Hearing this, Shen Yuan was a little surprised, because Xiyang County is located in the southwest of Pinggang, once this place falls into the hands of thieves, the southern part of Youbeiping County will be considered to be completely fallen, not only that, but it will even form a pincer attack on the county capital of Youbeiping County. Of course, what worries him even more is that once the west of Pinggang County falls, his way back to the state capital will be blocked, and his itinerary will inevitably be trapped, and he will fall to the side of the rebel firing.

As soon as he thought of this, he hurriedly asked, "Then, how many troops are still here?" ”

Zhao Yu sighed and said: "The elite soldiers of the county government were completely lost in the battle of Changcheng, and Wen Duwei is leading some of the remnants of the army back to the county government, and it should be there in the next two days." Since last month, the city began to recruit volunteers, and so far more than 300 warriors have been recruited, including the other remaining troops in the city, the total is only more than 1,200. ”

Shen Yuan hurriedly asked again: "Then, how many people can Captain Wen bring back?" ”

Zhao Yu was quite depressed and said: "There may be 1,500 or 600 people in the letter before, but on the way back to the city, there are frequent signs of desertion, and the ban has not stopped, but I am afraid that it is good to bring back 1,000 men and horses." ”

Shen Yuan said worriedly: "This, this is only more than 2,000 people in total, and there are 5,000 thieves, how to deal with this?" ”

Zhao Yu shook his head helplessly, and said in Shen Yuan's tone: "Because of this, the county urgently sent an order to dispatch volunteers from all counties and towns in the north to defend the county government and defend against the thieves. If it weren't for the reason for the incident this time, he wouldn't dare to stop Lord Shen halfway, after all, this Zu Zhao was originally a virtuous person in this county, and he was quite famous in Xu Wu, if he could temporarily retain Zu Zhao and let him organize a righteous fight against thieves, it could more or less be regarded as atonement. ”

After listening to Zhao Yu's words, Shen Yuan nodded while pondering, to be honest, if it weren't for the fact that this case was personally assigned by Liu Yuanjun, he really thought about closing this case as soon as possible. Now that it coincides with a big change, with his understanding of Liu Yuanjun, he will definitely not hold Zu Zhao accountable too much.

As for Wang Wei's opinion, Shen Yuan is like crazy talk, and Shen Yuan will not take Wang Wei in his eyes.

At noon, the Taishou Mansion prepared a banquet and entertained Shen Yuan and Wang Wei. During the banquet, Liu Cheng, the eldest son of the late Liu Taishou, came to the scene to toast two glasses of wine, according to traditional practice, now he is still Dai Xiao's body, it is inconvenient to participate in too many entertainment activities, just simply talked to Shen Yuan and Wang Wei about Zu Zhao, and after getting Shen Yuan's approval to a similar extent, he said no, got up and left the table.

Wang Wei naturally wanted to sing a few words of contradiction, but Liu Cheng didn't give himself a chance to sing contradiction, so he could only drink a few glasses of sullen wine with his head sullen, and then got up and quit as soon as he put his chopsticks down. Shen Yuan didn't persuade much, but looked at Wang Wei's angry back, and felt very happy in his heart, so Meimei poured himself a drink.

Although Zu Zhao was a prisoner under the ranks, the Taishou Mansion did not embarrass him too much, and instead of treating him in a detentionary manner, he also specially arranged a wing room for him to rest. It's just that the shackles on his hands and feet still can't be easily removed, so he can only continue to wear them. He had just had a light lunch, and he was about to rest in bed, but he couldn't sleep well last night because of the shackles.

Just then, there was a faint sound of footsteps outside the door, and it wasn't long before there was a knock on the door.

"Grandfather?" Outside the door was the voice of a maid.

Zu Zhao came to the living room, and with his current condition, it was naturally inconvenient to open the door, so he answered through the door: "Come in." ”

The maid opened the door, but she didn't walk in, she just stood outside the threshold and asked in a proper manner, "Dare to ask if it is convenient for the ancestor to be now?" ”

Zu Zhao glanced down at the shackles on his hands and feet, and immediately replied, "If there is nothing important, it is really inconvenient now. ”

The maid raised her delicate and lovely eyebrows, showing some doubt, and after a moment of silence, she said, "Hmm...... In fact, this is the case, my young lady wants to meet her grandfather. ”

Zu Zhao thought for a moment and asked, "Who is your young lady?" ”

The maid said: "It's the third lady of the Taishou family, it stands to reason that you have seen her before." ”

Zu Zhao bowed his head slowly, but there was a lot of thinking in his heart. Originally, when Li Xin mentioned this matter, he already had some doubts, what did the third lady of Taishoufu make a special trip to ask Li Xin to stop the road to protect herself? Li Xin's meaning is obviously because he saved her that day, in other words, this third lady of Taishou Mansion just wants to return a favor. If that's really the case, then there's nothing wrong with it, it's just that there will be a little bit of shameful thoughts in one's heart.

After some hesitation, he exhaled a little and said, "Okay, I'll go with you." It's just that now it's still a guilty body, and I'm afraid that it will make the third lady feel offended. ”

The maid smiled mischievously and said, "Grandfather doesn't have to worry, my young lady doesn't care about this." ”

Zu Zhao just smiled, didn't say anything, and went out with the maid. The wing room he is in is the courtyard on the periphery of the Taishou Mansion, and it is expected that the third lady of the Taishou Mansion must be living in the boudoir, and she wears shackles through the hall like this, so that many people can see that it is indeed a little conspicuous, and the dignified seven-foot man, this face will be more or less concerned.

Who knows, the maid and Zu Zhao didn't leave the courtyard at all, but walked along the corridor for a distance, came to a garden courtyard, and immediately saw a small stone pavilion in the center of the courtyard. There are one or two slender figures in the stone pavilion, and you don't have to think much to know that the third lady actually came here to invite Zu Zhao.

Approaching, the maid who led the way quickened her pace and walked into the small stone pavilion first, and bowed to the third lady.

The third lady turned her back to the path into the pavilion, and after hearing the maid's report, she first glanced back slightly sideways, but when she just caught a glimpse of Zu Zhao from the corner of her eye, she was like an electric shock, and turned back in a little panic, not daring to glance more.

Soon, the maid came back to the small stone pavilion and smiled and invited Zu Zhao into the pavilion.

Zu Zhao walked up the stairs and walked into the pavilion, and the first thing he smelled was a fresh and soft fragrance, he was not sure if it was the scent of a girl, and he didn't know how women in this day and age apply perfume. Standing still, he bent down slightly and bowed to the front, and said, "In Xia Zuzhao, I have seen the third young lady." ”

The third lady seemed to want to turn around, but when she was halfway through, she was a little shy, and immediately retracted her posture, still facing away from Zu Zhao. After a long while, she whispered, "Ancestor Gongzi doesn't need to be polite. After a long journey, he should have let his grandfather have a good rest, but he ...... It's just that because the county is in turmoil right now, and he still expects the ancestor to return to Xu Wuxuan as soon as possible to help, so he ...... That's why I took the liberty of inviting my grandfather in a hurry. ”

Zu Zhao smiled and said, "Third Miss is too polite. If there is still a place for this time, it all depends on the third lady to be thorough, and the kindness of the third lady must be remembered in the future. ”

He had to feel strange about the behavior of the third lady in front of him, obviously the other party was the daughter of the county government, why did he have to be so timid at this time and couldn't let go? At this time, although he couldn't see the other party's face, with his previous memory, he could still remember that this young lady was a lovely beauty, and just looking at the other party's delicate back at this moment could also give people infinite reverie.

The third lady was a little anxious, and seemed to be anxious and said, "Don't say that, grandfather, ...... before You have saved my life before, and now you can share the worries of the county government, both public and private, it should be my Xiexie grandfather. ”

Zu Zhao was vaguely suspicious: Will these three young ladies be so polite? Isn't it......

He thought that when he met Miss San for the first time, he met Liu Taishou who was interested in recruiting a wishful husband for his daughter. Originally, the third lady was already in her prime, and if she had to delay it for a few more years, Shaohua had passed, and she could really be regarded as a mistake in her youth. If it is as I guessed, I am afraid that this matter will be very complicated.

Wouldn't it be said that he now has to focus on dealing with the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and has no time to take care of the private affairs of his children, even if the man is married and the woman is married, but the ancestral family has already made a marriage contract with the Gongsun family of Xuanwu County, and he doesn't dare to easily bear the name of disrespecting the agreement.

Thinking of this, he immediately said: "It is the great calamity that is at hand, and I am also eager to make the best use of it." Men are ambitious in all directions, and they should carry a three-foot sword and make immortal achievements. If the third lady really believes that Zai Xia is innocent, Zai Xia really hopes to return to Xu Wu as soon as possible, rectify the brave and brave people in his hometown, and then go to the county government to serve the strength of the battlefield. ”

Hearing Zu Zhao's heroic words, the third lady slowly turned around, and her big star-like eyes revealed a look of admiration. Compared with the last time we met, because of the relationship between recuperation, she now looks thinner, and her slightly spacious clothes add a little petite and weak to her, and her cheeks, which are as white as snow, have a faint and lovely flush. She didn't seem to dare to look at Zu Zhao for a long time, and after only looking at it for a while, she immediately lowered her head slightly, and her rich eyelashes flickered, which was very moving.

For Zu Zhao, this meeting with Miss San can be regarded as a close meeting in the true sense, and he admits that Miss San is a slim beauty, although she is only fifteen or sixteen years old, but she exudes a mature and classical beauty all over her body, just like a work of art, which is worthy of in-depth experience.

The third lady spoke softly, and her voice became significantly softer than just now: "I really didn't mistake my grandfather, with the talent and ambition of my grandfather, I will be the pillar of my Han in time." Please also ask Zu Gongzi to be relieved, the Shicai brother has already obtained the consent of Lord Shen, and at the earliest this evening, at the latest tomorrow afternoon, Zu Gongzi can set off to return to Xu Wu. ”――

[Ask for red tickets, ask for collections, ask for monthly passes!] 】