Chapter 524: Youzhou Mutiny
Chapter 524: Youzhou Mutiny
In Youzhou, hundreds of cavalrymen closely escorted a carriage back to the governor's mansion, and a dozen personal guards escorted Youzhou Governor Li Jing into the mansion.
The General's Mansion was surrounded by soldiers on duty, holding spears and on high alert.
Half an hour later, a group of guards suddenly withdrew from the back door of the General's Mansion.
The front gate was heavily guarded, but for some reason the soldiers standing guard near the back gate were removed.
A light carriage quietly drove past the gate of the mansion, and a black shadow jumped from the top of the carriage onto the high wall. The carriage continued to move forward and soon disappeared into the darkness.
Not long after the carriage disappeared, nearly a hundred soldiers rushed out from the alley and continued to stand guard outside the high wall.
At this time, the carriage was parked in an alley less than a mile away from the General Manager's Mansion. The windows of the carriage were closed and the curtains were lowered. Inside the carriage was Yuan Wendu, who had appeared in Weizhou before.
At this time, Yuan Wendu had changed his clothes, wearing a gauze hat and a green robe, and was dressed just like an ordinary person.
He narrowed his eyes and waited patiently for news from Xiong Kuohai.
Xiong Kuohai was the number one assassin under Yang Yong back then. In the battle of Queshu Valley, Yang Jun was killed by his deputy general He Ruodong. Xiong Kuohai failed to protect Yang Jun and disappeared in the world out of guilt.
In recent years, Xiong Kuohai joined the Wagang Army and became a general of the Wagang Army. Last month, he was sent by the leader Zhai Rang to Weizhou to take over a business with a bounty of 5,000 taels of silver. The person offering the bounty was Yuan Wendu, who used the alias Du Wenyuan.
Five thousand taels of silver are not so easy to get. The target is to assassinate Li Jing, the governor of Youzhou. Even the masters sent by the Wagang Army are not allowed to do so. They must pass a background check to prove that they have the ability to take on this assassination business.
Yuan Wendu found out Xiong Kuohai's background and decided to give the reward to him.
Xiong Kuohai sneaked into Li Jing's mansion silently. He unexpectedly discovered that Li Jing's mansion was tight on the outside but loose on the inside. There was not a single guard in the backyard. This was because Li Jing did not like male guards to appear in his backyard. He hired more than a dozen female guards to protect his family. He himself was very skilled in martial arts, and ordinary assassins could not get close to him at all.
But Li Jing never expected that he would be facing the world's first assassin today. In the study, Li Jing was sitting on the couch reading a book. He suddenly felt a wind at the back of his head. He was shocked and instinctively lowered his head, but felt a sharp pain in his neck. His eyes went dark and he knew nothing.
A quarter of an hour later, a maid came in to serve tea, but found the master's headless body and blood all over the floor. She was so scared that she dropped her teacup and screamed in fear.
In the alley, Xiong Kuohai got into the carriage and handed a wooden box and a sword to Yuan Wendu. Yuan Wendu opened the box and looked at it, then drew out the Shangfang Emperor's Sword and smiled triumphantly.
He took out an envelope and handed it to him. Xiong Kuohai took the envelope and turned to leave. Yuan Wendu smiled and said, "There is another business deal. Do you want to take it?"
Xiong Kuohai shook his head, "It's not up to me to decide whether to accept the business or not!"
"Your leader has already agreed!"
"Tell me! What do you need me to do?"
"This business is to rescue your former master from Luoyang. Of course, you are not the only one participating."
Xiong Kuohai's eyes flashed with mixed emotions, but then he returned to normal and said calmly, "I can take it!"
"How did I find you?" Yuan Wendu asked.
"At Anping Inn in Luoyang, find a wealthy businessman named Xu."
After saying this, Xiong Kuohai's figure disappeared into the darkness.
Yuan Wendu immediately ordered the driver, "Go to General Luo's residence!"
The residence of General Luo is that of Luo Yi, the general of Youzhou Army. Luo Yi is currently one of the five generals of Youzhou Army and is currently in charge of 20,000 troops in Yingzhou.
Among the many generals in Youzhou, the Guanlong nobles took a fancy to Luo Yi, who was shrewd, ruthless, ambitious, and had no loyalty to the court. Yuan Wendu and Luo Yi hit it off immediately. Yuan Wendu was responsible for assassinating Li Jing and bribing officials, while Luo Yi was responsible for seizing power and establishing himself.
Yuan Wendu used three thousand strings of cash to bribe the on-duty captain Cheng An to leave his post for a quarter of an hour, which ultimately enabled Xiong Kuohai to succeed in the assassination.
Luo Yi was waiting in the lobby, fully armed and holding a bright silver spear. At this time, a personal soldier came running to report, "General, a carriage has arrived outside the mansion. The visitor's name is Du, and he said he has an appointment with you!"
Luo Yi picked up his plum blossom silver spear and walked quickly out of the mansion gate. After a moment, he walked out of the mansion gate, the curtain of the carriage opened, revealing Yuan Wendu's pale face.
"Where is the thing?" Luo Yi asked in a deep voice.
Yuan Wendu waved his hand and his attendants opened the door. There was a bloody box on the door. Luo Yi went forward to open the box. Inside was the head of General Li Jing. Luo Yi hurriedly looked at the right ear. There was a corner missing and a gold earring was inlaid.
Luo Yi was overjoyed, put down the head and clasped his fists, saying: "Thank you for your help, sir. If Luo Yi succeeds, I will never let you down!"
Yuan Wendu handed him the Shangfang Emperor's Sword and a forged secret decree, and said with a smile, "The military seal and the commander's seal are in the hands of Sima Zhang Gongjin. He is willing to support the general and wish the general success!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
At one o'clock in the morning, drums sounded in the Youzhou army camp. All the generals rushed to the central army tent. Each general had a solemn expression. They had all heard the rumor that something had happened to the general last night.
At this time, Generals Zhao Shizhu, Zhao Cihao, Helan Yi and Jin Wenyan hurried to the central army tent. They had learned last night that General Li Jing had been assassinated. The assassin was most likely from King Qi Yang Ling. The general had rejected King Qi's attempt to win him over before, and this was King Qi's revenge.
At this time, a captain came out and said to Zhao Shizhu and other generals, "General Luo invites the four generals to come into the tent to discuss matters!"
Zhao Shizhu glared, "Who the hell is this Luo? Do we need him to notify us of our income?"
Zhao Cihao and He Lanyi hurriedly said, "Brother, don't be angry first. Let's go in and see what tricks Mr. Luo wants to play."
The four of them walked into the big tent together, and saw Luo Yi sitting on the commander's seat, holding Li Jing's Shangfang Emperor's sword in his hand, and a tiger talisman and commander's seal were placed on the table.
Zhao Shizhu was furious. The tiger talisman and the commander's seal were in the hands of Sima Zhang Gongjin, so it was understandable that Luo Yi got them, but the Shangfang Emperor's Sword had always been carried by Li Jing, so how could it be in Luo Yi's hands?
"Mr. Luo, how come the great general's Shangfang Emperor is in your hands?"
Luo Yi said coldly: "I have the secret decree of the emperor. The general's wife gave me the sword. What's so strange about that?"
Zhao Shizhu was startled and asked quickly, "What secret order?"
Sima Zhang Gongjin took out the secret decree and handed it to Luo Yi. Luo Yi stared at Zhao Shizhu fiercely and said, "This is the secret decree given to me by the emperor. If you want to see it, just take it!"
Zhao Shizhu took a few steps forward and was about to take the secret decree when he suddenly realized something and took a step back and said, "Why would the emperor give you a secret decree? This must be fake!"
Luo Yi was furious and slammed the table, "Someone come!"
The slamming of the table was the signal, and more than twenty swordsmen rushed out from behind the curtains on both sides, surrounded Zhao Shizhu and attacked him with their swords. Zhao Shizhu was hacked to death on the spot.
General Jin Wenyan turned around to flee, but was stopped by Zhao Cihao and He Lanyi. Looking at their cold eyes, Jin Wenyan suddenly understood and immediately knelt down and said, "I am willing to support General Luo as the governor of Youzhou!"
A soldier stepped forward and handed Jin Wenyan a letter of allegiance. Jin Wenyan had no choice but to sign and seal it tremblingly. Now he was completely on board.
Zhao Shizhu's body was taken away, and Luo Yi shouted loudly: "Open the account and report!"
(End of this chapter)