In ancient times, Xiang Yu hosted a banquet for Liu Bang and held a Hongmen Banquet with the intention of assassinating him.
Now, some Ezhou officials have evil intentions and have invited Tang Ning to a banquet at Yuanyang House. Maybe as soon as Tang Ning sat down, 300 swordsmen and axe-men rushed in from the next room.
Xu Zhanggu looked anxious and said: "Sir, this is a trap, you can't go!"
Tang Ning put the invitation aside and said to a minor official: "Tell Governor Yu that I will be here tomorrow night as promised."
When Xu Zhanggu was about to speak, Tang Ning stretched out her hand to stop him from continuing.
The Hongmen Banquet is a Hongmen Banquet, but this Hongmen Banquet is not necessarily whose Hongmen Banquet is, and those who attend the banquet may not be the losers. In fact, at the Hongmen Banquet, the one who laughs last is not the Overlord of Western Chu who hosted the banquet.
Chen Zhou walked in from outside and asked, "Sir, are you going to a banquet tomorrow night?"
Tangning nodded and said, "If someone invites you kindly, it's natural to go. This is etiquette."
Chen Zhou thought for a while and said, "Go down and call Liu Tong."
With Chen Zhou by his side, he could handle some things properly without Tang Ning taking the initiative to give them orders.
Liu Tong is the captain of the sharp blade. He was originally a captain in Zuo Xiaowei. Later, after being selected, he stood out from five thousand people and passed many tests to become the leader of the sharp blade.
Although he is not as clever as Chen Zhou, nor does he have Chen Zhou's craftsmanship, he has excellent professional skills and certain leadership abilities, and is qualified to be the captain of Sharp Blade.
Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages. His biggest disadvantage is that his eyesight is a little bit worse. If he had a little eyesight, he should be training in the capital with the members of the Blade now, instead of coming all the way to Jiangnan to interact with these local officials.
A battle of wits and courage.
Not long after, Chen Zhou walked in with someone else. Captain Liu Tong looked at Tang Ning and asked impatiently: "General, is there a new mission? Is it an overt killing or an assassination? Where is it and when will it be done?"
Tang Ning said: "Tomorrow night, Yuanyang Tower, you will obey my orders."
Everything needs a name. Tang Ning could just bring out Shang Fang's sword and take down the officials involved in Ezhou, but if this name is unjust and unreasonable, they may not be convinced.
There was no such thing as a good feast, so Tang Ning hoped that those people would show their fangs first, so that it would be logical for them to take action.
Liu Tong looked at him and asked, "What's the order?"
The time to take action must be chosen well. The ambush person does not know what is going on inside, so an agreed upon signal is needed.
Tangning thought for a moment and said, "Let's break the cup as a sign. When you hear the sound of the cup being thrown, rush in from the outside and capture them all."
Liu Tong stood up straight and said loudly: "Take the order!"
…
Governor's Mansion.
Censor Zhongcheng slowly walked into a certain room, looked at Governor Yu, and said, "Are you planning to take action tonight?"
"Tonight is his last chance." Governor Yu took a sip of tea and said, "Whether he lives or dies, it depends on how he chooses."
Censor Zhongcheng continued: "What are you going to do?"
Governor Yu took out a red porcelain vase from the drawer. The porcelain vase was only about the size of a thumb, and was entirely red, with some strange patterns on it.
The censor Zhongcheng asked in surprise: "What is this?"
Yu Cishi said: "The best poison in the world."
Censor Zhongcheng looked at him and asked suspiciously: "Is it useful?"
Yu Cishi said: "In the past two years, the censor in your censorship died like this."
Yushi Zhongcheng suddenly said: "Two years ago, Yushi Zheng went to the south of the Yangtze River. He said that he was not accustomed to the acclimatization and he died of a sudden illness. So it was you who did it?"
Governor Yu put the porcelain bottle in his hand, played with it, and said: "There is no cure for this poison. Just a few drops can completely kill it."
Censor Zhongcheng said: "He is different from Censor Zheng. He is a favorite of the emperor. Such a blatant attack has angered His Majesty. None of you can escape."
Governor Yu smiled and said nonchalantly: "This poison does not seal the throat when blood is seen. As long as the dosage is controlled, there will be no symptoms in the early stage of poisoning. After a few days, the internal organs will begin to fester, and then he will start to vomit blood."
, it is difficult to eat, difficult to breathe, and after several days of torture, he will die completely..."
Censor Zhongcheng's eyes flickered a few times and said: "That's very good. If I can deal with this person, I will definitely take credit from Mr. Tang when I return to the capital..."
Yu Cishi cupped his hands and said, "Then I'll thank Brother Qi first..."
…
"I remember clearly that Zheng Yushi was fine for the first two days after leaving Ezhou. Two days later, he suddenly fell ill. He could not eat or sleep peacefully. He only gasped for air and soon began to vomit blood.
He suffered for seven days and then died of illness on the way..."
When a junior official in the Ministry of Personnel talked about the death of Zheng Yushi, his face still looked horrified and his face was extremely pale.
After hearing what the young official said, Gongsun Ying's face was as dark as water, and he said: "King Qian has been in Jiangnan for so many years, and he has indeed colluded with Jiangnan officials..."
Tangning looked at him and asked, "Did King Qian do this?"
Gongsun Ying said: "This matter may not necessarily be done by the King of Guizhou, but the Ezhou officials must have colluded with the King of Guizhou. Otherwise, where did they get this "all things withered"?"
Tang Ning asked: "Is everything dry?"
Gongsun Ying explained: "It is a strange poison from our Wan Gu Sect. There is no antidote for this poison. People who are infected by this poison will not have any symptoms in the early stage, but after a day or two, their internal organs will ulcerate and they will vomit blood and die."
, this process is extremely painful and can last up to half a month..."
The "everything dies" that Gongsun Ying mentioned is the same as the symptoms of poisoning by a certain synthetic poison that Tang Ning knew about in later generations. Even in later generations with advanced medical science, the mortality rate after taking that poison was over 90%, even if it was...
A very small amount is enough to cause death.
The similarity between the two poisons is that the poisoned person will not die immediately. Even if he regrets it, he can only watch himself die. More importantly, this process will be very painful. Instead of waiting for death, it is better to commit suicide.
of pleasure.
Ezhou officials used this to murder Zheng Yushi and covered up the truth with the excuse of "acclimatization". They could use it once, but they could use it a second time.
Tangning breathed a sigh of relief. The more despicable their methods were, the less stressful he felt about certain things he had to do.
…
Yuanyang House is the largest and most luxurious restaurant in Ezhou City. Local dignitaries like to entertain guests here.
Business at Yuanyanglou was still booming today. When a group of people walked in from outside, there was a burst of surprise in the hall.
"It's the governor."
"Ma Biejia is also here..."
"And Cui Changshi, who are you inviting to this banquet? Why are all these high officials here?"
…
Those who walked in were all local officials from Ezhou. It was rare to see one of them on weekdays. This time they all showed up together, which meant that tonight's banquet was very important, and it was unknown which great god was being hosted.
The shopkeeper of Yuanyanglou came up to him in person and said with an apologetic smile: "Sir, the box upstairs is ready. Please come with me..."
Everyone entered the box, and the doors of the boxes on both sides opened a gap.
Several members of the Blade pressed their heads against the wall, while the rest had already prepared their postures to enter the palace.
Liu Tong looked at them and whispered: "The general said, breaking the cup is a signal. If you hear the sound of breaking the cup, report it immediately..."
