Plan to cut off the nine states

Xu Chu's threat to Kou Daogu was immediate. Early the next morning, Feng Juniang came. These days, her steps were getting more and more hurried. As soon as she entered the room, she complained: "I'm exhausted, I'm exhausted. Who am I?" A broom star who specializes in calligraphy has no prominent background, no intelligence beyond ordinary people, no ability to fly over walls, and no unexplainable feelings. He has practiced calligraphy for so long, but his writing is still crooked. He is doing the work of a maid. It’s my parents’ hearts that are at fault, why?”

Feng Juniang sat down uninvited and turned to stare at Xu Chu with a look of dissatisfaction on her face.

Xu Chu smiled slightly and refused to look at her, "Did Kou Daogu come forward?"

"Yesterday, the young master asked me to invite a Fan disciple, and I did it. I thought the young master had come up with some clever plan. It turned out that he was just to anger Kou Daogu, but... why bother? There are so many troubles now, and the young master is not a grudge-bearing person, why did he just do it? Do you want to deal with him now?"

"What did he do?"

"He...Kou Daogu is really angry with you. Just now, he publicly declared that the emperor ascended the throne too early, which caused dissatisfaction among the states, claiming that all the crises in Ye City originated from this."

"He is quite courageous." Xu Chu said with a smile.

Feng Juniang said angrily: "The young master is called 'cowardly'. You want to cause trouble, but this time disaster has really come. Why is Kou Daogu so bold? Because he has a backer, does the young master know..."

"The Queen Mother?"

"Master, do you know?"

"It's not hard to guess. The Empress Dowager hates me, and Kou Dao is angry with me. The two of them must be able to talk to each other very well."

"Young Master put it simply. Kou Daogu's intelligence is not inferior to that of the Young Master, and it is equally unexpected when he actually plays tricks. He works as a staff member in the palace, but rarely participates in discussions, and does not please the princess. Instead, he flatters Xiangdong. Wang, he came into contact with the Empress Dowager through this relationship. I just learned about these things."

"Is anyone supporting him?"

"At least ten ministers echoed him, thinking that the emperor ascended the throne too early. Some people said it more vaguely, but the meaning was not bad. These people are all veterans and are considered to be close followers of the Queen Mother. They usually do not participate in government affairs, but today they all stand On Kou Daogu’s side, it’s obvious who’s behind it.”

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Where is the emperor himself? How do you react?"

"Your Majesty has just ascended the throne and is not here to discuss matters. The dispute among the ministers was too fierce. The princess took them to see your Majesty. It is estimated that the Queen Mother will also participate. This matter is not trivial..."

Xu Chu thought for a while and said, "Well, it is indeed a big deal. Although Kou Daogu was angered by me, the fact that he dared to jump out shows that he is confident - not only does he have the Empress Dowager as his backer, but the Emperor will also support him."

Feng Juniang was stunned, "Emperor? I thought the emperor would work with the princess to deal with the empress dowager. Does he himself think it was a mistake to ascend the throne too early?"

"There is nothing wrong with ascending the throne, but it is wrong to make the decision to ascend the throne. There is a subtle difference between the two, and the directions are completely different."

Feng Juniang was stunned again, "Indeed, Kou Daogu and others have been saying that the instigator deserves death. On the surface, they are blaming the young master, but in fact they are implicating the princess... Oh, they are actually forcing the princess. The choice is to protect yourself or you. But I still don’t understand, isn’t your Majesty grateful to the people who supported him to ascend the throne?”

"Grateful, but he has to ask for power later. Originally, he should wait a little longer, at least half a year later, when the situation in Yecheng is stable, and then slowly test it out. Kou Daogu has brought everything forward."

"Master, since you see it so clearly, why...do you have a countermeasure?"

"Um."

Feng Juniang let out a long breath, then showed an unhappy look, "Master, can't you tell me in advance? I can also remind the princess."

"No need, things will naturally come to that point."

"Which step?"

"Any advice that dares to be put forward in front of the emperor will ultimately be summed up in three words - clear the emperor's side. No matter whether the emperor ascends the throne early or late, he can never abdicate. The only way to save him is to clear the emperor's side and eradicate the bad guys."

"Aren't the 'bad guys' the young master... and the eldest princess? Kou Daogu made a mistake. The eldest princess has many supporters, including the Empress Dowager. There is no one that the eldest princess wants to protect that cannot be protected."

"I can protect myself." Xu Chu smiled.

"Master, can you finish what you said in one go? If you have to keep it a secret, that's fine. I won't come to see you again, so as not to be taken advantage of by you without knowing why."

"Kou Daogu's strategy is to arouse public anger and make the officials think that the crisis in Yecheng is all caused by the emperor's accession to the throne. In order to quell the dissatisfaction of Luo and Huaizhou, the only way is to kill the culprit. In front of the emperor, the controversy will soon focus on My identity as the King of Wu will be brought up again, so everything I suggest, such as proclaiming myself emperor as soon as possible, forming an alliance with the World Army, guarding Yuyang in the north, etc., will become evidence that I harbor evil intentions. Simple, the public anger comes from the crisis that Ye City is facing. If the crisis is removed, the public anger will naturally dissipate, and Kou Daogu will not be able to arouse it no matter how hard he fights. "

Feng Juniang was still confused, "Young master, did you say that you can persuade the Luo and Huai coalition forces to retreat?"

"You can give it a try."

"I don't want to ask how to persuade or whether it can be successful. I only ask one thing: since the young master is willing to persuade the two states to withdraw their troops, why don't you say it in front of the princess? Do you have to get yourself into big trouble first?"

"Without this trouble, I would have nothing to say when I get to Prince Liang."

Feng Juniang still didn't quite understand, but she was too lazy to ask anymore, "Forget it, I'm just the person who runs errands and delivers messages to the young master. You can do whatever you want. I'm just going to make a casual guess. Is the young master doing this for the sake of the little princess and the farmer?"

Xu Chu nodded.

Feng Juniang sighed and left without saying goodbye.

In the evening of the same day, Feng Juniang came again, her steps were not so hurried, her expression was not so flustered, she politely saluted and greeted Xu Chu, poured tea herself, and after sitting down, she said: "Young master, I have to persuade King Liang to retreat. We succeeded." "The young master is the benefactor of Yecheng. If he doesn't succeed, he will be a sinner. Even the princess will have to bear the responsibility of knowing someone unknown."

"Very good, I'll leave tomorrow."

"What do you need, Master?"

"Soldier escorts and official documents from the court are all routine things...no more. For me, these are enough."

"I can go with you to see Prince Liang."

"No need. I have an old relationship with Prince Liang and we can talk to each other. It's useless for you to go."

"I want to see with my own eyes how the young master persuaded the King of Liang to retreat. Because no one in the civil and military circles believed it, they unanimously agreed to send you as an envoy, just waiting to see your joke. If you dare to come back afterwards, you will be punished by death. Don't dare If you come back, you will be wanted and your reputation will inevitably be ruined.”

"I'm used to living in Siguo Valley, and I will definitely come back. If I don't come back, what will the people in the valley do?"

"Young Master, would you like to tell me how you plan to persuade King Liang to withdraw his troops and release the two kings?"

"This kind of thing needs to be done on a case-by-case basis. There is no need to prepare in advance."

"Well, I wish the young master immediate success. I believe in the young master, and the princess... also believes that in the whole Ye City, we are probably the only two people who want to see the young master come back safely."

"Thanks."

"If you want to thank me, let's wait until we get back. Oh, there's one more thing. Kou Daogu will go to Mengjin with the young master."

"Well, who's in charge and who's in charge?"

"Both of you are deputy envoys. There is another envoy currently, and they are still negotiating. It will be confirmed tonight."

"Well, we will know who it is when we leave tomorrow."

Feng Juniang stared at Xu Chu but said nothing.

"Mrs. Feng, do you have anything else to say?"

Feng Juniang shook her head, "I just suddenly remembered some past events."

"Is it related to me?"

"It's all Young Master's business. I think...Young Master likes to go eccentric. You rush to do things that others don't want to do. For example, in Dongdu, when the kings retreated, you were the only one to stand up. It's the same this time, everyone. They all thought that the King of Liang would not retreat if Yecheng was not able to do so, but you just thought you could persuade him. You didn’t even ask what price Yecheng would pay, and you just wanted to retreat based on your words? "

"Ah, I just remembered it when you mentioned it. In order to get King Liang to retreat, what compromise is Yecheng willing to make?"

Feng Juniang shook her head helplessly, "Yecheng can make many compromises for the Huaizhou Sheng family. The general situation is known to the young master. As for the King of Liang, Yecheng will only pardon his sins and nothing else."

"That's no compromise."

"No, all the ministers thought that the King of Liang was weak and tricked Huaizhou into borrowing troops. As long as he convinced the Sheng family, the King of Liang was not worth mentioning. Yecheng sent a large number of envoys to follow the princess to Huaizhou. All hope lies in this. As for the departure I sent Prince Liang just to show his attitude, and no one took him seriously except the young master."

"It suddenly occurred to me that I need someone to accompany me on my mission."

"Don't be a big shot. No one is willing to accompany the young master to death. That's why it has been so difficult to decide on the candidate."

"Not a big shot. Yu Zhan, I want to take him with me."

"Yu Zhan first committed an assassination, and then sued him. He hated the young master to the core..."

"At least he dares to do something. When he gets to Liang Wang, he may be able to use it."

"Okay, I'm getting more and more confused about Young Master's plan. Yu Zhan was ordered to reflect at home, but he is just a scholar, so his deployment shouldn't be a problem. I'm tired too. I won't come over tonight. Young Master has a good rest. , let’s hear the news tomorrow morning.”

"good."

Xu Chu didn't sleep much. He thought about Feng Juniang's words over and over again, and finally had to admit that he did like to take the wrong path and retreat to the valley of thought. He originally wanted to get rid of this habit and observe the world with the "general trend", but in order to To save a person, he falls back on his old tricks.

Before dawn the next day, someone woke Xu Chu.

Everything is ready, Xu Chu can get on his horse and set off.

Yu Zhan was called over with a confused look on his face. When he saw Xu Chu, he immediately showed his hatred without hiding it.

Xu Chu nodded to him.

The two mounted their horses, and Feng Juniang came to see them off and whispered to Xu Chu: "It was Fei Zhenfei, the princess who fought hard to come here."

"Thank you." Xu Chu said. Fei Zhen at least had no intention of harming others. He served as the envoy and could be regarded as a protector for Xu Chu.

At the gate of the city, Fei Zhen had been waiting for a while. When he saw Xu Chu, he didn't say anything and just said "hmm" as a greeting.

There was no one to see him off, and no official from Yecheng, big or small, showed up.

Kou Daogu arrived the last, not riding a horse, but riding a car. After arriving, he got off the car to pay homage to Fei Zhen, and looked at Xu Chu and Yu as if he hadn't seen him.

More than thirty officers and soldiers escorted the chief and deputy envoys on the road, which was the same road Xu Chu took to Yecheng.