Xianxia version of Water Margin

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The time goes back to two days before the fall of Panjin City, which was the morning of the second day when Yuwen Xuzhong and Yelu Yudu were drinking and chatting happily.

Yelu Yudu, who was hungover, slept until the hour of Si before waking up slowly.

Under the careful care of his wives, concubines and maids, Yelu Yudu ate a bowl of warm porridge and then called his confidant He Dongqia.

Yelu Yudu wanted He Dongqia to help him make an appointment with Yuwen Xuzhong to maintain this rare friendship.

Yelu Yudu thought that if he could take this opportunity to become close friends with Yuwen Xuzhong, the confidant of Wanyan Zonggan and Wanyan Tan, it would undoubtedly add a solid backing for himself in the political arena of the Jin Dynasty.

However, He Dongqia was nowhere to be found.

This sudden change made Yelu Yudu suspicious, but he did not investigate it in depth, thinking that He Dongqia was spoiled and lost his sense of proportion.

When Gao Yongsheng, a think tank from Bohai in Liaodong, came to discuss the current situation with Yelu Yudu, Gao Yongsheng's eyes fell on the brand new golden sword on Yelu Yudu's waist.

Seeing that it was completely different from the golden sword that had accompanied Yelu Yudu for many years, Gao Yongsheng casually asked: "Did the supervisor change the new sword?"

Yelv Yudu smiled proudly and took the initiative to say that he gave his golden sword to Yuwen Xuzhong.

After Gao Yongsheng heard it, he didn't care too much at first.

But soon, Gao Yongsheng seemed to remember something.

Gao Yongsheng hurriedly asked about the details of Yelu Yudu's meeting with Yuwen Xuzhong.

Seeing Gao Yongsheng so serious, Yelu Yudu hurriedly told Gao Yongsheng everything that happened last night.

Before Yelu Yudu finished speaking, Gao Yongsheng blurted out: "Golden Knife Plan?!"

Yelu Yudu was confused by Gao Yongsheng and asked: "What Golden Knife Plan?"

Faced with Yelu Yudu's questioning, Gao Yongsheng quickly told about the first poisonous plan in the history - the Golden Knife Plan.

This plan does not rely on conspiracy and tricks, but relies on a fair and upright appearance to lay a net of heaven and earth to lure people into the trap. Its subtlety lies in the interlocking of each link, showing the viciousness and wisdom of the designer.

What is even more shocking is that this plan is not original. Wang Meng, the prime minister of the Former Qin Dynasty, used the same method on Murong Chui. History repeats itself at this moment, which is chilling.

Thinking of the strange disappearance of He Dongqia, a chill rose from Yelu Yudu's back.

It was not until this moment that Yelu Yudu realized that Yuwen Xuzhong was not his close friend, but a sinister and cunning person who led him into the preset trap step by step.

At this moment, Yelu Yudu felt mixed emotions, including anger at being betrayed and regret for his own negligence!

Yelu Yudu bowed deeply to Gao Yongsheng, with a trembling and desperate voice: "Please have mercy on me, sir, and save my family!"

Gao Yongsheng quickly helped Yelu Yudu up, with a bitter smile on his face. He said slowly: "Save? This golden knife plan is a situation that is difficult to solve throughout the ages. Even if Zhang Liang is reborn and Zhuge Liang is reborn, I am afraid they will be helpless."

Gao Yongsheng then carefully analyzed the insidiousness of the golden knife plan. It was not the complexity and exquisiteness of its design, but its simplicity and directness. With only a golden knife and a few words, it accurately hit the fragility of human nature.

Yelu Yudu was pushed into a dilemma and a situation where he could not defend himself under such a clever layout.

Gao Yongsheng's words were like ice, eroding the hope in Yelu Yudu's heart bit by bit!

"Once Ang sees the golden knife, he will be sure that the governor is determined to rebel, and the time to stop all this has already passed quietly. By then, even if the governor has a thousand mouths, it will be difficult to prove his innocence."

Yelu Yudu's face turned pale when he heard this. He clenched his fists and asked unwillingly: "Is there really no hope?"

Gao Yongsheng was silent for a moment, his eyes deep: "Perhaps, the person who tied the bell must be the one to untie it."

These seven simple words, like the brightest stars in the night sky, illuminated the darkness in Yelu Yudu's heart.

Yelu Yudu suddenly realized that Yuwen Xuzhong, as the initiator of all this, must have a way to save him.

Although he was full of anger and resentment towards Yuwen Xuzhong, his strong desire to survive forced him to temporarily put aside these emotions and calmly think about countermeasures.

Yelu Yudu told himself that at this moment of life and death, any impulse would be fatal.

Just as Yelu Yudu was thinking about how to deal with Yuwen Xuzhong, the servant's announcement interrupted his thoughts: "Report to the governor, Yuwen Guoshi wants to see you."

Yelu Yudu's heart tightened, and he subconsciously touched the golden knife at his waist. The unfamiliar touch instantly brought him back to reality.

Yelu Yudu took a deep breath, suppressed the anger and anxiety in his heart, and said to Gao Yongsheng: "Sir, please come with me to meet this Yuwen Guoshi."

Yelu Yudu straightened his clothes, strode out of the mansion, and personally greeted Yuwen Xuzhong.

From a distance, Yuwen Xuzhong looked peaceful, as if he didn't notice the turmoil in Yelu Yudu's heart at all.

Yelu Yudu forced a smile and walked forward, his words full of deliberate enthusiasm and flattery: "The national teacher is really a good drinker, I am ashamed of myself."

At the same time, Yelu Yudu's eyes involuntarily swept to Yuwen Xuzhong's waist, but was disappointed to find that it was empty, without any trace of his golden knife.

Yuwen Xuzhong seemed to see through Yelu Yudu's thoughts, and chuckled and said: "You are too kind, the governor. To be honest, when I drank with the governor yesterday, I took the alcohol-relieving medicine beforehand, and after drinking, I put my fingers in my throat and spit out all the wine. If not, how could I stand in front of the governor today with full energy?"

Yuwen Xuzhong's honesty made Yelu Yudu speechless for a moment. He didn't expect that the other party would admit his calculations so bluntly.

However, at this point, Yelu Yudu could only bite the bullet and invite Yuwen Xuzhong to the secret room for a detailed discussion.

Yuwen Xuzhong showed no fear and entered the secret room with Yelu Yudu and Gao Yongsheng.

Inside the secret room, Yelu Yudu dismissed his attendants, leaving only Gao Yongsheng and Yuwen Xuzhong.

After entering the secret room, Yuwen Xuzhong leisurely appreciated several calligraphy works on the wall. His calmness and confidence seemed as if the entire secret room and everything around him were under his control.

Yelu Yudu and Gao Yongsheng exchanged a meaningful look.

Then, Yelu Yudu spoke again, with a hint of probing in his words: "May I ask, Imperial Master, where is my personal soldier He Dongqia right now?"

Yelu Yudu secretly expected that Yuwen Xuzhong would respond with a disdainful or sarcastic attitude, such as: "Why do you need to ask me about the whereabouts of your personal soldiers?"

However, Yuwen Xuzhong's answer directly broke all of Yelu Yudu's fantasies: "I sent him to deliver a letter to your son."

As soon as these words came out, Yelu Yudu's chest immediately rose and fell violently due to anger and unwillingness!

After a moment, Yelu Yudu suddenly opened his eyes, with a fierce murderous intent flashing in his eyes. "I have never offended you, Imperial Master Yuwen, why do you want to frame me like this?"

Yelu Yudu's voice was as cold as ice, and every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

Facing Yelu Yudu's questioning, Yuwen Xuzhong not only showed no fear, but smiled and praised: "It seems that the chief supervisor has not completely lost his fighting spirit, which is really precious."

Yelu Yudu tightly grasped the newly acquired golden knife in his hand, and the knife light flashed dangerously in the dim secret room. "If the national teacher can't give me a satisfactory explanation, this place today will be the place where the national teacher will be buried!"

Yelu Yudu's tone was resolute, and his killing intention was determined. Even his fiery red aura had spread out from his body uncontrollably.

However, Yuwen Xuzhong still maintained his calmness, even with a hint of provocation: "Please do as you please, chief supervisor. If Yuwen Xuzhong frowns here, it will be a betrayal of the trust of His Majesty the Great Yuan Emperor."

As soon as Yuwen Xuzhong said this, Yelu Yudu's anger in his heart became even stronger, but he also knew clearly that once he took action, the consequences would be disastrous.

More importantly, Yuwen Xuzhong's words revealed a key piece of information-he was from the Great Yuan Empire.

This sudden news made Yelu Yudu re-examine the current situation.

Yelu Yudu suddenly realized that there was no personal grudge between him and Yuwen Xuzhong, so why did Yuwen Xuzhong harm him?

A thought flashed through Yelu Yudu's mind: "He wants to incite me to rebel?!"

After figuring this out, Yelu Yudu slowly loosened his hand holding the knife, and his tone became respectful: "Is the national teacher working for the Yuan Dynasty?"

Yuwen Xuzhong smiled and said, "Yes."

After getting Yuwen Xuzhong's confirmation, a trace of relief flashed in Yelu Yudu's eyes.

Then, Yelu Yudu was like a chameleon. He slapped his thigh suddenly, with a slightly complaining tone: "If the national teacher had told us the truth earlier, why would we have come to this point today? I, Yelu Yudu, will definitely visit in person and take the initiative to surrender to the Yuan Dynasty!"

Next, Yelu Yudu began to confide his experience to Yuwen Xuzhong. He mentioned the cunning and suspicion of the Jurchens. From the day he defected to the Jin Dynasty, he had always lived in suspicion and surveillance. His family was held hostage, and his every move was closely monitored. Even though he led the Khitan generals to repeatedly achieve great feats, he still could not escape the suspicion and frame-up of the Jurchens. He had to hand over the military power to his son Yelu Angge, and he himself used his life as a hostage to barely save his life.

Yelu Yudu was once the Marshal of the Great Jin Dynasty, and he was on par with Wanyan Chang and had a prominent position.

However, behind this glory was endless suspicion and oppression.

Yelu Yudu knew that he had been regarded as a thorn in the eyes and flesh by the Jurchens, and he would be doomed if he was not careful.

Therefore, he had to put away his edge and be a man with his tail between his legs.

Even so, he never had the idea of ​​escaping from the Jin Dynasty and defecting to the Yuan Dynasty.

It's not that he didn't want to, but that he didn't have the opportunity.

Now, when Yelu Yudu learned about Yuwen Xuzhong's true identity, although he was forced to do so, he also saw a glimmer of hope.

So, Yelu Yudu began to explain his difficulties to Yuwen Xuzhong in detail, indicating that he wanted to surrender to the Yuan Empire and stay away from the oppression and suspicion of the Jin Kingdom...

In Yelu Yudu's words, Yuwen Xuzhong only believed half of them. He knew that Yelu Yudu might have long had the idea of ​​surrendering to the Yuan Empire. After all, under the many difficulties of the Jin Kingdom, Yelu Yudu's situation was like a trapped beast fighting.

And Jiang Hongfei was known for his generosity and good appointment of people. He treated Liao people like Yelu Yudu who were not from the Yelu Yanxi faction equally.

Therefore, it was reasonable for Yelu Yudu to have the intention of surrendering to the Yuan Empire.

After dealing with Yelu Yudu, Yuwen Xuzhong told him his plan.

The core of it was to escort Yelu Yudu and his family safely to Taizhou of the Jin Kingdom.

Yuwen Xuzhong suggested that Yelu Yudu should contact his old subordinates, old comrades in the Khitan and Han armies, as soon as he arrived in Taizhou, and attack from both inside and outside, and cooperate with the Yuan Empire to plot the demise of the Jin Dynasty.

Faced with this desperate situation, Yelu Yudu had no choice but to act according to the plan.

Under Yuwen Xuzhong's careful arrangement, Yelu Yudu and his family quietly left Huining Prefecture without causing any disturbance.

However, after escaping from danger, ripples appeared in Yelu Yudu's heart. He hesitated whether he should continue to be controlled by Yuwen Xuzhong's layout, but this hesitation was soon shattered by reality.

When Yelu Yudu fled to Xiao Wuliu, the commander of the Northeast Road Recruiting Division, with his family, the news that Yelu Angge had defected from Jin to Yuan and helped the Yuan army to capture Jinzhou came like a bolt from the blue, completely cutting off his retreat.

Yelu Yudu and Xiao Wuliu were forced into a desperate situation and had to rise up and vow to avenge their previous shame. They not only massacred all the Jurchens in the Northeast Road, but also called on all the former Liao people in the Jin Kingdom to revolt, respond to the Yuan Empire's war against Jin, and vowed to settle old accounts with the Jurchens.

For many years, the atrocities of the Jurchens had long made the Khitans and Han people unbearable. Their relatives were brutally killed, their ancestral graves were dug up, their property, wives and children were taken away, and their anger had already spread like wildfire.

Now, with Yelu Yudu's call and the strong intervention of the Yuan Empire, the Khitans and Han people responded one after another, and the fire of the uprising quickly spread to all parts of the Jin Kingdom.

Faced with this sudden civil strife, the Jin Dynasty's top leaders seemed at a loss.

Instead of taking measures to appease the Khitans and Han people who made up the majority of the population, they ordered the Jin army to brutally massacre the Khitans and Han people who might participate in the rebellion.

This move undoubtedly exacerbated ethnic conflicts, causing more Liao people who had no intention of rebellion to choose to resist in despair.

As a result, a large number of Liao people either fled the Jin Kingdom and surrendered to the arms of the Yuan Empire; or joined the rebels of Yelu Yudu and Xiao Wuliu to fight against the tyranny of the Jin Kingdom.

The Khitan and Han people led by Yelu Yudu and Xiao Wuliu were unstoppable and quickly occupied the Northeast Recruiting Office of the Jin Kingdom, and used it as a base to expand southward to the Yalu River and Changbai Mountain area, north to the Heilongjiang River, and east to the Sea of ​​Japan.

This series of victories was not only due to their bravery and good fighting skills, but also to the strategic mistakes of the Jin Dynasty's top leaders.

Due to their distrust of the Khitan and Haner armies, the Jin Dynasty's top leaders continued to move them to the heartland of the Jurchens, making this area a hotbed of resistance.

At this time, the contradictions within the Jin Dynasty's top leaders also reached their peak.

The loss of Panjin and the rebellion of Yelu Yudu split the Jin Dynasty's top leaders into two major camps: the pro-war faction and the pro-peace faction.

While they deployed troops to resist the attack of the Yuan Empire, they quarreled endlessly in the court.

Although the Jurchen high-level officials such as Wanyan Tan, Wanyan Zongpan, Wanyan Zonggan, and Wanyan Zongjun barely maintained superficial unity, their inner differences were as difficult to cross as a chasm.

At the same time, the army of the Yuan Empire had already fully pressed forward.

The Eastern Yuan Army led by Yue Fei attacked the heartland of the Jin Kingdom from the Liaoxi Corridor; Wang Bing led the Central Yuan Army out of Gubeikou and Songtingguan and attacked the Jin Kingdom's Dading Prefecture; Zhu Wu led the Western Yuan Army and fought a fierce battle with the Jin Kingdom's Northwest Recruiting Division.

The situation of the Jin Kingdom was precarious, but the Jurchen leaders were still busy fighting internally and had no time to care about those "poor relatives" struggling in the bitter cold.

The Jin Kingdom was in danger!!!

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