Plan to cut off the nine states

Yang Qinzai changed his name but did not change his temper. He had been on the river for decades. He made many friends and made many enemies. Whether he was an enemy or a friend, he always maintained the same attitude - vigilance. Occasionally, he would Remind those you trust the most: Be more wary of your friends than your enemies.

Caught between the King of Shu in Yizhou and the Xi family in Jiangling, Yang Qinzai carefully maintained a balance, not offending either side, and at the same time not allowing any side to encroach on his territory.

When he came back from Jiangling, although he joined the Xi family in name, he actually gained more and could be called the real "King of Jiang". Because of this, he was very wary of the Xi family, fearing that all the benefits would be just a piece of bait in the end.

"Prince Jiang, be careful." These four simple words struck a chord in Yang Qinzai's mind.

Xi Yuanyi didn't expect that much. He looked around, suddenly understood, and said hurriedly: "Prince Jiang, don't listen..."

Yang Qinzai took a few steps back and said sternly: "Come here!"

A large group of soldiers rushed out from the mansion and surrounded more than ten guests.

Xi Yuanyi was also surprised. When he came to visit, the other party was hiding someone behind the door. It was obvious that he had no good intentions, but he did not dare to get angry and explained loudly: "King Jiang, don't be fooled. I'm just borrowing a way, nothing else." I mean, since the Xi family has formed an alliance with King Jiang, they will never change their minds!"

Yang Qinzai stood behind the soldiers, feeling safe, "Wait a minute. General Xi, don't talk about it yet, Xu Chu, you can do it."

Xu Chu offered his hand to Yang Qinzai through the soldiers, "I, Xu Chu, have met King Jiang. I was treated well the day before yesterday, and I am very lucky to see him today."

"You're welcome." Yang Qinzai said coldly, "What do you mean by telling me to be careful?"

Xu Chu prepared two explanations for "King Jiang be careful", one was to be careful of the steps, and the other was to be careful of the Xi family. Seeing that Yang Qinzai was hiding soldiers behind his door, there was only one explanation left.

"Some things are not easy to say face to face."

Xi Yuan said angrily, "Xu Chu, what do you mean by this? Our Xi family is upright and there is nothing we cannot say to our faces."

Yang Qinzai said: "Yes, there is nothing that cannot be said in person."

"Words are unfounded, seeing is believing. Prince Jiang will understand what I mean after a while."

"How long will it take?"

"Less than a quarter of an hour."

Yang Qinzai could wait, but he didn't want to offend the Xi family for no reason, so he asked Xi Yuan: "The current situation is chaotic. General Xi, don't blame me for being paranoid. If I find out later that this is a misunderstanding, I will kowtow to you and apologize. As for this Xu Young Master... I will also give you a satisfactory explanation."

Xi Yuanqi looked at Xu Chu who was next to him fiercely, "Forget it about kowtow and apologize. Since we have formed an alliance, we are our own family. Just explain the minor misunderstanding clearly. Xu Chu - I will take it back to the camp and hand it over to Duke Hengguo." Deal with it, he is full of lies and is not trustworthy. I will not take him to see Song Tizhu. "

"Let's talk in a quarter of an hour," Xu Chu said.

"Well, a quarter of an hour, I don't believe that a quarter of an hour can..." Xi Yuanyi suddenly remembered something and couldn't help but turned pale with fright. He hurriedly turned to Yang Qinzai, "Prince Jiang, there is something I need to make clear first..."

A knight galloped up from a distance. He saw a large group of people gathered here from a distance. He didn't know the details and said loudly: "King Jiang, five thousand people from the Xi family have come and want to borrow a road to cross the river. I see there are many of them, but there are no If you dare to open the door, I’m here to ask.”

Everyone present changed their expressions and started talking wildly. Xi Yuan was shocked, "Don't get me wrong, King Jiang. It's my second brother Xi Ren who was ordered to lead troops to aid Xiangyang. It has nothing to do with me..."

Once Yang Qinzai became wary, he would think the worst when he heard any news: Xi Yuan suspected that he brought more than ten people to visit late at night, and Xi Ren led his troops to borrow a way. The two things were connected, and it looked like a conspiracy no matter how he thought about it.

"Don't open the city gate!" Yang Qinzai ordered loudly, "Call the brothers and climb to the city to prepare for battle!" "Capture all these people."

"Xu Chu also won it?" someone asked.

"Take them all." Yang Qinzai didn't have time to distinguish them. He strode towards the city gate and his entourage led horses to catch up from behind.

Xi Ren first sent an envoy to call the door. When Yang Qinzai climbed to the top of the city, Xi Ren had just arrived with his troops. Hearing that Yiling City refused to borrow the road, he was very surprised. He took the lead and came to the city and shouted: "I am the second son of Hengguo Gong. , General Xi Ren, please go and notify Yang Qinzai and ask him to open the door!"

"Yang Qinzai is here. Isn't General Xi surprised?"

Xi Ren was indeed surprised, "Since Prince Jiang is here, why doesn't he open the door?"

"Where are General Xi Er going with his troops?"

"Go to Xiangyang."

"Hey, it turns out that the two brothers have already discussed their words."

Xi Ren never paid much attention to Yang Qinzai, who was a water thief. Seeing that he refused to open the door and had a sarcastic tone in his words, he couldn't help but get furious, "Yang Qinzai, I have my father's military order here. How dare you disobey it?"

Yang Qinzai was also angry and cursed, "I don't listen to the Jade Emperor's military orders. If you want to borrow a road, let your horse come over!"

Yang Qinzai bent the bow and drew the string, and shot an arrow with all his strength.

He couldn't see anything clearly in the dark night, and the arrow strayed far away. When Xi Ren heard the sound of the arrow, he was startled. He turned his horse's head and ran away for dozens of steps, then turned around and said, "Yang Moyu, you You are so bold. When our Xi family’s army conquers Yiling City, how dare you still act so arrogantly? Xi Yuan will lose a hair..."

Arrows rained down on the city, and Xi Ren had no choice but to retreat further. Unable to think, he led his troops back to the camp and complained to his father.

Yang Qinzai breathed a heavy sigh of relief, and gave orders at the head of the city to arrange the defense of the city and the river. Then he returned to his residence and ordered people to bring Xu Chu.

Although the soldiers captured all the guests, they were treated differently. Xi Yuanyi and ten soldiers were locked up together, while Xu Chu and Chang Yan were sent to the room where they had lived before.

Xu Chu took the opportunity to take a nap, while Chang Yan stood guard at the door, feeling uneasy and murmuring: "I can at most learn to read people, but I can't learn this kind of thing..."

Although Xu Chu didn't have enough sleep, he was still much more energetic after being woken up. He smiled at Changyan and said, "I'll be back as soon as I go."

Chang Yan nodded, not knowing what to say.

Yang Qinzai was drinking tea with a gloomy face. He didn't get up when he saw Xu Chu. He stared at him for a while and asked coldly: "Why do you want to help me?"

“When you receive hospitality, you should repay it with gratitude.”

"Hey, Mr. Xu, there is no need to be hypocritical. I left Yiling City on purpose just to avoid seeing you, and allowed Xi Yuansu to send you to Song Chu's feet. When it comes to it in the future, the King of Shu will not be able to blame me. - I don’t believe Mr. Xu knows anything about this.”

Xu Chu smiled and said, "I know, but I don't care."

"Um?"

"The King of Jiang raised his army recklessly. He had thousands of ships and hundreds of thousands of soldiers, crossing the river. How could he not be more careful in his actions? King Jiang and I have never met each other. If he loses a scholar and befriends a hero, anyone else would do the same thing. Choice. It’s human nature, so I don’t care.”

Yang Qinzai laughed, "You don't care, but you don't need a 'Thanksgiving Picture', right?"

"Prince Jiang wants to hear the truth?"

"certainly."

"The Xi family is greedy and incompetent. They regard Jingzhou as their own territory, but they will definitely not be able to hold it when facing a strong enemy. The Chanyu regards me as his enemy and hunts me everywhere. I can't bear to see Jingzhou fall into the hands of the Xi family and then be thrown into the hands of the He Rong people. "

Yang Qinzai was silent for a moment, "Do you think I can defend Jingzhou?"

"I said that the King of Jiang raised his army recklessly and in just three years, he became the master of the river. Compared with the Xi family who inherited the old business but frequently lost land and people, it is clear which one is stronger and which one is weaker."

Everyone doesn't like to hear flattery. Yang Qinzai laughed, "It's not three years, it's two years. Mr. Xu originally became the king of the World Army, right?"

"It's just a false name."

Yang Qinzai nodded, "That's why Mr. Xu appreciates people like us even more. It is said that Mr. Xu is the son of a general, which is rare."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "It is precisely because he is the son of a general and is used to seeing the faces of powerful men that he can better see the advantages of a reckless hero."

Yang Qinzai was even more satisfied and asked: "Xi Yun just formed an alliance with me and is planning to kill me. What does he think?"

"Xi Yun didn't tell me, I only have some guesses."

"Then let's talk and listen."

"It is rumored that the He Rong people do not want to wait until spring tomorrow, and will soon invade Jingzhou. The Xi family will never dare to resist, but will surrender, but there is a big difference between offering half of Jingzhou or the whole Jingzhou."

"Of course, surrendering with half of Jingzhou means fear and being unable to defeat. Surrendering with the whole Jingzhou means nothing..."

"A move to assess the situation."

"That's right. It turns out that because of this, Xi Yun is eager to kill me!"

"I'm just guessing."

"It's true, you guessed it right - but why didn't he take action when I went to Jiangling City?"

"When King Jiang was in Jiangling City, he arranged Yiling City properly. If the Xi family took action, they would only kill King Jiang, but they would not be able to capture the city."

Yang Qinzai nodded repeatedly, "I have been on the river for decades and have seen many people. I didn't expect that people who are officials are more insidious."

"There must be a reason for King Jiang to stand out among the heroes on the river. I believe that even without my reminder, King Jiang would not fall into the trap easily."

"That's true, I will understand as soon as Xi Ren calls the door, but Mr. Xu's reminder will make me less frightened after all."

"If the Xi family's plan fails, a new one will come up."

"Hey, I know Xi Yun. He will definitely give a false explanation and then deceive me into trusting me."

Xu Chu saved a lot of words, "How is Prince Jiang going to respond?"

Although it was their first meeting, Yang Qinzai had a good impression of Xu Chu, "Mr. Xu, give me an idea."

Xu Chu was hesitant, but Yang Qinzai stood up and came closer, saying sincerely: "Send Buddha to the west and save people to the end. I have long heard that Mr. Xu is extremely resourceful and was temporarily bewitched by the Xi family, so he did something unjust. Mr. Xu, please don’t hold grudges. If you can help me defend Yiling City, I will worship you as my military advisor and become your equal.”

"Yiling City cannot be defended."

"Huh?" Yang Qinzai didn't expect this person to speak so directly.

"If you want to defend it, you have to defend it together with Jiangling and Xiangyang. Only by taking advantage of Jingzhou's mountains and rivers can you have a chance to defend it."

Yang Qinzai had never thought of such a grand thing, and he looked a little dazed, "The whole Jingzhou? That... isn't easy?"

"If Prince Jiang can adopt my strategy, he will be at least 60-70% sure, not just 100% certain."

"The whole Jingzhou?" Yang Qinzai asked again.

"Even more." Xu Chu said.

Yang Qinzai couldn't help laughing, "No wonder I dreamed of a big fish carrying me to play in the river. It turned out to be Mr. Xu!"

Xu Chu smiled, suddenly thinking of Guo Shifeng, and couldn't help but compare who could do it better.