Plan to cut off the nine states

(Thanks to reader "heathers" for the red tip.)

Xu Chu handed over his hands to Shanyu's eldest wife and Zhou Yuanbin one after another, and said, "Have you met Princess Huanyan in the palace?"

"We have never met each other, but we have... exchanged letters."

"Where's Zhou Canjun?"

Zhou Yuanbin smiled and shook his head, "I've never seen her, but I've heard of some of her deeds."

"I have seen and understand Princess Huanyan: if she had the handle of the central palace, she would never stay with her, because the Tiancheng court is wandering outside, and neither Yecheng nor Yuyang is safe enough, and it has nothing to do with her. The distance between Zhonggong and Zhonggong is sometimes close and sometimes far away. For the sake of safety, she will hide this information next to Zhonggong. "

"You just said you were with Shan Yu."

"Because Zhonggong has been staying with Shanyu, and Shanyu was eager to help Xiangyang, this brief separation occurred. And I speculate that the handle is closer to Shanyu. Only in this way can we ensure that it can take effect at any time."

Zhou Yuanbin frowned for a moment and said to his eldest wife: "Why did you write the letter in the first place? Why did you say so much in the letter?"

Shanyu's eldest wife snorted.

Zhou Yuanbin did not dare to say too much, and said to Xu Chu: "Everything is speculation. It is difficult for us to believe your words."

Xu Chu smiled.

Shanyu's eldest wife said: "The speculation is just talk. He knows so clearly that Princess Huanyan must have told him."

Zhou Yuanbin nodded repeatedly, feeling that it made sense. He cupped his hands and said with a smile, "Princess Huanyan really... trusts Mr. Xu. She must have told you who has the letter."

Xu Chu shook his head.

"Master Xu, don't you want to say it?"

"I have told everything I know and have not hidden a word."

Zhou Yuanbin laughed several times, obviously not believing it, and neither did Shan Yu's eldest wife, "Whatever you want, or whatever Princess Huanyan wants, just say it, don't go too far, I can satisfy it."

"The palace should know what Huanyan wants."

The eldest wife of the Shanyu was silent for a while, "Emperor Tiancheng will not change people, and the Shanyu will not blame Yuyang after pacifying Ji and merging the two states. Is that enough?"

"Um……"

"Chan Yu revealed that if the Zhang family is obedient, they can leave a few counties for them. I can ask for more. Half of Jizhou is enough, right?"

Xu Chu nodded, "Princess Huanyan will not force others to do anything, let alone make excessive demands."

Shanyu's eldest wife sneered, "What about you?"

"I want to be Shanyu's counselor, and my status cannot be lower than Kou Daogu."

The eldest wife of the Shan Yu was slightly startled, then smiled and said: "Mr. Xu, why should you sacrifice the near for the distant? If you had bowed to Shan Yu from the beginning, you would now be his confidant, unmatched by Mr. Kou. Even now, as long as you are willing to bow your head, , can still be appreciated by Shan Yu.”

"What I want is not appreciation, but forgiveness and trust, so I ask for it to go to the palace."

"Um?"

Zhou Yuanbin knew Xu Chu better and interjected: "What he means is that he will say some things that Shanyu doesn't like to hear. The middle palace has to rescue him and make Shanyu forgive him and trust him."

"Thank you Zhou for joining the army." Xu Chu smiled.

Shan Yu's eldest wife showed a hint of embarrassment, "This is not the same thing. With Mr. Xu's 'eloquence', I'm afraid I have to help you out often, right? It would be fine if it was just excessive words, but if Mr. Xu has a hidden agenda to deceive Shan Yu , I have no choice, even if I risk my life, I can’t let Shanyu let you go.”

"Princess Huanyan and I will not force others to do anything. I just want to save more people and persuade Shan Yu to stop massacring the city."

Hearing these words, Shan Yu's eldest wife became a little suspicious and looked at Zhou Yuanbin.

Zhou Yuanbin stepped forward and said: "Master Xu has always had the ambition to help the world. I think I can help him and the Chanyu can also get a name of generosity. There is no harm in it."

"Are you just advising Shan Yu to kill less people and massacre the city less?" Shan Yu's eldest wife asked.

Xu Chu nodded, "The general trend of the world is determined by Shan Yu himself. I can't persuade him, and others can't persuade him. I won't embarrass the palace in this kind of matter."

"Okay. Alas, it was my mistake at the time... Zhou Yuanbin will send you to Xiangyang later, and I will write a letter to Shan Yu. As long as you don't go too far, you will be treated politely. After meeting Shan Yu, within one day …”

"It will take at least three days."

Shan Yu's wife lowered her gaze and thought for a while, "Within three days, you have to find the letter and ask Zhou Yuanbin to bring it to me. I will remember your contribution and ensure that you have no worries in your life."

"I hope the Central Palace can provide more guarantees."

"What else do you want?" Shan Yu's eldest wife was a little angry and immediately suppressed it, "I swear on the lives of my two sons that if I break my promise and retaliate against Mr. Xu and Princess Huanyan afterwards, I will have to watch the two sons die with my own eyes and never give up for the rest of my life. Give birth again.”

Everyone knows that the eldest wife of the Shanyu loves the twins. Xu Chu cupped his hands and said: "From now on, there will be no worries in the palace, and I will have no worries either."

"Let's wait until you find the letter." Shan Yu's eldest wife waved her hand, and Zhou Yuanbin came to Xu Chu, "Please follow me."

Outside the tent, Kou Daogu was no longer there. Zhou Yuanbin shivered and said, "It's really cold. It seems to be colder than Jinyang."

"When will we leave?" Xu Chu asked.

"Mr. Xu has been traveling all night. Let's go and sleep for a while. We will set off in the afternoon. No one will force anyone to do anything difficult? Right?" Zhou Yuanbin said with a smile.

Zhou Yuanbin sent Xu Chu to his tent, "Master Xu wants to persuade Shan Yushao to kill someone. This is a good thing. Master Xu will also say a few good words for the King of Jin, right?"

"I haven't gained Shan Yu's trust yet."

"Haha, if there is a recommendation from the middle palace, Mr. Xu will be put to good use when he comes."

"No matter how heavy it is, it can't be heavier than King Jin."

"Today is not what it used to be. I'm worried that King Jin will not be able to escape this disaster."

"Why?"

"Maybe I think too much. I always feel that... the Chanyu will put all the responsibility for the defeat of Xiangyang on King Jin."

"Does Zhou Canjun think that King Jin was defeated on purpose?"

"I didn't say that. It's just that for such a big defeat, Shan Yu has to find someone to take the blame. Anyway, I hope Mr. Xu can put in a good word."

"Prince Jin and I are sworn brothers. Of course we will not sit back and watch him be killed by the Chanyu, but..."

"If King Jin really has different intentions, and Chanyu finds evidence, it will be useless even if the palace lord personally goes to plead for mercy, and I will not force Mr. Xu."

"No one should force others into trouble?"

"Haha. Mr. Xu, try to sleep as much as possible. If you are hungry, just ask the servant outside."

Zhou Yuanbin said goodbye, said a few words to the servant, and hurried back to Shanyu's wife's tent.

It was already dawn, and the camp was full of people. A large number of soldiers were about to set off for Xiangyang after taking a short rest.

At the entrance of the tent, Zhou Yuanbin bumped into Kou Daogu who came out of it. Although the two knew each other, they had never interacted with each other. They glanced at each other without saying hello.

Shanyu's eldest wife was also waiting for Zhou Yuanbin and asked, "When will we set off?"

"afternoon."

"What are you waiting for?"

"I have prepared some gifts for the Chanyu and the kings, but they haven't been packed yet."

"Is this the only trick you can do?"

"This trick is the most effective." Zhou Yuanbin smiled, "What is he here for?"

"Mr. Kou wanted to see Xu Chu die in pain and claimed that everything Xu Chu said was a lie. Even if Princess Huanyan handed the letter to someone close to Shan Yu, she would not let Xu Chu know that leaving him would be useless and would lead to disaster. ”

"The hatred between these two people is not small."

"Well, so I asked him to wait a few more days."

"Kou Daogu has no wisdom or courage. He just has the reputation of being a scholar. Why in the palace..."

"Hey, don't you know how important 'reputation' is? There are many scholars in the Central Plains. They are not needed when it comes to success, but they are very capable of ruining things. Chanyu first entered the Central Plains and could not get the support of the scholars, but he did not want to They did bad things. Kou Daogu has a good reputation among scholars, and he said that "there is a world without Hua Yi", which is exactly what Shan Yu wants. This person is not doing well now, but he will become Shan Yu's right-hand man in the future, so I asked him to be the second son. Holy Master."

Zhou Yuanbin suddenly understood and said with a smile: "In that case, I will have to interact with him more in the future."

"Be sure to get the letter while you're here. Come back quickly and give it to me. I'll be on my way as soon as possible to meet Shanyu."

"Yes, I will send the letter back intact immediately after I get it. Where is Xu Chu? How to deal with it?"

"I swear on my two sons that of course I cannot touch them."

"What if... someone else touches him?"

The eldest wife of the Shan Yu frowned, "Who dares to touch Shan Yu after he is reused by the Shan Yu? If anyone dares, he will definitely be out of my control. What can I do?"

Zhou Yuanbin cupped his hands and said: "That's the reason. I went to supervise the loading of the car, but I didn't come to say goodbye to the palace when we set off."

Shanyu's eldest wife looked a little tired, so she hummed and warned: "The Shen family has been defeated. You should think more about our Zhou family and stop meddling in other people's business."

"Yes, I understand." Zhou Yuanbin resigned.

After noon, Xu Chu was called up, ate some food, and got on the road.

Zhou Yuanbin was a businessman at heart, and he could do business at any time and anything. He lent money to many Herong people, allowing them to repay with their future spoils.

During this large-scale plunder of Hanzhong City, many soldiers were involved, but the one who benefited the most was Zhou Yuanbin. He selected valuable soft objects and loaded ten carts full of them. Each item had a clear destination-this belonged to their Zhou family. Another round of capital.

Along the way, Zhou Yuanbin was very polite to Xu Chu. He traveled in the same car and ate at the same table. They chatted and never mentioned the mission of this trip again.

It was difficult to travel in winter, so Zhou Yuanbin had many cars and walked more slowly. Fortunately, there were always He Rong's cavalry going to Xiangyang along the way, so there was no danger.

That evening, the convoy stopped at a dilapidated post station for the night, with only one or two days left before He Rong's army ahead.

The post station was guarded by several He Rong and a group of soldiers from the Central Plains. It was close to Xiangyang and the news was relatively fast. It seemed that the Chanyu's personal expedition was very effective. He won consecutive battles and drove away the heroes outside the city, leaving Xiangyang alone. , leaving it to the Central Plains people who came later to conquer.

When Shan Yu first arrived in Xiangyang, he only brought more than 10,000 cavalry, but he was still invincible. He did not even encounter a few frontal resistances. Most of the heroes fled after hearing the news.

Xu Chu could only sigh in his heart.

Zhou Yuanbin was very happy, "Chanyu's campaign went smoothly. Although he is happy, he may not blame King Jin."

After the third watch, everyone in the inn had taken a rest. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door again. When they came in, they asked if Zhou Yuanbin was there.

Zhou Yuanbin was called up by several He Rong soldiers. He looked sleepy and confused and asked dissatisfiedly: "Who is looking for me? You...you are..."

Someone walked in again, lifted his hood, and the face revealed turned out to be Shan Yu's eldest wife.

"Why is Zhonggong here?" Zhou Yuanbin was shocked and hurriedly got up and put on his coat.

"Someone has leaked the news." Shan Yu's eldest wife looked stern than ever before, "Chan Yu will personally investigate the truth, Xu Chu can no longer stay."