Plan to cut off the nine states

After riding for more than an hour, the night was getting darker and darker. Xu Chu had to stop to rest. He couldn't find firewood and couldn't make a fire. He searched through his bag and finally found dry food and beans to feed the horses.

After taking care of the two horses, Xu Chu was no longer hungry. He held the felt blanket and didn't know where to rest.

Without Tang Weitian, Xu Chu realized that he was clumsy and couldn't help but smile bitterly and said to the two horses: "Your work is simple."

Xu Chu didn't care whether it was wet or dry. He spread the blanket under the tree, sat with his back against the tree trunk, wrapped himself in another blanket, and slowly fell asleep.

He was awakened by the cold in the middle of the night. He got up and walked a few steps, ate a few bites of cold and hard dry food, and then went back to sleep. He dreamed of many acquaintances. They all asked him in a strange tone: "How is it? Do you regret it? Or is it more comfortable to be the King of Wu?"

Xu Chu made an impassioned speech in his dream, which made everyone speechless. After waking up, he found that there was only "generosity" in the dream, and those "speech" were just useless nonsense that could not convince any real person.

The sky was getting light, and Xu Chu didn't want to sleep any more. He packed his bag, led the horse and walked for a while. After he was a little warmer, he rode on the road.

He was determined to find a place to stay today no matter what. There was a lot of silver in the bag, which was enough.

In the end, the silver was not useful at all. Xu Chu took the main road. Since the war between Jizhou and Luozhou, this road has often been used by soldiers and horses. The people in the villages and towns along the way were either forcibly conscripted or fled. The houses were destroyed by the passing troops. Xu Chu walked all the way, not to mention the inn, even a mud house that could be lived in.

After walking for a day, Xu Chu didn't see a single person. Near dusk, he saw a collapsed hut not far from the roadside. He really didn't want to take the risk of going forward, so he stopped and found some dry firewood while there was still sunlight. Finally, he lit a small fire before dark, making this night more bearable.

"This is the life of the people in the world." Xu Chu persuaded himself, and then sighed, because he knew that this was not the life of everyone. Even when he was trapped in the East Capital, he lived a life of luxury, more than the seventeenth son of the Lou family. Even if he was an ordinary citizen, at least he had a house to live in and could block the cold wind.

Xu Chu rechecked his bag and found a bag of wine and an empty pot. He couldn't help but cheer, and then he missed Tang Weitian's various benefits.

Soon, he would miss Tang Weitian even more.

It was just dark, Xu Chu didn't plan to sleep, he fiddled with the fire to heat the wine, occasionally poured a sip into the bowl, and tried to keep his body warm. At this time, he heard the sound of horse hooves coming from far away.

He thought it was the Jizhou soldiers, so he got up to meet them. Following these people, he could get to Yecheng earlier.

The sound of horse hooves came from the west. Xu Chu hesitated for a moment, then thought that this might be the Jizhou soldiers who were patrolling along the road and were rushing back, so he stood still and prepared to shout later.

It was a whole team of knights, nearly a hundred people, who had seen the faint fire on the roadside and came close, fan-shaped, blocking all exits.

"Are you... soldiers of the Jin army?" With the help of the moonlight, Xu Chu recognized the faint word Jin on a flag.

A general rode forward and bowed, saying: "I am Xiao Gu'an, the guerrilla general in the tent of King Jin, and I pay my respects to King Wu."

"I remember you." Xu Chu smiled, "Where are you going, General Xiao?"

"I am here to invite King Wu to visit the Jin camp on the order of King Jin."

"Do you want living people or dead people?"

"Of course... living people." Xiao Gu'an was ordered to take living people, but dead people would be fine if there was resistance.

"Then please General Xiao go back and tell King Jin that Xu Chu has his own feet and places to go, so he can't go to Jinying for the time being. If there is a chance in the future, I will go to Jinyang in person."

Xiao Gu'an didn't dare to be rude, and ordered the soldiers to stay where they were. He rode forward, came close to King Wu, jumped off the horse, and bowed and said: "If you have anything to say, please ask King Wu to talk to King Jin himself, don't make it difficult for me."

"Understood. I just heated up a pot of wine, and there is still half a pot left. Can I drink it before I set off?"

Xiao Gu'an hesitated for a moment and nodded: "Okay, don't delay too long."

"General Xiao, why don't you come and drink together, it will be faster." Xu Chu invited.

"How can I be qualified to drink with the King of Wu?"

"I am no longer the King of Wu. It is my honor to drink with General Xiao."

"Well... it is better to obey than to be respectful. Does the King of Wu have anything to drink with?"

"Only a few pieces of dry food."

Xiao Gu'an was a cautious person. He was worried that drinking alone with the King of Wu would cause trouble, so he called a deputy general and two lieutenants to bring bacon and other military rations to accompany the King of Wu to drink half a pot of wine.

There was not much wine, and each person was only given half a bowl. They were all quite reserved and embarrassed to drink.

Xu Chu raised the bowl to toast, "I believe you and I have a destiny. At this late night, we are drinking in this unknown place. The wine is not good, but I will show my gratitude. Please."

Everyone took a sip, tore a piece of dried meat and chewed it. The four Jin generals did not say much.

Xu Chu asked again: "Has the King of Jin sent troops south to attack the Eastern Capital? Has he dealt with General Tan Wuwei?"

Xiao Gu'an coughed, "We were ordered to chase the King of Wu, and we don't know anything else."

Xu Chu sighed, raised his head slightly, looked at the soldiers on the road, and said as if talking to himself: "The King of Jin knows Tan Wuwei's talent, but he dares not use him early, worried that after Tan Wuwei becomes independent, he will choose the opportunity to establish himself, and add another opponent to the Jin army. But Tan Wuwei is already anxious, and the King of Jin cannot restrain him. He must give him an army, but he must let him lose a battle to dampen his ambition and keep him by his side for a longer time..."

Xiao Gu'an said: "I don't know if Tan Wuwei is talented, but please stop talking to King Wu... King Jin, we are all Jin generals and we cannot listen to this."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Of course, the loyalty of the Jin generals is known all over the world. Can I talk about Dongdu and Jizhou?"

Xiao Gu'an glanced at his companion, "As long as it doesn't involve King Jin, King Wu can say whatever he wants, but he doesn't have much wine..."

"To make a long story short, this is my problem. I always have things on my mind, and I have to say whatever comes to my mind. I have been so depressed these past two days when I have no one around me."

"We admire the king of Wu for his foresight and are willing to hear his advice."

"Are you curious why I lost my royal title and left the Eastern Capital?"

Before Xiao Gu'an could speak, the other three generals nodded at the same time, and one of them said: "Ever since we learned the news, we have been guessing, and we can't figure it out."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Even I couldn't have predicted what happened today. To tell you the truth, I actually 'escaped' from Dongdu."

Xiao Gu'an and others were shocked, "Escape? King Wu defeated his officers and soldiers in a row and dominated the world. Although officers and soldiers from all walks of life were approaching, he was afraid of King Wu's name and did not dare to cross the river. I heard that the Jingzhou army had fled. What else could happen? Can King Wu escape from Dongdu?"

The King of Jin has not openly attacked Dongdu, and his soldiers still vaguely regard the King of Wu as one of their own, and they do not hesitate to praise him.

Xu Chu shook his head slightly, "It was not me who defeated the officers and soldiers, but the World Army."

Xiao Gu'an and others have all been stationed in Dongdu and know that most of King Wu's subordinates are the descendants of the army. "So what? The descendants of the army dare to do harm to the king of Wu?"

"I didn't dare to do so at first. King Jingshi accepted me as his disciple, possessed me, and betrothed his daughter to me. After his death, the Jingshi Army was willing to let me take care of and assist the young king."

"Of course it should be. In fact, it is also appropriate for King Wu to call himself the King of the World on behalf of the young king."

"But some people disagree."

"Who? Golden Saint?"

"The Golden Saint is my wife, how can she oppose me? She is another group of incarnation armies."

"Another batch of... new armies from Qin and Han states?"

"Yes, have you heard about it too?"

"Not only did we hear that on our way back to Bingzhou, we met a large number of people fleeing from the two states. They all said that the New World Army was very cruel. After capturing people, they roasted them alive and used them as military rations. If there were too many prisoners, they would temporarily raise them. Pick the fat ones to eat first every day.”

The deputy general said: "If I encounter the New World Army and are unfortunately defeated, I would rather commit suicide than fall into their hands alive."

Similar rumors were unbelievable, but Xu Chu did not argue and nodded: "It is this group of cruel and cruel Jishi army. When they heard that King Jishi was killed, they put the blame on me and came to kill me for revenge."

"Hey, the person who killed King Jianshi was obviously King Liang, why did they rely on King Wu?"

"Who asked me to take over the entire army after the death of the King of the World? The new Army of the World believed in the rumors and thought I was the murderer."

The wine was drunk unconsciously, but Xiao Guan and others had no intention of urging them to proceed.

"Are they too gullible? Maybe someone spread rumors deliberately."

"General Xiao is really right, and this person is not an outsider... Well, why am I telling you this? Let's get on the road early to see King Jin."

"There's no rush." ​​Xiao Gu'an glanced at his three companions and saw that they were as curious as him, and continued: "I just finished drinking. I'm going to ride a horse. Let's take a short rest."

"Who exactly betrayed the King of Wu? Those mages from the Incarnation Army, right? Weird guys, not like good people." A school captain said.

Xu Chu sighed again, "It's King Liang."

The four people on the opposite side were stunned, and Xiao Guan said: "It was clearly King Liang who killed the King of the World, how could he... Oh, I understand, just because he was the murderer, he had to lie and blame the King of Wu. But this matter Everyone knows it, and he won’t be able to hide it for long.”

"It can be concealed for a while, not to mention that the New World Army does not really want to avenge the King of the World. They want to kill me and seize the World Army in Luozhou. The two armies will merge and become even more powerful."

Xiao Guan and others nodded, convinced, "But the New World Army is hundreds of miles away, why should King Wu be afraid of them?"

"You still know?"

The four of them shook their heads at the same time.

"The New World Army has already sneaked into Luozhou, one step away from the Eastern Capital."

Xiao Guan was shocked, "We haven't heard anything at all... No, King Wu has no soldiers, and when you left, Meng Jinliang's soldiers didn't stop you."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "It's strange, isn't it?"

"It's so weird."

"This is the cunning point of King Liang. He attracted the new Advent Army, secretly wooed the old Advent Army, and sowed a relationship between me and the Golden Saint. Now the Golden Saint leads a part of the Advent Army to the west and wants to return to Qinzhou , the rest of the people were deceived by King Liang, and believed that I was the real murderer..."

"Yes, the people of Wu are the most loyal. Why don't you see them following King Wu?"

"I was stupid and listened to the deception. I sent the Wu army to be the vanguard of the attack on the Jingzhou army. Although they won a great victory, the Wu army suffered heavy casualties and the survivors were unwilling to follow me anymore. Alas."

The news that the Jingzhou army was defeated and fled had turned into conflicting rumors in Hebei. Xiao Guan could not find any flaws and could only nod.

Xu Chu continued: "Seeing that I have become a target, the King of Liang made another plan to force me to abdicate and deliberately let me go. In this way, wherever I go, wherever the New World Army follows, I become Bait. So I want to go to Yecheng in order not to harm my own people."

Xiao Guan and the other four were stunned.

Xu Chu stood up, "But it's hard to refuse the King of Jin's kindness. Besides, the Jin army is strong and has the help of He Rong's cavalry. They may not be a match for the New World Army. Let's go. If we are late, we may run into the New World Army chasing us."

"Wu Wang, wait a moment." Xiao Gu'an called his three companions and walked away to discuss in a low voice.

Xu Chu tried his hand. Although he knew that his words were full of loopholes and might not fool these people, he felt much more at ease.