Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 527: The Two Faces of Loyal Minister and Traitor

Wugun Yuanzhong still lived on the tower of the north gate.

To be honest, this kind of castle-like building that focuses on defense has never been a good place to live.

As the saying goes, if you want to disgust the enemy, you must first disgust yourself. The stairs to the city wall are built high and steep, with almost no windows, just shooting holes for crossbow arrows. In order to prevent fire, rammed earth and bricks are mainly used, making it cool in winter and warm in summer.

But Wugulun Yuanzhong was convinced that Heaven had bestowed upon him a great responsibility, and he would give him a beating first. As the saying goes, those who endure the most hardships become the best. Without this experience, how could he possibly stand before his father-in-law in the future?

Wanyan Yong naturally would not treat his son-in-law badly. After hearing that Ugun Yuanzhong had worked hard to stabilize the situation in Bianliang for him, he immediately sent envoys and knights to protect this trusted minister.

However, because Wanyan Yong was still troubled by the Liao border defense at this time, the number of people coming to support him was not large, only 200 armored cavalry in total.

The leader of these 200 cavalrymen was a general with a command of 10,000 households, Lu Wanjianu, and his deputy was Shi Ju Shi Zimei who volunteered.

These two people can be considered as meritorious officials who followed the emperor. Although they were not as lucky as Wanyan Fushou, they also made great efforts after Wanyan Yong was captured by Hesheli Liangbi.

This is a timely help. If Wanyan Yong wants to continue to gain people, he must treat them well.

Moreover, Bianliang was too important. It was not only the strategic fulcrum of the entire Henan area, but also related to the survival and life of hundreds of thousands of troops. As a result, the two had to set off quickly after attending the hasty coronation ceremony and rush to the Central Plains at full speed.

At this time, Wugu Lun Yuanzhong was on the city wall, facing Lu Wanjianu and Shi Ju, and told them what had happened in the past few days.

"So, Minister Liang Qiu hasn't even managed to win over a husband these days and is just waiting and watching?" Shi Ju narrowed his eyes and asked in a low voice.

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong shook his head: "Not really, it's just that he has only been back a short time. Even if he wanted to win over Ni Liang's confidants on behalf of Your Majesty, he wouldn't know where to start. At least he can't make any promises on Your Majesty's behalf."

Lu Wan's slave asked, "General, couldn't he have just been perfunctory?"

Ugun Yuanzhong shook his head again: "No, because he did have a few good suggestions, but I rejected them."

Shi Ju said thoughtfully, "Is there any unusual movement from Minister Liang's side?"

"I'm keeping a close eye on it, and there's no unusual movement."

"Where is his cousin Liang Su?"

"Who?" Wu Gulun Yuanzhong didn't react: "Who are you talking about?"

Shi Ju shook his head upon seeing this. "Nothing, just my good junior apprentice. Forget about Liang Qiu. The most important thing right now is that brat Wanyan Guangying. Yuanzhong, have you found him?"

Wugun Yuanzhong sighed, "This is the key. There are tens of thousands of households in Bianliang, and there are several layers of underground. How can a young man like him be found if he wants to hide?"

Shi Ju said, "Yuan Zhong, don't you know he's a young man? Born in the palace and raised by women, how could he escape the palace without anyone noticing?

As long as we keep those powerful people under surveillance, I don't believe he can escape."

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong glanced at Shi Ju and his words became less polite: "Brother Zimei, do you think I didn't do it? But those guys are old foxes. Unless we raid their homes, how can we find the loopholes so easily?

Once the confiscation of property begins, Bianliang will immediately fall into chaos. Once the logistics are cut off, the hundreds of thousands of troops in Nanyang will be despised by Brother Zimei, but Your Majesty still wants them."

Shi Ju was not angry. "So this time we came here to read out His Majesty's decree and to bestow rewards upon the ministers of the Central Government. From now on, you will all be His Majesty's subjects, and then you can let Yuan Zhong search and find us. After all, you are also here under His Majesty's decree to wipe out the remnants of the previous dynasty, which is a serious matter.

By then, even the gentlemen won’t dare to disobey.”

"No need." Wugu Lun Yuanzhong saw through the crack in the gate that it was already afternoon. "At the latest in half an hour, several ministers in the court will bring their servants to the government hall and be protected by the soldiers brought by Liang Qiu, the Minister of State. Then I will take people to check them all out.

Or they could bring the prince out and test my judgment. If they try to get away with leaving the prince in an empty room, I can then conduct a thorough search. If anyone delays, it goes without saying that they are harboring the prince.

This is exactly why I didn't doubt Minister Liang. He did come up with a good idea for me.

After the gentlemen prove their innocence, I can apologize to them, and then we can reconcile and serve Your Majesty together. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Shi Ju was silent, and after a moment's thought, he said, "So, Minister Liang is so loyal?"

Wugulun Yuanzhong looked at the silent Lu Wan family slave, then looked at Shi Ju: "He is indeed so loyal, but he still has to change his allegiance. What future does Niliang have?"

Shi Ju said thoughtfully, "In that case, Yuanzhong, go quickly and bring our knights with you to help the gentlemen move."

Wu Gulun Yuanzhong was about to nod when he suddenly realized the discord in Shi Ju's words: "Brother Zimei, aren't you coming with me?"

Shi Ju stood up and stretched his body: "I haven't seen my junior brother for a long time, now is a good time to go and get closer to him."

Although Wugu Lun Yuanzhong knew that there must be something fishy going on, he was too lazy to care. He also stood up and said, "Brother Zimei, Bianliang City is in chaos right now. Bring a few more armored cavalry with you."

Shi Ju smiled and shook his head: "Two or three people will be enough. Can my good junior brother really kill me?"

Having said that, he stood up and left first.

Lu Wan's servant looked at Wugun Yuanzhong's face and said tentatively, "General, don't blame Minister Shi. Although he is a little arrogant, he is really capable."

Don't I know Shi Ju is capable? Do I need you to tell me?
Wugulun Yuanzhong wanted to say something like this, but seeing Lu Wanjianu's cautious look, he felt bored and could only sigh: "After all, these Han people and us Jurchens are not on the same page. The rule of the Great Jin still depends on people like the general."

Lu Wan's slave was overjoyed after hearing this.

Not to mention the mutual admiration between the two Jurchen nobles, on the other side, Liang Qiu and Liang Su were directing their families to pack some gold, silver, food, and bedding and load them onto a cart when they heard someone knocking on the door outside the mansion.

"Tell your minister that Shi Ju and Shi Zimei came uninvited and wanted to catch up with my good junior brother Meng Rong!"

Liang Su was slightly startled and immediately turned to Liang Qiu and said, "My senior brother is very thoughtful and has both positive and negative talents. I am not as good as him. When he comes in, everything will proceed as usual and I will deal with this guy."

As they were officials in the same dynasty, how could Liang Qiu not know Shi Ju?

It was just that their meetings were all for official business, and their personal relationship was just superficial. However, seeing Liang Su's attitude, Liang Qiu hurriedly nodded: "It's okay, even my mother doesn't know where we are going, how can Shi Zimei tell?"

Liang Su nodded randomly, sent his brother to the side yard, and personally went to the gate to greet Shi Ju.

"Meng Rong, why are you so late?" Shi Ju looked Liang Su up and down and said jokingly.

Liang Su knew his senior brother's temperament and rolled his eyes. "You are such a high-ranking official now, you come here just to tease me."

Shi Ju stepped forward and grabbed Liang Su's arm: "Alas... it's too much to call it entertainment. It's nothing more than a nuisance."

As he spoke, Liang Su took Shi Ju into the reception hall. After they sat down, it took him a while to find a teapot and pour a cup of hot tea for Shi Ju.

As soon as he took a sip, Shi Ju started to find fault: "Your Liang family is considered a wealthy family in Fengsheng Prefecture, so why are you so short of money? I, the Minister, came to visit you, and you, a commoner, came to greet me, and the host didn't even come out. How rude!"

Liang Su said angrily, "I don't believe that with your vision, Zimei, you can't see the current situation in Bianliang. Speaking of which, didn't you go to Liaoyang Prefecture on business? When did you come back?"

Shi Ju sneered: "I just got back too."

"Although you are traveling in Bianliang as an official and don't even have any family around you, you do have your own mansion. How come you come to be a guest at the Liang Mansion?"

Faced with this question, Shi Ju was too lazy to play tricks: "Isn't it because I'm worried about my good junior brother in Bianliang?"

Liang Su shook his head: "What can I, a commoner, do?"

Shi Ju slammed the teacup in his hand and said, "Come on, don't I know what kind of person you are? I just asked you where Minister Liang was and why you didn't come to greet me in person, and why didn't you answer?"

Liang Su said helplessly, "Do you know how much has happened today? If this is just for throwing a tantrum, I'll fight you to the end someday. Today, I beg for mercy, please let me go."

Seeing that Shi Ju was just staring at him, Liang Su could only speak again, "Those armored cavalry were brought back by my elder brother, and they only recognize my elder brother. Now that several ministers and ministers have brought their families to temporarily live in the government hall, they should have soldiers to protect them and maintain order. How can I not show up?"

Shi Ju took another sip of tea and said with a smile, "This isn't just a temporary move. In my opinion, this is simply fleeing."

Liang Su said angrily, "You returned from Liaodong unscathed. Have you already pledged your loyalty to Duke Cao? Why didn't you go see Wugulun Yuanzhong before you met me? If you did, why are you pretending to be confused?"
After the gentlemen brought their families to the Council of State, if Yuan Zhong didn't immediately incite the mob to storm into the various mansions and conduct searches, I would have written the word "Liang" backwards.

But after all this trouble, not only will we lose all our wealth, but we might even lose this house. If we don't take everything away, will we leave you all to starve?"

Shi Ju laughed heartily: "I was just joking with you, don't take it as an offense, don't take it as an offense."

On the other side, Liang Qiu had already galloped out of the side door with his armored cavalry and headed north along the avenue. The person in charge of following them quickly passed the news to Ugun Yuanzhong.

But what the stalkers didn't notice was that among the dozens of armored cavalrymen, there was already a new face. "Minister Liang, my general has asked me to be at your disposal."

After turning a corner, a Jurchen man also wearing full body armor approached and said, "My name is Bali. My general asked me to tell the minister that 300 armored cavalrymen have been ambushed by the city gate and will charge in immediately when the fireworks go off.

"But I hope the Minister will launch the attack quickly. If there is no signal before the city gates close in the evening, then we will have no choice but to charge in. We will kill Wugu Lun Yuanzhong first, and then slowly search for the crown prince."

Liang Qiu nodded, feeling somewhat helpless.

Originally, these things were to be discussed with Liang Su in the dark room, but who would have thought that Shi Ju's sudden visit disrupted everything.

Plans cannot keep up with changes, so we have to take it one step at a time.

Liang Qiu was anxious in his heart, but he did not show it on his face. He just took his armored cavalry to the home of Shangshu Ling Zhang Hao, ready to protect him and take him to the Council of State for settlement.

However, just as he sat down in the somewhat empty hall and before he had time to exchange a few words of greeting, cavalrymen came at full speed and rushed directly into Zhang's mansion.

As the horse crossed the threshold, it stumbled and fell to the ground, dragging its rider with it and rolling twice. He finally endured the excruciating pain that felt like his body was about to fall apart and shouted, "Prince Zhang! Prince Zhang! Someone has discovered the Crown Prince in Prince Xiao's residence! A servant of the Xiao family has come forward to report us! General Yuanzhong is already on his way with his troops!"

The sound was deafening, and everyone who heard it was shocked and amazed.

Liang Qiu felt as if his head exploded, a chaotic mix of sounds filled the air, and his ears were ringing.

After planning for so long, are we going to give up all our efforts just because a traitor shows up?
wrong.

Liang Qiu quickly calmed down.

It would be fine if they were discovered during the transfer, but the timing now is just too coincidental.

Why didn't you report it earlier or report it later, but had to do something strange at this time?

Thinking of this, Liang Qiu shook his head at the armored cavalryman, then grabbed Zhang Hao's arm and said, "Mr. Zhang, let's go quickly!"

After his initial shock, Zhang Hao became dejected. "What are you looking at? Are you looking at how that Wugu Lun Yuanzhong forces the Crown Prince to kill? Or are you looking at Xiao Yu's rants? It's useless, useless..."

Seeing Zhang Hao's decadent look, Liang Qiu stamped his feet repeatedly, but did not dare to delay, and directly led dozens of armored cavalry under his command to rush towards the Xiao Mansion.

There were panicked passers-by all along the way, which made Liang Qiu even more anxious.

By the time they saw the outline of the Xiao Mansion, the surroundings were under martial law. Seeing a knight rushing over, the soldier raised his spear and forced Liang Qiu to stop.

Liang Qiu was anxious, but he still patiently revealed his identity and entered the encirclement. When he arrived at the Xiao Mansion, the battle had already begun, and more than 200 soldiers were besieging it from all sides.

Wugulun Yuanzhong was smart enough not to call all the soldiers guarding the city gate, fearing that he would fall into a trap of luring the tiger away from the mountain. Therefore, only the 200 reinforcements brought by Lu Wan's slaves were fighting hard to attack the courtyard wall.

Xiao Yu was a Xi person and a member of the tribal aristocracy. Therefore, his family naturally had the habit of raising private soldiers.

Although he had washed away some of his barbaric nature after becoming the prime minister, he still had dozens of fierce soldiers in his house. Not only did they guard the gate of the courtyard firmly, they also stood behind the wall and shot arrows outward, forcing Lu Wan's slaves to retreat.

"General Yuanzhong, how could it have come to this?" Liang Qiu immediately put the blame on Wugulun Yuanzhong after arriving: "Do you really want to cause chaos in Bianliang City?"

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong's expression remained unchanged, but he directly scolded: "Han slave, what do you know? In order to prevent the country from being divided and into civil war, let alone the chaos in Bianliang today, even if all the people in Bianliang died, we can do it!"

Liang Qiu's face changed, but before he could refute, he heard Wu Gulun Yuanzhong continue: "Originally, I just wanted Xiao Yu to come out and discuss the matter face to face. It would be best if I could let my subordinates go into his mansion to take a look.

Yet he closed the door tightly and still shot arrows out. This is a confession! This old man must die today!"

As he spoke, Wugu Lun Yuanzhong shouted at the Lu Wan family slave who had retreated to his side and was reorganizing the team: "Did you receive orders from His Majesty to help me?!"

Lu Wan's slave was frantically pulling the arrows from his armor. He had no idea what Ugulun Yuanzhong was talking about, so he could only answer in a deep voice, "Yes!"

"So, is what I'm telling you now a proper military order?"

"It's a formal military order."

Several junior officers also looked over.

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong pointed at the Xiao Mansion and said, "Ni Liang has been captured by the southerners. This old man Xiao Yu only has one prince left, and he can still be loyal."

At this point, Wugun Yuanzhong's face was grim, and he shouted sternly: "Let me ask you again, are you here to help me under the military order of His Majesty?"

"Yes!!!"

This time it was not just Lu Wan's slaves who responded, many grassroots officers also raised their weapons in response.

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong also drew his sword: "Then let's kill Ni Liang's son and clear the obstacles for the country!"

As he spoke, Ugun Yuanzhong personally led his troops to launch a fierce attack.

Just when Liang Qiu was stunned for a moment, a soldier carrying a log that he had brought from somewhere smashed heavily on the gate of the mansion.

Thick smoke was also rising from the Xiao Mansion.

After all, the gate of the Xiao Mansion was not a city defense facility. After being hit several times, the door bolt was still intact, but the door hinge had broken, and the two doors collapsed.

"Go in! Go in!"

Wugun Yuanzhong brandished his long sword, pierced through the smoke and rushed in first.

Several arrows were shot head-on and pierced into Wugun Yuanzhong's armor, but he seemed unaware of it. He rushed into the group of lightly armored servants in the Xiao Mansion like a tiger among a flock of sheep, waving his long sword and flying his short limbs, and in an instant he cut a gap in the formation.

Seeing their commander so brave, the Jin soldiers were highly motivated and defeated the Xi warriors directly, chasing them all the way to the second hall.

At this time, the hall was filled with thick smoke and flames, and an old man with disheveled hair was pulling another young man with disheveled hair to stand in front of the fire, commanding the Xi warriors to fight back.

"Xiao Yu! You deserve to die today!" The two men were twenty steps apart when Wugun Yuanzhong pointed at the old man and cursed, "If the Great Jin Dynasty splits apart, you will be a sinner for all eternity."

Seeing Ugun Yuanzhong's attitude, the young man fell to the ground and burst into tears: "Master! Why do you want to kill me? Is this the loyalty and righteousness you always talk about?"

His voice was a little hoarse, but one could still hear the sorrow in the boy's words.

Wugu Lun Yuanzhong felt inexplicably sad.

He was the master of Crown Prince Wanyan Guangying, and taught him literary classics. He liked this well-behaved and intelligent apprentice very much, and Wanyan Guangying was also full of admiration for Ugurun Yuanzhong.

At this time, the two of them are standing on opposite sides, and it can only be said that it is fate.

"Guangying! This is what the world is about! Right or wrong doesn't matter! Your life, my life, are not important! The stability of the world is what matters!" Ugun Yuanzhong gritted his teeth and said, "So you deserve to die, and your father deserves to die too!"

The young man suddenly burst into tears.

Across from over thirty Xi warriors, Wugun Yuanzhong addressed Xiao Yu again, "Xiao Yu! Even though you've done something wrong, I can still protect you! As long as you kill the crown prince, I'll report to His Majesty and claim credit for your actions!"

"Hahahaha!" Xiao Yu, with disheveled hair, laughed out loud. "Yuanzhong, you've wasted this nice name! Since you don't know what loyalty and righteousness are, I'll show you!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yu helped Wanyan Guangying up and shouted, "You are His Majesty's son! Even if it means death, how can you bow to such a treacherous minister?!"

"I, an old minister, am incompetent and cannot do anything for Your Highness. I can only go downstairs and clear the way for Your Highness!"

As he spoke, Xiao Yu drew out his dagger and pointed it at Wugun Yuanzhong from a distance: "You traitors will be punished by heaven sooner or later!"

Then, Xiao Yu stabbed the young man's heart with the dagger and pushed him into the fire behind him.

"Xiao Yu! You! Push it over, push it over quickly!" Wugun Yuanzhong just shouted and quickly gave orders to his subordinates.

But it was too late.

Xiao Yu laughed loudly and inserted the dagger into his chest and abdomen. Then he turned around and staggered into the fire.

(End of this chapter)