Yu Mei, the third son of King Shoumeng of Wu, died soon after he became King of Wu. Before his death, Yu Mei specifically stated that he wanted Jizha to succeed him to the throne, but Jizha firmly disagreed and hid himself.
However, a country cannot live without a king for a day. On the premise that the designated successor to the throne does not accept the throne, the people of Wu have to elect a new king. The people of Wu believed that since the last King of Wu was Yu Mei, they should let Yu Mei's son Liao inherit the throne. But this caused dissatisfaction with Zhuanzhu's son, Gongzi Helu. Prince Helu believed that the reason why the ancestors of Wu did not pass the throne on to their sons but passed it down among their brothers was because of Jizha. If it is according to the wishes of the late king, the throne of Wu should be passed to Jizha; if it is not according to the wishes of the late king, then the throne of Wu should be passed to himself, and it will not be Liao's turn to be the king! Therefore, Prince Helu was always dissatisfied with Liao being the king of Wu, and secretly wanted to kill King Liao of Wu.
At this time, Wu Zixu, a senior official of Chu State, came to Wu State for refuge and encouraged King Wu of Wu to attack Chu, claiming that there would be many benefits. Prince Helu said: "Wu Zixu's father and brother both died at the hands of the King of Chu. Now he wants to attack Chu just to avenge himself, and it will be of no benefit to the state of Wu." Therefore, King Liao of Wu did not adopt Wu Zixu's opinion. Later, Wu Zixu saw that the young master Helu was dissatisfied with King Liao of Wu and wanted to kill the king of Wu. Wu Zixu recommended a warrior named Zhuan Zhu to the young master Helu. Helu was very happy after meeting Zhuan Zhu. From then on Treat Wu Zixu as an honored guest.
In the winter of 515 BC, King Ping of Chu died. In the spring of the next year, Wu took advantage of Chu's national mourning and sent troops to attack Chu. King Liao of Wu sent his two younger brothers, Gaiyu and Zhuyong, to lead an army to attack the border towns of Chu. He also sent Ji Zha as an envoy to Jin to observe the reactions of the princes. However, the Chu State seemed to have been well prepared for the Wu State's dispatch of troops. The Wu Army was ambushed by the Chu Army and was besieged, cutting off its retreat.
Prince Helu believed that this was a God-given opportunity. At this time, all of King Wu's trusted generals were away on war, and there were no honest and outspoken loyal ministers in the country, so it was a good time to assassinate him. Prince Helu then said to Zhuan Zhu: "This great opportunity must not be missed. According to the patriarchal tradition, I am the true successor of the king. Now that I have killed Liao and inherited the throne, it is settled. Even if Jizha comes back, there will be nothing he can do." Zhuanzhu replied: "Liao's mother is old and her son is still young. His two brothers are also leading troops in the Chu Kingdom and cannot come back. Moreover, there is no one in the country who is willing to die for him. Kill him now." I will definitely succeed! I will definitely fulfill my mission." Prince Helu finally said to Zhuanzhu, "My destiny is entrusted to you."
So, one day in April of this year, after the young master Helu ambushed the warriors in armor in the basement of his home, he prepared a banquet and invited King Wu to come to his home for a drink. King Wu was also vigilant. The road from the palace to Helu's home was covered with personal guards. Even the banquet seats were guarded by guards with swords. When everyone was drunk at the banquet, Master Helu pretended to have a foot problem and hid in the basement. At the same time, Zhuan Zhu hid the dagger in the belly of the grilled fish, and then offered the grilled fish to King Liao of Wu. Zhuan Zhu presented the grilled fish in front of King Liao of Wu. As he slowly opened the belly of the fish, he suddenly pulled out a dagger and stabbed King Liao of Wu. Zhuan Zhu successfully assassinated King Wu Liao. However, Zhuan Zhu could not escape and was killed by Wu King Liao's guards.
After King Liao of Wu was killed, Prince Helu successfully seized the throne and became King Helu of Wu. After King Helu of Wu came to the throne, in order to commend Zhuanzhu for his contribution, he named Zhuanzhu's son Shangqing. At the same time, King Helu of Wu sealed up the dagger known as the Fish Intestine Sword used by Zhuan Zhu to assassinate King Liao, never to be used again. Soon after, Jizha returned to his country. As Helu expected, Jizha had no ambition to seize the throne. Faced with such changes in world affairs, Jizha just let nature take its course, resigned to fate, and recognized Helu's status as king.
After hearing that there was a coup in Wu State, Chu State withdrew its troops. At this time, there was also unrest in Chu State. Therefore, after the Chu troops retreated, Prince Gaiyu, the younger brother of King Liao of Wu, who was leading the troops, fled to Xu State, a vassal state of Chu State, while Prince Zhu Yong fled to our country.
Helu finally became the king of Wu as he wished, and then he began to use Wu Zixu. Under the auspices of Helu, the state of Wu developed rapidly and became one of the important vassal states in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Wu Zixu, one of the designers of Zhuanzhu's assassination of King Liao, finally gained an important political position in Wu State and gradually became an important adviser to King Wu Helu. Later, Wu Zixu recommended Sun Wu, a famous military strategist at that time, to King Helu of Wu. King Helu of Wu then worshiped Sun Wu as the general of the state of Wu, and the hegemony of the state of Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period began.
After Zhuan Zhu succeeded in assassinating King Liao of Wu, Helu successfully became King of Wu. However, Helu, who became the king of Wu, still had a lot of worries, because Liao had a son named Qingji, who was brave enough not to be matched by ten thousand men. After Liao was assassinated, he fled to the neighboring country of Wei. Qing Ji recruited troops and horses in Ai City of Wei State, and called on the surrounding princes to avenge his father, which became Helu's confidant.
In the second year of Wu King Helu's reign, he wanted to kill Qingji, but he was worried that Qingji might be attacked by the princes in neighboring countries, so he didn't know how to deal with it. So Helu asked Wu Zixu: "You made a great contribution to the assassination. Now I heard that Liao's son Qingji is uniting with the princes to attack me. What do you think I should do?" Wu Zixu replied: "I am loyal to my master. I secretly planned the assassination with the king, and now I am preparing to attack his son. This will go against God's will."
Helu then said: "When King Wu conquered Zhou, he killed King Zhou first, and then killed his son Wu Geng after he conquered the world, but no one blamed King Wu. We killed Qingji to protect ourselves, how can there be any God's will !" Wu Zixu said: "I am serving you so that Wu can achieve hegemony in the future. What is there to be afraid of? I have a close relationship with an assassin, so he should be able to accomplish this."
After Wu Wang Helu heard this, he couldn't help but said worriedly: "Qing Ji is so powerful that he can defeat ten thousand people. Can this assassin really succeed in assassinating him?" Wu Zixu said: "This assassin's strategy can also defeat an enemy." Ten thousand people." After hearing this, King Helu of Wu asked eagerly: "Who is this person?" Wu Zixu said, "I just want to leave. I once saw him humiliating the strong man Jiao Qiuxin." King Helu of Wu was curious. He asked: "How can you humiliate Jiao Qiuxin?" So Wu Zixu told the whole story.
Jiao Qiuxin was from Donghai and was sent to Wu as an envoy from Qi. When passing the Huaijin Ferry, he led his horse to the ferry to drink water. However, a monster in the water swallowed his horse. He jumped into the river in anger and fought with the monster for three days and three nights. In the end, Jiao Qiuxin lost an eye against the monster and became famous. After arriving in the State of Wu, he happened to meet a friend attending a funeral. At the funeral, he spoke rudely, scornfully and rudely to the scholar-bureaucrats of the State of Wu, and boasted about his arrogant courage in fighting water monsters.
Yao Li really couldn't stand his behavior, so he said sternly: "I heard that when a real warrior fights, he fights with the sun without changing his appearance, fights with gods without hesitation, and fights with people without making a sound. Return to death without being humiliated. You fought with the water god in the water. Not only did you not recover the life of the horse, but you also lost an eye. You paid the price of physical disability in exchange for the name of bravery. This is something that a true warrior is deeply ashamed of. You are greedy for life and afraid of death. If you don’t die in battle, how can you be so proud and arrogant to me?”
Jiao Qiuxin was left speechless, ashamed and angry. After Yaoli returned home, he knew that Jiao Qiuxin would come to take revenge at night. So Yaoli told his wife to open all the doors and windows at night and let him come in and out. That night, Jiao Qiuxin arrived at Yaoli's home. Jiao Qiuxin took advantage of the night and walked straight to Yao Li's bed, put the sword on Yao Li's neck and said, "You really deserve to die! First, you shouldn't have humiliated me in front of everyone, and second, you shouldn't have known that I was coming. You still don’t close your door at night, you shouldn’t run away when you see me coming.”
Yao Li retorted calmly: "You also have three things you shouldn't have done: first, you didn't say a word when I humiliated you; second, you came in quietly and didn't make a sound when you reached the hall. It was obviously a sneak attack." , is not what a warrior should do; third, you threaten me with a sword, but you still speak so arrogantly, which shows that you have a guilty conscience, and it is not the behavior of a warrior." After hearing Yao Li's answer, Jiao Qiuxin sighed that there are still such warriors in the world. , sighed: "You are the real warrior. If I kill you, won't I be laughed at by the world? If I don't die, I will be laughed at by the world." So Jiao Qiuxin committed suicide immediately and died on the bed he was about to leave. forward.
After King Helu of Wu heard about Yaoli's deeds, he decided to treat Yaoli to a banquet. Wu Zixu then found Yaoli and said to him: "The King of Wu has heard of your noble integrity, so he wants to see you alone." Yaoli then followed Wu Zixu to meet King Wu Helu. When King Helu of Wu saw Yao Li, he asked, "Who are you?" Yao Li replied, "I am a man from a country thousands of miles east of the country. I am thin and weak and fall with the wind. But what is the king's order? I will definitely try my best." Wu Wang Helu was a little dissatisfied with the person Wu Zixu recommended, so he remained silent for a long time.
Yaoli suddenly said to King Helu of Wu: "Are you taking Qingji as a cause of trouble? I can kill him." King Helu of Wu said: "Qingji's bravery is rare in the world. His muscles and bones are strong and he can defeat ten thousand people. . Now your strength is not as good as him!" Yaoli further said: "As long as the king wants to kill him, I can kill him." King Wu Helu said again: "Qingji is a smart man, and now he has no choice but to join the army. Other countries, but not inferior to the scholar-bureaucrats under the princes. How do you kill him?"
Yaoli replied: "I heard that if you enjoy your family and don't serve the king with all your strength, then you are unfaithful; if you think about the love of your family and don't help the king, then you are unjust. I pretended to be responsible for a serious crime and fled. , please kill my wife and cut off my right hand, then Qing Ji will definitely trust me." After hearing the idea of leaving, King Helu of Wu agreed to act according to his plan.
After he was about to flee the state of Wu, King Helu of Wu followed his plan and killed his wife and burned her body in the market. If you want to leave, you will wander around the vassal states to redress your grievances, and be considered innocent by the world. After Yao Li came to Weiguo, he asked to see Qing Ji. When Yao Li saw Qing Ji, he said angrily: "He Lu is stupid and immoral. Prince, you know it. Now, without any charges, he killed my wife and burned her body in the market. The situation in the state of Wu I am familiar with him, and with the prince's bravery, Helu can be defeated. Why don't the prince join me in the crusade against Wu?" Qingji believed in Gaoli, so he began to select and train soldiers and prepare to attack Wu.
Three months later, Qingji led his troops to attack Wu and wanted Li to go with him. Yao Li and Qing Ji took a boat to cross the river. When the boat reached the middle of the river, Yao Li decided to assassinate Qing Ji. Because he had little power, he sat upwind and used the wind to stab Qingji. Qingji was not dead for a moment. After he realized what he was doing, he grabbed Yaoli and dunked his head into the water three times, then picked him up and put him on his knees. Qingji laughed twice and said: "There are really warriors in the world! Dare to come and assassinate me!" Qingji's followers wanted to kill Yaoli, but Qingji stopped him and said: "This is a warrior in the world! How can he How about killing two warriors in the world in one day?" Qingji also specially told his followers: "Let him return to the state of Wu in recognition of his loyalty." Afterwards, Qingji died.
After I arrived in Gangneung by boat, I never left again. The attendant asked: "Why don't you leave?" Yaoli said: "It is unkind to kill my wife to serve the king; it is unjust to kill the son of the old king to serve the new king. Now I am like this How can I face the world?" So he threw himself into the river and committed suicide. However, Yaoli did not die immediately and was rescued by his followers. Yao Li then said: "How can I not die?" The entourage replied: "You can't die, there are still honors waiting for you to receive!" However, Yao Li took out his sword and cut off his own hands and feet, Die by sword.
At this point, King Helu of Wu got rid of a major worry, and Yaoli's loyalty, bravery, benevolence and righteousness made him one of the famous assassins in the Spring and Autumn Period.
