Although Uncle Xia Yu sent an envoy to Zheng and Jin to get the greatest support for Chen Guo, he did not expect to be plotted during the visit, and all his right-hand men were transferred.

After returning to the Xia Mansion from the palace, Uncle Xia Yu was depressed, so he summoned his younger brother, made some dishes, took out a small jar of homemade wine that Xia Ji had prepared at home, and the two drank it.

"Brother, Fan Rui and Guan Kui are against us everywhere, what are their intentions?" Xia Yuzhi asked.

"I feel like it's not just about going against us. It is said that Fan Rui has become the secretary of state, under one person and above ten thousand, and he is not worried that someone will compete with him for power and profit, but why is he still deliberately elevating me, I am afraid that it is because of our family relationship with the king, I think we will be more loyal to the king because of family affection, and I am worried that our loyal king will harm his good deeds. Uncle Xia Yu said.

"Not without reason. So what should we do? You can't bear it, can you? ”

"Now they have nothing to do with us, but to wait and see. The front is tight, let's deal with the Chu State first. Uncle Xia Yu sighed.

"Why don't we take the initiative? Fan Rui must have been planting Kong Mao in the Xia Mansion for many years, and it is our Ming people who don't do dark things that he didn't catch any tricks, so we can also install eyeliner in his mansion, right? Xia Yuzhi said.

"After all, this kind of thing is too risky, once the eyeliner is backwater, and if you don't eat meat, you will make a fuss, which is too cost-effective." Uncle Xia Yu said.

"I think my sister-in-law is very good at this, and these demon moths in the Xia Mansion can't escape her palm." Xia Yuzhi said.

"Yes, you reminded me by saying that, and I can listen to her opinion in the future." Uncle Xia Yu said.

Uncle Xia Yushu put too much thought on the court and border affairs, and only thought that Fan Rui and himself only had differences of opinion on political opinions, but after this time he sent Fan Rui to Zheng and Jin and Fan Rui's secret behavior, he saw through Fan Rui's ugly face.

The two were drinking, and a guard came to report to the new young master Guan Yi to ask to see him, Uncle Xia Yu was stunned for a moment, and asked the guard to tell Guan Yi that he had rested because he was too tired, and asked him to meet at Sima Guan's mansion early tomorrow morning.

Uncle Xia Yushu faintly felt that Fan Rui wanted to use Guan Yi to contain him by his side, and did not rule out that one day he would replace him as Sima and completely control the military power.

The Chu army is coming, but Chen Guo's gang of courtiers are fighting for power and profit for their own selfish interests, and Xia Yushu sighs to himself but is powerless to change.

Sigh to sigh, Uncle Xia knew that this was not the time to care about personal grievances, and he still had to brace his spirits to meet the challenge, because the safety of Chen Guo also maintained everything in the Xia family.

Uncle Xia Yushu devoted himself to the training of soldiers, and his personally ** army of 600 military vehicles composed of slaves, with a total of 18,000 people, has become the strongest main force, but Chen Gonggong does not seem to be at ease with this slave army.

In the blink of an eye, spring had passed, the summer grain harvest season was coming, and a part of the Chu army, which had long been unable to contain its aggressive ambitions, began to attack Chen with a brave army of 300 chariots and nearly 10,000 people.

Xia Yushu led the army to fight with the Chu army on the border, divided into several blocking points to block the Chu army layer by layer, but did not expect the Chu army's attack on the border was just a feint, and the other 20,000 Chu troops sneaked into the border of Chen at night, and divided into two ways to attack Huqiu City, which was far away from the border, and at this time, the generals of the Huqiu defenders had transferred most of their troops to the border, and the defense in the city was empty, and after a day of fierce fighting, Huqiu was occupied by the Chu army.

Uncle Xia fought the border, although he successfully stopped the Chu army, but he did not expect to receive a report of the loss of Huqiu City, and faced with the passive situation of being attacked by the Chu army on both sides, he had to withdraw from the position and rebuild the defensive front along the periphery of Huqiu to resist the new offensive of the Chu army, and began to mobilize troops from other places to move closer to Huqiu in order to recapture Huqiu.

What he didn't expect was that Fan Rui saw that Huqiu was lost, and complained to the public that Uncle Xia Yushu had miscommanded, and at the same time established peace talks with the Chu State, at the cost of Huqiu, in exchange for the Chu army not attacking anymore and reconstructing peace.

Chen Gong had already been intimidated by the powerful Chu army, and Fan Rui's suggestion was quickly adopted, and he ordered Uncle Xia, who was on the battlefield in front, to immediately go to Huqiu to discuss the truce with the general of the Chu army.

Uncle Xia Yushu, who was supervising the battle in the front position, was furious after receiving the notification and the order to negotiate peace with the Chu army, and immediately revised a letter and ordered his subordinates to quickly pass it to Chen Gonggong, suggesting that the Chu army should first cut off the only water source leading to Huqiu when the foothold of Huqiu was not stable, and then launch an attack to recapture Huqiu when the Chu army was thirsty.

Chen Gonggong sneered after receiving the report from Uncle Xia Yu, and threw the report on the ground, thinking that even if Huqiu was recaptured, the Chu army would send more troops to attack Chen Guo, and this act of igniting the fire might bury the entire Chen State, and it would not be as good as Fan Rui's suggestion to exchange Huqiu for Chen Guo's safety.

Gonggong Chen once again ordered Uncle Sima Xia to refrain from clashing with the Chu army and to go to Huqiu to negotiate immediately.

After receiving the second order of Chen Gonggong, Uncle Xia was very helpless, so he had to follow the king's order to sue for peace with the Chu army, and came to the gate of Huqiu City, which was captured by the Chu army.

When the Chu army saw that Chen Guoda Sima came to talk about peace, he asked Uncle Xia Yu to wait outside the city gate for nearly an hour before letting him enter on the grounds that the streets in the city had not been cleared, and the general of the Chu army, Lu Zhi, received Uncle Xia Yu as a victor.

"General Lu, you have attacked the state of Chen and forcibly occupied Huqiu for no reason, which is contrary to the obligations promised by the vassal states to the central emperor of heaven. The Emperor of Zhou ordered the vassal states to obey the decree and defend the territory, and your country's occupation of Huqiu violated the order of the Son of Heaven. Uncle Xia Yu said.

"Haha, joke, Lord Sima, at the beginning, my King Chu made a great contribution to Zhou Tianzi's domination of the world, but in exchange for only a low-ranking viscount and a mere five hundred miles of barbaric land, and your country's Duke Chen only has a little blood relationship with Emperor Shun without a trace of military achievements, what he got is a high-ranking marquis and two thousand miles of rivers and mountains, is this fair?" Lu Zhi said with a smile.

The general's words are wrong. Zhou Tianzi ruled the world with virtue, although the ancestor Chen Gong had no military merits, he was famous all over the world, and the position of marquis was not exaggerated. Besides, the border has been decided, and the state of Chu has now become a big country by expanding its territory, so why should it destroy its reputation for the sake of a small pot hill? Uncle Xia Yu said.

"Lord Sima, the State of Chu has always attached importance to the relationship with the State of Chen, but the State of Chen has never cherished it, but colluded with the State of Jin and plotted to offend my Great Chu, how can the people of the world feel at ease if they treat the State of Chu like this and do not pay the price for it?" General Lu Zhi said.

"General Lu, I, the Gonggong Chen, have always practiced a policy of good-neighborliness and friendship, maintained friendly relations with all countries, including Chu and Jin, and never thought of being an enemy of Chu." Uncle Xia Yu said.

"Lord Sima, it is not a time for Zheng and Chen to take refuge in the Jin State, the relationship between the two of you and the Jin State is known to the world, and you can't push it if you want to. As you know, we have made an alliance with Zheng not long ago, and if Chen follows Zheng's example, Chu and Chen can restore their friendship; If your country insists on going its own way, our Chu army will never allow Chen Guo to do anything wrong. ”

"General, I am on the orders of Chen Gonggong, that is, to repair the good of the two countries, if your army can withdraw from Huqiu, I am willing to ask your country on behalf of Gonggong, and promise to repair the good of your country for eternity." Uncle Xia Yu said. Although he knew that Huqiu was difficult to recover, Uncle Xia wanted to use this as a bargaining chip to force the Chu army to make concessions.

"Lord Sima, Huqiu has belonged to the State of Chu, and this is the price of the State of Chen's betrayal of Chu Chen." Lu Zhi said.