Xue Jian returned to the military camp outside the city with his head down. He and Pei Zhiqing suffered successive defeats in Zhaozhou and Beizhou, and suffered heavy losses in strength, and finally fled back to Luzhou with Tian Ping. At this time, the Zhaoyi is no longer the Zhaoyi of the past. Xingzhou, Beizhou, and Zhaozhou were snatched away by Wuwei, and the area to the south of Luzhou was mastered by Xuanwu, and the Xue brothers were originally the masters of Zhaoyi, but now they are like a guest army.

When they returned to Luzhou, they were unceremoniously integrated into Tian Ping's army by Tian Yue, and now, he and Pei Zhiqing don't even have the power to take charge of the army alone. Of course, their own subordinates really can't muster up the strength of an army.

Tian Ping was recruited into the city meeting today, and after he came back, he was in an extremely bad mood, Xue Jian and Pei Zhiqing were all called by him and scolded him, and the next military operation also made Xue Jian muttered in his heart.

Tian Ping wanted to take them to encircle and suppress Qianniu, Wei Liu, Ruyan and his party.

This is definitely a hot job, but it seems that Tian Ping, who has been stimulated, has not thought about the significance of this matter at all.

Zhu Youzhen's order is very straightforward, for the Tang Emperor Li Yan who is hidden in the Qianniu Guard, he doesn't care whether he lives or dies.

Even if Li Yan is in trouble now, he is still the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanwu Zhu is clear that the car driver is going to rebel anyway, and it doesn't matter if he kills or not, but for the Xue family, if the emperor really falls into their hands, it will be very bad for them. If nothing else, I'm afraid that the tomb of Xue Song, the king of Yanping County, in his hometown may be dug down.

Thinking of the drastic changes in the past half a year, Xue Jian really couldn't say anything except for a long sigh.

I don't want to do that!

As soon as he thought of this, he hated Xue Wei even more.

When he returned to the military tent, he asked the soldiers to bring a pot of wine, but he did not even prepare a single dish, and he was sullen and poured his sorrows with wine.

The curtain was lifted, and a man walked in.

"Get out, you're getting bolder, do you dare to trespass into the big tent without being summoned?" Xue Jian, who was red-eyed, did not raise his head, and shouted angrily.

"Father, it's me."

Xue Jian looked up and saw his son Xue Shan standing at the door.

"What's the matter?" Xue Jian asked.

Xue Shan said: "Father, someone wants to see you." ”

"Who?"

"Me." A person stepped out from behind Xue Shan, stood in front of Xue Jian, lifted the hood that covered his head and face, and revealed his face.

Xue Jian jumped up suddenly, his hand slammed into the hilt of the knife at his waist, and standing in front of him was a person he had never thought of, his nephew Xue Ping.

"Fifth Uncle really regards me as an enemy, is he going to kill me and go to the Tian brothers to get the reward?" Xue Ping's expression remained unchanged, he walked straight over, sat down in front of the desk calmly, lifted the wine jug in front of Xue Jian, took a full sip at the spout, put down the wine jug, and then raised his eyes to look at Xue Jian, whose knife was already half unsheathed.

After a long time, Xue Jian choked back the knife into the sheath, sat down dejectedly, waved his hand at Xue Shan, and signaled Xue Shan to guard the tent door and not let outsiders in.

"Why are you so bold? If others see it, will you still be alive? Xue Jian asked, "Even if you and I are enemies now, I don't want you to have an accident with me." ”

"Fifth uncle, to this day, you have never regretted it?" Xue Ping asked.

Hearing Xue Ping's words, Xue Jian suddenly became excited: "Can you blame me for this?" Can I be blamed for this? If Xue Wei hadn't wanted to kill me, would I have rebelled? If Xue Wei didn't want to get rid of dissidents, would he let Wei Bo people take advantage of it? Will it make the Xuanwu fishermen profitable? Your father's hard work all his life was destroyed in the hands of Xue Wei, he is a sinner of the Xue family, even if he dies, he will definitely have no shame to see the ancestors of the Xue family. ”

Xue Ping sneered: "Fifth uncle, is this just a matter of the second uncle alone?" The second uncle was appointed as the commander of Zhaoyi, that was his father's last order before he died, at that time, Yang Zhi and they wanted to push me to the throne, in order to avoid Zhaoyi's internal strife, I ran away at night, just to protect Zhaoyi's existence as a whole. But over the years, you still have the fourth uncle and them, how did you do it? If it weren't for your unruliness one by one, trying to fight against Xue Wei, how could things have slipped step by step to the current situation? If you say who is the sinner of the Xue family, the second uncle is certainly the biggest one, you and the fourth uncle, isn't there a little problem? But as long as you can think about the overall situation and the Xue clan, as long as you are willing to take a step back, how can you be like this? What is the Xue family now? Is it Tian's lackey, or Zhu's lackey? ”

"I don't want that." Xue Jian's tears rained down. "But what can I do today?"

"It's not too late to make amends!" Xue Ping said coldly: "My father is watching you underground, the second uncle is dead, the dead are the greatest, I don't want to say anything more, but those of us surnamed Xue who are still alive, shouldn't we do something?" ”

"What can be done?" Xue Jian wiped away a handful of tears, "I have less than 3,000 people in my hands now, even if I add Pei Zhiqing, there are only 5,000 people, and how many soldiers and horses does the Tian brothers have in Luzhou now?" The Tian brothers, Xue Chong, Xue Xiong, they have a total of more than 60,000 soldiers and horses, and Zhu Youzhen's soldiers and horses transferred from all over Weizhou, all in all, have exceeded more than 30,000 people, a full army of 100,000 people, what do you think I can do? Whenever I want to do something, I'm afraid that before I can do it, I will be crushed into powder. ”

Xue Ping shook his head: "Of course you can't move at will, but if you move at a critical moment, the key point is so moving, then it has the effect of four or two thousand catties, the soldiers are not more, but the fine, the time is not long, but the point, the fifth uncle, the bureau of Luzhou, you can play the role of your application, turn yourself into the key point, once you succeed, what do you want, how can you not get it?" ”

"You want me to fall to Wuwei?" Xue Jian smiled bitterly: "Do their internal response? ”

"It's not to fall to Wuwei, it's to be loyal to His Majesty the Emperor." Xue Ping said: "I, the Xue family, have always been loyal to the royal family. ”

"The emperor is about to become a turtle in Weng, you may not know it, from tomorrow, I will go with Tian Ping to encircle and suppress Qianniuwei. Tian Ping had 10,000 soldiers, plus Zhu Youzhen's soldiers and horses from the direction of Weizhou, and the emperor couldn't fly away even if he had wings. ”

"Fifth uncle, when you look at things, why do you only look at a corner and not look at the overall situation!" Xue Ping sneered: "The current situation in Luzhou, where is it just the emperor's safety?" The emperor and his entourage are just located at the most critical point, and the entire Luzhou will also become a big battlefield because of this incident, and Wuwei, Hedong, and Xuanwu are all involved. We are ready, Tian Yue probably saw this, so he concentrated almost all of his troops to Luzhou, but Zhu Wen put all his spirit on attacking Chang'an at this time, and only sent Zhu Youzhen to coordinate the overall situation, haha, he ignored the important strategic position of Luzhou, as long as Luzhou fell into our hands completely, even if he took Chang'an, what could he do? In the future, we can attack, and we can defend when we retreat. ”

"What if the Emperor dies?" Xue Jian asked.

"The emperor doesn't die so easily." Xue Ping said indifferently: "Qianniuwei's combat power is much stronger than you think, of course, I came here to add another guarantee to the emperor's safety." Fifth uncle, this is your chance, let the emperor see you and remember you, and the opportunity will naturally come in the future. ”

"I have too few soldiers and horses, even if I defect, it will only be a temporary delay." Xue Jian shook his head and said.

"With the friendship between the fifth uncle and Pei Zhiqing, he should be able to convince him." Xue Ping said: "Even if it's Tian Ping, why doesn't my uncle fight his idea?" ”

"Tian Ping? You're not confused, are you? Xue Jian's eyes widened.

"The contradiction between Tian Ping and Tian Yue is still very deep." Xue Ping said: "Of course, Tian Ping will not be moved now, but if there is a change in the situation, it will be uncertain." ”

Xue Jian was silent for a long time before he said: "I can only say this to you, if the situation allows, of course I will do what you say, if Wuwei can gain the upper hand in the battle of Luzhou, then everything is easy to say, otherwise, please forgive me for not being able to obey." ”

"Fifth Uncle just wait and see!" Xue Ping said with a smile. "The big war is about to begin!"

"Will you still go to Xue Xiong and Xue Chong?"

"I will naturally go to meet the fourth uncle wherever he is, but the fourth uncle is now considered a strong man, and he is quite important in the Zhu family, so he may not listen to my opinion. As for Xue Chong, he's just afraid that he can't wait for our vein to be completely dead! Xue Ping shook his head and said.

"You should be careful when you go to see the fourth."

"Fifth uncle, don't worry, even if the fourth uncle refuses to go the same way with me, he won't want my life if he thinks about it." Xue Ping said with a smile.

A few days later, Xue Ping appeared in front of Xue Xiong.

The uncle and nephew were silent for a long time, and Xue Xiong finally shook his head: "Today, the situation of Xuanwu and Wuwei competing for power has gradually formed, you are in Wuwei, you are quite valued by Li Ze, and you are an important minister of the royal family, and I am on Xuanwu's side, I am also highly valued by Zhu Shuai, and now I am also considered a high and powerful position." Let's each be our own master, no matter who wins or loses in the end, the Xue clan will not be wiped out. Ah Ping, have you gone to see the fifth child? ”

Xue Ping shook his head: "Fifth Uncle is now pitifully weak, there are only two or three thousand remnants left, and under Tian Ping, he has become a general who charges into battle." It doesn't help the big picture at all, what am I going to see him for? ”

"Let's go." Xue Xiong nodded: "I don't embarrass you today, but when I go to the battlefield in the future, if I meet you, I will never be soft, and in the same way, if you meet me, it will be the same." Do you understand what I mean? ”

Xue Ping sighed, "Fourth Uncle, then you should cherish it yourself, Zhu Clan, it's really not a good object of allegiance." ”

"At least now they have the upper hand. The Xue family, someone has to bet on him too! ”