Chapter 632

Duan Yu naturally understood the hidden meaning of He Lingman's words.

There was still a He Lingsi in the palace waiting to be fed.

However, He Lingsi shouldn't be bold enough to let him stay overnight in the imperial palace.

After putting on his clothes, Duan Yu walked toward the front courtyard under the guidance of the maid.

This residence in Buguangli was not very large.

It was only about three courtyards deep, but in Luoyang, where every inch of land was worth an inch of gold, it was considered quite large.

At this moment, a luxurious carriage was parked in front of the mansion gate.

Around the carriage stood four young eunuchs dressed in imperial palace eunuch attire.

The mansion gate was wide open.

Four burly Liangzhou soldiers, wearing armor and holding blades, stood in front of the gate, forming a sharp contrast with the four young eunuchs.

Having just passed through the front courtyard and seeing Duan Yu's personal guards, Zhang Rang was currently looking outside from the hall.

Duan Yu, who entered Luoyang, only brought Tie Shitou, Wang Hunu, Zhang Xiu, and Lu Bu, as well as forty personal guards.

The rest of the troops were left outside Luoyang city, led by Gao Shun and Qu Yi, stationed in He Jin's Left and Right Forest Guards camp.

Zhang Rang, who was sitting in the hall drinking tea, kept looking toward the courtyard.

He watched Lu Bu and Zhang Xiu, who were staring at each other.

In terms of age, Zhang Xiu was much younger than Lu Bu.

Zhang Xiu was also the last young general to join Duan Yu's command.

But in terms of arrogance, Zhang Xiu was not one bit less than Lu Bu.

Among the Liangzhou-affiliated generals, Zhang Xiu was definitely firmly in first place in single combat.

And Lu Bu was famous for his martial prowess.

As the saying goes, there is no first in literature, and no second in martial arts.

Lu Bu was not of the Liangzhou faction, but of the Bingzhou faction.

Plus, Lu Bu was equally arrogant.

The two had been looking at each other with displeasure for more than a day or two.

It was just that Duan Yu had issued an order that his generals were not allowed to fight internally.

Therefore, the two could only stare at each other.

Zhang Xiu was in bright silver armor, wearing a white robe, and being young, he had quite the look of a jade-faced young general.

And Lu Bu was also considered handsome, and with a burly figure, he gave people a feeling of extreme ferocity.

Plus, those standing in the courtyard were the elite among the elite of the Liangzhou army, all veteran soldiers who had been on the battlefield.

The momentum on their bodies stood out immediately.

Zhang Rang had never seen such fierce soldiers, so he couldn't help but look a few more times.

"Regular Attendant Zhang."

Duan Yu's voice sounded from the passage leading to the back mansion from the side of the main hall.

Zhang Rang, who was looking outside the courtyard, turned his head and looked at Duan Yu.

Zhang Rang was slightly stunned the moment he saw Duan Yu.

Then he looked Duan Yu up and down carefully: "General Duan... how is it that you seem to have become much more burly?"

Duan Yu chuckled, thinking to himself that your daughter-in-law just said the same thing.

"It seems I have gained a little weight; perhaps the water and soil of Liangzhou are nourishing." Duan Yu replied with a smile: "But Regular Attendant Zhang looks like you have become a bit thinner."

"It must be due to the toil of following His Majesty's side all day."

"Haha." Zhang Rang smiled and said: "General Duan is not only more burly in body, but your speech is also increasingly showing the style of a famous general."

Zhang Rang said, while looking toward the direction outside the house: "The Liangzhou troops under General Duan are indeed worthy of their reputation."

"I had heard before that the troops under Governor Dong were elite, the number one heroic army in the world."

"But I never had the chance to see them. Seeing the troops under General Duan today, they are indeed all fierce warriors."

Duan Yu followed Zhang Rang's gaze to look at Zhang Xiu and Lu Bu.

Under his command now, in terms of single combat, Zhang Xiu and Lu Bu were both top-tier war generals.

Zhang Rang saying they were fierce was really not an exaggeration at all.

"Regular Attendant Zhang, you flatter me; they are just some frontier barbarians."

Duan Yu said, while summoning an attendant to serve tea to Zhang Rang.

Then he sat down to probe Zhang Rang's purpose.

"General Duan." After Zhang Rang drank two sips of tea, he placed the teacup on the table in front of him, then said with a bitter face: "General Duan has also noticed."

"I have indeed become much thinner recently."

"It is all for the sake of state affairs."

Zhang Rang shook his head and said: "That damned Zhang Jiao, leading the Taiping Dao to rebel, has made the world panic and the court uneasy."

"Those pure-stream scholar-officials, Yang Ci and others, are even taking advantage of this opportunity to submit memorials saying that I and others are colluding with the Taiping Dao."

"General Duan, you tell me, how would I dare?"

Zhang Rang said aggrievedly: "But these people are relentless and insist on putting me and others to death."

Duan Yu listened while drinking tea.

Zhang Rang deliberately mentioned Yang Ci and others, but did not mention Yuan Kui.

This also showed he had quite a few hidden thoughts of his own.

Last time Yang Ci tripped him up in Luoyang and even sent Huangfu Song to Liangzhou to cause trouble for him, so that was a grudge.

Zhang Rang saying this was nothing more than wanting him to share a common hatred.

To stand on the same line as him, Zhang Rang.

"General Duan, I came today mainly for two things."

"One is that His Majesty learned that General Duan has arrived and wants General Duan to enter the palace for an audience."

"Another is that I have some heartfelt words and some bitterness in my heart that I want to tell General Duan."

"If General Duan doesn't find me annoying, I will say a few more words."

"If General Duan feels I am annoying, then I won't say anything."

Duan Yu hurriedly waved his hand with a smile, letting Zhang Rang continue.

Zhang Rang was truly anxious.

The first time he came to Luoyang, without fifty million coins, he couldn't even get to Zhang Rang's door.

In this world, without spending tens of millions of coins, who could get Zhang Rang to see them?

Now Zhang Rang was truly anxious.

Yang Ci, Yuan Kui, and others were pressing too hard; now three of the Regular Attendants in the imperial palace had already been killed.

Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong were both in precarious situations.

If the war at the front was completely controlled by Yang Ci and Yuan Kui and their ilk, they might really drop the butcher's knife on them.

Another thing was the property He Lingman mentioned.

If He Lingman hadn't said this, he really wouldn't have thought of it.

Zhang Rang's hometown was in Yingchuan Commandery, while Zhao Zhong's hometown was in Anping Kingdom.

These two places were where the Taiping Dao was most rampant.

One was Zhang Jiao's base camp, and the other was where Bo Cai was currently running rampant.

If this dragged on any longer, their family wealth would truly not be safe.

He wanted to see what price Zhang Rang and Zhao Zhong could pay now that they had taken the initiative to come to his door.