Thirty miles west of Shuoquan City, although it was late at night, there were bursts of cheers and murderous aura.

The war drums rumble, the horns are deserted, more than a dozen phalanxes are on the empty land, advancing and retreating in an orderly manner, promoting, the pace is neat, the momentum is fierce, the formation of each team is fast and slow, fast but not chaotic, slow but not sluggish, fast as the mountains and seas, and the slow ones are like Mount Tai pressing the top.

Spearmen, shieldmen, and archers are mixed together, and it seems that the arms are chaotic, but they are obviously stacked and orderly, and although the coordination is still rusty, between the display of the command flag, each team can strictly follow the command of the order.

On a hillside not far away, Pei Ji put his hands behind his back, his expression was solemn, he looked condescendingly, and from time to time he gave orders to the standard-bearers around him to drill the formation.

A fast horse galloped down, to the bottom of the hillside, rolled off the horse, climbed up the hillside, there was already a guard stepped forward to stop him, the man took out a letter from his bosom, handed it with both hands, the guard took the letter, turned up the hill, went to the side of Pei Ji, and handed the letter up.

Pei Ji took the letter and opened it, there was already a guard approaching with a torch on the side, Pei Ji glanced at it a few times, and his brows were locked.

"General, what's wrong?" Beside Pei Ji, the armored Fat Liu couldn't help but ask.

After Fat Liu and Wang Han came to the northwest from Xishan to serve Chu Huan, they were also rising step by step, and now they are also holding important positions in the Zhenxi Army, and the Northwest Cavalry Corps with Xu Shao as the main general is now stationed in the area of Qingyuan Horse Farm, rebuilding the horse farm, training cavalry, and carrying out military camps near the horse farm.

Pei Ji put away the letter and said, "There was an accident in Jiazhou, and Xuanyuan Sheng asked me to go to Jiazhou. ”

"To Koshu?" Wang Han frowned and said: "General, the last general has the courage to speak out, now that Chu Du is not here, the general is in charge of Shuoquan, Shuoquan is the heart of the northwest, where it is important, Xuanyuan Sheng can't not understand this truth, even if there is a change in Jiazhou, he can only come to see the general, how can he let the general leave Shuoquan?" ”

Pei Ji said with a smile: "The trouble that Xuanyuan Shengcai encountered made him dare not leave lightly. ”

"Oh?" Fat Liuqi said: "General, what happened in Jiazhou, to let the general go out in person?" ”

"I'm afraid Lu Cunxiao is going to rebel." Pei Ji said: "Xuanyuan Shengcai said in the letter that Lu Cunxiao has been acting strangely recently, and he has been in private with some unknown people, Xuanyuan Shengcai secretly arrested a person who had a secret relationship with Lu Cunxiao, and the interrogation learned that this person is a fish that has slipped through the net in Huluzhai!" ”

"The fish that slipped through the net in Hulu Village?" Fat Liu sneered: "Does it have anything to do with that General Qiu?" ”

Although Chu Huan led his troops to exterminate the gourd village and subdued the remnants of the gourd village led by Lu Cunxiao, General Qiu escaped in the chaos and was never heard from.

Fat Liu naturally thought about whether it was General Qiu's thief who was not dead and intended to make a comeback, and sent someone to secretly contact Lu Cunxiao.

Wang Han frowned and said: "General, although Lu Cunxiao is a bandit Zhao'an, but he is also loyal, since he has joined the command of Chu Du, if he rebels again at this time, this must also be carefully considered." ”

"Lao Wang, Lu Cunxiao has followed General Qiu for many years, and he used to be a capable general under General Qiu." Fat Liu said: "If it were someone else, maybe he wouldn't be moved, but if it was really General Qiu's resurgence, it was hard to guarantee that Lu Cunxiao would not be moved by General Qiu!" Raising his hand and touching his chubby chin, "And this is General Xuanyuan's own letter, he has caught the person who met with Lu Cunxiao in secret, there will be no fake?" ”

Wang Han frowned, his lips moved slightly, but he didn't speak.

Pei Ji saw it in his eyes and asked with a smile: "Wang Han, what do you have to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it." ”

Wang Han hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "General, Xigu Pass is blocked, no accident, of course it is the meaning of the imperial court, that is the general who came to our northwest, Xuanyuan Sheng can be said to be a member of the Xuanyuan family, his cousin Xuanyuan Shao, is the commander of the Royal Guard, and the Xuanyuan family is loyal to the Qin State!" At this point, he didn't go on.

Fat Liu was naturally not as calm as Wang Han, and couldn't help but say: "Old Wang, what do you mean is that Xuanyuan Sheng is framing Lu Cunxiao, and it is not Lu Cunxiao who is rebelling, but!" ”

Wang Han immediately stopped: "Fat Liu, don't talk nonsense, before there is no evidence, no one can be sure who intends to rebel against Chu Du is not there, the northwest is not monolithic, the general is sitting in the northwest, naturally he has to think twice, if he wrongs a good person, it will certainly make the soldiers feel cold, but once someone really has bad intentions, they must also prepare early." ”

Pei Ji said with a smile: "What Wang Han said is right, before there is no evidence, no one is plotting against anyone. ”

"General, what are you going to do?" Fat Ryu asked, "You don't really want to go to Koshu, do you?" ”

Pei Ji said: "Why don't you go?" Since there has been a change in Jiazhou, it is difficult to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, and Chu Governor entrusted me with the important affairs of the northwest before leaving, if I don't go, wouldn't I be guilty of Chu Governor? ”

Fat Liu hurriedly said: "General, you can hey, don't be confused, Jiazhou is the land of Xuanyuan Shengcai, if the humble position is to say if, if he really has evil thoughts, you go, wouldn't you throw yourself into the net?" ”

Although Pei Ji is strict in governing the army, he is very easy-going with the soldiers on weekdays, Fat Liu has a straightforward temperament, and it is difficult to hold it in his stomach if he has words.

Wang Han also persuaded: "General, what Fat Liu said, the words are not rough, now that you are sitting in the northwest, you must not make the slightest mistake, with the view of humble duty, you can send someone to Jiazhou to understand the situation first." Qiu Daxia is still in the city at the moment, it is better to let Qiu Daxia go out and go to Jiazhou to find out the situation! ”

At this time, but heard the sound of horses' hooves, the horse neighed, a few people looked over, only to see a fast horse has arrived at the bottom of the hillside, the person on the horse is wearing a hat, wearing a black coat, covering the body in it, Wang Han and Fat Liu are frowning, the hat man has turned over and dismounted, standing under the hillside, slightly raised his head to look at the hillside, the sky is dark, although the hillside is lit with torches, Wang Han and others can not see the person's face clearly for a while.

The man stood for a moment, looked around again, and finally slowly walked up the hillside, and soon, a guard stepped forward to stop him, but this time Pei Ji had already said in a loud voice: "Let him come up!" ”

The guard didn't hesitate to step aside and get out of the way.

The hat man sped up his pace and walked to the hillside, but Pei Ji slowly caught up, because of the snow lotus of the Tianshan Mountain, his lame leg gave people a sense of resurrection, although he was still a little lame when walking, but the amplitude was much smaller than before, if you don't look closely, it is even difficult to see that he is a lame.

The hat man walked in front of Pei Ji, raised his hand, and lifted the hat up, Pei Ji saw the person coming, but he looked very calm, but the fat willow who followed behind Pei Ji saw the appearance of the person who came, showed surprise, and said in a lost voice: "It's you!" ”

The sunset has been setting from the horizon for a long time, but Lu Cunxiao is very tired at this time, and he is not in a good mood, not because of the fatigue of the inspection, but because of what he has seen in the past few days.

Among the many generals in the northwest, Lu Cunxiao is a figure who really comes from the grassroots.

He wanted to live a peaceful life with the sun rising and resting, his wife and children were hot on the kang, but God did not give him this opportunity, the taxes of Daqin made him miserable for a living from farming, and the invasion of the Western Liang people made him angry at the barbarism of the Western Liang people, and even more angry at the weakness of the Qin State.

The empire levied heavy taxes, and the people were not clothed and fed, but in the end, such an empire could not withstand the invasion of foreign enemies, and the lives of the northwest were devastated.

Lu Cunxiao is bloody, and in despair, he still rose up and led a group of men to Hulu Village.

In Huluzhai, he was born and died, robbed the government, but never hurt the people, his heart was full of hatred for the government, but he could understand the pain of the people.

After following Chu Huan, he knew that Chu Huan was a good official, but although a series of policies were implemented, the northwest had a new look, but famine was the biggest cancer plaguing the northwest.

The people have the support of the government and are dedicated to farming, and the land in the northwest can be seen everywhere with green rice fields, and you can also see the people who are working hard in the fields, but the shortage of food has become a fatal problem, and the price of grain in the market has been high, and now it has risen continuously, and there have been many places because of the lack of food, and the people have been starved to death.

Although there are not many such situations at present, when Lu Cunxiao was inspecting, he saw that the old farmer who had been working in the field suddenly fell to the ground and could no longer get up, and his heart became heavier and heavier.

He knew very well that this situation, with the blockade of Xigu Pass, would become more and more severe.

Chu Huan ordered him to assist Xuanyuan Shengcai in Jiazhou, and Xuanyuan Shengcai was in Jiazhou, but he was going to inspect the army everywhere, according to the order handed down by the general Pei Ji, no matter where the soldiers and horses were stationed, they must act in accordance with the unified military regulations, even if it is a daily exercise, it must not be interrupted, and Lu Cunxiao must often raid and inspect the garrisons everywhere, so as not to make the garrisons slack.

At dusk, he received an order, Xuanyuan Shengcai suddenly came to Tanghe County, where Lu Cunxiao was located, and camped by the river less than twenty miles outside the county seat.

Lu Cunxiao didn't know why Xuanyuan Shengcai suddenly came to Tanghe County at such a time, but after receiving Xuanyuan Shengcai's order, Lu Cunxiao didn't dare to delay, led a few relatives, and quickly rushed to Xuanyuan Shengcai's station.

The river is murmuring, there is a tent standing by the river, the sky is completely dark, but the sky is bright and the moon is faint, the tent is lit with lights, more than a dozen war horses are tied nearby, and the entourage brought by Xuanyuan Shengcai is only a dozen people.

When Lu Cunxiao entered the tent, Xuanyuan Shengcai was sitting cross-legged on the ground, holding a cloth in one hand and a cold dagger in the other, carefully wiping every place of the dagger.