Plan to cut off the nine states

A group of people rushed over. Zhou Yuanbin no longer had any luck and sat on the ground, trembling, saying: "As long as you let me live, the Zhou family's money will be yours..." In a hurry, he forgot to speak He Rongyu.

"Help!" The first person shouted, probably only saying this sentence in the Central Plains dialect, and raised his knife to chop.

Zhou Yuanbin was so scared that he was stunned. He couldn't move or hide. He watched the blade chop towards his head.

Suddenly, a horn sounded outside, and everyone in the post station was stunned, because they could hear that this was the horn commonly used by He Rong's troops, and the sound was different from that in the Central Plains.

The horn sounded continuously, as if giving orders and threatening.

Xu Chu took the opportunity to pull Zhou Yuanbin away, and the man holding the knife listened attentively, without noticing anything.

The horn sounded, and a clear voice came from outside the yard. It was He Rongyu. Xu Chu didn't understand, but Zhou Yuanbin could, and he couldn't help crying with joy.

The man holding the knife looked at the target and hesitated.

Zhou Yuanbin hurriedly said a series of congratulatory words. The man holding the knife spat on the ground, turned away, reunited with his companions, and hurried out of the gate.

"Help me up quickly." Zhou Yuanbin said. Although he had escaped death, his whole body was sore.

The servant could not move, Xu Chu helped him up, "Someone came to save you?"

"Is it the Right Capital King..."

"The brother of the Chanyu?"

Zhou Yuanbin nodded and took a step forward. The fire in the post station was already very strong. The servant also got up and followed behind. Xu Chu suddenly turned around and ran in before the flames engulfed the whole room. When he came out again, he had an extra cloak in his hand.

A team of cavalry was parked outside the post station, holding a large number of torches, illuminating more than a dozen corpses on the ground. There was a sound of horse hooves in the distance, obviously the murderer left without being stopped.

Zhou Yuanbin pushed Xu Chu away, hurried a few steps, came to a horse, hugged the knight's legs, and said a lot of excited words.

The post station was uninhabitable, so someone brought horses to Zhou Yuanbin and Xu Chu, and they all rushed to Xiangyang.

Zhou Yuanbin was still in shock, and he followed the Right King closely, talking non-stop.

The Right King was not very old, and looked only sixteen or seventeen years old. Xu Chu had never seen him when he stayed with the Chanyu, so he thought he had just arrived not long ago.

The Right King didn't speak much, just riding his horse.

Zhou Yuanbin opened his mouth too much, and was filled with cold wind, so he had to shut up, slow down, and gradually keep pace with Xu Chu.

After driving for nearly an hour at night, the team stopped and entered a small camp that had been built. Zhou Yuanbin was called by the Right King to talk about something, and Xu Chu stayed in an empty tent to rest.

Another hour passed, and it was already dawn outside. Zhou Yuanbin finally came over, his expression changing, and it was hard to tell whether he was happy or worried. "Did Mr. Xu rest well?"

"Not bad."

"Hmm..." Zhou Yuanbin pondered and said nothing, and Xu Chu did not ask any more questions. After a long time, Zhou Yuanbin made up his mind and said, "Mr. Xu must make the decision on this matter."

"I don't even know what's going on."

"The first group of people were indeed disguised as He Rong's soldiers, and they were indeed sent by the Empress Dowager to kill you and me to silence me."

"I can guess that."

"Hey, I should have understood long ago that the Empress Dowager didn't care about the word "Zhou family" at all. When the prisoners were detained in the post station, I was wondering why they were kept here instead of being sent to the camp? It turned out to be to create an excuse. I actually..." Zhou Yuanbin touched the scars on his face, indignant.

"Why did the Right Capital Prince come to save you? He is one of the three adults contacted by General Zhou?"

Zhou Yuanbin immediately shook his head, "Of course not, how could the Right Capital Prince oppose the Chanyu? He originally stayed outside the Great Wall and just arrived more than half a month ago - the Chanyu was seriously injured."

Zhou Yuanbin's last sentence was unclear, and Xu Chu hummed in surprise.

"The news just came that the Chanyu was shot by an arrow on the battlefield and was seriously injured."

"In front of him or behind him?"

"What do you mean?"

"In front of him was the enemy shooting arrows, and behind him was our own people attacking."

"Of course in front of him... I don't know, the Queen Mother has already set out to see the Chanyu, and before leaving, she issued a secret order to eliminate you and me."

"Why didn't the Right Capital Prince go to see the Chanyu?"

"The Queen Mother didn't allow him to go, and asked him to stay in Xiangyang. Someone reported the Queen Mother's secret order to him, and he personally led his troops to save me." Zhou Yuanbin's tone revealed a hint of pride.

"What about the war? Who will win or lose?" Xu Chu is most concerned about this matter.

"Since the Chanyu didn't retreat, he must have not been defeated, right?" Zhou Yuanbin's mind was not on this, and he stepped forward and said, "The situation is like this. What if the Chanyu... He Rong's army needs to choose a new Chanyu immediately to avoid the collapse of the entire army. The Queen took away the two sons, and her intention was very obvious, but the two sons were young, and many Lord He Rong was more optimistic about the Right Capital King."

"When the Strong Arm Chanyu succeeded to the throne, he was opposed. What do those people think?"

"Mr. Xu is worthy of it. He hit the nail on the head as soon as he opened his mouth. Although the old Chanyu's faction failed to compete for the throne, its power is still not small. The three adults I contacted They all belong to this faction, and they hope that the grandson of the old Chanyu, the Zuoxian King, will succeed to the throne. "

"So the Right King came to save you, hoping that you would mediate and win the support of the Zuoxian King's faction?"

Zhou Yuanbin nodded, "But I know my own weight, and I can't afford such a big thing, so I came to ask Mr. Xu for advice."

Xu Chu thought for a while, "The Right King can speak the Central Plains dialect?"

Zhou Yuanbin shook his head, "He is not interested in anything in the Central Plains, and this time he came to the pass on orders."

"The Chanyu must have been ambushed."

"It is probably someone hired by the Empress, and she will definitely conceal this matter."

"No, on the contrary, the Queen will publicize this matter and then avenge the Strong Arm Chanyu."

"Is she crying thief? Who is she avenging?"

Xu Chu was silent, Zhou Yuanbin understood it himself, "Yes, she will frame whoever wants to seize the Chanyu position. What should the Right Capital King do? What should I do? Help him or not? Although the Zuo Xianwang faction is very close to our Zhou family, it is probably difficult to get them to give up the Chanyu position."

"What is the Right Capital King like? Will he listen to advice?"

"How should I put it? The Right Capital King is a real He Rong person. He likes riding and hunting. He has no interest in other things. Of course, fighting for the Chanyu position does not count. This is not an interest, but self-protection. In this matter, he can listen to advice."

"Very good, then persuade him to publicly support the two sons of the Queen. . "

"Ah? You didn't even fight for it, and you just gave up?"

"This is called retreating to advance. If the Chanyu dies, the three parties will fight for the throne, and the Right Capital King seems to be the weakest."

"He is indeed the weakest. He is not too old or too young, and he has been the Right Capital King for a short time. His status is not too high or too low. Anyway, it is quite embarrassing. He hopes..." Zhou Yuanbin lowered his voice, "He wants to know why the Queen Mother wants to kill me to silence me."

"Did you tell him?"

"I didn't tell the truth. I said that the Queen Mother was afraid that you and I would surrender to the King of Jin, so she wanted to kill people. The Right Capital King was a little disappointed."

"General Zhou did the right thing. Don't tell him first. If the Right Capital King is really willing to listen to advice, his current approach is wrong. He should not compete with the Queen Mother, but pretend to be submissive, leading the succession dispute to the Queen Mother and the Left Wise King, and sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. "

" "We can't just 'watch' all the time, right?"

"The Queen Mother has been prepared for a long time and currently has the upper hand. When the Zuo Xian Wang's faction finds itself defeated, it will have to look for allies. Only then can the Right Capital King and General Zhou come forward."

Zhou Yuanbin nodded repeatedly and lowered his voice again, "Mr. Xu's plan is good for the Right Capital King, but our Zhou family is more familiar with the Zuo Xian Wang..."

"Once the Zuo Xian Wang and the Right Capital King feel the need to form an alliance, it will be the time for General Zhou to show his skills. It's your business to choose which side to be the Chanyu. Outsiders cannot interfere."

Zhou Yuanbin laughed twice, moving the scars on his face, and reached out to touch it twice, "I understand, but the Right Capital King has already offended the Queen Mother by rescuing you and me..."

"This is simple. The Queen Mother is also a member of the Zhou family. The Right Capital King only needs to claim that he heard someone was trying to assassinate Zhou "I came to save people for the Queen, so I'm here to help her."

"Haha, others may believe it, but the Queen doesn't."

"It's simple. Let the Right King send us to the Queen."

Zhou Yuanbin was shocked and said immediately, "I won't go. Isn't that sending me to death?"

"On the contrary, the Queen wants to blame others for the murder of the Chanyu and will never kill people publicly to silence them. The closer you are to her, the safer you may be."

"So the Queen planned to kill last night... But it's still risky to stay with the Queen, right?"

"Risky, with the current situation of Zhou Canjun, hiding anywhere is not risky?"

Zhou Yuanbin sighed, "What's going on? When the Queen told me everything, I thought I was trusted, but it turned out that I was just using her for a while. Okay, I'll go to see the Right King and make things clear. "

Not long after, Zhou Yuanbin and Youdu Wang arrived together. Youdu Wang looked at Xu Chu carefully and then said a bunch of words.

Zhou Yuanbin said: "Youdu Wang thanks Mr. Xu for his advice. Whether it is used or not, you have made a contribution. What reward do you want? Mr. Xu, don't be polite, just ask for it. He Rong people don't shy away from such things. "

"I want Princess Fangde." Xu Chu said.

"Mr. Xu is really brave, but the princess is to be given to the Chanyu, not in the hands of Youdu Wang..."

"When I checked into the camp, I saw the vehicle. This is Kou Daogu's camp, and Princess Fangde is also here."

Zhou Yuanbin was stunned for a moment and smiled: "Mr. Xu's eyes don't miss anything."

Seeing that the two were talking non-stop, Youdu Wang asked, and Zhou Yuanbin answered respectfully.

Youdu Wang nodded and talked again. Zhou Yuanbin said: "Youdu Wang said that he doesn't have the power to hand the princess to you now, but he can take the princess to Xiangyang and wait for him... If everything goes well, he will have this power. "

"Okay. "Xu Chu said.

The Right King understood this word, stepped forward and held Xu Chu's arm, and said something in an excited tone.

"The Right King swears that Mr. Xu can trust him. He Rongren values ​​oaths and will never break his promise."

"I believe it."

The Right King left, Zhou Yuanbin saw him off, and soon came back, "We will go to see the Queen with Kou Daogu later."

"Yes."

Zhou Yuanbin suddenly laughed, "I know Mr. Xu's real purpose is to send He Rongren back to the frontier, but I haven't figured it out yet. What are you going to do?"

"I haven't figured it out either." Xu Chu smiled, paused for a moment, and said, "Wait a little longer, the situation will become clear."