The princes joined forces, the troops were divided into three routes, and the news of the three passes quickly spread to Luoyang, and countless scholars were excited, but after Liu Xie heard the news, he was in a heavy mood and convened the ministers overnight.

"Your Majesty need not worry." Dong Zhuo stood above the court and said indifferently: "The three passes of Tiger Prison, Yique and Xuanyuan are all Xiongguan, and since the beginning of Guangwu, they have been reinforced several times. ”

"It's just that the thieves are huge, I don't know how many soldiers and horses I have in Luoyang who can defend against the enemy?" Liu Xie is still a little worried, the millions of princes' coalition troops, even if they are as Dong Zhuo said, most of them are people requisitioned by the princes, just listening to it, it is a little terrifying.

"Back to Your Majesty, now the defenders of Luoyang are about 100,000 people, and the three passes are heavily guarded, Your Majesty does not have to worry." Dong Zhuo said indifferently.

Liu Xie was still a little relieved, but seeing that Dong Zhuo was so determined, it was not difficult to say anything, and he said: "I heard that there is a nursery rhyme in the market recently: A Han in the west, a Han in the east, the deer walks into Chang'an, there is no difficulty, I don't know if this is ......."

Li Ru, who was originally standing in the middle of the train with his eyes closed and recuperating, suddenly opened his eyes when he heard this, stood up and looked at Liu Xiedao: "Your Majesty, I don't know who said this?" ”

Li Ru's gaze became a little cold, which made Liu Xie shrink his neck in fear and said, "That's what Gao He, the regular servant of Zhongzhong, said." ”

"Cholera holy listen, behead!" Li Ru snorted coldly, looked at the eunuch behind Liu Xie, whose face suddenly changed miserably, and shouted: "Where is the armor? Don't take down this deceitful person yet! ”

Although Dong Zhuo didn't understand what he meant, he didn't stop it, and a team of armor soldiers rushed in outside the hall, and he couldn't help but say something, and dragged the eunuch down.

"Taifu save me! Taifu save me! "That Gao He is the new permanent servant, selected from the remaining eunuchs in the palace, in terms of official position, it is the same level as the former ten permanent servants, but unfortunately, since the palace coup, this eunuch has long lost the scenery of the former ten permanent servants, not to mention that now Liu Xie is only the nominal son of heaven, and the power of Luoyang is in the hands of Dong Zhuo, who is qualified to argue with Dong Zhuo, but what is surprising is that at this moment, Gao He died to the end, but did not ask the Son of Heaven for help, but called for help to Yuan Kui in the train.

"Slow!" Li Ru stretched out his hand, stopped the soldier, glanced at Gao He, who was colorless and tearful, looked at Yuan Kui with a smile and said, "Gao He, you are dying, you don't ask Your Majesty or Dong Xiang for forgiveness, why do you ask Taifu to save you?" ”

Yuan Kui glanced at Li Ru lightly and said, "Or the old man in the past had the grace to live, so he begged for it." ”

Li Ru looked at Yuan Kui and said with a smile: "In this case, looking at Taifu's face, I will give him a chance." ”

"No, since the law has been broken, the old man has no reason to connive." Yuan Kui said to Li Ru's gaze.

"Gao He, let me ask you, who instructed you to reveal this nursery rhyme to Your Majesty?" Li Ru ignored Yuan Kui, but looked at Gao He and said, "But if you want to think clearly, there is only one life." ”

"It's granted by Taifu." Gao He glanced at Yuan Kui with some fear and lowered his head.

"What is Taifu's explanation?" Li Ru looked at Yuan Kui, and his cold eyes did not hide his killing intent.

"There are nursery rhymes, why do you care so much about the waiter?" Yuan Kui said indifferently: "But when you gossip, you can talk about it casually." ”

"How can a little boy sing such a nursery rhyme for no reason?" Li Ru looked back at Liu Xie and said, "Your Majesty, behind this nursery rhyme, I am afraid that there is a despicable villain behind the scenes, so it should be thoroughly investigated!" ”

Liu Xie was puzzled: "It's just a nursery rhyme, whether the waiter is more serious, I think about it, it's not unreasonable." ”

"Your Majesty's words are wrong!" Li Ru bowed and said: "Although this nursery rhyme is superficial, it has the intention of persuading His Majesty to retreat to Chang'an, imagine that it is just a nursery rhyme, how can it reach His Majesty's ears?" Besides, if we retreat to Chang'an at this moment, even if the Kwantung princes are not victorious, they will win without a fight, and our army retreats to Chang'an, which is to show weakness to the Kwantung princes, and in the eyes of the world, it is defeated, and it also means that Your Majesty admits that his throne is not right! ”

When Liu Xie heard this, his face turned pale, what he was most afraid of now was that someone would say that his throne was not right, his lips moved a few times, and he nodded and said, "Then according to the servants, how should this matter be handled?" ”

"First of all, send Taifu to prison!" Li Ru turned his head, looked at Yuan Kui and smiled.

"Ridiculous!" Among the ministers, there was a speaker Chen Yi who said angrily: "Taifu is the head of the three dukes, and he has the hope of the world, so if you don't have any evidence, how can you put Taifu in prison?" ”

"Don't talk about it......" Li Ru turned his head and looked at Chen Yidao: "This matter is inseparable from Taifu, but now his nephews Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu brothers are the masters of the Kwantung Thieves Alliance, and they are suspected of treason and rebellion. ”

Yuan Kui waved his hand, signaled Wang Yun, who wanted to come out, not to speak, got up and saluted Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, the original and highway troops, not to subvert my Han, nor to disapprove of Your Majesty, but to think that Dong Xiang's virtue is not enough to abolish the establishment, and he has no intention of offending His Majesty, as for the nursery rhyme, the old minister is really hearsay, but now that he explains, he may not listen to Dong Xiang, and the old minister is willing to accept the guilt, I just hope that Dong Xiang can listen to some people's words, don't be misled by the traitor!" ”

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Ru, got up calmly, and walked straight out of the hall.

"Taifu!" Wang Yun and the others didn't care about anything else, and hurriedly rushed up and pushed the armorer away.

"Don't be impulsive!" Yuan Kui saw that Dong Zhuo's people around him were separated, and whispered to Wang Yun beside him: "It seems that Dong Thief has the intention to kill me, and this move may implicate many people." ”

"That nursery rhyme ......," Wang Yun looked at Yuan Kui and asked in a low voice.

"It should be Dong Zhuo's out." Yuan Kui sighed and said: "It seems that Dong Thief has the heart to retreat, but now the time has not come, just like Li Ru said, if they retreat at this time, the world will think that they are defeated." ”

"Don't worry, Taifu, Yun will try to save Taifu out!" Wang Yun said solemnly.

"No!" Yuan Kui shook his head and said solemnly: "Then Li Ru didn't kill me, but put me in prison, just because he wanted to wait for you to jump out and then ......."

Looking at Wang Yun, Yuan Kui said: "Catch them all!" ”

"What!?" When Wang Yun heard this, his face couldn't help but change, and he said in shock.

"Zishi at this time, you must not do anything, even if you are contacted at the beginning, any request, do not agree, since the coalition army set out, Dong Zhuo knows every move of the coalition army well, I am afraid that among the coalition army, there are princes for Dong Zhuo's use, no matter what you do, you can't escape Dong Zhuo's calculations, if you want to kill Dong Zhuo, you should try to provoke his grievances with Lu Bu, then Lu Bu is just a brave man, and it is not difficult to provoke him."

"That Taifu ......" Wang Yun heard Yuan Kui say so much, but he didn't say anything about saving himself, and he had a premonition in his heart.

"Dying and decrepit, why not be afraid of death, it doesn't hurt if the old man dies, but other people, can't let that Li Ru notice, after this incident, don't try to rescue me, but also get rid of me, it's best to get the trust of Dong Thief, if not, you should also protect yourself and wait for the opportunity!" Yuan Kui said with a smile.

"Taifu, you ......" Wang Yun looked at Yuan Kui, who was talking and laughing freely, and the corners of his eyes were a little sour for a while.

"If you want to achieve great things, don't follow the example of this little daughter." Yuan Kui shook his head and said.

"Do you all want to accompany Taifu?" Li Ru walked up from behind, looked at the crowded crowd, frowned slightly, and said in a cold voice.

"Let's go!" Yuan Kui took advantage of the situation to push Wang Yun into the crowd, and then stood with his hands in his hands, waiting for the armor soldier to step forward and escort him away, he was the third duke, even if he was imprisoned, as long as he was willing to cooperate, others could not give him a torture instrument, and he was sent to prison under the custody of the armor soldier.

"Have you ever seen who Yuan Kui was talking to before?" Li Ru looked at Yuan Kui's back, summoned a courtier who was pro-Dong, and frowned.

"I didn't see it clearly." The courtier shook his head, before everyone rushed up, he was not tall, he was squeezed in the crowd, how could he see the situation in the middle?

Li Ru looked at the direction Yuan Kui left, sighed, and after dispersing, followed Dong Zhuo back to the house.

"Wen Wei, do we really want to retreat?" Back at the Dong Mansion, Dong Zhuo took Li Ru straight into the study, frowning and looking at Li Rudao.

"Father-in-law knows that the grain stockpiled in Luoyang Mansion is no longer enough for our army in March." Li Ru said with a wry smile: "Xiliang grain and grass to be transported to Luoyang, the road is far away, the loss is huge, and continue to occupy Luoyang at this time, is the realm of enemies on all sides, although the princes are not united, but as long as we stay in Luoyang for a day, it is the target of the public, it is better to retreat to the pass, one is the danger of Kungang, just guard the tiger prison, you can resist a million heroes, and secondly, the princes break Luoyang, to fight Chang'an again, the supply will be extended, I am afraid that no one is willing to enter again, then the father-in-law can make the princes attack each other, and the father-in-law will play the role of the solidity of the Kungang, and the internal repair of the army, looking at the Central Plains, waiting for the Central Plains princes to be tired, is the day when our army points to the world. ”

"In addition, our army can have today's momentum, all with the support of the Xiliang army behind the back, the Central Plains scholars, for a while I am afraid that it will be difficult to accept the father-in-law, at this moment if the father-in-law lives in Luoyang for a long time, the Xiliang army under his command is homesick for a long time, and the military heart is not good, and if the father-in-law is away from Xiliang for a long time, I am afraid that the people of Xiliang and the Qiang people will forget the majesty of their father-in-law, and after a long time, the roots of the father-in-law will be gone, it is better to retreat to Guanzhong, 800 miles of fertile soil in the Guanzhong, enough to feed 100,000 male soldiers!" There is another point, Li Ru is not good to tell Dong Zhuo, that is, with Dong Zhuo's current strength, even if he wins the princes, it will be a miserable victory, far from the strength to level the world, it is better to avoid the edge of the princes for the time being, and it is the best policy to make the princes fight among themselves.

"I will follow the words of Wen Worry." Dong Zhuo thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Then Yuan Kui killed him, why did Wen Wei put him in prison?" ”

"This person is the head of the Luoyang clan, with this person, his henchmen will continue to surface, we can wipe them all out, if they are killed, I am afraid that those people will continue to lurk, for my father-in-law, the threat of these people is even worse than that of the Kwantung princes!" Li Ru bowed and said.

"There are literary worries, I don't have to worry about it!" Dong Zhuo couldn't help but smile when he heard this.