Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

A few days later, Tang Dynasty.

Inside the Taiji Hall, the ambergris emitted from the gilded beast furnace condensed into light blue smoke in the air.

Li Shiming held the gold-stamped secret letter between his fingertips. The wolf head emblem of the Chu State was clearly imprinted on the scarlet wax seal.

The summer sun was scorching outside the palace, but it could not suppress the sneer that rolled out of the emperor's throat.

"Meeting alliance?"

Li Shiming threw the letter on the table. Wherever his black dragon sleeves swept past, the Junshan silver needle in the teacup created tiny ripples.

"Chu Ning is treating me like a three-year-old child!"

Hou Junji, who was standing beside him, immediately clasped his fists and said, "Your Majesty, please understand! The Chu thieves invited you to meet right after they destroyed the Jin State. It's obvious that they want to break up the alliance between us and the Wei and Han States!"

The sword at his waist hit the palace pillar in his excited movements, causing the copper bells on the eaves to tremble slightly.

Fang Xuanling stared at the red words at the end of the letter - "Jincheng Yu is in good health, waiting for you to see me", and his white eyebrows gradually frowned:

"Your Majesty, Her Royal Highness the Princess is still in the Chu Camp..."

"Of course I know!"

Li Shiming suddenly shouted, and the military newspapers piled on the desk were blown away by the wind from his sleeves.

A parchment scroll labeled "Yanzhou Military Situation" rolled down and unfolded, revealing the blood-shot casualties of Xu Fang's troops.

Changsun Wuji coughed lightly at this time.

He bent down to pick up the scroll, his fingertips faintly stroking the words "The Cang Lang Legion has reached the front line":

"I dare to say that although Chu Ning's plan is vicious, it gives us a way out."

Seeing Li Shiming's cold eyes, he calmly bowed and saluted: "With 160,000 Chu troops approaching, the Wei-Han coalition will surely be afraid. This alliance is a good opportunity to exert pressure."

"Master Changsun, what you said is wrong!"

Hou Junji stiffened his neck and retorted: "Do you want Your Majesty to risk being misunderstood by the world—"

"misunderstanding?"

Changsun Wuji shook his head repeatedly and suddenly turned to the corner of the hall: "Duan Zhixuan, you are in charge of intelligence from all directions. Tell me who else Chu Ning has met recently?"

The scholar in green robe walked out of the shadows and picked up the bamboo slips: "Three days ago, the envoy of Chu State secretly visited the Grand Commandant of the Han Dynasty."

He paused, then continued, "The gift I brought is... the "Map of Mountains, Rivers and States" collected by the Emperor of Jin."

The hall suddenly became dead silent.

Li Shiming's pupils shrank slightly - the map marked all the passes and fortresses on the border between Han and Wei.

"It's a good way to kill three birds with one stone."

Li Shiming was so angry that he laughed: "You have held Jincheng hostage to coerce me, and you are using the legacy of Jin to sow discord between Han and Wei. Now you want the whole world to suspect that I am colluding with the bandits?"

He suddenly crushed the wood chips on the corner of the table: "I am determined to tear this poisonous web apart!"

"Your Majesty, calm down."

Zhang Sun Wuji suddenly knelt down and kowtowed: "It is precisely because Chu Ning harbors evil intentions that we should go, but..."

When he looked up, his eyes sparkled: "We must bring the envoys from Wei and Han with us."

Fang Xuanling clapped his hands upon hearing this: "Great! Bringing the princess back in front of them will not only defeat their plan of sowing discord, but also help us to find out the strength of the Chu army!"

Li Shiming glanced at the ministers.

Hou Junji still wanted to argue, but the emperor raised his hand to stop him.

The sun was shining brightly outside the window, and the sunlight passed through the window lattice and fell next to the four words "discuss the world together" on the spread out letter.

"Practice."

Li Shiming sneered: "Send a pigeon to inform Sima Yi and Liu Che urgently that I will meet with them after meeting Chu Ning."

When he stood up, the sound of his armor colliding was like the sound of swords clashing: "I want to see Chu Ning's wolf and tiger army..."

"Can you bite off the armies of the Three Kingdoms?"

That night, the sound of horse hooves thundered on Suzaku Street.

The Jinwu Guards led the way, holding six golden medals with the words "As if I were here in person", and Li Shiming's golden chariot sped past in the night wind.

As the car curtain rolled up, Li Shiming's murderous face could be vaguely seen.

His letters first reached Sima Yi of Wei State.

In early August in Luoyang City, the heat was still lingering and the cicadas were chirping noisily.

Inside the Wei Imperial Palace, Sima Yi leaned against the dragon couch, holding in his hand the secret letter sent by Li Shiming via Feihe, his face as gloomy as iron.

The cold air emanating from the ice mirror in the hall was wispy, but it could not dispel the sinister look between Sima Yi's brows.

"Humph!"

Sima Yi slammed the letter on the table and sneered, "Li Shiming wants to meet with Chu Ning? And he wants to invite me and Liu Che to go with him after the meeting?"

He stood up, the golden dragon pattern on his black dragon robe shone coldly under the candlelight, and his voice was chilling:

"What is he planning to do? Is he planning to team up with Chu Ning to set up a trap to kill me and Liu Che?"

Prime Minister Cheng Yu stood in the hall, frowned slightly when he heard this, and said with a folded hand: "Your Majesty, I'm afraid there is something else going on."

Sima Yi glanced at him coldly: "Oh? What do you think, Mr. Cheng?"

Cheng Yu said in a deep voice: “Princess Jincheng is still in Chu Ning’s hands. With Li Shiming’s temperament, he will never easily compromise with the Chu State.

This time, he must have come to the alliance to bring back the princess, not to collude with Chu Ning."

Sima Yi narrowed his eyes and tapped his knuckles on the table. "Then why must I go with Liu Che? If he is really sincere, he can negotiate with Chu Ning alone. Why drag us in after the meeting?"

Cheng Yu said slowly: "It is precisely because of this that he is more open and frank. If Li Shiming really wants to secretly trade with Chu Ning, he can just do it in secret. Why bother inviting the monarchs of the two countries to go with him?

He did this precisely to avoid suspicion."

Sima Yi snorted coldly: "Avoid suspicion? I think he wants to take this opportunity to test the attitudes of me and Liu Che!"

Cheng Yu shook his head: "Your Majesty, you are worrying too much. Liu Che will also be present at this meeting. Even if Li Shiming is bold, he would not dare to attack the monarchs of the two dynasties at the same time, not to mention-"

He paused and lowered his voice: "The Great Zhou Dynasty and the Chu State are on good terms. If we have an internal conflict at this time, the Great Zhou will take the opportunity to send troops, and the situation will be even more unfavorable."

"Great Zhou..." Sima Yi's eyes darkened and his fingers unconsciously rubbed the jade pendant on his waist.

Although the Great Zhou Dynasty had never participated in the war, its national strength was strong. If it suddenly launched an attack at this time, the Wei State would be attacked from both sides.

Cheng Yu saw Sima Yi's expression wavering, so he took the opportunity to persuade him, "If Your Majesty still has doubts, why not write a letter first to ask Liu Che about his plans?

If Liu Che decides to keep the appointment, Your Majesty can make the decision later. "

Sima Yi was silent for a long time, and finally nodded slowly: "Okay, as you say."

He raised his hand and the eunuch immediately brought him writing brush and ink.

Sima Yi picked up the pen and dipped it in ink, then wrote a few lines of sharp words on the plain silk. He then handed it to the eunuch beside him and said in a deep voice:

"Send the letter eight hundred miles quickly by carrier pigeon to the Han capital, and make sure you hand it over to Liu Che personally!"

Outside the palace, dusk gradually deepened and dark clouds covered the city.

The cicadas' chirping had stopped at some point, replaced by the faint sound of thunder in the distance.

A storm is coming.

Sima Yi stood at the entrance of the hall with a gloomy look on his face.

With Chu Ning taking over the State of Jin, the next target is likely to be the State of Wei.

If Wei cannot cope with the Chu army, it will become the next Jin.

Once the State of Chu conquers the State of Wei, it will completely open up the passage to the Tang Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, and the unification of the world will be just around the corner!

"Hmph, if you want to unify the world, you must get past me first!" Sima Yi clenched his hands, a hint of cruelty flashing in his eyes.