Chapter 15 Section Five

At this time, Liu Xiu and the others were on the verge of collapse, both mentally and physically, but they still didn't have a clear destination, and no one knew where to go.By the side of the snow-covered road, a group of people were sad and panicked.Dark clouds covered the sky, not a single ray of light. Finally, a figure came from afar, with white clothes and white hair, and a weathered face.Walking closer, he was an old man Pianran, but he still couldn't see his face clearly, only felt that he seemed to have a light, and he was definitely not a person in the world.The old man came straight to Liu Xiu and said, "Work hard! Xindu County is guarded by the imperial court, and it is eighty miles away from here."

There was no greeting, no pleasantries, the old father directly threw such a sentence on the faces of Liu Xiu and the others, as if he already knew who they were and the most urgent desire in their hearts.Liu Xiu was shocked, saluted and asked, "May I ask Mr. Gao's name?" But the old man has gone away with his stick, leaving only one sentence: "But it's okay to call him Jiukou." Liu Xiu asked: "Sir, anyway, please say something more." The old man walked like flying, and said decisively: "No, Manyu is waiting at home." The old father came as he came, and went as he went, disappearing into the vast land.But the news he brought to everyone added a rare warmth to this desperate winter day.Since Xindu is still loyal to the Gengshi court and has not surrendered to Wang Lang, at this time of desperation, he should go straight to Xindu.

However, for this seemingly inevitable choice, everyone expressed unanimous doubts: not only pies will fall from the sky, but sometimes traps will fall!It would be too hasty to make a hasty decision to go to Xindu just based on the father's words without beginning and end. What if the father's words are false?If you arrive at Xindu, but find that Xindu has already surrendered to Wang Lang, wouldn't it be a self-inflicted trap? The consensus was hard to disobey, so Liu Xiu asked Deng Yu: "Who is the prefect of Xindu?" Among them, do you still remember?" Wang Ba was also overjoyed, and said: "Together with Ren Guang under Duke Ming's command, we defeated Wang Yi's army of one million, this is the glory of a lifetime, how can we forget it?"

Ren Guang was once Liu Xiu's earliest direct descendant. Since Ren Guang was the prefect of Xindu, based on Liu Xiu's understanding of Ren Guang, it is very likely that he would refuse to surrender to Wang Lang as his father said.Liu Xiu asked the generals, "Abandoning the capital and believing in it, according to your opinion, is there any other place to go?" The generals were silent when they heard the words, if there was another place to go, why did they escape so hard.Seeing that the generals did not answer, Liu Xiu laughed and said, "If you believe in the capital, you can believe in the capital." Turning his horse's head, he pointed to the city of Xindu, which is eighty miles away, and ordered, "Let's go!"

Besides, Ren Guang, the prefect of Xindu, since Wang Lang proclaimed himself emperor, the counties and states in Hebei have surrendered one after another.Wang Lang's envoy came to summon Wang Lang's letter to surrender. Ren Guang summoned the people in the city to kill the envoy to show that he had no intention of surrendering, and sent 4,000 elite soldiers to guard the city. Although Ren Guang's determination is strong, he has no idea how long he can resist the city alone.Suddenly, the subordinate officials came to report that Liu Xiu had arrived at the city. Ren Guang was overjoyed and ordered people to beat drums and play music to tell the people in the city: General Liu from Kunyang has arrived.The common people were all moved when they heard that, the legendary General Liu of Kunyang, there is no more suitable savior in this world than him!

Ren Guangda opened the city gate, and the people greeted him spontaneously, shouting long live.After living in exile for more than ten days, they suddenly received such a warm welcome in the letter, Liu Xiu and his party seemed like a world away, and they were extremely pleasantly surprised. After Liu Xiu and others entered the city, the first thing they did was to eat, and they ate fiercely.For more than ten days, they were all hungry and frightened.When the belly turned into a rice bucket, the faces of the people gradually turned a little bloody, some giggled, some drank tea, some picked their teeth...

Liu Xiu asked Ren Guang, "Is there any place in Jizhou that has not surrendered to Wang Lang?" Ren Guang replied, "There is Pi Tong, the prefect of Herong, and others have surrendered to Wang Lang." Liu Xiu said, "In that case, you can call Pi Tong. Ren Guangdao: "As soon as I heard that Da Sima arrived, I sent people to He Rong and ordered Pi Tong to come and pay respects." The next day, Pi Tong came as expected and led more than 2,000 horses to join him.In a blink of an eye, Liu Xiu already had the soldiers of the two counties in his hands, and at this moment, another fork in fate lay in front of Liu Xiu.