Plan to cut off the nine states

The King of Jin led his troops to flee outside the fortress, and the cities abandoned their defenses one after another. For the Jizhou soldiers, the road to their hometown became smooth.

Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing, escorted by a group of Jizhou soldiers, rushed to Yuyang and brought a lot of good news.

First was the return of Princess Fang De, second was the arrival of thousands of Jizhou soldiers, and third was Yin Fu who had led his troops to occupy Jinyang before Liang Jun, winning a crucial city for the imperial court.

In order to welcome this army, almost all the people in Yuyang were mobilized. Many people here had fled from various places in Jizhou, especially Yecheng. When they saw their children returning from the expedition, they were all extremely excited and cried along the way. Those who could not see their relatives mourned. Every passing soldier asked...

Still dozens of miles away from Yuyang City, Zhang Shiqing was picked up by a vehicle sent by the King of Jibei and his wife and rushed into the city.

"I will come to you as soon as I see my parents." Zhang Shiqing promised before leaving.

Xu Chu entered the city with the army and received no special treatment. Many good news were conveyed by messengers, and there was no need for him to tell it personally.

Not long after entering the city gate, someone waved on the street and shouted: "Xu Chu! Mr. Xu!"

Xu Chu dismounted and walked over, "Do you recognize me?"

The man nodded, "Well, I am a friend of Tian Jiang. I have met Mr. Xu. Tian Jiang asked me to invite Mr. Xu to come."

Tian Jiang had previously sent the princess all the way to Qinzhou, but he did not stay in the Shishi Army and took a detour back to Yuyang.

Xu Chu looked back and saw that several of his guards had been dragged away by their relatives a long time ago. There were no followers behind them, so he said, "Where are you going? I need to explain."

The man did not say his name and shook his head, "No need. If someone is looking for Mr. Xu, Tian Jiang will know."

Xu Chu hesitated, and the man smiled and said, "There are no outsiders in Yuyang City, so Mr. Xu can rest assured."

Xu Chu smiled and said, "Please lead the way."

The two of them took a roundabout way and entered a secluded back alley. In front of a house, the leader raised his hand and knocked on the door. Then he raised his hand to Xu Cugong, nodded, and left without saying anything.

After waiting for a while, the courtyard door opened, and a woman smiled and said: "The young master has finally arrived."

"Mrs. Feng?" Xu Chu was a little surprised.

"Let's talk first."

Seeing Feng Juniang, Xu Chu was no longer worried. He tied his horse at the door and followed her into the courtyard. He suddenly said: "Should I call you Mrs. Tian?"

Feng Juniang smiled and said: "Young master, you have to guess everything first, can't you wait for me to say it myself?"

"Sorry, I'm used to it." Xu Chu said with a smile, and then held his hand again, "Congratulations."

"Alas, it's a pity that his life is not hard enough."

"Huh?" Xu Chu was surprised.

Feng Juniang led the way. Instead of going to the central living room, she entered a side room.

Tian Jiang was sitting on a large chair. He looked good, but one of his trouser legs was empty. "Mr. Xu is more haggard than before," he said.

"Suffering a slight injury, Zhuangshi Tian is..."

"It's funny..."

"It's not funny at all." Feng Juniang sternly interrupted her husband, asked Xu Chu to sit down, stood next to her husband, and said for him: "He got into a fight and his left leg was chopped off."

"Fight?" Xu Chu was surprised again.

Tianjiang sighed: "What kind of scene have I, Tianjiang, never experienced? I have crawled out of the pile of dead people seven or eight times. I didn't expect..."

"Still bragging, he was drunk and his legs were chopped off by several teenagers." Feng Juniang did not hide anything for her husband.

Tian Jiang smiled and corrected: "At least ten people, all fifteen or sixteen years old, and one of them is almost twenty."

"In short, they were a bunch of young men who cut off one of his legs and dispersed in a rush. If he hadn't been discovered in time, he would have died on the street." Feng Juniang looked at her husband, with both distress and complaint in her eyes. "The famous Tian Zhuangshi didn't die on the battlefield or in the hands of a prince, but he almost died in the hands of a few unknown people for no reason. He didn't want to take revenge."

"There is no revenge. I drank too much and refused to give way to them while walking on the street. Although these teenagers were cruel, I was also at fault."

"Could it be a design?" Xu Chu asked.

Tian Jiang was originally an indifferent person with little change in his expression, but now he has become much kinder. He shook his head with a smile, "I have offended a lot of people. If they had planned it, they wouldn't have cut off just one of my legs. Those people are An ordinary boy, just like when I was young.”

Feng Juniang shook her head helplessly, Xu Chu cupped his hands and said: "Tian Zhuangshi has a clear distinction between grudges and grudges, which is admirable."

"He is not a strong man now. Look at me. I invited the young master to come over. I didn't even prepare tea. You guys are talking here and I will arrange the food and drinks. The young master will stay here today." Feng Juniang did not ask for advice, but made a decision directly. .

As soon as Feng Juniang left, Tian Jiang whispered: "Tian was a hero for half his life, but fell into the hands of a woman for the rest of his life."

Xu Chu was stunned, "What does Tian Zhuangshi mean by this?"

"Ju Niang is right, I am no longer a 'strong man'."

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Then let me call you 'Brother Tian'."

"I'm much older than you, and I can afford to call you 'Brother Tian'."

"Brother Tian...isn't it voluntary?"

"It's voluntary. After I was injured, Ju Niang took care of me. She said that she was cheating on my husband. It happened that I had a broken leg and was half dead. If I had the courage, I would marry her and I would be happy. I couldn't be agitated, so ..." Tian Jiang smiled, "It is my honor to marry Ju Niang. I only regret that I have become a half-wasted person - but Ju Niang didn't care and said that this was my betrothal gift, haha. "

Xu Chu smiled and said: "Brother Tian and his wife are harmonious, so I would like to congratulate you even more."

"Harmony is harmony, but I don't have any ambitions. Now I just want to spend the rest of my life at home and protect Ju Niang, so I don't even want to avenge my broken leg, for fear of getting involved in trouble again."

Xu Chu thought for a while and said, "Brother Tian shouldn't have invited me over."

Xu Chu can always bring "right and wrong".

"I'm not the one who invited you here. Let Ju Niang talk about it later. Let's just drink."

"I'm drinking so much now that I can only have one or two drinks."

"What you suffered is not a minor injury."

"Fortunately, at least I didn't break any muscles or bones."

"The limbs are still sound." Tian Jiang laughed, his expression suddenly turned serious again, "Without ambition, I just want to live a stable life. Please give me Mr. Xu's advice: How many days can Yuyang be safe?"

Feng Juniang came in from outside, "We have to live one day at a time, why do we think so much? Even if there is peace elsewhere, we can't go there. Young Master, please come to the hall to dine."

Xu Chu stood up and stood aside to wait for Tian Jiang.

Tian Jiang stood up by himself, leaning on a short stick. Although he walked a little crookedly, it was not difficult at all. He walked sideways at the door and said, "Mr. Xu, please."

A banquet had been set up in the hall. Feng Juniang was greatly surprised when she heard that Xu Chu could not drink too much wine now, but she did not force him to persuade him and ordered him to drink tea instead.

The three of them chatted while eating. Tian Jiang lost his ambition and talked more. He still didn't want to mention his own deeds, but talked about the strange people he had met over the years.

Feng Juniang often interjected and found fault with her husband's words, but her tone was brisk and she always had a happy smile on her face. She was obviously quite satisfied with her husband.

This is a happy couple.

Xu Chu said little, only how he found Princess Fangde.

After three drinks, Feng Ju Niang got down to business, while Tian Jiang sat aside and listened silently.

"Actually, the princess asked me to invite the young master to stay here temporarily. She said that the current situation is complicated and it is not appropriate for the young master to appear publicly in the city."

Xu Chu had already guessed it, so he nodded and said nothing.

"The princess also wants to learn about the situation in Bingzhou from the young master."

"Master Yin's envoy will explain it in more detail than me."

"What the county wants is not the details, but the direction. The news from Bingzhou is so good that the county is a little worried."

"It will take a few days to make it clear." Xu Chu replied.

"What are you waiting for?"

"Waiting for the outcome of the dispute between King Liang and Bao Dun."

"There are rumors that Bao Dun intends to betray Prince Liang. Is this true?"

"The rumors are true, but people change their minds."

Feng Juniang thought for a while and said with a smile: "Young Master, you don't have to wait, I already know the general idea. Mr. Sun Yalu Sun had previously sent an envoy to Liang Jun to observe the movements of King Liang, and he just came back the day before yesterday. He said that King Liang had secretly retreated to Yecheng, and his subordinates There were not many soldiers left, and I don’t know what he did. All of his subordinates returned to Baodun. "

Xu Chu sighed lightly, not particularly surprised by this result.

Feng Juniang added: "Even if the direction is not clear for a while, the princess wants to know what kind of person Bao Dun is. She knows that the young master recognizes this person."

"Bao Dun..." Xu Chu has actually been reminiscing about the past these days. He has met Bao Dun a few times, but they didn't interact much. He always came up with ideas, and Bao Dun accepted them without showing his edge. Difficult to deal with.”

Feng Juniang glanced at her husband.

Xu Chu said: "Brother Tian must also recognize Bao Dun, right?"

Tian Jiang nodded, but did not speak. His expression looked a bit like the old days.

"He also said that Bao Dun is not an easy person to deal with." Feng Juniang said.

"Bao Dun is quite capable of rallying around people. He is unsteady on his own, but I have never seen or heard of anyone betraying him. He used to be less ambitious, but now he is favored by everyone and his future is limitless."

Tian Jiang continued: "I remember Bao Dun because he apologized to me. In fact, he had little contact with him. He was a Runan man who caused trouble in Dongdu, and I chased him all the way to Runan. Dear Bao Dun He came to see me, apologized to me in public, and was willing to take all the responsibilities on that person's behalf. To be honest, I was a little afraid of him, so I accepted the apology, drank for a few days, and said goodbye to Dongdu. He would always ask someone to give me gifts, and he would continue to do so until I quit the world. Finally, I wrote a letter stating my determination to serve my mother, and he stopped interacting with her. "

"He's just a hero. When it comes to fighting for world supremacy, he may not be good at it." Feng Juniang said.

"Bao Dun may not have the ambition to compete for the top spot, but he will be a powerful help to anyone he invests in," Xu Chu said.

"Who will Bao Dun turn to? Can the court win him over?"

"Whoever owns Runan City, Bao Dun will surrender to him."

Nearly half of Luozhou has been captured by King Ning, including Runan.

Feng Juniang hadn't thought about the seriousness of this matter yet, so she nodded and said: "Understood, I'll tell the princess, and she will remind Lord Yin to be careful about Bao Dun. It's best to expel Bingzhou. If not, it's better to play it safe than to rush in."

Xu Chu said: "Please, Mrs. Tian, ​​tell the princess that I want to go to Yecheng."

"Going to Yecheng? King Liang has lost power now, and even Jizhou counties are betraying him one after another. He really can't hold on for long this time."

"That's why I want to see him." Xu Chu said.