stepping into the village, and one hundred and ten black-clothed people holding torches illuminated the night sky of the entire Wangjia Village. In a few moments, the man in black surrounded all the dozens of people in the village.

The first one shouted, "Are there any living people staying here today?" "The people in Wangjia Village were silent.

Yang Zhang and Mrs. Du stayed at Wang Qing's house at night and did not disturb the villagers, so others did not know. Wang Qing is already an old man in the sixtieth year, and he lives with his wife Wang and his six-year-old granddaughter. Yang Zhang told the village that the Iron Rider had come to arrest them, so Wang Qing hid the two and the baby in the cellar that his family used to store cabbage in winter.

Seeing that no one answered, the man in black sneered and ordered: "Search for me!" The men in black carried knives in their left hands and torches in their right hands like wolves entering the sheep's house, smashing them all indiscriminately, and even the evil-hearted ones set fire to them. The villagers of the Wang family suddenly became noisy, the cries of the children, and the begging for mercy of the parents became chaotic. Not long after, someone reported that they had not found the people of the Du family.

The black-clothed leader frowned, and a person next to him asked in a low voice, "My lord, are you clearing?" The black-clothed leader replied, "It's important to chase people, let them go." After speaking, he pulled the reins, turned the horse's head, and was about to leave, when suddenly a black-clothed pawn came to report: "My lord, the little one found a three-horse carriage extremely suspicious." When the black-clothed leader heard this, he rode forward to find out. Sure enough, when I came to Wang Qing's old man's courtyard, I saw the troika. Thinking in his heart, it is impossible for this poor and remote family to have such valuable things, and it must be used by the Du family. Although the carriage is here, there is no one to be found.

In the cold cellar, Mrs. Du was afraid that Zhen'er would be frightened and cry, so she untied her shirt and fed milk. The black-clothed leader had a plan, rode back to the villagers, and shouted loudly: "I have heard that the Du family is iron-clad for a long time, and today you want to cause trouble to others?" If I hide any more, I will order the slaughter of the village. Those black-clothed pawns recounted in unison: "I have heard for a long time that the Du family is iron-clad......"

In the cellar, Yang Zhang and Mrs. Du looked at each other. Mrs. Du sent Zhen'er into Yang Zhang's arms and said, "My Du family categorically can't do anything that causes trouble to others. Brother Yang, Zhen'er will ask you. After finishing speaking, he was about to go out, but Yang Zhang stopped: "Mrs. Du, you can't go out, I'll go and lure them away." Mrs. Du shook her head and said: "Liang Ji wants to kill my Du family, and if you go out, it will only be in vain for your life, they will not see me, so they naturally refuse to leave." I only hope that Brother Yang can take my son away and teach him to be like his father in the future. Mrs. Du looked at her child's fleshy little face, as if she had just fallen asleep after eating, her eyes were hot, and tears welled up in her eyes. At this time, the shouting outside stopped, and Mrs. Du tucked the quilt wrapped in the child and refused to leave.

Mrs. Du climbed out of the cellar, straightened her clothes, dignified and serious, neither humble nor arrogant, and said: "The Du family is here." When he came to everyone, he bowed deeply to the people of Wangjia Village: "My husband is Du Qiao, the official of the imperial court." A few days ago, my husband was framed by the thief Liang Ji and died unjustly in prison, and the thief still wanted to cut the grass and eradicate the roots, so I fled all the way here, but I didn't want to bring trouble to everyone. My husband has been fighting for the name festival all his life, and today he will not lose his life because of my Du family. Mrs. Du bowed again. When the villagers heard this, they exclaimed, "This is the wife of the Third Prince's Captain, Lord Du Qiaodu." ”

"Listen to the Liang thief eagle dog, if you want to kill, you must listen to the respect, and you are not allowed to hurt innocent villagers." Mrs. Du shouted.

The black-clothed leader dismounted, stepped forward and bowed back: "Madame Tiegu, at this moment, she is still protecting the name and festival of the Du family, the villain really admires it." It's just that I heard that Master Du has a future, I don't know where the child is now? ”

"Shame on you. How can the place where the saints preach the scriptures tolerate you to be so cruel? Wang Qing said angrily, and the villagers also echoed.

"Dare to discourage the people...... "The black-clothed pawn was about to return the color, and the leader shouted: "Stand down." He looked at Wang Qing, the old man, and then looked at Mrs. Du and said, "Mrs. Du, I know that you are dead and refuse to tell the whereabouts of the child." So I ask once, and if you don't say, I'll kill a man, and he will begin. After speaking, the black-clothed leader took a bow and arrows and pointed at Wang Laohan. The villagers suddenly became noisy again.