Jinting Han people

Liu Xian was very familiar with the whereabouts of Prime Minister Zhuge's descendants. After all, he had not only heard these facts from Li Mi and Chen Shou, but also witnessed them with his own eyes in Hedong.

Zhuge Liang, the Han Dynasty's prime minister, had three children: Zhuge Qiao, Zhuge Zhan, and Zhuge Guo. Zhuge Guo was a daughter, while Zhuge Qiao was adopted as a son, later converting to the lineage of Zhuge Ke. Therefore, Zhuge Liang's only direct descendants were the lineage of Zhuge Zhan.

Zhuge Zhan later served as General of the Guards of Shu Han and had two sons: Zhuge Shang (eldest son) and Zhuge Jing (middle son). At the Battle of Mianzhu, Zhuge Zhan and Zhuge Shang led their armies but were killed by Deng Ai. Zhuge Jing, on the other hand, was exiled from Shu and served in the Jin Dynasty until his death.

This is the fate of all the descendants of Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Yan, appearing out of nowhere and dressed like a wild man, seemed rather puzzling. He claimed to be the grandson of Zhuge Liang, and therefore the son of Zhuge Zhan. But he looked only two years older than Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Zhan had surely died in battle by then? So where did his descendants come from?

Observing the savages surrounding him, Liu Xian easily discovered that most of them were very old, with the youngest being over fifty years old. Among these more than ten people, there was only one young man, and he was not even a leader.

But that's not the point. The key question is the identity and purpose of these barbarians. They call themselves "dogs of the Jin Dynasty" and claim to be descendants of the Han Dynasty. Is this true? Have they been hiding in the nearby mountains and forests since the fall of their country? What do they want to do here?
All sorts of questions swirled in Liu Xian's mind, making him alternately excited and bewildered, but he couldn't show them. His life was in the hands of the enemy, and he couldn't reveal his identity until he was sure they were genuine Han soldiers.

Fortunately, the other side had no intention of killing immediately. Seeing that Liu Xian showed an attitude of surrendering, the group of savages took out some homemade straw ropes and tied Liu Xian's hands tightly. Then they tied up the terrified girl beside him as well. Then they dragged them into a nearby stone cave, lit a bonfire, sealed the cave entrance, and then a dozen people surrounded Liu Xian, pretending to torture him severely.

At this time, Liu Xian finally recognized the leader. He was an old man who was probably over sixty years old. His hair and beard almost covered most of his face, leaving only the upper part of his eyes and nose exposed. His long gray hair was tied to his head with a dirty thick rope, but his eyes were very bright, so bright that one could see the deep hatred in them at a glance.

The same was true for the savages around.

But the old man was very restrained. He just smiled and said, "I'm so lucky today. I caught a high official before I even went up the mountain."

Liu Xian glanced at Yang Huiai, who was trembling like a kitten, and said, "Do you know the way up the mountain?"

The old man said, "We have been here for almost 30 years, much longer than the Yang family. We know everything they know, and we also know everything they don't know."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian couldn't help but sigh and said, "Thirty years, that's impressive. But what are you planning to do up the mountain?"

The young man at the side said, "Of course, we must kill all of you Jin dogs who are trying to persuade us to surrender, and make the Yang family irreconcilable with you!"

"So much hatred? Why do you want to go to this extent?"

"Revenge our fallen compatriots! Do you know how many of us have died in our lifetime? Twenty-six years ago, when you went to incite Zhang Hong to revolt, there were still more than three thousand people here, but now, there are only eighteen of us left!"

"No need to say so much." The old man stopped Zhuge Yan and said to Liu Xian:

"I'm giving you a chance now. Tell us the situation in the world. If you can explain it clearly, I can leave you with an intact body. Otherwise, I will cut you into pieces!"

The guard general Zhang Hong rebelled in Yizhou and killed the governor of Yizhou, Huangfu Yan, before being suppressed by the prefect of Guanghan, Wang Jun. This happened twenty-six years ago, and Liu Xian was not even born at that time.

After hearing these words, Liu Xian looked at the simple clothes and frosty hair and beards of these people. The shock in his heart was like a volcanic eruption, instantly drowning all his thoughts. He was confused for a moment and didn't know what to say.

Although he had guessed that there would be such people based on various signs before, he still couldn't imagine how these people survived in the mountains without salt or clothes before seeing them with his own eyes.
But he knew that his family owed these people too much, and even if he gave everything he had, he would not be able to repay them.

This was a Han army that continued to resist even after the emperor surrendered.

Despite the vicissitudes of time, the passage of time, the change of people and things, the lack of food and clothing, and even their ignorance of the world beyond, they still cling to their original ideals and beliefs, fighting for those who died, fighting against an opponent whose power is so unequal that it cannot be compared, and still refusing to compromise. What a pathetic person they are, and yet what a strong person they are!

In comparison, his own family was actually living a life of luxury. Thinking of this, Liu Xian was almost too ashamed to stand up, and his knees fell to the ground.

Zhuge Yan exclaimed, "Huh?" and then sneered, "Just now you seemed calm and composed, like you were still quite strong. Why are you kneeling down now?"

The elderly people around also frowned as they watched.

Liu Xian lowered his head and said, "My last name is Liu."

"What do you mean? There are many people with the last name Liu in the world, and we have two of them here."

"My father's taboo name is Xun."

"Liu Xun? Who is that?" Zhuge Yan was still frowning, but the old man in the lead was shocked when he heard the words and stood up subconsciously.

"My ancestor's taboo name is Chan."

Now, everyone understood.

The first to react was Zhuge Yan. He was furious and rushed over, grabbing Liu Xian by the collar and slapping him in the face, cursing:
"You pig intestines, you want to take advantage of me, don't you? If you don't want to live, just say so directly. How dare you pretend to be a descendant of His Majesty and insult me?"

After saying that, he was about to take out a knife made of animal teeth from his waist, but was stopped by the old man beside him.

Liu Xian spat a mouthful of blood foam on the ground, then looked at the group of savages. The expressions on their faces were as if they were suffocating.

It took them a long time to recover from the suffocation and regain their composure. The old man in the lead stared at him intently and said, "If you want to survive this way, I'm afraid it's not a good idea."

Liu Xian smiled bitterly and said, "It is indeed true."

"How do you prove it?"

Liu Xian was speechless. This was the first time he'd faced such a dilemma: how to prove his identity to others. Should he call on his subordinates to prove it? Would they mistake him for an escape attempt? Should he use the seals he carried? But judging by the expressions of these people, they probably wouldn't recognize the Jin Dynasty's seals either. So, what should he do?

At this point, there was only one option left. Liu Xian sighed and said, "If you don't mind listening to a story, I can tell you how I've lived these twenty-six years..."

If there is no evidence, this is the only way to gain people's trust.

So, without caring about the expressions of the others, Liu Xian just started to talk to himself.

He spoke from the year of his birth, his family's misfortunes, his apprenticeship and his career as an official, the Luoyang coup, his exile to Guanxi, his battle with Sun Xiu, the many wars he had fought, his victory over Qi Wannian, and finally his present journey to Qiuchi Mountain to seek pacification. He tried to keep the story brief and concise, but even so, it still took him half an hour.

The audience, initially absent-minded, gradually became absorbed, occasionally interjecting with questions, until, by the end, they looked at each other and reached the same conclusion. While some things may sound bizarre, it's clear that this is how life is. Reality is written in an unpredictable language, one that encompasses impulse, blindness, and the unexpected. We demand rationality to deduce life, but in reality, rationality seems foolish in the face of life's complexity. Therefore, the bizarre is the norm, a self-deception of human logic.

Real life is full of strangeness, which cannot be woven by lies.

Thinking of this, they felt irrepressible ecstasy in their hearts.

Although it was unbelievable, they could not help but believe in this possibility, even though they had thought they had killed this idea countless times over the years.

After all these years, they actually ran into their old master at this time. What a coincidence! It was simply heaven's will!

By the time Liu Xian finished speaking, the leading elder had already stood up and walked over to him. He quickly untied the ropes from Liu Xian's hands, then shone the torch into his face, scrutinizing him meticulously, like a lonely wanderer who had suddenly found a long-lost childhood treasure. A smile had barely formed before tears began to fall from his eyes.

But he forced himself to swallow his sobs, stepped back and looked at himself. Only then did he realize that his clothes were disheveled. He felt a little embarrassed, but he didn't care. He bowed to Liu Xian solemnly, as if he had rehearsed it in his mind a thousand times, and then said:
"I, Geng Hui, the military commander of Linqiong, the Protectorate General of the Han Dynasty, pay my respects to Your Highness."

After Geng Hui knelt down, the others also knelt down in unison, praising His Highness and bowing to Liu Xian.

Only Zhuge Yan hesitated and wanted to say something, but in the end he still knelt down.

This bow was so heavy that Liu Xian felt he could not bear it, but he also knew he could not stop it, so he knelt down again and bowed to them in return.

Both sides were filled with mixed feelings of sadness and joy, with tears in their eyes. After a long time, they stood up and looked at each other.

Geng Hui wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and said to Liu Xian, "Your Highness, we are incompetent and could not kill the bandits and resist the enemy, allowing you to suffer the humiliation of losing your country until today!"

Liu Xian also choked up and said, "Why do you say that, Lord Geng? Your integrity is comparable to Su Wu's. It is my family that has let you down. Isn't it because of your hard work that I can still settle down in Luoyang?"

This is what Liu Bei's descendants should say! Thinking of this, everyone burst into tears again, but a Han Chinese named Feng Quan said, "Why are you all crying? Isn't this a great joy? You should laugh! From now on, we will have a kingdom again! We are no longer wild wolves with nowhere to go!"

These words couldn't stop their tears, but they finally made them smile. It could be said that this was the heartiest smile they had had in the past thirty years.

Geng Hui said to Liu Xian, "Your Highness, do you know that over the years, I have many topics I want to talk to you about?"

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. From now on, I will live and die with you."

Liu Xian first touched his conscience and solemnly swore to them, and then comforted them by saying:

"But there's still a lot of time to go. No matter what you want to say, you can talk to me slowly one sentence at a time."

"But now, I hope you can stay here for a while. I'm going up with this girl, Adie. Otherwise, if we're gone for too long, people will notice something's wrong. I'll come quietly to find you tomorrow morning."

Although Liu Xian was also very curious about how they had gotten through this period of time, today's accident was indeed too unexpected. If it was not handled properly, it might cause more and more accidents.

At least, the girl next to him is the eldest daughter of Baima Di. If he doesn't let her go back safely, Yang Maosou will probably go crazy.

But Liu Xian felt a little uneasy. They had just met and now they had to separate again. He didn't know whether everyone could trust him so much.

But Geng Hui didn't think about it that way. He looked at Yang Huiai, who was still tied up, slapped his head, and said with a wry smile: "I actually forgot. Please forgive me, Your Highness."

He quickly untied the ropes on the girl and said to Liu Xian:

"Your Highness, then it's settled. We'll meet here tomorrow morning."

Seeing these strong-willed people, Liu Xian felt his heart soften. With just these simple words, he was moved again. He shook everyone's hands one by one and said yes repeatedly.

After waving goodbye, he took Yang Huiai's hand and set off on the return journey.

Unlike her lively demeanor during the descent, Yang Huiai kept her head down and remained silent throughout the entire journey. Liu Xian thought, this was truly an unexpected disaster, a fright she had endured for nothing. Furthermore, after this incident, her privacy was ruined. Perhaps she would never consider the Little Rock Pond her own private haven again? This was truly his fault.

The trouble is, she's found out about a lot of things she shouldn't know. What should I do? But she's in this remote area, so there aren't many people I can tell her about. If I ask her not to tell anyone, there shouldn't be anything to worry about, right?

Liu Xian was thinking about this question, and before he knew it, the two of them had returned to Baiqingyuan.

The worried situation did not happen. At this time, Baiqingyuan was still silent, as if everyone was still asleep, but the bright moon had moved to the middle of the sky.

Liu Xian was about to speak to the girl, but Hui Ai spoke first:
"Did your wish come true?

She turned around, and in the moonlight, the hem of her azure skirt danced like a fluttering butterfly; her lotus-like face bloomed with a lively smile, with a kind of delicate beauty; the most attractive thing were her eyes, bright as stars.

Liu Xian was also infected by this joy. He nodded and smiled, "It really works. Thank you."

The girl came closer again, staring at him, and whispered, "I know this is your secret, I won't tell anyone else."

"Thank you."

"Next time you pull someone, be gentler, remember?"

"This……"

"Also, don't sigh when you laugh."

She plucked up her courage and pinched Liu Xian's face as if in a sudden attack, then ran away with a clever smile.

Watching the girl leave, Liu Xian was at first bewildered, then helpless. He smiled wryly and sighed, thinking: Perhaps only by experiencing all kinds of unexpected things can the fun of life be found. (End of this chapter)