"It's a pity that Jingnu is not here......

On the morning of the seventh day of November, Zhao Yu stood outside his camp tent, admiring the beautiful scenery of the heavy snow.

It's a pity that Jing Nu is far away in Xuchang at the moment, otherwise, he can take Jing Nu to enjoy this scenery together.

"Huh."

Under Zhao Yu's glance, Niu Heng, who was standing beside him, yawned, and immediately instigated Zhao Yu: "Ah Hu, idle and bored, how about we go into the city to get some wine and food?" ”

Looking at his smiling face, Zhao Yu couldn't cry or laugh: "Maybe General Xue will let us start acting at some point......

"In this weather?" Niu Heng's eyes widened in surprise.

I have to say that this ghost weather is really not conducive to action, even the five hundred brigade wolves scattered outside have returned to Zhao Yu's army one after another a few days ago, after all, the current ghost weather will really freeze to death.

may be annoyed by Niu Heng, Zhao Yu finally agreed.

Going into the city to find a place to drink, this is nothing in itself, I think neither Xue Ao nor Liang Cheng will blame anything for this, after all, according to the meeting a few days ago, Xue Ao preliminarily decided to start acting in the first month of the year after the year, and there are still more than 20 days away.

Of course, despite this, it is best to inform Xue Ao.

With this idea, Zhao Yu took Niu Heng, He Shun and others towards Xue Ao's camp.

Xue Ao's camp, just behind Zhao Yu and Li Meng's camp, passed through the joint camp, which was the camp of the Taiyuan cavalry under Xue Ao.

Along the way, Zhao Yu and his entourage met Henan soldiers and Taiyuan Army patrol soldiers, and the soldiers on both sides saluted Zhao Yu, which shows that they all recognize Zhao Yu, the captain of Yingchuan.

Not long after, Zhao Yu came to Xue Ao's barracks, at this time he was surprised to see that Xue Ao was topless on the snow with a general to learn martial arts, although the sky was still snowing at the moment, but Xue Ao seemed to be unaffected, his naked upper body was slightly red, exuding a group of heat, which made people feel frightened.

"Yo."

Probably noticing Zhao Yu and his party, Xue Ao stopped playing with his subordinate generals, and greeted Zhao Yu, and immediately, he looked at Niu Heng and smiled: "Niu Heng, play two tricks with me?" ”

Niu Heng hesitated for a moment, and finally his greed overcame everything, shook his head and said, "No, I want to go into the city to eat and drink......"

"Oh?"

Xue Ao looked at Zhao Yu suspiciously.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu briefly explained, and then clasped his fists and said, "...... That's it, if General Xue allows it. ”

"Hahaha."

Of course, Xue Ao didn't mind, and immediately agreed to the matter, and even smiled and instructed Zhao Yu: "If you encounter a good drink, remember to bring two jars back for me." ”

Zhao Yu smiled and agreed.

In fact, if Xue Ao really wanted to drink, he only needed to say hello to Tong Yan, the commander of Liangcheng, and the latter would arrange it.

However, Xue Ao was full of prejudices against that Tong Yan, so that Zhao Yu and Li Meng were also affected to a certain extent, and kept their distance from Tong Yan as much as possible, so as not to make Xue Ao unhappy.

An hour later, Zhao Yu took Niu Heng, He Shun and several black tiger thieves to the west gate of Liangcheng.

With his identity as the captain of Yingchuan, the Liangcheng soldiers on duty at the city gate naturally did not dare to stop him, and immediately opened the city gate respectfully and let Zhao Yu enter the city.

I have to say that although I have seen it many times, every time I see these Liangcheng soldiers, Zhao Yu still inevitably has an inexplicable emotion in his heart, after all, seven or eight years ago, on the night when he was martyred by the Zhao clan in Luyang, it was these Liangcheng soldiers who slaughtered his hometown and the Hou Mansion.

Although most of these Liangcheng soldiers were only acting according to orders, this was not enough to make Zhao Yu completely relieved of this matter.

"Will the Battle of Liangcheng still happen in the next year?"

Walking on the streets of the city in the snow, Zhao Yu thought to himself.

Originally, according to his plan, after the year, Liang Cheng would face the attack of Jiangxia, Yuzhang, and Jiangdong, and Zhao Yu would have the opportunity to fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the chaos to catch Tong Yan in his hands, as for the black cauldron, he would lose it to the righteous master on the opposite side - the latter would not mind anyway.

However, now, the situation has changed, Xue Ao has decided to start the operation of 'countering the rebels' in the first month of the new year, if Zhao Yu is not mistaken, this will greatly affect the plan of the righteous division to attack Liangcheng, and even make the rebels forced to abandon the attack on Liangcheng.

If the rebels were forced to give up attacking Liangcheng, then how could he fish in troubled waters and take advantage of the chaos to capture Tong Yan?

It is undeniable that this incident gave Zhao Yu a little headache.

"Ahhu, Ahhu."

Just as Zhao Yu was thinking, suddenly, Niu Heng patted him on the back and said eagerly: "There is a wine shop there." ”

Zhao Yu glanced up, and sure enough, he saw a wine shop on the side of the street not far away, and the wine shop was still hanging a banner with the word 'wine'.

"It's been seven or eight years since the Jin Kingdom promulgated a ban on liquor, but it's really ironic that the world's liquor shops are still open......

When he walked into the wine shop with Niu Heng, He Shun and others, Zhao Yu thought secretly in his heart.

The prohibition of making wine, different from the prohibition of wine, as the name suggests, is only that the imperial court does not allow the use of grain to make wine, but it does not prohibit the sale and drinking of wine, think about it, you also know, this incomplete decree, must have given birth to a large number of private workshops, including even the participation of wealthy families and even high-ranking officials and nobles - with today's high price of rice, ordinary people can't even eat enough, where can the surplus grain secretly make wine?

"An incomplete decree is meaningless."

Zhao Yu sighed secretly, and at the same time called the guys in the wine shop, and ordered two pots of wine, a few dishes, and a plate of beef to the latter.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to wait for the food, Zhao Yu secretly looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the street outside the store.

At present, Liangcheng is quite stable, and the people in the city are still living as usual, and they don't see any panic.

This is not only thanks to the 70,000 reinforcements outside the city, but also thanks to the city wall of Liangcheng, which belonged to the capital of Wei in ancient times, and has a towering city wall that surpasses the ordinary county town, no less than Xuchang.

It would obviously not be easy for the rebels to capture such a city, and even worse, given Xue Ao's strategy, the rebels might not even be able to pose the slightest threat to Liang Cheng.

"Kaifeng...... What should I do?'

Zhao Yu fell into deep thought.

According to Xue Ao's plan, one day after the year, Zhao Yu and the Yingchuan Army under his command will be responsible for recapturing Kaifeng with a thunderous force, and then, divide the troops into two routes, one to seize Xianping, and one to cooperate with the Taiyuan cavalry under Xue Ao, completely cutting off the return of the 300,000 rebels.

At the same time, Li Meng, the governor of Henan, will also be responsible for capturing Xiaohuang and Kao County - capturing Xiaohuang County is just icing on the cake, the key is to capture Kao County, once Kao County is captured by Li Meng, it will be difficult for Jiangdong Yishi to retreat eastward.

According to Xue Ao's concept, in the middle of the day, 300,000 rebels will be firmly nailed to the Liangcheng and Xiaohuang areas, and suffer the fate of being cut off from the grain route, and the most critical step in this strategy is naturally whether the Yingchuan army under Zhao Yu can successfully capture Kaifeng.

The rebels were not fools, and whether or not the capture of Kaifeng County was successful, they would immediately realize that the Jin army had launched a counterattack, and whether the Yingchuan army could capture Kaifeng as planned would inevitably have a huge impact on the situation at that time.

It is no exaggeration to say that the lifeblood of the battle of Liangcheng is now in Zhao Yu's thoughts, he can seize Kaifeng according to Xue Ao's instructions, and put the 300,000 rebels at a disadvantage; It can also be deliberately missed, so as to remind the rebels.

The successful capture of Kaifeng can make him more and more appreciated by Xue Ao, but the price is to bury 300,000 righteous teachers with his own hands, including Jiangdong righteous teachers; And the mistake will naturally make Xue Ao feel unhappy, and even arouse Xue Ao's suspicion.

I have to say that this is really a difficult problem to grasp.

Just as Zhao Yu was thinking, he suddenly heard a voice: "Captain Zhou." ”

"Huh?"

Zhao Yu raised his head suddenly, just in time to see Liangcheng Governor Tong Yan walking into the wine shop with a few guards, sat down in the seat opposite Zhao Yu with a smile on his face, and said with a smile: "I just got the news, I heard that Zhou Duwei entered the city, I thought Zhou Duwei was in a hurry, but I never thought that Zhou Duwei was hiding in this wine shop...... Haha, Zhou Duwei is so Yaxing. ”

"Why is this guy here?"

muttering in his heart, Zhao Yu smiled quietly: "Haha, let Tong Duwei laugh." …… If Tong Duwei doesn't dislike it, how about sitting down and having a few drinks? ”

"Haha, Zhou Duwei invited, how dare Tong not appreciate his face?" Tong Yan sat down with a smile, and immediately, he beckoned the guy from the wine shop to serve the wine and food again, and at the same time instructed him to take another person's wine cup and chopsticks, and finally said that the cost of this meal was all on him.

During this period, the rest of the drinkers in the wine shop heard the conversation between Tong Yan and Zhao Yu and learned that these were two big shots, so they got up and left, leaving only a person with a gray cloak all over his body.

In all fairness, the cost of a meal is naturally not much, even if Zhao Yu uses him as a lieutenant, he can completely afford it, but Tong Yan's move is obviously a show of goodwill to him.

A murderer who caused the destruction of his Luyang Zhao family is now showing favor in front of him Zhao Yu, how ironic it is.

After a while, when the guys in the wine shop served the wine and food, Zhao Yu personally poured a glass of wine for Tong Yan, and said with a faint smile: "Tong Duwei came this time, I'm afraid there is something wrong, right?" ”

Hearing this, Tong Yan smiled, and then sighed: "I won't hide it from Captain Zhou." …… During these days, presumably Zhou Duwei also saw that General Xue was ...... to Tong There are some prejudices, but General Xue is very common sense of Zhou Duwei, if Zhou Duwei can say a few good words in front of General Xue on my behalf, Tong will be grateful......"

"Huh."

Zhao Yu smiled, he felt that Tong Yan took the initiative to show favor to him, and I am afraid that this is the only thing.

He thought for a while and said: "It's not a secret, whether it's Zhou or Li Duwei, they all noticed this matter, but this matter, to be honest, is really a bit troublesome......"

As he spoke, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the drunkard in the ash cloak staggering to his feet, picking up a package on the table and preparing to go out.

However, just as this person was about to pass behind Tong Yan, a sharp weapon suddenly appeared in the sleeve of this person, and immediately, he stabbed Tong Yan in the back.

"Watch your back!"

Zhao Yu subconsciously snorted again, and at the same time threw the cup in his hand with the hot wine at the assassin, causing the assassin to raise his hand to block it.

"What?"

Tong Yan, who was reminded by Zhao Yu, also had a sudden change in complexion, turned around suddenly, and saw a sharp blade stabbing at him, he subconsciously raised his hand to resist.

With a pop, the sharp blade immediately pierced Tong Yan's right arm.

Tong Yan screamed in pain, reflexively raised his foot and kicked at the assassin, and immediately, taking advantage of the other party's forced retreat, he fled to Zhao Yu's side holding the wound on his arm.

The assassin wanted to get closer, however, at this time, Niu Heng, He Shun, and several black tiger thieves sitting next to him had already reacted, and they all drew their weapons to protect Zhao Yu and Tong Yan behind them.

Seeing this, the assassin threw the short sword in his hand at Tong Yan, but unfortunately it was blocked by He Shun.

“……”

After glaring at Zhao Yu hatefully, the assassin immediately rushed towards the door, obviously preparing to break through.

In fact, there were four guards guarding the entrance of the liquor store, and when these guards realized that someone had assassinated him, they immediately pounced on the assassin, however, the assassin seemed to be quite good at martial arts, and forcibly broke through the blockade of Tong Yan's four guards and rushed out of the liquor store.

"Give me chase!"

Tong Yan endured the pain and ordered at his four guards.

Hearing this, the four guards also chased out of the liquor store, but when they heard a pop, one of the guards fell on the snow outside the liquor store. 2020

"Crossbows! Someone is secretly firing a crossbow bolt! ”

The remaining three guards panicked for cover.

"Killed, killed."

On the street, pedestrians also ran away in panic, and the whole street suddenly became deserted.

At this time, Zhao Yu had not yet recovered from the shock.

It's not that he was frightened by the bold assassin, he just couldn't accept it for a while, he actually saved Tong Yan......

Although his purpose in saving Tong Yan was so that he could torture the truth about his Luyang Zhao family's martyrdom from Tong Yan's mouth one day, it still made Zhao Yu a little uncomfortable.

"The Great Chief."

He Shun picked up the short sword dropped by the assassin from the ground, and after examining it, quietly handed it to Zhao Yu.

Zhao Yu took the short sword, and immediately the pupils in his eyes shrank slightly, because he was shocked to see that on the hilt of this short sword, there was a word engraved on both sides - Zhao!

"Intentionally?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhao Yu handed the short sword to Tong Yan.

Tong Yan took the short sword, obviously also saw the words on the hilt, his expression was unusually annoyed, and he gritted his teeth and scolded: "It's these people again......"

Zhao Yu's heart moved slightly, and he said tentatively: "Tong Duwei, who dares to assassinate you?" ”

Tong Yan was silent for a moment, and then covered the wound on his arm and said: "Today, it's really thanks to Zhou Duwei, but this is not the place to speak, if Zhou Duwei doesn't dislike it, it's better to go to Tong's house first......"

"Okay." Zhao Yu nodded.

Seeing this, Tong Yan nodded, and immediately summoned the three guards and ordered: "Immediately notify the Commander's Office, and tell them to immediately block this street and search for those damned thieves." ”

"Yes!"

After about half an hour, a team of Liang soldiers quickly cordoned off the entire street, going from house to house searching for the Assassins.

At this time, Tong Yan dared to walk out of the wine shop.

"The dignified Commander of Liang County was actually assassinated in Liang City...... Those Assassins are really daring......

Looking at the Liang County guards who were searching the streets, Zhao Yu secretly thought in his heart.

But what he cared about the most was the bright word 'Zhao' on the short sword left by the assassin.

If he was not mistaken, this was the Assassin's intention, a message he had deliberately left for Tong Yan.

A moment later, under the escort of a whole team of county guards, Tong Yan took Zhao Yu, Niu Heng, He Shun and several black tiger thieves to his mansion.

After returning to the mansion, Tong Yan temporarily left to bandage his wounds, leaving Zhao Yu and his party in the lobby of the front room.

After a short time, Tong Yan, who had bandaged his wounds, went and returned, and said apologetically: "Tong should have thanked Zhou Duwei for saving his life, but unfortunately he ......" He raised his right arm slightly and said apologetically: "Zhou Duwei, please don't be surprised." ”

"Tong Duwei is serious."

Zhao Yu waved his hand, and then asked curiously, "Who is that?" ”

I saw Tong Yan let out a long breath and said sullenly: "...... The Zhao family died. ”

"Zhao's dead?"

Zhao Yu was also slightly startled, and didn't know how to answer.

At this time, Tong Yan summoned a servant and instructed the kitchen in the house to prepare wine and food, and immediately, he said to Zhao Yu: "Zhou Duwei, this is not the place to talk, please follow me to the study to discuss in detail." ”

"Okay."

Under the personal leadership of Tong Yan, Zhao Yu followed him to the study in the mansion.

Seeing that the subordinates in the study left respectfully after serving tea, Zhao Yu opened his mouth and asked Tong Yan: "Tong Duwei, I don't know who the dead soldiers of the Zhao family you just talked about?" ”

"This ......" Tong Yan's face showed a little hesitation, and he didn't seem to be willing to explain the matter.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu deliberately said: "If it's inconvenient, forget it." ”

"It's not convenient to ......"

Tong Yan hesitated for a moment, and finally seemed to have made a decision, nodded and said, "Okay." ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Zhao Yu, holding the teacup in his left hand, and said intermittently: "Over the years, Tong has been ordered to do some things and offended many people...... That assassin is the dead soldier of Tong's enemy......"

He said it in a hurry, as if there was something unspeakable.

Seeing this, Zhao Yu deliberately probed: "I look at the assassin just now, it seems that he deliberately carved words on the hilt of the sword, so as to inform Tong Duwei of his origin......

"Hmm."

Tong Yan nodded, and said hatefully: "As Zhou Duwei said, these people deliberately left a message, just like they once brutally killed Tong's father-in-law's family, and Tong's young son who was only eleven years old, and arrogantly wrote blood words on the white wall of the mansion, the murderer, the Zhao family is also dead!" ”

“……”

Rao is Zhao Yu, and he didn't know what to say at this moment, so he could only say politely: "Please mourn." ”

Immediately, he probed again: "Does Captain Tong know the details of those people?" ”

Tong Yan shook his head slightly, and said with a wry smile: "If I knew its origin, I would have sent someone to capture it early, how could I have allowed them to ......"

As he spoke, he fell into deep thought again, and his face was cloudy.

After a long time, he said in a deep voice: "Maybe it's the Dangshan Zhao ......"

"Dangshan Zhao?"

Zhao Yu's heart moved slightly, and he said deliberately: "It seems that I have heard of it somewhere...... Eh, I remember that a few days ago, Li Duwei mentioned the Dangshan Zhao family, and it seems that he was questioned by Lu County for colluding with the rebels, how could this matter have anything to do with Tong Duwei? ”

"This ......"

Only then did Tong Yan realize that he had slipped his mouth, and after thinking for a while, he looked at Zhao Yu and said: "Zhou Duwei saved Tong's life today, Tong should not have hidden anything, but I advise Zhou Duwei not to investigate the inside story." …… Zhou Duwei don't want to be surprised, Tong is thinking about Zhou Duwei. ”

"You won't even say that? It seems that the person behind Tong Yan has a remarkable status...... Tut! It seems that we still have to find an opportunity to catch this Tong Yan and torture him."

Zhao Yu looked at Tong Yan's eyes, the cold light flashed, and immediately, he said with a smile: "Okay, since that's the case, I won't ask more questions in the future." ”

"Thank you Captain Zhou for your understanding."

Tong Yan seemed to be relieved.

However, the 'Zhao family's dead soldier' revealed by Tong Yan still made Zhao Yu a little concerned.

There is no doubt that since these assassins dare to leave blood characters such as 'murderer, Zhao family's dead soldiers' after killing, it can be seen that they must be members of the Zhao family, so the problem arises, this Zhao family...... Which Zhao clan is referring to?

Is it related to his Luyang Zhao family?

Zhao Yu immediately thought of Zheng Luo......

As far as he knew, after he was martyred by the Zhao clan in Luyang, Zheng Luo and a few other guards escaped because they were stationed in Zheng Township, and then disappeared, Zhao Yu thought that they went to Jiangdong to join his brother Zhao Yin, but according to Zhang Ji, he had not seen Zheng Luo and others in Jiangdong.

Neither returned to Luyang, nor defected to Jiangdong, where have Zheng Luo and others been all these years?

Could it be that the one who assassinated Tong Yan turned out to be Zheng Luo?

Zhao Yu carefully recalled the assassin wearing the gray cloak in the restaurant, but unfortunately, because he was in too much haste, he didn't have time to pay attention to the assassin's face, and naturally he couldn't tell whether the assassin was Zheng Luo, or the other surviving guards of the Luyang Zhao clan.

On that day, in order to thank Zhao Yu and others for saving their lives, Tong Yan warmly entertained Zhao Yu, Niu Heng, He Shun and the black tiger thieves, and everyone drank and ate food until nightfall.

When Zhao Yu was about to leave for the camp outside the city, Tong Yan persuaded him: "Today, Zhou Duwei saved Tong, I am afraid that the assassin and his comrades have a grudge, it is better to rest in Tong's mansion for one night, and return to the army tomorrow morning." ”

Zhao Yu's heart moved, and he smiled and waved his hand.

He preferred that the Assassins find him so that he could confirm his suspicions.

Seeing that Zhao Yu insisted on returning to the army overnight, Tong Yan had no choice but to give up and advised: "In this case, please be careful with Captain Zhou." ”

"Okay."

Half an hour later, Zhao Yu took Niu Heng, He Shun and several black tiger thieves and slowly left Tong Yan's mansion on horseback.

By this time the streets had fallen silent.

Suddenly, there was a clang, and an arrow shot out of nowhere and hit the ground in front of the team.

"Who?"

He Shun and the others immediately drew their weapons and looked around in surprise, and immediately, He Shun noticed that on the roof of a house next to the street, there seemed to be a figure standing.

I saw that under the vigilant gaze of Niu Heng, He Shun and the rest of the black tiger thieves, the black shadow stared at Zhao Yu deadly, and then disappeared into the night.

"Am I being targeted?"

Just when Zhao Yu was secretly surprised, suddenly a black tiger thief seemed to notice something and handed the arrow on the ground to Zhao Yu.

At this time, Zhao Yu noticed that there was a piece of cloth tied to the arrow.

With the help of the torches in the hands of several black tiger thieves, Zhao Yu dismantled the piece of cloth, and even saw a line of words written on the cloth: Don't be nosy!

"I can still write......

Looking up at the position where the figure had been, Zhao Yu showed a slight subtle look on his face.

In those days, it was not common for Assassins to write.