The Mid-Autumn Festival only became popular in the Song Dynasty, but people have already had the custom of worshiping the moon. They put the fruits and melons harvested in autumn on the table and prayed to the moon god's tablet for family reunion. People in troubled times especially valued it.

Although Changzhou was occupied by the enemy, the people in the city did not suffer any disasters, especially those from poor families. On the contrary, their lives were better than usual. There were often servants from the government standing at the street to distribute food. Just say "home"

If there is no food, a few ladles of white rice must be scooped out.

But there is always a military man next to him pointing to the red scarf tied on his arm and saying: "Don't forget, this food is given by our red scarf. When we burn incense and worship Buddha in the future, don't forget the benefits of our Manager Xu."

The people don't care what the red scarf is, Mr. Xu, as long as he agrees, he will have rice grains in hand so that the whole family can have a delicious meal during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

But there are also those who are sincerely grateful and even reciprocate, such as the old man in front of him, holding a bunch of green and red grapes in his withered hands, and tremblingly handed it to the soldier with a red scarf on his arm, "This is the grape rack at home."

If you pick them, please give them to Mr. Xu. I wish him a long life."

The young military man stretched out his hand to take it, "Thank you for your kindness, I will hand it over to the manager later. Why don't you get a bag of rice for me to carry home?"

The subordinate official of the government office quickly asked the servant to carry a bag of rice to send the old man home, and praised him: "The general manager loves the people like his son, so the people are grateful. This bunch of grapes is the heart of the people!"

Xu Xian casually grabbed one and stuffed it into his mouth, "Try this people's heart, is it sweet or not?"

The assistant bit the grape with a bang, and his facial features immediately twisted into a ball, "Sweet, very sweet!"

The big boss and others hugged their bellies and burst into laughter, "Mr. Xu, does he care about his old man? It really made me laugh to death. That old man is too dim and blind to recognize the true Buddha! Oh, it's so sour!"

Xu Xian stuffed a green grape into each of them one by one, "After laughing enough, let's go back to camp!".

Changzhou is indeed a prosperous and important town. The rice and grain in the city are useless. Anyway, the troops will not be taken away when they withdraw. It is better to use it to buy fame for himself and the Red Scarf. As for the effect, Xu Xian doesn't care.

Someone can benefit.

Dakui took two quick steps and arrived in front of Xu Xian, "Manager, today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, can you ask the brothers to go out and have a good time?"

"Isn't it fun to drink and gamble in the camp?"

Da Kui laughed twice and said, "There are no women in the camp!"

"I'm not surprised that Li Mobai said this. Are you good at this?"

Li Mobai stepped forward and said: "There is nothing wrong with a man. Speaking of which, the manager has been away from home for a long time. Why don't you come with us today! My subordinates knew that the oiran of a brothel was really beautiful, so he asked her to warm the manager's bed tonight.

.”

Xu Xian chuckled and said, "If I can catch your eye, I must be pretty, so I'll go and see it!"

Several people were talking while walking, when suddenly several cavalrymen rushed out from the intersection in front of them, heading towards Xu Xian.

Li Mobai immediately whispered: "Be careful!" The soldiers around him immediately put their hands on the handles of their swords to protect Xu Xian secretly.

The oncoming soldiers from Wu and Yue stopped not far from Xu Xian, dismounted their horses and knelt down, "This subordinate is a personal soldier of Tong Yuhou. Tong Yuhou said that today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, so he booked the red ribbon building in the city for a banquet."

, please go and show your respect, Commander-in-Chief."

Xu Xian laughed and said: "Tong Yuhou invites you, how can I not go? I will go to the east of the city to look for him!"

Tong Meng's soldiers were a little surprised, "Go now?"

"I can't wait to have a drink with Marquis Tong Yu, and Dakui will bring his horse over!"

Xu Xian mounted his horse and led a hundred soldiers to follow Tong Meng's soldiers. Only Li Mobai quietly stayed behind, turned around and went into the alley next to him, with a bit of a sinister smile on his face, "The commander kept giving

Your chance is that you can’t blame anyone for your own death!”

The sky is not yet dark, but the full moon has already risen, hanging in the sky like an ink outline. At this time, there is no habit of eating moon cakes. When adults are not paying attention, the children grab a handful of boiled broad beans or a piece of sesame cake on the altar table and leave.

I walked out of my house and went to the ditch and put the paper lantern into the water.

How could such a romantic affair be without brothel prostitutes? A group of orioles walked on the street with charming smiles, and the air around them seemed to be a little sweeter.

Yu Xiu looked at the vivid things in front of her indifferently, but locked her eyes on the brothel opposite. On the signboard, there were three gilded characters "Hong Kong House" written clearly.

He turned his head and looked at the seven or eight followers around him, including two dressed as turtles, "It's getting late, you go in first, be sure to charm him, and I will personally give him acupuncture in the evening!"

"

"Yes!" The two "turtles" responded and turned around and left the house.

Yu Xiu sat down again. There was a cloth bag on the table in front of him. The cloth bag was covered with silver needles. He casually took out a three-inch long silver needle and twisted it gently in his hand.

He smiled and said: "It is your blessing to meet me, and I will definitely make your death silent and painless!"

A follower standing at the window suddenly said: "Captain, he is here!"

Yu Xiu got up and went to the window. She saw a group of people on the street slowly heading towards the Red Thread Building. Among them were not only Xu Xian but also Shao Keqian, Tong Meng, and others. Several prominent people in the army were among them.

exist.

Yu Xiu snorted disdainfully and said softly: "This person is really cautious. He has to drag so many people with him when he goes to a brothel. It's a pity that you don't know my clever methods, so you can only waste your efforts."

While they were talking, the team had already arrived in front of the Hung Hom Tower. Just as Yu Xiu was about to retreat into the house, the window of the room next to him suddenly opened, and a Tang crossbow and a long bow stretched out from the window.

Hearing two string sounds one after another, he saw two sharp arrows shooting towards Xu Xian and others downstairs. One arrow hit Tong Meng's back without any bias, piercing from his back to his chest.

He grunted and fell off his horse. Another arrow hit Xu Xian on the shoulder. Xu Xian screamed miserably and fell off his horse.

"The assassin is upstairs opposite!"

Before he finished speaking, Dakui rushed into the restaurant where Yu Xiu was with dozens of red scarf soldiers. Yu Xiu shouted, "No, leave immediately!"

A follower opened the door and saw ten red-turbaned soldiers standing outside the door, each holding a crossbow and pointing it at them.

Yu Xiu was shocked, "How could they come up so fast? Are they the people next door? They must be the people next door. The soldiers who rushed up just now didn't bring crossbows at all..."

This was Yu Xiu's last thought in this world. Before he could draw his sword, a sharp arrow had already shot his throat...

At this time, the red-turbaned soldier who was the first to rush into the building was climbing up the narrow stairs to the second floor. Jiubao said to Dakui: "You guys move slower and don't let the people behind come in. I'm going to take a look at Li Mobai's cooking first."

Done yet!"

Jiubao and the others quickly ran upstairs and entered the room where they were just now. They saw Li Mobai taking off Yu Xiu's waist badge and replacing it with another one. The others pulled out the arrows from the dead body and then placed them on the arrow holes.

A touch up.

Jiubao smiled and said, "Your movements are quite neat!"

"Hehe... It's all because the rogues kept a close eye on them and gave me time to plot them!" Li Mobai took the Tang crossbow from Xin Zhao's hand and threw it on the corpse. He heard the thumping footsteps approaching, "Don't be stunned.

, scream louder again!"

By the time a large group of soldiers rushed upstairs, the assassins had been killed by the Red Scarf soldiers, and everyone carried the body back. The scene was so chaotic that no one could care whether there were fifty or sixty Red Scarf soldiers.

The real murderer blended in with the crowd and took the opportunity to sneak away quietly.

The Hung Hom Tower, which was originally used as a fun venue tonight, has been cleared out. Xu Xian sat on a chair in the hall and grinned. Yin Simiao broke the shaft of Xu Xian's arrow and said, "Commander, please go to the armor, and I will pull out the arrow for you."

!”

"Don't worry about me!" Xu Xian waved his finger and pointed at the dead Tong Meng on the table, "My handsome injury is not serious, go and get Tong Yuhou's diagnosis and treatment quickly!"

Several of Tong Meng's soldiers held the body and cried loudly. Yin Simiao stretched out his hand and tried to breathe, "He has died, there is no way to save him!"

Xu Xian let out a long sigh and said, "Brother Tong passed away so young. It's really a pity!"

There was a commotion outside the door, and people were seen carrying a bunch of corpses. Jiubao came in and reported: "Commander, all the assassins have been killed!"

Xu Xian got up and went outside with Shao Keqian and others. When they saw the body, Shao Keqian and others immediately took a breath of air-conditioning, but they all shut up and glanced at Xu Xian suspiciously.

Xu Xian knew the truth and asked, "Where did they come from?"

Jiubao groped them one by one and found a bunch of waist cards in front of everyone. He deliberately said loudly: "It seems to be a masterpiece left by the Tang army in the city. Shao commands you to see if it is true or not!"

Shao Keqian hesitated for a long time before nodding: "Yes, it was Tang Jun's careful work!"

"They are trying to kill me, but Tong Yuhou blocked an arrow for me! Liu Yuhou, you immediately lead people to search for other Tang soldiers. Don't let anyone slip through the net. Kill them all in half and lay bare their corpses for three days to comfort Tong Yu.

The spirit of Hou Zaitian."

Liu Ling bowed and agreed, and ordered the hundreds of soldiers who came with them to search nearby. However, the soldiers from Hongjindu did not move and instead entered the brothel.

Xu Xian winked, and Jiubao immediately closed the door. Da Kui suddenly jumped up and led people to kill several of Tong Meng's soldiers. Several soldiers were caught off guard and fell into a pool of blood without even drawing out their knives.

Shao Keqian said anxiously: "What are you doing, Marshal? Just now you were feeling sorry for Tong Yuhou, why did you kill his soldiers in the blink of an eye?" The other two Du Yuhou nervously pressed their swords on the handles.

.

"I'm not going to kill them. These people will also kill me. Commander Shao, didn't you see the way they looked at me as if they wanted to eat me? They are all people who know the inside story. They must have guessed what happened today.

It's eight or nine points, so you three shouldn't pretend to be confused because you understand."

Shao Keqian's old face couldn't help but blush, "Does the commander already know?"

"If I didn't know better, maybe I would have become an unjust ghost by now!"

"Since the commander-in-chief knows, why bother putting on a show? He can just have them chopped up to death!"

Xu Xian reached out and pulled out the arrow on his shoulder. There was only a little blood on the tip of the arrow. "I don't want to take the risk of receiving this arrow. Even if I kill these people with justification, the soldiers of Wu and Yue will still resent me and the morale of the army will be weakened."

Once the city is captured, it cannot be defended.

This situation is not what I wanted. I have been praying to God and Buddha in my heart, hoping that they would not attack me, but what should not have happened happened anyway. An ant can still survive, let alone a living person like me."

The other two Du Yuhou looked at each other and explained: "What the marshal said is that his subordinates have long advised them. They insisted on acting recklessly and got to where they are now. It is not the marshal's fault."

Xu Xian nodded with a smile and winked at Li Mobai. Li Mobai immediately took out a letter and handed it to Shao Keqian, "Commander Shao, please forward it to King Wu Yue for me, and ask him to reply to me. Which one is more important, Changzhou or Zhou?"

The emperor’s trust is important.”
To be continued...