Plan to cut off the nine states

The number of guards at Kuimen Pass was several times greater than before. Xu Chu and Guo Shifeng were detained as soon as they got off the boat. The good news is that the King of Shu Ganzhao is in the city. The bad news is that the King of Shu does not want to see these two guests and does not even allow them. Enter the city and be imprisoned directly in a room on the dock.

Guo Shifeng was very surprised, "Brother Chu was treated very politely when he left Yizhou. I didn't hear that you did anything wrong. Why did you offend the King of Shu?"

"It must be because of Tie Yuan."

Tie Yuan and a Yizhou army are now trapped in Hanzhong City. The King of Shu originally wanted to recall these people, but now it is impossible. He probably put the blame on Xu Chu.

In the evening of the same day, Li Shengguo, the general of Shu, came to visit. He was quite polite. As soon as they met, he explained: "Mr. Xu Haihan, the King of Shu has been worried a lot recently and doesn't want to see people."

"Understood, General Li, can you give me a message?"

"Um...ok."

"Please tell the King of Shu that instead of acting as a coward, it is better to wait and see what happens and remember it."

Li Shengguo's expression suddenly changed, and then he laughed dryly and said: "Mr. Xu always says weird things, and I will not tell the King of Shu that he is acting as a spy for the tiger. Isn't that asking for death?"

Xu Chu smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, others can't say it, but I can."

Li Shengguo originally wanted to chat for a while, but now he lost all interest and ordered the guards to put down a few food and drinks and leave.

Guo Shifeng sat down to eat and drink, and said: "The King of Shu did not stay in Jindu City and go to the northern pass to defend He Rong's army. Instead, he came to Kuimen Pass in the east. He must have secretly surrendered to Shanyu and wanted to lead his troops down the river. Go and attack Jingzhou."

"That's what I think." Xu Chu also sat down and had no intention of eating.

Guo Shifeng ate five minutes full and put down his cup and chopsticks, "It's useless to think too much. If the King of Shu leads his army to do something good, He Rong's army will definitely come out of Hanzhou to cooperate. In this case, the heroes of Xiangyang will definitely be defeated, and even the last chance of winning will be lost. . We have to find a way to inform Prince Ning.”

"We have to find a way to persuade the King of Shu to change his mind."

Guo Shifeng shook his head, "I have already thought about it, but there is no other way. If I were the counselor of the King of Shu, I would also persuade him to surrender to Shanyu."

Xu Chu didn't think of a way, "If you and I work together, maybe..."

"Counsels are only useful when they are ambiguous, or the King of Shu is stupid enough to be confused by a few words. We all recognize the King of Shu, is he stupid?"

Xu Chu smiled. Gan Zhao lacked a little ambition, but he was by no means stupid.

An hour later, Li Shengguo came again, his expression became cold, and he led a group of guards, "The King of Shu invites you two to enter the city."

On the way, Guo Shifeng whispered: "Brother Chu shouldn't have made it clear. It will be difficult to escape unscathed now."

"I have to meet the King of Shu." Xu Chu murmured, "Brother Guo, please cooperate with me."

"Try your best."

Gan Zhao was in a bad mood. He was wearing full armor, but without a helmet. He was sitting on a chair with a knife across his knees.

At the door of the hall, Xu Chu was asked to hand over the knife to match. He untied it and handed it to Li Shengguo, "This was a gift from the King of Shu. Please keep it carefully."

Gan Zhao heard the voices here and said, "Bring it here."

Li Shengguo held the sword in both hands and sent it to the King of Shu.

Gan Zhao took the knife, gently pulled out half of it, and said with just one glance: "It is indeed a gift from me to Mr. Xu. It seems that it has not been used yet."

Xu Chu took a step forward and said, "I carry it with me to avoid bad luck, so I never had the chance to use it."

Gan Zhao laughed twice, put away the knife, handed it to Li Shengguo, and put the knife in his lap on the table, "Mr. Guo, are you okay?"

Mr. Guo stepped forward and bowed deeply, "After seeing each other for many years, the King of Shu remains the same."

"Hey, where did my style come from when I was in Dongdu? If you say that I still have the same style, you mean that I am not doing well."

Guo Shifeng cupped his hands and smiled and said: "The king of Shu is sitting in the land of Tianfu, with many soldiers, generals, and sufficient food for the city. At this time when the nine states are in turmoil, who in the world is not envious?"

"What I'm worried about is that too many people are 'envying' Yizhou." Gan Zhao replied coldly, then turned to Xu Chu, "Mr. Xu is always so well-informed. Did you guess it?"

Xu Chu said: "If I had guessed it, I would not have come to Yizhou, let alone told him in person."

"Can I understand your method? You said you didn't guess it. Where did you get the news?"

"Prince Jin."

Gan Zhao was slightly startled.

Guo Shifeng interjected: "After King Ning learned the news, he was deeply disturbed. He said that he and the King of Shu came out of Qinzhou together to serve Maitreya Buddha, and now they are kings in the east and west, so he couldn't bear to see the King of Shu... go astray. "

Gan Zhao sneered.

Xu Chu said: "Don't you believe it, King Shu? You can wait a few more days and we will know where King Jin's heart is."

"What does the King of Jin's heart have to do with me?" Gan Zhao was inexplicably angry, "If you hadn't trapped Tie Yuan in Hanzhou, why would I be here? Now you're here to stir up trouble again - take him down and guard him tightly. Since Don’t blame me for being rude if you throw yourself into a trap.”

Xu Chu and Guo Shifeng looked at each other and felt that they could not be persuaded, so they resigned at the same time.

This time they were imprisoned in the city. Li Shengguo returned the waist knife and said before leaving: "The matter has come to this, you two should be careful and don't anger the King of Shu again."

Xu Chu said: "Why don't you see Che Quanyi?"

"He stayed in Jindu."

"King Shu, are you relieved?"

"The King of Shu now trusts Che Quanyi the most. Why are you worried?"

"General Li, are you relieved?"

Li Shengguo's expression changed slightly, "I am just a young general. I only obey the orders of the King of Shu and don't care about anything else. I have always been polite to Mr. Xu. Please don't use tricks on me."

"I dare not. Where is General Tie Er?"

Li Shengguo smiled and said, "General Tie Er fell in the city, but the King of Shu forbade him to come to see Mr. Xu, and I can't pass on the message for you, Mr. Xu, just give up on this idea."

Li Shengguo said goodbye and left someone to guard the room.

The room was spacious and comfortable, and Yizhou was not too cold, so it was bearable without burning charcoal in the house.

Guo Shifeng had already lit the oil lamp and asked, "Who is General Tie Er?"

"Tie Yuan's younger brother Tie Wei."

"He is unwilling to surrender to the Chanyu?"

"The brothers of the Tie family are very loyal, and they should not want to attack the heroes in Xiangyang."

"It's a pity that the King of Shu had already prepared and did not allow Tie Er to see you. Brother Chu just claimed to have received news from the King of Jin. Was it just a casual remark, or..."

Xu Chu hissed, went to the door and listened for a while, confirmed that no one was eavesdropping outside, and sat down at the table, "I met Liu Youzhong in the Liang army camp. Judging from his words and deeds, the King of Jin seemed to have the intention of returning to Bingzhou."

Xu Chu did not tell the truth completely.

Guo Shifeng nodded, "The King of Liang is attacking cities and plundering land in Bingzhou, so the King of Jin cannot help but be anxious. But it is winter now, and the King of Liang will not make progress too fast. The King of Jin can wait a little longer."

"I guess the Chanyu has become suspicious of the King of Jin, so the King of Jin cannot wait any longer."

"If there is news of a change in the Jin army in a few days, it can be used to scare the King of Shu, saying that the heroes in Xiangyang are already prepared, and the Shu army will be defeated if they go out of Yi."

"I hope the King of Shu can take it seriously and reconsider."

"Strange, since the King of Shu has surrendered to the Chanyu, why is Tie Yuan still defending Hanzhong City?"

"Maybe the news has not reached you and me, or maybe Tie Yuan is disobeying the order."

"If it is the latter, Tie Ying in the city can be persuaded, but there is no way to see him." Guo Shifeng has a lot to think about, especially how to remind the King of Ning.

Xu Chu also wanted to ponder, and neither of them spoke.

After a long time, the two smiled at the same time, opened their mouths to speak, and then closed their mouths at the same time to think again.

"We must wait for news from King Jin before we have a chance to persuade King Shu." Guo Shifeng said, getting up and walking to the inner room, "Go to sleep first, there is no other way."

There are two bedrooms. Xu Chu went to the other one and lay on the bed. He put himself in the shoes of King Shu and found that Guo Shifeng was right. For Yizhou, the best choice is to surrender to the Chanyu, exchange for Tieyuan and Yizhou Army, and make the next plan after defeating the heroes in the Central Plains.

Xu Chu and Guo Shifeng waited for three days. Although they had wine and meat all the time, they could not see anyone who could talk. Even Li Shengguo did not show up, and the soldiers did not know anything. Guo Shifeng wanted to bribe the guards to call his followers, but was scolded.

Even Xu Chu, who was good at "waiting a little longer", began to get anxious. That afternoon, he and Guo Shifeng were discussing countermeasures. Li Shengguo pushed the door in, and his expression did not show his joy or anger.

"Mr. Xu, please follow me."

The two stood up, and Li Shengguo said: "Mr. Guo, no need, please stay."

Guo Shifeng sat down slowly and nodded to Xu Chu. The two had the same idea, and either of them could go to the King of Shu.

Xu Chu was taken to the hall, and he cried bitterly in his heart as soon as he entered the door.

The King of Shu was entertaining guests in the hall, and the person sitting side by side with him was Kou Daogu, the staff member recruited by the Chanyu in the Central Plains.

Kou Daogu had not changed at all, still wearing a wide robe with big sleeves, and still had a cold and arrogant expression, and he refused to say anything even in front of the King of Shu.

With the Chanyu as his back, Kou Daogu had no reason to reduce his arrogance.

Gan Zhao smiled and said, "Is this the person Mr. Kou is looking for?"

Kou Daogu glanced at Xu Chu, nodded, and said coldly, "It's him. I will take him back to Hanzhou. The Chanyu will definitely thank the King of Shu."

Just as Xu Chu was about to speak, Li Shengguo whispered, "You can go now."

Xu Chu smiled at Gan Zhao, glanced at Kou Daogu, and followed Li Shengguo out of the hall.

Xu Chu was not sent back to his original place, but entered another small room. The environment was much worse, more like a prison cell.

Li Shengguo said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Xu, you stay here for the time being. Things...may have a chance to turn around."

"Is there any news from the King of Jin?"

Li Shengguo shook his head and said goodbye.

Liu Youzhong claimed that the King of Jin was going to return to Bingzhou, but he didn't say when. His meeting with Chen Bingcai might not go smoothly. Xu Chu became more and more anxious. Once the King of Jin learned that the Yizhou army had surrendered to the Chanyu, he would probably change his mind after assessing the situation and would not return to Bingzhou, and would try his best to attack Xiangyang.

Xiangyang's chances of winning were not great to begin with, and now they are even slimmer.

At dusk, Kou Daogu came to visit, or rather to admire his prey, because he stood at the door, carefully looking at Xu Chu, but did not speak.

No matter how anxious Xu Chu was, he did not show it on his face, and smiled, "Why don't you put on your felt robe, Mr. Kou?"

Kou Daogu was not angered, and after a while of silence, he said calmly, "I'm here just to tell you that Qinbei's Jiangshi Army and Yizhou Army have been defeated. It won't be long before Princess Fangde, who is hiding there, will be sent to Hanzhou, and you will have a chance to reunite with her."