The Grandmaster Strategist

A sad announcement, I have been working overtime for several days, and I have to work overtime tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, so I really don’t have time to write. After posting this article, I will suspend it for two days on the weekend. I will post on Monday. I hope I will have time to write by then.

In June of the 25th year of Wude's reign in the Great Yong Dynasty, the emperor thought that the prince had lost his virtue and ordered Taizong to offer sacrifices to Chang'an on his behalf.

——"Yong Shi·The Chronicles of Taizong"

King Yong Li Zhi's mind was flooded with thoughts. How could he not know that Fengyi Clan Master was showing his favor to him, and it was also his last showdown? Although he knew very well that if he got the support of Fengyi Clan Master, his reserve position would be guaranteed. , but after thinking about it, he can't be willing to be an emperor. If he compromises this time, he will definitely let Fengyi Sect infiltrate his own influence. He could of course refuse to accept his daughter as his disciple, but Fengyi Sect Master wanted to accept Rou Lan as his disciple. Although Fengyi Sect Master was already their primary enemy, it cannot be denied that Fan Huiyao was still one of the three major One of the masters, and most likely the one who occupies the top position, it is Roulan's honor that such a person wants to accept Roulan as his disciple. If he categorically refuses, what will Jiang Zhe think? Thinking of this, he raised his eyes and looked at Jiang Zhe .

My heart is also in turmoil. I don’t even think about asking Roulan to become her teacher. Roulan’s biological parents and I both hope that she will live a happy life. I just hope that she can have enough food and clothing and marry a good man. Jun, let's grow old together. Even I don't plan to let Roulan marry into a rich family, lest those wealthy children with three wives and four concubines and self-proclaimed romantics will delay her. How can I let her learn some swords and let Xiao Shunzi teach her in the future? Roulan can just use some light kung fu to defend herself. Of course, if she really likes martial arts, I will admit it, but she will never let her become the sect of the female tyrant. But the master of Fengyi sect is obviously asking for peace with His Highness King Yong. If I flatly refused. Would King Yong be dissatisfied?

King Yong and I looked at each other with worries, but it was rare that we did not reach a consensus. I smiled bitterly in my heart. The master of Fengyi Sect was really extraordinary. With a simple sentence, we were out of control, and the monarch and his ministers were alienated.

At this time, I suddenly remembered Xiao Shunzi's voice beside me: "No..." The words were interrupted before I finished speaking. I looked up and saw a faint mockery in the eyes of Fengyi Sect Master, and the rest of his eyes Guang even saw Xiao Shunzi sweating profusely and looking ashamed and angry. I knew in my heart that the rumors about Xiao Shunzi must have been blocked by the master of Fengyi Sect, but I always knew that Xiao Shunzi was better than me in observing words and adapting to situations. As soon as I opened my mind, I had already figured out the dilemma of King Yong. , then raised his voice and said: "The master of the sect is so kind to me, Zhe should have thanked me on behalf of my daughter, but my daughter has been alone since she was a child, and our father and daughter are dependent on each other, so we really can't bear to separate. What's more, the little girl is naughty and can't bear to learn the sword. Zhe only hopes that she will be safe in her life." Kangtai doesn’t want her to stand out.”

Sure enough, as soon as I finished speaking, I heard King Yong take a breath.

Fengyi Sect Master's eyes flashed with a hint of gloom, and he said: "I see that Jiang Sima's poems are unique, but I didn't expect that he is also such a pedantic man. He doesn't like to see women getting ahead, right?"

I said respectfully: "The master of the sect has misunderstood. Zhe did not mean this. He is just trying to be superior to others, and the effort he puts into it must be a hundred times that of others. Zhe only wants his children to have mediocre qualifications. He does not seek to be prominent among the princes, but only wants to be favored by his subordinates. We do not seek great achievements, but only seek to cultivate and study and pass down our family. When the country is in trouble, we should do our best to save it. When the country is safe, we should be obedient people of the country."

Fengyi Sect Master's eyes flashed with sarcasm, and he said: "If everyone is like this, who else can help the country? Jiang Sima is too independent."

I smiled slightly and said: "It is said that times create heroes. There are countless people with great ambitions in the world. But if there are no ordinary people, who can control the world? If everyone wants to be a hero, then wouldn't the world be in chaos? I Although I am unfortunate enough to be in troubled times and have no choice but to be imprisoned, I will never agree that my children should work as hard as I do."

The master of Fengyi Sect was silent for a moment and said: "We don't agree with each other if we have different ways. Your Highness King Yong,

I don’t know what you think? "

Everyone knew what she meant by this person. King Yong smiled faintly and said: "Xiao Wang also feels that Rou Lan is not suitable for learning martial arts. If the master of the sect can see His Highness the Crown Prince, please send his greetings to Xiao Wang. I will definitely protect you, and please Your Highness the Crown Prince to calm down and take good rest."

Fengyi Sect Master sighed slightly, and we were all confused. We felt that her sigh was full of compassion and regret. But Li Zhi and I were unmoved. Seeing this, the master of Fengyi Sect said coldly: "Your Highness, the prince is your eldest brother. Now he is in prison. I don't know whether your highness wants to add insult to injury, or just wait and see." Its change?"

When she asked, King Yong smiled bitterly in his heart. Although he and the prince were already in a life-and-death relationship, how could he say this in public, and say it like the wind? No matter what, the prince was his king and his. Eldest brother, you can naturally regard the prince as your mortal enemy in private, but in front of so many people, if you say it out, I'm afraid it won't be long before it reaches your father's ears, that is, no one in the palace is cheating. , Fengyi Sect Master will not keep secrets, but if he said that he would just wait and see what happens, then no matter what, he cannot launch a large-scale attack on the prince this time. When he was in a dilemma, the master of Fengyi Sect smiled faintly again and said: "The prince fell out of love with His Majesty due to the Hubu case and the Jinxiu League case. I don't know what His Highness King Yong thinks. I think His Highness King Yong knows about this matter." Very."

Li Zhi raised his eyebrows. Although he didn't know much about these two things, he knew very well who instigated them. He didn't expect these things to remain secret. But it would be no wonder if the master of Fengyi Sect spoke without evidence. He was rude. He said calmly: "Who in the world doesn't know these two things clearly? It's just that they don't dare to say it openly due to their lustful power."

Fengyi Sect Master smiled coldly, with a hint of ridicule in her laughter, and she said slowly: "As for evidence, I naturally have nothing to offer, but Your Highness should understand that if this matter is spread, it will only I’m afraid the evidence is there.”

Li Zhi frowned. He naturally knew that if Li Yuan became suspicious and continued to investigate carefully, although no actual evidence could be found, some circumstantial evidence might still be obtained. This would be very detrimental to him, but he bowed down like this. , he was unwilling to give in, the anger in his heart became more and more fierce, and his eyes looked at Fengyi Sect Master like a sharp sword.

At this time, I was confident and said: "Don't worry, Master, my Highness just doesn't want to express his merits. In fact, His Highness has already prepared to submit a memorial. After many years of brotherly love and years of loyalty between monarch and minister, His Highness King Yong is a trustworthy person. If you don’t show utmost benevolence and justice, you will never engage in war.”

The Master of Fengyi Sect heard Jiang Zhe's hidden words, but didn't care. He smiled and said, "Then I would like to thank His Highness Prince Yong on behalf of the Crown Prince. It's getting late, and I want to visit some old friends. Let's say goodbye now. If we have the chance, we will meet again." After saying that, her eyes fell to the distance. I don't know when there was a commoner monk there. She greeted her slightly with her eyes, but she didn't see any action. Her figure was like Like light smoke, it disappeared in a blink of an eye. At this time, all of us here were really relieved.

Li Zhi smiled bitterly and said: "I suddenly feel that the pressure has doubled. Master Fengyi has taken action personally. There is no hope this time."

I said calmly: "Your Highness, don't worry, we won't achieve our goal immediately this time." Then I looked at Xiao Shunzi and asked with concern: "Are you okay?"

Xiao Shunzi looked a little embarrassed and said, "Am I not her opponent?"

I heard the words and said with a smile: "What nonsense are you talking about? How old are you? How can you compare with other masters at the master level? Besides, Master Cizhen said that you have a bright future. Do you need to be so sad about your failure?"

Xiao Shunzi's expression softened a lot and he remained silent. I saw that he had returned to normal, and then I felt relieved. At this time, Master Cizhen had disappeared. A strange person is a strange person. Li Zhi glanced at me with a smile and said, "Okay, Suiyun, don't hide it anymore. Tell me what you have planned."

I was about to answer when Chang En, the manager from a distance, hurriedly ran over and said, "Your Highness, there is a decree from the palace."

At this time, we didn't even bother to talk, so we gathered around King Yong and went to the front hall. The envoy in red took the yellow silk edict and said loudly: "I order King Yong Zhi to carry the Chang'an sacrifice on behalf of the crown prince. I admire this."

King Yong felt ecstatic in his heart, but he kept his expression. He stepped forward to receive the imperial edict. After thanking him, he asked, "May I ask the imperial envoy if I can enter the palace to express my gratitude?"

The eunuch said sharply: "Your Majesty has already set off for Huangling in advance and ordered His Majesty to discuss the ceremony with Xiang Wei and Shizhong Zheng. However, as far as our family knows, although the time is a little rushed, fasting is still unavoidable. Your Majesty has issued an order." Ask His Highness to come to Zhai Palace immediately, I think Shizhong Zheng will be arriving soon."

Before he could finish speaking, someone had already reported: "Your Highness, Shizhong Zheng has come with an order, please Your Highness to accompany him to the palace to fast."

Li Zhi said in a deep voice: "Please wait a moment, Mr. Zheng. After I change my clothes, I will follow him into the palace." After seeing off the imperial envoy delivering the order, Li Zhi said with some worry: "Suiyun, do you think there is any fraud?"

My eyes flashed and I said: "Your Highness, although there is no problem in theory, your Highness enters the palace alone, so I can't rest assured. Xiao Shunzi's martial arts is not bad. Let him accompany His Highness into the palace. I don't think Zheng Shizhong will say anything?" "

Xiao Shunzi turned his face aside and blurted out: "Master, your safety..."

I put away the folding fan in my hand and said calmly: "Please send an order from Your Highness. Until Your Highness returns to the mansion, Zhe will be in charge of all matters in the mansion."

Li Zhi immediately said: "The gold medal is in your hands, even if I am here personally. If anyone dares to disobey your orders, you can kill them immediately. Xiao Shunzi, this time I will lend you a favor. Don't worry, Master Cizhen is here." My house will definitely protect Suiyun’s safety.”

Xiao Shunzi glanced at me and said: "Li Shun obeys the order. Your Highness and Young Master please rest assured. Even if the Fengyi Sect Master personally takes action, Xiao Shunzi will risk his life to protect His Highness's safety."

Seeing everyone's serious expressions, I chuckled and said, "Don't worry so much. We are not doing anything rebellious, it's just to prevent someone from jumping over the wall in a hurry, and since Fengyi Sect Master is here, he won't let go at this time. Shi Wei, after all, the Emperor and clan are still here in Dayong."

Everyone was slightly relieved. When King Yong went to see Zheng Shizhong, Zheng Xia did not express any surprise at Xiao Shunzi's entourage. It was only natural that King Yong was so cautious. He quickly invited King Yong to enter the Zhai Palace, fast and take a bath. Instructing on etiquette, King Yong had no time to spare. He is busy here, but it makes everyone in the prince's family anxious. Everyone knows that the Crown Prince and King Yong are sworn enemies. At the beginning of last year, the Crown Prince petitioned the Imperial Ancestral Temple on behalf of the Holy Spirit. Since then, King Yong has ceased his activities and is even busy consolidating his power in Youzhou. Now King Yong has replaced the Crown Prince. To accompany the sacrifice, it is self-evident what it symbolizes. The people of the Prince's family were naturally talking about it, and the backbone among them refused to let go.

But after all, Li Yuan was the overlord of his generation, so he would not have thought of this problem. When he left Beijing this time, he handed over the imperial army to Qin Qing. Li Hanyou was from the prince's lineage, so naturally he would not let King Yong harm the prince, and Qin Although Qing was young and reckless, General Qin was unambiguous and left his trusted lieutenant Qin Yong to supervise Qin Qing. In this way, the prince would not take the opportunity to harm King Yong. Besides, Xiang Wei and Zheng Shizhong were the leaders of the civil servants. With them in charge, everything is absolutely foolproof. For the sake of safety, Zheng Shizhong personally managed the Zhai Palace where the Prince Yong was fasting. Wei Guan proposed to send his son Wei Ying to take care of the Jin'an Palace where the prince was under house arrest. Although Wei Ying is now the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, he is also the emperor's favorite. The good son-in-law is also neutral. With him protecting the prince, there is no need to worry about someone plotting against the prince, nor about the prince communicating with outsiders. Everyone knows that Zheng Xia, the servant, is unscrupulous. King Yong and King Yong were both placed under house arrest, but King Qi was relatively free. He went to Qiaoshan to worship without having to get caught up in this political storm.

In this case, the arrangement of both sides is very important. They must not disturb the civil servants and military officers left by Emperor Yong to guard Chang'an, but also need to maintain the situation and not allow their own monarch to overthrow. Therefore, the Prince's Palace and Prince Yong's Palace jointly requested Chang'an Wei Guan could only agree to martial law. After that, Qin Qing quickly detained the suspected unknown persons and drove them out of Chang'an. The Yongwang Mansion did not show weakness, and the three outstanding figures under Yongwang , Guan Xiu was responsible for the internal affairs of Prince Yong's Mansion, Gou Lian was responsible for coordinating with Wei Guan and others, while Dong Zhi took Jing Chi back to the Guards stationed outside Chang'an City to prepare for war, and Sima Xiong took the guards of Prince Yong's Mansion. Wei is always at your command. Jiang Zhe and Jiang Suiyun, who commanded all this, never left Hanyuan, and Master Cizhen never left his side. Although Pei Yun lost absolute control of the Forbidden Army's North Camp, he still controlled most of the power. With him in charge, Xiahou Yuanfeng could not mobilize this part of the forbidden army at will, and could only use the inner guards as much as possible. In this way, the forces of both sides were intertwined, and no one dared to take action first, not to mention everyone knew that the master of Fengyi Sect had arrived in Chang'an.

However, in the storm, there is one person who is leisurely and at ease, and that is me. Although I stay in the cold garden every day and am careful not to go out, I have not done anything important. I read through the daily information and file it away. They were also left to plan various contingency measures, and I was only responsible for issuing a few orders. It's strange to say that my irresponsible behavior was effective in calming everyone down. It seems that my impression on them was so good that they unconsciously believed me.

In fact, there was no need to worry. For me, the only goal this time is to see the power of the prince. I know very well that this is not an opportunity once and for all. If Emperor Yong was really completely disappointed with the prince, he would have been abolished long ago. Instead of imprisoning him, Emperor Yong wanted to test King Yong this time. If we want to get rid of the prince in a hurry this time, Emperor Yong will definitely think that His Highness is vicious. If he is unprepared, it will make him Emperor Yong felt that we were too pretentious, so I was tight on the outside and loose on the inside. This not only frightened the prince's power and prevented them from taking advantage of the opportunity to make changes, but also allowed Emperor Yong to understand that His Highness had no rebellious intentions. Besides, the crown prince's position was already in danger. If we add fuel to the fire, we are afraid that it will arouse Emperor Yong's sympathy and pity. As long as we are impartial, then the way Fengyi Clan jumps up and down in order to support the prince will be seen clearly. No kindness can suppress a person for a lifetime. This time, Fengyi Clan Master can rely on I can persuade Emperor Yong to restore the honor of the prince based on past kindness, so next time, besides, the prince has lost the hearts of the people. Although he is powerful, he is already a paper tiger, so my goal is to get through this matter safely. The next step , you can start planning the real plan to seize the heir.

But just when I was leisurely and contented, I got an unexpected piece of news. It was just a small thing, but it made me regret it. Today, the Crown Princess arranged the funeral of Xiu Chun, a close maid, and Xiu Chun. Chun hanged herself and was said to have been several months pregnant before her death. This news made me very regretful. Originally, I didn't care about Xia Jinyi's personal affairs, but this woman actually died for her love. I didn't kill Boren, and Boren died because of me. I sighed and decided to send a message to Xia Jinyi, so that He suddenly knew that there was a woman who loved him so much, but it was a pity for the unborn child.

At the same moment, in the Grand Nei Zhai Palace, Li Zhi was concentrating on reciting scriptures. Xiao Shunzi, who was sitting in the corner of the room practicing silently, opened his eyes, with a hint of admiration flashing in his eyes. Although he followed Jiang Zhe to seek refuge with King Yong. , but he has always been hostile to King Yong. One reason is that King Yong wanted to kill Jiang Zhe, and the other reason is because Jiang Zhe was not only almost assassinated to death in order to serve King Yong, Moreover, he had to forcefully support his sick body to plan for him. So although he was very grateful for King Yong's love for Jiang Zhe, Xiao Shunzi was still reluctant to pay attention to King Yong. But today Xiao Shunzi really admired this prince.

Xiao Shunzi is not an idiot. He knows his abilities and status. He is willing to be Jiang Zhe's slave, but this does not mean that he does not understand his own worth. Ask yourself, if he were King Yong, he would definitely not be able to help recruiting such a person. A master, even if he doesn't expect his full allegiance, gaining his favor is worth the money. He also thought that this time when he was alone with King Yong in the Zhai Palace, King Yong might use some means to recruit him, but to his surprise, from beginning to end, , King Yong just concentrated on learning etiquette and reciting sutras. Although he was polite to himself, he had no intention of bribery. Xiao Shunzi has been in Prince Yong's Mansion for many years, and has seen the way Prince Yong treats people more than once. To be fair, if Prince Yong uses him, he will not be able to treat it as normal, but Prince Yong did not say a single extra word to him.

Xiao Shunzi understood that this was not because King Yong looked down on him, but that in King Yong's heart, he was a loyal person. This kind of respect made Xiao Shunzi really accept King Yong as Jiang Zhe's master.

For Li Zhi, it is not that he has never thought of buying Xiao Shunzi. After all, such a martial arts master is really worth keeping by his side. However, King Yong is not a person who wants to have the world's heroes in his hands. In his opinion, Xiao Shunzi is loyal to Jiang Zhe, then as long as he catches Jiang Zhe, he doesn't have to worry about Xiao Shunzi. Moreover, such a magnanimous and noble person, how could he use bribes to humiliate him. At this time, Li Zhi never expected that Xiao Shunzi would finally eliminate his hostility towards him because of this.