Plan to cut off the nine states

Siguo Valley is a mess, with charred blackness everywhere. Burnt-out old houses are piled on the spot, soaked by the autumn rain and weighed down by the light snow of early winter, making them look desolate.

Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing immediately felt an ominous feeling. According to their instructions before leaving, if the village was burned down, the villagers in the valley should come back and rebuild their houses as soon as possible. But now there is no one in sight, and there are no even identifiable footprints.

The two went to the back cave to check, but no one was found. The food and utensils had been moved cleanly.

"Bao Dun and Lan Ruofu are so cruel, they want to kill everyone just because you refuse to come out?" Zhang Shiqing was angry, frightened, and also blamed himself, "If I stayed..."

"We have to go to Yecheng."

"Um?"

"There is no blood on the ground. The villagers should still be alive."

Zhang Shiqing looked at the clean ground, "That's because this place has been cleaned up, so there are no blood stains."

"Since we haven't cleaned up the village, why bother cleaning up this place? The soldiers probably don't have the time."

"That makes sense. I went too far, old man. They didn't tell us they were moving out, and they didn't even leave us a letter to inform us."

"There must be another reason."

It was getting late, so the two of them rested in the cave, and headed to Yecheng together early the next morning.

Bao Dun was defeated in Yuyang, and Yecheng fell into the hands of someone unknown. The two were in a hurry and never found out the exact news.

Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing met no common people along the way, but they met a group of soldiers a few miles away from the city.

The soldiers stopped the two men. The leader looked up and down and saw that they were riding on horses and looked good. He raised his hands and said, "Where are you two from? What are you doing in Yecheng? What do you call them?"

Xu Chu also raised his hand and said, "May I ask who the general is in the city now?"

"Lu Jiwen, General Lu, do you recognize him?"

Xu Chu didn't recognize him, "Is he a Chu general?"

The leader was a little wary and signaled his soldiers to cut off the two men's retreat, "You don't even know who owns Yecheng, so you came here to spy. Are you a spy sent by the Bao family?"

"There could be such a blatant spy?" Zhang Shiqing interjected, "Who is General Lu's boss?"

The leader was slightly startled, "Just say who you recognize."

"I said we knew the King of Chu, but I was afraid you wouldn't believe me." Zhang Shiqing said to Xu Chu, "How many of the generals under the King of Chu's command do you remember?"

Xu Chu whispered: "He was a general himself at that time, and I haven't met many of his subordinates. After so many years, I don't know if Ma Jin and Song Wushou can be regarded as generals..." Xu Chu shook his head, feeling that neither of them were. The material to lead the army could only be the confidant of the King of Chu, so he tentatively said: "I know General Mao Yuanti Mao."

Mao Yuanti was originally from Xiangzhou, and he followed Guo Shifeng to pacify Hunan and Guangzhou.

The leader was stunned again, "There is such a general, but he is far away in the south and cannot come to testify..."

Zhang Shiqing was a little annoyed, "Then take us to see General Lu. Since he is a Chu general, he can always ask us clearly."

The leader sneered and was about to reply when a group of people came from the direction of Yecheng. The leader said: "Another General Tang is here. If you recognize him, there is no need to go see General Lu."

While they were talking, the troops and horses had arrived, and the soldiers in the front shouted loudly: "Why are you blocking the road? Get out of the way quickly!"

The leader did not dare to argue, let alone introduce strangers, and hurriedly ordered everyone to retreat to the roadside. Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing were still looking around, but they were also forced to retreat.

More than a hundred knights galloped past, and among them was a general. He was tall and strong, and was covered tightly in iron armor. Only a small amount of his face was exposed. Neither Xu Chu nor Zhang Shiqing recognized this person.

The soldiers on the roadside bowed down one after another. When the stranger refused to kneel down, the leader whispered: "This is the first fierce general under King Chu. He is invincible in the world. Why don't you kneel down quickly?"

Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing looked at each other, unable to believe their ears and eyes.

Someone among the knights noticed the two common people standing upright without kneeling, and pointed his gun at them: "Who is so bold that he doesn't kneel before General Tang?"

"Tang is the general of Tiantang?" Xu Chu asked.

The knight was furious, "Can you call General Tang by his name?" After saying that, he rode over and pointed the tip of his spear directly at the target's chest.

Xu Chu said loudly: "Tang Weitian, after becoming a general, did he forget his old friend?"

The sound of horse hoofbeats and Xu Chu's voice could not be carried far, but the knights who had just passed by heard it and reined in their reins one after another. Their spears were pointed at them. The tip of the first knight's spear was already pressed against Xu Chu's chest. After receiving the order, he did not take action immediately.

The knight in front turned around and came back, and a rich voice said: "Who called my name? Get out of the way and let me see... Haha."

As soon as he saw Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing, the man laughed heartily, dismounted from his horse more than ten steps away, and rushed over with quick strides. He stretched out his hand and pushed the knight in front of Xu Chu away, including his horse and man. He knelt on the ground and knelt several times. Next, "Master, I've finally waited for you."

Everyone was shocked. The knights dismounted and knelt down one after another. The soldiers who were already kneeling on the roadside were lying on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

"Are you...really Tang Weitian?" Xu Chu still couldn't believe it.

Tang Weitian stood up, took off his helmet, and said with a smile: "Isn't it just me? Hey, why is the young master so much shorter? His appearance has not changed, and the princess has also become shorter."

When the two of them looked up, they saw that the face was indeed 60-70% like Tang Weitian, but it was much wider and had a few scars. The change in body shape was especially incredible. Not to mention it was a lot taller and a few thicker. It was more in line with his strength.

Zhang Shiqing was stunned, "Oh my god, how much food did you eat?"

"The appetite has not changed, it is still the same as before." Tang Weitian was so happy that he couldn't help but pick up Xu Chu and rocked it up and down twice. After putting it down, he looked at Zhang Shiqing, "You didn't make the young master fat."

"I don't have that much food to feed him." Zhang Shiqing said coldly. She already knew that Xu Chu's injury was caused by Tang Weitian, but Xu Chu didn't tell her, and she didn't mention it either.

Tang Weitian didn't hear anything, but was still happy, "I was about to go to the valley to check, but I didn't expect to meet him just after leaving the city. I'm really lucky."

"Are you going to think about Guogu?" Xu Chu said.

"Yes, I made a bet with the general, saying that the young master must live in the valley, and he can only come if he is invited. The general said that there is no need to invite him, and the young master will come by himself. The general is more powerful."

"General?"

"Let's talk about it first in the city."

Tang Wei Tianshang Ma personally protected the two of them and happily went to the city. Along the way, he talked endlessly about his experiences over the years. Although he spoke confusingly, it was generally clear.

Tang Weitian stayed in Xijing and spent a difficult winter. In the spring of the next year, he went around to pacify counties and counties in search of food and grass. Soon he met the Hanzhou army sent by Huangfu Kai. Although Tang Weitian was brave, after all, he had few soldiers and was unable to fight every day. Defeated and returned to Xijing, the situation was even more difficult.

"From spring to summer, I never had a full meal, not even a half full meal." Tang Weitian lamented and wanted to shed tears. "In the end, the general saved Xijing and me."

At the most critical moment, a force of troops came from Jingzhou, severely defeated the Hanzhou army, and rescued the siege of Xijing. The leader of the troops was Tan Wuwei, the later general and the then general of the West Route.

Tang Weitian decided to surrender this man.

Xu Chu interrupted and asked, "Why don't you surrender to the Hanzhou Army?"

"None of the Hanzhou soldiers were my opponent. They relied on their numbers to force me back, so I would rather die than surrender. Moreover, the Hanzhou army had no moral integrity and asked me to tie myself up and leave the city to kneel down." Tang Weitian cursed. One sentence, "Do you think I am an animal? The general is different. He first sent people to deliver food to the city and told me that he and the young master were sworn brothers. When I heard this, I immediately left the city and surrendered."

The two armies merged into one, and Tan Wuwei quickly pacified most of Qinzhou. He personally went to form an alliance with the Yang family in Liangzhou, borrowed cavalry, and pretended to attack Bingzhou. In fact, he turned his troops south, entered Hanzhou, and defeated Huangfu Kai.

From then on, there was one battle after another. Tan Wuwei was not victorious in every battle, but he occupied more and more territory and had more and more soldiers under his command. He fought in an eclectic way, not only surprising the enemy, but also often making his own people suffer. Unexpectedly, he was admired by his subordinates afterwards.

King Chu and King Ning were competing for supremacy, and the decisive battle was held in Yecheng. Tan Wuwei and Tang Weitian also led their troops to join the battle, and they made many achievements and became famous.

After the war, the King of Chu sent Tan Wuwei to lead an army to pretend to attack Wuzhou to deceive Bao Dun into slacking off, and the King of Chu personally entered Hebei to quell the rebellion.

Tan Wuwei and Tang Weitian therefore did not participate in the Battle of Yuyang. They later came to guard Yecheng and rested their troops here, waiting for the King of Chu's order.

Tan Wuwei was shocked when he found out that Xu Chu was still alive. He immediately sent Tang Weitian to Siguo Valley to look for him. He didn't see Xu Chu, but happened to bump into the villagers who had just returned from the cave to the valley, so he took them all to the city for resettlement.

"The general said that if we leave a message and the young master hears that the villagers are safe and becomes paranoid again, he may not come to the city and even hide. So we didn't leave anything, but I'm anxious. In a few days, I went to take a look and I didn’t expect to be lucky today.”

Xu Chu smiled bitterly and said, "General Tan used a good trick."

After entering the city, Xu Chu and Zhang Shiqing met the villagers first and saw that they were safe and sound. Xu Chu went to see Tan Wuwei alone.

Tan Wuwei has learned the news and prepared a banquet. He has not changed much. He still has a long sword at his waist, but he has been a general for a long time and has a comfortable walk. No one dares to despise him anymore.

Tan Wuwei greeted him outside the hall and said with a smile, "It's great to congratulate my fourth brother for being 'resurrected'."

"Second brother is joking. I will definitely come when second brother invites me, why do you need to trick me?"

"I feel proud that I can fool my fourth brother. Haha."

Tan Wuwei invited no one else, only Tang Weitian sat with him, and the three of them drank and chatted happily. Although Xu Chu didn't drink, he raised his glasses again and again to contribute to the fun.

Tang Weitian ate an astonishing amount and talked while eating, saying that he was happiest about this reunion, but he loved drinking, and today he had to be allowed to have as much fun as he did. He drank a little too much, and was so drunk that his tongue was enlarged.

Tan Wuwei was quite proud, "I have something for my fourth brother to know. The King of Chu will make me the King of Yecheng. The decree will arrive soon."

"Congratulations." Xu Chu smiled.

"Fourth brother...don't you think this is a good thing?" Tan Wuwei saw something unusual.

Xu Chu put down the cup, the wine in the cup was almost untouched, "I treat you two as friends, so what you say may not be pleasant to your ears."

"Good medicine tastes bitter. The more unpleasant your fourth brother's words are, the more beneficial it will be for the two of us." Tan Wuwei said with a smile.

Tang Weitian nodded in agreement while eating.

"Retreat bravely from the rapids." Xu Chu said.

Tan Wuwei's expression changed slightly, but Tang Weitian didn't understand at all and continued to eat.