In the capital of the Qin Dynasty, because His Majesty the Emperor accepted the suggestion of the eldest prince Qiuling, he sent three soldiers and horses to send an encirclement and suppression to Wohua Mountain, the largest bandit in the country, which led to endless arguments among officials of various factions.

Some officials thought that Wohua Mountain was far away from the capital, and that the practice of avoiding the near and far away would make the bandit forces in the nearby counties more rampant; although some supported the timely encirclement and suppression of Wohua Mountain, they vehemently opposed the use of troops with Pang Lu as the main general, on the grounds that Pang Lu was nearly 60 years old and feared that he would lose his troops; and some people believed that the princes should be sent to personally lead the troops in order to gain experience.

The courtiers argued endlessly, but the emperor was also an indecisive person, and his favorite concubine Dan Mi hooked his heart with a charming look, so he irritably drank off the minister's discussion and hugged the concubine to the harem.

On the shore of Luanlai Lake, Gao Xinlin is still a robe and hat, and he fishes quietly.

Qiu Yuan withdrew from his entourage, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and stood quietly behind Gao Xinlin without saying a word.

"Hooked. Gao Xinlin hurriedly got up and pulled up the fishing rod, and Qiu Yuan Zhiyi took the fishing net rod to fish, it was a cyan peach blossom fish with about five catties, but it was still fluttering in the net.

"This fish is not easy to catch, but Mr. is lucky today." Akigaki flattered.

"Good! Thank you, Your Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, for casting the net. Although Gao Xinlin said thank you, his body did not make any etiquette, which was not allowed in the communication of princes and nobles. But he dared to do this in front of the Seventh Prince, and Qiu Yuan did not dislike it.

Qiu Yuan said: "Sir's good strategy has worked wonders, and today Yuan is here to thank Mr. ”

Gao Xinlin was cleaning up the fisherman, while signaling Qiu Yuan to get out of the way, he walked in front, Qiu Yuan followed behind, he said: "You can talk about the situation specifically." ”

Qiu Yuan said: "Qiu Ling is really stupid, I secretly taught the people hidden around him to say some radical words, he thought that the Four Emperor Brothers would recruit troops in the name of suppressing bandits, so he and Concubine De together made a statement to his father, framing the thieves of Wohua Mountain on the grounds of the loss of blood red agate, and proposed to take the lead in encircling and suppressing Wohua Mountain. ”

As Mr. expected, the father was so obsessed with the beauty of the concubine that he agreed without listening to the advice of the ministers. It's just that the task of suppressing bandits was handed over to Pang Lu, a supporter of the Eleventh Emperor's faction, and my people also took the opportunity to become a general of conquest and suppression, which is very beneficial to our plan. ”

Gao Xinlin's eyes were bland, as if these situations were destined, he said: "The demon concubine misled the country, the prince has no plan, it seems that the current situation of the Qin Dynasty is even worse than we expected, of course, this is not only not a bad thing for His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, but also a great good thing." ”

Qiu Yuan said with a smile: "I know what Mr. means, the more chaotic the world, the more opportunities there are, the all-out war between the Qin Dynasty and Wohua Mountain will have a huge impact on the power of the princes, if I can make good use of this, I can secretly disintegrate their power." ”

Gao Xin said: "This is extremely good! The core point of the implementation plan is already known to His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, but I ask His Highness, do you know who the blood-red agate is in now?"

Qiu Yuan thought for a long time and said: "Some time ago, I sent Xu Cong of Jiaozhi City to secretly seize the blood red agate, but according to the secret report, the blood red agate was first robbed by the people of Qiuling, and then there was no whereabouts directly. ”

Gao Xinlin said indifferently: "Originally, I didn't have a clue about this matter, but an incident happened yesterday that made me see clearly, someone set up a plan to steal the beams and change the pillars, which was intended to confuse my eyes and make me mistakenly think that the blood red agate was stolen by someone." ”

"Forgive me for being stupid, please advise me. Qiu Yuan bowed respectfully, and the courtesy of the prince was only endured by the ministers and the imperial family, but he knew that Gao Gao Xinlin had the talent to help the world, and he had the ambition to be the emperor, and he would never be stingy because of his secular status.

Gao Xinlin's expression eased a lot, he was originally a criminal minister who was belittled, where is it worthy of the prince's salute, all he can repay is a mortal knowledge, but although the current Qiuyuan has the eyes of Bole, he has no virtue of knowing talents, and many places still need to be sharpened.

He said: "I believe that there are no more than a handful of people who can see this clearly. His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince is in Zimo, and it is understandable that he can't see through it. If I say that the blood-red agate is still in Xu Cong's hands, will His Highness believe it?"

Qiu Yuan said angrily: "What a bold minion, he dares to act under our noses! Mr. is saying that Xu Cong stole the blood red agate without permission? But what effect does the blood red agate have on him?"

Gao Xin said: "Your Highness, do you know why the four princes want to sacrifice blood red agate for His Majesty the Emperor's birthday banquet?"

Qiu Yuan frowned and pondered: "It is said that this blood-red agate is extremely transparent, blood-red and not luster, it is the best in agate, and it has been carved by high-level craftsmen in Jiangcheng to remove burrs and excess spots, and it can become a national treasure-level handicraft." ”

"Wrong!" Gao Xinlin interrupted Qiu Yuan's speculation and angrily rebuked: "Since it is a handicraft, how can it become a national treasure? The precious thing about blood red agate is not its craftsmanship value and external shape, but its inner quality as a high-grade metal. ！”

"High-grade metal?" Qiu Yuan was very shocked, as the prince of a country, how could he not know the preciousness of high-grade metal, the value of a small high-grade metal far exceeded the so-called heirloom jade seal. Qiu Yuan said: "Sir's news is correct, if so, we can use the hidden power to fight for the blood red agate?"

Last year, in the Huangshi incident, which was very famous in Zhu Tianye, in the town closed by yellow sand, it was rumored that a high-grade metal appeared, and I don't know who spread it, many forces of Zhu Tianye went to fight for it, and even Zhu Tianye's extremely powerful Jinshui Sect and Jiuye's famous killer organization Tiangangmen also participated, which is enough to see the preciousness of high-grade metal.

Gao Xinlin exhaled indifferently and said, "No, because we don't know where the blood-red agate that really hides the high-grade metal is?"

"I don't know, didn't Mr. say that the blood red agate was in Xu Cong's hands?"

"Your Highness didn't understand the meaning of my words, I mean that there is a piece of blood-red agate in Xu Cong's hands, this is the news that the eyeliner hidden in Jiaozhi City brought back, someone brought the blood-red agate to the underground trading club there, and the eyeliner has also confirmed that the person who took the blood-red agate is Xu Cong, but this does not indicate that there is a high-grade metal in the blood-red agate. ”

Gao Xinlin looked at Qiu Yuan's eyes and said: "Your Highness, the four princes are offering birthday gifts on His Majesty's birthday, one is to show their awe to His Majesty the Emperor, and the other is to use this thing to lay the cornerstone for the expansion of the power of the four princes. ”

"So Your Majesty naturally knows about the high-grade metal, and the four princes don't dare to hide it, but with the wisdom of the four princes, how can they not know the importance of the high-grade metal? According to his mind and pattern, he naturally wants to keep the treasure by his side to rest assured, but since he has prepared a birthday gift for His Majesty, he can't temporarily replace it, it is conceivable that using this blood-red agate cloth is the best way to deal with it. ”

"Shake out the true essence of the blood-red agate, but send the blood-red agate that does not contain the high-grade metal back to the court, and then use means to lure us and the forces of other princes to compete, and then all the sins of losing the treasure can be blamed on the bureaucrats in the region, and the four princes can kill three birds with one stone, which not only preserves the high-grade metal, but also wins the favor of His Majesty, and can be used as a reason to expand the army in the area of Jiaozhi City. ”

Hearing this, Qiu Yuan's face turned pale, the Fourth Emperor Brother Qiu Jue had already laid such a huge puzzle silently, and he didn't realize it. He asked in surprise, "Why do the four emperor brothers think that we will definitely be scheming?"

Gao Xinlin said: "With his exhaustive plan for us, we will definitely not let go of the opportunity to cause trouble for him, because whether it is me, the queen, or Lord Shangshu, they all know the intelligence of the four princes, and if they are allowed to develop, they will definitely become a huge python that devours the entire dynasty." ”

Qiu Yuan said: "How did Mr. know that there is a high-grade metal in that blood-red agate?"

Gao Xin said: "Concubine Zhen told me that before she entered the palace, I had a relief grace with her. The other eyeliners that His Highness gave me also confirmed that Concubine Zhen had no reason to lie. ”

Qiu Yuan said: "How did Mr. know that the Fourth Emperor Brother has two blood red agate?"

Gao Xin said: "The reason is Xu Cong in Jiaozhi City, he is a very ambitious person, although it is true that he failed to compete for the blood red agate, but then he bought the lost blood red agate at the trade fair but did not report it to us, it was normal to be greedy for treasures, but on that night he sent people to assassinate many people who participated in the transaction, which aroused my suspicions." ”

Qiu Yuan was puzzled: "Xu Cong's move should be afraid that the matter of buying blood red agate will be exposed, so he wants to cut the grass and eliminate the hidden danger." ”

"Wrong! Big mistake!" Gao Xinlin scolded: "With my understanding of Xu Cong's behavior, he is a ruthless and decisive person, and he can't hide anything from killing those people, he will only let his identity be exposed quickly." And what he wants is to be exposed, because people who don't know high-grade metal will not easily get involved in the rights and wrongs of stolen treasures, and only those who know high-grade metal will find confirmation because of Xu Cong's move. ”

"Xu Cong's purpose is to disrupt that situation, so that more people will notice him, let more people know that the blood-red agate in his hand does not hide high-grade metal, and he can nominally remove the suspicion of 'Huaibi Guilt'. This Xu Cong's long-term vision is much more powerful than many important ministers in the court, and he should have known about the high-grade metal early before he dared to take the risk of buying it. ”

Qiu Yuan was still a little incredulous, one questioned that he was so stupid, and the other thought that Gao Xinlin's speculation lacked real evidence. He said, "How does Mr. understand Xu Cong's plan?"

Gao Xinzhen glanced at Qiuyuan, threw the fish basket into the lake, and said, "Because if I were Xu Cong, I would do the same." ”

Akigaki froze in place, and he believed it.

According to Gao Xinlin, even if the four princes have no last resort, they can still use the existing forces to interfere in the direction of the war, and only by controlling the root of the war in their hands can the prince have the opportunity to gain an advantage in the chess game.

Akigaki sent three loyal vassals of the Eight Dan positions at one time, mainly to collect important information during the war and control the conduct of the war. Bian Daocheng is the first of them.

Bian Daocheng and the entire capital Bian family have actually secretly stated their position, they will follow and swear to follow His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince.

Bian Daocheng stood on the hill in front of the Jiaozhi Mountain Range, his spear deep into the ground, and beside him were hundreds of black-clothed subordinates.

At this moment, he faced the obsessive who had ruined his plans, angry, humiliated, and even terrified. Anger comes from being repelled by him at night, humiliation comes from the fact that this man dares to pursue, and fear comes from the fact that he can find his place in this vast mountainous area.

He didn't have to know the reason, he just wanted to maintain his dignity, he shouted: "You are so arrogant, you dare to chase and kill, don't you think you can wipe us out alone?"

Jiang Ming and Mu Ya looked at each other and smiled, while the Chen family brothers and sisters were behind them, because as Mu Ya expected, the children of the Bian family inherited not only a rich foundation, but also a dignity that could not be tarnished in their bones.

Jiang Ming said: "General Bian Daocheng has some grudges, just suffered a small loss in my hands, and he was already angry like this, but the soldiers of Wohua Mountain you killed can no longer express their anger, I am only here to seek justice for those dead." ”

"Justice?" Bian Daocheng looked up to the sky and laughed, pointed his gun at him, and said: "Don't you feel naïve to seek revenge with such a reason? How can there be justice when war is raging everywhere! How cruel are you mountain bandits, who have done evil things, looting and killing, and having fish and flesh in a township! Only by cutting off the root cause of your troubles can the Qin Dynasty truly be at peace. ”

When Mu Ya heard this, he couldn't help laughing, and turned his head to change his angry face: "General Bian's words are really good, it turns out that in your cognition, the troubles of the Qin Dynasty are all caused by these so-called mountain bandits in Wohua Mountain, but do you know, general, apart from the capital where your Qiu royal family lives, which city can be said to be rich and peaceful? Do you know that?"

He didn't know. Bian Daocheng once thought that all the cities of the Qin Dynasty were as prosperous and peaceful as the capital, although he rarely went to other cities, all the generals said that the poverty of the people was because of the mountain bandits, so they needed someone to suppress it, and the Seven Princes also said so, so he came.

Bian Daocheng angrily reprimanded: "High-sounding excuses, you mountain bandits who everyone has been punished, you don't know how much evil you have done, you can fool the ignorant people, but you can't deceive me." The self-sealing of the territory and the displacement of the people, what slogan of 'doing the right thing for heaven' is just a reason for you to recruit troops, and I hate that I can't wipe you all out in one day. ”

"Hmph, he seems to be a hot-blooded general, but his brain is a little too stupid. Jiang Ming continued: "I think I uphold justice, but I don't know that I am just a puppet that is being used, and I don't know what the meaning of throwing my head and spilling blood on the battlefield is still unknown, so I can use words full of loopholes to refute our persuasion here, which is extremely stupid." ”

Mu Ya then said: "General Bian, you may not know that your princes are fighting in secret, there are innocent courtiers dying every day in the capital, they are all innocent people who have been usurped by the prince's schemes, and the cities of all parties are also bargaining chips in the hands of the prince, but the people in them are not as good as their chess pieces, the generals who are in the same dynasty as you may be killed in the wild in the next moment because of the decree from the palace, is such a dynasty worthy of your protection?"

Bian Daocheng said: "Don't bewitch the people, although there are occasional disputes between the princes and their royal highnesses, but they are definitely legitimate competition, where will the courtiers and the people be threatened? One of them must be on the throne to save the world, if you kill innocents indiscriminately, what is the use of being the emperor!"

Mu Ya sneered and said: "The prince seizes the heir, the emperor's mental technique, he has always stepped on the head of countless people, do you dare to say that the hands of the princes are innocent? Why do you defend the behavior of the princes, you should have already determined your position, right? Is it Qiuling, Qiuyuan, or other princes?"

Bian Daocheng seemed to be seen through his thoughts all of a sudden, and his emotions became even more angry: "The shameless thief Hugh made false words, originally said that you are good or bad about Wohua Mountain, but now it is said that it is the prince, it is clear that I want to ignore the most fundamental problem, in the final analysis, Wohua Mountain is just a group of rats and snakes." ”

"Oh?" Jiang Ming's eyes shot two cold lights, and he seemed to be starting to get angry: "I'm sorry, none of the four of us are from Wohua Mountain, and I can't represent Wohua Mountain." ”

Bian Daocheng was stunned and said: "If you are not a person from Wohua Mountain, why do you want to save the bandits in Wohua Mountain, and you are in the same stream as the mountain bandits, and the crime is no different." ”

Mu Ya said: "It seems that this charge cannot be pushed away, but I tell you very clearly, General Bian, more than ten days ago, I was also a citizen of the Qin Dynasty, but because of the westward massacre of your army general Zhu Gai, I and dozens of villagers were innocently victimized, and I fled to Wohua Mountain. ”

Bian Daocheng was silent, he did know about the matter of Songtaoling, many people died, and many innocent people died, but it was caused by strategic mistakes, and it was not directly related to the army of the Qin Dynasty. But as the best son of the Bian family, as the right-hand man of His Royal Highness the Seventh Prince, and as the Tiger General on the front line of suppressing bandits, how could he not be sad?

Bian Daocheng seemed to have lost his confidence, stared at Mu Ya and said hesitantly: "Someone is naturally responsible for that matter, and the family of the deceased naturally has generous pensions, since you are not a bandit, as long as you repent in time, I can spare your death." ”

"Alas!" Mu Ya and Jiang Ming looked at each other and sighed, Mu Ya originally thought that Bian Daocheng would be blinded by the so-called justice if he was not deeply involved in the world, and it was possible to repent as long as he was properly discerned, but the children of the inheritance family were instilled with the idea of being a minister and a general since childhood, where can a few words correct it?

Mu Ya said: "The Bian family has a lot of arrogant personalities, and their pride in the future is even stronger and abnormal, even if they are seen through by outsiders, where can they question the family and imperial power they believe in! ”

Jiang Ming knew that he wanted to surrender without a fight, so as to obtain the minimum loss of the war, and there was nothing wrong with the failure of the matter, and the fault was only to blame the imperial power that imprisoned the mermaid flesh man.

Jiang Ming said horizontally: "Since you can't, then you can only use force, but I don't know if your plan is okay?"