Raiding a cow in a rice paddy

Xia Zhangshu killed Duke Chen Ling, led his troops into the city, and announced that he had "died of an acute illness after drinking", as was the usual practice in other countries after killing their rulers. He and his ministers made Prince Wu the ruler of the country, and Duke Chen Cheng. Xia Zhengshu was a vassal, and since Chen was a small state, he had a hundred reasons to eliminate the faint king, but he had to guard against other vassals. He then asked the new ruler to go on a pilgrimage to Jin as foreign aid.

The ambassador of Chu only knew that the Marquis of Chen had been killed, but he did not know the details of it, so he said, "The state of Chen is in chaos." Within two days, Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu arrived. When they met King Chu, they told him that Xia Zhengshu had killed the marquis of Chen and asked the alliance to make a decision. King Chu summoned his ministers to discuss how to pacify the civil strife in the state of Chen.

Among the ministers of Chu, there was a man named Qu Wu, who was not only talented in literature and martial arts, but also like Xia Ji, he always kept his youthfulness and beauty, no matter if "the years are pushing people old". From the time he saw Xia Ji in the state of Chen, his heart always thought of her. Now, when he heard that there was civil strife in the state of Chen, he planned to "fish in troubled waters" and persuaded King Chu Zhuang to invade the state of Chen. Sun Shu Ao, a magistrate, also said that it was the duty of the king to pacify the civil strife of the neighboring state. King Chu Zhuang then led his army to the state of Chen. At this time, Duke Chen Cheng Wu had not returned from his trip to Jin. The ministers, who had always been afraid of Chu, did not dare to confront the enemy, so they put all the blame on Xia Zhengshu and opened the city gates to welcome the Chu people. Yuan Po, the great official of the state of Chen, volunteered to meet the king of Chu and knelt before him respectfully. King Chu asked him, "Why don't you convict the traitor? Why did you let him do what he did?" Yuan Po said, "It is not because we are willing to submit, but because we have no power, so we have to wait for the king to punish him." King Zhuang of Chu asked Yuan Po to lead the way to Zhu Lin to get Xia Zheng Shu.

When Xia Zhengshu heard that Chu's army had arrived, he tried to resist. But the ministers opened the gates of the city and surrendered to Chu. He had to retreat to Zhu Lin and tried to take his mother with him to escape to another place, so it took more effort. But the Chu army surrounded Zhu Lin. Xia Zhengshu was outnumbered and was finally caught. The young man was killed by the Chu people, and his death was quite tragic. They caught Xia Ji again and sent her to King Zhuang for treatment.Xia Ji knelt in front of King Zhuang of Chu and said without panic: "Our country is already broken and our family is dead. My life is in the hands of the king. If the king kills me, it is like wiping an ant to death. If the king pitied such a weak woman as me, I would rather be a maid and serve the king." When King Chu Chuang saw this poor girl with her hair and tears on her face, he said to the ministers, "I am going to take her back to the palace, what do you think?" When Qu Wu heard this, he was very anxious. He quickly stopped her and said, "No, you can't! You mustn't! The king sent his army to conquer the state of Chen to punish the guilty. If the king accepted her, people would say that the king was greedy for sex. It is justice to conquer the guilty, but it is a bad thing to love beauty. Your Majesty has come for justice, don't damage the good name of the hegemon for the sake of a woman." King Chu Chuang said, "But it is a pity to kill such a woman." The great general, Duke Sid, quickly ran up and pleaded, "I am a middle-aged man, but I have not yet married a daughter-in-law, please reward her to me, Your Majesty!" Qu Wu stopped him again and said, "This woman is a pest. You see, not all of them died by her hand, such as Yu Shu, Chen Hou, and Zheng Shu. Kong Ning and Yi Xingfu were rendered homeless by her, right? There are plenty of beautiful girls, why do you have to marry such a widow?" I heard the grandson say, "Fine! Then I don't want it either."