On the morning of this day, the news that 15,000 troops had been annihilated in Huyu continued to spread into Beijing with the rout. The Daimyo's Mansion suddenly boiled.

When Liang Zhongshu first heard the news, he thought it was a rumor, but gradually there were more rumors, and he was a little shaken. On the one hand, he asked the housekeeper Liang Shibao to go out to find out the truth, and on the other hand, he recruited another general under him, Wen Da.

"The prime minister is summoned, but for the war outside the city?"

After a while, Wen Da, the warden of the soldiers and horses, hurriedly arrived, and as soon as he entered the door, he asked.

"It is for this matter that the capital prison can know the truth."

Liang Zhongshu saw that he immediately asked anxiously.

"Since the morning, hundreds of sergeants have come back from the battalion, but they are all the left-behind personnel of Huaishupo, according to them, at the end of the morning, they heard the sound of fighting in the direction of Feihuyu, and they took Li Ji to check, but they were ambushed on the way, Li Ji was killed on the spot, the whole army fought hard for a long time and suffered hundreds of casualties, and finally lost the enemy and retreated to the city.

It was the same people who had been defeated by the victory that had reported to Wenda in the morning, and they had not actually arrived at the battlefield, so the message was not concrete. But when he smelled an old man in the army, he already smelled extremely dangerous from it.

And after Liang Zhongshu heard Wen Da's words, he was stunned for a while, he used Lu Junyi as bait to lure the people of Liangshan over, originally for meritorious promotion. Could it be that it will lead to a disaster? After all, he still didn't believe it in his heart, so he still didn't give up and said:

"Wan Wu Army, just Liangshan Caokou, that is the opponent? The rumors may be untrue, but the metropolitan prison found out the truth as soon as possible and reported it to me. ”

"Xiaguan has already sent people, presumably there will be news soon, no matter whether the rumors are true or not, the city defense is very important, Xiaguan will go to inspect first, and then report to the public when he gets the letter."

This Wenda is also thoughtful, Liang Zhongshu saw that what he said was reasonable, so he let him go.

Let's say that Liang Shibao got Liang Zhongshu's instructions and took a few people out to inquire about the news, but as soon as he left the mansion, he met Li Gu, who was out of breath.

"Chief Liang, is it true that the officers and soldiers were surrounded and annihilated in Feihuyu outside the city?"

That Li Gu's pink face was pale with fright, and the whole person was like a frightened bird, as soon as he saw Liang Shibao, he asked anxiously.

"Where did you get the news?"

Liang Shibao is surprised, there is no detailed information in the army in the house, where does Li Gu know this.

"What's so difficult about this, now there are rumors all over the city, saying that Li Dujian's army was attacked in Yujiatuan last night, and then the whole army was surrounded and annihilated in Feihuyu, they also said...... He also said......"

"What more? Come on! ”

When Liang Shibao was surprised, he couldn't help but be anxious when he saw Li Guzhi hesitating.

"They also rumored that the Liangshan army was going to enter the city of Beijing and avenge Lu Yuanwai."

Li Gu trembled and said a few more words, but he was already in a cold sweat.

Where did this rumor come from! Liang Shibao was also stunned when he heard it. He immediately asked Li Gu to lead the way to some teahouses and taverns, and sure enough, there was a discussion of this matter everywhere, and some people even said it vividly, as if they were there in person. It is said that Li Dujian's thousands of troops attacked Feihuyu for several hours without breaking it, and that Suo Tishi's army was defeated and captured and surrendered to the enemy, but more importantly, it is said that the disaster of this war was all due to some people in Beijing, who coveted Lu Yuanwai's family property and framed him, which attracted the revenge of his master.

Liang Shibao walked around the city, listened to all kinds of rumors, left Li Gu, and went back to report the letter suspiciously.

And after Liang Zhongshu was reported, he sat in the yazhong in a daze, and his heart was like fifteen buckets of water - seven up and eight down. It was not until the afternoon that the spies sent by Wenda sent back the news that the camp of Huaishupo had been occupied by the Liangshan army, and that the defeat of Li Cheng's army had been completely confirmed.

"Why! Why? ”

In the mansion, Liang Zhongshu muttered to himself to the prefect Wang Su, the capital supervisor Wenda and others who were hurriedly recruited.

"Xianggong, now is not the time to hesitate, it is better to make a decision early."

Seeing this, Wen Da couldn't help but persuade.

"That Liangshan Caokou is only here for that Lu Junyi, it is better to cut him with a knife, cut off their thoughts, and maybe they will retreat."

At this time, Zhang Kongmu stood behind and spoke.

Liang Zhongshu couldn't help but be a little moved, but he didn't dare to make a decision, so he asked Wang Su, the prefect of the next head:

"How does Wang Taishou think this matter will be decided?"

This Wang Su is a good Confucian person, although he is a city guard, but under the pressure of Liang Zhongshu, he has no sense of existence, but fortunately, he does not fight for power and profit, and the two are at peace with each other. At this time, he hesitated, and then replied cautiously:

"Liangshan's gang is menacing, what they did is Lu Yuanwai, if the prime minister kills this person, they will not give up, Li Dujian Wanwu soldiers are all in a battle, it can be seen that Liangshan has a good army, at that time they are fighting to the death in the city, who can be the enemy in the city. In the humble opinion of a petty official, and the life of Lu Yuanwai was saved, when it was critical, with this person in hand, Liang Shan threw a mouse bogey, or did not dare to come hard. The city will strengthen its defenses, and while going to the court to ask for reinforcements, there may be a turnaround. ”

"The prefect is very right."

Liang Zhongshu also felt justified when he heard this, so he instructed Wen Da to take good care of Lu Junyi, and ordered him to increase his troops to defend the city.

It is said that Wen Da led the order out of the palace, immediately rushed to the barracks, instructed Wang Ding to take care of Lu Junyi, and then took his own soldiers to inspect the city defenses everywhere, and it was not until dusk that he was busy with the trivial work at hand. At this time, he stood on the tower of the East Gate, looking at the faint mountain shadow in his eyes, but he couldn't understand in his heart, this Liangshan people were just villagers and homeless people, how could Li Chengwan's five major armies not be left?

"Eunuch, there are dozens of horses over there, it seems to be the people and horses of this city."

When Wen Da was thinking, the guard next to him pointed ahead and said.

He hurriedly looked in the direction, and sure enough, he saw dozens of people dressed as cavalry officers and soldiers coming this way.

In a moment, dozens of horsemen approached, and only heard the sharp-eyed guards calling:

"Huh! Isn't that the first ride Sothihar? ”

Wenda took a closer look, sure enough, it was Suo Chao, but he couldn't help but feel a little difficult, it was rumored in the market that Suo Chao had surrendered to the enemy, but this time he was back, but he didn't let him in.

"Who is in the city? Open the gates and let me in. ”

At this time, Suo Chao's voice sounded under the city. Wenda hesitated, and thought that it didn't matter if he only rode a few dozen horses, and let him in, just to find out the facts of the war. He immediately put his guards on guard, and went down to the castle tower to order the door to open the door and let people in.

"How can the eunuch be here?"

Suo Chao entered the city, and when he saw Wen Da standing in front of him, he hurriedly dismounted and saluted.

"Doesn't this greet Sotiha!"

Wenda didn't step forward, just replied lukewarmly.

Suo Chao was stunned when he heard this, and then found that the surrounding sergeants had serious expressions, and they faintly surrounded his dozens of horsemen. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart, this city is suspicious of itself! But he was an upright man, and in order to prove his innocence, he ordered a group of attachés to dismount and abandon their weapons, and he went with Wenda alone.

"What was the battle like last night? Why didn't more than 10,000 people come back without a single soldier? ”

Seeing Suo Chao's words and deeds, Wen Da's suspicion of him was reduced a lot for a while, and he thought that maybe the rumors were untrue, so he went up and asked.

"I'm ashamed to say that yesterday afternoon in the first battle with the people of Liangshan in Yujiatuan, our army won two battles, and seeing them retreat for dozens of miles, I was careless, but they suddenly stole the camp in the second half of the night, and the whole army was defenseless and panicked. In the left battalion hurriedly went to battle, but met the rebel general Hu Yanzhuo, that martial arts are much higher, and the camp is full of chaos, only dozens of but was captured, and then the war is completely unknown. However, at dawn, we were sent to the old camp of Huaishupo, and saw the thousands of soldiers of our army who were captured, and we also roughly knew what had happened, but it was the people of Liangshan who stole through Feihuyu and sealed the exit. ”

"Where is Eunuch Li now?"

Wen Da saw that Suo Chao did not participate in the Battle of Taniguchi, so he thought of Li Cheng.

"I don't know the whereabouts of Li Dujian, but it seems that he is not found among the prisoners."

When Suo Chao went to the prisoner camp to pick people in the afternoon, he had noticed it, and then he replied when he saw it.

When Wenda heard this, a question suddenly came to him, and he immediately asked:

"How could Sotihar know that there was no prisoner among the captives? How did you come out of captivity? ”

Alas! There must be this question! Suo Chao said to himself in his heart. But he thought that he was above board and had nothing to hide, so he told the people of Liangshan how he left, from beginning to end, and said melancholy:

"To be honest, I don't understand why they let me come back, but in my opinion, although this Liangshan Manor is against the imperial court, it is different from ordinary grass cowards, especially that petty official's demeanor is very comparable, but I don't know how the imperial court can hate these people!"

Suo Chao's words were unhurried and unpretentious, and although Wenda didn't want to believe it, he couldn't point out anything wrong. So he took the dozens of soldiers who returned to the city back to the barracks first, and went to see Liang Zhongshu with Suo Chao, thinking about whether it was true or not, so he let the minister deal with himself.

Liang Zhongshu was also very surprised when he saw Suo Chao, this person was a tiger general under him, and he was even more straightforward and unscheming, and he was also very important to him in the past. In the morning, it was rumored that he had surrendered to the enemy, but he didn't believe it. But after listening to what he said, he was a little suspicious in his heart, so why did Liangshan Caokou let him go for no reason? Even came back with dozens of guards, what kind of conspiracy is there here?

After thinking for a while, Liang Zhongshu couldn't figure out anything, so he made a cold treatment, and did not ask Suo Chao to return to the camp to lead the troops, nor did he convict him and go to prison, only said that the war was hard, and he went home to rest first, so he sent him away, but afterwards he ordered Wenda to strictly guard the people who returned to the city.

From the defeat in the morning into the city to the return of Suo Chao in the evening, Beijing City was gradually shrouded in night after a day of commotion. Because the Liangshan team was close to the outside of the city, the defense of Beijing was several times stricter, and the noisy night market in the past was also much depressed.

As the only remaining general of the daimyo, Wenda did not dare to take the city defense lightly, especially after listening to Suo Chao's introduction to Liangshan's strength. So after nightfall, he led his men to inspect the key points of the city many times, and it was not until the end of the day that he returned to the barracks to rest, but before he had long rested, he saw a soldier of his own hurry in, and reported eagerly:

"Li Dujian is back!"

"Who!"

Wenda couldn't believe it for a moment.

"Li Cheng-Li Dujian, how many people are you taking outside the east gate now?"

"Ahh

Wenda screamed, and then rushed out of the door like the wind.