magic high school

Chapter 82: Turbulent Times Rise in Luoyang

Although the Jin Dynasty had not even been officially established yet, and Sima Yan was still just a young master from a noble family, the atmosphere in Luoyang was already comparable to that of the late Qing Dynasty.

Li Ge even had the idea that even without the War of the Eight Princes, our Great Jin Dynasty probably wouldn't have survived for more than a hundred years.

Not far away, they discovered a very important area on the map.

Jinyong City, a name not widely known in later generations, is home to the famous Bronze Sparrow Terrace, and is also the place where Cao Fang was deposed and where Cao Huan later abdicated to Sima Yan.

It can be said that this is the "place where the Sima family rose to power". However, at this time, the place is deserted and almost deserted. Even the weeds inside are neglected. The walls are even more dilapidated than the poor and remote areas of Shu Han.

This place was actually the most suitable place for them to hide, because although it was nominally still the territory of the Cao Wei emperor, it was actually controlled by the Sima family. The people of Cao Wei had no power to come here, and the people of the Sima family felt that this place was ominous. Over time, this place was completely abandoned.

Perhaps when Sima Yan seizes the throne next year, he will realize that the Bronze Sparrow Terrace here is the best place.

The meeting place between Li Ge and Xiao Ye was actually this dark, shadowy spot.

The two exchanged a glance, then said, "We'll split up to gather intelligence. I'll be in charge of finding Cao Wei's old subordinates, and you'll be in charge of finding Liu Shan's location. We plan to hold a secret meeting here tomorrow night."

Xiao Ye nodded, and was about to slip into the shadows as usual when Li Ge suddenly said, "By the way, let's also check on the surrendered generals of Shu Han. Do they have any ideas?"

Li Ge was also a bit confused. Those who could be captured and brought to Luoyang at this time were basically the Shu Han's "lying down" faction, with Liu Shan as the leader.

In fact, Li Ge didn't even want to care about Liu Shan. Although Liu Shan's reputation gradually improved in later generations, it was still generally negative, and it was highly likely that his return to Shu Han would have a negative effect.

However, there was no other way; without Liu Shan, the alliance between Li Ge and Jiang Wei would have collapsed instantly.

In fact, it still comes down to this: if it were a few years earlier, before Cao Mao died, Li Ge would have even dared to go all in on Cao Mao and try to use him to turn the tables on the Sima family.

But for now, let's forget about that good-for-nothing Cao Huan.

"Forget it, never mind what I said. Rather than relying on those surrendered Shu Han generals, we might as well rely on Jiang Wei's covert network," Li Ge complained.

The fact that Jiang Wei was able to deliver the secret letter to Liu Shan in Luoyang proves that he at least had his own intelligence team and a few capable people in Luoyang, who were even more reliable than the surrendered generals of Shu Han.

"Oh right, take this." Li Ge tossed Jiang Wei's keepsake to Xiao Ye; this was the one she needed most.

"Be careful, don't die." Xiaoye said, hiding completely in the shadow cloak.

"Don't worry, I'm not that easy to kill. If things get complicated, I'll just go and beg for Godfather's help." Li Ge smiled, then added, "Speaking of which, what would happen to me if I died here?"

"I'm not sure, but even if they don't die, they'll still suffer very serious injuries," Xiaoye said.

So the two split up and planned to meet up here the next day.

……

A day later, at dusk near the Bronze Sparrow Terrace, only a few people had come in to clean up and then left. The entire Bronze Sparrow Terrace was deserted at this time.

The air in the distance seemed to be filled with the smell of Wushisan (a type of Chinese herbal medicine), and Li Ge walked into Tongquetai with a grim expression.

He had assumed that Luoyang should at least still have some former Cao Wei officials. After all, the Jin Dynasty was inherited entirely from the Cao Wei regime. In any case, since our Great Wei is still alive, there should still be some people from Cao Wei, right?

However, after investigating, he suddenly discovered that there were no Cao Wei people at all; they had all become lackeys of the Sima family, to a degree comparable to that of the Chinese in the United States.

This is actually because Li Ge's knowledge of history during this period is poor. Those who were loyal to Cao Wei launched the Three Rebellions in Huainan several years ago, and those who remained loyal to Cao Wei in the end were Cao Mao and his personal guards.

However, Cao Mao was killed in the street, dying like a roadside animal. This meant that the last strength of Cao Wei had been exhausted. From then on, Luoyang was left with only sycophants and opportunists.

In other words, even if he wanted to incite chaos in Luoyang, no one would play along with him.

What happened to all those former subordinates of Cao Wei? After the Incident at Gaoping Tombs, they defected one after another. Li Ge couldn't even imagine why the descendants of those well-known heroes from the early Cao Wei period were all such scoundrels.

Now that things have come to this, Li Ge can only try to sneak into Cao Wei's palace to do something big.

But when Li Ge saw that Xiao Ye's expression was even worse, she asked, "What's wrong? What's going on over there?"

"We've found him. Liu Shan is located in Huiwenli, 2 kilometers outside the east gate of Luoyang. It's basically a community entirely composed of surrendered nobles and high-ranking officials, heavily guarded by the Sima family. It's more like a luxurious prison than a mansion," Xiao Ye complained, adding casually.

"By the way, the other surrendered generals from Shu Han are also there. Those guys can only drown their sorrows in alcohol every day. I bet they're watched even when they go to the toilet, so basically don't expect any strength from them."

Li Ge: "..."

This was actually pretty much what I had imagined. In 264 AD, Cao Wei and Shu Han, these two natural enemies, seemed to have become a pair of star-crossed lovers, looking at each other with tearful eyes.

Li Ge could only sigh deeply, then seemed to have made up her mind about something.

"We can't delay any longer. The longer we drag this out, the more problems we'll cause. Tonight, I'll sneak into the palace and try to get close to Cao Huan," Li Ge said, even though he felt that getting close to Cao Huan wouldn't be of much use.

Perhaps its greatest use is to kill Cao Huan again in the streets like a dog, and splatter blood all over the Sima family once more?

Let me think about it again.

"Xiao Ye, can you quietly bring Liu Shan out, or at worst, one of Liu Shan's sons?" Li Ge asked, revealing the most important question.

"I'll do my best," was all Xiaoye could say.

"Then I'll figure something out. If you find the palace in chaos, you start your operation. We'll throw Luoyang into chaos as quickly as possible," Li Ge said. "And even after Liu Shan disappears, will those surrendered Shu Han generals still be able to sleep soundly?"

"Oh, right, there's also the Sima family. I've investigated them; they're very lax. If we get the chance, should we take action against them?" Xiao Ye suddenly said.

Li Ge was shocked. Was the Sima family really so lax internally?

Li Ge hadn't considered causing trouble for the Sima family before because he knew about the story of the Sima family raising 3000 assassins. These assassins weren't just random soldiers who could be allowed to take advantage of the chaos; they were ruthless people who would risk their lives for the Sima family and would never back down. Even becoming their godfather probably wouldn't be very effective.

That's because these people were the most loyal core members of the Sima family. In order to control Luoyang and the front-line army, these people were basically scattered to various places, which is why the Sima family was able to completely control Cao Wei and dominate the world.

Currently, the Sima family's internal defenses are actually quite weak, perhaps even less so than those of the imperial palace.

Li Ge suddenly had a bold idea.

"The night the Sima family was wiped out!" Li Ge suddenly thought of this brilliant idea.