Chapter 552: Being Calculated
The plan went smoothly, and half of King Cheng's troops had surrendered to the court.
After handing Fang Xinkai and others over to Yang Yingqin and his confidants, Xie Zhan took his men back to the government office.
As soon as he returned, the official in charge of collecting information immediately delivered a letter.
Xie Zhan took it and knew it was an urgent letter from Jiang Boya.
He quickly opened the letter and frowned after reading the message sent back by Jiang Boya.
Xie Zhan knocked on the table. His original plan was to send Zhao Biao and his 50,000 troops back, leaving the King of Jin's 100,000 troops and the Pingzhou troops to fight each other and consume each other...
In the current situation, it is obvious that Pingzhou will not be fooled, and they just don’t want to suffer huge losses.
Then he would have no choice but to change his strategy.
He sighed in his heart, Zhao Biao, if you want to blame someone, you can only blame your bad luck.
There was a great deal of excitement in the Southland that night. The Gu, Lu, Chen, and Zhang families, as well as the core members of Xie Zhan's faction, were stunned when they learned that their masters had joined forces with the emperor. Then they were excited!
Recently, the future of the South was obviously uncertain because it was besieged by the imperial court and the two kings. But now, Lord Xie will definitely have a bright future, and so will they.
Upon learning that Xie Zhan had returned, Gu Huaisheng, Lu Fei and others came.
As soon as they sat down in the conference room, Zhao Yutan rushed in.
"Madam, wait, the clan leader is in a meeting, you can't go in."
"Madam, please allow me to report this to you."
"Get out of here!"
The servants couldn't stop her.
Zhao Yutan walked in directly, completely ignoring the other people in the conference room, and looked at Xie Zhan angrily.
Seeing this, Xie Zhan raised his hand and said calmly, "You guys go down first."
When everyone saw that something was wrong and heard his words, they left quickly.
Everyone went out, and the servants wisely closed the door of the conference room for the two of them.
Xie Zhan asked Zhao Yutan, "What's the matter?"
Zhao Yutan asked him in return, "Don't you have anything to tell me?"
Xie Zhan was silent. He knew she must have discovered it.
"Where's Lin'er?" Zhao Yutan was so angry when he saw that he didn't say anything, he shouted, "Speak! Speak to me!"
"I trusted you so much and gave my child to you. Now the child is missing. Tell me, where is the child now?"
Xie Zhan rubbed his forehead and said, "Calm down first. The child is safe now."
"I ask you, where is the child?" Zhao Yutan asked the question stubbornly.
"In Chang'an."
Zhao Yutan was confused for a moment, "Why is the child in Chang'an? Why did you send the child to Chang'an?" She suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart.
"I have cooperated with the emperor and need Lin'er to stay in Chang'an temporarily."
Speed is of the essence in war. Now Yang Yingqin has led a large army to the southwest. Fang Xinkai and others want to atone for their sins by returning to the southwest under the pretext of reporting good news. After entering the city gate, they will cooperate with General Yang from inside and outside to accomplish the task.
Therefore, Xie Zhan told Zhao Yutan about this without hesitation.
Zhao Yutan couldn't believe what he heard. Wasn't this a hostage?
Bang!
In a fit of rage, Zhao Yutan slapped Xie Zhan in the face. Tears welled up in her eyes as she screamed at him, "You're so cruel! Do you know he's your only child?"
"If I hadn't thought it was suspicious and sent someone to the manor secretly, how long would you have kept this secret from me?"
Xie Zhan was slapped in the face, but without even a frown on his face, he said calmly, "As the eldest son of the Xie family, when the family is in crisis, he has the responsibility and obligation to help the family overcome the difficulties as long as his life is not in danger."
"He is just over one year old, less than two years old! What responsibility does he have?" Zhao Yutan asked while wiping away tears.
At this moment, Zhao Yutan's biological mother, Luo, hurried over.
"Mother-in-law, you are here. I am sorry to bother you." Xie Zhan stood up. "I still have things to deal with here. Excuse me." Since he has decided to take action against Zhao Biao, he must do it quickly.
"Xie Zhan, stop right there, you are not allowed to leave!" Zhao Yutan wanted to chase him, but was stopped by her mother.
"My daughter, please be more open-minded." Luo sighed and advised.
Just now, the son-in-law sent someone to invite her, and the eldest son Zhao Minglou also hurried home. Only then did the Zhao family know that the son-in-law had done such a big thing. Then, the eldest son also participated in the action last night.
"When the nest is overturned, all the eggs are broken. The Southland is in imminent danger. My uncle was forced to do this." Although it was pitiful for his grandson to leave his biological mother, at least everyone can survive, right? The crisis in the Southland was not just a crisis for my uncle, but also for their Zhao family. But these words were too cruel, so Luo Shi did not say them.
"Wuwuwu, I don't want to listen, I don't want to listen!" Zhao Yutan buried his face in the quilt.
Mrs. Luo comforted her daughter, "My grandson is my uncle's only child. He is a hostage in Chang'an. The emperor will not let anything happen to Lin'er."
Moreover, the uncle promised to let his daughter get pregnant as soon as possible. The uncle's second child will still come from his daughter's belly. This is the current situation, and they can only look forward, right?
Outside Lingnan City
Zhao Biao covered the wound on his abdomen and looked at the wounded soldiers on the ground. He couldn't believe it. They were fine yesterday and agreed to attack Lingnan together. Now Dong Guowei turned his guns against them?
"Why?" Zhao Biao asked Dong Guowei, the man who had ambushed them. He was puzzled. Even if the imperial court regretted their actions and wanted to eliminate them, they should have waited until the Southern Region was annihilated. Wasn't Dong Guowei giving the Southern Region an opportunity by doing this?
Dong Guowei sighed. He didn't want this to happen either.
But God knows how surprised he was when he saw Xie Zhan at dawn and saw the emperor's handwritten edict from Xie Zhan.
Faced with Zhao Biao's question, Dong Guowei did not answer, but stepped aside.
"Thank you for coming!"
"Master Xie?" Zhao Biao's heart skipped a beat. When he saw Xie Zhan, who was walking around like an empty space, a sudden flash of inspiration hit him. He understood!
Xie Zhan came up to Zhao Biao, stood not far away, and said to him, "All land under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are his subjects. General Zhao, please surrender and stop being stubborn."
Hearing this also confirmed his previous guess. Zhao Biao smiled bitterly. King Cheng lost, and King Jin also lost.
But their defeat was not unfair. Who would have thought that the emperor would join forces with Xie Zhan?
The Emperor first agreed to cede two territories to each of the two kings, but later he actually joined forces with Xie Zhan, who had rebelled against him. Such courage and forbearance...
Almost all the forces had been manipulated by the two of them, including Prince Cheng, Prince Jin, and Pingzhou, which had agreed to form an alliance with the South. Zhao Biao could already predict that after this strategy was implemented, Prince Jin and Prince Cheng would be weakened by the court. As for Pingzhou, it was unclear how much strength it could still retain.
"What about Fang Xinkai? Did he surrender too?" Zhao Biao asked with certainty.
Xie Zhan smiled faintly, "General Fang and his fifty thousand troops have surrendered to the imperial court. He has already gone to the southwest with General Yang Yingqin to quell the rebellion."
Zhao Biao was stunned when he heard the name Yang Yingqin. In order to eradicate the rebellions of Prince Jin and Prince Cheng, the emperor actually transferred all the troops supporting the Sun family army in Bingzhou to the south!
Zhao Biao could now fully sense the emperor's strong determination to get rid of the two kings.
"As expected." Zhao Biao sighed, "I, Zhao Biao, am convinced! I surrender!"
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