On the day that Uncle Liu Huang set off from Xiaopei to Xuzhou, the sky of Xuzhou really fell the first snow since the beginning of winter this year, and the snow was falling, and the land of Xuzhou was dressed up like a jade cluster, and the forest was like silver, but Uncle Liu Huang was preoccupied, and he didn't have the heart to appreciate the first snow scene this year, leading Mi Zhu and others and five hundred elite soldiers just to urge the horses to go quickly, and strive to rush to Xuzhou as soon as possible to meet Tao Qian, and also find out the real intention of Tao Qian's father and son to invite him to go south as soon as possible. However, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were carefree, and they still led the soldiers to throw snow for fun while resting, leaving bursts of joy and laughter on the snowy road.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei couldn't laugh soon, after passing the boundary agreed with the Xuzhou army to stay in the county seat of Liuxian, Liu Beijun's soldiers who used to be completely unimpeded in the south of Liuxian County soon found that the people of Xuzhou south of Liuxian County had completely changed their attitude towards them, thinking that when they saw Liu Beijun's banner, the people of Xuzhou in this area had already come up to greet and lead the way, but now these people saw Liu Beijun as if they had seen a plague god, and they had already scattered and avoided from afar, and they could vaguely hear ugly scolding. There were even a few children who threw snow balls at Liu Beijun, shouting, "Liu Bei destroys thieves!" Get out of Xuzhou! Of course, these children were quickly dragged away by their parents and elders, and quickly fled.

In this regard, most of the Liu Beijun soldiers who did not know the truth were of course inexplicable, and there were a few soldiers with a particularly impulsive temper who wanted to trouble those children who threw snowballs, but fortunately, Guan Yu, who only knew part of the truth, shouted loudly and restrained the soldiers from retaliating, so there were no more conflicts with the local people. There is also Zhang Fei, who is even more short-tempered, this time he is also a normal person who takes the lead in restraining military discipline, whipping the soldiers and yelling, "Be honest with me, this is just a misunderstanding, my eldest brother and Tao Fujun have a little misunderstanding, just wait until Xuzhou makes it clear!" Tao Fujun and Tao Gongzi are both benevolent gentlemen, and they are not allowed to harm their people! ”

Seeing such a scene, Uncle Liu Huang and Mi Zhu, who fully understood the truth of the facts, inevitably regretted secretly, regretting that they should not use the trick of throwing bricks and attracting jade to lure Tao Qian's father and son to take the initiative, but they were hit by Tao Qian's father and son, which made Liu Beijun completely lose the foundation of the people's heart, so that Liu Bei's goal of annexing Xuzhou was more difficult to achieve.

"I can only bow my head to Tao Qian for the time being, under the pretext of misunderstanding, I beg Tao Qian to take back the notice, save the hearts of the people of Xuzhou, and then make another good plan." Liu Bei once again strengthened this determination, and did not pay attention to the people of Xuzhou who were hostile to him, and ordered loudly: "Order the whole army, not to clash with the people, speed up the march, and before noon tomorrow, you must arrive in Xuzhou City!" ”

The order was conveyed, and the five hundred Liu Beijun also accelerated the speed to the south, fortunately, the snow was not very big, and it only rained for one morning, and the snow on the road was not very thick, which had little impact on the well-trained Liu Beijun's elite march, so when it was dark, Liu Beijun had arrived at the area of Zhengjiaji, the largest market in the north of Pengcheng, and camped in Zhengjiaji to rest for the night, Liu Beijun set off south again and hurried to Xuzhou.

It was almost noon, Liu Beijun had already come to the ten-mile long pavilion in the north of Xuzhou, which was also the camp where Cao Ying's army attacked Xuzhou when it was located, and saw the vaguely recognizable traces of Cao's army camping, Uncle Liu Huang was angry, and scolded Cao Lao in his heart, "Cao thief, why didn't you kill Tao Ying Xiao'er with a knife at the beginning, but you want to leave this child to restrain me?" Now that the constraints are good, it is difficult for me to annex Xuzhou, and you Cao thief probably won't dare to fight Xuzhou's idea casually. ”

"Big brother, look, Tao Fujun has sent someone to greet us!"

Zhang Fei's cheers interrupted Uncle Liu's regret and regret, Uncle Liu Huang looked up and saw that there was indeed a team of about 200 people at the ten-mile long pavilion in front of him, on both sides of the road covered in red and hanging colors, and at the same time the sound of gongs and drums sounded, Uncle Liu Huang nodded secretly, and said in his heart Tao Qian Lao'er and Tao Ying Xiao'er still know a little politeness, and they can go out to welcome ten miles, and they can be regarded as having a little conscience for the father and son of the thief. But when he got closer and took a closer look, Uncle Liu Huang's nose was almost crooked, and it turned out that it was not Tao Qian's father and son or their lackeys who greeted Uncle Liu Huang at the ten-mile long pavilion, but Mi Zhu's younger brother Mi Fang and Mi Fu Jiading.

"Xuande Gong! Xuande Gong! Mi Fang couldn't wait to run up, bowed from a distance, and shouted: "Xuande Gong, I haven't seen you for a long time, I really want to kill you below!" General Yide, General Yunchang, you are here too! ”

"What are you doing here to greet me, this straw bale? I don't think the father and son of the thief are not paying enough attention to the relationship between your brother and me, right? Also, you don't personally watch the movements of the thief's father and son in Xuzhou City, what's the use of running here to greet me? Uncle Liu Huang roared in his heart, but his face was full of kind smiles, and he dismounted and saluted Mi Fang: "Zifang, I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you very much." ”

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also dismounted and returned the salute, but Mi Zhu was not angry, and shouted to his brother as soon as he got off the horse: "Zifang, why are you here?" And bring so many people from our family? ”

"I inquired, Tao Ying'er was ungrateful, and only planned to greet Xuande Gong in front of the city gate, so I came." Mi Fang replied confidently: "Besides, it is rare for Xuande Gong to go back to Xuzhou City once, and the little brother has the reason to go out of the city for ten miles to greet him?" If the news hadn't arrived late, I would have wanted to go out of the city thirty miles to meet Xuande Gong. ”

Uncle Liu Huang and Mi Zhu both had an urge to strangle Mi Fang to death, Uncle Liu Huang was better, he calmed down and thanked Mi Fang, Mi Zhu seized the opportunity to drag Mi Fang aside, and shouted angrily with a blue face: "You fool!" Don't you stare at Tao Qian's father and son's every move in Xuzhou City, and come here to welcome Xuande Gongxing, what are you doing? Do you think the Xuande Guild will receive your affection? Let's talk quickly, what is the movement in Xuzhou City these days? ”

"There is no movement, but Tao Qian'er is getting sicker and sicker, and he is about to die when he hears it." Mi Fang replied honestly, and whispered as if he had merit: "The junior brother saw Zhang Hang again last night, in addition to giving him some mercury, he also gave him some highly toxic arsenic powder, as long as Xuande Gong is willing, Tao Qian Lao'er can die at any time." ”

Mi Zhu also had no choice but to scold Mi Fang for acting in a few more words, ignoring the front and the back and doing all his useless work, hurriedly returned to Liu Bei's side, and whispered the news that there was no movement in Xuzhou City to Uncle Liu Huang. And when things came to this point, no matter how secretly Uncle Liu hated Mi Fang for leaving the surveillance post, it was useless, so he could only make a mistake, first let Mi Zhu entangle Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and then invite Mi Fang to ride together, while asking Mi Fang about the detailed movements in Xuzhou City in the past few days, he took the opportunity to hint to Mi Fang, asking Mi Fang to blame Tao Ying for poisoning Tao Qian.

Talking to Mi Fang was tired, and it wasn't until he almost told Mi Fang and Pan about the whole opportunity that Mi Fang suddenly realized, and patted his chest and assured Uncle Liu: "Please rest assured that Xuande Gong, after the matter is completed, I will immediately send that Lang Zhong to Xiao Pei, let him act as a witness, and then spread rumors in Xuzhou City, saying that Tao Ying killed his father and poisoned Tao Qian's child." ”

"This millet recipe is really inexperienced." Uncle Liu Huang shook his head quietly and sighed secretly: "When the big thing is settled, I must teach this Mizi recipe well, first of all, let him control his stinky mouth!" Otherwise, sooner or later, he will die on that mouth of his! ”

After finally seeing the familiar north gate of Xuzhou, Uncle Liu Huang and Mi Zhu found that Mi Fang's words were not completely right, Tao Qian and his son were not ungrateful enough to only line up in front of the city gate to greet them, and they always went out of the city for a distance, and set up a welcome queue on a huge open land outside the north gate, and at the same time Tao Qian and his son also organized a large number of people to go out of the city to welcome, and there were tens of thousands of people all over the mountains, beating gongs and drums, and the etiquette and music shook the sky, and the attitude of welcoming Uncle Liu Huang back to Xuzhou was very sincere. Seeing this scene, Uncle Liu Huang also quietly breathed a sigh of relief, and basically put his mind at ease - with Tao Ying's hypocrite surname, it was impossible to do it in front of so many soldiers and civilians.

In the majestic and vigorous music, Uncle Liu's team gradually walked to the welcoming crowd in Xuzhou, Uncle Liu Huang also first saw Tao Yingtao's second son with a friendly smile on his face, so that Uncle Liu Huang was helpless and hated that he had not seen him for more than half a year, Tao Ying was not only calm and elegant, but also stood at the front of the crowd, including Tao Shang, Chen Qi and his son, Xu Fang, Lu You and Qin Yi and other important ministers of Xuzhou, all of whom could only stand in a row behind Tao Ying, and participated in greeting as Tao Ying's subordinates, which can be seen, Tao Ying, whose prestige has soared, has been recognized by Xuzhou civil and military officials, and he is already the second person in Xuzhou in fact.

"The little nephew Tao should be ordered by his father to lead the civil and military officials and military and civilian people of Xuzhou to welcome his uncle Xuande Gong back to Xuzhou!" Tao Ying shouted loudly and took the lead in saluting Uncle Liu Huang with a fist, and the civil and military officials of Xuzhou behind him also hugged their fists and bowed together, singing in unison: "By the order of the Lord, welcome the return of Xuande Gong to Xuzhou!" ”

"Virtuous nephew, please get up quickly, there are too many courtesies for virtuous nephews, please get up quickly." Uncle Liu Huang quickly dismounted, strode in front of Tao Ying, put Tao Ying's hands together, and nodded again and again to the Xuzhou civil and military officials behind Tao Ying, "Ladies and gentlemen, please hurry up." ”

If the two big names in this era are the most affectionate and hypocritical when they meet, then it is definitely our Deputy Director Tao and our Uncle Liu Huang who met this time, obviously they are already eager to kick each other's crotch hard, but what comes out of their mouths is a burst of sweet words, one is an uncle and uncle on the mouth of the mouth is affectionate, the other is a good nephew, a good nephew in the mouth of the good nephew and a good nephew shouted enthusiastically, the four hands together are so excited that they want to break each other's hands, but in their hearts they are scolding each other's eighteenth generation ancestors, What I was thinking about in my mind was how to swallow the other party's belt bones, and there was no scum left!

In the words of Lu Su, the son of a ruined family, "If I don't know the truth, and see the enthusiasm, friendliness, sincerity and excitement when Gongzi and Xuande Gong meet, I will definitely think that they are a pair of uncles and nephews who have reunited after a long absence." But because I knew the truth, when I saw Gongzi and Xuande Gong talking hand in hand, it was like seeing two poisonous snakes entangled together, spitting out split snake letters to each other face to face. ”

Holding hands and saying a lot of sweet words to each other, Uncle Liu Huang and Deputy Director Tao remembered to introduce each other, Deputy Director Tao introduced his two new lackeys Lu Su and Xu Sheng to Uncle Liu Huang, and Uncle Liu Huang introduced Guan Yu and Zhang Fei to Lu Su and Xu Sheng, so that they could be polite to each other. It was also at this time that Uncle Liu Huang asked with concern: "Second son, I heard that Tao Fujun's illness has worsened again, how is it now?" Does it matter? ”

The smile on Deputy Director Tao's face disappeared, and he clenched his fists very heavily and said: "Uncle Xie cares, my father is very sick and has been out of bed for three days - today, my father came out of the city to greet my uncle, and he was carried on the warm car by the guards in the house." ”

"Tao Fujun is also here? Over there? Uncle Liu Huang was taken aback, until Tao Ying pointed out, Uncle Liu Huang found a carriage covered with thick fur in the crowd, and there were Cao Hong and other Taofu guards next to him, Uncle Liu Huang did not dare to slack off, and hurriedly stepped forward, Tao Ying and Guan Yu Zhang Fei and other important ministers of the two armies hurriedly followed, and the Mizhu brothers were a little hesitant to follow, but Lu You and Qin Yi next to them were invited, and Mi Zhu and Mi Fang had no choice, so they had to follow hard.

Uncle Liu Huang walked through the crowd to Tao Qian's car, Cao Hong hurriedly let the guards disperse, vacating a circle of ten zhang in a circle, Uncle Liu Huang walked straight to the front of the car, and saluted the carriage with his fists, "Liu Bei greeted Tao Fujun in person, and he was really flattered by Lao Fujun." ”

The curtain of the car was lifted from the inside, and Tao Qian, who was old and skinny due to illness, was supported by two maids, and rarely appeared in public - the conscience of heaven and earth, Deputy Director Tao really did not cruelly use his old and sick father to use the trick, it was Tao Qian who insisted on coming after hearing about Tao Ying's plan, and wanted to see a good show with his own eyes, Tao Ying couldn't twist it, so Cao Hong and others protected Tao Qian here.

"Liu Yuanjun, it's been a long time." Tao Qian coughed and said with difficulty: "The old man is seriously ill, he can't get out of the car to salute, so he can only send the dog to salute on his behalf. ”

"Don't dare." Uncle Liu Huang hurriedly saluted solemnly, and took the opportunity to say: "If you want to say that you want to ask for sin, it is also Liu Bei who should ask the prince for sin, before Jian Yong was ordered to visit the king, I wanted to negotiate with Tao Fujun how to resist the enemy, and asked if the king could provide 200,000 military rations and a thousand horses in wartime to resist the strong bandits. ”

"That's just Mr. Kenwa's joke?" Tao Qian reluctantly opened his cloudy old eyes, and asked in surprise: "So, the envoy didn't ask the old man to provide a thousand war horses and 200,000 military rations?" ”

"Of course not." Uncle Liu Huang's face was not red and his heart was not beating: "That's all a misunderstanding, and I also ask the government to immediately revoke the notice and not collect it from the people of Xuzhou." ”

"Oh, I see." Tao Qian nodded reluctantly, and coughed for a long time, before Tao Qian commanded Tao Ying, who was standing next to Uncle Liu, with difficulty: "Ying'er, give an order for my father to revoke that notice!" ”

"No." Tao Ying respectfully agreed, walked to the crowd of the people of Xuzhou, and shouted loudly: "The people of Xuzhou, please hear clearly, Xuande Gong's forcible request for 200,000 Hu military rations is just a misunderstanding, from now on, call on you to raise money and grain and prepare to forcibly requisition money and grain, revoke!" There is no need for you to raise donations, and there is no need to ask you for more money and food! ”

"Oh!" The crowd of people in Xuzhou resounded with earth-shaking cheers, and all the previous worries were completely wiped out. Tao Ying ordered someone to tear down the notice, rewrite the notice to convey the five counties of Xuzhou, and inform the people of Xuzhou of the misunderstanding.

Seeing that Tao Qian's father and son happily revoked the notice that trapped themselves in injustice, our Uncle Liu Huang was also completely relieved, and when Tao Ying returned to Tao Qian's car, Uncle Liu Huang asked pretendly: "Virtuous nephew, a few months ago, didn't I hear that Tao Fujun's condition has improved greatly?" Why didn't it take so long for him to get so sick again? ”

To Uncle Liu's surprise, his fake question was exchanged for an unexpected and fierce reaction - Tao Ying suddenly knelt down on Uncle Liu's knees, clasped his fists and said loudly: "Uncle, about the serious illness of my father, the little nephew is stating to my uncle that I have grievances, and I ask my uncle to make the decision for my little nephew!" ”

Deputy Director Tao suddenly reacted so loudly, and said such a thing, which not only frightened Uncle Liu Huang, but also frightened almost everyone present, and the noisy voice suddenly quieted down, and Tao Ying's stupid eldest brother also rushed over, exclaiming and asking, "Second brother, what's wrong?" What do you ask your uncle to do for us? ”

"Brother, please salute your uncle with your younger brother, my father is suddenly seriously ill, and there is another hidden secret, our brother will ask my uncle to administer justice for us!" Tao Ying replied loudly.

Although he didn't know what medicine was sold in his brother's gourd, the honest eldest brother pottery merchant still knelt down next to Tao Ying very obediently and saluted Uncle Liu Huang together. And although Uncle Liu Huang felt that things were not good, but in front of so many people, Uncle Liu Huang could only quickly pick up the Tao Shang and Tao Ying brothers, and said softly: "The two virtuous nephews are invited to get up, Tao Ying and nephews, what is going on?" The virtuous nephew can be said in detail, and if he can be the master, he must be the master of the virtuous nephew. ”

"Uncle......." Deputy Director Tao opened his mouth and shouted, but before the words came out, two lines of tears burst out of his eyes, and then in front of countless Xuzhou soldiers and civilians, our Deputy Director Tao actually showed Uncle Liu's proud trick - howling and crying, crying until the sky was dark, pear blossoms brought rain, I saw pity.

Seeing that something was wrong, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei naturally entered the circle, and Zhang Fei, who was impatient, simply walked up to Tao Ying, took Tao Ying's hand to wipe his tears, and asked loudly: "Second son, what happened?" Say it quickly, I'm about to die in a hurry, say it quickly, my old Zhang and my brother will definitely call the shots for you. ”

"General Yide......." Deputy Director Tao choked up gratefully, then shook his head again, and said, "Uncle, General Yide, General Yunchang, this matter is a long story, please let the juniors let you see someone first." ”

"Who?" Zhang Fei couldn't wait to ask.

"General Cao Hong, please bring that villain up." Deputy Director Tao wiped his tears and instructed Cao Hong.

Cao Hong agreed, waved his hand to the back, and soon, the four Taofu guards escorted up a middle-aged man, in his forties, with a mediocre appearance, and a very honest expression, without the slightest oddity. The three brothers of Taoyuan Sanlianxing, Liu Guan and Zhang, had never seen this middle-aged man, so naturally they didn't know him, but when Mi Zhu and Mi Fang brothers in the crowd saw the ugly face of the middle-aged man, they almost fainted at the same time, it turned out that this middle-aged man was none other than Lang Zhong, who poisoned Tao Qian a few days ago but was dirty by Deputy Director Tao - Zhang Hang!

In a whirlwind, Mi Zhu and Mi Fang stumbled at the same time, and almost fell to the ground together, but fortunately, the two people next to them hugged them in time, and one said: "Don't be careful." Another said: "Lord Mi, please be careful, it just snowed yesterday and the road is slippery." ”

The Mi Zhu brothers trembled and looked at the person who supported him, but saw that it was the Xuzhou general Lu You who hugged Mi Zhu with a smile on his face, and the person who hugged Mi Fang with a smile was the Xuzhou general Qin Yi - although these two are only second- or third-rate generals, it is still not a big problem to pinch three or five Mi Zhu brothers to death with their bare hands.