After Pang Juan led the defeated army back to Wei, the more he thought about it, the more angry he got, he hated Sun Bin, he hated Zhong Li Chun, and he hated those who cheated him ...... He ordered his soldiers to arrest Zhong Li Qiu.
“Zhong Li Qiu, do you know why I invited you here?” Pang Juan sneered at Zhong Liqiu.
Zhong Liqiu had a sulky look on his face and shook his head.
“Your sister humiliated me in front of everyone in Qi, making me shameless.”
“That''s her business, it has nothing to do with me.”
“How is it not related? You guys let Sun Bin go, Sun Bin instructed her to do that.”
“I didn''t let Sun Bin go.”
“Who is it if not you? Wasn''t it Gongsun Yue?” Pang Juan pressed.
“No, it wasn''t him ......” Zhong Li Qiu firmly denied.
Pang Juan burst into a sneer and threatened, “If you don''t say it, I''ll hand you over to my soldiers and let them dispose of you ...... Do you understand what I mean?”
Zhong Liqiu was furious: “You ...... you shall not die well!”
“It is you who shall not die well.” Pang Juan sneered, “Men, take her to the barracks and let the soldiers take turns enjoying her.”
The soldiers guarding the door walked in and racked Zhong Liqiu in preparation to take her away.
“Let go of me, I''ll talk!” Zhong Liqiu shouted at Pang Juan.
Pang Juan signaled for the soldiers to let go of Zhong Liqiu.
Zhong Liqiu said to Pang Juan, “I''m the one who let Sun Bin go.”
Pang Juan asked, “Who else?”
Zhong Li Qiu replied, “My sister.”
Pang Juan sneered, “You two alone can''t do it.”
Zhong Liqiu said disdainfully, “What''s so impossible about this? I hid Mr. Sun in my house, threw his clothes by the river, and after the wind and waves calmed down, my sister drove Mr. Sun to Qi in her car.......” Before the words left his mouth, Pang Juan slapped him hard, knocking Zhong Liqiu to the ground.
Zhong Liqiu struggled to get up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and said to Pang Juan, “Go ahead and fight, if you beat me to death, Mr. Sun will avenge me, you''re no match for him, and sooner or later, he''ll kill you ......”
Pang Juan was furious and ordered his soldiers to drag Zhong Li Qiu to the market and behead him.
Gongsun Yue heard that Pang Juan was going to kill Zhong Li Qiu, he quickly ran to the execution ground, grabbed the executioner''s knife, and asked them to wait for a moment, he went to beg Marshal Pang to leave the man under the knife. Gongsun Yue came to Pang''s mansion and knelt in front of Pang Juan, begging him to spare Zhong Li Qiu.
Pang Juan looked at Gongs Yueun and said coldly, “She let Sun Bin go, I can''t not kill her.”
“But she didn''t let Sun Bin go, it was Zhong Li Chun.” Gongsun Yue defended.
“She let Sun Bin go with Zhong Li Chun.”
“She didn''t, it was me who let Sun Bin go along with Zhong Li Chun.”
Pang Juan smiled coldly, “Ruining your life for a woman, is it worth it?”
Gongsun Yue categorically said, “Worth it. She is the woman I need the most.”
Pang Juan looked at him for a moment and sighed, “Get up, I can release Zhong Li Qiu.”
Gongsun Yue was grateful and said to Pang Juan, “Marshal, I will go through fire for you!”
Pang Juan added, “Gongsun Yue, I want you to help me get rid of Sun Bin.”
“Okay, but don''t let Zhong Li Qiu know.”
“No need for you to do it yourself, borrow someone else''s hand to get rid of him.”
“You command, how do I do it?”
“The reason I''m making a big deal today is to let people know that I''m going to kill Zhong Li Qiu. If you take Zhong Li Qiu and defect to Qi, they will definitely not suspect you. When you get to Qi, go to Zou Ji and try to get his trust. Zou Ji has always been at odds with Tian Ji and Sun Bin, you can use Zou Ji''s hand to get rid of Sun Bin.” Pang Juan said, a murderous aura coming out of his dark eyes.
Gongsun Yue clapped his hands and happily agreed.
Gongsun Yue left Wei with Zhong Li Qiu and headed to Qi. Along the way, Zhong Li Qiu was very happy, looking forward to seeing her sister and Mr. Sun as soon as possible. Gongsun Yue drove the carriage while saying, “When Sun Bin escaped, there was a contract between us, I helped him escape and he helped me get you and swore never to see you again.”
Zhong Li Qiu said, “Sun was forced to do that.”
Gongs Yueun looked back at Zhong Li Qiu and sighed, “A man who truly loves a woman is dying, but he won''t promise not to see that woman. The other day, Pang Juan forced me to make a choice: on one side, death, but to be with you; on the other side, life, but to lose you forever. I chose death because I truly like you. Sun Bin he wasn''t sincere about you, so he chose life and to never see you again.”
Zhong Li Qiu was silent and speechless, looking into the distance, looking a bit bewildered.
After Gongsun Yue came to Linzi, he defected to Zou Ji. After the two sat down, Zou Ji asked Gongsun Yue, “Why did you leave Pang Juan and defect to Qi?”
“Pang Juan wanted to kill my wife.” Gongsun Yue replied.
“Why did Pang Juan want to kill your wife?”
“My wife once helped Sun Bin escape from Wei.”
“Then you should have defected to Sun Bin, you shouldn''t have come to me.”
“My wife was in love with Sun Bin, if I defected to Sun Bin, wouldn''t my wife and family be separated?”
Zou Ji thought for a moment and said, “I can take you in, but, for the time being, you should not show your face.”
Gongsun Yue said, “I understand that the Minister needs to verify what I said just now.”
“It''s not that I don''t trust you,” Zou Ji explained, ”I not only need you to be my strategist, but I also need you to be Qi''s strategist. Therefore, one has to act with caution.”
Zou Ji sent someone to Wei to inquire about Gongsun Yue and made sure that what Gongsun Yue said was all true. He then set up a banquet to entertain Gongsun Yue and apologized to him.
The two of them had a good conversation. During the banquet, Gongsun Yue said to Zou Ji, “Minister, do you know why I joined you?”
Zou Ji laughed and said, “I am the prime minister of Qi, I can let you get glory and wealth.”
Gongsun Yue shook his head, “Gongsun Yue doesn''t value glory and wealth, if it was only for glory and wealth, I wouldn''t have to leave Pang Juan.”
“Then what do you value?”
“Women, the woman I love.”
“You don''t already have one.”
“But she could go back to Sun Bin at any time.”
“What can I do to help you?”
“Get rid of Sun Bin.”
“How do you know I''ll help you?”
Gongsun Yueun said, “Sun Bin once tied up Xiang Guo in the market and humiliated him, Xiang Guo hates him to the bone.”
Zou Ji shivered with anger whenever he remembered this, he gritted his teeth and said, “I swear to be at loggerheads with Sun Bin!”
Gongsun Yue continued, “To get rid of Sun Bin, you must get rid of Tian Ji.”
Zou Ji slammed the table, “Not a single one of the two of them can be kept!” After saying that, he sighed and added, “Since Sun Bin and Tian Ji defeated Pang Juan, the Great King''s trust in them is growing day by day ...... It''s too hard to get rid of them.”
Gongsun Yue said sorrowfully, “It''s not difficult. The Great King is most worried about others taking over his throne, and he is especially worried about his clansmen turning on him. Tian Ji is the Great King''s clansman and has military power, so as long as we convince the Great King that Tian Ji has ambitions to take the throne, that''s enough.”
“Tian Ji doesn''t have such ambition, the Great King won''t believe it.”
“We can induce the Great King to believe it.”
Zou Ji used to play a pot-throwing game with King Wei of Qi, and the loser drank wine. On this day when they were having a good time, he said to King Wei of Qi: “Your Majesty, people''s hearts are wicked, Tian Ji and Sun Bin have military power, your Majesty must not be unguarded.”
King Wei of Qi said, “Tian Ji and Sun Bin are loyal to me and won''t do anything to wrong me.”
Zou Ji added: “Has the Great King forgotten that when Wei''s army pressed the border, they ignored the Great King, had no one in their sight, repeatedly disobeyed the Great King''s orders, and didn''t put the Great King in their eyes at all, and one must not be unguarded against this kind of people.”
King Qi Wei laughed, “That was for the sake of the war, they did the right thing and ultimately defeated Pang Juan for me.”
Zou Ji returned to his palace and told Gongsun Yue that the King did not believe that Tian Ji and Sun Bin were ambitious.
Gongsun Yue said, “The number of times that Xiang Guo has said this is too few, if you say it once doesn''t work, then twice, if twice doesn''t work, then three times, if you say it more than once, the Great King will have doubts even if he doesn''t believe it completely.”
Zou Ji said helplessly, “Empty words have no proof, there must be evidence.”
Gongsun Yue laughed, “That''s the next step, need to wait for the opportunity.”
Since Zhong Li Qiu came to Qi, she has been living in Zou Ji''s mansion, she misses her sister Zhong Li Chun, but Gongsun Yue won''t let her see, saying to wait for some days. Many days passed and Gongsun Yue still had no intention of letting her see her sister. Zhong Li Qiu said to Gongsun Yue, “I have waited for days, how much longer do you want me to wait?”
Gongsun Yue smiled bitterly and said, “We are in Qi, we are not familiar with the land, we are relying on Xiang Guo, Xiang Guo and General Tian do not get along with each other, and your sister is General Tian''s guest, at this time if you go to see her, if Xiang Guo knows about it, what will he think?”
“Then ...... when will I be able to see my sister?”
“After I have gained the trust of the Xiangguo.”
Zhong Li Chun instructed Gongs Yueun, “Well, you can work well for Xiang Guo so that he trusts you earlier.”
Zhong Li Chun since she knew Sun Bin, she had admiration for him, admired Sun Bin for not giving up on himself because of his disability, instead he became more and more energetic; as the days went by, it gradually changed from admiration to love, especially after Sun Bin defeated Pang Juan several times with his brilliant plans and strategizing, this love was even stronger. She wanted to marry Sun Bin and accompany him for life, but she was a girl after all, it was hard for her to ask.
On this day, Qin Gu asked Zhong Li Chun to throw a pot, and when she was playing happily, Qin Gu asked her: “Miss Zhong Li is talented and beautiful, what kind of husband do you want to marry?”
Zhong Li Chun did not answer.
Qin Gu asked again: “Do you ...... want to marry Mr. Sun?”
Zhong Li Chun still did not answer.
Qin Gu laughed: “Not answering is admitting.”
Zhong Li Chun busy: “I did not admit.”
Qin Gu asked again, “Then who do you want to marry?”
Zhong Li Chun said unhappily, “I don''t know!”
“Miss Zhong Li,” Qin Gu tried, ”If, Mr. Sun does not intend to marry you, I would be willing to ......”
Zhong Li Chun''s face immediately sank, angry: “This kind of words I do not want to hear.”
Qin Gu''s words made Zhong Li Chun couldn''t hold back any longer, she wanted to tell Sun Bin what was in her heart. That night, she found Sun Bin who was studying the art of war and asked, “Mr. Sun, do you want to start a family?”
Sun Bin put down the brief book and said, “I once promised Mr.Guigu that I would build my merits first and then have a family.”
“What kind of woman are you going to marry after you establish your merit?”
“I haven''t thought about it yet.”
“You''re still thinking about Zhong Li Qiu?”
Sun Bin was busy saying, “No, she''s already someone else''s wife.”
“Then you ...... think of me?” Zhong Li Chun gathered enough courage and asked in a small voice.
Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.Sun Bin froze, not knowing how to answer.
Zhong Li Chun looked at the blushing Sun Bin, knowing that he was thin-skinned, so she said, “You don''t have to answer right away, I''ll wait for you, for as many days as it takes, but you have to give me a clear answer.” Zhong Li Chun got up and said, “Mr. Sun, have an early night, I''m going back.” Saying that, he turned around and left.
After Zhong Li Chun left, Sun Bin''s heart was in turmoil, he genuinely liked Zhong Li Chun, not just because Zhong Li Chun had saved his life ...... but he was suffering from a disability, how could he let Zhong Li Chun take care of him for the rest of his life? That night, Sun Bin didn''t sleep for almost a night.
The next day, Qin Gu came to Sun Bin and asked him if he wanted to marry Zhong Li Chun, Sun Bin pondered for a moment and said, “Zhong Li girl is as kind to me as a mountain, but I have a disability and life is inconvenient, if I marry her she will have to take care of me for the rest of my life, and I don''t deserve her to give so much.”
Qin Gu said, “If she is willing to take care of you for the rest of your life, how can you refuse?”
Sun Bin thought about it and said, “Then I''ll say that her character is too much like a man, it''s fine to be a friend, but not suitable to be a wife.”
Qin Gu shook his head and said, “You can''t say that, it hurts her self esteem too much to say that, she is ...... still a girl after all.”
“Then what should I say?”
Qin Gu thought about it and said, “I''ll take you to take a divination, if the soothsayer says your marriage is hard to make, you can tell her what the soothsayer said, and it will count for both sides.”
Qin Gu and Sun Bin came to the soothsayer''s home in Tian Ji''s carriage, after explaining the reason for their visit, the soothsayer took a fortune, he said to Sun Bin: “You go back and tell that girl that it''s not that I won''t fulfill you guys, it''s that you''re destined for each other, just like water and fire, even though life can''t be separated from them, if you force them to merge together as a single entity, they will end up not being compatible, so it''s better to not merge them together! ...... Do you understand?”
“Understood ......” Sun Bin gave the old man a piece of silver.
While Sun Bin was at the soothsayer''s house to divine, Zou Ji brought Gongsun Yue with him who was also planning to come to this house to divine. On the way, Gongsun Yue said to Zou Ji: “I believe in strategizing, not divination, if divination can predict victory and defeat, why do I need a strategist?”
Zou Ji explained to him, “You haven''t come to Qi for a long time, and you don''t know much about some things. All the Dafus of Qi have come to this house for divination, and I''ve done it a few times, and every time it''s true.”
They rode the carriage to the place where the diviner lived and suddenly found Tian Ji''s carriage parked outside the house, Zou Ji frowned and told Gongsun Yue that Sun Bin and Tian Ji might have come to the divination as well. Gongsun Yue heard this, pondered for a moment, and said to Zou Ji, “Xiang Guo, the opportunity has arrived.”
“What chance?”
Gongsun Yue said in a low voice, “Xiangguo said just now that all the Dafus in the court come to this house for divination whenever they have something important to do, and I''ll dress up as Tian Ji''s attendant. ......”
Zou Ji understood what he wanted to say, afraid of the people on the street to hear, let him go back to the house to tell the details.
After returning to the house, Gongsun Yue told Zou Ji his plan in detail, Zou Ji high-five: “Good idea, so do it!” After that, he thought again and said, “In case the king wants to confront both sides, how is it?”
Gongsun Yue said, “You can tell the king the advantages and disadvantages, say Tian Ji and his men have military power in their hands, if they confront them, it will alarm them and force them to start a war, so the king won''t dare to confront them.”
That night, Sun Bin came to Zhong Li Chun''s place and told Zhong Li Chun what the soothsayer said, before Zhong Li Chun finished listening, he said furiously, “He''s talking nonsense, damn it!”
Sun Bin said, “You can''t say that, he''s very accurate in divination, all the Dafus in the court believe in him.”
Zhong Li Chun laughed coldly: “Sun Bin, I remember you said that Sun Wu Zi never believed in divination when predicting the victory or defeat of a war, instead he looked at whether the planning was well thought out and whether the conditions were sufficient.”
Sun Bin was at a loss as to how to justify himself for a moment.
“Marriage is the same as combat, you should trust yourself, not divination.” Zhong Li Chun lightly bit her lip and said, “Mr. Sun, tell me the truth, are you willing to take me as your wife?”
Sun Bin pondered for a moment and said, “Miss Zhong Li, we can be good friends, but we can''t be husband and wife.”
“Why?” Zhong Li Chun asked.
“Our personalities ...... are too different, I''m afraid ...... if we become husband and wife,” Sun Bin stammered.
“You don''t have to say it,” Zhong Li Chun interrupted, ”I understand, you can''t see me. You go away.”
“No, you''ve been so kind to me ......” Sun Bin wanted to explain. Zhong Li Chun didn''t want to listen to him and pushed him out the door, closing it heavily.
Sun Bin looked through the door and said to Zhong Li Chun, “Zhong Li girl, it''s really not that I can''t see you, I''m ...... alas, forget it, don''t say it, you''ll understand later.”
Sun Bin''s departing footsteps faded away. Two lines of tears flowed down from Zhong Li Chun''s eyes.
Sun Bin told Qin Gu about going to see Zhong Li Chun. Qin Gu understood Zhong Li Chun''s temperament, he came to Zhong Li Chun''s place, intending to persuade her, but realized that Zhong Li Chun had already left. Qin Gu immediately recruited a few retainers and went to look for Zhong Li Chun with torches.
That night, Gongs Yueun dressed up as Tian Ji''s attendant and knocked on the door of the old man''s house, placing several pieces of gold in front of the old man. The old man was stunned and asked, “What are you doing?”
Gongsun Yue said, “I was ordered by General Tian to ask you to divine for him.”
The old man said, “I never charge so much money for divination.”
Gongsun Yue said, “This divination is not a small matter. My general is from the same clan as the king, he is in charge of Qi''s military power, and with Sun Bin''s assistance, he is powerful in the world. Now, the general wants to plan a big event, please take a divination to know whether it can be accomplished or not. I''ll give you a hundred taels of gold.”
At this moment, there was a knocking sound from outside the house, followed by a shouting sound: “Elder, I''m from the Xiangguo Mansion, the Xiangguo State has something important to ask for.”
Gongsun Yue forced the old man with his sword and whispered, “What I said just now must not be divulged, otherwise, I will kill you.”
The old man of divination nodded his head repeatedly.
The old man of divination followed Zou Ji''s entourage to the Zou Mansion, and on the way, he met Qin Gu who was searching for Zhong Li Chun, and the old man of divination took the initiative to go up and greet Qin Gu. Because of Zhong Li Chun''s departure, Qin Gu was angry with the old man and gave him a cold reply before brushing past him.
The soothsayer came to Zou Ji''s residence and asked him what he was looking for. Zou Ji asked: “I heard that the Tian Ji House of people looking for your divination, I do not know what is asked?”
The old man replied, “It''s about marriage.”
Zou Ji sneered, “If they were asking about marriage, they would never have given you so much gold.”
The old man heard this and could not help but feel a little weak.
Zou Ji asked again, “I heard that Tian Ji is spying on the throne and plotting against it, he is not asking about this kind of thing, is he?”
The old man was shocked and quickly kowtowed, “Xiangguo Mingcheng, I did not divine for them.”
Zou Ji took the old man to the palace at night and told King Wei of Qi about the divination that Tian Ji had sent. Zou Ji said to King Wei of Qi, “My lord, Tian Ji has military power, if the king does not make a decision early, the throne will be rested!”
Although there is a soothsayer to testify, King Qi still has doubts, he asked Zou Ji to take the soothsayer to the Tian residence to find the person who went to the soothsayer. Zou Ji said, “Your Majesty, Tian Ji military power in the hands of the public to find, is bound to alarm Tian Ji, he if the dog jumped over the wall, how is good?”
“Well ...... what Xiangguo considered is very true.”
Zou Ji added: “The Great King should make an immediate decision and arrest Tian Ji and Sun Bin.”
King Qi Wei shook his head and said, “Tian Ji and Sun Bin are the merit of the Qi state, I can''t dispose of them just based on the diviner''s side of the story.”
Zou Ji said, “Your Majesty, if you don''t dispose of them, they will dispose of Your Majesty; back then, wasn''t the Duke of Qi Kang deposed by Duke Tian Taigong a lesson?”
King Qi Wei was silent in contemplation.
The next day after the court meeting, Tian Ji and Sun Bin traveled back to his house in the same car. Not far behind the car there was a carriage following them, and on that carriage sat two palace guards. Sun Bin glanced back and whispered to Tian Ji, “General, the more I think about it, the more wrong it is, the Great King suddenly announced that there must be an order from him to mobilize the army, and he also sent someone to spy on us, there must be someone who is slandering the Great King.”
“It must be Zou Ji ...... He has offered many good ideas for the Great King to rule the country before, and the Great King trusts him very much. To be able to talk the Great King into being suspicious of us to this extent, it is only him.”
“And why is the present Zou Ji such a villain?”
“Jealousy has compromised his character.” Tian Ji sighed softly and helplessly.
“I see,” Sun Bin also sighed, ”he and Pang Juan both suffer from the same disease ......”
The two were on their way back to their house when they passed by the house of the old man of divination, where many people were gathered around as if something had happened. Sun Bin got off the bus and asked the old man''s neighbors, only to learn that the old man of divination was killed last night, as far as the neighbors know the old man never offended anyone and they don''t know who did it. Sun Bin had a serious look on his face, he went up and lifted the burlap covering the old man''s body, he saw a piercing sword wound on the old man''s neck, he froze and at the same time Zhong Li Chun''s angry voice rang in his ears last night: “He''s bullshitting, damn him!” Could it be Zhong Li Chun?
The news of the soothsayer''s death soon reaches the palace, and Zou Ji believes that Tian Ji has killed to silence him. King Qi Wei''s suspicion of Tian Ji increases, and orders the palace guards to summon Tian Ji to the palace quickly.
Note: “Creating something out of nothing” is the seventh of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, which originally means to fabricate something out of thin air and plant evidence to frame someone. This plan is used in combat, refers to the first use of false images to confuse the enemy, and then false to create the real. Gongsun Yue and Zou Ji used this plan to make King Wei of Qi suspicious of Tian and Sun, paving the way for getting rid of Tian Ji and Sun Bin. To know what will happen next, please read the next installment: “Kill with a Borrowed Knife”.