The Jianghuai army passed through Danyang City and rested outside the city while waiting for Du Fuwei.

According to the agreement, Du Fuwei stayed in Danyang as a hostage of the Jianghuai Army, and Zhang Xutuo was in charge of guarding it. As for the Southern Sui side, the nameless eldest grandson Wuji was taken hostage and stayed in Liyang.

Such a hostage exchange seemed extremely unfair, but Du Fuwei agreed without hesitation despite the dissuasion of Fu Gongqi and others.

Zhang Xutuo personally sent Du Fuwei out of the city, and the two said goodbye, and the expressions of Fu Gongfu and the others were slightly nervous, but in the end, there was no ambush or other accidents that they were worried about, only Zhang Xutuo was neatly armored, and his face was cold to see them leave.

"Father-in-law, you're really taking too much risk this time." On the way back to the army, Wang Xiongshui presented Li Zitong's head, and at the same time said respectfully: "In case the Southern Sui court repents, won't you fall into the tiger's den?" ”

"With Mr. Li here, what is there to fear as a father?" Du Fuwei laughed loudly, holding Li Zitong's head, looking extremely happy.

The Jianghuai army was very fast, so even if the weather was hot at this time, Li Zitong's head did not rot or emit a foul smell. Looking at the familiar face, most of the hatred in Du Fuwei's heart disappeared, and after looking at it for a while, he put Li Zitong's head back into the box.

"Although Mr. Li is quite strategic, how can his life be compared to his father-in-law?" Kan Ling said puzzledly: "Father-in-law, do you take him too seriously?" ”

"Nope." Du Fuwei shook his head and said: "You are still young in qualifications, you don't understand the importance of Mr. Li, the Southern Sui Imperial Court was able to successfully defeat Li Zitong this time, in addition to the help of the Jianghuai army, the lack of talented people is also the reason for his Li Zitong's defeat." Listening to what you said, the Southern Sui only sent less than 20,000 soldiers? ”

"That's true. They sent only 4,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry. Wang Xiongshui nodded and replied: "Don't hide it from my father-in-law, the child thinks that the soldiers under the command of Zhou Guogong are not weaker than my Jianghuai army." ”

"That's what Father has been thinking about." When Du Fuwei heard this, he sighed, looked back at Danyang City, and said calmly: "Father-in-law thinks." Even without the Jianghuai Army, Li Zitong was not the opponent of the Southern Sui. ”

Wang Xiongshui and Kan Ling fell silent at the same time, and the four thousand cavalry scattered the tens of thousands of troops behind Li Zitong, although they did not witness the majesty of those cavalry, they could also imagine that Du Fuwei's words were not unreasonable.

"Then why did the imperial court bother to unite us?" Kan Ling thought about it and expressed the doubts in his heart.

"Maybe I don't want to fight with the Jianghuai Army." Du Fuwei actually didn't know, he asked Eldest Sun Wuji this question, but Eldest Sun Wuji didn't answer directly. Just told him that when Li Zitong was eliminated, when he led the army back to Liyang, he would be able to figure out some things.

All the property obtained from Li Zitong was handed over to the auxiliary prince for distribution, and he did not take it himself, and as soon as he returned to Liyang, he hurried back to the governor's mansion. Ordered a guard to invite the eldest grandson Wuji.

"Lord Steward, didn't you let the twenty-eighth prince take them to Danyang?" The guard's face was full of confusion. "They left five days ago. ”

"What?" Du Fuwei was so frightened that he got up, and the frightened guard fell to his knees: "You said that Mr. Li has left Liyang?" Or was it taken away by Ye'er? Wang Xiongshui and Kan Ling were also at a loss in the hall, not understanding what was going on.

Li Ye is Du Fuwei's twenty-eighth son, although he is young, his martial arts are good. He fled from the north. He joined Du Fuwei's army, and later because of his bravery, he was valued by Du Fuwei and adopted him as his adopted son.

Du Fuwei was shocked in his heart, and suddenly remembered what the eldest grandson Wuji had said to him. I couldn't help frowning and asked, "You tell me about the recent events in the mansion." ”

"Returning to Lord Governor, after you and Lord Chang led the troops away, Ye Gongzi often played with the childish man beside Mr. Li, and later he said that he received your letter and wanted to take Mr. Li to Danyang to discuss important matters with you with the Southern Sui Imperial Court." The guard felt that he had made a big mistake, and bowed: "The villain did not ask about the situation, and asked the chief manager to punish him." ”

Du Fuwei waved his hand in frustration, told the guard to retreat, and said self-deprecatingly, "I see. ”

"Father-in-law, why did Brother Ye do this?" Wang Xiongshui probably understood, he clenched his fists, and said viciously: "My father-in-law treats him well, how can he fake my father's order and take away the hostages of the court without permission?" ”

"Maybe he was originally from the imperial court." Compared to Wang Xiongsao, Kan Ling was undoubtedly smarter, he shook his head slightly, and said: "Five days ago, my father-in-law was still alone in Danyang, fortunately, the court didn't know the news that Mr. Li had been rescued, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable!" ”

Will the imperial court really not know? Du Fuwei smiled bitterly and thought secretly

"Thank you Childe for being willing to trust Mowgli." In the Zhongyong Mansion in Jiangdu, Li Xuanba and the eldest grandson Wuji sat opposite each other in the study, and the eldest grandson Wuji arched his hand and said: "If the prince wants to take the opportunity to eliminate Du Fuwei's forces, there will be no better opportunity than this time, but you let Du Fuwei go because of Wuji's words, and Wuji is grateful." ”

"Of course, it is a better choice to let him be used by the court than to kill him." Li Xuanba smiled indifferently and said: "The Jianghuai army has tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and their combat power Xuanba has also seen it, it is indeed very strong, I hope that one day, they will be able to attach themselves to the imperial court as you said." ”

"Du Fuwei has no intention of seeking the world, and will eventually submit to other forces." The eldest grandson Wuji said affirmatively: "As long as the imperial court is strong enough and Wuji dares to guarantee with his life, he will definitely come to defect." ”

"This time Li Zitong's forces have been eliminated, other small bandits are not to be feared, the people can harvest rice with peace of mind, and the food problem in Jiangdu is temporarily solved." Li Xuanba's expression looked very relaxed, and the smile on the corner of his mouth was even stronger.

The eldest grandson Wuji also smiled and said, "Childe said before that there are other intentions to eliminate Li Zitong, I wonder if Childe is willing to tell Wuji?" ”

"If you want to survive in the south, you can't do it without ships, and it just so happens that Li Zitong has a large number of warships, which you should know very well." Li Xuanba said without concealment: "But Nan Sui can't be Nan Sui forever, Xuanba wants to make there only one Great Sui in the world, he needs a large number of war horses, if the road is blocked, even if I have sent people to prepare horses in the north, I can't send them to Jiangdu, so Li Zitong has to die." ”

"Childe takes precautions and admires them without taboo." The eldest grandson Wuji guessed something, and said respectfully: "Wuji is very curious, when did Gongzi arrange Li Ye to be by Du Fuwei's side?" In other places, how many plum leaves are there? ”

Before the eldest grandson Wuji went to Danyang, Li Xuanba asked him to secretly contact Li Ye and asked Li Ye to bring the eldest grandson Wuji back to Jiangdu at the right time. The reason why Li Xuanba did this was not only to worry about the safety of the eldest grandson Wuji, but also to express the attitude of the imperial court.

The court didn't kill you Du Fuwei, not because you had hostages in your hands! (To be continued.) )