Xiangyang also divides the city into more than twenty squares, but unlike Chang'an, it has no square walls and is only divided by streets, which is a chessboard-like water and land pattern.
There is an east-west street in the middle of the city called Xindongmen Street. It is second only to the north-south Jianghan Street and has very prosperous commerce.
There is an inn not far from the city gate on Xindongmen Street, called Jiangxia Inn. It is a famous inn in the city. There are four independent courtyards in the inn, two of which are rented by the same group of guests. There are more than a dozen men and women.
, all carry long swords on their backs, and they look like Jianghu Rangers at first glance.
Xiangyang is the transportation hub that divides the north and the south. There are many people traveling from south to north. They go to Guanzhong and Luoyang in the north, Jingxiang in the south, Hanzhong and Bashu in the west, and Jiangnan in the east. It can be said that all the people traveling from south to north are in Xiangyang.
Gathering together, the Tang Dynasty was originally a world of knights and knights, and there were too many of them.
The innkeeper didn't take it to heart, but he was a little surprised that the previous rangers lived in luxury apartments, but this group of rangers actually lived in a private courtyard.
Of course, as long as they make money, it doesn't matter if they book the entire inn.
In the room, several warriors were discussing secretly at the table. They were assassins sent by Feilong. There were thirteen people in total. Their mission was to assassinate Li Dai.
Feilong's property was robbed by Li Ye, and he was filled with hatred. He wanted to take revenge on Li Ye. If he couldn't kill Li Ye, he would kill Li Dai and Li Ye's father, which made him heartbroken.
The leading warrior is called Zhuo Mingtang. He is in his mid-thirties and has been loyal to Feilong ten years ago. He has won the trust of Feilong. He is responsible for commanding more than a hundred capable people and strangers. This time he personally led the team to assassinate Li Dai, also determined to win.
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His deputy is a woman in her thirties named Li Jinfen. She is responsible for monitoring Li Dai and looking for opportunities.
Li Jinfen pointed at the map and said to everyone: "We have been observing for two days. Li Dai has five personal guards around him. They are all good at martial arts. His carriage is specially made and cannot be penetrated by bows and crossbows. There are two opportunities that are better. One is
In the morning, he got off the carriage and entered the government office. In the afternoon, he got off the carriage and returned to the government. However, I suggest that the afternoon is better. In the morning, the vigilance is very high. When he returns to the government in the afternoon, the vigilance is greatly reduced, which is a good opportunity for assassination."
Zhuo Mingtang nodded, "We will check out the location early tomorrow morning and take action tomorrow afternoon. Regardless of whether we succeed or not, we will evacuate Xiangyang immediately."
"Brother, how do we divide the work?" asked Yang Long, another deputy.
Zhuo Mingtang smiled and said: "Jinfen leads three people to monitor and retreat, Aaron leads seven people to deal with several personal guards, and I will take charge of Li Dai personally!"
Zhuo Mingtang was very good at throwing knives, and he hit the target with every shot. He took out a flat box, and inside was a blue flying knife. He said coldly: "This is my soul-enchanting knife. If you see blood, you will die. This knife will pierce his heart."
Even the Lord of Hell can't save my heart."
Li Jinfenmei smiled and said: "Li Dai was lucky to die under Brother Zhuo's soul-stirring knife."
Zhuo Mingtang snorted, "It's a pity that Li Dai died instead of Li Ye, what a pity!"
In the afternoon of the next day, Li Dai returned to his hometown as usual. In the two months since he took office, he had gradually adapted to the role of the observer. With the army as his backing, he did it very smoothly. The governors from various states came to Xiangyang to pay a visit.
He was an honest official and had an excellent reputation. He was liked by everyone in the officialdom of Shannan East Road.
In the officialdom, everyone wants to be a corrupt official, but no one wants their boss to be a corrupt official. When a corrupt boss comes, he will be skinned even if he does not die. The money he is greedy for is not filial enough to his boss.
Although Li Dai did well in government affairs, his military affairs were in a mess. He recruited 20,000 people, but he didn't know what to do with them. He simply let 20,000 people open up wasteland and farm the land, and handed it over to the governors of Xiangzhou, Suizhou and Jingzhou.
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After calculation, his son would be back in a few days, and a big stone finally fell to his heart.
Of course, he was also worried about Anlushan. He knew that once Anlushan occupied Luoyang, the next step would be to send troops to Nanyang and Xiangyang. Every day, he looked forward to his son's return as soon as possible, and he looked forward to it.
In fact, what Li Dai is most worried about is that his two sons will meet on the battlefield. This is a dream he often has. There is no news about his other son Li Huai.
The carriage slowly arrived in front of the mansion. As usual, guard Ah Qi opened the door and helped Li Dai out of the car. Liu Wutong and several others looked around cautiously. Even though it was afternoon, they did not relax their vigilance.
Suddenly, several men in black jumped out from the wall twenty steps away and rushed towards them with long swords in their hands.
Liu Wutong shouted, "There is an assassin. Ah Qi, please bring me into the house!"
The man in black came up to kill him instantly. Liu Wutong and his men drew their swords to fight and blocked the man in black. Ah Qi pulled Li Dai and ran towards the door of the house. Suddenly, Ah Qi screamed and someone was hiding behind the stone lion. He jumped out and attacked
Ah Qi succeeded and was stabbed in the back. He endured the severe pain and hugged the man in black, and the two of them rolled down the steps.
"Master, come into the house quickly!"
Li Dai was so frightened that he crawled towards the mansion. As soon as he ran into the gate, a man in black jumped out from the top of the door and landed a few steps behind Li Dai. He flicked his hand and gave a handful of blue
The flying knife shot at Li Dai, and Li Dai had no way to hide. 'Poof!' The flying knife hit his vest.
Li Dai yelled and fell to the ground face to face. Zhuo Mingtang laughed loudly and said, "Succeed, retreat!"
Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly realized something was wrong. His flying knife actually fell from Li Dai's back, and it hit the ground with a 'clang!'
Zhuo Mingtang's eyes widened suddenly. What happened? The flying knife didn't penetrate. Could it be that Li Dai wore armor? But even armor couldn't stop his flying knife!
Zhuo Mingtang had no time to think about it, so he drew his sword and rushed forward, slashing Li Dai's neck with his sword. This time he did not dare to be careless, and he must cut off Li Dai's head.
The sharp sword blade carried the sound of wind, and was about to hit Li Dai's neck. He heard a sound of "Dang!", and a long sword blocked Zhuo Mingtang's sword. At the critical moment, Pei Sanniang arrived and blocked the sword from her husband.
's sword.
Pei Sanniang flipped her wrist and stabbed the opponent's vital points with three swords in a row. Zhuo Mingtang hurriedly retreated and was forced ten feet away. He saw that the opponent was very skilled in martial arts and had no chance.
"The wind is tight, retreat quickly!"
He jumped onto the courtyard wall and ran for more than ten steps. He shot a three-sided flying thorn backwards as fast as lightning. This was one of Zhuo Mingtang's special skills, called the scorpion tail sting. It was the same as the carbine, killing the opponent.
Being caught off guard is very sinister.
The flying knife hit Pei Sanniang's neck. At this time, Pei Sanniang turned around to look at her husband. She clearly saw her husband being shot with a poisonous knife, which made her extremely anxious, but she did not guard against the scorpion's tail sting.
At the critical moment, a dark figure rushed towards me, "Sister, get out of the way!"
It was Mrs. Jiang who came to greet her husband. She pushed Pei Sanniang away and screamed, and a three-edged flying thorn hit her in the back.
At this time, a group of assassins in black fled quickly. They came like the wind and went like the rain, disappearing without a trace in an instant.
Pei Sanniang hugged Ms. Jiang and saw blood spurting out of her back. This flying spear was so vicious that even if it missed her vital point, the opponent would bleed to death.
At this time, Liu Wutong rushed in and asked, "Master, how are you?"
He saw with his own eyes that his master was shot in the back with a poisoned knife, and he thought that his master was finished.
At this time, Li Dai whispered: "I'm fine, hurry up and save the second lady!"
Pei Sanniang suddenly remembered that her husband was wearing a gold silk armor given to him by his son. It was close-fitting and invulnerable. It was said to be a treasure left by a flying dragon.
Pei Sanniang was relieved and shouted to Liu Wutong: "It's okay if I wear armor. Please go and ask the doctor to save the second lady!"
Liu Wutong turned around and ran to the door. He suddenly stopped and said urgently: "Madam, do you have the Young Master's Chixin Pill? That can save my life!"
The Red Heart Pill is the pill used by Li Ye for martial arts training, and Liu Wutong saved his life by getting this pill.
Pei Sanniang also remembered that her son had left a few pills. At Aunt Mu's place, she saw that Mr. Jiang's breath was weak and she didn't care about her husband. She picked up Mr. Jiang and ran to the backyard.
"Auntie, give me the elixir that Aye left, hurry up!"
On the eighth day of May, Li Dai, the Shannan East Road observation envoy, was assassinated. Li Dai managed to escape with his life while wearing armor, but three of his five bodyguards died, and his concubine Jiang was seriously injured, and her life or death is unknown.