Plan to cut off the nine states

Song took bamboo and came back with more than a dozen carts of grain. He shouted to the soldiers who came out to greet him: "Start the stove! Make a fire! Loosen your belt!"

Everyone swarmed up and grabbed the food in the car. No one even asked who the strange woman beside King Chu was.

Song Qizhu smiled at the woman and said, "Look at how enthusiastic my brothers are."

The woman was in her twenties, with a long face. She was not ugly, but she could not be said to be beautiful. Her face was serious. If she had a bunch of keys on her waist, she would look like a housekeeper in charge of the house.

But there was no key in her waist, only a long sword.

"It doesn't look like you have ten thousand people here," the woman said.

"Some are out on patrol."

"You even took the tent away?"

"Haha, madam, you don't need to check so clearly. I don't have ten thousand here, but eight thousand. Come here, brothers, the food is here and it won't fly away. Come and pay homage to my new wife."

"Do you have an old wife?" the woman asked immediately.

"No, I never got married until I met you, madam. It must be God's will. I have been waiting for you in my thirties, and madam...has also been waiting for me. Haha."

The soldiers were still carrying food, and a group of leaders gathered around and looked at the "new lady". One of them said: "I recognize you, you are... Ma Qigu's daughter, Ma Qigu, after waiting for so many years, you are finally married. "

The woman nodded, "I recognize you too. Xue Dakui, the blacksmith in Xiaoguzhuang, owes my family fifty kilograms of iron and has not paid back for three years."

Xue Dakui stuck out his tongue and said, "I will definitely pay it back before the end of the year, double the amount."

Ma Qigu hummed and glanced around. No one dared to claim to know her anymore. Several people who owed the Ma family hid behind.

Song Qizhu said loudly: "Let everyone know that I just got married to Qi Gu yesterday. From now on, she will be the housewife of my Song family. You must call her 'Madam'. Ma Lao Ma Ke Dao is my father-in-law. You must Call him... what do you call him?" Song Tizhu asked.

"Dad Ma." Ma Qigu said.

"Dad Ma, you all must remember that you are not allowed to call me by the wrong name in the future. From now on, we and the Ma family will be one family. If we are short of food or clothing, we will go ask Dad Ma for it!"

Everyone cheered, and even the soldiers who were carrying food also shouted.

Ma Qigu frowned slightly. The situation here was completely different from what she had expected before arriving.

Song Qizhu's tent was dilapidated and old, but slightly larger. There were too few things on it and it looked very empty. It was more than enough to store a few boxes of the Ma family's dowry.

"Is this where you live?"

The big words could no longer be rounded off. Song Tizhu was a little nervous and said with a smile: "I don't know what you like, so I just empty it and wait for you to decorate it according to your wishes."

Ma Qigu sighed softly, and Song Tizhu's heart skipped a beat, "Madam, don't be sad. Whatever you want, just ask for it, and I'll get it for you."

"Do you think everyone in the Ma family likes to steal things?"

"No, no, I mean..."

"I don't want anything, just your truth."

"Everything I said...is true." Song Qizhu felt very guilty.

"How many people do you have under your command?"

"Uh...actually it's less than ten thousand, but it's not too different."

"How many exactly?" Ma Qigu's tone was slightly harsh.

"Five thousand...less than, probably...three thousand. This is the truth. There were three thousand people when I left. I don't know how many people have escaped in the past two days. But I did not deceive my wife and father-in-law. I raised troops in Xiangyang At that time, there were indeed 10,000 people, but some were lost later. As long as there is food, 10,000 people can be gathered again soon. "

Ma Qigu said softly: "I'm already married to you, why do I still care about how many soldiers and horses you have? I just want a real number so that I can calculate the cost."

"Madam, you are generous. The more food and other things, the better."

"No one's food just falls from the sky. It must be calculated carefully to live a long life."

"That's right, I wasted a lot of food just because of my lavish spending..."

Someone opened the curtain and came in. Song Qizhu said: "Hey, don't you know I have a bride here? You have to knock on the door from now on...you have to announce loudly, and you can only come in with my permission."

"Yes, I will inform you later that I am here because of something urgent." Dai Pohu did not run away. He was still in the Chu army camp. He took a step forward, cupped his hands to Ma Qigu and said, "My Majesty, Dai Pohu, pays homage to Mrs. Ma."

"Excuse me, I have long heard of General Dai's reputation. When my father talks about our heroes in Jingzhou, he always mentions Honghua Taisui."

Honghua Taisui was Dai Pohu's nickname in his early years. Not many people remember it now. Even Song Qizhu heard about it for the first time. Ma Qigu said it casually, obviously she had heard about it.

Dai Pohu was overjoyed, "I'm just a grasshopper in the grass, how can I compare to Dad Ma, a fierce tiger in the mountains?" Dai Pohu changed his mind quickly.

"It's great if we all look up to each other for a long time. Lao Dai, what's the matter with you?"

Dai Pohu immediately said: "Xu Chu is back again."

"who?"

"It's the Xu Chu who was sent to the Xi family a few days ago and asked us to deliver it to the Xi family."

Song Tizhu was stunned for a moment, "Then I asked you to let go of Xu Chu?"

"right."

Ma Qigu was confused when she heard this, "Who is Xu Chu? Did you send it to the Xi family and send it back to the Xi family?"

Song Qizhu was still in a daze, and Dai Pohu said: "He is a strange man. He was originally the son of a great general. He was called the King of Wu in the Army of the Coming World, and he almost became the King of the Coming World. After repelling the officers and soldiers in Dongdu, he suddenly He abdicated and went to live in seclusion in Yecheng, Jizhou. I don't know when he came out of the mountain again, and I don't know how he came to Jingzhou. I haven't asked yet. The Xi family regarded Xu Chu as their enemy, but they didn't want to offend the king of Shu upstream, so they sent him first. If he is sent here, we will send it to the Xi family. If he is handed over, the King of Shu will have no choice but to blame the King of Chu..."

"Did you agree?" Ma Qigu asked her husband.

Song Tizhu smiled and said: "It's all to stabilize the morale of the army, but I asked Dai Pohu to let him go in the middle, not because I was afraid of the King of Shu, but because Xu Chu and I have the same friendship. Why is he coming back?"

"I don't know, and he came from Yiling City. He is accompanied by many of Yang Moyu's subordinates, at least fifty of them."

Song Qizhu scratched his head, "Didn't you say he went to Xiangyang and Dongdu?"

"Yeah, I don't know when he will turn around..."

"He came to raise an army to investigate?"

"More than fifty people are not enough, and in terms of the culprit, Yang Moyu is the biggest one."

Song Tizhu couldn't figure it out and didn't want to see Xu Chu. "You go and deal with it. Tell me... say I haven't come back since I left."

"Yes." Dai Pohu accepted the order and was about to leave. Ma Qigu said: "Wait a minute, no matter what kind of person Xu Chu is, if he dares to come, we dare to see him. My husband claims to be a hero, but he doesn't even have the courage?"

Song Tizhu said with a smile: "Madam, you are joking, how can I not even have the guts to meet people? It's just that... I have nothing to say to him. Moreover, that man considers himself a counselor, is a good talker, and is the best at deceiving people. He will definitely come." No good thing, I may not be able to refuse in the end.”

"Then I want to meet you even more."

Song Qizhu had no choice but to say to Dai Pohu: "Then please come in. My wife and I are newly married and we still owe the betrothal gift, so just treat Xu Chu as a gift."

After Dai Pohu went out, Song Qizhu said to his wife, "This is the person Madam wants to see. If you refuse later, it will be up to Madam."

"Let me tell you."

"No matter what he proposes, reject them all. Don't be tempted, and don't even show hesitation. No matter how nice he says it, or how interested the lady is, you know, it's all a counselor's strategy. Give him a piece of bait first. When you take the bait, he will..."

"Can he still persuade me to remarry him?"

"Haha, that's not the case. He doesn't...he doesn't have the guts to treat Madam."

Ma Qigu sneered and frowned: "You don't even have a chair here?"

"Maybe it was used as firewood by someone. Madam sitting on the bed? It's not appropriate. There is a way." Song Qizhu moved the box containing the dowry. Two of them were side by side, which was the throne for him and his wife. The other one was placed in his right hand. The side is regarded as the guest's position.

The box was heavy. Song Tizhu was out of breath and asked with a smile: "Madam's dowry is really quite large."

Just as Ma Qigu was about to speak, Dai Pohu's voice came from outside: "Xu Chu, the capital of the East, wants to see the King of Chu and his wife."

"Xuan Jin." Song Tizhu said loudly while sitting on the box.

Dai Pohu came in first, followed by Xu Chu, and then the four guards of Song Tizhu.

Dai Pohu stepped aside, and Xu Chu stepped forward, cupping his hands and saying, "I, Xu Chu, have met King Chu of Song and Mrs. Ma."

Song Qizhu remained silent, waiting to see how his wife would respond.

Ma Qigu looked at the guests and said, "Mr. Xu, please sit down. General Dai, please step aside. Since we are old friends of the King of Chu, there is no need to be polite."

Dai Pohu knew Xu Chu well and knew that he was not a threat, so he led the guards out of the tent.

Xu Chu sat on another box and said with a smile: "I haven't congratulated King Chu yet."

Song Qizhu waved his hand, "I told you before, don't call me King Chu."

Ma Qigu rushed over and said: "The King of Chu is too modest. What is Mr. Xu here for? We don't need to be polite and just say what we have to say."

Xu Chu knew nothing about this Mrs. Ma, and seeing that Song Chuzhu had no intention of talking alone, he stood up, took out Leng Yifang's letter from his arms, and handed it over with both hands.

"If you have something to say, just say it face to face, why bother writing a letter?" Song Qizhu was confused. He took the letter and passed it to his wife without reading it.

Ma Qigu took out the letter, held it in her hand and looked at it from left to right. She had no choice but to whisper: "I can't read."

"Madam can keep accounts, but can't read?" Song Tizhu was quite surprised.

"Those are two different things."

Song Qizhu took the letter, opened his mouth to read, then closed his mouth, read it quickly, and asked in surprise: "How did this letter fall into your hands?"

Ma Qigu coughed, and Song Qizhu said: "This is a letter from Leng Yifang, the lord of Xiangyang City, inviting me to lead troops to guard Xiangyang, and allowing me to be the deputy city lord."

The couple looked at each other, neither of them willing to express their opinion, because this letter really moved their hearts, and even if they were pretending, they couldn't bear to refuse.

"Who is the enemy?" Ma Qigu finally spoke.

"Jin Army."

"Jin Army?"

"People from Bingzhou."

"Why did the Bingzhou people attack us in Jingzhou?"

"The Bingzhou people are the vanguard of He Rong's tribe. He Rong's army will capture Jiuzhou, not just Jingzhou."

Ma Qigu let out a long oh and said to her husband: "Can we defeat the Bingzhou Army and the He Rong people?"

"Can't beat it."

Ma Qigu said to Xu Chu, "Then there's nothing we can do. We can't go to Xiangyang to die even though we know we can't defeat them."

Xu Chu did not argue, and reached out to Song Qizhu, preparing to reply to the letter, "Okay, I can't force others to do things. There are always heroes in Jingzhou who dare to face difficulties. I will find others."

Song Qizhu refused to return the letter and raised his eyebrows: "You said I'm not a hero?"

"The King of Chu is a hero who can judge the situation, not a hero who can face challenges head-on."

Song Quzhu turned his head to look at his wife, and Ma Qigu sighed softly, "You are the one who lost, not me."