Li Shatuo left the Shen family and rode back to the inn, he was very surprised by the changes in Li Zhu, Li Shatuo did not know Li Zhu's true identity, Su Dingfang just told him that this Li Zhu could be trusted, but what Li Zhu did made him a little puzzled, in Shen Dongren's words, it was to act for the tiger and become their enemy to seize Dunhuang County.

Maybe this is just Li Zhu's illusion, or maybe people's hearts have changed, Li Shatuo can't make up his mind in his heart, he doesn't dare to go to Li Zhu.

Back at the inn, Li Shatuo immediately wrote a short message, called one of his subordinates, handed him the letter and instructed: "You and the guide go to Yumen Pass again, and hand over this letter to General Su, the situation has changed, and you must hand it over to him as soon as possible." ”

The soldier agreed, immediately went to find the guide, the two left in a hurry, at this time it was getting dark, the vendors closed their stalls home, and the city of Dunhuang was quiet again.

Shen Dongren waited until it was dark, he went out impatiently, and came to Lu Mansion by carriage, Lu Mansion is also a famous family in the south of the Yangtze River, after the Chen Dynasty was destroyed, part of the Lu family members who participated in the uprising against the Sui Dynasty were also exiled to Dunhuang, becoming the big family in Dunhuang, and now there are only three southern scholars left in Dunhuang City, Yuhang Lu, Wuxing Shen and Danyang Xie.

Originally, the Xiao family of Nanjun was the head of the Jiangnan Shi clan, but since Xiao Yinyin led the family to move back to Nanjun, the Lu family gradually became the leader of the Jiangnan Shi clan in Dunhuang City, on the one hand, the Lu family has the largest number of children, and more importantly, Sima Lu Chunxing of Dunhuang County has become the only representative of the Jiangnan Shi clan in the officialdom, safeguarding the interests of the three of them.

Shen Dongren was invited into the study by the Lu brothers, they have an excellent relationship, and they are also in-laws, Shen Dongren's eldest son Shen Xian is married to the daughter of Lu Chunhe, the head of the Lu family, and between the in-laws, many words can be told frankly.

Shen Dongren told the Lu brothers about Li Shatuo's coming to find it in the afternoon and the Sui army's preparation to seize Dunhuang County, and he said excitedly: "If the Sui army can exterminate Li Zhaojin, it will be the day when our Jiangnan Shi clan will turn over, and we have really had enough of the two years of wimply anger." ”

The Lu brothers also hated Li Zhaojin very much, and Lu Chunhe sighed and said: "I have really had enough of the past two years, if the Sui army does not come again, we are also ready to move back to Yuhang County." ”

After a pause, Lu Chunhe asked again, "Then how can we help the Sui army?" ”

Shen Tongren glanced at Lu Chunxing, who had been silent, and said, this county Sima is sitting here, do you still need to ask?

Lu Chunxing smiled bitterly and said: "Things are not as simple as you think, the Tang Dynasty has already incorporated Dunhuang into its territory, and now the Sui army wants to forcibly seize Dunhuang County, will the Tang Dynasty agree?" Sooner or later, there will be a fierce battle between the two armies, and we will certainly be affected, and I fear that all three of us will be ruined in this vicious battle. ”

Shen Dongren was silent, Lu Chunxing was indeed right, with such an important strategic location of Dunhuang, the Tang Dynasty was willing to give up easily, if a war really broke out, would the three of them be able to keep it, even if they avoided the war, once the Tang Dynasty finally captured Dunhuang County, would they be liquidated? This is also a big problem.

"But ......"

Shen Dong Rendong thought of his son Shen Chun, and he couldn't help but sigh and said, "I think we should still try our best to help Sui Jun, what do you think?" ”

Lu Chunhe understood Shen Dongren's thoughts, although he himself was not very willing to participate in the Sui and Tang Dynasties' competition for Dunhuang, but Shen Dongren was his in-laws, and he had to give Lu Chunhe a smile on this face: "Don't worry, in-laws!" Our Lu family will definitely do our best to help. ”

Shen Tongren said goodbye and left, the Lu brothers continued to discuss this important matter, Lu Chunxing's face was gloomy, and he said to his brother with some dissatisfaction: "Why do you want to promise him?" ”

"After all, it's his in-laws, and he came to ask in person, can I not give him a face? It's just that I didn't expect that the Sui army would actually attack Dunhuang, which is troublesome. ”

Lu Chunxing sneered and said: "If there is any trouble, we must immediately send someone to Chang'an to report to the imperial court, otherwise the Sui army will take Dunhuang County, and Taishou will be surnamed Shen, and the hope of our Lu family will be over." ”

Lu Chunhe hesitated, and his face showed embarrassment, "But...... That's a little bit unpleasant! After all, Shen Dongren is my in-laws, and I have been friends for more than 20 years, so I do this...... We're a little bit unkind. ”

"Big brother! What time is it, and to talk about righteousness! ”

Lu Chunxing hurriedly said: "Has he Shen Dongren considered our interests again, Shen Chun wants to be the Taishou of Dunhuang, and Yang Yuanqing is the son-in-law of his Shen family, so what about us?" What do we have, when the king of Huai'an sent someone to find the eldest brother, the eldest brother agreed, I also secretly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and now Shen Dongren is going to bring in the Sui army, how can we explain to the Tang Dynasty? Big brother, don't forget, Zhou'er is a hostage in Chang'an! ”

A sentence reminded Lu Chunhe that his son Lu Chengzhou was doing business in Chang'an and became a matchmaker between the Lu clan and the Tang Dynasty in Dunhuang, and if he betrayed the Tang Dynasty and turned to the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty would not spare his son.

He sighed and said, "Okay then! We kept silent about this matter, as if Shen Dongren had not come to us. ”

"I don't have an opinion on this, but we have to send someone to Chang'an to report the news immediately, go now, and set off overnight!"

Lu Chunxing's eyes were very cold, but the Tang Dynasty promised to let him be the Taishou of Dunhuang, how could he let the Shen family succeed.

The palace of Li Zhaojin, the king of Dunhuang, is a mansion covering an area of 30 acres, that is, the original Xiao Mansion, which is located in the central point of Dunhuang City, and falls with nightfall...... The palace also quieted down, and the palace was surrounded by guards, at this time, a carriage stopped in front of the gate of the palace, Lu Chunxing walked out of the carriage, walked up the steps quickly, and several guards stopped him.

"The prince has already rested, Lu Sima, please go back!"

Lu Chunxing was a little anxious and said: "I have an urgent matter to report to the prince, please report it for me." ”

At this time, an officer walked out of the palace, this person's name is Suo Quan, born in the Suo family of the Dunhuang Wang family, and is currently one of Li Zhaojin's four former captains, and it is his turn to be on duty today.

More than 20 years ago, Emperor Wen of Sui Emperor Yang Jian exiled a part of the Jiangnan scholars to Dunhuang, which also meant to enrich Dunhuang with these Jiangnan scholars, so as to consolidate the Sui Dynasty's rule over Dunhuang County.

The old Dunhuang clan headed by the Suo family could not compete with the Jiangnan Shi clan with strong financial resources, and they all died down, waiting for the opportunity to make a comeback, when Li Liang established the Liang State, he began to vigorously support the Suo and Cao families, who had a very good relationship with the Li clan in Hexi, and the old Dunhuang clan rose again and began to strongly counterattack the Jiangnan Shi clan, taking away their land, cutting off their trade routes, and smashing their shops to force the Xiao and Chen families away from Dunhuang.

However, with the destruction of the Liang Kingdom by the Tang Dynasty, the old Dunhuang clan once again lost their backer, and they began to be a little uneasy, they all knew that Li Zhaojin was difficult to fight against the Tang Dynasty, so could the Tang Dynasty tolerate them, the old Dunhuang clan who had fully supported the Liang Kingdom?

Suo Quan walked out of the gate of the palace, arched his hand and smiled: "Lu Sima, please go back!" The prince is drunk, and you know that it is difficult to wake him up at this time. ”

Li Zhaojin is famous for his greed for cups, and everyone in Dunhuang City knows that he often gets drunk, and Lu Chun is anxious, "I do have important things, if it is delayed until tomorrow morning, I am afraid it will be too late." ”

Suo Quan was a little curious, stepped forward and asked with a smile, "What's the matter?" Let me know if I can help. ”

Lu Chunxing said in a low voice: "Urgent information, the spies of the Sui army have entered the city." ”

Li Shatuo's subordinates in the Ping An Inn had gone to bed early, and after trekking in the wind and sand for several days, they were already exhausted Li Shatuo also washed his feet with boiling water, and was about to go to bed, at this moment, someone suddenly knocked on his door, and then came the voice of the shopkeeper, "Mr. Li, someone is looking for you in a hurry." ”

Li Shatuo was stunned, he immediately thought that this might be Shen Dongren looking for him, he put on his shoes and opened the door, the cold wind rushed towards him, so that he couldn't help but shiver, but saw a man in black standing at the door, actually masked, the shopkeeper had already avoided it, Li Shatuo took a step back, instinctively pulled out the dagger and shouted: "Who are you?" ”

The man in black sneered and said in a sullen voice: "Someone has already sued you, let's go!" If you don't leave, the army will come and arrest you at once. ”

Li Shatuo was taken aback, he wanted to ask again, the man in black had already turned around and ran away, Li Shatuo was shocked in his heart, could it be that the Shen family betrayed him?

The shopkeeper hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Let's go!" The gates are now closed, but you can bribe a few taels of gold out of the city, as the merchants do, so go quickly! ”

Li Shatuo didn't have time to think about it, he turned around and tapped the door under his hand, and shouted urgently: "You all get up quickly!" ”

A quarter of an hour later, Li Shatuo and his men rushed out of the Ping'an Inn with their camels and ran towards the city gate shrouded in darkness.

Half an hour later, the soldiers of the brigade rushed onto the street and quickly surrounded the Ping'an Inn, and an officer shouted: "Brothers, you can't let go of the Tang Army spies!" ”

At the same time, another army of hundreds of people surrounded the Lu Mansion, and the soldiers held torches in their hands, illuminating the front gate of the Lu Mansion as if it were daylight, and the Lu brothers walked out in shock, and Lu Chunxing shouted angrily: "What are you doing here? ”

The leading officer said coldly, "Sima Lu, someone accused you of colluding with the Tang Dynasty, plotting against you, and wanting to betray the prince!" ”

He waved his hand, "Grab me!" ”

Dozens of soldiers rushed up, pressed the Lu brothers to the ground, ignored Lu Chunxing's yelling, tied them up with ropes, and gagged them, threw the two brothers into a carriage, and hundreds of soldiers quickly left the Lu Mansion.

Li Shatuo took his men out of the city gate, all the way to the north, the guide had already left first, the cold wind in the dark night, the wind and sand covered the sky, they couldn't distinguish the road at all, they could only rely on the wind and sand a little bit of the sky to show a little blurred starlight guidance, flee to the north, everyone was cold and tired, about three or four miles, suddenly found that there was a poplar forest in front of him, Li Shatuo was overjoyed, and hurriedly ordered: "Go into the woods to rest!" ”

More than 20 people led camels, against the wind and sand, and walked towards the woods with difficulty, at this moment, there was a sudden sound of horses' hooves around them, a cavalry rushed out of the poplar forest, about hundreds of people, surrounded them, hundreds of crossbow arrows were raised together, aimed at them, a general urged the horses out of the forest, and sneered at them: "Don't resist, if you resist, you will die!" ”