Among the six hall masters of the Seven Star Gang, Shi Changsheng has always been a maverick outlier, he is neither completely loyal to the gang leader Lin Jie like Ran Xuanzhi and Dong Mian, nor will he follow Shang Benyi's desperate efforts to get closer to the conservative forces led by Jiang Houming.

He is accustomed to being alone, acting upright and tough, and there are not many henchmen around him, such a temperament is logically difficult to support his position in the gang, but no one has dared to despise him for many years, because he always insists on the word reason.

Lei Tang is responsible for the money and grain housekeeping of the villages and fields in the gang, Shi Changsheng can't tolerate sand in his eyes, and he has been well organized for many years, and even Shang Benyi, who has always looked at him unpleasantly, is difficult to find out what is wrong with him.

No matter which force it is, they all hope to win over Shi Changsheng and the Lei Tang he is in charge of, even if they don't get a positive response, they don't want to easily provoke this temperamental person.

Under this premise, after Lin Jie received Shi Changsheng's banquet invitation, he immediately happily went to the appointment.

Shi Changsheng's residence is located in the southeast area of Zongzhai, surrounded by the houses of the Lei Tang Gang, and there is not much difference from the outside.

Lin Jie arrived at Shi's house at night, and saw Shi Changsheng waiting in the alley outside the gate, so he smiled and said, "Between you and my brothers, why be so polite." ”

Shi Changsheng smiled honestly, touched his head and said: "The mother-in-law of my family forced me to go out and wait, saying that it was rare for the helper to come to the house for a light meal, and she definitely couldn't lose her courtesy." Helper, please. ”

"Okay."

Lin Jie took the lead, and when he stepped into the atrium, he saw a woman in her thirties standing under the corridor, who was Shi Changsheng's mother, Sun Sanniang, nicknamed Sun Sanniang.

"Hello sister-in-law." Lin Jie bowed.

Sun Sanniang has a pungent and outgoing temperament, and said with a hearty smile after returning the salute: "The concubine has told her grandson many times that she wants to invite the helper to come to the house to sit, but he always shirks it for various reasons. I don't know if it's changed sex today, so I urged the concubine to prepare wine and food early in the morning, and asked the helper to have a few drinks in the evening. The concubine is not skilled, and she doesn't have time to pick up good dishes, just some home-cooked flavors, and please don't dislike it. ”

Lin Jie said gently: "Mrs. Sister-in-law is polite, and the home-cooked food is especially delicious." ”

Sun Sanniang wanted to say more, Shi Changsheng glared and said: "Okay, okay, why is there so much nonsense, you bring all the wine and food, and I will chat with the helper while eating." Those two boys in the family have been very disobedient lately, so you go to the west wing room and discipline them well. ”

Sun Sanniang was not afraid of him, and rolled her eyes at him, if it weren't for Lin Jie's presence, there would have been another quarrel.

The people in the mountains are not so particular, Shi Changsheng did not invite tea, and invited Lin Jie to come to the hall with a smile.

The two sat opposite each other, and soon the wine and food were ready, although Sun Sanniang said very humbly, all kinds of dishes were still on the table.

Lin Jie looked at the chicken, duck and fish in front of him, and said with emotion: "It's too expensive." ”

Shi Changsheng carried the wine jug and poured him full of wine, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I don't have the money and food in the public account." ”

Lin Jie shook his head with a smile, picked up the wine cup and said, "You know I didn't mean that." ”

Shi Changsheng responded: "Helper, please drink this cup." ”

He raised the glass and drank it in one gulp, then illuminated the bottom of the glass.

Lin Jie drank the wine, and then said meaningfully: "You invited me to the banquet tonight, it should be more than just to drink. If you have something to say, you might as well say it directly, after all, you are not the kind of character who is good at beating around the bush. ”

Shi Changsheng's action of pouring wine stagnated, his expression gradually became cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Please come to the helper tonight, my old history does have a few words that are not unhappy." ”

Lin Jie bowed his head and said, "You say." ”

Shi Changsheng said: "Helper, are you going to keep watching it like this?" ”

Lin Jie's eyes were gentle, staring at the wine pot in his hand, and then filling his empty wine cup, and said indifferently: "What do you mean by this?" ”

Shi Changsheng said slowly: "I want to ask the helper first, will we not accept the Yan Dynasty's recruitment, and will we fight with the other party to the end in the future?" ”

Lin Jie didn't have a cloud mountain fog cover, and said simply and directly: "Yes." ”

Shi Changsheng's right hand clenched into a fist, and said in a low voice: "Since this is the case, the gang leader can't let Jiang Houming's gang fish in troubled waters." A few days ago, they coerced the second uncle and other gang elders to force the palace, and obviously they would definitely try to sabotage the gang leader's plan. Perhaps, these people have already secretly colluded with Yanjing's magnates! ”

Lin Jie looked at the angular face of the man on the other side of the round table, and said slowly: "Brother Shi, this kind of speculation needs to be based on real evidence, otherwise it is easy to wronged your own people." Master Jiang is the nephew of the old gang leader, although he is indeed dissatisfied with me taking over as the gang leader, but the Seven Star Gang can have the scale it has today, and he has contributed a lot, so he should not collude with outsiders. ”

Shi Changsheng took a sip of the spirits, then put down the wine cup, frowned, and said, "Gang leader, can't you see that Jiang Houming didn't take the foundation of the Seven Stars Gang to heart at all. In the previous few discussions, he repeatedly encouraged everyone to accept the Yan Dynasty's recruitment, if he said that he did not get the benefits promised by the Yan Dynasty's magnates, I would never believe it! ”

Lin Jie held the wine cup and was silent.

After a long time, he raised his eyebrows slightly: "Brother Shi, you must know that Hall Master Jiang is not an isolated individual, there are at least one or two thousand people in the gang who obey his orders, and the few remaining elders of the older generation also value him very much. In the absence of conclusive evidence, if I do anything to him, the Seven Stars Gang will inevitably fall apart. At that time, the Yan Dynasty will no longer need to bother recruiting peace, and only use an elite army to enter the mountains, and we will be defeated without a fight. ”

Shi Changsheng's temperament is true, but this does not mean that he has no brains.

It was easy to kill Jiang Houming with Lin Jie's martial arts, but the problem was how to clean up the situation after killing him.

As soon as he thought of this, Shi Changsheng couldn't help but exhale indignantly, and then raised the wine cup to Lin Jie and said, "Helper, I'll give you another glass." ”

Lin Jie calmly drank the wine in his glass, and then smiled: "Actually, I was a little surprised today, I didn't expect you to be so heart-wrenching. ”

"I've never been social, and I don't want to get involved in those things, it's rare that the helper doesn't dislike my temperament, and let me keep the Lei Tang in charge."

Shi Changsheng turned on his face and said with emotion: "I know that the real people who are the gang leader are Ran Xuanzhi, Dong Mian and Qi Lianfu, but I don't want the brothers in the gang to chew the root of their tongues, so I keep Jiang Houming and Shang Benyi's pair of impure idiots, and I also keep my old history, a reckless man who doesn't understand the world." Over the years, the gang leader has been fair and generous, and the Seven Stars Gang has become more and more prosperous under your leadership, as long as anyone who is not blind can understand the wisdom of the old gang leader, including my old history. ”

Lin Jie sipped the liquor in his glass and listened quietly.

Shi Changsheng raised his eyes to look at him and continued: "If there was no such thing as Zhao'an, maybe I would have been watching in silence, but now that the Seven Stars Gang has reached the threshold of deciding fate, I can't watch those people make trouble and destroy the foundation of tens of thousands of brothers." ”

Lin Jie said calmly: "Do you think they have such an ability? ”

"Normally, they definitely don't have this ability, even if they have an idea in their hearts, they can only honestly follow the orders of the gang leader, but now it's different."

"What's the difference?"

"The captain of Nanqi Lu is in danger, and the helper asks the master of Dong Hall and the eldest lady to bring people to rescue, this decision is understandable, but it will cause an obvious problem, that is, the loyal subordinates around the helper are seven or eight out of ten, and the escort force is quite weak in a short period of time. The two halls of mountain and yin have always been the confidence of the gang leader to take charge of the main village, but now they have left the gang leader......"

"You think I'm going to be in danger because of this?"

"The gang leader's martial arts are world-famous, and he is naturally not afraid of villains, but it is difficult to guarantee that some people will not take risks. Although Jiang Houming and Shang Benyi's martial arts are not as good as the helper, their henchmen are all staying in Zongzhai, as the so-called two fists are invincible to four hands, if they go on that road with their hearts, the helper will definitely be in danger. ”

Shi Changsheng's words were earnest, and he gradually took on two points of wine.

The wine jug in front of the two of them had bottomed out, so he took two more jugs of wine, took the initiative to fill it for Lin Jie, and then returned to his seat and sat down, and said with a resolute expression: "But please rest assured, all the brothers of Lei Tang and I will definitely not sit idly by and watch this kind of accident happen." ”

Lin Jie smiled and said, "I naturally believe in you, otherwise I wouldn't have made an appointment tonight." ”

The smile on Shi Changsheng's face was a little reluctant, and he was a little more solemn, and said in a deep voice: "Helper, instead of waiting passively, it is better to strike first." With the martial arts of the gang leader and my old history, and then mobilize some of the brothers who stayed in Zongzhai, it was easy to take down Jiang Houming and Shang Ben. As long as these leaders are controlled, the people below will not dare to rebel. ”

"Let me think about it again."

Lin Jie raised the wine cup and poured the clear wine into his stomach, but his face still did not change, which showed that the amount of wine was amazing.

Shi Changsheng is not easy to persuade again, after all, this matter is related to the fate of the Seven Star Gang, and careful consideration is the right way.

Lin Jie's words changed and said: "I still remember when you defected to the mountain gate, as soon as you made a move, you defeated Shang Benyi, which shocked everyone. ”

It was a story ten years ago, when Shi Changsheng was just a ranger in the rivers and lakes, who was chased and killed by the enemy and had no choice but to join the Seven Star Gang, and won the favor of Lin Jie with his sharp martial arts, and became one of the many deacons in Lei Tang.

For a long time, he took root in the Seven Stars Gang, married a wife and had children, and was promoted to the head of the Lei Hall seven years ago, officially entering the core high-level of the Seven Star Gang.

Hearing Lin Jie mention the past, Shi Changsheng couldn't help but sigh with emotion, and finally turned all his complicated thoughts into wine.

A bright moon hangs over the treetops, and the cold moonlight fills the world.

Lin Jie put down the wine cup and said slowly: "Actually, I have always had a question in my heart, and I asked Brother Shi to help me refer to it." ”

Shi Changsheng bowed his head and said, "Helper, please speak." ”

Lin Jie put his hands on the edge of the table and said unhurriedly: "Lu Shen's reply said that he was very careful, and he had been disguised and disguised in Heluo City, and he didn't take action in person. Whether it is Chen Qifu or Chen Jingtang's death, at least on the surface, it has nothing to do with him, so I want to know, why did the Yan Imperial Court issue a reward order against Lu Shen? ”

(End of chapter)