Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 356 Assassination of Liu Bang ([-])

Xia Houying's loud roar immediately alarmed the imperial guards outside the main hall. In an instant, hundreds of imperial guards rushed in with their bright swords, and the hall was in chaos. An assassin pulled the crossbow again and again, but Lu Tai blocked the two shots with his body.

"Father?!"

"Brother?!"

Lu Tai and Lu Shizhi, who were sitting on the lower head of Lu Ze, screamed, jumped up and rushed towards the two assassins, especially Lu Tai, his speed was extremely fast, and he grabbed one of the assassins in two steps. Abandoning the crossbow, he pulled out a pair of short knives from his wrist guards to kill Lu Tai, but the other assassin took the opportunity to bypass Lu Ze and pounce on Liu Bang again.

Xia Houying was in a hurry, and while standing in front of Liu Bang, he turned his head and shouted: "Liu Bi? Liu Bi!"

Xia Houying wanted to protect Liu Bang and must not hide, so he could only ask Liu Bi at the corner of the hall for help.

Liu Bi had already discovered the anomaly in the main hall, and he wanted to come to rescue him, but he was entangled by the swordsman. After two more rounds of fighting, Liu Bi was finally furious, and finally cut off his opponent with a sword on his right chest. It was cut into two pieces, and when he turned around again, he saw that Liu Bang had fallen to the ground. Although Xia Houying swung the sword desperately, he was still hit by several arrows.

The crossbow arrows in the assassin's hands seemed endless, and they could be fired again just by pulling them back and forth, but the imperial guards who swarmed into the hall were still dozens of steps away, and there was no time to rescue Liu Bang in a hurry. Liu Bi couldn't help being anxious. He dashed forward a few steps and threw the sword in his hand suddenly.

Amidst the ear-piercing sound of piercing the air, the sword flew more than ten steps quickly and pierced the assassin's neck accurately.

The assassin was extremely vicious, he was still alive after being pierced through the neck, and shot two waves of poisonous arrows at Liu Bang, but Xia Houying blocked it with his body. He couldn't even hold the sword anymore, and only driven by instinct, he used his body to stand in front of Liu Bang.

All of this is slow to say, but in fact it only happened in an instant. By the time Liu Bang calmed down, Liu Bi had already protected him in front of him, and the swarming imperial guards had already protected him for three layers. On the outer three floors, even if there are ten or eight assassins at this time, they will never be able to get close to him.

The situation in the main hall was also quickly brought under control. The servants waiting outside the hall were also surrounded by the imperial guards. Several female officials and servants wanted to escape because of panic, but the imperial guards couldn't help but shoot arrows indiscriminately. The female officials and attendants who were trying to escape were shot into hedgehogs on the spot.

"Prince doctor, pass on to the doctor!" An extremely anxious voice sounded from the crowd, but it was Liu Bang who found Xia Houying and Lu Ze who were convulsed on the ground. It should be Liu Bang who fell on the hall and twitched. At this moment, Liu Bang was really moved.

"Aze!" Liu Bang pushed away the imperial guards who were on the verge of a formidable enemy, walked to Lu Ze and squatted down.

"Your Majesty." Lu Ze's limbs began to twitch, blood bubbles began to overflow from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were a little lax, but his thinking was still very clear. He smiled at Liu Bang and whispered, "Do you still remember?" Back then, when Pei* County raised troops, did the minister and Shizhi swear in front of Father?"

Liu Bang couldn't help trembling slightly, and the scenes of the past suddenly appeared before his eyes.

More than 30 years ago, Lu Pheasant was still a beauty like a flower. At that time, Lu Gong, who had just moved to Pei* County, not only married his daughter who was like a flower, but also gave him all his property to recruit soldiers and horses. The two brothers Lu Tai and Lu Shizhi swore a poisonous oath in front of their faces that they would be loyal to Liu Bang forever and never betray him.

"Your Majesty, I have done it!" Lu Ze smiled slightly, and gasped again, "However, I have one more request. It is for my Lu family's plan, and even more for the great Han's national interests. Your Majesty must agree no matter what."

Liu Bang's expression was miserable. If a courtier can do what Lu Ze does, what else is there to be picky about?

Immediately Liu Bang was also moved, and holding Lu Ze's bloody hand, he said, "Ah Ze, tell me, I'm listening."

Lu Ze took Liu Bang's hand instead, and said with difficulty: "Your Majesty, Young Master Ruyi is arrogant and unruly by nature, not a gentleman. If he succeeds to the throne, the fate of our Han Dynasty may not last long, but Young Master Hengsheng is resolute and humble. I can inherit the great rule, and I hope that the king can abandon his personal likes and dislikes, and plan for the fate of the Han Dynasty, and canonize the son as the crown prince."

Liu Bang's expression changed slightly when he heard the words, he never expected that Lu Ze would say such a thing.

However, Liu Bang can also guess Lu Ze's intentions. Because of Lu Zhi's relationship, the Lu family and the Qi family are already in conflict. In the future, after Liu Bang dies, once Liu Ruyi succeeds to the throne, Mrs. Qi will never let the Lu family go. There will inevitably be civil strife in the Great Han Kingdom, so Lu Ze said that the establishment of the son as the crown prince is not only for the Lu family, but also for the great Han.

Liu Bang wanted to refuse, but when he thought of Lu Ze's love for saving his life, he couldn't say it.

I don't know when, Xiao He, Zhou Bo and Bai Mo also squeezed in front of Liu Bang, and said in unison: "Your Majesty, the ministers and others all think that Lu Gong's words are reasonable, and it is for the great Han's national interests. You should establish your son as the crown prince."

Seeing that Liu Bang was still hesitating, Lu Ze struggled and said, "Your Majesty, are you going to make my subjects die with regret?"

Liu Bang sighed for a long time, Liu Heng is also his own son, and Lu Ze is about to die, why not make Liu Heng the crown prince first, as for the future, let’s talk about it in the future, and immediately said loudly: "Okay, I will be in front of everyone today." In front of him, he solemnly promises to appoint Liu Heng as the crown prince, and he will formally crown him on the first day of the lunar new year!"

Lu Ze let out a long sigh of relief, turned his head and shouted: "Tai'er, Tai'er..."

"Father, here is the child." Lu Tai crawled up to Lu Ze, and tightly held Lu Ze's bloody hand.

Lu Ze held Lu Tai's hand weakly, and said in a low voice: "Tai'er, you are now swearing a poisonous oath in front of your father. My Lu family will be loyal to the great man from generation to generation. No... traitor!"

"Father!" Lu Tai heard the tragic words, but still raised his right hand and cried, "My child, I swear that my Lu family will be loyal to the great man from generation to generation. If you don’t betray the Han, if you break this oath, I, Lu Tai, will not be able to die in full, and I will not be buried in the ancestral tomb, and let my Lu family have no sons or grandchildren!”

Liu Bang was slightly moved. Lu Tai made an extremely vicious oath.

Bai Mo sighed in his heart, thinking that this Lu Ze could be regarded as a hero of a generation, not only capable and discerning, but also with extraordinary wisdom, if it wasn't because he was the elder brother of Queen Lu Zhi and the king's brother-in-law, I'm afraid that the country will be split up and crowned king long ago, and he will become a vassal king that is not inferior to the king, the king of Qi, or the king of Chu.

After Lu Tai finished his poisonous oath, Lu Ze finally took his last breath.

Liu Bang closed Lu Ze's eyes lightly, and when he raised his head to search again, Lu Pheasant was no longer in the hall, only Lu Xu knelt beside Lu Ze, crying like pear blossoms with rain, complaining about himself while crying: " Big brother, it's my little sister who hurt you, it's my little sister who hurt you, woo woo woo..."

Liu Bang waved his hand in disgust and said, "Catch her."

Liu Bang knew that Lu Xu was only bewitched by Lu Pheasant, at most he was just an accomplice, but Lu Xu could not get away with such a big incident today, even though she was Fan Kuai's widow, she could not be exempted.

As soon as Liu Bi waved his hand, the imperial guards rushed forward like tigers and wolves, and arrested Lu Xu.

Lu Xu was arrested, but Lu Tai didn't respond, Lu Shizhi and Lu Chan's brothers hadn't recovered from the huge accident just now, only Fan Kuai's only son, Fan Husband, was still yelling loudly. Shouting, trying to rush forward to save his mother, but was held down by two captains of the forbidden army.

Liu Bang was still angry, although Lu Ze was loyal, Lu Tai would probably not have any dissent, but Lu Zhi was really hateful, if she hadn't deliberately murdered Qi Ji and Ruyi, how could this incident happen today?When Liu Bang was about to ask Liu Bi to take people to Changle Palace to arrest Lu Zhi, a waiter suddenly ran into the hall with a look of panic and shouted: "It's not good, Changle Palace is on fire..."

Changle Palace caught fire?Liu Bang's heart trembled when he heard the words, this woman Lu Zhi is so ruthless, she knew she was doomed, so she set herself on fire? !
Lu Tai looked even more miserable. Today is an unprecedented catastrophe for the Lu family. Not only did his father, who was the pillar, die, but now his aunt is also self-immolated. From now on, the entire Lu family will be supported by him alone. Moreover, Lu Tai didn't know how the king would treat the entire Lu family after this case.

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Two days later, the detailed inside story of Weiyang Palace's assassination finally came back to Ziling.

"It's a pity, what a pity." Xiang Zhuang sighed, "I sacrificed a leader and two elite soldiers, but in the end I still couldn't kill Liu Bang. Old Liu Bang is really lucky."

Wu She said: "However, it is not bad to be able to kill Lu Ze and Xia Houying."

Xiang Tuo said: "It's a pity we can't send too many dead men into the palace, otherwise old Liu Bang will die!"

Xiang Ta said: "Lu Ze, you are really loyal to Liu Bang. It doesn't matter that he died, but he actually resolved the dispute between the Liu family and the Lu family. It's a pity, what a pity."

"There is no need to be sorry." Xiang Zhuang waved his hand and said, "The widow just sealed the king's decree with a piece of paper, cut off Liu Bang's most powerful arm, and killed one of his generals. Liu Bang wants to find another one." It is not so easy for a Sanchuan County Sheriff like Lu Ze who is both capable and reassuring."

Bai Lixian shook his feather fan, and then said: "Besides, the follow-up impact of the Weiyang Palace assassination case has just begun. Now that Lu Ze is dead and Lu Tai is young, if there is no accident, Liu Bang will definitely take the opportunity to divide the Lu family." In other words, Liu Bang is still busy, and I am afraid that he will not be able to take care of the chaos in the Kanto in a short time."

(End of this chapter)