In the dead of night, the Hongshan camp was silent, and only the husband came out from time to time to report the change.

Wu Zhongyi was urgently recruited to the camp last night, and he didn't see either Master Li or the grain platform, so he was taken into a small camp not far from the tent, and he could only stay in the tent as if he was under house arrest, and he couldn't even go out to and pee.

They waited until three o'clock in the morning, and then the day dawned.

The more Wu Zhongyi waited, the more panicked he became, and he was wondering if this matter had anything to do with Han Si, when there was a sound of footsteps outside, and then a guard shouted outside: "Wu Dusi, Master Li is invited!" ”

Wu Zhongyi hurriedly lifted the curtain and walked out of the tent, and asked worriedly: "Brother Wang, it's so late, why hasn't Master Li rested yet?" ”

The messenger didn't answer his question, but turned sideways and said, "Hurry up and go to the handsome tent, your lord is waiting." ”

"Oh, okay." Seeing that several guards guarding outside the tent formed a circle as if they were afraid that he would escape, Li Zhongyi didn't dare to ask any more questions, and hurriedly followed the guards who passed the word to the handsome tent.

I rushed to the handsome tent and was surprised.

Not only did Lord Li sit at the back of the public case, but Mr. Hu and Mr. Yan, the governor's friends, were also there, and the third child, Wu Zhonghe, not only knelt in front of several adults, but was also tied up by Wuhuada.

Wu Zhongyi was stunned, and he couldn't even care about the courtesy, so he asked eagerly: "Master Li, what are you doing here?" ”

Li Xubin had a gloomy face, stared at him and asked, "Wu Zhongyi, this should be the official asking you, what do you brothers want to do?" ”

"Your Excellency, our brother has done nothing, our brother has everything to listen to your lord, and we will do whatever the adult asks our brother to do."

"Listen to the official?"

Last night, Wu Zhonggan saw that Wu Zhongyi had been summoned to the Hongshan camp, and felt that it was more convenient to act, and just after more than 50 brothers were transferred from Geshi and quietly slipped out of the camp, they were blocked by the personal soldiers and the Eight Banners Horse Team sent by Li Xubin, and everyone including him was taken down and taken to the middle camp at the foot of the mountain for interrogation one by one.

Seeing that the matter had been revealed, Wu Zhonggan didn't want to involve Wu Zhongyi, so he raised his head and said: "One person does things and one person is responsible, I did it all, it's not my second brother's business, ask the adults to learn from it!" ”

Without waiting for Li Xubin to speak, Wu Zhongyi couldn't help but ask: "Third child, what are you doing?" ”

"Second brother, don't ask, it's none of your business anyway."

"If you say it's not off, it's not off?" Li Xubin's eyes couldn't tolerate a little sand, otherwise he wouldn't have forced Jiang Yili away, thinking that the two Qiu Ba in front of him almost caused a big disaster, he was so angry that he gritted his teeth and said: "Not only did he transfer troops without authorization, but he also wanted to announce his personal vendetta and intercept and kill the officials of the imperial court!" Wu Zhongyi, Wu Zhonghe, what kind of place should you be here, are you eating bear heart leopard gall! ”

"Lord Li, wronged, ...... lowly duty"

"Are you wronged or not, your brother is not wronged at all, if it weren't for the foresight of this official, your two brothers would have been in different places!"

"Third child, you ......"

"Second brother, I'm sorry, I also want to avenge my eldest brother."

After interrogating for most of the night, the grievances between the Wu family brothers and Han Xiufeng, Hu Daren and Yan Shusen had already figured it out, thinking that it would not be beneficial for anyone to spread this matter, Hu Daren arched his hand and said: "Like the ninth brother, although Wu Zhonggan was confused for a while, he did not make a big mistake after all, and Wu Zhongyi really didn't know anything about it. ”

Thinking that the Wu family brothers are not Jiang Yili, who is young and vigorous and has no one in his eyes, let alone Wu Kunxiu, who likes to tell right and wrong everywhere with the support of Zeng Guofan, the only backer Luo Zenan has been martyred, and there are no messy relationships in the army. Thinking that the Wu family brothers still contributed to killing the thieves, Li Xubin asked coldly: "If you give them a chance, then how will this soldier be brought by this official in the future?" ”

"Capital crimes can be avoided, but living crimes are unforgivable, and the punishment should still be punished." Hu Daren gave Wu Zhongyi a look, and continued: "But the current enemy is at the time of employing people, and it is not very suitable for the military stick to serve, or wait for the day of the siege, let them take the lead, and let them redeem themselves." ”

How could Wu Zhongyi not know Hu Daren's good intentions, and hurriedly knelt down with a puff and said: "My lord Mingjian, my brother is really confused for a while, I implore my lord to give our brother a chance to atone for his sins, as long as your lord gives an order, our brother will not hesitate even if he goes to the knife mountain and goes to the oil pot!" ”

"Wu Zhonghe, what about you?"

"The lowly is all to listen to the adults, and the lowly is willing to die for the adults!"

Li Xubin stared at the Wu family brothers for a while, and asked coldly: "This official can give your brothers a chance, but it is not so easy to think about this matter. Lu Xiang is waiting for news, how do you ask this official to give an explanation? ”

"Lord Li, do you mean Han Si?" Wu Zhongyi asked cautiously.

"How do you speak, it's not big or small, do you want to commit a crime?" Li Xubin's face became even more ugly.

Wu Zhongyi relieved himself and asked with a bitter face: "Lord Li, do you mean Lord Han Xiufeng?" ”

"What do you say?" Li Xubin asked rhetorically.

"Master Li, you have to be the master of your humble duties, my eldest brother died in his hands for nothing, he didn't give our brother an explanation, why did our brother give him an explanation, is there any royal law left!"

"Nonsense!"

"My lord, the ...... of the lowly position"

"Shut up!" Li Xubin was angry, and slammed the case: "Han Xiufeng said that your brother had some misunderstanding with him, and the official didn't believe it at first, but now the official believes it." Mr. Hu has asked clearly the ins and outs of the matter, your brother was a porter in Ba County back then, and he should have obeyed the law, but you actually fought with the local porter in Ba County twice in three days. Your eldest brother died while fighting with the porter of the Sichuan Gang on the street, right and wrong, the government has already made a conclusion, and it can be called self-inflicted, and it has nothing to do with Han Xiufeng. ”

"Murder pays for life, it is justified!" Wu Zhonggan was still unconvinced after thinking about it, and couldn't help but say: "If it weren't for him, the Sichuan Gang Gua Wazi who killed my eldest brother would have paid for my eldest brother's life!" ”

"You still know that it was a melon baby who killed your eldest brother, since it is a melon baby, you don't have to pay for your life if you miss someone. What's more, your eldest brother's death was caused by a reason. The more Li Xubin thought about it, the more angry he became, pointing at them and scolding angrily: "It's good that you guys have been appointed to the court for so many years, not only do you not think about it, but you also remember it and anger others." He even transferred troops without authorization, trying to intercept and kill the imperial court officials who were ordered to return to Beijing. If it weren't for Han Xiufeng's recitation that your eldest brother had indeed died a little unjustly, if it hadn't been for the official who sent someone to stop him in time, Han Xiufeng would have served you a pot a long time ago! ”

"Master Li, this is Hubei, not Ba County."

"When did you still have a hard mouth, when did you think that the more than 1,000 regiments of Yong under him were vegetarians, and the foreign guns of the firearms regiment under him were burning sticks?"

Hu Daren was afraid that Li Xubin would really want the heads of the Wu family brothers if he became angry, so he hurriedly said: "Wu Zhongyi, Wu Zhonghe, as far as Hu knows, Lord Han not only did not mean to borrow Lord Li's knife to ask for your brother's head, but was worried that your brother would be confused for a while and make a big mistake, and then it would affect Lord Li and even Lord Zhongcheng!"

You must know that you are not ordinary people now, but the capital division and Qianzong under the command of Lord Li, if you make a big mistake and make a big mistake, even if Lord Han doesn't care about you, others will not miss this opportunity to impeach Lord Li or even Lord Zhongcheng, and when the time comes, a person who is not strict in governing the army will definitely not be able to escape. ”

Only then did Wu Zhongyi realize why Li Xubin wanted to help Han Si speak, and hurriedly said: "I am humble and confused, and I beg the lord to punish him." ”

Wu Zhonggan felt that all this in front of him was so similar to that in Ba County, and the tea gang and the Huguang guest chief were also biased like this, and he found that even if this official was big, there was no way to take Han Si, but he thought that if he didn't listen to the persuasion and didn't say revenge, I was afraid that he would really have to explain it here tonight, so he could only stubbornly say: "The humble duty is confused, the humble duty is wrong, and I ask the lord to punish him." ”

"Let's talk about it later, let's talk about how to explain to Lord Han after the official is at dawn."

"Humble duty, humble duty to make amends for him. If you want to kill or chop, let him be. ”

"Your brother thinks about his head all day long, but he never thinks about your brother's head, so what's the use of him asking for your brother's head?"

"Then what should I do?"

Seeing that the two brothers were like two elm lumps, Li Xubin was so angry that his teeth itched.

Yan Shusen didn't want to delay his work any longer, so he said coldly: "Since you want to make amends, you can't be sincere." Just found more than 2,000 taels of silver tickets and more than 1,000 taels of broken silver from your camp, Yan and Mr. Hu helped you send them after dawn, so they should be Cheng Yi from you. ”

"We still have to send him silver, he was promoted and made a fortune, and we still have to send him Cheng Yi?" Wu Zhonggan asked with a smile.

"It's Cheng Yi, but it's actually your brother's life money, could it be that your brother's life is not worth three thousand taels?"

"Third child, don't say it again, everything is up to Mr. Hu and Mr. Yan, we can make more money when the money is gone."

Seeing that Wu Zhongyi was still sensible, Li Xubin said lightly: "Your brother will stay in the camp for the past few days, don't go anywhere, and then return to the camp to lead the troops after the rumor passes." ”

"Obedience."

……

Today, Lord Han is not only going to set off, but the second battalion of the eastern Sichuan regiment is also going to change guards with the Hunan army under Li Xubin. Chen Zhankui, Chen Tianru, Zhang Biao, Li Tianbao and others got up early, and Pan Er got up early in the morning to help count and sort out Han Xiufeng's luggage and dry food.

Thinking that they would be able to leave at noon today, and that they would be able to return to Padang, which is next to Wushan, in another ten days at the latest, the Tuan Yong was elated one by one. Tuan Yong, who was selected to enter Beijing with Han Xiufeng, was even more excited, and as soon as he finished breakfast, he carried his luggage and weapons outside the "handsome tent".

Han Xiufeng explained to Chen Zhankui and other group leaders again, and was about to go out to say goodbye to the Tuan Yong who were going back to Sichuan next, Li Xubin, Hu Daren, and Yan Shusen arrived with more than 500 Xiangyong and more than 50 Eight Banner Horse Team, and Han Xiufeng hurriedly smiled and greeted him.

"Brother Han, this is a little bit of Li's heart."

"Brother Rujiu, what are you doing, Xiufeng deserves it."

"It should be, it should be, when my brother arrives in the capital to see the emperor, I hope that my brother will help me wait for a few good words." Li Xubin arched his hand, glanced back at the eighth military attache behind him, and then said: "Brother Han, Hu Zhongcheng is worried about the safety of his brother along the way, so he specially ordered Deping to lead fifty horsemen to escort his brother on a journey. ”

"Humble Deping, meet Lord Han!"

"Brother Deping doesn't need to be polite." Han Xiufeng helped Deping up, turned around and asked with a smile: "Brother Rujiu, Lord Zhongcheng is at the time of employing people, is it appropriate to send a horse team to send him at this time?" ”

"Shi Dakai has already withdrawn from the army, and it is reported that the Gedian thief camp is empty, I just need to besiege the city wholeheartedly and prepare for the siege of the city in the future, and the siege horse team can't help much, so my brother doesn't need to be polite."

As soon as Li Xubin's voice fell, Yan Shusen handed over a gift slip and said: "Lord Han, Wu Zhongyi and Wu Zhonggan brothers originally planned to come to send each other, but Lord Li just sent them an errand, and they really can't get out of the way today, so I can only ask Shusen to apologize to you." ”

Han Xiufeng took the gift list, opened it, and found that there was a thick stack of silver tickets inside, and said without thinking: "It's not easy for their brother to make some money, Brother Yan, please help me give it back to them." ”

Yan Shusen thought that Han Xiufeng was too little, and said in a low voice: "Lord Han, this is also their brother's heart!" ”

"This silver Xiufeng really can't accept it," Han Xiufeng closed the gift list, stuffed it into Yan Shusen's hand, looked back at Li Xubin with a smile and said: "Like the ninth brother, not only is it not easy for their brothers to make some money, but it is even more difficult to have today." Give them back the money, and let them serve the court well. ”