Are you crazy? Trying to trick him into military service? He's the number one dragon on the fro

The emperor of Chu was named Xiong Luo, and he was around forty years old. His greatest hobby in life was to have heart-to-heart talks with his ministers in the court and enjoy the music of string and wind instruments.

Therefore, although the State of Chu was richer than the State of Zhou, it did not conquer the State of Zhou much earlier.

Seeing that his beloved minister Zhong Min was in love, Xiong Luo immediately smiled and waved his hand:

"Minister Zhong, you've come at the perfect time!"

"I suddenly composed two new poems today, and I was just worried that there would be no one to appreciate them with me. Come here quickly..."

Normally at this time, Zhong Min would walk over with a smile, carefully examine the item, and then praise it highly. But this time, he stood in the hall with a gloomy expression.

This greatly surprised Xiong Luo:

"Minister Zhong, what are you doing...?"

"Your Majesty, Xiong Zhao intends to defect to the Zhou!"

Those few words silenced the entire hall.

Xiong Luo even subconsciously sat up straight and fell into deep thought.

After a long while, he laughed heartily:

"Is Minister Zhong perhaps drunk at home today, and has come here to spout nonsense?"

"My dear minister, I know you have always been at odds with General Xiong, but in this war with the Great Zhou, we are very likely to capture Yun County from the Great Zhou, at which point our Chu Kingdom will gain another territory!"

"Can you just put aside your resentment for now?"

After saying that, Xiong Luo even took the initiative to step forward, put his arm around his shoulder, and prepared to comfort him.

This time, however, Zhong Min seemed determined, like a turtle eating a weight, and was resolved to deal with Xiong Zhao:

"Your Majesty, what I said was not about personal grudges with Xiong Zhao, but was indeed true!"

"A few days ago, Xiong Zhao submitted a memorial to the court, requesting His Majesty to continue sending troops to assist him, saying that the Marquis of Champion was difficult to deal with and that a large army was needed to come to his aid."

"But the information I received clearly states that after General Shen Ting's death, Xiong Zhao only fought one battle against the Great Zhou, and with only three thousand soldiers, he feigned a strong attack on the Zhou's Ze Meng camp before fleeing in disarray, and was even killed by the Zhou and thrown into chaos!"

"From then on, Xiong Zhao often drank and chatted with the Marquis of Da Zhou."

"It's been over a month since their battle. What is Xiong Zhao's intention in requesting reinforcements from the court? Doesn't he intend to lead his entire army to surrender to the enemy?"

Upon hearing this, Xiong Luo became more serious, but after thinking it over, he shook his head, still unwilling to believe such a terrifying thing:

"General Xiong is a member of the royal family of my Chu Kingdom, and in a sense, he is my uncle. How can I distrust him so much?"

In fact, he had already begun to suspect Xiong Zhao, but if what Zhong Min said was true, then their Chu state would be doomed.

Unwilling to accept the truth, he decided to pretend he didn't know.

At least until this news is confirmed, he can still live his comfortable life.

Seeing this, Zhong Min sighed helplessly, and after pondering for a moment, said:

"Your Majesty, if you do not believe me, you can go to Xiong Zhao's house and take control of his wife and children first. After all, when General Shen died in battle, Wang tried to escape, but I stopped her."

"If Xiong Zhao has no intention of rebelling, and no major changes are reported from the front, then I will wait for Xiong Zhao to return to the capital and personally apologize to him."

He had actually sent people to Xiong Zhao's house as early as when he entered the palace, intending to control Wang Shi and Xiong Ze, and then have Xiong Zhao convicted.

After all, we can't just take the money from those Zhou merchants for nothing.

After hearing these words, Xiong Luo thought about them for a while and found them to make some sense, so he nodded in agreement.

"In that case, my dear minister, please send someone to General Xiong's house to take a look."

"Before the messenger arrives, quickly check these new poems for any errors or omissions..."

"Report!"

No sooner had Xiong Luo finished speaking than a guard rushed in, looking extremely panicked.

This person startled Xiong Luo and Zhong Min!

After all, Xiong Luo had given instructions that unless it was a matter of life or death for the Chu Kingdom, all messages should be relayed through eunuchs.

Zhong Min was surprised that he hadn't sent any guards to the Xiong residence. Could it be that that old scoundrel Xiong Zhao had already defected to the enemy and the news had already been sent back?

Amidst the two men's surprised and uncertain gazes, the guard said urgently:

"Your Majesty, Lord Zuo Yin, this humble general led a patrol through the city today, and while near General Xiong's residence, we discovered several corpses!"

"After following the trail, this humble general... this humble general discovered that General Xiong's wife and children had already abandoned their home and fled!"

"What?"

Xiong Luo and Zhong Min were shocked again, with the latter walking straight forward in a daze:

Is what you're saying true?

"This humble general has verified the identities of those corpses. They... they were all skilled guards responsible for protecting General Xiong's wife and children. Moreover, this humble general and his men searched the entire Xiong residence but could not find any trace of the mother and child."

"Report!"

Before long, a eunuch came running over with small, quick steps, his eyes filled with fear:

"Frontline...frontline battle report!"

"According to eyewitness accounts from the military inspectors, General Xiong has not launched a single attack on the Zhou people's Zemeng camp in the past month. Moreover, every two or three days, General Xiong prepares fine wine, delicacies, fruits, and vegetables, and personally goes to a place five miles outside the Zemeng camp to meet privately with the Great Zhou Champion Marquis!"

"Every time we return to camp, we feel refreshed and can't stop smiling!"

boom!

For a moment, the emperor and his minister felt as if they had been struck by lightning, their minds buzzing, and they felt as if the sky had collapsed!

Xiong Luo didn't believe that Xiong Zhao had really defected to the enemy, which confirmed his suspicions.

Zhong Min was shocked that the merchant from the Great Zhou Dynasty had actually brought real news.

In that case, wouldn't the situation on the front lines be even worse than they imagined?

Zhong Min did want to kill Xiong Zhao, but he couldn't ignore the survival of the Chu state!

With such a major incident, the most urgent task is not to continue investigating why Xiong Zhao defected to the enemy, nor to hold the other party responsible, but to immediately dispatch capable generals to the northern frontier to take over the army and stop the Zhou people who may move south!

Coming to his senses, Zhong Min immediately said in a deep voice:

"Your Majesty, please issue an immediate decree ordering General Han Yunlin to march north and stop the Zhou people from advancing south!"

……

Two hours later, as darkness fell and Zhong Min still hadn't returned, Fan Changshan grew increasingly anxious.

Just as he was about to go outside to wait, Zhong Min walked in, seething with anger.

This made Fan Changshan's heart skip a beat:

"Sir, about that matter..."

"Xiong Zhao does indeed have the intention to defect to the enemy, but it is still unknown whether he has actually done so!"

Zhong Min nodded to him and gave a brief explanation.

Upon hearing this, Fan Changshan's mood took a dramatic turn, and he quickly said:

"In that case, the agreement between you and me can stand."

"Please rest assured, sir, I will go to your bank immediately to withdraw the silver I have deposited in advance and present it all to you as a tribute."

Zhong Min is no longer concerned with being greedy for money.

Since no one knew whether Xiong Zhao had really defected to the enemy, he waved his hand and told him to leave, but still indicated that the two would be friends from now on.

If anything happens, Fan Changshan can still come to him.

After saying this, he saw Fan Changshan off, closed the door to his study, and stared at the map of the State of Chu, lost in thought...