novelhk Chapter 884: To ensure a smooth afterlife, Lu Zhi wins over the people!
Chapter 884: To ensure a smooth afterlife, Lu Zhi wins over the people!
Li Zhao kowtowed heavily: "As you command! I have dispatched a thousand cavalrymen to the city to impose martial law. Not a single traitor will be allowed to escape!"
Lü Zhi nodded and added, "Also, this matter must be kept secret for now, especially from the king's side... We will report it after we have found out the truth, so as not to distract the king while he is away."
Li Zhao's eyes flashed with gratitude: "I understand."
Only then did Lü Zhi approach the terrified Xiaoyue and the children. She squatted down, gently wiped the tears from the children's faces, and said softly, "It's okay, I'm here." At this moment, she was no longer the scheming Lü Zhi, but a true mistress.
Xiaoyue looked at her gratefully and said softly, "Thank you for saving me, sister."
Li Zhao bowed and exited the palace, still tinged with the faint scent of blood and an invisible pressure. His cold armor rustled softly and dully as he moved. The cool air outside the palace surged into his lungs, but it did nothing to dispel the heaviness in his heart. He was no fool; he discerned the profound meaning behind Lü Zhi's seemingly lighthearted, even slightly reprimanding, words.
The mistress was assassinated by hundreds of assassins in the heavily guarded Xianyang Palace. This would have been a catastrophic mistake, enough to cause a huge uproar in any dynasty or country. As one of the main leaders of the Xianyang garrison, Li Zhao bore direct and unshirkable responsibility.
According to Qin law and military regulations, even if he had just tried his best to protect the emperor and kill the assassin, he would not be able to escape severe punishment afterwards. Demotion and punishment or even more serious consequences were all reasonable.
Empress Lü, however, put the matter on hold for now. She didn't get angry or immediately hold him accountable. Instead, she ordered him to deal with "what needed to be dealt with" first and gave him the task of maintaining a unified public statement, saying only that she would personally report to Gao Yao later. This seemingly daunting task actually gave him a valuable window of opportunity and the chance to redeem himself for meritorious service.
"Carefully choose the words to report to Gao Yao" - this means that the wording and emphasis of the situation report that will eventually be submitted to Gao Yao will be initially drafted by Li Zhao and then relayed through Lu Zhi's mouth.
As long as he could successfully complete the task of stabilizing Xianyang and resisting foreign enemies during this period and demonstrate due ability and loyalty, then Lu Zhi would most likely say a few good words for him when reporting to Gao Yao, emphasizing his calmness in the face of danger, his meritorious service in protecting the emperor, and his appropriate handling of the situation afterwards, thereby greatly reducing or even resolving his guilt.
This wasn't shielding, but rather a form of protection based on practicality and political wisdom. With a formidable enemy at hand, Xianyang needed a general like Li Zhao, familiar with defense and freshly battle-tested, to stabilize the situation. Changing generals mid-battle was a cardinal sin in military strategy. Lü Zhi's move not only preserved a capable general but also bestowed a favor, earning him gratitude and a renewed commitment. Li Zhao knew he must remember this insight and protective gesture and repay it with his next actions.
He immediately calmed down, suppressed his fear and gratitude, and began to carry out Lu Zhi's orders with great efficiency: he dispatched his most trusted elite troops to strengthen the guard of key areas in the palace, especially the Queen's bedroom and the government command center; he strictly ordered all guards and officials who knew about the assassination to refrain from discussing it and to speak with one voice; he sent messengers to the residences of major officials in the city under the pretext of routine patrol exercises to inform them that "nothing happened" in an attempt to calm any panic that might arise.
Li Zhao and Lü Zhi both knew that the bloody assassination was not the enemy's only tactic. It was merely the first, most direct, and most brutal attack. This did not mean that the Chu army, or the mysterious and unpredictable Yi Xiaochuan, who was hiding behind the scenes, had no backup plan.
In reality, the assassination attempt, whether successful or not, had already begun to cause ripple effects. Such a shattering event had occurred within the Xianyang Palace, with a massive cavalry force urgently mobilized late at night, torches like dragons, the clatter of hooves shattering the silence. Anyone in the vicinity, deaf or blind, would have noticed something was amiss. Panic spread like a stone dropped into a still lake, sending ripples radiating outward.
"Something big must have happened in the Xianyang Palace!" - Such speculation and whispers began to spread quietly in the residences of some powerful people, military camps and even in the streets.
For the Chu army and those spies lurking in the city, intent on inciting people and encouraging surrender, this vague panic itself is a sharp weapon. It does not need to be confirmed, just its existence is enough to nourish the seeds of doubt and anxiety.
No matter how Lü Zhi and Li Zhao claimed that everything was normal, they could not completely dispel people's doubts. The handling of this matter itself fell into a dilemma:
If the truth be told, the announcement that the Xianyang Palace had been attacked by a large number of assassins but had been quelled would certainly demonstrate the power and control of the government, but it would also acknowledge a terrible fact: the center of the empire, the most heavily guarded palace, had been infiltrated by the enemy and even threatened the safety of the empress.
What about the officials and their families currently in Xianyang? Could the security of their residences be any stronger than that of the imperial palace? If the assassin targeted them, what chance would they have of survival? This thought was enough to make many people sleepless and start to worry about their own safety and even their escape route.
If they insist on refusing to disclose the incident, claiming it was merely a normal troop rotation or drill, that won't quell suspicions either. Such a large-scale, tense deployment, only to be dismissed as nothing, only makes the cover-up more obvious. People will be even more suspicious of an unpredictable situation beyond their control, even speculating about a situation worse than the assassination attempt. This uncertainty will also foster a wait-and-see attitude and a defensive mentality.
This was precisely part of the mysterious Yi Xiaochuan's venomous plot. The assassination of Lü Zhi was, on the one hand, a direct means of achieving his strategic objectives, and, regardless of success or failure, a powerful psychological warfare and strategic tool designed to further exacerbate the already growing demoralization within Xianyang caused by the siege and undermine the unity and resolve of the defenders.
But this is just the beginning.
The next morning, the expected sunrise was absent. Instead, the sky was shrouded in a thick, leaden cloud layer, oppressive and suffocating. Soon, a steady drizzle of rain began to fall, gradually becoming heavier. A gray haze blanketed the sky and earth, obstructing vision and shrouding everything in a blanket of rain and fog.
Under the natural curtain of rain, the Chu army began a new round of operations. No longer the desperate surprise attack of the previous night, they broke up into smaller groups. Like ghosts, countless small forces began to appear in the countryside surrounding Xianyang. Taking advantage of the terrain and the rain, they silently advanced from multiple directions, in extremely dispersed formations, and slowly approached the city walls.