After hearing what Zhang Lu said, Qin planned to continue its alliance with Chu even if the prince fled. Huang Xie said: "This is my wish. Even if I die, I will have no regrets."
Zhang Lu said: "The king's order: Huang Xie, a disciple of the left side of Chu, went to Qin with the crown prince. Now that the king of Chu is ill, the crown prince is serving as his servant. This is normal. When the crown prince returns, Xie will return!"
Although Huang Xie had had a premonition, he was still shocked when he heard it with his own ears. He immediately burst into tears and bowed down with a choked voice: "How can I repay the kindness of the King of Qin! But I am still here, and Chu vows not to fight." Xiang Qinye!"
Zhang Lu said: "When the prince returns, the disciple Zuo will be responsible for it. What about the return of the princess and the prince?"
Huang Xie said: "The king of Chu is very kind. The princess and the prince will be as long as the king wants."
Zhang Lu said: "The king ordered the princess to take care of herself."
Huang Xie said, "I'll give it to you." Huang Xie got up, changed his clothes, straightened his hat, and came to the door of the back house. He saluted respectfully and said, "I would like to pay my respects to the princess!"
In the end, only one female official came out and said: "The princess is staying at home and does not dare to see guests!"
Huang Xie said: "I have been favored by the King of Qin and my head has been preserved. I dare to use my body to serve the King of Qin and the prince. I am willing to protect the princess and go straight to Chencheng. The King of Qin has agreed!"
The female officer took the words, entered the door, and closed the door. When he was young, he came out and said: "The princess told the left disciple that the prince abandoned his concubine and left. Now he has no life. I dare not move here, for fear that the prince will die!"
Huang Xie said: "This is Xie's crime. The prince's respect for the princess is like the sun and the moon. Xie's carelessness caused today's disaster. May the princess allow me to protect the princess into Chu to atone for my sin."
The female officer went in again to spread the news, and when she was young, she came out and said, "Princess said, but the prince's order is that I don't dare to do it. I don't dare to do it without receiving his instruction."
Huang Xie bowed in front of the steps and said, "I am about to enter Chu. Please give me advice from the prince. Princess, please wait a moment!"
Zhang Lu saw Huang Xie's performance and listened to the princess's answers. He couldn't help but admire Huang Xie's acting skills and the princess' ice and snow intelligence. Huang Xie actually didn't want to take the princess back. Although the princess and the prince loved each other, in the eyes of Chu Chen, the marriage between the prince and the princess was undoubtedly a shame and a great humiliation, which would naturally create instability in Chu's government. The princess cleverly refused to return to Chu in the name of the prince abandoning her. The princess naturally knew that the prince was not abandoning her. She said this to give herself and the prince a step forward: if Chu's hostility to Qin was reduced in the future, then the prince would naturally come to welcome the princess; on the contrary, living in two places would only be detrimental to the prince. Good for both sides.
Zhang Lu said to Huang Xie: "The princess must wait for the prince's order and then enter Chu. It is also the way of a woman. I should repay the king and do good to him."
Huang Xie said: "Although the princess said she would give up, Chu will always pay tribute. If the prince is here, he will not be short of it!"
After the court the next day, Huang Xierou knelt naked in front of Zhangtai Palace, loudly declaring his sins and the grace of King Qin, saying that he would never forget the kindness of King Qin, and he would never dare to break his alliance with Qin! The King of Qin did not come out, only the prince and Zhang Lu came out. Zhang Lu put on Huang Xie's clothes, and the prince sent him away after giving him a few instructions.
Huang Xie had breakfast in the Chu Palace, and took the remaining retainers and Chu scholars, one in a leather chariot and two in a baggage chariot, out of Lantian, taking Wuguan and Nanyang, and headed for Chen. Thinking about the nearly ten years he spent as a hostage in the Qin State, walking on thin ice every day; and thinking about the ten years since he left the Chu State, the government affairs of the Chu State were only heard from the mouths of envoys. What is the current situation and how the political forces within the Chu State are distributed are all waiting for him to further explore. Of course, the most important thing is whether the prince can successfully ascend the throne!
Thinking of the prince returning home alone, Huang Xie's heart tightened: Can the prince, who was still a young man when he left Chu State, be able to control the situation in Chu State after arriving in Chu State?
Exiting Nanyang is the realm of Korea. It seemed that he had calculated well. As soon as he entered South Korea, he met Han Ping, the Prime Minister of Korea, who came to greet him. Han Ping invited Huang Xie to the hotel and hosted a banquet. The two talked in secret all night.
When they arrived in Yinyang, they secretly met with the Mang family. Mang Mao is too sick to walk and looks like he will die soon. Huang Xie left Mang Shen and Mr. Che and Hu behind to see Mang Mao die. He took the remaining people back to Chencheng.
The King of Chu fell ill, which made Yin Zilan look older and less energetic than Huang Xie. In fact, Zilan was younger than Huang Xie. In order for Huang Xie to return home, Zilan personally took the newly arrived prince out of the city. Seeing Zilan and the prince together, Huang Xie felt relieved: the political situation was not out of control. Also welcoming was the newly promoted Grand Sima Jingyang. Jingyang was a good drinker and lustful person, and he loved to have sex after drinking. Huang Xie didn't have a good impression of him, but since he had been promoted to such a high position, he naturally had to respect him.
After entering the city, Huang Xie first paid homage to the King of Chu. The King of Chu was indeed very ill, unable to walk and eating very little. But he was very happy to see Huang Xie and ordered a banquet. The King of Chu, Huang Xie and brothers Zilan gathered together. The King of Chu drank a whole bowl of porridge for the first time in many days, and also ate some fruits and fish. The only person serving at the banquet was the prince. During the dinner, the King of Chu asked Zilan to introduce the political situation in the court and the distribution of various forces to Huang Xie in detail. At present, the old forces from Guying are roughly concentrated around Jingyang, while the new forces in Chendi are represented by the Xiang family.
After nearly ten years of recuperation, Chu's national strength has been greatly restored, and the goal of ten years of gathering has been basically achieved. The garage is also getting fuller.
Huang Xie introduced the situation of Qin. Although the Qin State experienced a series of changes such as the change of prime minister, the death of the prince, and the death of the queen mother, under the control of the King of Qin, the government remained stable.
Zilan asked: "I heard that the Queen Mother has exclusive power and the Marquis Rang and others are pursuing their own private interests. What's the situation like?"
Huang Xie said: "The King of Qin has been on the throne for forty years, and his pure filial piety is known all over the world. Fang Qin is a hostage to Yan, and he is alone. How can he have help from others? When he returns, there are Ranghou, Huayang, and Xiangshou, all of whom are queen mothers. His younger brothers, there are also those from Jingyang and Gaoling, all of whom are sons of the Queen Mother. Although these sons are called noble relatives, their talents are not only shown by their relatives in the country. The marquis Rang and others are all conquering all directions, and they are invincible; Jingyang and Gaoling, We have never slacked off in suppressing the Rong and Di. Ranghou was exempted from the prime minister three times, and then returned three times. When Zhang Lu came out, everyone obeyed his good deeds. After Ranghou died, Jingyang became Tao Shou on his behalf, and he was also allowed to do things for foreign ministers. When the sky is bright, the sun and moon will not be clear. , so the king is in charge of his destiny at home, and his ministers are in charge of his affairs outside. They are all based on Qin's law. Things are simple and prepared, and officials do it without labor. Therefore, although they fight many times, their strength becomes more complete. Its power is invincible. . Today’s attack on Korea is bound to succeed.”
Zilan said: "There are many people in Chu who advise and help Han..."
Huang Xie said: "No. If you help a little, it will be of no use, and Qin will be empty. If you help a lot, Chu will also be hurt. Just sit back and watch."
The King of Chu said: "It takes ten years to gather together. It is not easy to get it. Don't give it up once. But keep it in mind and wait for the time."
Zilan said: "After ten years of gathering together, I have already done it. My mind is haggard, and my hair has grown prematurely. After ten years of teaching, I have not been able to catch up. I have to retire now that my left disciple has returned!"
Huang Xie said: "Brothers are of the same mind, how can Zilan retreat?"
The King of Chu said: "My life is about to end soon! When I am here, Zilan will be in charge, and Huang Xie will be good at assisting him. I am leaving, and I hope that Zi Xie will be good at assisting him."
Huang Xie wanted to refuse, but the King of Chu called the prince to come closer and said: "Zuo Tu has assisted you for ten years, so that you can make progress every day. After my death, you will serve as a father to Zuo Tu, so you can't be lazy!"
The prince immediately bowed down and said, "I would like to teach you!"
Then he turned to bow to Huang Xie and said, "I hope Father Xie will not abandon him because he is unworthy, but teach him sooner or later!"
Huang Xie knew that great things had been accomplished and there was no obstacle to the crown prince's accession to the throne, but he did not feel relaxed at all: the heavy task of reviving the Chu State was still heavy.
The next day, among the concubines summoned by the King of Chu to accompany him, there were no concubines with adult sons. They were generally young girls who had not yet given birth. Yang Wenjun, who had often served in the past, was not called in again, and her two sons were ordered to serve the prince outside.
The prince lives outside and never leaves. Zilan and Huang Xie took turns living in a side room outside the palace. When the king of Chu has an order, the prince passes it on to Zi Lan or Huang Xie, and then they pass it on to their respective departments. Reports from various places were also summarized by each department and reported to Zilan or Huang Xie. After discussing with the prince and the king of Chu, opinions were drawn up and distributed to each department. At first, Zilan and Huang Xie consulted together; gradually, Zilan claimed to be old and sick, and Huang Xie spent more and more time on duty. Many important government affairs were mainly handled by Huang Xie.
Huang Xie paid close attention to Bai Qi's siege on the Wild King. From the reports he returned every day, he found that Bai Qi's offensive was not going well. This reassured him. At least, I can get through this year safely!
Only three months later, before the autumn harvest, the king of Chu died, and his posthumous title was Qingxiang. The posthumous title was to praise him for his "hard work", but the addition of the word "qing" was obviously to criticize him for "falling into ruin". The crown prince ascended the throne without any controversy. The newly enthroned King Chu immediately appointed Huang Xie as his magistrate and granted him the title Chunshen Jun. All twelve counties in Huaibei were made his fiefs.
Historically, Huaibei was the junction area of Song, Chu and Qi. Song and Chu had many tug-of-wars here, and Song once temporarily moved its capital here. After Qi defeated Song, it triggered the "Five Kingdoms Conquer Qi". Chu was Qi's only ally at that time. But instead of fighting against the vassal states attacking Qi, this ally brutally killed the king of Qi and annexed Huaibei. At the most critical moment when Qin destroyed Chu Ying, the reinforcements arriving from Huaibei were one of the important forces for the Chu army to establish a defense line against Qin. After Chu established his capital in Chen, Huaibei, four hundred miles away, was the eastern barrier of Chu.
Entrusting Huang Xie to manage all twelve counties in Huaibei is naturally a sign of trust and trust!
Bai Qi did not attack the wild king. He only left some troops to suppress the Korean army in the city. The rest of the troops were led by Pi Wan to occupy the surrounding villages, redistribute the land, and implement Qin law. Therefore, although Ye Wang did not capture it, it did not hinder spring plowing in various places in Nanyang. After holding on for more than a month and still not expecting reinforcements from South Korea, the morale of Ye Wang's defenders was low. They watched the surrounding cities being captured one by one by the Qin people and were unable to do anything.
The attitude of the various vassal states also seemed to be very cold, as if Nanyang's gains and losses had nothing to do with them. They seemed to be more interested in paying condolences to the King of Chu. All countries sent envoys to pay their respects and pay their respects to him.
However, the newly enthroned King of Chu did not send anyone to welcome the princess, and the people of Qin had no intention of sending the princess to Chu. The two sides were in a stalemate on this issue...
