The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 269
Houzan looked down at the city through the wall and shouted angrily: "Zhu Xiu! How on earth are you going to retreat?"

Zhu Xiu waved his hand to indicate that he should stop throwing thunderbolts, and laughed loudly: "Envoy of the Hou Army, if you leave the people behind and lead the army to retreat, I will not embarrass you!"

Houzan gritted his teeth and shouted: "Retreat the troops three miles away, and I will send them to you in an hour!"

Zhu Xiu sneered, one hour was enough for this guy to lead his army back to Yilu County calmly.

The city of Yilu County is many times stronger than this earth city. Even if it can be captured by force, a lot of soldiers and horses will be lost, and it is not worth it.

"Don't be nagging! Open the city gate and give you a stick of incense to withdraw the troops, otherwise Zhentian Lei will wait for you!"

Zhu Xiu shouted at the top of his lungs, "When I break through the city and come, it will be too late for the military envoy to leave!"

"Tread through the earth city! Leave no chickens or dogs behind!" Pan Mei raised her flower knife and roared.

"Break through the earthen city! Leave no chickens or dogs behind!" Thousands of soldiers of the Zhangyi Army roared in unison, the sound shook the surrounding areas, and the momentum moved the sky!

The Feilong sergeants at the top of the city showed fear on their faces, and Su Zhenchang was trembling all over and his face was as pale as earth.

Houzan was so angry that his face turned purple. Since he became a minister of the emperor, when had he ever been exposed to such naked threats and humiliation?

Looking at Xu Xuan and Li Congjia who were tied into rice dumplings, he suddenly regretted that he should not have easily listened to Su Zhenchang's encouragement and broke up with Zhang Yijun.

I grabbed two hot potatoes and made myself unable to get off the tiger.

It's a pity that the form is stronger than the person. If he doesn't let him go, I'm afraid he really won't be able to get out of the earthen city.

"Okay! It's up to you!" Hou Zan beat the wall with resentment, "I will give it back to you, but you have to let me lead the army to leave safely! If you dare to cheat, I will kill both of them first!"

Zhu Xiuyang ordered: "The whole army retreats fifty steps!"

The messengers quickly moved towards Tucheng in all directions, and soon, the people surrounded on all sides retreated fifty steps each.

The city gate creaked open, and after a long delay, Houzan rode out of the city with his army.

Xu Xuan and Li Congjia were guarded at the end, followed by several cavalrymen holding knives. One end of the rope binding them was tied to the saddle.

A few dozen feet away, Hou Zan glanced at Zhu Xiu hatefully. Just as he was about to raise his hand to wave his riding crop, he heard Zhu Xiu's voice shouting again: "Wait a minute!"

Hou Zan was startled and swayed, thinking that Zhu Xiu was going to backtrack.

"Envoy, stay here. I want more than just two people, one is missing!" Zhu Xiu smiled and clapped his horse and stepped forward. Pan Meidi followed closely with her sword in hand.

Hou Zan was startled and looked at Xu Xuan and Li Congjia. The two people he had kidnapped were all here. Who was missing?

Su Zhenchang, who was following Houzan, opened her eyes wide in horror.

Zhu Xiu pointed at him and sneered: "This person also needs to stay!"

Su Zhenchang's face collapsed and she was about to cry: "Envoy, save me!"

Houzan was furious: "Don't push yourself further!"

Zhu Xiu said coldly: "Either keep these three people today, or ask the military envoy to stay, and then risk the lives of hundreds or thousands of flying dragon soldiers! Which is more important, the military envoy can choose for himself!"

Pan Mei swung her saber, and a large number of cavalry soldiers of the Zhangyi Army stepped forward. Rows of horses pawed their hooves uneasily and sneezed loudly. This was the sense of urgency before the battle.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hou Zan saw that the iron gourd had been placed on the terrifying artillery cart. As soon as Zhu Xiu gave the order, the astonishingly powerful sky-shaking thunder would fall from his head.

Houzan's face was gloomy and his eyes flickered.

Su Zhenchang saw this, her legs became weak and she fell off the horse, as if she had a premonition of her fate.

Hou Zan winked at a few close soldiers, who understood, jumped off his horse, grabbed a rope and rushed towards Su Zhenchang.

"The military envoy is not allowed! The military envoy is confused!" Su Zhenchang resisted with all his strength. He was punched and kicked by the soldiers and rolled on the mud and snow, crying and begging for mercy.

Houzan turned his head expressionlessly.

Su Zhen was often tied up tightly and her whole body was covered with mud and snow, like a pig waiting to be slaughtered. In anger and grief, she yelled at Houzan, and was kicked by the soldiers to break her teeth and make her mouth bleed.

Houzan looked deeply at Zhu Xiu, as if he wanted to remember this humiliation in his heart.

With a shout, Houzan brandished his whip and galloped away, followed closely by the Feilong Army soldiers.

Changyi's army ordered the flag to be waved, and the besieging soldiers and horses made way for a gap, allowing Houzan to lead his army to leave.

Only two sergeants were left holding the shoulders of Xu Xuan and Li Congjia with knives and stayed at the end. They had to wait for Hou Zan to go far and evacuate to a safe position before they could leave.

As the large group of people moved away, the hands of the two sergeants holding the swords were trembling.

Pan Mei jumped off the horse and strode forward, saying fiercely: "Why don't you get out of here? Why don't you stay here and seek death?"

The two sergeants looked at each other, dropped their knives, climbed onto their horses, and fled in panic.

"Mr. Xu and Li Xiandi have suffered, and it's my fault!"

Zhu Xiu quickly ran forward and untied the two of them with regret on her face.

After cutting the rope, Xu Xuan and Li Congjia took off the cloth stuffed in their mouths and gasped with relief.

The two of them looked miserable, with disheveled hair, disheveled clothes, slightly blue faces, and pale lips.

The corners of Xu Xuan's mouth were bruised, and half of Li Congjia's face was swollen, presumably because he was severely beaten when he resisted.

Both of them were powerless scholars, and it was really difficult for them to be kidnapped by a group of extremely vicious people.

"Come here! Get the leather robe quickly!" Zhu Xiu ordered loudly.

Xu Xuan looked at him with complicated eyes, and Li Congjia opened his mouth to say something.

Zhu Xiu smiled slightly unnaturally and rubbed his hands vigorously.

The scene fell into silence for a while.

It wasn't until the two of them put on warm fur coats that their stiff limbs gradually loosened up.

"It turns out that the Major Envoy of the Changyi Army has always been by our side. It was Xu who was so blind and so stupid that he was unable to notice it for so long."

Xu Xuan sighed, cupped his hands and smiled bitterly: "Xu has met Zhu Sima."

Zhu Xiu waved her hands hurriedly: "Mr. Xu, just call me Mr. Zhu, no need to be polite!"

Xu Xuan shook his head and said self-deprecatingly: "Originally, as the mayor of the agricultural reclamation area, Xu should be addressed as Young Envoy, but Xu is afraid that he will not be able to fulfill his duties as mayor, so..."

Xu Xuan didn't finish his words, his meaning was obvious. Since Houzan sent people to sneak into the reclamation area to kidnap them, it means that their identities have been exposed, and Jingzhou is afraid that they will no longer be able to stay.

Zhu Xiu spread his hands helplessly. The identities of Xu Xuan and Li Congjia were exposed prematurely, which he did not expect.

What's even more troublesome is that once this matter is reported to the court, it will be difficult for Zhang Yijun to defend himself, and he cannot escape the accusation of treason.This would be tantamount to breaking with the Kaifeng court in advance.

However, the great changes in the three years of Qianyou had not yet begun. Zhangyi's army appeared prematurely and disrupted Zhu Xiu's arrangement.

Zhu Xiu is still at a loss as to how to deal with the situation in the future.

Li Congjia blinked and looked at Zhu Xiu, then looked behind him at the army that began to retreat in an orderly manner, and whispered: "Brother, are you really the Marshal of the Zhangyi Army? Is Chu Xun and Zhu Xiu originally the same person?"

Zhu Xiu forced out an apologetic smile and said, "Brother Li Xian, please forgive me. Due to various reasons, I had no choice but to use a false identity to date Brother Xian."

Li Congjia's fleshy face was filled with confusion. Suddenly he seemed to remember something, his slit eyes widened little by little, and he murmured: "The master chef of Dishe said that the cooking skills of the Taihelou chef are all those of the young master." Isn’t that what you taught me?”

Zhu Xiu bowed humbly and said, "For my dear brother's amusement, before the opening of Taihe Building, I held a training class for famous chefs. I selected a group of people who were proficient in cooking skills and taught them some new dishes with a little guidance."

Li Congjia's fat face said in surprise: "It turns out that my brother's cooking skills are the best! Please accept me as your disciple and teach me without hesitation!"

"Little Prince" Xu Xuan smiled helplessly.

Li Congjia scratched his head in embarrassment, and said in a low voice, "Chu Xun, oh no, brother Zhu Xiu refuses to show his true face, there must be something unspeakable, I think it's harmless. We have known each other for more than half a year, and brother Zhu has always taken good care of us." , this time he led the army to come to the rescue in person, which shows that Brother Zhu treats you sincerely, sir, so don’t blame Brother Zhu!"

Zhu Xiu cast a grateful look at Li Congjia, what a simple and kind-hearted little fat man with rabbit teeth!

Xu Xuan was silent for a moment and said calmly: "People's hearts are separated from each other. The little prince must not be deceived by some hypocritical appearances!"

"Sir?" Li Congjia frowned, feeling that Xu Xuan's words were a bit too much.

Xu Xuan stared at Zhu Xiu closely and said in a deep voice: "Zhu Sima, as the commander-in-chief of the Zhangyi Army, actually had to show his name to others in the Jingzhou area. It must be because he knew the true identities of the two of us long ago, so he used the false identities to deliberately approach Bar?"

Zhu Xiu rubbed his hands, and said with a sneer: "Mr. Xu has bright eyes, but I didn't intend to get close to him. At first, I was attracted by the talents of Mr. and Li Xiandi."

Xu Xuan snorted unceremoniously, with a trace of ridicule flashing at the corner of his mouth.

He was not easily fooled by a few words.

Now that we know Zhu Xiu's true identity, and by associating the causes and consequences, it is easy to guess why he deliberately approached him under a pseudonym.

Why are you attracted by talented people? It's nonsense. It's not because of the unusual identities of the two. If you can control them, they will have the miraculous effect of housing rare goods!

Zhu Xiu couldn't make up any more, and was a little annoyed by Xu Xuan's cynicism. He spread his hands and acted like a scoundrel: "Sir, you are right. I do know who you two are! In order to avoid annoying people Criticism, so I used a pseudonym to get acquainted with the two of you!
But after getting to know each other, I was really impressed by Mr. Xu’s talent and character, and I was infected by Li Xiandi’s honest heart. Out of admiration, I wanted to maintain a pure friendship with you two!

The three of us do have our own identities, but when we are friends, shouldn't we put aside worldly interests, put aside our dignity, forget our respective positions, and only exchange our sincerity for true love?Isn't this pure friendship worth cherishing? "

Xu Xuan opened his mouth, but didn't know how to refute.

Zhu Xiu looked distressed and took the moral high ground, making it sound as if he, Xu Xuan, was the one who betrayed friendship and should be sentenced to death.

Li Congjia's face was full of emotion, and he said affectionately: "Brother Zhu's words are absolutely true! We know each other, know each other, and know each other because we share the same spirit, and we will never be disturbed by the world's troubles!"

"My dear brother and I are indeed close friends!" Zhu Xiu patted his generous shoulder.

The two people's eyes met affectionately, and they nodded heavily, as if everything was unspoken.

Xu Xuan thought that he was also a person of arrogance, but he didn't expect that when he met Zhu Xiu, he was rendered speechless several times, and he was quite annoyed and unconvinced.

He suddenly thought of something and asked seriously: "Since Chu Xun's identity is fake, then Shopkeeper Chu, your second uncle Chu Mei's identity is also fake?"

Zhu Xiu smiled and shouted at Pan Mei.

Pan Mei was busy arranging the team. She looked back, grinned and waved to Xu Xuan.

"He is Chu Mei, his real name is Pan Mei, and he is a well-known military commander in our Zhangyi Army!" Zhu Xiu said with a smile.

Xu Xuan's face was solemn, and he asked again: "Who is Tao Wenju?"

"Tao Wenju's name and identity are all true. He is the person in charge of the salt factory and an important subordinate of our Jiedu Mansion!" Zhu Xiu answered honestly.

"That day you took us to see Tao Wenju, and he threatened us that if we didn't come up with a ransom of 70 yuan, our identities would be exposed! Did you authorize this matter?"

Xu Xuan took a step forward with an aggressive gaze.

Zhu Xiu was so stupid that he thought to himself, "Oh no, how could he have forgotten this matter in such a hurry?"
It seems that this guy Xu Xuan has always been worried about this incident, and he still remembers it clearly after a long time.

Isn't it only 70 guan, you Xu family and Tang Lord Li Jing can make it up casually
Zhu Xiu drooped his eyelids and felt a little discouraged. Speaking of this, he did indeed do something unkind.

On the one hand, he wants to get close to others and establish friendship, on the other hand, he wants to take the opportunity to extort money.

"Why, Zhu Shaolang is speechless? Are you behind this incident?" Xu Xuan further asked sternly.

Zhu Xiu said weakly with a little lack of confidence: "This matter, it is such a situation. Because of it. This... um. I didn't want the 70 guan in the next one. It's just that Tao Wenju was greedy, and I scolded him a lot after he took the initiative. pause."

Zhu Xiu gritted his teeth and racked his brains to explain.

I don’t know if Xu Xuan will believe it. Anyway, even he doesn’t believe it himself.
Xu Xuan snorted angrily, pulled Li Congjia and strode away.

"Sir!" Li Congjia was shocked and looked back at Zhu Xiu, "Brother Zhu!"

Poor little fat guy Tuya was forcibly dragged away by Xu Xuan, who was filled with grief and anger.

Zhu Xiu spread her hands and looked helplessly.

Well, such a big lie still failed to come true, Xu Xuan caught the key point and mercilessly exposed it.

It seemed that the pure friendship between them was about to come to an end, and the relationship they had finally built was about to break down.

"Hehe~ Have you gone too far? I've warned you a long time ago that blackmail is a bad thing. Be careful to give birth to a son without a butthole worth 70 yuan! You kid is really evil! The most hateful thing is that you don't even want half a penny. Share it with us."

Pan Mei came over and laughed furtively, hugging her with both hands and looking gloating.

Zhu Xiu glared at him angrily: "Get out!"

Pan Mei curled her lips: "Hou Zan knew that you were harboring the prince of the Tang Dynasty, and soon the Kaifeng court would know about it. How are you going to explain it? And that boy Yan Ping, how are you going to deal with it?"

Zhu Xiu thought for a moment with a stern face: "Houzan has two thousand Feilong troops in his hands, which is difficult to deal with. We can't hide this matter. We can only make preparations early. From today on, you will be stationed in Tucheng and closely monitor Pi There is news in the state, I guess Houzan doesn’t dare to stay anymore and will definitely rush back to Kaifeng as soon as possible.

As soon as he leaves, we will fully take over Pizhou, rebuild the earth city, strengthen the city defense, strengthen the defense of Begging Road, and make Pizhou become the eastern barrier of Jingzhou!

Even if there is a war, we cannot bring the war to Jingzhou! "

Pan Mei geared up and laughed excitedly: "Great! Just wait for this day! The bastard court should have overthrown it long ago!"

"As for Yan Ping." Zhu Xiu's eyes were gloomy, "He will be dealt with according to the military regulations of the Zangfeng Camp! Whether he can survive or not depends on his fate!"

Pan Mei was startled, "Do you really want to deal with Yan Ping? He is a confidant you single-handedly promoted."

Zhu Xiu glanced at him coldly. Pan Mei was stunned, spread her hands and closed her mouth knowingly.

(End of this chapter)