Rebel

When I came to King Jibei's residence, I saw that King Jibei was wearing royal clothes and had been buried in a coffin.Kneeling in the hall were more than [-] members of the Jian clan, all descendants of aristocratic families; outside the hall were more than [-] people kneeling, they were people from poor families with the surname Jian who had been separated long ago.Dian Biao stood guard at the door with his guards, heavily armored.When everyone in the hall saw Gu Ao's armor and sword entering, they all bowed, "Welcome to the King of Han."

At this time, Jian Xing took a step forward and said, "King of Han, when the lord came before him, he told his ministers that he was willing to resign as king. Here is the expression. From now on, I will only obey the orders of the King of Han." On a piece of silk.

Dian Biao moved a chair for Gu Ao, and Gu Ao lifted up his war robe and sat down, saying: "The king of Jibei was forced by Yongchi, and committed suicide due to the humiliation. Now this king is here, and I will preside over it for the king of Jibei." To be fair, it is too late for this king to honor his title, so why does the king of Jibei demote himself as a king?"

"This...but this is the will of the prince, and I beg the King of Han to fulfill it." Jian Xing said.

"Where is the son?" Gu Ao asked.

The Prince of Jibei took a step forward from the crowd, only to see that his eyes were red, his eyes were heavy, and his hair was disheveled.Gu Ao said: "My son, the king of Jibei was born with honor, so he should be honored when he dies. I feel that I shouldn't accept this resignation as a prince. What do you think?"

The son of King Jibei raised his face, focused his eyes, and said with determination on his face: "Father has been worrying about all kinds of businesses in Jibei these years, and Jinbei is also prosperous. Father's title is justified."

"... Prince!" Jian Xing called out in a low voice.

Gu Ao nodded, and said: "Okay! The funeral of the king of Jibei will be handed over to the county magistrate, Jianxing, and must be buried with the king's ceremony." Gu Ao paused for a while, and said to the prince of Jibei : "My son's condolences."

At this time, the scouts came in a hurry and reported to Dian Biao who was guarding the gate. Dian Biao's expression changed, and he looked at Gu Ao with anxiety in his eyes.

Gu Ao's expression remained unmoved, and he just said: "The king has promised his family teacher Jian Pu that in Jibei County, all the rules and rituals of the family will remain as usual, so we won't change the system for now."

"Thank you King Han!" Everyone in the family kowtowed in thanks.

Gu Ao said again: "However, people from poor families can join the army. If your nephews are willing to join the Han army, you must not stop them."

"Yes!"

Then Gu Ao said: "Dian Biao!"

"exist!"

"What happened just now?"

Dian Biao looked left and right, and said, "I report to the King of Han, it's military sentiment."

"Speak! Let everyone listen too."

Dian Biao then said: "Among the east, south, and west passes outside Jibei County, an army of tens of thousands emerged from nowhere and is encircling the county town. General Liao has already led his troops out of the city to fight."

As soon as Dian Biao finished speaking, the whole hall started whispering...

Gu Ao smiled: "Everyone, it seems that Yong Chi has already crossed the river, and now the bridge in Jibei is going to be demolished... Ever since the day when King Jibei was forced to surrender, the imperial court has never cared about the life and death of Jibei. Now that the city is besieged, don’t you want to trap you to death? Let you be buried with the king?” The hall became quieter for a while, and Gu Ao’s tone turned cold: “——It’s no wonder that King Jibei committed suicide, if it wasn’t for him Yong Chi lacks kindness, why is the King of Jibei doing this?!"

Jian Xing looked behind him, hesitated, and finally said: "If Jibei is besieged, we are willing to live and die with the King of Han."

Gu Ao stood up and waved his hands: "I don't need you to live and die together."

The members of Jian's family looked at each other, and Gu Ao said: "You should know today that this king is different from Yongchi. Yongchi regards you as pawns. You have joined this king today. This king only regards you as protected people. Jibei The defense of the city is handed over to the Han army, and the Jinbei army will fix the city and provide the Han army with food and grass."

"Yes, thank you King of Han."

Gu Ao walked up to Prince Ji Bei's side, and said slowly: "My son, I promised to send you to Jiangqu. How about I send someone to escort you out of the city before the army arrives?"

The Prince of Jibei opened his mouth, looked at Gu Ao, and turned his face away.Gu Ao waited quietly for his answer, and the prince of Jinbei finally said with difficulty: "Father also told me to leave just now, and he disappeared as soon as I left the yard; I was cowardly, otherwise I could have stopped my father." The king committed suicide. King of Han, you told me to leave today, I won’t leave...I want to stay here, inherit my father’s title, and protect Jibei.”

Jian Xing took a step forward and said, "My lord, have you forgotten what the prince said to you?"

Prince Jibei said: "I have made up my mind."

Gu Ao nodded and said: "Okay." Then he said to Dian Biao: "In the future, the military information reported to the king must also be reported to the prince."

Dian Biao said: "Yes!"

Gu Ao said to the crowd again: "This king wants to organize the army to fight, so I will not accompany you." Then he raised his sword and walked away, Dian Biao followed.

After leaving the palace, Gu Ao got on his horse and said to Dian Biao: "Go and find out, when we entered Jibei this time, which members of the Jian family led troops to submit to Mr. Xiao and resisted the Han army, and which ones did not stand still?" Yes. Bring all the leaders of Mr. Guishun Xiao, and if the governor or the prince asks, they will say that they are plotting to collude with Yongchi and force King Jibei to death."

"King of Han, this is easy to handle. I will remember whoever fought against us. Don't worry." Dian Biao said confidently.

Gu Ao took a look at Dian Biao: "Do it carefully, now you are committing crimes and meritorious deeds, don't forget."

"Yes!"

----

The moon hangs in the sky, and the figure is bleak.

That night, Gu Ao stood by Tian Rong's coffin alone. He had someone wipe Tian Rong's face clean, and the body was broken in the coffin.The dragon-pattern cloak that had been with Gu Ao for a long time was quietly covering Tian Rong's body, covering his remnant body.

Gu Ao was silently stroking the coffin and staring at it, only feeling a burst of soreness in his eyes, he couldn't help covering his face, tears flowed from between his fingers.

In the dead of night, Gu Ao wept silently.

He thought of many things, Tian Rong's ingratiating smile to him when he was a child, the way he hid behind his back and grabbed his skirt.At that time, he never paid much attention to Tian Rong, because as a young man, he felt that Tian Rong was not as good as himself, and his attention was always outside Mangdang Mountain, in the world that his father said...

But now that scene is recalled, vividly, as if he is still alive.

Tian Rong dragged himself to the 'Pixiang Tower', and the two argued; later, because of Yun Ang's matter, the two argued again—it should have been an unpleasant memory, but Gu Ao recalled it now, but Tian Rong was always in his mind The smiling face, or observing himself cautiously, or playing with himself proudly, the smile on that round face contains the dependence cultivated since childhood.But Tian Rong couldn't laugh any more now, he lay there quietly, motionless.

"You asked Dianbiao to tell me, you see me as an older brother, why don't I see you as a younger brother...why didn't you wait for me to save you? Just like that time in the Yizheng Hall, when I had no Changwu, penniless, didn’t he save you? I’m the king of Han now, and I’m powerful in the world, so why don’t you believe that I can save you?”

Gu Ao asked in his heart, but no one could answer him anymore.

Footsteps sounded behind him and stopped not far away, Gu Ao calmed down and asked in a hoarse voice, "...is it Qinghui?"

"Yes." Liao Qinghui's voice seemed worried, but calm.

Gu Ao wiped away his tears, turned around and asked, "Are you back?"

I saw Liao Qinghui's armor covered with blood: "...Han King, I am incompetent. I have fought hard outside the city so far. Who knows that the enemy army is coming from nowhere, and there are more and more. Now it is late at night, and they have withdrawn. The minister They also retreated to the city of Jibei, and the minister suggested that the king of Han should send a letter from Fei Yu to ask for help from the prefect of Yu with the secret song of the Yu family!"

Gu Ao took a deep breath, stepped over the threshold, and walked out of the hall, outside the moonlight covered the ground, a brilliant color.

Gu Ao stepped forward, patted Liao Qinghui on the shoulder, and pointed to a box in the corner: "Go and see, what is that?"

Liao Qinghui gritted his teeth and said, "Yes."

Liao Qinghui walked over to pick up the box and opened it, yelled "Ah—" and took a step back.A head rolled out, it was the dark song of the Yu family that Gu Ao ordered to send a message to Yu Junfan before!

Gu Ao said slowly, "Yong Chi ordered someone to send it just now."

"That is to say..." Liao Qinghui opened his eyes wide.

Gu Ao nodded and said: "You can't see clearly when it's dark, but when the sun rises tomorrow, you will find that Jibei City has been surrounded by Yongchi."

Liao Qinghui's complexion suddenly became serious, Gu Ao paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, after a while, Gu Ao sighed: "I found something after fighting several times. Guess what it is?"

Liao Qinghui shook his head.

Gu Ao said: "I discovered the weakness of Yongchi's use of troops."

Liao Qinghui was startled, and said, "What is the weakness of Yongchi's use of troops?"

Gu Ao raised the corners of his mouth and looked at the night sky, but there was no smile on his face: "...Yong Chi's weakness in using soldiers is that he wants to kill me too much."