After the banquet, the Luyang Township Marquis Mansion began preparations to welcome the New Year in full swing, and the entire mansion became more and more busy.

The chief steward Cao Ju privately smiled and said to the chief of the guard, Zhang Chundao: "I'm afraid we're going to break our legs this year." ”

Zhang Chun smiled and said nothing, and the oozing scar on his face seemed to have become a little kind and kissable.

On December 21, the Marquis of Luyang took his second son Zhao Yu and Jingnu, under the protection of Zhang Ji, Ma Cheng and other guards, and then went to Wancheng, and personally sent some New Year's gifts to Wang Shangde and his generals such as Peng Yongna.

It's not anything valuable, it's just some wine, nuts, dried fruits, peach charms and other New Year's gifts, purely to express a heart.

In all fairness, Wang Shangde actually doesn't like these things, but the attention and respect of the father and son of the Luyang Township Marquis to him makes this General Wang quite useful.

Because of the rush of time, the father and son not only stayed in Wancheng this time, but even the round trip seemed quite hasty, but even so, the trip to Wancheng still took the father and son a full three days.

At the same time, the chief steward Cao Ju took the guards of the palace to visit the merchants who had joined the Luye Freemasonry and sent congratulatory gifts from house to house.

At noon on the 24th, the father and son returned to the Hou Mansion of Luyang Township, and after hurriedly bathing and changing, they went out again with New Year's gifts.

Liu Jian had already made an appointment with the father and son of the Luyang Township Marquis, and it was not surprising to see the father and son come to the door, and happily distributed the congratulatory gifts sent by the Luyang Township Marquis and his son to the subordinates in the county ya, such as the county Cheng Xu Xuan, the county lieutenant Ding Wu, and even the ordinary county pawns could also get some wine, bacon, nuts, peach charms and other things.

After sending the New Year's gift, the Xianghou of Luyang returned to the Xianghou Mansion alone, preparing to take his eldest son Zhao Yin to Ye County to visit Mao Jue, the county magistrate of Ye County, and send a congratulatory gift to this Mao Gong, while Zhao Yu followed Liu Jian to visit Wang Dan, the commander of Ruyang County.

On the morning of December 27, Liu Wei arrived in Ruyang with Zhao Yu, Jingnu, Zhang Ji, and Ma Cheng, and submitted a letter of worship to the county government in Ruyang.

After seeing the post, Ruyang County made Wang Dan feel very strange.

After all, under the instigation of the father and son of Ruyang Hou Zheng Zhong, he has cut off the money and grain subsidies given to Luyang County, and it stands to reason that he has a grudge with Liu Wei and Luyang Township, why would Liu Wei bring the second son of Luyang Township Marquis to visit? Or even say something to give a congratulatory gift?

"Isn't it here to be soft?"

Thinking of this, Wang Dan secretly sneered.

He hadn't forgotten how Liu Wei threatened him that day.

With the idea of taking the opportunity to give Liu Wei a little color, Wang Dan met with Liu Wei and Zhao Yu.

As soon as they met, he said very unceremoniously: "Liu Wei, no matter what you do with gifts, I will never agree to any more requests from you, I, Ruyang, have no reason to contribute money and food to you Luyang in vain......

Liu Wei seemed to be confident, and he didn't care about Wang Dan's attitude, and said with a smile: "The prince misunderstood, today Liu just accompanied the second son. ”

"Second son?"

Wang Danhu looked at Zhao Yu suspiciously, and then asked with a bit of ridicule: "Isn't the second son here to invite Wang to a banquet?" ”

The reason why he said this was because the father and son of the Marquis of Luyang Township humiliated the Marquis of Ruyang in the Marquis Mansion of Ruyang that day, and Zhao Yu had said before leaving with his father: Next time he may be in the Marquis Mansion of Luyang Township, and the county commanders of Rushui County will be entertained.

Hearing Wang Dan's ridicule, Zhao Yu didn't care, nodded and said frankly: "I do mean this...... When the time comes, not only will the prince be invited, but also General Wang and General Peng Yong will be invited, and I don't know if General Wang will be free. ”

When he heard Zhao Yu's first half of the sentence, Wang Dan laughed, and almost directly mocked Zhao Yu: Why do you think I will go to the appointment?

However, the second half of Zhao Yu's sentence made Wang Dan, who was still laughing, almost choked on his own saliva.

"General Wang? Which General Wang? ”

He asked, confused.

Zhao Yu arched his hand and said with a smile: "Which other General Wang can it be, of course, Wang Shangde and General Wang of the garrison Wancheng." ”

Hearing this, Wang Dan's face became even more strange, and he said suspiciously: "Your father and son and Wang Shangde ...... It's impossible to ......," he frowned and asked, "Boy, your father and son have seen Wang Shangde?" ”

"I've seen it before."

Zhao Yu said with a smile: "The kid also presented General Wang with the strategy of Tuntian and the military market......"

From the side, Liu Wei nodded helpfully: "That's right, because this time, General Wang values the second son very much, and specially instructed the second son to practice martial arts after returning home......

Looking at Liu Wei and Zhao Yu, Wang Dan's face changed color.

After a while, he frowned and said, "Boy, if you just heard about Wang Shangde's reputation and coerced me in his name, I advise you not to do this. First, I am the same generation as Wang Shangde, and I am not ...... is not afraid of him, besides, Wang Shangde is a fierce person, and he hates people pretending to be in his name the most, I advise you not to get into trouble. ”

Hearing his advice, Zhao Yu was a little surprised, and then said with a smile: "The prince misunderstood, first, I do know General Wang, and second, I have no intention of threatening the prince in the name of General Wang...... Previously, Duke Liu and my father and son only thought of Lu Yang, so they offended the prince a lot, and I hope the prince will forgive me. ”

As he spoke, he arched his hand towards Wang Dan, and said with a smile: "Today, I asked Duke Liu to bring me here to visit the prince, but I just think that there is really no need for us to be enemies with the prince......

“……”

Wang Dan glanced at Zhao Yu meaningfully, and he had already guessed a little bit about the purpose of these two people coming this time.

"I'll send someone to confirm it." He looked at Zhao Yu and said in a deep voice.

Zhao Yu smiled and arched his hand and said, "Don't worry, the prince will never dare to deceive the prince in this matter......"

“……”

Glancing at Liu Wei beside him, Wang Dan nodded slightly, in fact, he already believed a little in his heart.

If it is said that the kid in front of him does not know the importance of his work, but Liu Wei at least knows how to do it, so as not to pretend to be in the name of Wang Shangde, it can be seen that the father and son of Luyang Township Marquis really don't know how to win Wang Shangde's appreciation......

Thinking of this, Wang Dan immediately changed his attitude and said with a smile: "If this matter is true, then everything before will not be mentioned...... Boy, did you mention me when you met Wang Shangde? ”

"I mentioned it." Zhao Yu nodded, and said truthfully: "The prince is a disciple of the prince, and the prince Liu told my father and son earlier, and later learned that General Wang Shangde is also the nephew of the prince, I can't help but be a little curious about the relationship between the prince and the general, so I mentioned it a little in front of the general......

"What did he say?" Wang Dan suddenly became a little nervous.

"This ......" Zhao Yu hesitated for a moment, and replied with a somewhat embarrassed expression: "General Wang didn't say anything, just snorted. It's like that, huh. ”

He really wasn't lying.

“……”

Wang Dan stroked his beard thoughtfully.

Not to mention, Wang Shangde in his impression is really such an attitude.

Originally, Wang Dan wanted to take the opportunity to teach Liu Wei and Zhao Yu a lesson this time, but suddenly, each other seemed to have become their own people, so it was necessary.

So he gladly accepted the gifts sent by Liu Wei and Zhao Yu, and left the two to eat in the side hall of the county government, obviously, he wanted to learn some about Wang Shangde's current situation from Zhao Yu.

And Zhao Yu did not hide it, and told Wang Dan about Wang Shangde's current situation, and even Wang Shangde was currently raising money and food to prepare for a counterattack on Nanjun, he also told Wang Dan - these are all things he learned from Peng Yong's mouth, and there are no secrets, but ordinary people have no channels to understand.

And this narration also made Wang Dan convinced of Zhao Yu's words, considering that Liu Wei had just mentioned it, Wang Shangde told Zhao Yu to practice martial arts diligently after returning home several times, and Wang Dan, who understood the deep meaning of the words, immediately tried every means to get closer to Zhao Yu.

Speaking of which, whether he Wang Dan or Wang Shangde, they are all side branches of the Wang family, in terms of intimacy, maybe he Wang Dan is closer to his family, but this can't stop Wang Shangde from fighting.

You must know that the Wang clan is currently leading troops outside, and only Wang Shangde can reach the current height and compete with the 'Five Tigers of Chenmen', so although Wang Shangde is the side of the Wang family, the children of the Wang family not only dare not offend this clansman, but also deliberately hope to get closer to him.

But Wang Shangde is a person, he only admires the people he admires, in addition, even if he is his own clansman, I am afraid that he can only get a "hum" evaluation in front of him, which is also the reason why Wang Dan believes in Zhao Yu - he got a similar 'evaluation' in front of Wang Shangde back then.

Since he wants to get closer to Zhao Yu, whom Wang Shangde admires, then Wang Dan naturally wants to explain what he has done before, and by the way, he will clear up his relationship with the Marquis of Ruyang.

He said very frankly: "Before the second son and Ling Zun were humiliated in the Ruyang Hou Mansion that day, Zheng Qian, the prince of the Marquis of Ruyang, did reveal the matter to Wang, but at that time, Wang didn't know that the second son and Ling Zun were his own people, and inadvertently became accomplices, and asked the second son to forgive me." ”

"The prince is serious." Zhao Yu said with a smile: "The prince has a grudge against Liu Gong and my father and son, in fact, it is natural in my opinion, but I Luyang really can't ...... it."

Wang Dan immediately said: "Second son, don't worry, I Ruyang will resume the money and grain subsidy to Luyang in the next year." ”

"This ...... Then thank you to the Maharaja? ”

"Haha, the second son doesn't have to be polite, they are all their own people. …… With the wisdom of the second son, he will definitely be able to make a difference under General Wang in the future, and when the time comes, maybe Wang will have to rely on the second son. ”

Wang Dan laughed and classified the father and son of the Marquis of Luyang, including Liu Wei, into the category of his own people.

But think about it, if Zhao Yu defects to Wang Shangde in the future, then the Luyang Township Marquis Mansion is destined to be inseparable from the Wang family, and it is really his own person.

As for others, for example, whether Zhao Yu's purpose of taking the initiative to turn enemies into friends with Wang Dan this time was to prepare for revenge on the Marquis of Ruyang, Wang Dan did not take the initiative to ask, and Liu Wei and Zhao Yu did not take the initiative to mention it.

Mutual understanding.

It can be seen that this Wang County Commander is also hesitating, hesitating and not daring to bet easily between the Marquis of Ruyang and the Marquis of Luyang.

After all, both have their advantages.

But for Zhao Yu, that's enough.

In his opinion, as long as Wang Dan can maintain neutrality, then when he and the merchants of the Luye Freemasons invade Ruyang County in the future, he will not be suppressed by the officials.

Only in this way can he be regarded as qualified to pay tribute to the Marquis of Ruyang.