. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Yizhou, Chengdu

It was almost dusk and the sky gradually became darker.

The clouds in the sky were very low, as if they were about to fall and press on their heads. The air was filled with an indescribable feeling of depression. A few strands of residual red sunlight shone through the thick cloud shells like the city wall, adding a few blood lines to the gray sky.

Although it was not yet night, the people in the city had already returned home early, and the streets were deserted. A gust of evening breeze blew, rolling up pieces of smoke and dust.

.

The magnificent Yizhou Governor's Mansion is located in the southeast of Chengdu and is the most conspicuous building in the city. The entire mansion covers an area of ​​nearly 100 hectares, with nearly a thousand houses, halls and courtyards, garden gardens, and a luxurious atmosphere.

Some of the main buildings are completely imitated based on the style of the Imperial Palace of the Capital. Many people who come to Chengdu for the first time will be shocked if they first see this governor's mansion.

In fact, such rumors were once popular in Sichuan. The late former Yizhou governor Liu Yan had the intention to become the king of Shuzhong, so he specially built such a magnificent mansion to be the palace for the emperor.

But unfortunately, before he could realize his ambition, Liu Yan died of illness, and Liu Zhang, the son of Liu Yan, who succeeded to the throne, was not interested in becoming emperor...

Inside and outside the governor's mansion, a team of soldiers patrolled back and forth with weapons in hand. Nearly a thousand soldiers were stationed around the mansion.

Such strict vigilance has been said to be unprecedented in many veterans in the army.

At the back door of the governor's mansion, more than a dozen rotating soldiers guarding the mansion gate were whispering something.

"...The war is about to start. I don't know how many people will die this time!" A veteran who was about 40 years old and looked like a look sighed with a spear in his arms.

"Boss Lin, what have you heard?" A soldier in his 20s asked in a low voice.

The other ten soldiers also moved closer intentionally or unintentionally.

"Oh..." Lin's son sighed again. He whispered, "I heard from the brothers in Beiying that we are about to start a war with Jingzhou. We are going to transfer people to the east these days!"

"With Jingzhou?" Another veteran intervened in surprise, "Isn't that the territory of Uncle Liu? Aren't our Yizhou and Uncle Liu from the same journey?

Boss Lin, have you heard it wrong?"

"It should be impossible to make a mistake. Now that even the governor has been locked up, what else is there..." The Shi Chang, surnamed Lin, suddenly thought of something and hurriedly stopped his words.

After looking around, he said in a lower voice, "We can't know what's above. I just hope that we won't draw us to the east this time, as the Jingzhou army is not easy to mess with..."

"Yes!" The other soldiers also whispered in a low voice.

The head of the surname Lin was about to say something else when he suddenly found a small team of soldiers coming to the back door in the distance. He said to his companion in surprise: "Is it time to change shifts?"

"No, there's still half an hour..." a soldier replied.

"Leave two people to guard the door. The others followed me up and stopped them!" Lin Shi Chang gave a few urgent instructions, and then led people to face the team of soldiers.

"What are you doing?" When about ten steps away, Mr. Lin waved to his companions behind him to be alert, and then he stepped forward and asked.

The team of soldiers on the opposite side also stopped, and a man with a look of appearance led a soldier to greet him. He said, "Zhang Chao, the chief of the third village, will come to change shifts under the order of Xu Duwei!"

"The time has not come yet..." Although Shi Chang Lin was puzzled, the Xu Duwei mentioned by the Chief Shi in front of him was the person who was directly responsible for supervising the defenders outside the governor's office. Perhaps the other party had really given some orders.

But he still carefully looked at the team of soldiers opposite him. Then his eyes fell on the soldier beside Zhang Chao, whose head had been hanging down, and asked, "What's wrong with this brother?"

Before Zhang Chao could answer, the soldier had already raised his head by himself, and his pair of sharp eyes locked the Lin Shi long.

"Zhang... Zhang..." As soon as he saw the soldier's face, the head of Lin's face immediately changed drastically, and his words became stuttering, "Du Zhang..."

The man in front of me, who was not the soldier? It was Zhang Ren, the governor of the eastern Yizhou Army and General Zhenyuan.

Although something seemed to be painted on Zhang Ren's face, as a veteran, Lin's surname was soon recognized.

"Hmph~!" Zhang Ren snorted coldly, his eyes as sharp as a falcon, and his voice was deep, "Is the governor in the inner courtyard?"

After being swept by Zhang Ren's cold gaze, Lin's Shichang felt his body tremble suddenly, and cold sweat quickly spread across his forehead. He could not feel any resistance in his heart. He could only nod in difficulty.

"Lead the way for me!" Zhang Ren shouted directly without saying anything.

I wanted to say something. But after his lips trembled a few times, Lin Shichang could only say one word: "No!"

.

In the mansion of Fuman General Liu Xu, a banquet was just a joyful meal.

"As long as Yan Yan, Zhang Ren and Huang Quan are removed, the rest of the people will not be worried. At that time, Gong Xing can take the foolish Liu Zhang and become the lord of Yizhou, and can also get the Duke of Shu promised by Prime Minister Cao.

"Zhang Song, the Yizhou leader, held a wine title high in his face, and said to Liu Xun, who was sitting upright in the main seat, "Song is here to congratulate Duke Shu first!"

"Hahaha..." Liu Xi was thirty-six years old, with a broad face and wide eyes. At this moment, when he heard Zhang Song's complimentary words, he couldn't help laughing, raised his glass to greet him, "I'll borrow the words of Yongnian."

After drinking the wine of the jue, Liu Xi smiled and said, "If I can really use the Jingzhou army to eliminate Yan Yan and Zhang Ren, I will remember the achievements of Yongnian to offer my ideas!"

After a pause, Liu Xu sighed and said, "Yan Yan, Zhang Ren is an important official in Shu, and the soldiers and horses under their command are all elites in our army. If they can be used by me, they can be a great helper.

It’s a pity that the two of them were too loyal to the idiot Liu Zhang, and it was difficult for them to control the troops under their command. If they were not eradicated, the situation in Yizhou would be difficult to determine.

It’s not my true intention to get rid of them!”

"Those who know the current affairs are heroes. If the Zhang and Zhang do not know the current affairs, they can only destroy themselves. This is not to blame the heavens or the earth, they only blame them for being too stupid!" Zhang Song gently picked up his short beard and said loudly.

General Wu Yi, who had been bowing his head and drinking silently, suddenly raised his head. He said with a slightly serious expression, "Zhang Ren has always been bold and meticulous. Will he really attack Jingzhou so obediently?"

"This order was issued in the name of Liu Zhang, and he had no choice but to disobey the order!" Zhang Song sneered, "If he dared to disobey his order, he would be rebellious.

Moreover, as long as he showed his unconventional intentions, he would cut off his land, food and grass. Mianzhu and Jiangyang were both controlled by us, and he would not think about it if he wanted to rebel. I would see how many days he and Yan Yan's more than 50,000 people could have been there."

"If you are forced to force yourself, Zhang Ren may flee to Jingzhou!" Wu Yi said not optimistically.

"Haha..." Zhang Songtruh smiled coldly, "Jingzhou's hinterland is currently empty, even if Zhang Ren wants to go over, Liu Bei will definitely dare to store it. If tens of thousands of soldiers start to make trouble in Jingzhou, it will not be a big deal.

Even if Liu Bei is brave and dares to contain Zhang Ren, I have a way to make them strife in the internal strife.”

"Hahaha..." Liu Xu laughed and said, "I have a wonderful plan for Yongnian, and I have no worries! Today I just need to have a banquet and not talk about major issues. Come and have a drink together!"

…………

While drinking, a noise suddenly came from outside the hall.

"What's going on?" Liu Xi put down Jiu Jue and asked loudly with a little anger.

Not long after, a personal soldier replied: "Sir, Xu Ming's Chief Commander has something to ask for an interview!" Xu Ming was the chief commander responsible for the guards (guardians) of the governor's office.

"Have you seen me entertaining you all, what's the matter tomorrow!" Liu Xu said dissatisfied.

"Brother Gongxing, let him come in. Maybe something is really important!" Zhang Song said smoothly.

"Cross!" Liu Xu waved his hand after thinking for a while.

A moment later, a blood-covered general rushed into the hall and knelt on one knee to salute Liu Xu.

"Hushang Duwei. How could you look like this?" Seeing this scene, the prefect of Shu County Zhang Su was startled and asked in confusion.

"General Liu. What's wrong!" He didn't bother to answer Zhang Su, and Xu Ming hurriedly reported to Liu Xu in a panic-looking manner, "Zhang Ren kidnapped the governor from the governor's mansion and was heading out of the city!"

"Click!" Liu Xi's expression stagnated, and the wine in his hand fell to the ground. Then, he stood up and walked down the hall a few steps, grabbed Xu Ming's clothes, and asked sternly: "What did you say? Zhang Ren kidnapped Liu Zhang?"

“Yes…yes!”

When he heard Zhang Ren's name, half of the people in the hall looked like earth in an instant.

"How many soldiers he brought, how did he attack the city? Why did Zhang Ren kill in? No one came to inform me?" Liu Xi asked with a ferocious expression.

Xu Ming was panicked and stammered after a while: "Zhang... Zhang Ren only brought dozens of people, and he also... he didn't know why he entered the governor's mansion?"

After hearing this answer, Liu Xi was stunned for a moment. Dozens of people, what does this mean?

Zhang Songteng stood up and said in surprise: "He actually dared to sneak into Chengdu alone to rescue Liu Zhang?"

Suddenly, everyone was in an uproar. The Chengdu defenders were no less than 10,000, and they were all controlled by Liu Xu. Zhang Ren was actually in danger and led only a few people to sneak into Chengdu City, which can be called a tiger's den. How could it not be amazing?

"Now is not the time to be stunned. The most urgent thing is to stop Zhang Ren immediately. Since he can sneak in, someone will inevitably interfere with him. If he didn't take action quickly, it would be too late to regret it.

"The General Meng Da of the Central Army said in a deep voice, "Once they escape, there will be endless troubles!"

"Hurry, mobilize the troops..." Liu Xun roared angrily with enlightenment.

.

Zhang Ren led more than a hundred soldiers to guard Liu Zhang tightly in the middle and headed towards the nearest Dongcheng Gate.

The sound of killing in the city shook the sky, and the torches of the pursuers were swaying from afar.

The city gate is imminent, and under the bright fire of the earth, countless guards are waiting for battle.

Zhang Ren strode forward, ignoring hundreds of bows already aimed at him, and shouted sternly: "Open the city gate and dodge them all!"
Chapter completed!