As soon as Chen Chongshan finished speaking, Xu Zhaojie's hearty laughter was heard from the door.
"No need to worry, Commander Chen, I'm here right now!"
Xu Zhaojie, who was smiling after his voice fell, slowly walked over under the gaze of everyone...
Compared with Chen Chongshan's crowd, Xu Zhaojie went to the other extreme when he entered the restaurant. He didn't seem to be aware of any danger, nor did he bring any subordinates, and came to the banquet alone!
Seeing Xu Zhaojie's appearance, Chen Chongshan's eyes flashed with light. Just when he was about to say something, Xu Zhaojie took the lead and said to him sincerely:
"I'm sorry, Commander Chen! When I first came to Anqing, I had a lot of things to do. I didn't pay attention to the time when I was doing business in the morning. By the time I realized it, I had already missed the auspicious time of your birthday party. What a sin, a sin!"
Listening to Xu Zhaojie's words and feeling the low profile of the Zhou Zhenyuan Marquis, Chen Chongshan was a little surprised!
After all, logically speaking, he is now Xu Zhaojie's subordinate, and Xu Zhaojie is his immediate boss. According to official rules, even if Xu Zhaojie misses his birthday party, it is considered a good thing to explain it, which will give him face. There is no need to use "Sorry, Words like "sin" are usually used by lower officials to speak to superior officials...
And the most important thing is that Xu Zhaojie, the Zhou Zhenyuan Marquis, has always been known for his toughness in the court in the past. How has he ever talked down to his subordinates like he does now?
Thinking of this, a look of contentment appeared in Chen Chongshan's eyes. He just thought that Xu Zhaojie recognized the current situation clearly and knew that he was a strong dragon but not a local snake. What's more, now that Xu Zhaojie has fallen into Pingyang, he can't even talk about being a strong dragon. At most, he is just a powerful dragon. A sick cat!
Although he realized that Xu Zhaojie seemed to be willing to give in, Chen Chongshan, who did not want to endure it anymore, was already determined to come to the stage and be the master of Anqing in an upright and upright manner. He immediately said:
"Master Marquis, your official duties are more important. Mr. Chen's birthday banquet is nothing, but Master Marquis, you must pay attention to your health!"
At the end, Chen Chongshan deliberately emphasized his tone, and the meaning of the whole sentence was very meaningful!
Although Chen Chongshan acted very deliberately, Xu Zhaojie didn't seem to hear the implication of Chen Chongshan's words. He smiled and nodded and said:
"No need to worry about Commander Chen's concern. I have always been in good health. I can eat five taels a meal and can shoot a ten-stone bow. Moreover, Anqing has outstanding people and good geomancy. I am very happy to be here..." ·····”
Chen Chongshan's eyes narrowed slightly when he heard this, and he looked at Xu Zhaojie who was smiling in front of him. He didn't know whether the Zhenyuan Lord really couldn't understand what he was talking about, or he was just pretending to be dumbfounded and trying to get away with it!
Chen Chongshan, who held an absolute strength advantage in Anqing, was too lazy to think about this. He stared at Xu Zhaojie and said coldly:
"No, why did I hear that Mr. Xu, you are a little acclimated to the local environment in Anqing?"
As soon as these words came out, the entire Linglong Restaurant fell into silence. Chen Chongshan's brothers all looked at Xu Zhaojie alone with malicious eyes.
Under the gaze of everyone, the smile on Xu Zhaojie's face remained unchanged, and he did not answer Chen Chongshan's question. Instead, he found an empty seat at the dinner table and sat down. He picked up the half-drunk wine bottle and raised his head directly without using the wine glass. I drank with a headache.
After drinking all the remaining wine in the flask in one go, Xu Zhaojie also wiped the wine stains on the corners of his mouth with his sleeve and said with satisfaction:
"I heard about it when I was in Luo'an. The wine at Anqing Linglong Restaurant is unparalleled in the world. Today I tasted it and it truly lives up to its reputation..."
At this point, Xu Zhaojie looked at Chen Chongshan and continued:
"Commander Chen is holding your birthday banquet. Although I am late, drinking this wine is a worthwhile act to wish you a birthday!"
Seeing Xu Zhaojie acting like this, Chen Chongshan became more and more confused as to what tricks Xu Zhaojie was playing. However, having already made up his mind, he thought that Xu Zhaojie was playing tricks. After taking a deep look at Xu Zhaojie, he said:
"I heard that Lord Xu, you have been living in the north for a long time. You are not accustomed to the climate and climate in Anqing. You are very unwell and cannot manage the government. You want to return to Sichuan for medical treatment. I am willing to offer you five thousand two taels of silver on behalf of the people of Anqing!"
Although he has decided to step forward to serve as the patrol envoy of Anqing, this does not mean that Chen Chongshan wants to kill Xu Zhaojie. For him, if Xu Zhaojie can be more sensible and get out of Anqing, that would be the best thing!
Although the world is now in chaos and Fanzhen is divided, no matter how they fight, they always stick to the name of Da Zhou. Although Xu Zhaojie has lost power now, the brand of Zhenyuan Hou passed down from his ancestors is still very loud. The family has been with other people for generations. The rich and powerful are marrying each other. I don’t know how many people will be offended by killing Xu Zhaojie...
And another point is that Xu Zhaojie commanded the Xuanwu Army in the Forbidden Army and made countless military exploits for the Zhou Dynasty on the battlefield. He also defeated the Luobei people for the Zhou Dynasty, pacified the palace capital, and established a lot of achievements in foreign wars. The greatest achievement is that a famous general in the world is deeply loved by the people, so if you kill him, your reputation will be ruined.
Chen Chongshan is fifty years old this year and is no longer a stupid boy. Although he has made up his mind, he also knows the stakes of the matter. Therefore, if he can get Xu Zhaojie out of Anqing without killing anyone, he will never do anything. Of course If Xu Zhaojie didn't know what was going on and would not leave unless he stayed in Anqing, Chen Chongshan, who was determined, would never look back or be merciful!
Seeing Chen Chongshan's appearance, Xu Zhaojie shook his head slightly and said helplessly:
"Commander Chen, why are you doing this?"
"Master Xu Hou, Mr. Chen has saved you enough face, you must not fail to appreciate him!" Chen Chongshan put his hands behind his back and looked at Xu Zhaojie with murderous intent in his eyes and said coldly:
As he finished speaking, Chen Chongshan gave the sworn brothers who were surrounding him a glance. Taking Chen Chongshan's hint, everyone immediately drew their swords and pointed them at Xu Zhaojie, ready to hack Xu Zhaojie to death in this exquisite restaurant if they disagreed.
Under Chen Chongshan's gaze and under the countless blades, Xu Zhaojie sighed helplessly.
"well················"
Listening to Xu Zhaojie's sigh, just when Chen Chongshan thought Xu Zhaojie was about to admit defeat, Xu Zhaojie suddenly threw the wine bottle in his hand to the ground.
"boom!"
There was just a crisp sound and the ceramic wine pot was shattered into countless pieces. Just when Chen Chongshan was confused and confused, Li Sandao, the closest sworn brother, suddenly turned around and slashed the knife in Chen Chongshan's face. .
Chen Chongshan was caught off guard and had no time to dodge. However, even though he was over fifty years old, he was still very agile and quick in reaction after climbing all the way up from the bottom. He directly blocked this fatal blow of his sworn brother with his right hand. hit!
"ah!"
Li Sandao's blade fell, and Chen Chongshan screamed. Although he saved his life, his right hand was cut off by the sword...
Following Li Sandao's actions, most of the guards in the restaurant also switched sides and began to massacre their former partners.
Suddenly, the famous Linglong Restaurant in Anqing was filled with swords, wailing and screams!
Li Sandao failed to hit the target, and the loyal guards around Chen Chongshan reacted, leaving Li Sandao with no chance to make a move. Li Sandao had no choice but to retreat temporarily, and commanded his men to rush up to Chen Chongshan. go.
After experiencing the panic of being suddenly hit, the guards loyal to Chen Chongshan in the restaurant slowly began to stabilize their position. With the help of people around him, Chen Chongshan himself temporarily managed to stop his broken right arm. Blood.
Seeing Li Sandao, who was not far away commanding his men to charge towards him and wanting to kill him quickly, Chen Chongshan yelled resentfully:
"Li Sandao, you bastard who deserves to be cut to pieces! I treat you so well and you betrayed me! How could you become the commander without me?"
Listening to Chen Chongshan's curse, Li Sandao snorted coldly, pointed the sword in his hand at Chen Chongshan and said:
"Chen! What you said is true. You helped me earn my position as commander!"
"But I don't owe you anything. Just count it with your conscience. How many times have I pulled you out of the private pile in the past few decades? Without me, Li Sandao, risking his life to save you, Chen Chongshan, let alone now, would be dead. I don’t know where the mass grave is…”
At this point, Li Sandao's eyes changed, he looked at Chen Chongshan fiercely and said:
"Chen, I have saved you so many times, and you actually repaid me with kindness! Do you really think that there is an airtight wall in this world, and no one knows about the conspiracy between you and Cao Changping? Don't you know that Cao Changping killed my whole family? ?”
"You still want to use my head to exchange money and food with Cao Changping, Chen Chongshan, you bastard, since you are unkind, don't blame me for being unjust!"
Listening to what Li Sandao said, Chen Chongshan, who had discovered the conspiracy, was speechless. He never expected that his plan, which he thought was perfect, would be known to Li Sandao a long time ago, and such a big plan was laid to rebel against him. one strike!
Xu Zhaojie, who was sitting on a chair at the dinner table, watched with interest the drama of the brothers turning against each other. He was glad that he made the right move in going to Huainan to find Feng Keqin.
Not only did he get support from Feng Keqin in terms of manpower and money, but he also learned about the specific situation in Anqing and got the secret helper Li Sandao...
This Li Sandao was Chen Chongshan's adopted brother and Chen Chongshan's right-hand man in the Anqing Army. He was second only to Chen Chongshan. He had saved Chen Chongshan's life many times and was one of Chen Chongshan's most trusted people before.
After Cao Changping, who was far away in Qilu, learned that Chen Chongshan wanted to be the patrol envoy of Anqing, he sent someone to contact Chen Chongshan and expressed his support for you to be the patrol envoy of Anqing and invited you. They jointly sent troops southward to divide Huainan.
Faced with the goodwill unleashed by Cao Changping, Chen Chongshan was also an ambitious man and coveted the wealth of Huainan. Without much thought, he formed a secret alliance with Cao Changping, and Li Sandao was an obstacle to the alliance between Chen Chongshan and Cao Changping!
Although he held an important position in the Anqing army, Li Sandao was not from Anqing. He was born in Qilu. In the early years of Anqing, banditry appeared in Anqing. Qilu, as a neighboring province, assisted in sending troops to encircle and suppress it. Li Sandao because of the war He was brave and killed more than ten gangsters. He was valued by the Shangguan at that time, so he stayed in Anqing to serve, but his family stayed in Qilu... ··
But just five years ago, Cao Changping was collecting grain in Qilu. Li Sandao's father refused to cooperate and secretly hid the excess grain in a secret cellar at home. However, he was reported by the long-term worker at home, which made Cao Changping furious. In order to kill one person as a warning to others, he killed all seventeen members of Li Sandao's family without leaving any one alive!
Li Sandao, who thus became a loner, hated Cao Changping so much that he repeatedly declared that he would cut Cao Changping into pieces and eat his flesh. Therefore, his existence became the biggest obstacle to the cooperation between Chen Chongshan and Cao Changping. Cao Changping secretly sent someone to inform him. Chen Chongshan, as long as Li Sandao dies, Cao Changping is willing to give Chen Chongshan one hundred thousand taels of silver and two hundred thousand stones of food and grass!
Although the money and food are tempting, to be honest, Chen Chongshan, as a general who worked his way up from the bottom, would not kill his sworn brother, his right-hand man in the army, just for the money and food, so that his loved ones would hate him and his enemies would be happy!
But at this time, Cao Changping not only tempted him with money and food, but also bribed a few people close to him. After these people took Cao Changping's money, they kept saying that Li Sandao had too much power in the army and had evil intentions, and sooner or later he would rebel. , Chen Chongshan is required to strike first to avoid future troubles·················
Chen Chongshan was indifferent to these words at first and expressed his willingness to believe Li Sandao. However, after hearing more from people around him, he gradually began to doubt Li Sandao. In the end, under the encouragement of people around him, he became obsessed with Cao Changping's money. Under the temptation, he finally nodded and agreed to deal with Li Sandao.
However, Xu Zhaojie came to Anqing at this time, so the matter of dealing with Li Sandao was postponed. Chen Chongshan originally planned to drive Xu Zhaojie away, secure his position as the patrol envoy in Anqing, and then deal with Li Sandao.
But what he never expected was that Li Sandao knew about this news. In order to protect himself, Li Sandao sent his cronies to find Feng Keqin in Huainan, and told Chen Chongshan and Cao Changping about the conspiracy in Huainan. , Tell the truth to Feng Keqin and seek Feng Keqin's help.
Because of this, under Feng Keqin's matchmaking, Li Sandao and Xu Zhaojie got connected. Then Xu Zhaojie also learned from Li Sandao that Chen Chongshan had set up this Hongmen Banquet for him. After careful discussion, the two decided Play tricks with Chen Chongshan as soon as they come up, so that they can send Chen Chongshan on his way...
