Liu Xiu and Lu Min sat face-to-face in the study, listening to the giggling and laughing sounds of Mao Yan and Tang Yingzi in the inner room, and talking softly. He heard Tang Yingzi say that she was in this study at the beginning, using the ring to perform tricks, and Liu Xiu and they were kneeling outside, Tang Yingzi saw Liu Xiu from here, and also saw the suspicion on his face, and since then, she has developed a deep interest in Liu Xiu.

Although Lu Min and his wife didn't know that Tang Yingzi was behind the invitation to God, they liked Tang Yingzi very much, Mao Yan was already three months pregnant, and it was when they were a little fascinated by their children, and they were almost mixed with Tang Yingzi all day long.

There were several newspapers from the imperial court and an urgent letter from Lu Zhi. Lu Zhi said that after Cai Yong was imprisoned, he was originally sentenced to abandon the city, but later he was indebted to Lu Qiang, a regular servant of the Middle School, to sue for him, so his death was reduced by one class, and the whole family moved to Shuofang after the clamps, and he could not be pardoned.

Liu Xiu was surprised by this result, he didn't know what kind of crime actually made the Son of Heaven punish Cai Yong like this. Cai Yong is a good gentleman like his teacher Hu Guang, although he has some nostalgia, but he is basically very upright, if you want to say that he has any crimes to this extent, Liu Xiu really doesn't believe it.

"This should be the result of the emasculation of the momentum." Lu Min gave the surname in one sentence, "The Yuan family and the Yang family withdrew from the court, and the strength of the scholars was lost by half. Alas, the disaster of the eunuch party has risen again, this Cao Jie is much more vicious than the five marquis of the year. ”

Liu Xiu disagreed, no matter how vicious Cao Jie was, wasn't it the Son of Heaven who made the final decision? He is now an adult, not the child who didn't understand anything back then, and he is no stranger to Cai Yong, how can he not even know who Cai Yong is. For Liu Xiu, this is more like the follow-up method of the Son of Heaven to further clean up the family after he attacked Yuan Yang.

The Cai family is also a family, it is a family left by Chen, Cai Yong himself is fascinated by learning, and the official is not big, but his uncle Cai Zhen is a guard lieutenant in Jiuqing. The Cai family is a big family, and after Cai Yong became an adult, he and Cai Zhen have not been separated, one is an official, and the other is a scholar, in order to inherit the family. And the Cai family and the Taishan goat family are Tong family, and Cai Zhen and the famous party member Yang Zhi are the nine clans, and the relationship is not generally good. This time the ban on the party was lifted, and Yang Zhi was also among the bans, and now he is the official residence in Jizhou.

After striking at a family like Yuan Yang, it is also an inevitable result that a family like the Cai family and the Yang family enter the sight of the Son of Heaven.

"What kind of person is this Yang Ball?" Liu Xiu had a strong interest in Sili Captain Yangqiu, because after framing Cai Yong, this Yangqiu fought back, arrested Wang Fu's family, and threw him into prison together with Duan Cheng, and it only took three days of kung fu to kill Wang Fu, his son Wang Meng, and his adopted son Wang Ji, which was not unfast.

"He's a cool official." Lu Min pursed his lips, obviously a little disdainful: "He is from Yuyang, and the Yang family is also a big family in Yuyang, he is now rectifying the Cai family, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will be rectified to his own head in the future." Such a person will not end well. ”

Liu Xiu's attitude towards Lu Min was noncommittal, although Lu Min had changed a lot from before, he still disapproved of the Son of Heaven's ruthless rectification of the family. In his opinion, scholars are the mainstay of the Han Empire, and it is a family like Yuan Yang who can represent scholars. First, they did not collude with the eunuchs like the Yuan family, and secondly, they did not be as extravagant as the Yuan family, and basically maintained the Confucian nature of moral heirlooms. The Son of Heaven even has the Yang family in order, which is a bit too much.

And Yang Qiu, a cool official, he doesn't have a good impression. Cool officials are ferocious and easy to kill, contrary to the Confucian way of benevolence and forgiveness, and are the remnants of Legalism, and they have always been inseparable from Confucianism. Liu Xiu heard that Yang Qiu was a cool official, so he could understand Yang Qiu's seemingly abnormal behavior. The Legalists only obey the will of the Lord, and they will attack whoever the Son of Heaven wants, and there is no question of position. Whether it is a scholar or a eunuch, as long as the Son of Heaven sees that they are dissatisfied, he can take action.

Liu Xiu originally thought that Legalism was a person who insisted on the rule of law, but later learned that the so-called law of Legalism was very different from the law he understood, and the rule of law of Legalism was very different from the rule of law, and Confucianism's opposition to Legalism was not entirely due to the conflict of interests. In fact, it can be seen from Shang Ying's "Book of Shang Jun" and Han Fei's works that the law of the Legalists is from the perspective of the supreme ruler, their law is the law of the king, and their art is the art of the emperor, which is most prominently reflected in "Han Feizi". It is precisely because of this that the Han family superficially respects Confucianism and actually practices magic, while although Confucianism is also mixed with the knowledge of Legalism, it has always been very repulsive to the cool officials who advocate Legalism, and the entire Eastern Han Dynasty pursues a derogatory attitude towards the cool officials.

Lu Min's attitude towards Yangqiu is the most typical performance.

Liu Xiu also disapproved of Yang Qiu's actions, the Son of Heaven suppressed the family with his left hand and the eunuch with his right hand, the intention was already very obvious, he even did not hesitate to use the most despicable means in order to monopolize power, knowing that Cai Yong could not be heinous, and he was also ruthless to kill him. He forgot that Cai Yong also revised the Five Classics not long ago, which added a strong stroke to his literary governance, and it was also Cai Yong who helped Liu Xiu write in "Luoyang Chronicles" and "Chang'an Chronicles", making preliminary public opinion preparations for the Son of Heaven to suppress the family.

Regardless of the fact that it is impossible to kill the whole family, and it is not in line with Liu Xiu's intentions, measured by personal interests, the Son of Heaven will attack Cai Yong today, will he attack Liu Xiu next?

Liu Xiu is not Lu Min, he will not think that these are just the revenge of cool officials and eunuchs, and he will not think that the emperor can be rehabilitated after the Son of Heaven kills someone. He is now very disappointed in the performance of the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven's strong power ** makes his heart tremble, and the Son of Heaven's almost brutal methods make him very disgusted, because the Son of Heaven is far from being able to control the overall situation, and now he is going on a killing spree, which seems to be vigorous and resolute, but in fact, he is digging his own grave, and if he continues like this, the collapse will only come faster and earlier.

It's just that he can only think about these words in his heart, but he can't say them to Lu Min, otherwise Lu Min will definitely jump up and accuse him of being rebellious.

This yang ball can't be kept, he is a vicious dog in the hands of the Son of Heaven, even more hateful than those castrations, and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Liu Xiu thought about it, wondering whether he should leave for Luoyang now, or wait for a while, let the conflict in Luoyang be more intense before making a move, and he didn't have the heart to listen to Lu Min's accusations against the cool officials.

Until Mao Zong stumbled in.

After reading Wang Chu's letter, Liu Xiu became angry namelessly, stood up, and shouted: "Zhongkang, Yingzi, let's rush back to Luoyang immediately!" ”

Lu Min was taken aback, he hurriedly stopped Liu Xiu, but Liu Xiu was thunderous at this time, without the usual calmness, like a docile dragon that had been touched by someone, and even Lu Min was a little frightened when he saw it. He was so good at talking that he forced Liu Xiu to wait for a long time, so that Mao Yan had time to prepare for him, and at the same time brought a letter to Lu Zhi. Lu Min told him thousands of times in the letter, saying that Liu Xiu had gone crazy, and asked Lu Zhi to calm him down no matter what, and not to be impulsive.

Lu Min believes that Liu Xiu has been in Luoyang for at least seven or eight days, and with this time, he should have been able to calm down, and then persuaded by Lu Zhi, this matter may have a turnaround.

In fact, Liu Xiu calmed down as soon as he got out of the frustration.

"Zhongkang, don't go with me." Liu Xiu grabbed the reins and said undoubtedly: "I want to go to Luoyang alone." ”

Xu Yu looked at him puzzled, although he didn't speak, the doubts in his eyes were very obvious.

Liu Xiu didn't explain much, just picked up Tang Yingzi from the horse and handed it to Xu Yu: "You guys walk slowly behind, don't worry, after arriving in Luoyang, if I don't wait for you in the Taiji Daoist Hall, you can take Yingzi back to your hometown." Remember, take it back to your hometown and don't associate with anyone. ”

"When did the owner come to us?" Xu Yu said in a deep voice.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely go to you." Liu Xiu smiled, "And I believe that this time will not be too long, not half a year at most." ”

Xu Yu nodded slowly and didn't ask anything.

Liu Xiu turned his head to Tang Yingzi again and said, "Yingzi, the eldest brother is going to do a big thing, and he can't take you with him." You go to Brother Zhongkang's house for a while, and when the eldest brother finishes the matter, I will go to you. ”

"You can't be fooled." Tang Yingzi couldn't see any nervousness on her face, she leaned over and hooked her fingers with Liu Xiu, and said, "Actually, it's okay not to marry the sister of the Wang family, you still have me." ”

Liu Xiu smiled, he was not in the mood to joke with Tang Yingzi, he took care of Xu Yu again, asked him to turn around and go to Zhuo County, told Zhang Fei, who was reunited at home, about the situation, and asked him not to go to Luoyang for the time being, wait for his news, and then go on the road alone.

Liu Xiu crossed the county through the state and went straight to Luoyang, rarely stopped to rest along the way, and the gods of the big red horse were a little unbearable, Liu Xiu saw that he couldn't rush like this, so he had to stop when he was in Julu, and went to find people from Taiping Road by the way. Wang Ying asked Zhang Ming to compete in Taoism, but he happened to be not in Luoyang, and he didn't know what the result was.

Hearing that Liu Xiu was coming, Zhang Ming was very surprised and greeted him in person.

"Win?" As soon as Liu Xiu sat down, he asked straight to the point.

Zhang Ming smiled bitterly, shook his head, and poured Liu Xiu a glass of wine: "Don't worry, eat and drink first, and then I'll tell you the ins and outs of the whole thing." This discussion, alas, can be regarded as an eye-opener for me. ”

Although Liu Xiu was in a hurry, he was not easy to urge, so he had to wait patiently.

Zhang Ming went out for a while, and it took a long time to come back, and he said to Liu Xiu embarrassedly: "I went to see the great sage and good teacher just now, and I wanted to introduce you to him, but the great sage and good teacher are still recuperating, and I won't be able to see guests for a while." ”

"The Great Sage is injured?" Liu Xiu was very surprised, he listened to Wang Ying's tone, Taiping Dao should have the upper hand, right, could it be that the Heavenly Master Dao sent a top master?

Zhang Ming nodded awkwardly and briefly explained what had happened. When he found Zhang Jiao, Zhang Jiao was visiting a reclusive celebrity on the shore of the Han River, and when he heard that Wang Ying took the initiative to invite the battle, Zhang Jiao was very happy, and after making some preparations, he and Zhang Ming rushed to Luoyang. Zhang Ming was too junior to fight Wang Ying, so Zhang Jiao decided to go into battle in person to defeat the senior brother of the past.

"However, we didn't expect the heir of the Heavenly Master Dao to come."

"Heir?" Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment before he understood who Zhang Ming was talking about. The head of the Heavenly Master Dao is not called the Heavenly Master as the legend of later generations, the first generation of the founder Zhang Ling (that is, Zhang Daoling) is called the Heavenly Master, and the current head of the sect - Zhang Ling's son Zhang Heng is called the heir, whether it means that the Taoism is not at home, or it shows respect for Zhang Ling, so he is not called the Heavenly Master, and Liu Xiu is not very clear. However, Zhang Heng personally went out of the horse, this is indeed enough attention, originally Wang Ying estimated that he would send his senior brother at most, in addition to Wang Ying, there are three disciples of Zhang Ling's personal transmission, it is said that their Taoism is above Wang Ying, it is said that Zhang Heng does not need to go out in person to deal with Zhang Jiao, just send one of the three people.

"The heir didn't come alone, his wife Lu also came, and several disciples of the first generation were all present, even Zhang Heng's son, Zhang Lu, who was less than ten years old, came."

Liu Xiu was very surprised, "Wow, the battle is so big?" ”

"Not really. Before the discussion, they invited us to Jinglu in Bishan, saying that we were all from the same sect, and even if we were now divided into sects, we would not be able to have a part. So we went together. If we start to know that they want to change their way to the mountain Jinglu, we will never be so easily fooled. Zhang Ming smiled bitterly and shook his head again and again: "The great sage and good teacher are limited to the restraint of the seniors, and refuses to let us juniors go into battle, and fight alone, defeating Zhao Sheng, Wang Chang, Wang Zhi, and Wang Ying in a row, and winning cleanly, but the people in the Heavenly Master's Dao are really shameless, and they actually take the heir and his wife to cultivate together, and they fight against the great sage and good teacher alone, and finally ...... Hurt the great sage and good teacher. ”

Liu Xiu was speechless, Heavenly Master Dao really wanted to do this, it was indeed very shameless.

"How did they hurt the Great Sage and Good Master?"

"We don't know the specific situation, and after we came back, the great sages and good teachers never mentioned it." Zhang Ming sighed and was very depressed, "However, the great sages and good teachers didn't let them take advantage of them, and their heirs were also seriously injured. Zhang Ming gritted his teeth and said, slamming the table hard, shaking the wine glass on it.

Liu Xiu thought about it again, it seems that Zhang Jiao has two younger brothers, and their generation should be the same as Zhang Jiao, why didn't they come forward? Listening to his question, Zhang Ming didn't say anything more and took the topic away. Liu Xiu saw that it was inconvenient for him to say, so he didn't ask again. Since he couldn't see Zhang Jiao, he didn't plan to stay longer, he was going to rest for the night and continue his journey tomorrow.

"Deran, what about the little girl surnamed Tang?" Zhang Ming asked casually.

"I was in a hurry to return to Luoyang this time, so I didn't take her with me." Liu Xiu said perfunctorily, he had long known that Zhang Ming would ask about this matter, but he couldn't see Zhang Jiao, and he couldn't tell Zhang Ming why this matter and Zhang Ming were there.

Zhang Ming was a little puzzled, he saw that Liu Xiu's expression was very calm, he didn't seem to be aware of his intentions, and he seemed to have been prepared, but he was a little confused for a while, and he didn't dare to make a mistake, so he retreated first, leaving Lan Lan to wait for Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu didn't force it, and rested early after washing.

Zhang Jiao leaned on the couch, although he was nearly fifty years old, but he was strong, with a Chinese face, three locks of long hair, and an elegant face.

"He's alone?" Zhang Jiao asked softly. Zhang Ming nodded and hesitated for a moment: "The Holy Maiden went to Fuyang with him, but she didn't come back with him, according to the disciple, she is likely to still be in Shanggu Taishou Lu Min." ”

Zhang Jiao opened his eyes slightly and glanced at him: "Do you want to go back to Shanggu and take the holy woman back?" ”

Zhang Ming looked at him expectantly.

Zhang Jiao shook his head gently: "No." Not to mention whether the holy woman must be in the frustrated sun, even if she is, how can you rob it. Listening to what you said, the saint is very dependent on him, and it is very likely that she has already told him all the secrets of our Taiping Dao, how can he be defenseless? ”

"That'...... Capture him now? Zhang Liang, who had been with him, suddenly interjected. His appearance is somewhat similar to Zhang Jiao, but he is younger, his face is thinner, his eyes are a little more aggressive, and there is less heaviness in Zhang Jiao's eyes.

"No, unless I personally take action, no one is sure to restrain him." Zhang Jiao glanced at Zhang Liang, rejected his suggestion, and turned to look at Zhang Ming again: "You have fought side by side with him, you must know his combat strength." This young man is naturally gifted, although he has not entered my Taiping Dao, but his cultivation of the Tuna Technique has progressed very quickly, even if you have the green horns in your hand, if you don't take it by surprise, you may not be able to control him. ”

Zhang Ming nodded a little frustratedly.

Zhang Jiao was silent for a moment, and then said: "He suddenly rushed back to Luoyang alone, there must be something urgent." Since it doesn't work to use force, then let's not turn against him and pretend not to know about it for the time being. Yuansheng, you will rush to Luoyang tomorrow to see what he is going back to, and then discuss. ”

"Whoa."

Zhang Jiao continued, "It's useless for you to give Lan Lan to him, it seems that he is not a good woman, so let's look at the bribe." He opened a gym in Luoyang, just to make money. You bring more money with you, and when he needs it, you can take it out and envelop him. This person is exquisite, and he has the same surname as the Son of Heaven, and his future is limitless, and we can't take him lightly. If you can get in touch with the Son of Heaven through him, that's the best. ”

Zhang Ming responded one by one, Zhang Liang saw that his brother only took care of Zhang Ming from beginning to end, but did not hand over this matter to him, he couldn't help but be a little unhappy, but in front of Zhang Jiao, he didn't dare to show anything, so he could only hide these emotions and look at Zhang Jiao and Zhang Ming silently. The gloomy face was hidden in the darkness, and if he didn't pay attention, no one would see the loss in his eyes.

Waiting for Zhang Ming to go out, Zhang Liang also got up and was about to leave, but Zhang Jiao suddenly stopped him: "Third brother, you and your second brother say it, without my order, no one is allowed to be unfavorable to Liu Xiu." Otherwise, don't blame me for being unsympathetic. ”

Zhang Liang was taken aback, stunned, and hurriedly bowed in response.

(To be continued)