Under the protection of the Lu army, Gongzi marched towards a country that had never belonged to him. When the army marched to the pass between Shishui and Zishui in the south of Linzi, people were surprised to find that the Qi people had already laid a heavy army here. Guo Yizhong, the commander of the Qi army, refused to allow the Lu army to move forward, and Gongzi Jie realized that things were not as optimistic as he imagined - Gongzi Xiaobai had already entered the city first and was made the monarch.

God chose Guan Yiwu to assassinate Xiaobai, and let Xiaobai escape. It turned out that the arrow shot by Guan Yiwu happened to hit the jade hook on Xiaobai's belt. Xiaobai bit his tongue and spurted blood, fell to the ground, and escaped by playing dead. After the enemy fled, he did not dare to delay a moment and immediately boarded the car and headed for his destination. After a day and a night of rapid marching, the team finally arrived at the southern suburbs of Linzi at noon the next day.

At this time, the state of Qi was completely under military control: there were military camps and fortifications everywhere outside Linzi City, and the soldiers were stepping up their drills, as if they were facing a great enemy. Gao Wei handled government affairs in the city, while Guo Yizhong sat in the army. Guo Yizhong was very shocked when he saw Xiao Bai, he placed the ragtag army from Ju Guo in the camp, and personally drove the chariot into the city with Xiao Bai and Bao Shuya. Linzi City is still the usual lively scene, but there are more patrols.

The Chinese people I met along the way spontaneously cheered for Xiaobai, excited for his arrival. Xiaobai looked at the familiar street buildings and heard the long-lost rural sound, and couldn't help but feel emotional. He couldn't help but burst into tears, and frequently waved to the countrymen, so the cheers became even stronger. The convoy went all the way to the palace. Xiaobai bathed and changed clothes, and ate two chickens casually, and then was surrounded by a large number of people and hurriedly entered the Taimiao.

The celebrant and honor guard of the temple were on standby day and night, ready to hold the coronation ceremony at any time, and the congratulatory message had already been written, and the only vacant in the congratulatory message was the name of the new monarch.

The low bell echoed in the sky over Linzi for a long time, and Taizhu solemnly announced in front of the gods of the ancestors: "Qi Xiaobai is helped by God, the gods bless, the ancestors bless, enter Linzi first, so he is the king......" When Xiaobai put on the crown, he was so excited that he couldn't help himself: he was no longer the down-and-out son who lived in a foreign country, but the Duke of Qi Huan, who enjoyed supreme power!

Outside the Taimiao, there were already a sea of people, and the number of people was more than twelve years ago. Qi Huan Gong walked out the door and thanked the people who had embraced him, and the people cheered, the people burst into tears, and the people hugged each other—whether they knew each other or not, whether they dissidents or not—and now all of them had cleared up their differences and all of them were like-minded. At this time, Gongzi Jiao was getting drunk in Qufu Palace.

The Lu army was blocked by the Qi army at the pass. Guo Yizhong demanded that the Lu people withdraw their troops immediately, otherwise they would be regarded as aggressors. Gongzi couldn't bear the huge gap between being reduced from "Qi Hou" to an exile again in an instant, and roared at Guo Yizhong; Guo Yizhong was unmoved.

Seeing that he could not attack, Lu Zhuang ordered the Lu army to turn around and go west. The Lu army marched north along the west bank of Shishui, attempting to cross Shishui to occupy Kuiqiu, and then attack Linzi. To the west of Aoi Hill, there is an ancient river channel that connects Tokisui and Jisui, but it has now dried up, so it is called "dry time". The Qi army marched along the east bank of the water, and the armies of the two countries of Qi and Lu would have a decisive battle in the dry time.

The Qi army reached Ganshi first and occupied the favorable terrain. The Lu army marched quickly all the way, and the army was quite tired when it arrived at its destination, while the Qi army had been well rested.

At this time, the Lu army was already quite passive, but Lu Zhuanggong took the risk of attacking. His approach was not so much a gamble as a gamble of bad spirit. However, war is a "major national event, a place of life and death", so how can it be done without planning?

The commander of the Qi army believed that even if he could not capture or kill Gongzi Jiao, he would still deal a devastating blow to the enemy. In this way, the State of Qi will be able to exert tremendous pressure on the State of Lu in solving the problem of Gongzijiao.

The Lu army was small in number and unfamiliar with the terrain, Lu Zhuanggong attacked first, but fell into the trap carefully designed by the Qi army; When the Qi army ambushed the troops, the Lu army was inevitably defeated.

Lu Zhuanggong paid a heavy price for his willfulness, he lost almost half of his army and all his baggage, and he himself had to abandon the car and flee. His royal hand Qin Zi and Che Youliang Zi drove empty chariots to attract the attention of the Qi army, who only knew the military flag of Zhuang Gong's chariot in the chaotic battle, and chased after them. Qin Zi and Liang Zi's horses were in the air, and the chariot tumbled down the slope, and the two were seriously wounded and captured, but they bought Zhuang Gong time to escape.

The battle ended when the sun was in the west, and Lu Zhuang Gong and Gongzi fled with the remnants of the defeated army, while the Qi division followed unhurriedly behind. As soon as the defeated army fled to the gate of the national capital, the Qi division surrounded Qufu.

Duke Qi Huan decided to kill Gongzi Jiao, but he wanted to hear the opinions of the ministers before announcing his decision. He summoned Gao Fu separately and said, "After the failure of the three eunuchs to rebel back then, why did Duke Zhou just exile Uncle Cai, but he wanted to execute Uncle Guan? Gao Wei said: "When a great country is first established, stability should be the top priority; Zhou Gong killed Uncle Guan for the safety of the royal family, not for himself. ”

Qi Huan Gong asked Guo Yizhong the same question separately, and Guo Yizhong said: "Only by killing Uncle Guan will his henchmen lose hope, and they can turn to serve the country wholeheartedly." Gongzijiao's henchmen have not committed a crime yet, but the prince cannot give them the opportunity to commit a crime. ”

Duke Qi Huan received the tacit approval of the two ministers, and immediately sent Bao Shuya to Lu to give an ultimatum.

The Qi division was still surrounding Qufu, and Bao Shuya said to Lu Zhuanggong: "Gongzi tried to murder the monarch, subvert the office, and push the Qi country into the danger of war; He has become a sinner in the Qi country, and his crimes cannot be punished. But the widow couldn't bear to personally torture his brother, so he asked the big country to do it for him. Zhaohu and Guan Yiwu are the enemies of the widow, and the widow wants to take them back to the temple to be slaughtered, so please hand these two over to us. ”

Lu Zhuanggong said: "The widow has heard the order of the prince of the great country, but the Lu country will never sign the alliance under the city if he dies, so please withdraw from the border of the Lu country, and the widow dares to disobey the orders of the great power?" ”

Duke Lu Zhuang sent Zang Wenzhong to the Qi military camp. Zang Wenzhong was nominally a messenger, but in reality he acted as an overseer (supervising the retreat of the Qi army).

Lu Zhuanggong and Gongzi Jiao's blood relationship is very close, the two are cousins and nephews, Zhuang Gong has special feelings for him, I really don't know how to convey this bad news to him.

Lu Zhuanggong came to Gongzi's room as if he had lost his soul, knelt in front of him, hugged him and cried bitterly. Gongzi appeared very calm, he had already expected the consequences of the failure to seize the throne. He patted Lu Zhuanggong on the back and comforted him softly, hoping that he could re-establish friendly relations with the new monarch of Qi. Behind Gongzi were Zhaohu and Guan Yiwu, and the two of them were gloomy and silent.

Lu Zhuanggong then left, and Gongzi committed suicide after bathing and changing clothes. Zhao Hu and Guan Yiwu gathered their master's body, and then began to discuss how to face the crisis.

Zhao Hu said: "There are dead and alive; I had no ability and could not bear the humiliation of returning home as a criminal. Childe didn't preemptively enter Linzi because of my stupidity; So I'm going to follow Childe to the death. You are a great talent, and Uncle Bao is your best friend, if you can return to Qi Kingdom, you may be able to get a chance to live. It is more beneficial for you to live to Qi Guo, and it is enough for me to serve alone on Childe's side. After saying that, he committed suicide with his sword.