Li Shatuo left the Shen family and rode back to the inn. He was very surprised by Li Zhu's changes. Li Shatuo did not know Li Zhu's true identity. Su Dingfang just told him that Li Zhu could be trusted, but Li Zhu's actions made him a little confused. In the words of Chen Dongren, he was to be accomplices for the tiger and become their enemy to seize Dunhuang County.

Perhaps this is just a illusion of Li Zhu, or perhaps it is because people's hearts have changed, and Li Shatuo is unsure of his mind, so he dare not go to find Li Zhu rashly.

When he returned to the inn, Li Shatuo immediately wrote a text message, called a subordinate, handed it to him and ordered: "Ji and the guide go to Yumen Pass again and handed the letter to General Su. The situation has changed. You must hand it over to him as soon as possible."

The soldiers agreed and immediately went to find the guide. The two hurriedly left. At this time, it was getting darker. The vendors closed their stalls and went home. The Dunhuang City became quiet again.

Chen Dongren waited until dark, and he went out impatiently and arrived at the Lu Mansion in a carriage. The Lu Mansion was also a famous family in Jiangnan. After the Chen Dynasty was destroyed, some members of the Lu family who participated in the uprising to resist the Sui Dynasty were also exiled to Dunhuang and became a large family in Dunhuang. Now there are only three southern gentry left in Dunhuang City, the Lu family in Yuhang, the Shen family in Wuxing and the Xie family in Danyang.

Originally, the Xiao family in Nanjun was the leader of the Jiangnan gentry, but since Xiao Yinyin led the family back to Nanjun, the Lu family gradually became the leader of the Jiangnan gentry in Dunhuang City. On the one hand, the Lu family had the largest number of children, and more importantly, Dunhuang County Sima Lu Chunxing became the only representative of the Jiangnan gentry in the officialdom, protecting the interests of the three families.

Chen Dongren was invited into the study by the Lu brothers. They had a very good relationship and were in-laws. Chen Dongren's eldest son Chen Xian married the daughter of Lu Chunhe, the head of the Lu family. Many words can be told honestly between the in-laws.

Chen Dongren told the Lu brothers one by one about Li Shatuo coming to find it in the afternoon and the Sui army was preparing to seize Dunhuang County. He excitedly said: "If the Sui army can destroy Li Zhaojin, it will be the day when our Jiangnan gentry turn over. We have had enough of the cowardice of the past two years."

The Lu brothers also hated Li Zhaojin very much. Lu Chunhe sighed and said, "I have had enough of these two years. If the Sui army does not come again, we are also preparing to move back to Yuhang County."

After pausing, Lu Chunhe asked again: "Then how can we help the Sui army?"

Chen Dongren glanced at Lu Chunxing who had been silent, meaning that the county Sima was sitting here, do you still need to ask?

Lu Chunxing smiled bitterly and said, "Things are not as simple as the people thought. The Tang Dynasty had already merged Dunhuang into its territory. Now that the Sui army wants to seize Dunhuang County, will the Tang Dynasty agree? Sooner or later, there will be a fierce battle between the two armies, and we will definitely be affected. I am worried that all three of our families will be destroyed in this fierce battle."

Chen Dongren was silent, Lu Chunxing was indeed right. With such an important strategic position in Dunhuang, the Tang Dynasty was willing to give up easily. If a war really broke out, would the three families be able to maintain it? Even if the war escaped, will they be liquidated once the Tang Dynasty finally seized Dunhuang County? This is also a big question.

"But...."

Chen Tongren thought of his son Chen Chun again, and he couldn't help but sigh and said, "I think we should do our best to help the Sui army, what do you think?"

Lu Chunhe understood Chen Dongren's thoughts. Although he was not very willing to participate in the battle between the Sui and Tang Dynasties and Dunhuang, Chen Dongren was his in-laws, so he had to give him this face. Lu Chunhe smiled and said, "Don't worry, my in-laws! Our Lu family will definitely do our best to help."

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Chen Dongren said goodbye and left. The Lu brothers continued to discuss this major event. Lu Chunxing's face was gloomy and said to his brother with some dissatisfaction: "Why should you agree to him?"

"After all, it's a family in-law. He came to ask for it in person. Can I not give him a face? But I didn't expect that the Sui army would actually attack Dunhuang. This is a problem."

Lu Chunxing sneered and said, "If you have any trouble, you must send someone to Chang'an to report to the court immediately. Otherwise, the Sui army will take Dunhuang County and the prefect's surname will be Chen, and our Lu family's hope will be over."

Lu Chunhe hesitated for a moment, and his face showed a disgrace, "But... this is a bit unpleasant! Chen Dongren is my in-laws after all, and he has been in friendship for more than 20 years. We are a little unkind and righteous in doing so."

"Brother! When is it now? I still talk about benevolence and righteousness!"

Lu Chun said anxiously: "He Chen Dongren has considered our interests again. Chen Chun wants to be the prefect of Dunhuang, and Yang Yuanqing is his Shen family's son-in-law. What about us? What do we have? When the King of Huai'an sent someone to find his elder brother, the elder brother agreed immediately, and I also secretly surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Now Shen Dongren wants to bring the Sui army in again. How can we explain to the Tang Dynasty? Brother, don't forget that Zhou'er is a hostage in Chang'an!"

A sentence reminded Lu Chunhe that his son Lu Chengzhou was doing business in Chang'an and became a matchmaker between the Lu family in Dunhuang and the Tang Dynasty. If he betrayed the Tang Dynasty and turned to the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty would not spare his son.

He sighed and said, "Okay! We keep silent about this matter, just pretend that Chen Dongren has never come to us."

"I have no objection to this, but we will send someone to Chang'an to report the news immediately. Let's go now and set off overnight!"

Lu Chunxing's eyes were very cold. The Tang Dynasty agreed to let him be the prefect of Dunhuang. How could he let the Shen family succeed?

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The palace of Dunhuang King Li Zhaojin is a large mansion covering an area of ​​30 acres, which is the original Xiao Mansion, located at the center of Dunhuang City. As night falls, the palace also becomes quiet. The palace is surrounded by guards. At this time, a carriage stopped in front of the gate of the palace. Lu Chunxing walked out of the carriage and quickly walked up the steps. Several guards stopped him.

"The prince has rested. Sima Lu, please go back!"

Lu Chunxing said anxiously: "I have an urgent matter to report to the prince, please inform me."

At this time, an officer walked out of the palace. The man named Suo Quan, who was born in the Dunhuang prominent family, is currently one of Li Zhaojin's four former commanders. It happened to be his turn to be on duty today.

The Suo family has been a prominent family in Dunhuang for more than a hundred years. More than 20 years ago, Emperor Wen of Sui Yang Jian exiled some of the Jiangnan gentry to Dunhuang, which also meant to enrich these Jiangnan gentry to consolidate the Sui Dynasty's rule over Dunhuang County.

The old Dunhuang clans, led by the Suo family, could not defeat the rich Jiangnan gentry, and they all stopped and waited for the opportunity to make a comeback. After Li Gui established the Liang Kingdom, he began to vigorously support the Suo and Cao families, who had a very good relationship with the Li family in Hexi. The old Dunhuang clans emerged again and began to vigorously counterattack the Jiangnan geniuses, seized their land, cut off their trade routes, smashed their stores, and forced the Xiao family and Chen family to leave Dunhuang.

However, as Liang Kingdom was destroyed by the Tang Dynasty, the old Dunhuang clans once again lost their backings, and they began to feel a little nervous. They all knew that Li Zhaojin could not fight against the Tang Dynasty. So, can the Tang Dynasty tolerate the old Dunhuang clans who once fully supported Liang Kingdom?

Suo Quan walked out of the gate of the palace and bowed his hands and smiled, "Sima Lu, please come back! The prince is drunk, and I know that it is difficult to wake him up at this time."

Li Zhaojin is famous for his greed. Everyone knows about Dunhuang City and often gets drunk. Lu Chunxing is anxious, "I do have important things. If I delay it until tomorrow morning, it will probably be too late."

Suo Quan was a little curious and stepped forward and asked with a smile: "What's the matter? Why don't you tell me, maybe I can help."

Lu Chunxing whispered: "Urgent information, the Sui army spies have entered the city."

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Ping An Inn. Li Shatuo's men had already gone to bed early. After traveling in the wind and sand for several days, they were already exhausted. Li Shatuo also washed his feet with boiling water and prepared to go to bed. At this moment, someone suddenly knocked on his door, and then the voice of the shopkeeper came, "Mr. Li. Someone is asking for trouble."

Li Shatuo was stunned. He immediately thought that maybe Chen Dongren had found him, so he put on his shoes and opened the door. The bitter cold wind rushed towards him, making him unable to help but make a chill. But he saw a man in black standing at the door, covering his face. The shopkeeper had already avoided him far away. Li Shatuo took a step back, instinctively pulled out the dagger and shouted, "Who is Ji?"

The man in black sneered and said in a muffled voice: "Someone has sued the gangsters, go quickly! If you don't leave, the army will come and arrest the gangsters immediately."

Li Shatuo was shocked. He wanted to ask again. The man in black had turned around and ran away. Li Shatuo was shocked and wondered, was it the Shen family who betrayed him?

The shopkeeper hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Jesus, please go! The city gate is closed now, but you can use a few taels of gold to bribe out of the city. This is how the merchants do it, go!"

Before Li Shatuo could think about it, he turned around and patted his subordinates' door, shouting anxiously: "Get up, everyone!"

A quarter of an hour later, Li Shatuo and his men rushed out of Ping'an Inn with Camel and ran towards the city gate shrouded in the darkness.

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Half an hour later, the brigade of soldiers rushed to the street and quickly surrounded Ping'an Inn. An officer shouted: "Brothers, keep your eyes on the highlights, and you cannot let the Tang army spies go!"

At the same time, another army of hundreds of people surrounded the Lu Mansion. The soldiers held torches in their hands and shone the gate of the Lu Mansion as daylight. The Lu brothers walked out in shock and suspicion. Lu Chun shouted angrily: "What are you doing?"

The head officer said coldly: "Sima Lu, someone reported that they colluded with the Tang Dynasty and had a ill-gotten plot to betray the prince!"

He waved his hand and said, "Catch it for me!"

Dozens of soldiers rushed up and pressed the Lu brothers to the ground, ignored Lu Chunxing's shouting, tied them up with ropes, blocked their mouths, threw the two brothers into a carriage, and hundreds of soldiers quickly left the Lu Mansion.

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Li Shatuo and his men scrambled out of the city gate and ran northward. The guide had already left first. The cold wind was cold in the night, and the wind and sand covered the sky and the earth. They could not tell the road at all. They could only rely on the little vague starlight guidance from the sky that was exposed. Everyone was cold and tired. They ran about three or four miles and suddenly found a poplar forest ahead. Li Shatuo was overjoyed and hurriedly ordered: "Go into the woods to rest!"

More than twenty people led camels and walked towards the woods with difficulty in wind and sand. At this moment, a sound of horse hooves suddenly came from beside him. A cavalry rushed out of the poplar forest. About hundreds of people surrounded them. Hundreds of crossbow arrows were raised and pointed at them. A general urged the horses to come out of the forest and sneered at them: "Don't resist, the resistance will surely die!"

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Chapter completed!