After months of fighting, everything is back to square one.
When Anxi King Zhang Lizheng walked into his palace in Fengcheng again, he felt as if he was in a dream.
"I didn't see the prince when we were fighting on the front line. Now that the city is back, the prince appears just in time." Yi Xiaodao said with a joking smile.
King Anxi looked a little embarrassed, smiled bitterly and said helplessly: "Oh, I am responsible for the safety of the people of Anxi, and I will never dare to fight in Fengcheng..."
"Your Majesty, when you are guarding a place, you have to protect the land and keep the people at ease. It is indeed a great reward for your hard work." Zhou Ziru couldn't say anything about Yi Xiaodao, so he had to give King Anxi a step.
While everyone was talking, they suddenly saw a soldier coming to announce: "Report to the prince, a troop of troops from the Northern Army has arrived, just outside the city. Please tell me whether to open the city and put them in."
There was silence in the hall.
"Pfft!" It was Yi Xiaodao again, unable to hold back his laughter.
"The three kings of the north share the same spirit, and they learned a lesson today!"
King Anxi's expression, which had just softened a little, finally darkened: "Go and tell the commander-in-chief of the Northern Army that the danger in Fengcheng has been resolved and let them return home!"
"Your Majesty, the food and fodder for the Northern Army..." the soldier said hesitantly.
The three vassals rushed to support each other, and it would be inconvenient to carry provisions on the road. Therefore, the three kings had agreed hundreds of years ago that wherever they rushed to support, they had to take care of food and shelter! In this way, the consumption of mid-way transportation of grain and grass is saved.
Although this agreement was made, it was almost made for Anxi. Beidi and Dingliao also rushed to Anxi's aid most often.
"Grain? Not even a grain of rice..."
"Of course, not even a grain of rice is missing!" Zhou Ziru said before King Anxi could speak: "Isn't this a rule of the Three Feuds for hundreds of years? Is it still necessary to ask?"
The Anxi soldier who reported the news looked at the speechless King Anxi, then looked at Zhou Ziru, and he understood. Without another word, he walked backwards and left.
"Your Majesty and the Beiyi Army have been fighting for many years. Naturally, you should know that victory or defeat is a common matter for military strategists. Don't ruin the harmony over a trivial matter." Zhou Ziru persuaded with a smile.
Afterwards, several people chatted for a while, nothing more than sharing information about the war that they each knew.
Yi Xiaodao felt bored and almost dozed off. Some people exclaimed when they first heard about something, but Yi Xiaodao, as a participant or even the initiator, really didn't sound or say that he was very interested.
"Okay, the matter in Fengcheng is almost over. Now Fengcheng is in ruins and waiting to be revitalized. There are still many things that the prince has to worry about, so I won't bother you any longer."
Seeing Yi Xiaodao's impatient look, Zhou Ziru quickly interrupted the conversation and stood up to leave.
If not for anything else, I was afraid that something would happen to Yi Xiaodao.
"Ah... that's fine. I still have a lot of things to deal with, so please do as you please."
King Anxi also looked a little impatient and stood up to see off his guests.
Some people were still a little bit unsatisfied when they heard it, but the coaches on both sides said so, and the rest had no choice but to give up.
The people around Yi Xiaodao acted based on his expression. They saw him standing up quickly and eagerly walking to the front, without even greeting King Anxi politely.
"My lord, don't blame me, Wu Dinggong's nature is like this." Li Dingxing had no choice but to help him deal with the aftermath.
King Anxi smiled and nodded, expressing his understanding.
Zhou Ziru and King Anxi were polite, so they fell behind. Seeing that Yi Xiaodao and his party had already left the palace, he hurriedly said goodbye to King Anxi and came to chase them.
After leaving the palace gate, Zhou Ziru looked around, but there was no trace of Yi Xiaodao anywhere, and he didn't even see anyone else.
Zhou Ziru sighed softly and had to get into his car and leave.
They didn't go far, but they only felt that the road was getting bumpier and bumpier. Zhou Ziru was panicked in the car, but when he thought about Fengcheng being lost and found again, it was inevitable that the road would be damaged.
Not to mention, Zhou Ziru felt sleepy and fell asleep in the car before he knew it.
I don't know how long it took, but Zhou Ziru felt the car stop in a daze. He opened his sleepy eyes, opened the car curtain, and was dumbfounded.
Where is this? Why is it that the surroundings are lush and lush, and why is it that we have entered a forest?
"Did Mr. Zhou sleep peacefully? It was Yi who was negligent. He should have arranged a pillow and quilt in advance."
In the forest, several large natural stones that have never been carved are put together to look like tables, chairs and benches.
Yi Xiaodao sat alone on a stone bench, sipping a cup of tea. At the other end of the stone table, a cup of brewed fragrant tea has already been prepared.
"Why did Duke Wu Ding bring me here? This...is outside Fengcheng?" Zhou Ziru sat down generously and raised his cup to drink tea.
"Of course it's Fengcheng. It only lasts for two sticks of incense. Where are you going?"
Yi Xiaodao smiled softly.
Zhou Ziru stared into Yi Xiaodao's eyes: "Master, you haven't answered my first question yet."
"Didn't Prime Minister Zhou leave the palace first to look for me?" Yi Xiaodao smiled.
"After leaving the palace, I got into the carriage, only a few breaths apart. If Wu Dinggong could change my driver in a few breaths, that would be a great miracle!" Zhou Ziru was also very quick in thinking.
Yi Xiaodao nodded: "I do have something to do with Prime Minister Zhou, but I want to hear why Prime Minister Zhou is looking for me first."
Zhou Ziru couldn't resist him, so he took out a lot of letters from his arms. Some of them had been sealed with fire paint, and some were still open. It seemed that the person who wrote the letter was in a hurry.
"Master, I found these in your big tent. You have good intentions..."
This stack of letters was placed in front of Yi Xiaodao. The top letter read: "Confucius Sect Master Kong Ren accepts it."
Zhou Ziru put it bluntly: "If I guess correctly, these should be letters for help sent to various sects."
Yi Xiaodao reached out and touched the letter. That night, he had written down all the Jianghu sects that Hu Lishan and Si Wangnan told him, and wrote letters one by one asking for help.
The Shangwu Camp was about to be disbanded the next day, and he knew it was too late.
But apart from writing letters to the major Jianghu sects to ask for help, he had no other option.
"Do you also think that the Northern Yi is so powerful that the San Francisco has no chance of winning?"
"Yes, otherwise I wouldn't have written these letters. If the three vassals join forces, it may not be known... A single vassal territory will never be a match for Bei Yi."
Zhou Ziru frowned and asked: "Then when we were in the palace hall, reinforcements from the King of the North had arrived, why did you still interfere with them and drive a wedge between the two families?"
Yi Xiaodao clenched his fists and said, "This is what I want to tell you. That night, an eagle flew up from my camp. Li Dingxing shot it down, but he never thought it was a trusting eagle."
"A messenger eagle?"
"Yes, it's the messenger eagle of Bei Yi, which means someone in our camp is reporting to Bei Yi."
Zhou Ziru stretched out his hand and asked, "Where is the letter?"
Yi Xiaodao spread his hands and said, "I burned him."
"How could you burn such a confidential letter?" Zhou Ziru was furious.
"Since they have all sneaked into my camp to spread the news, how can I still write my name? Besides, it is not difficult to guess that the eagle flew out from the direction of King Anxi's camp."
Zhou Ziru was surprised: "You doubt King Anxi..."
Yi Xiaodao's eyes were as bright as a torch and he said with certainty: "It's not doubt, I'm sure. King Anxi has defected to Bei Yi!"
This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, shocking Zhou Ziru so much that he even spilled the tea in the cup without even noticing.
The Eight Kings of Daqi have entrusted various places for six hundred years, but there has never been a precedent of surrendering to a foreign enemy. Even if Donglu colluded with the Japanese pirates, it was not done by King Donglu, but by the traitor Dongfang Zhong.
Taking refuge with a foreign enemy is a big deal!
How big is it? He liked Guan Chenzi more than Zhao Yizhi... Zhou Ziru even secretly compared the seriousness of the two in his mind.
At least... Guan Chenzi once had the possibility of returning to secular life...
"Slandering the vassal king, do you know what this crime is?" Zhou Ziru stared at Yi Xiaodao, trying to see a trace of panic on his face.
Yi Xiaodao's face was as dark as water, and he said: "Fengcheng is such a strong city. Prime Minister Zhou, you attacked the city with a hundred thousand troops, and the reckless men like Beiyi who were not good at defending the city defended it tightly. King Anxi actually lost the city. This Isn’t it suspicious?”
"Is there any city in the world that cannot be conquered?" Zhou Ziru immediately retorted.
"When the Beiyi attacked the city, King Anxi moved almost all the city's defenders to the south gate, and personally led the army out of the city. When the army was approaching, didn't King Anxi understand the danger of doing so?"
"When I rushed to the north gate of Fengcheng alone, there were only a few defenders on the city wall. Later I found out that it was a new rule issued by King Anxi. He sympathized with the soldiers' hard work and allowed them to rest at night. There were not even a thousand people guarding the city!"
"I worked hard until the North Gate defenders arrived, but the West Gate was lost. A gate was lost for no reason. King Anxi did not hold any accountability afterwards. Isn't this strange?"
"Last point, after Fengcheng was lost, King Anxi used the excuse to defend other cities and fought with the Beiyi soldiers outside the city. King Anxi did not send a single soldier to help..."
After Zhou Ziru listened to Yi Xiaodao's detailed analysis and thought about it carefully, it was indeed very suspicious.
If it were just a single thing, that would be fine, but with so many things piled together, it really doesn't look like something a battle-hardened coach can do.
The only explanation can only be: the coach surrendered...
Zhou Ziru was silent for a moment, shook his head and said: "This is a big matter, and it cannot be decided by your and my temporary speculation!"
Yi Xiaodao nodded in agreement: "Yes, that's why I never revealed it. I have seen the King of Beidi and King Dingliao before. One is quite law-abiding, and the other is addicted to pleasure. It is unlikely that he will join Bei Yi."
"Then your reason for driving a wedge between Anxi and Beidi is..."
"How could the six-hundred-year-old relationship be broken just because of one or two supplies of food and grass? If King Anxi really defected to Beiyi, and the connection between Anxi and Beidi is so close, I'm afraid that the return city of Beidi will be destroyed. It will be broken sooner or later."
After listening to Yi Xiaodao's thoughts, Zhou Ziru nodded. It had to be said that Yi Xiaodao's decisions were always long-term.
"Then what are you going to do next?" Zhou Ziru asked.
"Next..."
Suddenly, a ghostly figure landed behind Yi Xiaodao and handed over a letter without saying a word. After Yi Xiaodao took it, the man suddenly disappeared as if he had evaporated.
Zhou Ziru sat opposite Yi Xiaodao and didn't even see clearly how the man left.
"What's up?"
Seeing Yi Xiaodao's frown, Zhou Ziru couldn't help but ask.
"Beiyi...went to attack Beidi..."
