Shi Luosheng was shocked in his heart: "Could it be that my father-in-law also hides a lot of secrets like myself, in addition to martial arts, I also have Changxing Island and Naha City, so doesn't my father-in-law have anything else besides martial arts?" The Deng family has been operating in the Great Song Dynasty for more than 100 years, although it is not as good as the Chen family and the Tian family, but the Deng family has military power, will the father-in-law also hide a private army of his own? ”

Thinking of this, Shi Luosheng felt more and more that he was right to choose to leave the Great Song Dynasty, once the royal family and the family went to war, how much strength the royal family had, the family was clear, and how much strength the family hid, Xiao Daocheng may not be clear. With just one Deng family, he may not be able to deal with it, plus the other three major families, the possibility of the royal family winning in the end is really very small, if he still stays by Xiao Daocheng's side, he will definitely not end well in the end.

In the political struggle, Shi Luosheng does not believe that the winning side will let go of the losing side, once the royal family loses, except for Xiao Daocheng who can save his life and continue to be a puppet emperor, starting with the crown prince Xiao Yan, so everyone involved in it will inevitably die, including his so-called righteous son.

Xiang Tong looked at Shi Luosheng's expression uncertainly, how did he know that he could deduce so many things from his words. It is undeniable that Xiang Tong may be a commander no less than Deng Yuanjue on the battlefield, but he is too much worse politically, which is why after so many years, he can't even defeat an incompetent big Sima Gaoyi.

Shi Luosheng looked embarrassed: "General Xiang, I shouldn't have killed you anymore if you told me this, but your life is related to my future development, so I can only stand you, you should kill yourself." ”

Xiang Tong's face was fearless, and he laughed: "I thought that even if I would die on the battlefield one day, it would definitely be at the hands of Deng Yuanjue or Tian Wuji." Losing to you today, although I am not convinced, I am not complaining about losing. ”

After speaking, he picked up the long sword on the deck with his feet, and the long sword flew into the air and drew several arcs, and when the strength was exhausted, the tip of the sword quickly fell towards the top of Xiang Tong's head. Xiang Tong shouted: "General Shi, after I die, Chu'er will definitely seek revenge on you, I implore you to let him go once, and tell him for me, don't take revenge again." ”

As soon as the words fell, the long sword was directly inserted into Xiang Tong's head, and the entire sword body was submerged in his body.

Shi Luosheng said silently: "Don't worry, Xiang Chu won't seek revenge on me, because I will also die in this war." ”

As the fire spread, the last open space on the back deck burned, and the entire ship slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.

When Xun Yuqing arrived at Xiakou City with the other half of the warship, the entire city was almost empty. Most of the troops in the city were taken away by Xiang Tong and his son, and the few remaining soldiers defending the city were defenseless, because they all believed that General Xiang could defeat the Song army this time.

In the face of such a good opportunity, of course Xun Yuqing would not let it go, the battle started suddenly and ended quickly. In less than an hour, the city of Xiakou was full of the banners of the Song army.

Xun Yuqing stood on the city tower, his expression was not a trace of excitement, but he looked at the southeast with an anxious face, which was the place where Shi Luosheng and Xiang Tong fought a decisive battle.

"Report, general, the battle is over......" Before the spy finished speaking, Xun Yuqing grabbed him and asked, "What about General Shi?" Where is he now? ”

The spies' shoulders were caught by Xun Yuqing, and his face showed a hint of pain: "Both the enemy and us were defeated, most of the soldiers died in the sea of fire, and the whereabouts of General Shi and Xiang Tong, the general of Chu State, are unknown. ”

Xun Yuqing hurriedly said: "Then don't you send someone to find it, even if you turn the whole lake over for me, you have to find General Shi." ”

These sailors were brought by Xun Yuqing from Xianghu, most of them were the bandits of Dongshan and the pirates of the surrounding seas, since joining the Great Song Dynasty Navy, they only knew that they were at the behest of Shi Luosheng and Huang Songsheng. As for the Great Song Emperor Xiao Daocheng and the general Deng Yuanjue, they have never seen it, nor have they had a good impression, if it weren't for these powerful people to exploit the people, why would they fall into the grass.

Now that Shi Luosheng is missing, they are also very anxious in their hearts, and after searching for several days, they finally have a clue.

The Song army salvaged the ship, which had risen from the bottom of the lake, and found three bodies on the back deck of the ship. Although the corpse was burned beyond recognition, judging from the remaining clothing and weapons, it should be Xiang Tong, the general of the Chu State, as well as Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan.

Xun Yuqing looked at the corpses of the three people in front of him, and suddenly remembered what Shi Luosheng said to himself before leaving: "If you can kill Xiang Tong this time and take Xiakou City, do you want Your Majesty to make me a duke?" If I am made a duke, will I be in the same situation as General Deng in the future? There are some things that you must learn to stop in moderation and not force things that should not belong to you. ”

"Could it be that this was arranged before General Shi set off?" Although the evidence in front of him was conclusive, Xun Yuqing did not believe that the corpse on the ground was Shi Luosheng.

In addition, Huang Songsheng personally led his troops to help Shi Luosheng fight Naba City, others didn't know, he and Yue Shouming, the two deputy commanders of the navy, knew, which also made him even more disbelievable that Shi Luosheng would die so easily. However, the corpse of Xiang Tong in front of him, Xun Yuqing felt that it was real. killed Xiang Tong to repay Xiao Daocheng's kindness, which is also completely in line with Shi Luosheng's character.

Xun Yuqing has been following Shi Luosheng for three years, and he clearly knows that his most troubled place is that he is caught between the struggle between the royal family and the family, and this time he may be trying to escape this predicament by faking his death.

Regardless of whether the facts were the same as he guessed, Xun Yuqing planned to hide it for Shi Luosheng.

So in his letters to Xiao Daocheng and Deng Yuanjue, he wrote that Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan were buried in the fire because they were seriously injured after they joined forces to strangle Xiang Tong, the general of Chu State.

The two corpses also had obvious scars on their chests, as for the missing Wang Lun, Xun Yuqing also specifically mentioned that he was also buried in the fire, Wang Lun was already low in martial arts, and it was normal that he failed to escape.

Xiao Daocheng may have doubts in his heart when he sees this explanation, but Xiang Tong of Chu State is dead, isn't it normal for him to die on his side plus a Liu Zixuan?

While Xun Yuqing was cleaning up the aftermath of Shi Luosheng, Xiang Chu's side once again repelled Wu Teng's attack. He was still thinking in his heart that as long as he held on for a few more days, after his father defeated Shi Luosheng, he could join forces to strangle Wu Teng.

Who knew that what was waiting for a few days later was not the great victory of the Chu army, but the news that Xiakou was lost, and Xiang Tong and Shi Luosheng died together.

This news is like a bolt from the blue for Xiang Chu, how could such a perfect layout fail? How did Shi Luosheng end up with his father?

"General, general, now is not the time to be sad, we have to be careful that Wu Teng in front and Xun Yuqing in the city come out to attack us." The deputy general beside him shouted a few times before Xiang Chu came back to his senses.

Xiang Chu patted his cheek and tried to calm himself down: "You take the army to retreat to Suizhou first, and I will stay behind the palace to block Wu Teng's pursuit." As for Xun Yuqing in Xiakou City, don't worry for the time being, the Song Kingdom's naval army is already small, and after he and Shi Luosheng divide their troops, the troops defending the city are not enough now, how can they still have the ability to pursue us. ”

Xiang Tong is dead, and now the heavy responsibility of being in charge of the entire Chu army falls on Xiang Chu's shoulders, if he can't bear it, the remaining 50,000 troops don't want to keep it.

In the last three wars, the Chu State has lost more than 200,000 troops, plus the loss of Jizhou County, as well as most of Ezhou County, and Changli City, the Chu State has reached the most dangerous moment, and any small mistake at this time may be unrecoverable.

As Xiang Chu expected, although Xun Yuqing occupied Xiakou City, he only had the strength of twenty warships, and the newly captured Xiakou City was not peaceful, and how could he dare to pursue the tens of thousands of Chu troops who had not been defeated.

Wu Teng is the same, seeing that Xiang Chu is prepared, he also gave up catching up, anyway, Xiakou has already arrived, the strategic goal has been achieved, there is no need to make skills outside the festival.

When the troops entered Xiakou City, Wu Teng was really sad to see the "corpses" of Shi Luosheng and others, and the scenes when they fought side by side came to mind. He didn't know as much inside information as Xun Yuqing, and thought that he and Xiang Tong had died together.

Xun Yuqing persuaded him for a long time, and Wu Tengcai endured his grief and took over the military and political work in Xiakou City.

When the news came back to Jianye, Xiao Daocheng was also a little sad at first, but he didn't doubt the authenticity of the news, but thought that it took him three years to promote Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan, just to fight against the family in the future, who knew that in this battle, both of them died in battle, and three years of hard work were in vain.

Now that Xiao Daocheng is getting older and older, his health is getting worse and worse, even if he is given another three years, he will not be able to find suitable non-family children like Shi Luosheng and Liu Zixuan.

After the sadness, Xiao Daocheng thought about it again, this stone fell and did not die in vain, after all, Xiang Tong was dragged to death. The state of Chu now has no Xiang Tong, which is no less than the Great Song Dynasty lost Deng Yuanjue a few years ago. If he is willing to reactivate Deng Yuanjue now, maybe he can really destroy the Chu State while he is in power.

Although the strength of the family is a potential threat to the Xiao family's rule in the Great Song Dynasty, this is not something that can be solved in a short time, at least Xiao Daocheng has no time to solve it, and this historical task is still left to the crown prince Xiao Yan to complete.

Xiao Daocheng sighed helplessly, and then asked people to summon the general Deng Yuanjue into the palace.

The news of Shi Luosheng's death Deng Yuanjue actually knew earlier than Xiao Daocheng, and he always reported anything in the army to the general first, and then the general decided whether to tell Xiao Daocheng or not.

In the study of Deng's mansion, Deng Yuanjue was recalling what he said to him before Shi Luosheng set out on the expedition.

Shi Luosheng asked him if there was any way to stop Xiao Daocheng from continuing to use troops, and Deng Yuanjue said at that time that only if you made sacrifices and lost to the Chu army, could you stop His Majesty from sending troops.

"I didn't expect you to come up with this way to stop Your Majesty from using soldiers, but it's a pity, you have added enough snakes, if you don't kill Xiang Tong, Your Majesty may really put swords and guns into the warehouse, put the horse in Nanshan, and concentrate on dealing with our family for the rest of your life." Deng Yuanjue said to himself softly: "Now that Xiang Tong is dead, the Chu State has suffered three consecutive defeats, and more than half of the domestic elite has been lost, it has reached a critical moment of life and death, how can Your Majesty let go of this opportunity?" And how could Tian Wuji of Qi let go of this opportunity? ”

"General, someone has come to the palace, and His Majesty has summoned you into the palace to say that there is something to discuss." The butler's voice interrupted Deng Yuanjue's thoughts.