When the Han army crossed the Yellow River with the same divisions of Long Ji, Fu Kuan and Gongsun Tong, Xiang Kang made some adjustments to the deployment of the Han army, but let the new army in Guanzhong led by Fu Kuan and Gongsun Tong be stationed in the main camp of the Han army in Guangwu, and let Long He lead the men of his headquarters to march into the small city of Chenggao to garrison to protect the communication road between the main force of the Han army and the rear, and also let the Long and the headquarters reinforce the Wu clan at any time to prevent threats from the flanks.

On the same day, the Western Chu army also made adjustments, and the general of the Western Chu army, Gong Ao, led 30,000 troops back to Daliang, preparing to go south from Daliang into the hinterland of Yingchuan, and join forces with Liu Laosan's army to flank the traitor Shenyang, the prince and king who had been abused by Xiang Kang. At the same time, the Western Chu army slowed down the preparation of offensive weapons, and instead vigorously strengthened the camp, stepped up the requisition of grain and grass from Dongjun and Dangjun to the front line, and even unwillingly began to prepare for a long-term confrontation with the Han army on the chasm battlefield.

Both sides made arrangements to mobilize their troops to make deployment adjustments, and of course the scouts of the Chu and Han armies did not dare to slack off, and all of them tied their heads to their belts and ventured deep into the opponent's defense area and rear to probe the enemy's situation, and reconnoiter the enemy's latest deployment for the decision-making level of their own army.

As a coincidence, when the scouts of the Western Chu army ventured to explore the garrison of the Han army on the banks of the Bishui River, they stumbled upon an unexpected situation, a group of Han soldiers and soldiers suddenly protected several gorgeous carriages to cross the Bishui westward, and on those carriages, all of them were planted with a flag that obviously belonged to other armies.

"What kind of flag is that? Why haven't you seen it before? Find a way to inquire. ”

The banner of unknown origin soon attracted the attention of the scout of the Western Chu army, and out of duty, the Western Chu army disguised as ordinary people also quickly became active, trying to inquire about the origin of those military flags and those carriages, but the Han army not only did not hide this matter, but also let the soldiers and the soldiers and the soldiers and the people of the army hype about it, so the West Chu army quickly heard a startling news from the people who helped the Han soldiers carry grain and grass and military supplies-those floats with strange military flags were riding, It turned out to be an envoy sent by Yingbu, the king of Linjiang, to contact the Han army, and at the same time, Yingbu had already followed Shenyang's example of abandoning Chu and joining the Han, and was about to send troops to help the Han army attack the Chu army!

Of course, the scouts and meticulous work of the Western Chu army did not dare to hide such important news, so they quickly secretly memorized the color and style of the banner, and reported these situations to the main army that night. Xiang Yu was shocked when he heard the report, and hurriedly asked the military officials to check the situation of the flag, and after learning that the flag was exactly the same as the current flag of the Yingbu Army, Xiang Yu couldn't help but be even more surprised, and blurted out: "Could it be that the Yingbu Pifu also betrayed this king?" ”

Not to mention, although Xiang Kang is notoriously incorruptible and shameful in terms of tricks, but considering that Yingbu has been separated from the Western Chu army for more than half a year, and he is thousands of miles away, he doesn't know his latest situation, as well as Shenyang's past experience, even Old Man Fan, Cao Ji and Kui Che and others are inevitably a little suspicious of this, even if they repeatedly remind Xiang Yu to be careful that this is Xiang Kang's shameless trick, no one dares to speak out to guarantee this vote, guaranteeing that Yingbu will not betray Xiang Yu.

Worried, Xiang Yu also remembered Zhang Liang, who must know the specific situation, so he called Xiang Bo to the side alone and asked him about the contact with Zhang Liang, Xiang Bo was extremely embarrassed, and said: "King, it's not that your subordinates don't do their best, it's that Zhang Zifang has always been in the camp of Han thieves, living in a simple place, and there is no way to get in touch with him. ”

"Rubbish!" If it weren't for the fact that Xiang Bo was his own uncle, Xiang Yu would almost scold this swear word, and after forcibly restraining this impulse, Xiang Yu instructed: "Hurry up, no matter what method you use, you must contact Zhang Liang for me as soon as possible, so that I can know Xiang Kang's every move of the traitor." ”

Of course, the matter would not end, and the next morning, the scout of the Western Chu army suddenly ran to Xiang Yu to report that Xiang Kang had sent an envoy to contact the Western Chu army by car, requesting a direct meeting with Xiang Yu to end the war between the Xiang brothers through negotiations. Xiang Yu sneered and planned not to see him, but Xiang Bo had an idea, and hurriedly said: "King, since you are here, it is better to meet you, so that you can see what tricks Xiang Kang's little evil beast wants to play, and maybe you can also take this opportunity to let our people get in touch with Zhang Zifang." ”

Xiang Yu thought about it, so it was rare to put down his body, and led a few henchmen to personally meet the messenger sent by Xiang Kang, the Han army envoy spoke very directly, and Xiang Yu had just finished saluting after meeting, so he went straight to the point and explained his intentions, saying that Xiang Kang let himself come to see Xiang Yu, hoping to conclude a peace treaty with Xiang Yu, and asked Xiang Yu to agree to return Xiang Kang's family members, and allow the Han army's family members to leave Chu freely, and the Han and Chu countries drew a chasm as the boundary, and they would not offend each other in the future, and they would always be brotherly countries.

Xiang Yu sneered and took it, and saw that Xiang Kang was talking about his brotherly feelings in the letter, and tried his best to persuade himself to make peace with him, turn hostility into friendship, and accept the terms of armistice he proposed. In addition, Xiang Kang also put forward an additional condition, that is, he hoped that Xiang Yu would recognize the status of Shenyang and Yingbu as vassal states of the Han State, and not pursue their choice of abandoning Chu and returning to Han, in exchange, Xiang Kang promised not to attack the vassal state of Western Chu again, and recognized the vassal relationship of other princes to Western Chu.

Seeing this, Xiang Yu couldn't help but blurt out and ask, "Yingbu has defected to the Han Kingdom?" ”

"The king doesn't know yet?" The envoy of the Han army asked with some surprise, and said: "The news that the king of Linjiang has changed his banner and returned to Han, you haven't received it yet, the king?" ”

Xiang Yu's face began to be gloomy, and he ordered after a while: "You go down to rest for a while, and then give you an answer after this king consults with everyone for a while." ”

The envoy of the Han army sang a promise, and hurriedly left with Xiang Yu's guards, Xiang Yu also handed Xiang Kang's letter to everyone to read, and after carefully reading Xiang Kang's letter, Old Man Fan quickly said: "King, there are two possibilities, one is that Xiang Kang is a thief in the name of seeking peace, and he wants us to be suspicious of the king of Linjiang, so that he can learn from it." Second, Xiang Kang Xiao'er wanted us to retreat from the difficulties, forcing us to exchange his wife and son, and to recognize his status as the king of Han. ”

"That might be bigger?" Xiang Yu asked.

"It should be the first one, maybe bigger." Old man Fan replied: "However, the second possibility cannot be ruled out, because with Xiang Kang's current strength, there is no chance of victory in front of us, he definitely hopes to accept it when he sees it, first exchange the peace treaty for our retreat, and wait until he has enough strength, and then turn his face and start a war with us." ”

After that, Old Man Fan said again: "The best way is to ignore Xiang Kang's rebellion and thief's request, wait patiently for the accurate news from King Linjiang's side, and then make a decision. ”

"Father, I'm afraid I can't do anything about it, right?" Cao Ji retorted to Old Man Fan once, and said: "The army of the King of Nanyang was ordered to garrison Ye County, and now it is very likely that it has already fought with the army of the Shenyang traitors, if Yingbu really defects and sends troops, how can the King of Nanyang parry?" If the king of Nanyang makes any mistakes, the Kang rebel thief will not only have no worries on the southern front, but our flanks will be in danger. ”

I wasn't sure what Yingbu's position was now, and Old Man Fan didn't dare to deny this possibility, so he could only keep his mouth shut. However, Xiang Bo came up with a way and hurriedly said: "King, otherwise, didn't our meticulous work find out that Yingbu Pifu sent an envoy to the camp of the Han thieves to contact Xiang Kang's rebels?" In that case, why don't we pretend to agree to negotiate with Xiang Kang's traitors, send envoys to the Han thieves' camp and Xiang Kang's traitors and thieves, and take the opportunity to inquire about the news? ”

After finishing speaking, Xiang Bo also hurriedly stepped forward, leaned into Xiang Yu's ear and said: "We will send an envoy to contact Xiang Kang's rebel thief, and the virtuous brother of Zifang will definitely accompany the reception, and when the time comes, as long as our envoy contacts him, not only will Yingbu's situation be clear immediately, but also take the opportunity to find out other situations of the Han thief's army, and let the virtuous brother of Zifang report to us at any time the military situation of Xiang Kang's traitor." ”

Xiang Yu nodded when he heard this, and immediately decided to send an envoy to accompany the Han army envoy to the camp to meet Xiang Kang, pretending to start armistice negotiations with Xiang Kang, but actually taking the opportunity to spy on the true situation of the Han army, and trying to get in touch with Zhang Liang, who had already betrayed Xiang Kang once. Although Old Man Fan, Kui Che and the others objected, fearing that doing so would give the cunning and abnormal Xiang Kang an opportunity, Xiang Yu did not listen at all. After Xiang Yu agreed, Old Man Fan secretly told Han Sheng to be careful, don't be confused by the illusion arranged by Xiang Kang, Han Sheng agreed with a smile.

Needless to say, when Han Sheng, the envoy of the Western Chu Army, came to the Guangwu camp of the Han Army, he naturally received the most warm hospitality from Xiang Kang, in order to show his attention to this negotiation, Xiang Kang even entertained Han Sheng with the highest standard Taigao banquet in this era, holding Han Sheng's hand and being very affectionate, repeatedly asking Han Sheng to help him in front of Xiang Yu with a lot of good words, and try his best to promote the completion of this negotiation.

It was only after the Taigao feast that cooked pigs, cows, sheep and livestock that Xiang Kang began to introduce his civil and military henchmen to Han Sheng, and Han Sheng, who knew the etiquette, did not have an arrogant attitude because of Xiang Kang's deliberate kindness to him, and was very respectful to Chen Ping, Tang Bing, Wu Shi and others. And when Xiang Kang introduced Han Sheng to Zhang Liang, Han Sheng deliberately mentioned Xiang Bo again, and said with a smile: "It turned out that our Master Xiang Bo Xiang of Western Chu often mentioned Mr. Zifang, Mr. assassinated the Tyrannical Qin Emperor in Bolangsha, and his fame shocked the world. ”

"Don't dare, Mr. is too prestigious." Zhang Liang smiled modestly, but he just took a moment in his heart, and said secretly: "How can this shaft mention his uncle?" Is it intentional? Or is it unintentional? ”

Zhang Liang's conscience was vigilant, Xiang Kang had already introduced another guest to Han Sheng, and pointed to a man dressed as a scribe and said to Han Sheng: "Doctor Han, this is also a guest of this king, Zhongjuan Fuyue under the tent of King Yingbu of Linjiang, you know each other." ”

"King Linjiang's Zhongjuan?"

Han Sheng was taken aback, he never expected that Xiang Kang would invite Yingbu's envoy to meet him directly, and Yingbu's envoy Fu Yue saluted Han Sheng in an authentic Nanjun accent and said: "I have seen Doctor Han, and I have admired Doctor's name for a long time, but I really didn't expect that it was the first time I met with Doctor in the Han Army." ”

"Fu Zhongjuan, why are you here?" Han Sheng asked directly: "If I remember correctly, King Linjiang seems to be a subordinate of our King of Western Chu?" Now that our Western Chu is at war with the King of Han, how could Zhong Juan come to the camp of the King of Han? ”

"Dr. Han forgives the sin." Fu Yue replied more directly: "Our king Shengming is arbitrary, and has decided to abandon Chu and return to Han, and instead belong to the king of Han. ”

Han Sheng's polite smile was completely stiffened, but Xiang Kang next to him flashed a hint of triumph in his eyes, and hurriedly introduced other Han army civil and military forces to Han Sheng, forking the topic, Han Sheng was confused, constantly peeking at the expression of the Yingbu envoy Fu Yue, and secretly said in his heart: "Is it true?" Otherwise, if this is Xiang Kang's traitor who sent someone to pretend, he is not afraid of completely angering Yingbu and making Yingbu stand more firmly on our side? ”

The matter was not over, after the banquet began, Han Sheng, who had left a mark in the history books, remembered Old Man Fan's entrustment, and quickly forced himself to calm down, while drinking with Xiang Kang and others, he carefully paid attention to Zhang Liang's every move, looking for an opportunity to talk to Zhang Liang alone. Then the hard work paid off, when the wine was half-drunk, Zhang Liang, who was notoriously weak, was really not strong enough to drink, and found an excuse to go out of the tent to avoid drinking, Han Sheng was busy and used the excuse to go to the toilet and temporarily left the big tent.

The conscience of heaven and earth, Xiang Kang really didn't take into account that Xiang Yu and Xiang Bo would suddenly decide to use Zhang Liang's fuzi, and at the same time, it was also an eye-opener, after Han Sheng finished going to the toilet, when he returned to the Han army's Chinese army tent, he happened to see Zhang Liang walking outside the tent, Han Sheng was overjoyed, and hurriedly walked to Zhang Liang's side, smiled and saluted: "Mr. Zifang, why don't you go back to the account to drink?" ”

"If you can't drink enough, hide from it." Zhang Liang smiled and answered truthfully.

"Exactly." Han Sheng hit the snake with the stick, and immediately said: "I have always been a shallow drinker, I am afraid that I will be drunk by the King of Han when I go back, and I also want to take a walk with Mr. Zifang to avoid drinking, I don't know if it is possible?" ”

After finishing speaking, Han Sheng, who was facing away from Xiang Kang's guard, also winked at Zhang Liang......

Without Han Sheng's hint, of course Zhang Liang had already understood what he meant, and was about to open his mouth to refuse, but when the words came to his mouth, Zhang Liang suddenly remembered a big thing, and said secretly: "Oh no! How did I forget, last time, in order to provoke Xiang Yu and make him kill Emperor Chu Yi, the co-ruler of the world, under impulse, he pretended my reputation, and secretly told Xiang Bo and Xiang Yu on the pretext that I was afraid that Xiang Yu would kill our King Han? Now, if I refuse to contact Uncle Xiang, they will definitely kill my King Han to vent their anger under their anger! ”

Zhang Liang's lips began to tremble, because Zhang Liang knew that Han Cheng, whom he had faithfully followed, was already between life and death in his own thoughts! If he helped Xiang Kang deceive Xiang Yu, then after the truth was revealed, Han Cheng, who had already been sent to Pengcheng by Liu Laosan, would definitely have to fall to the ground immediately! And if he wants to save Han Cheng's life, there is only one way, to explain the truth to Xiang Yu's envoy Han Sheng, and betray Xiang Kang to really serve as an internal response to the Western Chu Army!

Zhang Liang is not an indecisive person, but at this critical moment when Han Cheng's life is at stake, Zhang Liang is completely at a loss and doesn't know how to decide............

In the end, it was only after the banquet that Xiang Kang got Chen Ping's secret report, knowing that Zhang Liang had talked alone with Xiang Yu's envoy for a while, and was stunned, Xiang Kang also immediately remembered that he had pretended to be Zhang Liang's reputation and used tricks against Xiang Bo, guessed what Zhang Liang and Xiang Yu's envoy said alone, and subconsciously wanted to call Zhang Liang for questioning. But when the words came to his lips, Xiang Kang sighed again, dispelled this thought, and said to himself: "Let Mr. Zifang decide for himself." ”

Before the words fell, the news of Zhang Liang's request to see had already come outside the tent, Xiang Kang hurriedly ordered to summon him, Zhang Liang also walked into the tent slowly, saluted solemnly in front of Xiang Kang, and said: "King Han forgives his sins, the minister made a selfish decision not long ago, and he is ashamed of your kindness to the minister, no matter how the King of Han punishes, the minister has no complaints." ”

"Mr. Ofan, there is no need to say it." With tears in his eyes, Xiang Kang held Zhang Liang's hands and said: "It's me who is sorry for you, I used your reputation to use tricks against the enemy without authorization, and forced you into a dilemma, so no matter how you decide, I will never blame you." ”

Zhang Liang smiled bitterly, and then told Xiang Kang the content of the secret conversation he had with Xiang Yu's envoy just now, and frankly admitted that he gave an ambiguous answer to Han Sheng, neither completely betraying Xiang Kang, but also leaving Han Cheng with a glimmer of life, but correspondingly, it also made Zhang Liang himself further mired in the quagmire, and in the future, he must decide whether to betray Xiang Kang for Han Cheng's sake.

“…… The foreign minister told Xiang Yu's envoy, saying that I don't know the situation of the king of Linjiang abandoning Chu and returning to Han, and whether the envoy of the king of Linjiang in the big tent of the Chinese army is true or not, the foreign minister does not know now. ”

After listening to Zhang Liang's answer, Xiang Kang sighed softly again, patted Zhang Liang and said: "Mr. Zifang, it's hard for you, it's okay, in short, the bureau has been laid out, whether it can succeed as you wish, it can only depend on the will of God." ”