The next morning, Li Zhiyun slept lazily, and when he woke up, it was already three o'clock in the morning. After he had washed up and had breakfast, he wanted to go to the market. So, he took Yinggu and two subordinate officials to the street, and Scarface led more than a dozen personal soldiers to escort him.

After all, Xihe City is the location of Zhouye, although it is not as good as Chang'an, but the street is also full of shops, cars and horses, and it is very lively.

They walked for a while, and suddenly heard the sound of gongs, drums, cymbals, and cymbals, and turned their heads to look, and it turned out that there was a team of relatives coming from behind. Li Zhiyun stood and watched, only to see a percussion band of dozens of people in the front, and a large sedan chair carried by eight people in the back, and behind the sedan chair was a queue to send the bride, some of these people carried dowries such as cages and silk silks, and some were holding geese, ducks, and pheasants. The entire procession of sending off relatives was two or three hundred people, and it dragged for a mile or two.

At this time, many people gathered on both sides of the street to watch the excitement. Li Zhiyun asked an old man next to him: "Whose family is doing this happy event, so magnificent?" The old man glanced at him and said, "Young man, are you from out of town?" Don't even know this? This is a happy event for Xue Qiang's family. ”

"Who is Xue Qiang?"

"Xue Qiang is a local tyrant and once served as a county magistrate. His family was very wealthy, there were several estates outside the city, and dozens of shops in the city."

"Wow! So powerful? ”

The family send-off team walked past in front of Li Zhiyun's eyes. He was so lively, so he followed the team forward, walked more than a mile, and saw the queue enter a very grand mansion. The people who sent off their relatives all walked into the courtyard, and Li Zhiyun also walked to the gate and looked inside. The courtyard of Xue Qiang's house is very spacious, and there are dozens of tables of banquets in it, and there are many guests sitting at the table, who are happily drinking and guessing boxing.

At this time, an old man in his fifties walked over, judging from the way he was dressed, he should be a housekeeper. He saw that Li Zhiyun and the others were peeking inside the gate, so he asked, "Are you guests giving gifts?" Li Zhiyun shook his head and said, "No! We were just passing by to see the excitement! ”

"What's there to see? Go away! Don't get in the way of other guests! The butler was stunned and shouted.

This vulgar and rude guy, Li Zhiyun didn't bother to take care of him. However, Scarface became angry when he heard this, and he glared and said, "Old fellow! What's so tight to see the excitement? You are so arrogant, believe it or not, Lao Tzu demolished this house for you! ......" While the two were arguing, a middle-aged man in his forties came out of the door. This person has a fierce appearance, and he is not a good stubble at first glance, but at this moment, he is full of smiles on his face, and he arches his hand and says: "Ladies and gentlemen, today is a child's wedding, if you don't dislike it, how about inviting in and having a glass of wine?" ”

Li Zhiyun bowed his hand and said, "Dare to ask who Zuntai is?" ……”

"Under Xue Qiang".

"It turned out to be Xue Yuanwai, disrespectful, disrespectful." Li Zhiyun said, "It's better to choose a day than to hit the day." Since we have a chance encounter today, then we will go in and ask for a cup of wine to drink. Zhang Zheng, offering ten taels of silver. Hearing this, Zhang Zheng took out a silver ingot from his arms and stuffed it into the butler's hand.

Xue Qiang invited Li Zhiyun and the others into the courtyard, arranged them at a wine table, and then said goodbye and left, and walked into his own hall. The housekeeper followed in and said in a low voice: "Master, the whereabouts of these people are unknown, and they are the identity of the official family at first glance, why did you invite them to the mansion?" Xue Qiang lowered his voice and said, "Something is going to happen tonight." If you have an argument with someone at the door, and if there is a conflict, won't it ruin my great affairs? Why don't you invite them to the hospital, drink a few glasses of water and wine, and then send them away......"

While the two were talking, a servant came over and whispered, "Master, it's not good! Suddenly there were two thousand officers and soldiers in the barracks! When Xue Qiang heard this, he was shocked, and glared: "What's the matter?" ”

"The little one has inquired, it seems that there is a king of Chu in the city, and the two thousand officers and soldiers were brought by him!"

"King Chu?" Xue Qiang pondered for a moment, walked to the door of the hall, looked towards the courtyard, and said to himself, "Could it be him?" The housekeeper on the side listened and hurriedly said, "That leading young man is the King of Chu?" That's great! Let's arrest him and dedicate him to Liu Dashuai! Xue Qiang thought for a while, shook his head and said, "No!" Don't you see a group of officers and soldiers outside the gate? If we arrest him, we won't even be able to get out of Xihe City! Besides, Liu Dashuai wants Xihe City, not the King of Chu! ”

The butler listened, nodded, and asked, "The number of officers and soldiers in the barracks has increased, what should we do?" Xue Qiang thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "The arrow is on the string, I have to send it!" Do it as planned! ”

In the courtyard, after Li Zhiyun drank a few glasses of happy wine, he got up and said goodbye. He led a group of people around the market and then returned to the inn.

After lunch, Li Zhiyun lay on the couch and rested for a while, then got up and sat on the floor to read. Suddenly, with a whoosh, a dart flew over his head and landed on a nearby wooden post. Zhang Zheng rushed into the room when he heard the sound, and Li Zhiyun pointed to the back window. Zhang Zheng immediately jumped out of the window. After a while, he jumped back and shook his head at Li Zhiyun.

Li Zhiyun stood up, walked to the pillar, and saw a piece of paper tied to the dart. He hurriedly dialed it down, took a closer look, and saw that it was written on the paper: Tonight, someone is going to rob the weapons storehouse.

Li Zhiyun was stunned for a few seconds, then looked up and said to Zhang Zhengdao: "Quickly go to the Assassin Mansion!" He took people to the Yamen of the Assassin History, found Liu Gan, and handed him the note. Liu Zhen immediately asked someone to call Huang Qi and handed the note to the other party.

Huang Qi read the note and said, "Who delivered this message?" Li Zhiyun shook his head and said, "I don't know, it was shot into my room with a dart." Liu Zhen said: "No matter who delivers the news, no matter whether the news is true or not, we must strengthen prevention!" Huang Sima, you quickly transfer 500 soldiers and strengthen the guards of the treasury, and there must be no omissions! ”

"Yes!" Huang Qi arched his hand and turned around to arrange.

In the evening, in Xue Qiang's mansion, Xue Qiang was plotting with several cronies in a secret room. The butler suddenly slammed the door and broke in, panting: "Master, it's not good!" The Tang army suddenly strengthened the guards of the treasury, and the treasury was full of soldiers! ”

When Xue Qiang heard this, he was taken aback and said, "What's the matter?" Could it be that the news has leaked? The butler shook his head ignorantly and said, "I don't know! ”

Xue Qiang held a wedding for his son today, so that the family members and villagers of the manor would sneak into the city in the name of sending relatives. Coupled with the nursing home in the house, as well as the shopkeeper and the men in the store, he can gather hundreds of people. He planned to use these hundreds of people to snatch the weapons in the treasury, and then part of them went to attack the Thorn Mansion, and part of them opened the city gate to welcome Liu Dashuai's army into the city, and then occupied Xihe City.

However, now that the Tang army has strengthened the garrison of the treasury, it is obvious that it is aware of it, and the number of soldiers in the barracks has almost doubled from 3,000 to 5,000. It seems that the original plan is no longer viable. Xue Qiang pondered for a while, and decisively said to a cronie: "You go out of the city quickly and tell Liu Dashuai that the situation has changed, the plan is postponed, and another opportunity is found!" The cronies said yes, turned around and hurried away......

Liu Dashuai mentioned by Xue Qiang is one of the local separatist forces at the end of the Sui Dynasty - Liu Wuzhou. Liu Wuzhou was born in a wealthy family, and when he was young, he was brave and good at shooting, and he liked to make friends with heroes. His brother Liu Shanbo often warned him: "If you make friends without choosing friends, you will eventually destroy our entire family." And scolded and humiliated him. Liu Wuzhou therefore left home for Luoyang and defected to Yang Yichen, a servant of the Sui Dynasty.

Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty went on three expeditions to the east to Goryeo, and Liu Wuzhou was recruited to participate in the Eastern Expedition and was promoted to the captain of Jianjie for his military merits. The Eastern Expeditionary Division was also returned, and Liu Wuzhou returned to his hometown of Mayi County to serve as the captain of Yingyang Mansion. In the thirteenth year of the Great Cause of the Sui Dynasty (617 AD), Liu Wuzhou took advantage of the chaos in the world at the end of the Sui Dynasty to raise troops to kill Wang Rengong, the Taishou of Mayi, opened the granary and armory, and recruited more than 10,000 soldiers, calling himself Taishou. At that time, Li Yuan was still left behind in Taiyuan, Liu Wuzhou made trouble on the territory under his jurisdiction, Yang Guang reproached him for his ineffective crackdown on thieves, and was ready to send someone to detain him to Jiangdu to punish him, but later changed his mind and let him make meritorious contributions. This is also one of the factors that prompted Li Yuan Jinyang to raise troops.

In order to get the support of the Turks, Liu Wuzhou sent an envoy to the Turks to proclaim his vassal, and the Turks named him "Dingyang Khan" and gave him a "ruthless head". The Sui Dynasty sent troops to attack him, and he asked for Turkic reinforcements. The Turks sent cavalry to attack Liu Wu inside and outside, and defeated the Sui army. Liu Wuzhou took the opportunity to attack the city and plunder the land, occupied the Fenyang Palace, and dedicated the beauties in the palace to the Turkic Shibi Khan, who gave him many war horses. As a result, Liu Wuzhou's troops were revitalized.

Liu Wuzhou claimed to be the generalissimo of the world's soldiers and horses, and had occupied several counties such as Mayi, Yanmen, Dingxiang, and Loufu, with tens of thousands of elite soldiers, and became a separatist force on the hegemonic side and a fierce rival of the Tang Dynasty.

Xihe City is not too far from Liu Wuzhou's territory. Xue Qiang met Liu Wuzhou when he served as the commander of Shanyang County, and the two had a close relationship. Liu Wuzhou sent someone to contact Xue Qiang, promising that if he assisted him in taking Xihe City, he would make him the assassin of Haozhou and the general of the protectorate. Although Xue Qiang has accumulated a lot of wealth through tricks, he is unwilling to be just a cloth cloth. Wealth is in danger, so he decided to take a gamble. If Liu Wuzhou wins the world, then he is the founder of the country.

Li Zhiyun was going to stay in Xihe City for a day, so he continued to hurry. However, the woman he met outside the city, the mysterious dart, and the local powerful Xue Qiang, all of which interested him. He felt that there was some kind of paradox and weirdness in this West River City, and there seemed to be some unsolved mysteries waiting for him to solve.

So, he decided to stay for a few more days, anyway, the team has been gone for more than ten days, and people are sleepy, so let the brothers rest for a few more days! Besides, he also wanted to investigate the market situation in Xihe City to see if he could expand his business territory here.