Plan to cut off the nine states

After bidding farewell to Yin Fu, Xu Chu glanced at the central army tent in the distance. There seemed to be a shadow swaying in the torchlight, but there was nothing unusual.

Conspiracies always happen inadvertently. No matter how tense and intense the descriptions afterwards are, they are always silent at the time - except for the victims.

Xu Chu hesitated for a moment, and did not go to his own residence, but walked towards Zhang Shiqing's tent.

The two tents were not far apart. As soon as Xu Chu approached, two female soldiers came out of the tent next to him. When they saw him, they shrank back.

Xu Chu suddenly remembered that it was late at night and Zhang Shiqing might have gone to bed, so he turned around to leave. A voice came from the tent next to him: "The princess is not asleep, the light is still on."

Xu Chu smiled at the tent next to him and said loudly: "Xu Chu wants to see the princess."

After waiting for a while in the tent, Zhang Shiqing replied: "Please come in."

Xu Chu walked into the tent and saw Zhang Shiqing sitting upright on the bed with a serious face, so he smiled and asked: "You...what are you doing?"

"I didn't do anything, why do you ask this?"

"It's the second watch at night, you lit the light but did nothing, that's the strange thing."

Zhang Shiqing looked down at his empty hands and said coldly: "Is it okay to be in a daze?"

"Of course." Xu Chu sat on the small stool next to him, "I'm taking refuge here with you."

"Huh?" Zhang Shiqing immediately became interested.

"Liu Youzhong may come to me later to 'raise an army to question me', I don't want to see him tonight."

"The envoy of King Jin? What did you do to offend him?"

"Just like you, I did nothing, others did it, but he will blame me."

"Tell me the details."

"You will know later."

Zhang Shiqing snorted, but didn't want to wait until "later", so he said: "Tell me the details, and I will tell you what I am doing."

"Well... okay." Xu Chu roughly recounted Yin Fu's plan to get rid of Yang Tongcai with the help of Jizhou generals.

After listening to this, Zhang Shiqing let out a long sigh, "You are not innocent at all. Liu Youzhong should settle accounts with you."

Xu Chu laughed and said, "Even you think so, then I have to 'take refuge' even more."

"Do you feel embarrassed sometimes?"

"Often."

"So you don't want to be king?"

Xu Chu did not answer, "It's your turn."

Zhang Shiqing blushed slightly and took out a piece of paper from behind, "I'm looking at this, the 'divorce letter' written to you by the Golden Saint."

Xu Chu touched his body and said in surprise, "When did you take it away?"

"You didn't bring it with you, so I put it in the tent. I went to find you. You were not there, so I took it... You should keep it well and not leave it casually. What if you lose it?"

"Okay, it's my fault. Didn't you read it a long time ago?"

"I have almost forgotten it. I am rereading it this time to appreciate it. Although Saint Jin has no literary talent, she writes well and I like it very much, especially this sentence, 'I was heartless when we first met, and I was indifferent when we parted. You live in the valley, and I live on the top of the mountain. From now on, we don't need to meet each other, and each of us is in our own place.'"

"What's special about this sentence?"

Zhang Shiqing smiled and said, "Saint Jin is an amazing person after all. You live in the valley and she lives on the top of the mountain. She is as heroic as a man and much better than me."

"She is right. My final destination is probably a valley. Can you bear it?"

Zhang Shiqing's face sank. "I went back to Jizhou to see my family. I didn't say I wanted to live with you."

"You are welcome to play in the valley often."

Zhang Shiqing lowered his head and was about to speak when a noise suddenly came from outside.

Two female soldiers immediately ran in. Without waiting for them to speak, Xu Chu said, "Guard the door, don't leave, don't let outsiders approach, and don't meddle in other people's business."

"Yes." The female soldier withdrew and stood guard at the door with the other two, a total of four people, looking at the figures running back and forth anxiously. They soon understood what happened, looked at each other, and became even more anxious.

Zhang Shiqing had been reminded, so he was not panicked. He looked up and said, "If, I mean if, I live with you, what is my status?"

"Husband and wife."

Zhang Shiqing blushed, took a look at the letter in his hand, and was encouraged, "I also wrote a 'divorce letter', earlier than Jin Shengnv. She praised me for this matter when we met."

"Jin Shengnv divorced her husband, and I divorced my wife. Both parties were willing and owed nothing to each other. I don't recognize your divorce letter, what about you?"

Zhang Shiqing thought for a while, "If 'Yougu' is like Siguogu, I... can live in it."

Xu Chu smiled and nodded.

"Xu Chu..." A wolf-like voice came from outside the tent.

Xu Chu hushed, and when the shouting outside died down, he said, "Liu Youzhong is a smart man, and he will be back to normal tomorrow morning."

"It's really strange." Zhang Shiqing stared at Xu Chu.

"What's wrong?"

"You don't look like a sinister person, why... do you come up with so many conspiracies?"

"For example... for example, if Binfen accidentally fell into the mud and there was no one around, would you jump in to save her?"

"Why is she so careless?"

"Just for example."

"Of course I have to save her, but after I save her, I'm going to make fun of her for a while."

"So you don't care about getting your dress dirty?"

"In order to save people, you still care about these things? Who are you going to save?"

"I want to save 'Name and Reality Integration'."

Zhang Shiqing was stunned, "I won't talk to you anymore, you just keep perfunctorily saying weird things to me."

Xu Chu smiled and said nothing.

Zhang Shiqing suddenly understood something, but it had nothing to do with "name and reality", "Why do I think you don't have good intentions towards the Jizhou Army?"

"How to say?"

"On the surface, Mr. Yin benefited from the removal of Yang Tongcai, but when I think about it carefully, Jizhou generals rebelled twice in succession. Once this trend breaks out, these generals may no longer be able to be used by the imperial court."

"That makes sense."

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"I have persuaded many people, some successfully and some unsuccessfully. From this I understand a truth: deliberately persuading people often fails, and the best strategy is to follow the trend."

Zhang Shiqing sighed softly: "Master Yin has always established himself as a man of virtue, but now he has also developed a desire to use tricks. The Tiancheng court is really...forget it, I am not Huanyan, so I can't control the court."

"This is also called going with the flow."

"This is called helplessness." Zhang Shiqing heard that it was quiet outside, "You can leave, there is no need to 'take refuge' here."

Xu Chu stood up and said goodbye, "It's settled, are we still husband and wife?"

Zhang Shiqing nodded and hurriedly added: "We must go back to Jizhou and meet my parents... then..."

Xu Chu said goodbye with a smile.

A major incident occurred in the camp and the camp was kept quiet all night, but Xu Chu was able to stay out of it and had a solid sleep in the tent. When he woke up the next morning, he found that the camp had settled down, as if nothing had happened. Yin Fu still Supervising the army as an envoy from the imperial court, another general took charge of the army instead of Yang Tongcai.

The first batch of soldiers left the camp and went straight to Bingzhou. The rest were also preparing to leave camp within two days.

At nearly noon, Liu Youzhong came to visit again. As soon as he entered the tent, he handed over his hands with a smile and no anger at all, "Congratulations to my fourth brother for another outstanding achievement."

Xu Chu pretended to be puzzled, "Where did the 'miracle' come from?"

"After what happened last night, Mr. Yin has completely taken control of the Jizhou Army. He must be very grateful to his fourth brother."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "It turns out that eldest brother was talking about what happened last night."

"Um."

"It's regrettable that something like this happened in the camp, but it has nothing to do with me."

"Really?" Liu Youzhong didn't believe it.

"Yang Tongcai has had conflicts with his generals for a long time. Anyone with a discerning eye can see it. Do I need to stir up trouble?"

Soon after Liu Youzhong entered the camp, he noticed that the generals were not getting along. He couldn't help but believe Xu Chu's words and said with a smile: "Maybe I am too worried. Anyway, the fourth brother and Lord Yin are both Fan Guan's disciples. Everyone says that Yin is a disciple of Fan Guan." Your Excellency thinks highly of your fourth brother."

"Invite me occasionally to chat and talk about mysteries. It's really quite communicative."

Liu Youzhong raised his hands and said sincerely: "Fourth brother must help me no matter what this time. No, no, I am doing a favor for King Jin. It is a matter of life and death. Fourth brother must not shirk it."

"Why did eldest brother suddenly say such a thing? I have no soldiers and no food. How can I help the King of Jin who is far away in Bingzhou?"

"What my fourth brother doesn't know is that I reached an agreement with Yang Tongcai yesterday about forming an alliance. I have already sent someone to deliver a message to the King of Jin, asking the King of Jin to send an order to open the border and let the Jizhou army enter Bingzhou..."

"Since we have formed an alliance, this is what we should do."

Liu Youzhong's face was full of urgency, "But Yin Fu... Master Yin has other ideas. He doesn't want to form an alliance. Although he didn't tell me, I have received definite information. The Jizhou forwards who set out today will seize the pass as soon as they enter Bingzhou. , wait for the army to arrive, and head to Jinyang together."

"The Jin army is confronting the Liang army. If the Jizhou army gets involved, it will be difficult to deal with."

"That's what I'm talking about, and King Jin thinks that the two armies have formed an alliance and are not well guarded... Fourth brother, I beg you, go talk to Master Yin and persuade him to change his mind."

"Brother should understand that people like us should not dissuade disobedience, but if Mr. Yin has made up his mind..."

"Undecided." Liu Youzhong said hurriedly, "As far as I know, there are still many generals in the army who are willing to form an alliance with the King of Jin."

"Brother, have you met Mr. Yin?"

"I just met."

"What did you say?"

"I said that the King of Liang was too ambitious to seize Jizhou, humiliate the imperial court, and annex Bingzhou. Fortunately, the King of Jin returned in time to prevent him from succeeding. Lord Yin is attacking Jinyang at this time. His relatives will suffer, and his enemies will be quick. It's different from helping King Liang usurp the throne."

"What did Master Yin say?"

"He didn't admit anything, he was just making excuses with me, and he refused to let me go."

Xu Chu thought for a while, "Okay, I'll go see Mr. Yin, but I'm not sure whether I can persuade him to succeed."

"Fourth brother will definitely succeed if he takes action."

Xu Chu didn't move, and Liu Youzhong said again: "Whether it succeeds or not, I will be grateful to my fourth brother on behalf of the King of Jin."

Xu Chu went to see Yin Fu alone.

Yin Fu didn't sleep all night. He had just seen off several generals. When he heard that Xu Chu asked for an audience, he immediately summoned him in. He dismissed his entourage and said with a smile, "It went better than expected. Yang Tongcai betrayed his relatives and even his nephews." Kill him."

"But many generals still wanted to form an alliance with the Jin army."

"Well, I know. Once the Jizhou army has wiped out Jin and Liang together, the doubts will naturally be eliminated."

"The morale of the army is unstable and accidents are easy to happen. Master Yin cannot hide the truth from his subordinates at this time."

"Hide it?" Yin Fu showed a hint of surprise.

Xu Chu cupped his hands and said, "I only remind Mr. Yin that you will never ask too many questions or talk nonsense. Farewell."

"Don't leave." Yin Fu thought for a while, "Not only did King Jin send people here to seek an alliance, there was also someone who sent people to visit secretly, and no one else knew about it."

"Um."

"Mr. Xu, have you ever heard of Bao Dun, Lord of Runan City?"

"I've heard of it." Xu Chu did not say that he knew this person.

"As long as the Jizhou army attacks Jinyang, Bao Dun will immediately get rid of King Liang. But this is a secret plan we have reached, should we make it public?"