The Qin army defeated the Chu army in Lantian again, then recovered Wuguan, and then seized the land of Danyang in the Chu State, and the other Qin army also captured the Hanzhong Land of the Chu State, and the Qin army penetrated hundreds of miles into the territory of the Chu State, and the momentum was violent.

The Chu army was defeated twice, losing more than 100,000 soldiers, and there was already a fear of the Qin State.

When the king of Chu wanted to cut down Qin, Chen Zhen suggested that the king of Chu cut two cities to bribe Qin, and jointly invaded Qi with Qin, and he could also compensate the land of the city ceded to Qin from Qi, but the king of Chu did not listen. This time the army lost its division, and the strong enemy pressed the border, and the state of Chu was in an extremely disadvantageous position.

Chen Zhen persuaded the king of Chu: "Qin is just to take Danyang and Hanzhong, and it is not enough to swallow Chu for a while, and the king can still have no worries." However, in order to appease the heart of the Qin State, the king cut two cities to make the Qin State withdraw its troops. If you reconcile with Qi and restore the alliance, there is no better way. ”

The king of Chu had no other way at this time, so he had to do what Chen Zhen said, cut the two cities north of the Han River and dedicated them to the Qin State, and asked for a strike. Because the king of Qin used troops with the state of Chu, his military strength was also reduced and consumed, and now that the land in Hanzhong has been obtained, and he has obtained a lot of land in Danyang, he will accept it when he sees it, accept the two cities north of the Han River, and make peace with the Chu army.

The king of Chu wanted to reconcile with Qi, when Qu Yuan had been recalled from the north of Han to the capital of Chu, the official was reinstated, King Huai thought that Qu Yuan was good at rhetoric, and the previous time he opposed the severance of relations between Chu and Qi, and was the best candidate to envoy Qi, so he took Qu Yuan, the doctor of Sanyan, as the envoy of the king of Chu, and gave the gift of the book of the country, and went to the state of Qi to rebuild the former good.

Qu Yuan Qi State, King Xuan asked: "Chu Jun swore to break off friendship with the widow before, why did he come here again to make peace with the widow?" May I listen to the words of the son, and if the words are in line with the will of the widow, the widow will restore the friendship. ”

Qu Yuan said: "The reason why my monarch broke off friendship with the king was not because of my intention, but because I was deceived by Zhang Yi. Zhang Yi was a fraudster, and he did tricks, but he didn't know for a while, and he was confused by his fallacy, so he offended the king. Although the present state was defeated by Qin, there was still strength left to balance the Qin state. Because I misheard Zhang Yi's false words before, I sent a special envoy to make amends to the king, and I am willing to abandon my previous suspicions and repair the alliance again. This is not only beneficial to the state of Chu, but also to the state of Qi, but not to the state of Qin. If the king did not agree to the alliance between Qi and Chu because of the past, it would be detrimental to Chu and Qi, and in the end, the Qin State would benefit. ”

When King Qi heard this, he was very happy, and said with a hearty smile: "What Qu Zi said is exactly what the widow wants. How could the widow see the Qin State benefit and cause the Qi State to suffer? I am willing to listen to the words of the son and rebuild the alliance. ”

So the State of Qi and the State of Chu made an alliance and reconciled again, Qu Yuan completed his mission, and was ordered to return to the King of Chu.

Although the Qin State got the two cities of the Han North of the Chu State as bribes, and temporarily withdrew the army, but the heart was still insufficient, the King of Qin said to Zhang Yi: "The widow wants to get the land of Qianzhong of the Chu State, and the land outside the Wuguan is exchanged, what does Mr. think?" ”

Zhang Yi said: "The king has defeated the king of Chu twice, the king of Chu must be afraid of the king's strength, the king wants to get the land in Qianzhong in exchange for land outside Wuguan, you can send someone to tell the king of Chu to do it, and the king of Chu does not dare to disobey." ”

So the king of Qin sent an envoy to Chu to invite the matter to the king of Chu Huai, and the king of Huai listened to it, and only said to the envoy: "The widow does not want to get the land, but only wants to get Zhang Yi!" If the Qin State sacrifices Zhang Yi to the widow, the widow will sacrifice the land of Qianzhong to the Qin State! ”

The envoy also reported to the king of Qin, and the king of Qin was also quite hesitant when he saw the king of Chu speaking like this. If he wanted to send Zhang Yi to the state of Chu, he couldn't bear it, and he couldn't get the land of Qianzhong if he didn't send it, so he was hesitating, Zhang Yi came to ask for a meeting, and the king of Qin still couldn't bear to talk about it.

Zhang Yi asked: "The ministers have already known about this matter, and I hope that the king will send his ministers to the state of Chu, and he will definitely live up to his mission." ”

King Qin said: "Mr. is the enemy of the king of Chu, and the king of Chu hates Mr. into the bone marrow, if Mr. is allowed to go to the state of Chu this time, the king of Chu will definitely kill Mr." How can a widow bear to do this? ”

Zhang Yi replied to the King of Qin: "Now that the State of Qin is a powerful country, the State of Chu is defeated, and it is no longer able to compete with the king. The minister went to the state of Chu and made friends with Jin Shang, the doctor of the state of Chu, and had a friendly relationship. And Jin Shang has a friendly relationship with Zheng Xiu, the favorite concubine of the King of Chu, and Zheng Sleeve's words, the King of Chu has always obeyed all of them. Besides, the minister was sent to the state of Chu on the order of the king, how could the king of Chu dare to kill the minister with personal hatred? If the king of Chu dares to kill his ministers, isn't he afraid that the king will send troops to attack Chu? Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if the king of Chu kills the minister, and the minister dies and obtains the land in Qianzhong for the Qin State, it is not worth the trip, and it is also the wish of the minister's heart. ”

So the king of Qin sent Zhang Yi as an envoy to come to Chu again, and when King Huai heard that Zhang Yi had indeed arrived, he ordered someone to immediately arrest Zhang Yi and imprison him in prison, preparing to kill Zhang Yi.

Zhang Yi was detained in prison by the king of Chu and was about to be killed soon. Zhang Yi sent his entourage to visit the Chu State Doctor Le Shang with a rich bribe, Le Shang had a good relationship with Zhang Yi before, and now saw that the King of Chu had imprisoned Zhang Yi and was ready to kill, so he decided to help, so he accepted Zhang Yi's bribe, and did not dare to rashly persuade the King of Chu to let Zhang Yi go.

Zheng Sleeve is also good to Le Shang, and when he saw Le Shang asking to see him, he invited him to see him, and Le Shang said to Zheng Sleeve: "Did Madam ever know that she was about to fall out of favor with the king?" ”

Zheng Sleeve was stunned, and asked Le Shang in surprise: "Why did the doctor say this?" ”

Le Shang said: "Today, Zhang Yi, the minister of Qin, came to Chu and was imprisoned by the king. But Zhang Yi is a meritorious minister of Qin, the king of Qin appreciates and relies on him, and this time he was ordered by the king of Qin to envoy Chu State, and now Chu State has imprisoned him, and the King of Qin will definitely want Chu State to release Zhang Yi after knowing it. I heard that the king of Qin has a princess, very beautiful, just when she reached the age of marriage, the king of Qin chose the beautiful and playful palace maid who knows music as the princess to marry, in order to make the princess happy, the king of Qin also married a variety of gold and jade treasures to her as a dowry, and was ready to give the land of the six counties of Shangyong to the state of Chu, as the princess's Tang Muyi. The king of Qin asked Zhang Yi to come this time, just to tell the king about it, and to sacrifice the princess to the king as his wife, so as to marry the two countries. But the king values the land of the mediocre, so he will definitely agree to the request of the Qin State, and he will also love the princess of the Qin State very much. The princess of Qin relied on Qiang Qin to raise her worth, and at the same time befriended the magnates of Chu with jewelry land, and after getting support, she was bound to become the queen of the king, and then the princess of Qin would reign in Chu, and the king had a new person, he would alienate the old people, and indulge in pleasure every day, and he would inevitably gradually forget his wife, and after his wife was forgotten, he would naturally fall out of favor. ”

When Zheng Sleeve heard Le Shang say this, he was really panicked in his heart, worried that the princess of Qin would come and lose the favor of the king of Chu, so he hurriedly asked Le Shang: "I'm worried that this will happen, but I'm just a woman, how can I stop the princess of Qin from coming to Chu?" ”

Le Shang said: "I have a way, if the lady persuades the king to let the king release Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi will be grateful to the lady, and in order to show gratitude, the king of Qin will be persuaded not to let the princess of the Qin State marry into the Chu State, so that the status of the lady can be preserved." When the time comes, the lady will be the queen, and the lady's son will be the crown prince of Chu, and the lady will naturally be the queen mother. ”

After hearing this, Zheng Sleeve was very grateful to Le Shang, so according to Le Shang's idea, he blew the wind on the pillow in the ear of the King of Chu day and night: "As a courtier, each is his master." Although Zhang Yi deceived the king before, it was because it was for the benefit of the Qin State. And the two countries are fighting each other. Now the king has not handed over the land in Qianzhong to the Qin State, and the Qin State has sent Zhang Yi here, which is very important to respect the king. The king was going to kill Zhang Yi without asking, and if the king of Qin knew about it, he would definitely be furious and send troops to attack the state of Chu. The concubine asked the king to let the concubine, mother and son move to Jiangnan to live together, and not let us become fish and meat slaughtered by the Qin State. ”

King Huai heard Zheng Sleeve say this, if he killed Zhang Yi, he would really give Qianzhong Land to Qin, otherwise he would offend Qin. felt very regretful in his heart, so he released Zhang Yi again and treated him with courtesy.

After Zhang Yi was released, the king of Chu invited Zhang Yi to sit and ask about national affairs, and Zhang Yi took the opportunity to lobby the king of Chu again: "Thank you for the king's forgiveness of capital crimes." The contemptible people can guarantee to the king of Qin, and they do not need the king to deliver the land of Qianzhong to the state of Qin, and they also want to suggest that the king of Qin and the king form a friendship between the two countries, send protons to each other, and get married. The two countries will always become fraternal states and work together against the Qi country. ”

The king of Chu was reluctant to give up the land in Qianzhong, and when he heard Zhang Yi say this, he just pushed the boat down the river, so he said to Zhang Yi: "What Mr. said is very good! The widow is willing to listen to the words of the gentleman and forge the good of the two countries. ”

So he treated Zhang Yi well, arranged to live in the best pavilion, and gave many gold and silver treasures and gifts.

Qu Yuan came back from the State of Qi and was puzzled when he heard that the King of Chu had released Zhang Yi again, so he said to the King of Chu: "The last time the king was deceived by Zhang Yi, he was the enemy of the whole State of Chu. This time Zhang Yi actually dared to come to the Chu State, and the minister thought that the king would throw Zhang Yi off the wok, but he didn't expect the king to release him. The king couldn't bear to kill Zhang Yi, so why did he listen to Zhang Yi's deceitful words? ”

King Huai said: "Releasing Zhang Yi can keep the land of Qianzhong, and make the Qin State happy, and the two countries will strike the war and make friends, which is also a beautiful thing." If the widow agrees to the Qin State, and now he goes back on his word, I am afraid that the world will ridicule the widow for not having faith. After all, he still adopted Zhang Yi's words, made friends with the Qin State, and separated from the Qi State.

Since the king of Chu believed in Zhang Yi and made friends with the Qin state, he naturally wanted to alienate the Qi state. Qu Yuan, as the envoy who reconciled with the Qi State, felt that it was in the way in the eyes of the King of Chu this time. King Huai deliberately began to alienate Qu Yuan, Qu Yuan went to the court a few days later, and King Huai took care of the left and right, and did not discuss with Qu Yuan what was played, but said lightly: "The widow knows." Qu Yuan still wanted to play, King Huai made a sleepy appearance, Qu Yuan saw that the King of Chu was like this, the words came to his mouth and swallowed back, so he had to sigh and withdraw from the palace.

Zhang Yi took the opportunity to lobby the king of Chu and said: "Please persuade the princes of the Central Plains to turn their backs on Chu and form an alliance with the king." ”

The king of Chu was very happy, so he gave Zhang Yi a thick coin and sent Zhang Yi to lobby the princes of the Central Plains.