Chapter 55: The Loser Hongmen (1)
Since Zhang Shisan was killed, no one dared to bully Kaishangong within a few days. It can even be said that Lu Yanhui's soldiers, who had no ordinary power in the Kaishangong, could finally take a good breath.
"Lu Yanhui will never give up!" Ji Wenhan's words could not hide his worries, "This guy who is neither male nor female will definitely find a way to avenge his adopted son."
"Is there any news about King Yu?" Xu Chengxian asked Xuan Shaoning.
"The letter from King Yu has already stated that he will handle it properly, so that we will not cause trouble for the time being. However, I have no regrets about killing Zhang Shisan." Although Xuan Shaoning was a little nervous, he pretended to be calm on the surface. He did not want others to see his panic. After all, he was responsible for the heavy responsibility of rebuilding righteousness and must not lose at the beginning.
"Person Xuan, this incident made me admire you. I admire your courage, your skills, and your decisiveness!" Ji Wenhan was young after all, and he was inspired by Xuan Shaoning. However, the old master Xu Chengxian was very calm and did not have the enthusiasm of Ji Wenhan at all. Xuan Shaoning knew that if he wanted to subdue this group of pioneers, he had to deal with Xu Chengxian first.
"For the sake of the present, we will stop moving. As long as Lu Yan's side does not move, we will be the same."
"What if Lu Yan had any action?"
Before Xuan Shaoning could answer, a shirtless mountain pioneer hurried into the camp and said, "Lu Yanhui sent a scout and waited outside." It was entirely out of a subconscious reaction that all the three people present looked at Xuan Shaoning.
"Then let's go out and meet!"
When Xuan Shaoning walked out of the camp, he saw a man and a horse from his camp. When he approached, he found that the scout was obviously very nervous, his face was as dark as the color of the earth, his hands tightly grasped the reins, and his eyes carefully looked at the mountain workers around him.
"Are you sent by Lord Lu?" Xuan Shaoning still maintained the most basic etiquette at this time. After all, Lu Yan would be the governor of the two states, and he was very high in his position.
“It’s….”
"What's the news?"
The scout took down a bamboo tube on his body and handed it to Xuan Shaoning. Xuan Shaoning unscrewed the cover of the tube, and a piece of white paper fell out of it:
Is the lieutenant Xuan?
Thirteen is my adopted son. Although he is usually a eccentric person, he is not a vicious person. He was ordered to supervise the opening of Pingzhou and receive the title of a seventh-rank civil servant. Even if you have any objections, you can still talk to each other quietly. Captain Xuan took his sword and killed him. Even the Xuanjia Army could not escape the Daliang Rule Li, and I would not want to upload this matter to Tianting. If Captain Xuan is willing to solve this matter, he will invite a gathering at Wuli Pavilion at noon tomorrow.
Lu Yanhui
"Lu Fox, you absolutely have no good intentions!" Ji Wenhan muttered fiercely. He looked at Xuan Shaoning first, then looked at Xu Chengxian, who was indifferent and did not speak out.
"Please report back to Lord Lu, Mr. Xuan will definitely go to the appointment on time!"
After receiving Xuan Shaoning's reply, the scout carefully led the horse and slowly walked out of the camp. While walking, he secretly looked back from time to time. Finally, he found that no one was going to shoot a cold arrow behind his back and finally rode the horse with confidence.
“This will be a trap.”
"Brother Dao said, how could I not know this? Lu Yanhui is clearly a trap for me. If I don't go, he will definitely do his best to make a big deal of this matter and put all the blame on me and even all brothers. We will never escape the blame at that time. If I go, he wants to use some means at the banquet, and I am weak and will naturally be difficult to resist, so he will be considered revenge."
"Since you have seen this matter so thoroughly, you should have thought of a solution?"
"Brother Dao looked down on me. I didn't think of any countermeasures. For the sake of this plan, I can only agree. If I want to die, it will be better for everyone."
Ji Wenhan was deeply touched by what Xuan Shaoning said, "Person Xuan, you took action for us. Since the matter has happened, how could we let you take it alone? I will accompany you tomorrow!"
Xuan Shaoning was about to refuse, but Xu Chengxian interrupted him, "Yehan is not old, but he has always been wise. He is right. This matter was caused by us. Our Pingzhou children have never had the tradition of letting others take the blame. Even if it is a sea of fire tomorrow, we will accompany you."
"Brother Dao, I, Xun Han, I, Xuan Shaoning, have already been satisfied with your words. Although Lu Yanhui did not mention the number of people attending the banquet in his letter, we must not go to too many people. Once there are too many people, he will be caught by him. I think it is enough for you to accompany me. However, we cannot simply sit there and wait for death, we must be prepared."
“What else can we do?”
"Why would you please tell me the details of Lu Yanhui's character." Xuan Shaoning did not directly answer Ji Wenhan's question, but instead made a request.
Xu Chengxian said, "We have never seen this Lu Yanhui's true face. We just heard that this man is pale and has no need to speak, and his voice is quite like an eunuch. He is now the governor of Pingzhou and Dengzhou. His official position should be the fifth rank among military officers. This man is not upright, cunning, and has many cunning ways, and is inclined to attract power, changing his power, deceives his superiors and conceals his subordinates, and implements high-pressure rule over the two states under his jurisdiction. You see, the current situation in Pingzhou is thanks to him. Pingzhou is not far from the capital, but our emperor in the capital actually lets him do this and ignores it. It is said that behind him is the current crown prince."
"Not only that, Lu Yanhui has three adopted sons, all of whom are bad. Zhang Shisan is one of them. He bullies us and plunders our wealth and women. If he resists, he will lead a large army to suppress it. Think about it, how can we unarmed plain people be the opponents of those armies wearing armor and holding weapons? How many of our brothers are dead at his hands? Master Xuan is really avenging many Pingzhou brothers!" Ji Wenhan couldn't help but grit his teeth when he said this.
"So, Lu Yan will be lawless and will be revenge. He will ask you for a banquet and will definitely attack you. Even if we go with you, we will not escape his plot!"
"Brother Dao said that, that's why I said we can't go to the banquet empty-handed! And we can change from passive to active, which is just an opportunity to defeat Lu Yanhui!"
It would be very difficult for Xuan Shaoning to successfully avoid the Hongmen Banquet set up by Lu Yanhui. Xu Chengxian and Ji Wenhan did not expect that he would still think of eliminating Lu Yanhui at this time. They were surprised and couldn't help feeling a little moved. After all, the whole thing had nothing to do with Xuan Shaoning, so it was rare for him to draw his sword to help him.
"Brother Xuan, we are already very satisfied that you can get out of here. You still want to defeat Lu Yanhui. This...it's hard to climb to the sky..." Xu Chengxian even changed his name at this moment.
Xuan Shaoning instead advised confidently: "Brother Dao, Wen Han, we have always resisted, Lu Yan will suppress, we have been losing, since this is the case, we should change our strategy, and we must take the initiative this time!"
"So, Brother Xuan has an idea!" Ji Wenhan opened his eyes widened excitedly, and the light of hope in his young eyes was bursting out.
"Yeah!" Xuan Shaoning held Ji Wenhan's shoulder hard. In fact, at this moment, only Xuan Shaoning knew in his heart that this banquet would be likely to be gone but not returned, and Lu Yanhui would take the opportunity to continue to suppress these mountain start-ups in Pingzhou. The time was too short and he could no longer plan any more, so he could only act according to the opportunity. Thinking of this, Xuan Shaoning understood that if he could ask someone for help at this level, perhaps his chance of winning would be greater.
That night Yue Yunfeng knocked on Teng Hui's door.
"Mr. Teng, this is a letter sent by Captain Xuan."
Teng Hui took the letter, opened it and looked at it, and his face slowly changed until after reading it, Teng Hui looked embarrassed.
Yue Yunfeng felt Teng Hui's emotions and asked, "Mr. Teng, what difficulties did he encounter?"
Teng Hui handed the letter to Yue Yunfeng and said, "You can read it yourself." After reading the letter, Yue Yunfeng also frowned, "This... Lu Yan will avenge his adopted son. This is something that the Lord had expected. This time, I would definitely make a decision to ask Master Xuan to the banquet. Is Master Xuan asking for help from Lord Teng?"
"Otherwise, there are both requests for help and threats. Lu Yanhui has been suppressing me for many years, and I have done nothing to do. In the final analysis, it is a good thing that Lu Yanhui did. Although I hate him, I can't deal with him. Now Xuan Shaoning actually wants me to go to the banquet half an hour later. What is this guy doing?"
"Sir, if we do what Master Xuan said, if there is a mistake, it will definitely cause Lu Yanhui's anger and the consequences will be unimaginable, but if we don't do this..."
"Didn't he say it very clearly in the letter? If we don't follow it, he would ask King Yu to join the army to Pingzhou. Now King Yu is no longer the King Yu of that year. He has a lot of weight in the emperor's mind. Maybe the emperor will really agree, and we will not have good fruits at that time."
"Xuan Shaoning said at the end that this move can defeat Lu Yanhui in one fell swoop and return the government to the Lord. Maybe we can bet!"
"What is his ability to defeat the fifth-rank official, a small school captain?"
"But the days when I was with Master Xuan, I found that he really had a very rare nature. You can tell that the mountain workers in the quarry today admire him very much! It's only been a few days since the resistance at the beginning to the change of attitude now!"
"I have heard of these things. Xuan Shaoning is indeed giving the people of Pingzhou a good breath, and I feel happy!"
"Sir, we and Master Xuan are actually on the side. Since he is determined to eliminate the harm, we, as the parents of Pingzhou, should do our best to cooperate!"
"I didn't expect that you actually spoke for him! Don't you understand the truth you said? What if you lose?"
"If you lose, the last general will try his best to ensure that the Lord escapes from Pingzhou, and you will not have to be bullied by Lu Yanhui again!"
Teng Hui was inspired by Yue Yunfeng's momentum, and his fighting spirit that had been buried many years ago began to sprout in his heart. "Okay! If I lose, I will not escape. I will apologize to the people of Pingzhou with my husband's head on my neck!"
The next day, it was the day that Lu Yanhui and Xuan Shaoning agreed. Xuan Shaoning was wearing a tight and short dress and Xu Chengxian walked out of the camp and then got on the horse. Before leaving, he looked at Ji Wenhan meaningfully and then rode his horse towards Wuli Pavilion, twenty miles away from the stone field. At the same time, Teng Hui was wearing court uniforms, and Yue Yunfeng led all the soldiers to follow Teng Hui to Wuli Pavilion. At this time, King Ling had already reached the boundary of Pingzhou. In order not to alert the snake, he did not bring many guards on this trip and did not prevail in advance, in order to catch Lu Yanhui off guard and see how he showed his foot.
"Your Highness, the scout ahead wrote a letter saying that Lu Yanhui was not in the mansion, but went to Wuliting."
"Oh? Could it be that I know I'm coming?"
"Not that, it's said that he had invited a Xuanjia Military Captain to hold a banquet at Wuliting."
"This is interesting. He, a fifth-rank military officer, actually held a banquet to entertain a small captain?"
"Your Highness has something to do. According to reliable information, the lieutenant killed a adopted son of Lu Yanhui for maintaining some mountain workers. According to his subordinates, this banquet is probably the Hongmen Banquet!"
"Haha, it's interesting! Lu Yanhui is so good at making trouble. Before I could check it, I had so many troubles. Now I have involved my fourth brother. This is a good show that I must not miss. I will go to Wuliting immediately!"
The Wuli Pavilion is not big, a very ordinary pavilion that can only accommodate five or six people. At this time, Lu Yanhui was sitting upright on the main seat facing north and south in the pavilion and drinking tea leisurely. There were two mats and low tables on both sides of his left and right. Sheng Yi, one of Lu Yanhui's adopted sons, sat in the first position on the left, and there were only two rows of soldiers standing scattered outside the pavilion.
As noon approached, the sound of horse hooves began to become clearer and clearer until the sound disappeared outside the pavilion. Xuan Shaoning and Xu Chengxian dismounted one after another and walked into the pavilion. Both of them gave a gift.
"Person Xuan is indeed heroic and acts on time!" Lu Yanhui just raised his eyelids slightly, and then continued to drink tea. "Person Xuan, I have also brought the guards here, it's so majestic."
It is better to see it at first sight than to hear it. Lu Yanhui's voice was indeed like a eunuch, and it was really unspeakable to hear it in his ears. Faced with the other party's aggressive aura, Xuan Shaoning had already prepared, after all, both parties knew that the banquet was not in good intentions.
"I once heard that Lord Lu treats guests sincerely, but today it turns out to be true!" Xuan Shaoning went back sarcastically.
"Oh, I forgot to ask Captain Xuan to sit down. I hope you will forgive me. Please sit down."
"Then I thank Lord Lu!"
Xuan Shaoning and Xu Chengxian sat down on the two mats on the right hand of Lu Yanhui. The vicious Sheng Yi, opposite, spoke: "We are asking Captain Xuan to sit down, but we didn't invite the untouchables!"
"Hey, Yi'er, there are also spaces in this pavilion, so it's okay to give it to a dog, and it was also brought by Captain Xuan."
Xuan Shaoning was not annoyed and said with a smile: "Mr. Lu, I have been in military service for many years and have been talking straightforwardly. Regarding the adopted son of my uncle, I think we must have an explanation today."
Lu Yanhui raised his head and looked at Xuan Shaoning with a natural expression, "Xuanzaiwei is quick to speak, I like it, and I have the same intention. My adopted son Thirteen said that it was from the seventh rank. Although the rank is not high, it is also the imperial court's official. He is already responsible for the jurisdiction of Pingzhou to open a mountain ground, but he died for no reason at the hands of Xuan Jiawei. Today I have to give me an explanation."
"Zhang Shisan is a perverse person. That day, he insulted the people of Pingzhou and wanted to take care of human life and make fun of killing people. I really couldn't stand it and tried to stop it. Unfortunately, I had no eyes on the sword and killed Zhang Shisan inadvertently."
"Hmph!" Lu Yanhui threw the teacup in his hand heavily on the table. "What a saying, 'The sword is eyeless, kill someone by accident'! Master Xuan kept saying that my adopted son was careless about human life, is there any evidence?"
"It seems that Zhang Shisan concealed what he did from Lord Lu. He tortured the people of Pingzhou torture and complained. In the end, Lord Lu was still carrying this infamy!"
"What Master Xuan means is Master Xuan to help me eliminate the harm?!"
"That's exactly what it means!"
"You! Hello, Xuan Shaoning, I have been denied every possible way to kill the imperial court officials. I used to tolerate you in view of King Yu. Even if you are the emperor's personal choice, I will do your best today!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers around Wuli Pavilion immediately pressed the hilt of the knife with their hands. Even Sheng Yi, who was sitting near Lu Yanhui, held the knife placed next to the wine table. His movements were not gentle, and he seemed to care that Xuan Shaoning and others found out that his eyes were staring at Xuan Shaoning as if he was about to spit out fire. How could Xuan Shaoning not notice such a movement? Xuan Shaoning was fine, still holding a pair of chopsticks in his hand and looking at the dishes on the wine table. Xu Chengxian was about to pull out his carry-on sword. Xuan Shaoning reached out and pressed Xu Chengxian's hilt, and turned around and said, "When we entered the pavilion just now, Lord Lu did not ask us to remove our carry-on weapons. It was not because the adults forgot the rules but wanted to give us a chance to resist, so that the adults could explain it."
"Hmph, it seems that Captain Xuan is not only brave but also a little brave. Since you already know my intention, I wonder if you have guessed my next move?"
"Since Lord Lü praised the last general, how could the last general come without preparation?"
Lu Yanhui looked at Xuan Shaoning with a calm expression and couldn't help but feel a little funny, "When you die, you still have to be calm? This Pingzhou is the territory of my Lu Yanhui. Could it be that you still naively think that King Yu will come to save you?"
Chapter completed!