When Chen Ping and Xiang Yu rushed to discuss the secret, Xiong Xin, who had been forced into a corner by Xiang Kang with three seals, was of course not idle, and with the help of Lieutenant Commander Chu Gonglang, who had spent a lot of effort to buy the envelope, Xiong Xin also secretly summoned his biggest supporter in the court, Ling Yin Songyi, almost at the same time, to discuss with him in person how to deal with Xiang Kang's aggressiveness, and strive to turn the situation around again.

Song Yi is a smart person, seeing that Jing Ju, a member of the Chu State clan who usually participated in secret discussions, did not show up, he immediately understood that Xiong Xin had lost trust in him, so he persuaded: "Great King, there is a lot of help for the righteous, and little help for the unjust, although Doctor Jingju has done a little too much today, but after all, he has not openly fallen to the Xiang family, and the king should not be too cold to him, otherwise it will only completely force him to the side of the Xiang family, and further weaken the already insufficient strength in your hands, the king." ”

"Thank you Lord Ling Yin for your teachings, and the widow remembers." Xiong Xin still pretended, first thanked Song Yi for his teachings with sincerity, and then explained: "But the widow also has to be careful, Xiang Kang relies on the military power in his hands, openly despises the widow, hinting that the abolition also deliberately named Jing Ju's name, Jing Ju has an ambiguous attitude, obviously has been shaken, if the widow is not careful, not only will the throne be difficult to protect, I am afraid that his life will also be in danger." ”

"Forgetting righteousness for the sake of profit!" Song Yi sighed, and was also very dissatisfied with Jing Ju's blatant coveting of the throne of the King of Chu, and then Song Yicai asked again: "The king secretly summoned Wei Chen, but for Xiang Kang's seal today?" ”

"For that, of course." Xiong Xin smiled bitterly, and said with a sad face: "The widow was careless for a while, fell into Xiang Kang's trap, and canonized the uncontrollable Xiang Yu as the former general in public, Xiang Kang took the opportunity to ask for the temporary absence of a general, Xiang Yu and his henchmen took the opportunity to fan the flames and force the widow to agree, if the widow made concessions, the Chu army would inevitably fall into the hands of Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang's brothers, but if they didn't agree, Xiang Yu and others would definitely not forgive, and they were really advancing and retreating." So there is no way, the widow can only secretly ask Ling Yin to come here, and ask Lord Ling Yin for advice. ”

"Wechen is also worrying about this for the king." Song Yi sighed again, and then said: "King, Wei Chen thought about it and found that we only have two ways to go now, but I don't know how to choose the king. ”

"What are the two paths we have? Please ask Lord Yin for advice. Xiong Xin hurriedly asked.

"Both roads are dangerous roads." Song Yi replied: "The first way is for the king to give in for the time being, agree to Xiang Kang's request, acquiesce to Xiang Yu and Xiang Kang's brothers to control the Chu army, and then take advantage of the estrangement and contradiction between their brothers to try to divide and divide them, so that they can form a situation where water and fire are incompatible, and then the king will sit back and reap the profits and slowly take back the power." ”

After that, Song Yi introduced: "This road is relatively safe, it can avoid directly turning against the Xiang family, and it will not force them to jump over the wall in a hurry, but the effect is too slow, and no one dares to guarantee when it will succeed." ”

Xiong Xin thought about it and asked again, "What about the second way?" ”

"The second road is more dangerous." Song Yi said: "It's the king, you made a quick decision, while resolutely rejecting Xiang Kang's request, and at the same time forcibly appointing a person you trust as a general, directly taking over the army left by Xiang Liang, and then forcing Xiang Kang to submit in the name of the righteousness of the monarch and minister, and then slowly weakening his military power, and finally completely recovering it." ”

"This method is very risky, but once it succeeds, you can become the veritable lord of the Chu State." Song Yi explained: "Also, although Xiang Kang has a lot of soldiers and horses in his hands, if he openly turns his face against the king, he will definitely be unjustifiable, the division is unknown, the army and people of Chu will not support him, and the kings of the five countries outside the Guanxi will definitely not agree to him doing this, and the tyrannical Qin army will definitely take advantage of the fire to rob, Xiang Kang is cautious by nature and will not ignore the consequences." Therefore, although this matter is dangerous, it is not necessarily impossible to succeed. ”

Xiong Xin pondered carefully, and said after a long time: "This risk may be worth taking, but if the widow forcibly appoints the general to take charge of the army, the Xiang family will definitely not accept it. ”

"If the king dares to make up his mind, the hidden dangers of the Xiang family are not impossible to solve." Song Yi said in a deep voice: "Now the army left by Xiang Liang is stationed outside the city, but the whole family of the Xiang family lives in the city, and the palace guards are controlled by Chen Ying. Then the king can take the opportunity of the court meeting to make a move, on the one hand, let Chen Ying block the palace and send his troops outside the city into the city to take over the city defense, and on the other hand, let the general appointed by you, the king, go out of the city to take over the army, and force the Xiang family to make concessions, and then there is hope that the big thing will succeed! ”

Xiong Xin clenched his teeth and didn't speak, and after a long time, Xiong Xin made up his mind and suddenly said: "This risk is worth taking, instead of being Zhou Tianzi, who is not worthy of his name, and Jin Jinggong, who was killed by rebellious ministers and thieves, it is better to fight hard and fight with Xiang's rebels to break the net!" ”

Seeing that Xiong Xin had made up his mind, Song Yi, who had already formed a lot of grudges with the old Xiang family recently, did not hesitate, and immediately said: "King, that matter without further ado, in order to avoid long nights and dreams, Weichen suggests that you summon Chen Ying as soon as possible and discuss important matters with him." ”

Xiong Xin nodded, and immediately sent his henchmen out of the palace to Chen Ying's residence in Pengcheng to deliver the edict, and before the edict was announced, he personally led the army to escort Chen Ying, who came to Pengcheng, into the palace secretly, and prepared to discuss with him in person the confidential matter of launching a coup d'état.

The reason why Xiong Xin and Song Yi dared to pin their hopes of coup d'état on Chen Ying, the general of the Chu army, was of course that Chen Ying's political position was more inclined to the Chu royal family, which was neither a sworn friend of the old Xiang family, nor was it reused when Xiang Kang and Xiang Liang were in power, and even succumbed to Feng Zhong, the head of the mud-legged pavilion for a long time. Therefore, when Xiong Xin was looking for an excuse to withdraw military power, he deliberately forgot to organize Chen Ying's army, which was not the main force of the Chu army, and let Chen Ying continue to command the headquarters army, which would dare to find Chen Ying to support him in launching a coup d'état.

But it's a pity that Xiong Xin and Song Yi seriously underestimated Chen Ying's intelligence, and in terms of governing the government and securing the people, Chen Ying may not be as good as many Chu State ministers; In terms of fighting with soldiers, Chen Ying, who was born as a small official, was not the opponent of famous generals of the Chu army such as Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu and Yingbu; insidious and vicious, with a honey-mouthed sword, Chen Ying is also unworthy of carrying shoes for Xiang Kang, Liu Laosan and Chen Ping, the giants of the world; But when it comes to protecting oneself and seeing the wind to steer the rudder......

When Xiong Xin's secret envoy came to Chen Ying's residence, Chen Ying, who had been targeted by Xiong Xin and Xiang Yu at the same time, was having dinner with his son Chen Lu, and when he heard that Xiong Xin's envoy was coming, Chen Lu immediately put down the dishes and chopsticks, sorted out his clothes and was about to go out to greet him, but Chen Ying rolled his eyes, and immediately ordered: "Lu'er, go out and tell the king's messenger, just say that his father is infected with a small illness and can't go out to greet him, if he doesn't believe it, you can take him to my bedroom to see me." ”

"Father, why is that?" Chen Lu asked in surprise.

"Don't ask, you'll know the reason later." Chen Ying replied casually, and hurriedly got up and went to the bedroom to lie down, and very cautiously ordered the servant to pack up his own food, take some herbs to his bedroom to suffer, and try to pretend to be really sick.

As Chen Ying expected, Xiong Xin's secret envoy heard that Chen Ying was suddenly ill, and he really refused to be gullible, and insisted on following Chen Lu to the bedroom to visit Chen Lu, or saw Chen Ying bedridden and Chen family's subordinates boiling herbs in front of him, and he really couldn't follow him into the palace to meet Xiong Xin, so Xiong Xin's messenger had no choice but to say goodbye and go back. As a result, as soon as the envoy left, Chen Lu immediately asked Chen Ying in confusion: "Father, the king summoned you to the palace to meet, why do you pretend to be sick and not see?" ”

"Of course, it's because the king won't do anything good if he summons me into the palace." Chen Ying sneered and said: "Today's court meeting, the right general sent someone to hand over the three seals, and the words are already ready to force the palace, it is almost dark, and the king suddenly summoned me into the palace to discuss the matter, and it is clear that it is related to the three seals of the right general. ”

Hearing Chen Ying say the content of Xiang Kang's seal, Chen Lu was inevitably even more frightened, and hurriedly asked, "Father, do you suspect that the king wants to attack the children of the Xiang family?" ”

"I'm not sure, but I can't rule it out." Chen Ying replied: "But whether it is or not, we must not get involved in this matter, otherwise, we will have no chance to protect ourselves in the future." ”

Chen Lu nodded as if he didn't understand, and it turned out to be a coincidence, just at this moment, someone suddenly came to report outside the door, saying that Xiang Yu and Cao Ji were visiting together, Chen Lu, who had already understood his father's position, did not hesitate, and immediately got up and said: "Father, you continue to pretend to be sick, and the children go to send them." ”

"Wait!" Chen Ying drank his son, and after quickly thinking for a moment with a grim expression, Chen Ying also pushed off the bedding (quilt) and stood up, and said, "Go, go with you for your father to meet them." ”

"Father, didn't you just say that you didn't want to make peace?" Chen Lu was so surprised that he asked: "General Right only handed over those three seals that hinted at forcing the palace this morning, and his cousin, the former general, came to visit at this time, and it was clear that it was related to General You's seal, why did you go to see them in person?" ”

"Don't ask, I'll tell you the reason later." Chen Ying instructed: "Also, when you see the former generals, no matter what they say, what they say for their father, don't interject, if you have any questions, wait for them to leave and ask." ”

Chen Lu had no choice but to honestly follow his father to greet Xiang Yu and Cao Yao, and respectfully invited them into the back hall to sit down with Chen Ying. Then Xiang Yu and Cao Ji were not polite, first asked Chen Ying to temporarily drive away unrelated people, and then immediately made a showdown with Chen Ying, asking Chen Ying and the Xiang family to persuade Xiong Xin to accept Xiang Kang's invitation, and not to set up the post of general for the time being, and asked Chen Ying to help, and appointed Xiang Liang, who had previously been placed in Chen Ying's army, as Lang Zhongling of the Chu Palace, to take over the defense of the Chu Palace.

Xiang Yu and Cao Yao's request is of course equivalent to trying to be poor, and Chen Lu, who got Chen Ying's true biography, was also anxious, knowing that agreeing was equivalent to tying up the Xiang family's thief ship, and if he didn't agree, he would be openly enemies of the Xiang family, and he regretted that he didn't insist on persuading Chen Ying to continue pretending to be sick, and was forced to a dilemma. However, to Chen Lu's surprise, after thinking carefully for a long time, Chen Ying not only agreed to Xiang Yu and Cao Yao's request, but also drafted an order on the spot, letting Xiang He take over as Lang Zhongling, and transfer Yuan Lang Zhongling, who had been bought by Xiong Xin, back to the army.

Seeing that Chen Ying was so decisive and determined, Xiang Yu and Cao Ji were of course overjoyed, first repeatedly promised that they would not treat Chen Ying and his son badly in the future, and then left happily with the order drawn up by Chen Ying. As a result, after sending them away, they had just returned to the back hall, and of course Chen Lu immediately asked Chen Ying with a pale face, "Father, have you really decided to side with the Xiang family?" Aren't you afraid that the Xiang family will fail, and we will have no place to die? ”

"Lu'er, being a father is not on the side of the Xiang family, but on the side of the victor." Chen Ying smiled and said: "You must also remember that if you face such a situation in the future, as long as you see clearly that side will win, you must not hesitate, you have to bet everything on the side of the winner, so that you can win the most." ”

"Father, do you think the Xiang family will win?" Chen Lu asked in surprise.

"Of course we win!" Chen Ying smiled and said, "Not to mention anything else, with just the 40,000 troops under the command of General You, the Xiang clan can be invincible." In addition, the foundation of Huaisi was originally laid down by Xiang Kang himself, and he had a huge influence in the army and the people, and there were many old departments, if he turned against the king, the king would definitely have no chance of winning. In this case, why don't we hurry up and seize the opportunity to let the Xiang family win faster and more thoroughly, and also let us follow the Xiang family to win more? ”

"But if we choose to support the king, the situation will be completely different." Chen Ying explained: "First, our soldiers are weak, even if we support the king, the king may not be able to ensure victory, and secondly, even if the king barely wins, there is absolutely no possibility to stop Xiang Kang's counterattack, and at the same time, it will offend countless old departments of the Xiang family, and we must be afraid of their retaliation at any time." The situation is so clear, why should we be on the losing side? ”

"Xiang Kang has always been known for his loyalty, filial piety and kindness, can he have the courage to openly meet the king's sword soldiers?" Chen Lu asked suspiciously.

"Loyalty, filial piety?" Chen Ying almost didn't laugh out loud, and said: "If Xiang Kang is not the general's cousin, but was raised by Xiang Liang himself, and nearly half of the backbone of his army are Xiang Liang's nephews, do you think he will really be so filial and honestly hand over the Huaisi foundation he laid with his own hands?" If he is really loyal to the king, the three seals at the meeting today imply the abolition? When meeting with the king's sword soldiers, he only lacked an excuse to send troops at most, but was this difficult for him? Not to mention anything else, just by virtue of the fact that the king deprived the Xiang clan of military power and used someone else to take charge of the army, he could raise troops under the banner of killing the traitorous ministers around the king and regain the power of Chu by force! ”

After endlessly denouncing Xiang Kang's despicable person, Chen Ying sighed again and said: "Originally, the king had a chance to win this one, and he led the army to escort him north to Pengcheng for his father, and he also hoped that he could win and follow him to win a big one." However, both the father and the king underestimated the wisdom of the right general, and one insisted on refusing to return to Pengcheng, so that the king's hope of recovering power was completely disappointed. At this time, the Xiang family was forced to prepare to do it directly, if the father didn't stand on their side quickly, and when the overall situation was settled, our father and son would really have to die without a place to be buried. ”

…………

Chen Ying's decisive defection completely shattered Xiong Xin and Song Yi's last hope, and the next morning, before the court meeting began, Xiang It, who came from the military camp outside the city, had already taken Chen Ying's handwritten warrant and took over the palace guards of the Chu Palace on the spot, and drove the original Lang Zhong Order out of the army outside the city. As a result, the news reached Xiong Xin's face, and Xiong Xin immediately looked like ashes, knowing that the general trend had gone, Chen Ying, who had secretly supported him, had fallen to the side of the Xiang family, if he didn't comply, today's court meeting was likely to be the last court meeting he presided over as the king of Chu.

When the court meeting was about to begin, Liu Laosan, who had been arranged by Xiong Xin to lead the army to Xiao County to prevent Xiang Kang from turning his face, actually sent his cronies Xiao He to rush back to Pengcheng from Xiao County's Pegasus overnight, and at the same time, Xiao He publicly stated his attitude before entering the palace, saying that he came back to submit the seal for Liu Laosan, and implored Xiong Xin to accept Xiang Kang's request not to set up a general for the time being, and whoever avenges Xiang Liang in the future will be a general! The well-informed and sensitive political sense made Chen Ping, the spokesperson sent by Xiang Kang to Pengcheng, speechless.

Xiong Xin is still very decisive, seeing that Liu Laosan and Chen Ying and other generals in charge of the army have defected, and they are already bound to lose, so they are also decisive and fully conceded, the court meeting has just begun, and before waiting for the courtiers to play, Xiong Xin took the initiative to speak, agreeing to accept the second request put forward by Xiang Kang yesterday, announcing that there will be no generals for the time being, and whoever can avenge Xiang Liang in the future will be named a general. Then he immediately returned the military power, and handed over all the other Chu army teams including local garrisons except for Xiang Kang's department to Xiang Yu's command. Cao Ji sneered and stood up to ask for the canonization of Chen Ying as the pillar country, the five counties of Shiyi, Xiong Xin also agreed with a smile on his face, and happily rewarded Chen Ying who betrayed him for the old Xiang family.

Xiong Xin's spirit saved his life, originally Xiang Yu and Cao Ji had already made up their minds, ready to abolish Xiong Xin as long as Xiong Xin was disobedient, and would immediately abolish Xiong Xin and replace it with Jingju as the king, but seeing Xiong Xin so docile and well-behaved, Xiang Yu with negative political values and Cao Jiao, whose political ability is not high, had no excuse, plus the old man Fan, who had previously firmly advocated supporting the descendants of the Chu royal family as kings, tried his best to persuade him, saying that the abolition of the establishment would hurt the country after all, and it would easily cause shock in the Chu State, and it might also attract the dissatisfaction of the five countries outside the Guan, Xiang Yu, Cao Ji and others held back their anger and let Xiong Xin go once, letting Xiong Xin continue to be the puppet of the Xiang family on the throne.

Song Yi was the most unlucky, only a day later, Song Yi was impeached by the officials arranged by the old Xiang family, saying that he connived at his son to oppress the people and forcibly seize the people's land.

After forcibly driving Song Yi away, the complacent Xiang Yu quickly called Chen Ping, the spokesperson sent by Xiang Kang, and said to Chen Ping with a big grin: "Mr. Chen Ping, don't waste time, go back with my letter and tell my brother, just say that Pengcheng doesn't have to worry about it anymore, tell him to come back with the army quickly, and we can discuss together how to avenge my uncle." ”

Chen Ping blinked his triangular eyes, arched his hand and said: "The former general can rest assured, I will return to Suiyang in the next place, and urge the right general to return to the division for the former general." ”