Deyang Hall is the main hall of the North Palace, it is the hall where the Son of Heaven receives hundreds of officials during the court meeting, the scale is magnificent, the decoration is gorgeous, all the beams and pillars are painted with exquisite ornamentation, inlaid with various precious jades. There are all kinds of mythical beasts carved on the steps of two zhang high, there is a large square in front of the hall, seven zhang from north to south, thirty-seven zhang from east to west, it is said that ten thousand people can sit. A clear ditch winds around His Royal Highness, several flying beams cross it, and there are goldfish and jade carved into the blue lotus in the water, which is not withered in winter.

The Lang officials held the halberd and guarded, the civil and military officials gathered in the hall, the Son of Heaven sat majestically on the royal seat, and looked at Yuan Kui with a serious face, the content was nothing more than that Jia Xu was instructed by someone to kill the minister in vain, and he should be arrested and brought to justice, and the law of the country should be corrected, and at the same time, the mastermind behind the scenes should be found out.

"Situ thinks, who is the mastermind behind the scenes?" The Son of Heaven moved his ass and asked in a teasing tone. He laughed secretly in his heart, mastermind, I am the mastermind, you come to arrest me?

Yuan Kui took a deep breath: "The minister thinks that Jia Xu is just a mere Beizhong Lang General Changshi, and without authorization, he will not dare to take 300 million yuan from the Bingzhou Assassin Mansion and distribute it to the battalions without any orders." It was because the minister thought that when he was arraigned, Beizhong Lang would Liu Xiu, and first asked whether he had authorization. ”

The Son of Heaven sneered, Yuan Kui just wanted to bring Liu Xiu in, but he didn't dare to say it directly, he just said that he wanted to summon him, he was forcing Liu Xiu to express his position, if Liu Xiu didn't admit it, then Jia Xu would naturally die, and the soldiers in Northern Xinjiang would also have a dislike for Liu Xiu, if Liu Xiu admitted it, it would be better to deal with Liu Xiu himself directly.

"Xuan is the late Beizhong Lang General, and Liu Xiu is in the palace."

The Lang officials passed it down one after another, and after a short time, Liu Xiu arched his hands and swayed to the hall. He stood at the door of the main hall, but did not immediately take off his shoes and come in, but supported his waist with one hand, standing at the door panting, looking like I was tired to death, let me rest for a while.

The Son of Heaven almost laughed out loud when he saw his strange appearance, knowing that Liu Xiu's performance had begun, he hurriedly lifted his spirits and prepared to watch the play.

Yuan Kui was not in such a good mood, turned around and shouted: "Liu Xiu, above the main hall, in front of the Son of Heaven, how can you be so presumptuous......"

Liu Xiu didn't wait for him to finish, and with a wave of his hand, he interrupted his words: "Lord Situ, don't worry, wait for me to take a breath." You know, I'm not like you. ”

Yuan Kui sneered: "You are different from me, I don't know if it is Lu Zigan or Duan Jiming, you dare to behave like this in the main hall, and you are not afraid of losing the minister's system." ”

Liu Xiu glanced at him, took off his shoes unhurriedly, and trotted into the hall, first saluted the Son of Heaven, and then went to the next station on the throne steps, with standard movements and respectful expressions, and the appearance of the hanger just now, even the most old-fashioned Sili captain Yang Biao and the most favorite attendant Kong Rong couldn't find anything wrong.

"Lord Situ, I just ...... Is there something wrong? Liu Xiu asked Yuan Kui very politely. Yuan Kui snorted, "Wouldn't it be better if it was the same before entering the hall?" ”

Liu Xiu's mouth crooked, and his body collapsed again. "Master Situ, I can't help it, this body is really unbearable, and I can't hold it up."

Yuan Kui glanced him up and down, and couldn't help laughing: "You shouted that your body can't bear it at a young age, what should you do when you are at my age?" ”

"Or I say I'm different from you." Liu Xiu spread his hands: "You have been saving your desires for decades, and you don't even have a son and a half daughter, how can I do it with such a surname?" This newlywed Yan'er is a little sore and weak. Situ didn't have this experience, and it was normal not to know, but it was just imposed, maybe there was something wrong with imposing it on others. ”

Yuan Kui's face turned red all of a sudden, and he almost scolded. When the courtiers next to them heard this, some looked at each other, some forced a smile, and some felt that Liu Xiu would insult Yuan Kui with such almost scolding words in such a solemn place, so they shook their heads again and again.

Looking at Yuan Kui's almost crazy expression, the Son of Heaven was relieved, and couldn't help but pounce, attracting a lot of surprised or disdainful eyes, and then felt very embarrassed, and hurriedly coughed dryly, and endured it very hard.

Chen Yu coughed and came out of the crowd: "Above the court, don't you think it's insulting to the dignity of the court to talk about private affairs in the boudoir?" Liu Shizhong, you studied under Lu Zigan, you are somewhat measured, don't be thought that the teacher has no way to teach. ”

Liu Xiu squinted his eyes and looked at Chen Yu for a moment: "Does Ling Jun think this is an insult to the dignity of the imperial court?" ”

Chen Yu smiled silently and replied disdainfully.

Liu Xiu cleared his throat: "Heavenly Father and Earth Mother, it is the birth of all things, people have parents, they have children, and heaven and earth are the same, eternal and unchanging, how can we talk about insulting the dignity of the court?" Could it be that Ling Jun was not born to his parents, or is he ......" He deliberately lengthened his voice, the meaning of which was self-evident, and he then looked at Yuan Kui: "Although the cultivation is superficial, he also knows the harmony of yin and yang, the wind and rain, the harmony of husband and wife, the harmony of the family, and the truth that is not easy." For the sake of selfishness, cutting off the blood of the ancestors, that is called a shame. If one person is like this, it is enough to lose the family, and if a country is like this, the country will not be a country. ”

Chen Yu is very helpless, this Liu Xiu is aiming at Yuan Kui today, and the three sentences are not far from Yuan Kui's weakness, if he continues to talk about it, Yuan Kui is estimated to vomit blood, and don't talk about business. He hurriedly said: "I'll talk about these truths later, Your Majesty announced that you will go to the palace today because of the matter of merging the state." ”

"And the state? And what's the matter with me? Liu Xiu's face sank, "The history of the Bingzhou assassin is now Zang Min, and the Beizhong Lang general has also been dismissed, and the matter of the state should be found in Zang Min, what does it matter to me." ”

"You don't know about Jia Xu?"

"Jia Xu? What happened to Jia Xu? Liu Xiu asked blankly.

Chen Yu knew that Liu Xiu was pretending to be stupid, so he had to tell the matter again, and finally asked, did Jia Xu get your authorization to go to the Bingzhou Assassin Mansion to ask for money and distribute it to all counties and battalions.

Liu Xiu didn't think about it, yes, I gave Jia Xu such an authorization.

Chen Yu was overjoyed, and even Yuan Kui, who was a little sweet in his mouth, couldn't care about controlling his anger with Liu Xiu, and immediately asked, that Jia Xu ignored the imminent Northern Expedition, and privately divided the money, affecting the collection of money and food for the army, you can't escape this responsibility.

Liu Xiu sneered and shrugged, "What's the matter with me?" ”

"Why is it none of your business?" Chen Yu said loudly: "You are the general of Beizhonglang, Jia Xu is the general of Beizhonglang, and he has been authorized by you, and you should be responsible for everything he does." ”

"If I'm still a general in Kitanaka, then of course I'm responsible. But I'm not a general of Beizhonglang, what am I responsible for? Liu Xiu sneered: "Chen Lingjun, the world is turbulent, and the displaced people are everywhere, are you responsible?" ”

"This should be Lord Situ's responsibility, what does it have to do with me?"

"But you've also done Situ Peng, don't you have any responsibility at all."

Chen Yu sneered: "I did Situ Peng, but this was more than a year ago." Now that I am Shang Shuling, I can't control the affairs of Situ Mansion, and I don't have to be responsible for this matter. ”

"Then I became the general of Beizhong Lang, and it was two months ago." Liu Xiu clapped his hands, "I don't need to be responsible." ”

"So, Jia Xu is doing his own thing?"

"It's not like that, he's doing things within his mandate, not doing it himself." Liu Xiuhao looked at them for a long time, and the corners of his mouth provoked a sneer: "If you want to blame, you can only blame you for not appointing a new one immediately after removing my Beizhong Lang General." What kind of thing is Zhang Yi, he is the assassin of Bingzhou, and he has no right to go to Beizhonglang General's Mansion to point fingers, and he deserves to be hacked to death. ”

He turned around and looked into Yuan Kui's eyes: "Lord Situ, I want to remind you of a problem, the new policy of Bingzhou was implemented with the permission of Situ Mansion, if it wasn't for the strong support of Lord Situ, the new policy of Bingzhou would be a pile of waste paper, speaking of which, I should thank you for this matter." It is also logical that the Beizhong Lang Prefecture will take money from the Prefecture Assassin Mansion and rectify the armaments, and if you want to find trouble from this, I advise you to better be provincial. With this time, it is better to think of something that is beneficial to the country and the people, it is really not good, and it is good to have more sons. ”

Yuan Kui's heart tingled, and he couldn't wait to pounce on him and slap Liu Xiu twice. Liu Xiu stabbed him in the most painful wound with every word, is it bearable, which is unbearable? But he is Lord Situ, Liu Xiu is shameless, he can't do it, the Yuan family of the fourth and third princes is not Liu Xiu's poor son of Zhuo County, he can't afford to lose this person.

Although he couldn't help but scold the street, but Yuan Kui's square inch was in chaos, and his usual cleverness and cunning were useless at this time, facing Liu Xiu, an opponent who was fearless, shameless, and didn't follow the routine, he felt that some dogs bit hedgehogs, and he couldn't bite them.

"Your Majesty, the minister feels that Situ Mansion should not blame others for this matter, but should find out the reason from himself. The new policy was implemented by the Situ government, and if there is any problem, the Situ government should be held accountable first. Zang Min and Zhang Yi are also candidates recommended by Situ Fu, and whether they have such ability is also a debatable question. The minister has the right to suspect that Lord Situ is cronyistic, treats state affairs as child's play, and uses the name of the Northern Expedition to practice greed for ink......"

Take advantage of your illness to kill you. Liu Xiu didn't intend to compare regular routines with Yuan Kui from the beginning, he was not arrogant enough to discuss the government with an old bureaucrat like Yuan Kui, who was better than a ghost, and took advantage of the opportunity that Yuan Kui was disrupted by his unreasonable punches, and with a single accusation, he almost said that Yuan Kui had committed the crime of bullying the king. Yuan Kui was dizzy, but his supporters didn't faint, they stepped forward one by one, and started a debate with Liu Xiu, and for a while spit flew in the court, and the scene was almost out of control.

Liu Xiu has the support of the Son of Heaven behind him, no one is afraid, and he has no scruples, he doesn't talk about any saints and morals at all, you come with a thousand routines, Lao Tzu just pokes and punches him, anyway, you can't catch my handle. If you want to talk about my responsibility, I was not in the state at that time, and the official was also dismissed, and it has nothing to do with me. If you want to talk about Jia Xu's responsibility, Jia Xu acted on orders, as for Zhang Yi, he deserved it, as for whether he was killed by the rebels, you can send someone to investigate, and then talk about it after it is clear, and if there is no evidence, you will be exempted.

Say 1,000, 10,000, no matter who goes to do the history of the state assassination, don't want to collect another money and a grain from the state, whoever wants to master the 10,000 iron horses in the state has to weigh his own weight first.

Yuan Shao has always been a cold watcher, and he didn't approve of turning his face with Liu Xiu for this matter. He knew that when even the children of a family like Wang Yun did not support him, it was even more impossible for people like Lu Bu and Han Sui to be used by him, and sending Liu Xiu back to the state was the only way. This is not a matter of changing a few generals, Liu Xiu's prestige among the military and civilians of Bingzhou cannot be replaced by others in the short term, not to mention anything else, Lu Bu's more than 1,000 horse thieves can't bow down and obey orders, there is really no way, they will scatter in a hurry and return to their old business.

What's even more terrifying is that if these soldiers mutiny on the battlefield, it will be called trouble.

Yuan Kui and the others had never fought, and they didn't know that this set in the court would not work in the barracks, and if they didn't have Yin Zong, they would definitely be able to command those rough people.

At the same time, Liu Xiu is so fearless, there is obviously the intention of the Son of Heaven behind him, and he is likely to anger the Son of Heaven and cause the Son of Heaven to be more suspicious of the Yuan family.

"Your Majesty, the minister recommended Liu Xiu to be the general of Beizhong Lang and participate in the Northern Expedition."

Yuan Shao's voice was loud, and as soon as he spoke, the noisy court immediately fell silent, and everyone turned their eyes to him. Yuan Shao was not in a hurry, listed Liu Xiu's achievements in northern Xinjiang, praised his talent in using troops, and especially emphasized Liu Xiu's prestige among the soldiers in northern Xinjiang, saying that now except for Liu Xiu, no one can stabilize the situation of annexing the state. Liu Xiu was reappointed as the general of Beizhonglang, in charge of the military of the state, which had a non-negligible impact on the success or failure of the Northern Expedition.

Liu Xiu squinted at him, and said in his heart This kid is so anxious to let me be his subordinate, there are mines in this good word, what does it mean that I have not been able to stabilize and merge the state, isn't this provoking the sensitive nerve of the Son of Heaven. But you probably wouldn't have imagined that with the fierce beast of your Yuan family in front of you, the Son of Heaven doesn't care about small fish and shrimp like me at all now.

Yuan Kui was dizzy and his head was swollen, his throat and eyes were sweet for a while, although he was a little unwilling, it was not good to argue with Yuan Shao at this time, the matter was soon settled, Liu Xiuguan was reinstated, and then he was appointed as the general of Beizhonglang and the state assassin history, responsible for the military of the state, and went to Yangshu Lake after the New Year to preside over the battle against Xianbei in the west.

Liu Xiu prevaricated for a while, and then reluctantly took over the task. When the dynasty was dispersed, Yuan Kui saw that the matter had come to this point, so he had to leave the table, and his supporters also left. In the middle of the huge court for a while, Yuan Shao walked over with a smile on his face, and walked side by side with Liu Xiu, "Deran, we are going to fight side by side again, this time, you have to help me." ”

Liu Xiu was uncomfortable when he heard this, especially in front of so many supporters of the Yuan family, putting on such a condescending posture, making him uncomfortable not stabbing him. He smiled, stopped, and looked at Yuan Shao very seriously. "Originally, do you remember what I told you?"

He stopped very suddenly, Yuan Shao, who was walking side by side with him, reacted, and had already stepped out of another step, he was about the same height as Liu Xiu, and he was suddenly a head shorter than Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu asked him, and he couldn't help but look at Liu Xiu, so he could only turn around, raise his head, and meet Liu Xiu's downward gaze very unnaturally.

Behind Liu Xiu was the towering eaves of Deyang Hall and the clear blue sky, and the extremely solemn atmosphere made Yuan Shao put away his smile and looked at Liu Xiu seriously.

"I once told you that it is impossible to fight without dying, but ......" Liu Xiu aggravated his tone, and said word by word, just like he had taught them at the beginning: "Cherish the lives of the soldiers, and let each of them die worthwhile, not because of your stupidity, do you know?" ”

In an instant, Yuan Shao seemed to have returned to the military camp in northern Xinjiang, and was standing in front of Liu Xiu with Lu Bu and others to listen to the teaching, subconsciously arching his hand, and the words "Obey the teachings of adults" almost blurted out. The words that poured into his mouth were swallowed, but the fist he picked up couldn't be put down, he stiffened, and soon relaxed his expression, and said very solemnly: "Deran, please rest assured, I will stay up all night, and dare not have the slightest slack, and please also ask Deran to take national affairs as the priority, don't think about personal gains and losses, fight side by side, unite as one, break the humble words, and we will talk about heroes again." ”

The people next to him were originally a little uncomfortable with Yuan Shao's salute to Liu Xiu, but after hearing Yuan Shao's words, they immediately turned their anger into joy, and praised Yuan Shao in unison for understanding the righteousness, as if Liu Xiu didn't agree, then he wouldn't understand the righteousness. Liu Xiu secretly praised Yuan Shao's quick reaction, patted Yuan Shao's shoulder with a smile, and said with the same deep understanding: "Don't worry, you will leave it to me in the western Xianbei, you just need to concentrate on dealing with Tanshi Huai, I guarantee that more than 20 tribes in the western Xianbei will not have a chance to reinforce." ”

Others don't know the deep meaning, but Yuan Shao knows very well that the western Xianbei has been disabled by Liu Xiu, and there are many internal contradictions, it would be good to be able to protect himself this time, and it is impossible to put any pressure on the Han army. Liu Xiu seems to have taken on the heavy responsibility of the left wing of the army, but in fact, it is an empty word, what he wants to tell him is, you deal with Tanshi Huai by yourself, I won't help you.

The two tacitly knew that it was impossible to talk like before in the current situation, so they broke up and said goodbye after a few unnutritious words. Yuan Shao did not go back to his mansion, but rushed directly to Yuan Kui's mansion, he knew that Yuan Kui was planning again during this time, and he was in contact with various families, and he worked hard, and he was so troubled by Liu Xiu today, Yuan Kui's mood could not be good, and if he was not comforted, something might happen. At this time, if Yuan Kui falls, there is really no one who can replace him.

Although Yuan Kui has no heirs, he is the head of the Yuan family, and he is the current pillar of the Yuan family.

Of course he knew that Yuan Kui was cultivating him as a successor, in fact, almost everyone regarded him as the head of the next generation of the Yuan family, only Yuan Shu didn't think so, and of course there was also the uncle Ma Lun who made him dare not take it lightly. Yuan Shao knew that Ma Lun didn't like him, but he never showed it, and his etiquette was always very thoughtful, and to some extent, he was appreciating Yuan Shu's jumping.

Yuan Shu is the son-in-law, but he is not the eldest son, he will not have any chance in Yuan Feng's room, if he wants to succeed to Yuan Kui's door, he wants to get more than just Ma Lun's favor. Even if Yuan Shu became Yuan Kui's heir, could he be his opponent with his ability?

For a person who was not an opponent at all, Yuan Shao disdained to compete with him, so he never argued with Yuan Shu in front of others. Perhaps, Yuan Shao never felt that someone was worthy of being his opponent, he became famous at a young age, and became the leader of the scholars in less than a year, and after experiencing the war in Northern Xinjiang, he once again stood on the platform of leading the Northern Expedition.

Everything is smooth sailing, if it weren't for Liu Xiu. Thinking of Liu Xiu, Yuan Shao frowned, this young man who came out of nowhere was like a piece of sand, although it was insignificant, but it got into his shoes, making him walk less comfortably with every step.

Liu Xiu returned to the mansion and told the eldest princess and Wang Chuyi the news, and they were both happy and a little reluctant. The last time Liu Xiu went was two years, this time the Northern Expedition was even more dangerous, no one knew when she would be able to come back, the eldest princess was newly married Yan'er, although Wang Chu had been married for more than two years, in fact, he had not stayed with Liu Xiu for a long time, and when he thought that Liu Xiu was going to leave again, he couldn't help but be a little unable to give up.

They were all a little jealous of Feng Xue, Feng Xue would definitely go on the expedition with Liu Xiu this time.

"My husband is already the eldest princess, and I may also accompany my husband to Northern Xinjiang." Wang Chu was tired of being beside Liu Xiu, and his voice was soft and charming, "I always heard my husband say how beautiful Poplar Lake is, I've never seen it, so my husband took me to see it, okay?" ”

"Poplar Lake is there, and it won't disappear, when can't I go to see it, I have to go at this time?" Liu Xiu comforted helplessly: "This Northern Expedition is very dangerous, the situation in Northern Xinjiang may get out of control at any time, how dare I take you there." After I got rid of the Xianbei people, I built a courtyard in Yangshu Lake, and I went there to escape the heat in the summer. Good girl, teach your daughter well, teach her to be as smart as you. ”

The eldest princess covered her lips and smiled: "No, if you leave home, when the time comes, the imperial concubine will hand me over alone, and I won't be able to take care of it." Even if he can take care of it, I can't teach him with my ink. ”

Wang Chu pouted, knowing that the eldest princess was reasonable, and he didn't dare to entangle him.

Speaking of the imperial concubine who wants to be fostered, Liu Xiu is concerned, during the time he is not in Luoyang, is it appropriate to foster the imperial concubine here? Two women are at home, what if something happens.

"It's difficult, but it can't just be dismissed." The eldest princess said, "It is said that it is to help Your Majesty upbring, but in fact, this is Your Majesty's favor to you, and it is also the bond that maintains the queen's family." Although the Song family does not have outstanding talents, as long as the Empress Song trusts you and the Son of Heaven trusts you, and the emperor's concubine will succeed to the throne in the future, aren't you the rightful auxiliary minister? If our family's Ah He remarries the Son of Heaven, you will be a general. With this position, it is convenient to do whatever you want, and you don't need to make compromises and make calculations like now. ”

Liu Xiu didn't speak, what is the Great General of the Heart Dao, it is convenient for me to be the emperor. For this matter, my father has urged Liu Bang several times, and I can't wait for him to pull the flag and rebel now. However, judging from the current situation, this Northern Expedition is a catalyst, and it is impossible to say when the world will be in chaos.

By the way, what is Zhang Jiao doing now, does he really want to be a loyal servant of the Son of Heaven?

…… Zhang Jiao rode a fast horse and hurriedly entered Luoyang City, and there were more than a dozen fast horses behind him, all young and strong men, with cold faces and vigilant eyes. They crossed Pingcheng Street and came all the way to the Suzaku Gate of the North Palace, where the Zhongchang servant Feng Zhen was waiting at the door, and as soon as he opened his horse, he caught up.

"Great sage and good teacher, you are here."

"What's wrong?" Zhang Jiao strode forward, each step was worth two steps of Feng Zhen, and Feng Zhen could only keep up with it by trotting.

"Situ Fu said that you killed innocents in Jinan, greedy for money and food, and you have been sparse a few times, and the Son of Heaven will not send it, so I want to wait for you to come back and ask for an understanding." Feng Zhen looked around and said in a low voice: "Liu Xiuguan has been reinstated, and he will go to Northern Xinjiang in the next year." It is said that Mrs. Lu is also going to follow, and Liu Xiu is now learning the art of room from her. ”

"What?" Zhang Jiao suddenly stopped, and Feng Zhen crashed into his arms all of a sudden, his nose hit his chest, and tears flowed from pain. He looked at the small armor on Zhang Jiao's chest in surprise: "Great Sage and Good Master, who are you?" ”

Zhang Jiao was stunned for a moment, then came back to his senses, and quickly took off the small armor and explained: "Someone stabbed me, and I was wearing self-defense." By the way, you just said that Mrs. Lu passed on Liu Xiufang's middle technique? ”

(To be continued)