[Three Kingdoms] Carnival

Chapter 123

Liu Bei, who rode back home, saw the white clothes waiting at the gate of the city, his eyes softened a lot.

In the sixth year of Jian'an, he came to Jingzhou and joined Liu Biao, the same clan of the Liu family, and his life was not happy.Although Liu Biao was a royal family member, he had no ambition to support the Han family, nor did he have any ambition to strive for dominance in the world. What he only wanted was the peace of Jingzhou.Therefore, when he persuaded Liu Biao to take advantage of Cao Cao's expedition to Wuhuan to send troops north to meet Emperor Xian, Liu Biao thought that he had bad intentions, thinking that he wanted to take this opportunity to get involved in Jingzhou.In the end, not only failed to take advantage of the emptiness in the north to beat Cao Cao, but also deepened the gap between him and Liu Biao.

However, Liu Biao was a person who admired Confucianism all his life.Although he was afraid of Liu Bei, it was just that he did not allow Liu Bei to have too much power and military force. In daily life, he treated Liu Bei as a distinguished guest and gave him great preferential treatment, eating and using almost the same as Liu Biao himself.It stands to reason that if an ordinary person is able to have such a corner of the world in troubled times, he would be satisfied.

But Liu Bei was not reconciled.

He has been running around for half his life, without occupying an inch of land, and has no more than a thousand soldiers and horses under him. The great cause of the revival of the Han Dynasty is as far away as clouds in the sky.How could he be willing to live a life of mediocrity under the fence of others?

And maybe God really still cares about the Han family. When Liu Bei was most depressed and couldn't find a way out, he met Sima Hui, Mr. Shui Jing, and from Sima Hui, he met Zhuge Liang after several twists and turns.

Xiao Xiao Qingfeng, faint bamboos, the sound of the zither is low and high, when it is low, it is like a dragon entering the abyss, and when it is high, it is like a dragon whistling in the sky, the birds fold their wings for it, and the beasts keep silent.

At that time, in front of the thatched cottage, there was only a peach blossom tree planted in full bloom, and the man was also dressed in white, pressing down the last string with his fingertips through the falling peach petals, before he raised his eyes and looked at it. self here:

"Mr. Xuande has come from a long way, and it is really rude for Liang to welcome him from afar."

The unhappiness of going to the thatched cottage many times and failing to meet the person disappeared instantly when the person called out his name.The breeze is blowing, and the peach petals are floating on the refreshing tea. He listens to the gentle voice of the person to clear away the fog of the road ahead for him, laughing and talking about the general trend of the world; , suddenly felt that the world of benevolence and virtue that he had been pursuing all his life was not far away.

At least this corner of Longzhong is already the hometown of burning peach blossoms.

Since then, Zhuge Kongming has come to him and has become his most important counselor, the Kongming who can't help but make his lips smile every time he thinks about it.It wasn't until now that he truly understood why Cao Cao, who was cunning and suspicious, had absolute trust in Guo Jia, and would not hesitate to adopt no matter how dangerous the strategy was.

Not because that person will never make mistakes, but because with that person by his side, even if he makes a mistake, he will not be disheartened.Even if you are at the end of the road, with someone to accompany you, there will always be a little less grief and a little more pride.

"My lord?"

After being called softly by Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei came back from his memories.Seeing the sly light in Zhuge Liang's eyes, he instantly knew that what he was thinking when he was in a trance must have been guessed a little bit, and he couldn't help showing a little blushing.People have been with me for several years, and I still feel like the rest of my life after a catastrophe. I am glad that people have come to me.Fearful and terrified that Huang Liang would wake up from his dream the next moment, and he was still that mediocre person who had achieved nothing in half his life.

"Being away for a few days, is there anything unusual in the city?"

"Don't worry, my lord, everything in the city is fine." Zhuge Liang got on his horse and followed Liu Bei, "General Guan and General Zhang fought several times with Jiangdong soldiers in Yiyang and Anxiang respectively, and they won and lost with each other, with little damage. It seems that , Jiangdong, like us, knows what is the most urgent task in Jingzhou now."

Liu Bei nodded.Of course he knew that the most urgent thing Zhuge Liang said was Cao Jun who had made a comeback: "Then what is Kong Ming's plan for the future?"

"Liang wants to go to Yueyang and visit Dudu Zhou in person."

"Okay." Liu Bei asked again, "When are you leaving?"

"I originally planned to leave in the day after tomorrow, but now that the lord has returned to the city, it is not too late to do this matter. Liang intends to leave for Yueyang tomorrow." Zhuge Liang said softly, seeing that Liu Bei responded without thinking, he couldn't help asking with a smile Said, "My lord, why don't you ask Liang, why did you go to Yueyang to visit Zhou Dudu?"

"Kong Ming has plans, so why bother to ask more questions." Liu Bei answered as it should.After a pause, he exhorted worriedly, "Although we now have the same interests as Jiangdong, Bei can't rest assured if Kong Ming goes alone. In this way, Bei will let Zilong and Kong Ming go to Yueyang together, and Zilong will protect Kong Ming. Only then can you rest assured."

Zhao Yun, who was riding a white horse and wearing silver armor, heard Liu Bei's words, and quickly clasped his fists to Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang and said, "Don't worry, my lord, Yun will definitely protect Mr., and prevent him from being hurt in the slightest!"

Liu Bei nodded.Zhao Yun's martial arts are well known, even if he is surrounded by thousands of troops, he can still fight his way out.

"My lord is so concerned about Liang's safety, Liang is really flattered." Zhuge Liang said with a smile, but he was not as shocked as he said, but his eyes were brighter and breathtaking, which made Liu Bei feel relieved. I was stunned, and then gradually filled with warmth again.

"cough."

Zhao Yun coughed lightly, and Liu Bei came back to his senses, and Zhuge Liang continued to say:

"With Dudu Zhou's broad-mindedness and resourcefulness, he will definitely not attack Liang at this time. My lord can rest assured about this. However, with Zilong around, there will indeed be an extra layer of protection.

On the lord's side, during Liang's absence, I would like to ask the lord to tell the two generals Guan and Zhang to be cautious in handling things. Even if Cao Jun comes to attack, it's better to stay closed and not fight. "

Everything, wait for him to meet Zhou Yu, and then make plans.

More than ten days ago, Jiangdong still had [-] troops fighting Liu Bei's army in Changsha County, but now most of them have been transferred to the junction of Jiangxia and Nanyang County to guard against Cao's army coming back.In Changsha County, Zhou Yu personally led [-] troops and stationed in Yueyang to ensure that Liu Bei would not occupy Changsha first after the northern enemy's troubles were relieved.

In the military tent, Zhou Yu was wearing military armor, and planted a small flag on the sand table at the dangerous pass of Jingzhou.

His originally jade-like face has already been stained with murderous aura after nearly ten years of wind and frost.Since Sun Ce's death, Zhou Gongjin has supported Sun Quan to stabilize people's hearts, suppress rebellion, and punish rebellious ministers. Zhou Gongjin is no longer the son of a family who can calm down and play the piano and elegant words, but a deep-minded minister, the master of killing and making decisions, and carrying Jiangdong. The invincible governor of fate.The agreement between the two of them galloping across the world and pacifying the country, now he is the only one left, shouldering everything, going on tirelessly and painlessly.

"Report!" The soldier entered the account and bowed his fists, "Report to the Governor, there is someone at the Yuanmen who calls himself 'Zhuge Kongming', and asks to see the Governor."

"Zhuge Kongming?" Zhou Yu's eyes moved slightly, and he repeated the name of the visitor softly.The sudden cold light in his eyes made the soldier's heart tremble, and he couldn't help lowering his head even lower, but it also gave birth to a sense of pride in his heart.Just looking down and raising his eyes has such a boldness, he deserves to be the governor who is admired by everyone in Jiangdong.

Then, the soldier heard Zhou Yu say, "Please come in."

"promise."

The soldiers were ordered to leave.After a while, the curtain was lifted again.The visitor came in white clothes fluttering, holding a lupine, and a pair of clear eyes on his young and handsome face, showing a slight slyness and agility. It was Zhuge Kongming who made Zhou Yu half close and half headache.

The so-called closeness is because although he is ten years older than Kongming, he is congenial and has a confidant with Kongming; the so-called headache is because if Kongming was not in Liu Bei's army, Changsha County would have been occupied by Jiangdong long ago. Today's worries.

Walking into the account behind Zhuge Liang was a handsome general in silver armor.With a serious expression, he followed Zhuge Liang every step of the way, without any concealment of the alert look on his face, as if he would pull Zhuge Liang out of the big tent if he found something wrong.

But even Zhao Zilong, who was in and out of Changbanpo seven times, wanted to rely on brute force to come and go freely in his army, it would be too arrogant.

"Kong Ming and General Zhao came to see Yu together, do you not trust Yu?" Zhou Yu looked at Zhao Yun with a faint smile.

"Of course not. It's just that from Wuling to Yueyang, there are many bandits along the way. General Liu was worried about Liang going alone, so he asked Zilong to accompany Liang on this journey." Zhuge Liang looked at Zhao Yun, as if he had just realized that Zhao Yun was on guard. "Zilong, Liang and the governor are Boya Ziqi's friends. There is only friendship between confidants. You don't have to be so nervous. On the contrary, Liang and Gongjin seem to be estranged."

"Actually, Yu thinks it's better for Kong Ming not to trust Yu so much." Knowing that Zhuge Liang said the word "confidant" to himself on purpose, Zhou Yu's eyes turned cold and he was completely unmoved, "Yu has always admired Kong Ming's Talent, I hope Kong Ming stays in Jiangdong and works with Yu. It’s a pity that Kong Ming left in a hurry last time, and Yu didn’t have a chance to persuade Kong Ming. Since Kong Ming came here on his own initiative today, how can Yu not stay with Kong Ming for ten and a half months?” It’s best to stay. The moment he captured the entire county of Changsha.

"Why does Gongjin scare Liang so much?" Zhuge Liang saw Zhou Yu's thoughts in his eyes, but still smiled at Yanyan, "However, even if Gongjin really wants to stay for a longer time, he must give Liang a cup of tea first, otherwise Liang wants to stay and play for Jiangdong, but his mouth is dry and his heart is too dry."

"Kong Ming is really not worried?"

"Zhou Gongjin in the bright eyes is a rare gentleman in the world. Therefore, Liang believes that if Ruoliang treats Gongjin with fists, Gongjin will definitely return to Liang with the behavior of a gentleman."

Gently shaking the feather fan, Zhuge Liang's eyes were full of sincerity.But Zhou Yu clearly saw the fox tail wagging behind this seemingly upright and refined man.

Obviously, he was sure that the enemy was at present, and he couldn't let Liu Bei be easily defeated by Cao Jun.But he just wanted to look around and talk about him, pushing everything to the illusory friendship.It must be known that in troubled times, two people with opposing camps cannot be friends no matter how much they appreciate each other.

However, when Zhuge Liang said this, even if he pretended to be close, what he said really pleased Zhou Yu's ears.The two sat down on the case, and Zhao Yun stood behind Zhuge Liang, silently and loyally continuing to perform his duty of protecting his husband.

"Speaking of which, Liang has already learned most of the piano score that he asked Gongjin for when we met last time." Taking a sip of the tea served by the soldier, Zhuge Liang looked around, but he didn't see Zhou Yu's unparalleled piano score. Lu Qiqin couldn't help feeling a little regretful, "It's a pity that Gong Jin led the army and didn't bring Lu Qi with him, otherwise Liang would have been able to ask Gong Jin for advice. It is also elegant to get Gong Jin to look back and frown."

Zhou Yu lowered his eyes secretly.Many years ago, he would take the trouble to bring that green Qi with him even when he was going on an expedition.Because at that time, there were always people who obviously couldn't understand the meaning of his strings, but still pestered him to let him play the piano.

Already accustomed to being dragged into the vortex of memories, Zhou Yu came back to his senses, and didn't want to talk to Zhuge Liang like this, "Kong Ming, why are you here? Let's be honest."

"When did Gong Jin become impatient?" Zhuge Liang chuckled, turned around and stretched out his hand to Zhao Yun.Zhuge Liang stared into Zhao Yun's eyes suddenly, his face turned red, and it took him a while to realize that he took out a delicate wooden box from his pouch and handed it to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang put the wooden box on the table, opened it, and the fragrance of lilac flowers filled the tent, "A few days ago, Liang received a letter from Nanyang and five catties of chicken coop incense. Except for the box left behind, The rest of the chicken coop, Xiangliang, has been sold to the traveling spice merchants and exchanged for food, grass and weapons. As for this letter... who signed it, Gong Jin guesses?"

"Cao Mengde." No need to think, Zhou Yu has already determined the answer, and even thought of Cao Cao's purpose in an instant, "But this way of sowing discord is too childish."

Zhuge Liang nodded, like Zhou Yu, he didn't take this childish way of sowing dissension to heart.

As long as the smell of the chicken coop is really just to sow discord.

"Gong Jin is right. It is indeed too naive to provoke the relationship between General Liu and Jiangdong with the fragrance of five catties of chicken coops. With Cao Mengde's resourcefulness, he will not be unaware of the threat of Cao Jun in the north. Even if General Liu and Jiangdong No matter how many grievances there were in the past, they would join hands to fight against Cao first, and then plan Jingzhou. Therefore, Liang thought that besides this, Cao Mengde should have other plans, so Liang came to Yueyang in person to discuss with Gongjin."

"Cao Mengde must have other plans, you and I know it well. But if it's just because of this, Kong Ming could have just sent a letter to Yu to remind Yu to be alert to Cao Cao's sowing discord, and there is no need to make this trip in person." Zhou Yu said slowly. Slowly said, believe half of Zhuge Liang's words and keep half, "If Kong Ming regards Yu as a friend, don't say that he just wants to come here to meet an old friend. Yu doesn't believe that the talent of Wolong will do such a useless thing when the enemy is in front of him." achievement."

"Gong Jin really understands Liang's thoughts. Before Liang expresses his feelings of missing, Gong Jin speaks for Liang. But other than that, Liang also cares about other things." Still shaking the feather fan leisurely, Zhuge Liang After joking, he finally got serious, "I came here because..."

"Report!" Suddenly, a soldier rushed into the tent and interrupted Zhuge Liang's words.He knelt on one knee and clasped his fists, with an urgent voice, "Report to the governor, a large group of people were found [-] miles away, and report back..." He looked up at Zhuge Liang who was sitting opposite Zhou Yu, hesitated for a while, seeing that Zhou Yu was indifferent After the inspector nodded, he continued,

"Exploring the horse and reporting back, their army flag is 'Liu', and the armor is no different from Liu Bei's army that fought earlier."

Zhou Yu was taken aback for a moment, and looked thoughtfully at Zhuge Liang, who seemed to have expected this for a long time. After a little thought, he immediately understood everything: "It turns out that Kong Ming came here for this."

Zhuge Liang knew that it would be easy for Zhou Yu to understand the key point: "Although it is impossible for Cao Cao not to know that General Liu and Jiang Dong will never turn against each other at this moment when the enemy is present. But at the same time, Cao Cao must also know that when he only occupies Nanyang At the time of the county, the only way to capture Jingzhou was to cause infighting between Sun and Liu, so that he could take advantage of it.” Otherwise, once Cao Cao attacked the Jiangdong army, Liu Bei would attack from the south; If Cao Cao attacked Liu Bei, Zhou Yu would surely lead the Jiangdong army to attack the rear.Facing enemies from both sides, he couldn't even protect himself, so why talk about getting involved in the other six counties of Jingzhou.

Therefore, even if the possibility of successfully sowing dissension is very small, Zhuge Liang knows that Cao Cao will still work hard in this regard.This is why, he would choose to come to Yueyang in person.

"Liang believes that Gongjin must be clear. If General Liu really wants to be an enemy of Gongjin at this time, Liang will not come here to throw himself into the trap." Zhuge Liang gently opened up the current situation, "But if Liang Otherwise, even with Gong Jin's wisdom, he can tell that the soldiers are not the lord's soldiers, and he will still have doubts in his heart. However, if there is a slight gap between Sun and Liu, it is difficult to guarantee that Cao Cao will not catch the gap.

Of course, the most important point is that Liang missed Gongjin's piano sound. "Speaking of the last sentence, he still couldn't help but joked.

Young people who have just arrived in their thirties are always clearer than those who have gone through life and death with their best friends.

Automatically ignoring Zhuge Liang's last words, Zhou Yu tapped his fingers rhythmically on the small case for a while, as if thinking about something to measure.After a while, he said to Zhuge Liang: "Since this is the case, Kong Ming will definitely not mind if Yu wipes out all the enemies in the future, right?"

"That's natural." Zhuge Liang affirmed, "Not only that, if Meng Gongjin doesn't give up, Liang also hopes to go to the battlefield with Gongjin, and together kill this ulterior motive of the bandit army!"

"Okay!" Zhou Yu clapped his palms loudly, and ordered the soldiers who were still kneeling on the ground waiting for orders, "Immediately choose five thousand elite soldiers from the army, and follow Yu to meet the enemy in half an hour!"

The soldiers took orders to leave, and Zhou Yu also got up and walked outside the tent.Zhuge Liang waved his feather fan and said with emotion half-heartedly: "I never thought that Liang would really be able to fight side by side with Gong Jin one day. If so, we should thank Cao Jun for coming from afar. Unfortunately, we only give them a gift in return. Just let them go home empty-handed." As he spoke, he stood up and was about to leave the tent with Zhou Yu, but suddenly his eyes blurred, the feather fan in his hand slipped, and his body fell forward involuntarily

Zhao Yun quickly supported Zhuge Liang, so as not to let him fall to the ground.

"Call the military doctor immediately!" Zhou Yu was startled by the sudden change, but quickly regained his composure.Let the soldiers call the military doctor first, and then turn around to check Zhuge Liang's situation, "Kong Ming, how do you feel?"

Being half-supported and half-embraced by Zhao Yun, Zhuge Liang managed to stand still.He shook his head lightly, "It's just a little dizzy, nothing serious. Gong Jin will go to the army first, and Liang will rest for a while..."

"Since Kong Ming is not feeling well, why should Yu bother you anymore?" Zhou Yu interrupted Zhuge Liang, "In this way, Kong Ming will rest in the tent first, and wait for the military doctor to come to treat you. The rest will be done after Yu wipes out the enemy. Then discuss with Kong Ming." This was Zhuge Liang's request to join the army with a tone that could not be refused.

Zhuge Liang wanted to persevere, but another burst of dizziness came over him.

But when he recovered a little bit, Zhou Yu had already walked out of the tent and was nowhere to be seen.

The chicken coop incense is a very precious thing, so few people except Wang Ji Nei know about it. This treasure that is full of fragrance has a more wonderful feature: anyone who has had this incense will only need to drink tea again within ten days. , even if it is just a sip, the dense clove air will become a wonderful thing to soothe the nerves, and it will not take a moment or three minutes to make people who have worked hard for many days fall asleep.

At the beginning, if Wen Ruo sealed up all the incense, it was because he didn't know that the chicken coop incense had this characteristic, and fell asleep under a pile of memorials when he was handling government affairs at the Shangshutai.If he hadn't happened to go to Shangshutai to look for Wenruo that day, he found out about it in time and sold Gongda's favor, and ordered him to get rid of the others at Shangshutai, and let Gongda take Wenruo back to his room to rest.I don't know how many people who admire Xun Lingjun's elegance will be surprised by this.

Guo Jia couldn't help laughing when he thought of the inconceivable look of astonishment on Chen Changwen's extremely serious face.Mingming Wenruo is much cuter when he is sleeping with his pillow on his pillow, but the world only admires the restrained Xun Lingjun who is tied up in heavy clothes, and deliberately forgets that even a saint has three emotions and six desires, which is really ridiculous.

He opened the box containing the chicken coop incense, took out a piece of incense and played with it for a while, suddenly he had a flash of inspiration and thought of an extremely interesting method.After a while, he focused his attention on the map in front of him again.

Nanyang County does not border Changsha County, and there are only a few thousand people who can avoid the intelligence sent by Sun Liu.Such a small army is not for the purpose of siege, it will only be the best bait.

The bait for going north.

To the north of Yueyang is Yunmeng Daze.

"Duke Ming came just in time." Looking up at Cao Cao who had returned to his tent, Guo Jia picked up the medicine bowl that was still steaming, "The military doctor just brought the medicine, Duke Ming, drink it quickly."

Cao Cao's good mood was wiped out in an instant, and he even looked at the medicine bowl with pain.He walked up to Guo Jia and sat down, discussing, "Why don't you talk to Feng Xiao first..."

"Drink the medicine." Guo Jia interrupted Cao Cao's words unceremoniously, and handed the medicine bowl to Cao Cao's mouth, "How did Duke Ming talk to Jia before? Good medicine tastes bad, but health is the most important thing. Why change to Ming now?" Duke Ming wants to drink medicine every day, and Duke Ming has completely forgotten those great principles?"

Cao Cao secretly took a few deep breaths before resisting the urge to argue with Guo Jia.Although the medicine Guo Jia drank back then was equally bitter, it was life-threatening medicine and he had to drink it.But he just went to bed late watching the battle report with Guo Jia a few days ago, and complained of a headache when he woke up in the morning, and Guo Jia hurriedly called the military doctor to see him for most of the morning.Even the military doctor said that it was just an old problem of headache, and it was nothing serious. Guo Jia refused to follow, and forced the military doctor to prescribe a bunch of dispensable prescriptions. Thinking of the decoction that gives you even more headaches.

In fact, Cao Cao was the commander-in-chief of the army. When the military doctor wrote a prescription, he could directly order the military doctor to stop writing and withdraw.However, at that time, Guo Jia's rare frowning and worried look was more effective than any other method in keeping all Cao Cao's words stuck in his throat.

Being so nervously cared by Guo Jia really filled Cao Cao's heart with warmth in an instant, and he was so moved that he felt that if Guo Jia could be reassured, he would drink a bowl of Coptis chinensis, not to mention a bowl of decoction. complain.

Therefore, the result of this emotion was that when the military doctor cooked the medicine for the first day and delivered it, he happily drank the medicine in one gulp, and then he was so bitter that he wanted to cry without tears because of the few liang of Coptis chinensis in the prescription.

Cao Mengde, who dared to denounce the king at the top, and scorned the princes at the bottom, was here willingly relying on Guo Jia to do these useless efforts.It seems that he was really defeated by Guo Jia.

The medicine bowl was close at hand, and there was no way to avoid it. Cao Cao could only follow Guo Jia's movements and drink up the medicine juice in one gulp. As always, it was so bitter.And when he looked at Guo Jia with a bitter face, he saw that Guo Jia's smiling eyes were full of gloating "Heaven is good for reincarnation".

Cao Cao now deeply suspects that the concern that moved him so much may just be his wishful thinking.The reason why Guo Jia decided to ask the military doctor to prescribe him a prescription was because "it is not too late to avenge the gentleman who was oppressed by him to drink medicine back then."

"Minggong, don't look at Jia like that. Jia really cares about Minggong's health, and there is absolutely no schadenfreude." Guo Jia said very sincerely, and in order to enhance his credibility, he nodded emphatically.

"However, just now, Jia had a flash of inspiration and thought of a way to make Minggong feel that the medicine is not so bitter."

After speaking, he took a piece of chicken coop incense from the box on the table and threw it into his mouth, hooked Cao Cao's neck and kissed it directly.

In the beginning, it was Guo Jia who took the lead, turning the bitterness into sweetness with the fragrance in his mouth.But soon, Cao Cao turned his back on the enemy and attacked Huanglong. When he let go of Guo Jia, Guo Jia was already half-loose, panting, and his mouth was full of bitter medicine.

"Lips and teeth blend together, share joys and sorrows, the method of filial piety is really good." Cao Cao looked at the "prisoner of war" who had completely calmed down in his arms with satisfaction, and suddenly felt that these decoctions that came out of nowhere were not so unpleasant.

"Thousands of hardships, lovesickness is the worst. From now on, every time Gu takes medicine, Feng Xiao will relieve Gu's pain of lovesickness in this way, okay?"