General Liu finally said goodbye and left. Neither Ou Cheng nor Xiao Mei saw him off. After leaving for half a day, Ou Cheng thought about it and said, "How does he look like Concubine Hu?"
"It's not very similar," Xiaomei said. "It's just that the nose and mouth are similar. The bones on men's and women's faces are different. The nose is not big enough to be seen. There is a beard on the mouth. You can't tell it unless you look closely."
Ou Cheng thought back to the appearance of Concubine Hu and General Liu. They looked exactly like the two, and sighed: "What kind of eyes do you scouts have?"
Xiaomei smiled and said: "Miss Gui has seen him and concluded that he was from the Emperor's illegitimate son's group, so I drew his portrait. I recognized him when I saw him, and when I looked at Concubine Hu's appearance, I felt bold
I bet once and I don’t want to bet wrong." So he stood up and left.
At this moment, there was a "ding" outside the window, and the two of them shouted in unison, "Who?" and jumped out at the same time. There was no shadow of the first half of the person under the white moon. The courtyard was extremely clean, and there was a flower lying in front of the steps.
Pebbles. Throwing stones to ask for directions. The two of them looked at each other and guessed in their minds who it was.
After a moment of silence, Xiaomei first guessed: "Both the prince and the emperor may have masters in not alerting the guard dogs."
Ou Chengdao: "I can't tell which prince he belongs to."
Xiaomei said: "Now that all your highnesses are gone, it doesn't matter if they hear something."
Ou Chengdao said: "No matter who you are, it's okay. It's a troubled time in Chang'an now. It's better to be more cautious in the future." He then ordered people to check around and found no trace of outsiders, so that was all.
Early the next morning, King Qin sent a eunuch to deliver an order, asking Xiaomei, a female general from the Gao family, to go to the palace for a while. This was the first time that King Qin came to the Gao family seriously to look for someone, and the person he wanted was Xiaomei, who didn't even know his last name.
The old lady was a little hesitant. Xiaomei guessed that King Qin had probably lost so many sons and became suspicious of General Liu, trusting others. So she changed into men's clothes and followed the eunuch.
When we got to the palace, we did not go through the main entrance, but went around to the back and entered the North Point Gate. After walking around for a long time, we arrived at a courtyard. There were several layers of elite soldiers inside and outside, and maids standing like clay sculptures with their hands lowered. The eunuch asked Xiaomei to go to the east side.
Waiting in front of the Danuan Pavilion, he went in to ask for instructions. After a while, the eunuch came out and led Xiaomei in. The room was spacious, separated by two screens, and there was a person leaning on the couch of the imperial concubine in the middle, who was the Lord of Qin. Xiaomei stepped forward and saluted.
King Qin waved his hand and ordered her to get up, and then pointed to a carved nanmu armchair for her to sit on. Xiaomei thanked her and sat slightly against the edge of the chair.
After a moment of silence, King Qin slowly asked: "General Xiaomei, let's see how long the lonely king can live."
Xiaomei immediately understood that the person who was asking for directions last night was one of his people, so she said: "I don't know. I guess I must have been poisoned by some kind of slow-acting poison."
King Qin's eyes shot out two cold gleams of indifference: "How did you guess?"
Xiaomei hesitated for a moment and said: "If the prince had not been given poison and medicine, your highnesses might not have died in the past few days." King Qin asked each other with his eyes. Xiaomei thought for a while and said, "I will guess that."
After discovering the identity of General Liu, I deduced their original strategy."
The King of Qin said, "Come and listen to me, the lonely king."
Xiaomei said: "Stealing the country is a big deal and extremely difficult; stealing the country from the rightful owner is even more difficult. Therefore, it is impossible to wait until everything is complete before taking action. You can only take a gamble when you are 70% or even 60% sure.
General Liu's original plan did not include the Gao family being involved. Therefore, it would be easy to guess just assuming that the Gao family would stand by and watch."
"you guess."
"If the Gao family had not taken action, the thieves and bandits trapped the prince, princess, and princes that day, and only the little grandson and the third highness were left outside. The little grandson was young and was under the filial piety of his father, so he could not take part in the matter. The third highness has been waiting for him for many years. He was able to pull the prince off his horse, and it was obvious that he had contacts with Master Ding Chu. Even though he refused to exchange the prisoners with the thieves, he waited until dark, and then he was able to kill a brother with the hands of the thieves, which caused the chills of all civil and military officials. At that time, General Liu brought his elite soldiers, satirized His Highness the Third Prince, put on a loyal minister's face, negotiated with the thieves, and captured a group of key criminals. Then, just like that day, no one could see clearly in the dark. , there was a battle in Zhuangzi where thieves had set up an ambush somewhere outside the city. Except for the prince who was rescued, all the other princes died. The prince also suffered some injuries that were difficult to treat and he would not be able to survive the winter after returning to Chang'an. At the latest, early next year. Lord Ding Chu and General Liu assisted the young grandson in his succession to the throne."
King Qin held his breath and listened to her attentively. He coughed for a long time and then closed his eyes to rest. After a long time, he said: "Go on and make it clearer."
Xiaomei sighed softly: "My guess is that Master Ding Chu has already formed an alliance with General Liu. Ding Chu is very ambitious, so he can be captured by luring him to gain advantage. All the princes arrived at the palace early that day, but His Highness the Third Highness was still late. I am afraid that Master Ding or someone among them will get in the way, so I sincerely leave a courageous prince outside. He dares to die and refuses to change the hostage, so that he can cool the heart of the prince and hand over Qin to the young prince. My little great-grandson.”
King Qin coughed for a while and said hoarsely: "How come the lonely king is poisoned?"
"General Liu had not planned to enter Chang'an during the day, and he must have recharged his energy a little way away from Chang'an. Unexpectedly, something happened in front of the palace. Wang Taisun's filial piety moved the old lady of the Gao family, and single-handedly suppressed the powerful ministers and Uncle, take the important prisoners in exchange for the prince. When General Liu arrives, the great achievement is gone. Now they must change their strategy. Although they cannot steal the Qin State, it is good to exchange for the Supreme Emperor. He should give all the princes a good life. Rescued. Firstly, although the credit for saving the prince was taken away by Wang Taisun, the credit for saving the prince still belongs to him, and the loyal ministers are still his; secondly, there are many princes, and after being rescued by him, they will inevitably try to win over him, which is convenient. He stirred up dissension and plotted evil. When the time came, your highnesses would get into a brawl, resulting in several deaths and injuries, which would also chill the prince's heart. They then used other methods to harm the prince's life, helped the prince's grandson ascend the throne, and hijacked the young master to give him orders. Qin State."
"If the prince is safe, but they kill all your highnesses, it will inevitably make the prince suspicious of General Liu. The prince was in his prime, and from then on he devoted himself to teaching his grandson. When the prince died, his grandson had grown up, so what would happen to them? Therefore, I guess, General Liu is not afraid of the prince being suspicious. How can a general not be afraid of the lord being suspicious, unless his lord is about to die." King Qin suddenly took a breath. Xiaomei paused, "I have heard that there are many secret medicines in the palace. The prince also died under strange circumstances. Earlier, if the princess, Baba, had not been kidnapped, the prince's death would have definitely been attributable to her."
King Qin clutched the mattress on the couch with both hands and coughed for a long time. He breathed for a while and closed his eyes to rest. Then he asked: "Since he is the son of Gu Sange, why did he send a message to the old eunuch to help save the princess?"
Xiaomei smiled and said: "Because the third highness is also the biological son of the princess. With the princess as his grandmother, Wang Taisun cannot suppress the third highness too harshly. Naturally, the third highness will not be willing to be subordinate to his young nephew, and he will have to make trouble every three days. Wang Taisun Then we will have to rely more and more on General Liu and Master Ding."
The King of Qin sighed deeply: "Don't think you are just a prostitute. Real talents are rare." Then he shook his head and said, "Look, is there any loyalty in Qin?"
Xiaomei said: "It's already clear who is the loyal minister. On that day, Wang Taisun shouted in front of the palace gate that he wanted to exchange the Supreme Emperor for the prince. Several adults pushed aside the crowd and ran over to agree with tears, and even quarreled with Ding Chu. Little Taisun
I must remember who they are."
The King of Qin nodded: "You old lady said that the Qin Kingdom will fall to the hands of the Shu Kingdom sooner or later?"
"Yes. Among the countries that sent troops overseas, Shu borders Qin."
The King of Qin frowned and said, "Why is the old lady so optimistic about countries that send troops overseas? Our country of Qin has always been a brave and warlike place since ancient times. Qin Shihuang has long destroyed the six countries and unified the world."
"The Qin State of today is not the Qin State of the past."
"What's the difference?"
Xiaomei simply said: "Poor." King Qin was stunned. Xiaomei breathed out, "If you are poor, you can't afford the best firearms. Being brave and good at fighting was really useful in ancient times, but now it is much less useful. The warriors have not yet come to the enemy.
He was already killed by fire, guns and artillery. No matter how brave he was, it was useless. Firearms were the key to victory. Several princes who sent troops abroad all robbed a lot of money and came back. They used the money to buy firearms and then went to rob more.
Money. Qin’s money is all earned bit by bit by its citizens. How can what you earn compare with what you rob?”
King Qin thought for a while, then frowned: "The old lady thinks that if Qin wants to find a way out, it can only follow what the female bandit said and follow Queen Yan to North America?"
Xiaomei said: "The land in North America is fertile and there are many gold mines. It's easy to go there with King Yan. The strength of a country depends on its king. How old is King Yan, and Grandson Wang is still young."
King Qin's eyes flashed, and after a moment, he nodded slowly: "Old lady, you have a long-term vision."
Xiaomei said: "The Gao family has lived in Chang'an for a long time, so naturally they hope for the good of Qin."
King Qin looked at her and said, "If King Gu is really dying, will the Gao family be willing to help Gu's grandson?"
Xiaomei smiled bitterly and said: "Since ancient times, accompanying the emperor is like accompanying a tiger. The Gao family really doesn't dare. The Qin State has many loyal ministers and good generals. If the top and bottom work together, the country will become rich and the people strong."
The King of Qin sighed: "That's all, the melon won't be sweet if it's forced." He thought for a moment and asked, "What do you think the third brother will do?"
Xiaomei said: "I don't know what the general's character is. Anyway, they still have some troops on hand, and they might dig up the late emperor's tomb."
King Qin nodded and glanced at the eunuch beside him. The eunuch walked behind the screen and invited Wang Taisun and the princess to come out. Xiaomei stood up and saluted.
Wang Taisun stepped forward with red eyes and took Xiaomei's hand: "Aunt Xiaomei, help me!"
Xiaomei said softly: "Grandson, I am a female, so I can't help you much."
"I don't care!" Wang Taisun held her tightly, "Help me, help me!"
Xiaomei smiled bitterly and said: "I can't go to the court as an official, so how can I help you? If you run into trouble, can I give you an idea?"
"No!" Wang Taisun cried, "If they had the ability, my father would not die! My uncle would not die either! Grandfather..." The child cried "Wow" and sobbed, "My grandfather will not be sick either...
…”
Xiaomei turned her head and glanced at King Qin, then looked at the princess with red eyes, and said in a strange tone: "That's because... every son of the prince wants to be the heir, and many ministers are looking forward to following their master in their career.
If they have no choice, they will have no choice but to help their grandson down-to-earth."
King Qin said leisurely: "Back then...if eldest brother had been here, we wouldn't have had these thoughts." He looked at Xiaomei again, "What is your origin? How come there is a person like you in the Gao family?"
Xiaomei said with a smile: "Mo General's mother was the old lady who brought her from her parents' home. She went to the battlefield with the old lady in her early years. If we talk about experience, the general doesn't have much experience. Over the years, she often went to Ping'an Prefecture to meet our third grandmother.
Let’s talk and learn some eyebrows and eyebrows from her.”
King Qin thought for a while: "Your third grandma... is Jia Cong's sister."
Xiaomei nodded: "Exactly."
King Qin immediately thought of Jia Cong's flying magic weapon and asked, "Does Jia Cong often use Taoism?"
Xiaomei said sternly: "Master Cong is an ordinary mortal and doesn't know how to teach."
King Qin snorted and thought for a moment: "If the lonely king is interested in Taoism, will he be willing to come and help me?"
Xiaomei shook her head and said: "Master Cong is not here to promote Taoism. His mission this time is to eliminate the disaster of destroying the country in a hundred years and only deal with Japanese and Westerners."
The King of Qin asked: "Why is he going around to open schools for ordinary people's children? Is he afraid that they will not rebel after studying?"
Xiaomei said: "In order to let them go overseas to become masters, so that foreigners can become slaves. My people are my people after all."
The King of Qin suddenly realized: "That's it!" He patted the imperial concubine's couch underneath him, "Hasn't he already made it clear?" He paused and said, "Looking at the national policies of Lu State, they are all good policies, but they are not high or low. I'm afraid many years later
No one in Lu country is willing to plow the fields and work. He actually has this idea." Xiaomei smiled slightly and stood up to leave.
Two days later, the Gao family received news from Jia's horse shop. The King of Qin had yesterday sent word that General Liu had entered the mansion. When he walked to the door of the mansion, he suddenly turned his horse's head and led the people to run out of the city like crazy. The King of Qin's plan was in vain.
Two hundred fires were fired. The gunman failed to catch him. Another general led his troops to capture Ding Chu, but he also let him run away. It was obvious to the King of Qin that there was a traitor in the palace, and he gave General Liu some secret code. The King of Qin then investigated carefully.
They visited the whole government and caught many details. A few days later, the King of Qin dismissed all the officials who had anything to do with his third son. He ordered His Highness to study behind closed doors and not to make random friends.
On the 21st of the twelfth lunar month, the King of Qin passed away. The ministers supported the king's grandson to ascend the throne. The king's grandson immediately ordered people to bring out a large pile of Lu's national policies from his grandfather's study to study and prepare to copy them all.
At the beginning of the new year, the new King of Qin sent a letter to King Yan, wishing to make King Yan his hegemon, and asking his uncle to lead him to send troops to North America. King Qin could not compare with King Lu. After all, Lu was a small country, only as big as an ant on the map; Qin was
One of the largest vassal states at the time of the enfeoffment. King Qin’s submission could shock the world. All the civil and military officials cheered in unison, “Your Majesty, a thousand years old, a thousand years old~~”
Just two days after this letter arrived in the capital, the King of Chu also wrote this letter. I heard that the young King of Chu went to Lu State for a stroll, and met the King of Lu who was also out for a visit. Although the two were different in generation, they were similar in age.
It was speculation, and they made friends under pseudonyms. After a while, they both guessed each other's identities, which was interesting. The King of Chu was very envious of King Lu, the little uncle, and he loved the new and interesting scenery of the country of Lu. Even the New Year was there
Passed through the country of Lu.
King Yan put the two letters together and laughed loudly: "The hegemony of Gu is just around the corner!"