"The two gentlemen are highly talented, famous, Su and Taishi have admired for a long time, and seeing them today is enough to comfort the three lives." Lu Su said sincerely.

Knowing that the ugly scholar was Pang Tong, and the black and thin scholar was Xu Shu, Lu Su was so excited that he almost trembled when he spoke, and Ma Zhong had been following Kang Peng for a while, and Kang Peng had also ordered him to use the power of the Dark Moon Group to find these two people, although he had not found them, but the names of Pang Tong and Xu Shu were deeply imprinted in his mind. Ma Zhong did not hesitate, immediately went up to apologize to Pang Tong, suing him for the crime of yesterday's offense, although Pang Tong did not appreciate it very much, but under the persuasion of Xu Shu, he still accepted Ma Zhong's apology, and under the invitation of Lu Su and respectfully, he came to the pavilion where Dong Zhuojun's envoy group stayed with Xu Shu.

As soon as he entered the pavilion, Lu Su ordered the servants to set up a grand wine feast, and ordered the guards to guard the outside of the house so that the conversation would not leak out, so he unfolded his tongue like a spring, trying to win over Pang Tong and Xu Shu for Kang Peng. After the guests and hosts sat down, Lu Su immediately told Pang Tong and Xu Shu about Kang Peng's admiration for them, but Pang Tong and Xu Shu were taken aback, Xu Shu exclaimed: "How noble is Taishi Dong's identity, he actually knows our mountain village cloth?" ”

"How does the Taishi know about the two gentlemen?" Lu Su said with a smile: "Taishi also knows that Mr. Pang is a Shiyuan, and the Taoist name is Fengxiao; Mr. Xu is straightforward, and there is also a pseudonym named Shan Fu, and there is an old mother in the hall at home, and the mother is filial. ”

Xu Shu's face changed color, Lu Su's words to him hit him too hard, Shan Fu's pseudonym was just given to him, and he didn't even know his friend Pang Tong. Pang Tong also put away his arrogance and exclaimed, "Impossible! The Taoist name Feng Xiao was given to me by my teacher, Mr. Shui Jing, and it was given to me ten days ago. ”

Lu Su himself was also very strange, and spread his hands and said: "I don't know the reason, but your name is indeed that Dong Taishi mentioned it again and again to Zai Xia a year ago, praising the two gentlemen for their talents, and repeatedly explaining that no matter which of the two gentlemen you see, you must be respectful and respectful, and you must not slack off." ”

Pang Tong and Xu Shu were dumbfounded, almost in disbelief, but seeing Lu Su's appearance of an honest gentleman, the two had to believe it. After a while, the two of them said in unison: "Master Dong, the gods are also!" ”

Lu Su smiled, raised his glass and said: "Don't be surprised, the two gentlemen are far-sighted, erudite and talented, far beyond the imagination of the world, the days are long, the two gentlemen will know." Come, Lu Sujing two gentlemen have a drink. Pang Tong and Xu Shu were still shocked, but they still accompanied Lu Su to drink all the wine in the cup.

After three rounds of drinking, Lu Su said tentatively: "The two gentlemen's famous Taishi has long known that the world is not fair at the moment, and the Taishi has the heart to help the troubled times and restore the peace of the people, but he suffers from the lack of good materials under his subordinates, and he is thirsty for talent, but because Shilin is hostile to the Taishi, there has been no progress, so that even a mediocre talent like Lu Su has stolen a high position, and Lu Su is really uneasy in his heart." I don't know if the two gentlemen are interested in joining the company, Lu Su is willing to sponsor the two gentlemen? ”

Pang Tong and Xu Shu glanced at each other, Pang Tong continued to drink, but Xu Shu said in a low voice: "Mr. Zijing, I heard that you are not from Shilin, but a white person, but the rumors are true?" Also, do you know why Brother Shi Yuan tempted you yesterday? ”

"Lu Su is indeed not from Shilin, but he likes to read military books, loves to dance swords and swords, and Master Meng will not give up, so he became an official." Lu Su replied honestly: "Yesterday, Lu Su didn't have the intention to win over Mr. Feng Yan, but the Taishi repeatedly told Lu Su to be a corporal of Lixian, and he should not be despised because of poverty, so Lu Su relieved Mr. Feng Xiao of the siege, and had no other intentions." ”

Xu Shu applauded: "That's right." Xu Shu paused, stared at Lu Su's eyes and said, "Brother Zijing, do you know that Xu Shu is also white?" Although Brother Shiyuan is a scholar, the family has been in the middle of several generations, and Xu Shu is almost the same, we have empty ambitions, but because we are not from the Shi family, the princes of all parties only like to use the Shi family, and look down on us students from humble backgrounds, so we have not been able to give full play to what we have learned in life, and we can only bury our skills in the wilderness. The two of us have long heard that Dong Taishi does not ask about his background, only asks about his talents, and governs Yonghe and Liang Sanzhou as a paradise on earth, although the two of us have the heart to vote for Taishi, but they are afraid of being mistaken by rumors, so Brother Shiyuan has been following Mr., and yesterday he deliberately tested Mr., just to test the truth of the rumors, and I hope that Brother Zijing will not be blamed. ”

"Great." Lu Su was overjoyed, not caring at all about Pang Tong and Xu Shu's previous doubts about himself, and hugged his fists and said: "Since the two gentlemen have the heart to return to the Taishi, then please return to Chengdu with Lu Su, and the Taishi will definitely reuse the two gentlemen and let the two show their skills." ”

Xu Shu smiled, but Pang Tong preemptively said: "Slow, we can go to Chengdu, but the ugly words are in front, the two of us have a high wish, and our appetite is not small, Mr. Zijing still said first what official the Taishi can seal us, and it is not too late for us to make a decision." ”

"What do you two want?" Lu Su replied.

Pang Tong stared at Lu Su's eyes, and said word by word: "I want Mr. Zijing's position, the deputy military division of the Xiliang Army, and the young man of the imperial court!" ”

"Okay." Lu Su didn't blink his eyelids, and immediately replied: "Lu Su abdicates to make way for Xian." ”

Pang Tong looked at Lu Su for a long time, and saw that Lu Su's eyes were so clear, he didn't get angry at all, let alone look nervous. Pang Tong shook his head and sighed, and left the table with Xu Shu to bow down, "Brother Zijing is open-minded, I can't wait." The Taishi can have subordinates like Brother Zijing, which shows that the Taishi's mind must also be noble, and we are willing to go with Brother Zijing to join the Taishi and serve the dogs and horses. ”

Lu Su hurriedly helped the two of them up, and said happily: "In this case, without further ado, Su will order someone to pack their luggage and go back to Chengdu together." ”

"Slow!" Pang Tong said with a smile: "Going to see the Taishi empty-handed, even if we are used, we will feel uneasy, not to mention that Brother Zijing is here, isn't it to prevent Liu Biao from forming an alliance with Liu Yan?" How can you go back empty-handed before great things are accomplished? ”

Lu Su sighed: "Lu Su is incompetent, the Jingyi Alliance has become a ruined situation, there is no room for recovery, this time, Lu Su doesn't know how to face the Taishi." ”

"Covering water does not necessarily mean that it cannot be collected." Xu Shu smiled and said: "Shi Yuan and I have long estimated that Jingzhou Shizi hates Taishi to the core, and it is difficult for Brother Zi Jing's plan to succeed, so I thought of an idea for Brother Zi Jing, maybe let Liu Biao have no time to go west and make Taishi embarrassed." ”

……

That night, Lu Su and Pang Tong and Xu Shu drank until late at night, and Jingzhou Xizuo, who was monitoring Dong Zhuojun's envoy group outside the post house, was also sleepy, and took a nap, but they didn't pay attention to it, the fire broke out in the post house, the smoke covered the sky, and suddenly a sky-high fire was ignited, Jingzhou was frightened, and was busy going up to check, but the fire was too big, and people couldn't enter, Jingzhou Xizuoren and nearby residents wanted to put out the fire, but they were stopped by Jingzhou Shilin, who rushed to hear the letter, and watched the fire spread, until the post house was burned to ashes......

At noon the next day, the fire was extinguished, and the Jingzhou government, the military, and Shilin all sent people to check the fire, but after burning overnight, more than a dozen pavilions and surrounding houses were burned clean, so what corpses could be left, only some bone fragments similar to ashes were found. The news was sent to Liu Biao, and Liu Biao's first reaction was to do it from Yizhou! The reason is very simple, the two countries are fighting, if they don't cut it, there is no need for Jingzhou to kill Lu Su and be spurned by the world, and it completely angers Dong Zhuo, Lu Su was burned to death, and the only one who can benefit is Yizhou.

Liu Biao's advisers also thought so, and Kuai Liang quietly inquired about Zheng Du, but Zheng Du firmly denied that he did it, but in the eyes of Kuai Liang and others, this was even more of a manifestation of Zheng Du's weakness - because Lu Su was killed in Xiangyang, Jingzhou and Yizhou became grasshoppers tied to a straw, and they could no longer break away from the alliance. Kuai Liang and the others were not stupid, and immediately suggested to Liu Biao to inform Dong Zhuo of Lu Su's death letter before Yizhou, so as to clear the suspicion of Jingzhou, and send people to closely monitor the Yizhou mission, as long as they found the slightest clue, they would immediately announce Zheng Du's crime to the world - by the way, they would blackmail Liu Yan again. Liu Biao agreed, and secretly hated Liu Yan from then on.

The third day, that is, the third day of February in the fourth year of Chuping, is the death day of Liu Biao's wife Cai's deceased mother, originally in previous years, Liu Biao accompanied Cai's family to the east of Xiangyang City in front of Cai's mother mausoleum to worship, but this year Liu Biao was busy because of the dispatch of troops to rescue Yizhou, and he really couldn't get away, so he had to send his brother-in-law Cai and protect Cai's and Liu Biao's three-year-old son Liu Cong.

The weather on this day is good, the sun is shining, and it is the spring flowers, Cai He with fifty personal soldiers followed Cai's car, there are talking and laughing to come to Cai's mother's tomb, Cai's mother's curtain is close to the Xiangjiang River, the fishing boats on the river are dotted, the scenery is picturesque on the roadside, Cai He because of the sacrifice to his mother and can not hold the concubine to sleep The bad mood also disappeared.

When he arrived at the tomb, Cai He's already good mood was very bad, because there were two fishing boats parked on the river behind the woods in front of his wife's tomb, which were lighting fires, Cai He scolded angrily: "That thing that doesn't have long eyes? Don't you know that this is the cemetery of our Cai family? Go to a few people and get rid of the dog stuff that doesn't have long eyes. ”

Cai Shi also said indignantly: "Bastard, what if you dare to start a fire in front of my mausoleum and set fire to the grass and trees in front of my mausoleum?" Go and beat them up, and see who dares to break ground on Tai Sui's head in the future! ”

The hostess spoke, and the Jingzhou army immediately rushed over to more than a dozen people, scolding and scolding to catch up with those fishermen, but the Jingzhou soldiers went, but they didn't come back for a long time, Cai He and the others were blocked by the woods, and they could only see those fishing boats still parked there from a distance, and they couldn't see other movements. Cai He was furious and ordered: "Go to a few more people, see if those rabbit cubs have broken their legs, why haven't they come back for a long time?" ”

More than a dozen people passed, but like last time, they went for a long time without movement, Cai He was even more annoyed, and said to Cai's: "Sister, you sit here first, I will go over in person, cut down those fishermen who don't know whether they are alive or dead, and then arrest those guys." With that, Cai He led twenty soldiers and swaggered into the woods.

Entering the depths of the woods, Cai He found that something was wrong, why did he bring fewer and fewer people? I obviously brought twenty people into the forest, why are there less than ten people left? Suddenly, Cai He saw blood stains on the ground, and before Cai He could escape, twenty or thirty black-clothed masked people suddenly appeared in the dense forest, holding swords in their hands, and couldn't help but say that they stepped forward and slashed at Cai He and others, one of the medium-sized black-clothed masked men rushed to Cai He, raised the knife and cut Cai He, Cai He hurriedly dodged, but the black-clothed man moved extremely flexibly, and smashed the knife handle on Cai He's forehead, and was immediately knocked unconscious.

When Cai He woke up, he found that he had been tied to a tree, his mouth was blocked by a rag, all the men he brought were killed, and the corpses were lying everywhere, his sister Cai and nephew Liu Cong were also dragged into the forest by the gang of black-clothed people.

began to smash Cai and the man in black said to Cai He in a Jiang accent: "Tell Liu Biao that if you want his wife not to be pressed by our Jiujiang men, let us be obedient Jiangxia, otherwise, not only will his wife be a **, but his son's life will not be guaranteed." With that, the man in black stuffed a letter into Cai He's arms, and escorted Cai and Liu Cong to board the boat and sail away.

It was completely dark, Liu Biao saw that his beloved wife and beloved son had not returned for a long time, and at first Liu Biao thought that his wife had returned to his parents' house, and sent someone to Cai's house to inquire, but the people of Cai's family asked Cai He's whereabouts, and the servant reported to Liu Biao, Liu Biao panicked and hurriedly sent people to look for it, and finally rescued Cai He, who had been blown away by the river wind, and brought back the letter at the same time.

The letter was written by Sun Jian to Liu Biao, and the content was very simple, to the effect that Sun Jian felt that Jiangling was located in the upper reaches of the Jiujiang River, and that the threat to Jiujiang was too great, and he hoped that Liu Biao would lend the small Jiangxia, with a population of only 260,000, the entrance of the Yangtze River, which was close to the Xiangjiang River, and whose strategic location was not so important, to Jiujiang for 30 or 40 years, and that he would definitely return it when the time came. If Liu Biao didn't agree, then there would be a shortage of camp prostitutes in his army, and he wouldn't let a three-year-old child waste food......

After reading the letter, Liu Biao was so angry that he yelled: "Quickly inform Huang Zu and tell him to withdraw his troops and give me Jiujiang!" ”

To find out what happened next, see the next chapter, "Blame".