Liu Xuande would never be a succubus of the Eastern Han Dynasty!

Chen Xu was a man of exceptional intelligence, and quickly recovered from her daze. She immediately took a half step back, staring at Liu Bei with vigilance: "...What kind of sorcery did you just cast? You actually bewildered my mind!"

"what?"

Liu Bei blinked innocently and acted frankly: "I didn't do anything, and I'm ashamed of using witchcraft. It's obvious that you were greedy for male beauty, so you easily fell for it."

"Hehehe..."

Chen Xu calmed down at this moment, gave him a look that said 'I'll settle the score with you later', and then returned to his normal cheerful expression.

What a fickle woman.

But precisely because of this, it cannot be underestimated.

A strategist who is easily seen through by others is naturally unqualified, and Chen Xu's words and actions are illogical. Even if someone finds out about her deeds under her pseudonym, it would be difficult to associate her with her true identity.

He could also say in the hall: What you are looking for is the wanted criminal Chen Xu, what does it have to do with me, Jia Xu?

Liu Bei and Chen Xu walked smoothly out of the city, but as soon as they took a step forward, a long sword was placed at their necks.

Liu Bei had at least seen real blood, so even when he was in dire straits, he did not show any fear, and there was no ripple in his peach blossom eyes.

But Chen Xu was different. He dropped to his knees with a puff: "Please spare my life, dear man! We are all good citizens!"

It's really embarrassing for Jier.

Although Jia Xu was smart when he was young, he was still far from having the absolute confidence that "everything is under control" that he would have in the future.

Liu Bei felt ashamed for Chen Xu and quietly moved to the side, but Chen Xu grabbed his trouser legs with both hands and cried, "My sister and I have depended on each other since we were young. Please spare my life, my dear men."

Just opening your mouth again, right?

"Stop, put down your blades."

"Master Zhang, but..."

"I've already said, put down the blade."

"only."

After hearing this conversation, Liu Bei and Chen Xu instantly knew that this group of people were the righteous men.

But this is too much of a coincidence... Besides, you actually escaped from Luoyang? That's amazing!

The sword fell immediately, and a white-haired old man walked out of the forest ahead.

The old man's face was full of the vicissitudes of time, and he was dressed in thin cloth. These actually didn't seem surprising at all. Only his eyes could be called special.

These are clearly a pair of eyes that hold faith, bright and unwavering.

His gaze passed over Chen Xu, who was pretending to cry, and fell on Liu Bei. He said in a deep voice, "So, you are Liu Bei, Liu Xuande?"

"!"

Liu Bei immediately bowed and saluted, his face puzzled: "Your Excellency actually knows me?"

"Why don't you know?"

The old man chuckled cheerfully and said, "Shopkeeper Chen said earlier that if you want to find Liu Xuande, just look for the most handsome young man in the crowd."

"Now that I see it, it does make sense."

After the old man finished explaining this, he suddenly bowed and said, "Liu Xuande has been very helpful to my group along the way. I would like to thank you on behalf of everyone else."

"You know this as well?"

Liu Bei was really surprised this time. If he had been discovered when he tried to help him at the beginning, it would have been fine, but the old man said "along the way", which was very unusual.

"Why don't you know?"

The old man chuckled again. "You underestimate us old folks... including Shopkeeper Chen. You probably just think he's a weird old man, but actually... he's a disciple of Mr. Chen. So many people come to drink with him every day."

"There are so many talented people in the world... naturally there are some rumors about you."

"It's just that I'm really not interested in those things, I..."

"Wait a minute!"

Before the old man Zhang Jian finished speaking, Chen Xu suddenly joined in, asking hurriedly, "Wait a moment, I'm curious about one thing - how did you escape from Luoyang?"

"We only ended up here because we took a shortcut, but the direction you're heading..."

As Chen Xu was speaking, he suddenly had another guess: "Could it be that you have an insider in Luoyang? And someone even provided you with an escape route?"

The meaning this represents is different.

Being able to provide help at such a critical moment and successfully escort him out of the city shows that this person must be a powerful figure in the court.

But who can be so reckless?

The thief entered Luoyang and strolled around, and was able to escape successfully... It is conceivable that the emperor must be furious, and I am afraid that all those involved in it will either be imprisoned or killed.

Unless the thief's head falls off.

Chen Xu deduced this idea a bit and answered before the old man could say anything: "You arranged a scapegoat? So, you are actually in a state of 'suspended death' right now?"

There are many kinds of human death: one is physical death, and the other is death determined by society.

And that powerful person only needs to push out the heroes who died when the heroes broke through the siege, and then find an old man in the prison to take the blame, so that he can announce to His Majesty that all the criminals are dead.

As for whether the emperor would believe it at that time? It was so funny. He was too lazy to confirm whether it was true or not. What he had in mind was not just the capital or the state, but the entire world.

As for other smart people... the aristocratic families have their own ulterior motives, and the eunuchs and relatives of the emperor will only follow the emperor's wishes.

Therefore, Zhang Jian and others could survive.

"This is truly fascinating. Who devised this strategy... and why did you risk coming to the capital?"

Maybe it was because of the different mentality when he was young, or maybe it was because he deliberately created a pseudonym, but in any case, Chen Xu was showing his edge at this time, looking like a madman.

Maybe it would have been better if he hadn't knelt on the ground as soon as he came out.

The old man Zhang Jian was amazed: "It really is true that the young are to be feared, the young are to be feared... It turns out that we old fools have underestimated the young."

"It's a pity that you are still too young."

Kindness: Chapter 27: White hair and red eyes are the closest to immortality

Zhang Jian looked at Liu Bei and the path behind him and sighed, "You guys are planning to leave the city and then fake your return to prove you weren't there just now, so you can even offer us some help, right?"

As an old man who has lived from the old times to the present day, his vision and insights are naturally very sharp.

"Yo."

Chen Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "It seems that Master Zhang did this a lot when he was young."

"Chen Xu!"

Liu Bei glanced at the frivolous little rascal, who stuck out his tongue to show that he was fearless.

“…Hahaha, you little kid’s words are really interesting.”

Zhang Jian didn't deny it, but continued with a sigh: "However, you won't be able to hide it for long. So, why don't you come with us?"

It turns out you have been waiting for this moment.

Liu Bei and Chen Xu looked at each other, knowing each other's thoughts. The former bowed and thanked him:

"Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I have important matters to attend to in Luoyang City..."

"Yeah."

Zhang Jian nodded slightly. "Just as I expected, your heart isn't in this... Young man, there's no need to hide your true colors. Youth should be full of talent and fearless of power."

"In that case, I will take my leave."

The righteous men behind him bowed together in salute. Seeing this, Liu Bei also pulled Chen Xu to bow in return.

After the two sides finished their greetings, no one spoke anymore and each went their own way.

They didn't have much to talk about. One was an old man from the old era, and the other was a young man from the new era. If there was one thing they had in common... it was probably the fire in their hearts.

But between people who are angry, there is no need to say much to each other, everything is in the eyes.

just.

"They're not very honest."

Chen Xu walked forward a few steps, and after making sure that the heroes couldn't hear the conversation, the expression on his face instantly became indifferent.

"Humph, a chance meeting? How could there be so many coincidences in this world? Xu doesn't believe what they said at all."

"..."

Liu Bei did not respond immediately, his eyes were looking into the darkness - there were two black shadows flashing by.

They are the fifth and seventh brothers.

“…They chose to wait for us here on purpose.”

After Liu Bei withdrew his gaze, he said to Chen Xu, "The person who offered us the passage is probably connected to the master behind Mr. Zhang Jian."

“But how could they know we would definitely choose this path?”

In response to this question, Chen Xu calmly explained: "We just need to make those who are willing to borrow our path become our own people. So, no matter which road we choose, they will know where we will come out."

"So, what's the purpose?"

"Who knows? Maybe she's attracted to your beauty." Chen Xu rolled his eyes at Liu Bei and slightly stretched his proud posture. "I'm really exhausted today..."

How dare you mention being tired?

Liu Bei felt a little helpless. He had been through so many things from early morning till now, and he had only eaten a sesame bun.

sorry.

I shouldn't have been so arrogant in Cao's house this afternoon, even throwing away the dining table...

"What should we do next?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xu stretched out his fingers and was about to count, but after a brief thought, he suddenly held Liu Bei's left hand with both hands and bent his fingers.

"We will return to Luoyang City immediately and have a feast."

In fact, she deceived Liu Bei at the beginning.

According to Chen Xu's original plan, he planned to trick Liu Bei out of Luoyang City, knock him out, put him in a sack, and find a carriage to take him back to his home.

After all, most people can pretend to have just returned to the city, and even have a high success rate, but Liu Bei looks so handsome, who can really be fooled?

It’s just that Zhang Jian just gave a hint in secret.

"The time you can hide it will not be too long." This must have been said by the people behind Zhang Jian. In other words, they are willing to provide temporary shelter.

Then at least during this period of time, Luoyang is still safe.

……

Just as Chen Xu was leading Liu Bei towards the main gate of Luoyang, Zhang Jian and others on the other side sighed as they walked, with sad expressions on their faces.

This time, the Luoyang group not only failed to complete the mission, but also lost many brothers. It was a terrible defeat.

Although Zhang Jian saw that Liu Bei was a talented person with great potential, how many talented people have appeared since the old times? And how many of them were harmed by bad people before they could grow up?

Nowadays, officials do not need talented people or integrity. Only by relying on wealth, hypocrisy and flattery of superiors can one achieve success.

As for Liu Bei... let's wait and see.

Zhang Jian took a few more steps, but he was indeed too old. In the past, he could walk thousands of miles on his own two legs while thinking about world affairs, but now he was out of breath and exhausted just by walking from Luoyang City to a place outside the city.

He is too old.

But young people are too young.

"Master Zhang, shall we stop and rest for a while?"

A righteous man nearby noticed his situation and, to save his face, added: "I just twisted my ankle while running away. Sorry... I really can't walk anymore."

The other heroes were about to scold him when they heard what he said, but when they turned around and saw Zhang Jian's head full of sweat and his body shaking up and down, they all shut their mouths obediently.

"Yeah, my feet hurt too."

"You can rest in the woods ahead!"

What a bunch of silly kids.

Zhang Jian looked at this group of righteous men who were not much older than Liu Bei, shook his head and smiled reluctantly, "Don't worry, I can still walk... Okay?"