"Ding Ding Dangdang ......" The sound of weapons striking each other was endless, Zhang Fei pressed forward step by step, Mao Zong held on for a moment, and retreated to the bottom of the stairs, simply threw the knife, gave up resistance, raised his neck and shouted: "You kill me!" Kill me! ”

Mao Yan, who was talking to Zhang's in the hall, was taken aback when she heard this, and hurriedly confessed to Zhang's guilt, and ran over to ask, "What's the matter?" Chengming, what's wrong with you? ”

"I don't practice anymore." Mao Zong shook his hand, his face was flushed with anger, and he said angrily: "Anyway, no matter how I practice, I am not their opponent, I lose once I fight, I lose the face of the Mao family." After thinking about it, he pointed to Liu Xiu, who was sitting on the side and snickering: "He is eccentric, he only teaches Yide and Xuande, not me." ”

Mao Yan touched Mao Zong's head lovingly, wiped the sweat beads on his forehead and the tears of grievance that were about to fall from his eyes, and said angrily: "How old are you, you are still so childish, and you are not afraid of being embarrassed." ”

"I'm always embarrassed anyway, and it doesn't matter if I lose more." Mao Zong pouted, sat on the steps, and did not speak. When Mao Yan saw it, she couldn't bear to talk about him anymore, so she turned to Liu Xiu and said: "Deran, you too, isn't Chengming your friend, how can you favor one over the other?" ”

Liu Xiu hurriedly explained: "Sister-in-law, you have wronged me. When we practiced martial arts and never hidden, when did Chengming not watch? I can't blame him for not being able to beat Yide, and I certainly can't blame him. Yide has been on the battlefield and fought hard with Xianbei people, even if Chengming practices well, he doesn't have his murderous aura, and he doesn't have a murderous aura, and he hasn't seen blood, so it's a cut off after all. ”

Mao Yan listened reasonably, and it was not good to blame Liu Xiu anymore, looking at the aggrieved Mao Zong, I didn't know how to persuade him. Liu Xiu walked over, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that Mao Zong was sad, it was not good to practice martial arts with anyone, but he met these three people, he was born with divine power, his eyesight and movements were all first-class good, in Dunwu's words, it is difficult not to be a master, he was born with the life of ten thousand enemies, Zhang Fei needless to say, he is a ten thousand enemies, even the worst Liu Bei is much stronger than ordinary people, otherwise he would not have survived the pursuit of the Xianbei people, and practiced martial arts with them, probably except for Zhao Yun and Guan Yu, Most people's self-confidence hurts. It's just that Mao Zong himself is really not the material for martial arts, and it is useless to practice with all his might, the gap is not narrowing, but increasing day by day.

"Chengming, don't think so, in fact, with your martial arts, it won't be a problem to be a tiger Benlang now......"

"I know, I can only compare with those useless boys." Mao Zong glared at Liu Xiu and said angrily.

Since Emperor Guangwu reformed the military system, not only the local soldiers of the counties and counties have been basically banned, but even the forbidden army in Luoyang is no longer requisitioned from all over the country as before, whether it is the Lang official in the palace or the tiger ben and Yulin who guard the palace gate and the palace gate, most of them are the children of everyone near the Beijing Division, they are Lang officials because this is a shortcut, and unlike the previous dynasty, the current Lang officials or Hu Ben and Yulin basically do not need to fight in the frontier, their martial arts are used in brawls and sloppy, and Liu Xiu, Zhang Fei, the warriors who went into battle to fight, were too far behind.

As soon as Mao Zong heard that Liu Xiu compared him with those people, he immediately felt that he had been insulted even more. Liu Xiu also knew that he was wrong, so he hurriedly greeted him and apologized. In fact, Mao Zong said that he hid his secrets and did not completely slander him, the reason why his martial arts skills were practiced to this extent in just a few months, on the one hand, is because he has been on the battlefield, on the other hand, it is because of the family heirloom of the mastery, after getting Zhang Ming's guidance, his hegemony cultivation is progressing very smoothly, and now he is stationed in the dantian, but he has never met his father, he doesn't know what the next step of the hegemony is, and he doesn't dare to act rashly, otherwise, he may soon be able to pass Xiao Zhoutian.

It's just these, he won't say it to Mao Zong anyway, even Zhang Fei and Liu Bei didn't say it, but Mao Zong remembered that he had been practicing martial arts for a shorter time than him, and he was still a layman when he first arrived in Peach Valley, so he often compared him, and his self-confidence was hurt when he compared, but he didn't know that he had a plug-in.

Several people were persuading Mao Zong, Lu Min walked in, and when he saw that the courtyard was so lively, he couldn't help but be a little surprised: "What's wrong?" ”

When Liu Xiu and the others saw it, Lu Min looked very tired, his face was not good, and he hurriedly stopped, and even Mao Zong, who was playing with a child's temper, didn't dare to squeak. Mao Yan greeted him and looked at Lu Min with concern, Zhang shook off Lu Shen's support, walked down quickly, pulled Lu Min's arm, and asked a little nervously: "Zixing, what's wrong?" ”

Lu Min was stunned for a moment, hurriedly squeezed out a smile, and shook his head, "It's okay, it's just a little tired, which makes my mother worried, my son is really unfilial." ”

Zhang didn't believe it, and felt more and more that Lu Min was in trouble, "Is it really okay?" ”

"It's really fine." Lu Min turned to Mao Yan and said, "Grandma, I'm hungry, you can help me prepare some food." He looked at Liu Xiu, who was packing up his weapons and preparing to disperse, and hesitated for a moment: "Deran, you can come to my study later." ”

Liu Xiu hurriedly responded, and it could be seen from Lu Min's expression that there was probably some accident in the meeting with the Son of Heaven today. He was a little strange, he had been talking quite well a few days ago, Lu Min was dancing with his eyebrows every time he came back, what's wrong with today? He pulled Liu Bei, who was driving for Lu Min, aside to ask, Liu Bei didn't know, he only knew that Lu Min's eyes were in a trance when he left the palace, and he didn't say a word along the way, maybe he was frightened in the palace.

After Lu Min finished dinner, he called Liu Xiu to the study and said bluntly: "I made the Son of Heaven unhappy today." ”

"For what?"

Lu Min clasped his hands together and squeezed them hard, "The Son of Heaven asked me what I thought of the officials in the DPRK and China, and I ...... I shouted two grievances for the party, but as a result, the Son of Heaven's face changed color when he heard it, and he brushed his sleeves away. After a while, a small yellow door came out, let me go out of the palace first, come back and think about it, and then discuss it tomorrow when I enter the palace. ”

Thinking of the anger of the Son of Heaven at that time, his eyes were a little flustered, he still didn't know how he got out of the palace, and how he got out of Luoyang City, the composure in front of Zhang and Mao Yan just now was all faked. If he didn't get into the eyes of the Son of Heaven at the beginning, then that's it, but the progress has been good these days, everyone thinks that he will definitely be entrusted with important tasks by the Son of Heaven, and he will be able to soar in the future.

"Senior brother, don't be in a hurry, speak slowly, and recall the situation at that time." Liu Xiu comforted: "Since the Son of Heaven is going to let you attack tomorrow, I think things haven't reached the point of being out of control." Senior brother, you have been summoned by the Son of Heaven to the palace for seven consecutive days, and this honor is enough to leave a name in history. ”

Lu Min grinned, smiled silently, drank two sips of water in succession, and then slowly calmed down and told the story in detail. He originally talked to the Son of Heaven very well, and the Son of Heaven asked him a lot of questions about the battle of Ningcheng, most of these things Lu Min had personally experienced, and many accounts were also handled by him. At this point, he neither agreed with Liu Yu's appeasement, appeasement would only fuel the arrogance of the Xianbei people, nor did he agree with Xia Yu's extermination, in fact, he did not have the strength to exterminate the Xianbei people, he proposed to immigrate to the border, in the frontier tuntian, which can not only increase the economic strength of the border county, but also provide troops. The Son of Heaven was very interested in this idea, discussed a lot of details with him, and even revealed that he wanted Lu Min to preside over Shanggu Tuntian.

However, everything came to an abrupt end at the mention of the party.

Lu Min mentioned the use of the Dou family in the battle of Ningcheng, he didn't dare to say that it was the Dou family, only said that it was the fleeing party, he thought that the flight of these party members not only brought a lot of knowledge and skills to the Xianbei people, but also made the Han people follow suit, since these celebrities and scholars went to seek refuge in the Xianbei people, what should they not do with ordinary people?

When the Son of Heaven heard this, he became angry, and he didn't even say hello, turned around and left, leaving Lu Min there alone.

Liu Xiu thought for a while, "Did the Son of Heaven ask you about the eunuch?" ”

"Yes."

Liu Xiu looked at Lu Min, no need to ask again, it could be seen from his face that there was definitely nothing good to say. "What was the Son of Heaven's attitude towards you, and how did you react at that time?"

"No response." Lu Min said with some frustration: "I thought he was a sensible person, and he was not as stupid as rumored, so he boldly complained about the party members, hoping to pardon the party members in prison, but I didn't think about ......it."

Lu Min sighed heavily.

"The affairs of the party members cannot be mentioned." Liu Xiu hurriedly shook his hand, and in the face of Lu Min's unhappiness, he smacked his lips: "Senior brother, it's not that I don't want to avenge the grievances of the party members, but I think that we know too little about the affairs of the party members now, maybe things are not what we imagined." Don't say anything else, you also said last time, whether it is Mr., Mr. Cai, or the Yang family and the Yuan family of the fourth and third princes, they are not party members, why? ”

Lu Min was thoughtful.

"Most of what we know about the party comes from rumors, but as you said just now, the Son of Heaven is stupid in the rumors, but after you have seen the Son of Heaven with your own eyes, you find that this is not the case, at least not completely. What does this mean? Explain that rumors should not be fully believed. ”

Lu Min nodded, although he was a little unwilling, he had to admit that he was indeed a little reckless today. Judging from the conversations in the past few days, although the Son of Heaven is not a saint, he is not a fool, his thinking is still very agile, and there is nothing out of the ordinary in his speech, at least he is a middle-aged person, and he is definitely not a fool.

"So what now?"

"I don't know what the Son of Heaven will ask you tomorrow, but I think there is a principle that you should stick to." Liu Xiu said solemnly: "Don't comment on things you don't understand. For the power factions in the court, you should not join any of them. ”

Lu Min's eyes showed doubt.

"As an emperor, I am most afraid that my subordinates will form a faction. The party members were jealous of him, and perhaps there was a reason for this. Liu Xiu followed his own train of thought, and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense. In addition to the imperial power, the Han Dynasty had three factions, one was the foreign relatives, and the other two were the eunuchs and scholars. These three factions of forces fight each other, there are points and combinations, and they are fickle, among which the power of the eunuchs has won many victories, and it seems to be the strongest, but if you think about it, the power of the eunuchs is the thinnest, once the emperor is changed, the power of the eunuchs may be purged, and the relatives and the scholars often collude together, although they are at a disadvantage in many battles, but they are defeated but not killed, and they are defeated and fought repeatedly, and the interference with the imperial power is the greatest.

Now the Empress Song's family is not powerful, Empress Song's father is just a fire captain, you can ignore it, the remaining two factions are eunuchs and scholars, the party is the representative of the scholars, although after the two party failures, the scholars have been hit hard, but the foundation of the scholars is the world's scholars, the emperor is impossible to uproot them, those who are imprisoned at home are like springs, the harder the pressure, the greater the force of the rebound. The Son of Heaven may not know the spring, but he should know it.

At this time, Lu Min spoke out for the party, which inevitably touched the hidden worries of the Son of Heaven, could he reuse a person who sympathized with the party? The more talented the person, the greater the danger in the future.

Liu Xiu's feelings for the party members are not as deep as Lu Min's, and he is even a little disgusted with the party members, especially after the Taixue incident, he feels that the tragedy of the party should have its roots, and it is inappropriate to rashly complain for the party members before understanding the situation.

"Now the world is divided into clear stream and turbid stream, I don't stand with the clear stream party, do I want to stand with the turbid eunuch?"

"Don't forget, Lu Qiang, who helped us deliver the chapter, is a eunuch." Liu Xiu reminded him, he raised his hand to signal Lu Min not to get excited, and suddenly had an idea: "There are not only black and white things in the world, and people are not except for clear currents or turbid currents. ”

"What exactly do you want to say?" Lu Min seemed to understand something, but he didn't seem to understand.

"You are not a clear stream, nor are you a turbid stream." Liu Xiu figured out a question and was in a good mood: "You don't want to be attached to the family, nor to the eunuchs, you are you, and you can only have family and country in your mind." Seeing that Lu Min still ignored it, he raised his voice and said: "Senior brother, if you can enter the office, it is neither recommended by the family nor recommended by the eunuchs, you are selected by the Son of Heaven himself, you are the protégé of the Son of Heaven, in the future, you only need to be loyal to your duties and loyal to the Son of Heaven, do you understand?" ”

Lu Min was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized, he wanted to laugh but didn't laugh, and said with some worry: "Where will the saint be placed?" ”

"The Saint's Scriptures? The saint has only one purpose, to rule the country and level the world. Liu Xiu waved his hand and said loudly: "I think the Son of Heaven is more concerned about the safety of the Han family than you, and no one wants to destroy their own industry." If you really get to that point, you can't reverse the affairs of the world, you just have to abandon your official position and go into hiding. ”

Lu Min smiled to himself and nodded again and again. He was originally a smart person, but he was unconsciously trapped in that circle and couldn't jump out, but now that Liu Xiu opened this layer of window paper, his eyes suddenly widened, and he suddenly found another bright avenue.

Lu Min came back soon after entering the palace the next day, and at noon, he returned to Buyun with joy, and Liu Bei behind him also smiled so much that his face bloomed, holding the green ribbon ink seal of Shanggu Taishou in his hand. Zhang's eyebrows were suddenly happy and smiling, Mao Yan was overjoyed, and Liu Xiu and others were also jubilant. Starting with 2,000 stones, Lu Min reached the height that Lu Zhi had struggled for decades in one leap, and such a promotion speed was very rare for the foreign scholars of the imperial family, especially the Lu family, which had no foundation, and it was not without it in history, but it was very, very rare.

Zhang's was a little confused with happiness, but Mao Yan was more sober, and immediately arranged for Liu Xiu and others to go to the wine and meat to celebrate Lu Min. Everyone got together and had a happy meal.

The appointment of the Son of Heaven is very urgent, Lu Min will soon take office, and as his wife, Mao Yan will also return to Youzhou with him. Lu Min was worried about his mother Zhang and younger brother Lu Shen, for fear that as soon as he left, they would fall into the same life as before, and it was not suitable to leave Mao Yan, no matter how capable she was, she was a woman, not suitable for showing up, and the most suitable candidate was Liu Xiu, but he very much hoped that Liu Xiu could take office with him, and with Liu Xiu by his side, he would have a handy cronie.

Lu Min was in a dilemma, but Liu Xiu was not embarrassed, he didn't want to leave Luoyang, he solved Lu Min's dilemma with one sentence: No one in the court is not an official. You are now the Taishou of Shanggu, and after you arrive in Shanggu, you can recruit a lot of talents for your own use, and if you don't have a trustworthy person to stay in the capital, you won't be an official for long, God knows if someone says a few bad things about you one day, the Son of Heaven will be suspicious of you, maybe you won't even know what's going on and be dismissed. I can take on this responsibility.

Lu Min believed in Liu Xiu's ability, although the Son of Heaven had not yet issued an edict to reward Liu Xiu, but it was only a matter of time, and he could hear from the Son of Heaven's accent that the Son of Heaven's interest in Liu Xiu was not below him.

Before leaving, Mao Yan sent someone to Wang's house to meet Wang Chu's grandfather, Wang Bao. In the past, the status of the Mao family was too low, and she didn't get much respect when she came to visit, and she didn't even see Wang Bao's face, so she only let her son Wang Yu come out to say hello, and now Lu Min is the Taishou of Shanggu, and her identity is different, Wang Bao not only met in person, but also politely invited Lu Min and Mao Yan to be guests, saying that she wanted to go for them and send Lu Min to take office.

Otherwise, no one asks about the poor living in the downtown area, and the rich have distant relatives in the mountains. When she received the invitation from the Wang family, Mao Yan cried with joy.

Liu Xiu also got a good news, Wang Chu had rushed to Luoyang, he immediately squeezed Liu Bei, who had been driving the car for Lu Min, to the side, and wanted to be a coachman himself, but Mao Yan joked and said, you better let Xuande drive, I am afraid that you are too excited, and drove the carriage to Yangqu Shui, which made Liu Xiu blush.

The next time, everyone rushed to Wang's house together. The Wang family lives at the foot of the mountain in the north of the city, on the north bank of the Yangqu River, a place called Fan Liju, which is a rather quiet courtyard. Wang Chu's brother Wang Bin stood at the door to greet him, as soon as he saw Lu Min who was proud of the spring breeze, he greeted him from afar, helped Lu Min get out of the car, and stretched out his hand to help Mao Yan get out of the car, and laughed harmoniously: "As soon as I heard Achu say that Grandma's sister married Lu Jun, I said that this was a good marriage, and sure enough, I said it." Grandma, if you don't believe it, ask Achu later. ”

Mao Yan was in a good mood, how could she care about him, she smiled and thanked her, and then rushed to Zhang's car and helped Zhang out of the car. Zhang wore a solemn dress, looked at the Wang family's courtyard, and felt a little timid, but when he saw the smile on Wang Bin's face, he suddenly gained a little more confidence, straightened his waist, and walked into the gate of the Wang family with his head held high with the help of Mao Yan and Mrs. Wang Bin.

The Wang family was divided into two seats, the men sat in the main hall and were personally received by Wang Yu's father and son, and the female guests were introduced into the backyard by Mrs. Wang Bin, and received by Wang Yu's wife. Wang Chu waited in the main gate, met with Liu Xiu, and helped Zhang into the backyard, although the glance was short-lived, but it made Liu Xiu's heart ape, if it was not limited to etiquette, he couldn't wait to follow him to the back hall and accompany the beauty.

Wang Bin noticed Liu Xiu's expression, a touch of disdain flashed in his eyes, and then he walked over with a smile: "Liu Jun, please take a step to speak." ”

This is the future brother-in-law, and he can't be offended, so Liu Xiu had no choice but to hold his surname and politely salute Wang Bin.

"The sister was rescued by Liu Jun, and Bin was grateful." Wang Bin looked at Liu Xiu, who was smiling, unconsciously straightened his waist and raised his head. They were polite to Lu Min, because Lu Min had a background of celebrities, and now he was promoted to Shanggu Taishou at an unbelievable speed, and he jumped into the class of 2,000 stones, and his future prospects were limitless, but he didn't know that Liu Xiu's strength was inseparable from these things, he thought that Liu Xiu was just a somewhat armed entourage around Lu Min, a commoner who wanted to occupy Lu Jiaguang, and he didn't need to be too polite to treat such people, especially those who didn't think they could do anything, wanted to marry their sister, and threw stones on the road to power in the Wang family.

"It's easy to say, it's easy to say, and I'm willing to serve the Wang family." Liu Xiu's waist is lower, almost a little flattering, no, he is flattering, in order to marry Wang Chu, he is shameless.

"I should have said thank you early, but I was busy with affairs and I haven't been able to thank you in person." Wang Bin beckoned, took a package from an entourage, checked it, and sent it to Liu Xiu: "Luoyang rice is expensive, and it is not easy to live. Liu Jun must have spent a lot of money, here is fifty gold, a mere dirty thing, not a tribute, I hope Liu Jun can accept it, it is a little bit of my Wang family's heart. ”

Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, looking at the package in Wang Bin's hand and not picking it up, what do you mean, you want to settle it with money? Could it be that Lao Tzu's pure feelings can be redeemed with money?

"Wangjun, you ...... What does this mean? Liu Xiu still kept smiling, but he was already a little reluctant.

The smile on Wang Bin's face gradually faded, but he still maintained his demeanor, stuffed the package into Liu Xiu's hand, and said with a smile: "I know that Liu Jun is a noble person, and I don't look down on these copper smells." However, my Wang family can only get these things. Don't hide it from Liu Jun that the sister is preparing to be elected to the palace, and I heard that Liu Jun is brilliant, and I hope that Liu Jun can point out one or two sisters. In case the sister can be selected as Puliu, my Wang family will be grateful at that time. ”

The meaning of these words was already very clear, Liu Xiu slowly straightened up, pushed the package back into Wang Bin's hand, and shook his head: "There is no merit, I am afraid that I will not be able to help my sister enter the palace." ”

"Liu Jun?" Wang Bin's face sank.

Liu Xiu raised his head, looked at Wang Bin's face that was about to have a seizure, but still barely maintained his demeanor, and smiled faintly: "What I want to say is that Sister Ling will definitely not be able to enter the palace." Wang Jun, do you understand? ”

(To be continued)