Although Li Shimin was young, his reaction was extremely quick. Before the waiter in the store opened the door, he said first: "Man, we have everything covered here!"
But his words were still a step late. More than a dozen men dressed as businessmen had already rushed in. A fat man at the head threw a large ingot of silver with a smile and said loudly: "Man, are there any good wines and dishes?
superior!"
While they were talking, dozens more people came in, including a pretty woman. After the woman sat down, everyone became quiet.
Li Shimin frowned and walked over, cupping his hands and saying, "We have booked this inn. May I ask where you are coming from and where you are going?"
The fat man still had a smile on his face and said: "I rely on my parents at home and my friends when I go out. We are a caravan from Luoyang and have just returned from the south of the Yangtze River. Little brother, look at how late it is. Is there still such a big inn?
There are few vacancies, so why not make it more convenient and not let us sleep outside?"
This was still the territory of the Changshan Army. Li Shimin did not want to reveal his identity, so he could not use force, but he still frowned and asked: "Since we are returning to Luoyang from the south of the Yangtze River, why don't we take the canal instead of this almost abandoned trade road?"
The fat man laughed and said: "To be honest with this little brother, my wife can't take the boat, so she has no choice but to abandon the boat and go ashore. I wonder where the brothers are going?"
Naturally, Li Shimin also went to Luoyang. They would inevitably meet each other along the way, but he couldn't hide it very much. Moreover, hearing these people speak with a Luoyang accent, he couldn't help but nodded and said: "We are also going to Luoyang. We don't want to take a boat.
, the situation is similar to yours. In this case, everyone should not interfere with each other, and you should keep your voice down."
The fat man thanked him repeatedly: "That's right, that's right."
Li Shimin didn't know that this caravan was disguised as Zhang Chuchen's.
During the war in the north, many people fled from Luoyang to the south of the Yangtze River. Zhang Chuchen easily organized a caravan with a Luoyang accent. However, most of these people had mediocre martial arts and were not capable of dealing with Li Shimin and others.
However, Zhang Chuchen knew that the three of them, Ah Fu, had been seriously injured by a black and thin boy, and she also knew that there was no opponent of that boy around her. So she did not intend to take it by force, but just followed Li Shimin and his party, and secretly sent a message
Give it to Li Jing, hoping to try to stop them.
…
At dawn the next day, both "caravans" were ready to go, but Li Shimin directed the carriages and horses to turn southwest. The fat man stepped forward and asked with surprise on his face: "This young man, I hear your accent is from Luoyang."
, why are you heading southwest?"
Li Shimin replied without hesitation: "We still have some business to do in Liyang, so we won't go back to Luoyang for the time being."
Liyang already belongs to the Lujiang Group, and the fat man's goal is to go to Luoyang, which is in the opposite direction. Naturally, they can't continue to follow. Watching Li Shimin's motorcade gradually drive out of the inn, the fat man stamped his feet fiercely, cupped his hands and said: "Mrs.
,what to do?"
Although Lujiang County is also nominally under the jurisdiction of the Changshan Army, there is no Changshan Army stationed there. The actual control is still in the hands of the former officials, and Zhang Chuchen's orders may not be effective there.
Zhang Chuchen gently lifted his veil, looked into the distance, and said: "Sister Xiu'er is still in their hands, we can't force it. But no matter which way they take, they can't get around Yingchuan. Come on, let's go to Runan and wait.
them."
Li Shimin was very careful and led the caravan to the southwest, but still left an informant behind. Knowing that the caravan had indeed gone north to Luoyang, Li Shimin couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Let's all rest for an hour.
If they go far away, let's start heading north."
Changsun Wuji stopped him and said: "Absolutely not! The four counties of Huainan, Runan, Ruyin and Huaiyang are heavily guarded by the Changshan Army. When we go north from here, we will inevitably pass through those four counties. Now Xuanba is sick
If you encounter a strong enemy, it will be difficult to resist. It is better to continue westward and go north from Xiangyang via Nanyang."
Li Shimin mused: "This is a long way around. I'm afraid Liu Ziqiu's guys won't be able to wait for such a long time and are already planning to invade Luoyang in a big way."
Changsun Wuji smiled and said: "In five or six days, Liu Ziqiu will surely get the news that his wife and children have been captured by you and me. Can he still sit still?"
Li Shimin trusted the abilities of his uncle the most, and immediately said: "Okay! I will listen to you. If things change later, we will head west immediately, traveling day and night, and we must rush back to Luoyang as quickly as possible."
…
The road to the west is not easy to walk, and sometimes you have to cross mountains and ridges. Fortunately, Li Shimin brought all the elites from the army, and the horses were also the best horses from a thousand miles. Everyone stayed overnight, and sometimes they even had to sleep in
One can imagine the hardships involved in the wilderness. Ten days later, we finally arrived at Handong County.
Although Li Shimin is young, he has been practicing martial arts since he was a child and has a strong body. Although he looks a little haggard, he can still hold on.
It was just a hardship for Changsun Wuji. He was a scholar. Although he also practiced archery among the six arts, it was not his main occupation after all. When he reached Handong, he was finally overwhelmed and fell completely ill.
Another person who fell ill was Li Xuanba. Li Xuanba had been in pain ever since he ate cold food in the hospital and caused a toxic attack. The bumpy road made his illness become more serious, and his black face actually turned golden.
yellow.
Li Shimin became anxious and ordered someone to bring Gao Xiuer over and said, "Isn't Madam proficient in medicine? Please ask Madam to treat them both."
"I have said before that that black boy is hopeless." Gao Xiuer shook his head and pointed at Changsun Wuji and said, "He is just acclimatized and tired from the journey. It's nothing serious. He only needs to rest for three to five days.
If you take good care of yourself, you will be able to relax."
Li Shimin was in a hurry to return to Luoyang and refused to delay. He couldn't help but said angrily: "You bitch, are you trying to deceive Li? You must think clearly. The lives of your mother and son are in Li's hands. Don't think of anything."
A delaying tactic!"
Gao Xiuer gave Changsun Wuji a cold look and said: "Doctors have the heart of a parent. Although he is not worthy of being Ziqiu's brother, I would rather let Ziqiu avenge our mother and son openly than do anything when seeing a doctor!"
I just want to have a clear conscience. If you don’t believe me, I have nothing to say.”
Li Shimin gritted his teeth and said, "Okay, let's go to Handong City and stay there for three days before leaving!"
Unexpectedly, before they reached the foot of Handong City, they saw countless people rushing over like a tide. Li Shimin didn't understand what happened, so he hurriedly pulled over a commoner and asked, "What's going on in front?"
The commoner said tremblingly: "Run away quickly. You can't go in front. The man-eating devil is about to attack."
"The Man-Eating Demon King?" Li Shimin was surprised and said, "Who is the Man-Eating Demon King?"
The common people were eager to escape and wanted to break free, but were held tightly by Li Shimin's men. Seeing that they were carrying knives and swords, they could only say: "The murderer's king is called Zhu Can, and he has more than 100,000 troops. He is everywhere between Han and Huai.
They plunder and plunder, and wherever they eat up the food, they eat women and children, and when they eat up all the women and children, they eat strong men. You also need to run away, otherwise it will be miserable if you are caught by them."
Li Shimin is actually very courageous. Even if he faces thousands of troops, he will not back down. But when he heard that Zhu Can wanted to eat people, he couldn't help but trembled and murmured: "What should I do? What should I do?"
Changsun Wuji struggled up from the cart and said: "People, don't panic. No matter whether he eats people or not, since there is a large army coming, we can't forcefully break in. We have to retreat with these people."
The sound of horse hoofbeats, the flying dust, and the traitors came very quickly. The fleeing people suddenly seemed to have been immobilized and could no longer move. They stopped in place and shivered. As a result, Li Shimin and his entourage who were trapped could not move.
.
The group of thieves chasing after them was a cavalry force of more than 500 people. The leader of the thieves came over on horseback, raised his whip, and whipped the people on the side of the road, all over their faces, while cursing: "Run away."
!I tell you to run away again! Listen, women and children stand on the left, men stand on the right!"
This group of fleeing civilians numbered no less than 10,000 people. Facing the 500 thieves and cavalry, they behaved like a group of docile sheep. They actually followed the order and separated to both sides. There were only cries, but no one was seen resisting. However, in this way, they were originally captured.
Li Shimin and his entourage caught in the middle were exposed.
If according to the rebel soldiers' request, women and children go to the left and men go to the right, then Li Shimin will lose control of Gao Xiuer and her son. The life and death of Gao Xiuer and her son are not in his heart, but it is related to whether he can use this to blackmail him.
Liu Ziqiu and Li Shimin worked hard to catch the mother and son, so how could they give up so easily?
Li Xuanba also understood what Li Shimin was thinking. He gritted his teeth and said, "Second brother, I have one last pill here. Wait for me to take it and kill this group of thieves!"
Gao Xiuer's heart moved when she heard this and asked: "What kind of pills can you let me see?"
Li Xuanba was still hesitating, but Li Shimin urged: "Third brother, it doesn't hurt to show it to her." He added: "This was given to my third brother by a passing Taoist priest in the early years. Every time he eats one,
Your strength will skyrocket!"
Gao Xiuer took the pill and put it under his nose, smelled it, nodded, and said: "This pill can stimulate your potential, but if you take it for a long time, you will definitely harm yourself. The toxicity in his body accumulates over time, and it turns out that it comes from this pill.
With his current physical condition, if he doesn't take this pill, he can live for another year and a half. If he takes another pill, he may not live for ten days!"
Li Xuanba ignored the pain in his abdomen, struggled to grab the pills, and said loudly: "Ten days, ten days! Second brother, I will fight them first!"
Li Shimin quickly said: "No! Let me think of a solution later!"
While they were talking, the group of thieves had already charged towards them.
Just at the critical moment, there was a "swish" sound, and a sharp arrow passed through the air, hitting the thief general in the forehead. The thief general turned over and fell from his horse, and the thieves were panicked.