On the twenty-fourth day of the first lunar month, Emperor Xiao Che of Qing'an died of a sudden illness, and his obituary was announced to the world, which shook the entire capital.
When the news reached Zhuozhou, which was only a few dozen miles away from the capital, Xue Kuang had already captured the city of Zhuozhou with ease, swallowed his troops inside the city, and only needed to make some repairs before he sent his troops north and captured the capital in one fell swoop.
He didn't expect the news, and he didn't expect Gu Juefei's courage—
Because, along with the news of the death of Emperor Xiao Che of Qing'an, there was also a human head that came to Zhuozhou and presented to him!
It was the head of Emperor Xiao Che of Qing'an!
The incision is smooth, and it is the smoothness that can be achieved by the rare sharp sword and the rare neatness in the world.
"Only this head, is there nothing else to say?"
When he was about to rest in the middle of the night, his heavy armor had already been taken off. Xue Kuang only wore a cold black robe and sat behind the desk, looking at the box placed in front of the map of the capital and the head inside the box. Unwilling, frightened, still staring eyes.
The soldiers who sent the message had obviously seen quite a few big battles, but it was only a human head that came from the capital, and it was the emperor's head, which was a little scary.
He shook his head rather fearfully.
"This subordinate only received this thing outside the city. It was indicated by the capital that it was to be shown to the general, saying that it was instructed by the great scholar Gu. Other than that, there is nothing else to say."
"Go down."
Xue Kuang had a dignified expression on his face, he just waved his hand to let the soldier who sent the message retreat from the room, then stood up, glanced at the head again, and frowned.
"What a vicious plan..."
Sitting in the room was not only him, but also several capable generals under his command and former military advisor Cai Xiu, and the seventh prince they wanted to "support", Xiao Tingzhi.
Everyone's complexion was unpredictable under the candlelight.
It was Cai Xiu who spoke first with his brain, and instantly saw through Gu Juefei's trick: "Although he didn't say a word, he sent the fake emperor's head to tell you that Xiao Che was killed by him! There is news that Wei Yi, the noble concubine in the palace, has been buried. In this case, he will attack the capital in the name of crusade against the false emperor, and then he will be unknown! Next, he must announce to the world, saying that he has found out the whole story of the year and wants to Win the seventh prince and enter the capital to ascend the throne. In this way, I will wait—"
Having said this, Cai Xiu was suddenly shocked.
Only because of this, Ke Xuekuang's sharp eyes had fallen from the side of the case, which made him wake up from his anger and anger, and then he felt fear.
There was no sound for a while, and he only glanced at Xiao Tingzhi very vaguely.
This seventh prince, left by the previous emperor, sat upright on the first chair at the bottom left, silent.
He inherited the facial features of the previous emperor and the previous queen, and he was born very well, which is unforgettable at first sight.
At the moment they were discussing matters, and he was listening by the side.
In the past, Xiao Tingzhi couldn't say anything or ask anything. He felt like a puppet in the troupe, but what he wants to discuss today is something he can't even listen to!
There is no need for Cai Xiu to remedy anything, Xue Kuang has already opened his mouth very naturally, thinking of Xiao Ting's way: "His Royal Highness, the seventh prince, it's getting late today, you are here on the march, you should go back to your room to rest early. I'll wait for the night. After discussing the matter, I will inform you tomorrow morning when the results come out."
Xiao Tingzhi raised his eyes and glanced at him, his expression did not show any strangeness, he just followed Xue Kuang's words and got up, his body shook slightly, and said, "Thank you for being sympathetic, General, then I will forgive Tingzhi for being rude. , retire first."
Everyone in the house got up and bowed as a gift.
When the person disappeared outside the door, they went far before they took their seats again.
The smile on Cai Xiu's face disappeared, and he slapped his hand bitterly, almost breaking the armrest of the chair: "The surname Gu is too sinister! This is clearly to force the general to make a choice! Xiao! As soon as Che dies, there will be no successor. As long as he takes the title of welcoming the seventh prince to the palace and enthroned, we can't help but obey! If he obeys, Gu Juefei is also considered a hero, and no one in the world can do anything to him; if he doesn't obey, I’m going to fight the capital again, but I won’t tell you if the teacher is out of nowhere, so I don’t want him to accuse him of committing a crime, and the people’s hearts and the army will be unreliable!”
Xue Kuang listened with no expression on his face.
He just stretched out his hand, lifted Xiao Che's head out of the box, took a careful look, smiled heavily, and said, "I'm afraid that what he's plotting is deeper than you think. …”
"what do you mean?"
Meng Ji analyzed the situation at the moment, and it was already detailed enough. He claimed that he had seized the opponent's shortcomings, forcing them to be in a dilemma. Who would have thought that Gu Juefei would shake his head.
He didn't understand, and there was a bit of doubt in his voice.
The solitary window building is near the water, and the window on the second floor is open at night, and cold wind blows in from the outside. In this room, everyone was waiting, and they were not sleepy at all, and they were very awake.
Gu Juefei sat in the middle.
On the left are Ji Heng and Meng Ji, who are sitting upright, and other civil servants and advisors of his faction, while on the right is a group of military generals led by Fang Shaoxing.
It's fine for the others, Fang Shaoxing is a fool, and he looks very bored. He only lifted one leg up and stepped on the chair, his hands resting on the armrests, half squatting, his head resting on the back of the chair, and his eyes were looking up, wondering if he was listening.
But the guys don't care about him.
Everyone knows that he has always looked like this rambunctious body, and if it is not like this one day, I am afraid that everyone is not used to it.
Besides, it's okay to do things reliably, and it's okay to not listen to these now.
Gu Juefei didn't care too much, he just raised his hand and swiped lightly on the defense map of the capital in front of him, but said in his mouth, "Once I welcome the seventh prince to the palace, Xue Kuang really only has two choices. Unwillingly, bring the seventh prince into the capital, and then make a plan; secondly, abandon the seventh prince, directly raise troops in Zhuozhou to completely rebel, tear up the face, attack the capital and compete with me."
For Xue Kuang, this is undoubtedly a dilemma.
Who does not know his ambitions
In his hands, the seventh prince Xiao Tingzhi was just a shield and a puppet, and he was just at his mercy.
But now that he killed Xiao Che, and even killed the bloodline that Xiao Che may have, then the royal family is empty now, once Xiao Tingzhi is really allowed to enter the palace and ascend the throne, then Xue Kuang will try his best to rebel, which is equivalent to a bamboo basket to draw water.
Because of the ability to manipulate the marionette, they became two again.
One is Xue Kuang himself, and the other is Gu Juefei.
Xue Kuang had a deep hatred between him and him, and he was afraid that his desire to be an emperor was stronger than his desire to support Xiao Ting, and he would never let it go.
But if he wanted to leave the Seventh Prince behind, he would undoubtedly hit him in the face.
In the past, the reasons for launching the army could still convince the world, but who do you want to convince now
And at that time...
"If Xue Kuang really didn't have a clear mind, he chose the latter on a whim, abandoned this unfortunate seventh prince, and even killed him, that's not a big deal."
Gu Juefei swiped his fingertips from the position of the outer city gate on the picture, all the way to the inner city gate.
"At that time, the royal family will be completely overthrown. Either he will be the emperor, or I will be the emperor."
The house suddenly fell silent.
Everyone looked at Gu Juefei's light-hearted face, and at this moment an inexhaustible subtlety appeared in their hearts.
Is this his real purpose
Nobody knows.
In fact, even Gu Juefei didn't know it.
He doesn't have that much desire to be an emperor, and the throne is just an empty shell. Even if he has the name of an emperor, he can do what an emperor does, so why put himself on the target that the whole world can see
It's just that he didn't expand too much on this topic, he just raised his eyes, looked at Fang Shaoxing, and asked with a smile, "If Mr. Fang was Xue Kuang, how would you choose?"
"Um?"
Fang Shaoxing didn't seem to expect that he would take the initiative to ask himself. He raised his eyebrows slightly, and after pondering for a while, he actually laughed.
"If I were Xue Kuang, I would bring the court to the capital in a grand manner, and then under the pretense of welcoming this rotten child to the throne, I would force you to unload the capital's defense forces. After all, this rotten child is in my hands. Isn’t it simple? Without soldiers, I can kill you how I want to.”
"you!"
What do you mean by "kill you how you want to kill you"! Can this man speak!
Meng Ji cocked his nose in anger and stood up.
Fang Shaoxing looked at him provocatively: "What's the matter, you don't agree?"
"Meng Ji, sit down."
Compared with Meng Ji's excitement and indignation, Gu Jue had to be much calmer. Although he also felt that the sentence "kill you" was a bit harsh, he didn't mind.
Instead, he already got the answer he wanted.
"Lord Fang's thoughts are very consistent with what I think."
When he said this, he heard a knock on the door, and then saw that Lu Jinxi brought tea and cakes with a few servants, so he stood up and took the freshly brewed tea that belonged to him from her hands. He took it, but the words didn't stop.
"My plan is to force Xue Kuang to enter the capital, and force him to admit that I am also one of the heroes. In this way, if we decide the outcome again, we will live up to this plan."
The reason is simple.
If he does not kill Xiao Che first, or does not take the initiative to welcome the seventh prince to the capital after killing Xiao Che, and directly fights Xue Kuang, then in the end, regardless of the outcome, he is also a chaotic thief.
But first let go of your posture to welcome people into Beijing, then there is something to be said.
In the end, it doesn't matter if he loses, Zuo is just a word for "death", but if he wins, he is the hero, no matter what, at least he is invincible.
even…
If you are lucky, you will be able to put the hat of this chaotic minister and thief back on Xue Kuang's head, so that he can be convinced of the defeat!
The maids also brought other people's tea up.
Ji Heng glanced at the pastry on the table beside him, picked up a piece with his left hand, but suddenly thought of something and frowned.
He hesitated a bit: "But Master Gu, if you and Master Fang say the same thing, the key to victory or defeat, or the key to this advantage and disadvantage, lies in the seventh prince. Xue Kuang holds the seventh prince, so he always takes the lead. No matter how well you did in front of you and led him into the capital, it was he who led you by the nose. Ji Mou was thinking that you forced Xue Kuang into a dilemma. Another reason is that the Seventh Prince’s on you?"
"Master Ji is really predictable."
Gu Juefei pulled Lu Jinxi to sit beside him, with an ordinary face, smiled at her, and then looked at Ji Heng naturally.
"Xue Kuang is in a dilemma. The seventh prince is not obvious on the outside, but he is quite showy. If there is any trouble in Zhuozhou, or changes in people's hearts, he must be able to detect one or two. He has nothing to rely on, and everything depends on Xue. The decision of the situation. As a result, suspicion will arise in my heart. And this suspicion is my best chance. "
When everyone heard this, they all praised "subtle" in their hearts, and they admired Gu Juefei's calculation.
Although Lu Jinxi only heard the latter part, he understood at once.
It's just different from everyone's sudden appreciation and admiration, but she raised her eyebrows slightly, her expression was quite subtle, she hesitated for a while, or asked: "Is this trying to turn against Xiao Tingzhi and take the salary from the bottom of the pot?"
"There are plans for this."
But it's obviously not that easy to do.
Gu Juefei didn't deny it, but heard that Lu Jinxi's words seemed to contain some other meaning, and he had guessed something for a while: "It seems that Madam has some ideas?"
"I don't think I have an idea. But if the eldest son has a hidden nail in Zhuozhou and can secretly do something against it, I do have a big idea..."
She pondered for a moment, and finally said it.
"It's just that I might need someone to accompany me to the current general's mansion."