Around early August, when the Han army stationed on the right bank of the Huai River and confronted the Wu army at Bagong Mountain, Chen Chong formally bid farewell to Zhang Fei and returned to Luoyang with his family. Before leaving, Zhang Fei was very reluctant to leave. He personally escorted Chen Chong to the foot of Longshan Mountain and said sadly to him: "Brother always comes and goes in such a hurry. Once you leave, I don't know when I will see you next time." Afterwards, he sighed and shed tears.
Chen Chong was surprised when he saw this. He knew that Zhang Fei was a tough guy who never showed weakness to others easily. He was known for having a murderous look on his face when he was young. Even though he has entered old age and his square face has become more wrinkled, Zhang Fei's eyes are still bright, like a tiger that chooses to devour people at any time. The older he gets, the more majestic he becomes. But at this moment, his eyes were moist, his beard and the corners of his mouth were trembling, and his expression looked unprecedentedly desolate. It was just a temporary separation, why did Zhang Fei look so sad? Chen Chong couldn't understand for a while, but he quickly patted his brother on the back and comforted him and said: "It's just a return to Beijing. It's not a separation of life and death. We will meet again after a while. Why should Yide do this?"
But next, Zhang Fei's words were even more unexpected than Chen Chong expected. He wiped away his tears with his fingers and said to Chen Chong: "Brother is not happy staying here with me. How can I not see it? When eating at home, my brother always makes excuses to eat less. , I travel on weekdays, and my brother often stays alone and rarely talks. Although I am stupid, I also know that my brother thinks that I am vulgar and extravagant. I am afraid that I will not be happy if I come again in the future, so why bother myself?" At this point, Zhang Fei paused, and suddenly Say something like this: "To be honest, I have never known what my brother wants. Isn't it bad to enjoy wealth and wealth after establishing a successful career?"
Chen Chong was speechless for a moment. He had talked with Zhang Fei once at first, but when he saw that he didn't take it seriously, he didn't say anything more. I thought I had hidden my thoughts, but unexpectedly, he saw them clearly. And what should I say? After fighting for a lifetime, shouldn’t we enjoy it? The secular answer must be yes, but I feel that I shouldn't. It can be seen that the person with the problem must be myself. He thought for a while and said to Zhang Fei: "Yide, no matter what you said, as long as I can see you again, I will be happy."
After hearing this, Zhang Fei looked at Chen Chong for a moment, and finally a smile appeared in the corners of his eyes. He took a sealed sand jar from the servant behind him, handed it to Chen Chong, and said: "Third sister, I see that my brother often stays up late to study, his eyes are a bit damaged, and there are old injuries on his eyebrows. I'm afraid he will be even less able to see in the future." Clean things up. I discussed with me and prepared a jar of snake oil for my brother, and asked my brother and sister-in-law to rub it every day, maybe it will have miraculous effects."
Chen Chong took it in his hand and was very sad for a moment. He just said: "Drink less wine, it is not good for your health. You should also be lenient to your servants and don't be too harsh." Then he turned to leave, and Zhang Fei followed him. After a few steps, I saw him getting on the bullock cart before stopping, and finally said: "See you later!"
On the way back to Luoyang, Chen Chong was thinking in the car. He always thought that Yide was reckless and didn't expect him to be so careful. On the contrary, he thought that the city was very deep, but in fact he couldn't even hide it from the people around him. It made everyone unhappy. And what's the use of him returning to Luoyang? Although others call him Prime Minister, he actually does not have any official position. Even if he is worried about the war on the front line, he cannot be of much help. It is better to stay in Jinyang. Speaking of which, it's no wonder that Yide is unhappy with him. But secretly, Chen Chong still felt that he should go back. If something big happened in Luoyang, but he stayed out of it, this would be unacceptable to Chen Chong.
When arriving in Hanoi, Chen Chong learned about Hannan's defeat. Qian Jia, the supervisor of the Nanfu army, was ordered by Liu Xie to lead the Nanfu army to confront Zhou Yu's tribe in Dangyang. His original intention was just to contain the Wu army in Jingzhou, but he did not expect that Lu Xun would use his navy to suddenly cross the Mian River to the north to Lankou Ju, thereby outflanking the Han army to the north, and then attack Zhou Yu's army from the north and south, defeating the Han army and capturing ten thousand people. Even Qianjia himself surrendered to the Wu army. The letter was written by Zhao Qiu. The reason why he sent someone to report the matter was to inform Chen Chong that although Hannan was defeated, Chen Zhang in Xiangyang was still safe.
When Chen Chong first heard the news, he couldn't believe it. Since Xuande's death, the Han army has never suffered such a defeat, but if you think about it carefully, it makes sense. Among the various armies and prefectures, Nanfu had the most personnel changes. There was no tacit understanding among the soldiers, the generals were inexperienced, and the navy was transferred to participate in the Huainan War. Under these circumstances, the defeat was not unreasonable. But having said that, the political impact of this matter cannot be underestimated. As the commander-in-chief of the Nanfu Army, Qianjia actually surrendered to the Wu people. This will inevitably implicate a large number of meritorious deeds such as his father Qianzhao, and the personnel of the Nanfu Army will also be affected. It will change accordingly, which will affect the situation of the government. Chen Chong wondered whether he should advise Liu Xie at this time and transfer Wei Yan back to Nanfu.
"Wen has been stationed in Nanyang for a long time, and he is familiar with the soldiers of Nanfu. I am afraid he must be the one to resist the Wu people." Thinking like this, Chen Chong wrote the essay on the road. But when he crossed the river bridge, he heard the news that Sima Yi had been urgently revived and transferred to Yicheng to rectify military affairs. This made Chen Chong very regretful. Speaking of military affairs alone, Sima Yi is indeed a good candidate, but compared to Wei Yan, he has some evil intentions. It seems that Liu Xie is still more inclined to these old friends in the East Palace.
By the time he arrived in Luoyang, it was already the second day of September. The Double Ninth Festival is approaching, the weather is getting colder, and there are many people playing in the wild. When passing by Mang Mountain. There are many young people racing horses in the mountains, startling a group of sparrows that are not dormant. There are also some young people in plain clothes pointing out the ancient tombs in Beimang and talking about how many noble people are buried there. When Chen Chong saw their confident expressions, he couldn't help but think of his own childhood. He was very emotional for a moment and naturally forgot many of his worries.
Zhao Qiu had known the news of Chen Chong's return to the capital a long time ago. On this day, he took the guards of the palace to greet him at the north gate of the city. After seeing Chen Chong, he took Chen Xiu out of the car and said to Chen Chong: "Teacher, the Queen Mother heard that you are coming back." Jing, yesterday he sent someone to tell me that he wanted to invite the teacher to the palace."
Chen Chong originally wanted to ask about the current situation in Beijing first, but he was startled when he heard this and asked, "Did something big happen?"
"No, it's just a simple family dinner."
Chen Chong nodded, turned to Dong Bai who was packing his luggage and said, "Since it's a family banquet, Ah Bai, you can go in with me."
After that, Chen Chong unloaded most of the sundries from the car and handed them to Zhao Qiu. Then he and his wife took an ox cart to the east gate of the palace, and then walked into the upper hall of the palace.
When we entered the palace, the parasol trees were flying and there were fallen leaves everywhere. Many palace officials took brooms to sweep and pile the fallen leaves into piles. When they saw Chen Chong passing by, they were all stunned. It was not because they did not recognize Prime Minister Chen Chong, but because it was the first time they saw Dong Bai. Speaking of which, it was the first time for Chen Chong to bring his family members to the palace for a banquet. When we reached Deyang Hall, there was no one around, and the lonely sound of chanting was coming from the palace.
When Chen Chong entered the hall, he saw Liu Jia, wearing a coarse cloth robe, sitting quietly under the altar, with four ascetics on each side chanting sutras. Just from the tired look on her face, she had obviously been sitting for a long time. Seeing Chen Chong coming, a palace official welcomed Chen Chong to the side hall and whispered: "Prime Minister, please wait a little longer. In two moments, today's ritual will be over." It turned out that it was Queen Mother Liu Jia who invited the White Horse Temple. The eminent monk came over to pray for the queen to give birth.
Two moments later, the prayers were completed. The ascetics saluted the Queen Mother, and the Queen Mother returned the salutes to them. After everyone had dispersed, she stood up and walked over to Chen Chong, saying to Chen Chong: "Brother, I am here so early? I I thought that after returning to Beijing, you would go back home to rest first, so that’s why you didn’t go to greet me first.”
Chen Chong said with a smile: "What the hell, why are you and I still talking about this?" At this point, he glanced at the altar in the palace and asked: "I remember that Guang Ji has been pregnant for almost eight months, right now? Are you still feeling unwell?" Queen Zhong is Zhong Yao's daughter, and Chen Chong has always regarded her as his own child, so he calls her by her first name.
Liu Jia sighed and said: "A month ago she had a stomachache and couldn't eat anything. She could only drink some soup. Later, she asked Dr. Hua Tuo for acupuncture and she got better, but she is still very weak. I don't know what will happen two months later. , can mother and child be safe?"
After the two had a conversation, Liu Jia looked at Dong Bai a little more. He couldn't help but feel a little ashamed of himself. He also teased Chen Chong and said, "They say there are begonias hidden in my garden. Are you finally willing to let people see them today?" Chen Chong shook his head and said. : "No, I'm just afraid of people gossiping."
"Chen Tingjian is also afraid of gossip?"
"How can we not be afraid when people's opinions make gold and their bones are destroyed?"
"Aren't you afraid now?"
Chen Chong said: "I'm afraid, I just hope that the Queen Mother can help me after I die."
Liu Jia and Dong Bai were both shocked when they heard this. This was the first time that Chen Chong talked about his death in front of them, and it was so sudden. Liu Jia quickly changed the subject and said, "I'm looking for my brother to hear how my old friends in my hometown are doing. How could you say such unlucky words!"
After that, Liu Jia ordered a banquet in the palace, and called Pingyang King Liu Dan and Zhao King Liu Cheng in to greet Chen Chong one by one. Logically speaking, these two princes should go to the vassal state to become vassals, but Liu Xie still has no heirs, and Liu Jia also loves his two sons, so he has kept them in the capital. But so far, neither of them has much power. He is just an idle prince.
When King Zhao Liu Cheng saw Chen Chong, he seemed very reserved. He only exchanged a few pleasantries and then stopped talking, completely losing the vitality he had when they met last time. Chen Chong felt a little emotional, maybe these years of doing nothing had made this child a little decadent. However, Pingyang King Liu Dan remained as indifferent as before. Instead, he chatted with Chen Chong about the war in Huainan and Jingchu. To Chen Chong's surprise, King Pingyang knew everything about the war and was quite insightful, even though he did not participate in government affairs. He did not look like someone who just stayed at home.
After some conversation, Chen Chong admired Liu Dan a little, but at the same time he felt sorry for him. With Liu Xie's personality, I'm afraid it will be difficult for Liu Dan to use his talents throughout his life. But on the other hand, this may not be Liu Dan's luck.
