Zhao Ta was drinking upstairs in Songtao, he was sitting by the window, and the two brothers of the Bai family and Yuanguo were at the table.

The wine is not good, but it is very strong, and it is called the Western Xia wine of Saishangchun by the Great Song Dynasty.

Zhao Ta took a sip of wine, ate a sip of salt-roasted mutton, and looked at the scenery downstairs.

It was the beginning of summer, the wind was warm, the sun was shining, and the streets were crowded with pedestrians, talking and laughing, as if they had forgotten the war and the blood in the city some time ago.

He was silent for a moment and said, "How is the scenery of Xingqing Mansion?" ”

Yuan Guo hurriedly put down the oil-stained lamb chops in his hand, wiped the corners of his mouth and said: "Son, Xingqing Mansion is ten times more lively than here, comparable to Liao Guo going to Beijing." ”

"Oh?" Zhao Ta looked at him and said, "Have you ever been to Shangjing?" ”

"No, I haven't been there," Yuan Guo said...... "I've heard that there are Liao studies and sinology in Xingqing Mansion, and there are Khitan professors in Liao studies, and they often talk about going to Beijing." ”

Zhao Ta said lightly: "Do you want to go to Beijing to have a look?" ”

"Going to Beijing?" Yuan Guo was stunned for a moment: "The villain has never thought about this, and Shangjing is too far away, I heard that there is a war right now." ”

"You didn't want to go to Beijing to watch, but my son wanted to go to Xingqing Mansion to take a look." Zhao Ta put down the wine glass and said slowly.

"Childe...... Going to Xingqing Mansion? Yuan Guo was shocked when he heard this, what does this evil king mean? Actually said such a tiger and wolf words!

He wants to go to Xingqing Mansion? What is he doing in Xingqing Mansion? Xingqing Mansion is the capital of Great Xia, if he goes to Xingqing Mansion, then Great Xia ...... Yuan Guo didn't dare to think about it anymore.

"What? Isn't this son going to Xingqing Mansion? ”

"No, it's not ......" Yuan Guo's eyebrows jumped, and he whispered: "Gongzi should go to Xingqing Mansion, he should go to ......"

"Humph!" Zhao Ta sneered: "Western Xia does not have the mandate of heaven, Li Qianshun is mediocre, he should have taken the initiative to abdicate a long time ago, and let the territory of the four counties of Hexi be merged into the Central Plains, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment, without seeing swords and soldiers, and the world is peaceful." ”

Yuan Guo blinked, slandering in his heart, this evil king is really tyrannical, so why don't you let the Song Kingdom merge into Great Xia? Isn't it the same thing!

Zhao Ta seemed to see through his thoughts, and said lightly: "The party is barbarian, how can it be compared with Han Xi?" If we don't unify as soon as possible, learn Chinese, teach Sinicization, and live close to Han, how can we get civilized? Like this, the wilderness wasteland, waking up the mountains and rocks, sleeping tents, is different from the wild man who drinks blood! ”

Punish your heart, punish your heart! Shameless, shameless! Yuan Guo's heart suddenly became atmospheric, and it was clear that he wanted to annex Western Xia and destroy their party's court, but he said it so high-soundingly, this evil king was really arrogant.

"What Childe said is very true, the villain has always thought like this, but he has never had the opportunity to realize, and now he has to meet Childe, it is really a villain's three lives are fortunate, and the villain will definitely follow Childe, the soldier refers to Xingqing, the horse steps on Helan, and achieves great things!"

Zhao Ta laughed and said: "The book is the same text, the car is the same track, the degree is the same distance, the quantity is the same weight, the currency is the same system, the line is the same, the land is the same domain, and the yuan fruit is ...... What do you think! ”

"Childe has the talent to go through the heavens and latitudes, and the ability to shake the past and the present, he will definitely be able to achieve such a heroic feat, and the villain can follow it in this life, it is really fortunate and even good, fortunate and even good." Yuan Guo said with a flattering face.

"Camp Commander Liu is good at Chinese literature!" Zhao Tan smiled and looked at him.

"Villain, villain respects Gongzi with a glass of ......" Yuanguo's heart was beating wildly, and he hurriedly picked up his wine glass.

After Zhao Ta took a sip of wine, he looked out the window, and just wanted to say something more, when he suddenly saw an old man and an old woman driving the sheep not far away, followed by two soldiers.

There are not many sheep, only a dozen of them, but they are very fat, which shows that this grassland land in the west of the Xixia River is a good place to raise livestock.

His eyes slowly fell from the sheep to the old man and the old woman, his eyes couldn't help but pause, and when he saw that the sheep were all driven to the courtyard of Songtao Building, he reached out and knocked on the table: "What is the origin of the boss of Songtao Building?" ”

The two brothers of the Bai family naturally didn't know, and looked at Yuan Guo, Yuan Guo didn't know what Zhao Ta meant, so he was stunned and began to think, and only said after a while: "What I reported with my son before is true, this owner of Songtao Building is indeed Han, but he seems to have an uncle who is an official in the Xingqing Mansion Ordnance Supervisor, and he is able to open such a big restaurant in Zhuo Luo." ”

"Xingqing Mansion is an official ......" Zhao Ta's eyes narrowed: "Are there many Han people who are officials in Xingqing Mansion?" ”

Yuan Guo said: "It's not much, it's rare, far less than the Khitans." ”

Zhao Ta nodded, and suddenly said, "Does Camp Commander Liu know how to play chess?" ”

"Playing chess?" Yuan Guo looked confused: "I know a little bit about it, the son wants to ......"

Zhao Ta said: "The days are boring, and when I have time, I will find Camp Chief Liu to play a few games." ”

Yuan Guo wondered in his heart, but said with a smile: "The villain obeys the order, the son can find the villain to play chess at any time, and the villain has nothing to do." ”

Zhao Ta nodded and got up, Bai Ba hurriedly went to settle the bill, and then walked downstairs together......

In the blink of an eye, the sun was in the west, and when the sun set, a round of huge rouge red balls scattered a little afterglow in the west of Zhuo Luo City, reflecting the roof of every house in the city.

In the courtyard behind Songtao Building, there are a few bluestone houses, and in the innermost room, the two of them are drinking and eating.

These two people are not young, they are the old man and the old woman who sent the sheep over.

I saw that they didn't have the cautious posture they had before, although the old man was sitting, one leg was propped up, his feet were on the bench, his hands grabbed a leg of mutton and gnawed violently, and from time to time he cursed in Xixia or something.

The old woman also lost her original promise-only appearance, but showed a treacherous face, picking and choosing on the table, drinking a sip of wine and spitting it out, also scolding and scolding.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside, and the old man glanced back and said angrily: "Come in!" ”

The door creaked open, then a man flashed in, and then immediately closed the door.

"Shopkeeper Niu, why did you come back so late, how did you investigate?" The old woman said in a thin voice.

"Two, don't be impatient, listen to me slowly." The man who was called the cow shopkeeper was a middle-aged man, looking a little nervous, and constantly wiping the sweat on his face.

"Say it, say it!" The old man said impatiently: "This Zhuo Luocheng has fallen into Song hands now, the old man is not willing to stay for a while, and he will go back immediately after finishing his work!" ”

The shopkeeper said: "Yes, yes, listen to me, I have already asked......"

After a while, the old man threw the leg of mutton bone without a trace of meat in his hand on the ground, and frowned: "So it's not easy to kidnap people? ”

"It's not easy, it's not easy!" The shopkeeper also dragged a stool and sat down: "And even if it is tied out, it is not easy to take it out of the city, Zhuo Luo City is only open for one hour every day, and the inventory at the city gate is very strict......"

"Sensei and the old man are talking this nonsense, if they can be taken out casually, what are they looking for you to do!" The old man stretched out his hand and grabbed the wine jar on the table, and he didn't use a bowl, he drank two sips directly to his mouth, and said, "How to get out of the city and think of a way!" ”

The shopkeeper said with a twitch: "What if you can't think of it?" ”

"Can't think of it?" The old woman stretched out her hand and slapped it on the table, and the wooden table suddenly cracked and the legs broke apart, the things on the table slipped to the ground, and the wine jar was broken into several pieces, "If you can't think of it, you have to think about it!" ”

The shopkeeper Niu was frightened, and the old man said sadly: "I really can't think of it, then the old man can only cut off the head and take it away, which is also the last resort, but you must know that it is the brother of Concubine Jing, don't talk about you when the time comes, I'm afraid that your uncle in the arsenal supervisor of Xingqing Mansion will ......."

"I, I try my best to think, try my best to think about it......" The cow shopkeeper was in a state of confusion, isn't this unlucky, I was worried that the Song army would loot and slaughter the city, but then it didn't happen, and I just breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, but I was on such a stall again.

Although his uncle is an official in the Xingqing Mansion Ordnance Supervisor, but he is just a businessman, not a spy or the like, although he has more or less relied on the name of his uncle to open a restaurant in this Zhuo Luo City, but he has never hooked up too much with the army, today these two people took the uncle's letter to ask him to help, he wanted to excuse but did not dare, the uncle said decisively in the letter, this help also has to help, not to help also have to help!

The letter vaguely mentioned that the matter was related to the palace concubine, if he didn't do it well, he was afraid that his life would be involved, where would he dare to disobey, just how easy was it to smuggle a big living person out of the city? At present, although the city gate has been opened, not to mention the limited time, the investigation is still tight, and the people have not been transported out at that moment, and the news has been revealed, and the family is probably going to die without a place to be buried.

The old man raised his hand at this time: "Don't be embarrassed, go back and find a way, if the two of us succeed, I will go to find you." ”

The shopkeeper went out to leave with a sad face, and the old man saw him go away, and said to the old woman: "I think this person is stupid, I can't count on it, if you really tie up someone but can't get out of the city, then kill it, and only take the head back to restore his life is also an explanation." ”

The old woman said in a low voice: "The princess didn't say that she was going to die, brother, will she blame you and me?" ”

The old man said in a gloomy voice: "How can the imperial concubine say this kind of thing in person? But if you can't get out of the living, you have to kill it, the purpose of the princess is not unknown to you and me, always for the family to get rid of the crime, although killing the brother is the next policy, but it is also a way to get rid of the crime, you and I solve problems for the princess, what is the princess's blame? ”

The old woman nodded: "This city is sinister, but it has to be like this......"

After dinner, Zhao Ta took the two brothers of the Bai family to find Yuanguo.

Yuan Guo didn't have a special person to follow the guards now, but he just stayed in a courtyard behind the United Army Division and couldn't enter and leave at will.

Zhao Ta also lived in the Tongjun Division, but he lived in the mansion in the east, and Yuan Guo lived in the small courtyard in the west.

At this moment, the sky has been slightly darkened, red lanterns are lit everywhere in the division, and the sound of bangzi beating outside is heard from afar, Zhao Ta looked back at Bai Ba and Bai Zhan, one of them is holding a rosewood Go jar, and the other is holding a chessboard.

He was going to play with Yuanguo, and he had said during the day that it was not a temporary whim, but that he felt something was wrong after seeing the old couple who drove sheep into the backyard of Songtao Building.

Zhao Ta saw at a glance that these two people were equipped with martial arts, and they were not low, such a person pretended to be a herdsman to send sheep to Songtao Building, saying that it was impossible for them to be bored.

It's just that these two people are spies sent by the Western Xia military, or whether Concubine Jing sent them to save Yuanguo out, but it's hard to determine.

If it is a spy, he will not move the other party first, secretly monitor, and wait for the opportunity to let the other party transmit some false information, saying that it will not work a miracle on the battlefield.

But if it's for Yuanguo, then you can't be polite, you must catch and interrogate, and then kill it directly.

Zhao Ta knew that it was unlikely that Concubine Jing would agree to the conditions proposed by herself, after all, not to mention the silver, those two archery skills were the other party's stunt secret arts, I am afraid that love is more important than life, how can you give it to others easily.

If Concubine Jing sees that the redemption of Yuan Yuan is not successful, then it is very likely that she will send someone to rescue her secretly, or ...... It's hard to say that you can kill Yuanguo directly!

As soon as Yuan Guo died, many things would die without proof, and it would be much easier for Concubine Jing to exonerate the Yuan family.

Zhao Ta had already sent someone to keep an eye on Songtao Restaurant, if it was a spy, there might not be any movement in a short time, but if Concubine Jing sent it, he should be in a hurry to act, so he borrowed an excuse to play chess, and wanted to stay on Yuanguo's side for a while, to see if anyone would come to investigate late at night.

When they arrived in front of the gate of the small courtyard, the soldiers guarding it immediately saluted, and then opened the courtyard door and Zhao Ta walked in.

There are lanterns on the trees in the courtyard, and the main room is also lit, and a figure can be seen walking back and forth in circles on the ground.

Zhao Ta smiled, knowing where this Yuanguo was willing to stay by his side, but he didn't dare to go back to Xixia, the emperor of Xixia has always been ruthless, even if there is Concubine Jing to intercede, he may not be able to spare him from death.

"The prince is here, and he hasn't gone out to greet him!" Bai Ba snorted lightly.

Yuan Guo in the house was stunned, hurriedly came out, and walked out quickly after opening the door with a "squeak".

Then he trotted over with a smile on his face and saluted, Zhao Ta didn't talk nonsense, and walked straight inside into the room: "Battalion Commander Liu, come and play chess!" ”

Yuan Guo didn't expect Zhao Ta to come at night as he said during the day, so he hurriedly cleaned up the table and took care of it, Bai Zhan put the chessboard on the table, and Bai Ba divided the two chess jars.

What Zhao Ta brought was Go, which was called Yi at this time, and Xiangqi was called chess or xiangxi.

Yuan Guo didn't dare to sit down, standing opposite, Zhao Zhao Ta pressed his hand, he sat down, Zhao Ta dialed the lamp on the table, and said, "You first." ”

Yuan Guo wondered: "Lord Wang, don't you guess?" ”

Zhao Ta shook his head, took the white chess, and watched Yuan Guo go down to the first piece.

Go has always had the saying that the belly of the silver horn grass is gold-edged, and the starting hand probably falls in the upper right corner, and Yuanguo is no exception.

The two of them played back and forth, but Yuan Guo became more and more frightened, although his chess skills were not very clever, but he could still feel each other's chess strength.

At this moment, he looked at the dense white and black chess pieces on the chessboard, and his head was as big as a bucket for a while, and he couldn't eat half of the opponent at all, but the other party didn't take the initiative to eat him, and even deliberately went down to the side many times.

originally wanted to let the other party, but now it was Zhao Ta who was letting him, and before he knew it, his sweat was dripping down.

Playing Go itself is quite a waste of time, and this stalemate situation requires thinking about every step, and this first game of chess is played for a full hour.

Then the second set was opened, and the third set was opened after the second set, and it was already midnight in a blink of an eye.

Just when Zhao Ta felt thirsty and picked up the teacup, he suddenly narrowed his eyes slightly.

Bai Zhan frowned beside him and whispered, "Lord Wang, it seems to have some flavor......"

Zhao Ta didn't make a sound, he glanced at him, Bai Zhan immediately shut up, and after just a few breaths, Yuan Guo suddenly "bang", and he plunged into the chessboard without moving.

Zhao Ta then also lay down, there was no movement, and the two of Bai Ba and Bai Zhan who were standing on the side also slowly fell to the ground.

There was no sound in the room for a while, and then he only looked at the dim corner of the window lattice, and quietly pulled back a bamboo pipe, where the bamboo pipe was originally located, there was a faint green smoke in the clouds.

Then a dozen breaths, and then the door was gently pushed open, and two men in nightwear entered.

The two of them walked without the slightest sound, and after coming to the table to take a closer look, one of them whispered, "Old man, which one is what we are looking for?" ”

"I'm afraid that's right!" The other stretched out his hand and pointed at Yuan Guo.

"I look like it, but who are the others? I didn't wear a military uniform, so I couldn't identify myself. ”

"There must be no doubt that the Song people can have a casual game, I am afraid that their status is not low, and they have all been killed!"

"Okay, I'll kill someone, you tie that one, your mouth must be tightly gagged, don't make a mistake."

The two were about to make a move as they spoke, when suddenly a soft cough sounded in the room, and the two of them were suddenly startled, and their eyes fell on Zhao Ta.

I saw Zhao Ta slowly raise his head from the table, coughed again, frowned and said to himself: "What kind of smoke is this, why is it so choking?" You guys...... Who are you? ”

The two night walkers glanced at each other, and one of them was surprised: "Why didn't you faint?" ”

The other said: "Do it right away, kill it first!" ”

As they spoke, they rushed to Zhao Ta, but as soon as they approached the table, they saw a flash of cold light, and then "poof, poof", both of them fell to the ground, and each of them was hit by a sword in the left knee.

Bai Ba and Bai Zhan suddenly jumped up from the ground at this time and grabbed the two of them, but these two people were strong in martial arts, even if they fell to the ground, they immediately bounced upward, and wanted to run out of the door with the strength of the other leg.

I saw Zhao Ta's sleeves gently swept towards the chessboard, and several chess pieces were quickly played, hitting the crook of the legs of the two like chasing the wind and the moon, and the two fell to the ground again.

Bai Ba Bai Zhan swooped forward, pressed the two of them hard, and then took out the tendons from his body and tied them firmly, and then stuffed his mouth, and then looked back at Zhao Ta: "Lord Wang......"

Zhao Ta said lightly: "All of them are sent to prison!" ”

(End of chapter)