Chapter 190: Conspiracy to Kill the King
That night, Yu Wenzhi returned to his house. He was very sad. Although he was now in power, he was only in Jiangdu. It was well known that the emperor had lost power and the Sui Dynasty would perish.

It was nothing originally. This kingdom was not his. With his status and position, as long as he was willing to surrender, he could continue to be rich and powerful.

But no matter how you look at it now, it seems that Li Jiancheng will win the world. They have been enemies for more than ten years, and Yu Wenzhi misses his father very much.

If my father were still alive, he would have used his life to vent Li Jiancheng's anger, and perhaps everything would have been fine.

He asked Linghu Xingda to meet Li Shimin in order to establish some relationships in advance.

Just then, the butler came to report that the second master had brought someone to pay a visit and asked him to go to the main hall to meet the guest.

Yu Wenzhi had a good relationship with his younger brother, so he changed into lighter clothes and went over.

When I arrived at the lobby, I saw Yuwen Zhi and several people around him, including Sima Dekan, Zhao Xingshu, Pei Qiantong, etc., most of whom were military leaders of the Xiaoguo Army.

He knew the demands of the Xiaoguo Army. Yu Wenzhi arrogantly sat on the main seat, thinking that if the tribute given was sufficient, he could let them go and let them escape back to Guanzhong with their confidants.

Just when he was thinking about how much to squeeze, Sima Dekan spoke directly: "The brave soldiers in the army want to return home, and we all think we can use this opportunity to accomplish something great.

If we can gather the brave men in Jiangdu to start an uprising and kill the Sui Emperor, we can achieve the goal of becoming an emperor. The general is highly respected and we are willing to accept him as our leader to preside over the great plan!"

The teacup that Yu Wenzhi had just picked up shattered to the ground, and the expression on his face was extremely stiff. He looked at the people in front of him in shock. They were no longer fat sheep to be slaughtered, but Shuras who came to take his life.

Seeing that his brother was so scared that his legs were shaking and sweating profusely, Yuwen Zhiji hurriedly looked at everyone with a warning. Only after they all lowered their heads respectfully did he step forward to comfort his brother.

"Brother, the emperor is just a figurehead now. He relies on you and Shen Guang to maintain his majesty. Now that Shen Guang has taken the initiative to disappear, the power of the Xiaoguo Army is in their hands, and the power of the Imperial Guard is in your hands.

With the two powers combined, the emperor is nothing more than a piece of meat under our knife, so why panic? "

"Then that...that's regicide. Are you crazy?"

Yuwen Zhiji snorted coldly, "What else can we do if we are not crazy? We are just waiting to be destroyed. No matter whether Li Mi or Li Jiancheng wins the world, there will be no way for us brothers to survive.

And the so-called Mo Langyu, who said Xu, aren't you the Duke of Xu?"

The last sentence gave Yu Wenzhi some confidence.

Sima Dekan then spoke again: "We have already discussed the arrangements for the uprising with Yuwen Shaoqing. They are all foolproof plans. Please don't worry, General. Once everything is done, you will be the emperor."

Yu Wenzhi also knew that things had come to this point and he could not get away with it just by refusing, so he made up his mind and nodded.

Everyone was overjoyed. Not only did Yu Wenzhi control the imperial guards, but more importantly, the emperor trusted him. This allowed many things that would have been easily discovered to be covered up.

But everyone still conspired all night. They just said that the emperor was like fish on the chopping board, but in fact the emperor still had guards. Outside the Jiangdu Palace there was the newly promoted Yang Yichen, and inside the palace there were also elite guards of the Guards Camp and Qianniu.

Otherwise, the emperor would not have allowed the Xiaoguo Army to so wantonly discuss escaping back to Guanzhong.

But now, these people do not want to return to Guanzhong, but want to kill the king and usurp the throne directly. However, ordinary brave soldiers do not think so, and they still have to unite everyone as one.

In the cold winter, when the soldiers of the Xiaoguo Army were reminiscing about their hometown in Guanzhong, a rumor spread among them. "Have you heard? His Majesty heard that Xiaoguo wanted to rebel, so he prepared a lot of poisoned wine and wanted to poison and kill them all at the party, leaving only the southerners here!"

"What? Impossible. Your Majesty would never do this, no matter how bad he is."

"No way. We followed your majesty to conquer Liaodong, pacify Yang Xuangan, go north to Yanmen, and follow you here. We have made great contributions and worked hard. We don't owe your majesty or the court anything. Now we just want to go home."

No one believed it at first, but as the story spread more and more, everyone in Xiaoguo was terrified and angry, and resentment continued to accumulate.

...............

Outside Luoyang, Zhai Rang and Li Mi were attacking the city separately, and there were frequent frictions between their subordinates. After so long, the emperor finally sent reinforcements to rescue Luoyang.

Wang Shichong brought 50,000 troops from Jianghuai, plus the forced laborers recruited along the way, a total of 100,000 troops.

It was not a big deal originally, but after the split of Wagang, it became a bit difficult. Who would resist this man and who would continue to attack Luoyang?
There is no doubt that whoever resists Wang Shichong will suffer, and whoever takes the opportunity to capture Luoyang will make a fortune, so naturally no one is willing to give in.

Zhai Rang's subordinates all ridiculed Li Mi, saying that he had to split up the family, but in the end he still stayed here and refused to leave. The situation now was ugly, and it was ridiculous that he was worthy of being called a public institution.

So when the two sides were arguing, Wang Shichong made a feint and successfully entered Luoyang after losing some soldiers and horses, and immediately restored Luoyang's originally weak city defense.

This made all the efforts made by Zhai Rang and Li Mi in the past few days go to waste, and the conflict between the two sides was intensified. Li Mi's advisers even said: "When a poisonous snake stings your hand, a brave man cuts his wrist to save the greater good. If he succeeds first, it will be too late to regret!"

In other words, he advised Li Mi to make a decision early. If he let Zhai Rang take action first, it would be dangerous.

On Zhai Rang's side, Wei Zheng, who was ordered to come here, said: "Although Luoyang has received reinforcements, the surrounding granaries have been occupied by us, and he has an additional 100,000 people to feed, so it is impossible for him to last long.

What we need to guard against now is the possibility that Li Mi might annex us."

Zhai Rang looked at Xu Shiji and said, "You two can make the decision. I will appease the soldiers under my command. However, I have done nothing wrong to Li Mi. If he really dares to take action, I think his soldiers will be dissatisfied."

Xu Shiji said: "Li Mi does not have many options. Luoyang City cannot be captured in a short time. He dare not go to Chang'an and Jiangdu. The important prefectures and counties now have their owners, with at least 100,000 troops. It is too risky for him to lead a long expedition.

Only if they know us well and can seize the initiative, they will be able to succeed, and then they can surround Luoyang and cut off its food supply."

Wei Zheng nodded beside him. He had a good impression of Xu Shiji. This man's ability was much stronger than that of Zhai Rang.

After discussing the precautions, Wei Zheng said to Zhai Rang who was about to leave: "You'd better send all your relatives back, especially your brother, who will kill you. Your Excellency will not tolerate such fools under your command."

The fatter figure turned around slowly. Zhai Rang, with a gloomy face, was still very powerful. After all, he led more than 100,000 people to attack cities and besiege Luoyang. Although he did not kill many people in recent years, it did not mean that he would not kill.

Wei Zheng frowned and looked at Zhai Rang. He did not bring up Li Jiancheng's intention to suppress Zhai Rang, nor did he seek Xu Shiji's help. He just looked into Zhai Rang's eyes without giving in.

………………

(End of this chapter)