across the Quartet

Chapter Seven

When Qiang Qin pounced on the fat of Yan Kingdom like a goshawk, its eyes had already turned to the fertile land in the south.

In the 21st year of Qin Wangzheng, the defense line of Yan State on the shore of Yishui was defeated. Qin general Wang Ben captured Jicheng, Li Xin pursued Prince Dan Yu Yanshui, and Yan Wangxi went into exile in Liaodong.But in Hedong, Hanoi, Yingchuan, Nanjun and other places, the Qin army was mobilized frequently, and a huge amount of food, grass and ordnance were continuously transported to the Qin-Chu border; Chu's outpost scouts detected these movements, and urgent military situations were constantly sent to the south of the Huai River. In the Chu Palace.In the autumn of this year, Wang Ben once again led tens of thousands of Qin troops to launch a surprise attack on Chu.The defenders lost the battle and lost more than ten cities.However, the discerning Chu people have already seen that Wang Ben's attack was just a test.Larger-scale battles, like the fangs of poisonous snakes, are ready to go.

It is a matter of life and death. In the land of Jingchu, many big clans who were hostile to each other in the past finally showed unprecedented unity; the king of Chu gathered the whole country's troops, and even some lords donated their own soldiers. The veteran Xiang Yan led them to prepare and drill day and night, and build camps , ready to fight to the death.The music of the generous and tragic "National Memorial" reverberated in the camp of the Chu army, echoed in the plains, woodlands, swamps and valleys. It was a war song sung by this ancient country amidst the raging fire.

However, at this time of crisis, some people are rarely overjoyed.

On this day, in a secret mansion in Juyang, important people from Liusha gathered together to receive a secret envoy from King Chu.After the envoy left, Mr. Hengyang was so excited that he couldn't even sit still. He clasped his hands and paced back and forth in the room.

"Brother Wei Xian, this is our best opportunity."

"It sounds so true." Wei Zhuang faced him, but his eyes were fixed on the map of Chudi spread on the desk, "However——"

"The king of Chu is indeed a generous king who promised to lend us five thousand elite soldiers. I know that there are many people in Xinzheng who are loyal to South Korea and my father. As long as we try to get in touch with them, we should cooperate internally and externally." , I have the confidence to recapture the capital of our country within a few days."

Wei Zhuang pointed to several water veins on the map, and said: "However, even if we can capture Xinzheng, we may not be able to defend Xinzheng. The position of Xinzheng is important, and the Qin State will never abandon it lightly. According to Wei's speculation, once When Qin and Chu fought, the front of the Qin army either went out of Nanyang and went south along the Ru River, or out of Nanjun and went east along the Huai River, and finally all pointed at Shouchun; Xiang Yan is indeed an experienced general, and Wei guessed that this suggestion of borrowing troops was made to the king of Chu—in fact, he used us as bait to take advantage of the Qin army’s counterattack on Xinzheng. At that time, attack its main force from the rear. Even if the Qin army did everything possible to recapture the city, it bought time for the Chu people to counterattack. This is what is said in the art of war, "to the people but not to the people."

Young Master Cheng said unhappily: "...the crusade against Xinzheng is indeed risky. However, we must not miss such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; we must not lose an ally like the King of Chu."

"Young Master's words are very true." Wei Zhuang changed his tone and responded humbly.The woman in red standing under him raised her eyebrows, as if she was about to blurt out something, but she still restrained herself.

"However, Xinzheng's city walls are tall and the defenders are strictly checking. It is not easy to sneak into the city and contact the internal response."

Young Master Cheng laughed and said: "It is indeed not easy for others, but it is not so difficult for you and those capable people under your command. To accomplish this matter, who else is better? "

Wei Zhuang also smiled and said: "The subordinates will live up to your entrustment."

The two had made a plan, Wei Zhuang walked out of the hall, followed by the woman in red immediately; the two boarded a carriage guarded outside the mansion together.After the carriage traveled a certain distance, the woman in red complained in a low voice: "If your lord disagrees with my third brother, why don't you just kill him... I mean, the quicksand is your lord's quicksand, there is no need to listen to his stupid words. "

Wei Zhuang looked at her with a smile that was not a smile, "Wei, I would like to thank Her Royal Highness for your attention."

The woman in red said shyly, "Your Excellency, you should call me Chi Lian."

Wei Zhuang smiled, changed the subject, and said: "Hengyang Jun is the descendant of King Han, and also the master of Liusha. As a courtier of South Korea, Wei can only give advice, and should not act on his behalf. Zun, how can the clan and nobles of the other six countries recognize the identity of Liusha? If there is no goal and identity of respecting the king and returning to Han, what is the difference between Liusha and a group of murderous assassins and gangsters?" He opened the curtain and looked at Outside the carriage. "Besides, quicksand also needs the experience of war. If there is no real war, we will only become weaker and weaker."

"So, from an adult's point of view, how sure are you of making this happen?"

"As I said just now, the siege of the city may be [-]% to [-]% sure, but the defense of the city-I'm afraid not even [-]%. The only difference lies in the outcome of the battle between Qin and Chu during the period of time when we defended the old capital. If Chu If the people of Qin win, we will have a lot of room to bend and stretch; if the people of Qin win, Xinzheng will be destroyed in an instant."

Chi Lian couldn't help feeling a pain in his heart. "Xinzheng, will he fall again..."

Wei Zhuang glanced at her, his eyes flickering. "However, this matter has to be done. Gongzi Cheng is right at least one thing - we can't lose an ally like Chu. South Korea has neither size nor soldiers; because of this, Quicksand must show Your own strength shows that it is still valuable to the alliance—otherwise, a South Korea that has no value at all, who else will take you seriously? Who else will form an alliance with you?"

Chi Lian frowned and nodded. "Does your lord want to go into the city to have a look?"

"good."

"Chi Lian is willing to be at your side."

"No. I have a more important matter that needs to be entrusted to you. Only you can do it." Wei Zhuang said, and took out a bamboo tube from his sleeve - after opening, the tube contained a thin and flexible bamboo tube. The objects are like sallow silk, but more elastic than silk, and the words are embroidered with black silk thread.He handed it to the woman in front of him.

"This thing, could it be..."

"It's human skin."

The fingertips of the woman in red trembled slightly, but she still held it carefully with both hands.Wei Zhuang pointed to the words on it and said, "Do you still remember the sorcerer Kan Bo? Four years ago, why did Lord Yi Dun cooperate with me to kill him? It was precisely because Kan Bo had an ancient recipe in his hand - the formula of Zhenyu Qianye. In the past, Kan Bo sold the finished product of Zhenyu Qianye to Yi Dun, and then sold it to others, a small bottle was worth thousands of gold; but if he got the formula, wouldn't it be easy to get ten thousand gold?"

Chi Lian said: "In today's troubled times, if you only do jade business, I'm afraid it will be precarious; but if you do this kind of business... there is a lot to gain."

Wei Zhuang said: "That's right. I signed a contract with him back then, so naturally I had to abide by the agreement afterwards and hand over the formula to Yi Dun. But he is a merchant after all, and he only seeks profit; as long as the profit is large enough, he may sell this poison to others. Our enemy. Fortunately, the preparation of Zhenyu Qianye took three full years; three years is enough for many things to happen. Now the formula and finished product of Zhenyu Qianye are in my hands."

Chi Lian suddenly said: "No wonder I heard Wujiu say last year that Duke Yidun is no longer the Duke Yidun of the past. It turns out that the patriarch of their clan has changed hands. But at that time, Liusha did not have a large amount of gold and silk in his account. "

"Because the price paid by that employer is Zhenyu Qianye." Wei Zhuang said, pouring out a tightly sealed vial from the bamboo tube. "Our new friend is very sensible. If you don't have enough strength, it's better not to keep such a dangerous thing."

"What your lord wants me to do is to refine more Zhenyu Qianye?"

"That's right. I only got two bottles of the finished product from the last Yidun patriarch. The road ahead is full of dangers. Quicksand must need more of such strange things."

"The subordinates must do their best."

"You don't have to work too hard. Gather the ingredients required for the formula, cut and clean, grind and concoct, and have your own servants to do it. You just need to monitor and supervise them to operate in the dark, without visible light for a moment."

Chi Lian nodded his head and carefully put away the human skin formula.

Ten days later, Wei Zhuang took only Bai Feng and Cang Lang, and traveled northward to the city of Xinzheng.The three sneaked into the city separately, contacted each other only with birds, and agreed on the time to attack.Wei Zhuang first took the tokens and generous gifts of Lord Hengyang, and secretly visited several old Korean nobles in the city; these people were all veterans of the court, with a heart for their homeland, and soon expressed their willingness to be the internal support of Lord Hengyang.Wei Zhuang learned from them the location of the official residence of Yingchuan County Sheriff, so he went directly to the door and assassinated the Sheriff; Bai Feng and others took advantage of the night to pull down the sentry post near the city gate.When Prince Cheng personally led an army of 5000 people to the outside of Xinzheng City, the gates of the city had been opened from the inside, and Nei Ying led the family members of the mansion to set fire and make noise everywhere in the city; Soon to be occupied by Koreans.

The rebellion went very smoothly, but Wei Zhuang did not dare to take it lightly.In other words, since the capture of Xinzheng, his planning has just begun.When Lord Hengyang was drinking and feasting with the nobles in the palace, celebrating the restoration of the country, he was busy every day to appease the residents, collect food and fodder, check various city defenses, and ordered people to dig tunnels and build defense equipment.Several large searches were carried out in the city to find out and eliminate all those who were suspected of being a spy. They also sent a large number of light cavalry to patrol outside the city, intercepted the caravans, and killed the scouts of the Qin people, so as to cut off Xinzheng from Nanyang, The connection between Huaiyang and the Qin State tried to delay the time for Qin to get the news of the rebellion as much as possible.

Maybe it was because these measures were appropriate, or maybe it was because winter was about to enter, and after more than a month, there was no movement from the Qin side.Even so, Wei Zhuang still maintained the habit of patrolling inside and outside the city every day.Lord Hengyang and his group of guests ridiculed him in private for being too cautious and timid, fearing Qin like a tiger; some of his subordinates had reported these words to Wei Zhuang long ago.Chi Lian became angry again, and almost went to the door to trouble his brother himself.Even Canglang, who joined Quicksand later, complained: "Those idiots don't know how powerful the people of Qin are, and they still dare to claim the credit of the adults; why don't the adults teach them a lesson?"

Wei Zhuang glanced at him lightly. "From now on, when you serve Lord Hengyang, you must be extremely respectful, and you must not show such a contemptuous attitude in front of the guests, do you understand?"

The wolf hurriedly bowed his head and said yes.Wei Zhuang praised his achievements in the battle of seizing the city in a pleasant manner, and then handed him a fish talisman, ordering him to take it and withdraw [-] coins from Liusha's private treasury as a reward.After sending Canglang away, he turned his head and smiled at Chi Lian: "Your Highness, why bother to be angry with your brother. You may not be very smart, but you are not stupid. No one knows better than him that Xinzheng's foothold is not stable. Well, Wei Zhuang can live without Hengyang Lord, but Hengyang Lord cannot live without Wei Zhuang. He made fun of Wei, and he might not be afraid."

Chi Lian first showed his face with a smile, then suddenly turned around in his heart, and said worriedly: "My lord means... Is he trying to test? Or is someone egging him on behind his back?"

"If my attitude towards him changes because of his private conversation with the doormen, he will be able to try out who is mine among the left and right." Wei Zhuang sneered, "They are all Koreans. more than others."

Chi Lian sighed, and wanted to ask something, when the carriage he was riding in suddenly shook and stopped.Wei Zhuang opened the curtain to ask questions, and the steward replied: "It just rained, and a cart carrying grain in front got stuck in the mud, blocking the road."

"Hurry up and find some people to move the car away."

Yuzhe was ordered to get out of the car, ran quickly, and then reported to Wei Zhuang: "There are already seven or eight people pushing, but the wheels are sinking deeper and deeper."

Wei Zhuang looked at the muddy ground, felt a little distressed about the boots, but had no choice but to step on them.Fang walked a few steps, but heard the crowd in front of him bursting into applause—he approached in a row, and saw that the cart and its cargo were lifted out of the mud by only one person.Although the man was unkempt and ragged, he stood upright and strong, his eyes were restrained, and he was very personal.

Seeing this person's appearance, Chi Lian was stunned and Wei Zhuang almost scolded his mother on the spot.But he resisted it all, and went forward to salute, and said with a fake smile: "What a strong man! Wei likes to make friends with heroes the most in his life. I don't know if this strong man is willing to spend time with me ?”

The man cupped his hands in return and thanked him.Wei Zhuang walked with him arm in arm, got into the carriage, just now pinched his veins and gritted his teeth: "Senior brother, you are so courageous!"

Gai Nie looked at him without blinking, admiringly said: "Xiao Zhuang, it turns out that you have already seen through my disguise—"

Wei Zhuang was so angry that his seven orifices were smoked. "Have you changed it? Have you changed it?! It's just a layer of mud on your face. Are you lying to a fool?"

Gai Nie said: "I was hunted down here by someone, and I describe it as a mess, so I am laughing at you."

Wei Zhuang gradually calmed down, squinting his eyes and asked: "Pursuing and killing? Who wants to kill you? How did you get into the city? Could it be that senior brother is here to work for the people of Qin?"

Gai Nie shook his head and said: "If you talk about spying on the military situation, there are many capable people in the net. Why did the King of Qin bother to send his guards to do this?"

"That's right. It's too eye-catching for a person like you to be a meticulous worker." Wei Zhuang said with a smile, "Nowadays, word of mouth is spreading all over the world, saying that although the first guard next to the King of Qin is of poor character, his swordsmanship is rare in the world. He can be called the saint of the sword. It is said that he has never lost a fight against others."

Gai Nie still didn't care about his younger brother's cynicism. "I didn't mean to come here on purpose. It's a long story."

Wei Zhuang's eyes flickered. "...Who are you here to protect?" Seeing the change in Ge Nie's eyes, he knew that he had guessed correctly, and the smile on the corner of his mouth became more and more meaningful; and Ge Nie also immediately guessed what he was thinking when he saw the change in his junior brother's eyes , hastily added: "It's not King Qin."

Wei Zhuang raised his eyebrows and said, "That's right. He was almost assassinated last year, and the King of Qin must be more careful about his own wealth and life."

Ge Nie remained silent, as if he was considering what he was going to say.Wei Zhuang knew that his master's two best skills were "I won't tell you what you ask" and "I'll tell you only half of what I said", but once he decided to speak, he never lied; so he let go Clamp on hand, wait patiently.

After a while, Gai Nie really said again: "About 20 years ago, the King of Qin ordered Changping Lord to move to Yingchen. Therefore, there are often bandits and rebels infesting the area. The King of Qin is worried about Changping Lord's safety. In addition, he also specially selected [-] people from his personal bodyguards to accompany him. This is one of them."

"Mr. Changping... but the son of King Kaolie of Chu, who served as an official in Qin, and who later made contributions in the Marquis of Changxin's rebellion?"

"Exactly."

Wei Zhuang nodded, his mind was spinning rapidly.

King Qin's move is very meaningful.It seems that the Xinzheng rebellion cannot be concealed for long after all.The state of Qin did not launch a conquest immediately, or it was making full preparations for the battle against Wei, so it should not be distracted; or considering the new rebellion of the Koreans, they must be well prepared and have sufficient morale.It is better to wait until the next spring, when Xinzheng gradually loses its guard and the defense relaxes, and then suddenly launch a fierce attack.The purpose of making Lord Changping move to Chen is to use his status as the prince of Chu to appease the local Chu people, so that they will not rebel like the Koreans; at the same time, as long as Chen Cheng is firmly in the hands of people loyal to King Qin At any time, troops can be sent to cut off the connection between Xinzheng and Shouchun, so that the Chu people cannot reinforce Xinzheng by water.

After he figured out these joints, a little chill came over his heart.At this time Chi Lian was asking sternly: "What you said is the truth?"

Gai Nie said: "Every sentence is true. Miss Chilian, I haven't seen you for a long time; the girl's breathing is [-]% lighter than before, and it must be because her inner strength is getting better."

"Hmph, Mr. Gai is Daqin's bodyguard, so it's better not to get close to us gangsters. You haven't said, since you're going to Chenying, why are you now in Xinzheng?"

"I arrived in Chen seven or eight days ago. However, two days ago, Mr. Changping wanted to hunt in the outskirts of the city on a whim. I heard that there are no large beasts near Chen, and there are twenty guards like me following around. It was safe. But on the way back late, he was suddenly attacked by a group of unknown killers. The group was not only highly skilled in martial arts, but also extremely good at tricks. They set vicious traps everywhere in the forest that Mr. Changping passed by. At that time The situation is very dangerous, and we fought hard to resist, but the terrain in the forest is complicated, and the line of sight is very poor, so we cannot form a formation to cover each other; all the guards except me and a dozen other followers died in this battle. I can escape their pursuit Killing is really a fluke."

Chi Lian was a little surprised, and turned to look at Wei Zhuang; Wei Zhuang squinted at Gai Nie, tapping his fingers on his knees.They all knew very well that although Ge Nie liked to explain a long list of causes and consequences, his language was plain and he didn't like pretentiousness; if he said it was very dangerous, then the situation at that time was probably extremely dangerous.For this swordsman who is used to strong winds and waves to say such words, how high is the skill of those masked people at this moment?What an amazing person is the mastermind behind them?

Wei Zhuang suddenly said: "I understand. Senior brother, you escaped here specially, you can't be-suspect me, right?"

"I did suspect you. But there is no real evidence." Gai Nie admitted unceremoniously. "However, I have been guests in Quicksand, and I am familiar with the skills of many of them; but I have never seen the number of martial arts of the assassins who attacked Lord Changping. If you choose a group of subordinates at random , it just so happens that I haven't seen any of them, so the odds are not too high."

"Perhaps, I knew you were coming, and in order to conceal my identity, I specially selected a group of subordinates that you have never seen before?"

"If you know that I am among the guards protecting Mr. Changping, you shouldn't just choose people of this level."

"Or maybe, Quicksand has grown to a level that you can't even imagine in the past few years; I just assigned the task to a group of newcomers who joined after Senior Brother left Chu."

Gai Nie stared at him for a moment, then shook his head and said, "You don't have to interfere with my judgment. There is another thing that also proves that you are unlikely to be the mastermind behind this incident."

"Oh?"

"Mr. Changping's relocation to Yingchen was originally a very secret matter; of course, Quicksand may have an eyeliner in the city to spread the news. But that day he decided to go hunting in the suburbs temporarily, and the route he took was decided at that time. , Chasing the prey in the middle and changing constantly; and those traps that kill people are vicious, but it takes a lot of time to set them up in advance. If you don’t know the route the hunting team is traveling, how can you do this?” He noticed Wei Zhuang With a playful look in his eyes, he added: "I also checked that day, and there was no bird feather amulet on the horses or people in the team; the birds and beasts were frightened when hunting, and there were no spy wings watching our whereabouts. But if you don't With Baifeng's tracking skills, it is impossible for Liusha to know where Changping Jun was at that time, and it is impossible to make an ambush in advance."

"Senior brother, you clearly said you doubted me just now, and then you said that the whole thing could not have been done by quicksand, so why on earth did you come here?"

Ge Nie didn't speak again.Wei Zhuang guessed that he must have something to hide.But in fact, what he said is correct. If Wei Zhuang really planned the whole thing and knew that Gai Nie would come, then the target would not be Lord Changping, but Gai Nie himself; Do it yourself.

Just now when he took his pulse, Wei Zhuang found out that his senior brother had suffered serious internal injuries.At this time, his eyes were half closed, and his unkempt hair blocked half of his face.Just when Wei Zhuang thought he was about to fall asleep, Gai Nie suddenly said: "I have nowhere to go. The object of protection was taken away by someone, and I will be a bodyguard. It is not good for me to do things. If I return here, I will be judged according to the laws of Qin." He will be sentenced to death, and his face will be tattooed."

"Abducted? So, Lord Changping is not dead?"

"I didn't see his body."

Wei Zhuang laughed softly, "So, the senior brother came to Xinzheng to escape for his life?"

"...I'm here to find out the truth."

While speaking, the carriage had already arrived at the place where Wei Zhuang temporarily lived in the city.Gai Nie was holding the sword in his hand, Shi Shiran was about to get out of the car, but was grabbed by Wei Zhuang. "Brother, do you think you can come and go freely when you are on the ground of our country?"

"Xiao Zhuang, didn't you say you wanted to invite me over to the house?" Ge Nie turned around and looked at him expectantly. "I haven't eaten or eaten for two days and nights."

Wei Zhuang supported the shark's teeth and groaned twice, thinking that if the city wasn't too busy with affairs, he would cut him off now to vent his anger.

"Hey, come eat."

TBC