The next night, Xu Ji and Chang Yanzhi led their horses on foot, carefully detouring near the Chu army camp, and the soldiers inside were suffering from hunger, either grinding their teeth in their sleep, or fantasizing about the next full meal with their eyes open, and no one wasted energy coming out to patrol.

Chang Yanzhi glanced back at the few fires in the camp, and muttered, "It's even more terrifying here at night, like a ghost camp - Gongzi really doesn't go in?" ”

"If you don't go, the news I brought will definitely cause chaos in the Chu army." Xu Ji hurried away.

"That's good news, isn't it?" Chang Yan was puzzled.

"Just because it is good news, the Chu army will not be able to bear it, they have been starving for a long time, once they hear that Xiangyang City is willing to accept it, they will inevitably flock away, and no one can suppress it."

"Doesn't Childe think that Song Zhuzhu's subordinates are very loyal?" Chang Yanzhi whispered.

"That's just speculation, not for sure."

The two of them were far away from Chu Ying, and they got back on their horses, Chang Yanzhi vaguely guessed where Xu Ji was going, and said, "This road seems to have only one place to go." ”

"Well, Yiling City."

"But ......"

"If I'm lucky, Yang Qinya hasn't gone back yet, and the soldiers in the city don't know about the conspiracy secretly reached between him and the Xi family, and they will still receive me warmly."

"Huh?" Chang Yanzhi would rather go to the Chu camp, "If the Chu army collapses, it will collapse, why should the prince think about Song Zhuzhu?" ”

Xu Ji smiled: "I'm not thinking about him, but for Xiangyang." It is rare that the city lord of Xiangyang refused to surrender to the Bingzhou army and came to Song Zhuzhu for help, but if he saw the current appearance of the Chu army, whether the Chu army collapsed or not, he would be greatly disappointed and his fighting spirit would drop sharply. ”

"So Childe wants to persuade Yang to go to the aid of the Fish Army?"

"More than that."

"Plus Xi Jiajun?" Chang Yanzhi was taken aback.

"More."

Chang Yanzhi was stunned for a long time, "Childe wants to ...... the Southern Army"

"Behind the Bingzhou army are He Rong people, and they must have strong reinforcements to boost morale and defend the city."

After walking silently for a while, Changyan said: "I have always believed in Childe, but this time...... The battle here is not over yet, and Gongzi actually wants to persuade the three parties, no, the four sides should stop talking about peace and aid Xiangyang? ”

"Why don't you make a bet?"

"Huh?" Chang Yanzhi felt incredible at Xu Ji's calmness.

"If I succeed, don't drink for a year."

"What kind of bet is this? I only drink a little more once in a while...... Well, if Childe doesn't succeed - forget it, if Childe doesn't succeed, he will definitely put our lives into it, and there is nothing to lose. ”

"Haha, even so, if you have anything you want, you might as well say it, and it will be the game."

Chang Yanzhi pondered for a while, "If you want anything else, it is estimated that Gongzi will not be able to take it out, so it is better to accept me as a disciple." ”

"Huh?" It was Xu Ji's turn to be taken aback, and then smiled: "What virtue can I have, can I be your master?" ”

"I didn't laugh at Childe's bet, and Childe shouldn't laugh at me."

Xu Ji coughed, and said, "Okay, if I don't succeed in this trip, I will definitely accept you as a disciple, but I may not have a chance to teach you anything." ”

"It doesn't matter, it's enough to have the status of master and apprentice, so that before I die, I can also shout 'I am the apprentice grandson of the famous man Fan Shu'."

"Haha."

The camp of the Chu army is not far from Yiling City, but they have to cross the river first, after midnight, the two rushed to the ferry town, Chang Yanzhi was uneasy, if Yang Moyu has returned, they are killing themselves, and the protection of the King of Shu does not know whether it is useless.

When the guards at the head of the city heard the sound of horses' hooves, they immediately shouted, "Who is coming?" Venture any further, and we're going to shoot arrows! ”

"I'm Xu Ji, and I just came back from Chuying."

"Is it Mr. Xu? I heard that you were detained by Song Chujiao. The guard said in surprise.

"The King of Chu likes to joke, but he actually left me to drink, and I just got urgent news that I want to enter the city immediately to meet General Shi."

General Shi was Yang Moyu's deputy, and he was ordered to defend the city, and he was also the one who received Xu Ji before.

"I think General Shi must know." Changyan reminded in a whisper.

"Hmm."

In any case, the soldiers in the city obviously did not know the details, and only knew that Xu Ji was a distinguished guest of Yang Qinzai, the envoy of the king of Shu and the king of Jiang, and immediately sent someone to the city to open the door.

"Xu Gongzi will rest here for a while, and wait for the dawn ......"

"I can't rest, the situation is urgent, please send someone to send me across the river immediately."

"It's not safe to sail in the dark."

"The sooner the better, stay a little longer, I'm afraid it will also delay the opportunity." Xu Ji said solemnly.

The defenders of the city were frightened and immediately assigned men to prepare the ships.

Most of the big cities along the river are located on the second bank, and Yiling City is no exception, and the small city on the north bank is actually just a low wall to protect the ferry and the boats on the water.

Yang Qinzai's subordinates are all sailors, and there are naturally a lot of ships, in fact, within a few hundred miles, all ships, regardless of officials and people, have been captured by him.

Several people in the boat were good hands, and they arrived at the opposite shore smoothly.

The horses ate some fodder on the boat, and after going ashore, Xu Ji asked the soldiers for a horse, shared it with Changyan, and went straight to the city.

He was a distinguished guest in the city, his tone was urgent, and every word seemed to be giving an order, and the soldiers of the Yang army were deeply affected, and they obeyed the order without any doubt.

A soldier led the way to General Shi's quarters and hurried to knock on the door.

After a long time, someone answered the door and said impatiently: "Who, deceitful corpse?" Slamming the door in the middle of the night. ”

"Xu Gongzi came back and said that he had an urgent matter to see Shi ......"

"Since he is the son of 'Xu', there will be no 'urgent' matter, come back at dawn, General Shi will be asleep." The people inside didn't open the door and walked away swearing.

The soldier smiled bitterly at Xu Ji: "This must be Yang Touching Shrimp, the younger brother of King Jiang, the most difficult to deal with, he may be in a daze and forget the identity of Xu Gongzi......"

"King Jiang hasn't come back yet?" Xu Ji asked.

"I heard I'll be back today." The soldier said.

Xu Ji thought for a while and said, "Please send me out of the city." ”

"I can knock on the door again, since Xu Gongzi has something urgent......

"I think it's urgent to tell King Jiang, I'm going to go outside the city to check the situation of the Southern Army, and when I come back, King Jiang is estimated to have arrived."

"The urgency is related to the Southern Army?" The soldier was startled again.

"Anyway, please get me out of town, maybe it's still too late."

"Yes, yes." The soldier didn't dare to ask more, so he got on his horse and ran to the city gate at the other end with Xu Ji.

The leader of the gate guard once drank together, recognized Xu Ji and Chang Yanzhi, and persuaded: "This is not a good time to check the enemy's situation, there are many scouts in the southern army, and if you bump into them, it is not easy to escape." ”

"It's okay, I'm just looking at it from afar, and it's really because I can't rest assured." Xu Ji didn't get off the horse, and said, "I hope the news is wrong, but what if...... Please forgive me for not talking too much until I confirm the situation. ”

The leader here was also bluffed, "That...... I tried to send as many escorts as I could. ”

"No, it's easy to be exposed when there are too many people, just the two of us, after going out of the city, take a look from afar, and come back soon, please leave the door for us."

"Of course." The leader was a little overwhelmed, but still ordered the door to open, "Not far out of the city, there is a hill on the side of the road, we usually go there to watch, there are sentries on it......"

"Thank you." The city gate was just able to pass, and Xu Ji galloped out.

"I'll come back to you for a drink." Chang Yan Zhi, patted the horse to catch up, and suddenly remembered that if Xu Ji succeeded, he would not be able to touch wine for a year, and he couldn't help sighing.

The morning sun is rising, there is really a hill on the side of the road, there is a small village on it, Xu Ji does not stop, continues to gallop, and only slows down after more than ten miles.

Chang Yanzhi caught up and was finally able to ask: "Childe is going to see Chen Yicai." ”

"Hmm."

"But we've never met him, and Childe doesn't know anything about him."

"The general trend has been decided, look at the people, the general trend is chaotic, look at the situation."

"Huh. In the city just now, what if General Shi opened the door to meet Gongzi? He definitely won't allow Childe to leave. ”

"I have my own arguments." Xu Ji grabbed the reins, and Chang Yan held the knife in his hand.

A team of people ushered in on the opposite side.

Without waiting for the other party to speak, Xu Ji said first: "I am a messenger of Xiangyang City, and I have come to see Chen Yicai, the pastor of Hunan and Guangzhou, please lead the way." ”

Chen Yicai claimed to be the shepherd of the two states, but no one else recognized it.

More than 30 people on the opposite side were stunned, and the officer said, "Xiangyang...... It's on the North Shore, right? How did you get here? ”

Xu Ji patted the burden behind him, and inside was a letter written by the city lord of Xiangyang to Song Zhuzhu, "I finally got rid of the Yang family's soldiers, do you want to interrogate here, or take me to see Chen Mushou immediately?" ”

Seeing that there were only two people on the other side, the officer said, "Come back to the camp with us first, what do you call Your Excellency?" ”

"Dongdu Xu Ji, this is Jiang Dongchang."

"Oh." The officer had never heard of these two names, but seeing that Xu Ji was extraordinary, he didn't have too many doubts.

It was almost noon when the group rushed to the camp of the Southern Army.

The southern army lacked horses, and after the defeat, there were fewer horses, only scouts could ride horses, and the battalion was mostly infantry.

Yang Qinzai was originally a water bandit, and most of his subordinates were from the same background, and he fought bravely, but he was not strict in governing the army, and the barracks were similar to the army of the descendants, but the southern army was well organized, more like officers and soldiers.

Hearing that a messenger had come to Xiangyang, everyone who heard it was surprised, and they reached one level at a time, and soon the order to summon them came.

The general who led the way reminded at the door of the military tent: "Lord Mu Shou is also the governor of Jiangnan West Province and the governor of soldiers and horses, you should call him 'general'." ”

"Okay." Xu Ji himself has also been the "Metropolitan Governor", but he has not been called a general.

More than a dozen generals on both sides sat or stood, all looking at the envoy with curious eyes.

Directly behind the bookcase, sat Chen Aicai, only with an expression of surprise on his face.

Chen is only in his forties, and although he wears a military uniform, he does not lose his literati spirit.

Xu Ji stepped forward and arched his hand, and was just about to speak, when a general sitting next to him said sharply: "Xiangyang envoy, why don't you kneel?" ”

"The world is not peaceful, and no one can kneel." Xu Ji replied, staring intently at the person opposite.

"What's that?" The general who opened his mouth was stunned for a moment, then his face turned angry, and he stretched out his hand to press the knife.

offended people with the first sentence he spoke, and Chang Yan didn't know whether to admire his son or to worry.

Chen Yicai smiled lightly, "The son of the general, the person who used to be the king, can not kneel." It turned out that he had heard of Xu Ji's name, "But if you dare to open your mouth, worry about your head." ”

"What if you say 'crossing the river'?" Xu Jidao.