Chapter 364 Only by Believing Can You See
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ouyang Rong remained silent for a moment, then turned and walked away, pushing open the door.
He went out the door.
Standing on the corridor, I looked up at the sky and took out a handkerchief.
Xie Lingjiang, Li Xian's family, Guo Yu, and Meng Shouguang, who were in the flower hall, all looked on with curiosity.
They saw a handsome young man in the corridor looking up at the sky, stretching out his palm towards the air in front of him.
She was holding a slightly damp, light pink handkerchief in her hand.
The handkerchief fluttered gently in the night breeze.
Ouyang Rong's gaze was thoughtful.
"What is Tanlang doing?"
Li Xian couldn't help but ask first.
Without turning his head, Ouyang Rong said, "We can walk, but it's a west wind."
"West Wind?"
"this……"
Everyone was speechless, while Xie Lingjiang and Li Guo'er looked thoughtful.
Meng Shouguang frowned and couldn't help but ask:
"Sir, is there any difference between the east wind and the west wind?"
Ouyang Rong turned around, looked at Meng Shouguang and Guo Yu who had come tonight, and said in a serious tone:
"The Battle of Red Cliffs could be fought with fire."
"..." Meng Shouguang and the other two.
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then looked at Li Xian and Li Dalang seriously and said:
"If we want to escape..."
“Hongzhou is to the west, so he must go west to find Cai Qin of Hongzhou, and then south to find Li Zhengyan of Guizhou.”
"Waterways are the most convenient, while land routes are disadvantageous. Moreover, there are too many checkpoints and blockades along the way. Furthermore, Xunyang Ferry is in the hands of the Jiangzhou government, which has no shortage of fast boats. The pursuers will inevitably take the waterway."
"We must take a boat westward as soon as possible. I have the seal of the Prefect of Jiangzhou. By getting ahead of the pursuers and gaining a time advantage, we can leave Jiangzhou without any obstacles and enter Hongzhou. Only then will we be relatively safe."
Ouyang Rong stared at the astonished Li Xian and his son before him. After a moment of calm deduction, he paused, then pursed his lips:
"What if the pursuers in Jiangzhou react quickly and arrive soon..."
"Although the west wind is a headwind, the pursuers are also chasing against the wind. When we raided the Liu family in Longcheng, we accidentally obtained the recipe for the Burning Heaven Dragon Oil. After arriving in Jiangzhou, I prepared some Burning Heaven Dragon Oil."
"This dragon oil is difficult to dissolve in water and floats on the surface. If this oil is ignited and the westerly wind is used, it can burn the pursuing ships, temporarily separating the pursuers and buying time to escape."
After hearing this, everyone was stunned.
Goodness, everyone was just discussing running away, and you've already come up with a whole set of plans. You don't seem like someone who was just hesitant a moment ago at all.
What's with this feeling of being born to be a rebel?
If you weren't faking it just now, then you're definitely a traitor.
Now that my major is a perfect match, it's truly...
Criticism is criticism.
But at this critical juncture of life and death, seeing Tanlang standing tall in the corridor, calmly and slowly devising his plans, Xie Lingjiang and Li Xian's family felt both speechless and... at peace.
It's like finding your backbone again.
Li Dalang asked in a complicated tone:
"When did Tanlang prepare the Heaven-Burning Dragon Oil?"
“A few days ago, when I was supervising the construction of the Donglin Buddha at Shuangfengjian outside the West Gate, I suddenly had a whim and put the Buddha I had prepared on the spot at the newly dug ferry crossing at Shuangfengjian.”
Ouyang Rong lowered his head and gave a self-deprecating smile:
"Originally, it was intended as a backup plan to help the Jiangzhou government deal with the enemy from Hongzhou at a critical moment, but I didn't expect that it might be used ahead of schedule, or even... to turn against our former allies."
The expressions on everyone's faces were complicated.
Li Guo'er suddenly asked:
"There's a curfew at Xunyang Ferry. You can't board the boat before 2:45 AM. Ouyang Lianghan, do you have any connections?"
"The area around Xunyang Ferry involves military supplies transportation, and Wang Lengran is keeping a close watch on it."
Ouyang Rong shook his head and said calmly:
"We won't go through Xunyang Ferry. We'll leave through the West Gate tonight and head to the new ferry crossing at Shuangfengjian to board a boat. There are some boats there that I've been going to often lately, so I've made some preparations."
"The Burning Heaven Dragon Oil is also there."
"Shuangfengjian is located upstream of Xunyangdu. The newly excavated tributary connects to the Xunyang River. Sprinkling the 'Fentianjiao Oil' (a type of oil used in traditional Chinese medicine) downstream can temporarily block the Xunyang River and prevent pursuers from Xunyangdu from entering."
"sharp."
Li Guo'er's eyes lit up, she nodded slightly, and immediately asked:
"Is it safe to leave the city together? There are many of us. If it's just Father and Brother, one or two people, Sister Xie can help us climb over the wall. If there are many of us, there are night guards on the city walls..."
Ouyang Rong immediately said:
"You can go through the west gate. Tonight's guard is a military advisor surnamed Chen, who happened to be one of my subordinates. His shift won't be relieved until 2:45 AM tomorrow. Also..."
He hesitated for a moment, then silently took out a cold, metallic token from his sleeve:
"If you encounter patrolling soldiers from the Zhechong Prefecture, you can try this token; just in case it's one of their soldiers..."
Ouyang Rong stopped halfway through his sentence and said no more.
Apart from Guo Yu and Meng Shouguang, who were completely bewildered, Li Guo'er, Xie Lingjiang, Li Xian, and the others immediately understood and nodded in tacit agreement.
Especially Xunyang Wang Lixian, whose face showed a sigh.
Unexpectedly, his previous act of helping out and pleading for the mutinous soldiers had led to his good relationship with Qin Heng.
It can be said that good and evil are rewarded accordingly, which is why I received help in this potentially critical moment tonight.
Li Guo'er frowned, checking for any omissions or errors, and asked again:
"I heard that the main hall of Jiangzhou is located between Suojiang Tower and Huilongji, with iron chains spanning the river..."
“Burning the iron spikes on the riverbank with the Heaven-Burning Dragon Oil will cut them off. The iron spikes on the riverbank have not been put down for the past few days. The river is passable.”
Ouyang Rong lowered his eyes and said, "If all else fails, we can draw our swords."
His words were ambiguous, and Guo Yu and Meng Shouguang, upon hearing them, assumed that Xie Lingjiang, as a Confucian scholar, had broken the chains with his sword, which was not surprising.
However, Li Guo'er, Li Xian, Li Dalang and the others nodded without showing any emotion.
Xie Lingjiang held up an ordinary zither case and nodded to his senior brother.
Li Guo'er let out a long sigh and nodded heavily to Ouyang Rong:
“This road is passable, I have no further questions.”
Xie Lingjiang asked with a burning gaze:
"So, Senior Brother, have you made up your mind?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at her, then looked around, hesitating to speak, when Li Xian's voice of praise came from beside him:
"Fortunately, Lianghan was here. I didn't expect Tanlang to have even arranged an escape route so early. Tanlang is familiar with Xunyang City and his considerations are thorough. Otherwise, if we had rushed out of the city to escape west, we might have encountered many setbacks and been captured at any time..."
Guo Yu was completely convinced and clasped his hands in a respectful gesture.
"I have truly witnessed your talent tonight. Your thinking is meticulous and your ideas are intricately linked. You are indeed a man of great talent."
Meng Shouguang, who was quietly waiting for his lord's decision, couldn't help but take a second look at this young man who was deeply trusted by his lord, and a look of respect slowly appeared in his eyes.
At this moment, he faced admiring glances from all around him.
Ouyang Rong frowned and waved his hand:
"It was just good luck. It just so happens that Military Advisor Chen is guarding the west city wall tonight, and the area between the twin peaks is under my jurisdiction..."
At this point, he suddenly stopped talking.
Li Xian, Li Guo'er, Guo Yu, Meng Shouguang, and others also noticed Ouyang Rong's unusual behavior.
He lowered his head as if thinking for a while, then suddenly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over their faces as if lost in thought.
"Senior Brother?"
Xie Lingjiang asked cautiously, "What's wrong?"
Ouyang Rong shook his head.
Li Dalang glanced at the night view outside the window, his face filled with worry:
"It's already past dawn, almost daybreak. The female official Miaozhen and the others will arrive tomorrow morning. Wang Lengran will definitely seal off the city tightly, and then it will be really difficult to escape."
Meng Shouguang added in a low voice:
"The palace maid sent by Empress Wei to secretly deliver poisoned wine and supervise the execution must have a high level of Qi cultivation. According to past standards, there should be no less than one of the colorful-robed maidens, and perhaps even a sixth-rank official in deep red."
Empress Wei had eight court ladies-in-waiting by her side, and none of them were easy to mess with. Miaozhen was one of them.
There are quite a few sixth-grade Qi cultivators with deep red spiritual energy.
Currently, the most powerful Qi cultivator in the Xunyang Prince's Mansion is Xie Lingjiang, a seventh-rank book reader.
Ouyang Rong, who secretly possesses the Swordholder's Meridian, is at the Great Perfection of the Ninth Rank. With the addition of the Cauldron Sword, he can be considered to have a combat strength close to that of a Seventh Rank. Of course, if he has no shortage of Merit Purple Mist, he could be even stronger...
However, one can understand the strength of a sixth-grade Qi cultivator by looking at Qiu Shenji, who was injured by the Great Lady's sword and fell to the sixth grade.
It would require the combined efforts of Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang, along with a powerful sword, and then some unscrupulous individuals resorting to deception and sneak attacks...
Not to mention, there are also 500 elite soldiers from the Zhechong Prefecture assisting in the blockade. Even if Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang could fly, they couldn't take everyone with them.
Upon hearing this news, everyone became restless, and Li Guo'er took a deep breath:
"If we're leaving, we'll all need to go back and prepare. There are some important things we need to take with us. Oh, and Ouyang Lianghan, as well as the women from Huaiye Lane, will also be coming with us, which will take some more time..."
"Time is running out; we need to make a decision immediately."
Wei Mei sighed and gently advised Ouyang Rong:
“My dear nephew, your aunt knows you’re reluctant to give up on the current situation, and you’re reluctant to let all the previous efforts go to waste. We’ve finally made it this far, and if we just go a little further, we can return to the capital…”
"But listen to your aunt's advice, someone who's been through it all. Life is more important. What's the use of wealth and glory if you lose your life? As long as you're alive, you can always rebuild."
"We've survived those dangerous days before, and we've had our share of hardship. As long as Qilang, Fusu, Guo'er, and my dear nephew and niece are all well, we can make even the toughest days enjoyable."
"So what if we have to rely on Li Zhengyan and be his mascot? It's better than the Prince of Xiang being imprisoned. As long as we're alright, who knows what the future holds..."
Li Guo'er, Li Dalang, Xie Lingjiang and others were moved.
"Meiniang," Li Xian called out emotionally.
The elderly couple embraced tightly.
Despite their persuasion and urging, Ouyang Rong remained silent.
There were a lot of coincidences tonight, and I felt uneasy.
He wasn't someone who blindly followed his intuition, but he was also a fanatic who believed in rational judgment.
Previously, after carefully analyzing the situation of the Great Zhou Dynasty and understanding Empress Wei Zhao's thoughts, the many accurate predictions made were based on this point.
Therefore, although Ouyang Rong had only met the Great Zhou Emperor, who was far away in Luoyang, a few times, he remained confident that his judgment was correct.
Regarding the future.
Most people believe only after they see it.
However, he saw it because he believed it.
All the turmoil I'm going through tonight stems from this.
What Ouyang Rong believed conflicted with what he saw.
Ouyang Rong suddenly looked up.
"etc."
"Wait a little longer," he said.
Ouyang Rong said to the group of people, whose faces were full of doubt:
"Wait a little longer. I have another important source of information that I need to investigate further. However, it won't delay our escape from the city tonight."
After speaking, Ouyang Rong immediately turned his head and instructed Xie Lingjiang:
"Junior Sister, go to Xingzifang immediately and check on that wall on Zhenguang Street. Also, find Yan Liulang on the way and tell him it's extremely urgent. Go to the house in Huaiye Lane and inform your aunt and the others to prepare..."
"yes."
After Ouyang Rong made some arrangements, Xie Lingjiang nodded slightly, took a sip of hot tea, and prepared to leave.
Ouyang Rong reached out his hand to her.
Xie Lingjiang handed back the zither case and left.
Ouyang Rong, holding the zither case, stood up and said to Guo Yu and Meng Shouguang:
"Please have some tea and wait a moment while the prince and I make some preparations."
"Okay." Guo Yu and Meng Shouyi nodded solemnly.
A short while later, everyone left the flower hall.
Ouyang Rong first sent Li Xian, Li Dalang, and Wei Mei back to prepare the important seals and treasures they needed to take with them.
Then, he turned and glanced at Li Guo'er before continuing to walk forward.
Princess Plum Blossom received his gaze and silently followed him.
Ouyang Rong and Li Guo'er.
One after the other, they walked in tacit agreement towards a sealed-off reception room in Juxian Garden.
I met Wang Junzhi, whom I had been waiting for for many days.
"Your Highness, Chief Secretary Ouyang, have you come to your senses?"
Wang Junzhi lowered his head and carefully wiped the cold blade of the Moonlight Sword with a handkerchief, as if he were having an obsessive-compulsive episode, cleaning the sword that might have been the one he used to kill himself.
Ouyang Rong did not answer, but sat down alone, with the zither case lying across his knees.
Wang Junzhi glanced at the door: "What was that commotion outside? Did some outsiders come?"
Ouyang Rong watched him silently, but Li Guo'er suddenly spoke:
"That's right. It was an informant from Luoyang who reported that because of Li Zhengyan's matter, the Emperor placed Prince Xiang under house arrest and also bestowed two cups of poisoned wine upon him, ordering a female official to deliver them to Prince Xunyang and his heir. The female official's messenger... will arrive in three days."
She told him with a sorrowful expression.
During this time, Ouyang Rong's eyes were fixed on Wang Junzhi.
He noticed the slight pause on Wang Junzhi's face, and his tone betrayed his surprise and delight:
"Very well, very well. What did I say before? Emperor Wei is old and senile, and he listened to the slander of the treacherous king of the Wei clan. Even without Lord Li's righteous uprising, he would have come to this point."
"Your Highness, Chief Secretary Ouyang, you should have seen the situation clearly long ago! Hahaha... Even tigers don't eat their cubs, how laughable is Emperor Wei! He's truly incompetent and tyrannical!"
After saying that with a cold laugh, he couldn't wait to ask:
"So you've come here after careful consideration? Although there are still three days left, it's better to make a decision sooner rather than later. Be careful that Wang Lengran doesn't get wind of this and impose a city-wide lockdown..."
Wang Junzhi couldn't hide his smile and even offered some words of concern and reminders to Ouyang Rong and Li Guo'er.
Li Guo'er didn't answer, but turned to look at Ouyang Rong.
The latter suddenly stood up, ignored Wang Junzhi, and left the reception room.
Wang Junzhi was taken aback: "Why aren't you two saying anything...?"
Ouyang Rong and Li Guo'er left him behind and walked out the gate.
"It doesn't seem like acting."
In the long corridor late at night, Li Guo'er said softly.
Ouyang Rong nodded slightly and added a sentence for her:
"This only shows that it doesn't seem like a trick by Li Zhengyan's side."
"So you suspect the Wei family, or..."
Li Guo'er pursed her red lips:
“Even the Imperial Uncle had doubts. That Hetian jade pendant belonged to the Imperial Uncle and could not be faked. In fact, I had doubts at first, but as everyone knows, the Imperial Uncle and the Wei family are irreconcilable enemies.”
She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh:
“Mother is right. As long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn.”
Ouyang Rong, with his eyes fixed straight ahead, carried the zither case as he advanced.
"I doubt everyone except myself."
Li Guo'er couldn't help but glance sideways:
"There's only half an hour left until dawn..."
"Wait a little longer for Junior Sister."
Ouyang Rong spoke with utmost seriousness:
"One last time, let's verify it one more time."
The two returned, and Li Xian, Li Dalang, and the others also finished their preparations and gathered in the flower hall once again.
A short while later, the junior sister hurriedly returned, bringing news from Zhenguang Street:
"Senior Brother, the wall hasn't changed; there's still a pot of crabapple blossoms on it."
Ouyang Rong fell silent.
(End of this chapter)
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