Plan to cut off the nine states

There were no lights on in the hall, the door was open, and the faint moonlight reflected the shadowy figures. No one cleaned the bloodstains on the ground, which had been frozen and solidified, and the smell was faint. Therefore, those who walked had to be careful to avoid slipping.

The wet nurse held the three-year-old son of the King of the Incarnation and sat on the throne, shivering. She was wearing thick clothes, layer after layer. The shivering had nothing to do with the cold, but was purely fearful. She was afraid of the kings, the army of the Incarnation, the gods and Buddhas in the sky... In short, she was afraid of everything.

The child knew nothing and slept soundly in the warm embrace.

Ten great masters stood in front of the throne, kneeling and standing up constantly, chanting something in their mouths, half chanting and half singing, full of sadness, as if they were holding a funeral, but in addition to the grief, there was a little more indignation, as if they were blaming someone.

More than ninety assistants circled the throne and moved slowly. They had to be careful of the bloodstains under their feet, but they could not avoid it.

They were also chanting, but despite the large number of people, their voices were even smaller, like a group of buzzing insects.

Every once in a while, a great master would suddenly raise his voice and ask loudly: "Where are all the sentient beings?" "Do you believe?" "Have you come to the world?"

The assistants answered in unison: "Yes!" "Believe!" "Come!"

It was repeated over and over again, with slightly different questions and almost the same answers.

Every time this happened, Xue Liujia's son would be awakened and start crying a few times, but slowly got used to it. At most, he would open his eyes and look, bury his head in his nurse's arms, and sleep deeper.

Xu Chu was guarding the door of the main hall. The cold wind blew, and the iron armor on his body became doubly heavy. He had to wrap his cloak tightly, hoping that the ceremony would end quickly.

Lei Dajun and others led the soldiers to guard the Danchi. They could only hear the sounds in the hall, but could not see the scene. Instead, they were more awed. They were all silent and did not dare to slack off or be disrespectful.

There were only two people around Xu Chu. One was Meng Senglun, who didn't care about other things and focused on protecting the ruling. The other was Lou Ji, who was invited to watch the ceremony of inviting the gods.

Lou Ji was very surprised to hear the general cause and effect from the King of Wu. He did not expect that the King of Wu would be so straightforward and tell the truth about the situation in the city. This move was tantamount to reducing the bargaining chips for surrender.

Half an hour passed, and there was no sign of the ceremony ending. Lou Ji could not help but whispered: "Isn't the King of Wu worried?"

"What are you worried about?"

"If the result of the ceremony is 'the descending of the gods'--" When he said these four words, Lou Ji could not help but shake his head. He could not respect this kind of ceremony that was neither Buddhist nor Taoist, nor secular. "If he insists on taking revenge for the surrender of Xue Liujia, how will the King of Wu respond?"

"Then take revenge." Xu Chu smiled, not too seriously.

Lou Ji was slightly stunned, "King Wu... are there any trusted people in the palace who control the ceremony?"

"No, I don't recognize any of these people, they are all mages of the Advent Army."

Lou Ji was stunned again, and laughed: "King Wu is really confident, thinking that they will definitely give up revenge."

"Master Lou doesn't believe it?"

Lou Ji thought for a while, "As King Wu said, the Advent Army launched several mutinies, and the desire for revenge is like boiling water. The summoning ceremony seems to add fuel to the fire."

"Otherwise, although there have been several mutinies in the city, the scale is not large, which shows that the Advent Army is actually unwilling to take revenge, but their faith is deep, and after being instigated, , had to do it. The city's descending army needs an excuse to give up revenge with a legitimate reason, and the meaning of the ceremony lies in this. If I guess correctly, the gods and Buddhas invited tonight must resolve the hatred, not add fuel to the fire. "

Lou Ji was silent for a while, and smiled: "I hope King Wu is right. If the Eastern Capital is in chaos, Yecheng will have to attack hard, and there will be many casualties. We are willing to see King Wu command the entire army in the city. At least King Wu is a reasonable person who can see the situation clearly. "

"I also hope to see Yecheng cut off the oblique branches and leave only the main trunk. "

"It will be done within ten days. "

The two smiled at each other, neither of them believed what the other said.

After the conversation, Lou Ji listened more seriously. Although he still couldn't hear clearly, he could feel that the hall was full of anger. He couldn't help but look at King Wu and said nothing.

The ceremony continued, and the soldiers outside the hall were so cold that their teeth chattered. Xu Chu ordered Lei Dajun to take half of the soldiers back and replace them with another group of people, and then Dai Pohu and the other half of the soldiers could go back to the camp to rest.

Near the fifth watch, a great magician in the hall suddenly shouted, "Where is the King of Wu?"

Before the ceremony, no one had said that the King of Wu would participate. Xu Chu hesitated for a moment, stepped over the threshold, strode in, and replied, "The King of Wu is here."

Meng Senglun immediately followed, without a long blade, holding a dagger in his arms.

Lou Ji stayed where he was, unwilling to take the risk.

The soldiers guarding outside the hall stepped forward a few steps, ready to be ordered at any time.

More than ninety assistants stopped, still humming.

Xu Chu stopped outside the circle, facing the throne, and said again, "The King of Wu is here."

A great magician shook his head, his steps were weak, his body seemed out of his control, and his voice became strange, as if he had drunk too much wine, or his tongue was injured, his words were unclear, and his tone was very arrogant, "King of Wu, you are my disciple, my son-in-law, why don't you kneel?"

Xu Chu had to kneel down. Since he agreed to invite the gods to descend to the world, he had to abide by the rules here.

Meng Senglun drew out his dagger, lowered his hands, stared at the nearest few people, and prepared to shout for help.

"Is it the ancestor king who has come to the world?" Xu Chu knelt down and asked.

"I have returned to the side of Maitreya Buddha." The master dragged out the tone, and his voice became more and more strange. "Seeing you sincerely invite me, I came to see you."

"Will the ancestor king take his relatives and friends with him to heaven?" Xu Chu continued to ask.

"Yes."

"Is heaven a pure land of Buddha, without any dust?"

"Yes."

"The ancestor king left only one son, is he going to succeed the king?"

"Yes." The great master's voice revealed a hint of joy. The King of Wu did not take the opportunity to seize the throne, which was obviously in line with his wishes.

"The new king is young, is he going to assist his sister, Saint Jin?"

"Yes... yes." Few people in the city knew that Xue Jinyao had returned, and the great master's answer was a bit reluctant.

"The ancestor king ascended to heaven with the help of mortals, not accidentally killed, right?"

"Yes." The great master answered straightforwardly.

"The whole world is a Buddhist land, and all the people in the world are Buddhists. The ancestor king ascended to heaven and will always be with Maitreya. He should be happy and have no hatred or resentment, right?"

"Yes."

"What else does the ancestor king want to say?"

"Be loyal to the new king and treat the king's soldiers well. I am satisfied..." The great master trembled violently and fell to the ground. People on both sides helped him up. Someone whispered to Xu Chu: "King Wu can get up. The ancestor king and the gods have returned to heaven."

Xu Chu stood up and whispered to Meng Senglun: "Take the wet nurse and the new king away."

Meng Senglun walked through the wall of people formed by the assistants, went up to the throne, and asked the wet nurse to get up.

Outside the palace gate, Lou Ji heard everything clearly. When he saw King Wu coming out, he bowed and said, "I admire you. Why doesn't King Wu succeed to the throne himself?"

"I follow people's wishes, and people follow my wishes. It's a courtesy to reciprocate."

Lou Ji smiled and nodded, "King Wu knows people and knows himself. No wonder the two kings of Xiangdong and Jibei want to persuade King Wu to surrender no matter what."

"Please, let's go back and talk in detail." Xu Chu led Lou Ji and others to return to the camp. Before they walked down the steps, someone chased them from behind.

"Wu Wang, wait a moment." A great magician shouted breathlessly, ran to the front, and said: "The ancestor king has something to say to the gods."

"Please speak."

"Although the ancestor king ascended to heaven by force, the person who did it must come to the temple to repent, not for revenge, but to cleanse his sins, to be worthy of the upcoming Buddhist kingdom on earth."

"Okay, Maitreya Buddha has boundless power. Since he can summon disciples by force, he can definitely make those who contribute repent. I have a hunch that this will be accomplished before the end of today."

The great magician smiled happily, "Wu Wang is worthy of being the last disciple accepted by the ancestor king."

"Of course, the ancestor king had foreseen everything, so he accepted me as a disciple and gave me a magic stick."

"Yeah, still Yes, is the new king…”

“I will hand him over to Saint Jin, and all the magicians will be the king’s teachers in the future.”

“But Saint Jin’s whereabouts are unknown.”

“Before the ancestor king ascended to heaven, he had arranged everything properly. Before the end of today, Saint Jin will also appear. She did not ascend with her father in order to assist the new king.”

The great magician was stunned, “Okay, okay, let’s wait for the news of King Wu.”

Lou Ji went into the city with Xue Jinyao. After the great magician left, he smiled at Xu Chu and said, “King Wu’s ‘prediction’ is really accurate, as if he had divine help.”

“Lou Gongzi is the ‘god’ who helped me.”

Lou Ji laughed and did not ask King Wu if he could persuade King Liang to come and repent.

Back in the camp, the two continued to negotiate. Xu Chu insisted on asking for Qin, Han, and Yizhou, and Lou Ji insisted on bargaining. In the end, Yizhou was removed, Hanzhou was observed, and Qinzhou was retained.

"King Wu must lead his troops to completely withdraw from the Eastern Capital, leaving no soldiers behind."

"Of course, most of the Advent Army are from Qinzhou, and they are unwilling to stay."

"And Queen Dowager Luan, King Wu must send Queen Dowager Luan out of the city first to show his sincerity."

"Queen Dowager Luan will leave the city within three days."

"Okay, I have nothing to say. Please send me out of the city, and I will contact King Wu after I ask for instructions."

Xu Chu sent Meng Senglun to send Lou Ji out of the city, and asked him to stay in the West City to take charge of the Wu army and the city gate, so as to facilitate exchanges with the Yecheng army.

It was already dawn, and the news of the advent of the ancestor king was spreading rapidly throughout the city. The youngest son was made king, assisted by the Golden Saint, and the king was repentant after being happy to ascend to heaven... All the rumors hit the hearts of the soldiers of the Advent Army, so everyone followed the "joy" and no longer had to think about revenge all the time.

Xu Chu took a tour of the military camp and was very satisfied with what he saw and heard, so he went to see Xue Jinyao.

Xue Jinyao was teasing his younger brother in the arms of his wet nurse. When he saw King Wu coming in, his face immediately became cold and he refused to speak.

Xu Chu asked, "Have you heard about it? Are you satisfied?"

Xue Jinyao endured and endured, and said, "No matter what others think, I still want revenge."

"Didn't Master Maitreya give you new revelations?"

"You didn't call me 'Master'."

Xu Chu smiled, "You had foreseen this bloody disaster a long time ago, so it shouldn't be a surprise, right? You fell into the hands of the soldiers, which must have been arranged by Maitreya Buddha."

Xue Jinyao couldn't argue with her husband, "You do your thing, I do mine, and we don't interfere with each other."

"Before repelling the soldiers, the well water and the river water were mixed together, and it was hard not to interfere."

Xue Jinyao looked at the stick of advent on her husband's waist.

Xu Chu patted it twice, "I can't give it to you, not now. After noon, you can show up, the mage is yours, and the soldiers are mine."

"What do I need them for?"

"It depends on how you use them. I must leave the soldiers to fight with the officers and soldiers, and I can't give up any of them."

Xue Jinyao didn't say anything else, Xu Chu took this as his consent, turned around and walked out of the house. He didn't take a few steps and saw Lei Dajun leading Liang General Pan Kai hurriedly coming.

Pan Kai came on behalf of King Liang, bowed to King Wu, and said directly: "There are rumors outside that King Wu wants King Liang to confess in the hall. Is this true?"

"Today, all the kings are gathering. I will explain it clearly to King Liang when we meet."

"King Liang said that if he doesn't know the truth, he dare not come to see King Wu."

"For the death of King Jiangshi, all the kings are 'murderers'. We should go and confess together. This is the truth. Please tell King Liang, if he doesn't come, others will go and confess."

Pan Kai was stunned for a while, bowed his hands, and hurriedly left.