When Sima Yi, the deposed emperor, heard that Empress Dowager Chongde had issued an edict to welcome him back to regain the throne, he was shocked and couldn't believe it. He asked for a long time: "Where is the secret edict from the Empress Dowager?"
Xu Long took out a piece of jade gui from his arms and presented it to him, saying: "The Queen Mother was afraid of revealing her troubles, so she ordered the villain to hold the jade gui and deliver the oral message, asking your majesty to return to Jiankang, Linli and Yuan, and inherit the emperor's throne."
Sima Yi took the jade guide and looked at it carefully. It seemed to be an old thing from the palace. He was not sure about it and said: "How can I dare to trust you since there is no edict written by the Queen Mother?"
Xu Long said sincerely: "Your Majesty, the Queen Mother was forced by Huan Wen's despotic power and had no choice but to issue an edict to depose Your Majesty against her will. Now that Huan Wen has returned to Gushu, the common people in Jiankang City are eager to see Your Majesty return to power. It is because of the Queen Mother's little destiny.
People are here to welcome His Majesty back to the palace."
Sima Yi remembered how all the officials cried bitterly when he walked out of the West Hall on the day he was deposed, and he was moved, but said: "Huan Wen is so arrogant and arrogant, how can we allow my king to be restored? Wait until he raises his troops and enters Jiankang again, and disaster will come."
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Xu Long said: "What your Majesty said is wrong. As long as your Majesty returns to the throne and appoints loyal ministers, and if Huan Wen comes with troops, your Majesty can abandon Jiankang and retreat to Xuzhou. The governor of Xuzhou, Yu, is your uncle, and he has a lot of troops.
It is enough to resist Huan Wen. Your Majesty will once again spread the word to the world to fight against Huan Wen. No matter how strong Huan Wen is, he is still the Wang Dun of the past. Your Majesty has the protection of the emperor and heaven, and the support of his subjects, so there is no need to fear the rebel Huan Wen!"
Xu Long was eloquent and spoke eloquently. Sima Yi was very interested in deposing the emperor, and the idea of returning to the throne was revived. He asked his close friends if it was possible?
Sima Yi's nanny often went to the Buddhist room of Chongde Palace to follow the Empress Dowager Chu in worshiping Buddha and chanting sutras. At this time, she said: "If the Empress Dowager has an edict, she will send officials and relatives. Why send you here alone?"
Xu Long's expression changed and he said forcefully: "The Queen Mother was afraid that the secret would be leaked and miss the important event, so she sent the villain here."
Although Sima Yi was fatuous, he was not a fool after all. He was awakened by the nanny's words. Yes, Xu Long was a person who was being hunted. How could he return to the palace to receive the Queen Mother's secret edict?
Xu Long urged: "The great thing is going to be successful, how can your majesty use the words of a woman!"
Sima Yi's newly ignited heart became cold again, and he shook his head and said: "I have offended this, and I am fortunate to be forgiven. How dare I act rashly? Please leave quickly, and don't confuse the public with your nonsense again."
While Xu Long was still waiting to be persuaded, Sima Yi said angrily: "You will definitely become a troublemaker." He scolded and bound him.
Xu Long was highly skilled in martial arts. Seeing that his persuasion failed, he immediately knocked down the two men, grabbed the door, mounted his horse and fled.
The censor responsible for supervising the return of the King of the East China Sea was Lu Qin. Xu Long was able to meet the King of the East China Sea Sima Yi smoothly precisely because of Lu Qin's secret network. Seeing that Xu Long's persuasion failed, Lu Qin had no choice but to give up.
, they just pretended that nothing happened and did not report the incident to Yousi. The next day, they continued to advance towards Jinling. When they reached the entrance of the tomb, they encountered a large number of victims blocking the way and begging for food from the convoy of King Sima Yi of the East China Sea.
There were about three to four hundred people in this group of victims, and they could not be driven away. Sima Yi's convoy could not move, and the victims refused to leave. The two sides were in a stalemate in the small town of Lingkou.
…
Xu Long tried to persuade the deposed Emperor Sima Yi to return to Jiankang but failed. He was almost caught and fled towards Jiankang City. Seeing that no one was chasing him, he slowed down his horse and cursed: "This useless waste
Emperor, I can't help him even if I want to." He shook his head and headed for Jurong. He drove all night and arrived at Meilong, a small town in the east of Jurong County, the next morning. Meilong Town is more than 20 miles away from Jiankang.
There is the beautiful Meilong Lake in the north of the town. There are several rows of thatched cottages on the lakeside, but it is a Tianshi Taoist temple, and Lu Song hid here.
Xu Long came to see Lu Song and reported that Sima Yi, the deposed emperor, was cowardly and incompetent and did not dare to return to rebuild the country.
Lu Chang frowned and scolded Xu Long: "Don't you think you are more eloquent than Chen Caozhi? How come when you really want to be used, you are of no use at all!"
Xu Long called Qu and said: "The emperor was already persuaded by his disciple, but was stopped by his nanny. When the disciple continued to persuade me, the emperor immediately scolded me and tied me up. The disciple had no choice but to escape and rush back to the master overnight.
"
Lu Chang waved his hand and said: "That's all, I have arranged manpower at Lingkou. The emperor cannot reach his fiefdom. I will rush into Jiankang tonight, occupy Taicheng, kidnap the queen mother and the new emperor, and then welcome the emperor back to the capital."
, if he has a ready-made throne, what else can he say?"
All the disciples were flattering and complimenting each other, praising Master Lu for his wisdom and martial prowess. However, one disciple asked: "Master, how many people can we gather to attack the city tonight?"
Lu Chang said: "There are five hundred people."
The disciple hesitated and said, "Can five hundred people attack the city?"
Lu Chang scolded: "Cao Cangshu, why are you so timid? You must be dishonest in your devotion to the emperor. Otherwise, with the emperor's protection, invulnerable to fire and water, and invulnerable to swords and guns, why should you be afraid?"
The disciple named Cao Cangshu felt ashamed and said: "Master's teaching is correct, I will go and confess to Emperor Shuiguan now."
Lu Chang nodded and said: "Go, as long as you are sincere, you will be protected by the emperor. What's more, I have lived in Taicheng for a long time and know the strength of the guards at each palace gate. As for building Kangcheng, the Guangmomen area is just a fence.
An earthen wall can fall down with just a few pieces of wood."
But he said that the disciple of Tianshi Dao named Cao Cangshu was originally a tenant of Gu's manor in Baoshishan. He only followed Lu Song to seek blessings and eliminate disasters, and not to be bullied by his neighbors. He never thought of attacking the city and rebelling and becoming a high official.
I don’t really believe what Lu said about being invulnerable to water and fire. He often cut his hands while chopping firewood. He almost drowned in the water one day before the Dragon Boat Festival this year. How can he be invulnerable and impervious to water and fire? Of course, Lu Song told these
It was all due to his insincere intention to pay respect to the three officials and the emperor, but how come his own hands were also burned?
Cao Cangshu was a bit scheming and knew that following Lu Song to attack the city and kidnap the emperor would be a grave crime for the empress dowager without a burial place. Moreover, there were only 500 people. How could he succeed? He had an ugly wife and young children at home, so he couldn't die in vain like this——
Cao Cangshu took advantage of the break to pray for the Shuiguan Emperor and quietly slipped out of Meilong Town and fled back to Baoshi Mountain. Halfway there, he heard the sound of horse hooves and hurriedly hid in the bushes by the roadside, where he saw Xu Long and another Lu Song.
The capable disciple galloped past. If discovered by these two people, his body and head must be missing——
Cao Cangshu hid in the bushes and gasped secretly. He was lucky to have escaped, but suddenly he thought, what if Xu and Long chased him to his home in Baoshishan but couldn't find him and killed his wife and children in a rage?
?
When Cao Cangshu was so anxious that he was trembling with fear, he heard the sound of the horse's hooves coming back again. From a distance, he heard Xu Long say: "That boy Cao Cangshu is as timid as a mouse and can't escape quickly. That's all. Let's not pursue him. Master, important matters are important."
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Another disciple asked: "What will happen if Cao Cangshu reports to the government?"
Xu Long said: "I'm sorry that rat is not as courageous as a dog, and we are about to follow Master to Jiankang. Even if he thinks of going to report, it will be too late. But I don't think that idiot Cao Cangshu knows where to report. He will go wherever the government office is."
I don’t know, haha.”
Another disciple said: "After I help Master achieve great things, I will come back to deal with him."
Horse hooves raised dust and quickly disappeared.
Cao Cangshu climbed out of the bushes, stood on the road and looked in the direction of Baoshi Mountain, and then in the direction where Xu Long and his two men were leaving. Gritting his teeth, he found a path and rushed to Tangshan Dong'an Temple. He recognized the ugly monk Zhi Fahan from Dong'an Temple.
, knowing that Zhi Fahan had contacts with high-ranking officials in the capital, he recognized Zhi Fahan without recognizing other officials.
Cao Cangshu rushed to Tangshan Dong'an Temple with sweat profusely. It was already late afternoon, and Zhi Fahan was copying the Diamond Sutra in the meditation room. Cao Cangshu broke in, knelt down, gasped, wiped his sweat, and talked about Lu intermittently.
The matter of plotting rebellion——
Zhi Fahan was shocked. Although he lived in a mountain temple, he was also well aware of the recent changes in Jiankang City. This matter was of great concern. He immediately led Cao Cangshu to see his master Zhi Daolin. Zhi Daolin ordered Zhi Fahan to
Han quickly went to the city to report the news, and said: "This credit should be given to Qian Tang and Chen Tanyue. This is a blessing."
Zhi Fahan said happily: "This disciple thinks so too."
Cao Cangshu stayed at Dong'an Temple, and Zhi Fahan led a horse down the mountain, rode on the road and galloped towards Jiankang City.
Dong'an Temple in Tangshan is more than forty miles away from Jiankang City. Zhi Fahan urged his horse to hurry up. He had not ridden a horse since losing his white horse to Chen Caozhi last year. His riding skills were unfamiliar and his yellow horse was not used to running long distances.
The road, so there were quite a lot of twists and turns along the way. When we arrived at Jiankang City, it was already the twilight hour. It got dark early in mid-October. It was already twilight at the twilight hour, and the lights in the city were lighting up one after another——
Seeing that the city was calm as usual, Zhifahan calmed down a little, jumped off his horse, and led the horse for a walk. The horse was kept in the mountain temple. It was the first time that it had been so tired. After driving for forty miles, it was considered tenacious not to fall to the ground.
When they rushed to the Gu Mansion, they heard that Chen Caozhi was in Chen's East Garden on the bank of the Qinhuai River. Zhi Fahan asked the servants of the Gu Mansion to lead the way, and hurried to the Qinhuai River. When he saw Chen Cao, it was already the beginning of Xushi.
Fahan hurriedly reported the news of Lu Song's rebellion, saying that one of Lu Song's disciples had tipped him off.
Chen Caozhi urgently ordered Ran Sheng, and Su Qi led his sergeants and private soldiers to pack up their weapons and stand by. He rushed to see Xi Chao first. After all, there was no movement in the city yet. He couldn't take Ran Sheng with him that night. Su Qi was holding on to his weapons.
He rushed to Taicheng rashly, otherwise he would be impeached and framed, and he would be doomed.
After Xi Chao listened to Chen Cao's words, he did not dare to neglect, and said: "Mao Anzhi, the general of Suwei Zhonglang, lives nearby. He is not on duty tonight. You come with me to see him, and he can mobilize the palace guards."
Before Xi Chao and Chen Caozhi arrived at Mao An's residence, they had already heard faint noises and commotion coming from the east of the city. Knowing that something had happened, the two of them rushed into Mao An's residence without waiting for notification——
Mao Anzhi, the general of the Suwei Zhonglang, was drinking and laughing with his wife and concubines. Suddenly he heard Xi Chao calling his cousin loudly in the courtyard. He was startled and hurried out of the room. When he learned what happened, he led a few soldiers to rush out.
Go to Taicheng.
Ran Sheng and Su Qi heard the commotion in the east of the city and knew that Lu Song was indeed plotting a rebellion, so they led the crowd to join Chen Caozhi and followed Mao Anzhi to Taicheng.