Lao Ai returned to the Hou Mansion, and Liu Yuan was still patiently waiting for him.
After briefly telling Liu Yuan what Zhao Ji thought, Lao Ai quickly took out his pen and ink and wrote two letters.
One was written to Yu Tu, Lao Ai's father. The tone of the letter was extremely urgent, urging Yu Tu to send troops immediately. After all, the current Yiqu territory was still quite far away from the border of Da Qin.
The other letter was written to a eunuch named Jiu'an in Xianyang Palace.
Jiu'an is the general manager of Huayang Palace. He is over fifty years old and has great prestige in Xianyang Palace. When Lao Ai served as the palace manager of Queen Mother Zhao Ji, she had a good personal relationship with Jiu An.
More than two months ago, after making the plan to hijack Xianyang Palace, Lao Ai sent a letter to Jiu An Fei Ge, saying that he was worried that Lu Buwei would stage a mutiny during Ying Zheng's crowning ceremony, and planned to secretly enter the palace to serve the king.
Soon, Lao Ai received a reply from Jiu An, in which Jiu An said that he would do his best to support Lao Ai.
Lao Ai was overjoyed and wrote a reply, and ordered the messenger to donate a lot of silver.
During this time, Lao Ai and Jiu An had been communicating through letters.
This time, Lao Ai told Jiu An that he might sneak into Xianyang secretly in the near future to protect the palace and prevent Lu Buwei from forcing the palace.
After writing the two letters, Lao Ai gave them to Liu Yuan to read again. After confirming that they were correct, he handed them to two of his confidants and ordered them to deliver the letters to the recipients as quickly as possible.
The two cronies took the order and left. After discussing it with Liu Yuan, Lao Ai hurried to the Changxin military camp.
Tuoba Hai has already issued military orders, and all the sergeants are packing their bags and changing into civilian clothes.
In the Chinese military tent, Lao Ai gathered Tuoba Hai and several other confidants in one place.
"How's it going? Have you arranged everything?" Lao Ai asked.
"Everything has been arranged before returning to the Marquis." Tuoba Hai cupped his hands and said, "When the soldiers heard that they were going to Xianyang King Qin, they were all very morale."
"Yes, very good." Lao Ai nodded with satisfaction, "Remember, until Xianyang, even after it is accomplished, you will continue to say this, do you understand?"
"My subordinates understand." Everyone responded in unison.
"After this is accomplished, I will be a high-ranking official, rich and powerful, and I will naturally be indispensable for you." Lao Ai said sincerely.
"Thank you, Lord Marquis."
"Okay, then we will split up tomorrow and divide into three branches to gather in Yueyang." Lao Ai said.
"yes."
After confirming the arrangement of the generals, Lao Ai personally inspected the military camp and saw nothing unusual, so he felt relieved.
As for the retainers he supported in his house, Lao Ai didn't pay much attention to them, because he had already taken some of the particularly outstanding people for his own use.
Those who don't have great talents or have little achievements will not be of much use at this critical moment.
The next day, Lao Ai personally led five thousand soldiers and set out from the east city gate with great fanfare, in order to show off to the Queen Mother.
After another three days, Lao Ai arrived at Yueyang.
Yueyang was once the capital of the Qin Dynasty, where Shang Jun Wei Yang's reform was carried out. Later, after Xianyang was built, the Qin Dynasty moved its capital. But many old families stayed in Yueyang.
The five thousand soldiers accompanying Lao Ai transformed themselves into ordinary people.
It took less than half a day, and 80,000 soldiers had been assembled in Yueyang.
At this time, news came from the front that King Qin was not marching very fast. He was still one hundred and fifty miles away from Yueyang, and it would take another day to reach here.
Lao Ai was not idle either. After settling all the sergeants, she took Tuoba Hai to the door of an old house.
This old house belongs to the Meng family, an old family in the city.
At Chang Meng Lin's residence, Lao Ai had a good personal relationship with Meng Lin, and had previously asked Meng Lin to help him purchase weapons.
After the announcement, the steward of the Meng Mansion came out to greet him enthusiastically and let Lao Ai's master and servant into the manor.
"Hahaha, what kind of wind brought Mr. Hou to Meng Mansion." The voice came before the people arrived.
I saw a man walking out from behind the screen, about forty years old, with a fat head and big ears, a wide body and a fat body. It seemed that he had never been engaged in labor.
This fat man is none other than Meng Lin, the patriarch of the Meng family.
"Haha, I haven't seen you for many days, but Brother Meng is still full of joy." Lao Ai returned the greeting.
"Both each other, Lord Marquis, please take a seat." Meng Lin politely gave up his seat.
"Brother Meng, please." Lao Ai said politely and sat down opposite Meng Lin.
Meng Lin ordered the butler to serve tea, and then said: "For the Marquis to come in person, could it be that something important happened in Yueyang?"
"Haha, although this matter is confidential, there is no need to hide it from Brother Meng." Then, Lao Ai told Meng Lin again about going to Xianyang to protect the king.
After hearing this, Meng Lin asked in surprise: "Could it be that Lu Xiangbang really has rebellious intentions?"
Lao Ai snorted coldly and said: "Of course! There are many people in the Lu Mansion, so it is not difficult to find out the truth. Does Brother Meng also believe that Lu Buwei will willingly give up his power and let all his fame and wealth go to waste?"
Indeed, no one would be willing to do it any other way.
The corners of Meng Lin's mouth twitched, causing the fat on his face to appear, which was quite funny.
Not long after the storm of Chengyu's mutiny passed, could things change again?
After a moment of silence, Meng Lin said: "No matter whether this happens or not, it's best to be careful. If Lu Buwei doesn't make any move, we won't lose anything."
"That's right." Lao Ai said with a slight smile, "I feel the same way, so I followed the Queen Mother's order to go to Xianyang to defend the palace."
After saying that, Lao Ai took out a pair of golden brocade from her arms and carefully handed it to Meng Lin.
Meng Lin unfolded it and looked at it, his eyebrows twitching and his eyes widening.
This is the decree issued by the Queen Mother Zhao Ji, and the Queen Mother's seal is still clearly visible below.
Meng Lin was about to get up to pay homage, but was pulled back by Lao Ai.
"Brother Meng, this matter is secret and there is no need to pray." Lao Ai lowered his voice and said.
Meng Lin nodded, handed the order back to Lao Ai, and said, "Since it is a secret, why did the Marquis tell me?"
"Haha." Lao Ai smiled and said, "Of course I want to ask for something from Brother Meng."
Meng Lin waved his hand and said with the same smile: "The Marquis thinks highly of Meng. Meng is just a small person and cannot reach the upper echelons of society. It's okay if you don't know about the affairs in the palace."
"Brother Meng misunderstood." Lao Ai said, "I will naturally handle matters in the palace personally. As for Yueyang..."
"How is it?" Meng Lin said slightly uneasily.
"Here, I just need Brother Meng to find some suitable reasons to let the king stay in Yueyang for three to five days longer, can you?" Lao Ai said in a pleading tone.
Meng Lin didn't know why and asked, "Why is this?"
Of course, Lao Ai had already thought of his words: "To be honest, when I led the troops to Xianyang, I needed some time to prepare secretly, and if the preparations were not ready, the king would have already set off in Yongcheng. Guan Li, if Lu Buwei breaks out, I will definitely be caught off guard. Therefore, if we find a way to delay the king for a few days, I will naturally have time to make the best preparations."
Meng Lin asked suspiciously: "Why don't you tell the king directly about this matter?"
Lao Ai smiled bitterly and sighed softly: "I'm afraid if I tell the king openly, Lu Buwei will
Maybe you will notice it, but the consequences will be unpredictable. "
Meng Lin lowered his head, thought for a moment, and finally nodded and said, "That's fine. In order to facilitate the Lord Marquis to act secretly, Meng thought of some way to stay with the king for two more days. As for what the king will do, it is unknown. "
"Haha, Brother Meng, just try your best." Lao Ai smiled and took out another brocade bag from her arms, handed it to Meng Lin and said, "This is the Queen Mother's idea, please accept it, Brother Meng."
Of course Meng Lin refused to take it, but he was too kind to refuse it, so he had to accept it, but he did not open it to look at it. However, judging from its shape, it should be a valuable jade ornament.
"Haha, with Brother Meng's help, I feel relieved." Lao Ai stood up and said, "Time is tight and it is not advisable to stay for a long time. I will take my leave."
Meng Lin said urgently: "Master Hou, wait a moment."
Lao Ai turned around and said, "Brother Meng, what else can you do?"
"I heard that there are many people from other places in Yueyang City for no reason. I think they must be the Marquis's people." Meng Lin asked.
"Well, yes, I brought it here." Lao Ai said.
Meng Lin cupped his hands and said, "I hope the sergeants under the Marquis will not disturb the people in the city."
"Brother Meng, don't worry. After the repairs are completed, I will take them out overnight." After saying that, Lao Ai took Tuoba Hai and left.
After Lao Ai walked away, Meng Lin turned to look at the housekeeper and asked, "What do you think about this matter?"
The housekeeper thought about it for a while and said, "It's strange. It's a bit strange, but I can't tell where it is."
"Sure enough, you also feel that something is fishy." Meng Lin said.
"Then Master, do you really want to do what he says?" the steward asked.
Meng Lin shook his head slightly and said: "Although I have always had contact with Lao Ai, it is only a business relationship. Besides, if he forged the token, he would be committing the crime of deceiving the emperor. We cannot commit the crime of following him." Let’s go through this muddy water with him.”
As he spoke, it seemed that Meng Lin had already made a plan.
Lao Ai and Tuoba Hai left Meng Mansion and took the narrow and sparsely populated path back to the temporary camp outside the city.
"Master Marquis, do you think Meng Lin will really find a way to hold Ying Zheng back?" Tuoba Hai asked in a low voice.
Lao Ai did not slow down. She looked at Tuoba Hai and said, "What do you think?"
"I don't think so." Tuoba Hai expressed his thoughts.
"Haha." Lao Ai chuckled as if mocking herself, "I feel the same way."
"Ah?" Tuoba Hai was confused as to why Lao Ai asked Meng Lin for help even though he knew he wouldn't help.
Lao Ai explained: "Although our sergeants have all disguised themselves as common people, there are too many of them after all, and they have purchased a lot of food and wages in Yueyang City. It is too difficult to avoid being noticed. Rather than making people suspicious, we should also It's better to tell the reason directly, so as to prevent Ying Zheng from sending pursuers to catch up with us as soon as we leave."
"Master Hou is still thoughtful." Tuoba Hai finally understood Lao Ai's intention and asked, "Then what should we do next?"
Lao Ai thought for a while and then said: "According to the original plan, you will take half of the troops to gather outside the north city gate, and then march along the northern route; I will take the remaining people outside the south city gate. Assemble, and then march eastward along the Wei River. Three days later, we will assemble twenty miles outside the west gate of Xianyang."
"Okay! I will go back and prepare now and set off early tomorrow morning." Tuoba Hai said.
"No." Lao Ai said decisively.
Tuoba Hai's footsteps that he had just turned stopped in place.
Lao Ai looked to the east and said conspiratorially: "Let the brothers not rest tonight, take advantage of the darkness, bypass Ying Zheng's camp, and set off immediately!"
