In mid-February, Zhuang Zhuang, a rebel general of Chu, once again had an incident with Chu. He brazenly raised his army under the name of "eliminating evil spirits", gathered tens of thousands of troops, and acted as if he wanted to attack Chu Ying.

After learning about this, King Xiong Heng of Chu and Zilan of the Order of Chu were frightened and immediately summoned Zhuang Xin, a scholar-official who returned to Chuying after the New Year.

At that time, King Xiong Heng of Chu asked Zhuang Xin and said, "Is it true that Zhuang Zhuang rebelled again for no reason? Do you know?"

Of course Zhuang Xin knew about this. After all, he was secretly writing a letter asking Zhuang Zhuang to rebel in order to force King Xiong Heng of Chu to order Zhao Ju to be summoned back to Chu Ying.

But at this moment he pretended not to know and pretended to hesitate and said, "I don't understand why Zhuang Zhuo has innocently raised the rebels. If the king doesn't blame me, I beg me to see Zhuang Zhuo in person and ask why."

When King Xiong Heng of Chu heard this, he immediately urged Zhuang Xin to set off quickly.

After obtaining the permission of the King of Chu, Zhuang Xin immediately went to Yiling, the rebels' rebellion's rebellion, and naturally met Zhuang Zhuang, the leader of the rebels.

Seeing Zhuang Xin coming, Zhuang Zhuang held a banquet in the military camp to entertain the latter. During the banquet, he smiled and teased Zhuang Xin, "It was you who wrote a letter to me to raise an army after the New Year. Today you are here as the envoy of the King of Chu. Could it be that you want to persuade me to stop the army?"

Zhuang Xin was too lazy to pay attention to Zhuang Shu's boring jokes, and said seriously: "This is a last resort for the country."

Seeing that Zhuang Xin was serious, Zhuang Shu curled his lips, then held the wine cup and said calmly: "I only agreed to your request because of the friendship between the same clan, but I don't like being kept in the dark. I must tell you what the mystery is."

Zhuang Xin hesitated for a moment, but finally said, "Have you heard of Meng Zhong from Fangcheng?"

"certainly."

Zhuang Zhu touched his chin and said with interest: "I have always paid attention to the movements of the Qin army. The Meng Zhong you mentioned is amazing. He used only 50,000 soldiers to fight against more than 200,000 Qin and Chu coalition forces, but he did not lose at all. Instead, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi suffered great losses again and again... But, I heard that Meng Zhong was from Wei? Why, the dignified doctor Zhuang Xinzhuang, behind his back, colluded with the State of Wei and had a ill-intentioned plan?"

"Don't make such a joke."

Zhuang Xin said unhappily.

Zhuang Zhuang was bored, but he didn't care. After touching his jaw for a while, he suddenly asked in a serious tone: "Is that Meng Zhong... trustworthy?"

Zhuang Xin looked at Zhuang Zhuang with a surprise, then nodded and said, "This person is the master of Zhuang Zhou Zhuang. He is of the best in terms of talent and virtue. Doctor Qu Yuan and Qu also praised this person."

Hearing this, Zhuang Zhuang nodded thoughtfully. Then, he seemed to have thought of something and said with a chuckle: "After that being said, since you and Qu Yuan both have the intention to expel Zilan, why should I take advantage of this to capture Chuying? Whether it is Zilan or Xiong Heng, it is okay..."

"I said, don't make such a joke!" Zhuang Xin said unhappily.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Zhuang picked up the wine cup and took a sip, and said lightly: "However, I'm not joking..."

Zhuang Xin was stunned for a moment, and then said in a deep voice: "Zhuang Zhuang, Doctor Qu and I, although I hope to change this country, it is not in this way... The civil strife of our people in Chu will only make the countries profit, whether it is Qin or Wei and Han..."

Zhuang Zhuang snorted lightly when he heard this and said to himself: "Your words are like the words of women and children, which is particularly ridiculous!... Xiong Heng is even more unbearable than King Huai of Chu. Although King Huai of Chu is stupid, he at least refuses to betray the interests of our Chu State. He died in Qin State for this reason. Xiong Heng is like such a foolish monarch..."

Zhuang Xin immediately interrupted Zhuang Zhuang and said in a deep voice: "But Doctor Qu and I don't want to change the country in this way... Our Chu State is now divided, and now we can only unite the people of Chu, and we can resist Qin State and other countries. Civil strife, we must not."

As he said that, he looked up at Zhuang Zhuang, bowed his hand and said sincerely: "I always think that the king is not hopeless, and this country is not hopeless, but it will take some time... Zhuang Zhuang, please give me some patience."

"..." Zhuang Zhuang looked at Zhuang Xin deeply, and then said lightly: "In my opinion, the victory or defeat of Wanfang is not enough to weaken Qin. The one that can really weaken Qin is Bashu. Only when our Chu State has the hope of resisting Qin... I have sent people to Bashu, but my army alone is unable to capture Bashu."

Of course, Zhuang Xin understood what Zhuang Zhuo meant, nodded and bowed, "Please give me some more patience."

"I have patience, but I'm afraid that I will lose the time..." Speaking of this, Zhuang Zhuang glanced at Zhuang Xin and hinted: "I hope you and Qu Yuan... will be as soon as possible."

"Hmm." Zhuang Xin nodded.

After drinking this wine, Zhuang Xin immediately returned to Chu Ying and asked to meet King Xiong Heng of Chu.

When he learned that Zhuang Xin had returned to the capital Ying, King Xiong Heng of Chu immediately summoned him and asked Zhuang Xin urgently: "Have you seen Zhuang Zhuang? What did he say?"

Zhuang Xingong bowed and said, "Reporting to the king, Zhuang Zhuang has no malice towards the king, but he just hates the king for serving Qin. He said, "I, Da Chu and Qin have an irreconcilable grudge, how can I serve Qin?"

Hearing this, King Xiong Heng of Chu breathed a little relieved. After all, Zhuang Zhuo was at least not targeting him.

You should know that with Zhuang Shu’s reputation in Chu State now, if this person raised the banner of eliminating the foolish monarch, a large number of Chu people would actually compete to join him. Xiong Heng himself knew this.

"Is there a way to ask Zhuang Zhuo to stop the army?" Xiong Heng asked.

Zhuang Zhuo pretended to hesitate and immediately said, "I also persuaded Zhuang Zhuo, but Zhuang Zhuo's attitude was firm. Only when the minister took back his order and terminated his alliance with Qin would he be willing to withdraw his troops..."

"What?" King Xiong Heng of Chu was stunned when he heard this, and then gritted his teeth and said hatefully: "This reckless man... he knew that if he abandoned his alliance with Qin, Qin would definitely launch troops to attack our Great Chu again. How can I resist our Great Chu? Are the rebels under his command alone?"

Zhuang Xin remained silent.

After venting for a long time, King Xiong Heng of Chu calmed down and asked Zhuang Xin with a tired look on his face, "You think what should you do now?"

Zhuang Xin pretended to hesitate for a moment, and then said cautiously: "In my opinion, Zhuang Zhuang is determined this time. Unless the king takes back his order, he will never give up. For the sake of the present plan, he can only recall Duke Zhao and return to Chuying..."

King Xiong Heng of Chu was stunned for a moment when he heard this, and then said thoughtfully: "I understand, please go back and rest first."

Of course, Zhuang Xin guessed that Xiong Heng must have been preparing to discuss with Ling Yin Zilan, and was not in a hurry. He bowed and said, "I will leave."

Sure enough, after Zhuang Xin left, Xiong Heng immediately sent someone to summon Zi Lan, the younger brother of Ling Yin, and told the latter a lot about Zhuang Xin's words.

After hearing this, Zilan frowned and said, "Brother Wang, my brother suspects that Zhuang Xin has ulterior motives... It is hard to guarantee that he will not secretly engage in Zhuang Qian, and deliberately ask Zhuang Qian to raise an army to cause trouble, forcing the king to recall Zhao Ju. The king also knew that Zhuang Xin had firmly opposed our great Chu and Qin to reach an alliance."

“…”

King Xiong Heng of Chu was silent for a moment.

In fact, he also had some doubts about Zhuang Xin about this matter, but he still believed in this, that is, Zhuang Xin's loyalty.

The same is true for Qu Yuan.

Xiong Heng knew that Qu Yuan was loyal to him, but on the one hand, Qu Yuan always pointed at his nose and cursed, and no one could bear it; on the other hand, the current domestic situation was not enough for him to use Qu Yuan.

"What about your opinion?" Xiong Heng asked Zilan.

Hearing this, Zilan frowned and pondered for a long time, then sighed and said, "Although I think there must be something strange about it, but now it's time to recall Zhaoju..."

In fact, he was even more afraid of Zhuang Zhuo's rebellion than King Xiong Heng, because Xiong Heng was protected by Zhuang Xin. Even if the rebels entered Chu Ying, Zhuang Xin would definitely come forward to protect Xiong Heng, but his Zilan... Zhuang Xin was afraid that he would be killed by the rebels.

Although Zilan knew that recalling Zhaoju at this time would inevitably lead to Sima Chou and Bai Qi's two Qin generals were dissatisfied, at this moment, he didn't care about so much.

Seeing that Zilan also agreed to recall Zhaoju, King Xiong Heng of Chu naturally would not hesitate any more, so he immediately issued an order, ordering Zhaoju to lead his army back to Chuying immediately.

Of course, he did not forget to send someone to inform Sima Cuo and Bai Qi.

About half a month later, that is, at the end of two months, the messenger of King Xiong Heng of Chu arrived in Wancheng.

At this time, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi had led their troops to Fangcheng to build camps in the Fangcheng area.

Given that Fangcheng is too close to Yangguan, it is very likely to be attacked by the Wei army under Meng Zhong's command, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi did not let the army station in Fangcheng, but were stationed scattered around Fangcheng. Each Qin camp kept a distance of twenty miles from Yangguan. As for Fangcheng, Bai Qi only sent his general Wei Yuan to lead the first army to garrison as an outpost to suppress Yangguan.

In this way, even if the Wei army under Meng Zhong's command attacked Fangcheng, the remaining Qin troops could respond quickly.

During this period, the Wei army did not harass the Qin army, and the Qin army did not attack Yangguan immediately. Not to mention Yangguan, the Qin army stepped up time to build camps and siege equipment, and strive to capture Yangguan in one fell swoop.

Just as the Qin army was busy preparing for the war, Sima Cuo and Bai Qi received a letter from King Xiong Heng of Chu.

At the same time, there were two letters sent from Qin and a batch of food and grass transported from Wuguan.

At that time, Bai Qi was inspecting the construction of the camp, and saw Sima Cuo and his group of people coming from afar.

After meeting, Sima Cuo first called out a young man from the crowd behind him and said to Bai Qi: "Bai Zuogeng, is this my bad grandson, Jin, why don't you treat Bai Zuogeng to Bai Zuogeng?"

Jin, Sima Cub's second grandson, Sima Jin, was arrested by Tingwei last year for causing trouble at the corner of Xianyang Street. Although Sima Cub learned about this, he did not interfere with Tingwei's Mansion due to face. Instead, Bai Qi entrusted Marquis Rang to repaid Sima Jin from Tingwei's Mansion in order to repay Sima Cub's favor.

After hearing the words of his grandfather, Sima Jin immediately bowed to Bai Qi and said, "I have seen Bai Zuo Geng in the future. Thank you for your help."

"Haha, it's no big deal."

Bai Qi laughed and looked at Sima Jin up and down. He saw Sima Jin look thirteen or fourteen years old, with a heroic appearance, and a full look of a young man from a noble family, lacking experience.

He turned his head and looked at Sima Cuo. Seeing the latter nodded, he smiled and said to Sima Jin: "The National Guard will hand you over to me and ask me to strictly discipline you. Do you have any objections?"

Sima Jin shook his head repeatedly and said happily: "It is a great honor to be able to listen to heroes like Bai Zuo Geng..."

"Oh? Take it seriously?"

Bai Qi was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Sima Jin to admire him so much.

"Of course!" Seeing that Bai Qi was a little disbelief, Sima Jin said anxiously: "You are the famous generals we long for... During the Battle of Yique, you defeated Xiwu of Wei and Baoyuan of Han in one fell swoop..."

Bai Qi glanced at Sima Cuo, whose face was a little ugly, and then deliberately said: "But in the battle of Yique, Bai was defeated..."

"This is not a crime of war."

Sima Jin shook his head and said with a serious expression: "It's just that Meng Zhong took advantage of the burnout of Bai Zuo's army and waited for an opportunity to counterattack and seized the opportunity. Rather than saying that Bai Zuo was defeated by Meng Zhong, it would be better to say that Bai Zuo was dragged to defeat by Gongsun Xi and Bao Yuan because of his insufficient troops..."

"Hahaha."

Bai Qi was very happy when he heard this, touched Sima Jin's head and said to Sima Chou: "I like this kid!"

After saying that, he still did not forget to tell Sima Jin solemnly: "But there is one thing you said wrong. I was indeed defeated by Meng Zhong, not by Gongsun Xi or Bao Yuan... Those two are not worthy!"

"..." Sima Jin looked at Bai Qi blankly.

Seeing this, Bai Qi smiled and said, "You will understand in the future."

At this time, Sima Cuo, who was beside him, coughed and said in a deep voice: "Okay, Jin, since you have arrived in the army, you must abide by the military discipline. You first..."

Speaking of this, he suddenly glanced at Bai Qi and his voice stopped abruptly.

Bai Qi immediately understood and summoned the guard behind him, and ordered: "Sima Jin, follow my guard to settle in the camp first... For the time being, you will be Bai's guard, do you have any objections?"

Sima Jin shook his head repeatedly and obediently followed Bai Qi's guards.

Looking at Sima Jin's departure back, Bai Qi smiled and praised: "A very good boy."

Hearing this, Sima Cuo was also happy, but he still said with a stern face: "Since Bai Zuo looks down on this bad grandson more, I will hand this son over to Bai Zuo Geng for teaching. I hope Bai Zuo will not indulge and discipline it strictly..."

Hearing this, Bai Qi smiled bitterly and said with a rare smile: "The National Guard is so strict."

He once thought that Sima Cuo was just being strict with outsiders, but he did not expect that he was equally strict with his children and grandchildren, which made Bai Qi gradually relieve Sima Cuo's dissatisfaction with his various behaviors.
To be continued...