At the beginning of October of the fourth year of the Great Qi Jiande, half a year had passed since the Haichuan bandits and Haihou conspiracy cases. During this time, there were few battles in Daqi, and it was rare for the town troops to be quiet, but the night before the storm was equally quiet. In this year that is destined to be unpeaceful, the restless hearts of all walks of life are about to ignite a new round of war, writing this opening chapter for the chaotic situation that will eventually come.

Dongtu, the northwest subject country of the Great Qi, the ancestor Li Xiaoxian served in the Wu Dynasty, and was awarded the Northwest Province Jie Du Envoy for his meritorious service in quelling the chaos, and the land of 35 cities in Lingning and Su Erzhou is quite prestigious. Later, because of his good governance and dedication to his duties, he was crowned "Tu'an Gong" and was a very popular minister. In the last years of the Wu Dynasty, the tyrant dictatorship and the people's livelihood were poor, resulting in chaos in the world, and the princes in various places divided one side after another.

Li Xiaoxian has a good reputation in Ning and Su Prefectures because of his good governance and love the people like a son, and the people are willing to follow. Therefore, after some judgment of the situation, Li Xiaoxian announced the uprising, and divided the two prefectures of Ning and Su as the country, called "Dongtu". The Wu Dynasty and Yunlong have sent troops to encircle and suppress many times, trying to eliminate, but they have not succeeded, all because Li Xiaoxian has the skill of using troops, and the king, the ministers, and the people are all united, making the Dongtu increasingly stable, enough to stand with the Wu Dynasty and Yunlong.

Later, the Han family joined forces with the three major families in the south of the Yangtze River to take advantage of the situation, and then swept away Liuhe and reshaped the world. At that time, Li Xiaoxian, who was close to old age, had long lost his will to fight, and knew that the Wu Dynasty and the ironclad Great Qi were not the same, if they were-for-tat, Dongtu would die in the hands of the Great Qi sooner or later, and the foundation that he had been operating for many years would be destroyed. Therefore, under the initiative of Daqi, Dongtu surrendered.

However, Li Xiaoxian put forward three requirements: first, although Dongtu sincerely surrendered, it was only a subject country and could not be incorporated into Daqi; second, Daqi needs to canonize the title of the lord of the country, and hereditary replacement, forever in Dongtu; Third, Dongtu is willing to be the gateway to the west for the Great Qi forever, and also begs for the Great Qi to treat each other sincerely, so the Great Qi court can send civil officials to assist the government, but it is not allowed to send generals to garrison.

Although Li Xiaoxian expressed sincere surrender, it is not difficult to see from his three conditions that the sincerity is not great. To put it bluntly, he just recognized the big brother of Qi Dynasty on behalf of Dongtu, if you have something to say, let's go our separate ways, don't interfere with each other, don't disturb each other. If this matter is placed at the moment, Emperor Hui's temperament will naturally not agree, and the left and right are just a war, and Daqi is not afraid of the land of these two states.

Unfortunately, the situation at that time was that Daqi had just been founded, internal and external troubles were there, coupled with the lack of money and food, and the army was tired, so how could there be any reason to fight again? What's more, Dongtu surrendered without a fight, which is also a good thing, so Emperor Yao responded to Li Xiaoxian's request, and named him "King Tu'an", hereditary replacement, permanent residence in Dongtu, and exempted Dongtu from tax tribute for three years to show God's grace.

After five years of the Great Qi Construction Bank, Li Xiaoxian was killed, and the prince's family was not announced, and the second son Li Yuande took the initiative to show favor to Yunlong and announced his submission, therefore, with the support of Yunlong, Li Yuande rebelled and established himself as the king. The eldest son, Li Yuankai, was forced to leave his hometown and traveled to Daqi to ask for help from Emperor Yao.

Dongtu is related to the gateway of Daqi to the west, not to mention Yunlong's intervention, Daqi can't sit idly by, otherwise all the subject countries will follow suit, and how can they calm the people's hearts. In addition, after Emperor Yao and Han Huang (the king of Northern Xinjiang) discussed, they agreed that this was also a good opportunity to win over Li Yuankai and further subdue Dongtu, so he ordered troops to be sent and ordered Han Huang to be the commander, Duan Feiyan, and King Anxi (the general of the Western Great Qi) to send 50,000 troops to help Li Yuankai quell the rebellion.

How strong such a lineup is, Dongtu is naturally invincible. Although Yunlong was willing to help, the Qi army was unstoppable, and broke the city in only one month, and beheaded the thief leader Li Yuande, helping Li Yuankai to regain power smoothly. In view of this, Yunlong did not send troops.

Li Yuankai was grateful for the help of Daqi, and vowed that Dongtu would always be a subject country of Daqi, and that he would always be in the west, and made an oath with Emperor Yao to "never lose each other". At this point, Dongtu can be regarded as really surrendering to Daqi.

Nine years have passed in the blink of an eye, and under Li Yuankai's governance, Dongtu has not only become more and more prosperous, but also kept to himself and was loyal.

On this day, on the night of the ninth day of October in the fourth year of the Great Qi Jiande, in a small city in the north of Dongtu, there was a private house where the lights were not extinguished, and the family had not yet slept. In the study, a young man sat on the main seat, dressed in a brocade robe, richly dressed, and the candlelight reflected on his face, although it was a little feminine, it was difficult to hide his handsome and extraordinary face and the ruthlessness of the killing decision between his eyebrows.

At this time, the night was deep, but he sat alone in the study, with a teapot and two teacups on the desk in front of him, his expression was slightly solemn, and he looked out the window from time to time, as if waiting for someone to visit. Who is he waiting for on such a dark and windy night? What kind of secret thing should be conspired against at this time?

After another stick of incense, the man had drunk three cups of tea, and after he glanced at the sky, his brows furrowed slightly, he stood up and walked to the window, looked around, and saw that no one had arrived, and a look of anxious sadness hung on his face undisguisedly.

"I made an appointment to discuss the meeting at the beginning of today's ugly time, why didn't you come? But there are a lot of things today, and if it is later, I am afraid that I will ......"

"What, you still made an appointment with someone today?"

The man was still muttering to himself, and there was a slight reproach in his tone, not wanting him to finish his words, a crisp voice came from behind him, and the undisguised murderous aura in his tone really surprised him.

Before he could think about it, he immediately turned around and looked ahead vigilantly. I saw that in the study where he was the only one just now, there was a stout man out of thin air without a sound. The man was tall, athletic, and taller than the average person. His long hair was untied, hanging down behind him, wearing a black coat, although the outfit was not exaggerated, but this person was glorious, his temperament was extraordinary, and his noble identity was difficult to hide. Especially the pair of eagle wolf-like pupils, people are frightened when they see it, and they can't help but shudder.

The owner of this house did not show much surprise when he saw the appearance of the visitor, and although he seemed to be a little alarmed by his sudden appearance, it was expected that his arrival was expected, and it was not difficult to see that this person was waiting for him.

After the man in black asked, he didn't make the slightest movement, just stood there, looking at the panicked man, staring at him with a pair of eyes, as if he wanted to see him through. The latter was so closely watched by him, and he didn't know whether he was weak or frightened, so he forgot to answer for a while, and just stood still.

"Ahem."

The man in black coughed lightly, as if to remind the master, and the man came to his senses, and thought to himself: This person's ability is really getting higher and higher, and he is standing behind me at such a distance, I don't even notice it, if he kills just now, I'm afraid it will be...... No, in what he said just now, he did have killing intent, could it be that he noticed something?

This man should not be an ordinary person, although he was afraid in his heart, but his brain turned very fast, and seeing that the murderous aura on the man in black was becoming more and more solemn, he hurriedly sighed, and when his mood eased a little, he said unhurriedly: "Since I have an appointment with the prince, how can I make an appointment with others again." It's just that the elder of my family has been paying a lot of attention to Zai Xia recently, and seems to be somewhat aware of what we are planning. When I saw that the prince was late, I was a little worried. ”

The man seemed to be prevaricating the man in black, but seeing that he spoke without any timidity, he couldn't see anything wrong. After listening to his explanation, the man in black sneered and asked, "Is that really the case?" ”

"Otherwise, what does the prince think?"

Although the man heard the suspicion in the black-clothed man's tone, he was not afraid at all, but asked the man a question, looking very reasonable.

Seeing him like this, the man in black sighed for a moment and then chuckled, turned around and walked straight to the place where the man had just been sitting, sat down on his own, and with great interest picked up the empty teacup in front of him, held it in the air, and fell silent.

Seeing his reaction like this, the man's heart was slightly relieved, and as he walked elsewhere, he secretly thought: Hmph, I have to put this stinky shelf every time.

He walked up to the man in black, respectfully picked up the teapot, carefully poured tea for him, and said at the same time: "The matter of plotting with the prince is very important, how can you not know the importance of it......"

"This king's trip was a little delayed, because after entering the country, he found some secret posts of Daqi and cleaned them up for you."

The man in black interrupted the man's words and said the reason for his belation, and when the man heard the five words "Daqi's secret whistle", his eyebrows were imperceptibly raised, and he forcibly suppressed the panic in his heart, and said flatly: "Oh? I see. The two generations of emperors of the Great Qi have always distrusted foreign ministers, let alone the subject country of Dongtu. From time to time, there are secret sentinels to probe, and I am not surprised to see Dongtu. However, if the prince kills them, isn't he afraid of startling the grass and snakes, and hindering what we are planning? ”

Seeing that the man respectfully poured himself tea, the man in black showed a hint of joy on his face with a little satisfaction. He drank the tea, showed a nonchalant expression, and said casually: "Anyway, it's time to act, so why care." ”

"Huh? What does the prince mean...... We're going to do it? ”

Seeing that the man was slightly surprised, the man in black nodded lightly and said, "Hmm." As you expected, according to this king's investigation, the elder of your family has indeed heard some rumors, and it should be for this matter to invite your father and son to meet tomorrow. That being the case, I had to strike preemptively and act early. ”

Hearing that this person's secret agent actually knew about tomorrow, the man was really shocked, and thought to himself, fortunately, when he explained just now, he mentioned this matter, which dispelled the suspicion of the man in black. However, after his implementation, what he expected was indeed correct, so it seems that if he doesn't do it again, he is afraid that he will be passive.

"Okay, after waiting for so many years, it's finally time to do it", the man said, looking at the moonlight outside the window, there was a hint of ruthlessness in his eyes, and continued: "Success and defeat, it's tomorrow!" ”

Looking at him, the man in black pondered for a moment, took the teapot from his hand with a chuckle, poured himself a cup of tea, and said, "You have your father's old scheming, but he is not as ruthless as you." Well, it's a big thing, and this king finally didn't see the wrong person. ”

Hearing this, the man was slightly panicked, and seemed to feel a little uncomfortable because his ambition was seen through. And after the man in black poured a cup of tea, he did not drink it, but put it in the corner of the table, then stood up and walked out the door.

"This king came to Dongtu for this purpose. After tomorrow's meeting, if you succeed, the king will come to you and discuss the next step. ”

The man glanced at the teacup that the man in black had not drunk after pouring it full, and said with a sneer: "The implication is that the prince does not plan to help tomorrow, and if there is a loss in the future, the prince will not rescue him, right?" ”

Hearing this, the man in black stopped, didn't turn around, and said coldly: "What this king wants is a hero who can cooperate and work together to win the world, not a slave who wants the king himself to do everything." If this little thing can't be done properly, then it can only be said that you are not worthy. ”

With that, the man in black didn't care about the reaction of the man behind him, and left directly. After he was gone, the man savored his words, snorted softly, and walked to the desk, wanting to pour out the water from the teaglass. However, when he walked to the desk and looked at the teacup, his brow furrowed slightly, as if he had realized something.

After a while, another person walked in, this person was dressed in a dark purple robe, his expression was slightly panicked, and after walking to the man's side, he asked vigilantly, "Did he notice?" ”

This man must have made an appointment with the man, so his appearance did not surprise the latter, but sighed lightly and said, "He must have not noticed it, but only came to cause trouble." However, this man is unpredictable in his mind and indecisive in his actions, and his hands and eyes are full of heaven, and he cannot assert that he has not noticed it at all. ”

As he spoke, his frowning brows gradually eased, and he looked at the man in purple, his face was slightly happy, and he said, "However, after all, when it's time to do it, our plan can be accelerated." Tomorrow's things will have to be bothered by the prince. ”

With that, the man clasped his hands into fists and respectfully waved at the man in purple. This man is also a prince?

"Why are you polite, tomorrow's affairs are right and at ease, this king has already made arrangements. However, you have to be careful when dealing with that person afterwards. ”

"It's nature."

As he spoke, the man turned to look out the window, and the corner of his eyes inadvertently swept to the position where the man in purple was standing and the cup of tea, and his eyebrows were raised inadvertently, I don't know what he thought......

The so-called praying mantis catches cicadas, and the yellow finch is behind, who knows, which is the praying mantis and which is the yellow finch. However, everything that the three of them are planning to point to the east, and I think that this Daqi subject country that has been quiet for nine years is about to usher in a bloody storm.