After thinking for a long time, Yuan Yao resisted his impulse and politely declined: "Liu Pan is brave, and no one but a general can rule him."
"In regard to Zhu Hao, we should not act too hastily. It is better to retreat in order to advance. Just watch from behind!"
The next day, Yuan Jun broke camp and set off, and a few days later he and Liu Pan's army returned to Nanchang.
Just as Yuan Yao guessed, Liu Pan did have plans to attack Nanchang and rescue Zhuge Xuan.
But he was not reckless. Seeing that Yuan Jun was very defensive, he gave up the idea.
Within two days, Liu Pan led his army back to Changsha County on the grounds that food and grass had been robbed again.
However, this time it was not Yuan Yao who robbed Liu Pan of food and grass, but the Shanyue tribe in the west of Yuzhang.
But Liu Pan regarded the Shanyue group as the group that had robbed food last time, so he settled old and new grudges together. The Shanyue tribe in the west of Yuzhang was in bad luck.
Nanchang City, the prefect's mansion. Zhuge Xuan has been having trouble sleeping and eating for several days. Every day, he wonders what Yuan Yao will do with him. Perhaps the best outcome is to be expelled from Yuzhang County by Yuan Yao?
Although Yuan Yao dismissed Zhuge Xuan and made himself the governor of Yuzhang, he had not yet driven him out of the governor's mansion.
On the one hand, there is still a process to go through to report to dad Yuan Shu and formally accept the new appointment.
On the other hand, Yuan Yao still needs some buffering time to deal with the problem of young Zhuge Liang.
"Sir, General Liu Pan sent a letter."
The old servant ran in from the door in a panic and handed over a letter.
Zhuge Xuan immediately took the envelope and when he was about to open it, he glanced suspiciously at Sergeant Yuan guarding the door.
"How did this letter get in?"
The old servant pointed to the door: "The person who delivered the letter was indeed General Liu Pan's clerk. The soldiers did not let him in and only asked me to deliver the letter."
At this time, Huang Yi walked in from the side, followed by two fully armed subordinates.
"Uncle Zhuge, don't worry and read it. I asked them to let this letter go. It was written to you by Liu Pan."
"Look, the wax seal on it hasn't moved. I didn't peek."
Huang Yi casually sat down on the sofa, and several servants came in from outside and brought dishes and food.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, this steamed fish looks good, with white underbelly, green and black back, and yellow stripes. Could it be the mackerel, a specialty of Yuzhang?"
"This new cook is pretty good at cooking. Isn't he many times better than your old cook?"
The person responsible for imprisoning Zhuge Xuan was Huang Yi.
There was no one more suitable than him. Relying on his distant relationship with Mrs. Zhuge, Huang Yi shamelessly brought people to live in the prefect's mansion in the name of visiting relatives.
Zhuge Xuan's mouth twitched with hatred when he saw Huang Yi picking up a piece of fish with bamboo chopsticks, dipping it in the soup and bringing it to his mouth.
Looking at the envelope in his hand, the wax seal was intact, and the mark on it was indeed Liu Pan's private seal. Only then did Zhuge Xuan open the envelope.
There wasn't much on the paper. After reading it, Zhuge Xuan's eyes darkened completely, and his whole body seemed to have been drained of strength, and he collapsed directly to the ground.
Huang Yi glanced at the letter that fell to the ground and sneered: "Is this letter Liu Pan's farewell letter to you, Governor Zhuge?"
Zhuge Xuan's eyes were dull and he muttered to himself: "Liu Pan...why did he leave?"
Huang Yi wiped his mouth, stood up and walked to Zhuge Xuan. Without even looking at the letter, he stepped on it directly.
"Don't tell me, uncle, you no longer have the title of Grand Administrator. Even if you are still the Grand Administrator of Yuzhang, you have no soldiers, no food, and you are not popular among the people. How can Liu Pan continue to support you?"
"Uncle, don't think so much. Come on, get up and have breakfast!"
Huang Yi smiled and helped Zhuge Xuan up, and then ordered to the servants around him: "dinner is about to begin, why don't you invite my aunt and the others to come and have dinner?"
Not long after, Zhuge Xuan's family, including Mrs. Zhuge, Zhuge Liang and others were invited to the hall.
Huang Yi called to everyone: "Aunt, this steamed mackerel is delicious, hurry up and try it while it's hot!"
Seeing Mrs. Zhuge just looking at her ashen-looking husband with a worried face, Huang Yi smiled and said: "Auntie, why don't you use the chopsticks? And you little guys, eating this fish can grow brains, and eating fish eyes can help you grow brains." With clear eyesight, your whole body is filled with treasures!”
"I'm not moving for fear of being poisoned. It's okay. Just watch. I'll give you a taste first."
Huang Yi picked up a piece of fish and put it into his mouth, and deliberately tasted every dish.
"Go, give this piece to Xiaoliang and Xiaojun."
In the Han Dynasty, there was a separate food system, and everyone had a separate dining table and food.
Before the Tang and Song Dynasties, women's status was still relatively high. In addition, it is a family banquet, so Mrs. Zhuge can also sit in.
But family banquets also emphasize filial piety and brotherhood, so there are more dishes for older people. A minor like Zhuge Liang would have fewer dishes in front of him. And in order to take care of younger siblings, older siblings often sit at the same table as the younger ones.
In the hall, Huang Yi, Zhuge Xuan, and Mrs. Zhuge ate separately, while the fifteen-year-old Zhuge Liang took care of the young Zhuge Jun. Zhuge Liang's two sisters also sat together.
Huang Yi picked the fattest piece of fish and had it brought to Zhuge Liang's brother's table.
Only Huang Yi felt the most comfortable eating the meal. Zhuge Xuan didn't take a bite, but Mrs. Zhuge took two symbolic bites.
Huang Yi didn't care about them, just wiped his mouth after eating and left.
Mrs. Zhuge was still trying to persuade her husband to take a bite of rice, but Zhuge Xuan leaned back and collapsed directly on the pillar behind him.
"I am already a dying person, what else do I need to eat!"
Zhuge Liang hurriedly stepped forward, and he and his aunt supported Zhuge Xuan: "Why did uncle say this?"
Zhuge Xuan broke away from the two of them, still lying on the pillar, and pulled off the jade belt on his body, as if he wanted to lie down more comfortably.
"It was me who harmed you!"
Zhuge Xuan beat his chest and stamped his feet, crying bitterly and saying:
"If it weren't for the purpose of becoming this bad governor, I wouldn't have brought you to Yuzhang County."
"If I hadn't come here to join Liu Jingsheng earlier, I wouldn't have harmed my wife and children, as well as Liang'er!"
Mrs. Huang also heard that something was wrong. It turned out that today's meal was a decapitation meal!
Huang's eyes were red and she cried:
"I told you not to come to this poor place to take up the post, but you still come. You are said to be a county governor with two thousand dan, and if you don't do it, you won't do it for nothing."
"If you listen to me and ask me to write a letter to my Huang Zu and use Jiangxia to go to Xiangyang, then this problem will be over..."
Looking at his uncle who still didn't know where he lost, Zhuge Liang had mixed feelings in his heart.
But this was obviously not the time to sum up experience and lessons. Zhuge Liang quickly spoke out to comfort him: "Uncle and aunt, why do you say this?"
"Aren't we alive and well?"
"Although I am under house arrest here today, my life is not in danger!"
Zhuge Xuan squinted his eyes and said feebly: "What do you, a kid, know?"
"If Liu Pan doesn't leave, then even if Yuan Yao wants to kill me, he still has to worry about the thousands of Jingzhou soldiers."
"But once Liu Pan leaves, Yuan Yao no longer has any worries. The life of our family depends on Yuan Yao's thoughts!"
"Think of me, Zhuge Xuan, who claims to be a master of power and change, but only got confused once, and ended up with his body and his family destroyed..."
"It's just that after death, I won't be able to see your father, and I'm even more ashamed of the ancestors of the Zhuge family!"
Zhuge Liang said disapprovingly: "Uncle, that's really not the case."
"Then Yuan Yao has no intention of killing his uncle!"
Zhuge Xuan couldn't listen at all at this time, but Huang wiped his tears and said with a glimmer of hope: "How does Liang'er know?"
"Aunt, uncle, although this Yuan Yao wants to replace my uncle, from the perspective of my nephew, this person has no intention of harming his uncle."
Huang: "Liang'er, you are still too young to understand the reality of this world. Although the Zhuge family in Langya is also a prominent family in the county, to the Yuan family in Runan, it is like the light of a firefly compared to the brightness of the bright moon."
"As long as Mr. Yuan is willing, he can describe your uncle and the Langya Zhuge family as heinous people at any time, and all the scholars in the world will believe it."
"In this situation, just as your uncle said, death and clan destruction are all within a thought of Yuan Yao."
Zhuge Liang thought to himself, since you two know this truth, why did you alienate Yuan Yao before?
You, the governor of Yuzhang, were appointed by Yuan Shu. Why did you immediately want to switch to Liu Biao as soon as you arrived in Yuzhang?
Even if Yuan Shu is extravagant and immoral and is not a hero, he should at least accumulate strength first and then choose another way out when his wings are full!
Moreover, uncle, you are so powerful and changeable, how can you not see that this Yuan Yao is very different from his father Yuan Shu?
Of course, it was impossible for Zhuge Liang to tell his uncle and aunt these inner thoughts, so he could only patiently comfort him:
"If Yuan Yao has the intention to harm his uncle, then the statement of deposing him will definitely be..." Zhuge Liang originally wanted to say "fleeing before the battle" or "abandoning the army", but he changed his words.
"The charges will definitely be written in a more serious and serious way. How can it only be written as 'unkindness in politics'?"
"This is at most a derogatory crime, but not a death penalty at all."
When Zhuge Liang said this, Zhuge Xuan, who was originally weak, finally started to think and his eyes started to move.
"What's more, although Yuan Yao put our family under house arrest, he didn't do anything humiliating and still allowed us to live here forever."
"I didn't arrest your uncle's cronies and servants and torture them to extract confessions and incriminate them."
"Based on this, my nephew asserts that not only does Yuan Yao have no intention of harming his uncle, but he will show his support for his uncle again soon."
Zhuge Liang said confidently.
