At the entrance of the market in Zheng County, there is a log that is two or three feet high.

At the top of the log, there are two slightly thinner logs, which are vertically interlaced with the vertical logs to form a cross.

Anyone who walks by this log will subconsciously raise their heads and glance at the top of the shelf. What catches people's attention is not the wooden frame that stands straight at the entrance of the market, but a living person nailed to the wooden frame.

The man on the wooden frame has his legs dangling in the air, his arms outstretched, and he is pierced through his palms with wooden tenons and nailed to the wooden frame. The weight of his whole body was completely supported by the palm of the tenon nailed through, perhaps numb to the pain, hanging on the wooden frame, he didn't even snort, just squinted his eyes in a daze, as if he would fall asleep at any moment.

Ever since he was nailed to the shelf, someone came every day to feed him and give him water. It is precisely because of this that he has been nailed to the wooden frame for seven or eight days, and this person is still hanging and breathing, and he has not died.

Standing on the city wall, Liu Wei held the battlements with his hands, staring at the people who were nailed to the wooden frame from a distance, and his brows were tightly twisted.

"This person has been hanging in the market for days!" Liu Wei was looking at the people on the wooden frame, and Guan Qing, who was standing behind him, said to him with a little unbearability in his tone: "Even if the crime is extremely heinous, it is enough to think about it in the past few days......"

"This king is also helpless!" Holding the battlements with both hands, looking at Chen Xi'er hanging on the wooden frame, Liu Wei shook his head and said to Guan Qing: "This person instigated Li Le to lead the army to fight with our army, causing many soldiers to die outside the city for no reason......

"For every day he lives, he will suffer one more day!" Liu Wei turned around, stared at Guan Qing's pretty face full of sympathy, and said to her in a compassionate tone: "I just hope that he can die sooner and suffer less torture!" ”

I knew in my heart that if Liu Wei wanted to restrain Duan Xuan and the others, he must severely punish Chen Xi'er who instigated Li Le to make trouble, and Guan Qing didn't want to say anything more, she slowly lowered her eyes, but her eyes still flashed with reluctance and pity.

"Qing'er's expedition to the battlefield and the death of Qing'er's knife are countless!" From Guan Qing's expression, he saw pity for Chen Xi'er, Liu Wei gently held her arm with both hands, and said to her softly: "This person is extremely evil, many soldiers have died because of him, why does Qing'er pity him?" ”

"Conquest of the battlefield, clear swords and guns, either the enemy dies or I die! Even if Qing'er kills millions of enemy soldiers, she will never have mercy! Guan Qing raised his face, looked at Liu Wei, and said to him softly: "Even if this person is cut off and shown to the public, Qing'er will not have the slightest pity." Just so tormented ......"

"Your Highness!" Holding Guan Qing's arm, Liu Wei was about to speak, a fast horse rushed into Zheng County from outside the city, entered the city gate, the knight on horseback quickly ran up the city wall along the stairs, and arrived at a place five or six steps away from Liu Bian, the knight half knelt on the ground, hugged his fists and said to Liu Bian: "In Chang'an City, Fan Fang and others opened the city gate two days ago, Li Dao, Guo Yan, Zhang Ji and others led the army into the city, Lu Bu led the army to break through the siege, and Fang rushed out of Chang'an. Wang Yun was killed, and now Chang'an City has once again fallen into the hands of the Xiliang Army! Today's His Majesty and the Chinese Wu of the DPRK are both prisoners of Li Ji and Guo Feng! ”

After listening to the scout's report, Liu Wei first turned his head and glanced at Guan Qing standing in front of him, then waved his hand at the scout and said to him: "Closely monitor the Xiliang army in Chang'an City, once they make a move, they will immediately report to this king!" ”

"No!" The scout answered, stood up and ran down the city wall quickly, and after a while, he rode out of Zheng County again.

"Hurry up and invite the military advisor to come!" Letting go of the hands holding Guan Qing's arm, Liu Wei walked to the battlements leaning against the side outside the city, looked at the scouts who were leaving outside the city, and gave an order to a soldier behind him.

The soldiers responded and ran down the city wall quickly, while Liu Wei pressed one hand on the battlements and stared at the hill outside the city.

Summer has passed, and autumn has already quietly descended into the world. The early autumn wind, with a hint of coolness, swept over the hills.

The grass and trees on the hill are still verdant, and the cool breeze has not affected them too much. From the city walls, the city is full of greenery and vegetation, and no one can tell that there have been several major battles here.

"It's time to go back to Luoyang!" After standing by the battlements for a while, Pang Tong had not yet arrived, and Liu Wei said softly to Guan Qing on the side: "This king intends to return to Luoyang through the Hongnong area, and investigate the people's conditions along the way to see how the people's livelihood is. Just relying on the letters of officials from various places, it is absolutely impossible to see the real side. ”

"Your Highness, don't you want the last general to accompany ......?" As soon as Liu Wei proposed to go through the Hongnong area to survey the people's livelihood, Guan Qing raised his head and looked at him, and said with a little worry on his face: "Now that the army is in chaos, I don't know how many people secretly want to murder His Highness, if His Highness's whereabouts are known to others......"

"Might as well!" Without waiting for Guan Qing to finish speaking, Liu Wei waved his hand at her and said to her: "In addition to you, this king only brings four soldiers, and we all change into people's clothes, even if our whereabouts are exposed, just let the soldiers leave and return to Luoyang by different routes, and it will be easy for us to slip away from other people's eyelids!" ”

Liu Wei fled Luoyang with Tang Ji, who was powerless, and later escaped from Lu County and Jizhou with Guan Qing.

From Liu Wei's tone, Guan Qing heard confidence, and he didn't want to say anything more, so he had to clench his fists with both hands and respond.

"Your Highness!" While the two were talking, Pang Tong went up to the city wall, walked quickly to Liu Bian, clasped his hands into fists and bowed deeply to Liu Bian, and said to him: "If Your Highness doesn't call your subordinates to come, Your Majesty has something to present to Your Highness today!" ”

"Oh?" Pang Tong said that there was something to submit, and Liu Wei made a gesture of invitation to him and said: "The military advisor has something, but it doesn't hurt to say it!" ”

"It's been some time since the army was stationed in Zheng County!" Putting down his fist-clasping hands, Pang Tong straightened up and said to Liu Wei: "Even if Chang'an is not broken, it will not be able to support our army to reach ......."

"This king invited the military advisor to come to discuss this matter!" Without waiting for Pang Tong to finish speaking, Liu Wei interrupted him and said to him: "The king has been rewarded by Tanma!" Chang'an has been broken, Wang Yun was killed, Lu Bu led the army out of the encirclement, and His Majesty also fell into the hands of Li Dao and Guo Yan! ”

"Very good! Very good! Knowing that Chang'an had been broken, Pang Tong's face suddenly looked much better, and a smile appeared on his potholed and ugly face, and he said to Liu Wei: "In this way, His Highness's withdrawal will be more justified!" ”

Looking directly at Pang Tong, Liu Wei nodded slowly, and then said to Pang Tong: "This retreat will be handled by the military." After the army leaves the city, this king plans to lead four elite soldiers with General Guan Qing to make a detour to Hongnong, and along the way to investigate whether the people can live and work in peace and contentment! ”

Liu Wei proposed to make a detour to Hongnong, Pang Tong was stunned for a moment, but he did not object, but pondered for a moment before saying to Liu Wei: "Your Highness proposed to detour to Hongnong, presumably because he had already had this intention. Your Majesty is inconvenient to obstruct, I only hope that Your Highness, everything will be careful on the way! ”

"Thank you for the reminder!" Liu Wei nodded, first thanked Pang Tong, and then said to him: "When this king leaves, the military advisor can make a big fanfare, make the state that this king is still in the army, lead the army into the Yin territory of Henan, and wait for this king in Gucheng!" ”

"No!" Pang Tong hugged his fists and bowed, answered, and then said to Liu Wei: "If Your Highness has nothing else to do, Your Highness will order the whole army, pack up the baggage, and return to Luoyang early tomorrow morning!" ”

"There is a labor division!" hugged his fist and gave Pang Tong a salute back, and seeing Pang Tong turn to leave, Liu Wei turned his gaze to Guan Qing and whispered to Guan Qing: "Qing'er may not know that this king wants to make a detour to Hongnong this time, in addition to investigating the people's situation, there is still a wish that has not been fulfilled." ”

Guan Qing didn't answer Liu Bian's words, she just raised her face and stared at Liu Bian with her big eyes.

"Back to basics!" Smiling at Guan Qing, Liu Wei raised his arm, drew a semicircle towards the verdant hills outside the city, and said to Guan Qing: "Every time this king goes out on an expedition, there are thousands of troops and horses at every turn, but this king always has a thought in his heart. If one day, the world is decided, and there is no more conquest, this king and Qing'er will choose a place where the mountains and rivers are beautiful, build a few grass houses, plough the mountains and fields, and then don't ask about the things of the world, wouldn't it be beautiful? ”

Knowing from Liu Bian's mouth that he had the idea of plowing the mountains, Guan Qing lowered his head and was silent for a long time before he said to Liu Bian: "Your Highness is so selfish......

"Oh?" I didn't expect Guan Qing to say that he was selfish, Liu Wei was stunned for a moment, turned his head to look at Guan Qing, and asked with a bit of confusion: "Why does Qing'er say that this king is selfish?" ”

"Your Highness only thinks about ploughing the mountains and fields, and has lived that leisurely life since then. But he never thought about the whole army! I didn't think about the subjects of the world! Isn't it selfish? Raising her pretty face, Guan Qing's eyes as clear as a pool of water flashed with crystal brilliance, looking at Liu Wei, she said softly: "Your Highness is sitting in Luoyang, and hundreds of people are dragging their children and daughters to move to Luoyang, just because they believe that Your Highness can save their lives; In this campaign, 100,000 Xiliang troops surrendered to His Highness! Didn't they just follow His Highness to help the Han family, and then watched His Highness carry the burden and live in seclusion in the mountains and forests? ”

Guan Qing's words stunned Liu Wei for a moment. He pursed his lips, smiled slightly, put his hands on Guan Qing's shoulders, put his forehead on Guan Qing's head, and whispered to her: "The more you can't get, the more you want!" This king wants to enjoy a few days of leisure with Qing'er, but the Han family is not stable, and the subjects of the world are still under the sword, and hundreds of thousands of soldiers are waiting for the day, accompanying this king Kuang to help the Han family! How dare this king fail them? ”

"Your Highness just said......" raised her pretty face slightly, stared at Liu Bian, Guan Qinghongyan's lips were almost on Liu Bian's lips, she swallowed back only halfway through the words, lowered her head and was silent for a moment, she seemed to have mustered up a lot of courage, raised her pretty face again, and whispered to Liu Bian: "His Royal Highness said that he wanted to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests with Qing'er......"

"yes!" When Guan Qing spoke, the breath he blew out was warm and fragrant, Liu Wei took a deep breath greedily, and then said to her softly: "The world is in chaos, and heroes from all directions are rising. Although many heroes still respect the Han family, in fact, they have long since disobeyed the orders of the Han family. If you want to restore the Han Dynasty, I am afraid that this king will have to be displaced on horseback for the rest of his life. The comfortable life of ploughing the mountains and forests is just a desire in the heart of this king. ”

His arms slowly slid down, wrapped around Guan Qing's willow waist, hugged Guan Qing, Liu Wei's forehead was against her head, and he whispered to Guan Qing, who was ashamed of what he said: "Qing'er, you are so fragrant!" ”