The gorgeous sunset made Liu Renzhan's eyes dazzled. He put up a pergola and looked at the retreating Zhou army's catapults outside the city. He couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief and whispered softly: "Another day has passed!"

He walked half a circle along the city wall and felt that his legs were weak. He couldn't hold it any longer, so he simply walked down the city wall along the horse trail. There was a ruins under the city wall, about a hundred paces wide. There was nothing intact in this distance.

The houses were only covered with stone bullets.

Numerous soldiers were feebly clearing away the stone bullets on the road, and they scolded Zhou Jun for why they carved the stone bullets into square shapes, which made them struggle to move them. A young soldier had just moved the stones off the ground, and suddenly his body went limp.

He hit the stone bullet hard and blood flowed freely.

Seeing this, Liu Renzhan rushed forward and held the soldier flat on the ground. The young soldier's eyes were blurred and he murmured in a weak voice: "Hungry, hungry, I'm hungry..."

Liu Renzhan said nothing, handed him over to the soldiers nearby, and strode towards the Jiedushi Mansion. He walked very fast and felt a pair of eyes staring at him from the houses on both sides.

He was like a man with a light on his back and didn't want to stay even half a step longer.

Squeak! The door of a shop in front was blown open by the wind, and Liu Renzhan couldn't help but feel his heart tremble. He was afraid that the man making steamed cakes would bring a whole family to him to beg for food.

But no one came out of the shop. When he passed by the door, he couldn't help but look inside the house and saw a row of corpses, large and small, hanging on the beams inside the shop.

Liu Renzhan felt his heart suddenly throbbing with pain, but he ordered the soldiers around him with an indifferent expression: "Find a place to bury them all." Then he continued to walk along the empty eldest sister to Jiedu.

Go to the ambassador's house.

The table in Datang's office was empty. There was nothing military and political that he needed to deal with except food. Shouzhou had been besieged for more than a year. Occasionally, a Tang army scout rushed outside the city and shot an arrow with a letter tied to it.

.

The last time he received a letter was in the autumn of last year. The imperial court was preparing to build a Great Wall to deliver grain to the city. He thought it was a lie from the imperial court to appease him. After all, this idea was stupid.

Unexpectedly, in winter, the Zhou army outside the city told him that the Great Wall had been destroyed and the food had been confiscated. Liu Renzhan was moved and funny. The imperial court had not given up on Shouzhou, so there was no reason for Shouzhou to surrender.

He collected all the food in Shouzhou and saved as much food as possible according to the per capita distribution. However, it was difficult to survive until today. Even though he was the most powerful person in Shouzhou City, he was still hungry and full.

Even the leaves in the city are almost gone, as if the severe winter in Shouzhou has not passed yet.

He sat in the front office for a while and then went to the back office, but the servants and maids looked at him strangely. He was alert by nature and called the housekeeper over to ask.

But the steward looked horrified and hesitated to speak, "It's Sanlang, he...he...your father-in-law will understand naturally after seeing it, but the villain dare not say anything."

Liu Renzhan was confused and went straight to his son's courtyard. Before he arrived, he saw green smoke coming out of the courtyard and waves of fragrance wafting from the courtyard. Liu Renzhan got smart and hurried into the courtyard.

I saw a fire burning in the courtyard, and there was a skewer of meat being roasted on the flames. Liu Chongjian, covered in blood, was sitting in front of the fire with a piece of barbecue in his hand. He was eating deliciously. When he heard the noise, he raised his head.

He smiled and said, "Father is here just in time. There is barbecue here to satisfy your hunger!"

"Where did you get the meat from?" Liu Renzhan shouted hoarsely after a few steps. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught sight of the corpses lying in the flower bed and the blood-stained soil. He was so angry that he violently drew the black cloud sword at his waist.

Come out, "You bastard, I'm going to kill you!"

Liu Chongjian quickly dodged away, but Liu Renzhan chased after him and swung several times without hurting him. He jumped to the side and said with a smile: "Father, you have been almost a month and you don't have the strength to put this piece on your feet."

It won't be too late to kill me after you eat the meat, eat it, eat it, this meat is very delicious!"

Looking at the half-cooked meat at his feet, Liu Renzhan couldn't help but retched, "Even if I starve to death, I won't do such beastly things!" He threw the long sword in front of Liu Chongjian, "If you

If you still have some humanity, then commit suicide!"

Liu Chongjian looked up to the sky and laughed, "Haha... My father called me a beast, but he didn't know that you were more ruthless than me. I only killed three or five people because of my stutter, but my father harmed countless people in Shouzhou just for the sake of fame.

"

"False name? How can I be a person who is seeking fame and reputation? I am serving Your Majesty loyally to the Tang Dynasty!"

"Father, don't lie to yourself. What's the difference between the Tang Dynasty and the Zhou Dynasty? I think Guo Rong is smarter than Li Jing. Li Jing doesn't have the guts to ride alone into the battle, nor does he have the guts to risk a stone and go to the city to boost morale."

Liu Chongjian fell to his knees and sobbed: "Father, let's surrender. Both the soldiers and the people can hardly hold on anymore!"

"No! I will never surrender!" Liu Renzhan stepped forward and kicked Liu Chongjian in the chest, knocking Liu Chongjian to the ground. "I'm going to kill you!" He bent down to pick up the long hair on the ground.

The sword didn't wait for him to get up and kill him. Liu Chongjian got up and ran towards the door.

"Come back here!" Liu Renzhan yelled and chased after him for two steps. Suddenly his vision went dark and he stumbled to the ground.

The servants came up quickly to give him water and pinch him, but no one was smart enough to give him a bowl of rice soup. When Liu Renzhan woke up, it was already dark.

He opened his mouth and asked, "Where did that beast go?"

The soldier immediately replied: "I don't know, I've already asked people to look for him!"

"Tell the city guards to keep an eye on the city wall. Anyone who escapes over the wall will be killed!"

The soldiers immediately went to carry out Liu Renzhan's order, but Liu Renzhan sat on the bed with tears streaming down his face. It was not until dawn that someone came to report that Liu Chongjian was caught on the city wall trying to escape.

Liu Renzhan asked: "Is the person still alive?"

The soldier replied: "He's still alive! The soldiers saw it was him and didn't dare to hurt him!"

"Okay, let me handle it myself!"

Liu Rezhan washed himself and dressed neatly. At dawn, he summoned the generals, school officials and people to the gate of the Jiedushi Palace to watch the execution. When they heard that Liu Renzhan wanted to kill his own son, everyone could not believe it, but the Jiedushi

The person who was tied up with five flowers in front of the house was clearly Liu Chongjian, and everyone was talking about it. They heard that Liu Chongjian was beheaded because he was a deserter, and they couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

It was not until midnight that Liu Renzhan came out of the house with his head held high. Without looking at Liu Chongjian, he loudly shouted to everyone: "Unfortunately for our family, Liu gave birth to an unworthy and rebellious son. He has no king and no father. He betrayed his family and country and wanted to rebel.

Surrender to the enemy. I will chop him off in half and abandon the market today, as a way to deal with those who have double-minded intentions!"

Liu Chongjian turned around and begged: "Father, I am just unbearably hungry and want to go out to eat. I have no intention of treason and surrender to the enemy. How can you have the heart to cut me in half?"

Liu Chongjian was usually quite popular, and all the generals, school officials, and officials interceded for him. Liu Renzhan was unmoved and gave an order to chop his son in half.

The most cruel thing about being cut in half is that you will not die for a moment after the execution. Looking at the half-body body still struggling on the ground, the onlookers didn't know whether they were afraid or impressed by Liu Renzhan's selflessness. Many people burst into tears.

Liu Renzhan turned around silently. The moment he entered the Jiedushi Palace, his figure seemed to be a little stooped. Before he could walk back to the lobby, he fell to the ground...

————————————————————————————-

The city of Shouzhou was in danger, and the Zhou army was only close to breaking through a layer of window paper before taking control of Huainan. However, Chai Rong hesitated to take action, wondering if he was waiting for good news from the army on the south road.

Unfortunately, there were no surprises for the South Route Army. The small Wuxi County stopped the South Route Army in its tracks. A conflict broke out while they were still discussing matters. The internal strife turned into a war at any time, and the sword was already drawn.

Wu Liang, who was discussing the matter with Xu Xian, drew his sword and pointed at Shao Keqian, who was constantly provoking, "Just fight, what will you do if we knock down the city!"

Xu Xian turned his head and shouted: "You are crazy, you haven't drawn your sword and put it away!"

Xu Xian snatched the knife from him and said to Wu Cheng, "This subordinate is rude. Please forgive me, Commander-in-Chief."

"It doesn't matter, I just like the bravery of the soldiers from the Central Plains!"

Shao Keqian immediately teased: "The commander-in-chief has misjudged the people. The bravery of these northern soldiers is just lip service. If you really expect them to attack the city, you might be scared to death."

Xu Xian was thick-skinned and dark-hearted, so he could turn a deaf ear to the other party's sarcasm, but the soldiers in the red scarf city couldn't bear such provocation. The chief had already raised his arms, "Boss, let's take down this small town and show them how powerful it is."

!”

Jiubao said: "Boss, our red scarves are famous, so we can't let others look down upon us!"

…

Several soldiers looked arrogant, and even Wu Cheng was interested, "The soldiers under General Manager Xu seem to be very confident, why not ask them to give it a try."

At this time, if Xu Xianruo said no, Wu Yue's generals would not be teasing and sarcastic, but might just give up and leave. Don't think that the military masters in the south have no temper. In the beginning, Pang Xun was just because the court did not have a holiday.

It turned Southeast Asia upside down.

"Then I have to ask them to give it a try. If it doesn't work, please forgive me, Commander-in-Chief."

"Victory and defeat are common matters for military strategists. How can I be surprised by this?"

Wu Liang came out and said: "Before that, I have something to make clear, and I would like the commander-in-chief to be a witness."

"What's the matter?"

Wu Liang pointed at Shao Keqian and said: "This man has always been at odds with my house manager. He is also scornful of us. He also asks people to come to our camp to provoke him from time to time. We want him to take a gamble."

"Okay!" Shao Keqian said with a smile: "What kind of gambling method?"

"If we become successful, what will you do to compensate me?"

"Hehe... It's easy to say. If you want money or wine, you should still go to the brothel. Shao has lost all his money and still wants to satisfy you."

"We are not short of money or wine. If we win, we will take your head!"

Shao Keqian was startled when he heard this and asked: "What if you lose?"

"If we lose, we will die, so why do you ask me to compensate?"

"Okay! I'll make a bet with you!"

When he returned to his camp, Xu Xian called a few people to him, "Have you all been kicked in the head by a donkey? Have you forgotten that Luo Fubang made his own decisions and harmed many brothers when he attacked Yanzhou? Have you all forgotten?

"

"We haven't forgotten! But people have already pointed their noses and scolded us, so we can't pretend to be fools."

"They said it doesn't matter to us, but it's not okay to embarrass the manager!"

…

Loyalty and honor are the qualities that Xu Xian has always expected his soldiers to possess, but when these two things actually appeared, Xu Xian felt a little heavy on his hands.

He asked Wu Cheng to retreat all the way to Suzhou and asked the other party to relax their vigilance. It took four or five days before the plan was implemented.

More than 3,000 people moved forward slowly in the darkness. In addition to Xu Xian's more than 1,000 subordinates, there were also 2,000 Wu and Yue elites. Wu Cheng wanted to see how Xu Xian attacked the city, so he led the team himself regardless of his status as the commander.
To be continued...