Liu Bei realized that he was a little too ambitious, so he forced his thoughts back.
But after calming down, he quickly noticed a new blind spot:
"Since my uncle is so important to Liu Jingsheng, why don't the whole family go to Jingzhou? It must be very hard to leave Mr. alone in Guangling to serve his mother and uncle."
Zhuge Jin smiled bitterly when he heard this: "My mother is a widow, which is very inconvenient. I have already reached the age of 18 at that time, so I should start a family alone."
The Han Dynasty was very tolerant of women remarrying, not to mention that Zhuge Gui had passed away seven years ago, and the Song family had already exhausted all benevolence and justice.
Moreover, she continued her relationship and did not give birth to a child.
But we still have to pay attention to the taboos between uncles and sisters-in-law. Letting Zhuge Xuan run around with his young, beautiful and widowed sister-in-law would easily attract criticism.
Liu Bei reacted immediately and quickly apologized to Mrs. Song: "Bei was careless for a moment and asked presumptuously. I hope it didn't arouse Madam's feelings."
Mrs. Song has always been cautious, so it doesn't matter if she hurriedly talks:
"General, you don't have to be like this. When I first left my hometown, I still thought that Xuzhou would be stable one day, and that I would bury Langya in my old age, so I didn't want to escape far away from Jingwu.
Now that I have been wandering for a long time, this thought has gradually faded away. What's more, Jin'er's biological parents have already been buried together, so why should I force them to do so? "
Mrs. Song just wanted to express that she didn't mind being reminded of her memories, but she shed tears as she spoke.
Liu Bei also resonated with this, and said with half emotion and half comfort:
"While in his position, he caused the people of Xuzhou to leave their hometown, which is a crime for Bei. Bei also had a difficult life, wandering for half his life, and losing two legitimate wives, so he can understand the pain.
Coincidentally, Bi's first wife was killed in the Yellow Turban Rebellion twelve years ago; his second wife was killed by the Qingzhou thief Guan Hai when Gaotang Wei took office seven years ago - they happened to die in the same year as Ziyu's biological mother and father respectively. .
After that, I asked someone to meet me and told me that my life was too strong for my wife, so I didn't dare to marry again. After coming to Xuzhou, she only took a concubine. The day before yesterday, she was attacked by Lu Bu and her life or death was unknown. With my destiny, I should have no wife and no children. "
Liu Bei approached him casually, but as he spoke, he began to doubt life.
After all, the matter of his fate overcoming his wife is indeed quite metaphysical.
Historically, Mrs. Gan died early, Mi Zhen had no heirs, and Sun Shangxiang returned to the East without a home. Only the widow Wu Ran managed to hold on to her life.
Zhuge Jin on the side didn't want the small talk to turn into a misfortune competition, nor did he want them to get into trouble, so he quickly changed the topic:
"Fate is illusory, how can we be superstitious? There are countless talented people who change their fate against the will of heaven. How can it be moral?"
If others say this, it will definitely not be convincing.
But Zhuge Jin had just given him a hand in desperate situation, so Liu Bei listened to the advice.
"Sir, what you said is true. Bei has lost his composure. It's getting late. Bei will personally escort you out of the city."
Liu Bei readily admitted his mistake, and finally explained to Song and Song Xin:
"Madam, there is no need to worry about safety on the road. This time I have ordered my third brother to escort me personally. Although he is sometimes reckless, his martial arts are extraordinary.
And every time he makes a mistake, he always listens to advice and stops for a long time. He had just lost his sister-in-law the day before yesterday and was so ashamed that he was dying of shame. Now was the time to use her. "
…
The Zhuge family packed up their belongings and quickly rode to the north gate.
On the way, some of Mi Zhu's entourage came to meet him - as mentioned before, Mi Zhu was going to Haixi County to raise military supplies, and he needed to bring a few more experienced people to help with the purchase.
There were already boats waiting at the wharf by the Huaihe River outside the city. There were no troops from Ji Ling nearby, so Liu Bei's army was allowed to come and go.
It seems that Ji Ling really wanted to "assist Xia Pi's defeated troops to report Liu Bei's funeral" and provided all possible conveniences.
Therefore, the "breakout" that night really had no twists and turns that need to be described.
The group took a dozen boats of various sizes, carrying dozens of family members, servants, and two hundred cavalry, including men and horses, all the way eastward along the Huaihe River.
In short, all the soldiers in Huaiyin City who knew that Xiapi was missing were transported away with them, and they also served as Zhuge Jin's bodyguards.
On a night of first quarter moon, visibility is not very good. The fleet did not dare to row vigorously, but just drifted with the current, slightly adjusting the direction with poles, and only traveled thirty miles in the middle of the night.
In the early morning, the Huaihe River suddenly turned north. When Zhuge Jin woke up, he saw the sun rising from the starboard side and couldn't help but be quite surprised.
According to the geography he learned later, the Huaihe River has long since disappeared into the sea. There is only one main irrigation canal in northern Jiangsu, which leads directly to the sea.
The Huaihe River in the Eastern Han Dynasty was still a natural river with twists and turns, and Zhuge Jin's geographical knowledge was obviously of no use.
Mi Zhu who was on the side was half a local. Seeing his surprise, he explained:
"The land route from here to the east is only 130 miles to the west of the sea, but there are still more than 200 miles by water. We must first go north to Huaipu, and then turn southeast. If we abandon the boat and ride on horseback, we can arrive at dusk. "
After Zhuge Jin heard this, he couldn't make a decision for a while.
Of course riding a horse is faster, but taking a boat can carry more luggage and is easier. They don't seem to be in a hurry now.
Unfortunately, just when Zhuge Jin was hesitating, something unexpected happened.
As the sky grew brighter, Zhuge Jin suddenly heard a gust of wind above his head, and then Zhang Fei landed next to him with a "thud", almost cracking a piece of deck wood.
In the past few days, he had been tortured by the guilt of losing Xiapi and his sister-in-law, and he was desperately trying to atone for his sins. So as soon as it started to dawn, we climbed to the top of the cabin to take a lookout.
As soon as Zhang Fei landed, he pointed to the back and shouted: "There is Zhengchen in the south! It looks like there are about a hundred riders! Sir, how should we deal with it?"
"Why are there cavalry? Ji Ling will definitely not send anyone here..."
Zhuge Jin couldn't help but be surprised and couldn't understand it for a moment.
Fortunately, his brain is very good. After thinking about it for a while, he finally thought of a possibility.
"Could it be Liu Xun? Counting the days, Liu Xun's main force will take the Hangou waterway, which is at least three or four days slower than Ji Ling's. However, his vanguard scouts may indeed arrive faster. I'm still careless."
Zhuge Jin felt slightly regretful, feeling depressed that he didn't have enough plans.
I have too little actual experience in leading troops and insufficient intelligence estimates. After all, I cannot reach the level of full-map perspective like my second brother.
Fortunately, Zhuge Jin quickly adjusted his mood and used his tactics as soon as he could: "With the enemy's horses and our ships, we certainly can't fight for speed. It's better to find a reed bank and let the cavalry sneak ashore to guard."
If the enemy cavalry continues to approach, they will retreat to cover up the enemy. It is best not to leave anyone alive to avoid attracting more cavalry. But even if you can't kill them all, you must not pursue them too deeply! "
Zhang Fei was so aggrieved that he had been waiting for a chance to atone for his sins by killing his enemy.
Hearing that his master was right, he immediately picked up the snake spear and selected half of the cavalry to land on the shore.
The other half stayed on the boat to protect Zhuge Jin.
For the sake of ease of use, Zhang Fei naturally gave priority to his close friends such as Fan Jiang and Zhang Da who had escaped from Xiapi to fight. But Shiren and others under Guan Yu, who had been guarding the north gate the night before, stayed on the ship.
Because of the lookout advantage that the enemy discovered first, after Zhang Fei had done all this, the enemy scouts in the south had not yet discovered them, and they were still approaching slowly step by step.
…
While the fleet crouched in the reeds for another cup of tea, the enemy cavalry searched northward along the Huaihe River, getting closer and closer. Zhang Fei could already tell from the opponent's armor that it was indeed Yuan Shujun.
Finally, the enemy cavalry that was approaching found the clues and rushed over with a roar.
"There seems to be a boat in the reed swamp! Go after it and grab it!" The leader of the Yuan Jun scout camp suddenly lit up his eyes and shouted loudly.
They did not determine the identity of Zhuge Jin and his party, and only thought they were wealthy Huaiyin people fleeing the war. In order to kill people and get goods, they rushed to the river beach at full speed, and they had to slow down until their hoofs were stuck in the mud.
Zhang Fei saw the right moment and waited for the opponent's formation to be in chaos before suddenly charging out from the reed marsh next to him.
Yuan Jun's scouts were caught off guard and had to rush to fight.
But some of them, who were the fastest, saw the sailboat approaching and were greedy for money. They just wanted to shoot arrows to stop it first, hoping that their comrades would deal with the enemy behind them.
With such disunity among the people, the formation became increasingly chaotic.
Because of the muddy river beach, Zhang Fei's horse could not charge forward either. Both sides could only engage in hand-to-hand combat at low speeds. At this time, they relied purely on personal martial arts.
Zhang Fei had already identified his target, and as soon as he came up, he brandished a Zhangba snake spear and went straight for the Yuan Jun garrison commander.
The other party didn't recognize him at all, so he bravely came to greet him with a steel gun.
After all, in real history, Liu Beijun did not participate in the struggle against Dong, and there was no battle between the Three Heroes and Lu Bu. Today, Zhang Fei's popularity among the southern princes is still relatively low.
"Well done!" Zhang Fei couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw this, and swiped with all his strength.
As the bifurcated blade of the snake spear hit the barrel of the gun, the opponent suddenly felt blood welling up in his chest, and his vision went dark.
Then he was confused and felt a chill in his heart. The second blow penetrated his chest and killed him on the spot.
Until the village commander was stabbed to death, Yuan Jun next to him had not yet reacted, as if he could not believe that the incident had happened so quickly.
How could Zhang Fei give them time to think, so he took the opportunity to attack Ru Fei and stab several riders to death.
The morale of Zhang Fei's troops was high, and everyone rushed to fight bravely.
Yuan Jun's scouts were already divided, and they were frightened by being beheaded. They soon completely collapsed and were hunted down and killed most of them.
…
Because Yuan Jun had to use his own men to shoot arrows, Zhuge Jin and his party could only take shelter in the cabin and closed all the windows tightly.
At this time, he, a scholar, could do nothing but wait for the outcome of the fight.
After an unknown amount of time, the shouts of death outside finally stopped.
Zhang Fei picked up a few heads, rushed into the cabin immediately, and explained with a sorry smile:
"Brothers have killed and captured more than seventy levels in total, but the river is muddy, and a few rats still ran away. I was afraid that my husband had made a mistake, so I came back. You have told me not to pursue him deeply. I don't know how to deal with it next? "
He was worried that Zhuge Jin would blame him, so as he spoke, he handed over the head of Yuan Jun's commander to take credit.
The female relatives nearby were all frightened. Zhuge Jin also felt that the blood was unbearable, so he covered his nose with his sleeves and ordered:
"Throw it away, don't scare my mother! If you have anything to say, come to the deck and say it!"
——
PS: Someone asked about the update time today. It was actually notified the day before yesterday, but it was only announced in the description of this chapter. Some book friends may not have seen it.
Then I will notify you again. From now on, it will be updated at 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Please vote for the new book issue and collect it.
