King Han and King Yingchuan finally returned to Yangzhou after several days of hurried travel.
Li Yuanjia didn't even enter his own house. As soon as he got home, he went straight to the residence of Yue Wang Li Zhen.
When I came to the back garden of Prince Yue's Mansion, I saw the King of Yue wearing simple white clothes and sitting in the pavilion in the middle of the lake fishing.
While walking along the corridor on the lake, King Han shouted from a distance: "You actually still have time to fish?"
The King of Yue glanced at him, put away the long pole, came to the stone pavilion and sat down.
King Han walked to him and sat down next to him. He glared and said, "Why don't you continue fishing?"
The King of Yue said leisurely while drinking tea: "With a loud voice like yours, the fish would have been scared away."
Although they are a generation apart, they usually talk more casually because they are about the same age.
The King of Han sat for a while, and when he saw the King of Yue drinking tea leisurely without any intention of speaking, he glared and said, "Don't you ask me what happened in Hangzhou?"
"You'll tell me anyway, so why should I ask?"
King Han said angrily: "Something serious has happened. Do you know that this incident is a trap by Wu Chengsi? He is not in Wang Ji's mansion at all."
The King of Yue nodded and said, "I have already guessed it."
"you know?"
The King of Yue said in a deep voice: "The five thousand soldiers from Chongfu that I mobilized urgently have lost contact, so I guess something must have happened in Hangzhou."
King Han slapped the table and said, "I was wondering why they didn't show up in the end. I thought they were scared back by Wu Chengsi's Zuo Wuwei."
The King of Yue sighed: "I'm afraid he was detained by Wu Chengsi's people."
King Han gritted his teeth and said, "Wu Chengsi won't take the opportunity to kill all the five captains of Zhechong Mansion, right?"
The King of Yue said calmly: "That's not the case. Before they went, I had told them that if the situation changed, they would just go there after receiving news of pirates raging along the coast of Hangzhou. Wu Chengsi would have no clue."
King Han breathed a sigh of relief and said: "You are still thoughtful. These five Zichong Captains are our most important force in Hangzhou. If they are dealt with, the loss will be too great."
The King of Yue gently fiddled with the tea cup and said: "With Wu Chengsi's Zuo Wu army in the south of the Yangtze River, these Zhechong Mansion soldiers have no effect."
King Han was unconvinced and said: "That's not necessarily true. Wu Chengsi only has a total of 10,000 Zuowu troops. Even if he adds 5,000 Niu guards, there are only 15,000 men."
"so what?"
King Han hummed: "If we unite with Yang Sijian, we may not be weaker than him."
The King of Yue laughed and said, "Why, do you still want to fight him?"
King Han said coldly: "That's not the case. It's just that when conflicts arise in the future and tough measures are needed, we won't be tied up."
The King of Yue said in a deep voice: "I advise you to quickly give up the idea of conflict. Even if all the Zhechong Mansion in Jianghuai unite, they will not be the opponent of Zuo Wujun."
King Han did not refute immediately. He always admired King Yue's insight and believed that what he said must be reasonable. He frowned and said: "Then what do you mean, we will all be cowards?"
The King of Yue looked at the sky and said slowly: "With these ten thousand Zuo Wu troops here, let's do nothing for the time being. The hurricane is passing through, so let's hibernate for the time being."
King Han drank a glass of wine and was depressed for a while, then said: "I understand what you mean. You want to put the plan first and be patient with Wu Chengsi for the time being."
The King of Yue focused his eyes and said slowly: "As long as the plan succeeds, the Wu family will be doomed. It will not be easy to control them then."
King Han hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm worried that Wu Chengsi has noticed something."
King Yue's face changed slightly and he said: "How is it possible? Qian Deguang doesn't know the core content of the plan. How could he know?"
King Han complained: "It's not that you didn't deal with those masons well!"
The King of Yue was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said: "Yes, Wu Chengsi conquered Changye Island, and all the masons fell into his hands, but those masons didn't know anything!"
King Han wondered: "Then why did Wu Chengsi send them all the way to Hangzhou?"
The King of Yue frowned and said nothing.
After Wu Chengsi appeared in Hangzhou, he had already guessed the sea route he took, but he didn't expect that he was actually sending the stonemasons back to Hangzhou.
He had the same idea as King Han. He never believed that Wu Chengsi would risk taking the sea route just to send a few civilians away. There must be something wrong with this.
This in-depth association made him feel uneasy.
After all, those masons have eyes and ears, and maybe some member of the Fire Phoenix Society talks too much to let them hear something.
However, the King of Yue was the King of Yue after all. He quickly calmed down and said slowly: "Before the matter is confirmed, we must not mess up our position first."
King Han nodded and said, "Then what do you think we should do next?"
"Stop all actions against Wu Chengsi and only send people to keep an eye on him. Even if there is a conflict with him in the future, we must give in temporarily and everything should be based on planning."
King Han frowned and said: "You have never met Wu Chengsi. That boy is very clever. I'm afraid he will notice our plan, otherwise we should postpone it for a while."
The King of Yue shook his head and said: "I have just received news from Chang'an that His Majesty has agreed to Fengchan Taishan. It is in November. We only have three months."
King Han was startled, realizing that the matter had come to this and the plan could no longer be stopped.
After a pause, he asked: "How is Xu Yuanju's situation over there? I heard that your third son has brought his daughter back to Yangzhou."
The King of Yue looked coldly and said: "Forget it, that useless idiot almost deceived Xu Yuanju's daughter!"
King Han was surprised and said: "Did I hear you correctly? Isn't your son a famous romantic? He is also deceived by women?"
"Uncle Wang, are you mocking my third child?" King Yue glanced sideways at King Han.
King Han smiled and said: "Don't think too much. I think your third child is very good at dealing with women. How could he be deceived by a woman?"
The King of Yue said calmly: "How can he defeat Wu Chengsi? That woman has long been subdued by Wu Chengsi, and she was even sent here to find out about us."
King Han sighed: "That's amazing!" He immediately changed the topic and said with a smile: "But you are not bad at all, you actually saw the true face of that woman."
The King of Yue sighed: "Thanks to Daozhang Chen, she discovered it."
King Han asked: "She is back?"
The King of Yue nodded and said: "Wu Chengsi is already in Hangzhou, so I asked her to come back. When she came back, she also met the woman from the Luo family who came to Beijing to complain, and she was also captured by the way."
King Han sneered and said: "The Luo family really doesn't know how to praise. This time Luo Tong's daughter has also caught her. I am not afraid that the Luo family will not submit."
After a pause, he said: "The only problem now is Xu Yuanju. Without him, the effectiveness of the plan will be greatly reduced."
The King of Yue sighed: "I originally cherished Xu Yuanju's talents and really wanted to conquer him, so I went through such a big circle. Now that the matter has come to this, I have to use the simplest method to solve the problem."
Violence has always been the easiest way to solve problems.
The King of Han understood clearly, and the King of Yue planned to threaten Xu Yuanju's daughter directly.
King Han always liked to use violence to solve problems, but this time he did not agree with King Yue's approach and advised: "Why don't you think of other ways? That guy is Xu Yuanju!"
"Time is too tight. This is the only way right now. Are you worried that Xu Yuanju won't give in?"
King Han rubbed his eyebrows and said, "You should have heard about him."
"Well, I heard that more than ten years ago he served as the county magistrate in Bazhou. When he was fighting with local powerful men, the other party kidnapped his wife and threatened him. As a result, he still refused to submit, and his wife died in that incident."
King Han said: "Since you know this, you still want to threaten him in this way?"
The King of Yue smiled and said: "I am not one of those tyrants who dominate the state, and Xu Yuanju is not the Xu Yuanju of the past."
Having said this, he suddenly stood up and said with a smile: "Uncle Wang, please come with me."
The two of them headed west, passed through a small and quiet garden, and came to a steeple. This tower was called the Nine Sages Pagoda and had five floors in total.
As long as you stand on the top floor, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Yue Prince's Mansion.
This was not the first time for King Han to come to this tower. Although the view from the fifth floor was indeed good, he was not interested in seeing the scenery now.
"What did you bring me here for?"
The King of Yue pointed to a small courtyard to the north and said, "Look over there?"
King Han leaned on the railing and looked around, and suddenly saw a figure in the courtyard.
It was a young woman, holding a cane in her hand and walking slowly in the small yard.
After walking a few steps, the woman suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.
Only then did King Han realize that the woman was a blind man, and asked curiously: "Who is that blind woman?"
The King of Yue said calmly: "Who were we talking about just now?"
King Han was startled and said: "She is Xu Yuanju's daughter?"
The King of Yue nodded, put his hands behind his hands and said, "Just yesterday, I had someone bring Xu Yuanju here."
King Han laughed and said: "Seeing my daughter like this, even an iron man would find it difficult to bear it. You really have a way."
Li Zhen sighed and said: "If possible, I really don't want to use this method."
King Han patted him on the shoulder and said: "For the sake of our Tang Dynasty, all sacrifices are worth it. You don't have to feel guilty."