Chapter 219 Chapter 1 Combination of Interests

Under the wings of eighteen iron guards, Xiang Shaolong, two brothers Teng and Jing, and Tao Fang marched towards the palace. Suddenly there was a sound of hoofbeats in front of them. A rider galloped ahead in the dark mist, followed by more than ten people. Being a knight is like using the long street as the aisle of the competition. Teng Yi shouted loudly: "Someone stop the horse." The knight in front had come within the range illuminated by the light of the lantern, and he was covered in blood, shouting, "General, save me." Everyone took a closer look, and it turned out to be Guoxing.

Guo Xing wanted to stretch out his hand to rein in the horse, but he couldn't hold it any longer, and fell sideways from the horse to the left. Just when the horses stopped and Guoxing was about to hit the ground with his shoulders, there was a sound of bowstrings, and a strong arrow was shot from the hand of the knight behind. When it fell to the ground, it had become a lifeless corpse. Even with Xiang Shaolong's usual swift response, his scalp was numb and his eyes were about to crack.All eighteen iron guards pulled out their crossbows and quickly loaded their arrows. The group of people rushed to the place where Guoxing fell, and stopped their horses one after another. The leader Guan Zhongxie was hanging his strong bow back on his horse, and said loudly: "Commander Xiang saw it. Guoxing fled in fear of crime, and the subordinates had to execute Wang Ling, shoot him dead."

Xiang Shaolong's whole body was icy cold, and at the same time, he was surging with furious flames. With a "Clang!", he drew out the Hundred Battle Sword, and said coldly, "Guan Zhongxie, how dare you shoot and kill me in front of your eyes?" Guan Zhongxie's personal guards stood up and stood in front of him with iron shields, forming a shield wall. Guan Zhongxie said with a smile in his spare time: "Commander Xiang, please don't misunderstand, just listen to me in detail. I have an order from the prince, and I tracked down the murderer who deliberately assassinated the prince this morning. I found out that the murderer was actually Qiu Ri, the owner of the warrior camp. Sheng colluded and came to Xianyang. Now Qiu Risheng and the criminals have all been arrested, and Zhong's father is interrogating himself. Since Guoxing resisted arrest and escaped, Commander Xiang clearly sees that if he feels that there is dereliction of duty in his lowly position, he can do it with Chu Jun, Zhong's father and others. The Empress Dowager came forward and said it."

Then he shouted: "Move the corpse for me!" Xiang Shaolong didn't know how to deal with it for a while, so he shouted: "Don't touch him!" Guan Zhongxie had the upper hand, and laughed loudly: "Commander Xiang has an order, how dare you disobey his lowly position, let's go!" Flatter the horse and turn around and go. The group of guards rode their horses back more than ten steps slowly, then roared in unison, turned their horses' heads off, and chased after Guan Zhongxie. Xiang Shaolong and the others looked at each other, their eyes finally fell on the body of Guo Xing, who was dead in a pool of blood as the arrow pierced his neck.

Tao Fang sighed: "We have finally underestimated Lu Buwei. This move is indeed extremely vicious. It not only wiped out the samurai camp, but also lost face to us and Lai Ai; we can also directly point the finger at Lai Ai, or even Du Bi and Pu Ji." Teng Yi said solemnly: "Maybe Lu Buwei will take this opportunity to make a big fuss and deal with Lao Ai and his subordinates." Xiang Shaolong shook his head and said: "He will never touch Lai Ai, Xiao Jun, you are going to deal with the affairs of Guo Xing and protect his family at the same time. I will immediately go to the palace to meet the prince and see how to deal with this matter."

Clamping the horse's belly, he galloped forward, and could no longer bear to see Guoxing's miserable state. All along, although Guan Zhongxie was his enemy, he still had a three-point sympathy for him.But at this moment, all he wanted was to tear him into pieces, without any regrets. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ On the avenue leading to the palace, there was a lot of traffic, and the officials and ministers seemed to be unaware of the bloody events engraved in Xianyang City, and they all went to the Spring Festival happily. When he arrived at the gate of the palace, he met Lord Changwen, who greeted him with a solemn expression, "The prince is looking for Shaolong!"

Xiang Shaolong suddenly remembered something, he was sweating profusely, and said to Teng Yi: "Xianyang City must be hard to fly tonight, Zhao Dahe and Shan Meimei..." Teng Yi said in shock: "I see!" He turned around and left. Xiang Shaolong hurriedly ordered Chang Wenjun to send out a team of imperial guards to follow to protect Teng Yi, and only then did he enter the palace to meet him. Guoxing's death is still hard to let go.I was indeed dazzled by the victory, and I didn't think about how powerful Lu Buwei was in Xianyang City. With his shrewdness, how could he not have guessed that Du Bi and Pu Ji must be inseparable from Xiao Pan's assassination.Now that Lu Buwei has captured Qiu Risheng, it is clear that he wants to deal with Lao Ai.

However, he knew clearly, or knew from history that before Lai Ai openly rebelled, Lu Buwei still had nothing to do with Lai Ai. Against people like Lu Buwei, if you are not careful, you will suffer a big loss.Thinking of Guo Xing's resentment and helplessness when he was shot by Guan Zhongxie in front of his eyes as soon as he abandoned the dark side, it really made him wish he could use up all the Wu family's best soldiers and go to Zhongfu's residence immediately. Xiao Pan was in the study at this time, talking with Chang Ping Jun, Li Si, Wang Yan, and Wang Ling's four confidant ministers and generals, his expression was surprisingly calm, seeing him coming, he said happily: "Teacher excuse me."

Xiang Shaolong managed to suppress the turbulent emotions in his heart, sat down under Wang Lu, and asked in a deep voice, "How is the current situation?" Wang Lu replied: "Guan Zhongxie just launched a surprise attack on the samurai camp. Chang Jie and An Jinliang were killed on the spot. Qiu Risheng smashed the bones of their right hands with a stick. More than 200 core warriors in the camp They were all captured, and two wounded assassins were also interrogated, the evidence is solid, so that Qiu Risheng can't deny it." Li Sidao on the opposite side: "Those people were sent to me, including Qiu Risheng, they all insisted that they were instigated by Lai Ai. Since the reopening of the Weinan Samurai Hotel was only possible thanks to Lai Ai's strong sponsorship, so It is very difficult for Lao Ai to stay out of the incident this time."

Xiao Pan said: "I want to find the Taifu, just to discuss with everyone, is it just a good time to use this to get rid of Lai Ai?" Xiang Shaolong suddenly realized that although Xiao Pan was forced to accept his ingenious plan to control Lu.But in fact, he despised and hated Lai Ai to the extreme, because Lai Ai waited for Ruo to snatch Zhu Ji away from him.To a large extent, Xiao Pan also wished for the opportunity to hurt Zhu Ji deeply, so as to vent her resentment. Now that the black dragon is born, he is no longer as afraid of Lu Buwei as before, so he finds this idea even more tempting.As long as Xiang Shaolong nods slightly and Xiao Pan passes on the order, Lu Buwei, who probably hates Lai Ai even more than Xiao Pan, will immediately send someone to kill all of Lai Ai's generals, eunuch him, and only after he has been tortured and beaten, will he be handed over. Let the judge Li Si deal with it.

Zhu Ji herself has no strength, if Xiao Pan is not on her side, Lu Buwei can indeed do whatever she wants. Xiang Shaolong sighed and said, "Where is Lao Ai now?" Chang Wenjun replied: "He and Dapi's confidants will hide in Ganquan Palace. The Empress Dowager sent people to call for Chujun twice, but Chujun declined both times." Xiang Shaolong didn't realize the danger of the situation until now, things happened too fast, Lu Buwei must have known that Qiu Risheng was involved in this matter, so he chose to do it before the spring banquet, catching everyone by surprise. Everyone's eyes fell on him, obviously they knew Xiao Pan's intentions, so they didn't dare to oppose it, maybe they didn't want to oppose it, and left it to him to make a decision that could influence the future Qin Shihuang. In fact, Xiang Shaolong couldn't find a strong reason to object. I saw Xiao Panlong's eyes shining brightly, staring at him for a moment, full of longing and expectation. Xiao Pan treats him differently than he treats others, and despite his growing authority, he still respects his views wholeheartedly in the end. After sighing, he told the story of Guan Zhongxie shooting and killing Guoxing in front of him. Everyone's expressions changed at the same time. Wang Ling said angrily, "This is too much." Xiang Shaolong said calmly: "Not a single person here would sigh over Lai Ai's death, but we have to think about the consequences that will follow." Then he gave Li Si a wink, which was a chance for Li Si to show whether he was a good friend or not. Now the person Xiaopan trusts the most, besides Xiang Shaolong, is Li Si, and everyone else is far behind. Li Sinai is an extremely shrewd person, knowing Xiang Shaolong's intentions, nodded his head affirmatively, and said: "If you get rid of Lai Ai at this moment, of course the empress dowager will be hit the hardest, if this happens, the empress dowager will lose her prestige, no matter how difficult she is to govern herself Master, in that case, as long as Lu Buwei ties up with the ministers of the court, maybe he can really become a minister of the auxiliary government, then we will be in vain based on the situation that the black dragon has worked so hard to create." Wang Yan said in a deep voice: "We can recommend Shaolong to assist the government as the Taifu, especially Shaolong's meritorious escort this morning, and the birth of a black dragon, Wang Wan and Cai Ze all know who is the real god, even if Lu Buwei wants to turn the situation around, I'm afraid I can't turn it around." Lord Changping agreed: "There is no one more suitable than Shaolong to be the assistant minister." Xiang Shaolong smiled wryly and said, "I'm naturally very happy that the prince and all of you think highly of me, but Lu Buwei's sudden attack on Lai Ai this time is certainly because he is afraid that we will get rid of the position of being in charge of evil, but it may not be true that he will point the finger at the Empress Dowager. It can be seen that there must be other evil intentions, and the ultimate goal is still to fight against our treasure dragon." Xiao Pan pondered for a while, nodded and said: "Even we know that Qiu Risheng and Du Bi and Pu Ji are colluding secretly, there is no reason for Lu Buwei not to know, but this time he only targeted Lai Ai, and didn't mention Du Bi and Pu Ji at all. There is something wrong with it.” Li Si's expression changed: "Could it be that Lu Buwei has reached a secret agreement with Du Bi and Pu Ji, sacrificing Qiu Risheng in order to bring down Lao Ai and the Queen Mother, then just... Hey!" Everyone's expressions changed at the same time. Chang Wenjun lost his voice and said: "This is definitely not unfounded, because when Pu Ji came back from the sacrificial place, Lu Buwei invited Pu Ji to sit in his car, maybe an agreement was reached in the car." This is politics. Although it seems impossible, under the drastic change of the situation, hostile people can also become collaborators by weighing their interests. From Lu Buwei's point of view, he is already at odds with Lao Ai and Zhu Ji, and the political group headed by Xiaopan and Xiang Shaolong is even more hostile to him.If he hadn't been supported by Meng Ao's strength, he would have lost his life a long time ago.But if he combines with the interest group centered on Chengyu, the momentum will naturally be very different. Xiao Pan said solemnly: "The widow did not think of this." Wang Ling breathed out a cold breath and said: "Since the birth of the black dragon, Lu Buwei and Du Bi have panicked. It is not unusual to do this when they are trying to regain the general situation. The problem is that we all don't like Lai Ai. Should we take the opportunity to put him down?" Everyone's eyes fell on Xiang Shaolong again. Xiang Shaolong began to feel that fate was unchangeable, that Lai Ai was destined not to perish so quickly, that's why everyone suddenly had such an idea. For Lu Buwei, the prestige of Chengyu is at least a few blocks lower than that of Xiaopan, and Du Bi and Pu Ji are also far inferior to Wang Yan, Li Si and himself, so if Chengyu replaces Xiaopan as Lord Qin, then He can only be manipulated by him, but has absolutely no power of autonomy.It can also be seen that he is disappointed with Xiaopan, the "son". He smiled slightly and said, "What kind of thing is Lai Ai? Our biggest enemy is Lu Buwei, so for the time being, the smartest way is to keep Lai Ai to control Lu Buwei, and then try to get rid of Cheng Xu and others. Then there is no need to worry. What else can Lu Buwei do?" Xiao Pan was still a little restless, frowned and said, "But how can we deal with Cheng Yu?" Xiang Shaolong laughed and said, "It's not that simple. If he leads the troops to conquer Zhao, the relationship between him and the people of Zhao will become invisible." Everyone applauded at the same time. This is the importance of intelligence, if Xiang Shaolong hadn't been well aware of the relationship between Pu Ji and Pang Nuan, Zhao Guo's general, it would have been difficult to come up with this clever plan. Xiao Pan was stunned for a moment, then laughed loudly and said, "There is no simpler and more direct method than this, but we have to wait for the right time. Now that the Black Dragon has just been born, I still need some time to consolidate my position." After Li Si became a Ting Wei, his status was very different, he changed his previous attitude of keeping a low profile, and said: "Since this is the case, we should let Lai Ai know clearly that Lu Buwei is going to destroy him, then he and Lu Buwei will become even more at odds. " Wang Ling said solemnly: "But there are advantages and disadvantages in this matter. It is conceivable that the Queen Mother will know that Lai Ai's power is too weak from this incident, and will desperately strive for greater power for him in the future." Wang Yan said: "No matter how hard she tries, it will never be his turn to become a general. How much can she do?" Xiao Pan stood up, and everyone hurriedly stood up and bowed. Xiao Pan said in high spirits: "The widow is going to host the spring banquet immediately. Mrs. Xiang can lead a team of imperial guards to escort the queen mother and the fake eunuch to the palace to participate in the spring banquet. This time, it's okay if he is not at the end of his life. " Then he snorted coldly and left. Everyone hurriedly followed around. Xiang Shaolong thought of going to see Zhu Ji, and immediately felt a headache, who would have thought that something unexpected would happen suddenly.I hope that my "enlarged vacation" plan will not be disrupted because of this, thank God. ◇◇◇◇◇◇ Xiang Shaolong led the Eighteen Iron Guards and one of Xiaopan's most elite 50-member imperial guards to the outside of Ganquan Palace, and a group of guards rushed out to block the way. Xiang Shaolong knew that Guan Zhongxie would start to surround Ganquan Palace with his men, so he pulled out the sword of battle, and shouted: "Who dares to stop me, Xiang Shaolong." The iron guard shouted, drew out their shields, crossbows, and spears, formed a formation, protected Xiang Shaolong in the center, pointed their bows and spears forward, and rushed over.How could those guards dare to oppose Hangzhou, they flew away and scattered to both sides. The suspension bridge of Ganquan Palace was raised, and the gate of the palace was closed tightly. Xiang Shaolong waited until he came to the small river protecting the palace city, reined in his horse and stopped. Guan Zhongxie led Xu Shang and fifty or sixty guards to welcome him up. The former said coldly, "Didn't Commander Xiang go to the spring banquet?" Thinking of Guo Xing, Xiang Shaolong wished to kill him with one blow, and when he came to a nearby rein in his horse and stopped, he smiled and said: "If Xiang sends a flying needle at Mr. Guan, I don't know how sure Mr. Guan can avoid it." Woolen cloth?" Guan Zhongxie and Xu Shang's expression changed at the same time, their gazes fell on his right hand which was intentionally draped over the horse's body, the former forced a smile, and said: "Commander Xiang is joking, of course the only way to die for a lowly position." Xiang Shaolong said indifferently: "Both of you, it's better not to act rashly. I, Xiang Shaolong, am not joking. You have committed a serious crime of offending the Queen Mother by surrounding the Oasis Palace like this. If I want to execute you, who would dare to say that I did it?" Wrong." Xu Shang replied calmly, and calmly said: "General Xiang misunderstood, we are only protecting the Queen Mother under the order of Father Zhong!" Xiang Shaolong pretended to be stunned and said: "So that's the case, then you all withdraw immediately, and I will leave the responsibility of protection to this general." Guan Zhongxie flashed an angry look, bowed his head and said, "I will obey the general's orders." Shouted: "All withdraw!" Turning the horse's head, he turned and galloped away. The hooves sounded suddenly. In an instant, all the guards were gone. Xiang Shaolong called out to the gate of Ganquan Palace: "My lord, please put down the suspension bridge." Amidst the rattling sound, the suspension bridge lowered. Xiang Shaolong told everyone to put away their weapons, and took the lead to gallop into the palace. After entering the palace gate, Lao Ai, Han Jie, Ling Qi, Lao Si and others greeted them, all fully armed. Xiang Shaolong jumped off the horse, stretched out his hand to shake hands with Lai Ai, and said with a smile, "Master Lai, please forgive Shaolong for being late. Is the Queen Mother frightened?" Lai Ai showed a grateful expression, and said in a low voice: "This matter..." Xiang Shaolong waited in the square with his subordinates, put his shoulders on Lai Ai's shoulders, walked towards the main hall, and said relaxedly: "After I found out what happened to Qiu Risheng, I immediately went to the palace to see you, and tried to tell that Qiu Risheng had colluded with outsiders to assassinate the Chujun. This matter has absolutely nothing to do with Your Excellency, Chu Jun realized that he was wrong, and ordered me to come immediately to pick up the Queen Mother and Your Excellency into the palace to participate in the Spring Banquet." Lai Ai said in shock: "Shaolong is really a friend, I, Lai Ai, will never forget, alas! I really don't know why Qiu Risheng would do such a stupid thing, what good would it do him?" Xiang Shaolong smiled lowly and said, "Of course it is of great benefit to him, and it is even more beneficial to Du Bi and Pu Ji, but it is not even half of any benefit to Brother Lao." Lao Ai suddenly realized: "This damn dog breed, was caught and wanted to frame me." The two entered the hall at this time, and saw Zhu Ji standing in the center of the hall, her pretty face was frosty, her phoenix eyes were full of power, staring at Xiang Shaolong fiercely, as if she wanted to vent all her grievances on him. Xiang Shaolong bowed to the ground, performed the ceremony of a monarch and a minister, and said loudly: "Xiang Shaolong is ordered by the prince to welcome the Queen Mother to the palace to preside over the spring banquet." Zhu Ji sneered, "Does that disobedient son still remember me?" Lai Ai was startled, and smiled apologetically, "The Empress Dowager..." Zhu Ji shouted coldly: "You don't need to interrupt!" Feeling very embarrassed, Lao Ai was silent at the same time, not daring to speak again, and stood aside with her head bowed. Xiang Shaolong stood up, said with a slight smile, "The Empress Dowager misunderstood the Crown Prince. He just found out about this, so he sent his humble ministers and imperial guards to meet him." Zhu Ji still couldn't let it go, and said angrily: "Xiang Shaolong, as the commander of the cavalry, when you saw people boldly surrounding Aijia's Ganquan Palace, you didn't take these people on the spot, do you still have the face to see Aijia? ?” Xiang Shaolong looked deeply into her eyes, and said with a wry smile: "It's not the first day the Empress Dowager knew Lu Buwei, right? If the Empress Dowager must blame Chujun and me, Xiang Shaolong, wouldn't it be quick for the relatives to hurt the enemy? Neither adults nor ministers trust me, so who else can I trust?" Lai Ai hurriedly said: "Yes! Shaolong is indeed a friend who treats me with sincerity." Zhu Ji was stunned for a while, and after giving Xiang Shaolong a faint glance, as if saying that I could never beat you, she said sadly: "Yes! There are fewer and fewer people the Ai family can trust, but The Ai family is no longer in the mood to go to the banquet, so you and Lao Feng can go often! But I want you to swear to ensure Feng Chang's safety." Xiang Shaolong said decisively: "Shaolong dares to use the head of Xiang Shang to guarantee that Chu Jun understands that Qiu Risheng has nothing to do with Mrs. Lai. But Shaolong still has to ask the Queen Mother to enter the palace for a banquet, otherwise it will only teach the despicable villain to be secretly proud , thinking that success has damaged the harmonious relationship between the queen mother and the crown prince." Zhu Ji mockingly said: "A harmonious relationship, alas! But Ai Jia should have a detailed discussion with Wang'er." Xiang Shaolong urged: "The Empress Dowager please drive!" Zhu Ji hesitated for a while, then sighed again and said, "Shaolong, you ride with me in the car, the Ai family has something to ask you." Xiang Shaolong took a peek at Lai Ai, only to see him lower his head, and the jealousy was fleeting and hard to hide.Can't help but sigh in my heart.Lai Ai, you are too narrow-minded, how can you do big things?Even you, my savior, treat me like this, which shows how serious your nature is.