My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 8 As expected, an accident happened
Liu Bei realized that he was a little too ambitious, so he forced himself to pull back his thoughts.
But after calming down, he soon noticed a new blind spot:
"Since your uncle is highly valued by Liu Jingsheng, why don't you and your family go to Jingzhou? It must be very tiring for you to be left alone in Guangling to serve your mother and uncle."

Zhuge Jin smiled bitterly when he heard this: "My mother is a widow, which is inconvenient. I was already an adult, and it was time for me to start my own household."

The Han Dynasty was very tolerant of women remarrying, and Zhuge Gui had been dead for seven years, so the Song family had already done their best.

Moreover, she was a remarried woman and had no children.

But the taboos between uncles and sisters-in-law still need to be respected. Letting Zhuge Xuan run around with his young and beautiful widowed sister-in-law is likely to attract criticism.

Liu Bei reacted immediately and apologized to Song: "I was careless at the time and asked inappropriately. I hope I didn't make you sad."

Song was always cautious and said it was no problem:
"General, there is no need to do this. When I first left my hometown, I thought that Xuzhou would eventually be stable, and I would be buried in Langya in my later years. That's why I didn't want to flee to Jingwu.

Now that I have been wandering for a long time, this thought has gradually faded. Besides, Jin'er's biological parents have already been buried together, so why should I force it? "

Song just wanted to say that she didn't mind being reminded of memories, but as she spoke, she began to cry.

Liu Bei also resonated with this, and said with a sigh and a consolation:

"Being in that position, he forced the people of Xuzhou to leave their homes. This is Bei's fault. Bei has had a rough life, wandering for half his life, and lost two wives. I can understand their suffering.

Coincidentally, Bei's first wife died in the Yellow Turban Rebellion twelve years ago; his second wife was killed by the Qingzhou thief Guan Hai while serving as the Gaotang Wei seven years ago - they happened to pass away in the same year as Ziyu's biological mother and father.

After that, I asked someone to read my face and he said that I was destined to be unlucky in marriage, so I didn’t dare to marry again. After coming to Xuzhou, I only took a concubine, and the day before yesterday, I was attacked by Lu Bu and my life or death is unknown. With my fate, I should be single and have no children. ”

Liu Bei was just trying to get close to the man casually, but as he spoke, he began to doubt his life.

After all, the fact that he has a hard fate and is unlucky in marriage is indeed quite mysterious.

In history, Madam Gan died early, there is no record of Mi Zhen having no offspring, and Sun Shangxiang returned to the east without having any children. Only the widow Wu Xian managed to hold on.

Zhuge Jin, who was standing by, didn't want the chat to turn into a competition of misery, nor did he want them to dwell on the issue, so he quickly changed the subject:

"Fate is illusory, how can we believe in it superstitiously? There are countless talented people who have changed their fate, so it's not worth mentioning."

If someone else said this, it would definitely not be convincing.

But Zhuge Jin had just helped him out of desperation, so Liu Bei was willing to listen to his advice.

"Sir, you are right. I lost my temper. It is getting late. I will personally escort you out of the city."

Liu Bei admitted his mistake openly, and finally said to Song and Song Xin:
"Madam, don't worry about your safety on the road. I have ordered my third brother to escort you personally. Although he is sometimes reckless, he is an extraordinary martial artist.

And every time he made a mistake, he would always listen to advice and stop for a long time. He just lost his sister-in-law the day before yesterday and was ashamed to death. Now is the time to use him. "

……

The Zhuge family packed up their money and belongings and quickly rode to the north gate.

On the way, some of Mi Zhu's followers came to meet up - as mentioned earlier, Mi Zhu was going to Haixi County to raise military supplies, and he wanted to bring a few more experienced people to help with the purchasing.

There were already boats waiting at the pier on the Huai River outside the city. There were no Ji Ling troops nearby, so Liu Bei's troops were allowed to come and go.

It seems that Ji Ling really did provide every possible convenience in order to "assist the defeated soldiers of Xia Pi to report the death to Liu Bei."

Therefore, there was really nothing much to elaborate on about the "breakout" that night.

The group boarded more than a dozen large and small boats, carrying dozens of family members and servants, and two hundred cavalrymen, and went eastward along the Huai River.

In short, all the soldiers in Huaiyin City who knew about the loss of Xia Pi were transported away and served as bodyguards for Zhuge Jin.

It was a night of the waxing moon, and visibility was low. The fleet did not dare to row hard, but just went with the flow, slightly using the oars to adjust the direction, and only traveled 30 miles in the middle of the night.

In the early morning, the Huai River suddenly turned north. When Zhuge Jin woke up, he saw the sun rising from the starboard side and was quite surprised.

According to the geography he learned later, the Huai River had lost its estuary long ago, and there was only one main irrigation canal in northern Jiangsu that led directly to the sea.

The Huai River in the Eastern Han Dynasty was still a winding natural river channel, so Zhuge Jin's geographical knowledge was obviously of no use.

Mi Zhu, who was standing by, was half a local. Seeing his surprise, he explained:
"From here, it is only 130 miles to Haixi by land, but it is still more than 200 miles by water. We must first go north to Huaipu, then turn southeast. If we abandon the boat and ride on horseback, we can arrive at dusk."

After hearing this, Zhuge Jin was unable to make a decision for a moment.

Riding a horse is certainly faster, but taking a boat allows them to carry more luggage and is more relaxed. It seems that they don't need to be in a hurry at the moment.

Unfortunately, just as Zhuge Jin was hesitating, an accident happened. As the sky gradually brightened, Zhuge Jin suddenly heard a gust of wind passing overhead, and then Zhang Fei fell beside him with a "bang", almost breaking a piece of deck wood.

He had been tormented by the guilt of losing Xia Pi and his sister-in-law for the past few days, and he was desperately trying to atone for his sins. So at daybreak, he climbed to the top of the cabin to keep watch.

As soon as Zhang Fei landed, he pointed to the back and shouted, "There are soldiers coming from the south! It looks like there are about a hundred cavalrymen! Sir, how should we deal with them?"

"Why are there cavalry? Ji Ling would definitely not send anyone here..."

Zhuge Jin was shocked and couldn't understand for a moment.

Fortunately, he had a good brain, and after a little thought, he finally thought of a possibility.
"Could it be Liu Xun? Calculating the time, Liu Xun's main force will take the Han Canal waterway, at least three or four days slower than Ji Ling, but his vanguard scouts may indeed arrive faster. I was still careless."

Zhuge Jin felt a little regretful and was depressed that he didn't have a thorough plan.

I have too little actual experience in leading troops and my intelligence estimates are insufficient. After all, I can never reach the level of my second brother who can use the full-map perspective cheat.

Fortunately, Zhuge Jin quickly adjusted his mood and countered the enemy's move: "The enemy's horses and our ships cannot compete in speed, so it is better to find a reed marsh to dock and let the cavalry sneak ashore to be on guard.

If the enemy cavalry continues to approach, counterattack and kill them. It is best not to leave any alive to avoid attracting more cavalry. But even if you cannot kill them all, you must not pursue them further! "

Zhang Fei was feeling very aggrieved and had been waiting for an opportunity to kill the enemy and atone for his sins.

After hearing the master's approval, he immediately picked up his lance and selected half of the cavalry to land.

The other half stayed on the boat to protect Zhuge Jin closely.

Considering that they were more convenient to use, Zhang Fei naturally gave priority to his trusted aides, such as Fan Jiang and Zhang Da, who had escaped from Xia Pi with him, and left Shi Ren and others who had been guarding the north gate under Guan Yu's command the night before on the boat.

Because of the lookout advantage of discovering the enemy first, Zhang Fei had done all this before the enemy scouts in the south had discovered them and were still approaching slowly in an orderly manner.

……

The fleet lay in wait in the reed marsh for another cup of tea. The enemy cavalry were searching northwards along the Huai River, getting closer and closer. Zhang Fei could already tell from their clothing and armor that they were indeed Yuan Shu's army.

Finally, the enemy cavalry that was approaching discovered the clues and rushed over with a roar.

"There seems to be a boat in the reed marsh! Chase it and rob it!" The leader of the Yuan army scouts suddenly had bright eyes and shouted orders.

They did not judge the identity of Zhuge Jin and his party, and only thought that they were wealthy people from Huaiyin who were fleeing from the war. In order to kill people and rob goods, they rushed to the riverbank at full speed until their hooves were stuck in the mud and they had to slow down.

Zhang Fei seized the opportunity and waited for the enemy to become disordered before suddenly rushing out from the reeds nearby.

Yuan's scouts were caught off guard and had to fight back hastily.

But some of them who were rushing the fastest, seeing the sailboat approaching, were greedy for money and wanted to shoot arrows to stop it, hoping that their comrades would deal with the enemy behind them.

With people's minds divided, the formation became increasingly chaotic.

Because of the muddy riverbed, Zhang Fei's horse could not charge. Both sides could only fight in close combat at a low speed. At this time, it all depended on personal martial arts.

Zhang Fei had already identified his target, and as soon as he came up, he wielded his Zhangba Snake Spear and went straight for the commander of Yuan’s army.

The other party didn't know him at all and bravely came to meet him with his gun held high.

After all, in real history, Liu Bei's army did not participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo, 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.

"Come on!" Zhang Fei was overjoyed when he saw this, and swept with all his strength.

As the forked blade of the lance hit the gun barrel, the opponent felt a rush of blood in his chest and his eyes went dark.

Then he felt a chill all over his body, and was pierced through the chest by the second move, dying on the spot.

Even after the village chief was stabbed to death, Yuan Jun, who was standing next to him, had not yet reacted, as if he could not believe that the incident had happened so quickly.

Zhang Fei didn't give them time to think, and took the opportunity to attack quickly and stabbed several riders to death.

The morale of Zhang Fei's troops was high, and everyone was vying to be the first to charge into the battle.

The Yuan army's scouts were already divided, and after being frightened by the beheading of their generals, they soon collapsed completely, and most of them were hunted down and killed.

(End of this chapter)