Yan Ji shook her head and said, "I'm afraid it's difficult!" Yang Peng said: "Try it, before the result is out, it's too early to say anything." "Yes."

A secret guard rushed in with a letter, clenched his fists and said, "Childe, a letter was handed over by the servants of Anfu just now. It is for Gongzi, and the cover reads 'Old Friend Presents Yang Gongzi to Qi'. As he spoke, he stepped forward and presented the letter to Yang Peng. Yang Peng felt a little strange, took the letter from the secret guard's hand, and glanced at the cover, which was indeed written with nine big characters: 'Old friends present Yang Gongzi to Qi'. Yang Peng opened the envelope, took out the stationery, unfolded it, and saw that the letterhead read: Contemptible Zhou Rong, I have admired Gongzi for a long time, and I am eager to meet with Gongzi. The final payment is: Zhou Rong respectfully.

Yang Peng smiled: "This is really beyond my expectations, it turned out to be Zhou Rong's invitation." As he spoke, he handed the letter to Yan Ji. Yan Ji took the letter, read it, frowned, and said, "Could this be the Hongmen Banquet?" ”

Yang Peng shook his head, "Probably not." Now the situation in Chengdu is complex and delicate, although I occupy the Sword Pavilion, but it is also his Zhou Rong's own fault, in any way, Zhou Rong should not do anything to me, even if he wants to do it, it is definitely not now! Yan Ji felt that what Yang Peng said made sense, nodded, and then asked suspiciously: "Since he doesn't want to attack Gongzi, what is the intention of inviting Gongzi to the banquet?" Yang Peng smiled: "We don't have to guess, we will know when we arrive!" Yan Ji nodded, looked at Chen Xiao, and said, "Childe has to bring people to go, and I will also bring people to ambush around, if the situation is not right, I will lead people to support Childe!" Yang Peng smiled and waved his hand, "There's no need." ”

In the afternoon, Yang Peng led two secret guards to the Chunshui Pavilion of Taibai Building. The so-called 'Spring Water Pavilion' is actually just a private room in Taibai Building.

Yang Peng saw a middle-aged man coming up, and there was only one entourage in the entire 'Spring Water Pavilion' besides him. "Oh, I'm glad I will! Yang Gongzi can appreciate his face, he is so happy! The middle-aged man said with a happy face.

Yang Peng smiled and asked, "Do you know that I am Yang Mu?" The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Yang Gongzi's temperament, there will not be one among millions of people, and the contemptible person will naturally recognize it at a glance!" Then he hugged his fists and said: "Contemptible Zhou Rong, it is really a blessing to be able to meet Yang Gongzi!" Yang Peng smiled and hugged his fists and said: "Lord Zhou is too famous!" ”

Zhou Rong invited Yang Peng to take a seat, and Yang Peng walked over and sat down. Zhou Rong saw Yang Peng sit down, so he sat down, and then shouted: "Serve!" The man waiting at the door hurriedly agreed, and after a while, the food and wine were delivered at a flowing price. The guys set up the drinks and dishes, bowed and retreated. The attendant guarding the door closed the door.

Zhou Rong poured a full bottle of wine for the two of them, and picked it up, "Contemptible people do it first for respect!" After speaking, he raised his head and drank the wine in his glass, and a layer of wine fainted immediately appeared on his face. Yang Peng picked up the wine glass and dried it in one gulp, but his face did not change. Zhou Rong exclaimed: "Yang Gongzi is really a good amount of wine!" Yang Peng smiled: "That's what I do!" Zhou Rong said with a smile: "Young Master Yang is so modest!" Yang Gongzi is a great character! ”

Yang Peng's heart moved, and he couldn't figure out what the other party meant for a while, could it be that he actually discovered my identity? As soon as I thought of this, I couldn't help but become more vigilant. Said: "The matter of the Sword Pavilion, I was forced to offend the adult, please forgive me!" Yang Peng is testing the other party with words.

Zhou Rong waved his hand very generously and said, "Young Master Yang is serious!" This should be what I said, it was all the contemptible subordinates who offended Yang Gongzi! Yang Gongzi taught them a lesson, that was very good! Contemptible people don't dare to have half a complaint against Yang Gongzi! ”

Yang Peng saw that Zhou Rong's expression didn't look like he was talking back, smiled, hugged his fists and said: "My lord is elegant and elegant, admire and admire!" ”

Zhou Rong hurriedly replied: "How dare you!" Then he picked up the wine jug, poured himself a full glass, picked it up, and said very sincerely: "This cup of wine is a contemptible person to apologize to Yang Gongzi!" The words fell, and he looked up and did it. Yang Peng said with a smile: "Although your subordinates have offended me, I have nothing to lose, and my lord is embarrassed to call me so!" ”

Zhou Rong said with a smile: "After all, it is the contemptible people who have offended Yang Gongzi by teaching no way, and it is natural to apologize to Yang Gongzi!" After a pause, "Well, Yang Gongzi is from Yanyun, right?" ”

Yang Peng said secretly: "Sure enough, although you are not here to trouble me, you are here to find out my identity!" I'm afraid the raid on the Sword Pavilion has made you guess something! This thought flashed through his mind, and he smiled: "To be precise, I came through Yanyun." Zhou Rong was stunned for a moment, and asked puzzledly: "Through Yanyun?" Then he understood, and asked in surprise: "Is Yang Gongzi, is he from Liao?" ”

Yang Peng nodded, "Exactly." I am a Han merchant on the Zhongjing Road of the Great Liao Kingdom, and I heard that Sichuan has a large population and is very wealthy, so I led my subordinates to take the good horses of the Liao Kingdom to see if there was any business. ”

Zhou Rong said secretly: "I'm afraid you are not a merchant of the Liao State, but a secret envoy of the Liao State!" You're really here to do business, but it's a very big deal! Zhou Rong did not suspect that what the other party said was all false, he was actually not a Liao at all, because as a secret envoy, he always had to reveal his identity a little, otherwise there would be no way to negotiate; And since the other party told him his identity, it means that there should be no final agreement between them and An Bing, and as for the Sword Pavilion incident, it should just be an emergency.

Zhou Rong felt a lot more relieved, smiled, picked up the wine glass and played with it, and said, "If Sichuan becomes the territory of the Khitans, it will be very good." I'm afraid that Sichuan is lonely, and Sichuan can't be saved! ”

Yang Peng said secretly: "This guy really regards me as an envoy of the Khitans. Then he said, "We have a way!" If Lord Zhou can raise the banner of righteousness for the first time, he will have made the first contribution, and we will definitely not treat the adults badly! Zhou Rong smiled, hugged his fists and said, "Thank you for lifting up!" However, I wonder how you will treat me? Forgive me, it's better to explain these things. ”

Yang Peng smiled and asked, "I don't know what Lord Zhou wants?" ”

Zhou Rong hesitated for a moment and said, "I don't know what to do, it's just that not long ago, both the Tubo and the Song Emperor sent secret envoys to lobby the contemptible!" The conditions offered by the Tubo people were that they would be appointed as the general of Tubo, and at the same time they would be granted the position of staying in the east, and the contemptible people would be allowed to live forever in Xichuan, and the conditions offered by the Song Emperor were similar. It can be said that it is a sincere fist in several aspects, and the contemptible person is actually immoral and talentless, which is really embarrassing! Zhou Rong didn't ask for it directly, but he said that the price code proposed by others was raised, so he was naturally asking for a price.

Yang Peng smiled slightly and said, "These conditions can naturally be given by our side!" He glanced at Zhou Rong and said, "My lord is a smart person, I should know that neither Tubo nor Song can be compared with my Great Liao Kingdom, if my lord takes refuge in them, I am afraid that he will not be able to resist Yan Yun's soldiers!" In the end, adults are not empty of bamboo baskets! ”

Zhou Rong couldn't help but feel a pang in his heart, and said secretly: "What he said also makes sense!" Yanyun is extremely strong, not long ago, the Tibetan Western Liao, the Liao people, the four countries of more than 100,000 soldiers, took advantage of the Yanyun disaster and the lack of food and grass to attack, but in the end still ended up with a loss of soldiers and no gains, it can really be said that stealing chickens is not a loss of rice. The strength of Yan Yun's soldiers is unrivaled in the world, although the conditions given by Tubo and the imperial court are very attractive, but once Yan Yunjun comes in, all this is not the moon in the mirror? Then he thought: "It's useless to surrender to the Khitans, not to mention that the territory of Xichuan and the Khitans is isolated, even if they are close together, I'm afraid they won't be able to stop Yan Yun's troops!" Not long ago, they took advantage of such a good opportunity to invade the sixteen states of Yanyun, not only did they find nothing, but they lost all the land west of Longmen Mountain, which shows that the Khitans are not Yanyun's opponents! ’

Zhou Rong frowned, and couldn't help but think of the conditions given by Yan Yun, and muttered, "The conditions given by Yan Yun are too low!" It's too stingy! Zhou Rong felt that he could only surrender to Yanyun, but he was very dissatisfied with the conditions given by Yanyun, and he was very unwilling, and always felt that if he surrendered to Yanyun, he would be sold cheaply.

Yang Peng smiled and said, "My lord seems to be very undecided!" Don't worry, adults can think about it slowly! "Zhou Rong saw the other party's inattentive appearance, and he was very suspicious: 'He doesn't seem to care too much about my attitude, could it be that An Bing has reached an agreement with them?' At this point, I couldn't help but be surprised.

Yang Peng stood up. Zhou Rong was taken aback and hurriedly stood up. Yang Peng smiled and said, "My lord is busy with official business, so I won't bother and leave." Zhou Rong clenched his fists a little at a loss and said, "Son, it's easy to go!" Yang Peng turned and left.

Zhou Rong sat back in his seat and was stunned as he watched the table full of delicacies. Then he poured a full glass of wine and dried it in one gulp. The cool wine in the stomach instantly turned into a flame and rose up, temporarily burning away the troubles that were full of troubles. However, when the wine passed, the troubles came up more fiercely.

Zhou Shi sneaked in and asked curiously, "Big brother, what did you all talk about?" Who are they? Zhou Rong said: "They are not Yanyun people...... Zhou Shi heard that they were not Yanyun people, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and couldn't help but say: "If you are not Yanyun people, you are not afraid of them!" Zhou Rong glanced at Zhou Shi and asked, "Are you afraid of Yanyun people?" Zhou Shi's face changed slightly, "Big brother, it's not that I'm afraid of Yanyun people, who is not afraid of Yanyun people now!" ”

When Zhou Shi heard his brother ask, his face couldn't help but change, he sat down, and said, "Big brother, today, who is not afraid of Yanyun people!" Now the outside world is spreading that Yan Yunjun is like an evil ghost, saying that Yan Yunjun is everywhere, the corpses are piling up like mountains, blood is flowing like a river, the sky is stained red with blood, and the earth has turned into hell! They are like the Qin army back then, extremely ferocious, but they could not be defeated, swept Liuhe, and no one was invincible! ”

Zhou Rong frowned, and couldn't help pouring wine into the wine glass again, but his mind didn't belong, the wine overflowed from the wine glass, and he didn't realize it until Zhou Shi reminded him, and then he suddenly woke up, but there was already a lot of wine overflowing. Zhou Rong was a little embarrassed, put down the wine jug, and asked Zhou Shidao: "Do you think that our Sichuan can resist the attack of Yan Yunjun with natural danger?" Zhou Shidao: "How do I know this?" However, although our Sichuan is surrounded by Xiongguan natural danger, it is not that it has not been breached, Cao Wei destroyed Shu Han, and later the Sui army entered Shu, it can be seen that Xiongguan natural danger can not stop the powerful army! Today's Yan Yun Army, I am afraid that it will be stronger than the original Cao Wei and Sui Army, if Yan Yun Army really attacks with all its might, I'm afraid, I'm afraid it will ......" Although Zhou Shi did not finish speaking, Zhou Rong already understood what he meant.

Zhou Rong was worried, and felt that what Zhou Shi said was very reasonable. Zhou Rong couldn't help but tend to throw himself at Yan Yun, but he was still very unwilling in his heart, as if he had a goods in his hand, which could be sold at a high price, but the good seller was only willing to offer a low price. Thinking of this, Zhou Rong's heart couldn't help but be very annoyed, and he just wanted to sell the goods to others in anger to make Yan Yun regret it. Thinking of this, he picked up the wine glass and dried it in one gulp.

Zhou Shi asked curiously: "Big brother, since those people are not Yanyun people, then who are they?" Why is it so powerful? Zhou Rong put down his wine glass and said, "They are secret envoys sent by the Liao people, and they also want us in Sichuan, hum!" Zhou Shi was surprised: "Khitans?!" Zhou Rong nodded. Zhou Shi said in surprise: "I didn't expect that the Khitan people were also involved!" Zhou Rong said proudly: "Our Sichuan is known as the country of abundance, and the money and grain are extremely rich, so naturally everyone wants to take it into their pockets!" Zhou Shi nodded approvingly.

Zhou Rong remembered something and asked, "You said that An Bing, that old fox, would he collude with the Khitans?" Zhou Shi was stunned for a moment and said, "This, it's unlikely!" "Why?"

"It's so easy! Our Sichuan and Liao are separated by Yanyun, and the Khitan people are surrendered, the emperor will naturally not let him go, we must fight with him to the death, Yanyun may also have to do it, the Khitan people are separated by Yanyun, there is no way to save him, isn't he dead? Defecting to the Khitans is simply killing himself, An Bing won't be so stupid, right? ”

Zhou Rong glanced at Zhou Shi in surprise. Zhou Shi was very embarrassed by Zhou Rong, and asked tremblingly: "Big brother, did I say something wrong again?" ”

Zhou Rong said in a surprised tone: "You kid, it's really rare to say such insightful words!" When Zhou Shi heard the eldest brother's praise, he was overjoyed and smiled, and couldn't help boasting to himself: "The younger brother is already very smart, but he usually doesn't have the opportunity to show it!" Zhou Rong ignored Zhou Shi and thought to himself. Zhou Shi boasted to himself, and when he saw that his eldest brother didn't pay attention to him, he couldn't help but feel bored, and couldn't help but close his mouth.

A personal soldier hurriedly rushed in and hurriedly reported: "My lord, the envoy of the imperial court has come to give an order again, and said, and said, "The personal soldier looked like he wanted to speak and stopped." Zhou Rong frowned and shouted, "What else to say?" The soldier hurriedly said: "He also said that if the lord is not called again, he will be punished as a rebel!" Zhou Rong was furious and said in a deep voice: "Which side is not polite to us, or the envoy of the imperial court!" angered me and told him that he couldn't go back to Bianjing! However, having said that, he still got up and left the restaurant and went back to the house to meet the imperial envoy.

As soon as the two sides met, the imperial envoy said bluntly: "Lord Zhou, you have two ways now, one is to be called to immediately transfer money and grain to the front line to support Wang Shi, so that not only can the official position be guaranteed, maybe you can also increase the official rank; The second is to continue to disobey orders, and the result is to raid the house and destroy the door! ”

Zhou Rong saw that the other party's attitude was completely different from before, not only was the promised benefit gone, but also full of threatening words, he couldn't help but be surprised, the momentum in the tavern just now had long been gone, and he said with a look of panic on his face: "My lord's words are serious, how dare the lower officials disobey the holy decree?" ”

Qin Cha smiled coldly, "Really? In that case, let's do it now! Xuanfu has already taken action, and I think the adults are also unwilling to be left behind, right? Zhou Rong agreed. Qin Cha said: "You only have three days, and after the deadline, if you still don't see your actions, hmph, don't blame the official for being unsympathetic!" The words fell, and he went away. Zhou Rong was so suspicious that he forgot to send Qin out of the house. By the time he reacted, he had already left.

Zhou Rong hurriedly called his cronies and asked, "Is there a new battle report from the east?" The cronie said: "I just received the battle report, a few days ago, the imperial army captured Yicheng!" Zhou Rong was shocked, he originally thought that the imperial army was a trick to lure the enemy by the Cao family brothers, the Cao family brothers were extremely wise and brave, and they had previously resisted the Khitan army, and the immortals had blocked the Khitan army of 100,000 with thousands of soldiers and horses, and their wisdom and courage could be seen, and now with 200,000 people, it is naturally impossible to be so vulnerable to the imperial army! But I didn't expect that even Yicheng was lost now, Yicheng is only a few dozen miles away from Xiangyang, and it is the last barrier in the south of Xiangyang.

When Zhou Rong thought of this, he couldn't help but panic, glared at his cronies and asked, "Why didn't you report such important information earlier?" Seeing Zhou Rong's very annoyed appearance, his cronies were heartbroken, and hurriedly explained: "It's not that the villain intends to delay, it's really, it's really because he has just received a battle report, and he hasn't had time to report it to the adult!" ”

Zhou Rong snorted, couldn't help but regret it, and said secretly: I knew this earlier, I should have accepted the rewards and orders of the imperial court before! At this moment, a personal soldier captain rushed in and reported: "My lord, Yanyun's envoy asks to see you!" Zhou Rong said angrily: "From now on, these messy people will not be seen, unless they are envoys of the imperial court!" The captain of the pro-soldier said yes and ran down.

On the way to the Luojia Chamber of Commerce, Yang Peng and his entourage passed by the official warehouse controlled by Zhou Rong, the pacification envoy, and saw hundreds of soldiers and horses gathered outside the official warehouse, and countless migrant workers were busy transporting grain and grass, carrying ordnance and other materials out of the warehouse and loading them onto the mule and horse carts waiting outside the warehouse.

Yang Peng was surprised, reined in his horse, and said to Zhao Xiang'er: "Go and inquire, what's going on?" Zhao Xiang'er promised, turned over and dismounted, went to the crowd of onlookers, and saw that several middle-aged women were discussing, so she lost no time in stabbing in and asked the middle-aged woman who was the most talkative: "Miss, why are you so busy here?" When the woman heard Zhao Xiang'er call herself a young lady, her heart was overjoyed, and after listening to her question, she said without hesitation: "Little sister if you ask others, you don't necessarily know, but I am different, my kid is the guard here," said and pointed to an ordinary-looking and medium-sized soldier in the middle of the official army in the distance: "No, that's it!" Hee-hee, looks pretty good, right? ”

Zhao Xiang'er wanted to understand the situation, so she had to echo a few words, and the middle-aged woman was even happier when she saw Zhao Xiang'er echoing her words, and said: "Listen to my kid, not long ago, the imperial court issued an order, ordering us in Sichuan to mobilize materials to support the imperial army to quell the rebellion, which is why this place is so busy." Zhao Xiang'er asked again: "I don't know how the battle is going in the east?" The middle-aged woman said: "I also heard from my kid about this, I heard that the imperial army has occupied Yicheng!" Zhao Xiang'er's heart moved, thanked her, and ran back. The middle-aged woman hurriedly shouted, "Little sister, don't go!" I want to tell you about a family affair! Zhao Xiang'er just pretended not to hear it.

Running back to Yang Peng, seeing Yang Peng's ridiculous smile, he couldn't help blushing, and said angrily: "These women in the market always like to talk nonsense!" With that, he turned over and got on his horse and said to Yang Peng: "Brother Chen, I have inquired, these grains and grass are ready to be transported to the front line to support the imperial army!" ”

Yang Peng frowned, "In other words, Zhou Rong has completely fallen to the imperial court!" Why is this happening? Have you ever heard about the war situation in the East? Zhao Xiang'er said: "I heard that the imperial army has occupied Yicheng!" Yang Peng was taken aback, then thought about it, and suddenly a profound smile appeared on his face. Zhao Xiang'er saw that Yang Peng could still laugh, and couldn't help but say: "Brother Yang, this matter is not good news for us, why can you still laugh?" ”

Yang Peng said: "Soon you will know." If my expectations are correct, at this moment, the official warehouses under the control of Xuanfu Envoy An Bing are also busy loading supplies and preparing to support the imperial court. Zhao Xiang'er nodded and said, "Now that the imperial court has an advantage, An Bing will naturally fall to the imperial court!" Then he said worriedly: "I wonder if they will be unfavorable to Brother Chen?" ”

Yang Peng shook his head, "Don't worry about this. These guys are all old fritters in officialdom, who are well versed in the way of being officials, and know that they must leave a way out for themselves in everything. Therefore, they will in no way be detrimental to the emissaries of all parties, including us. It's called 'leave a line in everything, and we'll see each other later'. Zhao Xiang'er suddenly realized, and her eyes couldn't help showing contempt, she only felt that these usually sanctimonious officials were really more filthy than the lowliest stumbling girl! Yang Peng glanced at Zhao Xiang'er and said with a smile: "Put these things aside for the time being, let's go." Then he led everyone towards the Luojia Chamber of Commerce, he was going to talk to Luo Yanran about Sichuan, the Luojia has been operating in Sichuan for a long time, and he must know a lot about Sichuan.

After all, what happens next, let's see how it will be broken down next time.