The strong wind knows the strong grass, and the rough waves know the sincere minister. -----"Gift to Xiao Yu" by Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty
It is said that Chen Long and two military advisors made a plan in the Tongwen Inn to monitor Li Jue's mansion late at night, and indeed they captured Dong Zhuo's messenger. Using the token carried by the messenger, he asked Zhong Yao, a calligrapher in prison, to forge Dong Zhuo's letters, and finally freed Zhong Yao from prison.
On that day, Zhong Yu went to prison to deliver a forged letter and told Zhong Yao about Chen Long's background. Zhong Yao got on the carriage at the prison gate and asked impatiently: "Uncle, where is the great benefactor? Take me to see him quickly!"
Chen Long was squatting in the stable of Boss Zhong's house, looking at the frightened messenger face to face. The messenger was locked up here for a day and two nights, and he was already exhausted. Finally he saw someone who seemed to be able to beg for mercy. His mouth was stuffed with smelly socks and he was making no sound.
Chen Long held an iron rod in his left hand and a Qinglong Dagger in his right hand. He seemed to be peeling a carrot as lightly as he could, with iron filings falling down like a drizzle. The messenger stared at the Azure Dragon Dagger in disbelief and almost rolled his eyes.
Chen Long smiled and said: "I'm going to take out the smelly socks from your mouth now. As long as you make a little cry for help, your tongue will say goodbye to you, do you understand?"
The messenger nodded like a fool, and Chen Long pulled out the smelly socks. The messenger took a deep breath, but did not dare to speak. Chen Long said: "You seem to be quite cooperative, but do you want me to let you go?"
The messenger calmed down and said softly: "The villain's wife, children, and children are all in Luoyang and Kyoto, waiting for my return. Although I work in Dong Zhuo's general mansion, I am just a messenger and will never hinder you."
Chen Long asked abruptly: "Tell me your address in Luoyang."
The messenger did not hesitate and gave an address. Chen Long nodded slightly and said, "If you hesitated even a little bit just now, I'm afraid I wouldn't believe you either."
Then he took out two letters and said, "How many days will it take for you to go back and forth to Luoyang normally?"
The messenger said: "If you work hard, you can reach it in three days. If you go at a normal speed, you can reach it in four days."
Chen Long said: "There are still two days left before your normal speed. Whether you can survive depends on how fast you can speed up." Then he stuffed the letter into his arms and said: "After you return to Luoyang, you will This letter was thrown in from the wall of He Jin's courtyard. The other letter is Li Jue's letter to you in reply to Dong Zhuo."
After saying that, he waved his dagger and cut off the rope that bound the messenger. Said: "I will leave here right away, so even if you tell me, you can't catch me. If anyone in this inn has an accident, I will pay for it with the lives of your family. Do you know, let alone you, it's Dong Zhuo, I can easily kill him, don't make a mistake! The horse is already waiting for you at the gate, go!" The messenger turned over and bowed and cried: "Thank you brave man for not killing! I will return to Luoyang After that, I will keep my mouth shut to repay my benefactor." After that, he shed tears.
It turned out that what Zhong Yu brought to the prison were two letters. One letter was written to Li Jue in imitation of Dong Zhuo's handwriting, which saved Zhong Yao's life. The other was a whistleblower letter to He Jin in imitation of Fan Chou's handwriting, accusing Li Jue of colluding with Dong Zhuo and intending to support the army and become independent. Fortunately, Zhong Yao has always been obsessed with calligraphy, and he lives in Xiliang. He has seen the calligraphy of Dong Zhuo and Fan Chou, so he can imitate them closely.
Chen Long's plan was to make He Jin suspicious of Dong Zhuo and leave the root cause of Dong Zhuo's future demise. Even if He Jin didn't believe what was written in the letter, the seed of doubt would naturally take root and sprout as long as he encountered the right soil.
While Zhong Yu went to prison and asked Zhong Yao to copy two letters, Guo Jia proposed how to solve the messenger problem. Guo Jiadao said: "If the messenger does not return to Luoyang, he will arouse Dong Zhuo's suspicion. Even if he kills the messenger, it will not help the matter. It will just be dead without any evidence."
Chen Long heard this and said: "The words of filial piety are reasonable. But is there any good way to prevent Dong Zhuo from becoming suspicious?"
Guo Jiadao: "I think the position of the messenger is neither important nor unimportant. Although he carries secrets, he is still a small person after all. If we can convince this person to rush back with Li Jue's letter, he will really be unnoticed."
Chen Long pondered for a while and said: "This risk is worth taking. However, we will leave the city immediately and disappear without a trace, but it is Zhong Yao's family who will take the risk."
Zhou Busuo said: "If the Zhong family wants to take this risk, they can release the messenger first, and then let Zhong Yao decide whether to take refuge in Lingling."
Chen Long nodded, and then the scene where he released the messenger happened.
Zhong Yao's carriage finally drove through the gate of the inn, and Chen Long, Zhou Buyi and Guo Jia were waiting in the courtyard to greet him. Zhong Yu hurriedly led Zhong Yao over. Zhong Yao fell down in the tunnel and said, "It's hard to express my gratitude for such a kindness. My life is at stake, but unexpectedly I meet a noble person."
Chen Long hurriedly helped him up and said: "Yuan Chang is in trouble, how can I not help him? What's more, he has been framed by treacherous ministers."
Zhong Yao stood up and said, "I don't want to say thank you, just because I heard from my uncle in the carriage that Wen Long is the lord of Lingling and the enemy of the treacherous minister." After saying that, he turned over and prostrated again and said, "My lord, if you don't If you think I am useless, Yuan Chang is willing to do the work of a dog or a horse!"
Chen Long was overjoyed and quickly helped Zhong Yao up and said: "Yuan Chang, since you don't mind the remoteness of Lingling, I am willing to create a hegemony with you!"
Zhong Yao recognized his master, and Chen Long pulled Zhong Yu over and said to the uncle and nephew, "I have a message for Yuan Chang's family to choose."
"I want Zhong Yao to continue to serve as an official in Chang'an. In the future, I will command the troops in Xiliang, so he will naturally help me. The intelligence network in Chang'an City needs Zhong Yao to establish it alone."
"However, what Yuan Chang and Uncle Zhong need to decide today is a matter of life and death. In order to clear Dong Zhuo's suspicion, I have released Dong Zhuo's messenger. Although I have used some means, I cannot 100% guarantee that the messenger will not inform. I will wait for you soon. He will leave the city, and it is up to you to choose whether to follow us or stay here and take the risk of being an undercover agent."
Boss Zhong was about to speak when he heard this, but Zhong Yao pulled his uncle's robe sleeve and said: "Since the master is letting him go, it has his own reasons." After saying this, he gritted his teeth and said, "Zhong Yao's life was originally saved by the master. Yes, so what if it is returned to the lord? My subordinates are willing to stay undercover here. All I ask is that the lord takes my uncle’s family and my wife and children away, and I will lead my subordinates to guard the inn.”
Zhong Yu burst into tears when he heard this, but said nothing, leaving it up to Zhong Yao to make his decision. Chen Long said: "In this case, Yuan Chang's relatives will be my relatives from now on, and I will not let them suffer in Lingling."
He turned around and said to Lu Chang: "Lü Chang, Guo Jia, Zhou Buyi, please help the Zhong family pack up immediately and arrange to set off back to Lingling early tomorrow morning."
She turned around and said to Zhang Ning: "Mei Niang, it's still early, would you like to accompany me to the East Market?"
Dongshi is located northwest of Luoyang and is a famous market in Chang'an. There is a saying in "Poetry of Mulan": "Buy a horse in the east market, buy a saddle in the west market." This is what expresses the prosperity of Chang'an. Later it evolved into people talking about buying things when they were shopping. Of course Zhang Ning was willing to accompany Chen Long for a stroll, so he wrapped his face in a heavy veil and the two of them pulled two ponies and walked through the streets and cities. The strange thing is that although he passed by the east and west cities, Chen Long only stopped to watch briefly, and pulled Zhang Ning through the east and west cities and walked out of the horizontal gate between the two cities.
Zhang Ning looked at the autumn scenery of the countryside in front of him and asked: "Long Lang, if you don't buy in the east and west cities, why do you go north here?"
Chen Long stared blankly at the high slope across the moat: "Did you know that Qin Shihuang was the only emperor throughout the ages?"
