Unlike Qin Shubao, Xu Zi was more worried about how he would face his former friends on the battlefield than the combat effectiveness of the county soldiers after they left home. In the past, he only had to face one Xu Maogong, but now that Li Mi has come to Wagang Mountain, there must be fake businessman Zhang Liang, Yelang Zhongniu Jinda and Wu Heimin, who likes to use forks and forks as weapons. In all fairness, Li Xu felt that the heroes of Wagangzhai were all well-known good men, including Cheng Zhijie, who had a fight with him, except for Li Mi, who was ruthless and thick-skinned, God knows how a group of heroes would be willing to be driven by this kind of careerist who has no responsibility on his shoulders.

The reality is getting closer and closer to what Shi Erya described when he was angry, all his friends have become enemies, and he is the only one who is still loyally helping Da Sui survive. At this time last year, Xu Zi could still use the phrase of defending his homeland with his brothers in Qi County to relieve himself, but now, the county soldiers are about to go on an expedition, and his actions have nothing to do with guarding their homeland. Moreover, it has become an indisputable fact that there are more and more thieves in the four corners. Nowadays, in addition to a few counties adjacent to Qi County, the whole of Henan is a little quiet, from Donghai County in the southernmost area to Hongnong County in the northwest, a large number of anti-thieves are active in almost every region. They are like leeks in the spring, cutting off one stubble and producing another. Although the officers and men won victories in the attack, the result each time seemed to be just a change of name for the bandit leader, and as soon as the officers and men walked on their front feet, the local chaos immediately remained.

What makes people feel helpless is that compared with other places in the world, the counties of Henan are still one of the most stable areas in the Great Sui Dynasty. Since the unjust murder of General Yujura the year before last, the various parts of the south have become a pot of porridge. What seems to be peaceful at the moment is only a few dozen miles away from the Jiangdu that Wang Shichong guarded. Out of the river to the south only to Xuancheng, to the north only to Huainan, is the thieves' comfort nest. Many bandits who were beaten by Lord Zhang Xutuo in Henan counties and had nowhere to hide ran to Huaishang, taking advantage of the complex terrain between the Huai River and the Yangtze River to confront the government.

As for the counties of Hebei, which are known for their fierce people, the situation is even more turbulent. First, Zhang Jin claimed to have killed Feng Xiaoci, the general of the Right Hou Wei, in Qinghe County, and then Gao Shida and Dou Jiande took Gaojibo as their nest and attacked the city and plundered the land. What's even more surprising is that when the Liao army was recruited last autumn, a person named Yang Gongqing copied the rear team of the Royal Forest Army. According to the imperial court's newspaper, Yang Gongqing was fiercely counterattacked by the Imperial Forest Army, and the conspiracy did not succeed, so he only stole 42 horses from the Feihuang stables and left. In fact, the goal of the thieves is only to win the horse and improve themselves, if they set the purpose of the battle to kill the king, the soldiers and horses of the six armies of the Royal Forest may not be able to resist it.

Nowadays, all over Hebei, there are not only Zhang Jincheng, Gao Shida and Yang Gongqing, but also the three more famous anti-thieves. Wang Bo, Lu Mingyue, Meng Rang, Peng Xiaocai, etc., who had been defeated by the brothers of Qi County, also wandered there, and each found a mountain to settle down. In addition, there are many thieves who are not very powerful, but who are not in trouble, such as Mantianwang and Lishanfei, who also lead tens of thousands of bandits back and forth. In the end, the activity area of the two is close to Asahiko's hometown, so the news from there always worries Asahi the most. Although Wu Shi Tong sent a letter a few days ago to inform him that Tang Gong Li Yuan had sent someone to Yi County to protect his parents, Xuzi was still worried about the safety of his family.

In the letter, Wu Shitong mentioned Li Shimin's actions on the plug, and he admired the second son of the Tang Mansion who had just come of age. He also mentioned in the letter seemingly inadvertently that if it was not Shizi Jiancheng who guarded the back road for the brothers of the grain army that day, but the second son Shimin, the brothers would definitely face a different ending.

"Alas!" Before going to bed, Li Xu took out Wu Shitong's letter and read it again, and couldn't help but sigh. Deep down, he misses the years in the food protection army. Although he was only a lieutenant at that time, he couldn't feel the storm outside because he didn't stand tall.

And now, his official position is getting bigger and bigger, and his title is getting higher and higher, but his heart is becoming more and more lonely. Hardly anyone could understand his frustration, not even the closest woman around him. Ever since the last time the two of them had quarreled over their different views of the court and the bandits, Erya had always been careful to avoid talking to him about similar issues. In fact, in addition to caring about how much more expensive the food on the street is and how much cheaper the paddy fields in the upper reaches of the Jihe River are, Erya almost took the initiative to give up caring about the current situation. However, in terms of financial management, she has been showing her skills in cooperation with the housekeeper. Although she has been Xuzi's woman for less than a year, she has almost doubled the land in Li Xu's name. If you add the food granted by the imperial court, the current Xuzi is not a wealthy man with 10,000 acres of fertile land, and he is also a veritable rich man.

"Isn't Lang Jun happy?" Shi Erya obviously felt that Xu Zi had been preoccupied in the past few days, squeezed to his side, and asked with concern.

The weather in May is not yet fully warm, and at night, two people can still hug each other and warm each other. The soft feeling from his chest made Xuzi's mood feel a little more comfortable, he opened his arms, hugged Erya in his arms, and said in a low voice: "It's not very peaceful over there, I'm afraid that the thieves will threaten the safety of my family." The post road in Hebei has been broken for some time, how is the health of my father and mother, I don't know anything about being a son! ”

"Then why don't you bring your parents-in-law to your side." There was a small hand scratching gently on his chest, and Shi Erya asked softly while naughty. Except for the rare occasion when her temperament is poor, she is docile as a cat most of the time. Like a cat, he is full of attachment to people, and like a cat, he tries to get the pity of his owner. "Although I am not your main room, I should do some filial piety in front of my in-laws!"

"The road is not smooth, unless a regimental brother is sent to pick them up, otherwise, it is better to let them stay in the upper valley for safety!" Li Xu sighed and replied. He had already sent more than three loyal soldiers to protect his family, but if the thieves poured into the nest, the thirty or so brothers and the dozens of family members sent by Tang Gong would not be able to play much of a protective role even if their martial arts were good. And he can't send more soldiers, a court law does not allow it, and Lord Zhang Xutuo does not want his subordinates to abolish the public for personal reasons.

"When there is no war anymore, you can take me home to visit my relatives. That way you'll be able to bring more guards, and no one else will be able to gossip! Shi Erya raised her face and put herself in Xuzi's shoes to make an idea. Her solution wasn't too good, but it did work. But will there be days when there will be no war? Li Xu shook his head with a wry smile on his face.

"What, you're going on another expedition?" The body in his arms stiffened visibly, and then a worried voice slowly floated from his shoulder. Drilled into both ears and wrapped the taste of attachment around Xuzi's heart.

"May be sent by the imperial court to exterminate Wagangzhai." Li Xu sighed again and said quietly. Today, he really wants to talk to someone for a while, although the second girl in his arms will not understand his distress.

"Wagangzhai, isn't that far away from Qi County?" Sure enough, the first thing Shi Erya thought of was the distance between Qi County and Dong County.

The distance of 800 miles is enough in her eyes for the well water on both sides not to interfere with the river water. But Xuzi knew that this was impossible, and if he continued to expand at the current rate, even if the county soldiers did not attack Wagangzhai, Li Mi's minions would come to the door sooner or later.

"I don't want to go either, but I'm an official of the imperial court, and I can't disrespect the decree!" Li Xu tightened his arms and replied in a low voice. He knew that the other party didn't like to listen to the words "officials" and "bandits", which was too easy for her to remind her of her past. But there is no escaping the fact that he is not going to do so.

The delicate body between his arms became harder little by little, and Li Xu could almost clearly feel that the other party's heart was struggling. Slowly, Shi Erya's body softened again, just like Xuzi's heart, full of sadness and helplessness.

Two different sorrows are entangled, slowly converging into a river, slowly engulfing the two. Language is no longer a necessary tool for communication, they have each other in the light, trying to forget the world outside of them. When the sound of wind and rain inside and outside the curtain stopped, Erya hugged Xuzi's solid body with her hands, and mustered up the courage to ask, "Xulang, can you not be an official?" ”

Hearing the thunder, the muscles of Li Xu's whole body immediately stiffened. Not an official of the imperial court? He never thought about it. What should you do if you are not an official? What have you worked hard for so many years? If you are not an official, how can you protect your family in these chaotic years? All the questions came one after another, and he couldn't find the answers for a while.

"I, I'm afraid!" Shi Erya put her head on Li Xu's chest, and the voice of explanation was eager and aggrieved. "I'm not trying to delay your future, I'm afraid you'll ...... one day," she didn't dare to continue, gritting her teeth, tears rolling down the other party's chest.

If she did, she would be left with nothing again. Although, she didn't have anything in the first place, she just tried to hold on to a dream, not wanting it to shatter prematurely, that's all.

"I know you're thinking about me, but the way you say is not easy to do." Li Xu's heart was quickly softened by tears, sighed, and said softly. He silently followed this line of thought, his goal when he left Yi County was just to be a county lieutenant, and now, this goal has already been achieved, why is he still more and more dissatisfied?

Suddenly, all kinds of setbacks encountered in officialdom came to his heart. He found that Erya's idea might be a way for him to get away from meeting his friends with a knife, but the price he had to pay in order to achieve this way was too great.

"When the world is a little more peaceful, I will resign and take you back to your hometown in Yi County. Well, there's one more thing I need to tell you! Li Xu bent his head, looked at the black hair in his arms and said softly. Before leaving, he wanted to tell Er Ya about another content on the letter, according to Wu Shi Tong, the fourth daughter of the Tang family said goodbye to her parents with a few henchmen. The Tang family's external statement was that he went to Jingshi to join his sister, but the warrior Tong hinted in the letter that Li Qi'er might go straight to Licheng to fulfill the wish of his heart for many years.

"Duke Tang has a daughter," Li Xu thought about his words as he searched his stomach. What Li Qi'er looked like, he had never seen it at all. Samurai Tong said that she was very similar to Wan'er, but since she arrived in Qi County, Xuzi was so busy that she almost forgot Wan'er's appearance, how could she piece together a figure in her heart that had never appeared?

But no matter what, he had to settle down. Tang Gong was kind to him, and he couldn't let his benefactor's daughter live on the streets. However, how to let Erya entertain this little killer who is about to rush to the door, especially when the marriage with the Tang family has become an impossible goal, how to grasp the proportions of hospitality is really a headache.

Xu Zi pondered and tried to convince Erya to help. But soon he found that he had no more effort, and that the man in his arms was asleep, as quiet as a cat, and a faint snoring sound came from his nostrils.

Alcoholic's note: Second watch, canvassing.

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