Just as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu expected, Liu Xun rushed back after receiving the military information from Sun Ce to attack Wancheng. As a result, he encountered Sun Bi and Sun Fu ambushing in Pengze.
There was a battle between the two sides, and Liu Xun was defeated and wanted to flee to Xisai. However, Liu Ye, who was accompanying him, suggested changing the direction.
Liu Xun was confused, and Liu Ye said: "Now the best route back to Wancheng is Xisai. Since the enemy can predict our army's movements and ambush in Pengze in advance, how can we know that there will be an ambush in Xisai?"
Liu Xun thought about it again and again, and finally decided to listen to Liu Ye's words, lead his troops eastward along the river, and fled into Xunyang City at the risk of being attacked by Sun Ce's navy.
This time they avoided the ambush arranged by Zhou Yu in Xisai. Zhou Yu was disgraced and quickly ordered Sun Ce's navy to turn around and besieged Xunyang.
Xunyang and Wancheng are hundreds of miles apart, but Liu Xun has no way to escape, so he has to stick to the city. Zhou Yu is not in a hurry, and plans to slowly mobilize his troops to besiege Wancheng. When the time comes, Wancheng will attack Xunyang together, so that Liu Xun couldn't care about each other.
But at this time, some unpleasant news came to Zhou Yu. Yuan Xijun did not continue to besiege Hefei, but began to attack Lujiang County!
When the news came, Yuan Xijun had already captured Linhu, which was weakly defended, and was mobilizing naval forces to besiege Songyang. If he conquered Songyang, the opponent would be able to reach Wancheng first!
However, Zhou Yu could not tell the other party to break the contract because Yuan Xi's letter said that if Sun Ce wanted it, he could take Wancheng for himself.
Sun Ce could take it himself, but Yuan Xi didn't say not to take it. What's more, Sun Ce attacked several nearby cities but did not go to Wancheng, which wasted time. Now that the opponent was already targeting Sun Ce's army, it was impossible to invest too many troops. .
Because Jiang Xia in front is already fighting. If Zhou Yu and Yuan Xi fall out at this time, the other party will block the river and cut off the logistics. Jingzhou will not need to fight!
At this time, Sun Ce had gone to Pengze to support the front army in the Xiakou area of Jiangxia, leaving Zhou Yu to clean up the Lujiang rear defense, but this happened!
Zhou Yu saw clearly that Yuan Xi had a big appetite. He not only wanted to occupy Jiujiang, but also wanted to occupy Lujiang, thereby controlling the three counties of Huainan between the Yangtze River and Huai River!
This is in serious conflict with Zhou Yu's plan to divide the world into two parts in the future, because guarding the Jiang River but not the Huai River means being passively beaten. If Jiangdong plans to plot the entire world in the future, he must put his naval forces near the Huai River to give full play to his advantages.
From this point of view, when Yuan Xi occupied Xuzhou, he had already blocked Zhou Yu's way. It is no wonder that Zhou Yu was wary of Yuan Xi both in public and private matters.
This time Zhou Yu wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to attack Jiangxia and occupy Lujiang, and then lay a nail behind his back to march into Jiujiang. However, Yuan Xi seemed to have noticed this, and actually gave up Hefei resolutely. Come to Lujiang!
On the battlefield, whether allies or enemies, conflicts of interest will arise as the situation changes. This is the case now. Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and looked at the river, his face uncertain.
The choice before him was to attack Xunyang defended by Liu Xun first, or the more important but difficult-to-win Wancheng?
After learning that Sun Ce and Yuan Xi's troops were approaching at the same time, Wancheng was now in chaos, with people fleeing everywhere, but most people were still waiting and watching.
Some are unable to escape. For them, it doesn't matter whoever changes the city guard, they have to survive anyway.
Some of them didn't know where to escape. The fastest way to leave was by water, but Xunyang and Songyang on the east and west sides of Wancheng were surrounded by enemies, so how could they escape?
Some people chose to escape north, hoping to reach Longshu from Wanshui River, then run back to Liu An by land, and then reach Shouchun from Huai River.
Some people sneered at this route, thinking what about Shouchun. I heard that the food shortage in that city was so severe that they began to eat people, which was worse than Wancheng!
In this hesitant environment, some people decided to stay and look for a way out, especially the scholars and landlords. The waterway was cut off and they could not take away much of their wealth, so they had to think of ways to enclose their land to protect themselves.
And with the news that Liu Xun was defeated and might have died, some families couldn't sit still and began to prepare to sever ties with Liu Xun.
This includes Liu Xun's daughter's husband's family, the Jiao Mansion.
At this time, Jiao's mother was having a conversation with her son in Jiao's mansion, and both of them were extremely excited.
Facing Jiao's mother, her son said: "Mom, Ms. Liu has always been a virtuous woman with perfect moral character. How could she be so arrogant and rude as my mother said?"
After hearing this, Jiao's mother was furious and said, "You are so confused. Can't you see the situation clearly now?"
"Wancheng is about to be conquered. I heard that Governor Liu has been killed. If the enemy comes, they will definitely arrest Liu's family members, and our family will definitely be implicated!"
"You should divorce her quickly. Only by severing the relationship can our family escape disaster!"
As a result, his son kowtowed and said: "Mom, after all, Governor Liu is also an official of one parent. The whereabouts of the enemy he attacked are unknown. Now if we do this, doesn't it seem like we are adding insult to injury and not upholding morality?"
Jiao's mother asked anxiously: "What kind of morality can morality allow you to save your life at this time?"
"And I think the bride (the name elders in the Han Dynasty called their daughter-in-law) is a disaster!"
"I heard that she suffered from a strange disease in seven or eight years ago and her knees were sore. Later, a doctor took out a white snake from her knee?"
"On that day, I felt like this bad omen was stuck in my throat. Maybe I was cursed by God. If not for the fact that she is the daughter of a clan member of the Han Dynasty, I wouldn't want to agree to the marriage!"
"You see she still walks crookedly. Who knows whether she has been cured or not? You should take the opportunity to get rid of this broom star quickly, so that your family can be clean!"
"Besides, there is no need for a real man to have a wife. If there is a virtuous woman in the house in the east, I will marry her for you."
"The city is about to be destroyed. Go and drive it away now. You must not stay in the house!"
As a result, the son continued to kowtow and only said: "I am telling you, my mother, if I separate from you today, I will never marry you again."
Mother Jiao was furious, "You unfilial son, are you going to sever ties with me today?"
Not to mention the chaos in Jiao Mansion, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao had already dismissed most of the servants in the house and started to pack up their belongings and prepare to rush to Wancheng Pier after dark and escape by boat.
Seeing the worried look on Da Qiao's face, Xiao Qiao said, "Sister, what's wrong? Have you not decided where to escape yet?"
"I heard that Mr. Gongjin is leading troops to besiege Xunyang!"
"As long as we get on the boat, go up the river and join him, we can arrive in less than a day!"
Da Qiao sighed and said: "How can a little girl think so easily? There is a war going on there!"
"I'm afraid if we don't find anyone, we will be killed by soldiers from both sides!"
After hearing this, Xiao Qiao said dullly: "What should we do?"
"Downstream, I heard that Songyang is also surrounded by ferocious tigers. If we don't go to Gongjin, how about we go to the ferocious tiger that captured my father?"
Da Qiao shook his head and said: "No, now the two sides are fighting, the battlefield is dangerous, and we won't go looking for it."
"Although both parties know my father, his life and death are unknown now, so it is difficult to say how much of the previous friendship is left."
Xiao Qiao originally thought that he could go to Zhou Yu, but when he saw what Da Qiao said, he felt regretful and heard Da Qiao say: "Now we have two ways."
"The first is to go south and enter the Yangtze River, and then go directly to the south of the river bank to avoid the navy on the north bank and land."
"When the time comes, go directly to Jiangdong to avoid trouble and come back when the war subsides."
Xiao Qiao said: "What about the second way?"
Da Qiao said aloud: "That will be much more difficult."
"Let's go north from Wanshui to Shucheng, and then go north to Shouchun via the land route between Chaohu and Liu'an to join my father."
"Actually, I originally thought of sending you to Jiangdong first, and then heading north to Shouchun."
"Although my father's life and death are unknown, I always have a feeling that if I don't go now, I will never see my father again."
Xiao Qiao was anxious and said, "I'll go with my sister too!"
After hearing this, Da Qiao sighed and stroked Xiao Qiao's hair, "Does my sister know that this trip is extremely dangerous?"
"This road is already full of wars. If we two women encounter bad guys, we are afraid that life will be worse than death, and the end will be extremely miserable."
She took out a dagger from her arms and said, "Look, little sister, I'm ready."
"I'd better ask my servant to take you to Jiangdong. At least you can have a place for the rest of your life."
Xiao Qiao rushed forward and cried: "I don't want to leave my sister. Didn't we two sisters agree to live and die together?"
"Besides, is Jiangdong definitely safe?"
After hearing this, Da Qiao sighed softly: "Little sister, have you really thought about it?"
"People's hearts are unpredictable when the time comes, and the servants who escort us may not know what they will do. I don't know how long we can survive."
After hearing this, Xiao Qiao pressed her lips tightly and finally said, "I want to stay with my sister."
After hearing this, Da Qiao said resolutely: "Since my sister has made up her mind, the two of us will just go on this journey and leave it to fate!"
She stood up, looked out the window and said, "It's strange today. I agreed to say goodbye to Sister Liu, but why hasn't she arrived yet after the agreed time?"
Xiao Qiao said: "I heard that after Taishou Liu was captured, the relationship between her and her husband's family was even worse. The adult of the family (mother-in-law) was not a thing. I heard that they used the white snake in her leg as an excuse to humiliate him, saying that she was unlucky. man of."
"Sister, if we get married in the future, what will we do if we meet such an adult?"
Da Qiao shook his head and said, "Don't mention Mr. Liu's disappearance. If something happens to my father, our situation will only get worse."
"I am waiting for her today because I want to persuade her to leave as soon as possible to prevent enemies from entering the city and causing trouble. She also agreed and said that she would find excuses to reconcile with her husband's family in the next few days."
"She has been delayed in coming today. Is she going to live and die with her husband's family?"
After noon, Da Qiao still waited until Mrs. Liu. Da Qiao went up to meet Mrs. Liu and said to Mrs. Liu, "Why is sister delayed?"
"How are things going at home?"
Mrs. Liu smiled bitterly and said: "It's quite speechless to say that I was divorced before I had time to say goodbye."
She finished talking about what happened at home in the morning, and finally said: "Your Excellency asked my husband to divorce me. Now I have nothing to do with the Jiao family, which is exactly what I want."
Xiao Qiao was overjoyed after hearing this, "Isn't this just right? It's okay for my husband's family not to want it!"
"Sister, come with us!"
After hearing this, Mr. Liu shook his head and said, "No, I don't plan to leave."
Xiao Qiao was startled and asked: "Why?"
"What if the enemy enters the city and involves my sister and family?"
Ms. Liu said: "Now that I have nothing to do with the Jiao family, I naturally can't implicate them."
"But my eldest brother marched with my father, and the whereabouts of both of them are unknown. Only my mother, who has limited mobility, is left at home. In this situation, I can never abandon my mother and leave."
After hearing this, Xiao Qiao understood that Liu had made up her mind, so she had to accompany her to comfort her, because there were more things that they could not do anything about.
(End of chapter)
