Liu Xiu sat under the gazebo, holding Liu He in his arms, watching Liu Xie and Guo Jia play backgammon, Liu Xie learned relatively early and played well - compared with Liu He, but the competition with Guo Jia was too far away, but the dozen or so people fell into a desperate situation, although he was a little anxious, he refused to admit defeat, racking his brains to think of a trick to crack.

"Ah Weng, Ah Xie is going to lose." Liu He hugged Liu Xiu's neck and said in his ear.

Liu Xiu blinked: "You also know?" ”

"Well, that's the most common trick used by Sister Yingzi, and Ah Xie can't handle it." As soon as Liu He's words came out, he suddenly remembered that Tang Yingzi had been missing for several days, and couldn't help but have red circles in his eyes, and choked up: "Ah Weng, I think Sister Yingzi, can you get her back?" ”

Liu Xiu was already a little depressed, and when he heard this, he was even more upset. Yingzi has been missing for so long, he arranges for people to look around every day, but there is not even a single news, Tang Yingzi seems to have disappeared out of thin air. There is no news from He Jin and Zhou Yi's side, and everyone in Luoyang City knows that a little girl from the Wei General's Mansion is missing these days, but unfortunately this has not brought any help to find Tang Yingzi.

"Ah He, don't cry, Ah Weng will definitely get Sister Yingzi back." Liu Xiu patted his daughter's back and comforted. Guo Jia, who was playing chess, listened to it and pushed the chess: "I lost, let's stop here today." ”

Liu Xie's eyes widened: "I don't want you to let me, if you lose, you will lose, but I will not lose to you, I will lose to Sister Yingzi." What are you proud of? Hum! After speaking, he put away the chess pieces and put them under his ribs, held his head high, and walked away angrily. When Liu He saw it, he broke free from Liu Xiu's arms and chased after him with tears in his eyes.

Guo Jia stood aside with some embarrassment.

Liu Xiu saw Guo Jia's cramped appearance, and remembered the scene when he was in a bunch of rich second-generation and second-generation official brothers when he first entered the teacher's door, and he couldn't bear it, so he interrupted: "Fengxiao, have you received any new news in the past two days?" ”

"Yes!" Guo Jia responded sharply, "Master Xi sent news from Danhan Mountain, and Lian and Micah in the eastern Xianbei and Ke in the central part joined forces to force the Tiegen of the Eagle Tribe, and when Murong Feng led the army to support Tiegen, he was betrayed by Murong Chui of the same clan and locked up in the dungeon of the Tiger Tribe. Now He Lian is using Murong Feng as bait to break them individually. ”

Liu Xiu nodded with satisfaction. If he had to pick an opponent, he would rather pick He Lian than Murong Feng. He Lian seems to be very scheming, but his plan is a conspiracy and will only engage in internal strife, while although Murong Feng is slightly inferior in terms of conspiracy, he can't catch up with Helian in terms of using troops. By Helian to rule Xianbei, Xianbei will only get weaker and weaker.

"News came from Beihai that after the death of the sandalwood locust, the wind cracked and held a sacrifice for the sandalwood locust." Guo Jia paused for a moment, and then said: "The handsome man of the Wind Crack is in very bad health, and when Mrs. Fengxue asked me, I didn't dare to tell her the news. ”

"You handled it well." Liu Xiu praised again: "Madame is pregnant, so she can't be stimulated at this time." Let Xi Zhicai understand what kind of disease wind crack is, and we will arrange some medicine here. ”

"Whoa." Guo Jia showed a relaxed smile, and then said: "Jia Changshi sent news that he heard rumors from the township party that Xiqiang might make a move in the near future, and suggested that the general arrange manpower in Xiliang to find out the news. ”

Liu Xiu sighed, now that Zhang Jiao is making such a fuss, why is Xiqiang going to have an accident again? He pondered for a moment and looked at Guo Jia's thin little face: "What do you think?" ”

"Me?" Guo Jia's face turned red all of a sudden. He is just a scholar by Liu Xiu's side, Liu Xiu has a lot of trust to let him see such a confidential matter, why do you still ask his opinion? "Will ...... General, I ...... I don't understand any of that. ”

Liu Xiu pursed his lips, and said in his heart that this kid doesn't seem to have the consciousness to be a ghost, after all, he is still a child, don't expect too much from him. However, in history, he is the successor of Xi Zhicai, and letting him do this should not affect his growth.

"Say whatever you want, it's okay to say something wrong."

Guo Jia licked his lips and plucked up his courage: "I think Jia Changshi is right, although Liangzhou is poor, but Liangzhou is as elite as Bingzhou, and mastering Liangzhou means mastering an elite force, and if you lose Liangzhou, you may have one more powerful opponent." He thought for a while, and then said: "Although the Qiang people have been attached for a long time, their danger is greater than that of the Xianbei people. What's more, compared with the Xianbei people, there are still Western Regions in the west of Liangzhou, which is more profitable than Xianbei in the north, which is the land of ice and snow. If the general is doing business and getting rich, it is not impossible to reopen the road to the Western Regions. ”

Liu Xiu nodded again and again, although Guo Jia is young, his vision has surpassed his peers, on the one hand, his family conditions are not good, and the children of the poor are in charge early, on the other hand, he is probably inseparable from his talent. "But it's not so easy to pacify Xiqiang, and it's even more difficult to pacify the Western Regions, the Han can't take care of himself, how can he have so much money to fight?" Liu Xiu further probed.

"Actually, the general can follow the practice of merging states and immigrate to the border ......" Guo Jia stopped halfway through speaking, and gestured to Liu Xiu with his eyes. Liu Xiu turned his head and saw that Liu Bei was standing at the door, seemingly hesitant to come over.

"Xuande, what's wrong?"

Liu Bei walked over quickly, and before he could walk in front of Liu Xiu, a smell of wine came over. Liu Xiu tugged at the corners of his mouth and smiled: "The wine in Yuan's Mansion is delicious, right?" ”

Liu Bei touched his nose, a little embarrassed. Seeing him like this, Liu Xiu seemed to have something to say, so he glanced at Guo Jia. Guo Jia responded, packed up the things on the table and went out, quickly brought a pot of tea, and retreated.

"Sit!" Liu Xiu pointed to the stone bench opposite and motioned for Liu Bei to sit down. Yuan's mansion suddenly sent an invitation, Ma Lun invited Lu Zhi and his wife to go to the banquet, Liu Xiu and Liu Bei were also invited, Liu Xiu was not in the mood, Liu Bei accompanied him. Originally, Liu Xiu didn't take it seriously, but looking at Liu Bei's current appearance, it was probably not as simple as eating a meal.

Liu Bei took two sips of tea and stabilized his mind: "Eldest brother, Yuan Highway asked me to convey my gratitude to the eldest brother." ”

Liu Xiu raised his eyebrows: "He wants to thank me?" ”

"Yes, if it wasn't for the eldest brother who arranged for someone to help him transport food last time, how could he be a general." Liu Bei smiled slightly, "He heard about his uncle and aunt somewhere, so he wanted to help." ”

Liu Xiu was stunned for a moment, his eyes narrowed, Yuan Shu wants to help me find my parents? How does this sound like a weasel giving a New Year's greeting to a chicken, uneasy and kind. He was silent for a moment: "How can he help?" ”

He said that the protégés of the Yuan family were all over the world, and he had made friends with many rangers and swordsmen, and he was relatively well-informed. If the eldest brother can paint him a portrait of his uncle and aunt, his subordinates can find someone according to the picture, maybe ......"

Liu Xiu interrupted Liu Bei's words and was very unhappy: "He treats my parents as wanted criminals? Do you want to draw a picture to find someone? ”

"Big brother misunderstood, he didn't mean that." Liu Bei hurriedly explained: "He really wants to help the eldest brother find someone to thank the eldest brother for helping him." Big brother, don't get him wrong. ”

"Good intentions?" Liu Xiu snorted and brushed his sleeves up: "If he really wants to thank me, he shouldn't help me in such an almost humiliating way." Does he want the world to know that I, Liu Xiu, am incompetent, and I can't find my parents when they are missing, and he still needs others to help? ”

Liu Bei saw that Liu Xiu was angry, and hurriedly persuaded him, repeatedly explaining that Yuan Shu had no malicious intentions, if the eldest brother really couldn't accept it, then it would be enough to reject him, and there was no need to have a conflict. Liu Xiuyu was still angry, shook his hand and left, leaving Liu Bei alone in the pavilion. Liu Bei looked at Liu Xiu's distant back, frowned slightly, he raised his hand, stroked his eyebrows, his fingers stopped at the scar in his eyebrows, and shook his head with a wry smile.

Liu Xiu sat in the study, frightened for a while, Yuan Shu wanted to help him find someone, this was by no means so simple as repaying. Could it be that they found some flaw? Daddy's identity is weird, although Cai Yong said that he may be Liu Xianghou, but before getting his affirmation, Liu Xiu can only be skeptical of this speculation. After the last time they met in Jinyang, he hadn't met his father again, and it had been almost a year. At the beginning, for the sake of safety, his father came to him every time he met, but he didn't tell him how to contact him, and now he can't help even if he wants to inform his father.

According to his estimate, Dad should be hidden near Luoyang, otherwise he wouldn't be so clear about his actions, but there are nearly a million people in Luoyang, where can he find him?

Of course, he wouldn't give Yuan Shu any portrait, but he also knew that refusal would only increase Yuan Shu's suspicions, and Yuan Shu would never give up because of his refusal, on the contrary, he would work harder to find it, and not only the power of Yuan Shu, but probably the power of the entire Yuan family. If Daddy is really in Luoyang, he will be found sooner or later, not to mention anything else, half of the officials in the capital have a relationship with the Yuan family, or are very eager to have something to do with the Yuan family. Among those rangers who walk the streets and alleys, the Yuan family also has an influence that he can't match.

The fourth world and the third duke, the foundation of nearly a hundred years, is by no means comparable to that of a nouveau riche in a few years.

Liu Xiu bared his teeth, his foundation in Luoyang was still too shallow, although he had captured the heart of the Son of Heaven, but he didn't have enough strength at the bottom, and it was still overstretched to deal with it. Heavenly Master Dao can be used, but although Heavenly Master Dao entered Luoyang early, his development in Luoyang has always been inferior to Taiping Dao, which has come later, and he is now at odds with Taiping Dao.

No, I have to find a way to call the police to my father.

…… Mrs. Lu hurriedly greeted her, and as soon as they met, she asked with concern, "Is there any news from Miss Yingzi?" ”

Liu Xiu shook his head. Mrs. Lu clapped her hands regretfully: "How can this be, is it really done by Taiping Dao?" ”

"I don't know." Liu Xiu shrugged helplessly: "I only know that even if it wasn't done by Taiping Dao, as long as they want to find it, they should be able to find it." The deadline is approaching, and they have no news at all, there are only two possibilities, one is that they didn't take me seriously, and the other is that they didn't bother to look for it. ”

Mrs. Lu was a little surprised, he heard the murderous aura hidden in Liu Xiu's seemingly helpless words. She cautiously asked, "What is the general going to do?" ”

Liu Xiu sighed, "I am a businessman, and if I want to keep the Shaolin abbot of the post-80s generation, is it possible for you to win those believers over?" ”

Mrs. Lu was surprised and delighted, surprised that Liu Xiu was going to attack the Taiping Dao, and was ready to catch it all, and the happy thing was that if Liu Xiu could really clear the Taiping Dao from the scope of Luoyang, even if the Heavenly Master Dao could not occupy Luoyang at once, at least he could get a golden opportunity for development.

"There shouldn't be any problem, those things in the Taiping Dao were originally learned from our Heavenly Master Dao, not to mention the help of the general." Mrs. Lu was overjoyed and said with a smile, "As long as the general is willing to help, even if Zhang Jiao comes to ask for the crime, I don't have to worry about him." ”

Liu Xiu smiled: "It should be said that as long as Mrs. is willing to make a move, even if Zhang Jiao comes, I am not afraid." ”

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Liu Xiu turned around and went to the Hussar General's Mansion again, and asked to see the Hussar General Dong Chong. Dong Chong heard that Liu Xiu was coming, and he was very surprised, although Liu Xiu often paid tribute to the Queen Mother, there was not much interaction between them, except for something, Liu Xiu did not come to the door for anything.

Liu Xiu explained his intention straightforwardly, I want to find the bad luck of Taiping Dao, I know that the people of Taiping Dao have internal responses in the palace, and I am alone, I can't handle them, but the hussar general is different, you are the queen mother's servant, the queen mother is the only person who can say nothing in front of the Son of Heaven, and there is a hussar general to make a move, so I don't have to worry.

Dong Zhong is very funny, you also know that Taiping Dao has an internal response in the palace, and Zhang Jiao is favored in front of the Son of Heaven, so why should I help you offend Zhang Jiao?

Liu Xiu smiled, the hussar general must not know, Taiping Dao preached in Luoyang for several years, accumulated a lot of wealth, the Son of Heaven is now the most short of money, if we can snatch the money of Taiping Dao and dedicate it to the Son of Heaven, can the Son of Heaven still blame us, not only will he not blame us, but also to reward us, because Zhang Jiao shouts allegiance to the Son of Heaven every day, but when the Son of Heaven is most short of money, he has never sent money to the Son of Heaven. If we expose his hypocrisy, the Son of Heaven will surely praise us. The reason why I didn't do it myself was because I had a conflict with Zhang Jiao, and the Son of Heaven would think that I was framing him, but the hussar general had no contradiction with Zhang Jiao, you were neutral, and the Son of Heaven would definitely believe you.

When Dong Chong heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he tested each other a few more words, and then hit it off. As soon as everyone in the Dong family heard the money, their eyes lit up, and Liu Xian found out this, so he dared to come to Dong Zhong for help.

Dong Zhong mobilized a thousand men and horses, and Liu Xiu set off together, outside Luoyang City, Xu Yu led the 500 tiger battalion that had just been reorganized, Guan Yu with 100 heavy armor, Zhang Fei and Zhang Xiu with 500 personal guards were ready to stop, more than 2,000 people joined forces together, and went straight to the old house of the Ping family, and now Luoyang Jinglu in Taiping Road.

The 1,000 soldiers under Dong Chong are just a ceremony, they have never been on the battlefield, and it's okay to bully ordinary people in normal times, but if you really want to fight in formation, it's just a decoration. Walking with the more than 1,000 people under Liu Xiu's command, they were obviously very uneasy, and the indifferent expressions that naturally appeared on the soldiers who had gone through bloody battles made them shudder.

The Ping family was originally a strong man in Luoyang, raising hundreds of killers, and the accumulated wealth was countless, and the starting funds for Liu Xiu's rectification of the Northern Army were copied from the Ping family. If you have money, you are afraid of thieves, even if the family is full of masters, you have to guard against it, so the courtyard wall of the Ping family is higher than that of other people's houses, and thicker than other people's homes. After Zhang Jiao got this house, it was repaired and reinforced, not to mention anything else, just look at the height of the corner towers at the four corners of the courtyard. Except for the strong crossbows that were not controlled by the imperial court, this courtyard was a military fortress.

Liu Xiu didn't dare to slack off, he always thought things were more difficult to do, and pulling Dong back was to help, but he couldn't let the casualties be too great. When he arrived, he ordered the Heike to be surrounded, with the Tiger Warrior in charge of the battle, Dong Chong's subordinates in the rear, and the Knight outside in charge of chasing and killing those who wanted to escape. After the order was issued, the tiger soldiers set up a formation according to the habits of wartime, sword and shield hands, spearmen, and crossbowmen arranged into a phalanx, and Xu Chu personally carried a war knife in front of the battle.

Although Taiping Dao is powerful, this is Luoyang after all, as soon as they saw the black and oppressive officials and soldiers surrounding the courtyard, they suddenly became nervous, and on the one hand entered their posts to defend, and on the other hand, they flew to report to Ma Qiang. The archers on the four corner towers were quickly in place, but they did not dare to fire rashly, and just nervously waited for orders.

Liu Xiu glanced at the corner tower and didn't see the shadow of the crossbow guarding the city, so he breathed a sigh of relief. In the Han Dynasty, the people did not prohibit martial arts, there was no problem with knives and swords, and bows and crossbows were common, but the strong bow of more than three stones belonged to the controlled weapons, and the crossbow of more than ten stones was not allowed to be configured in any other city except for the Beijing Division.

There are no strong crossbows with more than three stones, and those ordinary crossbows do zero damage to heavy armorers.

"Yun Chang, break the door!"

"Whoa!" Guan Yu answered, dragging the slashing sword and began to run, the heavy armor seemed to be as light as a feather to him, and the huge body of nine feet tall was as fast as lightning, rushing to the front of the gate, jumping up, and kicking on the thick wooden door.

With a "click", the door was kicked open by him again, and several Taiping Daoists hiding behind the door were frightened, and a few quick reactions screamed, and rushed up with courage. Guan Yu sneered, and the sword flew diagonally.

Three people with one knife!

The three and a half corpses continued to rush forward a few steps, and then they fell to the ground with a bang, and the blood gushing from the spring quickly dyed the bluestone in front of the door red, and the remaining Taiping Daoists were stunned, and they no longer had the courage to fight against Guan Yu, so they turned around and ran.

As soon as the heavy armor soldiers poured in, they cut down when they saw people.

Ma Qiang was startled when he heard that Liu Xiu had surrounded Zhuangzi with a large army, and hurriedly rushed out, and met Guan Yu carrying a sword to kill horses, chasing a large group of Taoist priests to the point of crying wolves.

"Stop!" Ma Qiang's face turned red with anger: "In broad daylight, at the feet of the Son of Heaven, you dare to kill people indiscriminately?" ”

"Who says we're killing people indiscriminately?" Liu Xiu and Dong Chong walked in side by side, and sneered: "I am responsible for the safety of Gyeonggi under the edict of Your Majesty. ”

"General Liu, you can't frame us in vain." As soon as Ma Qiang saw Liu Xiu, he didn't dare to carry it, and his tone softened by three points.

"Did I defile you?" Liu Xiu glanced at him, "Ten days have come, where is Yingzi?" ”

Ma Qiang's face was bitter, a little hesitant, and after hesitating for a while, he said earnestly: "General Liu, I won't hide it from you, I really don't know anything about the disappearance of the Holy Aunt. ”

"Don't know?" Liu Xiu's eyebrows raised, "I don't know if you will agree to my conditions?" ”

Ma Qiang can't say what he is suffering. He really didn't know Yingzi's whereabouts, and began to promise Liu Xiu, because he felt that although he didn't do it, as long as Taiping Dao did it, he would definitely be able to find Yingzi, and he believed that Zhang Jiao should be able to accept Liu Xiu's conditions, after all, what they wanted was a ring, not Yingzi. Take 10,000 steps back, even if this matter was not done by Taiping Dao, with Taiping Dao's power in Luoyang, they could also inquire about some clues. But ten days passed, and not only did Zhang Jiao not give him any news, but the people he sent did not find any valuable news.

But these obviously can't be explained to Liu Xiu, because from the beginning he had the intention of deceiving Liu Xiu, and at this moment, if he didn't know about Yingzi, Liu Xiu wouldn't believe him. Looking at Liu Xiu's expression, you can know that this matter will probably not be good today.

Ma Qiang quickly weighed the pros and cons, thinking about how to deal with it, he also had some preparations these days, but he didn't expect Liu Xiu to be so arrogant, and so many people came at once. There are hundreds of Taoist disciples in the village, but these people are probably not Liu Xiu's opponents, not to mention that Liu Xiu also has Mrs. Lu by his side, a master of the Heavenly Master's Dao, which makes him feel that resisting is tantamount to looking for death.

But if you don't resist, will you just be caught?

Ma Qiang thought about it, and finally gave up resisting, he believed that even if Liu Xiu arrested them all, Zhang Jiao would be able to rescue them, Zhang Jiao was not only trusted by the Son of Heaven like Liu Xiu, but also had a lot of power in the palace, no worse than Liu Xiu, I believe that Liu Xiu would not dare to do anything to them. But if a person dies, then even if Zhang Jiao has the ability to reach the sky, he can't be resurrected.

Ma Qiang ordered the resistance to stop and avoid unnecessary sacrifices. However, even if he was tied, Ma Qiang couldn't help but say a few words, "General Liu, the great sage and good teacher are in the same court as you, and the Taiping Dao preaching in Luoyang is also approved by His Majesty, and there are extraordinary officials and nobles among the believers." I can cooperate with you now, but if you think I'm afraid of you, then you're wrong, justice is at ease in the hearts of the people, I hope the general will leave a little way back for himself, don't do things desperately. ”

Liu Xiu pursed his lips and ordered all the Taiping Dao people in the courtyard to be escorted outside and tied up, and everything was arranged, and then he said to Ma Qiang: "Take me to your treasury to have a look?" ”

Ma Qiang frowned, feeling that something was wrong, but now he didn't even have anyone by his side, and he had no capital to resist, so he had to take Liu Xiu into the warehouse. Looking at the boxes of belongings, Liu Xiu and Dong Zhong glanced at each other and smiled heartily. They laughed happily, but Ma Qiang felt a burst of shock: "Your Excellency wants to seize our property?" ”

"Needless to say?" Liu Xiu felt very strange: "Then what do you think I brought so many people here today?" ”

Ma Qiang's face changed suddenly: "You didn't come to find the Holy Aunt, you came to steal my Taiping Dao property?" ”

"You can't say that." Dong Chong's face sank, and he said very majestically: "We originally came to ask for someone, but now that we find that you have so many belongings of unknown origin, we can't help but ask." ”

"What is of unknown origin?" Ma Qiang shouted, he sensed the danger, "These are all property voluntarily donated by the believers of my Taiping Dao, and they are not stolen or stolen, and they are above board. ”

"Really?" Dong Chong's brows furrowed even tighter: "What kind of people are they, they are so generous." The Son of Heaven went north, they didn't donate, but donated the money to your Taiping Dao, is your Taiping Dao more noble than Your Majesty? Dong Zhong turned his head and said to Liu Xiu very seriously: "It seems that we need to find the list of donors and see who they are so unreasonable." ”

Liu Xiu nodded solemnly: "Hussars are clever, these people do not distinguish between right and wrong, respect and inferiority, they really can't let it go, otherwise wouldn't they mess up the discipline?" Your Majesty should be shown these rosters, Zhang Jiao is very authoritative now. ”

When Ma Qiang heard this, his face turned pale, and he realized Liu Xiu's murderous intention of pulling Dong Zhong over. If these words reach the ears of the Son of Heaven, can the Son of Heaven still trust Zhang Jiao? No matter how powerful Taiping Dao is, the Son of Heaven will be uprooted.

Ma Qiang's eyes rolled, and he suddenly rushed towards a cabinet behind him, and without waiting for Liu Xiu and the others to react, he crashed into the cabinet, jumped into a secret passage, and disappeared without a trace.

Liu Xiu was very "surprised", "Taiping Dao is really weird, what kind of magic is this?" ”

Dong Chong nodded again and again: "Yes, it is indeed weird, these demons must be eradicated as soon as possible." Deran, you have made a great contribution this time, just these belongings......"

"Well, I don't have much money, but ...... Seventeen or eighteen boxes only, it shouldn't be much money. ”

Dong Chong looked around blankly: "Are there seventeen or eighteen boxes?" Why didn't I see so many? ”

Liu Xiu slapped his forehead, "I'm dazzled, but seven or eight boxes, seven or eight boxes." ”

Dong Chong laughed: "Deran, you have to pay attention to rest, it's not a good phenomenon to be dazzled at a young age." ”

"The hussar is right, this time is indeed a bit tiring."

"That's also working hard for the country, hard work for you. I'll take credit for you. Dong Zhong patted his hand and said earnestly. I also know that you've been working too hard lately. In this way, the battle is over, and you are tired, so I will take care of the rest of the chores. I will report the events of this war to the Queen Mother and Your Majesty, and I will definitely not forget your merits. ”

"I can't thank you enough." Liu Xiu said gratefully: "Since this is the case, there is General Lao Hussar." By the way, I heard that the palace's finances are tight, and even the Queen Mother and Her Majesty have reduced their meals, which makes us feel embarrassed as courtiers. Hussar general, please offer some mundane things to the Queen Mother and talk about your heart. ”

Dong Zhong nodded solemnly.

(To be continued)