Just after noon, Liu Jiangsheng was chewing on the meat pie in his hand and chatting happily with a few soldiers. Suddenly, he saw the prison door opening thirty steps away. Two jailers hurried over, followed closely by a man in coarse cloth. The thin young man in short clothes knocked heavily on the prison door. Liu Jiangsheng quickly swallowed the half-eaten piece of pancake and then hurried to meet him.
Seeing this, a jailer who was walking at the forefront quickly walked up to Liu Jiangsheng, raised his hands respectfully and said: "Liu has been waiting for a long time! Then this little brother will be handed over to the envoy, and we will go back to report!" "
"Thank you! I've been waiting for a while..." Liu Jiangsheng nodded, and while swallowing the last mouthful of food in his throat, he picked up a broad robe and directly covered the young man in his arms. middle.
Perhaps he had been suffocating in the dark cell for too long without seeing any light. Wang Jingguo staggered unaccustomedly. Although the autumn sunshine was not intense, he could not help but narrow his eyes into slits. The moment he regained his vision, he only saw the tall Liu Jiangsheng smiling innocently at him.
"It seems that you are Jingguo!"
This was an extremely pleasant Chuzhou accent. Wang Jingguo was stunned for a moment and asked the seemingly unfamiliar but kind-hearted man next to him: "Who are you? Are you from Wangjiazhuang too?"
Liu Jiangsheng stroked Wang Jingguo's messy hair and said happily: "Hey, how did you know!"
Wang Jingguo rolled his eyes and said helplessly: "My father came from Wangjiazhuang! This is how my sister sounds when she talks about it, so of course I know."
"My name is Liu Jiangsheng. Brother Yuan asked me to take you back."
Wang Jingguo seemed to have remembered something, and gradually lowered his head in despair and whispered: "Where to go back? My house is gone..."
At this time, the soldiers brought a horse. Liu Jiangsheng lifted it with one arm and threw the thin Wang Jingguo on the horse. Then he stepped onto the horse, tightened the reins, and said with a smile: "Go home."
...
At night, Chuzhou City South Station.
At this time, bonfires were lit everywhere in the Forbidden Army's camp. The surrounding soldiers were either sitting on the ground or looking up at the sky. Some were setting up pots to cook rice and meat, and some were making jokes and chatting. It was so fun! Just because Li Yuan and his party returned to camp before noon, they announced exciting good news to the soldiers and set off back to Beijing tomorrow.
In the handsome tent, the three brothers Li Yuan and the generals were already drinking happily. Only Xu Kuangheng didn't drink at all, and for some reason he didn't say a word.
"Erhu, thank you for arriving in time today, otherwise how could He Jingzhu compromise? Come on, big brother, I respect you!"
Since getting drunk in Wangjiazhuang last time, Li Yuan ordered Luo Erhu to temporarily abstain from drinking, while Yangzhou and his party traveled back and forth, and today they successfully rescued Wang Jingguo. Luo Erhu has made a great contribution. But what made everyone dumbfounded was that the first reward the black man asked Li Yuan was to allow him to drink wine tonight.
Luo Erhu was already very drunk at this time, his face flushed with alcohol. He drank a bowl, so he took Li Yuan and Liu Jiangsheng and began to describe it with excitement: "Hey! Big brother and second brother, you don't know , after I got the order that day, I immediately went south, not stopping at many stations along the way. Unfortunately, I lost two good horses! So I entered Yangzhou City and made plans. Without the horses, I couldn't walk back! Just in time. Before I left, I saw the carriage of my eldest brother's father-in-law, so I simply untied the reins..."
Seeing that the three brothers Li Yuan were laughing and talking at the main seat, and the generals were also drinking with each other in twos and threes, Xu Kuangheng stood up suddenly, walked to Li Yuan, raised his hands respectfully and said, "Honor Yu, I have an injury on my lower body, so it is inconvenient to drink. , just leave now!"
Hearing this, Li Yuan nodded casually and smiled naturally: "Oh, Mr. Xu, I told you in the morning that you don't need to go to the banquet if you are injured. Go and have a rest! If you hadn't used your clever trick today, I'm afraid Wang Jingguo and others will die in vain! I would like to thank Mr. Xu for Sister Yao, for Jingguo, and for the people of Chuzhou! I will keep your kindness in mind."
A trace of joy immediately appeared on Xu Kuangheng's pale face, and he bowed again: "Yu Hou's words are serious! Since I am determined to follow Yu Hou, I will do my best and not give up even if I die!"
"Then please go and have a rest, sir! We will set off back to Beijing tomorrow!" Li Yuan did not continue to answer the conversation, but just smiled and called the soldiers outside the account: "Come on, help Mr. Xu go down and have a rest!"
Seeing Xu Kuangheng's back disappearing into the darkness outside the account, Li Yuan suddenly withdrew the stagnant smile on his face for some unknown reason, and then sat down with a serious look on his face.
Next to him, Luo Erhu's eyes were always on his elder brother. At this time, he also put down his wine bowl and asked in a low voice: "Brother, why don't you look so good? Could it be that you were injured last night?"
Li Yuan pushed Luo Erhu angrily and said, "You black guy, are you hoping that your eldest brother will be disabled? I was unscathed last night."
Liu Jiangsheng, who had been silent just now, seemed to be recalling something, and he spoke after a moment: "Brother Yuan, but because of Mr. Xu's daytime——"
"Jiang Sheng, what do you think of a person who dares to tear open his old wounds and sprinkle them with coarse salt?"
Only a stubborn man like Luo Erhu answered this unexpected question without hesitation: "Brother, I heard about this! Mr. I admire you so much in my heart..."
Liu Jiangsheng was inexplicably stunned for a while, and asked doubtfully: "Brother Yuan meant what he said, but what Mr. Xu did in the hall, did you not know in advance?"
Li Yuan smiled calmly: "If I knew that he had this cruel trick, how could I have almost done it? Wouldn't you be able to hold back at that time?"
Having said this, the two brothers looked at each other and smiled, then patted each other's shoulders in tacit understanding. In the courtroom during the day, Liu Jiangsheng had been observing Li Yuan's expression. When he saw something strange, he immediately winked at the soldiers on the left and right. This was a unique tacit understanding cultivated by the two brothers over the past twenty years.
Seeing Luo Erhu approaching curiously, Li Yuan simply spread his arms and said, "Let me tell you two in detail. The coarse salt on Mr. Xu's wound today must have been secretly taken from the salt truck handed over by the government. Yes, he joined the army as a judicial officer, so it is not difficult to get some stolen goods. But Mr. Xu arrived at our camp two days ago and was already injured, and he has never left since then..."
"Brother Yuan, what you mean is that Mr. Xu made preparations for today's public injury examination two days ago? Even coarse salt is ready?"
"Exactly! And in the past two days, we didn't know anything about it! Ma Liu did not smuggle salt last night, but Mr. Xu was able to produce evidence even at the cost of damaging himself. Even He Jingzhu was frightened! With this With his scheming and cruelty, besides admiring him, I am actually a little afraid of him..."
Luo Erhu put his palms together and grinned: "Brother, what are you afraid of him doing? Why are you so suspicious? I think Mr. Xu is wholeheartedly serving his brother. If he hadn't opened his knife wound and sprinkled salt on it, , I can't scare He Jingzhu and Ma Liu! They are really brave and resourceful! Brother, you will have a good strategist under your command in the future!"
Liu Jiangsheng seemed to agree, nodded and said: "Brother Yuan, Mr. Xu has been running around for you since arriving in Chuzhou! Now, the boy from Jingguo has been saved, and Mr. Xu has contributed a lot! Not to mention him He has given up his official position and is willing to follow you back to Aurous Hill. I think he is indeed loyal to you! We cannot doubt your friendship, sir!"
After hearing this, Li Yuan smiled noncommittally and said lightly: "I will naturally keep his contribution in mind this time. He treated me with kindness and kindness, and I will repay him with kindness and kindness! It's just that today is really unpleasant. Since he is determined to follow As for me, why didn't you tell me in advance?"
In fact, during the day at the Chuzhou government office, when Li Yuan witnessed the scene of Xu Kuangheng tearing open his wound, his first reaction was only deep admiration and gratitude, and he had no other complicated thoughts. From the first time he met this person by chance in the prison, to when he took the initiative to ask Ying to find out the news, to when he took the lead in the bloody battle on Huangmul Ridge, and what he did today, he has proven Xu Kuangheng's extraordinary intelligence and ability.
Li Yuan also had a good chat with him and finally succeeded in recruiting him to his subordinates. However, thinking about it later, for example, he made his own decisions today. Although he made key contributions, he felt that he was completely kept in the dark by his subordinates. , but it made Li Yuansheng feel vaguely worried, but he couldn't really explain it clearly.
After coming back to his senses, Li Yuan looked at the two good brothers beside him who were speechless for a long time. Li Yuan sighed softly: "Well, I shouldn't have misunderstood you sir so much. Maybe I'm just paranoid!"
