The city gate official was not a high official, and he could not afford to offend the envoy from Handan. He shrunk his neck, subconsciously stepped aside, and cupped his hands and said: "I don't dare, sir... please come to the city!"
Liu Xiu didn't look at the city gate officer again, and walked into the city in a swagger, followed closely by Deng Yu, Yao Qi, Zhu You and others.
The city gate official was about to report to the county magistrate when Liu Xiu suddenly stopped and said, "We are going to the inn to rest. You lead the way!"
"Yes! Sir!" The city gate official did not dare to refuse, he nodded and bowed in response, and led the way, leading Liu Xiu into the city.
When they arrived at the post station, Liu Xiu and others met the post officials. Knowing that they were envoys from Handan to appease Zhuojun, the post officials did not dare to neglect and hurriedly ordered people to prepare wine and food.
Before the food and drinks were served, Liu Xiu and his men were still kneeling down at the table, calmly drinking tea.
Although none of them were well dressed, looked shabby, looked sallow and thin, and were in a state of wretchedness, everyone looked very dignified, as if they were envoys sent by the imperial court.
But when the food and wine arrived, these people almost lost their appearance. Some people even felt slow to use chopsticks, so they just grabbed the food with their hands and stuffed the food into their mouths.
The post officials who were suspicious of their identities and were observing in secret grinned secretly when they saw this. These people looked like messengers, they looked like starving ghosts. They seemed to have not eaten for several days. They were really sent by the emperor. messenger?
The post official asked the subordinates around him: "Do you think they look like the envoys from Handan?"
Several of his subordinates shook their heads and whispered: "In my opinion, they are not like envoys, but more like refugees and fugitives!"
"Let's just arrest them all!" a postman said in a deep voice.
Another postman shook his head hurriedly and said: "It can't be done! What if they are really envoys sent by the emperor?"
Who was Wang Lang before? He was just a magician and one of Wang Lang's confidants. He may not have been a high-ranking official in the past. He was probably a commoner like Wang Lang.
Nowadays, when they see delicious food, they all gobble it up without any rules, but this is not impossible.
Moreover, Handan is not close to Zhuojun. It is normal for accidents to happen during this long journey. What if these people encounter the bandit army on the way, are looted by the bandit army, and have not eaten for several days?
In short, it is too arbitrary to judge them as fake just by looking at the way they eat.
The post official also felt that it made sense. He pondered for a moment and said to the experienced old postman: "Hurry up and ask Magistrate Cao for instructions and let Magistrate Cao decide this matter!"
He was using the push-character technique. He was just a small post official, and he did not have the ability to identify the authenticity of the Handan envoy. If something went wrong, he would not be able to maintain his official position. He is too small, and his brain can It's a big deal if we can't keep it.
After hearing what he said, the postman hurriedly agreed and ran away quickly.
Coincidentally, not long after Liu Xiu and others entered Raoyang, Wang Lang's confidant general Peng Ning also arrived in Raoyang.
Peng Ning and Wang Lang were old acquaintances. When Wang Lang was a charlatan, he often received help from Peng Ning.
Now that Wang Lang has become the emperor and has made a comeback, he is naturally very grateful for Peng Ning's kindness to him, and naturally he will not treat Peng Ning badly.
This time Peng Ning was just passing through Zhuojun. His destination was Guangyang. He met Liu Jie, the son of the King of Guangyang, and asked Liu Jie to lead his troops to Handan.
At present, the three kings of Hebei have publicly expressed their support for Wang Lang, but except for Liu Lin, Liu Yang and Liu Jie have not gone to Handan.
In other words, at present, Liu Yang and Liu Jie only give verbal support to Wang Lang and have not given him any substantive help.
Peng Ning, on Wang Lang's order, first went to Zhending, met with Liu Yang, and asked Liu Yang to lead his army to Handan.
Liu Yang agreed wholeheartedly, but then found various understandings and excuses, saying that there were urgent matters that needed to be dealt with at the moment, and he could not leave Zhending or go to Handan for the time being.
His evasive attitude made Peng Ning extremely dissatisfied, but he had nothing to do with Liu Yang, an old fox. After leaving Zhending, he rushed to Guangyang County non-stop to find Liu Jie to discuss the matter.
The postman did not see the county magistrate at all. Now that the county magistrate was entertaining Peng Ning, how could he bother to meet a young postman? The postman could not see the county magistrate, but he heard that the county magistrate was entertaining Wang Lang's confidant.
Will Penning.
He rolled his eyes and immediately had an idea. He immediately ran back to the post station and reported the matter to the post officer. Finally, the post officer came close to the post officer and whispered a few words in his ear, and then he said with a smile.
: "Try this and you will know the authenticity immediately!"
After hearing what he said, the postman's eyes suddenly lit up, he nodded repeatedly, and said with a smile: "This is a very good plan!"
While Liu Xiu and others were still feasting, they suddenly heard someone shouting outside: "Handan Peng Ning, General Peng has arrived——"
This sudden voice frightened everyone in the room. They were not the real envoys from Handan, but fake ones. Now that Wang Lang's generals have arrived, as soon as the two sides meet, their secret will be exposed immediately.
People's first reaction was to run quickly! Everyone in the room immediately put down their dishes and chopsticks, and jumped up from their seats like springs, trying to run out.
However, Liu Xiu sat in his original position from beginning to end without moving. He asked, "What are you doing?"
People stared at Liu Xiu with big eyes and small eyes. The generals from Handan came to the inn. If we don't run away now, how long will we wait?
But these words could not be said in the inn. People were all anxious and winked at Liu Xiu repeatedly, signaling him to get up quickly and leave the place.
Liu Xiu calmly put down his bowls and chopsticks, straightened his back, and said in an indifferent tone: "Even in Handan, when General Peng saw me, General Peng had to take the initiative to greet me. How can I see him now?"
What’s his reason?”
Ah? Everyone was shocked when they heard this. Could it be that the lord is too devoted to his acting? They are not real, but fake!
Liu Xiu looked calm, waved his hands to everyone, and said: "Sit down, it's time to eat and drink. When General Peng arrives at the inn, we will get drunk again."
"Lord—" Zhu You broke out in cold sweat.
Deng Yu pulled his sleeves without leaving any trace, and whispered: "The Lord has spoken, sit down! Everyone, sit down!"
As he spoke, he took the lead and walked back to his seat and sat down again. The rest of the people looked at each other and took the courage to sit back one after another.
Then they secretly looked at Liu Xiu. The latter picked up the bowls and chopsticks as if nothing was wrong, and continued to pick up the vegetables and eat the rice unhurriedly.
The reason why Liu Xiu was so sure was because he didn't believe that Peng Ning had arrived in Raoyang. How could it be such a coincidence that as soon as his front foot arrived in Raoyang, Peng Ning's rear foot followed?
He knew in his heart that with his current embarrassed appearance, he did not look like a real envoy no matter how he looked. The people at the inn must have been suspicious, but they were not sure whether he was an envoy from Handan, so they came up with the idea.
Such attention was paid to deliberately test oneself.
If we are really scared away by them, then there is no need to ask, we must be an impostor. Even if we can escape from the inn now, we will never escape from Raoyang.
At this time, if one's side behaves calmly, then the other side's trick will be self-defeating.
Liu Xiu was a human being, not a god. His calculation was actually half correct.
It is true that Peng Ning did not come to the inn, and the people in the inn were indeed deceiving their identities.
But what Liu Xiu didn't expect was that there was such a coincidence in the world. As soon as they arrived in Raoyang, Peng Ning actually arrived in Raoyang right after.
After calling out Peng Ning and arriving at the inn, they saw that Liu Xiu and others were still in the house, with no one running out. This made everyone who was guarding outside start to feel uncertain.
Are these people true messengers?
If they were real, they looked no different from refugees fleeing famine, and their appearance was even worse, as if they had not eaten for many days. No matter how you looked at them, they did not look like the Handan envoys.
But if they were lying, then why were they not afraid at all when they heard the news of Peng Ning's arrival, and not a single person ran away?
Finally, the post official couldn't help it anymore, walked into the house, smiled and cupped his hands to Liu Xiu who was sitting in the middle, and said: "This... sir, General Peng Ning has arrived in Raoyang and is now coming to the post station.
I don’t know about Sir and General Peng…”
"We are all old acquaintances." Liu Xiu wiped the corners of his mouth slowly and said with a smile: "After General Peng arrives at the inn, we will naturally get drunk before we rest, and your inn should also prepare a few jars of good wine.
"
"Hey, hey! I know!" The postman smiled dryly and nodded repeatedly. He glanced at Liu Xiu secretly. He didn't have any abnormality at all, and his expression was as calm as water, as if he and Peng Ning were really old friends.
He swallowed his saliva and said, "Young man... I'll leave first and let someone prepare some wine."
"Well, let's go down!" Liu Xiu waved his hand casually.
The postman bowed and exited the room. When he got outside, he sighed and said to the postmen who gathered around him: "It seems that we have worried too much. These adults are indeed envoys from Handan."
They are so calm, calm and natural. If they are still fake, it can only be said that their psychological quality is too good. He, a little post official, is far from their opponent, and he is willing to be defeated.
The inn party clearly said that Peng Ning had arrived at the inn, but a quarter of an hour later, Peng Ning did not show up. Two quarters of an hour later, Peng Ning still did not show up. Less than half an hour later, Peng Ning still did not show up.
Now, Deng Yu, Yao Qi, Zhu You and others all understood what was going on.
It was indeed the Yi Fang who was deliberately deceiving just now and deliberately testing his identity.
People looked at Liu Xiu subconsciously, and secretly raised their thumbs in their hearts. The lord is really awesome!
If they had failed to calm down just now and ran out in a swarm, their identity would be exposed immediately. In the end, I am afraid no one would be able to escape Raoyang.
Liu Xiu put down his chopsticks, touched his bulging belly, then scanned the people present and asked, "Is everyone full?"
Everyone grinned and smiled at Liu Xiu: "Master, my subordinates are full."
Zhu You burped and said, "I'm worried that when I open my mouth, meat and wine will come out of my throat."
"Then you'd better shut up!" Liu Xiu was almost disgusted by him. He raised his head and called out: "Post official? Where is the post official?"
After a short time, the post official who was guarding outside walked in quickly, bowed his hands to Liu Xiu and said, "Sir, the villain is here!"
"Where is General Peng?" Liu Xiu looked displeased and asked in a deep voice: "Didn't you just say that General Peng has arrived in Raoyang and is on his way to the inn? It has been so long, even if General Peng is Climb, it’s time to climb to the inn, right? Could it be that General Peng had an accident in the city?"
