Liu Ji and his party returned home. More than ten days later, they came to a three-way intersection in Anyang. Because they were in such a hurry, they were all sweating profusely from the heat, so they went into a small forest on the roadside to rest. People unbutton their clothes to cool off. It wasn't long before we suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves. Everyone looked up and saw a dozen officers and soldiers on horseback coming from behind, including a man in official uniform. At this time, a confused official who was running at the front came to Liu Ji, pointed his whip and asked: "Hey, hey, hey! Which of these two roads leads to Shanfu County?" Liu Ji saw that the sergeant did not Due to etiquette, he said angrily: "Boy, bring the horse over and let me ride it, and I will show you the way!" The sergeant said angrily: "You bastard, how dare you ask for the general's horse?" Xia Houying saw that he was rude, He rushed forward and scolded: "Hey! What kind of god are you, so rude?" The sergeant replied contemptuously: "General, I am a god in the sky!" Xia Houying said: "Boy, how dare you be so presumptuous? , I'll break your dog legs!" When the sergeant saw Xia Houying scolding him, he was about to show off his power. Suddenly another person came up behind him and said: "They seem to be soldiers too, don't worry about it, let's go over, shall we?" The man blew his beard. Walked away with eyes wide open.
At this time, the weather suddenly turned cold. The escorts were all wearing single clothes. They were sweating. Now when the cold wind blew, Ji Xin suddenly felt hot all over his body and became top-heavy. Liu Ji then ordered everyone to light a fire to keep warm. At this time, they found that the group of people had stopped not far away. They looked around for some dry firewood, lit a fire to roast food, and listened to them from a distance: "Thanks to us for bringing food, otherwise We're going to be hungry again." The man in official uniform said, "Eat quickly, you have to go on your way after eating." Liu Ji heard clearly and said, "These guys don't know where they are going to plunder people's wealth. Why don't you seize the horse and give it to brother Ji Xin to ride?" Xia Houying was young and energetic. After hearing this, he excitedly said: "Brother, let me do this!" Everyone discussed it for a while. Xia Houying then sneaked behind the group of people, saw a strong white horse, quietly untied the reins, and then jumped on the horse's back. The horse was suddenly frightened, raised its front hooves and neighed.
The officers and soldiers were eating meat when they suddenly discovered that someone was stealing a horse. They hurriedly put down the meat and shouted: "Quick! Quick! Someone is trying to steal your horse, catch him!" As they said this, they all ran over. Liu Ji led the ordinary brothers to rush over and fight with the officers and soldiers. Suddenly, he heard a shout behind him and saw Xia Houying pull out a tree and hit Pegasus. When the officers and soldiers saw Xia Houying's approach, they had no choice but to run away with their heads in their hands. The official also ran away. When Xia Houying saw that the officers and soldiers had run away, he rode over. When Liu Ji saw that it was a good horse, he took it to the forest and let Ji Xin ride on it. Ji Xin's whole body was weak at this time and he had no strength at all. Now that he had a horse, he had a savior. Everyone continued to walk back, laughing and talking.
A few days later, they arrived at Fengyi. Liu Ji and Xia Houying first sent Ji Xin home, and then came to Liu Ji's home in Zhongyangli. At this time, the Taigong and his wife quickly prepared food for the two of them to eat. After the two had eaten, they told their family what they had seen and heard in Xianyang. When the Taigong heard that they saw Qin Shihuang's chariot, he said happily: "You are really amazing. I have never seen a county magistrate in my life!" As the Taigong said something, he suddenly remembered something and said: "Ji'er, Yesterday, Xiao County Magistrate sent someone a message saying that a distinguished guest from the county has arrived, and the officials are rushing to congratulate me tomorrow. The County Magistrate also specially came to inform me, what do you think we should do about this?" Liu Ji was thinking. : Could it be that the distinguished guests are the group of people we met on the road a few days ago. He asked his father: "Who is he?" His father replied: "I heard from the guard that he is an old man." Liu Ji was relieved when he heard that he was an old man, and said angrily: "Although he said he was going to congratulate him, in fact They want everyone to go and give a considerable gift. I think it’s better not to go. How can we have any money left to offer?” The father was silent for a while and said, “What my son said makes sense, but I’m worried about all the The officials all went to give gifts, but if you don't go, I'm afraid you won't be able to become a small pavilion chief. You might as well go, take less money, and make up for it." Liu Ji reluctantly agreed.
Early the next morning, Liu Ji and Xia Houying mounted their horses and galloped towards Pei County. When the two came to the county, Xia Houying said, "Eldest brother, please go first. I will also go home and prepare a gift." Liu Ji agreed and walked to the Yamen. When he was approaching the door, he heard the roar of gongs and drums and the bustle of people in the courtyard of the county government. Liu Ji thought that he only brought 300 yuan, and the battle inside seemed a bit big, so he hid under a tree and hesitated in embarrassment. At this time, it happened that the county magistrate came over. The county magistrate's name is Xiao He, who is also a native of the county. He wears a black official uniform, is of medium build, has fair skin, slender eyebrows and a long beard, and is elegant and elegant. He is well-known in Peixian County because he is familiar with Qin laws, well-read poetry and books, and is especially proficient in the struggle for hegemony in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. He has never wronged a good person for handling a wrong case, so he is well-known in Pei County. He also came here specifically to organize a toast for the county magistrate's distinguished guests today. Xiao He walked to the door, saw Liu Ji, and took the initiative to say hello.
When Liu Ji saw Xiao He coming, he quickly saluted him. Xiao He said: "When did Liu Tingzhang come back?" Liu Jidao: "Mr. Xiao, I came home last night. At that time, I heard from my father that there was an invitation from you, and I came to attend the toast party today. But I don't know what the county is doing. What kind of distinguished guest is here?" Xiao He said with a smile: "You don't need to ask, you will know when you go in." After saying that, he pulled Liu Ji and walked towards the courtyard gate. When Liu Ji came to the courtyard, he looked around and saw that under the eaves and in the corridors, there were lights and colorful lights everywhere, as lively as a festival. At this time, Cao Shen, Ren Ao, Zhao Ou, Zhou Ding, Peng Zu, Cao Wushang and others all came over to meet Xiao He. Xiao He left first after meeting everyone, and Liu Ji met them. Just when everyone was talking happily, Xiao He suddenly stood at the door of the lobby and greeted loudly: "Those whose gifts are over one thousand yuan should sit inside the hall, and those who are less than one thousand yuan should sit outside the hall!" When Liu Ji heard this, he was heartbroken. Thinking that I had brought a total of three hundred dollars, if I sat outside the hall, I wouldn't even be able to see the guests. He turned around and walked under the eaves of the corridor, picked up the pen from the desk, and wrote the words "Congratulations on a gift of ten thousand" on his gift list, and then handed the gift list to Xiao He for viewing. When Xiao He saw Liu Ji's generosity, he handed the gift list to another servant and asked him to go to the back hall to register. Then he pulled Liu Ji into the lobby.
As soon as Liu Jigang entered the door, he was shocked. It turned out that the person sitting in the hall was none other than the official who had snatched the horse from him on his way back to Peixian County from Xianyang. Liu Ji didn't expect that the distinguished guest would be him, so he turned around and wanted to walk out, but he had already been seen by the official in the hall. The official suddenly stood up, slapped the case and shouted: "Come quickly! Get the robber at the door!" Everyone was shocked and didn't know what was going on. The official pointed at Liu Ji and said to everyone: "On our way to Peixian County, we met a group of robbers, and the leader was this man! I was about to look for him, but he came to the door himself!" Another person also He testified: "This is the guy who instigated his accomplices to injure us and take away your Majesty's mount!" When the county magistrate heard this, he flew into a rage and said, "You dare Liu Ji, how dare you rob your Majesty's mount?" Lord Shi's mount even wounded the imperial guard. Come here! Tie Liu Ji up and take him to the prison to be dealt with!" Three or five officials rushed forward and tied up Liu Ji with three strikes, five divided by two. got up. Only then did Liu Ji know that he and Xia Houying had gotten into trouble. Zhang Yushi asked Liu Ji again where the person who seized the horse and beat the man was. Liu Ji said nothing. As soon as County Magistrate Zhao heard the description, he knew that the man was Xia Houying, and immediately sent an order to arrest Xia Houying. The officials came out in response. The heroes of Pei County were all stunned.
After a while, the banquet started. Seeing that Zhang Cang was unhappy, the county magistrate toasted to him. All the officials present were worried for Liu Ji, thinking that Qin's laws were very strict and Liu Ji might be convicted by the time the banquet was over. At this moment, a sixty-year-old man suddenly walked in from outside. He said as he walked: "I'm late, I kept you all waiting for a long time!" Zhao Feng heard the voice and hurriedly got up to greet him. It turned out that this person's surname was Lu Mingwen and his courtesy name was Shuping. He was an old friend of County Magistrate Zhao. Because he has two daughters, the eldest daughter is named Lu Pheasant and the younger daughter is named Lu Yu. They are both as beautiful as flowers and jade. Their family was originally from Shanfu County, but because there was a bully in the county who wanted to occupy Lu Pheasant, Lu Gong burned the house in anger and took the whole family to Peixian County to join his old friend. Magistrate Zhao warmly received him and called on all the officials in the county to congratulate Lu Wen, so today's toast party was held.
The imperial censor, named Zhang Cang, was ordered to come to Pei County on official business. Since I lost my horse in Anyang, I was very angry. When I arrived in Peixian County, I happened to catch up with the county magistrate holding a toast for Lu Gong. The county magistrate also liked to curry favor with his superiors, so he held a toast party for them both. Liu Ji didn't know that Zhang Cang would come to Peixian County, so he bumped into him today and ended up being imprisoned.
When Zhao Feng saw Lu Gong coming in, he quickly stood up to greet him, and then took the lead and toasted to Lord Zhang Cang together with Lu Gong. The officials also followed suit. After the toasts were finished, Lu Gong walked up to Xiao He and asked in a low voice: "Master Xiao, who is Liu Ji? His gift list said a gift of ten thousand, but he hasn't seen a penny yet. I don't know why?" Xiao He I was surprised again, thinking that this must be Liu Ji teasing Magistrate Zhao. Now it seems that Liu Ji is about to add more sins to his crimes. How can he sit idly by and do nothing? He said: "Liu Ji sent the gift to my house last night. Today, because I was in a hurry, I forgot the gift at home. I will go and get it right away." Lu Gong said: "That's it. Mr. Xiao is not in a hurry, not in a hurry." . But who is Liu Ji? Is he a rich man? I want to meet him? Such a generous person is really rare!" Xiao He became anxious after hearing this, and quickly led Mr. Lu to the door, and then said what he just said The matter was told once. When Lu Gong heard that Liu Ji had been imprisoned, he said: "Isn't it fair that I sent him so many gifts, but he was imprisoned instead? Where is he? Take me to see him." Xiao He Afraid that the gift money would be leaked, he said, "Liu Ji always likes to talk big words, but he accomplishes very few things. You better not go to see him!" But Lu Gong didn't know what was going on, but he insisted on going. You can't meet Liu Ji. Xiao He couldn't resist, so he led Lu Gong to see Liu Ji.
The two came to the cell. When Lu Gong saw Liu Ji, he was so shocked that he could not speak for a long time. It turned out that Lu Gong was a master of fortune-telling, and he was shocked when he saw Liu Ji's appearance. Xiao He didn't know what was going on, so he kept trying to smooth things over. Lu Gong happily asked Liu Ji: "My dear nephew, why do you want to seize Lord Zhang's mount?" Seeing Lu Gong's pleasant appearance, Liu Ji told Lu Gong that Ji Xin was ill and wanted him to ride a horse. After listening to Liu Ji's explanation, Duke Lu nodded with satisfaction and said: "My nephew robbed Zhang Yushi's mount for his brother. He is really a kind and righteous person! I see that you are a handsome person and you are a good person! Please feel aggrieved for the moment. , I will go and beg Mr. Zhang for a favor, and then transfer all the gifts you gave me to him. If he ignores the past grudges, he will let his nephew come out!" Lu Gong took two steps, then turned around and asked: "Yu Shi Where is your lord's horse now?" Liu Jidao said, "It's tied to the big locust tree outside the door." Lu Gong turned and left. Xiao He was also a monk who was two feet tall and was confused.
