Plan to cut off the nine states

The wife of King Liang, whose surname was Lin, came from a scholarly family. Although she was not a wealthy person, she was well-educated, gentle, virtuous, and especially considerate. She was deeply loved by relatives, friends, and servants.

But she could not guess what her husband was thinking.

In the first year after her marriage, she had several in-depth conversations with her husband, trying to figure out his likes, dislikes and dreams, but she found nothing. Every time her husband talked about "Emperor of the Liang Dynasty" with great interest, she could not empathize with him. Instead, he frequently advised him to be more cautious.

"The dynasty has changed a long time ago. Now it is the Tiancheng dynasty. As a Yuefuhou, my husband is not as good as the superiors but more than the inferiors. You should calm down and reflect on yourself and avoid getting into trouble. I hope everyone will forget about my husband's origin. In the future, the descendants of the Ma family will study Take the exam and gain fame in the examination room.”

The first few times, Ma Wei just chuckled indifferently. As the number increased, he became impatient. One time he finally broke out and said to his wife: "You are just a sparrow. By chance, you accidentally entered the phoenix nest. But if you are short-sighted, you will never understand how high the sky is and how vast the earth is. Alas, you may be the one who derails my future."

Ms. Lin thought her husband was joking. It was not until Ma Wei walked away and slept in the study for several days that Ms. Lin realized how deeply she had misunderstood her husband. By the time she wanted to make up for it, it was too late. .

Mawei's anger lasted for three days, and then he returned to the bedroom to sleep, but he had almost no conversation with his wife. Even after having children, his heart never returned to his wife.

Mrs. Lin believed that this was her destiny, so she devoted all her efforts to her children, thinking that her life would be ordinary. However, suddenly, she was caught in a violent storm, and she was completely unprepared.

Her husband ran away without even leaving a word. Ms. Lin thought he was staying at a friend's house. After a few days, she realized that something was wrong. She searched everywhere but found nothing. Instead, she heard more and more rumors. The most minor one is that Ma Wei is addicted to having fun and lives in the good friend's house.

Mrs. Lin was very angry at the time, but after a few days, she wished that her husband would just hang out among the flowers.

The Emperor of All Things was assassinated, Marquis Yuefu fled, and his family suffered. They were all designated as imperial prisoners, even the children who had just learned to walk. They were all sent to prison to await execution.

Mrs. Lin instantly felt that the world was falling apart, but deep down in her heart, she knew that her husband was by no means innocent, so she was willing to wait for death. She just lamented that her children were still young and ended up like this.

She thought this was the end, but she didn't expect that more and bigger storms would sweep over one after another. She would be an imperial prisoner, a princess, death would be imminent, and she would be exorbitant... After several ups and downs, Lin Shi became numb and devoted all his thoughts to his children.

After being "forced" to move into the palace, Lin chose a remote courtyard and refused to live in the queen's and concubines' palace. Ma Wei just sneered at this and did not force it.

Lin also extended her love for children to other children. She regarded the children born to the concubines that Ma Wei later married as her own. Regardless of the Liang Jun generals who had young children, she invited the mother and child to the palace to gather together.

Pan Kai was jealous of the King of Liang because he had a few words with Xu Chu alone, and was ordered to go to Jiangdong. He was very frightened at the time, thinking that he would never be forgiven again - he was the son of a former Liang general, and he had been nurtured since childhood. He took the saying "accompanying a king like a tiger" very seriously - so he sent a letter to his wife, asking her to move into the palace with her young son to avoid disaster.

Mrs. Lin knew what was going on, but she did not refuse. Instead, she kept Pan's wife and young son by her side.

King Liang hurriedly returned to the east capital from Yecheng. No one else dared to stroke his beard. Only Lin took the initiative to see her husband and said, "I am a womanly woman and I don't understand the important things of your men, but I know that when interacting with others, you need to talk... Sincere feelings must be the same between kings and ministers. Pan Kai has been following the King of Liang for a long time. He was expelled because of a trivial matter, and he was worried and uneasy. If the King of Liang didn't believe him, it would be better to abandon him than to be suspicious of each other like now. "

Ma Wei had forgiven Pan Kai in his heart, so he accepted his wife's advice. When Pan Kai came back, he would resume his title of general and treat him as before.

When Pan's wife returned home, she spoke well of the princess and asked her husband to remember this kindness.

Gao Shengze was well-informed and understood the causes and consequences. He once advised the King of Liang: "The King of Liang had no intention of severely punishing General Pan. Why did he have to rely on the princess's advice to do good deeds and give his kindness to others for nothing?"

Ma Wei has his own explanation for this: "The king uses both kindness and power, but it is not suitable to do it alone. I let the princess show her kindness, and I maintain my authority to prevent my subordinates from thinking that I am wavering."

Gao Shengze naturally praised her repeatedly at that time, but he was somewhat disapproving of it. When Pan Kai rebelled and he and Xu Chu had no way out, he thought that the kindness that King Liang had given to the princess might actually be useful.

Before dawn, Gao Shengze told what Princess Lin had done. Xu Chu nodded and said: "Pan Kai was bewitched by Guo Shifeng and betrayed King Liang. He was actually a loyal man. If he had the heart to repay his kindness, he would respect Princess Lin." a bit."

At dawn, Gao Shengze went out alone to find a trustworthy eunuch and send a message to the princess.

Xu Chu was cold and hungry, tightly wrapped in his cloak, waiting for news. It was almost noon when a young eunuch came over, pushed the door open and asked, "Mr. Xu?"

"It's me." Xu Chu stood up.

"Yes." The young eunuch turned around and left. Xu Chu hurriedly followed, and after another roundabout way, a palace maid led the way. After wandering to a small courtyard, he was sent to a wing, where Gao Shengze was waiting.

"Eat something, Mr. Xu." Gao Shengze had already eaten and left some food and wine.

Xu Chu really needed food, so he sat down to eat. After he was half full, he looked up and said, "It snowed yesterday. Let's leave traces. If Pan Kai searches carefully, he will definitely trace them to the palace."

"I thought about it too, but there is no other way."

"What is this place? If Pan Kai wants to search, can the princess stop him?"

"This is the princess's bedroom. Pan Kai will never dare to search unless he breaks his heart."

Xu Chu was surprised, "The princess lives in...a place like this?"

"The princess doesn't like luxury, and she always says that she is not destined to be a noble person. Living in the palace is an act of transgression, and she would never dare to tarnish the concubine's place."

"Well, the princess is this kind of person."

"Mr. Xu has met the princess?"

"I've met her several times. At that time, she was still pleased with Mrs. Hou." Xu Chu could no longer remember the appearance of the princess. He only remembered that she was a very gentle woman, dressed in simple and unadorned clothes. No matter how late Ma Wei entertained the guests, she would always be there. None of them showed even the slightest hint of displeasure. Every time they appeared, they were just trying to persuade everyone to drink less.

At that time, Xu Chu, like Ma Wei, only had the world in his heart and was just paying respect to his sister-in-law. He never paid much attention to it, and he never expected that one day he would have to rely on her to save his life.

Xu Chu was almost done eating, so he pushed away the cup and plate and said, "I can't just wait and find someone to deliver the message for me."

"Yes, Prince Liang must be informed as soon as possible..."

"It's not King Liang, it's King Ning."

"Ah?" Gao Shengze was surprised.

"The King of Liang is far away in Bingzhou, and Pan Kai betrayed him. Although he is angry, he will not turn his troops south until Bingzhou is peaceful."

"Prince Liang didn't expect Dongdu to be defended in the first place." Gao Shengze murmured, and then sighed, "But Prince Liang wouldn't have thought that Dongdu would be lost in this way. But Prince Ning wanted to kill Mr. Xu. What's the use of his writing?"

"It is Guo Shifeng who wants to kill you and me so that Pan Kai has no way to retreat. Prince Ning has no murderous intention. Only he can truly save our lives."

"But King Ning is far away in Jingzhou, and the road in the middle is long. Pan Kai turned the other way, and the road south became more and more difficult..."

"If my guess is correct, Prince Ning is neither in Jingzhou nor Jiangdong. He must be on his way to the Eastern Capital, and it's not far away."

Gao Shengze was surprised again, "Prince Ning is coming to Dongdu... It turns out that Guo Shifeng is just a forward."

"Well, if Guo Shifeng can deceive Dongdu, King Ning will be able to attack the city without any bloodshed. If Guo Shifeng fails, King Ning will also attack the city massively."

"I'm still confused. King Ning hasn't captured Jingzhou yet, and his hometown is also threatened. Why does he come to capture Dongdu at this time?"

"Prince Ning's actions cannot be inferred by common sense. If I were to speculate, I would guess that he had trouble attacking Jiangling City. He was in a dilemma in Jingzhou. He was worried about the instability of the army's morale and was eager to capture a big city. Of course, he might just send An army came to Dongdu, but I was still besieging the Xi family."

"If Prince Ning doesn't come..."

"That would be really troublesome." Xu Chu said with a smile.

Gao Shengze couldn't help laughing, "If Prince Ning comes, we may not be in trouble. He kills people and even disowns his relatives."

"Just do your best."

"Well, let me think of a way." Gao Shengze thought for a while and suddenly said: "Let me tell you something first. I will not imitate Pan Kai and surrender to King Ning. Since I recognize King Liang as my master, I will not change. of."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "I understand."

"Mr. Xu, there is no need to laugh. I am telling the truth. You may not know that I was originally the eunuch of Liang. It is natural for me to follow the king of Liang. Moreover, it was the Tiancheng court who abandoned us, not us who betrayed our master. These are two different things."

Xu Chu remembered clearly that it was Gao Shengze who led Prince Ning into the palace, but this was not the time to poke someone's pain, so he cupped his hands and said: "Admiration."

"But I haven't figured out a way to deliver the message yet." Gao Shengze sighed.

The door suddenly opened, and a child broke in, looking around as if he was looking for something, turning a blind eye to the two adults in the room.

A woman followed, and the child turned around and said, "Not here."

"Look carefully." The woman said softly.

Gao Shengze stood up immediately, and then Xu Chu vaguely remembered the woman's appearance, cupped his hands and said, "Xu Chu pays homage to the princess."

The child looked around, and the woman smiled and said: "Mr. Xu is a close friend of the King of Liang, so there is no need to be polite. General Pan has already sent someone here to ask if any outsiders have been here. I said no, but there are many people here. I’m afraid it won’t be kept secret for long.”

"I'm discussing with the senior manager. If we can send a letter to Prince Ning, the matter may turn around."

"Prince Ning?"

"Prince Liang is too far away..."

Lin smiled and said: "I understand that Prince Liang has no time to take care of things here. Hmm... I have a way to send Mr. Xu directly out of the city, but I'm afraid Mr. Xu won't."