After many searches, Wu Zixu found a strange man in the north of Hongshan (today's Hongshan area of Wuxi). This man's name was Yaoli. He was short in stature, dark and thin, and had an ugly appearance. But he was a warrior who was proficient in swordsmanship. Yaoli was an ordinary man.
He mainly made a living by fishing in Tanhe River. When Wu Zixu found him, he had just returned from the river, carrying a long pole on his shoulder, with a string of large and small fresh fish hanging on the pole.
Wu Zixu briefly introduced his identity and told Yao Li the purpose of his trip - to ask Yaoli to be an assassin.
After hearing this, Yao Li smiled faintly and said: "Mr. Wu, although I live in the countryside and make a living by fishing, I am free and easy. I am used to freedom and have no intention of fame. Please come back.
"
Wu Zixu said: "I come to you not for myself, nor just for King Helu of Wu. I come for the people of Wu."
Yao Li said: "I am a countryman, and you are responsible for taking care of national affairs. What does it have to do with me?"
Wu Zixu said: "No. With one person's power, you can save the country and rejuvenate the country. And you can still leave your name in history."
Yaoli asked: "What exactly do you want me to do?"
Wu Zixu said: "Although King Liao died, his son Qingji was still there. This Qingji happened to be in Weiguo when King Liao was killed. He is now recruiting troops, building ships, and spreading words, just waiting for the opportunity.
As soon as he arrives, he will fight back to seize the throne. Wu will inevitably have civil strife. The only way to stop this civil strife is to kill Qing Ji."
Yao Li said: "You want me to be an assassin?"
Wu Zixu said: "That's exactly what I mean. Ke Qingji is the best warrior in the Wu Kingdom. I have searched for many people, but no one dares to take this job. Hey, it's not that I underestimate the Wu Kingdom. Until now, I really haven't found it.
A capable and courageous warrior.”
Yao Li slapped the table and said, "Mr. Wu is from Chu, right? Don't look down on Wu with the eyes of you Chu people. Wu people lack neither wisdom nor courage."
Wu Zixu said: "I heard that Mr. Yaoli is both wise and brave. It's a pity that Mr. Yaoli is missing the word "righteousness"."
Yaoli glared and asked, "How do you say this?"
Wu Zixu said: "Sir, you have a lot of skills, but you are free and easy. Now that the country is in trouble and the people are in trouble, but you ignore me, I want to leave you. Isn't this a lack of meaning?"
Yaoli said: "I want to serve the country, but I have no way."
When Wu Zixu heard this, he bowed his head and bowed. Yaoli quickly helped him up. The two sat down and talked in detail about how to eliminate harm for the country. During this conversation, Yaoli was completely impressed by Wu Zixu's intelligence.
And what about Wu Zixu? While he was praising Yaoli, he was stimulating him with aggressive tactics. At the end, Yaoli became impassioned and like a righteous man.
Wu Zixu, striking while the iron was hot, boasted: "This is a feat that will surely go down in history. Not everyone can encounter it, and not everyone can accomplish it. Justice alone is not enough, you must be both wise and courageous, and have courage."
Yao Li said: "This matter belongs to me. I am willing to sacrifice my life for the sake of the country of Wu."
At this time, Wu Zixu offered money to Yaoli and asked him to settle down with his family. He then took Yaoli to Gusu City and recommended him to King Helu of Wu.
When Helu saw that Yao Li was short and ugly, he felt quite unhappy. Wu Zixu looked at his words and said, "Your Majesty, Yao Li is a famous swordsman. He has excellent swordsmanship and a deep understanding of righteousness. He is a rare righteous man."
Helu said: "Whether a righteous person is a righteous person or not will be decided in the future. Let me try his swordsmanship first."
Wu Zixu said: "No, my king. If you want to try, you can find a general to try. You are a noble dragon body. If something goes wrong, who can take care of it?"
Helu smiled and said, "Don't worry. In terms of swordsmanship, I'm no worse than Qingji. I'm just not as brave as him. I'll know the true and false kung fu once I try it."
Yao Li said: "Your Majesty, if you insist on giving it a try, please try it with a real sword. I'll just use a bamboo sword."
Helu said: "Use bamboo swords. You were recommended by Doctor Wu. I don't want to hurt your life."
Yao Li smiled and said: "It doesn't matter. Your Majesty, just use the real sword. If you miss, Yao Li will only blame yourself for not being good at learning. You will die without regrets."
Helu felt that Yao Li was indeed a bit arrogant, and his fighting spirit suddenly rose. He snorted in his nostrils, and asked Zuo Zuo to take his sword, and at the same time asked Zuo Zuo to hand Yao Li a bamboo sword for practice.
The two began to compete in court. Helu held his heavy and sharp bronze sword, danced a trick gracefully, and struck at Yao Li with a swish sound. Yao Li took a leap, and his body had already taken a step back. Helu's sword
The sword just happened to pass through his chest. Everyone was shocked. But when they saw that they were just a little away from their toes, they spun to the side of Helu. Helu had been practicing swordsmanship since he was a child, and had been taught by experts, and his swordsmanship was very good.
It was the same as usual. He slashed the air with his sword, and then swiped it back with his hand. The sword edge was like a snake biting its prey. It followed Yao Li's movement. Yaoli was not in a hurry to avoid it, so he had to use his bamboo sword to push it away.
His bamboo sword had just touched Helu's sword, and Helu's sword edge made another arc, stabbing towards his throat. If he had to be quick with his eyes and hands, he raised the bamboo sword, leaned back, and abruptly resolved the blow.
Got this trick.
Wu Zixu blurted out: "Good swordsmanship."
Yao Li broke out in a cold sweat. He thought to himself, but he didn't expect that Helu was an expert in swordsmanship. He didn't dare to be careless and started to deal with it seriously. The two of them fought like a tiger and fought hard.
After fighting for more than ten rounds, there was still no winner. Helu felt that he could not fight with a bamboo sword even though he had a real sword, and felt that his face was dull. He was anxious and began to attack frequently. He wanted to leave and saw Helu Jian Shen.
He was very powerful and his moves were deadly, so he didn't dare to entangle him. He used a flaw to lure Helu to rush in, then he moved forward and knocked Helu on the wrist with his bamboo sword. He only heard a clang, and Helu's
It fell to the ground. Helu strangled it with his hands and grinned: "Oh, it's awesome, it's awesome. Yao Li's swordsmanship is truly well-deserved."
Wu Zixu, Yao Li and others hurried forward to comfort him, Helu waved his hand and said: "It's not a matter, it's not a matter."
From then on, Yao Li became a guest of King Wu Helu. Whenever he was free, Helu called Wu Zixu and Yao Li to the palace to drink wine and practice swordsmanship. The relationship between the three became closer. They often discussed together.
The matter of getting rid of Qingji. Gradually, a plan to get close to Qingji was brewing in Wu Zixu's mind.
One day three months later, Wu Zixu made a request to King Helu of Wu when he went to court, hoping that he would appoint Yaoli as a general. Helu laughed and said: "If you put a spear next to Yaoli, you will only be good at it."
Spear, he is missing. If you ask a man five feet tall to lead the army, isn't this making the princes laugh at our Wu country?"
When the civil and military officials in the court heard this, they couldn't help bursting into laughter.
Yao Litiao was about to come out, pointed at Helu and said: "The King is rude, you don't need me. Why do you laugh at my shortcomings? For an ungrateful person like you, even if you ask me to help you, I won't bother to do anything."
Helu glared and said, "How dare you call me ungrateful? Speak clearly."
Yao Li pointed at Helu and said, "Your throne depends entirely on Wu Zixu's help. Although you promised to help him avenge you, you have been slow to act. Isn't this ungrateful? What is it?"
Helu angrily rebuked: "The two countries are at war. This is a national matter. What do you know? How dare you point your finger at the king here and roar at the court. Take him from left to right and cut off one of his hands."
Wu Zixu and Bo Pei hurriedly came forward to plead for mercy, but they couldn't close the door and asked people to push him out. Wu Zixu saw that his plea was unsuccessful and became anxious, so he kowtowed and gave up and chased him out. But it was too late, and he was about to leave.
One hand has been chopped off.
After Yao Li was imprisoned, Wu Zixu fed him good food and wine every day. Sometimes, he would stay in prison for a long time and have long talks with Yao Li. The palace doctor also often came to check on Yao Li's injuries, as if he was afraid of his injuries.
The wound was not long-lasting. The prison boss had already received instructions from the superiors and provided Wu Zixu, the imperial doctor and others with full convenience. Therefore, the days in prison were quite good.
When Yao Li recovered from his injuries, Wu Zixu bribed the prison boss and released Yao Li. When King Helu of Wu got the news of Yao Li's escape, he was furious and ordered the concubine to be captured - this concubine was the concubine of Yao Li's aunt.
After Su City, Wu Zixu gave it to the concubine who was about to leave. In order to show punishment, Helu killed the concubine.
Speaking of leaving, he escaped from the Wu Kingdom and went all the way north into the Wei Kingdom. When he arrived at Ai City, he went to Qingji.
After listening to Yaoli's story, Qingji looked at his severed left hand and repeatedly asked about the situation and the details of his escape. He still felt uneasy. While he took Yaoli in, he sent people to the Kingdom of Wu.
Inquiring for information. The spies came back and said: Helu killed Yaoli's wife after he escaped. Only then did Qingji believe that Yaoli was sincerely seeking refuge.
Although Yao Li lost his left hand, it did not affect his ability to use the sword. He quickly gained Qing Ji's appreciation with his excellent swordsmanship and ever-increasing flattery.
One day, Qingji asked Yaoli in a casual conversation: "Helu appointed Wu Zixu and Bo Pi to organize the internal affairs and train the troops, and their strength became stronger and stronger. How can we take revenge with our few troops?"
Yao Li said: "Bo Pu is a profit man, don't worry. Wu Zixu is very talented, but he just wants to avenge his father's murder. I was chopped off because I spoke for Wu Zixu and angered Helu.
If Wu Zixu hadn't helped me, I would have died in prison. Master, if you agree to help Wu Zixu avenge him, he will definitely be your internal agent. With his help, our affairs can be successful."
Qing Ji said happily: "Okay, I'll leave it to you to contact Wu Zixu."
From then on, Qingji trusted Yaoli even more. Not only did he let him do some important things, he even asked him to help train men, horses and naval forces.
A few months later, Qingji's navy was almost fully trained. Yaoli told Qingji that the people he sent to Wu had also returned, and Wu Zixu agreed to serve as internal correspondent.
When he was ready, Qingji took his navy south from the waterway to attack the state of Wu. Qingji disguised the fleet as merchant ships, and wherever they went, they said they were trafficking in the south of the Yangtze River. There was no obstruction along the way, and the news was very closed.
Okay. Within ten days, they entered the Kingdom of Wu. One night, the fleet arrived at a river ten miles away from Gusu City.
That night, the moonlight was dim and clouds were flying across the river. Suddenly, a strange wind blew on the river. The wind howled, the waves rolled, and the trees on the shore made a sound like ghosts and wolves howling. Qingji sat on the bow of the boat and ordered the sailors to prepare to dock.
shore.
Yao Li held his sword with one hand and stood behind Qing Ji. Taking advantage of the ship's swaying and the chaos in the cabin, he pulled out his sword with a swish sound and stabbed Qing Ji's back as fast as lightning. Qing Ji's statue
The frightened tiger stared at Yao Li with eyes as big as cowbells and half-opened his mouth. He turned around and looked at Yao Li fiercely and in surprise. In an instant, he suddenly jumped up, grabbed Yao Li and punched him.
He hit him. Unexpectedly, the hull of the boat shook, and he and Yaoli fell into the river together. Qingji had excellent water properties and was extremely powerful. He lifted Yaoli up in the water, pressed him down, lifted him up again, and pressed him down again.
, the third case, he was about to die from being choked by the water. Just when he was struggling desperately to get out, he only heard Qingji yelling and fell into the water. It turned out that Qingji was about to leave the uniform with his last bit of strength.
While in the water, he died because blood poured into his chest.
When Qingji was dying, his hands were still holding on to Yao Li's clothes. Yao Li took off his clothes in the water after holding his breath. He was originally fishing on the river, and his water quality was very good. Once he got out, he would be like
The dragon entered the water and swam to the shore in three strokes.
The soldiers on the boat watched Qingji and Yaoli fighting in the water. They couldn't figure out what was going on. They neither dared to shoot arrows nor went down to help. They just watched Qingji lift Yaoli and press him down.
.Suddenly, there was silence on the water, and both of them disappeared. Only then did the soldiers panic.
After a pause, someone among the soldiers shouted: "Yao Li is an assassin. Yao Li is an assassin." But it was too late, Yao Li had already escaped.
It turned out that all this was Helu and Wu Zixu's plan to get closer to Qingji. Of course, Qingji didn't realize it.
After Yao Li killed Qing Ji, he did not go to the court to receive the reward, but lived in seclusion. Helu asked Wu Zixu to send people to find him and ask him to come to the court as an official. After many inquiries, the sent people finally found him under Hongshan.
Yao Li was found by the Tan River. The people from the court conveyed King Wu's wishes to Yao Li.
Yao Li said: "I killed Qingji not for myself, but to avoid civil strife in Wu State. But I succeeded by defrauding his trust. In the eyes of the world, I am a treacherous villain. How can I have the face to do so?"
What about being an official in the imperial court? I can only prove myself by dying."
The people in the court said: "Mr. Yaoli, you can speak out and prove your deeds to the world."
Yao Li said: "Most people in the world only look at the surface. Besides, not many people know the inside story of this matter. I will never be able to prove myself until I die. I have only one request. After I die, please ask King Wu to bury me next to Zhuan Zhu's tomb."
After saying this, Yaoli drew his sword and committed suicide.
When Helu and Wu Zixu heard the news, they both felt sorry for Yao Li. Of course, they also felt relieved at the same time. Because all the troubles ended with Yao Li's suicide, this was undoubtedly the best outcome.
King Helu of Wu sent someone to bury Yaoli next to Zhuanzhu's tomb.