It must be said that the festive feast of Li Shou this time was really not small, and there were hundreds of ministers from the DPRK and China who attended the banquet in person, among which there were enough palace ministers who were qualified to set foot in the Taihe Palace, such as Prime Minister Yin Gong, Ruan Shaozhou, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, Kong Wen, the secretary of the Great Prison Temple, and Sun Jing, the chief of the military department, etc., but most of them were ordinary officials, such as Xie An.

However, everyone knows that if it weren't for Xie An's polite refusal of the Son of Heaven's good intentions, at this time, he Xie An would already be the Zhengqing of the Sanpin Great Prison Temple, one of the nine kings of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Of course, it is precisely because Xie An attaches such importance to love and righteousness that people like the Son of Heaven, Yin Gong, Ruan Shaozhou and others value him so much, and the most gratifying of this matter is undoubtedly Xie An's wife, Liang Qiu Wu

However, the eldest grandson Xiangyu doesn't think much of it, in her opinion, Xie An's resignation is simply stupid, as soon as she thinks that Xie An actually rejected the position of one of the nine Qings, the eldest grandson Xiangyu gritted her teeth with hatred, not to mention that she still has to take care of her younger brother Changsun Sheng reluctantly at this time.

Listening to his younger brother with an irritated face, he kept asking him how to conquer Luoyang, and the eldest grandson Xiangyu was in an extremely bad mood, secretly hating Xie An for having a lot of things, and perfunctory about his younger brother without saying a word.

Of course, in the eyes of Yin Gong at another banquet, it was undoubtedly a happy scene for the two sisters and brothers.

In all fairness, with the current influence of Li Shou and Xie An, it is not enough to invite so many ministers of the DPRK and China to come to congratulate them in person, to put it bluntly, those ministers of the DPRK and China are not coming for Li Shou or Xie An, but for Yin Gong, Ruan Shaozhou, the third prince Li Shen and the general of the Eastern Army Liang Qiuwu

It's no wonder, after all, now in the court, the crown prince Li Wei is the only one, if it weren't for these big figures to support Li Shou, who would want to risk being hated by the prince Li Wei and rush to this banquet?

In other words. The ministers who came to the banquet this time were either the eldest grandson's family, the third prince Li Shen's family, or the people in the military department who admired Liangqiu Dance, only Li Shou and Xie An, although the two of them had made great contributions this time. But it was still not enough to resist the might of the crown prince Li Wei.

Around the time of the arrival, a sergeant from the East suddenly came and whispered a few words to Liang Qiuwu.

"I know," Liang Qiuwu nodded, stood up, walked to Xie An's seat, and whispered to Xie An, "An, Brother Yan, they have entered the city from Xibianmen......

At this time, Xie Anzheng, Li Jing, Su Xin and others frequently poured wine into Fei Guo. Hearing this, he was stunned, and then he understood.

It turned out that in order to hide people's eyes and ears, they secretly transported more than 24 million taels of silver from the Eastern Army and the eldest grandson Xiangyu into the city, Yan Kai and others deliberately delayed the journey, and slowed Xie An and Li Shou into the city by half, and at this time, by taking advantage of the dim sky. Yan Kai and the others escorted the batch of silver into Jijing from Xibianmen.

After all, Xibianmen is one of the only two gates guarded by the Eastern Army, and it is from here to enter the city. You can avoid the attention of the Guard Office as much as possible and go directly to the barracks of the Eastern Army in the northwest corner of Jijing.

"Are you going to take a trip?" Xie An asked in a low voice.

Liang Qiu Wu nodded, after all, 24 million silver, that is not a small amount, not to mention that there are 8 million of them belonging to the eldest grandson Xiangyu, Liang Qiu Wu who does things carefully. I don't want anything to go wrong.

"I'll go to the barracks and make arrangements, you don't have to get drunk like mud, you know, you have to go to the Great Prison Temple to open a trial of the case!" Liangqiu Dance refers to. It is about the follow-up of Zhang Dong, Ou Peng, Tang Hao, Liao Li, and Ma Dan, who were demoted to rebel generals.

Although it was just a formality, after all, it was also a very important matter, and Liang Qiuwu obviously didn't want her husband to make a mistake at the end of his life.

Under the eyes of Li Jing, Su Xin, and Fei Guo, Xie An swore to make many promises, including that he would return to his mansion before the time, so he coaxed away his wife.

And taking this opportunity, the eldest grandson Xiangyu also excused herself and left with Liang Qiuwu, after all, her younger brother Changsun Sheng, who was like a curious baby, really made her heart irritable.

Looking at the little guy who returned to his grandfather Yingong with some disappointment, although Xie An wanted to help him in his heart, he also knew that Changsun Xiangyu needed a little time to adapt, and if he forced this woman too tightly, something would happen.

Thinking of this, Xie An didn't say anything, but just told the second daughter to be careful on the way back, after all, it was dark now.

Listening to Xie An's chattering advice, the generals who sat with him looked at each other.

With Liangqiu Dance, the top combat power of the Great Zhou, what danger can occur? In their opinion, even if Xie An's generals are together, I am afraid they may not be the opponents of this woman.

After all, when he was in Chang'an, Liang Qiu Wu was the only one who could hurt Chen Bei with the strength of one person.

In fact, to be honest, when Liang Qiu Wu and the eldest grandson Xiangyu were there, although they were not sitting at the same table, Xie An still felt a little concerned, you must know that Liang Qiu Wu had secretly reminded Xie An more than once and asked him to drink less, after all, Xie An was accidentally broken by his daughter-in-law, and it has not been completely thorough, if he is drunk, it will inevitably affect the injury.

Although it was a good intention, Xie An still felt a little uncomfortable, in his opinion, this rì is not only a festive rì for Li Shou, but also a rì for Li Jing, Su Xin and other generals to celebrate, naturally either get drunk and not return.

No, as soon as Liang Qiuwu and the eldest grandson Xiangyu left on the front foot, Xie An let go of the restrictions on the back foot, not only did he drink freely, but also vigorously instigated Su Xin, Li Jing and other confidants to persuade Li Shou, Li Shen, Li Xiao, Li Yan and other princes, and even Yin Gong and Ruan Shaozhou did not let go.

Not to mention anything else, the atmosphere of the wine feast has become quite hot and lively.

In this way, until the time of the unitary, the three ancestors and grandsons of Duke Yin and Ruan Shaozhou left the table to say goodbye to Li Shou, after all, Duke Yin was old, how could he have the abundant jīng strength of young people like Xie An, and he felt a little tired.

At this time, the three princes led by Li Shen also bid farewell to Li Shou and Xie An.

Then, the guests in the house also said goodbye one after another, after all, it was too late.

Around the end of the day, in addition to Li Shou and Wang Dan, only Xie An and the generals were left in the room.

The man drank three more rounds of wine. Xie An stood up drunkenly and prepared to say goodbye to Li Shou, and as for Fei Guo, he was unconscious by Xie An secretly calling Su Xin, Li Jing and others an hour ago.

It is worth mentioning that Fei Guo's alcohol consumption is really not bad, in order to get him drunk. Su Xin, Li Jing, Zhang Dong, Tang Hao, Ou Peng and other generals went into battle repeatedly, but they were poured down by him several times.

"It's getting late, so it's better to live in the house!" Seeing Xie An's swaying appearance, Li Shou couldn't help but say.

But speaking of which, he is not much better, if it weren't for Wang Dan's support, I'm afraid he wouldn't even be able to stand steadily.

"Forget it, I'd better go back to the house to rest......" As he spoke, Xie An pointed to Fei Guo, Su Xin, Li Jing and others who were sleeping on the banquet table. Drunkenly said to Li Shou, "These guys, I'll leave it to you......"

"Don't worry! The king will command his subordinates to help the generals to rest in the wings......"

At this time, Tang Hao, who was still a little conscious, stood up, clenched his fists and said, "My lord, it's better to ...... It's better to send it to the end...... Send it to adults! ”

"It's not good to say, what else to give?" Xie An smiled and waved his hand. said, "Tang Hao." You also rest for one night in the Shou Wangye's mansion today, and when the sky is bright, you wait to go to the Great Prison Temple, although it is a good formality, but you must also do it so that some people can't find thorns! ”

"Yes!" With a wine burp, Tang Hao hugged his fists. Then he frowned and said, "But when the adults return home alone, the general is really a little uneasy......

As he was talking, Liao Li and Ma Dan stood up and said. "General Tang, don't worry, we will escort the adults back to their homes!"

Speaking of which, Liao Li and Ma Dan didn't drink much, Liao Li was abiding by his duties as Xie An's guard general, and Ma Dan, according to himself, didn't like to drink, so the two of them just tasted it, because Xie An was planning to get drunk at that time, but he didn't care about them.

Dressed in a big shield to block the wind, Xie An, Liao Li, and Ma Dan walked out of the palace and walked towards Xie An's mansion under the send-off of Li Shou, Wang Dan, and Tang Hao.

The reason why he didn't take the carriage was because Xie An wanted to blow a cool breeze and sober up, but after walking dozens of feet, Xie An realized that this was really not a good idea.

I don't know why, the wind is very strong today, and the night wind in the first month, how cold it is, although Xie An is wearing a big hat to keep out the cold, he can still feel a chill coming.

And what's worse is that Anle Palace, no, it should be said that it is Anping Palace, is far away from Xie An's mansion, almost half an hour away, which makes Xie An secretly regret that he didn't ask Li Shou for a carriage to travel.

But the matter has come to this point, he can only go on hard, he can't knock on the door of the Anping Mansion again at this time, what a shame.

Fortunately, at this time, Xie An was escorted by Liao Li and Ma Dan, and with him to accompany him to talk, Xie An didn't feel too bored.

"Ma Dan, it is said that when you were in the state, you were three thousand generals?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Then why was he demoted and transferred to the Luoyang area?"

Ma Dan smiled bitterly when he heard this, and said, "It's not a secret, it's just that when he was recruiting the Taihang Mountain Bandits, he accidentally broke the son of the state pastor, so he was convicted ......."

"What's going on?" Xie An asked curiously.

Ma Dan sighed and said, "At that time, the shepherd of the state ordered his son to recruit the Taihang Mountain bandits, and the last general was the deputy general, during the negotiation of the thieves, the son and the last general disagreed, and did not listen to the advice of the last general, so he privately led his subordinates to attack the thieves at night, but was victimized by the thieves......"

"Convicted for this?"

"Guilty for it!"

"Hey!" Xie An shook his head with a smile, patted Ma Dan on the shoulder, and said, "After the Ming Dynasty, do you have any plans?" According to Your Majesty's wishes, you and others can be exonerated and reinstated, of course, not the 3,000 generals you once had, but 500 generals......"

Perhaps hearing the apologetic tone in Xie An's words, Ma Dan hurriedly said, "Your lord's words are serious, the last general and others rely on the adults to return to the right path, how dare you ask for anything else?" ”

"Huh! Speaking of which, it is said that you once noticed an abnormality in Qin Guan? ”

Ma Dan's eyes showed a deep admiration when he heard this, and he said with emotion, "That's just a fluke for the last general to be able to detect it...... If it weren't for what he had seen with his own eyes, the last general would really not have believed that the Lord and the military advisor would use such a wonderful scheme to take over Qin Pass......"

"Hey! That wasn't the official's idea, it was the strategy of the eldest grandson's military advisor! ”

"No, no, the wisdom of the eldest grandson's military division, the last general is very admirable, but. The last general will be more grateful for the kindness of the adults...... If it weren't for the adults, I'm afraid it would be difficult for me to be a citizen of the Great Zhou in this life......" As he spoke, Ma Dan paused and said hesitantly, "I heard that Your Majesty Lord Xu, if the adults don't dislike it." The last general is willing to be a pawn next to the adult! ”

Xie An was stunned when he heard this.

To tell the truth, he had long intended to subdue Ma Dan, after all, Ma Dan was one of the very few generals in the rebel army who knew how to arrange troops, and in terms of martial arts and skills, he was not under Tang Hao at all, and even the ability of him and Tang Hao was above Su Xin and Li Jing, after all, Tang Hao was two thousand generals before. And Ma Dan is even more incredible, it is 3,000 generals, only one step away from the deputy general, and he is really a rare talent.

But Xie An also felt a little surprised, and said in surprise, "Ma Dan, you have to think clearly." Like your ability, it is more than enough to be a lieutenant general who commands 10,000 soldiers. Wouldn't it be better than being a family member in Xie's mansion? ”

Ma Dan smiled bitterly when he heard this, shook his head and said, "Thank you for your attention, and the last general will not dare to be ashamed!" It seems that the last general and others have always taken a wrong step and committed themselves to the thief. Although the position of deputy general is good...... I'm afraid this life is far away! ”

Xie An suddenly realized when he heard this, he only then understood Ma Dan's concerns, no, it should be said that it was the concerns of these rebel generals.

In their eyes, they used to be rebels. Although lost, but after all, it is left a stain, if there is no opportunity, it is difficult to climb to any high position in this life, at most a thousand people, rather than so, it is better to devote themselves to Xie An, one to repay Xie An's kindness, and second, once Xie An gains power, they will naturally rise and soar.

Thinking of this, Xie An smiled and said to Ma Dan with a bit of narrowness, "Ma Dan, I see that you are steady and honest, but you don't want to think that the mind in your stomach is so meticulous!" ”

Seeing that Xie An seemed to understand what he meant, Ma Dan's face was slightly red.

Glancing at Liao Li and Ma Dan, Xie An stopped, nodded and said sincerely, "As long as you are willing to follow me Xie An, and treat him and me Xie An to gain power, I will definitely not treat you badly!" ”

Liao Li and Ma Dan glanced at each other when they heard this, and said in a deep voice, "The last general, I am willing to follow the adult, and take the adult's horse as the leader!" I believe that the rest of the generals will also think the same way! ”

"Good! Good! Seeing that his team had finally begun to take shape, Xie An was overjoyed, if it weren't for the cold wind at this moment, he really wanted to roar to express the excitement in his heart.

And at this moment, Liao Li and Ma Dan suddenly seemed to notice something, and they invariably pressed the saber on their waists, and scanned the surroundings with a sèjǐng look.

"What's wrong?" Xie An asked inexplicably.

Hearing this, Liao Li slowly pulled out half of the blade, scanned the surroundings solemnly, and said in a low voice, "There is a murderous ......."

At the same time, Ma Dan also pressed the saber on his waist and escorted Xie An to the root of the wall at the corner of the street, and looked around nervously.

With Liao Li and Ma Dan's gratitude to him, Xie An naturally did not doubt the loyalty of the two of them, and he did not intervene when he heard the words.

I don't know how long it took, a low scream suddenly came from the quiet surroundings, or Xie An listened to the movements around him, and most of them would have been ignored as the howling sound of the cold wind.

"Strange ......" Liao Li's eyes showed a little surprise.

Fang was so frightened by the two of them, Xie An's alcohol was already half awake, and at this moment he heard the words and asked, "What's wrong?" ”

Liao Li shook his head and didn't speak, but Ma Dan hesitated and said, "It's strange, that murderous aura doesn't seem to be coming for me......"

As soon as the words fell, a dull scream was heard in the distance.

Xie An frowned when he heard this, and said, "Let's go, go and see!" ”

Liao Li and Ma Dan glanced at each other, and they were also a little surprised by this, so they escorted Xie An towards the direction where the screams came from.

Walking along the street into an alley, Xie An's face suddenly changed, because he saw that the alley was full of corpses.

I saw that those corpses, all dressed in black, with black cloth on their faces, dressed as assassins, counted carefully, there were no less than 20 people.

Squatting down next to a corpse, Ma Dan stretched out his right hand to probe the root of the man's neck, and then turned his head and shook his head at Xie An, meaning that the person had lost his breath.

Looking at the half-submerged dagger at the heart of the corpse, Xie An glanced at Ma Dan speechlessly, and then frowned.

Could it be the assassin of the dangerous building?

No, if Sister Jin wanted to kill herself, she could have done it as early as Hangu Pass, why did she have to wait until now?

Come to think of it. Xie An said in a deep voice, "Search him!" ”

Ma Dan nodded when he heard this, groped around with the corpse for a while, and then found a piece of paper, and the person drawn on the paper turned out to be Xie An.

"Your Excellency. This ......"

"......" looked at the portrait that looked like himself on the paper, how could Xie An not understand that these assassins were coming for him, but for some reason, they died here inexplicably.

Is it really a dangerous building?

Muttering, Xie An suddenly noticed that Ma Dan was looking at a wooden sign.

"What is this?"

"Lord Qiyu, I also found it in this person's arms!" As he spoke, Ma Dan handed the wooden card in his hand to Xie An.

Xie An frowned slightly. Taking the wooden sign and looking at it, he found that the wooden sign had a mountain carved on it, and other than that, there was nothing.

Recalling what Jin Ling'er had said to herself, about the Great Friday Assassin's Lodge, Xie An let out a long breath and muttered, "It's the Dongling Assassin!" ”

I have to say. When he realized that the assassins who were planning to assassinate him were not Jin Ling'er's assassins, Xie An was really relieved. Not to feel like Atlas any longer.

But because of this, Xie Anxin's doubts were even heavier.

He didn't think that the Dongling assassins, who had never crossed paths with him, would come to Jijing to assassinate him for no reason, obviously, it was most likely that the crown prince Li Wei saw that Jin Ling'er had missed, so he contacted another group of assassins. is ready to assassinate Xie An again, after all, just from the officialdom, it is difficult for the crown prince Li Wei to completely suppress Xie An, unless he ascends the throne and becomes the son of heaven.

But the question is, who killed these Dongling Assassins. Saved yourself?

At this moment, Ma Dan suddenly raised his head and shouted at the roof of a house, "Who?!" ”

Xie An subconsciously raised his head and vaguely saw a dark shadow passing on the roof, but other than that, he didn't find anything else.

"Ma Dan, did you see it? Who? ”

Seeing Xie An asking, Ma Dan said with a wry smile, "This person's figure is too fast, the last general has never looked at the real thing, the last general just feels, this person seems to be watching me and waiting there......"

Who exactly?

Could it be Sister Kim?

Just when Xie An was secretly suspicious, Liao Li ran over from a distance, clasped his fists and said, "My lord, there are thirty-two corpses in total, most of them are here, and a few are at the other end of the alley......

"Is there a living mouth?"

Liao Li shook his head and said, "All the corpses were stabbed in the back hands...... Judging from the footprints at the scene, the guy who killed these people is probably one person! ”

"Alone?" Xie An was slightly startled, then glanced at the dagger stuck in the chest of the corpse next to his feet, squatted down and pulled it out, holding it up in front of his eyes and looking at it repeatedly.

Although there was no markings on this dagger, it was not difficult to imagine that this dagger should have been the weapon of these Dongling Assassins.

In other words, the person who saved Xie An was extremely skilled in martial arts, not only took away the daggers from the hands of these assassins, but also killed them with these daggers in turn, and the methods were vicious, and afterwards made up for a knife in everyone's heart.

It can be seen that this person does not care much about human life.

The martial arts are superb, and in a short period of time, with the power of one person, as many as thirty Dongling assassins can be killed, in Xie An's opinion, there are definitely no more than ten people who can do this kind of thing in Da Zhou.

His wife Liang Qiu Wu could do it, but the problem was that since the battle with Jin Ling'er, Liang Qiu Wu had carried the wolf slashing knife with him, and judging from the wounds of these corpses, Xie An did not think that it was caused by the sword that was more than eight feet long, but more like the same person who was an assassin.

And when he thought of the assassin with superb martial arts, Xie An couldn't help but think of one of the top assassins of the Great Zhou Dynasty who had assassinated him, Jin Ling'er, that strange woman who was more than four years older than him and had the charm of a mature woman......

Is it really Sister Kim?

Muttering, Xie An stood up, looked at the dagger in his hand, and secretly guessed.

It's no wonder that Xie An thought of Jin Ling'er, after all, in Xie An's opinion, he would save his life, and with such incredible force, except for his wife Liang Qiuwu, I'm afraid there is only Jin Ling'er who has an ambiguous relationship with him.

But this time, Xie An guessed wrong......

After half a pillar of incense, when Xie An, Liao Li, and Ma Dan left, a dark shadow faintly appeared at the root of the wall not far away, silently watching Xie An and the three of them walk away.

With the starlight that appeared from time to time, it was vaguely clear that where the black shadow was Jin Ling'er, it was clearly the man who almost reversed the entire battle trend on the battlefield in Chang'an, Liang Qiuwu's cousin, Liang Qiuhao.

In other words, it is the third generation of the Taiping Army's commander, Chen Bei!