Chapter 50 Deceiving the city gates

The old emperor stood up and walked into the hall without saying a word.

As soon as he left, the Third Prince hurriedly followed. The father and son entered the hall and sat in the same spot where they had played chess with Zhou She last time, and took out a chessboard as well.

The third prince, ever eager to serve, diligently set up the chessboard, placed the black pieces beside his father, and smiled at the old emperor.

The old emperor ignored him: "I've heard you've been practicing your chess skills diligently lately. Come and let me see if you've improved."

The father and son started playing chess, while the narrator continued speaking over the screen:

Swindling is a risky business; if caught, you could face a barrage of criticism.

Zhou She thought so too. After leaving the palace, he pondered for a moment and headed straight for the princess's residence.

The carriage couldn't stop for long outside the palace gates, and since the princess's residence was in the center, he simply walked there himself.

[Playing with one's life is not something to be taken lightly. First of all, we need to know that He Jun and Zhao Jun each sent 30,000 elite troops to garrison Bukang, and they have only been there for a short time. As an allied force, their coordination is very poor.]

It was late at night, and upon closer inspection, the arriving reinforcements were all from He Jun's army. The man lying on the ground was an old acquaintance—wasn't this a golden opportunity?

The scene shifted, and the firelight illuminated the screen.

Emperor Zhongzong changed into He Jun's clothes, casually smeared mud and blood on his face, completely changing his appearance, and even replaced the horse's bridle with He Jun's.

The group, properly disguised, made their way to Bukang City under the moonlight, weary from their journey.

In Bukang City, Zhao Jun was on patrol. The patrolling soldiers looked out of the city and saw a group of people appearing under the hazy moonlight. Their armor was tattered, their faces were covered in blood, and they looked extremely disheveled.

The soldier immediately reported to the commander.

"Halt!" As Emperor Zhongzong and his entourage drew closer to the city gate, half a face appeared on the city wall, and a stern voice demanded, "Who goes there? State your name!"

The group immediately reined in their horses and stopped.

Because of his striking face, to prevent any accidents, Zhongzong followed behind his subordinate Meng Yuexian.

Meng Yuexian was also a seasoned actor. He raised his head, the moonlight reflecting off his blood-stained face, which was deathly pale: "I am a subordinate of Chang Jingxian, a military officer under the King of Wu. I have urgent news to report!"

The King of Wu was He Jingcheng. When he declared himself king, he called himself the King of Wu.

As for Chang Jingxian, he was a cousin of Chang Dexian. Emperor Zhongzong learned a great deal of inside information about He Jingcheng from him, and then had him executed.

The half-head on the city wall suddenly retracted, presumably to verify the situation. After a while, it reappeared: "The general has ordered that you set up camp outside the city and enter at dawn."

They were clearly worried about imposters, so they simply didn't open the door.

Meng Yuexian panicked: "We risked our lives to escape, but the opportunity to fight is fleeting. If something goes wrong by dawn, I'm afraid our lives will be in danger!"

After a brief silence on the city wall, a middle-aged man reappeared: "Do you have any proof?"

Meng Yue first pulled out the stolen token, and while they were checking it, he kept looking back and shouted anxiously, "If you're really worried, why don't you have someone verify your identities?! His Highness Prince Wu won't let you off easily if he finds out about this!"

He acted so convincingly, he even improvised a bit. The city guard, after listening, scoffed, "King Wu..."

They weren't under the command of the King of Wu. However, since the two sides had joined forces, they didn't want to take responsibility if trouble arose.

After saying that, he asked his subordinates, "Does the King of Wu have a man named Chang Jingxian under his command?"

"There is indeed such a person."

"Is that token real?"

"That's He Jun's token..." It looks real, but if it's a fake, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

After a moment's hesitation, the garrison commander finally sighed and said, "I'll take my troops out to take a look."

If there were a real opportunity to fight, His Majesty could tear him apart alive because he escaped.

With a thunderous roar, the city gates opened. The garrison commander led a thousand elite soldiers out of the city to investigate, but instead of the King of Wu's troops, he was met by elite cavalry lying in ambush.

It was more than a month after the fall of Bukang City that the He and Zhao armies received the news. But by then it was too late to be angry, so they had no choice but to lay down their arms and make further plans.

Meanwhile, King Jungjong discovered a capable official within the city.

In the palace, Emperor Hong'an made another move.

The third prince's chess skills were clearly inferior to his father's, and his speed gradually decreased until he finally had to admit defeat: "Father, I have lost."

Emperor Hong'an raised his head: "Were we defeated?"

He looked at the board and saw that the white pieces were in a losing position, but if the game continued, there was still a chance to turn the tide.

"Father's chess skills are improving day by day; your son is no match for Father." The Third Prince flattered him lightly and said with a smile, "Your son is not good at chess and has disappointed Father."

"Indeed," the old emperor said vaguely, "I am disappointed, but not because of this matter."

Or rather, it's not just because of this.

One can discern a person's character by observing chess. He enjoys playing chess not because he likes it, but because he can see a person's personality in it.

Zhou She and he fought to the very last moment, neither admitting defeat until the outcome was decided.

Seeing the tide turning against them, the third brother chose to give up rather than fight it out.

Neither of them is wrong, but relatively speaking, he prefers Zhou She's style.

The Third Prince seemed not to understand, shifted his gaze, and gathered the white pieces, but then heard the Emperor slowly ask, "Xie Chaoxian and you are close friends."

"Smack—"

The white piece fell into the box with a crisp sound.

The Third Prince forced a smile: "Yes, when he went to the capital to take the imperial examination, I saw that he was talented and did indeed give him some preferential treatment."

Although he spoke calmly, he was actually panicking inside.

"Hmm." The old emperor didn't say anything more, and waved his sleeve, saying, "You may leave."

The Third Prince dared not hesitate and quickly rose to take his leave. The hall was quiet for a moment, with only the sound of the sky still echoing. Zhao Wen, carrying tea, carefully stepped forward.

He put down his teacup and was about to leave when he suddenly heard the emperor's voice: "Zhao Wen, guess which of my sons is the most outrageous?"

Zhao Wen: "..."

He heard everything clearly; the old emperor, though he didn't say it, was already very dissatisfied with the third prince.

But this was not something he could say, so he could only try to be tactful by saying, "The princes' hearts are all sincere towards His Majesty." In fact, only the sixth prince seemed to be a normal person.

"Heh." The emperor smiled faintly, "Playing power games and treating the imperial talent selection ceremony as his arena for seizing power and profit... that is indeed his true intention."

[The He-Zhao allied forces originally planned to launch a surprise attack on Bukang City, but unexpectedly they were the ones who were attacked instead.]

After King Jungjong entered the city, he settled old scores on the first day, and the officials in the city surrendered one after another. Only some of the Zhao military officers and soldiers were unwilling to surrender, either because they were unwilling to surrender or because they dared not surrender.

The reason is simple: although they were defeated, their families were still in the hands of the Zhao family, and they had no choice but to endure it if they didn't want their entire families to be wiped out.

When Zhou She passed by the Shuntian Prefecture government office, he happened to run into someone looking for him.

It was Xie Chaoxian who sent him. Upon seeing him pass by, he was overjoyed: "Lord Zhou, my master has something to discuss with you and would like to have a chat with you."

Zhou She was somewhat surprised and followed him inside. Xie Chaoxian looked even thinner than before after not seeing him for a few days. Upon seeing him enter, he stood up and greeted him, "Lord Zhou."

Ever since Tianmu told him about the heroic deeds of Xie Chaoxian, the man before him, Zhou She found it difficult to regard him as an ordinary, weak scholar.

Just a few days ago, Xie Chaoxian was still seen as a slick official by him.

Xie Chaoxian invited him to sit down and continued talking about the imperial examinations: "I heard that a cheat sheet was found during the examinations?"

Zhou She found it somewhat interesting and gave a vague reply.

Xie Chaoxian stared at him: "What did His Majesty say?"

“Of course, we will investigate thoroughly,” Zhou She replied nonchalantly. “How can a talent selection ceremony be used as a weapon to attack political enemies?”

Xie Chaoxian nodded, paused for a moment, and then said, "Lord Ming..."

Zhou She interrupted him: "Lord Xie, please speak plainly."

After uttering that curt sentence, he smiled again, his face changing faster than the June weather: "Of course I believe Lord Xie, but with you probing for information like this, I dare not speak."

"..." Xie Chaoxian sighed softly, shaking his head and nodding at the same time. "I was really shocked to hear that Lord Ming was also involved in this matter, so I couldn't help but ask. However, although Lord Ming has a very deep relationship with the Fourth Prince, he probably wouldn't dare to take action in this matter. Lord Zhou must think carefully; the Fourth Prince shouldn't be involved in this matter."

"Thank you for the reminder." Zhou She stood up and took his leave of Xie Chaoxian.

As he was leaving, he was still thinking that Xie Chaoxian spoke haltingly, only saying half of what he meant and leaving the rest for him to guess.

At first, he thought Xie Chaoxian was colluding with the Third Prince to frame him, but now, upon hearing this, he seemed to be working for the Fourth Prince.

Later, he felt that Xie Chaoxian had some backbone and shouldn't have gone that far.

But how can we say for sure?

King Jungjong first executed some generals who had committed serious crimes, then punished officials who had committed minor crimes as a warning, and finally asked who those few people were who would rather die than surrender.

The most resolute of them committed suicide by banging his head against the wall in prison, leaving three people. One of them caught the attention of King Jungjong.

This man was somewhat famous, most notably for being sent to supervise the army and, incidentally, to win over the hearts and minds of the people in a newly conquered city. His first act upon arrival was to execute a minor military leader who had committed a crime, thus establishing his authority.

Everyone noticed that Tianmu was referring to the criminals.

Upon hearing the words "attract attention," Zhou She immediately guessed that the useful ox and horse mounts of the future were back online.

Moreover, he really likes this style.

The emperor cared a lot about the people mentioned in the imperial edict, and he was especially eager to recruit the virtuous and famous ministers he had appointed to serve him.

Yu Suisheng, a native of Sucheng, Hengzhou, was originally a minor official in the area and held the degree of Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations).

Yu Suisheng, carrying large and small bags, had just entered the capital when he heard this and was taken aback: "?"

He's just a scholar who passed the imperial examinations, what role does he have to play?

Because he failed the imperial examination and his family was extremely poor, even worse off than Fang Jingruo, he couldn't afford to take the exam even after three more years, so he simply stayed in his hometown as a minor official.

The minor official gets paid, but he can't produce any results. If he does achieve something, his superiors take it away. Eventually, he just gives up.

Until the Zhao family occupied Hengzhou, he surrendered without any qualms. When criticized for lacking integrity, he replied: "You may be high-minded, but you don't have a family to support. I have an eighty-year-old mother and a wife and children. Where I work doesn't matter."

Shen Mingzhe frowned: "How can this person have no scholarly integrity whatsoever?"

Passing the imperial examination and becoming a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examination) is quite rare, and this way of doing things...

He doesn't appreciate it.

Fang Jingruo stood up with a yawn: "Old Shen, we poor people have to support our families."

In chaotic times, upholding integrity is one way to live; after all, one has to survive.

After following the Zhao family, Yu Suisheng, with his years of grassroots experience and eloquent tongue, rose through the ranks to the middle and upper levels. His family members were all brought to the "capital," the capital city after the Zhao family became emperor.

Although many people condemned him as a cruel official and a lackey, for Yu Suisheng, as long as he could climb the ranks and protect his family, everything he did was worthwhile. Therefore, faced with Emperor Jungjong's offer of service, he could only say that he wanted to join but dared not.

Yu Suisheng stood at the city gate, carrying a package. After his documents had been checked, several soldiers outside the city gate couldn't help but stare at him.

"Hey." A soldier suddenly walked towards him. "You... are you Yu Suisheng?"

He pointed to the sky.

Yu Suisheng was completely numb, and said dryly, "It's me, I'll leave now."

“That’s not what I meant.” The soldier glanced at his cuffs. “If you don’t have money, you can stay at a temple outside the city for a cheap price.”

Yu Suisheng thanked him and then asked, "Excuse me, which way is the Zhou residence?"

Soldier:"……?"

He asked incredulously, "Which Zhou residence? The one with the Sky Curtain?"

Yu Suisheng looked at him earnestly.

Someone came to pull the soldier away from behind. He hesitated; after all, that was his superior's residence, how could he go around spreading rumors?

But after thinking about it, he figured he could find out by asking around, so he pointed him in the right direction.

He was met with two expressions of gratitude.

"Thank you so much, young man!" The man, who looked to be in his fifties, was carrying a large basket on his back. He swayed slowly from behind and seemed to be in better spirits than Yu Suisheng.

Liang Xiao was surprised to find herself so lucky, as someone happened to be giving her directions. She enthusiastically asked Yu Suisheng, "Are you also looking for Zhou She?"

Yu Suisheng said in confusion, "Yes...yes."

“That’s a good coincidence.” Liang Xiao looked around and said with a smile, “I’ve been away from the capital for several years and I’ve almost forgotten what the city is like. Let’s travel together since we’re going the same way.”

Yu Suisheng was actually a smart man. He knew that once he was captured, whether he surrendered or not, the King of Wu would find it difficult to trust him. But he dared not gamble and had no choice but to refuse Emperor Zhongzong's offer of recruitment.

King Jungjong, knowing his predicament, did not force him but let him stay put. Yu Suisheng obediently remained until the end of the month, and then, taking advantage of King Jungjong's departure from Bukang City, he secretly escaped through the east gate with a small entourage.