across the Quartet

Chapter Two

Wei Zhuang was holding a jade chess piece and beating it on the chessboard, his voice was resonant, like hitting a gold stone.

Back then, Young Master Fei was still King Han's favorite youngest son. After the coronation ceremony, King Han specially rewarded him with a set of chess pieces made of suet white jade and ink jade, and a chessboard carved with lacquer wood.Young Master Fei has been ups and downs in the court for decades, from being favored to being alienated and hated, this pair of jade has always been with him.Many well-known figures have fought on this chessboard, such as the great Confucian Xunzi who lived in seclusion in Qidi, Li Si who was highly valued in Xianyang, and the former Korean prince who is now imprisoned in Yiyang The deposed king Han An.

Wei Zhuang has never missed the original owner of this chess set as much as he does now.

He has always been proud of his clear mind and excellent response, even surpassing this martial arts swordsmanship.However, the recent situation has tormented his proud mind, coupled with the ubiquitous chill in the winter of Yan Kingdom, the old and new scars on his body were all aching.

He once thought that getting the treasury and controlling the crown prince meant controlling the lifeline of the whole South Korea. It was not until the country was broken for many years that he realized how naive this idea was.As long as the country still exists, even a country as riddled with holes as the old Han, there are old laws to follow and established rules to follow in everything.The old order is like an invisible vein, connecting countless people from top to bottom according to their ranks.But to break everything up and rebuild, it can be said that there are thousands of threads, and there is no way to start.For example, even if he could privately raise an anti-Qin rebel army, without taxes and duties, what would he use to support his troops?Even though he spent from the national treasury and bought many private fields in Yingchuan and other places in Yiyang, due to the heavy taxes and corvees of the Qin State itself, the final output can only be used for quicksand to barely make ends meet.Besides, Wei Zhuang and others are all fugitives. These farms must be entrusted to local people who are clean and unobtrusive, just like the Jian family father and son back then; the loyalty and brains of these people are also worrying.

The training of the rebel army is also the biggest problem.Soldiers need a large open plain to practice weapons and formations. The sound of metal and iron clashing, people shouting and horses neighing, orders and drums beating, under the surveillance of the net, it is impossible to deceive people's eyes and ears.Judging from the current distribution and mobilization of the Qin army, Wei Zhuang had to sacrifice the possibility of privately recruiting troops.

The third is the shortage of manpower.Wei Zhuang once disliked the redundant officials and bloated organization of the original Korean court, and felt that after he held a lot of power, his decisions would be more efficient.However, as Quicksand continued to grow, he gradually realized that assistance was indispensable.Quicksand seems to produce talented people in large numbers, but among them there are only about twenty who can read and write, and even fewer who can think, plan or lead.Some of his subordinates can control birds, some can control wolves, some can fight tigers with bare hands, some feed on human blood... but he can't find a shrewd and reliable person to manage the accounts.Not to mention the talents like Han Fei who have established the country and Anbang.

This time, Prince Yan's little trick disturbed Wei Zhuang - not because of any fundamental loss of interests, but because it reminded him of the fragility behind the quicksand surface.He has no less than ten ways to take revenge on Yan Dan, but there is one most deadly reason to stay still.Liusha took the restoration of the country as its banner. Although it was able to win the support of the old nobles of various countries, it also invisibly carried the shackles of "weak Korea".Yandan's plan this time, as a special envoy of South Korea, one of the allies, knew it was a trap, and he had to fall into it.

Wei Zhuang really wanted to talk to someone and clear his mind at the same time, but he also realized that there was no one to talk to—Han Fei had already passed away, and Huo Mei died of an old illness a year ago.Zhang Zifang was studying far away in Qi State.As for Chi Lian and Bai Feng...It is true that they have grown a lot taller, and their martial arts have also improved a lot: Bai Feng is extremely talented, and his shots are straightforward, and he never cares about the life or death of his opponent; while Chi Lian has gradually begun to enjoy using illusion to torture the enemy and The joy of mixing poison; but they are still children.They still don't know how to obtain greater benefits from a person's life and death besides killing people, which is the most difficult and exhausting part.

Suddenly, Wei Zhuang picked up a crystal clear white ball and shot it out with his index finger.Yuzi was stopped in the air with a ding, and knocked off a pure white feather.

As soon as he raised his eyes, a lithe and vigorous young man in white stood one arm away.

In recent years, Baifeng has grown very fast.His bones gradually pulled apart, his muscles became stronger, and his lightness kung fu became more and more sophisticated.In terms of appearance, it seems that it is no longer as indisputable as before, but as a young man, it looks more and more handsome.His sneak attacks became more vicious every time, even he himself didn't bother to count how many times he had shot in total; but it seemed that Wei Zhuang always noticed it with a slight margin.

"There is news from Yingchen and Xianyang, which one should you read first?"

"Ying Chen."

Wei Zhuang took a piece of folded silk from him, glanced at it quickly, and immediately lit it on the lamp.Baifeng handed over another bamboo tube.Unexpectedly, Wei Zhuang found two crumpled silk scriptures in the tube.He unfolded the shorter one, and after looking at it, it was also burned to ashes.But the longer one made him stand up from the couch in shock.

It was Ge Nie's handwriting.

"How did he find you?!"

"I haven't seen him. The things are all handed over to me by old man Ji."

"...Okay, very good. I saved him, but he got the handle." Wei Zhuang gritted his teeth.Ji Da is a doctor, and also the most valuable eyeliner he sent to Qin with all his efforts.If Ge Nie reveals his identity, it will be a great loss for Quicksand. "Besides, this old guy actually got so close to the enemy, maybe he has a different heart."

"You mean the old man Ji Da?" Bai Feng said, he still insisted on opposing Wei Zhuang, preferring to call the members of Quicksand by their real names rather than the nicknames Wei Zhuang gave to the members of Quicksand. "I don't think that's the case. Since you asked him to save people, maybe he misunderstood and thought that Ge Nie was not our enemy at all."

Wei Zhuang turned and looked out of the window, and said to himself: "I thought that even if he went to Qin to become an official, he would climb up little by little like he did in Zhao. I didn't expect him to follow Ying Zheng directly. .Brother will really surprise me."

"What was written in Ge Nie's letter?" Bai Feng asked curiously.

"It's just some dispensable nonsense." Wei Zhuang put the silk book on the flames, and took it back after thinking about it, "But I still have to take a closer look to avoid any overtones."

"Do you want to send the book back?"

"You go to rest first. Set off before dawn and send this copper pipe to Shoudu."

Bai Feng put away the brass pipe, suddenly looked around and said, "Where did Chi Lian go?"

Wei Zhuang glanced at him. "...She has another mission."

Immediately, Bai Feng's expression changed unhappily, and he folded his hands on his chest, "Why can Chi Lian kill people, but I can only be an errand runner?"

"Because there are some things that only you can do." Wei Zhuang sat down again, stroking the edge of the chessboard: "You should have found out on the way here that we have been under house arrest a long time ago. Prince Yan summoned secret envoys from various countries and told me He revealed his plan to assassinate the Qin Dynasty. Now Jidu is under martial law, and the envoys of the six countries who know the plan cannot leave the post. The messengers are intercepted. The birds that deliver the letter will also be shot. If it were not for you, we would not have communicated with the outside world. means of communication."

"If it would be dangerous to reveal this plan, why didn't Crown Prince Yan act in secret from the beginning?"

Wei Zhuang was very pleased.Being able to ask the right questions shows that this brat still has a lot of hope.He patted the chessboard and signaled Bai Feng to sit down opposite.

"Ji Dan is testing the attitude of each country. He designed this assassination to be different from ordinary assassinations. He did not intend to make people disappear silently, but to announce it to the world and accumulate prestige, so that the princes and scholars of the six countries will see it." Consider the strength of the Yan State and its determination to oppose Qin. If the plan to assassinate Qin succeeds, then the six kingdoms in Shandong will re-establish a joint vertical, and Prince Dan will be pushed to the position of the joint vertical leader without saying anything, just like the past years. Fu rescued Zhao, Lord Xinling who shocked the world. This kind of momentum cannot be obtained by the strength of the Yan Kingdom itself-although the vitality of the six countries has been greatly injured, at present, the strength of the Chu Kingdom is still the strongest; the King of Chu Why should other countries be allowed to issue orders? Our new king of Chu is not a patient man. He will never be satisfied with Yan Dan's hints. Zhao Guo and Yan Guo have long had old grievances, and when Handan fell , Yan State could not rescue in time, which made many nobles of Zhao State dissatisfied, but the current Dai State is too weak, so they had to reluctantly attach to Yan State. Although Qi State is rich, but it has not been in war for many years, it is still the choice of Lianheng in Hezong In fact, the attitude of the monarch is still ambiguous. Yan Guo became the head of state by assassinating Qin, which is just Prince Dan's wishful thinking. Yan Dan thought that forcing me to hand over the Suihou Zhu would please the Mo family, and tested South Korea's loyalty It is a plan to kill two birds with one stone; however, I offer Suihou Zhu with both hands without hesitation at this time, and instead show the arbitrariness of the Yan Kingdom in front of the envoys of various countries, it will only aggravate their dissatisfaction." Wei Zhuang paused and asked : "In this situation, if it were you, how do you think you should make a decision?"

"...Kill Yan Dan." Bai Feng's eyes flashed, and he gently raised the feather blade on the side of his right hand.

Wei Zhuang's eyes darkened, feeling that the future of Quicksand was bleak.

After Baifeng left, Wei Zhuang turned on the lamp to reread the silk script from Xianyang.The font on the letter is vigorous on the surface, but the remaining power is a little insufficient, which shows that Handan's serious injuries at that time have not yet healed.

"Brother, seeing words is like meeting you."

Gai Nie wrote this letter very carefully, so smart that even Wei Zhuang had to express his approval.He didn't mention his and Wei Zhuang's names and identities at all, it looked like the most common letter from home.He repeatedly thanked Wei Zhuang for the "elixir" and said that he would not reveal the origin of his benefactor to anyone.But he also hinted that if someone devises a plan to deal with the "Master", it is his duty to stop it.In the end, he implicitly expressed some of his thoughts on the current situation.He said there was very little that a man could really do.Some people seem to be turning clouds and rain, but in fact they are just using the power of "time" and "potential".For example, a boulder falling from a cliff is powerful, not because of how great the stone itself is, but because it fell from a high place.It is not easy to transport stones to high places, but compared with the difficulty of accumulating soil to form mountains, it is so insignificant that it is not worth mentioning.When a country has become a mountain, even if the monarch is talented and general, he is just a boulder placed on the top of the mountain; even if the boulder is broken by one person, the country still has a steady stream of successors.The mountain is uneven, and the east and west cannot compete after all.

At the end of the letter, he wrote: "The new year is approaching Zhengshuo. I don't know if it is snowing in the old capital? Hope to add cold clothes and eat more."

Wei Zhuang read the letter carefully under the lamp, and he didn't realize that the corners of his lips were gradually raised with the movement of his eyes.He enjoys these obscure words, enjoys the metaphors and metaphors like code words that only Guigu's fellow disciples can understand, and enjoys the joy of two people who are thousands of miles apart.

It seems that Gai Nie is also vaguely aware of the desperate plan of the Six Kingdoms for King Qin.But he doesn't think this approach can really solve the problem.Wei Zhuang is also thinking about it.Back then, King Qin Xiaowen died violently within three days of succeeding to the throne, and his son Chu Xiangguo was only three years old. During the period when Lu Buwei was in power with constant internal worries, Qin's offensive to the East did not stop.Now Yingzheng has an adult son, and there are many loyal civil servants and military generals in the court; as Han Fei said before his death, Li Si's talents and methods are by no means inferior to Lu Buwei.If the monarch really died at the hands of the assassin, it would arouse the anger of the whole country for revenge, and burn the perpetrator to ashes.

Assassin's strategy is like removing a sunspot from a chessboard and replacing it with another, how can it shake the overall situation - Wei Zhuang wrote in his reply.Some people think that as long as the "Master" dies, Hexi will be in chaos and all problems will be solved.

He thought for a while, and wrote again: "There is a lot of snow in the north, and there are several feet. The wind and thunder change rapidly, and I don't know who to speak. The three-year period is approaching, and only the king can see it."

After the ink was dry, he folded the reply book, rolled up Ge Nie's letter, and threw it into the brazier in the house.The pure white silk immediately ignited into a bright spark, and then emitted a pungent burnt smell.

It was already New Years when Gai Nie received the reply.

It has been snowing lightly for several days in Xianyang, but the streets are still smooth and clean. Every household has swept away the snow on a section of the road outside the house—if they fail to clean up in time, they will be punished with hundreds of dollars or hard labor according to the law.And those who secretly dump dust into the street may even lose a hand.

The silk script was hidden in the medicine box sent to his residence.Although it took a long time, the fact that his junior brother was willing to reply to the letter already surprised him endlessly.

Another thing to be thankful for is that his "mansion" is very deserted. There is a layer of dust on the table and the floor, and no one cleans it, and no one bothers to tamper with the delivered things.

Gai Nie's situation in Qin State may disappoint the heroes of the six countries who scolded him.On that day, he instructed the king of Qin in Handan to excavate Heshibi, and hundreds of prisoners arrested were changed from death to Chengdan and sent to Jiuyuan area; while he himself was escorted into a prison cart by warriors and carried all the way to Xianyang.He was summoned several times by the King of Qin in the capital, and after several conversations, the King of Qin, regardless of everyone's persuasion, asked him to make up for the vacancy of a Sword Master as a bodyguard, and granted him a rank of noble, a house and two servants.However, there are 60 cronies and warriors stationed around King Qin, most of whom are heroes and martyrs. They are loyal and have outstanding martial arts skills. For the King of Qin, he guarded the monarch around him like a shadow.They seem to have low official positions, but their close relationship with King Qin is unmatched by any high-ranking official.Sometimes the King of Qin secretly ordered some of them to complete extremely secret tasks, and sometimes promoted some of them to important positions in the court.There are rumors that Changping Lord and Chang Guojun, the important ministers of the court today, were also two of the sixty personal guards, and the reason why they were rewarded and knighted was more important than when Changxin Lord rebelled. What's more important is the lives of the two babies who are still in their infancy.

Among this group of guards, Gai Nie has always been an outsider who is close at hand.When he first arrived in Xianyang City, due to recovering from serious injuries and long-term starvation, he was so emaciated that he almost had no human figure, and he looked like a tree branch could be poked down.There are legends about his battle with the Sword Master circulating in the Qin Palace, but unfortunately most people can't believe it.The King of Qin was keen to watch the martial arts competition between the guards, and people often challenged him in private.In the end, Ge Nie's swordsmanship gained vigilance and hostility from his colleagues, and perhaps a little respect, but he could never win the trust from the bottom of his heart.The head of the bodyguard once knelt beside King Qin and tried to persuade him, he heard that this man was cruel and cunning, he killed countless soldiers of our army during the siege of Handan, so he should not be entrusted with such a heavy responsibility.The king of Qin said that the king of Zhao was stupid and ruined the country, so the warriors in the army took the initiative to serve the widow;

In addition, the king of Qin also specifically mentioned: "The divination of the national teacher before the attack on Zhao showed that there will be a prisoner who will send a pearl and a jade for the widow. It can be seen that this is God's will, so don't be suspicious."

So the leader could no longer speak out to dissuade him, so he had to order his subordinates to be on guard day and night, calmly preventing Gai Nie from getting too close to the King of Qin.

Apart from the above, Gai Nie is only an insignificant role in the huge Xianyang Palace.As the king of the state, King Qin can be compared with any hero recorded in the book: he is extremely intelligent, determined, diligent and studious, and often stays up all day to deal with government affairs; The precision giant mechanism, all the wood, bronze, gears, and rivets all perform their duties and work tirelessly.And what drives all of this is the precise and strict Qin law, and the greedy eyes that look at every inch of land in the six kingdoms of Shandong.Gai Nie searched all that he had learned, but he couldn't offer any fresh and valuable advice to such a monarch and his ministers.As Zhao Gao said, when the war has reached this point, the so-called theory of combining vertical and horizontal is useless; and Qin's way of using troops, no one will ask for his opinion from a former enemy. .

Therefore, Gai Nie's duty is only to protect the safety of the monarch.When he was on duty, he had a lot of free time to study and practice swords and practice his inner strength in his own courtyard.He knew that Luo Wang had never given up on monitoring him, so he acted very carefully and hardly had contact with outsiders.He has almost no friends in court, and no human relations.Instead, I met two old friends in the palace, but unfortunately both of them pretended to be strangers: Mr. Changping tried his best to avoid contact with him, but Zhao Gao's eyes still made people uncomfortable.

A pair of mother and son were sent to wait on him: a white-haired old woman and a ten-year-old boy; they were the neighbors of the thief, who were convicted of crimes and served as official slaves.The old woman is deaf and dazzled, almost never speaks, and can't taste the taste with her tongue. The food she cooks is often burnt or raw.Even so, Ge Nie still liked her smile very much - although she was much older, the texture of the creases at the corners of her eyes always reminded him of some long-term memories of his mother.The young man's name is A Ting, he is very lively and talkative, he prefers to go to the stable of the mansion next door to play with stable boys of the same age than to stay in Gaine's mansion and wait for the cleaning.

"Your Majesty is dispatching troops." One day they leaned outside the door, watching the procession of procession passing by on the road with envy.

"I will be 16 years old in the next year." Arting said to his friends, "maybe next year? I want to join the army early. Just chop off the heads of one or two people from Wei or Chu, and you can get a few acres of land." , a house, and several servants to serve my mother."

"General Wang has captured several cities in the Wei Kingdom. I'm afraid that by this time next year, the Wei Kingdom will be over."

"I hope the Chu people can last a little longer, otherwise whose head are we going to chop off?"

Gai Nie happened to pass by and sighed upon hearing this. "I hope this battle will be over soon, and no one will need to chop off anyone's head."

The young man stared at him with wide eyes, although he didn't say anything contradictory, but there was obvious dissatisfaction and hostility in his gaze; it was as if Ge Nie had taken away his field house, servants and title with his own hands.Later Ge Nie walked a little farther, and heard him complaining to the stable boy next door: "What's so great about that guy? Other people's lord titles are earned with one head and one head on the battlefield. He is It’s a coward to be knighted by offering some treasure to the king. With a sword stuck in his waist, he pretends, maybe he hasn’t even killed anyone.”

Ge Nie almost smiled, but he tasted bitterness on the tip of his tongue.

If my mother was lucky enough to live to this day, what kind of son would she be proud of?Does she want to see her son be an honest carpenter, or a murderous butcher?

Gai Nie went to the street and wanted to ask the blacksmith in the south of the city to repair his sword for him.After entering the Qin Dynasty, he was no different than before, so he had to use a hard and brittle bronze sword. "Qingjiao" and "Nine Deaths" are both iron swords carefully forged by famous craftsmen. They are sharp and flexible, and they will not easily curl the blade even if the skull is chopped off.But I heard that the sword made of meteorite that fell from the nine heavens is the best among swords, and it can even split gold and stone.

Gai Nie slowly moved forward in the crowd.He realized that there was a tail behind him that could not be shaken off, and there were unusual people around him who were paying attention to his existence.

Yes, there are naturally spies from the Six Kingdoms in Xianyang City.Even a snare cannot be distracted to monitor every person and every road.Thanks to the mountain ghost's training, Ge Nie can recognize those disguised beggars, thieves, alchemists, and merchants; in addition, there are some special carpenters, blacksmiths, stonemasons, etc., who are not disguised, but I am afraid they also possess special skills.The Mohists are the ancestors of craftsmen in the world. They are proficient in skills and maintain a belief that they are not controlled by princes and nobles.They are the irresistible builders and guardians of the city.

The blacksmith shop was in full swing.Gai Nie walked around the red charcoal stoves, screaming bellows, clanging hammers and anvils, just as he was looking for the steward, when he heard a familiar laughter from the corner.

"I have five cones—the one who falls must fall first."

Ge Nie's eyes widened, he turned around and smiled in disbelief.

"I have five knives—the one who makes the mistake must die first."

"Hahahaha, good brother...Anie, long time no see."

TBC