After dark that night, the gate of Pingliang City was locked. At the same time, the east and south gates were suddenly opened, and the vanguard battalion and cavalry battalion of the Liang army left the city overnight from the two gates, and hurried into the dark night.

When a force of six or seven thousand people went out to fight, it was naturally difficult to hide from those who were secretly watching. Qin Cha Zhang Nianyun soon woke up with the sound of slamming the door, got up in a daze, opened the door, and when he heard about the strange movement reported by the spies, Zhang Yushi immediately woke up, and ordered a team of Qin Cha guards overnight to rush to the east city gate.

When Zhang Yushi rushed to the east gate with his troops in a hurry, he saw that the city gate was closed, and the officers and soldiers of the pioneer battalion had already left the city and did not know where they went.

Zhang Yushi ordered the general who was guarding the city to find and open the city gate, but the general ignored the lord of the Qincha at all, claiming that without the instructions of the Pingliang guerrilla general, the city gate had been locked and must not be opened without authorization.

During the confrontation between the two armies, the Liang army defending the city gathered more and more, holding weapons in their hands, and surrounded the east city gate with an unkind face, faintly trapping Zhang Yushi and the team of guards in the middle.

Zhang Yushi was so angry that he almost vomited blood, seeing that the shape was not right, he would not do anything to forcibly break into the city gate. turned to go to the Pingliang Guerrilla General's Mansion angrily, and asked Dai Feng to order the city gate to be opened.

General Dai Feng was originally a wounded and sick, and he slept early and deeply. The guards rudely knocked on the door of the General's Mansion, Zhang Yushi entered the General's Mansion, and ordered the subordinates of the General's Mansion to wake up Dai Feng and help him up, Zhang Yushi personally walked to General Dai's bed, endured his anger, and asked General Dai for a warrant to open the city gate in the most amiable tone.

Dai Feng looked confused, pointed at the layer of gauze wrapped around his chest, and said with a wry smile: "Lord Qincha." Look at me now, where can I manage the affairs of city defense? The city defense has long been handed over to Lord Xu to take care of. ”

Zhang Yushi listened. Suddenly, the blood surged, and his eyes turned black. Without saying a word, he left the Pingliang Guerrilla General's Mansion, cursed all the way and went to the Xu Mansion in the north of the city.

A group of people rushed to the gate of Xu's mansion, and before the guards stepped forward to knock on the door, suddenly hundreds of Tsing Yi guards with strong hands rushed out of the alleys on both sides of the wall, and surrounded Zhang Qincha and the guards in the middle, and the captain of Tsing Yi Wei asked vigilantly: "Who is coming?" Dare to trespass into Xu's mansion late at night? ”

Zhang Yushi didn't expect that the Xu Mansion was so tightly defended and exposed to the cold arrows. No matter how impatient the mood is, it will calm down. Zhang Yushi came forward, identified his identity, and ordered the captain of Tsing Yi to enter the mansion and spread the word.

The captain of Tsing Yi looked at Zhang Yushi up and down for a while, and ordered the two Tsing Yi guards to enter the mansion to pass the ceremony, but he did not withdraw the vigilance force, and still stared coldly at Zhang Yushi and the Qin Messenger guards.

Zhang Yushi was annoyed in his heart, so he couldn't bear it, and stood on the cold street with his hands and waited for a long time before he heard a series of footsteps in Xu's mansion. Then the door of the mansion was ajar, Xu Liang was wearing beige cotton clothes and pants, yawned and came out, rubbed his eyes and arched his hand towards Zhang Yushi and asked, "Lord Zhang doesn't sleep in the house in the middle of the night." led the troops to the Xiaguan Mansion, but what happened? ”

Zhang Yushi snorted coldly and said secretly. Are you willing to go to me in the middle of the night without sleeping and running around against the cold wind?

"Sub-hour. The vanguard battalion and cavalry battalion of the Liang army suddenly marched out of the city, and their whereabouts were unknown. Does Lord Xu know? Zhang Yushi asked coldly.

Xu Liang said: "This is indeed the case. The thieves on the side of Jingning City are restless again, and this official, as a regular envoy to suppress bandits, is duty-bound to send troops to eliminate the thieves! ”

Zhang Yushi said angrily: "Ben Qincha has already ordered that officials and generals at all levels are not allowed to go out of the city at will, and Ben Qincha has many doubts to ask Luo Rucai, the vanguard officer of the Liang Army, how to explain Lord Xu's move?" ”

Xu Liang covered his lips with his hand, suppressed the yawning sound that surged to his throat, and said lightly: "The military situation is urgent, and there is no time to delay!" This official is planning to personally go to the prefect's yamen tomorrow to report to the two lords. Moreover, this matter was reported by the official to Lord Hong, who participated in the politics of Shaanxi, and Lord Hong also agreed. ”

Seeing Xu Liang's absent-minded appearance, Zhang Yushi was even more annoyed, and shouted angrily: "You quickly give an order, open the city gate, Ben Qin is going to summon Luo Rucai, the vanguard officer of the Liang army, to the palace for questioning!" ”

When Xu Liang heard this, his eyes widened wider and wider, and he finally smiled angrily, "In the middle of the night, Lord Zhang asked the official to order the city gate to be opened in order to summon a Luo Rucai?" Joke! The lock of the city gate is related to the life and death of the people in the city, how can it be such a child's play! ”

"Xu Liang!" Zhang Yushi shouted: "This official suspects that Luo Rucai and the pioneer battalion went out of the city late at night, and they must want to hide some criminal evidence!" If you have a clear conscience, why dare you open the gates? ”

Xu Liang rolled his eyes, finally yawned, waved his hand and said, "Zhang Qincha If there is nothing to do, please go back!" Just to summon a general to go out on an expedition to open the city gate in the middle of the night, it is really ridiculous to say it! I can't afford to lose this person! With that, Xu Liang turned around and entered the gate of Xu's mansion, and the gate slammed shut.

Outside the door, Zhang Yushi trembled with anger.

The next day, the sky was slightly bright, and the east gate had just been opened, and I saw a group of cavalry galloping out of the city.

The minister of the Qincha, Qiao Yunsheng, the secretary of the criminal department, had just finished washing, and saw Zhang Nianyun, the imperial history of the capital, rushing into the house, with double panda eyes, pulling Qiao Shangshu's long sleeves, and angrily accusing Qiao Shangshu of what happened last night.

Qiao Shangshu was so entangled that he had no choice but to decide to find both parties and confront him in court.

So, Pingliang Tongzhi Xu Liang, who had been resting at home for many days, was summoned to the lobby of the prefect's yamen, and officials at all levels of the Pingliang mansion also gathered in the lobby.

Qiao Shangshu asked in slight surprise, "Why is Lord Hong here too?" ”

Hong Shenzheng stood in the hall with his head held high, glared at Zhang Nianyun, the imperial historian of the capital with panda eyes, and said: "The old man heard that Lord Shangshu was promoted to the hall today to question Xu Guozhong about the Liang Army's pioneer battalion and cavalry battalion going out of the city late at night last night, so he specially came over to be a witness. ”

Qiao Shangshu looked left and right, and asked suspiciously: "Dare to ask Lord Hong, where is Xu Guozhong?" ”

Xu Liang felt a greasy taste in his heart, and said embarrassedly: "Lord Shangshu, the lower official is the word Guozhong......"

"Oh!" Qiao Shangshu let out a long sigh with a strange expression, obviously not expecting Xu Liang to have such a word. After being stunned for a while, he remembered what was going on, and then asked, "Uh, what kind of witness does Lord Hong want to do?" ”

Hong Shenzheng stretched out his hand as black as a fan, pointed at Xu Liang and said: "Last night, the Liang army suddenly went out to fight, and Guozhong had already reported it to me, and I agree with it." If the two lords want to use this matter to punish Guozhong, then they will punish the old man together. ”

After Hong finished speaking, everyone in the hall was shocked. Qiao Shangshu looked suddenly enlightened, and was silent. Zhang Yushi's panda eyes instantly opened to the maximum, and his eyes were uncertain. Xu Liang was also very shocked, and in addition, there was a trace of emotion, when he reported the matter of the pioneer battalion's expedition to Hong Shenzheng in a matter-of-fact manner, he did not have the idea of pushing Hong Shenzheng to the front desk as a shield, but he didn't expect Hong Chengchou to be a person who was not afraid of things, and he protected Xu Liang like this.

Zhang Yushi was stunned and didn't know what to say.

Qiao Shangshu thought about a lot of things in a blink of an eye, judging from Hong Chengtuan's attitude towards Xu Liang, the relationship between Xu Liang and Hong Chengtuan must not be ordinary, thinking of the heated discussion in the court about the candidate for governor of Shaanxi before he left Beijing, Qiao Shangshu made up his mind, he coughed a few times in embarrassment, and Chao Hong participated in politics He knows: "Lord Hong, don't stand, please take a seat." He swept around the officials in the hall again, and continued to laugh and said, "In this way, this is all a misunderstanding!" Haha, look at how much this is going on...... Lord Zhang, in my opinion, this matter is settled, right? ”

Zhang Yushi raised his eyes and glanced at Hong Chengchou who was sitting with a golden knife in Malaysia, and he was silent for a long time, but finally did not speak, and lowered his head gloomily, Zhang Yushi can ignore the identity of Xu Liang Pingliang, but he can't ignore the face of Hong Chengchou, who is participating in the politics of Shaanxi. Hong Chengchou's official reputation has always been good, and he is a popular candidate for the governor of Shaanxi in the central government, how dare Zhang Yushi offend such a character?

Qiao Shangshu smiled a little coldly when he saw this, "Lord Hong cares about the suffering of the people and the safety of the place, and it is understandable to order the Liang army to go on the expedition." In order to ensure the stability of Liangcheng, Lord Xu adhered to his principles and was unwilling to open the city gate at will, which was also a sign of dedication. As for Zhang Yushi, in order to find out the cause of the death of the prince as much as possible, he acted a little anxiously. But no matter what, everyone is doing errands for the emperor better, and no one is wrong in this matter, it is a pure misunderstanding! ”

Qiao Shangshu defined this incident in a few words. Since it was all characterized as a misunderstanding, this questioning naturally could not continue, and Qiao Shangshu announced the dismissal of the meeting.

When the officials left one after another, Qiao Shangshu suddenly shouted: "Xu Liang, uh, Guozhong, you come with this official." (To be continued......)