Plan to cut off the nine states

(Please collect and recommend)

On the way back to Beijing, Lou Chu encountered an interesting thing.

Several madmen dressed as scholars followed a carriage of a lady, moving forward and backward, deliberately reciting some ambiguous poems loudly, and refused to leave no matter how much the servants escorting the carriage scolded them.

Although there were not many pedestrians on the road, occasionally there were people passing by, who either turned a blind eye or smiled and said nothing, and were very tolerant of these scholars.

This can be regarded as an old tradition. When a lady travels alone, she will be followed. Sometimes even the presence of father and brother cannot stop these wild bees and butterflies.

The man on the floor was riding a horse, but he was walking slowly. The scholar and the carriage gradually disappeared in front of him.

A few miles later, he met the scholars again, but the carriage had disappeared. The scholars dismounted and stood on the roadside, yelling and scolding each other, and scuffled, which was called "gentle sweeping."

They were fighting over something thrown out of the carriage, and they all claimed that it was a token given to them by the lady.

There were a lot of people watching the excitement around, and they didn't try to persuade them, they just watched, and occasionally helped someone, and the more they helped, the more chaotic they became.

This was just an ordinary trivial matter with no special ending. Lou Chi didn't even stop to watch the excitement, but the whole scene was imprinted in his heart and refused to dissipate.

Entering the city gate and joining the crowds of people coming and going, Lou Chi suddenly realized that what he cared about was not the romantic affair, the scholar's arrogance and shamelessness, or the young lady's instigation of dissension, but the peaceful scene, even if it was a send-off. When the army went out for battle, there was not much grief about life and death, and life in Dongdu went as usual.

The foundation of the building reined in his horse and stopped in the midst of the surging crowd. In an instant, he lost all confidence: Should he really assassinate the emperor? Are you qualified to change all this? If the assassination fails again, he will be a clown, just adding something to the people of Dongdu to talk about. If he succeeds...

The foundation of the building shuddered, and the people behind him urged him impatiently, and he continued to move forward.

You can go to the front street when you return to your new house. You don't want to see people on the floor, so you would rather go to the back alley. There are fewer relatives here than on the front street.

When passing by his old home, he saw a man standing in front of the door.

The man was very strange, like a door god stepping down from the door panel, blocking the entrance and exit, facing the street, his eyes blank, like an old monk in meditation.

This man is not old at all, he is about thirty years old, of medium height, neither fat nor thin. The look on his face is unclear whether it is fierce or indifferent. In short, he looks like he is repelling people thousands of miles away, as if no one can see him. of.

Lou Chi dismounted, slowly went up to meet him, and asked, "Your Excellency, are you here to see someone?"

It took the man a while to summon his wandering soul back from a distance, looked at the horseman, and asked, "Are you the seventeenth son of the Lou family, Lou?"

His voice was a little hoarse, worthy of his ferocity, but not worthy of his wandering spirit.

"It's just that I didn't ask for your surname."

"You don't know me?"

Lou Chu shook his head.

"Then why are you helping me?"

Lou Chu was stunned for a moment, then realized, "Your Excellency, are you Tian Zhuangshi?"

"I'm not a strong man, I'm just an ordinary person. My name is Tian Jiang."

Lou Chu smiled and said, "I've heard about your name for a long time."

"You heard it from Zhou Lu, right? You were fooled. He didn't tell the truth." Tian Jiang coughed, "Okay, I've seen him. Mother insisted on letting me come because she said she couldn't. I don’t repay the favor. But I can’t repay the favor, so I can only come and take a look and let you know about it.”

"Knowing that you can't repay the favor?"

"right."

"Understood, Brother Tian is indeed a person worthy of his name."

"I don't understand you."

"Brother Tian is called a filial mother, and he is actually a filial mother. There are no other false names. This is called matching the name with reality."

"Yeah." Tianjiang was obviously not interested in Lou Ji's evaluation, so he said goodbye and left without looking back.

Lou Chu felt that this field craftsman was indeed a strange person, but it was a pity that he couldn't use it now, and he didn't want to use it. The assassination was now his sole responsibility.

A pair of eyes appeared from the crack in the neighbor's door. He mounted his horse on the foundation of the building and refused to pay attention to the neighbor. But the neighbor said: "This man has been standing in front of your house for two days. He comes before dawn and leaves after dark. He scares the children." Well, he won’t come again tomorrow, right?”

"No." Lou Chu said.

Everything is as usual in the new house. The servants have heard that the Seventeenth Young Master will not go out with the army, so they have prepared water, food, and new clothes to welcome the master.

Lou Chi washed and changed clothes. He didn't want to eat, so he asked the old servant: "In which room are the boxes sent from the mansion placed?"

"The cloth and other items are in the warehouse in the east chamber. The gold, silver and jewelry are in the bedroom. The keys are all in the hands of the princess. Do you want to inspect them, sir?"

Lou Chu shook his head, got up and went to the bedroom.

The servants were puzzled, and someone asked: "Master, don't you want to stay? The other masters want to stay, but they can't."

The old servant said: "Young Master has great ambitions, and I feel sorry for losing an opportunity to make meritorious deeds."

Others suddenly realized that it made sense.

Zhang Shiqing has the temper of a child after all. He shed tears the day before yesterday, but today he and the little maid were happily playing Shuanglu across the table. Her chess piece was about to enter the opponent's territory. She was shouting with excitement, but the little maid did not give in. , covering the dice with both hands, trying to get a good throw.

As soon as the floor foundation came in, the cheerful atmosphere came to an abrupt end.

"Why are you back? Didn't you join the army on the Western Expedition?" Zhang Shiqing was a little annoyed.

"The general left me behind, didn't the servant tell you?"

"I won't talk to them." Zhang Shiqing said coldly, turning his head, "I won't talk to you either."

Lou Chu smiled and looked around, "Where are the boxes sent by the government?"

Zhang Shiqing said nothing, and the little maid stood up and said, "Put it under the bed."

Lu Chi walked to the bed, bent down and looked out, and sure enough he saw several boxes, all of which were exactly the same. He pulled them out one by one and found that they were all locked.

"Give me the key." Lou Chu said.

Zhang Shiqing broke his promise, turned to the foundation of the building, put his hand on his waist, "I knew there would be this moment. You are no different from those who were born in poverty. After you get rich, you will become bad. You can't live without money in your eyes. You always want to Use it to splurge.”

Lou Chu smiled bitterly and said, "I'm only looking for one thing, and I won't move anything else. And - this is the Lou family's box, not your dowry."

Zhang Shiqing thought for a while, "If the person you marry is not me, but an ordinary girl, will the Lou family still give you these things?"

Lou Chi had to admit: "No."

"Of course, so everything in the box belongs to me."

The emperor was smart, so the clan members he liked were also sharp-tongued, and Zhang Shiqing was no exception. He was too sad in the first few days, so he didn't show it fully.

Lou Chu gathered his energy and said, "This is the Lou family. Since you are married, you must abide by women's ethics. The princess must have taught you, 'Unmarried, obey your father, and married, obey your husband.' I am a husband, and you must obey me, so Give me the key."

"There's also 'a husband who dies will obey his son'. We won't have a son. After you die, I will be free and don't have to obey anyone."

Lou Chu laughed twice, "Then you have to wait. Am I still alive now?"

Zhang Shiqing thought for a while, "I'll open the box for you. No, Binfen, you go and open it and keep an eye on it."

The little maid's name was "Binfen", and Lou Chu couldn't help but think that the princess might like those Meng Lang scholars on the road who could recite poems.

Binfen came over with the key and asked, "Which one do you want to open, Master?"

The boxes all looked similar in appearance. He pointed to one at random. After opening it, he recognized at a glance that this was not what he was looking for, so he pointed to another box.

When I opened the third box, I finally got it right.

The first two boxes were full of gold and silver, but this box was full of jewels, red and green, which was really eye-catching.

The princess hasn't checked the box yet. The little maid Fenfen didn't care much about gold and silver, but she gasped when she saw the jewelry, "Princess, come and see, there are so many gems!"

Zhang Shiqing did not calm down and immediately stood up and walked over, refusing to approach the foundation of the building. He stood behind the little maid and looked into the box with a happy face, "Great, let's play dice with the sisters again. It will be useful." Open the other boxes quickly and let me see."

Binfen knew some rules and looked up at the foundation of the building.

Lou Chu said: "Everything belongs to you, I only take one piece."

"Just one piece?"

"Well, and you won't like it."

"Take it."

"You two get out of the way."

Zhang Shiqing smiled and said, "I won't be fooled. There must be something good hidden underneath, which is more valuable than other jewelry, so you don't want me to see it."

The floor foundation had no choice but to reach into the jewelry and groped inside. Zhang Shiqing and Binfen stared intently.

Lou Chu took out the dagger, and the two of them were disappointed.

"Your Lou family is really weird. Why do you hide a dagger in a jewelry box?"

"It's for holding the box." Lou Chi said casually, but Zhang Shiqing believed it and nodded, "Then take it, Binfen, lock the box."

The little maid winked, and Zhang Shiqing suddenly realized, "What are you going to do with the dagger?"

"Put it with my knife." Lou Chu continued to lie, treating Zhang Shiqing like a child.

"No, you heard that Princess Huanyan wants to get married, so..."

"So I want to kill someone with a dagger? Who to kill? Princess Huanyan, or my brother? Princess Huanyan is in the palace, and the twenty-third brother has gone out with the army and won't be back for a while. I won't be able to see either of them."

Zhang Shiqing felt relieved, "Why do you men like daggers?"

Lou Chu smiled and said: "Everyone has his own interests. You want jewelry, I want a dagger."

Lu Chi put the dagger in his arms, went to another room, closed the door, took out the dagger, checked it, and tied it firmly to the inside of his right ankle with a strip of cloth. He had entered the palace several times and knew that this location was extremely dangerous. Less will be checked.

He sat at home and waited, the hesitation he had had long gone.

Before dark, the Chinese Army General's Mansion indeed sent someone to invite them, and the two brothers had to go into the palace to wait.

Lou Jian was in a good mood, "My father is going to war, and I am in charge of the family. Seventeen, please be patient, I won't condone your misbehavior like my father did. After you enter the palace, you must be careful about your words and deeds, and think more about the Lou family. You can also benefit from prosperity, right?”

"Yes, I will follow my brother's teachings." Lou Chu thought in his heart that no matter whether the assassination was successful or not, it should make his father more vigilant. This is what he thinks about the Lou family.

He already had the dagger, but he hadn't used his mouth yet. Third brother Lou Jian was not his target.