Liu Xiu asked: "Uncle Yuan, is there any way you can bring us into the city?"
Wang Ba said without thinking, "My father is worshiping his ancestors!"
Liu Xiu thought about it for a moment and nodded slowly. This was a solution.
The Wang family is not a small family. For such a big thing as ancestor worship, there must be a lot of people leaving the city. When they return to the city, it is easy for them to sneak into the team returning to the city and get through.
But as Wang Ba said, the number of people we want to muddle through cannot be too large, at most five or six people, so as not to arouse suspicion.
Liu Xiu thought about it and thought it was feasible, and said, "Uncle Yuan, I leave this matter to you!"
Wang Ba said seriously: "My lord, I will go back to Xiangcheng today to discuss with my father."
Feng Yi said: "Uncle Yuan, given your current status, it is not appropriate for you to return to Xiangcheng!"
Wang Ba smiled and said confidently: "I don't need to go into the city. I just need to send someone in and wait for my father to come out of the city to find me."
"Well! This is safer!"
Liu Xiu discussed it and finally decided that Liu Xiu, Long Yuan, Long Zhun, Long Bu, Xu Ying, Xu Ting and Xu Fei, a total of seven people, would follow Wang Ba to Xiangcheng.
Their goal is to assassinate, and Long Yuan, Xu Ying and others are better at this.
Jia Fu, Ma Wu, Yao Qi, Feng Yi and others all objected to Liu Xiu going to Xiangcheng, but Liu Xiu also had his own reasons. This time he wanted to ask Wang Ba's father, Wang Xing, for such a big help, so he had no reason not to step forward.
.
Before Liu Xiu went with Wang Ba, everyone repeatedly reminded him to be more careful. Since he was meeting Wang Xing outside the city, there was no need to enter the city again. The assassination could be done by Long Yuan and others.
Liu Xiu didn't want everyone to worry, so he nodded in response to people's reminders.
Ma Wu glanced at Wang Ba coldly with a pair of big ring eyes, and warned word by word: "Wang Ba, this time my lord will go with you to Xiangcheng. If you dare to have evil intentions, my lord will lose one."
Damn it, even if you run to the ends of the earth, I, Ma Wu, will dig you out and kill you without a burial place!"
Wang Ba laughed out loud and said: "My lord, take me to Xiangcheng to make great achievements. You, Ma Wu, just wait here and enjoy the success!"
Ma Wu was furious, but Wang Ba just kept wandering around Liu Xiu, never leaving Liu Xiu, and there was nothing he could do against Wang Ba.
To make a long story short, on that day, Liu Xiu stationed three thousand soldiers and horses under his command in Pingding Mountain. He, along with Long Yuan, Xu Ying and others, followed Wang Ba to Xiangcheng.
Pingdingshan is not far from Xiangcheng. If you ride a horse, you can get there in half a day.
In the south of Xiangcheng, there is a Quzi Temple, but it is relatively poor, and few people come here on weekdays. After Liu Xiu and his party arrived in Xiangcheng, they temporarily hid in this Quzi Temple.
Afterwards, Wang Ba sent an accompanying retainer to let him enter the city to find his father Wang Xing.
It was obvious that this was not the first time that the doorman had done this, and he was very familiar with it.
The retainer's home is in Xiangcheng, and no one knows about his relationship with Wang Ba. It is easy to get in and out of the city. The retainer mixes among the people entering the city and enters the city easily. He first wanders around the city to make sure no one is following him.
, and then quietly went to the Wang family's mansion.
After arriving, he didn't dare to go through the front door, but knocked on the back door. After a while, a servant from the Wang family opened the door. The servant glanced at the guest, and then looked to both sides of the alley, but saw no one else.
, then he turned aside and let the guest into the house.
The servant didn't say much. After locking the back door, he took the visitor to the study. Then he went to find Wang Xing.
The guest waited in the study for less than a cup of tea before Wang Xing came. After meeting, Wang Xing asked: "Wenyi, did Uncle Yuan ask you to come back?" The guest's surname was Wang Minlian and his courtesy name was Wenyi.
He bowed deeply and respectfully to Wang Xing and said: "Your Majesty, Uncle Yuan is now at the Quzi Temple outside the south city."
When Wang Xing heard this, he was secretly surprised, frowned, and asked: "Why did he come back? Are you out of food?"
Wang Lian shook his head and said: "Your Majesty, Uncle Yuan is waiting for you at Quzi Temple. You will know when you follow me out of the city."
Wang Xing asked no more questions and asked his servants to prepare the carriage. Then Wang Lian dressed up as a coachman and drove the carriage, pulling Wang Xing out of Xiangcheng.
When they arrived at Quzi Temple outside Nancheng, Wang Xing met Wang Ba. Although Wang Ba was not good-looking, Wang Xing was a talented person. Although he was middle-aged, his beard and hair were not white, his back was not bent, and he was full of energy.
Eyes brighter.
Wang Ba first saluted Wang Xing, and then immediately introduced Liu Xiu to Wang Xing. In fact, Wang Xing noticed Liu Xiu as soon as he came in. He had basically seen all the retainers under Wang Ba, but this young man had an eye for him.
Very born.
Looking carefully, he found that the young man was in his early twenties, about the same age as Wang Ba, tall, handsome, polite, and quite elegant. He knew at a glance that he was not an ordinary person. Although Wang Xing was full of curiosity, he did not ask any more questions.
Now when he heard Wang Ba's introduction that this person was Liu Xiu, the general of the Han army in Nanyang, Wang Xing couldn't help but be shocked.
He was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly bowed to Liu Xiu and saluted, and said: "I don't know if General Liu is here. I have been disrespectful to you. Please forgive me, General Liu!"
Liu Xiu bowed his hands and returned the greeting, saying, "It's Xiu who has taken the liberty to come here. Please don't be too polite, prince!"
After exchanging pleasantries, Wang Xing asked in confusion: "I wonder why General Liu suddenly came to Xiangcheng this time?"
Naturally, Wang Xing had already heard the news about the Nanyang Han army's advance into Yingchuan. If the Han army was going north from Kunyang to attack Xiangcheng, he would not be surprised at all. But if they wanted to attack Xiangcheng, Liu Xiu couldn't come alone.
Where are his troops?
Before Liu Xiu could speak, Wang Ba said to Wang Xing: "Aweng (father), Uncle Yuan met my lord at Pingding Mountain. Thanks to my lord for not giving up, Uncle Yuan is now under my lord's tent. He will do his best in the future.
Assist the lord and restore the country of Han Dynasty!"
Wang Xing's eyes flashed and he looked at Liu Xiu in surprise.
He knew a lot about the news about the Han army in Nanyang, and he also heard about Liu Xiu. What Liu Xiu is most widely known for is not how good he is at fighting, but his good moral character and his kindness to the people, which is widely talked about.
Happy Tao.
In Wang Xing's eyes, his son was quite unsatisfactory. He made trouble everywhere and never stopped. Unexpectedly, he could actually serve under Liu Xiu, which surprised Wang Xing.
You must know that the Han army is still a rebel army in the government's mouth. His son joined the rebel army. As a father, he must be worried and angry.
But Wang Xing is not an ordinary commoner. He has been in the officialdom for many years and can see many things very clearly.
The Xinmang court was dying and on the verge of collapse. The Han army based on the descendants of the Liu family in Nanyang was developing rapidly and was very popular among people everywhere. It would be a bright road for his son to join the Han army in Nanyang.
He said to Liu Xiu: "General Liu is able to take in Quan Zi. It is indeed Quan Zi's good fortune and the Wang family's good fortune as well!"
Liu Xiu said: "Your Majesty is too polite. Uncle Yuan is young, but he is very talented. It is Xiu's good fortune that he is willing to assist me!"
Wang Xing nodded secretly. People said that Liu Xiu was approachable, and it turned out to be true after meeting him today.
Seeing that his father did not object to his joining the Han army, Wang Ba was in a good mood and said: "Aweng, this time my lord came to Xiangcheng, he planned to sneak into the city and wait for an opportunity to assassinate Li Wen and Jia Xuan!"
Wang Xing took a breath and looked at Liu Xiu and Wang Ba in surprise. The latter continued: "The day after tomorrow, isn't it Li Hun's wedding day? Li Wen and Jia Xuan will both come by then, which is a good opportunity to make a move!
"
"This..." Wang Xing frowned. Assassinating the county magistrate and county lieutenant during a wedding was not a trivial matter, nor was it easy to accomplish.
Wang Ba said: "My lord's army is at Pingding Mountain. As long as Li Wen and Jia Xuan are dead, the army can attack Xiangcheng and conquer it in one fell swoop."
Wang Xing pondered for a moment and asked: "What General Liu needs me to do, just tell me!"
Liu Xiu smiled and said, "As long as the prince finds a way to sneak us into the city."
Wang Xing was horrified and said: "General Liu is also going to the city?"
Liu Xiu nodded and said, "Exactly."
"Isn't this...is it too dangerous?"
Liu Xiu smiled and asked, "My lord, is there any way to bring us into the city?"
Wang Xing lowered his head and was silent in thought. Wang Ba then said, "Aweng, that's what I think. Tomorrow Aweng will leave the city in the name of worshiping his ancestors. When he returns to the city, the lord and others can join the team!"
"
After hearing Wang Ba's suggestion, Wang Xing's eyes flashed. This was a solution. He thought about it carefully, nodded, looked at Liu Xiu, and asked: "If this is the case, I have to wrong General Liu and pretend to be a member of the palace."
A domestic slave."
Domestic slaves did not have identification documents. The only person who could prove their identity was their master.
Liu Xiu happily raised his hands in salute and said, "Thank you so much, Your Majesty, for your help!"
"Oh, General Liu is too polite, you are so mean!" Wang Xing hurriedly returned the greeting.
The matter was settled in this way. On the same day, Wang Xing returned to the city and prepared to go out of the city to worship his ancestors. There was nothing to say that day. The next morning, the Wang family went out of the city to worship their ancestors.
In addition to Wang Xing, the ancestor worshipers were also accompanied by many people, including Wang's clan members and many domestic servants. Taken together, there must be more than a hundred people.
After all, Wang Xing had been an official in the county government before, and the county government also wanted to show some respect to the Wang family. When they left the city, the county soldiers guarding the city gate did not do any more questioning and let them out of the city smoothly.
When they arrived at the ancestral grave of the Wang family, during the process of worshiping their ancestors, Wang Xing quietly sent away several slaves, Liu Xiu, Wang Ba, Long Yuan and others, put on the clothes of his slaves, and blended in with the crowd of servants without leaving any trace.
No one paid much attention to the domestic slaves. Even the clan members of the Wang family did not notice that several of the accompanying domestic slaves had been transferred.
The Wang family had been busy worshiping their ancestors all day long. When it got to dusk and the city gate was about to close, the Wang family returned to Xiangcheng.
It's easy when you leave the city, but not so easy when you enter the city.
After all, this is an emergency period, and the county soldiers are very strict in searching people entering the city. Liu Xiu and others, who were dressed as domestic slaves, were all in ragged clothes, and their faces were also black and white, making it difficult to see their original appearance.
Several county soldiers came to check on them and glanced around a few times. Finally, their eyes fell on Liu Xiu. They looked up and down and asked, "What's your name?"