After a brief silence, the two sides of the confrontation resumed their quarrels. Liu Shaozong listened to the chatter like a bird's tongue, his face was innocent, and the three or four people who were tied up by Zhao Ying and pushed to the front were his henchmen.

Those henchmen all finished their efforts and dressed up as strongmen, but whether it was the officers and soldiers under Liu Shaozong or the people guarding under Liu Yuyang, there were many people who recognized them. Liu Shaozong squinted his eyes and glanced to the side, and found that the guard was staring at him in astonishment, and he couldn't help but panic.

"Mr. Liu, these are your acquaintances, right?" Zhao Dangshi sneered and said, while shaking the waist knife in his hand, "There is still a group of escorts behind, but they are all small minions, so I won't ask them to come up and show their eyes." ”

Liu Shaozong swallowed his saliva, there was nothing he could do, but he was thick-skinned, and his heart opened his mouth and said, "I don't know these people!" As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a voice of doubt on his side, and his face was hot.

Zhao Dangshi shook his head, turned his head to wink, and the three or four knights on the side jumped down, each drew his sword, and put the blade on the back of the neck of those henchmen.

"Since you don't know each other, let's slaughter them." Zhao Dangshi said lightly, but when he finished speaking, the kneeling henchmen immediately wailed.

Everyone listened attentively, only to hear that a few henchmen panicked, and shook out a lot of Liu Shaozong's private affairs, all of which didn't seem to be fabricated out of thin air, and there was one who stretched his neck and cried out: "Third uncle, third uncle, I'm Liangzi, I'm Liangzi!" "This person is still related to Liu Shaozong.

At this point, Liu Shaozong knew that it was not interesting to hold on, so he sighed. In order to ensure the safety of this operation, he specially arranged for several of his closest henchmen to carry it out, but this move was not to give himself insurance, but to put a noose.

"The surname Zhao, put the knife down, count me on your way. What do you want to do? Liu Shaozong was both lost and disappointed, and his expression was sad.

As soon as Zhao Dangshi raised his hand, the knights on standby withdrew their swords at the same time: "Those who do business look at integrity the most." Now that Mr. Liu has broken the contract first, I, Zhao, am not a person who likes to suffer, so we simply broke up and withdrew this deal. ”

Liu Shaozong immediately became vigilant and asked tentatively, "Are you going to snatch the county lord back?" ”

Zhao Dangshi "haha" said with a smile: "The county lord was originally mine, how can I talk about grabbing words?" ”

As soon as he said this, Hua Qing, who was sitting in the car and listening carefully, suddenly shook his heart, and the eight words "the county lord was originally mine" sounded, which made people blush and feel ashamed.

"Nonsense!" Liu Shaozong immediately refuted, "The county lord is a figure from my heavenly family, how can it be yours?" ”

Zhao Dangshilang said with a smile: "How can the county lord be a 'heavenly figure', she was rescued by me from Wu Dading's hands a few months ago. You say 'Heavenly Family', I don't know what it is, but since it can't protect the county lord, it doesn't have the face to talk nonsense. ”

"Nonsense, you ......" Liu Shaozong knew that he was not wrong, but he was also short of words in anger, and in the face of the imposing Zhao Dangshi, he didn't know how to fight back.

"Mr. Liu, it's you who are at fault, I don't care, what should be yours is yours, what shouldn't be yours, and you can't take it away. County Lord, give it back to me. ”

Although Liu Shaozong listened to his words calmly, he could reveal a sense of coercion, and his mind was racing, and he shouted: "It's not fair, it's unfair!" ”

Zhao Dangshi smiled: "Why do you say this? He thought that Liu Shaozong looked like he was covered with his head and brain, but in fact, he was also a good person, and he began to act in a blink of an eye.

Liu Shaozong strangled the reins hard, bounced down on the restless horse that sat down, and said with red eyes: "To do business, you must first be honest, but you also need to be fair." The so-called business is not benevolent, I will return the county lord to you, and you must also return my things to me! "As Zhao Dangshi said, there are 3,000 stones of grain and grass transported to Yong'en Temple, but isn't there still 5,000 or 6,000 stones left? Liu Shaozong's abacus is to bring back so much grain and grass, to say the least, it will take two or three days, so he can use this as a strategy to delay the army and wait for the opportunity to make a fuss again.

When this difficult problem was thrown, Liu Shaozong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time was surprised by his wit. Although the crime of slaughtering the victims is firmly established, at least for now, he can still take advantage of the matter of the county lord, so as not to lose his initiative.

However, Zhao Dangshi really knew his thoughts better than the roundworm in his stomach, and Hua Qing's heart in the car beat violently to listen to him say: "How is it unfair? Mr. Liu, this is very fair! ”

"It's fair for you to bring the rations!"

Zhao Dangshi smiled in his words: "Look, take back my county lord, don't worry about the general soldier, I will come to get it myself." So for the sake of fairness, Mr. Liu also had to come to the door to get those rations. To tell the truth, those soldiers' rations are still in Yong'en Temple, and General Liu can go and get them now, and my Zhao Ying will never stop them. ”

In one sentence, he choked back Liu Shaozong, who thought he had a plan.

The food is still in Yong'en Temple, Liu Shaozong believes it, but he doesn't believe the words "My Zhao Ying will never stop him". There is Zhao Ying's sphere of influence, and Zhao Dangshi is prepared, if he is really stupid and doesn't go back a few times, maybe he will make a sturdy dumpling for the tens of thousands of thieves who have been prepared, and there will be no return.

However, Zhao Dangshi said this, and he couldn't prove the falsehood of this sentence before he tried it. After coming and going, the disadvantage came back to their side.

Zhao ...... I don't believe you. In the end, Liu Shaozong said helplessly.

Zhao Dangshi shrugged his shoulders and chuckled: "I send it sincerely, and it is Mr. Liu's own business whether I appreciate it or not." I haven't even asked for the penalty for breach of contract, I take a step back, hoping that Mr. Liu can also take a step back. ”

"You ......" was first exposed for the massacre of the victims, and then inexplicably took on the name of insincerity and disbelief, and then spread the accusation of unappreciation, in the face of Zhao Dangshi's combination of punches, Liu Shaozong was defeated, except for being speechless, there could be no other action.

Thinking that he had lost thousands of stones of grain and grass in vain, not to mention, he had to bear the big crime of "killing good people and risking merit", and even the county lord who had worked so hard to catch up was facing the crisis of losing again, Liu Shaozong only felt that there was a dark chaos between heaven and earth.

Or, simply fight with Zhao Thief?

This thought flashed through Liu Shaozong's mind and was immediately rejected. As for the reason, one word - afraid.

Unlike other officers in Shaanxi, Liu Shaozong, who inherited the Earl from his father, was born as the son of the capital, and he came to the northwest from the capital to aid the suppression at about the same time as another officer named Wang Chengen. Wang Chengen is the deputy chief soldier of the Shenji Battalion of the Beijing Division, and now under Hong Chengchou, he has a deeper background and was directly transferred to the general army of Gansu.

can be transferred from the drunken and gold-obsessed Jingshi to the bitter cold and dangerous northwest, compared to other noble sons and daughters who can only fly eagles and lackeys all day, Liu Shaozong is undoubtedly much stronger. He has been in the army since he was a child, and he can excel by himself, and he can come to the northwest is also the affirmation of the bigwigs at the court meeting. It's just that he didn't expect that the real battlefield would never be something that an officer like him who was born in the arrogant and lazy Beijing camp could adapt to.

He admired his ancestor Liu Sheng, eager to recreate the glory of the family, after coming to the northwest from the capital to serve as the chief soldier, he thought that he could finally display his ambitions and sway his blood, who would have thought that he would be stunned directly after two or three battles in a row. It's not that he hasn't seen dead people, but the kind of mountains of corpses and blood piled up in pieces and thousands of people can't even be imagined in his mind before. And often chasing thieves for days and nights, sleeping in the open, etc., made him unbearable. He had insomnia, insomnia all night long, because as soon as he closed his eyes, the bloody rain would come and wake him up.

The most important thing is that the Northwest is not at all the stage where he imagined that he could gallop freely and play freely. All the generals are like chess pieces, obeying the instructions and supervision of the chess player's superiors all the time: if they arrive at a designated place one day later or one day earlier, they will be severely warned and punished; The speed of the advance, ten miles faster or ten miles slower, will also be mercilessly reprimanded by the allies and the upper peaks; Obviously, he could expand his victory, but because of a sentence from the peak, he had to return to the mountain; The army's rations were no longer sufficient, but they still received orders to continue to garrison and stay behind...... There are too many confusions and incomprehensions that always linger in his mind.

Until one time, when the troops were so tired, he was afraid that his group of soldiers who spoke words they could not understand would mutiny, so he had to order an extra day in one village. Unexpectedly, in this short break, he was scolded by local officials, saying that he Liu Shaozong "abolished military discipline", "forcibly occupied people's houses", and "forcibly requisitioned people's needs". This matter has been impeached to the imperial court, if it weren't for the fact that his family still has some connections in the capital, he is afraid that it would not be as simple as being scolded by the imperial court. However, after this incident, he was tired.

This is also why after entering Hanzhong, he didn't seem to leave when he took root under his feet. In Hanzhong, he can feel a similar life and atmosphere to Jingshi, even if it is not exactly the same, but for him, he is already very content. He didn't dare to go out again, he was afraid to return to that bloody and unforgiving world, burdened with boundless pressure......

He is only in his early thirties this year, he hasn't even left an heir, he doesn't want the glory of Na Laoshizi's ancestors, he just wants to go back, return to the Beijing Division, and then be his eldest young master, and continue to dominate and excel in the Beijing camp. He longs for and reminisces, but the reality is impossible, so he chooses to live a comfortable life in Hanzhong or see the opportunity to make some achievements, so he doesn't dare to fight with Zhao Ying.

Since the first meeting, Zhao Dangshi, who has read countless people, has concluded that Liu Shaozong will not fight hard with himself - he is not a brave person, which can be seen from his previous performance many times back. Therefore, Zhao Dangshi pressed forward step by step, and he had no fear.

"Return the county lord, or go to Yong'en Temple to fetch grain." Zhao Dangshi seemed to have lost his patience, his face turned sharply, "Choose one of the two......"

"The surname is Zhao, are you forcing me?"

"Hmph." Zhao Dangshi's nose sounded softly, and he pushed the knife in front of him, "I, Zhao, have always been reasonable." But when encountering unreasonable people, this debt collection work of courtesy first and then soldiers is not less. ”

Zhao Dangshi's words were like military orders, Liu Shaozong heard a few high-pitched swan suona sounds from nowhere, and then, almost at the same moment, all the Zhao Ying horse troops took a step forward, wrapping the circle of officials and soldiers, and in the blink of an eye, they were one size smaller. These horse soldiers were all like iron, the spears and swords in their hands were bright and cold, and the war horses under their crotches kept digging the ground with their front hooves, as if they were preparing for the charge.

To fight, or not to fight?

Liu Shaozong knew very well in his heart that he didn't dare to fight, and when he caught a glimpse of the garrison under Liu Yuyang, his face was also full of horror, and he had no intention of fighting. In the face of the Zhao Ying Iron Cavalry, who had already set up their positions and were ready to move, the people on their side, regardless of number, equipment or morale, were at a disadvantage.

The reason why he hesitated so far was because he was unwilling. He knows that if he fights, he will die; If you don't fight, if you return to Hanzhong, you will be worse off than dead.

Just when the two sides were about to break out, a crisp bell rang, breaking the silence before the rainstorm.

This sudden ringing attracted the attention of Zhao Dangshi, Liu Shaozong, and all the soldiers who were holding their breath for battle.

But when he saw the bell starting, Hua Qing, who was dressed in plain clothes and had white skin and snow, was like a fairy, and came out. Perhaps the confrontation of Shicai was filled with too much gunsmoke and murderous aura, and the gentle and jade-like Huaqing was like a huge piece of ice, thrown into the boiling pot, and everything was calmed down in an instant.

"Shire, Shire!" Zhao Dangshi and Liu Shaozong shouted in unison, and then, Zhao Dangshi rode towards her, and the horse army behind him was in a commotion. If they did not move, the officers and men who had already had a low fighting spirit did not move.

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhao Dangshi arrived first, and Liu Shaozong, who was not far away, also hurried over: "Do you want to be rough? ”

Liu Shaozong was in a hurry and wanted to draw his knife to fight Zhao Dangshi hand-to-hand, but Hua Qing's arms were slightly stretched and blocked in front of him.

"County Lord, ...... are you" Liu Shaozong hurriedly stopped the horse, and the whole person almost fell forward because of this.

"Because I am alone, it is my fault that I have harmed so many accompanying people in vain." Hua Qing faced Liu Shaozong, who was tall and tall, and was not afraid at all. Liu Shaozong, who was looking down from above, was forced by her sharp gaze to dare not look directly, and he had nowhere to hide, and he was at a loss.

"It's not ......" Liu Shaozong wanted to say, "It's not your fault", but after thinking about it, he couldn't say that it was his own fault - although this was his own doing, but in the final analysis, it wasn't for her to do it.

"Now, if there is another scuffle, I don't know how many lives will be killed or injured, do you want me to be more guilty?" Hua Qing raised his head and asked him, tears already rolling down Juanxiu's cheeks. She shed tears, as if she had infinite remorse, but her eyes were like knives, and she seemed to be questioning Liu Shaozong, who was covered with blood.

Liu Shaozong only felt that he was like a street rat, trying to hide everywhere, but there was nowhere to hide. He was looking forward to Ai Ai, and his mouth was purring, but he just couldn't connect them into sentences.

"These things are all caused by me, I can go back with you, but even if I return home, can I really continue to eat and pray for Buddha as if nothing happened?" Hua Qing said as he spoke, his eyes moved away from the embarrassed Liu Shaozong's face, and he lowered his head and said to himself. At first, she couldn't let go of Zhao Dangshi, but she just couldn't let go, as the county lord of the Rui Domain, she deeply understood that there was no possibility between herself and Zhao Dangshi. Therefore, even though she was full of hope, she restrained herself and stayed quietly in the carriage.

It's just that with the dialogue between Zhao Dangshi and Liu Shaozong, one shocking thing after another was shaken out, especially when she heard that Liu Shaozong deliberately made people slaughter the people, she was completely heartbroken. She is very smart and knows that Liu Shaozong, an outsider, will never be able to provide thousands of stone of military rations alone, so this time Hanzhong and Zhao Ying's contact, Rui Fan must play an extremely important role in it. It was precisely because of this thought that she suddenly felt a great sense of guilt - all for her. Whether it is father or Liu Shaozong, their original intention is to get themselves back, and the resulting blood account, in the end, the creditor is not themselves?

It is true that as the lord of the county, she can put it aside and return to Hanzhong to continue her previous life, no one will say a word, and no one will count the death of these people or officers and soldiers on her head. However, as a person who has been nurtured by Confucianism and Buddhism since childhood, it is impossible for her heart to forgive herself so easily.

People are not plants and trees, if one person, a group of people, dies in such a vain, and in the end, no one cares who caused their deaths, and no one pursues the cause of their deaths. What is the difference between this world and the ruthless and cruel Shura Purgatory?

Her voice told her that she was responsible for the people who died.

Behind the "County Lord......", Zhao Dangshi turned over and dismounted, raised his hand and put his hand on Hua Qing's shoulder, but he hung in the air and stopped. He didn't think that all this was Huaqing's responsibility, but there was no way to talk about comforting and persuading for a while.

Hua Qing heard his voice, her body tightened significantly, and then, her slender body slowly turned around. Zhao Dangshi looked kind, and her face was already wet.

Looking at Zhao Dangshi, she smiled with tears in her eyes, and said bitterly but firmly: "From now on, I will no longer be a county lord." ”