Plan to cut off the nine states

The Jin army was the first to climb the city wall, relying not on sophisticated equipment and brave soldiers, but on the most direct bribery.

No one knows how the King of Jin contacted the defenders in the city, but he spent a lot of money. Anyway, around four o'clock one night, a team of Jin soldiers quietly climbed up the city wall, joined the insiders, and quietly changed the flags on the wall. No one inside or outside the city was disturbed.

The Jiangshi Army was in poor condition. Since Xijing was surrounded, they seemed to be more reckless at the beginning, frequently going out of the city to fight, and after repeated defeats, they retreated and did everything they could to defend the city, as if they were a prodigal son who never knew how to calculate.

The Chanyu once watched from a distance, and after seeing the crazy state of the Jiangshi Army, he said to everyone: "I originally expected to break the city within a month, but now it seems that twenty days are enough."

It happened to be on the nineteenth day, the morning sun rose, and the wolf flag of He Rong's army and the black tortoise flag of the Jin army were flying on a small section of the Xijing city wall.

Everyone inside and outside the city was shocked.

The King of Jin ordered an attack on the city, and soon after, all the armies issued the same order. The weapons kept throwing boulders, the ladders slowly pushed towards the city walls, and the crossbows fired upwards...

Everything was the same as the scene when the city was first attacked, but this time, the soldiers were determined to win.

The resistance of the Advent Army lasted only a short while, and there was no decent guard in some places. The enemy flags suddenly flying on the top of the city brought a huge shock, and the defenders collapsed in an instant.

The city gates were opened, and the Advent Army poured out like a tide, not to fight, but to escape.

He Rong's cavalry had been waiting for a long time. They could not help during the siege, and they were unwilling to take the risk. Chasing the dead and the defeated was their advantage. So, a big battle started, gradually spreading from the bottom of Xijing City to the distance, as far as hundreds of miles away.

It would take five or six days for the war to end completely. For the attackers, victory was in hand from the moment the flag was on the city.

The Chanyu was overjoyed. That afternoon, when the battle situation stabilized, the first army had entered the city. He summoned the King of Jin and praised him profusely. He publicly stated that he would marry his other sister to the King of Jin.

This was not enough. At night, several of the Chanyu's favorite generals returned. After drinking, the Chanyu took the King of Jin and five other people to swear brotherhood under the moon.

The Chanyu did not enter the city, and the celebration banquet was held in the big tent. Except for those generals who were chasing the defeated army, all other important figures attended.

Xu Chu and Zhang Shiyu were also there, witnessing the favor of the King of Jin.

Zhang Shiyu couldn't hide his jealousy and whispered to Xu Chu: "Your sworn brother is now sworn brother to the Chanyu. Can you also call him brother in the future?"

"Well, one day when I feel I've lived enough, I'll call him that." Xu Chu smiled, without any jealousy in his heart, just watching with a little appreciation, throwing away hostility. Everything the Chanyu did made him admire him. He thought to himself that if he had such means at the beginning, there would be no need to abdicate, and he would not even have such an idea.

Xu Chu was particularly concerned about the reaction of the King of Jin.

The King of Jin made the first contribution. For a person who had just surrendered, this was a happy event, but it could also be a disaster, which would arouse the fear of the new master. At the beginning, the King of Jin was very cautious and even a little restrained, and attributed all the credit to his several generals, especially the counselor Liu Youzhong.

But the excitement and enthusiasm of the Chanyu were so real. When it came time to swear brotherhood after drinking, the King of Jin finally let go. After standing up, he was able to laugh heartily. He knew some congratulatory words and could talk freely with his new "brother".

Zhang Shiyu misunderstood Xu Chu's gaze, thinking that he was as jealous as himself, and sighed: "You can still laugh. Your two wives will be caught soon. If you are lucky, they will die under the sword and gun. If you are unlucky, they will be captured alive and die in front of you. It is hard to say how they will die."

Zhang Shiyu shuddered, after all, one of them was his biological sister.

"You're right, I shouldn't laugh. When the Chanyu finds out that the Golden Saint and the princess are not in the city at all, he will think that I am secretly plotting."

Zhang Shiyu was stunned, "Not in the city? How is that possible? How do you know?"

"If the Golden Saint defended the city and got the help of Cao Shenxi, she would never be so disorganized."

"Perhaps the Golden Saint lost power and was killed by the Advent Army together with Cao Shenxi."

Xu Chu sighed lightly, "In that case, the Golden Saint is dead, and the princess's life is also in danger."

Zhang Shiyu was silent for a while, "I still hope that they can escape - can they really escape? Where can they escape to?"

Xu Chu shook his head, he didn't know, and even if he knew, he wouldn't say it.

The celebration banquet lasted until the second half of the night, and people kept sending news, especially the soldiers who entered the city to search. Sometimes they caught the leader, and sometimes they found a treasure... but there was no news about the Advent King's siblings and Princess Fangde.

The Chanyu wanted to capture the princess and burn her to ashes to be buried with He Rongpingshan, whether she was dead or alive, as the climax of the whole celebration banquet. However, he failed to do so, so he had to end the banquet and increase the reward again.

After returning to his residence, Chang Yanzhi was also concerned about the safety of the Golden Saint and the princess. As soon as he saw Xu Chu, he asked, "Sir, is there any news?"

"No." Xu Chu knew what Chang Yanzhi was asking.

Chang Yanzhi breathed a sigh of relief, "I hope they can be safe. Alas, the Advent Army is so vulnerable, which is very different from when the lord was here."

"The enemy army at that time was also very different from now."

"It's still disappointing. I don't know about those Wu people... Alas."

"Have you heard that any Wu people were captured?"

"Not yet, but I can't get much information. It's so chaotic now. Maybe there will be an explanation tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"Probably not."

"Huh? What do you mean, sir?"

"Sleep, sleep, the country is broken, Kyushu has fallen, it is better to sleep, out of sight, out of mind." Xu Chu took advantage of his drunkenness and fell down to sleep.

Chang Yan had never seen the young master so uninterested, and couldn't help but be stunned. Then he gently covered Xu Chu with a blanket and sighed silently.

Ignoring the excitement outside, Xu Chu slept until noon and woke up. When he opened his eyes, he saw Chang Yan's eyes as wide as copper bells.

"When is it?" Xu Chu sat up, rubbed his eyes, and there was still a smell of alcohol in his mouth.

"It's afternoon."

Xu Chu yawned widely.

"I heard the news that the Golden Saint and the little princess are not in the city. They left long before He Rong's army attacked."

"Yeah?"

Chang Yan's excitement weakened by three points, "Isn't the young master surprised?"

"Accident." Xu Chu rubbed his eyes again, "Tell me in detail."

"I don't know the details. I only heard that only part of the Worldly Army guarding the city was taken away, and another part was taken away by the Golden Saint. I don't know where they went. The little princess was also taken away."

"The Golden Saint must have taken away a lot of people. How come no one knows where they are going?"

"This...I don't know."

"He Rong Cavalry captured many prisoners of the World Army before. Why didn't they tell the truth?"

"This...I don't know either. I'll ask again."

"Forget it, asking is in vain... No, asking is not in vain at all. Just ask. The more people you ask, the better."

"Yes." Seeing that the young master suddenly became eager, Chang Yan was a little confused, but he didn't ask in detail. He followed the order and went out of the tent. He asked all the familiar and unfamiliar people for details in a stilted congratulatory language.

When he came back happily after running around for a long time, Xu Chu was no longer there.

Xu Chu was called to the big tent.

No matter how late he slept or how much he drank, Chanyu's face never looked tired the next day and his energy was enviable. This time was no exception. However, the excitement from last night had also disappeared, and instead showed A bit gloomy.

Standing in front of him were more than a dozen Lord He Rong, each speaking one after another. Chanyu listened more than he spoke. Once he spoke, he would definitely question with anger.

Lord He Rong retreated to both sides, and more than ten Central Plains generals came in. They knelt down and replied, showing even more fear and uneasiness.

"The rumors... seem to be true. The Golden Saint did indeed leave Xijing with the King of the World and some of his troops, and disappeared without a trace." A general said.

"How many people did she take away?" Shan Yu asked coldly.

"It is said...it is said to be between 30,000 and 100,000."

"How is it possible?" Shan Yu was furious, "So many people left the city, and you captured so many prisoners before, but no one saw them?"

Most of the people who captured the prisoners were He Rong's cavalry, but the Central Plains generals did not dare to argue at this time. They could only say: "The Golden Saint did not take them all away at once, but sent them out in groups in the name of dispatching troops. She She and the Incarnation Army sneaked away one night without letting any news out. It seemed that she had been planning for a long time, not only to escape... He Rong's army."

"Where is Princess Tiancheng?" Shan Yu asked loudly.

"It is said that the Golden Saint had already left the city when the princess arrived. The princess stayed for one night and was sent out of the city early the next morning to join the Golden Saint."

"Who is left in the city?"

"Also the Advent Army."

"How many people?"

"There are at least 100,000 people. The exact strength will have to wait a few days..."

Shan Yu stood up suddenly and shouted: "Three days, within three days, I want to know the whereabouts of the World Army and the princess. Even if they escape to the sky, I will chase them back!"

The generals from the Central Plains kowtowed to accept the order and quickly exited the tent.

Shanyu was extremely angry and walked up to several other Central Plains people and stared at them one by one.

Zhang Shiyu couldn't bear it at first and hurriedly defended: "I don't know anything. Really, I don't know anything at all. Ask Xu Chu, he...he told me last night that the Golden Saint and the princess were not in the city. There, he might know something."

Xu Chu was betrayed in this way, and he happened to be the person Shan Yu suspected the most.

"You, it's you, you know that the person has escaped..."

Xu Chu was still calm and said: "Chanyu should remember that I once reminded you: the golden saint should not die in Xijing."

"You deliberately informed me in advance so that I would no longer doubt that this was a trick of you Central Plains people." Shan Yu no longer believed any of Xu Chu's words.

"The truth often doesn't sound good. I've said this too."

Shanyu stared at Xu Chu, showing signs of losing control for the first time since they met.

Xu Chu could continue to defend himself, but he gave up, because at this moment Shanyu was no longer someone to be persuaded, but he did not avoid it, and met Shanyu's gaze without blinking.