"Giving a gift?" After leaving the post house, Li Liu's face suddenly became unhappy after understanding Wu Zhu's intention. Of course, amidst the displeasure, there was clearly a surprise hidden in his eyes.
This insignificant change made Ling Su squint his eyes and grasp it accurately.
"Your Majesty, there is a saying that no reward will be given without merit. How can I, Li Liu, be so virtuous as to accept this great gift? Your Majesty, please take it back as soon as possible." Li Liu declined again and again.
Ruan Qiu, who was standing next to him, had a righteous expression on his face.
"Ah, by the way, General Ruan, can you help me?" Wu Zhu rolled his eyes and spoke.
"The king is joking." Ruan Qiu clasped his fists.
"I would also like to ask General Ruan to get a stool. I am old and frail, and I feel a little tired from standing for a long time."
Ruan Qiu was silent for a while, looked at Wu Zhu, then at Li Liu, nodded and walked back.
Just wait for Ruan Qiu to go away——
"Commander Li, please accept it." Wu Zhu spoke again very smartly, and with constant movement in his hand, he pushed the orb box away, took out the orb directly, and placed it in Li Liu's hand.
Ling Su, who was pretending to be a general nearby, also calmly narrowed his eyes.
Li Liu quickly turned his head, glanced at Ruan Qiu who was walking away, calmly raised his cuffs, took two huge orbs, and slipped them into his sleeves.
Wu Zhu smiled with satisfaction, "Commander Li, don't worry, if you don't tell me if I don't tell you, no one in the world will know."
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Li Liu's face flushed slightly and he nodded hurriedly.
After Ruan Qiu came back, everything returned to the same state as before. Wu Zhu was holding an empty bead box, as if he was still giving in. But in fact, the orb has already been in Li Liu's hands.
Ruan Qiu glanced at it, put down the chair, and stood next to Li Liu again, motionless as a mountain.
…
"Li Liu's temperament is that of a person who is accustomed to being an envoy. He learned a lot from Lao Huang earlier, and he will be very clear about the situation." At the top of the city of Dawan Pass, Xu Mu thought I wanted to speak seriously.
To a large extent, he believed in Li Liu in his heart.
"What my lord said is true." Dongfang Jing nodded, "Li Liu's letter has already stated that he is preparing to enter Hezhou. I hope there will be no problems with Wu Zhu, the king of Hezhou."
The hidden meaning of this sentence is that Hezhou is on the side of Cangwu Prefecture. If something happens to Wu Zhu, it may involve the seaport of Cangwu Prefecture.
Of course, there is another possibility. If something goes wrong, Li Liu, a young counselor, can stabilize the overall situation.
"Bo Lie, I plan to leave the customs for a trip."
"Exit?" Dongfang Jing paused.
"Exactly, Bo Lie, don't forget, our General Xiao Han's original suggestion was to find a way to open the road between Lizhou and Jiang'an. At least, if there is a surprise attack in the future... we can respond quickly."
Dongfang Jing thought for a while, "The best section from Lizhou to Jijiang River should be along the tributary river in the north, all the way to the river bank at the border of Sizhou."
There are mountains to the north of Lizhou and Sizhou to the east. Only from a position close to the east can one reach the river bank along the tributary river.
"My original intention was to pretend to be an ordinary businessman and go there with Gou Fu. But now that I think about it, it happens to be a period of truce, so it would be better to go directly."
Dongfang Jing smiled and said, "That's the case. If the lord pretends to be a businessman and Chang Sheng finds out, he might actually take action secretly. But if the lord makes a big show of it, peace talks have just begun, and Chang Sheng is afraid of throwing a tantrum. Moreover, such a situation Come, you can also bring more guards."
"As Bo Lie said." Xu Mu nodded. Previously, he had the idea of going to the river bank to have a look. After all, Jiang An is a very important part of the future surprise attack plan.
However, when leaving the customs this time, a name needs to be established, and it is not appropriate to expose Xi Shu's intentions.
"In name, it's actually very simple." Dongfang Jing smiled, "The intelligence said that although Chang Sheng is still staying in the inner city, Liu Chen, as the second-in-command strategist, has already returned. The conditions for the peace talks are that Chang Sheng withdraws his troops within five days. Baili, we retreated our troops to the border between Lizhou and Sizhou."
"Bo Lie's intention is to let me put on a scam in the name of wooing Liu Chen. Secretly, I still focus on exploring the river bank."
"That's right. In terms of a winning strategy, he will see it as a scam and ignore it. But the master's real purpose this time has been achieved."
Xu Mu sighed, "To be honest with Bo Lie, deep down in my heart, I don't want to see Liu Chen. Ye Xiao's intelligence said that he doesn't like me. He always felt that I should continue to follow the young marquis's will and support him. Daji Chaotang.”
"If I am not wrong about the legacy of Lord Yuan, the original intention was for the lord to overturn the troubled times. To put it bluntly, if someone were to choose to support the court, it would not be the lord. It might be Liu Chen. It may be other honest ministers. But only the lord can take the second path in troubled times with the sword."
Dongfang Jing's tone was a little choked, "Many people in the world don't understand Lord Yuan's intentions. But in fact, in this troubled time in the Central Plains, Lord Yuan is the one who holds the lantern for the entire world."
Xu Mu also sighed with a look on his face. He suddenly remembered something. Not only Dongfang Jing, but also Li Zhiqiu, Liu Chen, Liangzhou Dong Wen, and even Chang Laosi, he himself had received great favor from the young Marquis.
Xu Mu closed his eyes in pain.
In my ears, I seemed to think of the young Marquis's voice again.
My brother, has this world ever been peaceful?
…
"Report——"
At the Sizhou border, the Beiyu camp retreated five hundred miles away. Liu Chen, who had put on his robe and armor, was sitting in front of the deduction table, silently watching the situation in the sand pool.
He didn't look back until the scouts came back.
His good friend Chang Sheng still wanted to stay in the inner city and deal with King Sha Rong. As for him, he received the military order from King Beiyu and rushed back to the camp first to handle various military affairs with Shen Tuguan.
"Why." Shen Tuguan stood up next to him. After receiving the information, he walked back with a frown.
"Commander Liu, something happened."
"General Shentu, could it be related to Xi Shu." Liu Chen raised his head.
"Indeed. News came back from the iron execution platform in Lizhou that Xu Mu, the king of Western Shu, is about to leave the customs and come to the north of Lizhou."
Liu Chen frowned and said, "Bring a few people with me."
"Eight thousand elite Shu cavalry are led by Wolf General Chao Yi. We just had peace talks, what is he going to do?" Shen Tuguan said with a serious expression.
"It would be premature to talk about starting a war."
"No." Liu Chen breathed out, "General Shentu, we have just retreated five hundred miles, and there are peace talks. I guess that he may be spying on the military situation when he comes here this time."
"He is so bold for a Shu king."
"On the contrary, if he behaves like this, spreading propaganda and leading troops out of the city, it will make me, Beiyu, throw the rat into the trap."
"Commander Liu...can he be killed by force? I will be outside, and I will not accept your order."
Liu Chen thought for a while and shook his head, "That's inappropriate. If he dares to come out like this, he must have hidden a defensive method. If he can't hit him with one blow, there will be something about the Sha Rong people in the north. I'm afraid that the whole country will be affected by that time." Beiyu is trapped in a pincer attack."
After a pause, Liu Chen looked up again, his eyes a little angry.
"He will come as soon as he comes. To be honest, I have wanted to see him again since early in the morning."
…
