Plan to cut off the nine states

Tian Jiang became increasingly elusive. Occasionally, someone would catch a glimpse of him in the valley. When they were about to say hello, he had already disappeared. No one knew when he would come back, when he would leave, or why he came.

This time was no different. The people outside were making a lot of noise and apparently hadn't noticed anything unusual. But he suddenly appeared at the door and looked over coldly.

Zhang Shiqing was flipping through a newspaper. He was a little tired and drowsy. He sat there yawning. Suddenly, he found a stranger standing at the door. He was so scared that he lost all his sleepiness. He stood up and shouted, "Who are you?"

"Where is Xu Chu?"

"Weeding in the cemetery. You're not from this valley. Who are you?"

Tian Jiang stepped forward. Zhang Shiqing was about to call someone outside to help. Tian Jiang stopped and threw a letter, which landed on the table. "Please pass this letter to Xu Chu."

"You haven't said who you are yet."

"Tian Jiang."

"Which 'Jiang'?"

Tian Jiang didn't answer. He turned and left. The noise outside remained the same.

"Rude person." Zhang Shiqing said softly, and continued to read the military newspaper. Soon, his interest turned to the letter.

The letter was worn out, and it was obvious that it had been passed around. There was no word written on the surface, neither a personal letter nor a sealed letter.

"Could it be her?" Zhang Shiqing thought that the letter might be sent by the female bandit leader of the Advent Army, and she could no longer resist her curiosity and immediately opened it to see the details.

The letter was sealed. Although she had been spoiled since she was a child and acted according to her own will, there were some rules that she had already formed a habit and she could not break them. Opening unopened letters privately was one of them.

After hesitating for a long time, Zhang Shiqing got up, picked up the letter, and hurried out of the house to the cemetery. She could not open the letter privately, but after Xu Chu opened it, she could come over to take a look - whether the other party agreed was not within her consideration.

Xu Chu was taking a rest, and there were no chairs around, so he sat on the tombstone.

"There is a strange man named Tian Jiang who sent you a letter."

"Tian Jiang? I haven't seen him for a long time." Xu Chu took the letter and was also slightly stunned. "An unnamed letter."

"Open it quickly and see if it is from Qinzhou?"

"Qinzhou..." Xu Chu opened the letter, took a look and replied: "No."

"Who wrote the letter? Is it that Tian Jiang? Why doesn't he say it directly if he has something to say."

"No." Xu Chu's expression gradually became solemn.

"What is it about?" Zhang Shiqing's curiosity did not diminish, but became stronger.

Xu Chu read the whole letter and handed it to Zhang Shiqing, who immediately took it in his hand. He first looked at the title and the signature, "Who is 'Guo Mou who rises and falls with the world'?" He looked at it for a few more times and suddenly realized, "He is Guo Shifeng, the military advisor of Ning Baoguan, you often mention him. Why did he write to you?"

The letter was in his hand. Zhang Shiqing closed his mouth and read it word by word. He looked up and looked at Xu Chu in surprise, "He asked you to go to Jiangdong as soon as possible... What does this mean? Also serve as a military advisor to Ning Baoguan, or... continue to be the King of Wu?"

From the text on the letter, Zhang Shiqing tends to the latter explanation. Although Guo Shifeng did not mention the word "King of Wu", there are sentences such as "Everything is ready, just as you expected" and "Jiangdong has no leader and has been waiting for you for a long time", which can be said to be very clear.

"What do you think?" Xu Chu smiled.

Zhang Shiqing showed a vigilant expression, "You... are not really going to abdicate, and you want to be the King of Wu again? I heard that you sent Ning Baoguan to Jiangdong, and Guo Shifeng is also your closest friend..."

"Not close, but he is indeed a good friend."

Once Zhang Shiqing made a judgment in his mind, many evidences automatically came to him, and he cleared up the unreasonable places one by one, "The enemy army returned to Qinzhou in the west, which was simply a trick to lure soldiers to the other side, giving Ning Baoguan an opportunity to take advantage of. You claimed to abdicate and came to Yecheng for refuge, which is the same reason, all to make the court ignore Ning Baoguan. In fact, Jiangdong is the territory you want most, because you are the King of Wu..."

Xu Chu nodded and praised: "It's hard for you to speak so well and come up with the whole conspiracy so quickly."

"Are you praising me or laughing at me?"

"Can you How can I defend myself?"

"It's written in black and white here, what's there to defend? And you have a mouth, you are so eloquent, who can compare with you in terms of 'making sense'?"

"Haha, just treat it as a game, you question it, and you answer it."

This is not a game Zhang Shiqing likes, but after thinking for a while, he reluctantly said: "Thinking carefully, the whole thing is indeed a bit strange. After all, some things can't be pretended. You really seem to be abdicating sincerely - this one won't work. You pretended to be a loyal minister at the beginning, but you still assassinated the Emperor of All Things. Well... the strategy of luring the enemy is not acceptable. After all, the rebel army has hundreds of thousands of people, which is a force that cannot be underestimated. You can abandon it just like that - this one won't work either. To be king, you have to be ruthless, not to mention that the rebel army is not obedient. Maybe you are going to kill someone with a borrowed knife. "

Xu Chu smiled but said nothing.

Zhang Shiqing read the letter again, but could not find any flaws. He opened his mouth twice and closed it again, unable to come up with a suitable excuse. "If this letter falls into Huanyan's hands, you will be dead."

"Fortunately, it was obtained by Tian Jiang first."

"You...are really faking your abdication, and you are going to Jiangdong?"

Xu Chu shook his head.

Zhang Shiqing looked at him, torn between Xu Chu and the letter. Suddenly she thought of something, and a delighted smile appeared on her face, "Ha, I thought of it, this letter, this letter is the biggest flaw. If you had already Just make a comprehensive plan, why wait for Guo Shifeng to write an invitation? As soon as you hear the news that Ning Baoguan has entered Stone City, you should go to Jiangdong quietly. The hint in Guo Shifeng's letter turned out to be superfluous. "

Xu Chu stood up and said, "If everyone thinks like you, I will be safe and sound."

Zhang Shiqing felt a stone fall in his heart. He was so happy that he returned the letter and said with a smile: "This Guo Shifeng is not very powerful. Huanyan can see through everything I can understand at a glance. Anyway, the letter fell into our hands, burn it." Bar?"

"OK."

In Siguo Valley, everyone was preparing something to light the fire. Zhang Shiqing lit it with his own hands, threw it in front of the grave, and said with blessing: "Mr. Fan, this is a letter written by a traitor. I don't know if you are interested in it. In the underworld." If you're bored, maybe you can pass the time. If you have a spirit underground, go to Jiangdong to scare the traitor. His name is Guo Shifeng, and Ning Baoguan."

The two of them walked back together. On the way, Zhang Shiqing took a few steps and turned around to stop Xu Chu, "That's not right."

"What's wrong?"

"That letter was specifically designed to frame you, which is right. But since Guo Shifeng is so famous, he shouldn't just want to use a letter to get rid of you. And - does he have any grudge against you?"

"We are friends, where is the enmity?"

"Then why is he harming you? Is he afraid that you will call yourself King of Wu again and compete with Ning Baoguan for Jiangdong? Or is he afraid that you... will serve as a military advisor in Yecheng?"

"Hard to say."

"I'm afraid there is more than one similar letter. Tian Jiang sent this letter just to give you a reminder."

Xu Chu smiled.

"You already guessed it, why didn't you tell me and let me guess?" Zhang Shiqing was a little annoyed.

"Since it's a game, how boring would it be to say it directly?"

Zhang Shiqing sneered and said: "As if you know what fun is. Drinking and setting fires are fun, but guessing riddles is not. Polo and pot throwing are fun, but reading military reports is not."

"Guo Shifeng wanted to put me in danger, but I haven't thought of a way to deal with it yet. This is all I know, and I won't hide it anymore."

"What other countermeasures are needed? As I said just now, the letter itself is a flaw."

"If everyone had thoughts like yours, I would be safe and sound." Xu Chu repeated his previous words and then sighed, "But this is a luxury."

"It doesn't have to be everyone. I have this idea and a happy face. That's enough."

"Princess Huanyan can't do whatever she wants in Yecheng. In many cases, she has to obey the public's expectations."

"What is 'public hope'? I haven't seen anyone dare to stand up against Huanyan's decision. When you came to seek refuge, she was the one who took you in despite all the opposition."

"But I'm not allowed to enter the city."

"I just want you to be patient for a while. Now you can go into the city if you want, and no one will care about it. She did this because..." Zhang Shiqing understood what "public hope" is.

The two walked in silence for a while. When they approached their residence, Zhang Shiqing turned around and said, "But you can think of a countermeasure, right?"

"Of course." Xu Chu said firmly.

Zhang Shiqing smiled and said, "I guess so. Do you have an idea?"

"No."

"We'll have to wait a little longer."

"Exactly."

"Hey."

In the afternoon of the same day, someone came to visit again and brought bad news, indicating that "public hope" was indeed detrimental to Xu Chu.

Sun Yalu had not been here for a while. When he saw the weeds in the valley, he was as surprised as everyone else. "I thought the rumors were exaggerated, but I didn't expect... Mr. Xu, there is a trouble now."

Ever since she heard that Xu Chu might be framed, Zhang Shiqing has been staying by his side. She recognized Sun Yalu and did not need to avoid it. As soon as she heard the word "trouble", she immediately said: "Guo Shifeng's letters are all lies. You Don’t see it?”

"Letter? Oh, Princess Fangde, don't worry, the trouble I'm talking about is another matter."

Zhang Shiqing blushed a little.

"Did Mr. Xu also get the letter?" Sun Yalu asked.

"Yes, one letter."

"It doesn't matter, this matter is not a problem yet. The weeds in the valley are a bit too lush. It doesn't seem to be like this in previous years."

"Well, I came here once last year and never saw so much grass." Xu Chu said, paused for a moment, "Is there anyone who doesn't like these grasses?"

"It's not that I don't like it, I just think it's... weird."

Zhang Shiqing finally understood, "The trouble Mr. Sun is talking about is these weeds? It is indeed troublesome. It would be great if you could mobilize hundreds or thousands of people to help us weed."

"Haha, the army is out... Even if I'm still in Yecheng, I don't have the authority to dispatch so many people." Sun Yalu coughed twice, "That's right, there are rumors in the city that the monsters born in Siguo Valley correspond to the people here. Others take it by force.”

"Kou Daogu has been defeated in consecutive debates. Are you still not convinced?" Zhang Shiqing asked.

"Mr. Kou didn't come forward, but those Fan disciples and some scholars wrote to the governor, asking him to report this monster to the court. There are many people, and they are increasing every day. The governor can't bear it, and he will send someone soon Come check it out.”

Sun Yalu didn't say any more. The governor of Yecheng was a local official. If he reported something strange, the court would have to respond.

Zhang Shiqing couldn't believe that a piece of weed could cause trouble, but when he took a look at Xu Chu, he found that his expression was serious and knew that this was really a big trouble.

"As for Jiangdong's letter--" Sun Yalu smiled, "It hasn't spread yet, but it's best not to get involved with the weeds. For Mr. Xu, that would be a real trouble."

(I wish you all a happy New Year in advance. The last update before the New Year, the 30th, the 1st, and the 2nd will be a three-day break, the 3rd to the 10th will be updated daily, and the 11th will resume normal. Please be informed.)