As the general person in charge of the soldiers and horses of the Zhao battalion west of Chenggu County, Xu Hui heard the news of Guo Hutou's defeat that night. Guo Hutou himself was captured, and the routed troops retreated to the camp to join the remaining soldiers. The dragons had no leader, and they were afraid that Wu Dading would attack again, so they abandoned the camp and retreated east to Xu Hui.

Xu Hui is calm and sophisticated, even if he loses his subordinates, outsiders can't see that he has any panicked performance. He didn't ask much about Guo Hutou, but together with Bai Wang, he first came to check the eight captives who were brought back.

These captives are the key to the matter. After listening to the soldier's narration, his intuition told Xu Hui that the target of the enemy army was among these eight people. If the goal is not achieved, the other party may not harm Guo Hutou. In other words, only by figuring out the origins of these eight people can it be possible to regain the initiative.

In order to smoothly find out the news of these captives, Xu Hui did not rush to torture them, but used a small trick to take people to wait quietly outside the tent and eavesdrop on the conversation inside. As he expected, Lu Xingyun accidentally took the initiative to say the word "county lord". At the same time, after observing the woman's dress in the account, Xu Hui was sure that he had caught King Rui's daughter, the lord of Huaqing.

The target is the lord of Huaqing, so it is understandable that the enemy army will be desperate to snatch it. There are many rumors about King Rui's family business, some say that there are millions of gold hidden in his Dou cellar, and some say that his concubines never have familiar faces, etc. In short, it is mysterious and mysterious, leading to reverie. It has long been difficult to distinguish between the true and the fake. In the past, various rogues attacked Hanzhong several times in a row, but they were all in vain, and what they coveted was not the wealth of King Rui? In any case, holding such an important bargaining chip as the county lord of Huaqing is bound to make the rich King Rui hemorrhage, which is no less important than a drought for Zhao Ying, who is currently short of materials and grain.

Seeing Xu Hui's eyes shining, Uncle Zhong instinctively blocked his body in front of the county lord of Huaqing. Who knew that the county lord of Huaqing cleared his throat and said in a loud voice: "I am the county lord of the Rui Domain, the court will not sit idly by, the longer you trap me, the greater the danger." Take a pen and paper and give it to me, and whatever you want, I will write it for you and send it to my father, and he will give it all. ”

Xu Hui said indifferently: "The county lord is a real person, and what he says is what I say, but it's a pity that things are not so simple at the moment." When he saw a little girl opposite, he was not distressed, and he was not in a hurry, but calmly began to negotiate with himself, secretly surprised. In addition, when she was in distress and despair, there was still a faint heroism between her eyebrows, which made Xu Hui's earlier contempt take most of it. It's just that he is steady, and he still maintains calm on the surface.

Uncle Zhong said indignantly: "The county lord's daughter is the sister of the current saint, if you don't want to start the fire, you should quickly release the rope and send the county lord back." The county lord is merciful, and may not be in trouble with you. ”

Xu Hui smiled, and the corners of his mouth showed a trace of bitterness: "I've been waiting for this for a long time, so I don't care if it's holy or not?" He lives in the Forbidden City, sits on a dragon chair, and is the emperor. Maybe one day I will be dragged down by us, but will you see if it is still not a saint? As he spoke, he nodded lightly at the county lord of Huaqing, "Since it is really the county lord, for us and others, it is better to live than to die." ”

Before Uncle Zhong could react, Xu Hui beckoned back and ordered, "A few of you, take the county lord to another tent to rest." Well, bring those two maids with you. ”

The two soldiers stepped forward as promised, which made the loyal uncle so anxious that he couldn't handle his hands, so he blocked his body on the road and shouted, "What are you doing!" ”

Seeing the situation, Xu Hui sneered: "You said that the county lord's daughter's body is what you said, do you think it is appropriate to be detained with you subordinates?" As he spoke, his eyebrows slanted, and his eyes were cold, "Although we are the 'thieves' in your mouth, we are not mandrill beasts who do not understand the world. It's not good for me to hurt the county lord, you can put away those foolish loyalists. ”

Uncle Zhong was stunned when he heard this, but the county lord of Huaqing sighed lightly and said: "Uncle Zhong, the blessing and misfortune are in the sky, this general has said this, and he is also a knowledgeable person." I'll go with them, and you don't have to worry about it. As he spoke, he whispered, "Take care of yourself." After speaking, without waiting for the soldiers to come up, he struggled to his feet.

As soon as she stood up, Xu Hui found that her figure was quite slender, almost surpassing Bai Wang-although Bai Wang was not tall, he still had a certain advantage over women at that time. In front of the slim Huaqing County Lord, even Xu Hui, who has always been arrogant, is a little ashamed of himself.

"Sure enough, it is a royal species, not similar to ordinary flowers and grasses." Xu Hui thought secretly, his face was still as quiet as stagnant water.

When Uncle Zhong saw the county lord of Huaqing slowly walking out of the tent, his old tears were ruffled, and he wanted to follow, but he was pressed to the ground by two soldiers and couldn't move. And the county lord of Huaqing only glanced back at everyone slightly at the moment he went out. Lu Xingyun saw it clearly, his face was slightly frowning, his eyes were flashing, and he was extremely sad.

When the footsteps of the county lord of Huaqing disappeared, Zhongbo was let go, and "wow wow" cried and grabbed the ground. Xu Hui ignored him, and asked again: "I heard that there are two scholars here, which two gentlemen dare to invite?" ”

Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun were very polite when they heard his words, and they were slightly surprised. They didn't know that Zhao Dangshi's thirst for talent and respect for Confucianism spread widely in the camp. And Xu Hui, as a beneficiary of the assistance of Confucianism, felt a lot, and he had long since lost his previous neglect of scholars.

Guo Mingtao didn't know the situation and didn't want to squeak, but Lu Xingyun blurted out: "I am!" ”

In the forest in front of them, they were interrogated by Guo Hutou once, and this time they were asked by Xu Hui, Lu Xingyun faintly felt that this group of thieves seemed to have a kind of attachment to scholars. Although he can't tell what this attachment is, Lu Xingyun thinks that once he reports his identity, his treatment is likely to be improved. was taken to other places, and if he couldn't see the lord of Huaqing again, he was so righteous.

Guo Mingtao is just the opposite of him, in his opinion, the official thief is opposed, you live and die, this group of thieves has repeatedly questioned the reader, and he is never at ease. However, Lu Xingyun's sudden self-report made it difficult for him to ride the tiger, and after hesitating for a while, he had to wait for Ai Ai to admit it.

Xu Hui didn't say anything to them, and after bowing his head and saying a few words to Bai Wang, he went out first. Bai Wang sent him outside the tent, turned around, and said warmly, "Untie the two gentlemen." ”

Guo and Lu were inexplicable, but the thick hemp rope on their hands was quickly wiped out, and then seeing Bai Wang's courtesy, the second monk was puzzled: "This, this general, I, I'll wait ......"

Bai Wang smiled and said, "The two gentlemen are relaxed. Previously, it was only because I didn't know the identities of the two that I was offended. Now that the rear camp of our army has prepared tea and food, please go and enjoy it. ”

Guo Mingtao was dumbfounded, while Lu Xingyun lifted his feet and left. He hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself that the two of them were already prisoners anyway, life and death were up to others, and no matter how frightened he was, it would be useless. Therefore, my heart was horizontal and I followed.

After only a few steps, an errand officer behind him who was still tied shouted: "Slow, slow, this general, what about us?" ”

There was also a soldier on the side who asked in a low voice, "General, how do you arrange these people?" ”

"Well, it's all chopped." Bai Wang's voice was not loud, but Guo Mingtao, who was close at hand, could still hear it clearly. He didn't dare to look back, and stepped up his steps to go out, his back still feeling cold in the scorching heat.

At the same time, at the south exit of Fu Luo Road, the scorching sun was in the sky.

A few men dressed in poor clothes and armed with sticks looked at each other, but the road stretched into the distance, but they did not see the figure they wanted.

Several of them were soap officials from various yamen in Xi'an Mansion, escorting Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun to the handover with the Hanzhong Mansion after that, and waiting here. Originally, I said that I would meet here at noon today, but I didn't want the hour to pass early, and the arrival of Guo and Lu seemed to be far away.

Just after noon, the sun is at its hottest. When the light hits the body, it is like countless small needles shooting in, and the whole body is full of itching and unbearable. They waited anxiously, sunbathed and thirsty, and then shook the kettle, and the only water there was to cool off was almost drunk. There were no officials here, and they were unhappy, so they began to curse incessantly, and all kinds of foul language and complaints kept popping out of their mouths.

At this moment, a figure walked on the road in the distance. Everyone looked at it with hope, and their mood sank again. It wasn't the adult he had been waiting for for a long time, but a short, shriveled old man. Looking at it again, the old man still had a burden on his shoulders. At both ends of the burden, as you walk, there are two wooden barrels hanging from each other.

If the barrel is filled with alcohol, it is even better. Everyone thought about it, and immediately two people were anxious and asked, "That old man, what is in the bucket?" ”

The old man not far away suddenly saw a large circle of people on the opposite side, and his footsteps stopped, obviously taken aback. I also found that these people were dressed in the government, and then they seemed to have the intention of retreating.

The crowd let him go, although he sat still on the ground, and threatened: "Don't go, come here!" Dare to take a step back, grandpa unloaded you. ”

The rickety old man thought to himself that he couldn't outrun these young people with his things, so he was helpless and limped over. He put down his burden, and before he could speak, a soap official on the left knocked him to the ground with a stick, and scolded with a smile: "Old dog, are you still rubbing?" ”

The old man rolled on the ground, his gray beard was covered with loess, trembling in the dust, propping himself up, not daring to speak, and standing with his body shrunk to the side.

His face was black and yellow, just like the color of the land in southern Shaanxi, with dense horizontal lines and folds, more like a ravine made by ploughing fields. The traces of wind and frost are evident here.

When the old man was afraid, he subconsciously took two steps back, but the lame leg was not under his control, and one was unstable, causing him to stagger and kneel.

"Ah, old horseman, begging for mercy from grandpa?" A few soap clerks laughed and looked at each other in deliberate surprise, they had never known this old man in their lives, perhaps because they were depressed and had nowhere to vent, and when they saw each other's honest turtle appearance, they just wanted to bully and have some fun.

"What's in the bucket?" A few soapmen licked their lips and ran up impatiently to lift the lid of the bucket. However, as soon as the lid was removed, there was a strong smell of acid and decay, and when I looked closely, it was filled with large feces and urine.

"Fuck!" The hopes of the soap officials were disappointed, and their anger grew. Two of them pushed the dung bucket because of their movements, causing some dung to spill on their bodies, and the more resentful they became, they shouted "dare to play Lao Tzu", and they beat the old man to the ground again.

The old man shouted "oops", and the whole person rolled in the dust, and after a while, it was like a layer of fine powder, and his whole body was covered with yellow dust. The soap officials were tired of beating and stopped one after another, but some of them were not angry and scolded: "The old dog is unlucky, and he has made grandpa a commotion." So saying, he plunged the end of the stick into the dung bucket and stirred it, scooped up a piece of filth, and stabbed it into the old man's mouth.

The old man was delirious, and he was exhaling with his mouth wide open, when the long stick entered with a strong fishy stench, which made him subconsciously close his mouth.

One end of the stick was still in his mouth, and when the soap officer saw that the other party had bitten his stick, his poisonous heart suddenly rose, and he poked and stirred the long stick in the old man's mouth, and said straight in his mouth: "Is it delicious, let you eat it happily!" In just a few blinks, the old man's mouth was full of blood, and one mouth instantly turned into a bloody hole.

After a long while, the soapman was really tired, so he slowly stopped, and the old man's mouth was already in a mess. I saw that his eyes were white, and he was lying on his back, not knowing whether he was alive or dead.

When the other soap officials saw this miserable situation, they frowned and said, "Why did you make him like this?" If you show it to the adults, you will blame us if you say the least. ”

The soapman pouted and said, "This old dog has cost me a lot of effort. Well, I'll drag him into the woods and hide him later, and you don't make a sound. ”

A few soap officials smiled and said, "This old man may still have some silver money in his arms, touch it first, and then you can dispose of it." As he spoke, he immediately rushed up and began to hand at the old man.

Everyone touched for a while, and only got a few copper coins, but they were extremely disappointed, and stood up with a curse. He was about to work together to drag the old man away, but at this moment, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly sounded on the road.

The sound of horses' hooves came from far and near, and before a few soap officials could hide, they surrounded more than a dozen horsemen. Everyone looked at the leader, and the leader was a young general, and behind him, they were all dressed as warriors. Only three horses stood on the side, and the person sitting on it was a Confucian student, and they all looked at him angrily.