Deng Feng didn't know how he got out of the Yin family. Standing on the street, he looked around. Everything around him was familiar, but it seemed that everything had lost its color, and all the people and objects turned gray and black.
He walked forward blindly like a zombie. When he came to his senses, he didn't even know where he had walked. Seeing a small restaurant in front of him, he staggered in.
This restaurant is very small, and seems to be run by a father and daughter. The father is a man in his late forties, with dark skin, good looks, thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a strong back and waist.
My daughter is not very old, she looks about sixteen or seventeen.
There were no other diners in the restaurant, and it looked like it was about to close. Deng Feng found a seat and sat down casually. The middle-aged man came up and asked with a smile: "What would you like to eat, sir?"
"Wine! Serve me as much wine as you have!" As he spoke, Deng Feng took off the money bag from his waist and threw it directly to the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man felt that the money bag was heavy. When he opened it, he was shocked. There were coins, dragon coins, and a gold ingot inside.
He was stunned for a moment and said quickly: "Guest... Sir, this... this is too much." Just this gold ingot is enough to buy several trips to their small shop.
"I just want wine!" Deng Feng slowly raised his head, looked at the middle-aged man, and said word by word.
"Hey!" The middle-aged man shrank in fright at Deng Feng's eyes, called his daughter, and served Deng some wine and food.
The girl's appearance is very delicate. She is not the kind of girl who is stunning at first sight, but she is very attractive, and the more she looks at her, the more beautiful and lovable she becomes.
She gave Deng Feng a jar of wine, as well as a jug and a wine glass. However, Deng Feng had no use for the latter two. He grabbed the wine jar, tore off the seal, and drank heavily.
Deng Feng didn't remember how much wine he drank. When he woke up from his sleep, it was already dark and he was lying on a somewhat hard bed.
He wanted to sit up, but his head hurt as if it was about to split. He couldn't help but rub his forehead and let out a painful groan.
The door opened, and a slender figure walked in from the outside.
Deng Feng squinted his eyes, but couldn't see the other party's appearance clearly.
"Are you awake?" A clear and sweet voice came to his mind.
Deng Feng waited for a while and then opened his eyes again. He finally saw clearly the person squatting beside the bed. She was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl with fair skin and handsome facial features. She had no smoke powder and noodles in clear soup.
But it’s extremely inviting and approachable.
Seeing him staring straight at her, the girl felt a little embarrassed. She stood up and said, "You were drunk in the store last night, and your father carried you to the guest room. Just wait a moment, and I'll get you a bowl of water."
"As she spoke, the girl turned around and walked out.
When she walked to the door of the room, Deng Feng asked in a hoarse voice: "Girl, what is your name?"
"Fei'er! Yuan Fei'er!" The girl turned back and looked at Deng Feng with a smile.
She stood at the door, facing the morning sun. The sunlight poured down on her body, making a halo of light appear around her. It was very bright, so bright that it seemed to shine into the depths of Deng Feng's cold heart.
He thought of Yin Lihua. When he first saw her, she was just a little person who couldn't even speak clearly.
"You...why are you crying?" The girl looked at him in surprise.
"Is there any?" Deng Feng came back to his senses and subconsciously raised his hand to touch his cheek. There were indeed water stains. Deng Feng couldn't help but shook his head and smiled bitterly. For someone like him who only bleeds but doesn't shed tears, he actually I also cry.
He slowly sat up from the bed, bowed to the girl and said, "Deng Feng, Zi Yuanzhi!"
"Deng Yuanzhi! I remember!" The girl smiled and walked out of the room briskly.
Looking at the empty door, Deng Feng's eyes didn't look back for a long time.
This was the first meeting between Deng Feng and Yuan Feier, and it was from here that their fate began.
Liu Xiu said goodbye to Deng Chen and his second sister's family, took Deng Yu, Zhu You, and Gai Yan, and set off for Wancheng.
The distance from Xinye to Wancheng is not far, even closer than the distance from Xinye to Juncheng.
Liu Xiu and his party set out in the morning and arrived at Wancheng in the evening.
After entering Wancheng, Liu Xiu and others went directly to Li Mansion.
The Li family is a well-known family in Wancheng. If you ask around on the road, you can easily find the Li family.
Hearing the news of Liu Xiu's arrival, Li Tong and Li Yi hurried out of the house to welcome him. Seeing Liu Xiu standing outside the door, Li Tong was surprised and happy. He took three steps in two steps and came to Liu Xiu. Just as he was about to give a salute, Liu Xiu patted Li Tong's arm first, interrupted his salute, and said with a smile: "Ci Yuan, Ji Wen, it's been a long time since we last seen each other. Why don't you invite me to your home?"
It's still daylight and people are coming and going on the street. If someone sees the eldest son of the Li family saluting him, his status will attract too much attention.
Li Tong knew it at first. He was stunned for a moment, and then said with a smile on his face: "Quick, quick, please come inside, please come inside!" While talking, he and Li Yi took Liu Xiu, Deng Yu, Zhu You, Gai Yan and his entourage let them enter the mansion.
In the Li Mansion, people came and went, and most of them were young and strong men. It can be seen that during this period, Li Tong and Li Yi were not idle, and they secretly recruited subordinates.
The group of them did not go to the hall, but were taken to the study by Li Tong. After entering the room and closing the doors and windows tightly, Li Tong solemnly bowed his hands to Liu Xiu and said, "Ci Yuan has met my lord!"
Li Yi also saluted Liu Xiu, but did not address Liu Xiu as his lord. Li Yi and Li Tong were different. Li Tong had already recognized Liu Xiu as his lord, while Li Yi recognized Liu Yan as his lord. There were still some differences. of.
Liu Xiu waved his hands to the two of them, indicating that they didn't need to be polite.
He pulled Deng Yu over and introduced him: "This is Deng Yu and Deng Zhonghua, my classmate when I was in Taixue University, and also my best friend. Zhonghua helped me a lot in Xinye."
Li Tong knew Zhu You and Gai Yan, but he was the first to see Deng Yu. He and Deng Yu bowed to each other again and exchanged greetings. After everyone sat down one after another, Liu Xiu asked, "Has Ziling arrived in Wancheng?" "
"Yes, lord!" Li Tong said seriously: "I have arranged a place for Ziling and the others." He deliberately emphasized the word 'them' to reassure Liu Xiu that Yin Lihua would reach Wancheng safely. .
Liu Xiu asked curiously: "Don't Ziling and the others live in Li's house?"
Li Yi then said: "Uncle Wen, you have also seen that the Li Mansion is almost overcrowded and crowded. It is too unsafe, so I discussed with Ji Yuanyi and decided to place Zi Ling and others in Zhuangzi in the west of the city. This Zhuangzi is not recorded in the name of the Li family, and no one knows its relationship with the Li family. It is relatively safer for Ziling and the others to live there."
Liu Xiu nodded thoughtfully. Now Li Tong and Li Yi are recruiting troops aggressively, which is indeed very attention-grabbing. If Lihua continues to live in the main residence of the Li family, the risk of exposure will be too high.
He said with a smile: "It's Ji Yuan and Ji Wen who thought it through. This time, it's really thanks to you two for your help!"
Li Yi looked up and smiled, and said boldly: "Uncle Wen, we are all brothers. It would be too foreign to say so."
Liu Xiu changed the topic and said: "When I came in, I saw that there were many young people in the house!"
Wancheng and the county city are very close, it can be said that they are right under the nose of the county city. Now that the Li family is recruiting troops so aggressively and making such a big noise, it is impossible not to arouse the suspicion and vigilance of the county government.
Li Yi smiled and said: "During this period, we have already recruited four or five hundred people."
Liu Xiu frowned slightly and said, "Isn't this a bit too ostentatious?"
Li Yi said disapprovingly: "Uncle Wen is worrying too much. The world is in such chaos right now, and our Li family has a great business. What's wrong with recruiting more followers?"
Deng Yu suddenly asked: "Some time ago, Zhen Fu personally led the county army to encircle and suppress the Green Forest Army. Did he also pass through Wancheng?"
"Yes!" Li Yi responded inexplicably.
"So, when Zhen Fu passed through Wancheng, did he come to visit Li Mansion and ask Li Mansion to send someone to help encircle and suppress the Green Forest Army?" Deng Yu asked with a solemn expression.
Li Yi smiled and said: "Zhonghua is really good at predicting events. As you said, when Zhenfu passed by Wancheng, he did come to our Li family, and he did ask people from our Li family to help him encircle and suppress Xin.
The Green Forest Army of the City and Peace Forest."
Deng Yu asked: "Ci Yuan, Ji Wen, how did you respond to Zhen Fu at that time?"
Li Yi spread his hands and said: "Of course Jiyuan and I rejected him! First of all, we had no grudges with the Green Forest Army in the past and recently, so why should we help Zhen Fu fight against the Green Forest Army? Secondly, we and the Green Forest Army are
Zizhang (Ma Wu) and Ci Kuang (Zhao Qi), who are related to each other, are still recruiting troops in Yizhou under the banner of the Green Forest Army. Regardless of whether it is public or private, we should not help Zhen Fu.
So at that time, Ji Yuan and I made excuses to decline."
"Oops!" Deng Yu's expression became more serious. Liu Xiu also frowned.
Seeing this, Li Yi asked blankly: "What? Did Jiyuan and I still refuse? Should we send someone to help the county army fight the Green Forest Army? Uncle Wen, Zhonghua, don't forget,
The Green Forest Army is just like us, we are all rebellious brothers!"
Deng Yu said meaningfully: "The county army does not actually need anyone's help to encircle the Green Forest Army. The county army itself is fully capable and capable of doing this. But in this case, why did Zhen Fu come to ask the Li family for help?
?”
"Why?" Li Tong and Li Yi asked in unison.
"Test!" Deng Yu immediately told them about Zhen Fu's invitation to Liu Yan and Liu Xiu's help, and analyzed the stakes in detail.
When he finished speaking, Li Tong and Li Yi gasped in unison. The two brothers really didn't expect that this seemingly simple invitation would have so many twists and turns hidden in it.
Li Tong's face turned pale and he asked urgently: "My lord, we already rejected Zhen Fu's invitation, so what should we do now? Is Zhen Fu secretly plotting against our Li family?"
Liu Xiu thought about it carefully, shook his head slowly, and said: "Li Gong once served as an official in the court, and he was a master of prophecy that Wang Mang valued highly. Although Zhen Fu is the prefect, he does not dare to touch the Li family easily, but he will definitely do it."
Report to the imperial court the fact that Li Jiaguang is recruiting clients but refuses to obey the orders of the county government."
At this point, Liu Xiu was suddenly shocked and said: "If it was just such a thing, the imperial court might not touch the Li family. But now Li Zhenggong is in the capital, lobbying the ministers everywhere. If Wang Mang knows, the two will be
If these things are connected together, then not only Li Gong's situation in the capital will be in danger, but the entire Li family may also suffer disaster!"
Li Tong and Li Yi's expressions suddenly changed, and they stood up subconsciously.
Liu Xiu said categorically: "Gong Li's lobbying in the capital must stop immediately! Gong Li must leave the capital immediately and return to Wancheng!"
Li Tong and Li Yi nodded together, thinking that Liu Xiu was right.
But what they didn't expect was that they only realized this now when it was too late.