East of Xudu City, dusk.

A solemn and solemn courtyard, the lintel is engraved with the three big characters of "Taichang Mansion" in gold, which is magnificent, and this is the residence of Yang Biao's father and son.

A carriage stopped at the door, Yang Xiu got out of the car, he had just returned from Cao Zhi's mansion, the two discussed poetry and songs, and chatted very speculatively, at this time Yang Xiu still had an excited smile on his face.

Yang Xiu walked quickly into the mansion and walked through the courtyard, where the flowers and trees in the courtyard were sparse and lush, and the rows of flower beds were planted with all kinds of flowers and plants, exuding a faint fragrance.

Yang Xiu came to the hall and saw Yang Biao sitting in the middle, holding a letter in his hand, thinking sadly.

Yang Xiu stepped forward suspiciously, and respectfully bowed to Yang Biao: "Father, what are you worried about?" Speak up, and your son will answer your doubts. ”

Yang Biao raised his head and looked at Yang Xiu, sighed softly, and then handed the letter in his hand to Yang Xiu: "Dezu, look at it yourself." ”

Yang Xiu took the letter and looked at it seriously, his face becoming solemn.

Yang Xiu put down the letter and asked Yang Biao in a low voice anxiously: "Father, where did this letter come from?" ”

"There was a subordinate just now, he claimed to be a subordinate in Dong Cheng's mansion, and handed me this letter." Yang Biao responded to Yang Xiu's question.

"What about the next person?" Yang Xiu asked.

Yang Biao replied: "I read this letter, I feel that this matter is important, I don't dare to make a decision easily, and I am afraid that this person will go back and leak the news, so I arranged for someone to take him to the backyard to eat first." I'm waiting for you to come back and discuss. ”

"Father handled it well. This person must not be let go easily. Yang Xiu nodded.

"Dezu, what should you do about this, my mind is completely messed up, I don't know what to do?" Yang Biao asked Yang Xiu anxiously.

"Father, this letter was written by Li Dao to Dong Cheng, you have been a minister in the same court as him, and you have read the official documents issued by him many times, you should be able to conclude that this is not written by him, right?" Yang Xiu asked Yang Biao.

Yang Biao nodded with a look of embarrassment: "I just concluded that this is indeed written by Li Dao himself, so I am embarrassed." ”

"What's so hard about that. How clearly it is said in this letter, Dong Cheng secretly informed Li Dao of the military situation of Cao Zhang's army, and also made an appointment with Li Dao to deal with Cao Sikong from inside and outside. This is a big crime of rebellion, of course, he must hand it over to Sikong immediately, and ask Sikong to decide. Yang Xiu immediately made a judgment.

"Of course I know that this is a sin of rebellion, but after all, I have returned from Chang'an with Dong Cheng and experienced all kinds of life and death tribulations, so I really can't bear to report him like this. What's more, I still can't figure out something, why did that subordinate send this letter to me, not directly to Sikong Mansion, I'm afraid that there is another mystery here, so I can't get an idea. Yang Biao explained to Yang Xiu.

"Father's concern is reasonable, then call that person, and I will know it in person." Yang Xiu said confidently.

Yang Biao nodded, and then instructed his family to bring back the subordinate of Dong Chengfu.

Yang Xiu circled around the subordinate with a scrutinizing gaze, but did not say a word.

The subordinate was covered in hair, but he didn't dare to move, so he could only ask with a little trepidation: "Childe, what are you looking at?" ”

"What the hell is going on with the whole thing, give me 1510 to make it clear, if you dare to lie, I want your life!" Yang Xiu said sharply to his subordinates.

The subordinate was frightened, "plopped", knelt directly on the ground, and began to tell: "The villain's name is Dong Ji, and he is a subordinate of General Dong Cheng's family, and he has been responsible for serving General Dong's daily life. General Dong's nephew Yin Bi often finds various reasons to oppress us subordinates, and even beats and scolds us, but because General Dong protects him, we subordinates can only endure it in order to survive. ”

"Go on, get to the point, don't ramble!" Yang Xiu urged Dong Ji.

Dong Ji nodded again and again, and continued to narrate: "Not long ago, that Yin Bi was cleaned up outside, and we were all very happy, but later we found out that it was Cao Zhanggongzi, we were all very happy at the time, and we all felt that someone was finally angry for us......"

Yang Xiu interrupted Dong Ji sharply: "I said let you get to the point, don't you understand what I'm saying?" ”

Dong Ji explained in a frightened voice: "I understand, but just now you said Gongzi, let me make it clear, I'm afraid that there will be omissions, so I started from the beginning." ”

"Okay, I won't interrupt you, I won't scare you, you go on." Yang Xiu saw that Dong Ji was really scared, and he no longer scared him, and motioned for him to continue.

That Yin Bi was cleaned up by Cao Zhanggongzi, and he was always unconvinced, and always pestered General Dong to give him anger. General Dong has always told him not to be anxious and wait patiently for the opportunity. ”

"Two days ago, I was cleaning in the yard, and I heard General Dong and Yin Bi talking in the house, and mentioned Cao Gongzi, so I paid attention and eavesdropped on a few words, but what I heard was that General Dong told Yin Bi that this time Li Dao knew Cao Zhanggongzi's arrangement, and he would definitely be able to kill him and vent his anger for Yin Bi."

"I was frightened at the time, after all, Mr. Cao Zhang was angry with us, and I definitely didn't want him to have anything to do. Later, I took the opportunity to clean up in the general's study and found this letter, only to learn that he secretly colluded with Li Dao to frame Cao Gongzi, so I hurried to report to Taichang. Dong Ji finished telling and let out a sigh of relief.

Yang Xiu looked at him scrutinically: "What do you mean is that because you have a grudge against Yin Bi, Gongzi Cao Zhanggong cleaned him up and was angry for you, so you heard Dong Cheng and Yin Bi discussing Gongzi Cao, you paid attention, and then found this letter?" ”

"Yes, what the villain said, everything is true." Dong Ji replied affirmatively.

"Are you literate? Read me a few words about the contents of this letter. Yang Xiu looked at Dong Ji suspiciously and handed him the letter in his hand.

Dong Ji explained to Yang Xiu: "The villain has been in General Dong's mansion for many years, from Luoyang to Chang'an, and then to Xudu, and has been following him. ”

With that, he picked up the letter and read it softly.

Yang Xiu listened to a few words, waved his hand to interrupt him, and then picked up a bamboo book from the bookcase on the side and handed it to Dong Ji: "Read this again." ”

Dong Ji took it, and he could also read some of the contents.

Yang Xiu waved his hand to signal that he didn't have to read it anymore, and he was sure that he was really literate.

"Dong Ji, tell me, since you know the contents of the letter, you should also know that this is a top secret matter for General Dong, why do you still come to tell my father?" Yang Xiu asked.

"Returning to Gongzi, although I am a subordinate in General Dong's family, I also know right and wrong. Cao Gongzi helped us, he is a good person. That Li Dao bullied us when he was in Chang'an, and on the way back to the east, he almost died in his hands several times, and we hated him to death. But General Dong colluded with him to kill Cao Gongzi, this is a rebellion, a big crime of killing his head, of course the villain wants to report him! Dong Ji explained to Yang Xiu.

"Then why did you give this letter to my father? Instead of going directly to Cao Sikong? Yang Xiu opened his mouth to ask this very critical question.

"Returning to Gongzi, when I fled from Chang'an with General Dong, I met Yang Taichang, and I ate wild vegetables with Taichang, and I also had some friendship. I don't know that Cao Sikong, and I heard that he has a big temper and kills people at every turn, so I don't dare to go to him, so I can only come to Taichang with letters. Dong Ji calmly gave the answer, which sounded reasonable.

After listening to Dong Ji's words, Yang Xiu frowned slightly and began to think.

Yang Biao didn't know how Yang Xiu would decide, and looked at him expectantly.

After a while, Yang Xiu came back to his senses and said to Dong Ji: "This matter is very important, you stay in my house first, we will treat you with good food and drink, but you can't run around, let alone leave, or mention this matter to anyone again." When the matter is clear, if Dong Cheng and Li Dao do collude, they will definitely reward you heavily. ”

Dong Ji promised repeatedly: "Thank you, Childe, listen to Childe's arrangement!" ”

Yang Xiu waved his hand and motioned for his family to take Dong Ji out.

"Dezu, what do you think of this matter, is this Dong Ji's words credible?" Yang Biao asked Yang Xiu anxiously.

"At present, it seems that there are no flaws, and all the details are reasonable." Yang Xiu responded.

"Is it reasonable? Dezu, have you ever wondered how Dong Cheng knew about Cao Zhang's military intelligence? Being able to pass it on to Li Dao in such a short period of time means that Cao Zhang's army must have the eyeliner he planted, and the level is high enough to understand the high-level arrangement. ”

"But this time Cao Zhang went on the expedition, and the famous generals of the clan under Sikong did not follow, so it was even more impossible to bring other people's troops, how could Dong Cheng's people know the secrets of the high-level? There's something wrong with that. Yang Biao expressed his doubts and worries.

Yang Xiu looked at Yang Biao and smiled: "Father, do you think these are important?" Is it something we should be thinking about? Of course, I understand that there is a secret to this. In fact, it is not difficult to guess who the real collaborator is. ”

"Who is it?" Yang Biao asked.

Yang Xiu deliberately sold a pass at this time: "Who will do anything that harms people and is not good?" Father just needs to think about it, if Cao Zhang is really dead, who will be the most beneficial? ”

Yang Biao frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly woke up and exclaimed: "What do you mean, this is Cao ......"

Yang Xiu waved his hand and motioned to his father not to go any further: "If there is no evidence, let's not talk about it." We only need to be sure of one thing, that is, the letter was written by Li Dao himself, and it was indeed someone who provided him with Cao Zhang's military information. ”

"We just need to hand over the letter to Sikong, as for who the collaborator is, Sikong will arrange for someone from the school office to investigate, so we don't have to worry about it."

"Then what do you mean, I'll take this letter now and present it to Sikong?" Yang Biao asked.

Yang Xiu smiled at this time: "Father, you are the third duke, take this letter to Sikong, at most you can get some thanks, but you can't get too many benefits and rewards." So you can't go to Sikong alone, you have to bring someone with you. ”

"Who?" Yang Biao asked suspiciously.

"Zijian Gongzi!" Yang Xiu replied with a smile, "Zihuan is the eldest son, Ziwen has been in the limelight recently, although Zijian Gongzi is favored by Sikong, but he doesn't show too much, but if this big case of rebellion is discovered and reported by him, it will be a great achievement." ”

"Dezu, what do you mean is to encourage Zijian Gongzi to join the battle of the son?!" Yang Biao asked worriedly.

"Why not join? Zi Jiancai is a tall eight bucket, with a simple temperament, and has lofty ambitions, and fully has the potential of a generation of masters, but because he is young, he has never had a chance to come out. ”

"As his vassal, I naturally have to try my best to help him win the position of the prince, otherwise in the future, whether Zihuan or Ziwen becomes the prince, wouldn't Zijian and I have to live a mediocre life, and waste this body to learn." Yang Xiu explained to Yang Biao the reason why he wanted to support Cao Zhi.

"Dezu, behind this court dispute is a mountain of swords and a sea of fire, why do you need to roll in?" Yang Biao reminded Yang Xiu worriedly.

"The eldest husband was born in heaven and earth, how can he survive, and he should find a way to make meritorious contributions. I have made up my mind, my father doesn't need to persuade me anymore, so I asked my father to go with me to see Zijian Gongzi and invite him to report Dong Cheng to Sikong together. Yang Xiu insisted on his decision.

Yang Biao knew that his son was proud of his talent, his heart was higher than the sky, and he was unwilling to be mediocre all his life, so he had no choice but to nod, put the letter away, and walked out with Yang Xiu......