Plan to cut off the nine states

Xiao Guan laughed and said, "As expected of King Wu, the truth and lies in his mouth are unpredictable. No wonder King Jin wants to stay away from you no matter what. Please control your sharp tongue..."

Chang Yan and others couldn't stand someone being disrespectful to the King of Wu, so they immediately drew their swords and scolded him sharply.

Xiao Gu'an was naturally not afraid of more than thirty soldiers, but he also felt that he had spoken too much. Even if the King of Wu abdicated, he was not someone he could offend, so he cupped his hands and said: "The general was rude for a moment, and I hope the King of Wu will respect you. Invite Wu Wang, follow me on the road, let’s hurry up..."

With a whoosh, an arrow passed over Xiao Guan's helmet and broke the tassel.

The officers and soldiers of the Jin army were horrified. Some turned around, and some were watching the followers of King Wu. They were in a panic for a while.

Xiao Guan was particularly frightened, knowing that the archer would be merciful, otherwise he would definitely die. His face suddenly changed, and he looked towards the direction of the arrow. He saw only a sparse forest and a few ruined walls in the distance, and not a single person in sight. .

Xiao Gu'an pulled out half of the waist knife, then slowly put it back into the sheath, and said with a forced smile: "It turns out that King Wu was delaying the time to wait for help."

Xu Chu did not defend himself and said with a smile: "Please tell the King of Jin for me. I will definitely go to see him in the future, but not now. After weighing the two parties, I still have to go to Yecheng first. I believe the King of Jin understands my intention."

Xiao Guan hesitated for a moment. He had fifty soldiers, and the opponent had more than thirty loyal guards and a marksman who didn't know where he was hiding. He believed that his side had at least a 60% chance of winning, but it would inevitably suffer heavy losses...

"Hey, King Wu is ambushing hundreds of people here. Does he want to kill us all in one fell swoop?"

As if cooperating with Xiao Guan's words, a rustling sound came from the distant woods, as if there were hundreds of people hiding in it, and the Jin soldiers all looked horrified.

Xu Chu immediately understood Xiao Guan's intention and said with a smile: "General Xiao treats me with courtesy, how can I return ill will? General Xiao please get on your horse and go back to report to King Jin that Xu Chu is grateful for King Jin's hospitality."

Xiao Gu'an looked at his soldiers and saw that there was no objection. He slowly walked towards his horse, turned over and jumped on it. He cupped his hands and said, "King Wu, please go slowly. I won't send you far."

"This is what I said, General Xiao, walk slowly."

Xiao Guan called on the soldiers to follow him, entered the main road, and drove west. Half a mile later, a school captain caught up and said: "Fortunately, we did not offend King Wu, otherwise none of us would survive if hundreds of arrows were shot down." "

"The King of Wu is near us. They don't dare to shoot arrows, but there is no need to fight to the death. That is the King of Wu after all."

"Yes, it is the King of Wu after all." The captain turned his head and saw more than thirty people kneeling to worship the King of Wu again. Looking at the woods on the roadside, he felt more and more that there were ambushes everywhere. He couldn't help but admire General Xiao. At this time, he could still keep his composure and run leisurely.

Bypassing the inspection range of Meng Jinliang's soldiers, Xiao Gu'an met the fifty people he had sent back to ask for orders on the way. The leading deputy general ran in a hurry and was sweating profusely. When he saw General Xiao, he shouted from a distance: "Jin The king has a decree... Didn't General Xiao bring back King Wu? "

"No, King Wu set up an ambush. We are no match."

The deputy general ran closer, with a face full of surprise, "The king of Jin knew things like a god, and said that the king of Wu must have planned to escape from the hands of General Xiao. The king of Jin said that if there is any luck, there is no need to bring anyone back alive. If he falls into the trap, General Xiao is fine."

As soon as he returned to the camp, Xiao Gu'an had no time to take off his armor and went directly to see King Jin. He firmly remembered King Wu's reminder and without a word of excuse, he took all the responsibilities on his own and knelt down to plead guilty.

The King of Jin was not angry, but smiled and said: "I was careless. I only sent a hundred people to chase the King of Wu. General Xiao will go and rest for a while. Let's go back to Jinyang."

The Jin army had already set off one after another. The King of Jin personally came to the rear and was ready to break camp when Xiao Gu'an arrived.

Returning to his tent, Xiao Gu'an sighed to his entourage: "The person who is called king must have something extraordinary. He is very comparable to others. King Jin deserves the title. What is strange is why King Wu gave up the title of king? I can't understand it. It's really I can’t figure it out.”

Also confused were Chang Yan and others. Although they were willing to follow King Wu whether he abdicated or not, they were still confused and did not dare to ask questions.

Xu Chu helped them up again. He looked at the roadside first, but saw no sign of Tian Jiang, so he said to the old servant: "Take me to see the people in the car."

"Yes." The old servant was the happiest. He led his master to the back car, opened the curtain and said, "Seventh Master, my master is here to see you."

The old servant used to call Lou Shuo "Seventh Master", but there was not much respect in his tone.

Xu Chu finally understood why Lou Shuo never came out to meet him. It turned out that his hands and feet were tied and he couldn't move while sitting in the car.

When the general was assassinated, Lou Shuo collapsed for a while, but now he has returned to normal and became extremely indifferent. He glanced at Xu Chu out of the corner of his eye and said nothing.

The old servant said: "He refused to get on the horse, so we pushed him into the car."

"Why bring him?" Xu Chu was very surprised.

"Because... because..." The old servant couldn't explain clearly. At that time, he just felt that Lou Shuo was King Wu's brother and shouldn't stay in Dongdu, but now he couldn't explain it.

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Just bring it and untie the rope."

"He will run away." The old servant reminded in a low voice.

"It doesn't matter, the world is vast, he can go wherever he wants."

The old servant asked someone to come over and untie Lou Shuo, and he did not forget to threaten: "Master Qi, my master said that you can escape. Now there are soldiers everywhere. Let's see where you can escape."

Lou Shuo still said nothing.

Xu Chu pointed to another car, "Who is here?"

"The master's concubine is very loyal, and she insists on following her. Anyway, King Liang gave her the car, so we brought her."

The person in the car opened the curtain by himself and said with a smile: "King Wu wants to leave by himself and leave me in the chaotic city, but that won't work."

It was actually Feng Juniang.

Xu Chu was surprised and embarrassed, "Aren't you married?"

"Wu Shigong? He didn't even say anything about being a matchmaker. It's not considered a marriage. It was the Golden Saint who forced me to go there. Wu Shigong was really happy when he first got me, but he was going to fight at that time and was afraid of being beaten by me. He was afraid of death, so he didn’t dare to touch me, saying he was waiting for a big show after the war. Who would have thought..."

"He won't..." Xu Chu also felt that this was getting weirder and weirder.

Feng Juniang wiped the non-existent tears, "But that's the thing, he didn't touch me... Speaking of which, there was a Lu Kuan before. King Wu just rewarded me to him, and he died without even meeting me. After Wu Shigong died, I had nowhere to go. No one dared to want me anymore, and I didn't dare to go back to King Wu until I heard that King Wu and the Golden Saint had parted ways. I wanted to chase him, but I happened to hear that someone else was coming. Chasing the King of Wu, I followed him."

Feng Juniang smiled.

Xu Chu said helplessly: "I am no longer the King of Wu, and you should stop saying that you are my concubine. I have never admitted it."

"If you don't want to be a concubine, you might as well be a maid. King Wu... No, the young master must have someone to serve him."

The old servant coughed twice, and Feng Juniang smiled and said: "I am the master's right-hand man, but when it comes to needlework, you have to let the woman do it, right?"

The old servant was satisfied.

Xu Chu turned his head and saw Tian Jiang's figure coming from a distance, and said to the old servant: "Let's get on our way first, and we'll talk about it later. Remember, she is not my concubine."

The old servant nodded, "Yes, although the young master is determined, he cannot be defeated easily."

Xu Chu strode towards Tian Jiang.

Tian Jiang had put away his bow and arrows, cupped his hands and said, "It seems that Mr. Xu really needs someone to accompany him."

Tian Jiang was the most happy about the change of title.

Xu Chu returned the courtesy, "It would be great to have the strong man Tian as our companion, but..."

"There's no guarantee that the Jin soldiers won't turn back, so let's get on the road first."

The group set off and returned to King Wu. Everyone was very happy, and Xu Chu also felt much more comfortable than walking alone.

In the evening of the same day, a group of people encountered the first group of Jizhou soldiers. They heard that the King of Wu himself was among them. These Jizhou soldiers were frightened. Their reaction was the same as that of the Jin soldiers. They did not dare to make their own decisions, so they left everyone behind and sent other soldiers to attack quickly. Return to the main camp to request orders.

In the next few hours, Jizhou soldiers came one after another. Some people recognized the King of Wu and came to identify him personally. After being convinced, they were even more surprised. They even forgot about the defeat of Dongdu and did not dare to be rude.

The Jizhou army returned in defeat in the eastern capital, and they had great respect for the King of Wu who defeated them. If they were resentful, they hated the general Lou Wen even more. They hated him for turning against the guest and killing the Jizhou general Wang Tiemei, which caused the whole army to collapse and themselves. Not going to end well.

At night, there were thousands of Jizhou soldiers, forming several layers of soldiers to "protect" King Wu.

Xu Chu and his party camped in the center, regardless of what was going on outside. It was time to eat and rest. Anyway, King Wu was here, so they were not worried at all.

Xu Chu was not worried and invited Tian Jiang to drink with him.

Tian Jiang once shot Ning Baoguan with an arrow at the city gate. When Xu Chu asked about it, Tian Jiang told him, "King Ning woke up early, and my accuracy was also a little worse. And since King Wu gave up the command, there has been no one." Concerned about Prince Ning, all the people in Dongdu talk about are Mr. Xu."

"Tian Zhuangshi should be able to understand my thoughts."

"I don't really understand, I just think it's natural. There's nothing to be confused about."

Xu Chu held up his hands, expressed his gratitude, and asked: "I wanted to ask during the day, those people...the person they want to follow is Tian Zhuangshi, right?"

Xu Chu could understand that the former guards came to chase him, but the people of Dongdu surprised him.

Tian Jiang smiled and said: "Master Xu is rarely wrong. It is you who they want to defect to, but you just happen to be traveling with me."

"Why? When I became king, they couldn't hide. I was no longer the King of Wu. Instead, they left their families and careers to follow me?"

"There are ambitious people, and naturally there are people who are indifferent to the world. When Mr. Xu became king, he attracted one group of people. After he abdicated, he attracted another group of people. It is normal. Like those guards, regardless of whether Mr. Xu respected No matter how high or low, everyone is willing to follow you, Mr. Xu should cherish him."

"I feel ashamed of myself, but it also makes me feel that the burden is very heavy, heavier than holding a hundred thousand soldiers."

Tian Jiang smiled and said, "Mr. Xu is not born to be a light person. He must carry some burden."

Xu Chu also smiled, "Where is Tian Zhuangshi? Why are you here?"

Tian Jiang drank all the wine in the bowl, was silent for a long time, and then replied: "I have been chasing names all my life. Mr. Xu abdicated and became famous all over the world. For me, it is an irresistible bait, and I must bite it no matter what." "

Xu Chu laughed and said, "Tian Zhuangshi is straightforward. It just so happens that you want to go by name, but I am going to Yecheng to be realistic. Maybe we can each get what we want."

Chang Yan opened the curtain and came in with a panicked look on his face, "It's bad. A large group of soldiers and horses came from outside and surrounded us. They kept asking the people of Jizhou to hand over the King of Wu."

Tian Jiang said strangely: "This is obviously the territory of the Jizhou Army..."

Xu Chu stood up and said, "It's He Rongbu, he came just in time."