When Zhao Xu decided to personally lead the army to attack the State of Jin, he certainly did not forget to place spies in the country and entrusted a series of matters to his confidants in order to avoid any trouble when he was away. However, he planned everything well, but problems still occurred.
He was in a hurry to go back and deal with the rebels, but he was ambushed by the enemy halfway. His luck was so bad that Zhao Xu even felt that the world was making fun of him. Just when he saw a glimmer of hope, he was slapped hard in the face. But it was not entirely true to say that he had bad luck, because this time, he escaped under the protection of his confidants. Even though he injured a leg, he was still alive.
Just like the last time he fought against the State of Lu, after he escaped with injuries, he was quickly sent to the capital of the State of Zhao.
"When I return to Zhao, these... these damned rebels, as well as the remnant soldiers of Jin, will all have a bad end!" Zhao Xu covered his broken leg and spoke fiercely. But soon, he was slapped in the face again.
The group secretly returned to the vicinity of the capital of Zhao State, and Zhao Xu tried to quietly contact the inner circle of the city. The person who could allow him to contact at this time was of course his most trusted subordinate. In countless reincarnations in the past, this person had always been loyal to him, and even killed his parents, wife and children to show his loyalty. However, this time, this person actually surrendered to the rebellious Yu Shangjun, and after receiving his letter, he brought people to arrest him.
"King Zhao, I have been waiting for you for a long time. Yu Shangjun... No, it is the king who wants to invite you to meet him." The middle-aged scholar bowed to him, looking very respectful.
Zhao Xu looked at his subordinate with a sullen face, "Did anyone else betray me too?"
The scholar smiled and said, "There is no one else." As soon as Yu Shangjun came to power, those people were found and dealt with.
Zhao Xu: "Why did you betray me? Is it because the treatment I gave you was not enough?"
The scholar just smiled meaningfully, did not answer him, and gestured to the back to invite him in.
Zhao Xu had no choice but to be escorted back to the palace that belonged to him by the soldiers who had previously protected him. Because his leg was broken in the previous ambush and had not yet recovered, he could only be carried by others, but when they reached the palace gate, no one else was allowed to enter, so Zhao Xu could only drag his injured leg and slowly walk in amid the scolding.
Yu Shangjun had been waiting for him there. When he saw him come in, he asked the servants to serve him a cup of tea.
"Don't worry, it's not poisonous. I'm your uncle after all, and I'm not going to kill you." Yu Shangjun flipped through the books on the desk and said in a light tone, "After drinking this cup of tea, you should stay in jail and spend the rest of your life there."
Zhao Xu sneered, "You're not going to kill me, that sounds nice."
Yu Shangjun glanced at him and said, "At least, I am different from you."
Zhao Xu: "We are all for power, what's the difference? No matter how righteous you are, you are just as ambitious as me."
Yu Shangjun didn't say anything more to him and had him put in winter prison.
Zhao Xu went from being a king to a prisoner overnight. He no longer had fine clothes, palaces, delicious food, and beautiful palace maids. When he first entered the winter prison, he really got angry. When the guards saw him like this, they gradually relaxed their guard against him and just listened to his cursing every day.
Although Yu Shangjun did not kill him, he was afraid that he might have some tricks up his sleeve, so he asked people to keep a close eye on his behavior. When he heard that he seemed to be crazy in prison and did not seem to be faking it, and that he looked like he was at the end of his rope, he did not bother to pay any more attention to him.
After a few months, the guards of the winter prison began to slack off. One night, a group of people sneaked into the winter prison and came to the prison gate of Zhao Xu.
"King! Your subordinates are here to rescue you." The leader opened the prison door and knelt on the messy ground.
Zhao Xu, who was sitting there in a disheveled and dirty state with his hair hanging down and covering his face, stood up slowly. His dark eyes were filled with coldness. "It's too late."
"Yes, I am useless and have wronged Your Majesty." The man kowtowed quickly and stepped forward to help Zhao Xu leave.
They were Zhao Xu's retreat just in case, and they had been lying dormant for several months, waiting for the right opportunity to rescue Zhao Xu. Because they had made arrangements, they did not encounter any obstacles on their way out of the winter prison.
There was no time to stay in the royal city, so Zhao Xu fled out of the Zhao royal city with a group of people who followed him, so as to avoid being discovered and blocked by guards in the city.
After rushing out of the city, Zhao Xu chose an inconspicuous city to temporarily settle down. His leg was lame because of the previous injury that was not treated in time. How could Zhao Xu bear it? He would get angry if someone looked at him more than once on the road. If the situation was not bad now, if someone dared to look at him with that kind of eyes, he would definitely arrest the person and punish him in public.
"Wang, this leg can definitely be cured."
Zhao Xu: "Get lost!"
"Yes, yes." The person who spoke nodded and stepped back, not daring to mention the matter again.
After all, Zhao Xu had been a king for many years. If he wanted to make a comeback, he still had a chance. After careful consideration, he decided to try to find allies. He wanted to find those who had soldiers and some ambitions. As long as he promised to give them gold, silver and treasures and more fiefdoms after regaining the throne, as long as the treatment was generous, he would not be afraid of no one being tempted.
The first person Zhao Xu approached was King Qiyang. He sent someone to test him, but King Qiyang refused to see him and only told him one sentence: "You have made an alliance with Jin and you can destroy Jin in a blink of an eye. I don't believe it."
He mocked him for having previously formed an alliance with the State of Jin, but later tore up the alliance and destroyed the State of Jin, saying that this act was unfaithful. After being humiliated, Zhao Xu was unable to refute and could only quickly lead his people to leave the fiefdom of King Qiyang.
His choice was correct. Not long after they left, the guards found his temporary residence and wanted to capture him and ask the new king for a reward.
"King, what should we do next?"
"Continue to look for King Moyang." Zhao Xu did not believe that everyone was as stupid and cowardly as King Qiyang.
The old fox King Moyang did meet him and entertained him warmly, saying something like he hoped he would take back the throne as soon as possible. But when it came to asking him to send troops to the royal city, he kept silent and shirked his responsibility.
Zhao Xu looked for everyone he could find, and only one person, the King of Yiyang, was optimistic about him. He wanted to marry his daughter to him, hoping that his daughter would become the queen in the future, and he asked for a lot of things. Zhao Xu was not afraid of his demands, but the problem was that the King of Yiyang did not have many soldiers, and it was really a pipe dream to want to fight back to the capital with just these few people.
But he had no other options. No one was willing to protect him now. He could only stay with King Yiyang to stabilize him, use his daughter to form a deeper alliance, and then slowly recruit troops. At the same time, he did not give up trying to test other people with military power in various places. He really racked his brains to jump around in Zhao State.
He changed his name and hid himself very deeply. Yu Shangjun searched for him for two years without success and had no choice but to leave him alone. So, after Zhao Xu accumulated energy for several years, he finally found an opportunity.
There was a severe drought in the southeast, and Yu Shangjun was going to Yancheng to offer sacrifices to the heaven. Zhao Xu decided to ambush Yu Shangjun, take his head, and then go straight to the royal city to take back the throne.
This year, more than eight years have passed since Zhao Xu was driven off the throne.
It was summer again on the grassland. The Wutu tribe was now several times larger than in previous years. Just as Yin Ruxu had said a few years ago, it had become a bustling town. At first, only the Yin caravans came here frequently. But a few years ago, Wo Tu led the tribe to open up a road to Xiling. Gradually, caravans from Xiling also came here. They also discovered a crystal clear gem mine in Mangshan. In recent years, countless people have gone to Mangshan to mine and buy stones. People coming and going always have to pass through the Wutu tribe.
As the population increased, not all of them relied on herding cattle and sheep for a living. Some people still maintained the habit of winter migration, but some others had begun to get used to settling down.
The Wutu tribe has the most people in this season. The separated markets are bustling with people, and the open space outside has long been turned into a playground, which is the favorite play area for teenagers. At this time, most women are near the lake, where a canal has been dug. The craftsmen brought by the Yin Kingdom spent a lot of effort to build this convenient water supply. Women will wash clothes and prepare food here.
"Ayan, where have you been? The princess is looking for you." A woman dressed as a woman stood up with a basin in her hand by the canal and shouted to a child riding a horse not far away.
The woman looked like a typical Yin person. She was one of the palace maids who came with Yin Ruxu to marry, and later married a wolf rider warrior. The Ayan she mentioned was the child of Yin Ruxu and Wotu, the "little chief" loved by everyone in the Wutu tribe.
A Yan was only nine years old, but he was already very tall, and he looked a bit boyish when riding on a horse. He looked more like his mother, beautiful and handsome, but with a high nose bridge and a pair of green eyes, he looked more like his father.
"Dingxiang, what does Am want me for?" Ah Yan waved his bow and arrow on his horse. There were also a bunch of rabbits and other small animals hanging on his horse, and it seemed that he was going hunting.
"It seems like I'm looking for you to try on new clothes."
"Okay, I got it." A Yan responded and shouted to a mighty wolf running behind the horse, "Erbao, hurry up!" The wolf howled as if in response, caught up with the man and horse in front, and quickly ran into the settlement not far away.
"Am!" Ayan carried a bunch of prey, shouted Am, and walked into the king's tent.
Yin Ruxu came out from behind the screen and said, "You're back. Where did you dig the rabbit holes? Why did you bring back so many?"
Ah Yan ran to her, held up his prey like a treasure, and replied, "It's the place my father took me to before. There are a lot of rabbits there!"
Yin Ruxu smiled and wiped the sweat off his forehead. This child was just like his father. He was very good at snatching rabbits and mice from holes. They were a nuisance everywhere. They were simply the two evil spirits of the grassland.
"You're running so fast, you're all sweaty. Come, take off your coat and wipe it for you. There are new clothes made for you on the shelf. The weather is hot recently, so it's more comfortable to wear something light and thin."
"Yeah." Ah Yan raised his little face and let his mother wipe the sweat off his face. When he took off his clothes, dirt and small stones, as well as two small daggers, fell out of his sleeves. Yin Ruxu even took out a small lazy mouse the size of a palm from his arms.
Yin Ruxu: "...You went into the lazy rat hole?"
A Yan picked up the small dagger that fell on the ground and touched his head, "I had forgotten I had it! Am, this is for you, for you to play with."
After changing into new clothes and drinking a few glasses of water, A Yan wiped his mouth and held the small bow: "Amu, your father has been away for the past two days, you must be bored, I will take you out to play!"
Both father and son like to take her out to play.
Yin Ruxu smiled, "Where are you going to take me to play? Do you know any fun places?"
A Yan: "When I came back, I saw them shooting colorful silks. We can go too!"
Yin Ruxu thought about it and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."
She also changed her clothes, put on the finger guards made by Wotu, and went to the hillside with her son to play archery with her bow and arrow. Ayan did not forget to greet the two big wolves in front of the tent.
"Dabao and Erbao, let's go and play!"
These two wolves were the ones by the warm lake back then, and grew up with A Yan. Da Bao likes to follow Yin Ruxu, while Er Bao likes to follow A Yan even more. Wherever A Yan goes to play, Er Bao will go with him.
"Am, I can now shoot better than you."
"Oh, really? But, being better than me doesn't count. You have to be better than your father to be better."
The author has something to say: Obviously, this little story is almost over.