After Xiao Xian retreated to Yuzhang County, he obeyed Cen Wenben and valued the naval commander, and ordered him to attack Lin Shihong with all his strength. He lived up to Xiao Xian's trust and won three battles and three victories in Jiujiang County and Poyang Lake, annihilated more than 100,000 enemies, and killed Lin Shihong's brother, the naval general Lin Shiyuan.

Lin Shihong was afraid of the momentum of coming to protect his son, and led tens of thousands of remaining troops to evacuate to Jian'an County and Lingnan. The Western Liang Dynasty regained its momentum and occupied five counties including Yuzhang, Jiujiang, Poyang, Luling, and Yichun, and its troops were restored to more than 100,000.

Xiao Xian was extremely grateful to Lai Hu'er, and gave him ten thousand taels of gold, three hundred maids, nine tins of honor, and was also awarded the title of Grand Tutor, promoted to Poyang County Prince, and actually granted 5,000 households.

When I came to protect my son, I got a beautiful house. Thousands of servants in the house were wearing silk and silk, hundreds of people came and went in and out, and they were tall and big, showing their honor.

But the great achievements will inevitably shock the master. If Xiao Xian could tolerate the luxury of coming to Hu'er, then the soldiers in the army generally only knew the prince but not the emperor, which made Xiao Xian a little uneasy, so he appointed his nephew, Xiao Lang, the prince of Wuling, as the deputy commander of the navy.

At this moment, Emperor Li Yuan of Tang secretly sent an envoy to meet Lai Hu'er.

.........

In the room, Xiao Xian looked ashen and paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. Next to him, his nephew Xiao Lang whispered: "My subordinates can see clearly that Tang Envoy got on his boat an hour ago, and he has not yet come down. Your Majesty, this person is so despised!"

Although Xiao Xian has always been well-educated, he couldn't help but curse at this time: "His servant was wearing Luo Qi and the servants served silver bowls. The luxury was more expensive than me. I endured it. He cultivated his power in the army and covered the sky with one hand. The new soldiers in the army only knew that he came to protect his son but not me. I also endured it, but he actually colluded with the Tang Dynasty. What did he want to do? Do he want to hand over my foundation to the Tang Dynasty?"

"Your Majesty, I am most worried about it. His five sons, Kai, Hong, Chung, Heng, and Ji, all have military power in the army, and they are not leaked. Although I am the deputy general, I will never get military power. If I come to Hu'er really collude with the Tang Dynasty, once he launches a mutiny, the Western Liang will be in danger. Your Majesty. Don't be careless."

Xiao Xian pondered for a long time. A vicious murderous intent flashed in his eyes. He said coldly: "Does he think he can do whatever he wants if he has great achievements? My patience is limited. If he wants to die, I can fulfill him."

After walking a few more steps, Xiao Xian said to Xiao Lang: "You can order your subordinates to secretly arrest the envoy Tang, and immediately release them to me after the arrest."

"I obey the order!"

Xiao Lang retreated. Xiao Xian stood in front of the window with his hands behind his back, and couldn't help but sigh, "Why can't my sincerity always bring the loyalty of the minister?"

.........

On the Gan River outside Yuzhang City, hundreds of warships were quietly moored. On one of the huge main ships, there were the personal guards of the Liang State who came to protect the other.

Lai Huer also has a mansion in Yuzhang City, but he often likes to live on the boat, and today is no exception. In a bright cabin, Lai Huer and Tang envoy Zhou Shaode sat opposite each other.

Zhou Shaode was the nephew of Zhou Fashang, the confidant general of Lai Huer. His father Zhou Faming was also a general under Xiao Xian. Later, he surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. Because the Zhou family and Lai Huer were close friends and had a deep friendship, Li Yuan sent Zhou Shaode to persuade Lai Huer to surrender.

"Don't Uncle Shi still understand Xiao Xian, who is narrow-minded and has a strong sense of suspicion. Dong Jingzhen was extremely prestigious in the army back then, so he could not tolerate Zhang Xiu, so he ordered Zhang Xiu to kill him. Seeing that Zhang Xiu was of great achievements, he turned to kill Zhang Xiu again. Today, Uncle Shi held military power. His great achievements shocked the master. With his suspicious personality, could he tolerate Uncle Shi?"

Lai Hu'er lowered his head and sighed for a while: "My great-grandfather is Liang minister. I inherited my ancestral property and was loyal to the Liang Dynasty, hoping to build the Liang Kingdom again. Although Xiao Xian was narrow-minded, he was also an ambitious hero. He treated me well. He should understand that I am now on the pillars and stones and would not touch me easily. Now the Liang Dynasty is recovering hard, and it is time for me to serve me with all my heart. Please tell Lord Tang that I will thank him for his kindness."

Zhou Shaode repeatedly persuaded him, but Lai Hu'er just shook his head and refused. Seeing that he couldn't speak, Zhou Shaode felt helpless and had to get up and say goodbye.

Lai Hu'er sent him out of the cabin. Several followers guarded Zhou Shaode and got off the boat from one side. The boat swayed in the darkness.

Lai Hu'er kept watching the boat go away, and then he walked back to the cabin with great worries. At this time, the eldest son Lai Kai walked in. Lai Kai was about forty years old. During the Sui Dynasty, he was the general of Hu Ben. He followed his father to fight south and north, and was also a famous naval general in the Sui army.

"Has my father agreed to Zhou Shaode?"

Lai Kai was a little worried about his father's choice. In fact, he was not loyal to Xiao Xian. If he had made a choice, he would rather return to Sui. Not long ago, Yang Yuanqing sent someone to contact him secretly. He was a little moved, but his father refused and he could do nothing.

Lai Hu'er waved his hand, "I will not surrender to Li Yuan. When he surrendered to the Turks and led the Turks to attack Fengzhou in Bian, he took the opportunity to occupy Guanzhong. I looked down on him from the bottom of his bones, so I firmly refused."

"Then why did my father refuse to return to Sui Dynasty?" Lai Kai asked quickly.

Lai Hu'er sighed slightly and said, "I was Yang Su's general back then. I was kind to him by Yang Gong and entrusted him with the kindness of his use. But Yang Xuangan rebelled, but I suppressed him with all my might. Yang Xuangan once wrote to me, why did I not remember the kindness of my ancestors, and I ignored him. Yang Yuanqing is Yang Xuangan's son, so I feel uneasy!"

"But my father also knew that Yang Yuanqing and his father Xuangan have always been disagreement. Xuangan rebelled and he took the initiative to break off relations with his father. How could he hate his father for the matter of Xuangan? The child heard that he vigorously developed the navy in Peiping County, which was the time to employ people. Moreover, we were the generals of the Sui Dynasty, so it was natural for our father to not consider it? Moreover, Xiao Xian can only share hardships, not wealth and honor. Did his father forget the lessons of Dong Jingzhen and Zhang Xiu?"

Seeing that his son was anxious, Lai Huer couldn't help laughing: "Don't worry, I have been for decades. How could I not know who Xiao Xian is?"

Lai Hu'er thought of Xiao Xian's ruthlessness, and he sighed and said, "So I will put your brothers into the army and control the military power. Only by grasping the military power can Xiao Xian have no choice but to do anything to you. As for the Sui Dynasty, my father is old and doesn't want to do anything to fight for dominance in the world anymore. For the father, I just want to spend my old age in my hometown. Now, I will retreat. As for where do you want to go in the future? I will not interfere with my father."

Lai Kai then understood his father's thoughts. He lowered his head and kept thinking about his future.

...........

Zhou Shaode was docked by a small boat. Zhou Shaode and several entourages got on the shore. He looked around and arranged for his entourage to hold his horse and wait here. Why is there no one?

At this moment, a large group of soldiers suddenly rushed out of the woods more than ten steps away, surrounding Zhou Shaode and his entourage.

Xiao Lang was wearing armor, rode a horse and walked out of the woods with a spear, pointed at Zhou Shaode with a spear, and sneered: "It turned out to be you, a traitor! After surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, he dared to come to Yuzhang again. Are you impatient to live?"

Xiao Lang waved his hand and said, "Take it down!"

"Let's wait!"

Zhou Shaode shouted, "Don't move, I'll just follow you."

If he could see Xiao Xian, even if he was killed by Xiao Xian, he would have made great contributions to the Tang Dynasty and betrayed his children.

...........

Several guards pushed Zhou Shaode into Xiao Xian's room, but were forced to kneel down by the guards. Xiao Xian squinted his eyes and looked at Zhou Shaode, with a sarcastic smile in his eyes: "So it's Zhou Changshi, are you okay?"

Zhou Shaode snorted and said nothing. Xiao Xian walked up to look at him, then smiled and said, "It seems that he is doing well in the Tang Dynasty! He is fatter than before, and it seems to have turned white. Is the water and soil in Guanzhong more moister than Jingxiang?"

"It is the kindness and nourishment of the Tang Dynasty's saints. If you live comfortably, you will naturally gain weight."

Xiao Xian's face changed and he said coldly: "Are you ridiculing me for being immoral?"

"You know more than anyone else whether you have virtue or not!"

Xiao Xian was furious and immediately ordered: "Drag it down and torture it, and ask him what he said to Lai Hu'er?"

Several guards dragged Zhou Shaode down like wolves and tigers. Soon, Zhou Shaode's shrill screams came from the dark night.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xiao Lang hurried in, bowed and said, "Your Majesty, he confessed!"

"What did he say?" Xiao Xian turned around and asked. He was very concerned about what Zhou Shaode and Lai Huer had talked about.

"He said that he repeatedly advised Lai Hu'er to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, but Lai Hu'er had an ambiguous attitude and put forward the conditions for the Duke. If Emperor Tang could make him the Duke of the State, he would surrender to the Tang Dynasty when the conditions were most suitable."

Xiao Xian was furious and punched the table with a punch, gritting his teeth and cursing: "I don't want to give him the prince, but I want to be the Duke of the Tang Dynasty. How dare he humiliate me like this!"

...........

Although Xiao Xian hated Lai Hu'er in his heart, he did not show any expression. Lai Hu'er and his sons held the power of the Liang army. He could not turn against Lai Hu'er now. For several days, he seemed to have nothing happened.

He is waiting for the opportunity to get rid of his son and son.

On that night, Prime Minister Cen Wenben returned from the Luling County School Grain and immediately rushed to see Xiao Xian, "Your Majesty! I heard that Li Xiaogong led the Jingxiang army north to the Central Plains, and the remaining troops in Jingxiang were less than 30,000. We should not miss such a good opportunity!"

Of course, Xiao Xian knew that Lai Hu'er had made several statements and demanded to lead troops to attack Jingxiang, but he was coldly rejected. How could he agree to Lai Hu'er's request?

Once Hu'er takes over Jingxiang, his power will become stronger and more difficult to deal with. Maybe this is the time when the conditions are most suitable.

Now for Xiao Xian, it is not important to take down Jing Xiang. It is important to how he regained military power. If the superiors do not have military power, all expansion will be extremely dangerous.

"I am not considering the Western Expedition for the time being. I just ended the battle of Lin Shihong, so I should stabilize the overall situation first."

"But your Majesty..."

Cen Wenben was anxious. He wanted to persuade him again, but was interrupted by Xiao Xian without hesitation. "I am a little tired, let's talk about it another day!"
Chapter completed!