"In the past two months, Nanzhou, Linzhou, Yunzhou … These five states have been mobilizing their troops frequently. Our spies have reported that the military governor of Nanzhou has been temporarily appointed as the Great General of Cavalry. They want to gather the troops of the five states and take down Cangzhou in one fell swoop."
Wei Liang stood in front of a huge sand table. He had planted five flags around a sand dune with the word "Cangzhou" written on it.
He pointed at the flag in the middle and drew a line with a tree branch. He said, "These five states have about 20,000 troops that can be mobilized at the moment. They have been secretly mobilizing for two months. In half a month at most, they will directly attack Cangzhou …"
…
Li Yi stood outside the door and listened to the analysis of the battle situation for a while. He wasn't surprised and walked away slowly.
He had thought that the imperial court's counterattack would be swift and fierce. Who would have thought that after he went back for the New Year, two to three months had passed. He had already brought Ruyi and the others to Cangzhou for a vacation, and the other party was still mobilizing their troops?
Let them do it. There was no hurry. There were more than 20,000 people. As long as this number didn't increase tenfold, Cangzhou would be fine.
After they took down Cangzhou a few months ago, they had recruited many citizens. Now, their troops had expanded to more than 10,000 people. During this time, Wei Liang and the others had distributed some experienced soldiers to train the new recruits. When Li Yi returned to the army camp after two months, the army looked completely different.
The joint attack of the five states this time was the determination of the imperial court of the Wu Kingdom. To them, it was an opportunity that they had been waiting for for a long time.
Xu Zheng had already brought people to those states before the New Year. Due to the heavily guarded armies in those states, there hadn't been any big movements. They could only develop in secret. Miss.Liu had also brought people to subdue a few rebel forces and had long since set her eyes on the state capital …
Everything was ready. They were just waiting for them to attack …
It wasn't that everything was ready. They still lacked a few scripts. The new drama "The Legend of the Assassin" that had been released in the Wu Kingdom was about to end.
In a teahouse outside the state capital of a certain state in the Wu Kingdom.
"There is a saying in the history books: Zhuan Zhu's assassination of Wang Liao was like a comet striking the moon; Nie Zheng's assassination of Han Qiao was like a white rainbow piercing the sun; Yao Li's assassination of Qing Ji was like a hawk striking the palace …"
In the shabby teahouse, an old man with a grizzled beard sat at the very front. His voice rose and fell in cadence. "In ancient times, some powerful assassins would even be warned by celestial phenomena when they took action. According to legend, when Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao of Wu, the tail of a comet swept across the moon; when Nie Zheng assassinated Han An, a white light shot straight up to the sun; when Yao Li assassinated Qing Ji, a goshawk swooped down on the palace … These three are the three great assassins we'll be talking about today."
Although the teahouse wasn't overcrowded, there were no empty seats.
There were ordinary people taking a break in the teahouse, as well as travel-worn swordsmen holding swords and knives. However, most of them were Jianghu people carrying weapons. They were all attracted by the old man's story.
When he heard something happy, he would take out a copper coin from his pocket and place it in a broken bowl in front of the old man.
The Jianghu and the court seemed to be very far apart, but they were actually very closely related.
What happened in the court was closely related to the Jianghu. Once the court collapsed, the Jianghu people wouldn't be able to stand alone.
The Wu Kingdom revered martial arts. Whether it was the poor, the gentry, or even the powerful royal family, although they didn't value martial arts more than literature, their rejection and contempt for martial arts were far inferior to other countries.
When the country was stable, there were still wanderers who killed people on the streets. Now that the country was in chaos, the Jianghu, which was already not clear, became even more muddy.
The so-called chivalrous people relied on their martial arts to despise the law and viewed human life as nothing more than grass. They hired assassins to kill, offered rewards for assassinations … They couldn't stop despite being banned.
Because of their martial arts, they were naturally very interested in the stories of the Jianghu.
These days, the heroic stories that circulated in the brothels and small storytelling houses in the various provinces were very popular in the Jianghu.
What the old man was talking about was the Biography of the Assassins. It recorded dozens of assassin stories from ancient to modern times. They weren't just simple stories about chivalrous people in the Jianghu. Some of them involved brotherhood, love between men and women, and there was no lack of chivalrous people who served their country and its people …
At the same time, there was also a list of assassins in the Jianghu. The list recorded the famous assassins in the Wu Kingdom. Behind them, there was a detailed list of the person's life story and the reason why they were on the list …
These things had been circulating in the Jianghu in the past in the Wu Kingdom, but no one had ever organized these things together and made such a ranking.
There were ten positions on the list, and there were only nine assassins. No one knew who made this list, but there was a sentence that almost everyone knew.
There were only ten positions on the list, and only these ten people could be called assassins. Those who couldn't even get on the list weren't assassins, but trash!
The reason why there were only nine assassins on the list was because the top position of the list was empty. There was only a short line of a poem.
"Guests of Zhao wear tassels, bright as the frost and snow of the Wu hook.
The silver saddle shines on the white horse, galloping like a shooting star.
Kill a man in ten steps, unstoppable for a thousand miles.
When the matter is done, leave with a brush of the robe, hiding your identity and name. "
This was a poem that described chivalrous people. It was said that in ancient times, there were many chivalrous people in the land of Yan and Zhao. What this poem described was the charm of the chivalrous people in the land of Yan and Zhao.
The hat was decorated with tassels, and the sword was as bright as the frost and snow of the Wu hook. The silver saddle and the white horse reflected each other, galloping like a shooting star. Within ten steps, kill a man, a thousand miles pass, unstoppable. When the matter is done, leave with a brush of the robe, leaving no trace, hiding your identity and name.
This poem described a chivalrous person or an assassin to the peak.
Kill a man in ten steps, unstoppable for a thousand miles.
When the matter is done, leave with a brush of the robe, hiding your identity and name …
This was what an assassin should be, an assassin with the highest realm. According to the person who created the Assassin Ranking, this poem had been written for the top of the Assassin Ranking. It had always been waiting, waiting for someone to ascend to that position, someone worthy of these few lines of poetry.
As the old man narrated, many people in the teahouse showed expressions of excitement.
The top of the assassin list, for a chivalrous person or an assassin, was almost the greatest glory …
In the corner, there were two people talking in low voices.
"It is said that Princess Duan Rong's bounty has increased by another fifty thousand, a total of three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. If we can succeed, we should be qualified to be the top of the assassin list, right?"
"There has never been such a high bounty. If we can't even do this, who else is qualified?"
"Who knows how many people have gathered in Cangzhou, and they all have the same goal as us. It is easier said than done to succeed."
…
As the two people talked in low voices, a sneer suddenly came from beside them.
"What the two of you are talking about is old news …" A man with a knife at the next table turned to look at them and said, "On the bounty list, the highest bounty is one million taels of silver and ten divine weapons. To be favored by a storyteller, to help you become famous, to receive guidance from a grandmaster, and to be able to ascend to the top of the assassin list in one go … You two must not pay attention to current affairs, right?"
In the corner, someone was startled and said with a smile, "Brother, I'm afraid you're dreaming. A million taels of silver, ten divine weapons, and guidance from a grandmaster … Whose head is worth so much silver? You must have met a swindler, right?"
The other person nodded and said, "Everyone knows that this bounty on Princess Duan Rong was actually inspired by the current emperor. Could it be that in this Wu Kingdom, there is someone more wealthy and trustworthy than the emperor?"
Hearing this, the man smiled and said, "If the current emperor is trustworthy, then those traitors who were recruited by the imperial court to ambush Princess Duan Rong would not have disappeared from the imperial capital …"
Hearing this, the two people were startled and asked, "Then do you have proof of what you said?"
"That one million taels of silver and ten divine weapons has already been verified by ten legendary figures of the martial world. Go out and ask around, and you will know …"
The two people still did not believe it, and asked suspiciously, "In this world, whose head is so valuable?"
The man stretched out a finger and pointed to the sky.
The two people were startled again, and then their expressions changed at the same time. One of them had a terrified expression and asked, "Who has eaten the heart of a bear and the heart of a leopard to dare to assassinate the emperor?"
"Let's stop here for today." In front, the old man tidied up the stall and said, "Tomorrow, we will talk about 'Jing Ke assassinating the king of Qin' …"
He waved his hand and said, "Same old time, same old place. We will not leave until we see each other …"
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