"That's natural!" The envoy of the Wu army stood up and saluted, and said with a smile: "But when the villain set off, the vanguard of the Wang Xianggong's personal army had already set out from Liuzhou. Now I'm afraid I've arrived in Guizhou, so that the king can know!"

The envoy of the Wu army had already left, and only Ma Xisheng was left in the house. The sentence the other party said before leaving was obviously meant to remind Ma Xisheng not to delay time.- Although Ma Xisheng was very angry at the arrogance of the Wu army envoy, he still forced himself to lead him to the inn to entertain him for a good hospitality. He sat alone in the house to consider how to act. After a long time, Ma Xisheng stood up, changed into ordinary clothes, and took only one of his confidants and sneaked out from the side door.

An old servant was dozing on the bluestone steps in front of the mansion. The sides were covered with fallen leaves and no one was cleaning them. The horse-tie pillars next to the road were as smooth as new and there were no signs of wear. Obviously, the owner of the mansion had no guests to visit on weekdays. Since Ma Yin went to Jianye, his important minister Xu Dexun lived in seclusion in this mansion. Although he was entrusted with assistance, after he arrived in Shaozhou, he claimed to be sick and ignored everything. At first, Ma Xisheng often went to his mansion to consult state affairs, but Xu Dexun still shirked his responsibility and did not express any opinions. Gradually, Ma Xisheng went away less. After a long time, everyone forgot that the old man who never left the house was Ma Chushuo's only remaining old minister.

Two pedestrians dressed as merchants came to the deserted streets. They came to the door of the mansion and looked vigilantly at the no one following them. They carefully walked the steps. The man in front of them patted the old servant on the shoulder twice. The old servant was sleeping in a daze and suddenly woke up. He was quite unhappy. He saw the two figures in front of him with a sleepy eyes and said, "No, no, my master is not feeling well, no visitors, you both come back!"

The man in the lead whispered: "Look at who I am, open the door quickly!"

The old servant heard it familiar. He looked up and was stunned when he looked up. It turned out that the person in front of him was Ma Xisheng, the king of Chu. He was wearing a black robe, like an ordinary business trip. He quickly got up and bowed, but was snatched by Ma Xisheng and helped him, and said in a low voice: "Forget it, open the door quickly and let me in. I have something to do to see Mr. Xu!"

The old servant was also a clever man. When he saw Ma Xisheng suddenly came to see his master in vain, there must be something important during this period. He hurriedly opened the side door and asked Ma Xisheng and his party to rest. He paid attention outside for a moment and confirmed that no one was following him.

Ma Xisheng entered the Xu Mansion and breathed a sigh of relief. He whispered to the old servant who followed in: "Do you know where Mr. Xu is now?"

The old servant replied, "It's three o'clock now. I guess the owner has already used lunch and is taking a walk in the back garden to digest food!"

"Okay! You are not allowed to tell anyone about my visit today!" Ma Xi said sternly.

The old servant nodded repeatedly: "I know!"

Ma Xisheng nodded, and then took his subordinates to the back garden of Xu Mansion. The old servant looked at the two of them leaving, shrank his neck, sighed, and said to himself: "It seems that the city of Shaozhou is not peaceful again!"

Ma Xisheng came to Xu Mansion many times and was very familiar with the terrain. When he met a servant on the road, he saw them in a hurry and thought they were guests who were in urgent need, so they did not stop him. So they arrived at the back garden in just half a cup of tea. An old man in the rockery pavilion was closing his eyes and listening to the concubine playing the piano beside him. It was Xu Dexun. Ma Xisheng left the subordinate to hold the intersection at the foot of the rockery so that no one could break in, so he quickly rushed to the pavilion.

At this moment, the concubine had finished playing the song. Xu Dexun opened his eyes and smiled and was about to praise him. But he saw a man rushing into the pavilion panting. When he saw that it was Ma Xisheng, he quickly stood up and bowed and said, "Old minister has seen the king!"

Ma Xisheng reached out to support Xu Dexun and said, "Mr. Xu is exempted from gifts. A family came here uninvited today, but there is an urgent matter to consult Mr. Xu!"

Xu Dexun was already an old spirit. When he saw Ma Xisheng dressing like this, he came here without any news. There must be some urgent and secret matters, so he signaled the concubine to go outside the pavilion before saying to Ma Xisheng: "What an urgent matter, please tell me!"

Ma Xisheng calmed down and said that Ma Xiwang had previously asked to send troops to participate in the rebel army in the Hunan province, but he refused, so he declared that he would unite with Ma Xifan and others to oppose him. Later, the envoy of the Wu army came and claimed that he would use the means to suppress the rebel army, and Lu Fang went out to Wuchang. The three groups pressed Hunan to tell Xu Dexun one by one. Finally, Ma Xisheng said: "Mr. Xu, a family is not greedy for power and position. He forgot his father, Xiaomei, in Jianye. The situation is just chaotic at the moment. If the remaining strength of the Ma family is thrown in, the result will be completely thrown away."

Xu Dexun nodded and said, "What the king said is very much. You and I have seen the strength of the Wu army. Those 'rebels' are just hungry people to survive. How can the mobs compete with the Wu army's remaining battles? If we join in, there will definitely be no good result. Even if your father is here, he will agree with your approach!"

Ma Xisheng was supported by Xu Dexun, and he couldn't help but feel excited. He hurriedly said, "But my brother and Xifan and others don't know how powerful the Wu army is. If they join forces, will they make a fuss in the same family? How should the Wu army take advantage of the situation? I'm afraid that they will attack Guo on the fake way, so I regret it too late!"

"Young Master Xifan and others are afraid they want to take this opportunity to compete with you for the throne. Now the title of the monarch and ministers has been determined. If they want to Hu Wei, they can only use thunder means to show the heart of the Bodhisattva!" Xu Dexun's tone was cold, his eyes were shining, and he was completely different from an old man with a hunchback: "As for the matter of using Taoism, this matter is extremely troubled and cannot be agreed!"

After receiving Xu Dexun's support, Ma Xisheng couldn't help but feel secretly happy and asked carefully: "Mr. Xu said very well, but the Wu army is powerful, how should we deal with it?"

Xu Dexun stood up and said, "According to what the old minister saw, Wang Maozhang wanted to borrow the road, but he was afraid that seven points were fake and three points were real. He was a man who knew the military strategy, so he naturally knew that we would not agree easily. This kind of thing was very fast and could not be delayed. If he really wanted to borrow the road, he would be afraid that the soldiers would first attack Wugangzhou and even take down the city. Then we would borrow the road, and we would have to borrow it, and we would have to borrow it if we didn't. How could we hand over the initiative to us like this?"

Ma Xisheng thought that it was true. With the Wu army's past style, he would not be so "polite", and smiled and said, "Mr. Xu said very much, but Wang Maozhang's recruitment of barbarian soldiers this time was quite disturbing, but why was it?"

Xu Dexun stroked his long beard under his chin and said, "Now the Wu army is fighting fiercely with Liang, and the Shu Kingdom is looking forward to the west, and its strength is not enough. In central Hunan, it stimulates civil unrest and claims that your father is in charge. He is also afraid that we will send troops to respond. The whole Hunan is in ruins and the situation will be out of control. Wang Maozhang recruits barbarians with great fanfare, and he also claims that he is afraid that it will threaten us more and not allow us to support civil unrest! After all, if he makes a big move in the north, something will happen to Nanzhao and Jiaozhi."

After hearing Xu Dexun's analysis, Ma Xisheng suddenly realized the intention of Wang Maozhang's envoy coming, and asked: "Since that's the case, then I will directly reject the envoy tomorrow!"

"No!" Xu Dexun shook his head and said, "If you refuse directly, I am afraid that the Wu army will hold a grudge. The civilian rebellion in Hunan will be pacified sooner or later. By that time, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to us. It is better for the king to see the envoy tomorrow and say that the people of the lower country are exhausted, the roads are disrepaired, the army is difficult to pass, and it is difficult to collect food and fodder. The barbarians are not adapted to the climate and the land of Hunan. They will not be able to adapt to the weather and the land, and they will achieve half the result with twice the effort, but they are afraid that they will miss the big thing. It is better to let the lower country send 3,000 soldiers to help the king, prepare their own food and salary, and conquer the rebels in Hunan."

When Ma Xisheng heard Xu Dexun's plan, he couldn't help but praise him. This not only prevented the danger of the Wu army's transit, but also bought a good deal from Lu Wu, which was a killing of two birds with one stone. As for the food and salary of the three thousand soldiers, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the losses of the barbarian soldiers when they passed through the border. Besides, it could be levied on the spot, so maybe there was still a profit.

The two agreed to deal with the envoys of the Wu army the next day. Xu Dexun ordered the servants in the mansion to send their clothes and armor and summoned the family armor. He went straight to the head of the city to the military camp outside the siege. When the officer on duty outside the camp was about to stop him, Xu Dexun shouted back. He and Ma Xisheng went straight into the central army, seized the stupid Fuxin of Ma Xiwang, took over the military power, and immediately divided the troops around, resisted arresting Ma Xifan and others, and imprisoned them in the military camp. Overnight, the Ma brothers who were planning to usurp Ma Xisheng's position were captured, and Ma Xisheng's position became unprecedentedly reliable.

The next morning, Ma Xisheng went straight into the inn wearing iron armor. The envoy of the Wu army obviously heard the movements of the soldiers in the city last night, and his face was a little panicked. Seeing Ma Xisheng wearing iron armor and the guards on both sides of the two sides looked fully armed, his face turned pale, and he hurriedly bowed and said, "Foreign ministers pay homage to the king!"

"No gift!" Ma Xi laughed and said, "There was a little more noise in the city last night. Did it disturb the envoys of the country?"

"Never, never!" The envoy of the Wu army hurriedly smiled, but his eyes kept looking at the soldiers behind Ma Xisheng.

"That's good!" Ma Xi laughed and said, "This time I came to see the envoy to answer the matter of King Xianggong's use of the road. Please tell me the King Jingjiang that the people's livelihood is in decline and the road is disrepaired. I am afraid that the army will pass by, but I will miss the major troubles of quelling the chaos. Please forgive me. As for the chaotic times in Hunan, the lower country has been a minister of Wu, and has empathized with him. He should lead the army to jointly quell the rebellion and be subject to the Jiedushi of Cui in Tanzhou!"

The envoy thought that Ma Xisheng was going to declare his support for the rebels and to tear himself apart and use it to sacrifice flags. However, he did not expect that although the other party did not agree to the request of the passage, he did not kill himself, let alone actively proposed to jointly suppress the civil unrest, which was even more unexpected. He was afraid that Ma Xisheng would suddenly change his mind, so he quickly said that the military situation was urgent, and he wanted to return quickly to tell Wang Maozhang about the matter, as if he was escaping from the tiger's mouth. @ws
Chapter completed!