Chapter 1009
: Plans are not changing fast
Chapter 1009: Plans are not changing fast
here,
The sun has set.
The night enveloped the sky, and the only bright moon was also covered by dark clouds. The light that could be seen between heaven and earth was very faint.
Inside the southern army's camp, bonfires were burning brightly everywhere, lighting up the camp. Outside the central tent, the air was filled with fragrance, and the firelight illuminated the faces of the people around them, making them all red.
Zhang Jinyu, who was sitting on a stool, touched his chin with a serious expression. It seemed that the Taiping Sect and the White Lotus Sect had already thought of a way out. The Lingnan area had been completely infiltrated by them. Since they dared to go to Lingnan, there must be someone leading the way. This person was interesting. Was it one of their own people, or was it one of those mountain people? Tsk tsk, the imperial court was really tearing down the west wall to repair the east wall.
"Your Highness, whether they are true or false, if all the cities south of Weizhou and north of Lingnan are burned down, there is no need to stay. The battle line is too long and supply is difficult. In addition, the entire south of Beijing is almost a thousand miles of barren land. Looking around, let alone the figures of civilians, there is not even a piece of game to be seen, so we still have to retreat."
Zhang Jinyu looked at a place not far to the south, and there was a faint light of fire. The people of the Taiping Sect were really cruel. They burned down a good city. It was obvious that they were very anxious.
"Your Majesty is right. Since the rebel army is leaving, they must have made all the necessary preparations. I wonder if the White Lotus Sect will also flee when Your Majesty goes north tomorrow?"
A trace of worry flashed in the eyes of Prince Jin. Why did the imperial court always want to wipe out these bandits, but always fail? The reason may be that these bandits would immediately escape when they saw the bad times, and the imperial court could not catch the bandit leaders, so they would come back to life!
If the bandits knew that the army was heading north, would they flee again?
"Don't worry, Your Highness. If you want to escape, there is nowhere to go. Come! Your Highness, Huang Yang has passed the exam."
Zhang Jinyu drew out his long knife, smiled, and asked his personal soldiers to carry the yellow sheep down and put it on the table. Then he asked Yue'er to sprinkle spices on it, and then used a knife to chop it into pieces, put it on a plate, and brought it over to the King of Jin.
"Come, Your Highness, taste my cooking."
Looking at the tender and crispy mutton, Zhou Ding couldn't help but feel hungry. He picked up a piece of meat and put it into his mouth without hesitation. The taste was lingering in his mouth, and the meat was soft and tender. He never thought that the Marquis had such a skill.
"It's delicious. The Hou's cooking skills are comparable to those of the Youlai Restaurant."
"Haha, thank you for the compliment, Your Highness."
Zhang Jinyu was stunned, a little amused, as if it was true, he picked up a rib and started to chew it, after eating a few bites of meat, he dipped his hand in tea and pointed out a few places on the table,
"Your Highness, please look over here. This is the border of Qinzhou. To the northwest is Huaizhou. The two states are connected and close to the important town of Runan. If we capture Runan City, we will block the White Lotus Sect's retreat route. In this way, no matter how the White Lotus Sect jumps, it will not be able to leave the border of Xihe County. However,"
Thinking about the geomancy map in his arms, Zhang Jinyu didn't care about the grease on his hands, took out the map from his arms, put it on the table, and attracted King Jin to come over and asked;
"My Lord, what is this? Since we have trapped the White Lotus rebels, won't it be quick to put down the rebellion?"
Zhang Jinyu's eyes froze as he stared at the map. Xihe County was located on the west bank of the canal. It was a vast land with a large population. In addition, there were many rivers, high mountains and hills, so it was almost impossible to deploy troops on a large scale. In addition, there were bandit problems, and the sects and families were in a mess. This place was very vast, connecting the north and south. It seemed that the leader of the White Lotus Sect had found a supporter. In this case, Xihe County might not be able to hold on.
Even if the army pushed forward, they could only capture Shizhou. In a plain like Yangping, if they entered the mountains, the outcome would be uncertain. Even he had no habit of fighting in the mountains.
King Zhou Ding of Jin followed the Marquis's gaze and took a look at the geomancy map of Xihe County. It was extremely wide from east to west and north to south, with a dense network of rivers and many dangerous places. If the army was to get stuck in it, it would be hard to say.
"My Lord, have you solved the law enforcement problem?"
"Well, not yet, but the city can be saved. The rest is nothing more than suppressing the bandits. I heard that there are many sects in Xihe County. I don't know how many sects there are, whether there are many disciples or many sects."
After listening to the old Taoist priest, Zhang Jinyu had a general understanding of the martial arts world. It was nothing more than a big fist and a big bag around the waist. If one of them was missing, it would be hard to survive in the martial arts world. Or, those who could survive would only be scraps. I think the great prince should have information about these places.
"My Lord is really amazing. He can even guess this. It's strange that these sects in the martial arts world like those mountain sects. Xihe County has many mountains and rivers, so it naturally falls into the eyes of those martial arts sects. They recruit disciples, keep servants, and pay a lot of money and food to the local area every year. Therefore, the government does not interfere with them on the surface. Even though there are many bandits, the money and food paid by these sects have not decreased."
These things are not secretive. You can find out by asking around in the capital. Of course, not everyone can find out. There are many disciples of these martial arts sects who have clean backgrounds and work in the Imperial City. There are pros and cons to interacting with each other. I don't know why the Marquis mentioned this. I looked over in confusion.
"Oh, if that's the case, according to what Your Highness said, these sects are all loyal to the imperial court, so the White Lotus Sect has no way to start."
Zhang Jinyu touched his chin and put the map away. Sure enough, there was something fishy going on between the imperial court and these martial arts sects. Last time, that old Taoist priest was able to contact the Zhongshun Palace in exchange for precious medicine. At that time, he felt a little surprised. It was unusual for martial arts sects to contact those nobles at any time. Moreover, these martial arts sects often had thousands of acres of fertile land, and their disciples, like those of the big sects, were all in the hundreds. If there were so many sects in the world that were not engaged in production, all these would be silver.
The most inappropriate thing is that since ancient times, heroes have used force to break the law, especially those evil sects in the martial arts world. Murder and robbery are common occurrences, and the court cannot ignore it. Listening to the eldest prince's words, it seems that the Imperial City Bureau's hands are long enough, and I don't know if they can really control it.
"My Lord, that's not the case. I don't know the details, but when the White Lotus Rebellion started, many small sects joined in. Some were short-sighted and were eventually wiped out. Their inheritance was cut off, and they deserved it."
There were many obscure things about what happened back then. He didn't know the details. He only had some scattered information, which was told to him by his mother. But seeing the face of the Marquis, it seemed that these sects should be in some trouble, and he almost asked;
"My Lord, is there anything wrong?"
"Your Highness, of course it is inappropriate. Think about it, the White Lotus garrison in Linzhou suddenly retreated southward, and the garrison in Qinzhou went directly northward. This means one thing, the White Lotus garrison has given up the retreat to the south. Although we don't know how many bandit troops are in Runan, I guess there must be a lot of bandit troops in Xihe County.
Therefore, the White Lotus Sect members are planning to take root in Xihe County, or break up into smaller groups. This way, not only us, but even gods will not be able to find them."
It is true that every failure makes one wiser. Entering the Central Plains did not work, so he changed his approach and went to the mess in Xihe County. It seems that Prince Beijing has taken on a hot potato. If so, he will have to play slowly in the future.
"Don't worry, my Lord. I think the Prince of Beijing and the Prince of Dongping should be able to find a solution."
Zhou Ding was not worried about these things. After all, the bandit army was trapped in a county. No matter how big the place was, it would be difficult for them to escape. They would be wiped out sooner or later.
"Your Highness is right. Come on, keep eating before it gets cold."
Zhang Jinyu called out and brought over the roasted mutton, and asked Ning Bian to get some sake, and the two of them drank outside the tent. The bonfire continued to burn, appearing extremely bright in the dark night. Hundreds of thousands of troops were like ferocious beasts lurking in the darkness, lingering there, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Back to Beijing,
The inside of Yanchun Tower was in ruins at this moment. Everything upstairs and downstairs had been smashed to pieces. There were also many corpses of assassins, guards, and guests who had come here for pleasure, lying there in all directions.
Several princes, with livid faces, jumped out of the window under the escort of the guards and stood outside the fence on the second floor. At this moment, several people looked into the courtyard and saw that the guards outside were desperately rushing into the building, while the assassin who jumped out from nowhere was moving tables and chairs to block the entrance of Yanchun Tower. The two sides were fighting fiercely at the door of the building. As for the inside of the building, there was already a lot of noise.
"Brother Shi, this place is very high, and there is no place to land, so you can't jump down."
Zhou Lianghao, the prince of Wu, was now swaying with his legs, clinging tightly to the attic wall behind him. His hands were blue, and he was holding the cracks of the wall tightly. His mouth was trembling, and he seemed to be at a loss. He felt a little regretful in his heart. It would have been better if he had learned martial arts to open his meridians so that he could jump directly.
As he said this, he looked at his brothers beside him. Who would have thought that the jade-like face of the young master on weekdays was now a little pale. The prince of Han, Zhou Xingshan, drew out the weapon he carried with him and cursed,
"It's better not to leave. Although it's the second floor, Yanchunlou is a two-story hall. The place we are in is like the third floor of other restaurants. If we really jump down, we will definitely not be able to recover."
I was even more anxious, wondering who had done this.
After seeing this, Zhou Yewen, the prince of Song, and Zhou Zhengbai, the prince of Zheng, both understood.
"Don't panic. The guards in the building are guarding the windows. There are guards rushing in from the yard. As long as there are no bows and crossbows at this moment, our lives will not be in danger."
Zhou Zhengbai tried to comfort him. Although it seemed like a dead end, it was also a way to survive. It was impossible for those assassins to kill him instantly.
But now!
But as a row of men in black suddenly rushed in from the street outside the courtyard, everyone's faces turned pale in an instant. As the saying goes, good things don't work, but bad things do. This group of people actually all had crossbows in their hands and had already raised their hands and aimed at the two of them.
"Quick, there are brocade cloths hanging on one side of the pillar, pull them and jump down, quickly,"
Zhou Zhengbai and his companions were also getting anxious. If they stayed here any longer, they would be sitting ducks. Seeing a brocade decoration hanging on one side of the attic, they said nothing and two of them, along with the brocade on the pillar, pulled it with both hands and jumped down. Zhou Lianghao was left standing there in a daze, not knowing what to do. He could only kneel down and lie there motionless.
It was dark, and I couldn't see clearly.
When the black-clad assassins saw that the men were trying to escape, they immediately turned their crossbows towards the men's approximate positions and pulled the triggers. With the sound of the bowstring loosening, the crossbow arrows shot out, landing in the darkness and no one knew whether they had hit the target or not.
Fortunately, the guards downstairs were quick-witted and rushed over to save several princes. The rest of them drew their swords and turned around to kill the assassins.
The rest of the guards surrounded the princes. After escaping with their lives, they were still in shock and quickly reached out to touch their bodies. Fortunately, they were not injured. Unexpectedly, Prince Zhou Yewen of Song looked around and did not see Prince Wu, so he quickly shouted;
"That's not right. Where is Haodi? Where is he?"
A few people were anxious and hurried to look for him. They found Zhou Lianghao still lying upstairs, and hurried to call him.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and jump down from the corner."
"Hurry up, jump down and go through the back door."
Several princes shouted, and Zhou Lianghao's legs, who knew where he got the strength from, stood up quickly, and trotted along the corner pillar, holding a wall-hanging brocade, and jumped down. Unexpectedly, his foot slipped and he fell to the ground. Before he could react, he was pulled by several princes and escorted out of the back door by the guards.
On the second floor of Yanchun Tower, the head guard Liu Zushan had a stern face. He chopped the assassin in front of him with a knife, and the assassin was beheaded immediately. He then picked up the knife and hurried downstairs. He saw that there were still assassins blocking the guards from rushing in in the hall on the first floor. He wanted to swing his knife at them, but the assassin on the second floor saw that the prince had escaped and chased after him. Everyone fought again.
Finally, a whistle was heard from somewhere, and the assassin in the building retreated instantly, threw out his hidden weapon, and fled immediately. In a few moments, he fled into the residential area and disappeared. Not long after he left, the soldiers from the military department finally arrived.
Upon hearing that someone was trying to assassinate several princes, he hastily arranged people to surround the assassins.
Fortunately, several princes had escaped safely, but the news of the assassination spread quickly.
The mansion in the northeast of Qinghu Lake,
Wei Shuyun looked anxious, and hurried to the main house in the backyard. She ignored the guards' instructions and entered the back hall.
Seeing the master drinking tea and reading a book, he immediately knelt down on the ground.
"Your Highness, something happened in Yanchun Tower,"
"Oh, what happened?"
Princess Zhou Xiangxue sat behind the desk, wearing a moon-white palace dress, with a phoenix hairpin and a golden hairpin in her hair. She held a copy of Wei Liaozi's book in one hand and turned her head to look over sharply. Who was causing trouble in Yanchun Tower again?
"Your Highness, when several princes were drinking on the second floor of Yanchun Tower, someone targeted them and arranged assassins to kill them. One of them pretended to be a dancer singing in the restaurant. I am afraid that they would involve the people in the restaurant."
Wei Shuyun stopped talking, of course, because she was afraid that the court would implicate Yanchun Tower. Although Lord He of the Military Department was on good terms with His Highness, those princes' palaces would not let it go, so they needed to make plans early.
"What? My nephews didn't stay in the Honglu Temple and went to Yanchun Tower. Which girl are they thinking of? It's really interesting. They set up a trap here. But there are rumors. Who did it?"
Zhou Xiangxue snorted coldly, her face turned extremely ugly. If there was another assassination attempt in Yanchun Tower, she would have turned a blind eye, but such a big thing happened in the building, so she had to ask.
"My Lord, there is no news for now. The assassin is very skilled and should be a martial artist. In addition, the assassination technique is very skilled and the retreat is measured. It is obviously arranged in advance. The scouts and guards left behind in the restaurant followed all the way and were blocked on the road. This means that there is someone to support them. It is definitely not a coincidence."
Wei Shuyun quickly sorted out her thoughts, from the assassination to the retreat, she advanced and retreated in an orderly manner, and there were people to support her during the retreat. She left secret sentries and guards inside the restaurant, who seemed to be well known to others and were always one step slower, so she gained nothing.
Hearing these words, Zhou Xiangxue sneered and said;
"Assassination is one thing, but Chen Shu didn't pay attention to the internal security of the restaurant. Or maybe he was busy with something else. Yanchunlou is not only a place to collect intelligence, but also a place to make connections. If something really happens this time, you tell me, should I keep Yanchunlou or not?"
After hearing this, Wei Shuyun was so frightened that she knelt down and kowtowed.
"Master, it was our negligence that led to this disaster. General Chen and Wei Liang have already dispatched guards to infiltrate that residential area. I think they will be able to find some clues."
"Make amends and find out who arranged this."
Zhou Xiangxue's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly thought of the upcoming birthday banquet for the retired emperor. Could it be the civil officials or the retainers of Prince Zhongshun? Everyone in the capital knew that the prince liked to make friends with people from all walks of life, but was it really that simple?
"Go check if there are any changes in the followers of Zhongshun Palace, and check if the four princes did it."
Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, or framing someone, will the four kings and eight dukes hide in the dark?
"Yes, Master, I understand."
Wei Shuyun's forehead was covered with sweat. She bowed her head and left, leaving the princess alone in the study room with a gloomy look on her face. After a while, the female historian Liu Yue entered the palace and replaced the teacup for the princess.
"Master, please do not disturb me. The military commander has already led his troops to track down the assassin. Li Qianhu of the Northern Pacification Division has also personally led his men to hunt him down. I think they will be able to catch him."
Liu Yue was also dressed in a palace dress, with her hair tied up. She walked in slowly and comforted softly,
"You, you actually said something nice. You know what kind of people those soldiers in the Military Department are. No matter how powerful the people in the Imperial City Department are, the assassins would have escaped long ago after such a long time. I am wondering who would assassinate these brats. After all, the palace has agreed to allow the princes to enter the capital. If there is any assassination, it should have been done before then."
Zhou Xiangxue didn't understand for a moment. Since the agenda had been set in the palace, who would take action at this moment and who would benefit? Could it really be King Zhongshun? Thinking of that brother, Zhou Xiangxue's mouth twitched a little. He was ambitious but incompetent, and forgot his loyalty when he saw small profits. Didn't Luo Yunhou rise to power because of him?
"Your Highness, could it be that the princes of the vassal states staged this themselves? After all, those princes are about to enter the capital. My subordinates reported that several princes have already passed the border of Wuzhou. Even if they are slow, it will take only a few days."
"Hmm? That does make sense!"
(End of this chapter)