Seeing Xia Zhen holding the dagger that stabbed out of the door and from the back of his head, he fell to the ground with a "plop" sound, and for a few moments, everyone stood there stunned, watching streams of blood gushing out of Xia Zhen's skull.

Not to mention that Shen Yang stared at Han Qian who suddenly attacked and killed Xia Zhen in shock, Zhang Ping, Chai Jian, Li Chong, and Yao Xishui didn't know in advance about the plan of the three princes to ask the guilt and Han Qian to attack and kill Xia Zhen, only Tian Cheng and Xi Ying stood quietly on both sides to prevent Han Qian from missing.

Everyone was shocked to see Han Qian reach out and rub the side ribs that were kicked painfully, and then probed his nose to confirm that Xia Zhen had lost his breath, and then pulled out the straight spine knife from Xia Zhen's shoulder, pressed it against Xia Zhen's neck, and cut off his head, and blood suddenly gushed out again.

"Han Qian has been ordered to kill the fugitive general Xia Zhen, and his head is here, please ask His Highness to verify it." Ignoring the fact that his clothes and armor were stained red with blood, Han Qian grabbed Xia Zhen's head, knelt down on one knee in front of the third prince, raised the head high and shouted.

"What does that mean?" Zheng Hui stared at the corpse of Xia Zhen who had lost his head, blood gushed out from his neck, he held the saber on his waist with his hand, retreated into the guards, and asked angrily.

He didn't expect that the three princes came to Xichuan with the grain fleet, and they actually lured them out of the city, and then unexpectedly beheaded Xia Zhen.

The guards brought out by Xia Zhen looked at each other angrily when they saw that the Lord was about to be killed.

Although most of the young Jianyong of the guard battalion had not yet disembarked at this time, Tian Cheng took more than 20 Zuo Si scouts who went ashore first, and pressed forward, protecting Han Qian and the three princes, and at the same time getting out of the way, so that the guard battalion generals in the rear could land faster and control the left and right.

The guards around Xia Zhen could only retreat in a hurry, drew their blades and waited for battle, ready to fight for their lives.

"Xia Zhen abandoned the city without a fight, forcing my Dragon Bird Army to hastily fight with the Liang Army in a very unfavorable situation in the Iron Crocodile Ridge, with heavy casualties, Zheng joined the army, let me ask you, should Xia Zhen be beheaded?" Yang Yuanpu forcibly held back the discomfort in his heart, looked away from Xia Zhen's bloody corpse, and questioned Zheng Hui sharply.

Shen Yang couldn't believe what was happening in front of him, but he also knew that this was not the time to ask the third prince and Han Qian, so it was important to stabilize the situation first, and he also stared at Zheng Hui and said: "Zheng Hui, your Zheng family is loyal and filial piety, and since the founding of the Great Chu country, you have also established a great reputation. At this time, His Royal Highness pursued Xia Zhen's crime of abandoning the city, which has nothing to do with you, and you asked Your Highness aggressively, what do you mean? ”

Zheng Hui had no friendship with Xia Zhen, Xia Zhen abandoned the inner countryside city and fled into Xichuan, he also despised it in his heart, but in the face of the strong pressure of the Liang army, he let the Yingzhou state soldiers withdraw into Xichuan City.

However, Du Chongtao had already reprimanded Xia Zhen for abandoning the city, and Zheng Hui also thought that this matter had been revealed, but he did not expect that many days later, the third prince came to Xichuan City in person, and he actually beheaded Xia Zhen for the first time.

It happened too suddenly, and Han Qian and the others deliberately walked with the grain fleet, and unknowingly delayed the arrival time in Xichuan until midnight, Zheng Hui and Xia Zhen had to be vigilant against the night attack of the Liang army, and took dozens of men out of the city, thinking about welcoming the three princes and their party into the city as soon as possible.

Seeing that there were only twenty or thirty guards around him at this time, how could Zheng Hui not be afraid?

In comparison, Xia Zhen still had a lot of guards out of the city, and he must have been somewhat defensive in his heart, but he didn't expect that the three princes didn't wait for their guards and horses to go ashore, so Han Qian shot directly.

At this time, the grain fleet docked at the wharf was also in an uproar, but the Yingzhou Gang officials and a small number of men and horses were quickly controlled by Yang Qin, Feng Xuan and others who were closely watching them, and three people wanted to jump into the water to escape, but they were chased and killed in the water, and the corpses were dragged onto the boat to ensure that not a single fish slipped through the net.

On a cold day, Zheng Hui had beads of sweat oozing out of his forehead, thinking about it, even if he didn't send troops to contain the Liang army from attacking Iron Crocodile Ridge, he was still a little hard, and he secretly felt that the third prince should have no intention of killing him.

Otherwise, Xichuan City will inevitably be in chaos, and it will be difficult to resist the attack of the Liang army.

Seeing that the people brought by the third prince had already controlled the dock, Zheng Hui gritted his teeth and let go of the hand holding the knife, and did not dare to go too forward, so he knelt down on one knee in front of his guards and expressed his obedience: "Xia Zhen abandons the city without a fight, the crime is extremely evil, and the crime should be punished." ”

When Xia Zhen abandoned the city, if the third prince or even Li Zhihe were present, they would be able to directly discuss the military law and kill him, but after so long, even if he had to settle accounts after the autumn, he should be taken down and sent to Yousi for interrogation, instead of being so simple and rude.

However, no matter how stupid Zheng Hui is, he will not care about the difference at this time, he is more concerned about whether the third prince will use the topic to play and involve him.

"Very good," Yang Yuanpu nodded, and said in a calm tone as much as possible to reassure Zheng Hui, "Lord Zheng will stick to Xichuan and ensure that the territory north of the Danjiang River does not fall into the hands of the enemy. ”

"Zheng Hui failed to stop Xia Zhen from abandoning the city, His Royal Highness can forgive Zheng Hui's mistakes, Zheng Hui is grateful to Dade and does not dare to take credit." Zheng Hui said.

At this time, Han Qian saw that Zheng Hui was steady, handed Xia Zhen's head to a guard to hold, and he arched his hand to the three princes and said: "Xia Zhen's cowardice and abandonment of the city is the first evil, and he has been ambushed at this time, but the Yingzhou generals are all threatened by him to abandon the city and retreat westward, only a small mistake, at this time, the Liang army is about to be persecuted, please allow your Highness to temporarily assign them to the Zheng people's department to make meritorious contributions?" ”

Yang Yuanpu stared at the more than forty Xia Zhenhu servants who retreated to the corner of the dock, and asked sharply: "Are you willing to make meritorious contributions?" ”

Handing over these people to Zheng Hui for incorporation, in addition to calming Zheng Hui's heart, clearly telling Zheng Hui that this matter will not involve him, and will continue to expand his troops, on the other hand, it is also difficult to reassure these people into the guard camp, but it may become a hidden danger.

Seeing that Zheng Hui's subordinates all turned to stare at him, the three hundred young generals of the Zuo Si scout and the guards were all staring at each other, where did these people dare to die and struggle anymore, put their swords into their sheaths, and knelt on the ground one after another, expressing their submission.

Zheng Hui also looked at the third prince hesitantly and asked, "Your Highness, do you want to temporarily collect the armor of these people?" ”

Yang Yuanpu glanced at Han Qian with some hesitation.

Han Qian shook his head slightly, since he was already generous, he should be generous to the end.

Besides, these people were handed over to Zheng Hui to be co-opted, even if there were three or five people with different aspirations, they would not be able to make any splashes.

"Ben Hou believes that their allegiance to Da Chu will not change, since they have been allowed to make meritorious contributions, and ask Zheng to join the army to treat them equally, reward them for meritorious service, and punish them if they have faults." Yang Yuanpu said to Zheng Hui.

"Obey the strict orders of His Highness." Zheng Hui said.

These guards are all Xia Zhen's descendants, and even most of them are Xia's family soldiers, after Xia Zhen's subduation, they are the most likely to resist violently, and after these guards are solved, the 1,500 state soldiers in Yingzhou will be easier to solve.

…………

…………

In order to alleviate Zheng Hui's inner suspicions, the guard battalion and the Zuo Si scouts stayed outside the city, and Han Qian and others accompanied the third prince Yang Yuanpu into Xichuan City and lived in the town general's mansion that Zheng Hui had rectified in Xichuan City.

"Zheng Hui is a person who can enjoy it!"

After entering the town general's mansion, he rested in the mansion, and saw that there were many handsome young men and girls waiting in the house, Han Qian sighed with emotion, thinking that most of these young boys and girls were forcibly captured by Zheng Hui after subduing the two cottages.

Zheng Hui personally led his troops to take over the Yingzhou state soldiers at this time.

The Liang army was stationed twenty miles away, and all unrestful factors in Xichuan City had to be eliminated before dawn, so as not to give the Liang army an opportunity to take advantage of.

Shen Yang motioned for the maid who came up to make tea to exit the hall, sat behind the long case, a pair of dim old eyes swept over Chai Jian, Zhang Ping, Li Chong and others, and finally fell on Han Qian's face, and asked in a deep voice: "Lord Han, why did you instigate His Highness to carry out this dangerous matter, can you reveal the mystery to the old man at this time?" ”

Han Qian also had to be regarded as Shen Yang's protégé, but Shen Yang thought of the scene just now, if Han Qian hadn't been able to kill Xia Zhen in one fell swoop, it would inevitably turn into a war that was difficult to clean up and would endanger the lives of the three princes.

Of course, he wanted to understand at this time that the so-called patrol was just a scam led by Han Qian.

"Zhu Yu, the king of Liang Yong, is already in Wancheng, and the 30,000 Liang troops newly stationed in Wancheng at this time are dressed by the elite of the Xuanjia capital of the Liang Kingdom-I don't know if this news can relieve the doubts in Mr. Shen Yang's heart?" Han Qian said calmly.

"......" Shen Yang sat there even more shocked, he didn't know what to say for a while, he didn't expect Han Qian to learn such a crucial information, he didn't even inform the defense envoy Du Chongtao at the first time, but first tricked them into coming to Xichuan City and beheading Xia Zhen.

Shen Yang is extremely intelligent, and he can also understand what Han Qian's fundamental intention is in doing this, he will never agree with Han Qian risking the lives of the third prince, but he also knows that at this time, the wood has been engraved, and he can't save it.

Otherwise, Du Chongtao would never agree to the three princes sitting on the Western Front in such a dangerous situation.

"You didn't say beforehand that you were going to kill Xia Zhen...... on the spot," Chai Jian asked dissatisfiedly.

You must know that Han Qian intends to get rid of Xia Zhen so decisively and ruthlessly, they will not be in such a hurry, so they have to make more preparations to prevent mistakes.

"I don't know Lord Chai and Lord Zhang, it is me and His Royal Highness who are worried that Xia Zhen is too suspicious, and we have too many preparations here, but it is not easy to call Xia Zhen into the palace," Han Qian said, "As for Xia Zhen, he must be eliminated as soon as possible, the reason is also very simple, after King Liang Yong's deeds are exposed, he will inevitably be interspersed with the western foot of Dahong Mountain and attack Yingzhou as soon as possible - Xia Zhen has a bad record of abandoning the city without a fight, once Yingzhou is lost, what choice Xia Zhen will make, you can't guess, right?" ”

Although Chai Jian and Zhang Ping were dissatisfied with Han Qian's attempt to bypass them again, they had to admit that after the fall of Yingzhou, Xia Zhen chose to lead his troops to surrender to the Liang army, which would lead to disastrous consequences for the Western Front.

Solving Xia Zhen and Yingzhou soldiers and horses is indeed the first thing they have to do.

Zhang Ping and Chai Jian were also discussing how to solve the problem of Xia Zhen and Yingzhou soldiers and horses before, but they didn't expect Han Qian to be so ruthless.

"What are your plans for Your Highness next?" Shen Yang stared at Han Qian and asked in a steady tone, "Do you have to hide this matter from Zheng Hui for the time being?" ”

"Even if Yingsui Erzhou is lost, Huangzhou is still four hundred miles away. And Jinling reinforces Jingxiang, Huangzhou is to rush, and His Majesty will never sit back and watch Huangzhou fall into the hands of the Liang army - looking at it this way, Zheng Hui actually has no other choice, so there is no need to hide this matter from Zheng Hui. Han Qian said.

As long as Huangzhou does not fall, Zheng Hui and his subordinates are all in Huangzhou, and it is unlikely that Zheng Hui will lead his troops to surrender or even flee south without a fight, at least as a last resort, Han Qian believes that Zheng Hui will not make such a choice.

Otherwise, Emperor Tianyou decided not to let their family go with mercy and miss the opportunity to deter the generals.

"Since you know that you don't need to worry about Zheng Hui, why don't you convince Zheng Hui first and then kill Xia Zhen?" Shen Yang asked again.

"His Highness needs Zheng Hui's allegiance, not cooperation." Han Qian said.

Shen Yang sighed slightly, and Zhang Ping, Chai Jian and others were also speechless.

They could have a more secure way to relieve Xia Zhen of his military power and imprison him, but it was definitely not as shocking as the scene just now-what Han Qian taught to the three princes was not an ordinary way of checks and balances, and the emperor's mental technique!