The sun sets, the night engulfs Xiangyang, and the spring breeze is blowing.
There were bound to be undercurrents in Xiangyang that night. Liu Bei was probably still thinking about how to win people's hearts tomorrow, and Cai Mao was probably plotting an assassination.
The people in the mansion were also busy preparing the banquet. There were four courtyards in total. Liu Biao lived in the central courtyard, with Liu Qi and Liu Cong on his left and right. The backyard was for the servants and guest rooms.
Liu Fu secretly went to the backyard to invite Liu Pan over. In the past few years, Liu Pan had led troops in Jingnan and confronted Taishi Ci. Liu Pan had become more powerful and murderous.
With him came an old man with gray hair and beard and a sturdy build, who was Huang Zhong.
Huang Zhong was half of Liu Pan's family general and was loyal to Liu Biao, so Liu Biao specifically asked to transfer him from Changsha. He was the only available person Liu Qi could think of.
"Da Lang, I heard that Liu Xuande will be hosting the banquet tomorrow. Are you planning to ask him for help?"
Liu Qi sighed inwardly. Everyone wanted to ask for external help, and no one believed that he could solve the problem.
"Cai Mao tried to kill Liu Bei several times but failed. I think this is most likely a Hongmen Banquet. We will see what happens tomorrow. If anything goes wrong, my brother will protect the lord, and Han Sheng and I will go to rescue him and use Liu Bei's power to get rid of Cai Mao in one fell swoop."
"Great idea!" Liu Pan was delighted, and the three of them discussed the plan together.
Before leaving, Liu Qi asked, "Huang Zhonglang is in Changsha, does he know Wei Yan?"
Huang Zhong frowned slightly and shook his head, saying, "I have never heard of this person."
Liu Qi was confused. Huang Zhong and Wei Yan should be under Han Xuan's command. Where did this guy go
Everyone said that Wei Yan was a rebellious person, but Liu Qi disagreed. He was as powerful as the Five Tigers and was loyal and had made many great contributions. Otherwise, would Liu Bei have sent him to guard Hanzhong
Ultimately, character determines destiny. Wei Yan's arrogance offended too many people. He was used by Yang Yi and died in a political struggle.
Returning to the bedroom, Liu Qi temporarily forgot about the red-faced man when he saw the beauty who looked like a frightened little white rabbit.
…
The next morning, Liu Qi was invited to the government office by Cai Mao. He looked listless and pale.
This was also a helpless move. In order not to reveal any flaws, I had to pull Du Ling'er along and unlocked a few new postures last night.
The banquet had already been set up in the hall, and many officials were greeting each other. Soon Liu Bei also arrived outside the mansion gate.
We have already met yesterday, so there is no need to say more. Please come into the mansion directly.
Someone led the horses into the back garden, the guards stayed outside the door, and only Zhao Yun followed into the hall.
Today, Liu Bei wore a red brocade robe and had three strands of beard. He looked elegant and refined, and seemed even more graceful and noble.
Zhao Yun behind him was fully armed, with a handsome face, sword-like brows slightly furrowed, and a body as straight as a spear, looking around vigilantly.
Liu Bei was entertaining guests on behalf of Liu Biao today and sat at the main table. Liu Qi and Liu Cong sat on his left and right, and Cai Mao and the officials sat in order.
Before the banquet started, Zhang Yun came in first and invited Zhao Yun to drink outside the hall, where a seat had already been prepared for him, accompanied by the generals from Xiangyang.
Everyone was dressed up for today's harvest celebration banquet, except Zhao Yun, who was fully dressed. He looked a little out of place. Liu Bei also wanted to appear friendly and calm, so he asked Zhao Yun to sit outside.
When the banquet started, Liu Bei made some polite remarks as usual and also promoted himself. The officials came forward to toast him one after another.
At this time, the two Liu Qi brothers had been completely ignored and had no sense of existence at all.
Liu Qi remained calm as usual, just picking up vegetables and eating meat, quietly recovering his strength.
But I laughed secretly in my heart: After today, I will become the brightest star in the whole audience!
After three rounds of drinks, Yi Ji came in from outside, walked up to Liu Bei, and gave him a wink while toasting. Liu Bei then left the table on the pretext of going to the toilet.
Seeing Yi Ji also went to the back hall, Liu Qi's heart began to beat wildly, and the hand holding the chopsticks trembled slightly.
Cai Mao had just arranged for the staff to come back, but he saw that Liu Bei was not there. His face suddenly changed slightly and he asked, "Where did the envoy go?"
Liu Cong answered from the side: "My uncle went to the toilet."
Cai Mao said "oh" and sat down slowly, looking towards the back hall from time to time, his fingers holding the wine glass turning white.
A quarter of an hour later, a soldier suddenly ran out from the back hall and came to Cai Mao to report: "General, it's bad, Liu Bei has escaped!"
"Chase him!" Cai Mao's face changed drastically. He threw down the wine glass and ran out of the back hall.
There was singing and dancing in the lobby at this time. Everyone was drunk and some were busy urging each other to drink, while others were staring at the dancers. No one noticed what was happening here.
Liu Qi patted Liu Cong, who looked confused, and followed him to the back garden, where there were more than a dozen horses tied up. As expected, Di Lu was no longer there.
Liu Fuzheng was standing on the porch, nodding slightly to him, indicating that everything was going well.
"This Liu Da'er, every time at a critical moment, he always only cares about running away."
Liu Qi was secretly complaining in his heart, and guessed that Cai Mao had already chased him out of the city, so he hurried back and found Zhao Yun at the door.
"General Zhao, my uncle just went to the backyard to use the restroom, but he has disappeared."
"What?" Zhao Yun was shocked. He stood up and walked to the door. Sure enough, he saw that the main seat was vacant and Cai Mao was nowhere to be seen.
"General Zhao, Envoy Liu must be..."
“Get lost!”
Zhang Yun was still trying to delay time when Zhao Yun pushed him down the stairs and onto the table below, spilling soup and wine all over him.
Listening to Zhang Yun's screams, Liu Qi felt happy and quickly followed Zhao Yun, saying with concern: "General Zhao, go gather the guards. I will go with you to look for him."
"Thank you, sir!" Zhao Yun left in a hurry without even turning his head.
When Liu Qi returned to the mansion, Liu Pan and Huang Zhong had already been prepared for a long time. He informed them of the incident that had occurred during the banquet, and the three of them acted according to the plan.
Liu Qi led Huang Zhong and twenty guards out of the city. When they reached the west gate, they saw Zhao Yun also leading his troops. The guards stepped forward to stop them, but Liu Qi shouted them off and left the city together.
After they had gone only two or three miles, Zhao Yun's horse suddenly neighed and fell to the side of the road, and the soldiers were in chaos.
Zhao Yun let out a low shout, jumped up from his horse, used his spear to support the ground, and landed steadily.
Liu Qi reined in his horse and asked, "General Zhao, what happened?"
"Oh no, someone has done something to my mount." Zhao Yun's face was gloomy. He was more worried about Liu Bei's horse.
"General Zhao, change horses. I will go and rescue people first."
Liu Qi urged his mount to gallop forward. He was really anxious, fearing that Cai Mao would fail.
Di Lu is indeed worthy of being called a BMW. Even Zhao Yun’s white dragon horse could not hold on any longer, but it could still run so far.
After turning two ridges and hearing the sound of waves, Tanxi River is right in front of us. The river is more than ten meters wide. There is a river bend here where it merges into Xiangjiang River, and the water is turbulent.
Not far away, there was dust flying on the shore. A group of soldiers were chasing. A few feet ahead of them, they saw Liu Bei's horse Lu wandering on the shore.
There was a dense forest and cliff ahead. There was no way forward and no boats were seen on the shore. Delu pawed and neighed, feeling extremely anxious.
Seeing the approaching pursuers, Liu Bei urged his horse to move. Dilu's front hooves had already gone into the water. It kept shaking its head and paddling with its hooves, taking two steps forward and then suddenly retreating.
At this time, Cai Mao had already led his troops to the front and ordered the soldiers to shoot arrows. Liu Bei picked up the horse whip and whipped hard.
Xilulu-
A horse's neighing sounded like metal and stone tearing silk, covering the sound of the roaring waves, and Dilu actually jumped out of the water.
From a distance, Di Luzhen looked like a dragon flying into the sky, with his body stretched out and his ponytail standing upright, looking extremely handsome.
"What a great horse..." Huang Zhong couldn't help but admire it on his horse. Before he could finish his words, his face suddenly changed: "Huh—"
But just as the white horse jumped up, suddenly a bubble burst out from under its tail, splashing out like a fountain, and then fell straight down.
Liu Qi finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his penis was loose, like a deflated ball, it shot up halfway and then fell down.
With a loud splash, water splashed over the Tan River, and Liu Bei fell into the river with his horse and disappeared without a trace.