"Zheng Hui is one of the masterminds around Cai Zheng. He has a forbearing temper. Cai Zheng presides over military affairs in Jingyuan and other places. Zheng Hui is responsible for planning many military operations. Since he believes that the veterans of the Jingsheng Army are involved,
In fact, he must have had some knowledge of the situations you mentioned,"
Lu Xiong still had a certain understanding of Zheng Hui and said,
"Judging from Xu Wufu's unusual reaction, he should have received some news, but some of the news was true. With Zheng Hui's ability, and the state and county officials were all afraid of Cai Thief, if he intended to release half-truths to Xu Wufu,
The half-false news can certainly make Xu Wufu believe that Xu Wujiang will be sacrificed in the whole matter, and it will not harm the entire Xu family!"
Of course, Xu Wufu could not willingly hurt the foundation of the Xu family, but the problem was that Zheng Hui came on behalf of Cai Qing. He had too many resources at his disposal, and he was able to trick Xu Wufu into a mess.
Xu Huai closed his eyes with a headache, and veins popped out on the back of his hand holding the scabbard.
Lu Xiong was right, Cai Qing was behind Zheng Hui's assassins.
In the entire officialdom of Tangzhou, it is not difficult for anyone who is attentive to guess what happened when Wang Zhen encountered bandits in Huaiyuan more than a month ago.
What attitudes and choices these people will have, Deng Gui is a typical representative.
They were unwilling to take responsibility, but they were forced by Cai Zheng's power and tried their best to cooperate with the assassin.
And Xu Huai had no doubt that there were even individual officials in the prefecture and county yamen who were direct descendants of Cai Zheng promoted and acted directly under Zheng Hui's orders.
In this case, they were just kidding, sticking out their heads and letting them chop them off with their knives!
To put it bluntly, the power of both parties was absolutely unbalanced from beginning to end.
If the memories that existed in his mind really came from later generations, then Wang Zhen should have died "encountering bandits" in Tongbai Mountain. It is normal to die without struggle and torment.
Although he unintentionally disturbed the situation, the general trend formed by the absolute balance of power has not been reversed.
Lu Xiong was also unable to stand there.
Wang Zhen has never wanted to involve irrelevant people. He used to think that Wang Zhen was too kind. Now it seems that Wang Zhen had expected this situation a long time ago, and it is pointless to involve too many people.
struggle.
The civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty in Vietnam were not incompetent people. In fact, most of them were smart people, and they were just too smart, and they all knew how to protect themselves wisely.
Xu Huaiju suddenly opened his eyes and said to Lu Xiong: "Master Lu, come with me to see Uncle Seventeen."
Before, he thought he had room to move, so he hid many things from Xu Wujiang, Xu Xinan and the others.
Now if Xu Wujiang really wants to lead his team to Qingxi Village unprepared, they may be mercilessly eaten by thieves ten times their size at any time. How can Xu Huai dare to continue to conceal many facts at this time?
…………
…………
Xu Huai and Lu Xiong left the willow forest and before they reached the residence, they met Xu Wujiang and Xu Xin'an who were coming from the direction of the barracks.
"Uncle Seventeen, Mr. Lu wants to talk to you about something. Let's go to the pond!" Xu Huai said, holding a lantern.
Lu Xiong was the person next to Wang Zhen. He had something to say, and Xu Wujiang naturally couldn't refuse. The four of them carried two lanterns and walked to the willow forest on the west side of the pond.
After night falls, the military camp is always quiet.
"Uncle Seventeen should have guessed that the horse thief Mr. Wang met in front of Yingzizui Cliff when he first came to Huaiyuan was actually an assassin, and that the recent changes in Hutou Village were caused by assassins behind the scenes, but Uncle Seventeen may not have guessed that.
Why would Deng Gui target you?" Xu Huai hung the lantern on a willow tree. He knew all the details of many things best, so he spoke directly to Xu Wujiang.
"You idiot, are you possessed by a ghost?" Xu Xin'an was shocked when she saw that Xu Huai was more serious than ever before. She stared at him, wondering if he was possessed by a ghost.
"Xu Xin'an, pull out the sword!" Xu Huai unsheathed the sword and signaled Xu Xi'an to pull out the sword as well.
It would be too troublesome to explain, and you might not be able to call Xu Wujiang immediately. Xu Xin'an believed that it would be better to call Xu Xin'an directly to teach him a few tricks.
"I'll help you change the bow back. Stop making trouble!" Xu Xin'an took off the long bow wrapped in linen behind him.
Xu Huai swung his sword forward and slashed forward. When the long sword first came out, it was slow and steady, but after halfway, the sword suddenly fell sharply, like a bolt of lightning, flashing past his eyes.
Xu Xin'an was frightened and jumped away suddenly. After being stunned for a while, he realized that the thin hemp rope binding the bundle had been cut off by the blade of a knife, but the burlap wrapping the long bow was not damaged at all.
However, what really shocked him was the sharp and powerful sword force at that moment. For a long time, his frightened feeling could not be completely calmed down.
"Uncle Seventeen, are you sure you can take my sword?" Xu Huai thrust the long sword against his elbow and looked at Xu Wujiang and asked.
Xu Wujiang had a sullen face, staring at the long straight-spine sword in Xu Huai's hand, but saw that the sword's thrust was not very fast, but the movement from the shoulders, hips, hands and feet was one of the eight basic sword movements in Fumang Dao.
Of course, for those who have practiced Fumang Dao for one or two years, it is not difficult to achieve this step.
However, just when Xu Huai turned his left arm and unfolded it, the blade of the thick-ridged long knife reflected the faint light from the lantern. At this moment, it seemed like water ripples. He suspected it was an illusion, and then he heard the sound coming from the blade.
There was a slight vibration, and the blade seemed to grow several inches in an instant, and it slashed through a willow tree on the side, leaving a several-inch long blade.
Ordinary people can't see what's so subtle about this sword, and may even think it's muddled. But Xu Wujiang didn't practice this sword until he was over twenty years old. How could he not know how powerful it is?
The essence of this sword movement is to exert force in the second stage and bury the power in the spine of the sword. The purpose is not even to kill the opponent by surprise.
On the battlefield, fighting with swords, shields, spears and halberds in each hand, the second stage of force can open the opponent's door at the last moment, or even go one step further and knock the opponent's weapon out of his hand.
He stared at Xu Huai in disbelief and asked: "When did you practice Fumang Sword to this level?"
"There are some things I shouldn't hide from Uncle Qi, you and Xin'an, but sometimes I feel like I'm being treated as a fool by you. I enjoy your care and don't have to do anything, but it's pretty good," Xu Huai said with a knife.
Sheath, said, "However, Deng Gui and the head of the family, Xu Wufu, have joined forces with the assassins to send Uncle Seventeen to your death. I can no longer hide everything from you!"
Of course Xu Wujiang knew that something was wrong with Deng Gui's order and that the head of the family, Xu Wufu, was attached to Deng Gui and did not help them argue. Otherwise, he would not be full of resentment, but he did not know the reason.
Xu Huai started from the day when he frightened off the assassins at Yingzizui, ransomed Liu Qiong'er from Yuehong Mansion, and how he lured the spies who had sneaked into Tieshi Lane from Hutou Village to the banks of Ye Shenzi Valley to ambush them yesterday.
Tell Xu Wujiang, Xu Xin'an knows:
"...Zheng Hui was the mastermind of Privy Councilor Cai Qing. He went to Tongbai Mountain in person. Not only did he control more than two hundred bandit soldiers from Chen Zixiao in Hutou Village, but there may also be officials in Tangzhou and county government offices.
He drove. Deng Gui did not dare to compete with him, so he arranged for Seventeenth Uncle and you to go to Qingxi Village to die! By then the bandits will be very strong, and the suppression of bandits will be taken over by the state and county. Or maybe Deng Gui is incompetent in suppressing bandits, so he might as well
Being neatly transferred to another place to take up a post naturally shirks all ties! As for what kind of information the head of the family received before agreeing with Deng Gui, we can’t speculate on the details yet..."
Xu Wujiang sat on a nearby tree stump with a scabbard in his hand. It was difficult to suppress the feeling of suffocation rising from his chest, and it was difficult to imagine what was happening in front of him.
He guessed that Wang Xun's encounter with the bandits was not an easy matter, but he did not expect that in the end, he would turn out to be a little insect that jumped into the net without knowing it.
Deng Gui arranged for him to lead his soldiers to guard Qingxi Village. Although he was resentful and felt that this arrangement was unfair to him and his soldiers, he never thought about how dangerous it was.
Although Hutou Village has two hundred soldiers, it lacks soldiers and armor, and its ability to storm the wall is even weaker. Xu Wujiang thought that he would lead 20 armored soldiers to Qingxi Village, and then organize the young and strong people in the village.
The defensive force will not be too weak. There is no big profit for the Hutou Village thieves, so they should not risk too many casualties to attack Qingxi Village.
But he never thought that everything behind this was such a conspiracy!
Hutou Village even kidnapped dozens of women and children from Qingxi Village as meat tickets before, which was part of the whole conspiracy. The purpose was to coerce the soldiers of Qingxi Village to rebel.
Although Xu Huai's change was so sudden, and although the tangled conspiracy behind it was so shocking, Lu Xiong stood aside, and Xu Wujiang couldn't believe it all.
But, what should he do, what can he do?
As the former Yushi Zhongcheng, Wang Zhen was unable to struggle in the face of such a crisis. He was just a small soldier in charge of more than 20 soldiers in the Inspection Department. In this boundless and extremely tenacious network, what could be accomplished by struggling?
Flowers coming?
"You said that the assassins came to target the old soldiers of the Jingsheng Army, and the family master would never give up easily on Xu Wuqi, Xu Wuqing and others who he relied on as his right-hand man. He should have been kept in the dark and was led by others.
Yes, let's go find him and explain all this clearly." Xu Xin'an suggested, perhaps because he was a newborn calf and was not afraid of tigers. Perhaps he found it difficult to accept Xu Huai's sudden change from the bottom of his heart.
"After discussing with Deng Gui in the evening, Xu Wufu couldn't wait to return to Yuhuangling; and at noon today, Xu Wuqi and Xu Heng also returned to Zhuangzi with their men from Biyang Luoma Market.
Oh! Xu Wufu may not have been kept in the dark." Xu Wujiang said painfully.
Xu Huai didn't have a deep impression of the head of the family, Xu Wufu, and it was difficult for him to make an accurate judgment on this man's words, deeds, and plans, but he understood the meaning of Xu Wujiang's words.
Xu Wujiang undoubtedly said that Xu Wufu and others were in Biyang. Whether it was hearsay or Zheng Hui deliberately conveyed the news, he actually had his own judgment on the truth about Wang Zhen's encounter with the bandits.
When Xu Wufu returned to Tongbai Mountain this time, he also withdrew all his direct descendants in Biyang. He should have been prepared for the worst, but he hoped more in his heart that after Xu Wujiang and the others were sacrificed, the assassins would successfully kill them again.
If Wang Zhen can stop here, the whole Xu family will not be implicated.
Of course, Xu Wufu also had another purpose in doing this, which was to prove to the assassins behind the scenes that the Xu family was not involved in secretly protecting Wang Zhen.
It is conceivable that when Xu Wufu returned to Yuhuangling, he temporarily cut off the Xu family's contact with the outside world. Not to mention that they had now come to Xu Wufu to explain everything clearly, they would probably not be able to return to Yuhuangling to seek help from other tribesmen.
In other words, everyone in Tangzhou knew exactly what happened when Wang Zhen encountered bandits.
They did not think about the injustice behind this incident, and did not feel a trace of anger that the dignitary at the court would use this method to eliminate political opponents.
At this time, they all hoped that Wang Zhen would die as soon as possible so that the whole matter would be settled as soon as possible without affecting their career and wealth.
They must say what they have in mind, and they just take this opportunity to get rid of people they usually dislike.
What the hell is this world?
"If the owner of the family has this intention, there is one more thing that can be verified, that is, go to the market and see if the people from Dongjie Luoma Market have withdrawn to Yuhuangling!" Xu Huai said with a serious expression.
The northern slope of Yuhuangling has gentle terrain, sparse forests and luxuriant grass. It is a rare pasture in Tongbai Mountain. Xu family raises cattle and horses accordingly. Their family is in Huaiyuan Town. In addition to operating a grain store, Biyang also operates a mule and horse market. Every year
Thousands of cattle, horses, mules and donkeys were sold.
If their guess about Xu Wufu is correct, the Xu clan members in Huaiyuan Town should also receive notice and withdraw to Yuhuang Ridge in batches.
"I'll go to Hedong to find them!" Xu Xin'an didn't believe that the family leader was really so ruthless. He threw the long bow to Xu Huai and wanted to cross the river overnight and go to the streets to find Xu Wuyun and other tribesmen to verify.
"Deng Gui issued a strict order to close the military camp after nightfall, and no one is allowed to leave without his order," Xu Wujiang said.
As the banditry crisis intensified, Deng Gui tightened his control over the patrol officers and soldiers. Originally, there was nothing to criticize, but there was no action in the past two days, and tonight he suddenly became stricter. What else is there to doubt?
