Chapter 325: Harbouring Evil Intentions

Mrs. Du sat in the room, pulled out her dressing box, took out a few phoenix hairpins and pearl flowers, and played with them over and over in her hands, while absent-mindedly looking at the birds on the branches outside the window.

The lonely little bird lowered its head to preen its feathers, hopped a few times among the branches and leaves, spread its wings, jumped off the branch, and flew away into the sky.

Mrs. Du retracted her gaze and turned her eyes to the pearl hairpin in her hand. This was the jewelry she wore when she got married, and it was still as shiny as new.

In fact, she had only been married for a few years and was only a few years older than Lu Lingqi. Moreover, Qin Yilu was often away leading troops to fight, so the two of them rarely had time to reunite.

Both of them came from small families in Bingzhou, so they were considered a good match. When they followed Lu Bu to Chang'an, a lot of things happened in the process. They fled all the way and did not have a few days of peace.

Before she got married, Du rarely met outsiders, but as the wife of a general under Lu Bu, she had to often go out to drink with him after marriage. Gradually, her fame grew and even spread throughout Chang'an.

Mrs. Du always felt that the men around her husband always looked at her with some vague bad intentions when they drank, which made her quite unhappy.

Madam Du mentioned it several times, but Qin Yilu didn't care about it at all. He said that it was all Marquis Wen who valued it, and if he didn't care, why would a woman like Madam Du care?

Qin Yiluo said that a married woman should obey her husband. Although Mrs. Du felt uncomfortable, she had no choice but to do as he said and continue to endure the men's gazes that were as if they were real.

It seems that over the years, the only person who has spoken fair words for me in person was Yinhu, right?

He even contradicted Wen Hou in person!

Thinking of this, Mrs. Du felt somewhat grateful to him. Although this man was not very kind to Lu Lingqi, he was still speaking up for her.

However, her situation has become worse now. Qin Yilu quietly married a girl from the Liu clan and abandoned her, leaving her with no way out.

What did I do wrong?

She casually threw the pearl hairpin into the box, and then started to sort out her clothes. She threw the bright red wedding dress aside, and finally took some clothes for changing, folded them neatly, and put them into the bag.

She closed the lid of the dressing box, held it in her hand for a while, then put the box down again.

Since we are preparing to escape, why carry these burdens with us?

She was about to put the box aside, but finally hesitated and took out a gold hairpin from it. This was left to her by her mother.

Mrs. Du became excited. If she escaped to Youzhou, would she still have the chance to return to Bingzhou and find her family?

Do I still have the face to face them?

But thinking about leaving Hanoi County and escaping from those annoying generals who wanted to marry her, especially Yang Chou who was always staring at her with lustful eyes, Mrs. Du chose to run away.

A few days ago, Lu Lingqi secretly found Mrs. Du and said that she had found a way to help her escape.

Mrs. Du was extremely surprised when she heard this, and asked in confusion, "How could the girl know someone who knows these connections?"

"Could it be that I was deceived?"

Lu Lingqi patted her chest and said proudly: "Madam, don't worry, the person Lingqi found this time is absolutely reliable!"

These few naive slaps, without any regard for the woman's image, produced a rhythm under Lu Lingqi's palm that was in line with the principles of heaven and earth, which made Mrs. Du feel dazed for a moment. She thought to herself, no wonder the hidden tiger was reluctant to let go at that time.

Seeing that Madam Du was still hesitating, Lu Lingqi said, "Don't worry, Madam. I have already made an agreement with someone to take you to Youzhou to settle down for a while. When the storm has died down, I will return to your hometown Bingzhou from Youzhou."

Mrs. Du currently has no relatives in Hanoi. If she has anyone to rely on, it is her mother's family in Bingzhou. Youzhou is adjacent to Bingzhou, so as long as she escapes to Youzhou, she will have the opportunity to return to her hometown.

Lu Lingqi added: "I also had a lot of trouble to ask someone to help me get through this. Madam doesn't want to marry Yang Chou, and this is her last chance."

Lu Lingqi did not lie. She made an agreement with Qu Yi. Qu Yi would find a way to help Madam Du escape, and she would promise Qu Yi and tell Lu Bu that she did not want to get married for the time being.

Lu Lingqi didn't know what Qu Yi's intention was, but she was originally reluctant to marry into the Yuan family, so she agreed without much hesitation.

After hearing what Lu Lingqi said, Madam Du bowed and said, "I am deeply grateful for your kindness, but I am afraid that I will never see you again and will not be able to repay you."

After hearing this, Lu Lingqi was also quite sad and said, "I don't know where I'm going to marry."

The two of them had grown closer in feelings over the past few days, and they felt uncomfortable and choked up a little.

Finally, Lu Lingqi and Madam Du agreed to wait for news from there. Once the opportunity came, Madam Du would escape from the city and embark on the road back to Youzhou.

Mrs. Du collected her thoughts, hid the gold hairpin in her bosom, carefully packed her bag, sat back in front of the window, and began to daydream.

Seeing Chen Gui coming to bid him farewell, Lu Bu was a little surprised and said, "Mr. Han Yu, why don't you stay for a few more days?"

"Perhaps Bu's poor hospitality has upset you, sir?"

Chen Gui bowed and said, "I'm afraid Marquis Wen has already received the news. Envoy Yuan has already sent troops to Black Mountain."

"No matter what decision Marquis Wen makes, if Gui stays any longer, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Marquis Wen."

"So I came here to resign."

Lu Bu knew that Chen Gui had seen his hesitant attitude towards joining forces, but he still had not made up his mind to break off with Heishan.

If, as Chen Gui said, Yuan Shu would proclaim himself emperor, then it would be right for him not to get involved, but the premise of rejecting Yuan Shu would inevitably lead to a falling out with him.

Lu Bu had already become an enemy of Cao Cao, and there was also Yuan Shu. Finally, he joined forces with Youzhou to launch a surprise attack on the Black Mountain Army. Wouldn't that mean he was being attacked from three sides?

It was not certain whether the benefits promised by Yuan Xi could be fulfilled, and his promise was not enough to attract Lu Bu.

More importantly, these benefits can only be obtained after defeating the Black Mountain Army with Lu Bu, but the key is, what if the attack on the Black Mountain Army fails?

Then where can Lu Bu run to?

So Lu Bu had to wait. He would only choose to stand on the side when he saw that the outcome of the battle between Yuan Xi and the Black Mountain Army was clear. Before that, he would not speak.

Chen Gui also understood it in his heart. He sighed and thought that Yuan Xi had really given him a big problem.

In the final analysis, the bonus offered to Lu Bu was not high enough, which was related to Yuan Xi's identity.

The promise of a Youzhou governor who only occupied a few counties was indeed not very convincing. Emperor Liu Xie could at least confer an official title on him, but what could Yuan Xi give?

So Chen Gui thought it would be a good idea for him to leave and let Lu Bu think about it carefully. Maybe there would be some changes. If Lu Bu could have a longer-term vision, maybe he would be able to figure it out.

But what is more worrying for Chen Gui now is how to take a woman out of Lu Bu's mansion as stated in the secret letter.

Qin Yiluo's ex-wife, Mrs. Du?

Chen Gui just wanted to curse in his heart. What was this spy under Yuan Xi thinking? If he brought Lu Lingqi, it would be of some use, but why bring Madam Du?

Seeing that he could not keep Chen Gui, Lu Bu thought that Youzhou had sent him a lot of good stuff after all. Even if the deal failed, there was still righteousness. He would accept the things and not return them. He should at least send him off well. So he said, "Since you have made up your mind, I will prepare some wine tonight to see you off!"

Chen Gui was waiting for Lu Bu to say this, so he agreed after a few words of humility.

He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to attend the banquet to secretly take Mrs. Du out of the house!

The news that Lu Bu held a farewell banquet for Chen Gui spread throughout the mansion. After Lu Lingqi learned about it, she thought that it was time to fulfill the agreement with Qu Yi.

She found a chance and ran to Lu Bu's room and cried, saying that she didn't want to get married yet and wanted to stay with Lu Bu for a while longer.

Lu Bu doted on his daughter Lu Lingqi. Seeing her crying so sadly, he remembered what Chen Gui had said the day before and said, "If you don't like this marriage, I'll find someone to reject it in a few days."

"But now is not the time to break up with Yuan Shu. You need to be patient for a while."

Lu Lingqi was secretly delighted and started to act coquettishly while hugging Lu Bu.

At this time in the city, Yang Chou was supervising the preparation of military rations beside the granary while thinking about the secret letter from Yanzhou.

Destroy the marriage between Yuan Shu and Lu Bu.

Thinking of the extremely outrageous order in the letter, Yang Chou's head became bigger. What should he do?

After thinking it over, the most effective way he could think of was to kill Lu Lingqi!

However, this plan is extremely risky. If discovered, he would definitely be torn into pieces by Lu Bu!

But Yang Chou's family had all been sent to Yanzhou, so Yang Chou had no choice but to continue on his way. Only by getting things done could his family have a good home.

But how to kill Lu Lingqi in Lu Bu's mansion?

Yang Chou thought of Madam Du, whom he had coveted. Using the excuse of proposing marriage and relying on the wealth sent from Yanzhou, he went to Lu's mansion and gave several gifts to Yan, thus establishing the relationship and figuring out the route.

As long as they take advantage of the fact that Lu Bu is not at home and rely on the Taiping Dao warriors trained in Yanzhou to launch an assassination attack unexpectedly, there is still a high chance of success.

Of course, I still have to stay hidden, so I have to do this without exposing myself.

As for Madam Du, although his proposal of marriage was just a cover, if the fake became real and he married Madam Du, he would be more than happy.

The best outcome would be to marry Mrs. Du, kill Lu Lingqi, get rid of all his tricks, and return to Yanzhou to be an official in the future.

Thinking of this, Yang Chou felt a little regretful. Lu Lingqi was also a beauty, and it was a pity that she died like this.

But in the face of the high position and generous salary promised by Yanzhou, nothing mattered.

When undercurrents were surging in Henei and various forces began to intervene, some people in Yuzhou in the south were also preparing to send troops into Sili.

Yuan Shu.

At this time, he was sitting on the extremely luxurious throne in the palace, holding his two concubines in his arms, and said to Zhang Xun, Qiao Rui and others who were kneeling below him: "Lü Bu is so slow to agree to the marriage between the two sides, he really looks down on me!"

"You lead an army of 20,000 into Hanoi in the name of welcoming a bride and intimidate Lu Bu!"

"I just don't believe that he would dare to refuse when the enemy is at the gates!"

Qiao Rui lowered his head, thinking that his lord was really impulsive, relying on his strong strength to suppress everyone.

By doing this, can we find true allies?