After a day of visits and observations, Xiao Rui came to some incredible news: either the cause of the Dongting water bandits was discovered, and the court launched a serious campaign to suppress the bandits; or the Jingxiang Navy had rebelled.
"No matter what the situation is, there will be a big chaos in Dongting. No, you and I are too dangerous, and Emperor Jiangxia's three thousand people are very conspicuous. They must be informed as soon as possible."
Xiao Changle was a person who understood the general situation. At this time, he did not mention any more promises. Instead, he called the big cat and prepared to ask the big cat to run quickly to deliver the message.
Xiao Rui stopped him, "No, the big cat's target is too big. Let's go back."
Go back? Who should I send the letter to? Xiao Changle was very puzzled.
But half a day later, Xiao Changle saw everything, and looked at Fang Er and Li Junxian in surprise, "You, you... OK! You agreed to take the first step, why are you hiding behind us and following us?"
The second roommate was too scared to speak. Li Junxian smiled bitterly and said: "Your Highness, we are guards. We are not following or peeping, we are just protecting you."
Xiao Rui said seriously: "Okay, the matter is very important and time is running out. Don't joke around. Fifth brother, something happened in the Dongting area. Now I need you to catch up with the emperor and his party to deliver a message."
After listening to Xiao Rui's analysis, Li Junxian and Li Junxian also realized the seriousness of the problem. Leaving Fang Er to protect him, Li Junxian quickly went after Li Daozong.
Li Daozong has already marched to the edge of the Yangtze River.
"Father, let's camp here for a day, and my son will take people to inform the nearby Jingxiang Navy." Li Jingheng said.
Li Daozong laughed while riding on his horse: "No need, look further away, they are already here."
Sure enough, a group of large boats came slowly along the river and arrived at the shore in an instant.
A group of navy soldiers and horses with neat military appearance slowly came down and ran quickly towards Li Daozong.
"But the King of Jiangxia is in person? Liu Xi, the deputy general of the Jingxiang Navy, was ordered to come here to greet the prince. Knowing that the prince is crossing the river to the north today, we have been waiting for a long time."
Li Daozong turned over and dismounted, and said with a smile: "Vice-General Liu, there is no need to be polite. I am returning to Beijing on private matters, which alarmed the Jingxiang Navy and caused a lot of trouble."
"What did you say, Your Majesty? It is our duty to take care of Your Majesty's worries. Would you like to board the ship now?" The deputy general is very good at talking.
Li Jingheng advised: "Father, crossing the river is unusual. How about we wait for a day and let my little sister and the others cross the river together."
Liu Xi heard this and asked in confusion: "Your Majesty, could it be that the princess and the new uncle are behind? They didn't listen to what our people said."
Li Jingheng was surprised: "So, you have been monitoring us?"
Liu Xi quickly apologized: "My young prince misunderstood. Jingxiang is our territory. Suddenly a troop of soldiers and horses appeared. We have the duty to pay attention. We know that it is you two returning from Lingnan, so we just came to greet them and had no other intentions." "
Li Daozong waved his hand to stop his son. Xiao Changle and Xiao Rui couldn't be exposed, so they said: "That's it, I won't wait for them. Maybe they were delayed by playing around behind. Let's go first. We have something to do back in Chang'an. Lieutenant General Liu, Let’s make arrangements to board the boat and cross the river now, I’m sorry to bother you.”
"I don't dare. My lord and young lord, please follow me this way."
…
When Li Junxian came to the river, Li Daozong and others had already completed crossing the river.
This this……
What should I do? If there is really a mutiny in the Dongting area, then the three thousand soldiers and horses of the King of Jiangxia will be of great importance! No, even if I chase him to the other side of the river or to Luoyang, I will still catch up and ask for help.
Xiao Rui is not idle here either. Since Jingxiang Navy is encircling Dongting Lake Water Village and can't get in like an iron bucket, why not sneak into Jingxiang Navy? Didn't it mean that the imperial court sent Wei Zheng to lead the team? Didn’t you understand everything when you saw Wei Zheng?
But after searching for two days, we could not find out where the imperial envoy Wei Zheng was.
In desperation, Xiao Rui could only find a big city and ask the Xiao Family Chamber of Commerce.
This question didn't matter, the Xiao Family Chamber of Commerce gave a shocking news: "The Yangtze River has been blocked and martial law has been enforced. Crossing the river from Jingxiang to Jingxiang has not been allowed for a whole month. It is said to be to suppress bandits and prevent the Dongting water bandits from escaping to report."
What? ? ?
"This is not normal! If it is a normal army to suppress bandits, it is enough to act openly and openly. Why do they have to cut off various important roads? This is not to resist foreign enemies. The Dongting Water Bandits are just a lone army. Who can they ask for help?"
"Obviously there is something wrong with the methods of the Jingxiang Navy. They don't seem to be guarding against Dongting water bandits, but... they are cutting off the intelligence network! Yes, even civilians crossing the river are cut off. It is obvious that they are covering something up. .”
After thinking about everything, Xiao Rui ordered the Xiao Family Chamber of Commerce in the Jingxiang area to mobilize the information network with all their strength to find out two things: First, where is Wei Zheng, the imperial envoy of the imperial censor? Secondly, what is the situation of the water village in Dongting Lake? If possible, prepare a small boat secretly, and Xiao Rui is ready to find out personally.
If Li Junxian were here, he would definitely oppose this plan immediately. After all, Xiao Rui has no power to restrain a chicken. He is no longer the invincible champion. How can he put himself in danger? Different land on water...
It's a pity that Li Junxian is not here, and beside him are Xiao Changle and Fang Er. Two guys who think they are invincible in the world, they don't mind watching the excitement and say in unison: It's so exciting!
It took another two days for the Xiao Family Chamber of Commerce to use all its power and finally get a piece of vague information: Wei Zheng is in Xiangyang, but we can't reach him and he seems to be under house arrest.
House arrest?
Ridiculous! There were rumors outside that Wei Zheng was an imperial envoy and the commander who led troops to siege Dongting Water Village. Unexpectedly, he was actually under house arrest in Xiangyang? Haha, they are really bold. Do they want to support their own troops? Suppressing bandits under the banner of Wei Zheng?
"You want to cover it up! It's obvious that Old Wei found out their pain. They were afraid of being punished by the court, so they jumped over the wall and struck first. In this way, the Dongting water bandits are innocent, and the Jingxiang navy is a thief. Catch the thief."
Xiao Changle said in confusion: "Brother Zangfeng, but what happens after they destroy the Dongting Water Village? As long as they don't raise the flag to stand on their own, they will eventually have to face the imperial court."
Brother Zangfeng?
Fang Er's eyes widened and he couldn't help but cover his mouth: What did I hear? Why is this title so disgusting? The relationship between the two of them is developing rapidly!
Xiao Rui stretched out his hand and knocked on Xiao Changle, "Call brother-in-law!"
"It's very simple. Just destroy the Dongting Water Village and then kill people to silence them."
Kill and silence? Who to kill?
"Do they still dare to kill Prime Minister Wei? That is the Prime Minister of the imperial court!" Fang Er opened his mouth wide.
Xiao Rui sneered: "Why don't you dare to jump over the wall in a hurry? Of course, they won't do it themselves. They only need to blame the Dongting water bandits. Then they will report to the court that the Dongting water bandits are heinous and the imperial envoy Wei Xiang personally led the team. To suppress the bandits, it is a pity that the sword has no eyes on the battlefield, and unfortunately Prime Minister Wei was killed in the battle by a stray arrow!"
"The Dongting water bandits were wiped out, Prime Minister Wei is no longer here, all the insiders are dead and there is no evidence, and the court has nothing to do with them."
Xiao Changle asked anxiously: "Brother-in-law, what should we do? Can we just watch them cover the sky with one hand?"
Xiao Rui sighed: "For the current plan, we can only rely on the emperor's uncle's three thousand troops."
Three thousand soldiers and horses?
The shopkeeper of the Xiao Family Chamber of Commerce next to him frowned, "Master Hou, are you talking about the soldiers and horses of the King of Jiangxia? I'm afraid..."
