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Chapter 255

Mingyue Tower, the banquet hall on the third floor, more than [-] healthy soldiers guarded the corridor, and the guests at the side saw the solid armor lined with these healthy soldiers, and walked away knowingly.The sound of clanking and pipa can be heard in the room, like a silver bottle being broken and water pouring out, and a cavalry protruding with knives and guns.

Everyone in the banquet hall showed the look of listening intently.All the senior Zhuojun officials sat silently, and the old man who sat on top kept nodding, obviously arousing something in his mind.

After one song, everyone in the banquet hall suddenly came back to their senses.After the curtain was drawn down, Qu Yanran held her pipa and bowed slightly to the crowd. All the officials didn't show any airs, but applauded together.

An old man asked with a smile, "Why did Mr. Xue forget his mind?"

The old man smiled, looked at the officials, and waved.The singers and dancers sitting here all know how to observe words and expressions, and they all stood up and saluted before exiting the door.Everyone knew that the old man must have something to say, so they stopped their glasses and put their hands on their knees to watch each other.

The old man stroked his beard and said: "Although the singing and dancing are good, they are in a gentle village. Now the world is rebelling against thieves. Li Mi is in a hurry to attack the east. Dou Jiande is gradually gaining momentum in Hebei. Du Fuwei has become popular in Jianghuai. As an important minister of the court, you should share your worries for the king."

Speaking of this, the old man's words were full of chills.

Of course the officials are aware of the current situation, but they are all local officials, and the first thing they think about is how to keep the land of Zhuolu, the safety of the family property, and the safety of the territory from the rebels.

The old man said: "I have received the order of the emperor, and I will soon lead the left guards to go south along the canal to flank the rebel Li Mi."

As soon as the old man said this, an official immediately said: "Xue Gong, you are the needle that fixes the sea in our Zhuo County, you must not leave, if you leave, Zhuo County will definitely be captured by the rebels."

"That's right, Zhuojun has Li Chongjiu in the north, Luo Yi in the east, Gao Kaidao in the east, and Dou Jiande in the south. They are all eyeing up. If you leave, how can all parties come to attack Zhuojun?"

"Zhuojun is the base of Duke Xue. If the main army leaves and Zhuojun is lost, the left guard army will become a lone army."

The words of the old man were opposed by all the officials.But the old man said angrily: "This is the emperor's will. I follow the imperial edict. How can I change it? You are all officials of the Sui Dynasty, and the king's salary is a matter of loyalty to the emperor. If the court is gone, how can you do it?" Keep your current job."

Seeing the old man getting angry, everyone buried their heads in silence, and turned to look at a middle-aged man in the seat, hoping that he could say a few words.

This middle-aged man, seeing Xue Shixiong getting angry, knew that he must not contradict him at this time, otherwise it would only be counterproductive.

The middle-aged man took the old man's words and said: "Xue Gong, what you said is very true, there is no court, we wait for officials, how can the gentry come to where they are today. The court must be the most important, let alone the imperial order of the emperor."

The old man nodded his head, restrained his murderous aura, and said: "It's better that Mr. Lu knows the general. It would be great if everyone in the court is like Mr. Lu."
The middle-aged man smiled and said: "Mr. Xue has wrongly praised me. If I don't live in a temple, I won't seek political power if I am not in my position. If Mr. Xue doesn't think I'm talkative, dare I ask if Mr. Xue led his army to the south, Zhuojun will be defeated?" The rebels are attacking, how should the people of a county deal with themselves? Hehe, this old man has been a farmer for many years, and he only has a few acres of Susukida to care about. This little thought makes Xue Gong laugh, laugh at."

The old man squinted his eyes, and said in his heart, no one knows that most of the land in Zhuojun County belongs to Fan Yang Lu's family, what a few acres of Susukida.

But the old man thought about it, and he really needed to give everyone an explanation. If his army left, it would be bad for such people to catch fire in their backyard.Not to mention anything else, the army is going out, if these people cut off their food supply, the [-] army will collapse in an instant.

The old man immediately said: "Although the old man conquered the Eastern Capital, the emperor gave me the order that the bandits along the road should be suppressed at will. I will get rid of Dou Jiande first, settle down in Hebei, and then it will not be too late to go south."

All the officials nodded. Dou Jiande, the volunteer army in Hebei, was the strongest. Previously, Guo Xuan, the general defender of Zhuo County, led an army of ten thousand people, but they were all defeated by Dou Jiande. Now that there is a left guard army, there is no big problem.Who doesn't know that this old man is a famous general of the Sui Dynasty, and the 10,000 under his command are all elites, and it is easy to wipe out Dou Jiande's [-]+ mob.

"As for Luo Yi, Li Chongjiu, Gao Kaidao and others, they are nothing more than ants. I don't bother sending troops to exterminate them."

The middle-aged man said immediately: "Xue Gong, Luo Yi is a tiger and a wolf. He has been spying on Zhuo County for a long time. Gao Kaidao's collusion with the Turks should not be underestimated, but the most worrying person is Li Chongjiu. Hearing that this man is brave and good at fighting, and With the help of the Prairie Fanqi, he has defeated Khitan, Song Jingang, and Luo Yi in recent years, and now even the Goguryeo people are in his hands, this person is even better than Luo and Gao, he is a hero of the party, and cannot be underestimated."

Hearing the middle-aged man's praise, the old man said with a sneer, "What Li Chongjiu is he? He's just a thief. Back then, this kind of old man killed if not eight hundred or one thousand."

The middle-aged man said: "Since this is the case, I don't know if Xue Gong can leave 50 troops to sit here, so that the [-] people in Zhuo County will be grateful to Xue Gong from generation to generation."

The old man shook his head, this proposal will not work at all, if the [-] troops stay in Zhuo County, they will not know if they will be surnamed Xue in another day.

"Okay," the old man tapped his fingers, "When you go back, you will organize your own music clubs and farmers and organize them into town soldiers. You can decide the number of people yourself. Of course, you must also provide money and food yourself." But As soon as this remark came out, the old man secretly regretted it in an instant, thinking that the Lu family and the others had long been ambitious, and allowing them to build their own armed forces would not help their power.
But hearing what the old man said, the middle-aged man's eyes flashed joy, and he said immediately: "In that case, let's do according to Xue Gong's wishes."

While upstairs discussing and deciding major events in Zhuo County, Xue Wanshu downstairs warmly invited Li Chongjiu to meet his father.

Seeing Xue Wan's sincerity, Lu Chengqing had no choice but to decline for Li Chongjiu.

Now when everyone was seated again, Lu Chengqing still took the first place, and Dugu Sanlang was actually a bit higher than Xue Wanshu.Now Li Chongjiu is not surprised, this Dugu Cultivator came from the Dugu Clan, one of the most powerful clans in Guanlong. It can even be said that the Dugu Clan is the most respected among the clans in Longxi except for the Yang family.

It can also be seen that Lu Chengqing made friends with each other. Although these three second-generation scholars are inconspicuous at the moment, they are the Xue family in Hedong, the Lu family in Fanyang, and the Dugu family in Longxi, but they represent three noble families with similar status.That is to say, the gentry and the gentry have just interacted together, and people who seem to be from poor families will never have the opportunity to drink with them at the same table in their entire lives.
Everyone sat together, but Lu Qi glanced shyly at Li Chongjiu from time to time.
Dugu Xiude was a bit displeased when he saw it, but of course he thought to himself: What good knowledge do you have with this kind of people.On the contrary, Xue Wanshu was a little restless after sitting down.

Li Chongjiu had a good impression of Xue Wanshu, and immediately asked: "Brother Xue, is there any anxiety?"

Xue Wanshu chuckled, showing a bit of embarrassment.

Lu Chengqing drank a cup, but said with a smile: "Brother Xu doesn't know, he's just waiting for a beautiful woman."

"beautiful woman?"

Dugu Xiude smiled, and said to Li Chongjiu: "You are considered lucky this trip, Brother Xue has made appointments with Master Qu many times, and this is how you have the opportunity to get close to the beautiful woman today, if you change to ordinary rich merchants and officials in Zhuo County, Even if it's an appointment with Master Qu, who you haven't seen in the past year, you don't need any effort at the moment, and you get an advantage for nothing."

What Dugu Xiude meant at the moment clearly meant that Li Chongjiu's presence today was their honor.

Wen Yanbo smiled, cupped his hands to Xue Wanshu and said: "Then we are really chattering and interrupting Brother Xue's meeting with the beautiful woman."

Xue Wanshu shook his head, and said: "Don't listen to their nonsense, I respect the folk art of the qu masters, but it's just a chance encounter, where do you meet beautiful women, don't listen to Brother Lu's nonsense, you're thinking too badly."

"Don't try to explain."
While talking, there was a knock on the door suddenly, and everyone's expressions changed. Xue Wanshu, who was supposed to be the one who said nothing, was stiff at the moment, but Lu Chengqing said with a smile: "Master Qu must be here." Yes, please come in."

The last sentence was towards the outside of the door, and soon the door opened, and a woman in light yellow clothes entered.Although this woman is very beautiful and charming, she is obviously a mid-mature woman, and she has long since lost her youth.Dugu Xiude had never met Qu Yanran, he was very disappointed at the moment, and said: "Are you Qu Yanran?"

The visitor smiled, covered his mouth with his fan and said with a smile: "It's misunderstood, how can I be recognized as a composer with the posture of the willows in my family?"

Xue Wanshu came back to his senses and said, "Brother Dugu, this is Yunniang."
At that moment Xue Wanshu stood up, saluted and said, "I've seen Yunniang."

Yun Niang avoided her body, said with a smile: "Don't dare, dare not, Master Qu entrusted me to come and apologize to Mr. Xue, saying that I can't come because I feel unwell today."

Yun Niang was full of smiles while talking, but when she said this sentence, her eyes flew to Li Chongjiu, and she saw every reaction of him in her eyes.

Hearing that Qu Yanran could not come, Li Chongjiu was slightly disappointed, but compared with him, Xue Wanshu, the person involved, trembled and asked in a voiceless voice: "Yunniang, tell me quickly, everyone, why is Qu's health not good?"

Yunniang said: "Just now, in the private room on the third floor, after Yunniang played the song Flying Daggers for General Xue, she felt very troublesome. The little girl suffered from a headache again, and is currently resting."

"Ah, what should I do?" Xue Wanshu completely lost his composure as a nobleman just now, and started to circle around the room.

But Dugu Xiude snorted coldly, thinking that this Xue Wanshu is really a liar, to be played by a woman in the palm of her hand, I really disdain him to be with her.

At that moment, Dugu Xiude said proudly: "Master Qu has a headache, and should be self-cultivated, so there is no need to play, but we have come all the way, if we are together, we will not be able to see each other. We are not returning empty-handed. Please trouble Yunniang Let me know again, saying that I, Dugu Cultivator of the Dugu Clan in Henan, am here and want to see Master Qu."

After Dugu Xiude reported to his family, he was full of arrogance, thinking to himself, is there anyone in this world who dares not to take advantage of Dugu Clan?

(End of this chapter)