……

In the side room of the school captain's mansion, Liu Ce and Jiang Xun sat opposite each other, and in the silent room, there was only the shadow of the flickering candle flame and the slightest sound of burning tobacco leaves in Jiang Xun's pipe, and the cold atmosphere made the whole lobby seem to be shivering in the cold wind of the first month.

Liu Ce met Jiang Xun's terrifying gaze, a trace of disdain flashed at the corner of his mouth, and then he said, "What do you want?" ”

Jiang Xun gently spit out a puff of smoke rings and said: "Give me back the southern part of Hebei, I will play the imperial court, transfer you to the rich Jiangnan or Jiangdong to serve, give you a four-grade martial arts, award you a general, and ensure your glory and wealth in this life, what do you think?" Of course, if you are not satisfied, the conditions are said. ”

Liu Ce replied lightly: "Give it back? Dare to ask my lord, why don't you say this to the Hulan people who have occupied Jizhou for more than ten years? Do you see if they will be returned, conditions? If you say that you want to be the governor of Yuanzhou, will you bear to cut your love? ”

Jiang Xun's eyes narrowed: "So it seems that you have to go against Bendu?" ”

Liu Ce said calmly: "Your Excellency, it seems that you are embarrassing your subordinates now, if you really want to seek wealth and nobility, in the past, when you were in Heyuan, you can bribe officials from all over Heyuan to go to any place in the central part of the Yangtze River or Jiangdong in the south of the Yangtze River, so why bother to come to this dangerous place in the Far East?"

Jiang Xun sneered and said, "Yes, if you don't go to a good rich place, you have to come to the Far East, you really don't have any purpose?"

Liu Ce also replied coldly: "With all due respect, if it weren't for the hard request of the two gentlemen Qin Ye and the desire to give my lieutenant generals a serious name, I wouldn't even want to wear this official uniform for one more day." ”

Jiang Xun snorted lightly and said: "It's a pity that if you don't have this official uniform, I'm afraid you won't be able to get out of the source of the river alive, even if you come to the Far East, do you think you can live until now?"

Liu Ce replied: "This is natural, the Jiang family's methods have long been heard of in the future, and it is quite cruel to deal with dissidents, but my Jingwei Battalion is not the righteous army that is at the mercy of others, if the adult really wants to do something to his subordinates, then in order to survive, he can only fight to the death, I don't know if the adult has heard of the grasshopper shaking the tree?"

Jiang Xun smiled: "Liu Ce, are you really so confident?" Still a mayfly shaking a tree? Don't you think that's ridiculous? ”

Liu Ce said: "My lord, do you know that two years ago, I was still an ordinary pawn in the Thunder Army, and I suffered all the white eyes every day in order to eat a full meal, at that time I secretly swore that I had to change my way of living, and now I finally have today's situation, if anyone dares to deprive it all, then I can only fight for my life......"

Jiang Xun looked at Liu Ce with a pipe in his mouth, speechless, as if thinking about something.

Liu Ce said again: "My lord, come back to reality, my subordinates dare to ask you a question, if I really return southern Hebei to your hands, dare to ask your lordship, can you keep it?" How long can it last? Can you suppress those Hu people in Jizhou? Do you still want to see the Far East suffer every year? ”

Jiang Xun was silent, but Liu Ce's words reminded him. Indeed, as he said, how can he resist the counterattack of the Hulan people when he takes over southern Hebei now? Can the Far East's group of wine bags and rice bags be counted on? If you think about it carefully, it seems that there is only one Liu Ce in the Far East who can fight, and he also has the courage to withstand the pressure from outside the Saiwai.

After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Xun had a plan in his heart, and said to Liu Ce: "Okay, I can leave Jizhou to you for the time being, but you are still nominally the Hanling Taishou, I think you should have self-knowledge......"

Liu Ce sneered in his heart, if it weren't for my Jingwei Battalion, Jizhou would be able to fight down? Leave it to me? Why don't you say that you were handed over to Hu Ren to take care of before? It seems to be generous.

"Subordinates obey." Liu Ce got up and answered, as for the word "Xie", he would not say.

"But ......" Jiang Xun didn't want to say again, "I will only give you five years, if you pacify the entire Jizhou after five years, I will go to the court to remove the post of governor of Jizhou, and replace you Liu Ce as the governor of Jizhou, if it is not pacified for five years, then you will stay in Hanling honestly." ”

Liu Ce sneered even more in his heart, whether it is peaceful or uneven in Jizhou for five years, this Jizhou has no share of yours, is there any reason to spit out what you eat in your mouth?

And Jiang Xun is also calculating, the reason why he said that five years is just to reassure Liu Ce, making him think that he has compromised, in fact, he is fully prepared to recapture Jizhou.

"Subordinates take orders!" Liu Ce said again, with no expression on his face, which made Jiang Xun very depressed.

Seeing that what should have been said had been finished, Jiang Xun deliberately stretched his waist, and Liu Ce got up and said after seeing it: "My lord, it's not early, please go back and rest first." ”

Jiang Xun saw that Liu Ce's thoughts were quick, nodded and joked: "Liu Ce, next time you put a little more salt in your face, it's a little light." ”

Liu Ce said with a smile: "What the adults said is extremely true, and the subordinates must improve." ”

Jiang Xun said again: "By the way, this governor under your rule is also the first time to come, why don't you take advantage of this inspection and talk here for a few days, don't you mind?" ”

Liu Ce said: "How can it? Please rest as soon as possible, and tomorrow I will accompany you to all parts of the country. ”

"Okay......" Jiang Xun said and walked to the back hall, suddenly turned around and said: "Liu Ce, your 'jade hunting' yesterday is very good, this governor appreciates it very much, and this." As he spoke, he pointed to the pipe in his hand.

Liu Ce smiled but did not speak, watching Jiang Xun disappear in front of him, and after Jiang Xun left, the smile on Liu Ce's face froze and disappeared, and he walked towards the outside of the school captain's mansion without looking back......

As soon as he went out, Liu Ce saw two beautiful people standing quietly not far from the school captain's mansion, and it was Song Yanran and Xue Moyi who were waiting for him outside the mansion.

Song Yanran saw Liu Ce covering her mouth and smiling gently, although Xue Moyi next to her still looked afraid of seeing people, but compared with before, it was much more natural when she saw Liu Ce.

When Liu Ce saw Song Yanran, a gentle smile naturally appeared on his face, and he slowly walked over to them.

Song Yanran saw Liu Ce approaching, and said softly: "Brother Liu, Sister Xue and I heard that you returned to Hanling, but you haven't come back for a long time, so we are worried, so we will come to the gate of the school captain's mansion and wait together, I am afraid that you have business to do, and it is inconvenient to go in and disturb, I ......"

Liu Ce tightened the cloak on her body for her, and said to her softly: "Yanran, needless to say, let's go home, I'm hungry......"

As he spoke, he nodded with Xue Moyi on the side, and the three of them walked home together.

……

Shendu, in the palace cultivation hall, when the emperor Wei Zhi was sitting in front of the incense case at this time, his face was solemn, and the Jinsheng on the side stood solemnly and quietly, waiting for his speech.

It has been more than ten days since Jinsheng came back from Yuanzhou, and when Jinsheng told Wei Zhi about the situation in Yuanzhou, Wei Zhi was also slightly stunned, and tried to find out the memory of Liu Ce in his mind.

I saw Wei Shu sighing: "I don't want to, the people who laughed so much that day would have this kind of ability, alas...... Knowing this, he should have stayed in Heyuan in the first place, swept away the thieves in one fell swoop, and lifted the curb of civil strife, which would not have caused the current situation. ”

Jin Sheng bowed his head and said nothing, after he saw Liu Ce this time, he was also very surprised in his heart, he didn't want this son to have such a means, and the Hulan people he killed were corpses all over the field, and he was terrified.

But what he is more worried about is the relationship between Liu Ce and Jiang Xun, watching Jiang Xun defend Liu Ce everywhere, obviously intentionally wants to hold him firmly in his hands, as long as there is such a terrible person, the power of the Jiang family will not move like a mountain, and the royal family will not be able to intervene at all.

Wei Zhen's thoughts are similar to those of Jinsheng, and he can't let Liu Ce continue to stay with Jiang Xun. The biggest mistake Wei Shu made was that he did not have a reasonable and correct assessment of Liu Ce's strength, so that he tilted the situation in the Far East in favor of the Jiang family, which he did not want to see.

It is foreseeable that as long as Liu Ce is still in the Far East for a day, the Jiang family's forces will be as stable as a rock, as immovable as a mountain, and no one will be able to shake half a point.

For the sake of today's plan, he can only find a way to pull Liu Ce to the side of the royal family, since Liu Ce has already opened conditions with Jinsheng, then Wei Zhi naturally has to think about it carefully.

Money and food? It's easy to do, just transfer some from the provinces to him. Soldiers? It's easy, there is no shortage of people in Da Zhou, just mention his army, raise the flag regiment to the division flag, and then give a miscellaneous general rank.

However, this identity makes it difficult for Wei Zhen, knighted? The lord of the Shu clan didn't say whether he could pass the psychological level, even if he had the courage to do so, he could foresee that there was opposition in the court, and the scene was even more spectacular than running to mourn, and if he didn't cry you to death, he would boil you to death.

Seeing Wei Shu frowning, Jin Sheng leaned over and said, "Your Majesty, you have to get an idea quickly, the slave is worried that if it's too late, I'm afraid things will be in trouble......"

Wei Zhiqi said: "How do you say this?"

Jin Sheng sighed: "Does the emperor still remember Jiang Ruoyan swearing on the Heyang Tower in the past?"

Wei Zhi nodded and said: "Naturally, I remember, but I know that Jiang Xun will definitely not give his daughter to Liu Ce, I know the Jiang family too well, they will never have a marriage with a Shu clan, even if Jiang Xun agrees, Jiang Yan will not agree, and the whole family will oppose it." ”

"Aren't slaves just afraid of what happens?" Jinsheng said, "And this Liu Ce is young and promising, in case Jiang Xun accepts him as a righteous son." ”

"It'......s impossible," Wei Zhi shook his head with a smile, "Even if he is accepted as a righteous son, without the approval of the royal family, he Liu Ce is still a Shu clan, and he will never want to enter the Shi clan in this life." ”

Jin Sheng was stunned for a moment, then thought for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, having said that, but you can think about it, if the Jiang family suddenly has a big change, what if you would rather risk the world's disapproval than give your daughter to Liu Ce?" Or think like this, pass Jiang Ruoyan to another person, and then ......"

Wei Zhen's heart trembled when he heard this, and the hand holding the scroll couldn't help but tighten, what Jinsheng said was too right, the more he thought about it, the more likely it was.

"So what do you say?" Wei Zhen, who couldn't make up his mind for a while, asked Jinsheng again.

Jin Sheng's eyes were cold, and he said softly: "Your Majesty, it's better to marry Liu Ce, the slave maid went to the Far East this time but learned that he hasn't married yet......

"Nonsense!" Wei Zhi said angrily, "The royal family and a Shu clan are married? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at by everyone in the world? ”

Seeing that Wei Zhi was angry, Jin Sheng hurriedly said: "No, the slave maid did not let the royal princess marry Liu Ce, but chose a thousand gold from the marquis mansion in the capital. In this way, Liu Ce's identity is gone, all the conditions he proposed meet him, and the royal face is not lost, so he will naturally give his life to the emperor and restrain the Jiang family's power in the Far East. ”

"That's a solution...... Wei Zhi nodded, "Then which Hou Mansion to choose?" ”

Jin Sheng whispered: "Hou Ye Cui's daughter is eighteen years old this year, and she has been in the boudoir so far, and she has a good face, and she is ashamed to spend ...... moon in the closed month."

Wei Zhen's eyes lit up: "Okay! When the auspicious day of the zodiac is chosen, I will give a decree to give marriage. ”

Jin Sheng smiled bitterly: "Your Majesty, don't wait, it's too late to wait any longer, as soon as possible......"

Wei Zhi was stunned and asked, "What does Jinsheng mean by this?" Could it be that Liu Ce and Jiang Ruoyan are already there?"

Jin Sheng looked embarrassed: "It has nothing to do with Liu Ce, but it has something to do with the horse......