Sun Bin was in a hurry and suspected that Zhong Li Chun was inappropriate for marriage and killed the soothsayer in a rage. He told Tian Ji about the divination, Tian Ji didn't believe that Zhong Li Chun was so reckless, he was about to send someone to find Zhong Li Chun and ask him the truth, when the courtier reported that the King of Qi ordered him to go to the palace quickly.

  Tian Ji enters the palace and kowtows to King Qi Wei, who opens the door and asks Tian Ji if he knows who killed the old diviner. “This ......” Tian Ji couldn't decide whether to tell the king of Qi about Zhong Li Chun or not. When King Qi Wei saw that Tian Ji was stammering, he went straight to the point and said, “Some people say that it was one of your men who killed him.”

  Thinking that the King of Qi might have heard something, Tian Ji could only nod his head and say, “And this is only speculation, there is no proof yet.”

  “Who do you speculate it was?”

  “Zhong Li Chun.”

  “Why did she kill the Diviner?”

  “It's rumored to be for marriage, the soothsayer said it was impossible for her to be fated to be married to Sun Bin, she killed the soothsayer in a fit of rage.”

  “You quickly bring Zhong Li Chun into the palace, I want to interrogate her myself.”

  “She has already left the house of my humble servant last night.”

  King Qi Wei ordered Tian Ji to quickly send someone to arrest Zhong Li Chun.

  Qin Gu, who led the search for Zhong Li Chun last night, returned to Tian Ji's mansion exhausted, and told Sun Bin and Tian Ji that he had searched all the inns in Linzi, and had found no sign of Zhong Li Chun, and that he had gone to the four city gates, and that the soldiers at the west gate had said that there was a man carrying a sword, and had climbed down from the wall last night, and that, according to the soldiers' description of the man, he guessed that it was Zhong Li Chun. He found a fast horse and galloped out of the city gates to catch up for a while, but didn't catch up, it seems that Zhong Li Chun is far away from home.

  Sun Bin told Qin Gu: “The old diviner was killed last night, I suspect Zhong Li Chun killed someone and absconded.”

  “Never.” Qin Gu said, “I saw the soothsayer on the street late last night, the soothsayer was with Zou Ji's entourage, and the soldiers at the west gate said that Zhong Li Chun scaled the city wall before nightfall.”

  “Zou Ji's entourage ...... You are not mistaken, are you?”

  “Can't be wrong, I've seen him in the Zou residence.” Qin Gu replied affirmatively.

  “In that case, the soothsayer's death was most likely Zou Ji's plot.” Sun Bin pondered.

  On the other side, Zou Ji was worried about the long night and urged King Wei of Qi, “Your Majesty, since Tian Ji has already admitted that the soothsayer was killed by his men, we should arrest Tian Ji and Sun Bin immediately.”

  King Wei of Qi said, “After they capture Zhong Li Chun and have a confession, it won't be too late for me to dispose of them. In this way, the court officials and the people will be convinced.”

  “What if they can't catch Zhong Li Chun, or don't catch Zhong Li Chun at all?”

  “That would prove that they are thieves, and I would still have a reason to dispose of them.”

  The windy rumors in the palace blew into Tian Ji's mansion, Sun Bin said to Tian Ji, “Great General, the best thing to do now is to hand over military power to defend instead of attack.”

  Tian Ji hesitated, he was worried that surrendering military power would make it harder to deal with Zou Ji.

  Sun Bin added: “Zou Ji can't help us, the key is the Great King. By handing over the military power, we can release the Great King's suspicion and avoid the danger of killing ourselves. As long as we have a green mountain to live in, are we still afraid of not having firewood to burn? Furthermore, even though we surrender our military power, there are still Tian's generals in the army, so it's difficult for Zou Ji to intervene in the military affairs for a while.”

  Qin Gu also agreed with Sun Bin's idea and advised Tian Ji to surrender his military power to relieve the king's suspicion.

  The next day, in the King of Qi's palace. Tian Ji was kneeling in front of King Wei of Qi with his hand on the military talisman; Sun Bin was standing behind him with his hand on the Great Seal of the Military Master. Tian Ji took the lead and said to King Wei of Qi: “Your Majesty, I am not feeling well lately, so it is not suitable for me to be in charge of the military anymore, please take back the military talisman and choose another general.”

  The palace guards stepped forward and took the military talisman. King Wei of Qi nodded slightly and said to Tian Ji, “Tian Ji, I hope you recuperate well and serve me again after your health recovers.”

  Tian Ji kowtowed and thanked him afterward. Sun Bin bowed and said, “Your Majesty, I am General Tian's protégé, since General Tian has surrendered his military power, it would be inappropriate for me to hold the position of Military Master, so I ask Your Majesty to take back the seal of the Military Master.”

  “Sun Bin, you are a rare marshal, I really don't want to take back your Seal of Military Master. However, Zhong Li Chun is the person you brought here, she killed the Diviner, if I let you stay on, I'm afraid there will be many criticisms from the dao in the court, I'll also temporarily remove you from the post of Military Master.” Palace guards stepped forward to take the great seal in Sun Bin's hand, King Qi Wei continued, “You've made great achievements for me, I won't treat you poorly, I'll give you the land of Le'an, which used to be your ancestor's fiefdom.”

  “Thank you Great King.” Sun Bin arched his hand and saluted.

  Tian Ji and Sun Bin lose their military power, Zou Ji is exceptionally happy and invites Gongsun Yue to drink and watch the dance to celebrate. “Haha, Xiang Guo, I didn't expect Zhong Li Chun to stir up so much, the fake drama became real, everything went smoothly, it's really heaven's will!” Gongsun Yue laughed and toasted Zou Ji, continuing, “Although Tian Ji and Sun Bin surrendered their military power, they will never stop, if we don't remove them, there will be endless troubles.”

  Zou Ji dismissed the dancing female musicians and asked Gongsun Yue what plan he had to get rid of them.

  Gongsun Yue said, “The easiest way is to pay heavily for assassins and kill them.”

  Zou Ji shook his head and said, “No, although Tian Ji doesn't have an army anymore, he has a lot of disciples under his command, and among them, there are a lot of sword masters, if the assassins miss, we will lose all our efforts; moreover, even if we win, if we get rid of them in Qi, Tian Ji's generals will surely suspect that it's me, and I won't be able to have any peace of mind at that time.”

  Gongsun Yue frowned lightly and paced back and forth. Suddenly his eyes lit up and he said, “There, Xiang Guo choose a time to report to the Great King and ask him to send Tian Ji and Sun Bin as emissaries to Chu to discuss the alliance. Then, Xiang Guo asked his men to bribe the spies that Chu had planted in Qi, and asked them to send a secret letter to the King of Chu, saying that Tian Ji and Sun Bin were ambitious, and wanted to conquer all the lords in the world since they defeated Wei last time, and that this time when they went to Chu, they were obviously messengers, but in fact they were there to probe the realities of Chu, and that the King of Chu would surely kill them.”

  Zou Ji thought that this plan is very high, not only can borrow the hand of the king of Chu to get rid of their rivals, but also can do God does not know the ghost.

  After a few days, Zou Ji came into the palace and said to King Qi Wei, “Your Majesty, Wei has lost its army and its vitality has been greatly injured, so it will not be a threat to Qi in a few years; Han, Country of Han, Yan, and Zhao are not as strong as Qi and are not enough to be a danger to them; Qin is far away in the west, so it will not be a danger to Qi. The only vassal in the world that can compete with Qi is Chu. If the king allies with Chu, all the other small vassal states will join the king.”

  King Qi Wei asked him who would be the most suitable person to go to Chu, and Zou Ji recommended Tian Ji and Sun Bin.

  King Qi Wei mused, “Tian Ji and Sun Bin are familiar with Qi's military situation, if they take the opportunity to defect to Chu, they will be a great threat to my country.”

  “That's fine, you can hint to them that if they rebel against Qi and defect to Chu, you will execute their entire clan.”

  “Sun Bin is alone, who do you kill?”

  “His two cousins, Sun Ping and Sun Zhuo, returned to Qi some days ago, and Sun Bin has settled them in his fiefdom, Le'an.”

  King Wei of Qi adopted Zou Ji's suggestion.

  Zhong Li Qiu wept sadly when she heard that her sister had fled to another country because of murder and that Sun Bin had lost his military power because of it. She said to Gongsun Yue with tears in her eyes, “I'll never see my sister again ......”

  Gongsun Yue put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her, “Don't be sad, in a few days, once the wind is out of the way, I'll ask the Sage to petition the King to pardon your sister, and then ask her to come back so she can live with us.”

  Zhong Li Qiu sobbed and asked, “Can Sangguo listen to you?”

  “Yes, the Sagittarius trusts me very much now.”

  “Can the Great King listen to the Sagittarius?”

  “Yes, the Great King relies mainly on Xiangguo to rule the country.”

  “Can I ask you one more thing?”

  “Say it, no matter how many things you beg me, I will agree.”

  Zhong Li Qiu calmed down and said, “I heard that Sun Bin lost his military power because he offended the phase state, so please beg the phase state to stop making things difficult for Sun Bin, okay?”

  Gongsun Yue sighed and said, “I can agree to everything else, this matter ...... is too deep of a built up feud between Xiang Guo and Sun Bin, it's not good ......”

  “Didn't you say that Xiangguo trusts you the most, if you go and beg him, can he still not give you face?”

  Gongsun Yue said, “Although Xiang Guo trusts me, but this matter ......”

  Zhong Liqiu begged Gongsun Yue, “As long as you promise, I will follow you in whatever you do in the future ......”

  In order to make Zhong Liqiu happy, Gongsun Yue had to promise her against her will.

  The more Zhong Liqiu pleaded for Sun Bin, the more Gongsun Yue was jealous of Sun Bin in his heart. He pacified Zhong Li Qiu and immediately went to find Zou Ji. He told Zou Ji that he had bribed assassins to assassinate Sun Bin and Tian Ji halfway.

  Zou Ji was stunned and asked, “Didn't you say kill them by the hand of the King of Chu?”

  “Killing by the King of Chu is killing, assassin killing is also killing, no matter by whom, just get rid of them.”

  “It's not the same, if Tian Ji and Sun Bin are killed on the way, the Dafus in the court are bound to suspect me.”

  “Don't let them die in Qi, let them die in Chu, and say it was Pang Juan who did it.”

  Zou Ji pondered for a moment and said, “Also, but can't can let the assassin know about me.”

  Gongsun Yue smiled faintly, “Don't worry, Xiang Guo, I, Gongsun Yue, will do my job without a drop of water.”

  Tian Ji and Sun Bin followed the King of Qi's order and set out on the road to Chu with their entourage. Sun Bin said to Tian Ji, “These days, the more I think about it, the more I wonder why the King asked us to go to Chu. A great general and a military counselor, isn't the Great King afraid that the King of Chu will leave us behind?”

  Tian Ji laughed bitterly, “I was afraid that you would worry and never told you. When I was commissioned, the Great King had hinted to me that if we did not return to our country, he would kill our entire clan. The Great King especially emphasized that he already knew that your two cousins had returned to Qi.”

  Sun Bin was silent for a moment, sighed, and said, “I've always viewed others as too kind, and after a few setbacks, when it comes to things I'm forced to consider whether there's any malice in them.”

  “What malice would the Great King have? If the Great King had any malice, he would not have sent us on a mission to Chu.”

  “It's not the Great King, it's Zou Ji. Zou Ji originally wanted to put us to death, we took the initiative to hand over our military power and avoided the danger of killing us, Zou Ji is worried that we will rise again one day and will never stop, therefore, this time when we go on a mission to Chu, there must be a conspiracy from Zou Ji.”

  Tian Ji nodded his head in agreement and then asked Sun Bin: “What could his plot be?”

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  Sun Bin said, “It could be to buy assassins and assassinate them halfway.”

  Tian Ji said indignantly, “This kind of despicable trick, Zou Ji, this villain can do it!”

  So the two were careful all the way, not dare to have the slightest carelessness.

  Many days later, Tian Ji and Sun Bin's caravan finally crossed the border and arrived in Chu. Tian Ji breathed a long sigh of relief and said to Sun Bin: “We can breathe a sigh of relief, Zou Ji is too far away to kill us.”

  Sun Bin said “It's hard to say, if I were Zou Ji, I would strike where you wouldn't expect, it's called surprise and attack.”

  Tian Ji laughed: “If you were Zou Ji, that could be troublesome ...... These days, you sleep well, I get up every night for night duty.” Said he yawned, “If this goes on, I can't stand it.”

  When the sun set, they stayed at a post station.

  It was late at night, and the wind outside the window rattled the leaves of the trees.

  Tian Ji lay on his sleeping couch and could not sleep; he sat up, went to the door of the house, tried the bolt, which was very secure, and, still uneasy, took another stick and put it against the door.

  Sun Bin on the other couch rolled over and asked “Why aren't you sleeping?”

  Tian Ji laughed “Hehehe”, “I'm afraid they'll attack me.” He said, “I'm afraid that they will attack me by surprise.” He said, “I'm afraid that they will attack me by surprise.

  In the courtyard, the sound of the wind blowing the leaves seemed louder.

  Tian Ji sat up again and stared out the window.

  Sun Bin opened his eyes, looked at Tian Ji, and said, “What, you don't dare to sleep?”

  Tian Ji covered up, “It's not that I don't dare, I just can't sleep.”

  Sun Bin also sat up and said with a smile, “Don't be embarrassed, don't dare is don't dare, it's human nature, even the bravest people, there are times when they are timid, especially when they don't know when and where the enemy will attack me ...... To be honest, I can't sleep either.”

  Tian Ji looked at Sun Bin and sighed: “Mr. Sun, you and I on top of the frontier is how majestic, and now let a nothing assassin to make a mess of the night do not dare to go to bed ...... think of it I hate Zou Ji, the hall of the phase of the state, but even use such a villainous tactics, really despicable!”

  “Curse Zou Ji useless, the most urgent thing is to think of a way how to sleep peacefully.”

  “You just have a thousand brilliant ideas, I can't sleep, unless there is no assassin.”

  “The reason we are afraid of assassins is that we don't know when and where they will attack us, Sun Tzu's Art of War says ......”

  Tian Ji interrupted, “The Art of War is useless against assassins.”

  “You'll know if it's useful or not when you hear me out.” Sun Bin continued, “The Art of War says: a good defender makes the enemy not know what he's attacking. If we make the assassin not know what he's attacking, won't we be able to sleep peacefully?”

  “How can we make the assassin not know what he's attacking?” Tian Ji asked.

  “That's easy. The assassins are trailing an emissary from Qi, and it is you and I who are to be killed; we will have our attendants put on the emissary's clothes, and spread the news at the post stations along the way, saying that you and I are sick halfway, and that we have returned to Linzi, and that they are acting in the place of the emissary. The assassins will have no way of finding you and me.”

  “And then what, what do we do?” Tian Ji asked.

  Sun Bin laughed: “We change into the people's clothes and ride to the capital of Chu through a small path ...... Great General, how about my plan?”

  Tian Ji deliberately said, “Not good.”

  Sun Bin was stunned, “Why?”

  Tian Ji said, “This is for tomorrow and beyond, we still can't sleep tonight.”

  Sun Bin smiled, “I'll tell you another plan to ensure you get a peaceful night's sleep. Only, it's going to aggravate you for one night.”

  “I'm not afraid of aggravation, as long as I can sleep soundly. Speak up, what idea?”

  Sun Bin wanted to say something, looked out the window, then came to Tian Ji's sleeping couch and whispered a few words into Tian Ji's ear.

  Tian Ji couldn't stop nodding his head and cheerfully said, “Hey, hey, okay, I can do it.”

  When the moon was in the middle of the sky, the sound of the wind weakened. Two assassins, one tall and one short, appeared in the courtyard of the post station, they sneaked under the window of Tian Ji and Sun Bin's living room, peered inward for a moment, then took down the bow from their backs, through the window pane, aiming at the people on the sleeping couch, and then fired two arrows in a row.

  Both of those arrows hit the person under the quilt on the sleeping couch.

  One assassin said, “Go in and take a look.”

  The other said, “No need, there is no one who won't die after being hit by a poisoned arrow.”

  At this moment, someone behind them sneered, “They wouldn't be dead.”

  The two hurriedly turned back, and Zhong Li Chun, dressed as a warrior, stood behind them.

  “Who are you?” One of the assassins asked.

  “The one who killed you.” Zhong Li Chun said coldly.

  “The one who can kill us hasn't been born yet.” The other assassin said, drawing his sword and stabbing at Zhong Li Chun.

  Zhong Li Chun was prepared for this and blocked it with his sword, then with a smooth stroke, he went straight for the assassin's vitals, and the assassin was shocked and backed away in a hurry.

  Zhong Li Chun said, “Put down the sword, I can spare your lives.”

  The assassin snapped, “Don't even think about it!”

  The two assassins joined hands and attacked Zhong Li Chun, the three swords fought together, stirring up sword light.

  While Zhong Li Chun and the assassins were fighting, inside the house Sun Bin and Tian Ji poked their heads out from underneath their respective sleeping couches with gray faces.

  Tian Ji said quietly to Sun Bin, “It seems to be Zhong Li Chun outside.”

  Sun Bin looked out the window and said, “Soldiers are established by fraud, don't be a fake ......”

  Before the words were finished, the door was kicked open. Sun Bin and Tian Ji immediately retracted their heads back under the sleeping couch.

  A man was pushed in and fell heavily to the ground, a short assassin. Immediately after that Zhong Li Chun walked in, she came to Sun Bin's sleeping couch and kicked it as hard as she could, saying, “Sun Bin, come out.”

  Sun Bin poked his head out and was pleasantly surprised to see it was Zhong Li Chun, “Zhong Li Chun, it's really you!”

  Zhong Li Chun had a cold face and said, “Ran away with one, caught one.” After saying that, she turned around and walked out.

  Sun Bin crawled out from under his sleeping couch, calling out Zhong Li Chun's name, limping and chasing after her outside the post.

  And Zhong Li Chun's figure had long since disappeared into the night.

  Only then did Sun Bin realize that Zhong Li Chun had been secretly following them and protecting them. This chivalrous woman heavily impacted Sun Bin's heart.

  At the same time, Tian Ji sternly interrogated the short assassin who bribed him, the short assassin kept his mouth shut and when Tian Ji wasn't paying attention, he suddenly rose up and hit his head against the wall, fell heavily on the ground and killed himself. Tian Ji sighed: “He is a man. Pull out and bury him properly.”

  The next day on the road, Sun Bin was still thinking about Zhong Li Chun, he muttered, “I really wish there was another assassin.”

  Tian Ji choked, “Don't you dare scare me.”

  “If there's another assassin, Zhong Li Chun will still show up ......” At this point Sun Bin's eyes were tender as he continued, ”I want to ask her where she left Linzi to go... ...I also want to ask her, when did she follow us, last night, she knew everything, we hid under the sleeper couch and she knew it too, while we didn't know where she was.”

  Tian Ji also marveled, “If Zhong Li Chun were a man, there would be few rivals for her in the world.”

  “Even if Zhong Li Chun were a woman, there are few rivals in the world, and there is only one person I know of who is her rival.”

  Tian Ji asked who it was. Sun Bin said, “Pang Juan's protégé, Gongsun Yue.”

  Tian Ji nodded and said, “I've heard of this person, luckily Zou Ji didn't get him.”

  When Zou Ji heard that the assassin failed he couldn't help but feel a bit worried, Gongsun Yue comforted him and said, “Isn't there still the King of Chu, by the time they arrived in Chu, the secret letter of the Chu spies had long reached the King of Chu, can the King of Chu let them go?”

  On the other hand, Tian Ji and Sun Bin came to the capital of Chu, the Shihuang Daifu of Chu arranged for them to stay in the guest house of Chu, after a few days, the King of Chu still didn't summon them, Sun Bin told Tian Ji that there must be a change in the situation.

  Shi Huang Dafu observed Tian Ji and Sun Bin for many days and didn't find any unusual behavior, so he said to the King of Chu: “Your Majesty, Tian Ji and Sun Bin don't look like they are here to listen to the realities of Chu.”

  The king of Chu said, “But the fine work came to the letter, said clearly and unambiguously ...... You say, how should this matter be disposed of?”

  “Great King, whether or not they came to probe the falsehood is not important, what is important is how to leave them behind.” Shi Huang Dafu said, “Tian Ji was once a great general of Qi, and is familiar with the military situation of Qi, if the great king reuses Tian Ji, Qi is not enough to be feared; Sun Bin is a rare marshal in today's world, and is said to be proficient in the Art of War of Sun Tzu, if he can be left in Chu to assist the great king, the world will belong to the great king.”

  The king of Chu nodded, then asked, “What if they refuse to stay?”

  “Kill them, and what the Great King cannot get, he cannot let others get.”

  “But if I kill them, Qi will blame me for it.”

  “If Qi loses Tian Ji and Sun Bin, what can it do if it blames the Great King?”

  The King of Chu thought that Shi Huang Dafu had a point and ordered him to visit Tian Ji and Sun Bin immediately.

  When he saw Tian Ji and Sun Bin, he exchanged pleasantries and took out a secret letter from Qi for them to read, and told them that what was said in the letter came from the mouths of important people in the court of Qi.

  When Tian Ji read the letter, he was very angry: “What is said in the letter are all rumors!” Tian Ji said to Shi Huang Dafu: “Shi Huang Dafu, you have read my king's letter, please believe us, we are indeed here for the alliance, and never come to find out the truth of Chu.”

  Shi Huang Dafu laughed, “You soldiers, you talk about falsehood and truth, how do I know what is true and what is false.”

  Tian Ji said, “I can swear to heaven!”

  Shihuang Daifu pondered for a moment and said, “I can take your word for it, but my king may not.”

  “Tell me, how can I convince the king of Chu.”

  “Stay in Chu and assist my king.”

  “That's impossible.”

  “Since there are people in the Qi dynasty who say that you are spies sent to Chu, whether it is true or not, they are setting you up for death, and even if you go back, you won't be able to do any good, so why don't you stay in Chu, and my king will surely reuse you.” Shi Huang Dafu gave some good advice and told Tian and Sun to think about it.

  Sun Bin and Tian Ji didn't expect something like this to happen, Tian Ji asked Sun Bin what to do, Sun Bin said, “First make sure about the alliance, get the Chu King's handwritten letter to the King, and have your entourage send it back to your country, then think about the next step.”

  The King of Chu agreed to ally with Qi in order to keep Tian Ji and Sun Bin and wrote a letter to the King of Qi.

  When Sun Bin got the letter, he immediately sent his entourage back to Qi on fast horses with the letter from the King of Chu.

  When Sun Bin estimated that his entourage had already entered Qi, he told Shi Huang Dafu that they couldn't stay in Chu. Shi Huang Dafu asked with a stern face, “You're not going to change your minds?”

  Tian Ji responded without showing any weakness, “A great man's word is his bond, not to mention that it's impossible for us to betray Qi!”

  “You guys have a lot of backbone.” Shihuang Dafu sneered, “My king has orders to kill you all if you refuse to stay in Chu! You guys take care of yourselves.”

  Note: “Borrowing a knife to kill” is the third of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, which means, borrowing someone else's hand to get rid of the opponent. Zou Ji and Gongsun Yue used this plan to trap Sun Bin and Tian Ji to death by the hand of the King of Chu. To know what happened next, please read next time: “Loot a Burning House”.