After Li Jiangyao and Wang Hai separated, they walked through the streets and alleys, asking around, and soon arrived at Yunlai Inn in Luoyi West City.
This inn has a very grand appearance. The three-story building in front has high cornices, carved beams and painted beams, and is equipped with restaurants and teahouses. Behind the floor, there are more than a dozen large and small courtyards for business travelers to live.
People were coming and going at the entrance of the inn, which was very lively.
Li Jiangyao stepped into the store door, looked around for a moment, then stopped a busy waiter and stuffed a piece of silver into his hand. When the waiter saw this, he immediately smiled and said hurriedly: "Sir, what are your orders?"
"Brother, let me ask you about a person." Li Jiangyao asked with a smile: "I have a ritual at home and invited a senior monk to chant sutras. I heard that after he came to Dongdu, he stayed here alone, so I came here specially. Inquiry."
The waiter put a handkerchief on his shoulder: "Oh, that's right. You must be talking about Zen Master Yongji of Puxian Temple. He and several disciples live in the back."
Li Jiangyao asked about the appearance of the Yongji monk, and shook his head no. The waiter stared at the ceiling, thought hard, and then said: "Is it Elder Chang Shan from Jingzhou? He just checked into our store yesterday. To say that this Elder Chang Shan is amazing, he looks like a fairy, and he is also He is good at fortune telling. From last night to now, he has read dozens of hexagrams to our guests..."
Li Jiangyao waved his hand: "No. The monk I'm looking for, whose Buddhist name is Huidian, comes from Songshan Zen Monastery, and there's a girl with him."
"Ah? Are you talking about the short, fat and fat master?" The waiter said in surprise: "That master...he doesn't look like he knows how to do anything. He is suitable for looking after homes and nursing homes. "
Li Jiangyao laughed and cursed and asked him where Hui Dian was now.
The waiter pointed to the back: "They also live in the backyard. The old master is in Room 4 of Courtyard C, and the girl is in Room 5 next door. Will I take you there?"
Li Jiangyao hurriedly said no, and after asking for the route, went to the backyard alone. After he passed through the two small doors and came to the C-shaped courtyard, he didn't even bother to look for Room 4 when he saw the door of a wing room in the courtyard being slowly opened. Hui Dian walked out of it and held his hands in front of him. He put his hands together and said, "Amitabha, donor Li is indeed here. Miss Xiahou has been waiting for you for a long time."
Li Jiangyao quickly returned the gift, said politely, and then followed Hui Dian into the house.
In the main hall of the house, Xia Hou Ninghan, the beautiful owner of Xianxia Villa, was sitting in the middle. She specially changed into men's clothing, a sapphire blue scholar's suit, a moon-white gauze cloak, and a Wen Sheng Gongzi scarf on her head. She looked quite suave and chic. a feeling of.
Seeing Li Jiangyao come in, Xiahou Ninghan was slightly dissatisfied: "The Baron arrived much later than I expected."
Li Jiangyao was slightly startled: "How are you sure I will come today?"
"Instead of helping Lian Ji rescue her sister," Xiahou Ninghan said lightly, "shouldn't you be more focused on rescuing your good brother Murong Xue?"
When Li Jiangyao heard what she said, he immediately understood that it was Murong Xue who must have told Xiahou Ninghan about the matter between their brothers.
"So, Miss Xiahou is finally willing to believe me." Li Jiangyao said with a smile.
Unexpectedly, Xiahou Ninghan still shook his head: "No, I am still wary of you, and this has not changed at all."
Seeing Li Jiangyao's awkward expression frozen on the spot, Xiahou Ninghan explained: "You and that girl Lian Ji both have many doubts that are difficult to resolve. Without further clarification, Ninghan cannot judge whether you are enemies or not. It’s a friend.”
Li Jiangyao knew that the beautiful owner of the village in front of him was smart and also a cautious and thoughtful person. If you want to gain her trust and support, you must not hide or trick her. Of course, it was also impossible for him to completely believe the origins of Xiahou Ninghan and Hui Dian at this time.
Therefore, Li Jiangyao could only pick up what he could tell, including his past experiences and Lian Ji's life background, and tell them one by one with Xiahou Ninghan and Hui Dian.
As for the situation related to Nilin Division, he kept it in reserve for the time being and did not reveal anything about it.
Hui Dian couldn't help but marvel when he told him about the deeds of the Metasequoia Army. She was even more surprised and worried when she heard that Ashina Zhijin personally led an army of hundreds of thousands of foreigners to brazenly attack Shengtang.
Xiahou Ninghan secretly used the art of observing people and did not find any forgeries in Li Jiangyao's words and expressions. Knowing that what he said was true, he couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "The soldiers of the Zhenjiang Protectorate fought alone and fought bloody battles. The enemy is respectable and admirable. I would like to ask General Li to forgive Ning Han for any offense he committed before."
After saying that, she stood up and bowed Yingying.
Li Jiangyao quickly stood up and returned the courtesy, saying it was okay. He waited for Xiahou Ninghan to sit down again and continued: "When I returned to Shengtang this time, I originally planned to report to the imperial court, but now it is too late. The Turks moved faster than I thought! In addition, the imperial court The entire army was dragged back to Mianchi by Xie Guang. Even if I wanted to return to fight the enemy now, I was afraid that I would be unable to do so. In desperation, I had no choice but to put aside all my worries and concentrate on rescuing the prince and Murong Xu. As long as I could rescue the prince, it would be a big deal. Once the foundation of the rebels is lost, there is hope for quickly quelling the rebellion."
Xiahou Ninghan nodded: "I agree with General Li. We must all help in public and private matters. But... I wonder if you have any way to successfully rescue people from the siege of the Xuanjia Army? Besides, with Lian Ji who assassinated Duke Zhen Guo still by his side, will something unexpected happen?"
Li Jiangyao replied: "The specific plan has been made, and I am not alone. There are people from the imperial capital helping secretly. As for Lian Ji, I always feel that she is not Lao Jianhua's true subordinate. The relationship between the two is more like some kind of exchange, or transaction. I want to learn more about the other party's reality from her, and I don't even rule out using her to confuse the enemy, so I keep pretending and letting her stay by my side. "
"General Li, please forgive Ninghan for speaking frankly, you are playing with fire." Xiahou Ninghan couldn't help but warn: "This woman, no matter what her identity is, is extremely difficult to predict and control. If you are not careful, she will It may become a factor of defeat.”
Li Jiangyao nodded and said with a hint of helplessness: "I also know this, but it can't be changed easily now. Her sister Ruiji is Murong Xue's wife, and she has a special connection with Lao Jianhua. I If we throw Lian Ji away directly, it may have the opposite effect immediately, and the enemy will notice the abnormality."
"Then what tasks will the master and I undertake in your rescue plan?" Xiahou Ninghan stopped entangled with Li Jiangyao about Lian Ji and asked instead: "The two of us are willing to cooperate with the general and do our best to rescue the prince and the others. A meager strength."
Li Jiangyao was overjoyed when he heard this and said quickly: "In our rescue plan, there is a core link that requires the help of masters to put some huge pressure on the enemy. And the masters I am talking about are people like Miss Xiahou and A top person like Master Huidian.”
Xiahou Ninghan smiled and said: "General Li has given you the award. In Ninghan's opinion, you are a master among masters. It seems that Commander He has taught you all his life-long skills, and you are even better than others." Better than blue trends.”
Li Jiangyao waved his hand and said: "You are the real reward! If you two were not here, I would have no choice but to shoulder the task personally. But if you can take action, not only will I have greater confidence in my actions, but I will also You can take time off to plan other things in preparation.”
"Amitabha, you are so good. What is your mission? Breaking into the palace to save people?" the old monk Huidian asked excitedly.
"No, no, no," Li Jiangyao waved his hands repeatedly: "It's not about saving people, it's about killing people!"
Xiahou Ninghan and Hui Dian looked at each other and asked: "Kill? Kill who?"
Li Jiangyao smiled lightly: "Kill... His Highness the Crown Prince."
"Ah?" Hui Dian was dumbfounded: "Donor Li, are you joking?"
Xiahou Ninghan was speechless and just looked at Li Jiangyao quietly, waiting for his next words.
Li Jiangyao explained: "Master, don't be impatient. Let me finish what I'm saying. I wonder if you two have thought about this question. To what extent can the rescue be considered a success?"
Huidian didn't even think about it: "Of course we leave the Xuanjia Army's sphere of influence."
"Master is right." Li Jiangyao nodded slightly: "Even if we can successfully enter the palace, kill all the guards, and successfully bring the prince and Murong Xue out, are we sure of getting out of the city? Even if we can get out of the city, are we sure of escaping? Are you leaving the territory of the Xuanjia Army? The enemy only needs to set up checkpoints and defense lines at various important roads. If you want to break through them one by one, it will be as difficult as climbing to the sky."
Xiahou Ninghan agreed: "Of course we have thought about this, so we have never dared to act rashly."
"Therefore, if you want to succeed, you must set up a maze." Li Jiangyao said: "The first point is to completely disrupt the deployment of the Xuanjia Army. Let the enemy change from preventing us from saving people to preventing us from killing people, from guarding to guarding Protection will cause chaos in their originally complete prevention and control system in the shortest possible time. Only in this way can they have a chance to save people from danger."
Xiahou Ninghan was slightly confused: "You mean, it looks like an assassination, but it is actually a rescue?"
Li Jiangyao shook his head: "That's not entirely the case. If you want the other party to be convinced, then the assassination part must be true. Previously, we would use various means to make the Xuanjia Army gradually determine that the prince has become the target of the court's decision to get rid of him. But this is not enough. Because any clever and concealed assassination method is less likely to make them feel that the prince is in danger than the assassination with famous swords and famous guns, so they have to change all the pre-prepared defensive measures."
Xiahou Ninghan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "I understand. The general asked me and Master Hui Dian to dress up as assassins, break through the restricted areas, and attack the prince's location. As long as we kill fiercely enough, the leader of the Xuanjia Army will definitely think that , the prince, as a key bargaining chip in their hands, is very likely to be destroyed by the court, so they will adjust their strategies in a panic, and obvious mistakes will appear."
"Absolutely correct!" Li Jiangyao said with a smile: "Miss Xiahou is really smart. We want to seize this flaw and take back the crown prince and Murong Xue in one fell swoop. We also need to take advantage of the enemy's temporary chaos to create a greater crisis. The chaos prevents them from thinking, and then they fish in troubled waters and run away!"
Xiahou Ninghan's eyes shone with wisdom as he stared at Li Jiangyao: "General, your idea is worth a try, but Ninghan still has a problem. You said that there will be people in the imperial capital secretly assisting, but I don't know which yamen you are referring to. Or what about the military?”
Li Jiangyao was stunned by her question. After pondering for a moment, he said frankly: "Miss Xiahou, have you ever heard of Beiya Nilin Division?"
