In the infantry battalion, Guan Yu danced his sword with both hands, roared forward, and broke through the fifty guards personally led by the infantry captain Xiahou Yuan in a moment, and the ten heavy armor soldiers behind him quickly entered, separating Xiahou Yuan from the others, Guan Yu let out a long roar, and the sword slashed down in the air.

Xiahou Yuan was taken aback, although this was only a sword used for drills, and it did not open the edge, but if it was to be smashed this time, he would be seriously injured even if he did not die. Without thinking, he struggled to raise the shield in his hand.

There was a loud ......bang, and the shield was torn apart, and even the raw cowhide covering it was torn. Xiahou Yuan felt that half of his body was unconscious, and sat on the ground with a plop, closing his eyes.

A gust of wind blew past the ears, and then there was silence.

Xiahou Yuan waited for a moment, but did not wait for the expected heavy blow, he opened his eyes suspiciously, and found that Guan Yu had already put away the horse sword, stroked his beard with one hand, and held the sword with the other, looking at him with a smile. Xiahou Yuan rolled his eyelids, glanced at the shield less than an inch above his head, and sighed: "Yun Chang really has divine power, and he can send and receive it freely. ”

Guan Yu smiled, stretched out his hand and pulled up Xiahou Yuan: "Miaocai is also worthy of its reputation, Guan often hears adults mention Miaocai, and his heart is often unconvinced. ”

Xiahou Yuan stood up with Guan Yu's hand, patted the soil on his buttocks, motioned his subordinates to practice, pulled Guan Yu to the side, poured a large bowl of water and handed it to Guan Yu with his own hands, and poured another bowl and drank it all, then wiped his mouth and said: "My lord praises falsely, Yuan is ashamed, and in front of a fierce general like Yun Chang, Yuan does not dare to be self-righteous." ”

Guan Yu smiled and shook his head again and again: "Miaocai, this is a bad word. Heavy armor is a selection of soldiers, and the martial arts taught by the adults themselves, all of them can be a hundred, Guanglu City once killed Xianbei people frightened. It's not Guan boasting, even in the face of the same number of knights, our victory is expected. ”

Xiahou Yuan smiled and echoed a few words, looking at the heavy armor soldiers who were surrounded by the soldiers, his eyes were a little hot. The combat effectiveness of these heavy armor soldiers was too strong, and in less than ten days after arriving in Luoyang, they beat all over the five schools of the Northern Army. Although Guan Yu's words were a little arrogant, but his arrogance had capital, he did easily defeat fifty knights with ten heavy armor soldiers in three cavalry battalions, and Chun Yuqiong, the captain of the Yue cavalry, was slapped off his horse with a sword, and he still hasn't been able to get up.

How nice it would be if these heavy armor soldiers were in an infantry battalion, under their own command.

"Your Excellency taught you martial arts? What kind of shape do you practice? Xiahou Yuan sat aside, propped up one leg, and motioned with a smile for Guan Yu to sit down as well, otherwise he would be under too much pressure. Guan Yu hesitated slightly, but sat down honestly and unceremoniously, although Xiahou Yuan was a captain of more than two thousand stones, and he was only a hundred generals, but on Liu Xiu's line, they were just the first to come, and he believed that he would definitely come from behind and become the most outstanding general under Liu Xiu.

"Dragon-shaped." Guan Yu held his legs with both hands, glanced at the heavy armor soldiers who were laughing with the soldiers of the infantry battalion in the distance, and turned his head to look at Xiahou Yuan: "What kind of shape does Miaocai practice?" ”

"Me." Xiahou Yuan wiped the sweat on his face with some embarrassment, "I am also in the form of a dragon, but I have not made much progress in my practice so far, and I am not as rapid as Yun Chang." ”

The corners of Guan Yu's mouth were crooked, and he didn't say anything more, in his opinion, Xiahou Yuan's dragon form was indeed not very well practiced. The dragon form is the strongest way in the Mozi Five Elements Technique, the emphasis is unpredictable, swift and unparalleled, and it is even better than the monkey form that Liu Xiu practiced himself. It is said that no matter which of the five elements of Mozi is practiced, it is a dragon form when practiced to the extreme, so when Liu Xiu asked Guan Yu to choose himself, he directly chose the dragon form.

"Adults can dominate in northern Xinjiang, and Yun Chang has merit." Xiahou Yuan said with a smile, Guan Yu was modest, but he didn't feel ashamed. They said a few words of gossip, Zhang He came, and when he saw that Xiahou Yuan was still a little half-paralyzed, he couldn't help but laugh: "Miaocai is also defeated?" ”

"Defeated." Xiahou Yuan didn't care, "You came here, you won't be here to see my jokes, right?" ”

Zhang He shook his head, said a few words to Guan Yu, and then pulled Xiahou Yuan to the side, lowered his head, and kicked the clod of soil with his toes: "Yuan Shao has returned to Luoyang." ”

Xiahou Yuan's eyes flashed: "Your Majesty really wants to take away the military power of the adult?" ”

"Looks like so." Zhang He was silent for a moment, and then said: "I heard that the five schools of the Northern Army may also go out with the army, as for whether it will be under the command of Zang Min or under the command of Yuan Shao, it is still uncertain. ”

"There are Chun Yuqiong and Wang Kuang, of course, they are under the control of Yuan Shao." Xiahou Yuan clapped his hands a little depressedly: "The Son of Heaven is so casual, he just squeezed Yuan Shao out of the Northern Army, how could he hand the Northern Army into his hands again." If we go to the north, we will definitely be squeezed out. He thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and ask your lord what his opinion is." ”

"That's what I thought too." Zhang He smiled: "Do you want to inform Cao Mengde?" ”

Xiahou Yuan nodded and said, "Naturally, if he doesn't go, and he wants to return to the Yuan family, then we will have to part ways in the future." ”

Zhang He breathed a sigh of relief.

…… Cao Ying put down the military book in his hand, rolled his eyes, and looked at Xiahou Yuan strangely: "What are you doing here?" ”

"What for?" Xiahou Yuan said impatiently: "I'll just ask you a word, I and Jun Yi are supportive of adults, if you stand on our side, then we are three against two, absolutely dominant, if you want to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, then it doesn't matter, my infantry battalion is no worse than Wang Kuang's shooting battalion." Of course, if you want to support Yuan Shao, we are not afraid. ”

Cao Ying flattened his mouth, raised his hand and scratched his eyebrows: "Are you outside?" ”

"Of course, it's still Guan Yu, we're going to go to the gym together to meet the adults."

"Yun Chang is also there?" Cao Ying's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "What are you in a hurry, let them come in and sit." ”

"What to sit, you give a happy word, if you are willing to go together, sit slowly in the gym, there is good wine and tea, not much better than you."

"You know the." Cao Ying's eyes rolled, pointed at Xiahou Yuan and said unceremoniously: "You are not helping Liu Xiu, but harming him, you know?" ”

Xiahou Yuan was confused by his scolding, he looked at Cao Ying carefully for a moment, and felt that he was not prevaricating. Seeing that he hesitated, Cao Ying had no choice but to call in the guards himself, let them prepare some wine and food, and invite Zhang He and Guan Yu to come in and sit down, and then lowered his voice and reprimanded: "My Cao family and the Song family are tied together, you say I can help Yuan Shao?" ”

Xiahou Yuan breathed a sigh of relief, and his face softened: "Then why don't you go with us to meet the adults?" ”

"Say that you have a tendon, you are still not convinced." Cao Ying came to Xiahou Yuan and said softly: "Although the Son of Heaven intends to withdraw Liu Xiu's military power, but so far, the Son of Heaven has summoned him into the palace every now and then, and every time he talks and laughs, his affection exceeds that of ordinary people, and there is no sign that Liu Xiu is about to fall out of favor. But if you do this, will the Son of Heaven suspect Liu Xiu of forming a party? ”

When Xiahou Yuan heard the word "party", he couldn't help but gasp, and said with some uncertainty: "No, right?" ”

"As for whether it is or not, it's not up to you to decide." Cao Ying stretched out a finger and poked Xiahou Yuan's chest hard: "You remember, the Fifth School of the Northern Army is the forbidden army of the Son of Heaven, and anyone who wants to control these forces is a thorn in the side of the Son of Heaven." He paused, listened to the footsteps outside, and hurriedly said, "Now that the Son of Heaven has a big mind, don't be self-righteous." ”

Xiahou Yuan nodded suspiciously, and was about to speak, but Cao Ying stopped him, laughed and walked towards the door, and Lao Yuan opened his hand and smiled: "I heard the magpie cry early this morning, and sure enough, there was a distinguished guest." Yun Chang and Jun Yi, since they arrived at the door, why don't they come in and sit down, isn't it because they look down on me Cao Ying? ”

Zhang He glanced at Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Yuan pursed his lips a little embarrassed, Zhang He didn't understand what he meant, could it be that Cao Ying refused? But looking at Cao Ying's expression, it doesn't look like it. He politely returned the salute and sat quietly on the side.

Guan Yu and Cao Ying saluted, and sat on the first seat without much humility, drinking in silence. Cao Ying looked at Zhang He and Xiahou Yuan, and said in a reproachful tone: "It's not that I said you, you are not impulsive people, why are you confused today?" Not to mention that Lu Zigan is still the middle marquis of the Northern Army, the Northern Army has not yet been handed over to Yuan Shao, so what can it be? The Northern Army is just going out with the army, and will return to Luoyang in the future, will the Son of Heaven let the Northern Army remain in the hands of Yuan Shao? ”

Cao Ying then analyzed the situation in Luoyang for them.

Queen Song gave birth to a son, if nothing else, the emperor's concubine will inherit the throne in the future, Queen Song is the queen mother, and the status of the Song family will definitely rise. However, the father and son of the Song family are not capable people, and the relationship with celebrities and scholars is very ordinary, and they will not have any influence on the imperial power if they are relatives, so don't look at them as unfavored now, but at least they are not the people guarded against by the Son of Heaven.

But the Son of Heaven has to support the queen, because if the power of the queen's family is too weak, the emperor's concubine will have no backer in the future, so people related to the Song family, such as Liu Xiu, have become the choice of the Son of Heaven, the Son of Heaven will use him, but will restrict his development, and will not let him sit so big that the tail will not fall, this is why the Son of Heaven now wants to take away Liu Xiu's military power, and he is favored and trusted.

In fact, why did the Son of Heaven want to take away Liu Xiu's military power? How much effort did the Son of Heaven spend in order to arrange him to go to Bingzhou, why did he suddenly change his mind? The reason is very simple, Liu Xiu did not support his plan to conquer the Xianbei people on a large scale, and he opposed it very resolutely. He didn't know that the Son of Heaven didn't have enough financial resources to support the annexation of the state now, and he had to solve the problem of the Xianbei people in the short term, establish his prestige, and then reorganize the government. He originally hoped that Liu Xiu could do it, but Liu Xiu used a strategy of seeking stability, which did not meet the hopes of the Son of Heaven, so the Son of Heaven could only reluctantly cut his love and take away Liu Xiu's military power.

Why did the Yuan family become a thorn in the side of the Son of Heaven? It is because their strength is too strong, strong enough to confront the Son of Heaven. It was easy for the Son of Heaven to oust Yuan Kui from the position of Situ, but because the Yuan family had strong connections, whether it was Song Feng or the Yang family, who was also the third prince of the fourth world, it was difficult to get the support of those people, so Song Feng and Yang Ci were dismissed one after another, and Yuan Kui made a comeback.

This time, in order to cultivate Yuan Shao's prestige, Yuan Kui used the power formed by the powerful protégés of the Yuan family to support the Son of Heaven's northern expedition. If the battle is lost, the Yuan family will definitely suffer a heavy setback, if the battle is won, the Son of Heaven has to reward the Yuan family, and then someone needs to check and balance the Yuan family, so who is the best candidate? Of course, it was the Song family and Liu Xiu who supported the Song family.

That's all.

Therefore, Liu Xiu is not in danger at all, but if they come forward to oppose it in order to support Liu Xiu, and even unite with the generals of the annexed states to support Liu Xiu, then the matter will deteriorate, and the Son of Heaven will think that they have become Liu Xiu's private army, and he will never trust Liu Xiu again, and he will be included in the list of objects that need to be guarded against.

Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He looked at each other, although they were in Luoyang, they were obviously not as familiar with the wrestling situation between various forces as Cao Ying, Cao Ying's source of information was far from being comparable to them, and their ability to judge this situation was not within their reach now.

"Do you still want to go to the gym?" Cao Ying raised his eyebrows and asked with a smile.

"That'...... Let's not go just yet. ”

"No, I'm going." Cao Ying waved his hand and interrupted them: "Just don't go together, be as casual as before." Remember, you are the forbidden army of the Son of Heaven, you can be friends with Liu Xiu, but you must not form a party, otherwise, you will harm Liu Xiu, the Son of Heaven, and yourself. ”

Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He and the others agreed, and after a while, Zhang He asked again: "Do you think Yuan Shao can win this time?" ”

Cao Ying put away his smile, opened his fingers a few times, and said very cautiously: "The war is a heavy load, if the Yuan family goes all out, it should not be a problem to raise a year's worth of military funds, Yuan Shao's own ability to use troops is not weak, and Zang Min is a general who has been fighting for many years, in my opinion, even if he can't completely defeat the Xianbei people and sweep Mobei, it should still be very possible to win a few battles." ”

"Then if Yuan Shao wins, wouldn't the Yuan family's strength be even greater?"

"That's to be expected." Cao Ying laughed, and felt a little bored: "So the most important thing now is to keep Queen Song, as long as she doesn't lose the position of queen, then the succession of the prince association is expected, even if Yuan Meiren becomes a noble person and gives birth to a prince, as long as she can't be the queen, then the Yuan family still lacks a breath after all." He glanced at everyone: "Don't forget, the Son of Heaven doesn't want the Yuan family to gain power." ”

Xiahou Yuan and Zhang He exchanged a look with each other and nodded in unison.

…… He Guiren smiled all over his face, twisted his waist, and slowly stepped on the stone steps of Lantai, Yuan Hui, who had just gotten the news, hurriedly rushed out, and was about to kneel on the ground to greet him, He Guiren took a step, helped Yuan Hui with both hands, and laughed softly: "Beauty doesn't need to be polite, I'm just here to take a casual look, and by the way, ask the beauty for some things." I know that the beauty just served the Son of Heaven yesterday, and she must be very tired, so she doesn't have to kneel on this hard stone. Perhaps, you already have the seed of the Son of Heaven in your body, but you have to take care. ”

Yuan Hui's face flushed, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "How can a concubine have such an honor." ”

"That's not enough." He Guiren stopped talking, and did not get involved in the matter of giving birth to a child, she glanced at the library that could not see the end, and praised enviously: "There have been some years in this palace that there are no talented women like beauties, these Jane silk books or something, I am dizzy when I look at it, every time Your Majesty talks about those ancient things, I can only laugh, if one day I can speak like a beauty, how good it would be." ”

Yuan Hui was very embarrassed, and she couldn't figure out the intention of He Guiren, especially when it came to discussing court politics with the Son of Heaven, she was even more embarrassed.

"A beauty is talented, but it's a pity that she's just a beauty right now, and it's not enough to spend." He Guiren waved his hand, signaled people to carry a rattan box, opened it and put it in front of Yuan Hui, on it were two Shu brocades, and under the Shu brocade were neat gold, which looked like a hundred catties. Yuan Hui was startled and hurriedly excused himself, but He Guiren took her hand, held it in his palm, and patted it gently: "Beauty, my family has no foundation, neither can it be compared with the Yuan family of the fourth world and the third duke, nor can it be compared with the Fufeng Song family, I am an uneducated person, I have not read any books, I don't know how to please the Son of Heaven, but fortunately, I gave birth to a son for His Majesty, but this son is not important now, in this palace in the future, I will have to rely on the beauty more." ”

Yuan Hui smiled modestly: "The noble man said that he laughed, the concubine is just a beauty without rank, and she needs a lot of care from the nobles. The nobles have mercy, I feel guilty, but I dare not accept these gifts. ”

"Giggle......" He Guiren covered his mouth and laughed, and pushed Yuan Hui: "I know, the Yuan family is not short of this money, I shouldn't have had much trouble." It's just that now if the Yuan family wants to pick up the mess in the state, it will inevitably cost some money. I don't have anyone in my He family to help you, so I have to use these meager things to show my heart. Originally, my brother was supposed to send it to the Yuan Mansion, but the Yuan Mansion was not something that people like him could enter casually, so I had to hand it over to the beauty. ”

She caressed the back of Yuan Hui's delicate hand affectionately, and said enviously: "Alas, since I entered the palace, I haven't been so affectionate for a long time, and when I see a beauty, I think of my sister." When I was at home, our sister's relationship was really good, but now that I am in the palace, she is married, and I can't see her once or twice a year, so I really miss it. ”

Yuan Hui's heart moved, and he hurriedly smiled: "It is the blessing of the concubine to be favored by the noble, if the nobleman does not dislike it, then the concubine will call the nobleman a sister." ”

He Guiren covered his mouth, giggled, and his beautiful apricot eyes narrowed into a line: "Then I'm a little high." ”

"It's the concubine who has climbed high." Yuan Hui flattered a few words, and then said quietly: "Just now my sister said that Bingzhou is a mess, and the concubine is quite puzzled. Although the state is barren and the household registration is small, but Beizhong Lang will be a capable minister, His Majesty is full of praise as soon as he mentions it, he governed the state for two years, and sent two good news, and resolved the Huns, and the state is prosperous, how can it be a mess? ”

He Guiren lowered his voice and said softly: "Sister, don't you know, he is in Bingzhou and Tuntian, and he is training soldiers, and he looks very good, but where does the money come from?" He borrowed money, slapped his face, and pretended to be a rich man. ”

"Borrow money?" Yuan Hui had heard a little about this, but the specific situation was not very clear.

He Guiren mysteriously told Yuan Hui about Liu Xiu's debt to the people of Bingzhou, and finally said: "He said that it was 300 million, but how much money he owed, who knows, it must be more than 300 million, not less than 300 million." He borrowed it in the name of the history of the state assassin, and whoever wants to pick up this history of the state assassin will have to pay back the money for him first. ”

Yuan Hui was taken aback, 300 million money is not much, it is not too little, and the state is only twenty or thirty million a year, only this has to be returned to the year of the monkey Ma Yue, the Son of Heaven just can't wait, so he intends to replace Liu Xiu, the love general, if Yuan Shao takes over, then the first thing is to pay back the money of the people of the state, otherwise there is no need to fight the Xianbei people, and the state will have to be chaotic first.

It's not that the Yuan family can't afford this money, although 300 million will hurt their vitality, they can still afford it, the problem is that it doesn't make sense for Liu Xiu to borrow money, but someone else will pay it back. Spend 300 million for a 600 stone merger state thorn history? The brain burned out, Yuan Kui bought a Situ and wouldn't use 100 million.

Yuan Hui was still a little hesitant, because she felt that reluctance from Liu Xiu's emotions, if this was the case, what was there to be reluctant to give up the position of the state assassin? It can't be the wind that Liu Xiu deliberately released.

"How could my sister know this?" Yuan Hui brought the wine and food with a smile, and specially placed the pair of wine glasses, "Sister, do you like this glass, Your Majesty also likes this wine glass." ”

He Guiren didn't like this wine glass very much, and felt that it was too plain and not noble enough, but as soon as she heard that Your Majesty liked it too, she hurriedly smiled and praised it repeatedly, and then said very mysteriously: "This news is absolutely accurate, it was Zhang Chang who listened to Liu Xiu personally say it to His Majesty." She blinked, and said with a smug smile: "Zhao Changshou also asked Liu Xiu personally, and Liu Xiu admitted that it was only a lot more. You say, can this still be wrong? ”

Yuan Hui smiled faintly, sneering at He Guiren's show-off, but his face was full of envy. "It's still my sister who is well-informed in the palace, if it weren't for my sister's reminder, the concubine really didn't know that the state owed so much money. Sister, your second brother He Miao is almost in his thirties, right? ”

He Guiren smiled, looked at Yuan Hui happily, and said in his heart, this person from everyone, his heart and eyes are turning fast. Before she mentioned it, she took the initiative to say it. It seems that Zhang Rang's idea is right, since His Majesty has a son-in-law, the eldest son of the emperor is getting farther and farther away from the throne, and the first task at this time is to push Empress Song down from the throne, and an alliance with the Yuan family is the best choice. Even if she didn't say it, the Yuan family would know about it sooner or later, and at that time, it would be too late for her to rely on this to show favor to the Yuan family.

It would be great if Yuan Hui couldn't have children. He Guiren was laughing with Yuan Hui while secretly thinking in his heart. Thinking of those women who had inexplicable miscarriages or abortions, He Guiren showed a smug smile.

(To be continued)