Lu Fatzi agreed to meet with him secretly, which greatly surprised Prince An's Yue Le's expectations - in Yue Le's calculations, if he wanted to recruit a pillar of the country like Lu Fatzi, who was both civil and military, he had to pay ten times the patience and perseverance of others, and he had to spend countless twists and turns, countless painstaking efforts, and painstaking persuasion to have a little hope to pull this rare talent who had been ignored by himself and Ao Bai from Wu Sangui's side. Even if you want to talk openly and honestly with Fat Lu in person, you will have to spend countless hours and words to express your sincerity, gain Fat Lu's trust, and have a chance to achieve your goal, but Fat Lu is now agreeing, which makes Yue Le feel very surprised and a little worried.

If you want to change to another mite general, the process of recruiting Fat Man Lu is so smooth, you will definitely be suspicious, but you don't dare to easily agree to meet with Fat Man Lu in private - if Fat Man Lu cheats, it will be a big problem with your surname. But it's a pity that Lu Fatzi expected that Yue Le, who was the most highly regarded by Lu Fatzi among the mite kings, didn't think so, thinking that since Lu Fatzi agreed so happily, if he refused again, he would inevitably be ridiculed by Lu Fatzi, which recently chilled Lu Fatzi's heart of submission and sincerity, and completely cut off the last ray of hope for recruiting Lu Fatzi.

Moreover, the place and method of meeting proposed by Lu Fatzi were also very fair, each side brought twenty guards, and was not allowed to carry long-range weapons such as bows and arrows and muskets, and met at Tiger Rock, five miles northwest of Jiaoxi Pass. So Yue Le thought about it, but in the end he didn't listen to the kind dissuasion of Ao Bai and others, gritted his teeth, and agreed to Lu Fatzi's request!

At the same time, in view of the fact that Ao Bai also urgently needs to master the true strength of Wu Sangui's firearms troops, as well as his incomparable envy of the great power of Wu Sangui's army's new firearms, so after Aobai repeatedly dissuaded him to no avail, he finally agreed to Yue Le's request to meet with Lu Fatzi, and selected ten of the best soldiers from his own personal army to Yue Le, and they helped Yue Le's personal soldiers escort Yue Le to Tiger Rock to meet Lu Fatzi, In the end, he personally sent an elite cavalry to Jiaoxi Pass to ambush in case of emergency.

After everything was ready to stop, on the evening of April 23, Yue Le took the lead with twenty guards to the foot of the tiger rock mountain that looked like a tiger, and after carefully searching for no ambush, he lit three red lanterns, laid out a carpet and a low table, and lit an oil lamp on the low table, patiently waiting for the arrival of Fat Lu. And about half an hour later, when the sky was about to be completely dark, the sentry flew to report to Yue Le, saying that four knights had been found in the southwest, also carrying three red lanterns, and were rushing to this side.

"Only four people?" Yue Leleng was stunned, and said in his heart what the hell is Lu Fatzi doing, saying that he would bring twenty guards each, why did he bring three entourage, could it be that the person who came was not Lu Fatzi, but also happened to call the three red lanterns that represented the contact code?

What surprised Yue Le even more was still behind, with the bright moon and the open terrain, Yue Le soon saw clearly that one of the four knights who came was really Fat Lu - no way, Fat Lu's body shape was too easy to identify. Surprised, Yue Le hurriedly sent guards to check whether Lu Fatzi and the others were carrying illegal weapons according to the agreement, and Lu Fatzi also sent a young man with thief eyebrows to check whether Yue Le's guards were carrying long-range weapons such as bows and arrows and muskets in turn, until both sides found that the other party had kept their promises, Lu Fatzi turned over and dismounted, and came to Yue Le with the three entourage.

Lu Fatzi's three entourages are very distinctive, the young man who checked the weapon is considered to be good-eyed, but his face has a lewd feeling that gives people the feeling of thief's eyebrows, and the other is a black, fat and short little fat man, with a silly smile on his face all the time, and the last one is simply a cross-eyed, so Yue Le inevitably secretly admires Lu Fatty-where are you looking for so many superb followers? Under admiration, Yue Le couldn't help but smile and asked, "Lord Lu, didn't you say that you should bring twenty followers each?" Why is it still so big, only bringing three followers, and not afraid that Xiao Wang will temporarily overwhelm the crowd? ”

"Crowded? Just a few of your waste entourage, it's not enough to stuff Fang Shiyu and Hong Xiguan between their teeth, right? Fat Lu sneered in his heart, but said extremely respectfully: "Prince An is laughing, if the prince is a widow and a treacherous person, he will not dare to come to anything." It is precisely because of the humble gentleman who keeps his promises and can trust the prince in his humble duties that in order to show his respect for the prince, the lower officials temporarily decided to bring only three retinues to show their sincerity. ”

"Okay, Lu Yifeng, this barbarian is still very sincere." Although he didn't completely believe in Lu Fatzi's words, Yue Le was still very satisfied with Lu Fatzi's flattery and modesty, and took the initiative to turn around and order to the twenty guards who accompanied him: "You only have three people left, and the others are a hundred steps away." ”

"Cover." The guards agreed, leaving only the three best guards to protect Yue Le, and the remaining seventeen people scattered separately to monitor from a distance of 100 paces. Lu Fatzi said with fake modesty: "Prince An doesn't have to be like this, the humble position has already been said, and the humble position can trust the character of the prince." ”

"You don't need to be polite, you have said a fair conversation, and this king can't take advantage of you." Yue Le waved his hand magnanimously, and beckoned again: "Lord Lu, come, the barren mountains and mountains are wronged, and you will sit on the carpet." ”

"Thank you, but I haven't asked the prince for peace yet." Lu Fatzi thanked him respectfully, and said to Yue Le again, and said even more respectfully: "Lu Yifeng, the lowly prefect of Qujing, please be safe for Prince An, the prince is auspicious." ”

"Lord Lu, please get up, don't be polite, please take a seat." Yue Le smiled and returned the salute, and after beckoning Fat Lu to sit down, he smiled at Fat Lu again: "Lord Lu, this king and you are meeting for the second time, I can't imagine that it has only been a few years since I said goodbye, Lord Lu has not only been promoted to several levels now, and you are the prefect, but also famous all over the world, on the territory of the Qing Dynasty, no one knows, no one knows, it is really Shibei San, I have to be impressive." ”

"The prince has won the award, thanks to the blessing of the emperor and the prince, and he was lucky enough to make such a little achievement." Lu Fatzi seemed to be very modest and said: "As for the promotion of officials, it is the emperor's wrong love, and he is really ashamed to be humble. ”

"Lord Lu is too modest, if you are all in a high position, then among the thousands of officials in my Qing Dynasty, there is simply no one who can be regarded as competent." Yue Le smiled and said casually: "Among the civil and military officials of the Qing Dynasty, who doesn't know that Lord Lu has served as the magistrate of Qujing for three years, and Leng has turned the poor and remote county town of Qujing into a small Yangzhou in Yunnan, Guizhou, and the officials and gentry are rich in the southwest?" And you have been in Nanning for less than a few months, and you have turned Nanning Mansion, where birds do not lay eggs, into a fragrant dumpling that everyone is in demand, if you are still incompetent and incompetent, then there are really few officials in the Qing Dynasty who are not ashamed to death. ”

"The prince has won awards, awards, it's too much of an award." Fat Lu was pretended to be modest.

"Lord Lu doesn't have to be modest, these are all facts." Yue Le's words suddenly changed, and he changed his serious face, "But what makes this king can't figure it out is that Lord Lu, since you are already famous in the government and the opposition, and you are deeply favored by the saint, you have been entrusted with important tasks by the saint, and your future is bright, and the future is incomparably great, why do you want to destroy your reputation, help the abuse, and join forces with the traitor Wu Sangui to raise an army?" He even captured the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, Lord Gan, and sacrificed it to the traitor Wu Sangui Lingchi to be executed, and if he made a mistake again and again, Lord Lu was not afraid that when Wu Sangui was defeated and died, he would suffer from the disaster of the pond fish and die without a place to be buried? ”

"Lord An, I have always admired you for my humble position, so in front of you, I don't dare to lie about it." Fat Lu also changed his serious face, and said righteously: "Why did the lower official follow the prince of Pingxi to raise troops on the side of the Qingjun and kill the traitors, this question, Prince An seems to have asked the wrong person, right?" Lord An, this question, you seem to be going to ask Ao Bai that power and rebel thief, right? ”

"What is the matter with Master Guan Ao?" Yue Le asked in surprise, and his momentum was not only lame.

"What's the matter with him?" Lu Fatzi sneered and asked loudly: "The people of Qujing plant the Eight Banners Fushou Cream, even in a bumper year without natural disasters [***], one or two Eight Banners Fushou Paste can only be sold for three or four dollars of silver, but the old thief has to pay a tax of eight yuan, how can the people of Qujing afford it?" ”

"That's it." Yue Le suddenly realized, and hurriedly explained: "Lord Lu has misunderstood, although Taishi Ao has not considered this matter, he definitely did not deliberately target the people of Qujing. This king will not hide it from you, Ao Taishi's move is actually aimed at Wu Sangui's rebels, and to combat the arrogance of Wu Sangui's rebels to evade taxes in the Qing Dynasty. ”

"Ao Bai and the prince of Pingxi are vying for power and profit, and the lower officials don't want to take care of it." Lu Fatzi said eloquently: "But the lower official is the prefect of Qujing, the parent official of the people of Qujing, he should cherish the people, for the shepherd of the Son of Heaven, worship the old thief regardless of the life and death of the people of Qujing, and force the people of Qujing to a dead end, the lower officials should rise up to resist and help the prince of Pingxi to kill the rebels, and the Qing monarch will be punished by the power, otherwise, how can the lower officials be worthy of the people of Qujing?" How can you be worthy of the trust of the Son of Heaven? ”

Of course, Lu Fatzi's words were strong words, and he insisted that his rebellion was forced by Aobai, but Yue Le couldn't find half a word to refute, and was silent for a while. The more Lu Fatzi spoke, the more excited he became, and said shamelessly: "As for the subordinate officials trapping Gan Wenkun's father and son, the prince of Pingxi raised troops to appease, and the Qing monarch was annihilated by power, Gan Wenkun, as the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou, not only did not sympathize with the people's feelings and raised troops to support him, but instead reported the news, led the army to resist, and shamelessly killed seven innocent Yungui women who were defiled by his occupation!" If the lower officials arrest him according to the law of the country, what is the crime? ”

"This guy was so thick-skinned yesterday? Trapping Gan Wenkun to offer Wu Sangui's old thief a reward for his merits, can he still be said to be so high-sounding? Yue Le wondered in his heart. After thinking about it quickly, Yue Le had to turn his words to the point, and said seriously: "Lord Lu, the reason why you followed Wu Sangui's rebels to rebel and trap Gan Wenkun, let's not talk about him, you can also ignore the crimes of Wu Sangui's rebels before you - right now, Ao Taishi personally raised 300,000 troops to march south, and it is only a day and night to exterminate Wu Sangui's rebels, Lord Lu, don't you want to think about your future?" ”

"So this guy really wants to recruit me." Obedient and listening, as soon as Yue Le said this, Fat Lu immediately understood his true intentions, and he was greatly relieved - since Yue Le just wanted to recruit himself, then there should be no other tricks.

"Lord Lu, please think about it carefully." Yue Le continued: "Once Wu Sangui's old thief is defeated, even if you don't die on the battlefield, you are doomed to be captured alive by the Qing army. ”

"I really can't imagine it." Lu Fatzi was also honest, and said very frankly: "Once the prince of Pingxi fails to rebel and his humble position falls into the hands of Aobai, then it is still light for him to be executed by Ling Chi and exterminate the nine clans, and it is already lucky not to be frustrated and ashes after death." ”

"It's good that Lord Lu understands this." Yue Le was overjoyed, and hurriedly said: "Lord Lu, since you understand this, then why don't you want to think about getting lost and returning and atonement for your sins?" ”

"Of course I want to." Fat Lu replied very briskly.

"Then what are you going to do, Lord Lu?" Yue Le asked in surprise.

"Regarding this, the humble position can only listen to the orders of Prince An." Lu Fatzi said very happily: "In the future, Lord An, if you have anything to do with your humble service, you will definitely do your best to serve the dogs and horses." As long as you can help Prince An to kill Aobai and eradicate the power annihilation, even if you go to the soup and break your bones, you will not hesitate to ask the prince to say a few more good words for the humble position in front of the emperor, please see the humble role of assisting the prince to eradicate the old thief, and forgive the ............ of the crimes before the humble position. ”

"Wait, wait." Yue Le hurriedly interrupted Fat Lu and asked confusedly, "Lord Lu, what do you mean by this?" Why does this king get worse the more he listens to it? When did this king say that you were invited to help you deal with Ao Taishi? ”

"Lord An, you will soon understand." Lu Fatzi didn't answer the rhetorical question, and asked in a deep voice: "Lord Wang, dare to ask a sentence of punishment, if the emperor gives you a secret decree to Prince An, let the prince kill you and worship the power, will you obey the order?" ”

"What are you kidding? How could the emperor make such a holy decree? Yue Le asked angrily.

"Humiliation is to ask, what if?" Lu Fatzi said unhurriedly: "Worship and deceive the heavens and the earth, roar the court, mutilate living beings, wolves are unkind, and the crime is obvious!" If the emperor issued such a secret decree, let the prince take advantage of the opportunity of serving as Aobai's deputy to capture and kill the old thief of Aobai, take over the power of the 300,000 army of the Qing Dynasty, and make peace with the prince of Pingxi, will you obey the order? ”

"What do you mean by that?" Through the bright moonlight and the oil lamp on the low table, seeing the serious expression on Fat Lu's fat face, Yue Le suddenly had a bad premonition.

"Lord An, please ask again, I don't know if the prince knows Tong Guowei?" Fat Lu asked solemnly again.

"Of course I do." Yue Le nodded and replied, "He is the younger brother of Empress Xiaozhangkang, the younger brother of Tong Guogang, the Minister of the Guard, and the uncle of the current emperor. ”

"Master Tong Guowei." Lu Fatzi said word by word: "Now, it's in Guiyang City!" ”

"What?" Yue Le was shocked, jumped up and shouted, "How is it possible? Tong Guowei in Guiyang City? When did he arrive in Guiyang? ”

"When did Lord Tong Guowei arrive in Guiyang, the lower officials are lowly and lowly, and it is not clear." Fat Lu shook his head, and said solemnly: "But the lowly position does not dare to deceive the prince, in fact, the lowly position came to meet with the prince tonight, not only the general Gao Dejiegao in Zhenyuan City knows, but even Lord Tong Guowei Tong also knows." ”

"Tong Guowei also knows?" Yue Le was even more shocked, and hurriedly asked again, "Then what did he say?" ”

"Master Tong Guowei, let the humble post bring this to the prince." Fat Lu took out a scroll of yellow silk from his arms, "When the prince sees it, he understands everything." ”

"Bring it to me." Yue Le hurriedly stretched out his hand.

"Lord Wang." Fat Lu didn't hand the scroll to Yue Le, but said extremely seriously: "Lord Wang, before looking at this thing, I still want to say something to Lord Wang. ”

"Lord Lu, please say something, this king listens to me." Yue Le couldn't wait to urge.

"Lord Wang, I don't know if you still remember, when I was in the Tiren Pavilion, the Son of Heaven gave a banquet." Lu Fatzi said very sincerely: "At that time, the emperor was wrongly loved, and he sat at the third table of the chief of the humble position, and had the honor to drink with the prince, and the people at the same table were either the prince or Baylor, and no one put the humble position in his eyes, even the humble duty took the initiative to toast, and they also regarded the humble words as a deaf ear, and turned a blind eye to the humble position, that is, the prince, you are a corporal of Lixian, and the humble duty touched a cup, and also taught the humble duty earnestly, and patiently dialed it. ”

"At that time, although I didn't say anything, in my heart, I was already moved and crying." Fat Lu's voice suddenly choked a little, "I swore in my heart at that time that as long as I still have a breath of humiliation, I must repay the great kindness ...... the prince." ”

"It's all in the past, why are you mentioning him?" Yue Le said casually: "Besides, you did a good job in Qujing, I heard that when you transferred out of Qujing, the people of Qujing cried all over the city, just by virtue of this, this king is already very pleased, and you have already repaid this king." ”

"No, the lowly duty must be repaid." Lu Fatzi shook his head resolutely, and said in a slow tone: "So today I take this opportunity to remind the prince that the prince should not look at the things that Lord Tong Guowei asked the humble post to bring, the prince had better not look at it, if you don't look at it, you don't know, and those who don't know it are not guilty. ”

"What the hell is in here?" Yue Le gasped and asked tentatively, "Could it be that this is the emperor's secret decree?" ”

Fat Lu nodded and said in a low voice: "The humble position is bold, and I have already peeked at the contents, which is the emperor's secret decree to the prince, so the humble position advises the prince not to read this secret edict of the Son of Heaven, so as not to be in a dilemma and in danger." Lord Tong Guowei didn't have the courage to sneak into the Aobai army to pass on the decree, Lord Wang, you just refused to accept the decree under the pretext of not believing in the words of the humble position. ”

Yue Le's face changed even more, and he remembered the previous report on Xiao Mazi's release of Wu Yingxiong and the reward for his reinstatement, and immediately guessed the content of this holy decree, and asked tremblingly: "Could it be that this secret edict of the emperor is to let this king attack the Taishi?" ”

Fat Lu was silent, and only said slowly for a long time: "Lord Wang, this matter is too dangerous, if you are a little careless, if you leak a little rumor, you will not be able to protect your head, Lord Wang." Therefore, Lord Wang, I think that you had better not look at this secret edict, and then find a way to leave the Aobai camp and let others take this risk. ”

Yue Le was silent, and only after a long time did he whisper: "Since it is the secret edict of the Son of Heaven, and Yue Le is a courtier, can he refuse to accept the edict because he is afraid of danger?" Lord Lu, your kindness, this king understands it, but this king really can't listen to your kind advice, secret edict, you better leave it to me. ”

"Lord Wang, have you made up your mind?" Lu Fatzi said without giving up: "If you accept this secret edict, it is extremely dangerous to follow the order, and if you do not follow the order, it is a crime of resisting the order and not complying with the order, and it is also a capital crime." ”

Yue Le didn't answer, but Fat Lu stretched out his right hand, his wrist didn't tremble at all, and he looked extremely calm and resolute. Fat Lu sighed, and finally put the holy decree in Yue Le's hand, patted Yue Le's wrist again, and said in a low voice: "Lord Wang, you have done your best to take care of your humble duties, it's time to resign from your humble duties." After the extermination of Aobai, if you are lucky enough to not die, please be safe in front of the prince and take care. ”

After that, Fat Lu got up and left the table, and after bowing solemnly to Yue Le, he led the three dogs to turn over and get on the horse, and set off to leave, and the twenty guards brought by Yue Le naturally did not dare to stop him because they did not see Yue Le's order. And Fat Lu couldn't walk a few steps, and suddenly turned around and kindly reminded Yue Le: "Lord Wang, if you feel really embarrassed after reading it, you can deduce that this secret decree is a lowly transfer, and you can't believe it is true or false." Or say that the lowly job looks nervous, put down the secret edict and leave, so you can't believe it, everything just pushes it to the lowly job. Humble duty is not to worry about many accounts, lice are not itchy, and I am not afraid of carrying the responsibility of not doing a good job. ”

"Remember, the lowly is gone." Fat Lu said another word of advice, and led the three dogs to trot away. Leaving Yue Le in place hesitating, he didn't know if he should immediately open the little pockmark secret in his hand and watch.

Because they were afraid that Yue Le would send someone to chase and kill them because of the sudden revelation, Lu Fatzi and the others had been running for more than ten miles, and when they were almost under the city of Zhenyuan, Xiao Erlang and Hong Xiguan asked Lu Fatzi curiously: "Young Master, is this the end?" The little ones saw that you didn't talk much to Yue Le? ”

"A smart person like Yue Le, the more he talks, the harder it is for him to believe." Fat Lu replied with a sneer: "On the contrary, it is so concise and vague, and he is vague and asks him to suspect and analyze it himself, but he is easy to believe." ”

"Young Master, will Yue Le listen to the words of that secret decree and kill Aobai?" Xiao Erlang asked.

"Of course not." Fat Lu said categorically: "Who is Yue Le? Will he launch a mutiny and kill the commander of the whole army because of a secret edict of unknown origin? Besides, whether that false secret can be hidden from his eyes is probably a question. ”

"Won't?!" Xiao Erlang exclaimed like a pig, "Then young master, what are you still tossing?" Still taking such a big risk, he ran to Tiger Rock in the middle of the night to meet the prince of the dogs? What's the use of that? ”

"What's the use? It's very useful! Lu Fatzi laughed, and said with an extremely hideous expression: "I bet that as long as that false holy decree can hide from Yue Le's eyes, with his surname and overall situation, not only will he not receive the decree to kill Aobai!" On the contrary, this secret edict will be handed over to Aobai! ”

(To be continued)