Seeing his father's confusion, Ye Qingqiu explained: "Dad, you don't know yet. In the Zhushan tragedy, the barbarians can only be regarded as accomplices, and the real murderer is actually Lian Dan!"
Zhushan is a small county in Hanzhong County with a small population of less than 10,000 people. Ye Qingqiu's cousin Xia Ruoyan's family lives in Zhushan.
When the capital army first entered Yizhou, some barbarian troops fled to the Zhushan area, burning, killing, and looting. After Lian Dan learned the news, he immediately sent people to Zhushan to exterminate the barbarian troops.
After this battle, the barbarian army was defeated by the capital army, but more than 3,000 people in Zhushan County died. Almost everyone in the county was killed, including Xia Ruoyan's family.
.
Xia Ruoyan happened to be not in Zhushan at that time, but in Zhuxi, where her grandfather lived, so she was lucky enough to escape.
According to the capital army, the people in Zhushan County were massacred by the barbarians, but the actual situation is that most of the people who were killed died at the hands of the capital army.
The capital army cut off the heads of the slain people and used them as the heads of the barbarian army to receive merit and rewards. Xia Ruoyan only found out about these things after hearing the bad news and rushing back to Zhushan.
In fact, this kind of thing is not uncommon among the armies under Lian Dan. No matter where Lian Dan's army fights, the local people will surely suffer.
Treating human lives as trivial and indiscriminately killing innocent people as military merit has almost become a routine among Lian Dan troops.
To what extent were the people afraid of Lian Dan? People specially wrote a limerick for Lian Dan.
——I would rather meet Chimei than meet the Grand Master. The Grand Master is acceptable, but Gengshi will kill me.
Red Eyebrow refers to the Red Eyebrow Army, a peasant uprising army that rose up because they had no enough food to eat. They plundered wherever they went, and the places they passed were like locusts passing through.
Grand Master refers to Wang Kuang, the Grand Master of the current dynasty. He was Wang Mang's sixth son. He was a cruel man. No matter where he went, he would plunder, rape, and rob, and he would commit all kinds of evil.
Gengshi naturally refers to Lian Dan, the Gengshi general. Wang Kuang was cruel enough, but in terms of the level of cruelty, Wang Kuang was a dwarf in front of Lian Dan.
Through this limerick, we can also see how Lian Dan behaves in daily life.
Ye Qingqiu told the story in detail. The hall was completely silent, and no one said anything immediately.
Like Liu Xiu and Long Yuan, they had never had any contact with Lian Dan before. They had only heard that he was a cruel person, but they didn't know exactly how cruel he was. Now that they heard Ye Qingqiu's words, both of them felt a twinge of joy in their hearts.
of chill.
More than three thousand people were killed by Lian Dan's men at their request?
Xia Ruoyan raised her head, looked around at everyone present, and said, "Lian Dan is the murderer of my parents and my brothers and sisters. Shouldn't I seek revenge from him?"
"..." The hall was completely silent, and I don't know how long it took. Ye Tian took a deep breath, looked at Ye Qingqiu, and asked: "Qingqiu, when did Ruoyan come to the county? Regarding the assassination of Lian Dan, you
Are you also involved?"
Before Ye Qingqiu could reply, Xia Ruoyan said first: "Uncle, I have been to the county town a long time ago, but Qingqiu didn't know that I was in the county town, and I never came to see her. The assassination of Lian Dan had nothing to do with Qingqiu.
.”
As she spoke, she turned to look at Liu Xiu and the others, and said, "If you want to catch the assassin, just catch me. Don't involve my uncle's family because of me!"
Liu Xiu secretly smiled bitterly. The assassin escaped into the Ye Mansion. The Ye family was already inseparable. But now it's better. The assassin is still a relative of the Ye family. If it is said that there is no connection between the two, no one will believe it.
.
Liu Xiu understood this, and so did Ye Tian. The latter shuddered, hurriedly walked up to Liu Xiu, and said urgently: "Uncle Wen, you must not hand Ruoyan over to the government!"
It's a small thing to kill Xia Ruoyan alone, but it's a big thing to bring down the entire Ye family!
It cannot be said that Ye Tian is selfish, greedy for life and afraid of death. As the head of the family, he should be responsible for the lives of the whole family. This incident involves not one or two lives, but the lives of one or two hundred members of the Ye family!
Liu Xiu blinked, his mind racing rapidly. After a moment, he straightened his face, raised his hands to Ye Tian and said, "My cousin's visit to the Ye family is a private matter of the Ye family and has nothing to do with the assassins."
As he spoke, he turned to look at Long Yuan and Gai Yan, and asked: "Uncle Zhong, Ju Qing, what do you two think?"
Long Yuan, Gai Yan and Liu Xiu looked at each other for a moment and said in unison: "That's right! We lost the assassin and happened to pass by Ye's house. We shamelessly came in to ask for a bowl of tea to quench our thirst and take a rest!"
Liu Xiu smiled at the two of them, nodded, and said, "It's almost time to rest. It's time for us to leave." As he spoke, he bowed his hands to Ye Tian and said, "Mr. Ye, I have other important things to do."
I’m here, I’ll take my leave first!”
Ye Tian was so moved that he held Liu Xiu's hand tightly and said with a trembling voice: "Uncle Wen is very kind to the Ye family!"
Liu Xiu said: "Mr. Ye's words are serious." As he spoke, he looked at Xia Ruoyan again and said seriously: "I can understand Miss Cousin's mood, but when doing things, you still need to think twice and act within your ability.
Otherwise, you will harm others and yourself, and it will be too late to regret it.”
Fortunately, it was him, Long Yuan, and Gai Yan who were chasing Xia Ruoyan this time. If it were Lian Dan's men and she fled into the Ye Mansion in a panic, how would the Ye family survive?
Xia Ruoyan naturally knew how much crisis and danger her actions had brought to the Ye family. She lowered her head and bowed to Liu Xiufu.
Liu Xiu no longer delayed, winked at Long Yuan and Gai Yan, and then the three of them said goodbye to Ye Tian and walked out quickly.
When the three of them walked into the courtyard, Ye Qingqiu chased them out and called Liu Xiu. Long Yuan and Gai Yan looked at each other, walked out of the gate of Ye Mansion and waited for him outside.
Looking at Ye Qingqiu who was approaching him, Liu Xiu asked: "Miss Ye, is there anything else?"
Ye Qingqiu asked curiously: "Why are you willing to help my cousin?"
Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Miss Ye is asking questions knowingly."
"ah?"
"When Miss Ye decided to let Miss Cousin come out, she was already sure that I would definitely help her." If Ye Qingqiu was not so sure in her heart, she would never let Xia Ruoyan come out.
Ye Qingqiu chuckled and muttered in a low voice: "You are quite smart."
Liu Xiu said: "Miss Ye is smarter and can figure out my thoughts."
"In my mind, Uncle Wen is a man of outstanding character and righteousness, and he will never change his principles just to gain popularity." Ye Qingqiu looked at Liu Xiu with bright eyes and said with emotion.
road.
Her words undoubtedly gave Liu Xiu a very high evaluation. Listening to Ye Qingqiu's words and looking at her bright eyes, Liu Xiu's heart was throbbing for a moment.
If he hadn't already found someone he liked, maybe he would really be attracted to a girl like Ye Qingqiu!
He cupped his hands, bowed deeply to Ye Qingqiu, then turned around and walked out.
Ye Qingqiu stood in the courtyard, looking at the direction Liu Xiu left, without moving for a long time.
Xia Ruoyan walked to her side, glanced in the direction of the door, and asked softly: "Qingqiu, what's his name?"
"Liu Xiu!"
Liu Xiu......
After leaving Ye Mansion, Liu Xiu and the others walked back. On the way, Gai Yan said angrily: "It is a great misfortune for the country that a man like Lian Dan can become General Gengshi!"
Liu Xiu pulled his sleeve and reminded him to be careful of the trouble coming from his mouth. He said: "I wonder what happened to the eldest brother and brother Gongsun. Have they captured the other two assassins?"
Long Yuan whispered: "Lian Dan died unjustly. Those who dared to assassinate him are all righteous people. I hope they can all escape!"
Unfortunately, Long Yuan's wish did not come true.
There were a total of thirteen people who assassinated Lian Dan this time. Three of them were shot on the spot, and five others were killed by cavalry while escaping. Of the remaining five, two were captured alive, and three others were at large.
However, the entire county has been blocked, the city gates are closed tightly, and the city is full of soldiers under Lian Dan's command. People outside the city can't get in, and people inside the city can't get out. The three assassins who are on the run must also be
Still trapped in the city.
The county officials took household registers and led soldiers to conduct house-to-house counting and search for assassins.
When it was getting close to dusk, a hiding assassin was found. Surrounded by many soldiers, the assassin died fighting hard.
In the middle of the night, another assassin was found by officers and soldiers and captured alive.
The two people who were captured alive were tortured to death, but the assassin captured in the end was a weakling. He had done everything before the real torture was used on him.
These assassins are all from the Green Forest Army, and their leader is named Ma Wu.
In fact, the Green Forest Army is just a general term. Today, the farmers here have revolted, and their banner is the Green Forest Army. Tomorrow, the farmers over there will revolt again, also under the banner of the Green Forest Army.
Many rebels who call themselves the Green Forest Army have no affiliation with each other. Some teams may have merged together for common interests, while some teams fight independently and have no connection with each other.
This group of assassins came from an insurrectionary army under the banner of the Green Forest Army. The team was not very large, with only about a hundred people.
Despite the small number of people in this green forest army, their combat power is not weak. Many of them are knights in the world, and the leader Ma Wu is even more powerful.
Ma Wu, also known as Zizhang, is nicknamed "Wuwen Shen". He is highly skilled in martial arts, brave and good at fighting. He holds a sword with nine ears and eight rings. It is said that he has never met an opponent yet.
The thirteen people who assassinated Lian Dan this time were twelve men and one woman.
The woman was supposed to be an internal agent for them, and there was no need for her to take action, but she still participated personally during the operation. The last assassin who is currently at large is also this woman.
Since this woman joined the Green Forest Army relatively late and her identity was very mysterious, he knew very little about her and didn't even know her name.
After hearing the assassin's confession, Lian Dan narrowed his eyes and asked in a cold voice: "Where is your Green Forest Army hiding?"
"Near...near Zhushan."
Zhushan! Lian Dan rubbed his chin, remained silent for a moment, and asked: "You don't know that woman's name, but you should know what she looks like, right?"
"This..." "If you don't know anything, what's the point of keeping you?"
The assassin shivered and said urgently: "Little man... I remember her appearance."
