Liu Biao finally died, seeing his father die in his arms, Liu Qi cried bitterly for a while, and quickly calmed down, and immediately sent Wang Wei, the former lieutenant in charge of the security of Jingzhou's pastoral mansion, to secretly inform the loyal minister Wang Wei of the news of Liu Biao's death. Wang Wei was shocked when he heard the bad news, hugged Liu Biao's body and cried loudly, but Liu Qi grabbed Wang Wei and shouted with great majesty: "General Wang, now is not the time to cry, there are bigger things imminent!" Don't cry, it's important to do big things first! ”

"No, the prince forgives the sins, oh no, it should be the lord who forgives the sins, and the end will be out of shape." It took a lot of effort for Wang Wei to come back to his senses, wipe away his tears and ask Liu Qi for his guilt, and choked up again: "Please rest assured, the last general will arrange for people to raise flags and hang filial piety, arrange the mourning hall, and prepare for the funeral for the old lord." ”

After that, Wang Wei was really stupid to wipe his tears and turn around and leave, Liu Qi hurriedly grabbed him and shouted in a low voice: "Confused! Who told you to raise your banner and hang your filial piety and announce your father's death? Immediately block the inside and outside of the Shepherd's Mansion for me, and everyone is allowed to enter but not to leave, and no one is allowed to leave the house without my order! Besides, prepare a hundred axes for me at once, I will be of great use! ”

"Axeman? What do you want to do?! Wang Wei was shocked.

"Don't ask, you'll know in the future." Liu Qi refused to answer, and said: "Immediately act according to the order, remember not to let the outside know about my father's death, after the matter is completed, I will not treat you badly." ”

Wang Wei opened his mouth to stammer, but Liu Qi no longer paid attention to him, just turned to Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue, who were wiping tears next to him, and said quickly: "Uncle Yue." Please immediately arrange for the envoy to go out of the city, and summon the three brothers Cai Mao, Cai Cheng and Cai Zhong back to the city in the name of their father. Uncle, you have a good relationship with Huang Zu, you personally go to the Ximen garrison camp, and pass on Huang's grandfather and son to meet in the honor of your father, remember, you must announce that Huang Zu and Huang Jie come to see at the same time! ”

Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue's faces changed together, and after hesitating for a moment, Kuai Liang asked, "Son-in-law, what are you going to do with them?" ”

"Huang Zu can stay. As long as he swears allegiance to me. Keeping Huang Zhu by my side and I can continue to reuse him. Liu Qi said calmly: "As for the Cai family brothers, none of them can be left!" After taking them, let the old general Wang Wei take over the water division! ”

The Kuailiang brothers were silent again. Wang Wei, who was about to be promoted to the governor of the water division, also turned pale. After thinking about it for a moment. It wasn't until Liu Qi urged him to act immediately again that Kuai Liang asked in a calm tone: "Lord, you have to think carefully." Before his death, the lord just instructed you to treat the Cai family well and let them be used by you, and you are doing this now, not only violating the old lord's will, but also taking risks, once you fail, the consequences will be unimaginable! ”

"Don't worry, it's not been a day or two since I hatched this plan!" Liu Qi gritted his teeth and said: "When my father was dying, he told me to treat the Cai family well, but the relationship between Brother Cai Mao and me you also know that it has long reached the point where either I die or they die, they didn't dare to mess around when my father was alive, and now my father is gone, and there are Tao Ying's traitors' soldiers outside, if I don't strike first, once they fight back, then our consequences will be even more unimaginable!" ”

"But my lord, you can be gentle with them." Kuai Liang said: "Now that the old lord is gone, you will succeed to the lord of Jingzhou, and you will be in charge of the power of life and death rewards and punishments in Jingzhou, and you will continue to give the Cai Mao family high-ranking officials and let more of their family members become officials, they may not be able to be used by you, why can't you try to appease them?" ”

"It's ......." Liu Qi hesitated for a moment, and then said hatefully: "Okay, first deceive the Cai family brothers, if they are really willing to be used by me, I can also give them high-ranking officials!" But if they dare to play tricks, or refuse to keep the hostages, I will not show mercy to them! ”

Seeing that Liu Qi had already made up his mind, the brothers of the Kuai family, who had long been tied to Liu Qi, stopped talking, immediately clasped their fists and sang a promise, and then hurriedly went out to arrange the task. Although Wang Wei had the heart and wanted to persuade, Liu Qi forced Wang Wei to swear allegiance to him in front of Liu Biao's body, and then forced Wang Wei to act according to the order as the new lord, Wang Wei had no choice but to take his son Wang Zhong to immediately block the inside and outside doors of the Jingzhou Pastoral Mansion, and arranged the knife and axe hand to wait behind Liu Biao's bedroom, and at the same time, Liu Qi also immediately dispatched the maids of the palace under his control, so that they secretly kept an eye on Cai and Liu Cong, and Cai and Liu Cong did not know that Liu Biao had passed away because Liu Biao was not present at the time of Liu Biao's death. Naturally, it is impossible to ventilate the information quickly.

Liu Qi did seize the opportunity and also arranged a comprehensive plan to make a decision on the spot, but unfortunately Liu Qi underestimated his two opponents Huang Zu and Cai Mao too much, so he ............

Let's take a look at Huang Zu's side first, Kuai Yue, who has a good relationship with Huang Zu, personally came to the garrison in the west gate of Xiangyang, and summoned Huang Zu to Jingzhou Mufu to meet in the honor of Liu Biao. But when Kuai Yue asked Huang Zu to bring his only son Huang Zhu to meet Liu Biao, Huang Zu suddenly smelled out that something was wrong, and asked Kuai Yue very strangely: "Xeno, what is the lord summoning my dog for?" My dog is just a little proofreader, what does the lord see him doing? ”

"I don't know." Kuai Yue replied quite vaguely, and said: "Maybe the lord wants to see the general's father and son before he dies, and entrust the general's father and son with the future. ”

Kuai Yue's excuse was reasonable, but Kuai Yue's slurring tone made Huang Zu suspicious, and under the suspicion, Huang Zu simply asked directly: "Xeno, what's going on?" I've been friends with you for more than ten or twenty years, and I don't know who you are? When you arrived at the Jiangxia thief's den to recruit Chen Sheng and Zhang Hu, you were still calm and calm in the enemy camp, talking and laughing, Chen Sheng and Zhang Hu later admired you to death, why did you talk so much today? What the hell is going on? ”

"If I don't deliberately swallow and vomit, I'm afraid you will be fooled directly."

Kuai Yue muttered in his heart. But he refused to say anything, and lowered his head, revealing a weak heart. Huang Zu saw Kuai Yue's expression, and suddenly felt bad in his heart, after careful consideration, Huang Zu came to his senses, and hurriedly lowered his voice and said: "Xenodu, you tell the truth, is the lord already ......?" It is not the lord's order that you have come here to summon me to the lord. Is it what Liu Qi means? ”

Kuai Yue didn't answer. He also twisted his head away, and suddenly asked back: "The defenders of Zhonglu, you deliberately took the time, right?" ”

"What?" Ancestor Huang is a flute, and then immediately understood. Finger dotted Kuaiyue. smiled: "Okay, you're a stranger." You just deliberately showed a flaw so that I could see through it, right? Otherwise, with your ability and your friendship with me, you really want to trick me and Shot'er to die for Liu Qi. Isn't that easy?! ”

Kuai Yue smiled bitterly, but still refused to speak, Huang Zu laughed loudly, slapped Kuai Yue's shoulder, and laughed loudly unscrupulously: "Xenodu, you saved my life and that of Jie'er, I will naturally repay you, don't go back, just stay here, and I will take you to ask for credit." Rest assured, your clan relatives in Zhonglu will not be in danger. ”

"Then what about my family in Xiangyang City?" Kuai Yue asked rhetorically - Kuai Yue is a smart person, knowing that on the day the Xuzhou army crossed the river, he immediately divided his troops to attack the inconsequential Zhonglu Xiaocheng, and the goal was definitely not to kill his own clan, so Kuai Yue didn't need to worry about those clan relatives at all.

"I'll send someone to protect them right away and make sure they won't have any problems." Huang Zu replied without thinking about it.

Kuai Yue nodded, and then sighed: "Lao Huang, I was bitter by you, if you didn't deliberately dedicate Zhonglu to Taiwei Tao, why would I do such a thing when the old lord's bones were not cold?" ”

"But I also saved your glory and wealth, official title, and saved your Wantian land and Wanguan family property in Jingzhou, right?" Huang Zu laughed presumptuously, then patted Kuai Yue's shoulder again, and said with a smile: "Don't be scared, brother, I hurt you once today, this time I will make amends to you, you can write the letter, and the opportunity to send the letter to ask for merit will be shared equally between you and Jie'er, which is enough for you to atone for your sins and be promoted to a knight." ”

…………

On Cai Mao's side, although Liu Qi asked Kuai Liang to send an envoy out of the city to contact the Cai Mao brothers at the Navy Commander's camp and trick the Cai brothers into returning to the city to die, Kuai Liang felt that he only sent an envoy to contact the Cai Mao brothers, and the Cai Mao brothers might not be willing to believe that Liu Biao would recall the three brothers back to the city at the same time, so Kuai Liang simply went out of the east gate of Xiangyang in person and rushed to the water division camp with a book to see Cai Mao's brothers. And Cai Mao because Kuai Liang married his daughter to Liu Qi, and Kuai Liang has long been against each other, hearing that Kuai Liang came from the military camp at night, Cai Mao did not dare to slack off in surprise, and quickly led Cai Cheng and Cai Zhong to meet Kuai Liang immediately, and the two sides met in Cai Mao's Chinese army tent.

After the meeting, Kuai Liang, in the name of Liu Biao's dictation, asked Cai Mao, Cai Yuan, and Cai Zhong to return to Xiangyang City to meet Liu Biao, and said that the matter was urgent, and asked Cai Mao to set off immediately. It's a pity that Brother Cai Mao is not a fool, after listening to Liu Biao's order conveyed by Kuai Liang, Cai Mao immediately became suspicious and asked Kuai Liang: "Mr. Zirou, this is not right, right?" Zhang Yun and Cai He went to Xiakou with half of the sailors, and the rest of the Xiangyang sailors were in the hands of our three brothers, and the three brothers returned to the city together. The lord is also a man who is proficient in military affairs, how can he give such an order? ”

"Sure enough, tricking the three brothers back to the city at the same time, Cai Mao will inevitably be suspicious, it's useless to only trick one or two to go back, as long as one of the Cai brothers can't take it, there will be endless trouble immediately." Kuai Liang sighed quietly in his heart, and then said as best he could: "General De Jue is reasonable, when the lord summoned the three generals back to the city at the same time, it was indeed extremely difficult, but the matter was urgent, and the lord had no choice but to do it, please ask the three generals to temporarily hand over the water division to the henchmen in charge, and return to the city with me quickly." Please also rest assured that the three generals will not be too long. ”

The more Kuai Liang said this, the more the Cai family brothers certainly didn't dare to take it lightly, and then Cai Mao asked again: "What happened to that?" Mr. Zirou, please make it clear, otherwise, we would not dare to take this risk and leave our posts without permission. ”

"It's ......." Kuai Liang hesitated for a moment, and simply said: "Don't hide it from General Cai, the lord is about to die, and the three generals are summoned back to the city just to explain the will and entrust the future." ”

"My brother-in-law's condition has reached this point?" Cai Yan and Cai Zhong were both startled, but a hint of joy flashed in Cai Mao's eyes. After careful consideration, Cai Mao said: "Since my sister-in-law is seriously ill, then we have to go back immediately, second brother and third brother, you go back to the city with Mr. Zirou, and I will stay and lead the army to guard the water village." ”

"General Cai, you have to go." Kuai Liang hurriedly said: "You are an important minister of Jingzhou, when the lord is dying, how can you not listen to the will in front of him?" ”

"It is precisely because I am an important minister of Jingzhou that I can't leave Shuizhai at this time." Cai Mao raised her voice. "The enemy is now. Once the lord dies suddenly, the enemy will immediately attack when he receives the news, if I don't stay in the water village to preside over military affairs, how can I reach the attack of the Xuzhou thief army? ”

Kuai Liang was speechless. A little calculation can only settle for the second. He also said, "General Deju's words also make sense. Then let's do it, General Deju, you go back to the city to see the lord, and the second and third generals stay outside the city to preside over military affairs. Governor, you are an important minister of Jingzhou, and you must see the lord for the last time. ”

Cai Mao was a little hesitant, not for anything else, for fear that Liu Biao would suddenly die of illness after entering the city, and Liu Qi would take the opportunity to take him down in one fell swoop, even if Cai Cheng and Cai Zhong did great things for themselves, their old life would have to be explained in Xiangyang City - Cai Mao would not be so distressed if he gave the life of the second brother and the third brother.

"Report ——!" When he was hesitating, a herald suddenly rushed into the tent and said to Cai Mao: "Governor of the Metropolitan Governor, General Huang Lao sent his confidants to come to visit, saying that there are 100,000 urgent matters to report to the Governor, please be sure to receive them immediately." ”

"Second brother, third brother, you will accompany Mr. Zirou for me temporarily, and I will come when I go." Cai Mao gave Cai Yan and Cai Zhong a look, and then hurriedly walked out of the tent, Kuai Liang secretly saw Cai Mao's eyes, knowing that Cai Mao had bad intentions, but he was not nervous or worried, on the contrary, he quietly breathed a sigh of relief, as if he was relieved, and seemed to have been waiting for this moment............

After another moment, Cai Mao hurried back to the tent with excitement on her face, and the first thing she did after entering the tent was to point at Kuailiang and yell: "Come on, take Kuailiang down for me!" ”

"No!" The henchmen in Cai Mao's tent agreed neatly, and immediately stepped forward to grab the defenseless Kuai Liang, who was shocked and asked, "What crime did I commit?" Why take me? ”

"Why did you take it?" Cai Mao smiled cruelly and shouted: "Okay, you Kuai Zirou, if you hide the news that the lord has passed away, you will already be guilty and deserve death!" He dared to come and lure the three brothers into the city for Liu Qi, and let Liu Qi kill us all! You said it yourself, should I take you down?! ”

"What? My brother-in-law has passed away? Cai Cheng and Cai Zhong both jumped up and screamed, Kuai Liang was even more shocked, and blurted out: "How do you know? ”

"How do I know, it's none of your business!" Cai Mao waved her hand resolutely, and then asked with a cruel smile: "Mr. Zirou, the matter has come to this, what else can you say?" ”

Kuai Liang was silent for a moment, and then replied: "Since you have seen through the mechanism, then do it, I know that it will not be a day or two if you want to kill me." I just hope that for the sake of your colleagues, give me a good time. ”

"Kill you?" Cai Mao smiled even more happily and said, "Don't worry, I won't kill you, I will only treat you as a gift and give it to Captain Tao as a greeting gift - come here, beat the drums and gather the generals, I have something important to announce to the generals!" ”

What happened next was simple, after summoning all the generals under his command to gather in the Shuai tent overnight, Cai Mao immediately announced the news that Liu Biao was dead, and then exposed Liu Qi's crime of trying to deceive his brother back to Xiangyang City, announcing that in view of Liu Qi's insistence on harming and being unrighteous first, he decided to follow the path of heaven and lead all the Jingzhou sailors and soldiers to surrender to the Xuzhou army! As a result, the generals of Jingzhou Navy, who had long been dissatisfied with Liu Qi to the extreme, suddenly agreed, cheered together, and expressed their willingness to follow Cai Mao to surrender to Tao, only two low-level generals refused to surrender, and as a result, Cai Mao immediately led the generals to hack to death, and the matter of descending Tao was a foregone conclusion.

What happened next was simpler, Liu Qi, who had just become the lord of Jingzhou as he wished, arranged an ambush in his mansion and waited for Huang's grandfather and son and Cai Mao to come to die, but what was waiting for Huang Zu to open the west gate of Xiangyang to welcome the Xuzhou army into the city, as well as Cai Mao's thunderbolt on a sunny day when he led the Jingzhou Navy Division to mutiny and surrender to the Xuzhou army! Liu Qi was shocked when he heard the news, and hurriedly went out with Wang Wei and his son to lead the army to check the situation, and saw that the area around Xicheng was full of fire, the voices of people were boiling, and the sound of capturing Liu Qi alive was earth-shattering, and the fall of Xiangyang was a foregone conclusion.

Seeing this scene, Liu Qi scolded Huang Zu and Cai Mao and others for betraying their masters, and they had no extra choice, so they could only hurriedly lead the army that could still be mobilized with Wang Wei and his son, open the south gate of Xiangyang and flee in the direction of Jiangling, but what made Liu Qi vomit blood was that the Jingzhou team that was willing to protect him from escaping from Xiangyang City was actually less than a thousand people. Many troops, including the defenders of the south gate of Xiangyang, had obviously heard Liu Qi's summoning order, but they deliberately pretended not to hear the order and rushed to flee, as far away from Liu Qi's side as possible.

At the same time, in the Xuzhou military camp, Deputy Director Tao issued a number of orders in one breath, first, after the Xuzhou army entered the city, it was not allowed to loot the people, not to set fire to the city, and to protect the granary and treasury in the city; the second is to allow all Jingzhou generals and soldiers to surrender, and those who surrender are not allowed to be killed; the third is to divide troops to protect Liu Biao's Jingzhou Pastoral Mansion, and the officers and men of the whole army are not allowed to step into Liu Biao's mansion without their own orders; Article 4 Order. is to chase and kill Liu Qi to the end, and must not let Liu Qi escape to Jiangling!

After several orders were issued, Deputy Director Tao led the crowd to climb the city wall of Fancheng, which was across the water from Xiangyang, and looked at the situation in Xiangyang to the south. Relaxed, Deputy Director Tao turned to Jia Lao Poison next to him and asked, "Mr. Wenhe, Huang Zu sent Kuai Yue and Huang Jie out of the city to offer a letter to surrender, and opened the city gate to welcome our army into the city. Brother Cai Mao detained Liu Qi's father-in-law, Kuai Liang, gave him to me as a meeting gift, and led the remnants of the water division to surrender to us - in Mr. Wenhe's opinion, which of these people is the most ruthless to Liu Qi? Pitted Liu Qi the worst? ”

"The lord already has the answer in his heart, so why bother?" Jia Lao Poison asked with a smile.

Deputy Director Tao laughed loudly, and the old foxes such as Liu Ye and Xun Chen next to him also smiled knowingly, only Yang Changshi was a little confused and asked, "Lord, Mr. Wenhe, who are you talking about?" Grandfather Huang? Cai Mao's three brothers? Or Kuaiyue, who betrayed his niece-in-law? ”

"Mr. Zhongming, you're the only one you missed." Deputy Director Tao replied lightly.

"The only person I missed?" Yang Changshi was stunned for a moment, and then exclaimed: "Lord, Mr. Wenhe, you shouldn't be talking about Liu Qi's father-in-law Kuailiang, right?" He was tied up by Brother Cai Mao and brought to us! ”

"Therefore, he is the most ruthless person to Liu Qi." Deputy Director Tao sighed: "As Liu Qi's father-in-law, if Kuai Liang surrenders to us directly, the world will scold him for being unjust; If he accompanied Liu Qi to the end, he would have to die, and it would affect his family and relatives, so he was very smart to let his brother surrender and go to Cai Mao's camp as a prisoner, not only to avoid the disaster of the sword soldiers, but also to force me to look at Kuai Yue and Huang Zu's face, I will not take him into my hand and cut him with a knife, and there will be a chance to make a comeback in the future. Oh, these big families, in terms of protecting their wealth and life, they are all human spirits! ”

Yang Changshi was dumbfounded when he heard this, and finally came back to his senses, and then spat a mouthful of thick phlegm very unhygienic, and scolded: "God-damn traitor!" More treacherous than me! This time, I didn't even have the opportunity to raid his house! (To be continued......)