Fang Jie sat down cross-legged on the Tukang, leaning against the wall and looking out the window. He didn't close the window in such a cold weather, and he didn't wake up until Sun Kaidao, who was standing in the room, trembled. He stretched out his hand to pull the window back and closed it, then turned around and smiled apologetically at Sun Kai: "Thinking about things, I actually forgot that it's hard for me to keep out the cold wind."
Sun Kaidao said hurriedly: "It doesn't matter, my subordinates will feel clearer after blowing in the cold wind."
"A few doubts?"
Fang explained the question.
Sun Kaidao held out three fingers: "At least three things First, if Master Mou really wants to invite the general to a drinking party, it would be strange not to invite him during the Spring Festival, but instead invite him on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. Second, if Master Mou really just wants to invite the general, Drinking, this news should be brought by General Cui, but General Cui has not come again since the year. Third, why did Mr. Mou suddenly invite the general to drink? Is there any change? "
"These three doubts are based on whether Master Mou wants to invite the general to drink or to invite the general to sacrifice his head?"
Sun Kaidao took two steps back and moved himself closer to the fire: "If it's the former, then these three doubts can be ignored. But if it's the latter, these three doubts expose Master Mou's true intentions. What the subordinate has not yet thought clearly about is the third point, what made him suddenly make up his mind. The subordinate once said that he did not dare to do too much to the general if he wanted to return to the court. The reason for taking the general's military exploits was. That was his only chance to gain command, and he wasn't going to let it go."
"Later, he never deducted our food and grass. From this, we can see that his subordinates' guess was good. Even though he didn't feel guilty about the general, he still wanted to downplay the matter and try his best to restore it. Before the Chinese New Year, he even sent People brought a lot of meat, but there was a sudden change just ten days after the New Year. After thinking about it, I can only think of one reason. "
"explain"
Fang Jie said a word lightly.
Sun Kaidao cleared his throat: "Because the general threatened him."
"I'm guarding Fan Gu and won't go to the stronghold. Why threaten him?"
Fang explained the question.
Sun Kaidao shook his head: "I don't know what happened, maybe I need to send someone to explore the stronghold. If Mou Liangbi really has dirty intentions, the first person to deal with it is not the general, but Cui Zhongzhen." If Mou Liangbi really wanted to kill the general, then Cui Zhongzhen would have been killed or trapped in a cage. When Mou Liangbi killed 16,000 rebel prisoners of war, his subordinates asserted that this man was actually extremely cold-hearted. Hard. If he could, he would not arrest and imprison General Cui. Of course, he was worried that killing Cui Zhongzhen would cause dissatisfaction among the other generals of the Sui army, so he might just put General Cui under house arrest. "
"No one of the Sui army generals would have any objection to Mou Liangbi's intention to kill General Cui, but if he kills Cui Zhongzhen, others will also be in danger. So although Mou Liangbi is a ruthless person, his subordinates prefer General Cui. Still alive."
"There is no shortage of experts under the general's command. Although the Sui army's mountain stronghold must be heavily guarded, it can prevent a large group of people from entering, but it cannot prevent one or two experts from entering. The general can send people to set off now and arrive at the mountain stronghold before tonight, and go in after dark Investigate. Come back immediately tomorrow morning, so you won¡¯t miss the day after tomorrow.¡±
Fang Jie nodded: "Just do as you say, sir. I just don't understand why Mou Liangbi suddenly changed his attitude."
Sun Kaidao shook his head slightly: "He must have encountered some kind of crisis and felt that if he didn't kill the general, he couldn't save the army or his life. If you think about this"
Sun Kaidao's eyes suddenly lit up: "There is a possibility!"
Langru Mountain
Sui Army Dazhai
There has been no fighting for nearly two months, and the Sui soldiers looked relaxed. Within the first month, the generals will no longer use strict military discipline to restrain these soldiers who are serving their country in a foreign land and cannot return home for reunion. After all, if there is usually no war, these soldiers would have gone home to visit relatives on vacation before the twelfth lunar month, and would not report back to the army until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
But now, they live in the mountains thousands of miles away from their hometown, and they can¡¯t even hear a single firecracker during the New Year.
As if taking care of their emotions, God has become merciful. The weather has been good for the past ten days, with less wind and clear skies. Although it is still too cold to handle, it is also good for a group of people to huddle together and bask in the afternoon sun. kind of pastime. Most of the soldiers were idle and lazy. They didn't know and wouldn't even think about it. Some dirty things were happening and continuing on such a glorious day.
Cui Zhongzhen looked at the rope tied to his hands and couldn't help but smile coldly.
This is the place where erring soldiers are imprisoned in the stronghold, but when Prince Xu was there,It has almost never been used, and Mouliangbi only used it once. This is a cave, with a stone blocking the outside and leaving a door. The people detained here are all Mou Liangbi's cronies. Even the generals in the village know that Cui Zhongzhen has been detained until now.
Mou Liangbi, who was sitting opposite Cui Zhongzhen, didn't care about Cui Zhongzhen's sarcastic smile, and said calmly: "I will aggrieve the general for a few days, and I will release the general after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. In the future, we will fight against the rebels." We need the general¡¯s support.¡±
"Do you need me to say thank you for not killing me?"
Cui Zhongzhen asked with a sneer.
Mou Liangbi sighed and said, "You also know that I have no choice but to do this."
"You said the same thing last time."
Cui Zhongzhen looked into Mou Liangbi's eyes: "Since you are already walking on this road, why do you need to make excuses for yourself? You are a bitch, there is no need to use the words of Chunliang Shude to modify yourself. It's disgusting."
Mou Liangbi was not angry, but just shook his head: "With the talents and knowledge I have in my chest, wouldn't it be a pity if I don't have the chance to put them to use? This is a loss for the Sui Dynasty, for His Majesty, and for myself. . I have been in prison for more than ten years, and I have understood everything thoroughly. I once swore that if I could see the light of day, no matter what his morality or loyalty, it would be most practical to live a comfortable life. The defeat of the Mandu Banner taught me one more thingif we continue to fight, we will suffer chaos."
Cui Zhongzhen said coldly: "One decree forced you to reveal your true colors. Now I only regret that I was blind and thought that you were a good person, but you only had the same character as Li Xiaozong. Li Xiaozong died. It¡¯s been less than three months, have you forgotten what happened to him?¡±
"Li Xiaozong didn't expect Fang Jie to show up, so he deserved to die. And I only have this one opponent now. Besides him, who else will compete with me?"
Cui Zhongzhen said: "Langlang Qiankun, do you think you can hide it from others?"
Cui Zhongzhen laughed loudly: "The words "Bright Universe" are the most ridiculous. The sky is ruthless, the earth has no eyes, and there is no justice in the world. If you place your hope on such a thing, I can only say that you are an idiot. "
Cui Zhongzhen was silent for a while, raised his head and looked into Mou Liangbi's eyes and said, "We'll see."
"good"
Mou Liangbi stood up: "If I succeed, I will not kill you. I will keep you like a pig or a dog, so you can see how I succeed. I will give you a lifetime to see if your bright future will save you." ¡±
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Many people in the camp are talking about why they haven¡¯t seen General Cui for a long time. On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Mou Liangbi ordered that drills would resume from tomorrow. The soldiers' leisurely days for nearly a month were finally coming to an end. Therefore, Cui Zhongzhen's soldiers were a little surprised as to why the general had not arranged military affairs today. After some inquiry, I found out that General Cui was said to have been unable to get out of bed for many days due to the cold.
There is a shortage of medical officers and medicinal materials in the army, and the soldiers have nothing to do except pray for Cui Zhongzhen.
A few days ago, strangers came to the camp. Some people said they were from the imperial army. Others swore that it was His Majesty's decree to appoint Mr. Mou as the commander-in-chief. However, when these strangers entered the camp, they were invited into the tent by Mou Liangbi. They stayed for half a day and then left.
After the group left, Mou Liangbi immediately summoned the generals to discuss matters. He said that these people were sent by His Majesty to verify how Prince Xu died in battle, and no one had any suspicion. Mou Liangbi said that His Majesty ordered him to temporarily command the troops until His Majesty selected a suitable general and then sent him to serve. There was nothing suspicious about this, so everyone congratulated him.
It was an exceptionally sunny day on the 15th. Early in the morning, Mou Liangbi asked his cronies to wait outside the stronghold, and told him to tell him immediately if Fang Jie arrived. But his cronies waited until the sun reached due south on the only way up the mountain and did not see Fang Jie's shadow. They went back to ask Mou Liangbi for instructions, and Mou Liangbi's face immediately became a little ugly. If Fang Jie had a premonition that something was not coming, could he still lead his army to attack Fan Gucheng?
The imperial envoy sent by His Majesty to deliver the decree was deceived by him into going to Hou Wushan. The killer he sent has not returned yet. If the imperial envoy sent to deliver the decree is not dead, Fang Jie is not dead. After all, this matter cannot be hidden. He told the imperial envoy who delivered the order that Fang Jie was leading troops to monitor the rebel west camp in Houwu Mountain. As soon as the imperial envoy left, he immediately sent his trusted men to catch up and look for opportunities to strike.
But now that Fang Jie has not arrived yet, how can Mou Liangbi not feel uneasy.
"Send someone to meet you halfway"
He gave an order, and before his confidant could leave the house, he called him again: "Forget it, if you go too far to welcome him and it makes people feel a little strange, go to the door and wait."
The confidant agreed and ran out again.Standing. This time, he didn't wait long before he came back and walked in with a skinny man. Mou Liangbi took a look and recognized this person. He was Fang Jie's personal attendant nicknamed Big Dog.
¡°I¡¯ve met the adults!¡±
The big dog came in and saluted, then smiled apologetically and said: "My general suddenly had a distinguished guest visit last night. The general couldn't get away for a while, so I asked you to come and apologize to your lord first. The general said that he will definitely come before tonight, but I haven¡¯t seen my old friend for many years, and I want to stay with him for a while.¡±
Doubts flashed in Mou Liangbi's eyes: "Haha, it's okayit's nothing important. It's just that I haven't seen your general for a long time, and he didn't come to the village to get together during the Chinese New Year, so I took the liberty to invite you. Since General Fang will come in the evening, I¡¯ll just wait. General Fang¡¯s acquaintance is really broad. I wonder if a friend from somewhere has arrived?¡±
"He is an old friend from the capital. I don't know how he ended up in the northwest. The general is very happy to come here to look for him alone."
"The capital?"
The big dog nodded: "Well, I'm from the capital. If you don't have anything else to do, I'll leave first."
Mou Liangbi sent someone to send the big dog out. After they left, his face immediately darkened. Why would anyone come to the capital at this time? The war was raging in the east, and it was not easy for people from the capital to cross the entire front. Moreover, Fang Jie had only been in Fangu for more than a month. How could his old friends in the capital know that he was now in Fangu?
¡°Could it be that the imperial envoy who delivered the order found out Fang Jie¡¯s whereabouts and went to find him?
If this is the case, wouldn¡¯t your arrangement be exposed?
Just like this, he paced around the room restlessly for half an hour. The more he thought about it, the more something was wrong. He walked to the door and ordered outside: "Go and prepare all the food and grass, order Wujia, Wuyi, Dingjia, Cingjia, Bingding." The soldiers and horses of the fifth battalion will follow me down the mountain. I will personally deliver food and grass to General Fan Gufang. I order all the soldiers and horses of the other battalions in the camp not to go out, otherwise they will be dealt with according to military law."