Under Zhang Xianzhong's arrangement, the three brothers Li Shuangxi, Zhang Nai, and Li Laiheng settled down in a wing room not far from Li Zicheng's residence.

In the dead of night, the three of them were lying on the couch joking with each other, when suddenly they heard a slight and short knock on the door.

Li Laiheng motioned for everyone to be silent, then jumped off the bed gently, came to the door on tiptoe, and asked vigilantly through the door, "Who?" ”

"It's me!" The voice of the man outside the house was very low, for fear of being discovered.

Li Laiheng felt that the voice was familiar, and hurriedly opened the door, only to see a black shadow flash into the room, and gently closed the door with his backhand.

Although the light was dim, Li Laiheng still recognized at a glance that the person who came was his sworn brother Zhang Dingguo: "Dingguo, why are you?" ”

"Brother Ning Yu!" Li Shuangxi and Zhang Nai were also overjoyed when they saw Dingguo, and said hello in unison.

"Brother, in the middle of the night, I said you are sneaky and a thief?" Li Laiheng punched Dingguo in the chest and quipped.

However, Dingguo had a serious face: "Come to Heng, now is not the time to joke, go and inform King Chuang, hurry up and leave!" ”

Li Laiheng was a little confused: "Where are you going in the middle of the night?" King Chuang finished drinking with Jing Shuai and just fell asleep. ”

Dingguo saw that they didn't know why, so he immediately said concisely: "You don't know, when I was patrolling just now, I saw Xu Junshi wandering near the thatched house, I didn't care about it at first, but when the patrol came back, I found that he was still there, I felt that something was wrong, so I hid in the dark and observed, who knew that something big happened!" ”

"What the hell is going on?" Li Shuangxi asked impatiently.

Dingguo took a breath and continued: "It turns out that Xu Junshi has been waiting for his father-in-law, and when he saw that his father-in-law came out to relieve him, he pulled him aside and instigated him to get rid of King Chuang to prevent future troubles. ”

"His grandmother's, master, the first time I saw Xu Yixian, I felt that this person's eyes were sinister, and he was definitely not a good person, as expected!" Zhang Nai slapped the table lightly and said hatefully.

"Jing Shuai shouldn't have agreed, right?" Lee Lai Heng was a little incredulous.

"That's not true, my father-in-law cared about brotherhood and refused on the spot, but according to my observation, the military advisor will not give up, I saw him hurriedly go out, I am afraid that he will move the rescuers." After that, Dingguo urged again, "While the military advisor hasn't come back yet, hurry up and take King Chuang away!" It's too late! ”

"Good brother, if it weren't for you today, we would have died without a place to bury! I'm going to find King Chuang! Li Laiheng bowed deeply to Dingguo, and immediately gently pushed open the door and ran towards the attic.

"You guys hurry up and get ready, and leave through the back door later, I've arranged for my own soldiers to be there to guard it!" I'll go to the front and find a way to hold back the pursuers! Dingguo ordered Li Shuangxi and Zhang Nai, and then left the wing, walked through the front hall, and walked quickly to the main entrance of the mansion.

As soon as I arrived at the door, I saw Xu Yixian and Zhang Kewang coming here with a team of armor soldiers.

Dingguo hurriedly stepped forward: "Big brother, military advisor, in the middle of the night, who are you?" ”

"Dingguo, it's nothing to do with you, get out of the way." Zhang Kewang's eyes showed a murderous aura.

"According to my father's command, martial law is imposed in the house, and idle people are not allowed to enter!" Dingguo stretched out his hand to block Zhang Kewang's way.

"Dingguo? Are you stupid, are you an idle person? Get out of the way! Zhang Kewang said as he wanted to go to the presumptive country.

Xu Yixian hurriedly stepped forward and said: "Two young generals, brothers, don't hurt the harmony." ”

Xu Yixian first persuaded Zhang Kewang to stop, then turned around and made a gesture to Dingguo, and said politely: "General Ning Yu, you also know that there are distinguished guests in the mansion today, and I am worried that the guards are insufficient, so I notified General Kewang to come to support, and I bother the general to let us in, otherwise if there is an accident tonight, we will not be able to explain." ”

I don't want to settle the country, but I still don't mean to let go: "Military advisor, without my father's hand, I forgive you for your fate!" ”

Xu Yixian couldn't be hard, his eyes rolled, and after thinking about it, he whispered to Zhang Kewang, and then turned around and left with the armor.

After leaving Dingguo's sight, Xu Yixian immediately ordered everyone to quickly bypass the courtyard wall, outflank the back door, and prepare to enter through the back door and take Li Zicheng directly.

Who knew that when they entered the courtyard, the attic was already empty.

"It's not good, let Li Zicheng run away!" Zhang Kewang couldn't help beating his chest against the empty room.

"If he doesn't escape, it will be tricky, and now that the city gate has not been opened, it is expected that he Li Zicheng will also be unable to fly! I'll go to Jing Shuai and ask him to give him the order to search the city! Xu Yixian said unhurriedly.

Zhang Kewang shook his head: "Father Shuai cares about the love with Li Zicheng, and he will definitely not kill them all, and this matter has to be cut first." ”

"General Kewang, don't worry, the mountain people have their own tricks." Xu Yixian whispered a few words to Zhang Kewang, and then went straight to Zhang Xianzhong's back house.

As soon as he finished drinking, Zhang Xianzhong was sleeping with the eighth lady of Gangna in his arms, and was suddenly woken up by a rapid knock on the door. ”

"Respectfully, it's me! Lao Xu! Xu Yixian agreed.

Hearing that it was Xu Yixian, Zhang Xianzhong hurriedly pushed open the door, walked out, closed the door with his backhand, and asked, "Strategist, you don't sleep, why did you come to my old Zhang?" ”

Xu Yixian pretended to report in a panic: "Jing Shuai, the big thing is not good, then Li Zicheng was drunk and disorderly, insulted a maid in the house, and killed her in the attic, and now Li Zicheng has absconded with the guilt!" ”

"Birds! Just a maid, if he likes it, Lao Tzu gave it to him, why do you do this? Zhang Xianzhong said suspiciously, "This is self-contained, kill it, kill it, can I still blame him for a maid?" What's running? ”

"Jing Shuai, I think that Li Zicheng is not a frivolous person, even if he is drunk, he can't do such a dirty thing, unless he ......" Xu Yixian looked up at Zhang Xianzhong, and stopped talking.

"Unless what?" Xu Yixian's words, Zhang Xianzhong heard it inexplicably.

Xu Yixian aroused Zhang Xianzhong's curiosity, and then continued: "That maid must have discovered something without opinion, and then she was killed!"

"Huh? Are you saying that Li Zicheng deliberately created a drunken and disorderly murder scene? Zhang Xianzhong became more and more confused the more he listened.

Xu Yixian wanted to be captured, so he said: "All this is just speculation."

Zhang Xianzhong's face was gloomy, and he immediately gathered the robe draped on his body, and roared in a low voice: "Old Xu go!" Let's take a look! ”

When Zhang Xianzhong pushed the door and walked into the attic, a pungent smell of blood followed, and he saw a female corpse lying in a pool of blood in the dim candlelight.

Zhang Xianzhong covered his nose and walked in, looked around by candlelight, and finally fell on the right fist clenched by the female corpse, Zhang Xianzhong hurriedly ordered left and right: "There is something in this hand, go and break it open!" ”

Immediately, one of the guards stepped forward quickly, forcefully broke open the stiff palm of the female corpse, and pulled out a piece of shredded paper from it.

Zhang Xianzhong took the incomplete piece of shredded paper, approached the candlestick and read it, and it was vaguely seen that a few lines were written intermittently on it: "...... Alone in danger...... Lu Xing ...... Knife Kill...... Destroy the Western ......"

"Lao Xu, come and see, what is written on this?" Zhang Xianzhong read it several times, but he didn't see the reason, so he handed the paper to Xu Yixian.

Xu Yixian also came over, took the paper and looked down for a moment, and suddenly shouted: "This Li Zicheng!" ”

"Huh? What do you see? Zhang Xianzhong hurriedly asked.

Although all this was arranged by Xu Yixian, at this moment he pretended to be shocked and explained to Zhang Xianzhong: "Respectfully handsome and look, this Li Zicheng clearly wrote 'I am alone in danger, sneaked into Gucheng, so I revealed my whereabouts, borrowed a knife to kill people, and eliminated Xiying!" ’”

"Birds! Okay, you don't know what to do with Li Zicheng! It's a shame that Lao Tzu doesn't care about his past suspicions, and treats you sincerely! But you stabbed Lao Tzu in the back! With the strength of the wine, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but be angry, and his eyes showed a fierce light.

"Before the city gate is opened, Li Zicheng must still be hiding in the city! How to dispose of it, please decide! Xu Yi saw that his plan had succeeded, and he was happy in his heart, but his face did not show anything.

"Determine the fart! Didn't you Li Zicheng want to deliberately expose your whereabouts and pit Lao Tzu? Lao Tzu will plan to arrest you and dedicate it to Xiong Wencan! gave Lao Tzu an order, and said that there were thieves sneaking in, and the whole city was under martial law, even if he dug three feet into the ground, he had to find out Li Zicheng for me! Zhang Xianzhong touched his nose and was furious.

The entire Gucheng county town suddenly became a pot of porridge, and the soldiers of the Xiying running around the streets and alleys holding torches high, all of them looked solemn, as if they were facing a great enemy, and under the leadership of Zhang Kewang, they searched for Li Zicheng's whereabouts from house to house, and set up cards at the four city gates to arrest them.

Li Zicheng took Li Shuangxi, Zhang Nai, and Li Laiheng to the three brothers, trapped in an alley opposite the Guandi Temple in the west of the city, with nowhere to go.

Li Zicheng was also very depressed, he had obviously chatted with Zhang Xianzhong very well before, why did he have to wait for a while, and he had murderous intentions. Just woke up from his sleep by Li Laiheng, this kid ran out without saying a word, and after meeting with Li Shuangxi and Zhang Nai, the four of them fled all the way to the west gate. It was still early in the day, and the city gate had not yet been opened, when the sound of horses' hooves came from a distance, and in desperation, the four of them had to temporarily hide in this alley.

At this moment, the chaotic sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and I saw a sentry cavalry stationed in front of the Guandi Temple and stopped, under the command of the leading general, soon a small group of people rushed into the Guandi Temple with torches to search.

Li Zicheng was afraid that it would be unsafe to hide at the entrance of the alley, and was about to retreat into the depths of the alley, but Li Laiheng recognized that the leading general was Zhang Dingguo.

Li Laiheng hurriedly put his thumb and index finger to his mouth, imitated the voice of a partridge, and blew a few whistles towards Dingguo, which was the joint code used in the time of crisis agreed between their brothers, but he didn't expect it to come in handy today.

When Dingguo heard the whistle, he turned his head sharply and found Li Laiheng who was hiding at the entrance of the alley and waving at him.

"Wang Guoren, block the street entrance, no one is allowed to pass!" Li Dingguo greeted Wang Guoren, the captain of the pro-soldiers, and then quickly dismounted, flashed into the alley, and came to Li Zicheng and them.

On the way to escape, Li Zicheng heard Li Laiheng say that this time it was all about Dingguo's message, and now seeing Dingguo, Li Zicheng couldn't help but bow deeply and said gratefully: "If Zicheng can escape today, he will not forget the general's great kindness." ”

Dingguo hurriedly stretched out his hand to hold Li Zicheng up, and said anxiously: "Now is not the time to talk about this, I expected that you would go to the West Gate, so I came to look for you." ”

"The gates are closed, and there are pursuers everywhere, so what can I do?" Li Zicheng sighed.

"Now the north gate and the west gate are heavily armed, and Feng Shuangli and Bai Wenxuan are in charge of each other, but Qi Sansheng, who is in charge of the defense of the south gate, is my man, and I can ensure that King Chuang can leave the city safely." Dingguo said, while asking his own soldiers to bring over the four sets of small soldier costumes prepared in advance, "Please also ask King Chuang to be wronged, change into the costume of the western camp as soon as possible, and escort you out of the city!" ”

"Then I'm tired of General Dingguo!" Li Zicheng clasped his fists again and saluted.

After the four of them finished changing their clothes, Dingguo let them mix in his team and quickly rushed to the south gate, all the way unimpeded.

Seeing Dingguo's arrival, Qi Sansheng, who had received the secret report in advance, hurriedly walked out from behind the bayonet, came to Dingguo's horse and arched his hand: "Second general!" ”

Dingguo and Qi Sansheng made a look, Qi Sansheng understood, turned around and gestured to the city gate, accompanied by a slight creaking, the city gate was quietly pushed open a thin slit, in the dark night, if you don't look closely, you can't see it at all.

Dingguo jumped off the horse, walked in front of Li Zicheng, hugged his fists and said: "From here all the way south is Baokang County, from there to the west, although the road is farther, but it can be safe!" King Chuang, let's go, it's too late to change! ”

"General Dingguo, let's say goodbye! There will be a lot of thanks when we see each other in the future! Li Zicheng bowed deeply again, and then beckoned Li Shuangxi, Zhang Nai, and Li Laiheng to hurry out of the city.

Li Laiheng walked at the end, reluctantly glanced back at Dingguo, and said with tears in his eyes: "Brother, there will be a period later!" ”

After saying that, he turned around suddenly, drilled out of the city gate, and chased after Li Zicheng.