Plan to cut off the nine states

"This is called 'you can't find a place without wearing iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get here.' If I had known what it would be like today, why would I have gone all the way to Yecheng?" Dai Pohu said with a smile.

Chang Yan had no weapons in his hands, so he could only clenched his fists, "Not to mention the kindness the young master had towards you in the past, but just because he spared your life in the Valley of Thoughts..."

"Everyone can make mistakes, Mr. Xu has made especially many mistakes." Dai Pohu handed over his hands again, "But you two don't have to worry, I have lost contact with the World Army, and the hero is dead. There is no way to receive the reward for holding Mr. Xu’s head, so I won’t touch you.”

Chang Yan relaxed a little, and Dai Pohu continued: "Tomorrow I will send you to Jiangling City to exchange for food." After that, he laughed and left the tent.

Chang Yan was sulky for a while and said to Xu Chu, "Young master's judgment of people is indeed not very accurate."

"Haha, if you look at people ten times, you will be wrong nine times, but it's worth it if you are right once."

"I've already seen two of the nine mistakes. Which one is right?"

Xu Chu raised his finger. Chang Yan was stunned for a moment, then he hummed twice and muttered: "I'm hesitating whether to abandon the young master. If you say that, how can I run away?"

Xu Chu laughed and pointed to the baggage again, "When I saw him off outside Jindu City, General Tie not only gave me a box of jewelry, but also a letter, which may be useful in Jiangling City."

Chang Yan was delighted, "It turns out that the young master has been prepared for a long time. No wonder he is so calm. Is that letter written to Duke Heng Guo? General Tie has a relationship with him... No, General Tie is from the World Army. How can he be acquainted with the Xi family? It must be true. It’s an official from Yizhou who surrendered to the King of Shu, and he is relatively familiar with the people of Jingzhou. General Tie asked him to write the letter, right?”

Xu Chu nodded. After all, it was difficult for him to explain things clearly when it came to matters between women.

Chang Yan's fear faded away, and he felt hungry. He rubbed his stomach, "Even if you are a prisoner, you should be in charge of food, right?"

"If these people had food to eat, they wouldn't trade me for food."

"Not necessarily, this is clearly a group of robbers, taking the young master as a hostage, there must be something in exchange."

Xu Chu made a mistake again. Not long after, someone actually brought food. To be precise, it was two bowls of porridge. There were no dishes or chopsticks.

Chang Yan held the bowl and looked at it for a while, then looked up at the soldier delivering the food, "Is there really rice in this?"

"Don't waste it if you don't eat it. Give it back to me and I can drink ten more bowls." The soldier licked his lips.

Chang Yan hurriedly took a big sip and praised: "It really has a bit of the fragrance of rice and millet. If you chew it a few more times, you seem to be able to bite into the rice grains. It would be good for you to eat some too, sir, to quench your thirst."

Xu Chu also took a sip and said, "It's just a little weak."

"There is no salt anymore, and I don't know if the Xi family is willing to give some salt." The soldier looked forward to it.

Chang Yan finished the rice porridge in a big gulp and returned the bowl. The soldier looked at it carefully and said with disappointment: "It's so clean to eat."

Chang Yanzhi smiled bitterly and said, "I want to leave some residue, it's too difficult." He glanced at Xu Chu, who was still drinking porridge, and an idea came to his mind, and he whispered: "What do you call your Excellency?"

"Hey, I'm just a little pawn, so what's the meaning of 'Your Excellency'? I don't need to call you that. I'll trade you for food tomorrow. It's embarrassing to know each other."

"Are you sorry? I'll tell you the truth. I just want to ask for something..."

The soldier immediately shook his head, "Don't ask me for anything, just ask..."

"I have a box of jewelry left in Yiling City. If someone can bring it to me, I'm willing to share half of it with him."

"Jewelry...what is it for?"

"Buy grain. The jewelry is a gift from the King of Shu to my young master. It is priceless." In order to win the trust of the other party, Chang Yan deliberately said that the person who gave the gift was the King of Shu.

The soldier was a little moved, "Why don't you take such an expensive gift with you?"

"Isn't this a trap? I thought I could go back before dark, but who thought it would be a trap. You want to exchange the young master for food, and we want to exchange the box of jewelry for our lives."

While Xu Chu was drinking porridge, he watched Chang Yan speak with a smile on his face and was quite interested.

The soldier was even more excited, "Have Yang Moyu's people already divided up the jewels?"

"The jewelry box is mixed with other luggage. They may not be able to recognize it. Moreover, it was the Xi family's idea to frame my young master. Yang Moyu himself knew about it, but his subordinates may not know about it. They may still be waiting for us to return and guard our luggage for us... …”

"I brought the jewelry for you, are you willing to give me half of it?"

"Of course, but I'm afraid you won't be able to go by yourself. You have to take me with you. Anyway, the person who exchanges for food is the young master. I..."

The soldier shook his head again, "Don't bother me. One of my brothers is the leader in Yiling City. It's a bit difficult to bring people out. It should be no problem to bring a few luggage out of the city. At most, I can give him some benefits afterwards."

Chang Yan was greatly disappointed. He originally wanted to escape first and then find a way to save Xu Chu. Unexpectedly, the other party had a better idea, so he had to say: "I'll trouble you, I have to bring it tonight, tomorrow morning Let's hit the road."

"Don't worry. Have you finished eating?"

Xu Chu handed over the empty bowl, and the soldier took it in his hand. After taking a look, he sighed lightly - the bottom of the bowl was still so clean.

Just as the soldiers were about to leave, Xu Chu asked: "Since my brother is the leader in Yiling City, why don't you go and join us instead of starving here?"

The soldier was stunned for a moment, "He's not a real brother, he's my second uncle's son."

"That's my cousin too. If you go and seek refuge, he will definitely accept you."

The soldier held two bowls and looked confused, as if he didn't know how to answer, and he seemed to have never considered this question before. After a while, he said: "We have thousands of mouths, and even my brother can't afford it."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "I mean you go and defect alone."

"How can that be done?" The soldier glared, "I will not betray Brother Song." After saying this, he walked out of the tent angrily.

"You are so poor, yet you still have loyalty." Chang Yan looked at Xu Chu, "Just because Song Qizhu once sent a letter to challenge Shan Yu, the young master always wanted to find some advantages in him, but it was just a letter. Anyone can write, and the less famous the person, the less afraid they are.”

"Song Qizhu himself means the same thing."

Chang Yan pointed to the outside of the tent, "Song Quzhu was once a powerful man. It's normal for someone to be loyal to him."

"Three thousand people."

"Three thousand people are all loyal? I don't think so, but so what? They all have to starve to death with him."

"It is not surprising that soldiers starve to death following their generals, but it is very rare for generals to starve to death following their soldiers."

"Hey, maybe Song Qizhu hid food for himself. Master, do you still remember? Godly King Gong Fan was known to be frugal and wanted to endure hunger with his subordinates. After his death, everyone searched his pillow There are a lot of snacks, I even took a look, they are really there.”

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Song Qizhu and Gong Fan should not be the same person."

"Master, are you trying to figure it out again?"

"No 'carrying' or 'mopping'. When you get your luggage back, there will still be some dry food in it, right?"

"Young Master has offended someone just now. He may not be willing to take the luggage back. Even if he takes it back, the dry food will be confiscated. And if it were me, I wouldn't say anything about taking out the luggage. Wouldn't it be better to share half with my cousin?"

The so-called bed in the tent was actually a pile of hay. Chang Yan divided it into two piles and spread them out flat. The two of them lay down separately, lying on their backs in a daze.

The tent was already dark, but as night fell outside, it was already pitch black. No one brought food to the tent, and there were no candles to light.

Chang Yan said: "It's okay if I don't drink that bowl of porridge. The more I drink, the hungrier I get."

"Tighten your belt and bear with it."

"I will use a strategy next time. I will discuss it with the young master in advance to avoid losing both people and money."

"Your plan is very clever. I can't think of anything better."

"But we're still stuck here, and our luggage is probably nowhere to be found."

"Not necessarily. This person is loyal even in times of crisis. He shouldn't be greedy for our things."

"Young Master sometimes thinks too bad of people, and sometimes thinks too good of people. But I found that when Young Master thinks bad, he is often accurate, and when he thinks good... hum."

"Haha, don't make me laugh. The more you laugh, the hungrier you'll get."

The two of them lay quietly, their stomachs gurgling one after another. At some point, the gurgling disappeared, their stomachs stopped feeling hungry, and they fell into a deep sleep.

Chang Yan was eating and drinking in his sleep. He was pushed awake by someone. He couldn't help but became furious. He was about to explode when he suddenly remembered that he was a prisoner here and asked the figure in the darkness: "What's wrong?"

"The luggage has been brought. I have already divided half of the contents in the box. They are determined by weight. The value depends on luck."

"Huh?" Before Chang Yan fully woke up, his figure had disappeared.

Chang Yan got up and touched the edge of the tent. Sure enough, he touched a pile of luggage, large and small, placed together with the small baggage from before.

"Young master really guessed it right once." Chang Yan murmured, and touched it again, and found that except for the box, the other luggage was intact, and there seemed to be no sign of being opened.

Although it was a bit cold at night, he did not look for bedding and groped directly into the depths. After a moment, he cheered softly, "Master, Master, wake up soon."

Xu Chu said drowsily: "Is it dawn?"

"Not yet, I found dry food."

Xu Chu woke up immediately and sat up, "Bring the luggage back... share it with me first."

The dry food consisted of several pieces of hard biscuits. The two of them first shared one piece, bit it with their teeth, and then swallowed it without much chewing, relying entirely on saliva to moisten it.

Chang Yan said while eating: "You really can't be benevolent and righteous when you're hungry..."

"Well, I've never tasted something so delicious..." Xu Chu's words were blocked by the hard cake.

Xu Chu ate one piece, and Chang Yan ate two pieces in a row. He picked up the third piece and put it back, "Keep it, I don't know if I'll have it for the next meal."

Not long after, it was daybreak, and the tent curtain was opened, letting in the morning light. The soldier who delivered the meal yesterday stood at the door, as if he didn't know anything about it, as if the pile of luggage had always been there, "Pack it up, wait for it." Let’s go as soon as possible.”

After Chang Yan repeatedly confirmed that the dry food was well hidden, he whispered to Xu Chu: "Master, is there any way to find some food? Maybe after we have food, Song Qizhu will..."

Xu Chu shook his head, "I am unfamiliar with the place in Jingzhou and have nowhere to find food. Moreover, the current Song Tizhu has no merit and is not worth keeping."

"Young master said yesterday that his subordinates are loyal."

"His subordinates are loyal, that's what he has as a hero." Xu Chu looked at the door, "Let's go to Xi's house."

Dai Pohu stood at the door and frowned slightly when he saw the pile of luggage. He couldn't remember if there were so many luggage yesterday. "Let's go. If we hurry up, we can get to Jiangling tonight."