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Liu Jing returned to Xiangyang at noon. It suddenly started to rain. In early winter, the rain was shining heavily and it was full of coldness. It was lunch time. Liu Jing brought seven or eight men to the Wangjiang Tavern. This was his first time to come to the Wangjiang Tavern. The carp stewed in the tavern left a deep impression on him.

The business in the tavern was as prosperous as usual, with people coming and going, and more than a dozen bartenders were busy without touching the ground, and their voices were a little hoarse.

As soon as Liu Jing walked to the door, a bartender greeted him with a smile on his face, "It turns out it is Gong Jing. Welcome to the shop. Gong Jing is here in person, it really makes the shop shine brightly."

Liu Jing didn't want to hear his compliments. He glanced at the tavern where guests gathered, frowned, "Is there a place?"

The bartender also looked embarrassed. He ran back to ask for it, then came back and smiled, "There is a single elegant seat on the building. It was originally booked, but I guess the guests won't come. Please use it first."

If he was not with Tao Zhan today, Liu Jing would not be so polite and reasonable. He directly led his subordinates and bartenders into the tavern.

Just as they entered the gate, several horse-riding warriors guarding two gorgeous carriages and slowly stopped at the back door of the tavern. The car door opened, and the maids helped the noble lady out of the carriage.

The tavern was very noisy, but when it arrived at the building, it suddenly became quiet.

"Please come in"

The bartender invited Liu Jing and his men into the elegant room. The room was decorated in an elegant manner, with a fine white jade screen, two high-quality golden nanmu couches, famous calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall, and all the dishes and other utensils were exquisite items.

Liu Jing stood in front of the wall and admired a spring trip to Rangshan hanging on the wall, which reminded him of the time when he and Zhao Yun escaped from Rangshan. Liu Jing felt a little bit of emotion about the past. At that time, he had just stepped into Xiangyang, and what he greeted him was unknown and confused, and now...

Liu Jing sighed in his heart. Time flies quickly, and two years have passed in a flash.

The bartender nodded and bowed, interrupting Liu Jing's thoughts, "Mr. Jing, please sit down and have something to do, just give me instructions."

Liu Jing nodded and smiled, "Come on all your signature dishes. We have someone here, and the portion should be sufficient. In short, there are a few pots of big fish, big meat, etc., and you can get a few pots of wine."

"Mr. Jing will come soon after you wait."

When the soldiers heard that they could drink, they were all shivering and were overjoyed. Liu Jing smiled and said, "If it were during the war, don't think about it. Today, I mainly want to have a few drinks, so you can enjoy it."

"Getting on the Luck" soldiers were all very happy, fighting for each other, and crowding the bed in a moment.

Liu Jing sat down on another couch. He arrived in Xiangyang yesterday afternoon. He was busy and never stopped. He felt a little tired. He needed to calm down and think carefully about what to do next in this game of chess.

This time he came to Xiangyang, he had two purposes: one was to strive for the best interests of Jiangxia, and the second was to recruit a group of talents.

The recruitment of talents is relatively smooth. As long as Pang Degong and Lumen Academy are willing to help, there is no big problem. The key is Jiangxia's negotiations.

Judging from the initial talks with Liu Biao last night, although he was tough, his stance was not firm. Especially when he mentioned four thousand prisoners of war, Liu Biao's tone and attitude became obviously softer.

This undoubtedly gave Liu Jing a reassurance, but Liu Jing also knew that things were constantly changing. Yesterday was yesterday's attitude, and Liu Biao might not make concessions tomorrow.

Just as I was thinking, there was a noise outside, "This is the room we booked. How can you give it to someone else and call your shopkeeper?"

"Aunts, please calm down, villains go here and now."

"Go quickly, let the people inside come out immediately."

The sounds outside seemed to be all women. Liu Jing was slightly stunned. Is there another seat dispute?

At this moment, the door was kicked open with a slam, and two thick sword-holding women appeared at the door. They looked as if they were dressed as servants from wealthy families.

Behind them, famous gorgeously dressed ladies were all wearing high-quality silk long skirts, with golden hairpins on their foreheads, jewelry ornaments on their temples, and golden bracelets on their arms. The fragrance from afar hits the face. Behind them, there were five or six maids.

The rushing footsteps came from the stairs, and the shopkeeper Wang ran over sweating and saluted repeatedly, "Madam, there is a good seat by the window on the second floor. Can you give the shop a face?"

"no"

A noble lady said viciously: "We booked this elegant room, why did we give way and let them go to the second floor."

Another noble lady also said coldly: "Shopkeeper Wang, you are so confused. What are our identities? You want us to show up in public on the second floor. Ruozhou Mu is furious. How do you explain it?"

At this moment, a young woman outside suddenly said, "Two sisters, let's go back and forget about it today."

Liu Jing felt that the voice sounded a little familiar, so he walked out slowly and saw the No. 1 lady at first sight, he was also a little stunned. It turned out to be Cai Shaoyu.

I saw that she was dressed as a married woman, her hair was combed in a high bun, her forehead was exposed, smooth and full, and a thin layer of powder was applied to her face, and there was always an indescribable sorrow in her eyes.

Liu Jing quickly clasped his fists and smiled, "It turns out it's Mrs. Cai...Young Madam, I'm rude."

Cai Shaoyu and two close friends came to Wangjiang Tavern to have a drink and have dinner today, but she didn't expect that she would be occupied by someone else. When she was angry, Cai Shaoyu suddenly saw Liu Jing, which made her feel nervous. She didn't want to see him, so she was in a hurry to leave. Unexpectedly, Liu Jing recognized her too.

Helplessly, she had to bow, "Mr. Jing, it's been a long time since I saw you."

The two noble ladies next to them were also surprised. It turned out that the young officer was the famous Liu Jing. The two noble ladies had smiles in their eyes, "It turned out to be Duke Jing, I offended him a little just now."

Liu Jing was so polite that he was embarrassed to sit down, so he turned around and said to the soldiers: "Go to the second floor"

Seven or eight soldiers rushed down one by one, and Liu Jing bowed, "Madam Cai, please, both wives, please go to the second floor for dinner."

The two ladies said a few polite words and then left the room. Cai Shaoyu kept her head down and never looked at Liu Jing or said hello. She slowly walked into the room as if she didn't know each other.

Liu Jing looked at her back and saw that although she was dressed up, her figure was exactly the same as before, without any change in being a woman. He knew in his heart that he couldn't help but feel a little pity. This feeling of being a widow was not good.

Liu Jing followed the bartender to the second floor. As soon as he went down the stairs, he happened to see Lu Ji coming up from the entrance of the stairs. The two met head-on. Both of them were surprised in their eyes, and then they couldn't help laughing. Lu Ji bowed and said, "It turns out that Gong Jing has come one step first."

Liu Jing also patted his shoulder and said with a smile: "I happened to be alone, so I'm asking Brother Lu to have a glass of water and wine."

"It is my honor to be able to drink with Jing in public."

"We will not stop drunk today"

The two of them were talking and laughing, and walked towards the innermost empty space. At this time, the men sitting next to the stairs were a little surprised. These people were the generals who protected Cai Shaoyu and knew Liu Jing. Unexpectedly, they met him here. They secretly exchanged glances.

A tall and thin man slowly stood up and sat down in a seat next to Liu Jing's seat. He drank slowly, but his ears were straightened, and he kept all the chats and conversations between Liu Jing and Lu Ji.

.........

In the study, Cai Mao and Huang She were discussing the next move. Since Huang She handed Cao Cao's handwritten letter to Cai Mao, they both became common interests.

"I fully support Uncle Shi's judgment. Now Liu Biao is shaking towards Liu Jing. He must stab his pain in order to deal with Liu Jing. Liu Jing will naturally not surrender. Then a civil war in Jingzhou is difficult to avoid. This is the result that Prime Minister Cao needs most. After both sides suffer losses, he will take Jingzhou at the lowest cost."

Cai Mao sighed slightly and said, "Liu Biao is not stupid either. Now Cao's army is suppressing Nanyang. He will not do anything that hurts the bones. He would rather give Jiangxia to Liu Jing than allow the civil war in Jingzhou. There is only one possibility for the civil war in Jingzhou, that is, Liu Biao died, and the Liu brothers broke out in civil war in order to compete for the lord of Jingzhou, just like the Yuan brothers."

Speaking of Liu Biao's death, Huang She recalled something, and he asked quickly: "Yesterday Uncle Shi told me that Liu Biao's body had collapsed, and now he looks like makeup. What's the reason?"

Cai Mao pondered for a moment and said, "To be honest, I don't know either. The change is very sudden. It's because it has been aging rapidly since this spring. I kind of suspect that he was poisoned, but there is no evidence."

"Was Mrs. Cai not saying anything?"

Cai Mao shook his head, "She has been avoiding this matter. Maybe she knows something, but she refuses to say that now everyone insiders are talking about how long Liu Biao can live."

Huang She suddenly became interested and asked: "How long does Uncle Shi think he can live?"

"It's hard to say, as far as I personally estimate, it will be at most two years."

The two were talking, and there was a servant outside the door reporting, "Master Qi, Lei Heng is here, saying that there is something important to report."

Cai Mao was stunned. Why did he come? Did something happen to his daughter? He hurriedly said: "Let him in."

After a moment, a young man walked in quickly. He was in the tavern, named Lei Heng, who was originally Cai Mao's personal wealthy general and an orphan adopted by the Cai family. He was carefully trained since childhood and was loyal to the Cai family and was very smart and capable.

Cai Shaoyu married Liu Cong, and Cai Mao ordered him to lead five subordinates to surrender to Liu Cong, who was responsible for protecting Cai Shaoyu.

Today he escorted Cai Shaoyu and two besties to Wangjiang Restaurant to drink. They sat on the second floor, but accidentally saw Liu Jing and Lu Ji.

In a curiosity and instinct for seeking credit, Lei Heng raised his ears and listened to their conversation, feeling the need to report to Cai Mao.

Lei Heng knelt down and reported to Cai Mao: "I went to Wangjiang Tavern with several brothers and guards today, but found an unexpected situation. I felt it was necessary to report to the master."

Cai Mao respects Lei Heng very much. It can be said that Lei Heng is his confidant. He asked Lei Heng to follow his daughter to the Liu family, in name only to protect his daughter, but in fact he also monitored Liu Cong in some way.

Cai Mao nodded, "What did you find, just say it."

"I met Liu Jing and another person in Wangjiang Tavern. I deliberately sat next to them and listened. I found that the person who drank with Liu Jing turned out to be an official from Jiangdong, named Lu Ji."

"Lu Ji"

Cai Mao was stunned. Of course he knew who Lu Ji was. He was the former guard of Lu Kangzhi, a famous talent in Jiangdong. He was an official under Sun Quan. Why did he come back to Xiangyang? Cai Mao asked again: "What did he come to Xiangyang for?"

"I listened to their conversation. It seemed that Lu Ji was sent to Jingzhou by Sun Quan. They didn't talk about any secrets, but they felt that they were very familiar with each other and joked from time to time."

Huang She was also a little surprised. Sun Quan actually reached into Xiangyang. This Lu Ji must have come with a purpose. Could it be that he is for Liu Jing?

Cai Mao frowned and paced back and forth in the room with his hands on his back. He was sent by Sun Quan to envoy Jingzhou. Why didn't he come to visit the provincial governor? He didn't know about this at all. Could it be that he just came to visit Liu Jing, thinking that Liu Jing was Jingzhou?

Cai Mao stopped, and a bold and vicious plan suddenly popped up in his mind, or using this plan to complete the mission assigned to him by Cao Cao.

At this time, Huang She also thought of the same poisonous plan. He smiled and said, "Why didn't Uncle Shi take advantage of this Lu Ji? This is a good opportunity to attack Liu Jing."

Cai Mao narrowed his eyes and smiled, "The heroes saw each other, but my nephew actually thought of going with me."
Chapter completed!