In the evening, the ethereal bells and drums in the Luodu General's Mansion are endless, accompanied by the sound of winding beams, and the graceful dancers dancing during the banquet are dizzying.

He Jin, who boasted of pacifying the rebellion of the hussar general, was promoted to the rank of knight again, and Yang Yi was invited to the same banquet as a guest in the mansion on this day.

In Yang Yi's mind, the dying eyes of the brocade-clothed servant often appeared, and the bloody burden, the golden seal and purple ribbon seemed to weigh a thousand catties in his hand.

After three rounds of drinking, the general He Jin's face was flushed, and he walked to Yang Yi's side and said loudly: "Everyone, the concubine Dong Hou was not disrespectful that day, but fortunately she was escorted by Jinwu, come, I will wait for a glass of Gongsun." ”

Yang Yi hurriedly got up and raised his glass and said, "It's really a matter of the lower officials." ”

"The old man has already invited the world to knight your father's grandson, you are in Kyoto, and you have to share your worries for Your Majesty."

"The great grace of the general, the subordinate is unforgettable, he will be smeared with his liver and brain, and he will swear to serve his life!"

"This is all important to Your Majesty, and the old man has no merit." Although He Jin shirked on the surface, he was still very satisfied with Yang Yizhi's current affairs.

The banquet lasted all night before it dispersed, and many drunken guests retreated, Yang Yi did not ride a car or a horse, but walked slowly on the quiet street, a group of guards followed closely behind, looking at the sky, Yang Yi muttered to himself: "I hope that the Empress Dowager Jiren has her own heavenly appearance." ”

***

In the land between the rivers, the Empress Dowager Dong belonged to the country, incense curled up in the wing, and a gray-haired woman sat in the hall, sick and scattered, her eyes were twilight, and her body was emaciated like dry bones, as if a gust of wind could blow it down.

If it weren't for the luxurious clothes, no one would have thought that the gray-haired woman in front of her would be the noble Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty.

The housekeeper walked in, saw the already cold food on the table, and sighed: "The Queen Mother, why don't you eat something." ”

"Withdraw." Empress Dong said softly.

At this moment, three tiger and wolf armor soldiers wearing armor and swords broke in, and the leading officer stepped forward to overturn the food on the table and said lightly: "Where is the empress dowager used to eating coarse tea and light rice, come here, bring it up." ”

A soldier walked in quickly from outside with a wine jug, and the officer personally stepped forward to pour the wine, and then took a step back and hugged his fists and said: "This is the imperial wine that the general specially worships the Empress Dowager, and invites the Empress Dowager to drink it, and the minister can go back to restore his life." ”

"He enters the heart of a jackal, even if I live far away, I won't let it go!"

"The Empress Dowager, please drink it, otherwise the minister will have to help you suddenly."

"I didn't expect that my dignified Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty would end up in such a field." Empress Dowager Dong's blank eyes stared at the imperial wine, her arms trembled slightly, her whole body trembled when her fingers touched the wine glass, her eyes were already red, and tears slipped down her cheeks.

At this moment, a person suddenly broke in from outside, and the three armor soldiers in the hall all took advantage of the situation, this person was medium, a little thin, and looked like he was in his early twenties. ”

The officer stepped forward angrily and said coldly: "Who are you, who let you in!" ”

"The little one is a servant in the Jinwu Mansion, and he is specially ordered by my family to deliver the letter to the Emperor and the Queen of Heaven."

"Bring it!"

"Master Jun, my lord asked me to hand it over to the Empress Dowager personally."

"Less nonsense, bring it to Lao Tzu!" The officer was about to snatch it behind him, but the emaciated man's eyes suddenly became cold, and instead of retreating, he advanced, and took advantage of the situation to slam the dagger in his sleeve through the officer's throat.

He took out the saber from the waist of the dead officer, and suddenly stepped forward and slashed vigorously, the saber was embedded in the head of the soldier in front of him, and the red and white things suddenly exploded.

The only remaining armor soldier in the hall drew his saber and rushed forward, the thin man took advantage of the situation to raise the knife, but the saber was stuck in the skull, and pushed the corpse with the momentum, easily avoiding the oncoming blade, and flew up and kicked the armor soldier to the ground.

The stunned armorer was just about to get up, only to see a sharp knife already on his neck, and the thin man chuckled: "Early death and early superlife." ”

With a swipe of the hilt, a deep bloody hole opened in the neck of the armorer, and the blood suddenly splattered out, splashing a line of blood on the wall, and at the same time, several muffled screams came from outside the house.

"The Empress Dowager is frightened, I came here on the order of Lord Gongsun, and I also ask the Empress Dowager to move as soon as possible, and I will escort you to Youzhou for refuge." At the same time, he said aloud to the rugged man standing in front of the door: "Hurry up and prepare the carriage and ask a few people to dispose of these corpses!" ”

"I'm not leaving." Empress Dong's tone was light, and she had no desire to survive.

"The Empress Dowager?" The thin man was shocked in his heart, he was ordered to come, and he had already made a military order to ensure that the Empress Dowager was safe, and escorted him to the land of Youzhou to live in seclusion, but he didn't expect that the northern army sent by He Jin would be easily resolved, but the Empress Dowager was unwilling to leave.

"Your lord can protect me for a while, how can you protect me for a lifetime, the court is in turmoil, the He family is autocratic, I am ashamed of the first emperor, what face do I have, although this wine is poisonous, it is also a relief."

As she spoke, Empress Dong took off the jade pendant around her neck and handed it over, and the thin man hurriedly knelt down and took it.

"It's just that now only Xie'er, you will hand over this jade pendant to your family, don't ask for Xie'er to ascend the throne again, as long as your life is safe."

"The lower officials are here, and please don't miss the Empress Dowager!"

It's just that before the thin man's words fell, the Empress Dowager Dong suddenly picked up the poisonous wine and drank it all, the wine glass fell to the ground, and she died of poison immediately.

Outside, several sturdy people dressed in short brown did not come out for a long time, and when they were curious, they walked into the hall and saw that the queen of heaven had died of poison, and they were stunned for a while.

"It's all my fault, let's bury the Empress Dowager first, and immediately return to Luodu to restore my life." The thin man's expression was solemn, and when he thought of the last words of the Empress Dowager, he had mixed feelings for a while.

***

In the Gongsun Mansion, Yang Yi stood with a solemn expression, holding an extremely delicate unicorn jade in his hand, and listened to the thin man tell the cause and effect.

"It's the fault of the officials who have failed, and please ask the adults to condemn themselves!"

"The Empress Dowager is bent on death, it's not your fault, the journey is tiring, go down and rest, it's hard all the way."

"Your Excellency." The thin man wanted to speak and stopped.

"Stand down." Yang Yi said softly.

"This He Jin thief has the audacity to poison the Empress Dowager." Lu Liang, who was standing on the side, reprimanded coldly.

"It's not that the time has not come, He Jin's death is approaching, we don't need to do it, Lu Liang, I have an important matter for you to do."

"Your Excellency, please."

***

In front of Cai Yong's mansion, Lu Liang, who looked reluctant, waited quietly on his horse, and behind him was a team of more than 100 soldiers in front of the mansion, with bright swords and armor, and neat military appearance.

It turned out that the welcoming team of the Wei family of the Hedong clan had arrived, but the Wei family's team did not intend to enter the territory of Luodu, Cai Yong asked Yang Yi to send troops to escort him, but Yang Yi naturally did not refuse.

Although Yang Yi didn't have much affection for Cai Yan, he admired Cai Yong a lot, and he didn't shirk sending troops to escort him when requested, not to mention that Yang Yi needed to take this opportunity to transport the gold, silver and jewelry taken from the Northern District out of the city.

These gold, silver and jewels are useless in the Gongsun Mansion, they will only rot and mold, but if they are sent to Tian Yu, who is stationed in Suozao County, they can play a huge role, and Yang Yi even often looks forward to what kind of elite soldiers Tian Yu will bring.

The Hedong Wei family has been prominent since the general Wei Qing, although it is not as good as the fourth and third princes of the Yuan family, and the family has gradually fallen with the passage of time, but it is also a well-deserved famous family, and there are not a few officials in the Wei family.

Yang Yi is considered a rich party at this time, but he will not be stingy, in order to please Cai Yong, he gave a lot of gifts, and sent Lu Liang to lead a hundred people to escort the convoy, which can be regarded as making Cai Yong owe a big favor. It's just that what makes Lu Liang very depressed is that Lord Gongsun actually arranged Ning Er in the convoy, Lu Liang, as a white horse righteous servant, crawled from the blood and water of the corpse mountain, wandering between life and death every day, it can be said that he is not afraid of heaven and earth, and he can only be in awe of Ning Er.

Although Ning Er is only the identity of a maid in Gongsun's mansion, everyone knows that Ning Er is close to Gongsun and can enter and exit Gongsun Lord's study at will, and Ning Er is the only one in the whole army.

Ning Er sat in the carriage with her hands on her cheeks, if it weren't for a few days of hard persuasion, she would never leave Gongsun Yi's side, until Yang Yi pretended to be angry, the persuasion was successful, which made Yang Yi very emotional, this playful and cute, very caring little girl is amazingly stubborn.

"Here, the door is open, and Cai Yan boarded the carriage with the support of his personal maid."

The brigade of men and horses followed, walking halfway, a large group of ox carts transporting large boxes joined the team, and the whole team of relatives became two teams in a very short time, and most of the army led by Lu Liang was deliberately retreating and carefully guarding the ox carts.

Seeing that it was escorted by the cavalry battalion under the command of Sun Yi, the general who guarded the city did not check it very well, and helped to drive the merchants and civilians who entered and left the city to the side, and the convoy left Luodu smoothly, and Lu Liang, who was in charge of the escort, was also relieved.

Although Lu Liang, who was riding a horse in the middle of the group, did not want to eavesdrop, the sound of discussion in the carriage on the left still came to his ears.

"Miss, those armorers look fierce and vicious, and they don't look like good people."

"It's not good for my father to find anyone, but to ask that hypocritical and superficial person." A soft voice full of displeasure followed.

Lu has anger in his conscience, but he can't say much, but he doesn't have a good impression of Cai Yan, who is both talented and affectionate.

"Compared with hypocrisy and superficiality, some people are even more unbearable." At that moment, a voice like a silver bell sounded.

Lu Liang was stunned for a moment, even if he didn't look at it, he knew that this was the voice of Ning Er in the carriage on the right.

"Miss, don't pay attention to her, just a country girl who has never seen the world."

"Ning'er is indeed from a humble background, not as good as Miss Cai, but Ning'er knows how to repay kindness, and it doesn't seem that someone is being guarded by the Xiao Cavalry Battalion, but she is making a lot of nonsense here, is it that people from everyone are so ungrateful?"

"What I said before seems to be inappropriate, but Gongsun Yi is an indisputable fact of hypocrisy, and it is understandable that you are loyal to the Lord, but the obsession of losing your principles is too ignorant." Cai Yan immediately retorted.

"Speaking of obsession, Ning Er doesn't dare to compare with Miss Cai, after hearing that Miss Cai's fiancé is a famous family in Hedong, he is highly talented and brilliant, but not all women in the world are concerned about Wei Gongzi, let him lead the army, I'm afraid he can't do it, the six arts of the gentleman, I don't know if Wei Gongzi is good at riding and shooting?"

"You!" Cai Yan got up angrily, Wei Zhongdao has been in poor health, although he is outstanding, he is seriously ill, and he is said to be hunting on horses, even if it is inconvenient to travel, he was speechless for a while. How could Lu Liang, who was riding a horse, think that Ning'er, who has always been playful and cute, quiet and gentle, would quarrel with the eldest lady of the Cai family across the carriage, and he wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh in such a strange scene, and he had to pretend to be deaf, which was really hard.

It wasn't until Tian Yu personally came to greet him that the two teams dispersed, and Lu Liang continued to lead a hundred troops to continue to escort the team.