That person is willing to leave himself as a hostage, either he is a man who dares to die, or he is confident that Xiao Dapeng is not in danger of going. Xiao Dapeng saw that this person was well-dressed, not like an outlaw, so he nodded and said, "Xiao will go with him!" If Xiao can't come back after two hours, you don't want to live! ”

A gorgeous carriage slowly drove into Luoyang City, and soon turned into Jishanfang. Xiao Dapeng looked at the bustling street scene and the deep courtyards of the high-rise mansions on both sides through the car curtain, and couldn't help but be secretly fascinated. Jishanfang is a place where the rich families of Luoyang live, and Changshan Carriage and Horse Shop also has a house here, which is paid by Han Zhong. It's just that Xiao Dapeng has been sitting in Jiangnan for a long time, but he has never been to Luoyang, and he doesn't know where Han Zhong's house is. After Han Zhong arrived in Changshan Village, Gao Xiuer had ordered someone to return the title deed to Han Zhong, but Han Zhong insisted on refusing to resign, and the title deed is still in the headquarters of Changshan Carriage and Horse Company.

The carriage quickly stopped in front of a large mansion, and the man who came with Xiao Dapeng got out of the car and whispered a few words to the house slave guarding the door. The slave opened the side door and let the carriage in. After a while, another person who looked like a steward came over and led Xiao Dapeng to the study. Several guards who came with Xiao Dapeng were stopped outside. Since it is so mysterious, there must be many things that cannot be seen, Xiao Dapeng naturally understands, and does not insist that the guards follow him.

The study room was empty, and Xiao Dapeng couldn't help but feel a little anxious. At this time, two pretty maidservants came in, offered tea and snacks, and then bowed and withdrew. Xiao Dapeng is also a character who walks in the rivers and lakes, so naturally he will not easily touch these diets.

After a pillar of incense, a hearty laugh came from outside the door: "Shopkeeper Xiao, I've kept you waiting!" ”

When Xiao Dapeng looked back, he was a general with a helmet and armor, looking at the brocade jacket on his body and the tiger head pattern on his chest, his status in the army was not low. Xiao Dapeng didn't dare to slack off, and arched his hand and said: "Xiao has seen the general, I don't know how to call the general?" ”

The general waved his hand and said, "This official Li Ben is the general of the Reserve Mansion, and he is in charge of the left and right Reserve Mansions. ”

Xiao Dapeng's Changshan Chariot and Horse Company is also responsible for collecting intelligence from all over the country, so he naturally knows what the left and right reserve mansions do, and the guards in the palace are all under the jurisdiction of this person, although the official position is not very high, but it is extremely important. It's just that Xiao Dapeng couldn't figure out why the guards in the palace came to him. But on the surface, he was forced to calm down, and said with his hand: "I was summoned by the general, what is the send, please show the general!" ”

Li Ben waved his hand and said, "It's not that the official wants to see you, it's that the Empress Dowager Xiao wants to see you today." ”

Xiao Dapeng was surprised: "A certain grass people, far away in the south of the Yangtze River, have never met the nobles in the palace, what did the Empress Dowager Xiao do?" ”

Li Ben smiled and said: "The Queen Mother's surname is Xiao, and you are also surnamed Xiao." I didn't know each other in the past, but when we met later, wouldn't it be a family? ”

It turned out that Li Cheng mentioned in front of Concubine Xiao, who is now the Queen Mother, that he was willing to help her find her lost family, so that she could have her mother's family to help her deal with Li Yuan together. In fact, that was just Li Cheng's prevarication, he was loyal to Li Yuan now, how could he help Empress Dowager Xiao? This is just to stabilize Empress Dowager Xiao, lest she use anything else to deal with Li Yuan's brains.

But Empress Dowager Xiao is not a fool, she was able to stand out among thousands of concubines and get close to Yang Guang, and gave birth to a son for Yang Guang, which is also scheming. At the beginning, she just had a sudden change and messed up, so that Li Yuan took the lead and grasped the power inside and outside the court. Of course, the environment she was in at that time was also very bad, if it were not for Li Yuan's strength, it would only be Yang Hui, the king of Qi, who would finally ascend the throne, and the fate of their mother and son may not be optimistic.

Now, the situation has gradually stabilized, and Empress Dowager Xiao also understands that her current situation is not much better than that of Yang Yong as emperor. Li Yuan's entry and exit from the palace is as casual as entering and leaving his own home, and there is no consciousness of a courtier in front of her, and there is even a condescending momentum. If this situation continues, the world will definitely fall into the hands of Li Yuan. If that day comes, she herself may be able to escape a life because of her beauty, but the future of her son Yang Gao will be very bad. Empress Dowager Xiao didn't want to sit still, she wanted to fight back, but she was surrounded by Li Yuan's people, and she couldn't even make a sound.

At first, Empress Dowager Xiao also pinned her hopes on Li Cheng, hoping to find her long-lost family through him. However, as time went by, Empress Dowager Xiao could also see that Li Cheng's words to her were clearly contrary to Yang Feng, and I am afraid that she had already taken refuge in Li Yuan. At this moment, Li Ben came into her sight.

Empress Dowager Xiao's bedroom is the focus of Li Yuan's prevention, and Li Yuan naturally does not feel at ease to hand it over to others. Because of the relationship between Li Ben and Li Cheng, he personally promoted it, so that Li Ben was able to ascend to the sky in one step. Therefore, Li Yuan was very relieved of Li Ben and handed over the task of guarding the Empress Dowager Xiao's bedroom to Li Ben.

Li Ben didn't know martial arts, and he didn't even know a few big characters, and Li Yuan promoted him to be a reserve general just to win over Li Cheng. Li Ben was originally just a country boy, and when he first entered the world of flowers in the palace, the palaces and pavilions were full of splendor, and the palace ladies were all charming and charming, and he was fascinated by his eyes for a while, just as if in a dream. Sometimes when he saw those palace maids walking by, his eyes were hooked, as if he had lost his soul.

When Empress Dowager Xiao saw Li Ben's performance, she had an idea, and quietly let a little palace maid next to her approach Li Ben, and was caught by Empress Dowager Xiao in bed.

Disturbing the palace is a major sin of the nine clans. Although the current palace is not what it used to be, Li Yuan's ultimate goal is also to ascend to the throne, even if he has Li Cheng's relationship, he will definitely not tolerate Li Ben doing such a thing. After Empress Dowager Xiao made it clear to Li Ben about the relationship, Li Ben was so frightened that he begged for mercy. Empress Dowager Xiao used this as a threat, and finally coerced Li Ben to comply. However, Empress Dowager Xiao also promised that when she returned to the helm of the court, she would give him the little palace maid.

Of course, Li Ben will not tell Xiao Dapeng this story. He asked Xiao Dapeng to come, just to let Xiao Dapeng pretend to be the maiden relatives of the Empress Dowager Xiao. Empress Dowager Xiao is a native of Jiangnan, and Xiao Dapeng is also a native of Jiangnan, and they are both surnamed Xiao, and they were a family at least five hundred years ago. The most important thing is that Xiao Dapeng is the big shopkeeper of Changshan Carriage and Horse Company. Although Changshan Carriage and Horse Shop is just a newly rising business, in just half a year, it has become prosperous, and the black and white roads along the canal give them face.

Li Ben is now on the thief ship of the Empress Dowager Xiao, so he naturally wants to gather some available strength for the Empress Dowager Xiao. Li Ben was born in the countryside, and his father-in-law Li Cheng was a eunuch, so naturally he was not looked down upon by the court officials, so it was impossible to win them over. As a result, Li Ben set his sights on the people, and some of the palace guards he used were also from some ordinary families. Although these palace guards are innocent, they grew up in the people since they were children, and they inevitably came into contact with some three religions and nine streams, so they heard about the Changshan carriage and horse travel, so they told Li Ben, and Li Ben found Xiao Dapeng.

After listening to Li Ben's words, Xiao Dapeng was secretly surprised: "Are you asking me to pretend to be a relative of the Queen Mother?" ”

Li Ben smiled: "Actually, it's nothing, the Queen Mother lived in the capital when she was young, I'm afraid she won't really have any relatives, she is just looking for comfort." ”

After staying in the palace for more than half a year, Li Ben is no longer the country boy he was at the beginning, so he naturally understands that the real purpose of Empress Dowager Xiao is not to find relatives, but to expand her power and make her voice heard in the court. Seeing that Xiao Dapeng was still hesitating, Li Ben said again: "Don't worry, after the matter is completed, your benefits are indispensable, and the Queen Mother will at least reward you with the position of a general!" ”

Thinking that Hua Yun was just a small Eagle Yang Mansion general, he could be looked at differently by Gao Xiu'er, and even often coexisted in the same room without avoiding suspicion. If he can become a general, then Gao Xiu'er still obediently throws himself into his arms? Although with the power that Xiao Dapeng now has, it is not difficult to find a few beautiful women, but what he can't get is often the best, and he still misses Gao Xiu'er in his heart. If it's just Liu Ziqiu, then that's it, now there is still a flower cloud, Xiao Dapeng is a hundred unconvinced, and almost hesitated to agree: "Okay!" I'll go with you! ”

Li Ben's vision has gradually increased now, and the general is not a high-ranking official in his eyes, but he didn't expect a small promise to make Xiao Dapeng change his mind, and he couldn't help but have a little disdain for Xiao Dapeng, smiled and waved his hand, and asked: "Shopkeeper Xiao, have you heard of Shanglin Xiyuan?" ”

Xiao Dapeng didn't understand the meaning of Li Ben's question, and replied: "I heard that it is the emperor's fortunate place." ”

"Not bad! There are 16 courtyards in it, each of which has a wife in charge, 20 beauties, and the palace maids are also peerless beauties who are selected by thousands of people. Li Ben nodded and said, "The Queen Mother has agreed, and in the future, I can let you and I go to Shanglin Xiyuan to choose ten beauties as concubines." It's the best that can only be enjoyed by the emperor, and it's drooling when you think about it. How's that, this business is not a loss! ”

Empress Dowager Xiao once asked Li Yuan to give the beauties in Shanglin Xiyuan to the soldiers of the three armies, but Li Yuan wanted to wait for the queen to keep it for his own use, and did not act according to Empress Dowager Xiao's words. Of course, both inside and outside the palace are his henchmen, so there is no need to worry that this news will reach the ears of Empress Dowager Xiao. But after thousands of calculations, Li Yuan didn't calculate that Empress Dowager Xiao actually rebelled against Li Ben, who he was most at ease with. Empress Dowager Xiao knew that Li Ben was good, so she used it as a bargaining chip, which really made Li Ben even more desperate.

Thinking that he could have the woman in Shanglin Xiyuan, Xiao Dapeng became inexplicably excited. But he presided over the Changshan Carriage and Horse Parade for more than half a year, and he was also well-informed, so he quickly calmed down and said: "The Queen Mother is so loving, I'm afraid it's not just as simple as seeking comfort!" ”