Xiaoqi

There was no surprise on Yan Xiang's face, obviously he had guessed Yuan Shu's thoughts just now.However, he did not fully agree with Yuan Shu's decision, and immediately said respectfully: "Your Majesty wants to abdicate the throne to Lord Benchu. This is a wise move, and I have no objection to it. It is very inappropriate to go to Jizhou. Nowadays, the hearts of all the officials in the Manchu Dynasty are fluctuating. Once His Majesty handed over the Jade Seal of Chuanguo to the ministers of the court, the ministers worried that he would have failed His Majesty's entrustment and transferred to other princes for promotion. gift.

Therefore, the Jade Seal of the Chuan Kingdom must not leave His Majesty's side, lest it fall into the hands of villains by mistake, causing the treasure to be dusted. "In fact, there is still one thing Yan Xiang didn't say, that is, once Zhong's regime is defeated, the Chuanguo Yuxi will be the only token that can preserve Yuan Shu's emperor's dignity. Even if he can't save his life, it won't be too humiliating. Maybe it can also win a chance for children and family members.

"Uh..." Yan Xiang's words undoubtedly hit Yuan Shu's heart.In fact, he was reluctant to pass on the jade seal of the country, and even though he had to bear the pain to part with it, he was also worried that what was entrusted to him would fall into the hands of villains.But the Zhong Clan's regime could not be kept. This was the imperial power of his Yuan family, and he was willing to transfer the imperial power to Yuan Shao, hoping that the Yuan Clan would be passed on.

Just when Yuan Shu was hesitating, Yan Xiang said: "Since Your Majesty intends to abdicate the throne, I still have a plan for His Majesty to decide. Last year, Your Majesty made a marriage contract for the crown prince and Lu Bu's daughter. Now that the wedding date is approaching, Your Majesty can A revised letter, in which it is stated that the crown prince and Lv Bu's daughter will be placed under the crown prince only after they get married. From then on, Lv Bu will be the head of the Zhong Dynasty. If he fulfills the marriage contract, then Lv Bu will be named a general. If so , Maybe it can solve the immediate danger!" Yan Xiang became more and more excited as he spoke, and he didn't notice Ji Ling standing beside him at all, he was filled with righteous indignation at this moment, and there was a sharp murderous intent in his eyes looking at him.

"Oh? Hahaha! Well, well, Aiqing's plan is very good!" Yuan Shu laughed loudly in surprise. This was the happiest he had laughed in the past six months, and it might also be the last time in his life.

"Excellent! Hahaha"

Chapter 998 Like a Dream Order, The Return of the King

The sound of "da da" horseshoes spread to the south bank of the Huaihe River, prompting Lu Bu, who had already fallen asleep, to be awakened from his sleep by the maidservant. Looking in the direction.

The sound of "bang bang" footsteps came from beside him, and Lu Bu didn't need to turn his head to know that the military adviser Chen Gong and the commander of the old guard Wei Xu had arrived with their personal guards.

"Gongtai, who is guarding the camp tonight? Where did this cavalry come from?" Without any explanation, Lu Bu directly reprimanded who was guarding the gate tonight, but this is not the point. The point is the latter sentence. Where did it come from.

In addition, Lv Bu's blatant questioning was not aimed at guarding the gate, but pointing at Sang and Huai, blaming Chen Gong for his incompetence in handling affairs. He has many scouts and secret agents in his hands, but why didn't he find out the news in advance, so that the enemy had already taken advantage of the night. The camp is approaching.

It is true that Chen Gong was directly responsible for the scouting and secret operations of Lu Bu's army.

But now, a group of unidentified cavalrymen were rushing towards the camp, but Chen Gong did not report in time beforehand, which showed that he had no knowledge of it.If this is not dereliction of duty, what is it?

"My lord, calm down." Knowing that he had made a mistake first, Chen Gong realized it for a rare time, instead of calling Lu Bu's name "Feng Xian", he called "Master" in a rare way.

While speaking, Chen Gong walked quickly to Lu Bu, stretched his neck to look into the distance, and said in thought: "From the direction of the sound of horseshoes, the sound is coming from the north, not the south. It doesn't seem like Yuan Shu What's more, Yuan Shu in Huainan does not have such a large group of cavalry, so it should not be a night attack by the enemy." Chen Gong was not fully sure of his own judgment.I can only express my own thoughts and guesses, and I will know whether it is right or wrong later.

"The cavalry from the north?" Lu Bu was surprised when he heard the sound, and said in amazement: "The north is Yuzhou on the other side. At present, Guo Gong, the governor of Yuzhou, is leading his troops to fight against Bo Cai's army. Guo Gong is too busy to take care of himself, how can there be so many cavalry Ambush me by crossing the river overnight?"

Chen Gong subconsciously nodded, and said: "It is true as Feng Xian said, Guo Gong definitely has so many cavalry in his hands, otherwise we would not be able to cross the Huai River in one go. But the absence of Guo Gong does not mean that the Xiliang Army does not have either. "In a sudden change of mind, Chen Gong finally expressed his concerns, and it was also the word that Lu Bu didn't want to hear the last word Xiliang Iron Cavalry.

"Uh!" Lu Bu's expression changed when he heard this, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You mean these cavalry are Li Li,,,, oh no. They are Xiliang iron cavalry under the general's command!"

Chen Gong nodded lightly, and said in a low voice: "Such dense hooves, such a big movement. It is expected that the number of this cavalry should be no less than tens of thousands, or even more. How many princes in the world have so many cavalry?" And there is only one person, and that is General Li Li. Other than that, I will not be the second choice." In fact, Chen Gong is now able to confirm the iron cavalry that is getting closer.It was the Xiliang cavalry under Li Li's command.It's just that he knows that Lu Bu has always kept the Xiliang army secret.If you say it too absolutely, it will make Lu Bu suspicious, causing trouble and causing unnecessary trouble.

Sure enough, after hearing what Chen Gong said, Lu Bu listened intently to the increasingly clear rumbling sound of the horse's trampling, and Gu Zi muttered to himself: "The sound of the horse's trampling is so loud that it should be no less than [-] iron cavalry; They marched at the same pace overnight, as if they were well-trained. They are a great army of hundreds of battles. This is the marching sound of the five most elite cavalry battalions under Li Li's command, and the person who came must be one of the five cavalry battalions!" Lu Bu While talking, his thick eyebrows were furrowed, and there was a lot of worry on his handsome side face.

Hearing what Lu Bu said to himself, Chen Gong secretly admired it.Lv Bu is worthy of being a veteran general on the battlefield. This extraordinary hearing and precise judgment are really amazing.The sound of horseshoes is still several miles away, but Lu Bu has already deduced the number of cavalry preparedly. From the sound of horseshoes in the wind, he can identify the origin of this cavalry, and directly locate it in one of the five most elite cavalry battalions under Li Li's command. one.

If Chen Gong really didn't know anything about this, perhaps he would still be skeptical of Lu Bu's deduction.But now, he had no doubts about Lu Bu's judgment, because he knew the identity of this cavalry long ago. It was one of the most elite war cavalry under Li Li's command, the iron cavalry of the Huben Camp led by Dian Wei.In addition to the Huben Camp, there are [-] Youzhou cavalry newly formed led by Gongsun Zan, Ke Bineng, Xu Huang and Ma Dai, totaling [-] cavalry.However, only [-] cavalry were the first to cross the river and set up camp on the south bank. The follow-up soldiers and horses stayed on the north bank of the Huai River for the time being, and crossed the river after dawn tomorrow.

A little dazed, Chen Gong didn't wait for Lu Bu to ask questions, and asked first: "It seems that Fengxian has confirmed the identity of this cavalry, I don't know what should I do next? Go out to greet each other or pretend not to know, and wait quietly for the Xiliang army arrival?"

"Eh?" Lu Bu was stunned, his brows frowned into the shape of "Chuan", which showed that he was extremely restless, worried about gains and losses, unable to make up his mind, and was struggling violently.He deliberately pretended not to know, but he was worried that Li Li would take the opportunity to make trouble afterwards; if he opened the gate to greet him, he was also worried that Li Li would take over the host by arrogance, and repeat the mistakes of Gongsun Zan in Youzhou, and be taken away by Li Li's soldiers without bloodshed.After all, the fact that Gongsun Zan was forced to surrender by Li Li has now spread all over the world, and the lesson from the past is still in front of us, so we must guard against it!

In this way, Lu Bu was in trouble.I racked my brains and thought for a long while, but I was still at a loss, and I couldn't think of a solution that got the best of both worlds.Immediately, he couldn't help turning his gaze to Chen Gong, his posture was very low, his eyes were full of asking for advice, even begging.

Lu Bu's almost pleading eyes made Chen Gong quite useful.It is no exaggeration to say that Chen Gong's greatest pleasure in these years is teaching Lu Bu, and occasionally reprimanding Lu Bu loudly until he bows his head and obeys his ears.Therefore, in many cases, Lu Bu was just a young child in his eyes, headstrong and arrogant, he didn't use his brain when encountering problems, and acted completely at will, so that he made mistakes repeatedly.It wasn't until Lu Bu followed his plan or teaching that the situation changed, and he finally found a place to settle down and become the overlord of one of the princes.

In recent years, as Lu Bu's power has grown stronger day by day, Lu Bu's temper has also become more and more serious, and he no longer respects Chen Gong as before, treating him like a teacher.What's more, Lu Bu didn't like to see him very much, especially he didn't like to listen to his preaching, let alone reprimand and accuse him.There is no doubt that after occupying Xuzhou, Lu Bu's wings hardened, and he no longer needed to ask him for advice on everything, as if he was ready to kill the donkey.

Regarding this, Chen Gong pretended to be ignorant on the surface, but in fact he knew it well and was very sober as if he was watching the fire from the other side.But he still went his own way, and treated Lu Bu as before, but invisibly he preached less and less to Lu Bu, and he pretended not to know about many things, ignored them, and turned a blind eye.

Perhaps Lu Bu didn't notice this, and still felt that Chen Gong was still the same as before, which was annoying.But he didn't know that Chen Gong had been completely disappointed in him, and finally made up his mind to give up and no longer assist him with all his heart.

Today, two years later, Chen Gong once again saw the look of pleading in Lu Bu's eyes, which made him feel soft. After all, he couldn't reach the level of being completely heartless and righteous, so he couldn't help feeling a little compassion.After hesitating for a while, he finally decided to help Lu Bu one last time, to help him resolve the immediate crisis. As for how he should go in the future, it was up to him to decide, and no one could help him.Even if Chen Gong wanted to help him, there was nothing he could do, and even helping him would be tantamount to harming him.

"Since Fengxian insists on asking, I will be blunt." With some polite words, Chen Gong continued: "I suggest that Fengxian open the gate first, and take the initiative to welcome the arrival of the Xiliang army. If the leading general is The general himself, Na Fengxian invited the general to rest in the tent, and held a banquet overnight to entertain him grandly. In this way, he would not be convinced, nor would he leave any excuses, so that even if the general wanted to make things difficult, he would not be able to make trouble. If the leading general is not a general, but other generals, Fengxian only needs to be polite, and then order someone to help the Xiliang army build a camp next to the camp. In this way, Fengxian can be regarded as the most benevolent, and it is also challenging If there is no fault, you will not give others a handle. So, I don't know how to follow the first intention?"

Lu Bu was overjoyed when he heard the words, and said with a smile: "Very good, very good! As expected, you are very clever, polite and courteous, and you can find no excuses for the Xiliang army. Let's do it like this! Hehehe" Chen Gong nodded and smiled when he heard the words , So he ordered his soldiers to prepare a banquet, and followed Lu Bu to the gate.

Under the night of slanting wind and drizzle, Li Li rode the Golden Beast King mount and galloped against the wind and rain, and faintly saw a large-scale camp standing on the flat ground two miles away.Immediately, he patted the back of the Beast King's neck lightly, signaling it to slow down and wait for the army to head to Lu Bu's camp together.

Just as Huainan Yuan Shu and Yan Xiang expected, Li Li had already led the army southward and entered the territory of Yuzhou.But Yan Xiang and Yuan Shu obviously overestimated the marching speed of Li Li's army, so that Li Li's army was five days later than they estimated, and did not cross the Huai River until late at night on the fifth day, arriving in time to cross the river and set up camp before the rainy season came. Lu Bu camp.

Prior to this, the reason why Li Li's army was delayed in Yuzhou for several days was because he led his army to join forces with Bocai's army and besieged Guo Gong, the governor of Yuzhou.After three days of besieging the city, Guo Gong, who was trapped in the siege, had to give up resistance and took the initiative to open the city and ask for surrender, thus allowing most of Yuzhou to fall into Li Li's hands.

Afterwards, Li Li lingered in the city for another two days, dispatched a large number of civil servants and county soldiers from Sili to Yuzhou, and helped Bocai reorganize the Yuzhou county soldiers, and then ordered Bocai to take over the occupied counties and cities, and dispatched the troops who came later. The soldiers of Sili County and the soldiers of Yuzhou switched defenses.

After dealing with these trivial matters, Li Li led [-] cavalry and [-] heavy infantry to the Huaishui River, finally arrived at the north bank of the Huaishui River in the afternoon, crossed the river overnight, and led [-] cavalry to the Lu Bu camp stationed on the south bank.

Following Li Li's order to slow down the army, the [-] iron cavalry moved forward slowly, which naturally dispelled many of Lu Bu's previous worries, so that Li Li's army saw the gate open from a distance, and then Lu Bu's tall and straight figure jumped in. line of sight

Chapter 999 Like a dream order, what night is it?

Following Li Li's order to slow down the army, the [-] cavalry marched forward slowly, in order to show that they had no malicious intentions, and naturally dispelled many of Lu Bu's previous concerns.

Walking one mile away from the camp, the gate of the gate was opened from a distance, and then Lu Bu's tall and straight figure jumped into sight.

After seeing this scene, Li Lijian frowned slightly, feeling rather surprised in his heart.After walking more than a hundred steps and seeing Chen Gong standing beside Lu Bu, half a body behind Lu Bu, he knew it in his heart, and couldn't help but linger on Chen Gong for a while, thoughtful.

Six years ago, Li Li trusted Chen Gong extremely.Not only because he is his elder brother-in-law, someone who can be completely trusted, but also because he saved Mei Wu and saved the castle built by Dong Zhuo from being ruined.With Mei Wu intact, it was equivalent to keeping the life-saving food and pay needed by the Xiliang Army, which was of great significance to Li Li and the entire Xiliang Army.

It is no exaggeration to say that if Mei Wu was burned, there would be no Li Li and his powerful Xiliang Army today.If the Xiliang Army wants to grow and develop, it must be delayed by at least five to ten years, thus missing the best opportunity for expansion, which will change the situation of the world and have far-reaching effects.In a sense, if Chen Gong hadn't followed Lv Bu during the Chang'an Rebellion, Li Li would never have easily let Lv Bu go under Wuguan City.

Four years ago, at the time of the Sili War, Li Li had doubts about Chen Gong, suspecting that he had completely joined Lu Bu.Because the Sili War was a key battle that determined the life and death of Li Li and his Xiliang Army, but Chen Gong never sent back a single word from the beginning to the end. He didn't expect him to pass on information, but he didn't even have a word of greeting or concern.This made Li Li suspicious of Chen Gong for the first time, and it was no exception for anyone else.

Facing such an important life and death battle.Chen Gong has no news at all, which inevitably makes people suspicious.What's more, Li Li and him are close relatives, since they are his brother-in-law.He is also the benefactor who rescued his mother, wife and children.However, during the Sili War that lasted for a year, Chen Gong has been in a state of silence, as if he didn't exist. He was obviously staying in the allied army camp but there was no news at all.

Three years ago, when Lu Bu was defeated in Yanzhou, Li Li originally thought that Chen Gong would change his mind, even if he could not persuade Lu Bu to defect to Xiliang.It was time for him to come back himself.However, Li Li was disappointed again. Chen Gong did not return, and still followed Lu Bu to Liu Bei's command.Sojourn in Xiaopei, Xuzhou.

Since then, Li Li has completely given up any hope for Chen Gong, and really decided to give up on him, and never mention it again.However, Lu Bu subsequently attacked Liu Bei, and the occupation of Xuzhou made Li Li see a turning point.Pay attention to Chen Gong's performance again.For this reason, he sent a large number of secret agents into Xuzhou.Chen Gong is being monitored comprehensively. As long as Li Li wants to know, every move of Chen Gong cannot escape his eyes.It's a pity that Chen Gong didn't act abnormally, and didn't show any dissatisfaction with Lu Bu, which made Li Li elusive about him, and he still couldn't figure out his thoughts.

This time he led his troops southward, and when he was about to reach the north bank of the Huai River the evening before yesterday, Li Li tested Chen Gong again.Deliberately leave behind the details of two Lu Bu's subordinates to inquire about the news, and let them disclose the news of the army crossing the river overnight to Chen Gong.This is Li Li's last test of Chen Gong's loyalty.It is also the only chance for Chen Gong to turn around.If Chen Gong cherishes this opportunity, then Li Li will let the past go; otherwise, Chen Gong will die, maybe Li Li will execute him himself.

However, at this moment, Li Li was very puzzled by the scene in front of him.Judging from the information obtained by the scouts before, Lu Bu's camp was unprepared in advance, and he didn't even know that he would lead the army to the camp tonight.From this, it can be seen that Chen Gong did not inform Lv Bu of the news of the army crossing the south of the river in advance, so that Lv Bu was caught off guard and mistook it for an enemy attack at night. down.

But with Lu Bu's arrogant and unruly personality, how could he think of going out to greet him?Even if he thought about it, he would not go back to do it, because he was Lu Bu Lu Fengxian, a guy who was capricious, valued profit over righteousness, and valued face.This kind of person will never act in a low-key manner, unless someone instigates him and gives him a strong statement, which prompts him to change his old style, pretend to be a snake, pretend to be a fake, and pretend to be a color.

There is no doubt that the person who advises Lu Bu in private is Chen Gong, and there is no one else who has such insight.

So Li Li originally thought that Chen Gong had already made a decision and completely turned to his side, but unexpectedly Chen Gong did such an ambiguous thing again.This caused Li Li to shake his judgment again, and he was still uncertain about Chen Gong's attitude, what exactly he wanted to do, and which side he stood on.

If Chen Gong wasn't Li Li's eldest brother-in-law, or someone who had greatly benefited Li Li and even the entire Xiliang Army, Li Li would definitely not waste his thoughts on him, let alone tolerate him in every possible way. Give him the chance again and again.If it were someone else, with such a changeable temperament, left and right, and unpredictable, Li Li would definitely not be as distressed as he is now, and he would not waste even a little time on him. He would use the most direct and concise method to convert He is completely erased from the world, once and for all, and will never cause future troubles.

"General Kuiye is here, Lu Mou is far away to welcome him, please forgive me, General."

In front of the gate, seeing that Li Li was leading the army in person, Lu Bu went up to meet Li Lifei in two steps at a time, and bowed and raised his hands before Li Lifei got off his horse.

"Marquis Wen is gone." The moment his feet landed on the ground, Li Li stretched out his hands to support his bowed hands, and said with a smile: "It's quite abrupt for Li to harass me at night. I'm really flattered to be welcomed by Marquis Wen!" The same hearty smile as before, the same humility and courtesy as before, everything is so familiar.However, the moment Li Li held his arm, Lu Bu's whole body tensed up, with a tense expression as if he was facing an enemy. He didn't relax his vigilance until he confirmed that Li Li had no malicious intentions, and his body relaxed accordingly.

It was the first time in three years that I saw Lu Bu again. The smiling Li Liwan was as familiar as an old friend. He held Lu Bu's hand and walked slowly side by side.Li Li said as he walked, "We haven't seen each other for several years, and Marquis Wen's demeanor is even better than before. Li is very pleased!"

In fact, Lu Bu is now approaching middle age, at 38 years old, which is more than one round older than Li Li (14 years old), and he is two generations old at the moment.However, although Li Li is young, he has a high position and powerful strength.Don't say that Lu Bu was in front of him. Even Liu Biao, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and other princes who were over sixty years old did not dare to call themselves elders when they saw Li Li. Cao Cao, who was over middle age, was no exception.

This is the second friendly meeting between Li Li and Lu Bu.The scene of the first meeting with smiling faces like this can be traced back to Chang'an six years ago, when the two were ministers in the same palace and both served under Dong Zhuo's command.But since the Battle of Bahe, the two have been in conflict and regarded each other as enemies. Since then, the enemies have been extremely jealous when they met, and they turned swords and soldiers against each other.