Plan to cut off the nine states

More than a dozen scholars stood at the entrance of the valley, looking at the lush weeds. They did not dare to go in any further. They whispered to each other. After a long time, someone finally said loudly: "It seems that the rumors are true. There is something strange about the fruit of Si Guo Guo." ”

A carriage arrived and the scholars gave way.

The carriage could no longer enter the valley and stopped on the roadside. Two women, the master and the servant, walked out of the carriage.

Feng Juniang frowned slightly, "Why are you here again? Do you want to argue again?"

The scholars recognized this girl, and someone stepped forward and said, "Mrs. Feng, I would like to advise you: stay away from this place, stay away from Xu Chu. The monsters appearing here are..."

"Bah, you are the monster. Looking at your sinister features, you must be a rat monster."

The scholar blushed and whispered, "I don't know a good heart."

Feng Juniang took the maid into the valley, and suddenly another scholar's voice came from behind: "This girl and Xu Chu are of the same species. She specializes in bewitching the world with her beauty. She is also one of the monsters who have thought about the valley!"

Feng Juniang turned around, smiled sweetly, and said to the angry scholar: "I don't seem to have tempted you - are you unhappy because of this?"

Feng Juniang walked away, but the scholar was dumbfounded. He was pushed a few times by his companions before he came back to his senses. Seeing the mockery in everyone's eyes, his face couldn't help but blush, "Did you see this? This woman performed a magic trick in front of everyone. Fortunately, I survived. In recent times, Yecheng has experienced a period of rising yin and declining yang, and this woman is one of the clear proofs..."

The nearby coachman coughed and interjected: "We are from the Prince of Xiangdong's Palace. What do you call us?"

The scholar looked down on the coachman, but when he heard the words "Prince's Palace of Eastern Hunan", his face turned pale again with fright. He only cares about his quick words and actually said such words as "Yin rises and Yang declines", completely forgetting that Yecheng's most famous The "Yin Sheng" is Princess Huanyan, the daughter of King Xiangdong.

"I...I don't have a title..." The scholar walked quickly, reminding his companions along the way not to reveal his name.

But one thing they were already sure of was that there was an unusual change in Si Guo Gu, which must mean something.

Feng Juniang came specially to see Xu Chu, "What do you think, Master?"

"What?" Xu Chu had just finished cutting the grass and was reading a book.

"The young master actually asked the little princess to take Lou Ji to see the eldest princess."

"This is the little princess's own idea." Xu Chu said, and he was also used to calling Zhang Shiqing "the little princess".

"Young master, can you at least stop it?"

Xu Chu smiled and said: "The little princess has her own ideas, which is a good thing, and who can I stop her?"

"Just... forget it, Young Master doesn't care about anything right now. Everything is just 'wait a little while longer'. Even if someone is setting a fire nearby, you have to 'wait a little longer' before putting out the fire."

"Haha, it's not that exaggerated. You must put out the fire quickly, but we are the ones setting fires lately. Is the little princess in trouble?"

"The little princess did not cause any trouble, and she was protected by her father and brother, so she was not afraid of causing trouble. I originally advised the young master to go to the city to reunite with the little princess. It was for this reason that later the little princess moved into Siguo Valley. I was greatly relieved. Unexpectedly, The young master doesn’t appreciate it.”

"She didn't say she wouldn't come back, but just staying in the city is a good thing for her. The little princess is not very adaptable to life in the valley."

"It doesn't matter now whether the little princess comes back or not."

"You mean I'm in trouble?"

Feng Juniang sighed, "How could such a smart person like the young master not understand this? Lou Ji came to you with bad intentions, and must have the intention of setting up a frame of reference. The young master did not put up any defense, and asked the little princess to take him back to the city... …”

"It's not me who 'let'."

"In the eyes of outsiders, this was the young master's idea. Now, there are rumors in the city that the young master has a secret conspiracy with Prince Ning to help him deceive Yecheng."

"Hey, people in the city haven't forgotten me yet?" Xu Chu said with a smile.

"Young Master, don't laugh. The situation is really dangerous right now. Kou Daogu is hiding in the dark, waiting for the Young Master to reveal his flaws so that he can bite him off."

"You made him look like a snake."

"He is a snake, a viper."

Xu Chu thought for a while and said seriously: "I still feel that Lou Ji is really scared and sincerely came to me for help. He is not hiding any evil intentions."

"When did the young master become so gullible? Not long after Lou Ji returned to the city, he made friends with Kou Daogu. The young master should understand what these two people think of the young master."

Xu Chu thought for a while, "We still have to wait."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Waiting for the truth."

"The truth is obvious. King Ning saw through the princess's thoughts and schemes, and tricked her into giving up a way so that King Ning could reach Stone City directly. Later, he failed to keep his promise. Not only did he not kill the emperor, but he was willing to be the emperor's pawn. That's not right. , He clearly wants to use the emperor to control the princes. He wants to dominate Jiangdong first, and then compete for the world. "

"What did Princess Huanyan say?"

"What can she say? She can't admit that she was deceived and designed to kill the emperor of Jiangdong, right? She can only pretend to be surprised, but I can see that she is very angry, especially very disappointed with Lou Ji."

"It's like two people fighting against each other, and one side makes a move. Before the other side responds, it's best not to say who wins and who loses, who is strong and who is weak."

"What else can the princess do? Send troops to kill Ning Baoguan? There is no name, no troops, and there is Huaizhou in the middle." Feng Juniang shook her head, "This all stems from one thing - the young master Feeling soft for a moment, I decided to go back to the city."

Xu Chu was silent, and Feng Juniang also felt that her words were a bit harsh, "That's not the fault of the young master, the young master..."

"You came back under orders, right?" Xu Chu asked, not paying attention to Feng Juniang's words.

Feng Ju Niang opened her eyes wide, as if she was misunderstood and unhappy. She only persisted for a short while, and then she smiled, "This is like the Mr. Xu I know. He can see through the truth at a glance. How did you see it?"

"Come back by yourself. You are from this valley. When I was ordered to come back, you are from Princess Huanyan. The look and tone of the two are different."

"Am I too assertive in front of the young master?"

Xu Chu nodded.

"Even though I came here on the orders of the eldest princess, what I did was still for the sake of the young master."

"I believe it."

"Let me put it bluntly, the eldest princess wants to hear the young master's opinion. Didn't you just say that the eldest princess hasn't taken any action yet? She wants to know how the young master will respond in this situation."

"Does this count as asking me for advice?"

"The princess said that this is at best a consultation. She consults many people at the same time, and she already has an idea in mind. She just wants to hear if others have better ideas."

"But there are still many things I don't understand."

"You can ask me. Of course, I don't know much. Jiangdong is too far away, and what happens there usually takes several days or even ten days to reach here."

Xu Chu suddenly realized that he had nothing to ask. The fact was simple. Ning Baoguan did not kill the emperor, but instead prepared to conquer all directions in the name of the emperor. What Yecheng needed was a rough plan.

"The best policy is to wait and wait for others to respond first."

"When the princess asked, this is what I answered? One word?"

"Yes, tell Princess Huanyan that no matter what her decision is, just wait a few more days and don't be the first to take the lead."

"But……"

"Just tell her this." Xu Chu picked up the book and continued reading.

Feng Juniang was stunned for a while and prepared to leave, "I'm going back to the city. No matter what, I will keep an eye on Kou Daogu for the young master to prevent him from doing evil in secret."

Xu Chu smiled slightly and said nothing.

Before dark, Zhang Shiqing came back from the city and seemed very happy. She also brought many gifts and distributed them to everyone, as well as two maids, both middle-aged women in their forties or fifties.

The two women looked sterner than the other, with a clear division of labor. One of them stared at the man in the valley like a guard against thieves, and they were not allowed to do anything remotely rude, not even to smile at the princess's little maid. , and another followed the princess closely, reminding the princess in a low voice from time to time to pay attention to her manners.

The gifts and maids were all arranged by the princess. The Prince of Jibei and his family felt that it would be better for Princess Fangde to live outside the city temporarily. After all, Xu Chu was the princess's nominal husband, so living with him was justifiable. My sister-in-law was kicked out.

Zhang Shiqing accepted the gift but refused to be monitored. He only endured it for one night and told the two women early the next morning: "You two take a car back to the city and tell the princess that everything is fine with me so that she doesn't have to worry."

"Princess Princess, we and I have been ordered to serve..."

"Yes, I am ordering you to leave now. If you refuse to obey and stay here without leaving, I will have people carry you out of the valley. You have also seen what kind of people are in the valley."

Chang Yan and others were used to being undisciplined. They dressed, behaved, and spoke casually. In the eyes of the two women, they were like savages. They were really afraid of being carried out by a group of men, so they had no choice but to leave in anger, begging the princess to write a letter and explain the situation to the princess. .

Zhang Shiqing regained his freedom and immediately ran to Xu Chu's house, "Going to carry water again?"

"Um."

"I'll go together."

Xu Chu shouldered the burden, and Zhang Shiqing followed beside him, nibbling a peach hard. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he had already eaten the third peach, and then he remembered to take another one out of the small bag on his waist and handed it to Xu Chu.

Xu Chu took it over, and the two of them ate peaches, climbed over the ridge, and meandered to the creek in the back mountain.

After finishing all the peaches, Zhang Shiqing said, "Why don't you ask me about my entry into the city?"

"How?" Xu Chu filled a bucket of water and went to get another bucket.

"Everything went well. Huanyan was not angry. For my sake, he even comforted Lou Ji. To be honest, he is also the son of a general, but he is not as courageous as you. At least I haven't seen you show your face in front of anyone. Cowardice. Of course, you dare to assassinate the emperor and lead troops to rebel, so nothing should scare you. "

Xu Chu smiled. The two buckets of water were filled, and he picked up the pole and prepared to go back to the valley.

Zhang Shiqing was familiar with the route and did not want to follow behind. Instead, he ran ahead and reached the ridge first. When Xu Chu followed, she said: "I also persuaded Huanyan not to rely on He Rong's cavalry. I didn't mention the little barbarian girl." , I just say that the He Rong tribe is so ambitious that it is easy to invite them but difficult to send them away, and they are all cavalry, so they cannot be used when they arrive in Jiangdong. "

"You actually know that Jiangdong is not good for cavalry?" Xu Chu said with a smile.

"Of course, I have known for a long time. Do you think that we will only eat, drink and have fun when we are in Dongdu? We learned a lot. In short, Huanyan agreed not to borrow troops from He Rong's Ministry, but to persuade Huai and Jingzhou to come from the north Send troops to the west and Ning Baoguan to destroy them while they are not yet firmly established."

Xu Chu stopped and said, "You said Princess Huanyan comforted Lou Ji?"

"I've said a lot, and you just noticed this?"

"Huanyan County is planning to do something big." Xu Chu said with a smile.