The prince was ordered by the emperor to go out of the palace to visit his uncle, King Yongkang, who was seriously ill. In order to cover up the emperor's desire to inquire about the news, he deliberately made a big noise, declaring that the emperor was worried about the health of King Yongkang, and he was afraid that his condition would worsen after traveling through mountains and rivers, so he specially asked the prince to come to the palace. Go to greet and accompany, make sure you can withstand the toss, and then the prince will take you to live in the capital in person.

In this way, King Yongkang's request was not rejected, and the emperor's sincerity was shown. The people all said that the prince was filial, and even praised the brotherhood between the emperor and King Yongkang, which made Emperor Sima Fu really happy for a long time .

The spring is cold, and although the willows along the way have all sprouted buds, when they got out of the carriage, there was still a gust of cold wind that cut the skin sorely. The prince shrank his neck, put down the curtain and sat back in the warm carriage. Fei felt a trace of impatience: "How long will it take to arrive?"

The Prince Sheren Yu Junda who was following outside quickly responded respectfully: "After crossing the pontoon bridge in front, you will not be far from Kuaiji. You can reach Yongkang in one day at the fastest, and two days at the slowest."

The prince gave a "hmm" and after thinking about it, he showed a determined smile: "I'm afraid the prime minister will return to Beijing soon, right?"

The outside answered: "Exactly."

"Hmph! I'm going to visit King Yongkang. You send another person to the Wang family to investigate and see how many troops he has besides Da Sima." The prince sneered and said, "It's rare to come to Kuaiji, but Can't come in vain."

"This... What is the crown prince doing to check his military strength? We can't go head-to-head. If he is annoyed, once the commander of Da Sima returns to the court, we will not be able to fight. Besides, if there is a big trouble, the emperor Not necessarily happy."

The prince frowned: "It won't hurt you to check it out. Wouldn't it be helpful to think about the countermeasures after checking it out?"

Hearing that he didn't intend to mess around, Yu Junda heaved a sigh of relief, and hurriedly said, "What His Royal Highness said is true."

The prince frowned.

After walking for a while, when he was close to the pontoon, Yu Junda looked with his head, raised his hand and called to stop, then raised his voice and said: "The pontoon in front is not as flat as the ground, you should go and check it out first, if there is any difference report immediately."

"Yes." Several leading guards led away.

The pontoon bridge spans the Zhijiang River, and the two ends are far apart. The river below is not turbulent. At this time, there is no wind or waves, and the pontoon bridge is still relatively calm. There are two piers not far from the pontoon bridge. There are four or five small and large ferries moored.The prince took a lot of people with him this time, with horses, carts, and so many escorts, it was extremely inconvenient to take a boat, so he could only cross this pontoon bridge.

After waiting for a while, the prince became a little impatient, so he lifted the curtain and leaned out to look into the distance. Seeing that the pontoon bridge was swaying slightly even when there was no wind, his heart beat for no reason: "Is this pontoon bridge strong? It won't be blown away by a gust of wind." ?”

"His Royal Highness, don't worry, this pontoon bridge has been built for many years, and there has never been anything wrong with people coming and going. The last time General Yu marched south, hundreds of thousands of troops passed through here, and there was nothing wrong with it." Yu Junda said Looking up at the sky, he said again, "Even if you can't stand the strong wind, you still need the wind. According to the officials, there will be no wind from today to night."

When the prince heard it, he felt relieved, and because he thought it was cold outside, he stopped talking, put down the curtain and retreated in satisfaction.

After a long time, the guards who explored the road came back in a hurry and said: "Return to Your Highness, every board of the pontoon bridge has been searched, and the woods on the other side of the pontoon bridge have also been carefully searched, there is no sign of people, and no heresies have been found. "

The prince showed a satisfied smile, and said through the curtain: "Okay, let's go on."

The carriage moved forward again, and after getting on the pontoon bridge, I heard the sound of "creaking" from the wheels under the car being pressed against the wooden boards. Close your eyes and rest for enjoyment.

When we were in the middle, there was a strange "click" sound from under the carriage. The prince was alert and noticed that it seemed like a board was broken. He immediately opened his eyes and was about to ask questions when suddenly the rear wheel of the carriage bumped. The body tilted accordingly, and the whole person lay down on his back, and his face turned pale with shock: "Master Yu!"

The front wheel of the carriage wobbled again before the sound of shouting fell. When the guards at the front and rear of the team noticed something strange, before they had time to check, they heard a loud bang, and the entire carriage suddenly lost its support and fell straight into the river , accompanied by a shrill neigh, several guards who were closer to the front and back also fell into the river with the carriage because of the sudden break of the wooden boards under their feet, making an ear-splitting sound.

This pontoon bridge is built on the surface of the river, neither high nor low, if you fall straight down like this, not to mention drowning, you will fall dizzy, not to mention that the water is still cold, if people are not rescued in time , freezing to death is also very possible.

There was a sudden panic on the pontoon. If something happened to the prince, none of them would be able to run away. At this moment, there was nothing else to care about. Those with better water quality jumped off. Yu Junda is a literati, and he saw the carriage fall with his own eyes. , was so startled that his soul flew away, his eyes widened and he immediately ordered: "Quickly go back to the shore, find the boatman and go down the river! Be sure to rescue the prince safe and sound!"

The people in front of the team were all dumbfounded, unable to retreat even if they wanted to, they could only look at the big broken piece in the middle and worry.

Yu Junda yelled angrily: "Don't you have a brain! If you can't retreat, go forward! Go to the other side!"

In an instant, there was chaos on the floating bridge.

Yu Junda calmed down a little bit, and was puzzled in his heart: He had already explored the road before, and those guards had carefully checked the bridge, so how could there be an accident suddenly?And this accident was too coincidental, it just happened under the prince's carriage...

When the team dispersed to both sides, Yu Junda held onto the chain and went to the middle to check carefully. Seeing that all the broken boards had fallen into the river, he couldn't help but frowned and said thoughtfully : Is it really an accident?

When Yu Junda led a large number of guards to search for the prince in cold sweat, two other people in wet clothes groped through the woods, got on their horses, and went straight to Yongkang County.

These two people were not discovered before because they hid in the river, and waited until the guards who explored the road left. Then they slowly poked their heads out, and then climbed up by the roots of grass, vines and trees, and picked up the fire buried in the grass. Zhezi turned over again, and hung upside down under the pontoon with the iron chain, and climbed to the middle of the pontoon nimbly.

The two stopped at two places where the ropes were hanging, lit the ropes with fire, and then quickly evacuated. The flames spread along the long ropes, because they were completely unobtrusive under the pontoon bridge, and they were different from the ropes. The connected boards have already been oiled with kerosene.

The prince's carriage drove to the middle of the pontoon bridge, and the sparkling rope slowly burned to the end, and the wooden board burned immediately, but because it was blocked by the slowly moving carriage above, no one noticed it, and within a short while, the burning wooden board collapsed. fracture.

The news was sent back to the Yongkang Palace, and the King Yongkang showed a smile on his face. On the one hand, he sent someone to inquire about the news to confirm what happened to the prince, and on the other hand, he sent someone to inform Wang Shuzhi. Wang Shuzhi looked calm after reading the letter, but he immediately ordered people to go around the pontoon bridge keep an eye on.

Sima Rong sat beside him, watching his nose, nose, and heart. Last time, he didn't ask much about what Wang Shuzhi talked with King Yongkang. It must have been proposed by Wang Shuzhi, and he said, "Did Yongkang King immediately agree to the plan after the Prime Minister talked about it?"

Wang Shuzhi looked at him sideways, full of interest: "How do you know it wasn't proposed by Yongkang King's staff?"

Sima Rong smiled: "This subordinate thinks that the prime minister still remembers the assassination last time, and he intends to retaliate."

"Yeah." Wang Shuzhi laughed and said again, "King Yongkang deserves it without hesitation. I really underestimated him before."

Sima Rong's eyes darkened. He himself wished that the prince would die completely, not only because of his position, but also because of the hatred accumulated over the years, but King Yongkang had no personal grudges with the prince, and they were both uncles and nephews. There are many ways for an emperor to deal with the prince, but now he chooses such a cruel method, which makes people vigilant.

"No matter how capable the king of Yongkang is, he may not be able to become a wise king." Sima Rong raised his eyes and said calmly, "Has the prime minister ever regretted choosing him?"

Wang Shuzhi raised the corners of his lips: "Who said I chose him?"

Sima Rong was surprised.

Wang Shuzhi shook his head and smiled: "That's all. Whoever inherits the throne makes any difference? The crown prince is all about fighting against my family, so I will naturally bring him down. As for the others, as long as they don't stare at the family behind me all day long, I will How about helping him keep the country?"

Sima Rong lowered his eyes and fell silent for a moment: "Wang Langya's family is high and powerful, and no one would feel at ease if it were for him. Does the prime minister expect to share the country with the emperor for the rest of his life?"

Wang Shuzhi raised his eyebrows slightly, and looked at him in surprise: "Why did Yan Qing say that?"

Sima Rong paused: "This subordinate made a false statement, the Prime Minister forgives the crime."

Wang Shuzhi burst out laughing, and took his hand on his knee: "Sitting so upright and speaking so rigidly, you are really 17 years old... Oh no, are you a young boy?"

Sima Rong stared down at the hand that was being held, feeling hard to tell.

Wang Shuzhi smiled and said, "It's not easy for a monarch and his ministers to meet each other? My Wang family has no intention of surpassing, but the emperor may not think so."

Sima Rong curled his lips, but there was a trace of coldness in his drooping black eyes: "What the prime minister said is very true, but the prime minister, don't forget, the Wang family is not just the prime minister."

Wang Shuzhi paused with a smile, raised his hand to hold his face, and looked at him deeply: "Yan Qing, today you..."

"Hush—" There was a knock on the door suddenly.

Wang Shuzhi was stunned for a moment, then withdrew his hand helplessly, and said loudly, "Come in."

Pei Liang pushed open the door and strode in: "Prime Minister, the crown prince has been rescued!"

When Sima Rong heard this, he immediately frowned.

Wang Shuzhi got up with a flick of his sleeves, and said calmly, "The prince is impenetrable to water, and the river is very wide. Looking at the calm, the undercurrent is not small. How could he get away so easily?"

"Yes, the spies reported that one of the guards who fell into the water with him was still awake and dragged him out of the carriage. Although he passed out quickly, he went down the river and was rescued by a farmer by the river."

"Sure?"

"Subordinate to confirm."

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