Chapter 65: Undercurrents Surge

  After the sun sets, the night falls slowly.

  The guests dispersed, and after a day of commotion, the Luo estate gradually quieted down.

  Luo Zheng summoned Li Meng and Wang Fang to the side hall and asked, "Has there been anything unusual in the army recently?"

  Li Meng thought for a moment and replied, "Yesterday, I was inspecting the camp when I overheard some soldiers discussing in private that someone had recently asked about Yu Province, but didn't mention Niu Jin or Hu Mao, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

  Luo Zheng's eyes narrowed and he asked Wang Fang, "And you, have you found anything unusual?"

  Wang Fang licked his lips and said, "I didn't hear anything."

  "Be careful, Li Ru, Niu Fu, and Li Jue are secretly plotting against me. Don't let them find out anything about us, especially the matters of Niu Jin and Hu Mao."

  The two men said in unison, "General, rest assured, we will take care of it."

  Luo Zheng nodded, feeling relatively at ease with these two people.

  Now in the army, those who know the true cause of Niu Jin and Hu Mao's death are only these two people.

  The rest, even if they heard some rumors, were either killed in battle or secretly executed before entering the pass north of the desert.

  Niu Fu and others want to find what evidence, that is a fantasy.

  However, Li Ru is cunning and full of tricks, so we can't be too careful.

  Li Meng and Wang Fang left, Luo Zheng finally got up and came to the west wing.

  It was a silent night, and they consummated their marriage, turning uncooked rice into cooked rice.

  It's a man's nature; when faced with a beautiful woman like Diao Chan, which man wouldn't be moved.

  Luo Zhenlian fired three shots in a row, almost shooting his soul out.

  The next morning at breakfast, it was discovered that Gan Qian's face had turned slightly red for some unknown reason.

  After going out and turning around, I found that the door of a room in the east wing was tightly closed, and Wu Zhen surprisingly had not gotten up yet.

  Luo Zheng asked Gan Qian, "Isn't Wu's little girl usually an early riser? Why is she sleeping in today?"

  Gan Qianning gave him a white eye, her face even redder, and hastily entered the east wing room.

  Luo Zheng was stunned and didn't understand what was going on, feeling that these women were all somewhat inexplicable.

  Xu Zhu bluntly said, "Master's voice was too loud last night, I didn't sleep until midnight because of the disturbance."

  "Hmm, heh heh!"

  Luo Zhenggan smiled and finally understood what was going on.

  He lived a life of revelry for three days, every day either gathering people to drink or attending banquets hosted by others.

  Such good days can't last long.

  Luo Zheng had a strong sense of crisis in his heart, and if he continued to muddle along in Luoyang like this, it really wouldn't work.

  The most ideal place to go would be a provincial governor or a prefectural governor, and then recruit soldiers and horses, accumulate strength. But this time, taking troops out of the pass east, burning, killing, looting, has already offended the powerful families in the pass east to death, and even if they leave, they will not be able to stand on their own.

  The remaining places are even worse.

  Even if there is, wanting to be a local emperor is not an easy thing.

  Recently, the various daimyos of the Kanto region have been very stable and there has been no major incident.

  The only discordant note was when Yuan Shu appointed Sun Jian as his general and led an army of 20,000 south to attack Yangzhou.

  Historically, Dong Zhuo's defeat and retreat to the capital did not occur, and the majesty of the great Han had not yet been completely lost. Although the various lords of the world gradually harbored different intentions, no one dared to do anything out of line.

  The vassals rose up in arms to overthrow Dong, and they could still use the name of "clearing away evil from within the imperial court".

  But leading the army to attack others is openly contemptuous of the imperial court and a great rebellion.

  All the vassals did nothing, only Yuan Shu was an exception, who openly broke through this layer of window paper.

  That is the fourth generation of the Yuan family with three senior officials, and their reputation is really too prominent. There are also a group of people who are willing to serve under Yuan Shu.

  Bitterness has been replaced by other princes, probably long drowned in saliva.

  The sun sets in the west.

  Luo Zheng was flipping through bamboo slips in the study, Gan Qian was grinding ink, and Diao Chan was massaging his shoulders and back.

  Living such a carefree life, how can later generations see it?

  In the sound of rapid footsteps, Xu Chu rushed in hastily.

  Luo Zhen put down the bamboo slips and looked at Xu Chu with a face that was not quite right, saying "Zhong Kang's complexion is different, is there something wrong?"

  Xu Zhu said, "My lord, today someone in the mansion heard a rumor on the street that Cow Gold and Hu Mao were killed by you, I don't know who is spreading the rumor."

  "What?"

  Luo Zheng was shocked and immediately furrowed his brow.

  With a wave of her hand, Gan Qian and Diao Chan immediately stood up and retreated.

  Xu Zhu asked, "My lord, should we arrest those who are spreading rumors?"

  Luo Zheng glared at him with a bad temper, saying "Isn't this covering your ears while stealing bells, trying to cover up but making it more obvious?! Originally, there was nothing wrong, just someone spreading rumors and trying to stir up trouble. If you catch the person, wouldn't you tell others that Hu Mao and Niu Jin were killed by me?"

  "This..."

  Xu Chu scratched his head, not knowing what to say.

  Lu Zheng furrowed his brow and muttered to himself, "Who could it be? Wang Yun is the most likely one, and he has a motive too. However, that old man Wang Yun is clever, even if he hates me to the bone, the person he wants to get rid of the most is Dong Zhuo, not me. At this time, provoking me will do no good for his plan to kill Dong Zhuo, so it shouldn't be that old thing Wang Yun."

  Xu Chu couldn't help but say, "If it's not Wang Yun, who else would stir up trouble?"

  "There are many people with such motives, just think about who would most like to see the Western Liang army in chaos and General Ben and Li Ru at odds. However, this scope is a bit broad, and the suspicious objects include not only the court officials but also the generals of the Pingzhou army led by Lü Bu. As for who actually spread the rumor, it's unknown."

  Xu Chu was speechless again and hastily retreated.

  This mind-boggling matter should be left for the master to worry about!

  I'm only good at doing rough work or killing people, using my brain is not my strong suit.

  Luo slowly got up and paced back and forth in the room, secretly guessing who was sowing discord while thinking about how Niu Jin would react when he heard the news. That stupid Niu Jin will have what kind of reaction, once the facade is torn apart, how to deal with it.

  Some things can only be done in secret when there is no sufficient evidence.

  However, once exposed to light and having one's face torn apart, one will be utterly unscrupulous.

  Luo Zheng couldn't help but be on guard, and no one dared to guarantee that Niu Fu, Li Jue, and others wouldn't really come knocking on his door with murderous intentions.

  Killing a great general in the army is a serious crime. Niu Fu, although he was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law, did not dare to act rashly.

  But if this rumor reaches Dong Zhuo's ears, thoroughly tearing his face apart, even without evidence, Niu Fu is very likely to kill him directly for the sake of his face, at most he would be beaten with a few boards, and Dong Zhuo wouldn't possibly kill him.

  After all, Niu Fu was Dong Zhuo's son-in-law. As long as he didn't betray Dong Zhuo, any crime could be covered up.

  If I were in his shoes, if I really had to tear my face apart, it's possible that I would directly go and kill him.

  "Whoever is stirring up trouble, don't let me find out, or I'll kill his whole family."

  Lu Zheng's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and a murderous intent was surging in his chest.

  Even with toes, I know this guy who fans the flames is not good at heart.

  What's even more deadly is that this rumor has great destructive power.

  Although Hei Daozi is difficult to defend against, after all, it can't be exposed to light. As long as you are careful in your response, the problem won't be too big.

  But if things get out of hand, Niu Fu and others will be forced to take drastic measures.

  Luo Zhen was just a newcomer among the Western Liang generals, with shallow roots. In Luoyang City, under Dong Zhuo's eyelids, if Niu Fu didn't consider the consequences and came hard, it would be quite difficult to cope.

  Even if he could withstand it, he would probably still displease Dong Zhuo, and gain nothing.

  "Good health!"

  Luo Zheng paced back and forth in annoyance, suddenly stopping his footsteps and shouting out towards the door.

  "Agreed!"

  Xu Chu entered at the call and stood beneath the hall.

  "Have the people immediately expelled from the city, summon hundreds of close guards to come and arrange for them to live in the mansion. Recently, without my order, no one is allowed to leave the mansion. At the same time, let Zi Long be on high alert to prevent anyone from sneaking up."

  "Roger."

  Xu Chu responded with a single word and immediately went out of the mansion to arrange for people to gather his personal troops.

  At first in Qiao County, Xu's family had 300 village braves following Xu Chu into the army, temporarily serving as Luo Zhen's personal soldiers.

  After arriving in Luoyang, more than half of them were arranged to stay in the military camp outside the city, and only fifty people followed Xu Chu to enter the Luo Zhen Mansion.

  Since we have to guard against the sudden attack of the auxiliary troops, we must summon all our loyal soldiers and strengthen our defense. Otherwise, I'm afraid it will be impossible to sleep soundly at night, worrying that the city guards will break in at any moment.

  The 30,000 city guards in Luoyang are now all under Niu Fu's control, how can they not be defended?