-- On July 29, the fourth year of Jingzhi of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the marshal tent of the Hukou military camp of the Taiping Army--

In the huge tent, Wu Heng, Wei Hu, Wei Xuan, withered sheep and other Taiping army generals sat in two rows, although there were quite a lot of people in the tent, but the whole tent was very quiet.

During this time, the withered sheep crossed his arms and stared intently at the half of the charred wood in the corner of the tent.

Which guy put together the handsome tent, didn't he know how to throw out the half of the charred wood? Don't you see that the princess's face is getting worse and worse?

In fact, not only were they just withered sheep, but generals like Wei Hu and Wei Xuan all noticed the charred wood, and they either scolded or laughed in their hearts, and so on.

After a few days, the Taiping army returned to the camp that was burned down twice, although there were no major casualties, but there was no progress in the battle situation, and the scorched black wood, as if it was silently mocking them, it can be said that except for the Tianji God General Wei Xuan, who had been bought by the eldest grandson Xiangyu, secretly sneered in his heart, the expressions of the rest of the generals were not very good-looking, especially the princess of the Taiping Army who was sitting on the main seat, [Heavenly Ji] Liu Qing.

I remember that more than 20 days ago, in order to cooperate with the Qin King Li Shen to calculate the commander of the Zhou army's southern expedition to the West Road, [the king of the eight sages] Li Xian, Liu Qing did not launch a fierce attack on Xie An's 80,000 Liang army at the mouth of the lake.

But now, Liu Qing regretted it too much, she regretted that she did not take the lead in the attack, so that she asked Xie An's 80,000 Liang army to gain a firm foothold at Hukou, so that he had time to let his soldiers build a strong camp comparable to a fortress.

As the eldest grandson Xiangyu once told Xie An, the quality of all conspiracies and tricks can be summed up in one sentence, that is, [setting bait to lure the enemy], throwing bait that makes the enemy's heart move, to lure the other party step by step into the trap he has set for him. On the other hand, if the other party does not bite the bait, there is no way.

Just like Xie An right now, this person is cowering in that fortress-like camp and refuses to fight, to be honest, Liu Qing really has no way to take him.

In fact, even if Sun Xiangyu is in Liu Qing's position, it may be difficult to make any breakthroughs in the battle situation in a short period of time, as the so-called slap does not sound. The necessary premise is that both sides have the intention of [going to war], and if one side makes up its mind not to fight, and it will not come out alive or dead, the whole battle situation will inevitably come to a stalemate.

"Assault!" Wu Heng, deputy marshal of the Taiping Army, proposed.

Liu Qing frowned. Shaking his head and saying, "Forcibly attacking the Zhou army camp, the casualties are too great......"

"It's better than wasting time and making no progress!" Interrupting Liu Qing's words, Wu Heng said in a deep voice, "Princess, you should know that our army has no time to deal with that Xie An here. If we can't take the counties south of the Yangtze River and build a defensive line on the river before the Zhou court sends reinforcements to cross the Yangtze River again, what will our army use to resist the Zhou team? ”

Biting her lip, Liu Qing said hesitantly. "I also understand what Vice Marshal Wu said, but Vice Marshal Wu must understand that Xie An has 80,000 Liang troops, and at the same time, he has a strong camp as shelter. If our army is attacked, the casualties will be at least seventy or eighty thousand......"

"Seventy or eighty thousand ......" Wu Heng's eyes flashed a little sharp. He said in a deep voice, "If the princess doesn't make a decision early, once the reinforcements from the Zhou State arrive, not only will our 150,000 troops be killed, but the entire Jiangnan will also fall into a catastrophe, so why not hundreds of thousands?" - The princess must know that the Jiangnan compatriots who were slaughtered by the Great Zhou army back then were no less than 100,000 in Jinling alone! ”

Seeing that Wu Heng's tone was getting heavier and heavier, the withered sheep frowned slightly, after all, Wu Heng's tone was already a little disrespectful, but with his seniority, he was not qualified to criticize Wu Heng.

In fact, looking at the entire Taiping Army, I am afraid that only the third-generation coach Chen Bei has this qualification, but it is a pity that this coach is familiar with the Zhou Army coach Xie An, in order to avoid suspicion, he did not participate in this battle.

Thinking of this, the withered sheep glanced at Wei Hu, who was sitting next to Wu Heng opposite, with his eyes, and motioned him to persuade him, after all, Wei Hu was pulled up by Wu Heng, and he came forward to relieve Liu Qing from the siege, so as not to be hated by Wu Heng.

Noticing his friend Withered Sheep's eyes, Wei Hu nodded knowingly, moved his position quietly, and coughed in a low voice.

"Ahem, lieutenant marshal......"

"......" Wu Heng was stunned when he heard this, turned his head and glanced at Wei Hu, seeing that his gaze was different, he subconsciously glanced at the rest of the Taiping Army generals in the tent, and saw that there were many generals who had a good relationship with Chen Bei with a faint anger in their eyes, and their hearts suddenly woke up.

"The last general is just getting carried away, please forgive the princess!" After confessing to Liu Qing, Wu Heng deliberately lowered his voice and continued, "Princess, don't just be obsessed with the gains and losses in front of you, the so-called one will succeed and ten thousand bones will wither, since the purpose of our army is to restore our Southern Tang Dynasty, we must be prepared at any cost...... The princess also knows how difficult the road is! ――In the eyes of the last general, as long as he can take the counties in the south of the Yangtze River and restore the great power of the Southern Tang Dynasty, when the princess raises her arms, she must be from all directions, and it is not a problem to gather hundreds of thousands of troops, in this case, why not 70,000 or 80,000 soldiers today? ――In the eyes of the last general, as long as we can restore our great power in the Southern Tang Dynasty, no matter what sacrifice you pay, it will be worth it! ”

There were also many Taiping generals who had fanatical feelings about the Southern Tang Dynasty in the tent, and they spoke out one after another.

"What Vice Marshal Wu said is extremely true!"

"For my Southern Tang Dynasty, why do you regret a life? ――The last general is willing to raise troops to fight to the death for the princess and take the Zhou camp! ”

"The Last General ......"

During this period, even some of the generals who were good friends with Chen Bei nodded again and again when they heard this.

It is no wonder that after all, most of the generals in the tent are soldiers who survived the army led by Hou Liang Qiujing in Qiandong Town seventeen years ago, or their sons and nephews, and some are like withered sheep, who have a deep blood feud with the Great Zhou army.

In all fairness, if it weren't for the fact that Withered Sheep's own sister Yiyi was adopted by Liangqiu Gong after the accident in Jinling City, so that Withered Sheep re-saw this blood relative seventeen years later, and many things happened during this period, he would probably have a deep hatred for Da Zhou like those generals in the tent.

And now, the withered sheep is obviously much calmer than these generals who shout and kill, after all, his brother-in-law Xie An has subtly changed his previous prejudice against the Great Zhou court. Let him calm down and look at the things of the world.

"Shelving this matter for the time being, let me think about it......" Liu Qing rubbed her forehead tiredly, and vaguely expressed the intention of evicting customers.

It may be that seeing that the hour was close to noon, Wu Heng was not reluctant, nodded, got up with his fists, and withdrew from the tent.

Subsequently, generals such as Withered Sheep, Wei Hu, and Wei Xuan also withdrew from the account one after another.

Holding his forehead and letting out a long breath, Liu Qing's eyes casually looked at the corner of the tent. After being slightly stunned, her face flushed slightly.

Biting her lip, Liu Qing stood up, walked straight out of the tent, and came to a large tent more than ten zhang away.

I saw it inside that huge tent. Chen Bei sat on the bed in the corner of the tent, carving the wood in his hand with a knife one by one, he was so engrossed that he didn't even notice Liu Qing who walked in the tent.

Walking up to Chen Bei lightly, looking at his inexplicable sad expression, Liu Qing felt that there was some inexplicable blockage in his heart, which was much more uncomfortable than being confronted by Wu Heng just now.

She knew exactly who the wooden statue in front of her was being carved in the hands of the man she admired. That's her mother.

For the woman she had to call her mother, Liu Qing honestly didn't feel much warmth from her mother, after all, when the woman died, Liu Qing was only four years old. How much can you remember?

She only remembered that it was the man in front of her who raised her, a man like a father and a brother......

"Brother Chen......" Holding back the inexplicable heart-wrenching feeling in his heart, Liu Qing called softly.

Chen Bei was carving for a moment. glanced up at Liu Qing, and then showed a smile on his face that made Liu Qing feel inexplicably reassured.

"Qing'er. Is the military conference over? Wu Heng, that guy didn't embarrass you, right? Putting down the carving knife in his hand, Chen Bei patted the edge of the bed beside him.

Liu Qing happily walked over and sat beside Chen Bei, then stretched her arms and let out a long breath.

"Tired?" Chen Bei asked with a smile.

"It's not tired, it's just a headache...... "Sticking out his tongue playfully, Liu Qing pretended to complain and said, "That Xie An is too difficult, and he can't be fooled if someone has set up such a clever scheme...... I can't live or die, I'm angry! ”

"Huh!" Chen Bei chuckled twice, and suddenly went uncharacteristically, and said very seriously, "Do you want me to do it?" Eradicate that Zhou army commander for my Taiping Army! ”

Liu Qing was stunned and said cautiously, "He...... That Xie An, isn't that Brother Chen's friend? ”

Chen Bei shook his head and said softly, "Then Xie An, not only is he my friend, he is my cousin-in-law......

"Huh?" Liu Qing's eyes widened in surprise, and after half a ring, he said in shock, "What does Brother Chen mean......"

As if seeing through what Liu Qing was thinking, Chen Bei sighed slightly and said, "Qing'er, your brother Chen won't hide it from you, I learned about my life story by chance three years ago...... My surname is Liangqiu, and I am the Dongguo Mansion of the Four Towns of the Great Zhou and Hebei Cities, and the son-in-law of the Liangqiu family, who is living in exile for some reason......"

"That'...... Liangqiu Dance ......"

"It's my cousin!" Saying that, Chen Bei looked at Liu Qing and asked again, "Do you want me to personally eradicate Xie An, the commander of the Zhou Army, for my Taiping Army?" ”

To be honest, Liu Qing was indeed a little moved, after all, in her opinion, Xie An was too difficult, but when she saw a strange look in Chen Bei's eyes, she felt a tingling pain in her heart inexplicably, and pretended to say lightly, "I won't worry about this matter, Brother Chen, just one Xie An, I don't care about it yet!" I'm going to win him with dignity! - Moreover, even if Qing'er cheekily asked Brother Chen to take action in person, then Xie An also had more than 200 Dongling and Jinling assassins under his hands, although Brother Chen said that there was no match in the world, but after all, two fists were invincible to four hands, so Qing'er didn't want to break the commander of our army so easily! ”

"Hehe, yes......" Chen Bei replied with a smile, and then exhaled as if relieved.

Really......

Brother Chen actually didn't want to fight against that Xie An's two armies, otherwise, he would not have automatically relieved himself of the power of the coach under the squeeze of a few words from Vice Marshal Wu......

Liu Qing sighed secretly.

She knew that if she pleaded like that, she, Brother Chen, would go, for the sake of the Taiping Army, and slash his friend and cousin-in-law......

But Liu Qing didn't want him to do that, in her opinion, Chen Bei had paid too much for the Taiping Army......

"Don't mention that angry Xie An!" Taking the initiative to expose this topic that would make Chen Bei feel uncomfortable, Liu Qing took the half-carved statue in his hand. Tut praised, "Brother Chen's craftsmanship is getting better and better......"

She wanted to use this topic that Chen Bei was interested in to make him forget Fang Cai's discomfort, but she didn't want to, Chen Bei smiled bitterly after hearing this, shook his head and sighed.

"What's wrong? The carving is good, huh? Liu Qing felt as if she had said the wrong thing, and looked at the wood carving in her hand in confusion, in her opinion, the wood statue was extremely delicately carved, and even the texture of the carved woman's clothes and ornaments was clearly visible. If it weren't for everyone like Chen Bei, who has been immersed in it for eleven years, he would never have carved such a vivid wooden statue.

Under Liu Qing's puzzled gaze, Chen Bei touched her head with a wry smile, and sighed bitterly, "If only I had something as memorable as Qing'er......"

He frowned slightly. Liu Qing looked at the face of the wooden statue in her hand, she realized that Chen Bei had not carved facial features, and subconsciously, she turned her head to look at the rest of the unfinished wood carvings on the couch, but found that none of the wooden statues had carved facial features.

The painful things that Chen Bei said to Xie An back then have finally been verified, and it has been eleven years since the woman's death. Chen Bei had gradually forgotten the appearance of the woman he loved so much in his heart......

For some reason, Liu Qing suddenly felt that the wood carving in her hand had become very heavy, as if it had fallen into her heart.

No, you can't let Brother Chen stay idle like this anymore. Otherwise, he will one day be driven mad by his own thoughts!

However, he didn't want to fight against that Xie An......

That's right!

As if thinking of something, Liu Qing suddenly smiled and said. "That's right, Brother Chen. I want to ask you to go to Jiangling in Nanjun, if you count the days, Li Shen, the king of Qin, should have forced Li Xian, the king of the eight sages, into a predicament, if you can, I would like to ask Brother Chen to help Li Shen, the king of Qin, and help him defeat Li Xian as soon as possible! ”

"Help Li Shen?" Seeing that when it came to business, Chen Bei's eyes finally showed a little anger, and when he heard this, he frowned and said, "Qing'er, that Li Shen is the son of Li Ji, the emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he is cunning and forbearing, and your cooperation with him is tantamount to seeking skin ...... with the tiger."

"Brother Chen, rest assured, Qing'er knows how to measure...... At the moment, we still need to use Li Shen to share some of the pressure from Da Zhou for us and others, if he is easily defeated, the situation of our Taiping army will also become quite unfavorable......"

"That's right, that's okay, I'll set off for Nanjun Jiangnan later! - But you're left alone here......"

It seemed that he sensed the look of worry in Chen Bei's eyes, Liu Qing was very happy in his heart, and said confidently, "Brother Chen, don't worry, maybe Brother Chen will only arrive in Jiangling, and the good news of defeating that Xie An here will be passed to Brother Chen......

"Hehehe," Chen Bei smiled when she heard this, and then carefully admonished, "Qing'er, don't underestimate Brother Chen's cousin-in-law......"

"Got it!"

Although Liu Qing was very serious, she didn't think so, after all, in her opinion, Xie An was a daring person who didn't dare to step out of the camp, but she didn't know that Xie An was already preparing to calculate her.

Perhaps everyone on Hukou's side, whether it was the Great Liang Army or the Taiping Army, thought that Xie An planned to be nailed to this land, defend until the sky was barren and old, and guard until the sea was dry and rotten, and never fight with the Taiping Army.

But in fact, Xie An also knows what it means to defend for a long time and lose, he is not not fighting, but he is just not fighting for the time being, and he can't avoid fighting, that is just the first step in his plan to deal with Ji Liu Qing in the sky.

Wear out their patience!

Because of the eldest grandson Xiangyu, who is also intellectually called a demon, as a yardstick, Xie An has some clues about a calculating woman like Heavenly Ji.

The eldest grandson Xiangyu is not a very patient woman, I remember that when she played chess with Xie An, whenever Xie An was undecided, she would urge her.

This woman is too smart and learns everything quickly, which causes her to become bored with things in the world for a while, although Xie An dragged her back from the brink of disaster to the country and the people, but it can't change the character of the eldest grandson Xiangyu who is only three minutes enthusiastic about anything.

If Heavenly Ji Liu Qing is also like the eldest grandson Xiangyu, Xie An feels that he can start from this aspect, gradually wear down Liu Qing's patience, and make her feel anxious.

Anyone, even the eldest grandson Xiangyu, will make mistakes when he is in an anxious mood, and even produce some low-level negligence.

After exhausting his patience, Xie An's second step was to increase Liu Qing's calculations.

Liu Qing is somewhat similar to the eldest grandson Xiangyu, they don't think about countermeasures a day or a few days before the battle starts, but they will think about the whole plan in advance and calculate everything.

Just like when the eldest Sun Xiangyu attacked Luoyang, she not only focused on Luoyang City, but also counted the two small cities outside Luoyang City, counted the other party's reinforcements, and even the speed of the reinforcements was clear, and finally made the Zhou army easily sweep away all the rebel forces near Luoyang in one day.

And now, according to Xie An's guess, Liu Qing must have already thought of the entire plan to conquer Jiangnan, and even the daily schedule, in other words, every day Xie An blocked the Taiping army at the mouth of the lake, Liu Qing's entire plan would have a flaw.

Flaws, also known as variables, are what Changsun Xiangyu hates the most, and they are also the only Achilles' heel in the art of war she pursues.

Xie An knew Changsun Xiangyu too well, so he was going to use the trick of dealing with Changsun Xiangyu to deal with Heavenly Ji Liu Qing, that is, to increase the variables in the confrontation between the two armies!

After all, people's energy is limited, once there are too many things to calculate, or too complicated, even the eldest grandson Xiangyu will make mistakes, not to mention the heavenly Ji Liu Qing who is still young and not as good as the eldest grandson Xiangyu.

And once Liu Qing makes frequent mistakes because of exhaustion, it is the time for Xie An to start fighting back, not without a fight, the time has not yet come!

On July 30, the day after Chen Bei left the Taiping army for Jiangling in Nanjun, more than 1,000 Zhou troops quietly left the camp......

An hour later, another thousand......