Li Zhiyun was not panicked, he just smiled and said, "I believe General Xu would not act like this." After hearing this, Xu Shunchen slowly sat down and said with a hint of sarcasm, "You are so brave. Dare to come to Xia County alone." Li Zhiyun shook his head and said: "General Xu's statement is ridiculous. I am the king of Chu in the Tang Dynasty, how can I risk it alone? To be honest with General Xu, Wei Chigong has been defeated by me and his army at Meiliangchuan. , he and Xun Xiang escaped alone. The army led by my king is stationed in Gaoyang Town. If you want to conquer Xia County, it is just a piece of cake. The reason why my king did not order an attack on the city, but came to meet General Xu, is just that I just don’t want the lives of Xia County to be ruined.”
"General Xu, as the leader of the Xu clan, holds the lives of thousands of people in his hands. I know that General Xu and the Xu clan were forced to rely on Lu Chongmao because of his great power. However, Lu Chongmao has now become A bird in a cage and a fish in a pond. If General Xu can repent and return from his lost ways, I can report to the Ming Dynasty to spare General Xu and the Xu family, and let the past go. If he fights back, he can still be rewarded for his meritorious service. .”
Li Zhiyun used both soft and hard tactics, and spoke incessantly. His words made Xu Shunchen uneasy and uneasy. Xu Zisheng on the side advised: "Third uncle, the King of Chu has made it very clear that Lu Chongmao is at the end of his rope. Let's break up with him quickly!" Just as Xu Shunchen was about to say something, the servant hurried in and called He said: "Master, it's bad, the King of Wei is here!" When Xu Shunchen heard this, he was startled. He quickly stood up and said to Li Zhiyun: "Lu Chongmao is here, you go to the back hall to hide!"
Although Li Zhiyun was a little surprised when something unexpected happened, he was not panicked on the surface. He is now in a high and powerful position. Once a person has power, he will have confidence in his heart and can be calm in an emergency. Furthermore, to be honest, he didn't take Lu Chongmao seriously. It was also a commoner rebellion, and Xue Qiang and Gao Tansheng fell into his hands. What big storm could Lu Chongmao cause?
Li Zhiyun said calmly: "General Xu, my carriage is in the courtyard. Lu Chongmao already knows that there is a guest at your house. If you avoid it, it will arouse his suspicion. It's better to meet him." As soon as he said that, he heard Someone outside the hall door said loudly: "Shunchen, are there any guests at your house?"
Li Zhiyun turned around and saw two people walking in one after another from the door. The person in front was about five feet three inches tall, with a strong body, wearing a purple satin robe and a crown on his head. His face was very large, twice as long as the average person, with thick eyebrows and pig eyes, a garlicky nose, thick black lips, and a messy beard under his lips. Needless to say, this was Lu Chongmao, who claimed to be the King of Wei. Behind Lu Chongmao, there was another person, it was Zheng Lei that Li Zhiyun saw on the street that day.
Seeing Lu Chongmao come in, Xu Shunchen and Xu Zisheng both walked forward, knelt on one knee, clasped their fists in a military salute. Lu Chongmao bowed and pulled Xu Shunchen up and said: "Shunchen, get up, there is no need to be polite." Then he straightened up, cast his eyes on Li Zhiyun's face, and said: "Who is this young master?..." Xu Shunchen He quickly introduced: "King Wei, he is my nephew, and he came to visit me at home." Lu Chongmao looked Li Zhiyun up and down, walked up and said, "What's your surname, sir? Why are you here in Xia County?" Li Zhiyun smiled calmly, He said: "My surname is Wang. I am a businessman. I came to Xia County to buy some goods and casually visit Shibo."
"Where does Prince Wang come from?"
"Jinyang."
Lu Chongmao nodded and said, "I wonder how many cities there are in Jinyang? How many squares are there?"
Li Zhiyun has been in Jinyang for several months. This question certainly does not trouble him: "Second City, 106 Squares."
"Putuo Temple at the south gate of Jinyang, I wonder if Mr. Wang has ever been there?"
"King Wei may have remembered wrongly. Putuo Temple is at the north gate of Jinyang. I often accompany Jiaci to the temple to offer incense and worship Buddha."
Lu Chongmao saw that Li Zhiyun's answers were flawless, and the suspicious look in his eyes gradually faded, so he stopped questioning. Li Zhiyun didn't want to delay here any longer, so he took the opportunity to say to Xu Shunchen: "Uncle Shi, you have a distinguished guest. I can't disturb my nephew, so I'll take my leave." Xu Shunchen nodded and said to Xu Zisheng: "Erlang, send it off for me. guest."
Li Zhiyun nodded to Lu Chongmao and walked out of the hall with Xu Zisheng. The carriage was still parked in the courtyard. After saying goodbye to Xu Zisheng, he boarded the carriage and left Xia Gong's Mansion.
When Li Zhiyun returned to the inn, he saw Hong Jiran and Cai Hu waiting for him in the guest room. Cai Hu had been worried about him and was relieved to see him back safely. After Li Zhiyun sat down, Hong Jiran asked: "Your Highness, how was it when you saw Xu Shunchen?" Li Zhiyun shook his head and said, "Before he finished speaking, Lu Chongmao happened to barge in. However, looking at Xu Shunchen's expression, It should be touched." Hong Jiran said: "Xu Shunchen has more than a thousand men, and both the west gate and the south gate are in his hands. If your highness can persuade him to rebel, you can easily attack the city."
"How about bringing in the army to put some pressure on him?" Cai Hu suggested.
Li Zhiyun thought for a moment and said, "Now is not the time, let's wait and see." The three of them talked for a while, and then Xu Zisheng came. After he sat down, he said to Li Zhiyun: "After Lu Chongmao and the others left, Xu Shunchen told me that he needs to think about what His Highness said today for a few days before making a reply." Upon hearing this, Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "Okay, give it to him. A few days." Xu Zisheng continued: "Your Highness, it is not safe for you to live in this inn, so you should move to the barracks. I told Xu Shunchen and he agreed." Li Zhiyun thought for a while, Feeling that Xu Zisheng had thought it through very carefully, he nodded in agreement.
The barracks Xu Zisheng was talking about was right next to Xu Shunchen's mansion. This barracks is actually the ancestral hall of the Xu family. The Xu family is a common surname in Xia County. The ancestral hall is located in a large courtyard. This courtyard is the public property of the Xu family. There are more than a dozen houses in the yard. In addition to the ancestral hall, there are also private schools. Children receive enlightenment education in private schools.
After Lu Chongmao rebelled, the compound was turned into a barracks, and the school and other buildings were converted into barracks. Xu Shunchen's soldiers were stationed here. However, most of these soldiers are locals and have their own homes in the city. Therefore, except for the soldiers on duty at night, others do not live in the barracks.
Xu Zisheng led Li Zhiyun and the others into the barracks and placed them in a small courtyard behind the ancestral hall. There is a bungalow in the yard, which was originally a warehouse. It was later cleared out and equipped with beds, tables and chairs, and was used as a barracks. As soon as they settled down, Xu Zisheng came to see Li Zhiyun with three companions. The three of them were all young men in their twenties. Xu Zisheng said: "Your Highness, the three of them are all my good brothers. They are all dissatisfied with Lu Chongmao and are willing to serve the Tang Dynasty." The three of them stepped forward to pay homage to Li Zhiyun. Li Zhiyun was very happy and hurriedly saluted: "Brothers, you are all good. After Lu Chongmao is eradicated, you will all be reused."
In the backyard of a mansion in the south of the city, there was only a buzzing sound from the string, and a long arrow came out of the string, hitting the bull's-eye made of straw twenty steps away. On the one-foot round archery target, six long arrows were inserted high and low, all surrounding the bullseye without straying too far.
After one round of shooting, the arrow hit the target, and Zheng Lei showed a proud smile on his face. After shooting many arrows in one breath, his arms were a little sore. He stopped to take a breath. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a subordinate walking to the side of the field. He handed the hardwood bow worth three buckets of stone to the guard beside him and took it. A pretty maid handed over a towel, wiped her sweat, raised her head and said to the subordinate, "Zhou Jian, what's the matter?"
A subordinate named Zhou Jian came over, clasped his fists in salute, and then said: "General, do you still remember the young man you met at Xu Shunchen's house yesterday?" Yesterday, Zhou Tong also followed Zheng Lei to Xia Gong's Mansion. . However, he was not qualified to enter the hall and was left outside the house. He saw Li Zhiyun coming out of the house.
"You mean that prince?" Zheng Lei nodded, "What's the matter?"
"Some people suspect that he is the King of Chu of Li Tang."
When Zheng Lei heard this, he was shocked and said quickly, "Who said that?"
"One of my subordinates, I have brought him here." Zhou Jian said, turned around and waved to the man next to him. The man was standing nervously a dozen steps away. Seeing Zhou Tong waving to him, he quickly ran over and nodded and bowed to Zheng Lei. Zheng Xue stared at him and said, "How do you know he is the King of Chu of Li Tang?"
"Back to the general, I used to be a servant in the county government and met the King of Chu. Yesterday, I saw a few people on the street, and one of them looked like the King of Chu, but..."
"But what?"
"However, I have only met King Chu once, and my memory is a bit fuzzy, so I am not sure." Because Li Zhiyun wore makeup, although the government official recognized him, he was not sure.
Zheng Lei became angry when he heard it. He was a scoundrel in the market and was always rude and cruel. He raised his leg and kicked the other person. He glared and said, "I'm not sure what you are talking about?" When the yamen officer saw Zheng Lei getting angry, he quickly knelt down and kowtowed to apologize. After a while, Zheng Lei lost his temper and said calmly: "Get up." Upon hearing this, the yamen officer quickly got up.
"General, my subordinates have found out that there are four of them living in the inn..."
Before Zhou Jian could finish speaking, Zheng Lei ordered: "Whether he is the King of Chu or not, you should take people to the inn immediately and arrest them."
"But, they are no longer at the inn."
"What, you ran away?"
"No, they moved to Xu's ancestral hall."
This subordinate liked to breathe heavily when he spoke, and Zheng Lei glared at him dissatisfied. Of course Zheng Lei knew that Xu's ancestral hall was now a barracks, and if he sent people to break in and arrest people, there would inevitably be a conflict. Moreover, he met the prince at Xu Shunchen's house yesterday, and now, Xu Shunchen arranged for the prince and his entourage to enter the Xu ancestral hall. If Prince Wang is really the King of Chu of Li Tang, then Xu Shunchen is guilty of collaborating with the enemy. Xu Shunchen is not an ordinary person. He has a heavy army and is not easy to mess with. Since the matter involved Xu Shunchen, Zheng Lei had to act cautiously.
Of course Zhou Jian understood this and asked tentatively: "How about we report it to the King of Wei?" Zheng Lei thought for a while, shook his head and said: "It's better not to tell the King of Wei yet. Xu Shunchen and I have always been at odds. If there is no conclusive evidence, The evidence shows that King Wei will not believe my words, but instead thinks that I am framing Xu Shunchen."
"What should we do?"
Zheng Lei thought for a moment and said: "In this way, you send people to watch outside the Xu Ancestral Hall. As soon as those few people come out, find a place where no one is around and arrest them immediately. When you get conclusive evidence, report to Wei King, let’s see what Xu Shunchen has to say at that time.” Upon hearing this, Zhou Jian quickly clasped his fists and said, “Yes!”
