Chapter 40: Seven sons make meritorious deeds, but two thieves win
Xincheng County, Shangyong County.
I left my homeland and came to Wei Dynasty, and it has been several years since I realized it.
On the Southwest Great Wall of the Wei Dynasty, the governor of Xincheng, Pingyang Tinghou Mengda, is playing with his seal of General Jianwu at this moment.
He couldn't help but feel a little dazed for a moment.
Five years ago, when he was still in the Han camp, in order to protect Shangyong who was not yet attached to the Han Dynasty, he did not provide assistance to Guan Yunchang who defeated Maicheng. As a result, he was resented by his old master Liu Bei, so he could only leave the Han Dynasty.
Come to Wei Dynasty.
Four years ago, as General Jianwu of the Wei Dynasty, he and his new friend Xia Houshang defeated Shangyong, Xicheng, and Fangling guarded by Liu Feng. This was considered a complete break with Liu Xuande.
For no reason, he remembered what Boren said to him:
"Zidu, human beings are born to live between heaven and earth, just like birds living on dead branches. Everything is always changing. I hope you can understand."
No matter how ashamed I am of my enthusiasm for helping the Han Dynasty, no matter how ashamed I am of Liu Xuande, I can only feel relieved.
What's more, there's nothing I can't be relieved about.
I originally thought that I would be jealous of the Wei Jun, but I didn't expect that I would suddenly become the southwest barrier of the Wei Dynasty and a high official in the border area.
However, once His Majesty leaves me and Boren leaves me, I will truly become a rootless duckweed.
"It's all clouds..."
Meng Da couldn't help but smile bitterly, and the beautiful mustache at the corner of his mouth trembled because of it.
His Majesty praised him for his ability as a famous general and his courage and perseverance.
However, he felt that he had the fear of Le Yi leaving the country due to the suspicion of King Yan, but he did not have the courage to lead the troops of the five countries to attack Qi.
The hero is short of breath.
What's more, in the eyes of more people, he is just a traitor and a second minister, not a hero.
At this time, Mengda's thoughts were interrupted by a soldier who entered the study to report information.
"General Qi, the Shu captives from Huolongmen, with Young Master Xiahou as their hostage, have passed through the Yuzhou state boundary safely and are now heading towards our Xincheng County boundary."
Meng Da felt his heart tremble when he heard the word "Shu captives". He was just stunned for a moment, and then returned to normal.
Regarding Xia Houxuan's being a hostage, Meng Da didn't have many surprises. This section had already been arranged in Xia Houxuan's letter to him.
"Arrange manpower and prepare to receive it."
Meng Da seemed to hesitate for a moment before making a decision. His long eyebrows trembled slightly and he said slowly:
"Arrange crossbowmen to ambush in Fangling Mountain. Prepare to kill Liu Chi!"
"promise!"
The soldier received the general's order and began to make arrangements.
——
When Guanqiu Jian heard Zhuge Que say that he wanted to kill one of their group, he instantly understood the other party's sinister intentions.
From the beginning, their drinking and eating snake gall were just pranks arranged by Zhuge Que. Everything was not a temptation to go up the mountain to join the sect, but a malicious joke.
Zhuge Que never believed them. From the beginning, Zhuge Que just wanted to play with them.
Guanqiu Jian didn't think about it at the moment and couldn't bear it anymore.
He glared angrily at Zhuge Que, who had a joking face, and then looked at the mysterious crossbowmen surrounding him, with a sneer on his lips.
The great Wei Erlang can be killed but not humiliated!
"Don't do it yet!"
Almost in an instant, Guan Qiu Jian stood up with an angry look and drew his sword. Wei Lie and Gao Xun, who had had enough, were waiting for the order to resist. At this moment, Guan Qiu Jian gave the order and they immediately drew their swords.
, the six school officials were highly skilled in martial arts and had been wandering around the capital and the Jianghu for many years. Seeing Guanqiu Jian's reaction, they had already been prepared.
At the same time, the members of the Mingnan Gang who had been waiting with crossbows and arrows for a long time saw that Guanqiu Jian and his party had made some changes. Without saying a word, they raised their crossbows and fired at them randomly. This was their gang leader Zhuge Que, who had already issued an order to them. their orders.
Guanqiu Jian saw the red crossbow arrows being fired one after another, but he did not shrink back due to fear. Instead, he became extremely timid and courageous. He saw the swords in his hands were twisted. Although the red crossbow arrows were fast and powerful, three waves of arrows rained down, They were unable to break through Guanqiu Jian's nine-man defense.
Firstly, it was because Guanqiu Jian had superb swordsmanship, and secondly, there were six school officials protecting the circle. Although Wei Lie's martial arts skills were not as good as those of Guan Qiujian and the six school officials, he was able to protect himself.
Although Gao Xun was not good at martial arts, he was surrounded by eight people and was therefore unscathed.
Zhuge Que couldn't help but have a higher evaluation of his opponent.
If I had known earlier, I would have placed more crossbowmen around the pavilion. After all, I was still missing a move. But the matter has come to this point, and there is no use regretting it. I cannot leave here, otherwise no one will be able to keep this group of people.
Zhuge Que gave an order, and the crossbowmen's attack became more fierce and rapid. They no longer fired randomly as before, but lined up like a military formation, with three rows taking turns to fire.
Guanqiu Jian understood that Zhuge Que had sinister intentions.
He wanted to use the rain of arrows to consume the physical strength of the nine of them.
No matter how good their martial arts skills are, once their physical strength is exhausted, they will not be able to block this extremely fast arrow.
Now, I have no choice but to take a gamble with Zhuge Que.
And this huge bet was about the physical strength of the nine of them and the number of Zhuge Que's mysterious arrows.
As for the bet, it is the lives of both parties!
Guanqiu Jian's heart was like a mirror. If Zhuge Que was really superior in martial arts, he would have taken action himself. Even to test the strength of his group, a wave of arrows would be enough. But Zhuge Que did not take action himself. Let his men step up their offensive, which is enough to prove that Zhuge Que's martial arts skills are not as good as those of his nine men.
And once Zhuge Que runs out of arrows, he will be finished.
On the contrary, if he and the others were exhausted before Zhuge Que ran out of arrows, then just a few arrows could kill nine of them.
The situation is becoming more and more critical.
"oops!"
Among them, Wei Lie, who had the lowest martial arts skills, had long been overwhelmed. But just now, the sword in his hand slowed down, and an arrow had been hit in his arm. Although the red arrow was not poisonous, it had a special shape, so it shot It's really heart-wrenching for me.
Wei Lie was hit by an arrow, and then an opening opened in the circle of eight people. Gao Xun, who was not good at martial arts, immediately lost his human shield.
"Ouch! It hurts me so much! Dog thief!"
Immediately afterwards, Gao Xun was hit by an arrow in his leg.
He was usually rough in martial arts, and naturally his endurance was not as good as Wei Lie's. At this moment, he was suddenly injured and in severe pain, and he even uttered a rare curse word.
Seeing that two people in a row were hit by arrows, Zhuge Que became more energetic and hurriedly ordered his men not to intensify their offensive in an attempt to strike down the enemy in one fell swoop.
What he didn't know was that the person who was hit by the arrow happened to be the one that Guan Qiu Jian and others needed to be distracted from protecting. Now that Gao Xun was sitting on the ground, it was actually beneficial to the defense of Guan Qiu Jian and others.
Without Wei Lie in the outer circle, although there was one less person, Guanqiu Jian and the six school officials had more room to display.
After two waves of arrow rain, and seeing that the arrows were about to be used up, Zhuge Que saw that the arrows were still in vain. He was anxious and hurriedly threw the signal crossbow arrows from his sleeves out of the pavilion.
These were sleeve arrows used to report credit. The number was limited, and Zhuge Que himself was not good at martial arts, so he did not attack Guanqiu Jian and others with these sleeve arrows.
When Guanqiu Jian saw Zhuge Que's signal, he couldn't help but feel happy. He knew that the opponent's arrows were running out, and he was going to win this huge bet!
"Catch Zhuge Que alive!"
"promise!"
After the six school officials took the order, three of them protected Wei Lie and Gao Xun, while the three followed Guan Qiujian and flew towards Zhuge Que.
In an instant, there was lightning and flint, and Zhuge Que had no time to escape and was already controlled by Guanqiu Jian.
When the surrounding Xuanji crossbowmen saw that the gang leader had been arrested, they all threw their rat weapons and stopped shooting.
At this time, Zhuge Que was not afraid to laugh back, he laughed loudly and said:
"Do you think you have already won? I just sent a message that the seven hundred mysterious crossbows in the mountain are already heading here!"
Guanqiu Jian knew in his heart that what Zhuge Que said was true. It was not difficult to hide seven hundred Xuanji crossbowmen in such a large mountain. If he wanted to kill Zhuge Que today, or take Zhuge Que away by force, these seven hundred Xuanji crossbowmen would be hidden. It is very likely that the crossbow will be destroyed. Even if he can take Zhuge Que away ten thousand steps back, the remaining 700 Shu captives can still escape justice and escape from the Wei Dynasty.
It seems that this time, no matter what, I will live up to His Highness's expectations.
Seeing Guanqiu Jian's confused look, Zhuge Que showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth.
"Let's do this. Let's make a deal. You can take my seven hundred mysterious crossbowmen and go to your emperor to ask for merit. All you need to do is let me go. How about that?"
Guanqiu Jian's heart wavered, and he knew that this was indeed a good choice. Capturing seven hundred Shu captives was a real military achievement. If it could be achieved, he would then be able to have a greater influence on His Royal Highness King Pingyuan. s help.
But......
Guanqiu Jian frowned and hesitated.
If Zhuge Que used this as an excuse to blackmail himself, then how could he go to see His Highness?
"Brother Zhong Gong, of course you can't agree to his request."
At this time, a clear voice came from outside the pavilion.
Zhuge Que's face suddenly became extremely ugly. He had been summoning seven hundred Xuanji crossbowmen for a long time, but there was no movement.
When Guanqiu Jian heard the voice, he felt as if he saw a beam of light in the abyss.
It's Xia Houxuan!
After Xia Houxuan and Meng Da worked together to capture Liu Chi, Liu Chi preferred death to surrender and committed suicide. It took a long time, so Xia Houxuan arrived at the Mingnan Gang just in time.
"Where is my seven hundred mysterious crossbowmen!"
Zhuge Que couldn't believe that he had fallen into such a trap.
"Here." Xiahou Xuanfeng smiled lightly and pointed at the dark military formation outside the mountain. In that military formation, seven hundred Xuanwu crossbowmen had already been captured.
It turned out that Xia Houxuan had already asked Zhuge Dan, Sima Zhao, and Cao Xi to go to the counties near the Mingnan Gang to gather soldiers from the counties and rush here specifically.
Zhuge Que's eyes, which had always been full of cunning light, finally dimmed at this moment.
————
Luoyang, East Palace, Zhaoxian Pavilion.
Cao Rui took the letter from Cao Shuang and Bi Gui.
After a long time, a smile appeared on Cao Rui's lips.
"Zhong Gong and the others should be able to return when the willow leaves are new."
Under the bright sunshine, he stretched out beautifully.
————
Imperial Palace, Shiqian Hall.
The emperor, who received the report of school affairs, nodded with satisfaction.
He had known for a long time that Liu Chi was a stranger who had been befriended by Liu Chan, the prince of the Shu Han Dynasty, and was also Liu Chan's sworn brother. Zhuge Que was a clan son secretly cultivated by Zhuge Kongming, the Prime Minister of the Shu Han Dynasty. The Huolong and Mingnan sects were causing trouble. The Wei Dynasty has been established for many years, and its foundation has been very solid.
However, Xia Houxuan couldn't help but solve the rumors this time, and he also cooperated with the county to rectify the mixed Jianghu sects, and successfully arrested and killed the two ruthless characters Zhuge Que and Liu Chi. It was indeed not easy to achieve three goals with one stone.
"This child is indeed a material that can be made."
