"Dalang, tell me the truth. What does it mean to hang three straw men in Tongguan City just now? What did the enemy soldiers and later enemy generals shout? Why did you issue a ban order? Soldiers who know the situation are not allowed to leak a word or a sentence?"

"Sichang, Sichang's brother-in-law, don't ask. It has nothing to do with you anyway. I'm giving the ban order for other considerations. I can't disclose the major military affairs."

Repeatedly asking Li Jiancheng to inform the truth, Chai Shao left with disappointment and more suspicion. Looking at Chai Shao's back of disappointment, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing, who knew the most inside, were worried, and did not know what would happen next. They also understood that there was no airtight wall in the world. Sooner or later, today's incident will reach Chai Shao's ears, causing a huge disaster. In depressed, Liu Wenjing couldn't help but curse: "Chen Yingliang's dog thief, the upper beam is not straight and the lower beam is crooked, and the soldiers and generals brought out are more shameless than him. Such shameless and despicable rumors can be fabricated. Even if Chai Shao and him are deeply frightened, they don't have to despicable tricks in this regard, right?"

"It must not be Chen Yingliang's instructor. Although he is our enemy, he is not such a person." Li Jiancheng shook his head and said that he would not believe that his good friend Chen Sangliang, who had hit the mark, would be so despicable.

(Chen Sangliang: Brother Jiancheng, you know me. This bad idea was really not something I did. I just pointed it out a few words in the letter, and that despicable villain Liu Gang was doing his own thing.)

When things came to this point, it was no longer important whether Chen Sangliang ordered the arrangements. What was important was how to deal with the aftermath. Chai Shao's temper, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing knew that He Panren was on the battlefield of Tongguan again, holding a direct army that should not be underestimated. If the aftermath was not handled properly, there would be consequences. Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing did not dare to imagine it at all. In desperation, Li Jiancheng and Liu Wenjing could only send someone to report the matter secretly to Li Yuan, while strictly ordering the army to prohibit the spread of the matter, so that Chai Shao could know about it later as much as possible.

The Fengyi Changchun Palace where Li Yuan currently lives is only more than 80 miles away, and they are controlled by rebels along the way. Li Jiancheng sent a messenger to report the letter to Li Yuan the next morning. After seeing the letter, Li Yuan was also shocked and angry, calling the Tongguan Sui army despicable and shameless, and actually used such despicable means to provoke disagreement. Li Yuan's absolute confidant Pei Ji also knew the situation was serious, so he suggested to Li Yuan: "General, although this matter is small, if it is not handled well, it will inevitably lead to a disaster. Fortunately, the distance is not too far. The general might as well go to Yongfeng Cang in person, first to comfort the morale of the soldiers, second to inspect the military situation in Tongguan, arrange countermeasures according to local conditions, and third to quietly deal with the aftermath to avoid changes."

When Li Yuan heard it, he immediately handed over the army to his second son Li Er to take charge. He arranged troops to prevent Qu Tu from advancing through Hexi in the mid-lane. He led a team of light cavalry with Pei Ji and went south under the banner of comforting the military and civilians. He arrived in Yongfeng Cang successfully in the afternoon of the same day. Li Jiancheng and others received the news and personally led their troops to the Weishui Bridge to welcome their father. Li Yuan also took advantage of the darkness to visit the relief site and delivered an passionate speech to save the country and the people, which made thousands of people bow on the spot and thank them. Then Li Yuan immediately rushed to the city of Tongguan, personally inspected the deadly battlefield, and formulated a strategy to break the pass.

The result of the personal inspection made Li Yuan frown. The city of Tongguan, which was full of corpses under the city, was as steep and solid as ever. Even though the moat had been completely filled with earth and stone corpses, the roads that were not open enough also restricted the deployment of large-scale siege weapons. They could only be dispatched in small quantities in batches to form a tactic of adding fuel. It was easy to be set arson by the Sui army, and it was difficult to pose a fatal threat to the walls of Tongguan. At the same time, the Chai Shao and his wife also told Li Yuan helplessly that although Ma Sanbao was their former servant, he was agile by nature, had many tricks and was eloquent. It was not much less difficult to lure him out of the city to fight the decisive battle than to break through Tongguan in the front.

"The vanguard of the reinforcements of the Dongdu have arrived in Tongguan. Chen Yingliang's little thief has arranged surprise troops in the township to rescue Tongguan, which proves that he attaches great importance to Tongguan and must have given the order to defend Guanzhong's defenders that they should not be missed. It is meaningless to continue to attack our army. It will only lose its strength and consume morale. It is better to follow the example of Chen Yingliang's little thief. He will also build strong fortifications to ensure the safety of Yongfeng Cang. It will not be too late to turn around and clean up Tongguan when I take over Daxing."

Li Yuan had just made up this idea in his mind. A few people suddenly stood up in the city of Tongguan South City and shouted and summoned Li Yuan to the city to answer. It was obvious that the defenders of Tongguan had discovered that Li Yuan had arrived in person. Li Yuan was too lazy to pay attention to it, but unexpectedly, dozens of soldiers shouted in unison in Tongguan City, "Congratulations to you, Old Thief Li Yuan, for having a good daughter. If you sleep with a man for a few nights, you will get tens of thousands of thieves. This deal is worth it."

Before the words on the wall were finished, Li Yuan's face changed immediately. He never expected that the defenders of Tongguan would have such a trick. Chai Shao over there heard such a shout and then heard the laughter on the wall, and his face suddenly turned pale. When he subconsciously turned his head to look at his wife next to him, Li Xiuning's pretty face had long lost its blood. He bit his silver teeth tightly lip, and he was extremely angry-Li Xiuning's intelligence was better than Chai Shao, and of course he understood what the Sui army on the wall was attacking viciously.

When things came to this point, another person involved, He Panren, who was also present, finally realized that the situation was wrong and asked his companions on the left and right: "What do the officers and soldiers on the walls mean when they shout? Are they talking about me?"

No one dared to say anything, only Chai Shao stared at He Panren with suspicious eyes. At this time, the neat shouts of Sui soldiers sounded on the wall, "Chai Shao, my son was born, remember to see who he looks like, is his surname Chai or He?"

The bullying was so great that Li Yuan could not hold back no matter how deep the city was in the city. Yu Qian slapped forward and went near the wall. Under the protection of the shield of the personal soldiers who were hurriedly approaching, he cursed at the city: "Li Jing, a shameless villain, you are still a famous family, but you actually used such despicable means to insult my daughter's innocence. Are you not afraid that the world will not tolerate it, and that thousands of people will be criticized?"

"Not me," Li Jing replied helplessly, "It's not my person, I didn't want my person like this."

"It's not me," Ma Sanbao also quickly cleared his face and said, "Not only did I not do this, I also asked my soldiers under my command to prohibit talking about this matter. If I lie to you, I will ask me to strike five lightning strikes in the sky."

"It's my Tongguan Chief Liu Gang." Liu Gang dared to act and took action, jumped out and shouted: "Old thief Li Yuan, an old man who rebels against the country and rebels from the king, I'm the one who asked people to do anything. What's wrong? I'll just tell the truth, what can you do to me? If you have the ability, I will fight you for three hundred rounds and I dare not lose my courage, so I kneel down and surrender quickly. Don't wait for the Chenliukou army to arrive. Kill your entire family of nine clans. Then you will not have time to regret it."

"Shameless man" Li Yuan pointed at Liu Gang with a horse whip and cursed.

"Shameless old thief" Liu Gang cursed back without hesitation, and snatched a bow and arrow, and personally pulled the bow and shot Li Yuan. Although Liu Gang, who had eighteen martial arts, shot the feather arrow and missed a thousand miles, the soldiers on both sides hurriedly took Li Yuan away. While asking the soldiers to shoot arrows, Liu Gang shouted loudly: "Chai Shao, are you fucking old? Don't even think about it, why can your wife raise so many thieves? What else can she do besides sleeping with men? If I were you, he would have committed suicide by jumping into the Yellow River, and you would have the shame..."

Although Liu Gang's mouth was blocked by Li Jing and Ma Sanbao and did not let him continue talking nonsense, Chai Shao was still so angry that his forehead was rushing. He roared and rushed forward, pulling a bow and arrow to Liu Gang. As a result, Liu Gang, who had been pulled back by Ma Sanbao and Li Jing, did not shoot. He closed the arrows released by the Sui soldiers, and there was a striking Chai Shao's left arm. The personal soldiers hurried forward and covered Chai Shao with shields to retreat. A vicious smile suddenly sounded above the Tongguan city wall.

Returning to the formation with the bow and arrow, Li Xiuning quickly came up to check Chai Shao's injuries. Unexpectedly, Chai Shao suddenly slapped her in the face and roared and roared: "Is there anything like that between you and He Panren?"

Covering her face that was hot and swollen and swollen, and seeing her husband's twisted face that was almost red with anger, Li Xiuning couldn't believe it was true and was stunned. At this time, the slap sounded again. This time, Li Yuan slapped Chai Shao in the face, avenged his daughter first, and then Li Yuan said coldly: "If you don't believe in my daughter, you can leave."

After a long time, Chai Shao roared and rushed to the distance from the west. Li Xiuning, who had already come to his senses, knew her husband's temper and was worried that he would have an accident in his anger. He quickly called Chai Lang and chased him. Li Jiancheng, who was kind-hearted, also sent his personal soldiers to chase him so that he could help Li Xiuning if necessary. The third party involved, He Panren, was extremely embarrassed and had to take the initiative to express his feelings to Li Yuan, saying: "General, I can swear with the reputation of my ancestors that I have formed an alliance with Miss Li just to overthrow the tyrant Yang Guang, and there is nothing else."

"Don't worry, General He, of course I know that this is just a shameless rumor spread by the tyrant's lackeys. I believe you." Li Yuan forced out some smiles, first comforted He Panren with kind words, then ordered the retreat, returned to Luokoucang camp to rest, and then ordered a big banquet to reward the Guanzhong thief who came with Li Xiuning to meet with his own army.

During the banquet, Chai Shao and Li Xiuning, who had both red and swollen cheeks, came to the banquet scene. Chai Shao, who had calmed down while his wife cried, took the initiative to apologize to Li Yuan. Li Xiuning, who had red and swollen eyes, begged Li Yuan to forgive her husband. Fortunately, Li Yuan also knew that such a thing could not be tolerated by any man. He did not have the same knowledge as his son-in-law. After comforting him for a few words, he did not continue to care. He also asked Chai Shao to toast He Panren to apologize. Chai Shao was obedient and came to He Panren with a glass of wine. He knelt down on one knee and bowed to He Panren, and said sincerely: "General He, it's my fault. I'm wrong. I'm impulsive. Please rest assured. I won't mind the shameless rumors of the official army. This glass of wine is the right to apologize to you. You are a lot of sir, don't worry."

He Panren didn't even have any loss at all, so of course he didn't care. He just bowed to Chai Shao, thanked Chai Shao for his toast, and returned Chai Shao a glass of wine. He resolved the previous grudges and entanglements with Chai Shao, and everyone parted with them all.

Not to mention how Chai Shao and Li Xiuning spent that night, He Panren, with a smell of alcohol and strange eyes of many rebel soldiers, returned to his camp. As soon as he entered the military tent, Li Gang, a famous Guanzhong scholar whom He Panren had stolen from Hu County, came up and asked He Panren with concern: "General He, I already know what happened in Tongguan, what happened later? How did the general deal with the aftermath?"

"It's okay." He Panren waved his hand and said with a smile: "The general knew that this was a shameless rumor and believed me very much. Later, Changshi Chai also figured it out and apologized to me in person and toasted me. The matter was over."

Here we must explain the origin and background of Li Gang. Li Gang is not only a knowledgeable and talented Guanzhong celebrity, but also once served as a teacher for the deposed crown prince Yang Yong, and almost became an imperial teacher. Unfortunately, he offended the two powerful people, Su Wei and Yang Su because of his upright character. He was squeezed out of the court and almost went to prison. After finally clearing the charges made by Su Wei for him, Li Gang resigned and returned to his hometown in Huxian. He lived in seclusion for more than ten years. Some time ago, Li Shentong captured Huxian and Li Gang was taken by the bandits under He Panren. He heard that He Panren, who had known Li Gang, did not kill him, but forced Li Gang to serve as chief minister. Li Gang for his family's life, and because He Panren was indeed good to him, he could be regarded as obedient, so he stayed with He Panren.

Back to the topic, after hearing He Panren's answer, Li Gang's expression was not relaxed, and he shook his head and sighed: "As I expected, the general really wanted to turn big things into small things, and small things into small things. General He, it seems that your life will be difficult for you to live in the future."

"What does Mr. Li mean?" He Panren was stunned and asked, "How come my life will be difficult?"

"It's very simple. Even if a man can't stand what happened today, even if Chai Shao endured it for the time being, he would definitely leave a root in his heart. He would never be as harmonious as before." Li Gang continued to shake his head and said, "If I expected it, the general will soon separate you and Chai Shao to avoid you from being together day and night, suddenly causing conflicts, and then causing uncontrollable unexpected consequences."

"What's so great about being separated?" He Panren smiled and said, "Anyway, I won't suffer any loss in this matter. Even if someone mentions it, it won't be me who looks ugly on his face."

Li Gang smiled bitterly, first looked around, then whispered: "General He, although I was forced to serve as the chief minister by you, you treated me courtesy and obeyed my words. I cannot forget this kind of favor, so I must tell you that even if the general takes over Daxing or even the world in the future, it will be difficult for you to have a future. At the least, you will be sent to a remote and wild place to work, and you will not be able to return to Beijing for life, and at the worst, you will have the disaster of killing you."

"Why?" He Panren's face changed drastically, and he woke up halfway through alcohol.

"It's very simple. Chai Shao and Li Xiuning can't tolerate you, and the general can't tolerate you," Li Gang lowered his voice and said, "As the sayings are terrifying, and everyone's words make money. Even if this matter is quietly suppressed today, the rumors spread by the government army will not disappear. They will only spread more and more widely. They will become the laughing stock of the world. Even if they know it is fake, they will definitely laugh at Li Xiuning for betraying his husband for adultery. They will also laugh at Chai Shao for being a turtle turtle. They will also laugh at the general for gaining the world by relying on his daughter to act as a prostitute."

"General He, you can think carefully about it. If you were the general, could you tolerate such ridicule? If you were the Chai Shao, could you tolerate such humiliation? You are still useful to them now. Of course, they can tolerate temporary tolerance, but if they become a big event in the future, how can you tolerate you? How can you stay in the capital and let the people in the capital think of today when they see you? At that time, you will be sent to a remote and wild place to serve without seeing you, and you will be polite to you. It is not faster and easier to deliberately let you die on the battlefield, or to fabricate some crime to make you beheaded?"

He Panren's wine was awake, and his face gradually began to change. Just then, a few He Panren's subordinates asked for a meeting. He Panren also said that there was a military affairs ordering him to meet him. He Panren never thought that after the generals entered the tent, they bowed to He Panren repeatedly, and asked with obscene faces when He Panren got into Li Xiuning. What was Li Xiuning's skill in some aspects? He Panren was furious and shouted: "You don't believe me? Do you also believe that Miss Li and I really have that?"

"Master, of course we believe in you." Several generals said with a lewd smile: "But Madam Li's little look is really charming. We believe that as long as you have the chance, you will never miss it. After all, Master, you are also a man. If you don't encounter such an opportunity, you won't call him a man."

He Panren's face changed, and then he completely believed that today's affairs were far from over. The so-called affair between him and Li Xiuning would definitely be brought up again, becoming a sharp sword hanging over his head. He might take his life at any time. He Panren subconsciously went to see Li Gang, but saw Li Gang smile at him, and his smile was still very bitter...

Li Gang's expectations seemed to be bad. The next morning, Li Yuan held a meeting in the central army's tent, and did not mention the transfer of He Panren. He simply ordered the stop to attack Tongguan and build Yongfeng Cang City to strengthen defense, build a strong camp in deep walls and high barriers to prevent the reinforcements from going out of seclusion to reinforce Daxing. Then Li Yuan took Pei Ji and returned to Changchun Palace. When the camp was arranged, Li Jiancheng took great care of He Panren and stationed troops in the rear camp to reduce the chance of being attacked by the Sui army. The army of Chai Shao and his wife was arranged to face the front of the front camp and directly face the Tongguan city five miles away.

People are selfish. He Panren, who also hopes to preserve his strength, is of course very satisfied with this result. When he returned to the account and talked to Li Gang about this matter, he rarely complained about Li Gang's judgment of a gentleman with a villain's heart. Li Gang suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "General He, General He, is it because I judge a gentleman with a villain's heart, or is the great general and the left governor who are determined to drive you away? You can't even see this?"

"What does it mean?" He Panren was confused again.

"The General asked us to station troops in Yongfeng Cang for two purposes. The first is of course to prevent the reinforcements from the Eastern Capital to advance westward to reinforce Daxing, and the second is to send grain to the front line and escort grain to the city of Daxing for the general to attack the city." Li Gang explained, shook his head again, and asked, "General He, now you should understand why the left governor asked you to station troops in the rear camp? In the future, the left governor sent people to Daxing to deliver food. Should he send troops facing the front camp and the official army head-on, or send troops guarding Yongfeng Cang, or send idle soldiers and horses in the rear camp?"

He Panren began to grit his teeth, and Li Gang whispered again: "First transfer you away from Chai Shao to avoid the conflict between you, and then use various wars to gradually consume your direct power. When you weaken you almost, it will be much easier for the General to deal with you. General He, do you understand?

He Panren's teeth rubbed for a moment and suddenly asked, "Mr. Li, what should I do?"

"It's very simple, just one word." Li Gang replied in a low voice: "Wait"

"Wait?" He Panren was stunned.

"Yes, wait," Li Gang nodded and said in a low voice: "Be patient for the time being, wait and see, the general failed to take Tongguan in time. Although on the surface, he still won consecutive victories and his momentum is getting bigger and bigger, he was already at an absolute passive disadvantage in the battlefield of Guanzhong. When the Chenliu soldiers in the Eastern Capital left Tongguan, it was when the death knives rang. Although I had never seen Chenliuzhao, I had already heard of his name. I knew that he was magnanimous and eager to seek talents. I promoted countless heroes. As long as you are willing, General, Yongfeng Cang is the best gift you give him."
Chapter completed!