Plan to cut off the nine states

Meng Nilun was sitting in front of the mansion, holding an unsheathed steel sword in his right hand. He stared blankly at the empty street. He was really bored and turned his gaze to the stone lion not far away. After a long time, he sneered: "What did you do back then?" Where's Wei Feng? You never showed mercy when you destroyed the country, but now it's your turn, can you stop it?"

As the sun set, Lei Dajun walked out of the mansion and said softly: "General Meng, we have gathered all the people. There are one hundred and sixty-seven people in total, including Mrs. Lan, the general's thirty-nine concubines, and young children. Seven people, and the rest are slaves in the mansion. It is said that this is only a small number, and most of the concubines fled the east capital with the general of the Chinese army and disappeared. "

Meng Nilun stood up slowly and said, "Take the child away and choose an old maid to take care of it. The others will stay."

"Yes." Lei Dajun responded excitedly and immediately carried out the order.

Meng Nilun walked into the General's Mansion. Behind him, the soldiers closed the door, lowered the latch, and blocked it with two prepared logs. Even if outsiders came, they would not be able to open the door for a while. Then they followed The generals also drew their swords from their sheaths.

Nearly two hundred people gathered in the hall, which was unusual in the General's Mansion. Some slaves saw Mrs. Lan and all the concubines for the first time since entering the manor. Normally, they would never be in the same room with their master.

There was silence in the hall, everyone understood that this gathering was by no means simple, and secretly comforted themselves that with King Wu here, the rebels would not go too far.

When the seven children were taken away by a wet nurse, everyone's ominous premonition became stronger and they involuntarily moved closer to Mrs. Lan, hoping to get protection from her.

Mrs. Lan was sitting upright, and she was the only one sitting.

Meng Nilun led his troops in, and everyone held a knife in their hands. No need for verbal threats and ferocious looks, it was enough to scare everyone into panic, like a piece of weeds blown down - some people actually sat down on the ground.

"Don't be afraid." Meng Nilun said with a smile, handed the knife to the soldier, and stepped forward. The crowd automatically separated, and he came to Mrs. Lan.

Mrs. Lan was the only one who remained calm and said calmly: "Is your Excellency General Meng, a subordinate of King Wu?"

"It's me."

"General Meng came to my house to summon all the people in the house. I wonder if they have any advice? But on the order of the King of Wu?"

Meng Nilun did not answer. He turned his eyes to the concubines on both sides. After looking at them once, he said to Mrs. Lan: "The general is lustful by nature. Wherever he goes, he will search for beauties and bring them home. Doesn't Mrs. Lan have any trouble?" "

"Men can handle their own affairs without asking us women."

"Hey, Mrs. Lan is a good wife. You are right, men deal with men's matters themselves. Those who were snatched away by the general also had men behind them."

Mrs. Lan glanced at the people on both sides, "They were all bought or sent by others, and they were snatched side by side. Since the unification of the world, the law has been strict, and even the general cannot rob people at will."

"Haha. The general is a law-abiding general, so that's even better. Since nothing was stolen, everyone must be innocent."

A young concubine interjected in a trembling voice: "I, I was robbed."

Meng Nilun walked up to her and asked, "Where are you from? Why were you robbed?"

"I, I am a native of Yecheng, Jizhou. Because of my beauty, I was taken into the mansion by the governor Zhou and Zhou Guanqiang when I was fourteen. He taught me...taught me piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. I was sent here when I was seventeen... …”

"How old are you?"

"Two, twenty-three."

"Six years, you have stayed in the General's Mansion for six years."

Concubine Ji nodded and tried her best to smile, hoping to please the other party.

"Who else is home?"

"No more. My widowed mother was killed by Governor Zhou long ago."

"In that case, why don't you take revenge?"

"ah?"

"Both the Governor of Zhou and the General are your mother-killing enemies. You have been around them for a long time, have you ever tried to take revenge?"

"I, I am weak and young, so I can't take revenge..."

"You are considered young when you are fourteen, but you are not young when you are seventeen. I am afraid that you are greedy for a wealthy life and have forgotten revenge."

"I am a woman...how can I know how to take revenge?"

"Someone understands."

Meng Nilun walked back to Mrs. Lan, and Lei Dajun strode towards the concubine. He said "It's a pity" in his mouth, raised his knife and chopped her to the ground.

Although they had had a premonition, everyone in the mansion was still frightened by this scene, and they all knelt down and begged for mercy.

Mrs. Lan could no longer maintain her composure, her face suddenly changed, "King Wu asked you to kill someone?"

"It's not the King of Wu, it's the general." Meng Nilun's tone was still calm, "The general killed countless people in his life, and now it will all be returned to him."

Mrs. Lan was both frightened and angry, "The general is outside the city. You have swords and guns. Why don't you go and seek revenge on him?"

"I will go, but not now. The general also has to experience the hardships of the world."

"Where is King Wu? I don't believe King Wu would give this order."

"The King of Wu didn't know about it. We came here behind his back. This is the last time I took matters into my own hands. You see, it's going to be dark, and I will commit suicide to apologize. When you go to the underworld, you will call me Meng Nilun when you file a complaint." His name has nothing to do with King Wu."

Mrs. Lan's anger disappeared, leaving only fear. The person in front of her was too calm, as if she was determined to die. There was no way to persuade, induce or threaten such a person.

"The general has many concubines. As many as you kill, he will find as many as he wants. He won't feel bad at all."

"Who knows?" Meng Senglun sighed and turned to leave the hall. Everyone was puzzled, but when they saw the soldier at the door holding a knife, they knew that their death was coming.

Meng Senglun took his knife, but did not participate in the killing. Instead, he walked outside, listened to the screams behind him, and recalled the past events of his youth.

He had only seen the Princess of Wu once, for a short time. During the period, he raised his eyes three times, answered two sentences, listened to her talk a few times, and laughed constantly.

That laughter echoed in his ears at this moment, overwhelming all the screams.

"After you die, no one in this world is innocent anymore." Meng Senglun whispered to himself, holding the knife in his hand tighter and tighter. The grief in his heart had been suppressed and hidden for many years. Once it burst out, it was still as strong as before.

He looked outside the city, glaring at the imaginary general, "You deserve it, this is the retribution you deserve."

He looked in the direction of the Four Princes' Palace again, and his voice became gentle, "You will understand in the future that you were born to avenge her, and there is no other meaning. When you wake up, you will give up the last bit of affection for the Lou family, you will feel that you have killed too few people, and you will feel that there are too many evil people in this world..."

Lei Dajun, covered in blood, walked out, "I have killed almost all of them. Alas, there are some really rare beauties, I can't bear to kill them, but when I think of her as Lou Wen's woman, I have to add one more knife. Look, my blade is curled..."

Meng Senglun stretched out his left hand to take Lei Dajun's knife, and found that it was indeed curled in several places.

"It is always bad to act on your own." Meng Senglun said.

"Of course, but this is the last time, General Meng..."

"I'm talking about you. I asked you to keep it a secret, but you took the initiative to leak it to the King of Shu."

Lei Dajun blushed, "I've explained it before. I'm worried that King Wu is soft-hearted and can't make decisions for our seven clans. The river workers under King Ning..."

"Since you follow King Wu, you have to trust King Wu. How can you doubt that he can't make decisions?"

Lei Dajun's face turned redder, "Yes, I was wrong, and I will correct it in the future."

"I still expect you to be loyal to King Wu for me. If after I die, there is another person around King Wu who takes his own initiative, how can I rest in peace?"

"General Meng, after so many years of friendship, don't you know me? I will definitely be the first and last to be loyal to King Wu." Lei Dajun was a little nervous, looking at the knife in Meng Senglun's right hand. The knife had not been used and was not stained with blood.

Meng Senglun nodded, "All Wu people should be grateful to the King of Wu."

"Without the King of Wu, I would have died by the river long ago. Of course I am grateful, absolutely true."

"Well." Meng Senglun returned the left-hand knife to its original owner.

Lei Dajun took the knife and felt relieved, "In fact, General Meng doesn't have to commit suicide. I think..."

Meng Senglun stabbed the right-hand knife into Lei Dajun's stomach, "You are acting on your own again, which is unforgivable."

Lei Dajun looked at the knife in surprise, then looked up at Meng Senglun, and could not understand his behavior.

The Wu soldiers who came to kill walked out of the hall and saw this scene. They were all stunned. No one stepped forward to stop it, and no one even spoke.

Meng Senglun drew his knife and ignored Lei Dajun who was standing still. He said to all the Wu soldiers in a loud voice: "You are all following orders. General Lei and I bear all the responsibilities. If the King of Wu asks, you can say that we committed suicide out of fear of punishment."

Meng Senglun originally wanted to cut his own throat, but when the time came, he found it a little difficult, so he turned the tip of the knife and stabbed it into his abdomen. He felt a pain at first, then his heart was relieved, a smile appeared on his face, and he said: "I'm here."

At the same time as the tragedy happened in the General's Mansion, Xu Chu was busy receiving waves of guests. He knew what Meng Senglun was doing, but tried not to think about it and pretended to know nothing.

The first guest to arrive was Guo Shifeng, who was alone and panic-stricken. When he saw the King of Wu, he knelt down and said, "The general took action in advance. He knew that I leaked the secret to the King of Xiangdong, and he also wanted to kill me."

"The more chaotic the officers and soldiers are, the better." Xu Chu said indifferently. He was thinking about how to defeat the enemy. He said to Xue Jinyao, "Please ask the general to gather the soldiers to prevent the enemy from attacking the city."

"The general will not attack the city. He must flee to Yecheng." Guo Shifeng's original plan was to take advantage of the general's anger and persuade him to take a few people to take risks to kill the King of Wu, but now it is not feasible.

"Then prepare to pursue, don't be too hasty, and make sure to wait until half of the enemy troops leave the camp before sending troops."

"Understood." Xue Jinyao said impatiently and got up and went out.

The second group of guests arrived soon after. The King of Xiangdong and Sun Yalu brought a small number of followers into the city. They had no way to escape and could only come to the King of Wu.

The King of Xiangdong was in a state of despair and was too ashamed to meet the King of Wu. Sun Yalu came in to meet him on his behalf and said simply and directly, "If the King of Wu can show mercy today, Yecheng will never forget us."

Xu Chu didn't say much to him. He sent someone to send the second group of guests to the back to rest. He took the guards to the north city to observe the situation and just saw the third group of guests arriving.

Lou Ji was taken to the city wall. He pretended not to see Guo Shifeng who was beside the King of Wu. He bowed and smiled and said, "The general greets the King of Wu. The general said that we are one family and we should not talk about two things. Five thousand Wu generals and soldiers will be exchanged for the King of Xiangdong, Sun Yalu, Guo Shifeng, and the family members in the general's mansion. The King of Wu agreed to the exchange tomorrow, and then the general will withdraw his troops immediately and will not come to the East Capital again."

Lou Ji said more about the number of Wu soldiers and the people to be exchanged as bargaining chips in the negotiation with the King of Wu.

"Please go and rest first, Mr. Lou, and let me think about it."

"The King of Wu can see which is more important, right?" Lou Ji was a little anxious.

"There is still one night left. I don't think the general will be in a hurry." Xu Chu waved his hand, and the soldiers stepped forward and took Lou Ji down.

Guo Shifeng hesitated to speak. He knew in his heart that this was not a good time to speak up and advise. Anything he said would be regarded as a self-protection plan.

Xu Chu did not ask him. Although he tried every means to avoid it, the question still popped up from time to time: Is it necessary to anger the general? Is there any point in letting Meng Senglun kill Madam Lan?

There seemed to be a commotion in the camp in the distance. Guo Shifeng said happily: "It must be that the Jizhou soldiers have changed. If the King of Wu sends troops at this time, he will win."

A team of scouts sent out of the city by Xue Jinyao ran back and shouted at the bottom of the city: "King Ning is back and has already attacked the enemy camp!"

Guo Shifeng and Xu Chu were stunned.