Gan Zhao was ordered to come to see King Wu, looked outside the city, shook his head and said, "King Ning, is this crazy?" He took only 6,000 men with him, and attacking the officers and soldiers was tantamount to sending them to death. Did he say hello to King Wu in advance? ”

Xu Ji shook his head, he called Gan Zhao for only one purpose, that is, to expose his conspiracy to defect to the officers and soldiers, and kill him in public.

Gan Zhao didn't notice it at all, and didn't even glance at Guo Shifeng beside King Wu, as if they had never known each other.

Xue Jin walked quickly to the city and said loudly: "Can you go out of the city to join the war?" ”

"Wait." Xu Ji must be cautious, "Send more scouts." ”

Xue Jinyan still wanted to fight, glanced at King Wu, and finally didn't say anything and turned around.

Gan Zhao arched his hand and said: "It's better to let me lead the troops out of the city to see, if the officers and soldiers are in chaos, I will take advantage of the situation to attack, if the officers and soldiers set a trap, they will only surround me." ”

"You stay, and all the soldiers will be handed over to the descending general."

"Yes." Gan Zhao glanced at Guo Shifeng, looked left and right, and knew that he had no way to escape.

A scout ran from under the city and said in a loud voice: "It is rumored that the general has been assassinated, and the officers and soldiers are in chaos!" ”

"Assassinated? Assassinated by whom? Xu Ji was taken aback.

"I don't know who it is, it may be King Ning's subordinates." The scout ran away and went to inquire again.

The north gate opened, and hundreds of horsemen galloped out, they were the "scouts" sent out by Xue Jinyao.

"If it's true, there's no chance to lose." Guo Shifeng whispered.

"If it's fake, it's doomed." When Xu was a strategist, he would be more radical than Guo Shifeng when he encountered this situation, but he was now the king of Wu, and he had to be careful and careful to take full responsibility for Sheng.

"If you don't take risks, it's hard to make great achievements." Guo Shifeng continued to persuade, pausing for a moment, "The general intends to seek peace, it seems that there is no need to design any more schemes, it is likely that the general of Jizhou will avenge Wang Tiemei......"

Xu Ji couldn't wait any longer, and said to one of the guards: "Descend general." ”

Xue Jin shook a few steps and ran up, "You have finally made a decision." ”

"Order the soldiers of Nancheng to attack, and you follow."

"The northern camp is in chaos, why is the southern city attacking?"

"Most of the soldiers in the southern camp are Jizhou soldiers, if there is really civil strife among the officers and soldiers, there must be a source of chaos, if the officers and soldiers make a plan, the southern camp will not move, you will withdraw the troops immediately."

"Okay." Xue Jinyao led people to the southern city, no matter what King Wu said, she wanted to lead the troops out of the city by herself, leaving King Liang to guard the door.

The scouts frequently brought back news, and the officers and soldiers seemed to be really in chaos, but the news of the general's death could not be confirmed.

Gan Zhao suddenly knelt at King Wu's footsteps and kowtowed respectfully, his forehead almost touching the tips of King Wu's toes.

Xu Ji took a step back, "What does King Shu mean?" ”

"I implore King Wu to give me a hundred soldiers, so that I can fight a decisive battle with the officers and soldiers, and die without regrets."

Xu Ji didn't support him, and looked at him silently.

Gan Zhao kowtowed again, "The kings are dead and scattered, and the fewer people remain, the more suspicious they will be." ”

Xu Ji sneered and turned his head to look at Guo Shifeng, wanting to hear his opinion.

Guo Shifeng said in a low voice: "The King of Shu has high merits, it is better to let him be a famous scholar, stay by King Wu's side, and lead the civil officials." ”

Xu Ji was stunned for a moment, and then realized that the betrayer had not only ruined his own reputation, but the master was inevitably considered to be unclear, and giving high-ranking officials and seizing their military power was a common trick used by the Tiancheng Imperial Court.

"All industries are waiting to be prospered, is the King of Shu willing to take the position of civil official?"

Gan Zhao knew that he had just escaped death, and kowtowed three times, "I obey my orders, I'm afraid that I am a small official and don't understand the rules, but I will ruin the big thing of King Wu." ”

Xu Ji Fu Gan beckoned, "Everything always has a beginning, the King of Shu is the person I trust, and you are in charge of the scribes, I have no worries." ”

Gan Zhao sweated like rain, and said with an embarrassed smile: "I will never disappoint King Wu." ”

Xu Ji said to one of the leaders of the guards: "Send the King of Shu back to the camp to rest, don't let him be disturbed." ”

The leader understood King Wu's intentions, nodded deeply, led Gan Zhao to go down to the city, isolated from the Shu generals, and put him under house arrest.

Guo Shifeng said to King Wu again: "Although the King of Shu has no great ambitions, he is deeply rooted in the incarnation army, and he cannot be killed immediately, nor can he stay for a long time. After this battle, King Wu was powerful all over the world, and with this recruitment, tens of thousands of people could be obtained in two or three months......"

"I get it." Xu Ji didn't let Guo Shifeng say any more.

When the rebel army comes from a variety of sources, the incarnation army is no longer the only main force, and Gan Zhao will be useless.

Guo Shifeng smiled and nodded, this was one of the reasons why he was willing to follow King Wu, the two of them could often think of going together, and they could understand it at one point.

There was news from the scouts that Xu Ji was sure that the officers and soldiers were really in chaos, so he left the city and personally led the soldiers of Beicheng to participate in the battle.

It turned out that the rebels were still too poorly trained, and they could still unite when they were at a disadvantage, and once they were chased and defeated, they immediately became overexcited and chased after them, forgetting to ask for instructions.

At night, the military order was not smooth, and Xu Ji could only ensure that his Wu soldiers did not disperse, and ordered them to capture prisoners and interrogate the whereabouts of Wang Dian and others.

The place where the Wu soldiers were held was at the back of the camp, and everyone saw the flames from a distance, and they couldn't help but be shocked, and they all accelerated without the urging of King Wu.

The fire was in full swing, mixed with heart-rending screams.

Xu Ji hurriedly ordered to put out the fire.

There is no water around, and the snow has melted more than half, so the so-called firefighting can only be done in a way, and no one can approach at all, so we can only wait for the fire to weaken on its own.

It wasn't until an hour later that the fire subsided and the screams died down.

A soldier found King Wu and said, "When I saw the body of the great general, it was not far away." ”

The general's body was easily recognizable, and although his head had been cut off by a sharp blade, his fat body was still there, and there was no second person except him.

Xu Ji jumped off the horse, did not approach the corpse, glanced at it from a distance, and felt a wave of nausea.

"What about the rest of the Lou family?" Xu Ji asked.

"I heard that it was taken away by King Ning." One of the soldiers guarding the body replied.

"Where is King Ning?"

"Come fast, go fast, I don't know where to go. Hey, King Ning has this ability, but it was still King Wu's clever calculation, arranging this sneak attack and assassination, and the officers and soldiers were caught off guard. ”

The confusion of the officers and soldiers came too suddenly, and the soldiers of the righteous army did not know why, so they attributed all the credit to King Wu.

Of course, Xu Ji would not refuse, he should have said something, but he felt that something was blocked in his throat, and he had to endure it so that he could not spit it out, and he had no energy to speak.

Guo Shifeng saw that King Wu's expression was wrong, and asked for him, "What about the stabbing guests?" Killed by officers and soldiers? ”

"I don't know, we want to meet this hero too...... By the way, we caught a person, claiming to be a member of the Lou family, talking nonsense, and we couldn't ask anything. ”

"Bring it to me." Xu Ji turned around and walked away, just in time to meet the gaze of a group of Wu soldiers behind him.

It was the resentment and grief he had seen in Meng Shenglun's eyes, and he was slightly stunned, he understood that these people hated the general to the core, even in the face of the remains, it was difficult to hide their anger, if it weren't for the face of King Wu, they would have gone up and cut it indiscriminately.

Guo Shifeng said to the soldiers of the Descending Army: "Bury the bones on the spot, and dispose of them tomorrow." ”

Guo Shifeng led King Wu to take a few steps away and whispered: "These people are all wolves, and it is best to be subordinates, but King Wu has to throw them a little meat to taste from time to time." ”

"General Meng went to kill Mrs. Lan, isn't it enough?"

Guo Shifeng shook his head lightly, "The captured Wu soldiers were all burned to death, and the bones were not cold, it is not enough to kill only one Mrs. Lan." ”

The Wu people already had a grudge against the general, and when they saw their relatives and friends being burned to charcoal, they were even more angry, thinking that it was an order from the general.

Even Xu Ji thought so, and turned to look at the soldiers who were digging a pit, "Since the general sent Lou Ji to negotiate peace, why did he ......?"

"The general is like this, he does whatever he wants, and he is unreasonable. But he also died because of this, I guess he must have been too careless, so that the people of Jizhou have a chance. ”

Xu Ji saw a group of soldiers holding torches from a distance, and vaguely recognized that it was Lou Shuo, the seventh son of the Lou family, and said to Guo Shifeng: "I'll go for interrogation, you stay and take care of it." ”

Guo Shifeng gave up his hand, and there were some things that King Wu should not witness with his own eyes.

Xu Ji ordered Wu Bing to stay where he was, and only took Tang Weitian and a few other guards to walk out of more than 100 steps, stopping under a big tree, leeward, and not seeing the body of the general.

There were occasional cries of slaughter around, but the battle was nearing its end, and all that remained was to chase, and the excited rebel soldiers would probably not be able to return to the eastern capital until dawn.

Tang Weitian looked at it from afar, sighed softly, he also wanted to join the pursuit, but he couldn't leave King Wu, and muttered: "It's hard to encounter such a smooth battle......

Lou Shuo was escorted to King Wu, shaking to himself, his face was as pale as paper, his eyes were scattered, and he didn't recognize who the person in front of him was.

"Where did you catch him?" Xu Ji asked.

"Over there, he ran around like a madman and just ran into us."

"Good, leave him behind, I know him."

The soldiers retreated, and Xu Ji ordered the guards to go to the periphery to guard, leaving Tang Weitian alone.

"Lou Shuo." Xu Ji called three times in a row, and Lou Shuo finally recognized the person in front of him, "You...... You ......"

"It's me. Tell me, for whom did the Great General kill? Who ordered the Wu people to be burned? ”

Recognizing the seventeenth brother, Lou Shuo trembled even more, his legs were weak, he sat down on the ground, and said with a crying voice: "Seventeenth brother...... No, no, King Wu spares his life, King Wu spares his life, remember that I treated you well at the beginning, please spare my life. ”

Xu Ji never felt that anyone in the Lou family treated him well, which was one of the reasons why he could be ruthless.

"I didn't mean to kill you, but you have to tell the truth."

"Honestly?"

"For whom did the general kill? Who ordered the burning of the Wu captives? Xu Ji repeated.

"General......" Lou Shuo couldn't cry, for the general, he didn't have a father-son relationship, but a sense of dependence that he had developed a habit since childhood, and it took a long time to stop crying, "The general was killed by the Queen Mother." ”

Xu Ji was dumbfounded, "Are you sure?" ”

"I saw it with my own eyes, right there, the general went to see the Queen Mother, we waited outside, and then ...... Then I went in and looked at it and saw ...... Seeing ......" Lou Shuo didn't dare to say it like he saw a ghost.

"What about the Queen Mother?" Xu Ji still couldn't believe it.

"I don't know, I ran out of the tent, and a bunch of soldiers came and I ran, and I kept running, and I didn't know how to ...... Here it is. "Lou Shuo lost a large part of his memory.

"Did the general order to burn the Wu prisoners?"

"Huh? Burn captives? Is there such a thing? I haven't heard of ......."

"The general didn't give an order?"

"The general only ordered to send troops to Yecheng tomorrow morning, and also sent people to pacify the soldiers of Jizhou...... It's all Sun Jian, he killed the generals indiscriminately, angered the soldiers, and caused this disaster. ”

Guo Shifeng hurriedly ran over, glanced at Lou Shuo, and said to King Wu: "There are still survivors of the Wu people. ”

"How much? Take me to see it. ”

There were less than ten survivors, all of them were seriously injured, Wang Dian was one of them, lying on the ground, burned beyond recognition, only his eyes were wide open, staring at King Wu, and said in a strange voice: "Ning Baoguan set fire, King Wu avenges us......"

Xu Ji's heart sank, and anger and remorse surged together like a tide.