Liu Yan took a deep breath and said: "Come to my eldest brother's house for dinner tonight, remember to bring my little sister with you."
As he spoke, he looked at Liu Xiu again, patted his arm, tugged on his clothes, and muttered with lingering fear: "This time I almost scared you to death!"
Liu Xiu smiled at Liu Yan, pretending to be nonchalant and said: "Brother, look at me, I'm okay!"
Liu Yan nodded and said: "Okay, you should go home quickly. The world is not peaceful recently, so you should stay less in the fields in the future."
"Brother, where else are you going?"
"I still have to go to my second brother's house and inform your second brother that he will come over for dinner tonight."
"Oh!" Liu Xiu responded, feeling a little confused. The eldest brother spent all his money on making friends, and he didn't have much money. Why did he think of inviting everyone to dinner today?
Farewell to her elder brother, Liu Xiu walked home while thinking about what happened just now. The more she thought about it, the more dangerous it became.
If the elder brother hadn't arrived by chance, he might have been injured by the swords of those two people.
But who are these two people? Why did they want to kill him? Liu Xiu's mind was full of confusion and he couldn't figure it out.
That night, Liu Xiu, her second brother Liu Zhong, and her younger sister Liu Boji came to the eldest brother Liu Yan's house one after another.
The three brothers of the Liu family have very different personalities.
The boss, Liu Yan, has a bold nature, natural strength, and amazing martial arts. He is very famous in Caiyang County. When everyone mentions Liu Yan, they will raise their thumbs and call him "Bo Sheng".
Many people came to see Liu Yan and came because of his reputation. Among them were some thieves and thieves, but Liu Yan never refused anyone who came. No matter who the person was, he could confide in them and become close friends.
The second brother, Liu Zhong, has the opposite temperament to Liu Yan. He is an honest and honest person who speaks very little. To put it bluntly, he is just a big boring gourd. Even if he is bullied, he will not say anything. He will bite his teeth and swallow it in his stomach. .
In the Liu family, Liu Zhong has always had little sense of presence.
Liu Xiu, on the other hand, is like a combination of the two brothers, low-key, cautious, not arrogant, scheming, loving to make friends, but never promiscuous.
His temperament is neither as strong and arrogant as Liu Yan, nor as cowardly as Liu Zhong. He looks gentle on the surface, but is actually resolute and tough.
The conditions of Liu Yan's family are pretty good. The house he built himself is small and large-scale.
This was considered a family dinner, but there were still several friends of Liu Yan at the banquet, and Zhang Ping and Zhu Yun, who were often around Liu Yan, were naturally among them.
Both Zhang Ping and Zhu Yun have lived in Liu Yan's house for a long time, and their relationship with Liu Yan is like both friends and his disciples.
Liu Xiu was not sure what Zhang Ping did before. He knew that Zhu Yun used to be a bandit leader. Later, the bandit den was besieged by officers and soldiers. He took advantage of the chaos and fled to Caiyang County, where he was later taken in by his elder brother.
When Liu Xiu saw Liu Yan and Liu Zhong in the living room, he politely bowed to each of his two brothers and said, "Eldest brother, second brother!"
"Ah, ah, Ah Xiu is here." Liu Zhong nodded to Liu Xiu numbly.
Liu Yan patted Liu Xiu's shoulder cheerfully. It could be seen that he was in a good mood today.
He smiled at several friends present and said: "My younger brother's skill that I admire the most is farming. Now the drought in Nanyang is so severe that other people's land has lost their harvest, but Axiu's land is still growing every season." Great harvest.”
Speaking of this, Liu Yan couldn't help but sigh: "I think back then, Gaozu's eldest brother was also very good at farming!"
Hearing this, Liu Zhong was shocked and his expression changed drastically.
The expressions of everyone else present here were somewhat unnatural.
The great ancestor Liu Yan refers to naturally refers to the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty and the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang. He first praised Liu Xiu for his good land cultivation, and then compared Liu Xiu to Liu Bang's eldest brother Liu Bo, which was equivalent to comparing himself to Liu Bang.
If this word reaches the ears of the government, it will be a big deal. Liu Yan has ten heads and it is not enough to chop him off.
Zhu Yun suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly, and said loudly: "Princes, generals and prime ministers, would you rather have the talent? I think Bo Sheng is no worse than the great ancestor of the time."
Liu Xiu sighed secretly and couldn't help but remind him: "Brother, be careful what you say! Brother Yun, be careful what you say!"
Zhu Yun patted Liu Xiu on the shoulder and said in a brisk tone: "What are you afraid of? There are no outsiders here! Axiu, you are still too timid. In this regard, you should learn more from your elder brother."
Don't be like your second brother, who is called a loser! He murmured in his heart. Zhu Yun despised people like Liu Zhong who were honest and kind.
Liu Yan also realized that he had gone too far. He changed the subject and asked cheerfully: "Axiu, I heard that you have a girl you like?"
"Who said that?" Liu Xiu looked at his elder brother blankly.
Liu Yan's eyes naturally glanced towards Liu Boji. When Liu Xiu saw this, he immediately understood that the younger sister must have made nonsense in front of her elder brother.
He glared at Liu Boji and was about to speak. The little girl hurriedly ran to Liu Yan, hugged the eldest brother's arm, held a handkerchief like a treasure, handed it to Liu Yan, and said with a smile: "This is what I give to eldest brother." The embroidered handkerchief, let me see if you like it!"
Liu Yan took the handkerchief, looked at it carefully, and couldn't help but make a series of tut-tsk sounds. Then he raised the handkerchief high, showed it to everyone, and asked: "Everyone, let's see, how is my little sister doing as a naughty girl?"
Everyone looked at it, and they were all full of praise. What Liu Boji embroidered was peonies, with red flowers like fire, green leaves like green, and clusters of flowers, lifelike. As far as the craftsmanship of female celebrities is concerned, Liu Boji is really much better than her peers.
Liu Xiu's heart also overflowed with a sense of pride. He deliberately pretended to be still angry, with a cold face, stretched out his hand and asked: "Where's mine?"
"Third brother wants it too?"
"Brother has it, why don't I?"
"I didn't do it for Third Brother!"
"You little girl!" Liu Xiu pulled the little girl close to him and scratched her armpits with his hands. The little girl laughed and begged for mercy: "I did it, I will give it to the third brother." I did it too..."
Looking at his brother and sister who were making a fuss, Liu Yan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It had been seven years since his father passed away. Seven years passed in a blink of an eye, and in the blink of an eye, his brother and sister had grown up.
Liu Yan carefully folded the handkerchief given by his little sister and put it into his pocket. Then he waved to Liu Xiu and Liu Boji and said, "Okay, okay, you are such a big man, but you are still playing like a child." "
Liu Xiu and Liu Boji finally stopped fighting. The little girl took out two more handkerchiefs and gave one to Liu Xiu and the other to her second brother Liu Zhong. When Liu Xiu took the handkerchief, she pinched Liu Boji's pink little face. He said with satisfaction: "That's pretty much it."
When Liu Zhong took the handkerchief, he said politely: "Thank you, little sister."
The food at this family banquet was not sumptuous. Under such difficult conditions at the time, it was difficult for Liu Yan to prepare sumptuous meals for everyone. However, his family sat together and ate happily.
During the meal, Liu Boji said sadly: "It would be great if the eldest sister and the second sister were also in Chongling. Our family can be together today!"
Liu Yan suddenly remembered something and said to Liu Xiu: "Axiu, I have told you several times that you are moving out of your uncle's house and living with me. Are you still afraid that your elder brother's house won't be able to accommodate you and your little sister?"
Liu Xiu smiled and said: "Brother, my little sister and I live very well at my uncle's house."
Liu Boji, who was sitting next to Liu Xiu, also nodded repeatedly. Liu Xiu added: "Besides, my uncle and aunt are getting older, and they need someone to take care of them."
"That's true!" Liu Yan nodded, changed the topic and said, "After I leave, what I am most worried about is your sister-in-law and your two nephews!"
Liu Yan had two sons, the eldest son Liu Zhang and the second son Liu Xing.
When Liu Xiu heard what Liu Yan said, he looked puzzled and asked, "Let's go? Where are you going, brother?"
Liu Yan cleared his throat and said seriously: "I invite you all to come over this time, and there is one more thing I want to announce to you."
Liu Xiu, Liu Zhong, and Liu Boji put down their bowls and chopsticks in unison and looked at the elder brother eagerly, wondering what on earth made the elder brother act so solemnly.
Liu Yan said: "This year, the Southern Barbarians have not only caused chaos on the border, but have also invaded Yizhou, burning, killing, looting, and committing all kinds of evil. The people of Yizhou have suffered countless casualties. Wang Mang sent Lian Dan and Shi Xiong to send 100,000 troops to Yizhou. In addition, Wang Mang also wants to organize a hundred thousand rebels to cooperate with Lian Dan and Shi Xiong to enter Yizhou to fight. I plan to join the rebel army."
Liu Zhong's face was full of nervousness, and he stammered: "Brother...brother, you must not do it, the barbarian army is cruel, the barbarian army is cruel!" Liu Zhong himself could not explain the reason. Anyway, he just thought that his eldest brother would join the rebel army. It would be too dangerous to go to Yizhou to fight against the Nanman army.
Seeing his mournful look, Zhu Yun was furious. He slammed the table and said loudly: "What's so scary about the barbarian army? If Wang Mang hadn't usurped the throne, the southern barbarians would still be my obedient vassal state!"
Since Wang Mang usurped the throne, he has implemented a series of new policies both internally and externally, but all of them were unpopular. In terms of external affairs, Wang Mang downgraded all surrounding vassal states from kingdoms to princely states, depriving the Xiongnu of taxing Wuhuan. Wang Mang had no choice but to detach an army of 300,000 troops to guard the northwest border to resist the Huns. The Northeast was not peaceful either. Wang Mang killed the leader of Goguryeo and changed the name of Goguryeo to Xia. Gouli showed humiliation, which led to frequent wars on the northeastern border. The Qiang and Ailao people in the southwest directly invaded Yizhou and caused chaos.
Yizhou is now in a mess.
The eldest brother was going to Yizhou to fight with the Nanman people. Liu Xiu didn't have any objections to this, but there was one thing he couldn't figure out. He asked: "Why does the eldest brother want to help Wang Mang fight?"
Since Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, Liu Yan has been talking about restoring the Han Dynasty and the country every day. If he joins the rebel army now, doesn't it mean that he is aiding the tyrants?
