Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 231 Kill the Angel!

Yecheng, Zhangshui.

A group of knights galloped along the shore. The sound of horse hooves was drowned out by the sound of rushing water. In the bushes on the left, countless birds and beasts were startled.

Heba Cheng reined in his horse, and his confidants who followed him stopped immediately.

Heba Cheng gasped for breath and looked around to make sure there were no ambushes. Then he slowly looked at his trusted men.

It seems that someone among these people leaked secrets.

Just as he was about to deal with He Shikai, He Shikai sent someone to summon him. Heba Cheng was frightened. Realizing that the matter was exposed, he promised the other party that he would go to meet him, then led everyone and escaped from the back door on horseback, all the way out of Yecheng.

His family is still at the frontier, so there is nothing to worry about.

And with his status, it was not difficult for him to enter and exit the city gate.

But what made him most uncomfortable was that among these close followers in front of him, someone seemed to have betrayed him. Was it them, or the people he had already sent out?

Heba Cheng didn't want to think so. He kept a straight face and said nothing.

The confidant asked: "Master, where are we going?!"

"He Shikai already knows about this. If we stay in Yecheng, we will die. My uncle will never offend He Shikai for my sake."

Heba Cheng analyzed the situation and said, "Let's go to Cheng'an first, meet Lu Qubing, and find out the situation. Then we can find a way to go to Shuozhou and make other plans!"

He looked at everyone again. He really wanted to ask them face to face: Who betrayed him and why?

He was silent for a moment, and finally did not ask.

They rested for a while, and then rushed towards Cheng'an again without stopping.

And inside the mansion.

He Shikai sat in the upper seat with a gloomy face. As he listened to the soldiers' reports, his face became even uglier.

Heba Cheng really ran away.

What these two said is true!!
He Shikai gritted his teeth and looked at Zheng Daoqian who was standing aside, "Mr. Zheng, calculate their location for me. I'm going to send someone to kill them!"

Zheng Daoqian immediately began to perform a ritual. For a simple calculation like this, it seemed that he didn't need any magical tools. He just used his fingers and muttered something. After a while, he said firmly, "He ran to Cheng'an!"

He Shikai looked at the servant behind him, "Someone come here!!"

Zhang Siyan laughed, "He Gong, don't be anxious."

"How about it, do you believe me now? Are you still willing to cooperate with us?"

He Shikai rubbed his hands and looked at Zheng Daoqian who was standing beside him. Zheng Daoqian nodded slowly. He gritted his teeth and advised, "Mr. He, Liu Cangtou is a wicked villain. How did he humiliate you in the past? Have you forgotten?"

"Now that we have such a strong support, isn't this the best opportunity to get rid of Liu Cangtou?"

He Shikai looked at Zhang Siyan and said, "Okay, I agree."

"But you must obey me in everything and report everything to me."

"That's natural."

"Help me kill Heba Cheng first."

"Lord He, Heba Cheng is an incompetent and mediocre person, not worth mentioning. His uncle is the current Taibao, and he is from a noble family. You don't have any evidence now, so if you want to kill him, it will probably not be easy."

He Shikai narrowed his eyes and said "oh".

Zheng Daoqian on the side saw clearly that He Shikai had no intention of killing Heba Cheng at all. Otherwise, when he sent people to summon him, he should have sent soldiers along. At worst, he could have ambushed him at the city gate. But he did not do that. He just made a small test to let Heba Cheng reveal his thoughts, and what he just said was another test of him.

He Shikai must have known that the other party was Wei Xiaokuan's subordinate. He said he wanted to kill Heba Cheng, but he was just testing him. He wanted to see whether the other party was really here to kill Liu Taozi or use him to cause sabotage. Killing Heba Cheng would definitely not be of much benefit to He Shikai.

Zheng Daoqian perked up again, but he must not relax. He was right not to interfere in Heba Cheng's affairs.

Seeing He Shikai open up to me, but I didn't even know what he was conspiring with Cui Ang! !
He Shikai asked again: "So are you going to let Heba Cheng go?"

Zhang Siyan said, "Lord He, Heba Cheng is not important. The first thing you need to do now is to send a trusted person to lead troops to Cheng'an to capture Lu Qubing and the people of Zhangjia Village."

"These people are the most important to Liu Taozi. If we bring them back to Yecheng and temporarily detain them, Liu Taozi will not dare to commit murder. This will give us a 20% chance of success!"

He Shikai shook his head. "Liu Taozi doesn't care about the lives of these people. He doesn't even care about the life and death of his grandfather."

"No, Liu Taozi cares a lot. It is because he cares too much that he pretends to ignore it. His confidants in Cheng An frequently contact him, but he never replies or sends anyone to contact them. This is all to protect Cheng An's confidants."

"The rest of the trusted ones are easy to deal with, except for Lu Qubing, who is Liu Taozi's confidant! He is currently in Cheng'an, which is closest to Yecheng. He is winning over the people in Cheng'an, recruiting soldiers and horses, and has close contacts with the border areas. If there is any change, he can rush to Yecheng within half a day."

He Shikai pursed his lips and said, "You may not know that in this temple, it is not just me who has the final say, nor is it just His Majesty who has the final say."

"Gao Yun attaches great importance to Lu Qubing and has praised him twice this year. I can't kill him."

Zhang Siyan slowly sat aside and said calmly: "I heard that Gao Guiyan is still imprisoned in Yecheng. Lu Qubing seems to have been recommended by Gao Guiyan?"

He Shikai's eyes lit up, "If he is involved in treason, or knows about it but doesn't report it, then Gao Yu won't be able to protect him."

"You have driven Lu Yao, Wang Xi, Cui Jishu and others out of the central government before. This is very good. Although Gao Yin is in the court now, he has almost no contact with Liu Taozi. No one is helping Liu Taozi. Then we can defeat them one by one."

"Liu Taozi's harm is far greater than Yang Zhong's."

"As for military affairs, Yang Zhong will teach him, and as for government affairs, you have to teach him."

"It's better to overwhelm him and make him lose both."

"Those in the temple who are close to Liu Taozi must be beaten for the time being!"

He Shikai said quietly, "Liu Taozi is very powerful. Duan Shao, Lou Rui, Hulu Guang, Hulu Xian, Gao Changgong, and Gao Yanzong are all very close to him. It's not easy to attack him."

"I previously suggested that Gao Anagong lead the troops, and Duan Shao directly let Gao Changgong be his deputy general. Gao Changgong is a prince, how can Gao Anagong suppress him?!"

"This matter is not easy to handle."

"He Gong is confused."

Zhang Siyan smiled and said, "Duan Shao, Lou Rui and others can be sent to Pingyang to guard against the powerful enemy there. Hulugu is in charge of Bingzhou. He never interferes in government affairs, so there is no need to worry. As for Gao Changgong and Gao Yanzong, they are just boys. They can only act arrogantly as princes. To suppress them, we only need to send a prince who is close to Liu Taozi but not close to him."

"Bo Ling King Gao Ji is in Dingzhou now. You can ask him to bring his men to join Gao Anagong. With him in charge, what do we have to fear from Gao Changgong and Gao Yanzong?"

He Shikai licked his lips, "King of Bo Ling"

This Prince of Boling Gao Ji was the twelfth son of Emperor Shenwu. He was different from Gao Yan, Gao Yu and others mainly because he was born to Empress Dowager Lou.

It is for this reason that he and Gao Zhan are excellent allies, and their relationship is much closer than those guys who have the same father but different mother.

He Shikai was very excited about the suggestion given by the other party, but he was a little worried that King Boling could not control Gao Changgong and others.

The mental state of King Bo Ling, Gao Ji, was not very stable.

When Emperor Wenxuan was still alive, Gao Ji followed the emperor to go out to fight. Halfway through the journey, he vaguely saw his mother's figure and missed her so much that he ran away. The emperor was furious and took out a knife to kill him. Since then, Gao Ji has been in a trance from time to time. He has consulted many famous doctors, but none of them could cure him.

However, there were not many princes who were close to the emperor at the moment, so He Shikai gritted his teeth and agreed with the other party's idea.

Let him suppress Gao Changgong!
He Shikai said again: "The generals' affairs are easy to deal with, but what about this biggest problem?"

"Who will suppress Gao Yu? Or how to drive him out? Remove him from office?"

Zhang Siyan recalled the general's instructions in the letter, "If there is no way to drive him away, then He Gong will take His Majesty away and leave him in Yecheng, right?"

He Shikai stood up suddenly, "What do you mean?"

"Your Majesty, take some of your trusted followers to Jinyang, leave Gao Yu and others in Yecheng, and then you can deal with Liu Taozi without reservation."

Zheng Daoqian sat aside, sweating profusely.

He Shikai walked out of the mansion and drove hurriedly to Gao Guiyan's mansion.

Gao Guiyan's bustling mansion has not changed at all from the outside, with its tall courtyard walls, magnificent golden buildings, and lush forests protecting the walls.

The soldiers, armed with weapons, patrolled back and forth around the courtyard wall.

He Shikai drove directly into the mansion.

The mansion, which was bustling before, became extremely quiet at this moment. No one could be seen inside. It was quiet everywhere. Occasionally, there were soldiers walking back and forth, and the collision of armors made the atmosphere in the mansion even more solemn. He Shikai walked towards the backyard under the guidance of the soldiers.

The further you go in, the more you can feel the desolation.

A luxurious but empty mansion.

The soldier pushed open the door and walked into the house.

Gao Guiyan was sitting on the bed, with two soldiers staring at him at the door. Gao Guiyan was not tied up and was still staying in his house, but he looked haggard and particularly miserable.

Hearing the door open, he looked up sharply.

He Shikai bowed and greeted him with a smile, "Greetings, Your Majesty."

"What are you here for?"

"I came to see the king. His Majesty asked me to ask you why you wanted to rebel?"

Gao Guiyan trembled, and he quickly stood up and defended himself, "I have never rebelled. It's just that Gao Yuanhai and other villains are ranked above me, so this happened. If Your Majesty had asked Gao Rui to come, how could I have started a rebellion?"

He Shikai nodded, "Your Majesty, I have something good to say right now."

"If the king is willing to help me, I am also willing to help the king."

"Oh?"

"I heard that when the king started his army, he wrote a letter to Cheng'an Ling Lu Qubing, asking him to help, and he agreed to it. Is that true?"

He Shikai looked straight at Gao Guiyan, and Gao Guiyan immediately understood.

At this moment, Gao Guiyan frowned and looked dazed.

There was a moment when he remembered himself leading the army to attack the powerful enemy, and when he was full of vigor and vitality and commanded the country.
Looking at Gao Guiyan who had fallen silent, He Shikai said with a smile: "It's just a small favor, it's just a matter of a word from you, and what you are facing now is just a matter of a word from me."

Gao Guiyan clenched his fists several times and unclenched them several times.

He slowly raised his head, his lips were trembling, his eyes became exceptionally sharp, and his whole body, which had been curled up, stretched out.

"I am different from you, Qihu. I am the King of Qin of the Great Qi. I was appointed as a general based on my military merits. I will not survive by murdering others."

He Shikai saw deep contempt for himself in his eyes.

He raised his head and laughed, "I really wasted my time. For something like this, a letter would have been enough. I came to you specially, hoping to save your life, but I never thought that the king would be so courageous."

"Okay, okay, I won't forget to offer sacrifices to the king next year!"

He Shikai stood up and left with disdain.

It doesn’t matter what Gao Guiyan says. I’ve met him already, so it’s up to me to decide. If that doesn’t work, I can just find a copy of the letters they exchanged.

The next step was to pay a visit to the emperor and begin implementing Wei Xiaokuan’s many suggestions.

The first was to capture Lu Qubing and the people from Zhangjia Village.

Chengan.

A group of knights hurriedly came to the city wall.

The leader held a staff in his hand, his eyes glaring with anger, and behind him followed more than a hundred light cavalrymen, all wearing light armor.

The soldiers at the city gate were horrified when they saw the flagpole. They crawled on the ground and dared not move. The group of people rushed directly into the city.

There were many bloody heads hanging on the city wall, floating in the wind, watching these light cavalry rush into the city.

For a moment, Cheng'an was in chaos, and the original peaceful and harmonious atmosphere was rudely interrupted by these knights.

The vendors fled in all directions and the people wailed, but they did not slow down and just rushed forward recklessly. If anyone blocked their way, they would be killed under the horses' hooves.

They rushed to the government office.

They stopped their horses in front of the government office, and the angel stepped forward quickly, shouting, "Cheng'an, order Lu Qubing to come out quickly to receive the order!!"

The government office was already in chaos.

The messenger waited for a while, and then Lu Qubing led everyone out of the office quickly.

After walking out of the office, Lu Qubing looked towards the official road.

There were many corpses lying in the distance, and the bloodstains on the ground extended all the way, and Lu Qubing didn't know where they could extend to.

His face turned pale instantly.

The messenger was equally angry. He raised his staff again and said, "Lu Qubing! I am Wang Songzhi of the Yellow Gate, holding the Emperor's scepter. Why don't you bow down when you see it?!"

Lu Qubing put away his anger, looked at Wang Songzhi calmly, and bowed deeply.

Wang Songzhi did not even show the imperial edict. He shouted to Lu Qubing: "Someone revealed that Gao Guiyan had written to you, asking you to help him rebel!!"

"Your Majesty has issued an order! Arrest Lu Qubing immediately and bring him back to Yecheng for interrogation!"

Lu Qubing then raised his head and asked, "Who exposed it?"

Wang Songzhi raised his head slightly, "This has nothing to do with you."

He had some grudges with Lu Qubing. When Lu Qubing was the Imperial Censor, he impeached him for taking bribes, which almost led to Wang Songzhi being killed. Fortunately, he later defected to He Shikai and got another chance to stand out.

But now, he was holding the Emperor's scepter and could take revenge on Lu Qubing openly.

Let you hurt me again!
Look how I torture you along the way!!

Wang Songzhi's eyes were full of pride.

The knights on his left and right dismounted and walked up to capture Lu Qubing.

At this moment, Lu Qubing suddenly drew out his long sword and threw it at Wang Songzhi, "Puchi~~"

The long sword immediately pierced into Wang Songzhi's chest.

Wang Songzhi covered his chest and looked at Lu Qubing in disbelief. He raised the staff in his hand and wanted to say something, but then he fell to the ground with a bang.

"The thief forged the imperial edict! Catch the fake Zhou spy!!"

Lu Qubing shouted loudly, and the next moment, a large group of armored soldiers rushed out of the government office. Heba Cheng led these people and collided directly with the light cavalry in front. The soldiers of Cheng'an were different from the soldiers in other places. They were much more elite, and these light cavalry in front of them obviously had no advantage in street fighting. The armored soldiers knocked down these cavalrymen almost in an instant.

They never thought that Lu Qubing would dare to kill officials and rebel. Some people wanted to escape, but cavalry came from three intersections to encircle them. After a while, these more than a hundred light cavalrymen either died or surrendered.

Heba Cheng wiped the blood off his face and walked quickly to Lu Qubing's side.

He was shaking all over.

They had just killed the envoy holding the emperor's scepter, a crime no less serious than Gao Guiyan's.

There was something wrong in the look he gave Lu Qubing.

After Heba Cheng arrived in Cheng'an, Lu Qubing conspired with him. Lu Qubing acted decisively, believing that the emperor and General Anxi could no longer live in harmony. He immediately lured the Cheng'an Wei and the county magistrate sent by Gao Zhan into the mansion and killed them directly.

Heba Cheng had heard of Lu Qubing's name many times, and he always said that he was a kind and generous person with a benevolent demeanor.

Only after seeing them in person did I realize that they were all fake!!
The speed of the action was so swift and the actions were so brutal!
What kind of benevolence is this?

Lu Qubing looked at Heba Cheng and said, "Lord Heba, I have sent people to prepare everyone. General Anxi and the families of his men are now gathered at the South Gate. You can take them on a detour. Here is the map."

"It's impossible to take them to Shuozhou. Many of them are elderly, and Shuozhou is too far away."

"Take them to Liyang. There is a village there. It is empty and has no living people."

"I have sent someone to contact Liyang Governor Shi Yao. Mr. Shi is one of us. General Anxi has praised him many times. He can be trusted. You can protect them and hide them in Liyang. Don't act rashly and wait for news from us."

Heba Cheng frowned and said, "Why don't you come with me? This will kill the angel, and you will only die if you stay."

Lu Qubing shook his head and said, "I won't leave. I have important things to do."

"It's not that the Great Qi is without wise men. The wise and ambitious people are united in purpose and are not afraid of any tyrants or corrupt officials."

(End of this chapter)