After Spring and Autumn

Chapter 18
The twilight gradually extended, and at some point, the boat had stopped, and the surrounding area was shrouded in a mist that seemed to exist. Mengdi rubbed his eyes hard, trying to see more clearly, but found that the people on the boat looked serious.

"Brother Meng, I'm sorry, we may have encountered mirage." Father Jing said in a low voice.

In a blink of an eye, the fog changed from light to thick, and it was a vast expanse of whiteness everywhere, and it was impossible to distinguish things, and the other small boats were also looming.

Yunmeng Daze is usually foggy, and there is a saying that there is nine fogs in ten days. It is said that there is a mirage in the depths of Daze, which occasionally comes out to suck the essence of the sun and the moon.
It's not that the villagers of the Jing family have never seen mirages, and they sacrificed every year before they dared to fish and hunt in the big lake.Now that I have been away from home for a long time, I suddenly bump into him, and I feel uneasy, I am afraid that it is the punishment of the mirage for not making a confession in these years.

The villagers echoed in a low voice, tried their best to get the boat together, put offerings on the bow, and kowtowed.

Ji Mi has experienced life and death, but she is not very afraid. Her big eyes flashed, as if looking for the legendary mirage in the mist.

Lost in the mist, the boat drifted with the wind.A long night passed, perhaps the piousness of the villagers played a role, and the fog ahead gradually thinned.

Just as he was overjoyed, he heard the horn of "Woo--" in the mist, and a giant dragon-headed ship drummed its sails and smashed the white mist, suddenly appearing in front of it.

The boat was thrown high by the waves, and everyone was in a hurry.

The man at the bow was tall and stood with his hands behind his back. He glanced at him and ignored them, and the soldiers behind him raised their bows and arrows one after another.

Meng Di could see clearly that this person was Fugai. There was a battle on the way back to aid Yingdu that day, and Fugai's bravery left a deep impression on him.

Fugai was about to be ordered to release the arrow, when he stopped abruptly and looked back to meet Mengdi's eyes.

With a light wave of his hand, Wu Jun got the order to turn the sails, and the giant ship drew an arc and circled in front of the small boat.

Fugai stared at it for a while, then asked in a deep voice, "But that day Chu general?"

"Mundy"

Needless to say, both saw sparks in each other's eyes.

Fugai has always been conceited, and only once in his life was he beaten by a small number of people, and he was defeated.After returning to the army, he was ridiculed by the king's brother Helu, saying that he disrespected the general's order, and he was to blame, all of which was thanks to the person in front of him.

The two of them took the arrows in their hands at the same time, and looked at each other with their bows open, and the world became quiet.

Fugai stood upright like a mountain, his eyes were burning, and he approached with an imposing manner.

Mengdi has no experience in water warfare, but with the ups and downs of the waves, he gradually found the rhythm, standing firmly on the bow, rising and falling as naturally as breathing, standing there, but like an antelope hanging horns, no trace can be found .

Both of them knew that there was only one shot, but they still couldn't find the right time to shoot.

Fugai frowned, "Bamboo arrow?"

"Bamboo arrows can also kill people!"

After being silent for a long time, Fugai suddenly threw his bow and laughed loudly, "Happy! You are worthy of defeating my opponent Fugai. Unexpectedly, there are such people in Chu Kingdom!"

The deputy general hurried forward to persuade: "General, it's important to keep your mouth shut!"

"No problem." Fu Gai waved his hand, and said to Meng Di seriously: "You and I cherish each other, and we will compete on the battlefield some other day!"

"Send the order to speed up!" With an order, he sailed away, the horn sounded, and there was also a humming sound from the depths of the fog behind him, continuously.

Everyone didn't realize that there was a life from the dead, and wept with joy, but Ji Mi always looked at Meng Di tenderly.

Fugai's voice came from far away: "I have a message for you, Xiong Zhen is in Suiguo."

Brother Wang!Ji Mi surprised and said to Meng Di: "Brother Wang is still alive!"

The battle just now aroused Mengdi's fighting spirit that had been intoxicated for many days.Ever since he walked between life and death, his hatred for Li Ling has long faded. After all, everyone has their own choice.

What is your choice?Be a fisherman in the depths of Daze with Ji Mi at ease?Mengdi knew that this was not the life he liked.

Since there is no big man in this world yet, let yourself make a big man!Thinking of this, Meng Di smiled and said to Ji Mi: "Okay, let's go to Suiguo."

After bidding farewell to the villagers of the Jing family, Meng Di and his party went straight to Suiguo.Father Jing originally refused, and the eldest son was garrisoned at the border, but there was no news, and he also hoped that the second son would die in retirement.

Later, seeing Jing Tie's longing face, thinking of when he was young, he knew that he couldn't stop, so he had to bid farewell with tears.

There was already a commotion in Suiguo Palace.

Suiguo is also a rather strange vassal state. It was originally entrusted by the Zhou royal family to monitor and defend the south. Those who didn't want to come and go were always bullied by Chu, which was originally weaker than themselves, and finally became a vassal state of Chu.

However, Suiguo is quite satisfied with his position, and he doesn't want to fight for world hegemony. It's better to have a big brother covering him, guarding his own three-acre land, and living happily.

But now trouble came to the door. When he saw King Chu Zhao and his party appearing at the gate of the palace, Suihou was stunned. The eldest brother is in such a mess!In any case, the skinny camel was bigger than the horse, so he quickly let the side hall out.

The king of Chu came in person, although he was in a hurry, but the etiquette was undeniable, and the palace immediately became busy.

However, the welcome ceremony was a bit anticlimactic, because Wu's envoy had already arrived in the capital, and the officials discussed a lot, but they had no idea.

For the first time in history, Suihou held the court meeting for three consecutive days. He felt a headache when he saw the ministers below were arguing red-faced.

"Your Majesty, I have been neighbors and allies with the Kingdom of Chu for generations. How can I hand over the King of Chu just because of a word from the envoy of the King of Wu? Let the people of the world laugh at me!" Such as Hong Zhong.

"Allies? General Jin, why should he deceive himself and others! I follow the country as a vassal of Chu, and everyone knows it!" said the veteran with white beard and hair tremblingly.

"That's right, I'm afraid it's not even as good as a vassal state. The state of Chu only knows how to ask for money, and Ling Yin Nangwa wants us to present the treasures of the town with pearls. Does it look like a state?"

"Nangwa is just a villain who is greedy for money and power, and the king of Chu is still generous and modest."

"The state of Wu is strong, if the king of Wu raises his troops to attack, we may be in danger of overthrowing the nest!"

Sui Hou heard that this was reasonable, and that was also good. He couldn't help raising his forehead with his hand, and sighed deeply.The more I listened, the more confused I became, remembering that I haven't listened to music with Aifei for several days, I don't know if I will be reluctant to go back to the bedroom at night.When I think of Xinna's concubine, my heart doesn't know where to go.

The voice in the main hall suddenly stopped, and Sui Hou was taken aback, did the discussion come to a result so quickly?Looking up, he saw a person at the gate of the hall, led by Gao Guan'e, striding in regardless of the guard's obstruction.

All the officials stepped aside one after another, and the man walked into the hall, bowed deeply and said, "Is the discussion between the king and all the lords appropriate?"

The person who came was Zixi, the senior official of the state of Chu, the half-brother of King Zhao of Chu.

Sui Hou was asked by Ziqi, but he didn't know how to answer, so he looked at the officials in the hall for help.

The ministers looked at me and I looked at you. It took a long time before someone said weakly: "The envoy of the King of Wu said that he would not surrender the King of Chu, so he sent troops to attack him."

"Did you also say that if you help Wu, you can get all the land north of the Han River in the future?"

Zixi said coldly: "Your Majesty, the Sui Kingdom is adjacent to the Chu Kingdom and far away from the Wu Kingdom by high mountains. He Lu's surprise attack on Yingdu this time brought only 15 soldiers and horses with the power of the whole country. Cai and Tang are two small countries. It is also a story of false response. Although [-] elite soldiers were defeated due to incompetence, our Great Chu has a vast territory and countless elite soldiers. Looting, people's hearts are unstable, and they will not stay in Chu for a long time."

"Once your Majesty listens to what the envoys of the Wu Kingdom say, if the Wu army returns to the army in a blink of an eye, what will Suiguo do?"

"This..." All the officials whispered to each other, and Sui Hou felt even more headache.The guards approached and whispered: "Concubine Mei asked the maid to report and made a shepherd's purse soup for the king to enjoy."

Suihou's eyes lit up, and he hurriedly said, "Let's discuss again, discuss again." Then he left in a hurry.

Zixi looked at the group of officials who were still discussing on their own, sighed, turned and walked out of the hall, his eyes full of helplessness, watching sadly as the sunset made the shadow of the palace wall longer and longer.

(End of this chapter)