Chapter 486 Unexpected Warning
Eagle Tower, in the eastern suburbs of Xiangyang.

The autumn atmosphere here is not strong, but Liu Qi feels quite lonely as he sits alone on the stage.

Soon, Wang Kai led Huang She onto the stage.

Huang She felt a little ashamed. After he stepped onto the stage, he bowed to Liu Qi and said, "Greetings, General Fubo."

"Sit closer and talk."

Liu Qi waved his hand, and Huang She stepped forward and sat down. He then saw several warriors bringing food and three glasses of fine wine.

They are all specially made large cups, which were the wine vessels used by the three Liu Qi brothers in the past. It is a sign of magnanimity to be able to accept one cup, let alone three cups.

Liu Qi waved his hand, and Wang Kai and the warriors retreated to the stage.

Liu Qi lowered his eyebrows and looked at Huang She, feeling quite bored: "You are too late. I will punish you by giving you three glasses of wine. Drink them all before talking to me."

"Here."

Huang She was also in the wrong, so he picked up the Ji Ya, which contained five liters of wine.

He took a deep breath, tilted his head back and drank it down in big gulps; then he picked up the six-liter bottle of Zhongya wine and drank it all in one gulp. When he finished drinking, he took a breath before drinking it.

Slowly putting down the Zhongya wine utensils, Huang She rolled up his sleeves to wipe the wine stains from his beard, but saw Liu Qi staring at him straight, so he could only roll up his sleeves and simply wipe it with his palm.

Then he slowly picked up the seven-liter Boya wine jug and swallowed the wine in his mouth.

He drank the third glass very slowly, but did not dare to put it down or stop.

Not to mention now, even in the past when they had a close relationship, Liu Qi was a serious person in this drinking party.

He likes to force others to drink heavily and takes pleasure in seeing others behave in an embarrassing and ugly manner.

Huang She's stomach was full enough to hold some fish, so he didn't dare to stop. He just held the Boya wine cup and swallowed it with difficulty.

He had no choice but to act recklessly, as news had already arrived that Liu Ba had been arrested and imprisoned. Now Liu Qi was the only one who could save the Huang family and leave some descendants and vitality for the Huang family.

Everyone knew that the relationship between the Grand Marshal and Liu Qi was very friendly. For Liu Qi's sake, Huang She's children could survive if he just raised his hand slightly.

As for himself and his son, Huang She didn't think they had any chance of survival.

Even if the Grand Marshal refused to speak, as long as Liu Qi offered protection, no one in the Jingzhou area would break into Liu Qi's house to kill the Huang family's children.

Liu Qi was not in a hurry. He just watched Huang She holding the Boya wine cup and standing in a stalemate.

After watching for a while and feeling bored, Liu Qi turned his head to look elsewhere.

Many of the eagles in the Eagle Terrace have dispersed, and only some eagles that grew up here are circling around, catching food on their own, and still living in their nests in the Eagle Terrace.

Seeing Liu Qi looking at him, the falconer who came with him blew his whistle, and immediately a flock of eagles cried loudly and circled around the falcon tower at low altitude.

Then the falconer began throwing strips of meat into the sky, and the eagles swooped down to grab them.

Liu Qi roughly counted them and found that there were probably about twenty eagles left.

When the eagle population was at its peak, there were more than 300 eagles circling, which was really lively.

Comparing the changes in the eagle flock before and after, and thinking about his current situation, Liu Qi couldn't help but shake his head and smile.

Turning back, he saw Huang She still stiffly holding up the Boya wine cup, so he said, "Let's stop here."

Huang She said nothing, still holding up the large wine cup and drinking slowly.

He felt an abdominal pain, but he suppressed the discomfort so much that tears streamed down his cheeks.

Seeing that he insisted, Liu Qi stopped persuading him.

After a long time, Huang She put down the heavy wine utensils, held the wine in his mouth, and waited for a while before swallowing it.

He took a few deep breaths and tried to speak, but he could no longer control himself and immediately vomited.

The pure wine gushed out of his mouth, and he could only barely support himself on the table with his hands.

There was a second spurt followed, and this time he barely regained control of his limbs. His body swayed and he barely leaned back to sit down.

Huang She's forehead and face were covered with sweat, as if he was rescued from drowning. He was breathing deeply through his mouth, feeling relieved.

Seeing this, Liu Qi lost interest in conversation. He stood up, took out a silk book that had been written and stamped long ago, rolled it into a ball and threw it over, then turned and walked towards the staircase.

After another dozen breaths, Huang She finally stood up again. He walked forward, picked up the silk book, spread it out and took a look at it. Only then did he truly relax.

Then he frowned, raised his hands to cover his abdomen, his face twisted, unable to bear it any longer, and spat out another mouthful of turbid blood mixed with breakfast and bright red blood.

At this moment, Huang She's face turned pale, his legs became weak and he almost couldn't stand.

He slowly turned around to look in the direction of Jiang Xia, then fell forward with his face hitting the corner of the table. The low table was immediately overturned, and bowls, plates and wine vessels fell to the ground with a loud noise.

Liu Qi heard the change and quickly returned to the stage. He saw Huang She's back falling down, and then he looked at the untouched wine cup on his desk. His expression suddenly became gloomy. He slowly approached Huang She and saw that his face was broken and bleeding. He was still breathing, but his facial features were distorted and his face was pale.

Liu Qi stood up, took out a handkerchief to wipe the blood off his hands, turned around and calmly walked down the wooden ladder.

He said to Wang Kai who came over, "Send him back."

Wang Kai had no doubts and just bowed.

Liu Qi walked towards his carriage, but suddenly stopped and said to Wang Wei who was following him: "The wine today is poisonous. Check it immediately and do not tolerate it."

"Here!"

Wang Wei's eyes widened as he watched Liu Qi get on the car, then he immediately called over his trusted military officer who was accompanying him.

In the carriage, Liu Qi raised his hand and touched his beard. A familiar figure emerged in his mind. It was Pang Tong.

Who in the whole of Jingzhou hates the Grand Marshal's Office the most: King Changsha or Huang Zu?

Neither, it’s Pang Tong.

Liu Qi suppressed his anger and fear and did not kill everyone indiscriminately.

Killing can certainly solve the problem, but it will also push the majority of people who are waiting and watching to the opposite side.

The Grand Marshal had not yet had any famous victory in naval battles, so Liu Qi did not believe that a person could be good at naval battles in addition to being good at commanding infantry and cavalry.

If Jingzhou attracts the main force of Guanzhong first, the hope of peacefully resolving the conflict between the parties in Jingzhou will be completely shattered.

How many people will die in vain if the war continues?
If Guanzhong were defeated, riots and rebellion would immediately break out in Yizhou.

The scholars of Taiyuan and Hedong counties serve as a lesson for us. The scholars of Yizhou dare not rebel easily. Once they rebel, they will fight to the death and never surrender!

We must not allow a momentary anger to cause a chain reaction of chaos in the two states of Jing and Yi. As long as we keep things stable and have enough savings, not to mention one Pang Tong, even a hundred Pang Tongs will be wiped out by the shogunate.

Liu Qi controlled his shock and anger, and after returning to the city, he immediately wrote a letter to Yi Ji.

The servants in the palace have been infiltrated, and the investigation and silencing can only stop at this stage and cannot spread to the scholars and officials.

Therefore, by borrowing a group of people from Yi Ji, we can strengthen the surveillance within the palace.

Five days later, Liu Qi's investigation report was also delivered to Black Bear's desk.

At this moment, Black Bear was patrolling Mei County, checking the northern exit of Baoxiade, looking for a suitable area to build a fort.

Once the Baoxiade plank road is repaired, this will be the fastest main road into Hanzhong.

Therefore, it is necessary to build a fortress near the northern exit to store food, armor, and equipment.

We don't need many sets of weapons, just enough to gather 5,000 people and arm them.

It was not until he had chosen a location and had lunch that he saw Liu Qi's letter.

Puzzled, he asked Fa Zheng beside him, "Liu Fubo said that Huang She was poisoned when he went to see him. What do you think?"

Fa Zheng also picked up the letter again and read it. In the letter, Liu Qi explained that Huang She had secretly met him in an attempt to become an accomplice, but Huang She's intention was exposed and he was poisoned instead, so he died of the poison when he met him.

Liu Qi inferred that someone wanted to take the opportunity to slander him for poisoning Huang She in order to lose the support of the people in Jiangxia and the four counties of Jiangnan.

Fa Zheng fell into deep thought, analyzing various possibilities, and whispered, "Your Majesty, I heard that Liu Fubo and Huang She were close friends when they were young. Is there a possibility that someone really poisoned Huang She and he took the opportunity to fake his death?"

Change the name, come out after a dozen years, and keep a low profile. With the Huang family's influence in Jingzhou, who would expose it?

"I have the same idea. Liu Fubo has a simple and gentle personality and is indifferent to the law. Huang She is his best friend. He has the courage to do such a thing."

Black Bear added, "Based on my understanding of him, he would not be able to come up with such schemes as poisoning or faking his death. I don't care whether Huang She is alive or dead, I am very curious about how Huang She was poisoned. I will send someone to investigate, you draft a document and send it to the Jingzhou Prefecture, and let Xu Si investigate himself first."

"Here."

Fa Zheng put down the letter and turned to draft the document.

Black Bear glanced at the letter, picked up other official documents and began to read, and became more alert about Liu Qi's safety.

Liu Qi was the key to maintaining stability in Jingzhou, which was something his two younger brothers could not match.

Over the years, Liu Qi was able to gather a group of people on his own.

Li Feng's gathering of scholars skilled in medicine in Shu to compile medical classics was a form of concession.

This reminded him of Zhang Xiu and the ambush that Zhou Yu had suffered before.

If all parties use military force against other countries at will, they will inevitably be targeted by internal and external forces.

Therefore, we must be prepared to launch a war on all fronts.

(End of this chapter)