I run a training class in Shu Han

Chapter 96 The Escape Plan, Shedding One's Skin

On the night of the Lantern Festival, the entire city of Chengdu was immersed in the joy of the Spring Festival.

After the banquet, the officials returned to their residences, slightly tipsy.

But no one noticed that the two carriages drove one after the other into a secluded courtyard in the west of the city.

Under the dim light of two oil lamps sat two people who shouldn't have been there.

Gao Ding and Zhu Bao.

These two surrendered generals from the south have been under house arrest since they were escorted to Chengdu, under the pretext of "offering them high-ranking positions and generous salaries".

Normally, their movements are strictly restricted, and even going out is subject to surveillance by spies from the Prime Minister's residence.

But tonight is the Yuanhui Festival, and after attending the court banquet, the officials returned to their residences, and the area outside the palace was bustling with activity.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two used the carriages of the courtiers to confuse the situation and secretly arrived at this hidden meeting place.

"Is it settled?"

Zhu Bao asked in a low, rough voice.

Gao Ding did not answer immediately, but instead took out a silk painting from the inner lining of his belt and slowly spread it on the table.

This is a map of the seven counties in southern China.

Every new boundary, every new city gate, was clearly marked.

"It's settled."

Under the light, Gao Ding pointed to a line on the map with his right hand and slowly traced it, saying, "Go south from Chengdu, take the Bo Road, pass through Zhuti, go through Tanglang, and pass through Jianning, and you will be able to return to our territory."

Zhu Bao's lips curled into a rage upon seeing the new map of the seven prefectures.

Their original territory has been redrawn, and even if they escape back to the south, regrouping their troops will likely face unnecessary difficulties.

His hatred for Zhuge Liang intensified.

Zhu Bao frowned: "This road is at least several hundred miles long. There are many passes and obstacles along the way. How can the two of us possibly get through?"

Gao Ding looked up at him, a relaxed smile on her face.

"Therefore, we cannot rely on ourselves alone."

He took out another bronze medal from his pocket and placed it on the table.

Zhu Bao picked it up and looked at it; his pupils suddenly contracted.

The bronze plaque was engraved with a single character – “Meng”.

"Meng Huo?" Zhu Bao lowered his voice. "Would he help us?"

Gao Ding nodded: "After Yong Kai died, most of his former subordinates surrendered to Meng Huo. Meng Huo outwardly submitted to the court, but secretly he has been winning over the hearts of the people. He has already said that as long as we return to Nanzhong, he will guarantee our safety."

Zhu Bao remained silent for a moment, then asked warily, "What are the conditions?"

Given their current situation, Meng Huo wouldn't help them for no reason.

"He told us to go back, contact our old subordinates, and wait for the right opportunity," Gao Ding said. "When the court's attention is focused on spring plowing, he will have the chance to grow stronger in the rear, and then we can raise an army to support him and regain firm control of the south."

Zhu Bao said worriedly, "The imperial court has already formed an alliance with Eastern Wu, and we have no external support. Relying solely on Meng Huo, I'm afraid we will not be able to succeed."

"In this world, there are no eternal allies, only eternal interests. As long as we give Sun Quan enough, he can still divide the Shu region with us."

Zhu Bao stared at the map for a long time without speaking, then reiterated his concerns.

"Even with Meng Huo's help, it would still take us more than half a month to travel this route. Once Chengdu discovers we're missing, they'll definitely send people to hunt us down. How far can we run?"

"So, we won't take the express route." Gao Ding pointed to a section of the map, lowering his voice even further.

"By waterway."

During the Yuanhui Festival, the docks south of Chengdu were filled with ships carrying tributes from all over the country.

Some were transporting grain, some were transporting cloth, and some were transporting mountain products.

Two of the boats were New Year's gifts sent by people from the southern region, loaded with baskets of tea and medicinal herbs.

These two ships were nominally "tribute ships," but in reality, they were secretly arranged by Gao Ding and Zhu Bao among their former subordinates in the south.

The people on the boat were all the two men's old subordinates, who had disguised themselves as merchants to infiltrate Chengdu.

According to the plan, after presenting the tribute, they would return to Nanzhong with Liu Shan's rewards in the early morning of the day after the Yuanhui.

What Gao Ding and Zhu Bao needed to do was take advantage of the chaos of the Lantern Festival night to sneak onto the ship.

"There are guards at the dock," Zhu Bao reminded him.

Gao Ding didn't mind and said, "The defenses are usually very tight, but tonight is the Lantern Festival, so the guards will be a little lax. There's about half a cup of tea's time between shifts. That half cup of tea's time is enough for us to board the ship."

Zhu Bao thought for a moment and said, "What if someone inspects the ship?"

Gao Ding pulled out two sets of ordinary merchants' coarse cloth short coats from his pocket.

"Change into this. Once on the ship, we'll disguise ourselves as medicine merchants and hide in the cargo hold. After leaving the city, we'll head south downstream and reach Bodao within three days. Once we arrive in Bodao, Meng Huo's men will meet us."

Zhu Bao looked at the two sets of clothes, then at the map.

"What happens after the Bo Road?"

"After crossing the Bo Road, we abandoned the boat and went ashore, taking the mountain paths. The imperial pursuers were unfamiliar with those paths, but we knew them well and walked on them as if they were flat ground."

The two men initially responded to Yong Kai's rebellion, but after being persuaded to surrender, they were taken to Chengdu and their military power was seized.

Now that they are about to rebel again, they have reached a dead end, with only a slim chance of survival, so they have to be careful.

Seeing that the plan was so detailed and that there was a map, Zhu Bao thought that rather than being held hostage in Chengdu in a cowardly manner, he might as well take a gamble and readily agreed.

"Okay. We'll do it your way."

Unbeknownst to Gao Ding and Zhu Bao, the courtyard where they were plotting their scheme was already under surveillance by the Prime Minister's residence and the Imperial Guards.

The person in charge of surveillance was Zhang Yi, a young general from the Imperial Academy.

Zhang Yi came from a poor family and entered the military officer training class through the selection of the Imperial Academy. After graduation, he was assigned to the Imperial Guard under Chen Dao as a captain.

His duty was to monitor "special figures" in the city—Gao Ding and Zhu Bao, who were the first two on the list.

After discovering that the two were acting suspiciously, Chen Dao, the commander of the Imperial Guards, joined forces with Wen Si Cao from the Prime Minister's Office to investigate the case.

On the night of the Lantern Festival, when the whole country celebrates, security is lax, making it extremely easy for something to go wrong.

Sure enough, Gao Ding and Zhu Bao's carriages planned to use the journey to the banquet as an opportunity to slip away unnoticed.

After discovering the anomaly, Zhang Yi did not alert the enemy, but followed them from a distance all the way to this secret residence in the west of the city.

He sent Wen Si Cao's spies to investigate the situation and silently record the details of the two men's actions.

After the two left, Zhang Yi secretly sent someone to follow them while he himself went straight to the palace with the intelligence and reported to his superior, Chen Dao.

During the Yuanhui Festival, officials entered the palace for a banquet. Without the assistance of the Imperial Guards, Chen Dao's workload increased dramatically.

Chen Dao received the message late at night.

He got up, put on his clothes, and met Zhang Yi in the study.

After listening to Zhang Yi's report, the fatigue on Chen Dao's face vanished.

"You mean they're going to travel by water?"

"Yes." Zhang Yi nodded. "The two tribute ships from the south at the dock in the early morning of the second day of the Yuanhui."

Chen Dao stood up and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the fireworks had faded, leaving only a cold moon hanging in the sky.

If we arrest them now, we will surely catch them red-handed.

However, this matter is of great importance, and Gao Ding and Zhu Bao are only minor figures in it, so he cannot act rashly.

"Zhang Yi, come with me quickly to see Prime Minister Zhuge."

When Liu Shan entrusted this matter to him, he instructed him to conduct a thorough investigation together with the Prime Minister's office.

If it only threatens Liu Shan's safety, Chen Dao can make his own decision.

However, since this matter involved the southern regions, we had to consult Zhuge Liang first.

Prime Minister's House.

Zhuge Liang was also not asleep; he was about to light a lamp and look at the map of Hanzhong.

Upon hearing that Chen Dao was requesting an audience, they immediately sensed danger.

Could it be His Majesty...?

Zhuge Liang, without even having time to tidy his clothes, threw on a robe to receive the two men.

After learning the whole story, Zhuge Liang fell into deep thought.

"Meng Huo..."

He murmured the name, instead of referring to Gao Ding and Zhu Bao as the masterminds behind the affair.

"General Chen Dao, what do you think we should do?"

Chen Dao was taken aback. He hadn't expected the Prime Minister to ask him that question.

"In my humble opinion..." he paused before continuing, "we should immediately capture Gao Ding and Zhu Bao, and then send troops to the south to capture Meng Huo and thwart their plans."

Zhuge Liang shook his head.

"With only two people's confessions, what right does the court have to arrest Meng Huo?" Zhuge Liang countered. "If Meng Huo refuses to confess and instead accuses the court of using him as a tool to kill someone, then the southern regions, where the war has finally been quelled, will be thrown into chaos again."

Chen was stunned; clearly, he hadn't considered the most crucial point.

Liu Shan had finally managed to reclaim Nanzhong with a surprise attack, but if his recklessness caused chaos in Nanzhong again, he would be a sinner for all time.

"Then, in the Prime Minister's opinion, what should be done?"

Chen was getting a little anxious.

In any case, Gao Ding and Zhu Bao absolutely cannot let him return to Nanzhong.

Zhuge Liang gently pressed his hand down, signaling him to calm down, and slowly said, "We've captured them, but it's just two more traitorous generals. Without evidence of treason, even His Majesty cannot easily execute these two..."

"Moreover, if the two of them were caught, it would alert the enemy..."

Chen Dao nodded quickly.

If Meng Huo hadn't been involved, he would have personally led the team to capture him long ago; why bother disturbing Zhuge Liang's rest in the middle of the night?

Zhuge Liang got up and paced back and forth.

His steps were steady, and his breathing was calm, unlike Chen Dao and Zhang Yi, who were extremely anxious.

A moment later, Zhuge Liang returned to his desk, picked up a pen, wrote a few words on a piece of paper, and handed it to Chen Dao.

Chen looked down and saw four characters written on the paper.

Let's play along!

Chen was somewhat confused.

Zhuge Liang laughed and said, "Since they want to escape like a cicada shedding its shell, let them escape. But it's not Gao Ding and Zhu Bao who will run away."

Chen Dao and Zhang Yi looked completely bewildered.

"Didn't you say they wanted to pretend to be merchants to board the ship? Then let them pretend."

He walked to the window, looked at the southern horizon, and exuded confidence.

"However, the people on the ship need to be changed."