Wang Zhi was wearing a new suit and stood respectfully at the gate of the Taishou Mansion, looking at the white snow in front of the empty door, his mood was as gloomy as the sky with lead clouds hanging low. The time he had agreed to had arrived, but none of the people from the Changshui camp came.

They looked down on me, looked down on my brother Wang Fu, not only the children of a family like Yuan Shao looked down on me, but even Liu Xiu, a poor family like Liu Xiu, who also started by relying on eunuchs, looked down on me, he promised me to come to the banquet, and let me be busy with great fanfare, which was known to everyone in the whole house, and then he didn't come and slapped me hard.

Wang Zhi bit his lip tightly, his cheeks twitched uncontrollably, and the thick fur couldn't stop the chill in his heart.

Regret is like a worm, gnawing at his heart.

At the beginning, my brother Wang Fu said, if you want to get rich, you can just pick a rich county, why go to the place in Wuyuan? Although that place is a county, it is not as good as a large county in the interior, and the place is bitterly cold, and there are many barbarians, and it is possible to lose your surname at any time. Today's Han Dynasty has long lost the glory of the past, and the counties of Wuyuan and Yunzhong are just named in this dynasty, and how many Han people are there?

He didn't listen, he felt that he had a martial spirit, and volunteered to come to the border to be an official, maybe he could kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions, adding something worthy of praise to the Wang family's already stinking reputation. The elder brother listened to him, was silent for a long time, and finally agreed to him.

He worked very hard in Wuyuan Taishou, killed the enemy very bravely, and every time he took the lead and charged ahead, although he could not be compared with his predecessor Chen Gui and Cui Wei, but it was no worse than Guo Hong of the Yingchuan Guo family, but his efforts were in vain, Cui Yu was the Wuyuan Taishou, often the most on the side, but he was not even mentioned by the Wuyuan Taishou, not for anything else, just because he was the younger brother of the eunuch.

He is not afraid that Liu Xiu will check his official reputation, although his reputation is not good, but his official reputation is not bad, what he is afraid of is that Liu Xiu will find out that he threatens Cai Yong. Cai Yong was pardoned and returned home from Shuofang, he performed for Cai Yong, and danced during the banquet, but Cai Yong, a death row prisoner, did not give him face, embarrassed him in front of so many people, and he became angry and wanted to take revenge on Cai Yong. At that time, it was just an angry remark, but later he got the news that Cai Yong did not return to Luoyang, disappeared, and his life and death were unknown.

Now he panicked, if Cai Yong died unclearly, he was the most suspicious, his brother Wang Fu was dead, no one in the court would support him, and an edict from the Son of Heaven might kill him, regardless of whether he had been injured and bled for the border of the Han Dynasty.

The greater fear comes from Liu Xiu, Wang Zhi knows that Liu Xiu and Cai Yong have a very good relationship, and his famous "Luoyang Chronicles" and "Chang'an Chronicles" in Luoyang are the result of cooperation with Cai Yong. When Liu Xiu arrived in Northern Xinjiang, he would definitely avenge Cai Yong.

Wang Zhi trembled, walking on thin ice, he waited for Liu Xiu cautiously, for fear of being caught by him.

But in the end, it turned out that Liu Xiu did not accept his apology, and he had no way to live.

Wang Zhi's teeth chattered, and he wanted to cry without tears, and he seemed to hear the sigh of his brother Wang Fu. Wang Zhi lowered his head, most of the time because he had stood for too long, his legs were so sore, that he lost consciousness, if it weren't for the quick eye of Changshi next to him, he almost fell to the ground.

"My lord, maybe ......"

"Needless to say." Wang Zhi shook his head weakly, he knew that Changshi also looked down on him, but he didn't dare to show it because of the power in his hands, and once Liu Xiu turned his face and deprived him of the Taishou Seal Ribbon, Changshi's face might be colder than the wind outside.

"Your Excellency!" Changshi exclaimed in surprise, Wang Zhi was very annoyed, even if you wait for me to die, you are not bad at this moment. He turned his head and was about to scold, but when he saw the other side of the road, a black horse galloped towards him, stopped in front of the mansion gate, the horse's hooves kicked the snow flying, and the knight on the horse shouted in a long voice while holding the reins of the horse: "Fujun, Lord Liu is here." ”

Wang Zhi was overjoyed, he couldn't believe his ears, he glanced at Changshi, Changshi's face was a little complicated, and he could see that he was very disappointed, but Wang Zhi didn't care so much at the moment, he hurriedly lifted the hem of his clothes to meet it, and the dark clouds in the sky seemed to have dispersed, revealing a bright sunshine.

Liu Xiu took Han Sui, Duan Xuan and others to the gate of the mansion quickly, he jumped off the horse, and apologized to Wang Zhi from afar. He glanced at Liu Xiu's back attentively, and couldn't help but feel a little regretful that Yuan Shao, Chen Chen, and Wang Yun didn't come.

"Yuan Sima just sent people to say that they are too tired to come to the banquet, and invite your Excellency Haihan." Liu Xiu quietly provoked two sentences. Although Wang Zhi was a little angry, he didn't dare to say anything, so he invited Liu Xiu and the others to take a seat, and then announced the opening of the banquet.

Among the people who followed Liu Xiu, except for Liu Biao, they were either rough men in the army, or warriors in the frontier, there were not so many sour and rotten rules, they drank wine in big bowls, ate meat loudly, and made up for the hardships they had eaten these days. Since Wang Zhi has the heart to flatter, of course he went all out, not only arranged a banquet, but also found many women to accompany him.

Wang Zhi got up, personally left the table to dance, and then invited Liu Xiu nervously, Liu Xiu was modest, and also danced twice in the banquet. He has participated in so many banquets, and he knows that this is the proper etiquette, and whether he looks good or not is secondary, the key is his heart. Xu Huang has already inquired, Cai Yong rejected Wang Zhi's good intentions because he was unwilling to be with Wang Zhi, and he could only die in the world, although he was not afraid of Wang Zhi, but it was really unnecessary to turn his face with Wang Zhi for this battle of will.

Wang Zhi was grateful, and felt that Liu Xiu really gave him face, although his dance was very ugly, but his heart was very sincere, so sincere that he wanted to cry. In particular, Liu Xiu clearly told him that in the matter of Cai Yong, he thought that both sides were a little arrogant, and they should each play fifty boards, and they should not mention it again in the future.

Wang Zhi's nose was sour, and he was grateful. When Liu Xiu asked him to help recruit soldiers, Wang Zhi agreed without saying a word, he patted his chest and said, don't worry, don't dare to say anything else, in the territory of Wuyuan, I will definitely summon all the people who can fight, and when the time comes, I will take the soldiers of Wuyuan County with me.

Liu Xiu is very satisfied, take care of him not to be strong, try to reason with the people, don't make a mess, I am here to protect the territory and the people, not to disturb the people, if I scare the people away, then my sin will be great.

Wang Zhi even gave a thumbs up, adults really love the people like children, just for this point, the people of Wuyuan should also be enthusiastic to join the army.

Liu Xiusheng was afraid that Wang Zhi would do too much, so he arranged Xu Huang to be his deputy, and Wang Zhi flattered Xu Huang again and happily accepted it.

Beginning the next day, Wang Zhi issued a conscription order with great fanfare, and spread the news that Liu Xiu was going to conscript troops in Wuyuan Tuntian. In view of the limited population of Wuyuan, he decided to move all the people outside the city into the city, usually go out to farm, and live in the city at night to ensure safety. All the people of Tuntian can enjoy certain preferential treatment, as long as they cultivate the land carefully, not only all the food and clothing are covered by the government, but also each household can also send a child to study in the county. Those who farm well can also be rewarded, and the prizes are varied, all of which are rare Central Plains goods in the frontier, and their exquisiteness is naturally needless to say.

Living in the city, the safety of life is guaranteed, and the government provides food and seeds, so that they can eat their stomachs, these two conditions seem inconspicuous, but for ordinary people are very tempting, as for sending children to school and other rewards, they dare not expect extravagance.

It didn't take long for Wang Zhi to summon hundreds of people, and they were first arranged to be in Tuntian near Jiuyuan City. Jiuyuan is the seat of the county, and not far to the north is the Gohara fortress. Here, in Tuntian, the rations of the soldiers of the Wuyuan Fortress can be supplied nearby.

At the same time, the conscription work was also in full swing, with the vigorous assistance of Wang Zhi, more than 300 people were recruited in three days, and after Xu Huang's selection, more than 100 people were eliminated, and the remaining less than 200 people received brand new winter clothes and half a month's military salary on the same day. The military uniforms of the Han Dynasty are supplied from the mainland, and the quality is far from being comparable to the craftsmanship of the women in the frontiers.

Liu Xiu was very satisfied, but Wang Zhi was not satisfied, he found that there was no Lu Bu among the people who were recruited, and Lu Bu was the person Liu Xiu had personally asked, if he couldn't recruit Lu Bu into the army, he felt that Liu Xiu still had some regrets. So, Wang Zhi personally took a few people to Lu Bu's house, arrested Lu Bu's wife Huang and his wife Wei, and told Wei's younger brother Wei Xu that if Lu Bu did not come to join the army, he would kill his whole family.

……

More than fifty miles outside Jiuyuan City, a snow-white rabbit without a single stray hair shrunk in the snow nest, its long ears turning, vigilantly paying attention to the surrounding movements, and its two red eyes were half-open and half-closed. Suddenly, there was a slight tremor in the earth, which soon transformed into a distinctly audible sound of horses' hooves.

The rabbit stood up with its front legs arched, its long ears instinctively turning in the direction of the sound, its eyes widened, and it bowed, and jumped up in an instant, like a white lightning bolt.

Lu Bu rode a zebra at a gallop, stretched out his bow and arrows, and the feather arrow flew over a distance of seventy paces with a "whoosh", accurately hitting the eye of the snow rabbit flying in mid-air, shooting in from the left eye and shooting out from the right eye. The snow rabbit was carried by the powerful arrow and flew sideways two steps, and bright red blood beads sprinkled on the snow like plum blossoms in full bloom.

Lu Bu rode over, snorted, picked up the rabbit, a smug smile appeared on his handsome face, and smiled at Cheng Lian, who was following closely: "How?" ”

Cheng Lian took the rabbit and looked at it, laughed and praised: "Feng Xian is good at archery." ”

"The small skills of carving insects are not enough to worry about teeth." Lu Bu put away his bow, looked around at the horse, and smacked his lips regretfully: "It's a pity that there are only these little things, and there are no tigers and leopards like that for me to hunt." ”

"Do you want a tiger and a leopard?" Wei Yue also rushed over and pointed to the undulating Yin Mountain in the north: "It's the tiger and leopard who came out of Sedo." ”

"I know there are a lot of them." Lu Bu glared at Wei Yue a little unhappily, and he was in a good mood a little unhappy. Wei Yue relied on his sister to be his wife, and his speech was far less beautiful than that of others, didn't he know that there were many tigers and leopards outside the Saiwai? It's not just the tiger and leopard, but also the bear, the problem is that it is now the territory of the Xianbei people, they can rob some businessmen, and they really go to provoke the Xianbei people, they don't have that strength.

"Fengxian, I heard that the city is recruiting soldiers, and I heard that Lord Liu ordered that everyone who joins the army must take the school examination, and the greater the ability, the greater the official." Cheng Lian and Lu Bu walked side by side, and said tentatively: "Your martial arts are so good, do you have any plans?" ”

Lu Bu glared at him, "Do you believe this kind of?" If I defeat that Lord Liu, can he make me the captain of Changshui? ”

Cheng Lian wiped his nose in embarrassment, he also felt that this was not very reliable, and it was estimated that it was just a pretense of deception. No matter how high their martial arts are, they can only be a team leader or something after joining the army, they are in the charge, and they have nothing to do with them for meritorious service. Desperately receiving a reward is not enough to drink two meals of wine, and of course it cannot be compared with the income of robbery.

"Maybe you have a chance to become a captain like your grandfather." Wei Yue also rushed over and said half-jokingly. Lu Bu lowered his face and glanced at him: "Your sister is nagging you again?" ”

Wei Yue tilted his mouth a little helplessly and didn't say anything more. At the beginning, his sister wanted to marry Lu Bu, firstly, because Lu Bu was good-looking, had high martial arts, and was a famous young man outside the city in Jiuyuan City, and secondly, because the Lu family was also an official eunuch in Jiuyuan City. But I didn't expect that Lu Bu was now willing to be a ranger and didn't do anything serious all day long, the more he looked at it, the more he looked at it, the slimmer it became, and he couldn't help but be a little dissatisfied, and often muttered in front of Wei Yue and Wei Xu's brothers, asking them to persuade Lu Bu more and do something serious. After a long time, Lu Bu was a little annoyed with them.

"Fengxian, the successor is here." Cheng Lian interrupted, pointed to Wei Xu who was speeding in the distance, and said. Lu Bu was in an unhappy mood, his sword eyebrows trembled twice, and he walked forward with a smile. He also heard that there was a conscription in the city, but he was afraid of the faces of the officials, and he didn't want to be called around like a barbarian.

"Fengxian, Wang Zhi arrested your aunt and my sister." Wei Xu reined in his horse and said loudly.

"What?" Lu Bu was stunned for a moment, and then became furious. His father died early, it was his mother Huang who raised him, his feelings for Huang are very good, this time before returning to the city to hunt, just to hunt some bigger beasts, so that he can go back to make a skin for his mother, but he didn't expect his mother to be captured by Wang Zhi.

Before Wei Xu finished speaking, Lu Bu's face changed, turned the horse's head, and shouted: "Go back to the city!" Find Wang Zhi's dog thief to settle accounts. ”

Cheng Lian and the others didn't dare to slack off and followed closely.

……

Liu Xiu walked into the Lu family, looked around, and sighed secretly, the Lu family is really a family with four walls, poor and white. He heard Xu Huang say that after Wang Zhi arrested Lu Bu's wife and wife, he immediately rushed to the Taishou Mansion and led people out, he didn't blame Wang Zhi too much, after all, Wang Zhi was also kind. Lu Bu did not come to join the army, and he was also very disappointed, because in this way, he might have to mobilize forces to kill Lu Bu. Conscription is the first salute, encirclement and suppression is the rear soldiers, these are the two steps of the same thing, in order to ensure the safety of the frontier, these horse thieves must be controlled in the palm of their hands, and there is no room for the slightest hesitation, otherwise Cao Ying will not be the captain of him, but the captain of the horse thief, and there is no way to talk about Tuntian.

He politely sent Huang and Wei home, and the two women were shocked, grateful, but also a little embarrassed. Liu Xiu rescued them, but they didn't even have the ability to ask Liu Xiu to drink a glass of water, there was only one water scoop at home, so they couldn't ask Liu Xiu to drink water with a water scoop.

Fortunately, Liu Xiu didn't care about this, but he asked people to bring two silks to them. The Huang family didn't know that Liu Xiu had already had murderous intentions at this time, and these two silks were equivalent to Lu Bu's life, and they thanked them again and again.

"I heard that the Lu family was originally from the Central Plains, and your ancestor also served as a captain of the Yue Cavalry?" Liu Xiu said with a pleasant face.

Huang nodded, his face was a little gloomy, but Wei turned around and entered the room, and took out a set of battle armor that was too old to see its true colors, Liu Xiu could see it at a glance, this is the battle armor of the Yue cavalry captain, it seems that Xu Huang heard the news Yes, the Lu family does have an official background. Liu Xiu stroked his armor and was silent for a moment: "This is hanging in your son Lu Bu's room?" ”

"yes." Wei Shi said busily: "He has been practicing martial arts since he was a child, just to have the opportunity to serve the Han family like his eldest father. ”

Liu Xiu glanced at the silent Huang family a little strangely, and then glanced at the Wei family, who was a little impatient, thought for a while, and asked Hao Zhao to take two silk horses and put them in front of the Huang family, and said in a deep voice: "Madam, I am the captain of Changshui of the Northern Army, and I am very sad to see this battle armor." It's a pity to let this armor be dusted, and I am willing to redeem it with two silks, and ask my wife for permission. ”

Wei was in a hurry, and was about to speak, but Huang stopped her and glanced at Liu Xiu indifferently: "My lord, why should you bother, you are a fierce general, not inferior to Feng Xian." ”

Liu Xiu secretly praised in his heart, sure enough, he was a person who had seen the big wind and waves, and his knowledge was not bad. He shook his head and said very calmly, "Madame, is she willing to make Lang a horse thief forever?" ”

"What's so bad about being a horse thief?" Huang said lightly: "It is not a good thing to be born in heaven and earth, to die in heaven and earth, and not to act without looking at the faces of others." ”

"Mother?!" Wei screamed in confusion, but was glared at by Huang with his gaze, although he was dissatisfied, he didn't dare to say anything more.

Liu Xiu put away his battle armor, turned around and walked out, and when he reached the door, he stopped again, half-turned around and said to the Huang family: "Madam, I know that you have hatred and resentment in your heart, but do you really want Lang Yijin to return to his hometown?" ”

"Where is my hometown?" Huang suddenly became a little excited, "In the eyes of the Han people, I am a Xiongnu, in the eyes of the Xiongnu, I am a Han person, where is my hometown?" ”

"No matter where you are, I hope that one day you can go whenever you want." Liu Xiu smiled and said, "And it's a beautiful place." After speaking, he bowed to the Huang family and walked away.

Wei Shi was shocked, and hurriedly chased him out, stopping Liu Xiu and begging: "My lord, you can't take this battle armor away, Feng Xian...... Feng Xian ......"

Liu Xiu smiled slightly: "Madam, as a person from the Northern Army, I can't let a horse thief insult this armor." You tell Lu Bu that if he wants to get this armor back, ask him to come to me in the camp and give me a reason to return the armor to him. ”

Without waiting for Wei's reaction, Liu Xiu arched his hand and walked away with the people.

……

Lu Bu rushed into the door in three steps and two steps, and was relieved to see his mother Huang and his wife Wei sitting in the hall intact, but then he found that their faces were not right. When the Wei family told what had happened, Lu Buden was furious: "Dare to rob my family's ancestral armor? See that I don't hack him. After saying that, he turned around and was about to leave.

"Stop!" Although Huang's voice was not loud, it was very effective, Lu Bu immediately stopped, he hesitated for a moment, turned around and knelt in front of Huang: "Mother, the battle armor was left by my eldest father, and it is the most valuable treasure of my Lu family, how can it be taken away?" ”

"You think you can take it back alone?" Huang reprimanded sharply: "There are two or three thousand people in the Changshui Battalion, do you think you can defeat these two or three thousand people alone?" ”

"Don't say it's two or three thousand, it's twenty or thirty thousand, I'm not afraid." Lu Bu said with a stiff neck.

"You're crazy." Huang's slap made Lu Bu stunned. She shouted, "What do you want that armor for?" When I took it back, it was also hung on the wall to fall into dust. You can't see that he's going to lure you into the camp, either to force you to join the army or to kill you. ”

"Mother, my husband is strong in martial arts, if you join the army, you ......"

"Shut up!" Huang reprimanded: "Do you want a living horse thief to be your husband, or a dead officer to be your husband?" I have been a widow for half my life, do you want to be a widow too? ”

Wei Shi muttered a few words, but did not dare to say anything more.

Lu Bu's nose was sour, he hugged Huang's legs, and kowtowed three times: "Mother, what the eldest husband wants is to live in this world, and what he wants is a face." If the family heirloom armor is taken away, what is the meaning of the son even if he is alive? ”

Huang sighed and patted Lu Bu's shoulder gently: "Son, you don't know, my mother doesn't want you to return to your hometown and return to your hometown, my mother only hopes that you can live well." ”

Wei Shi watched Lu Bu's every move nervously, and seeing that he was not shaken, he was secretly happy in his heart, and quietly pursed his lips.

(To be continued)