Zhuge Liang couldn't wait to invite Liu Yao on board the ship, and called out his wife Huang Yueying and his younger brother Zhuge Jun to meet Liu Yao.
Liu Yan looked at Huang Yueying, who had yellow hair, black face, and ugly appearance, and couldn't help but glance at Zhuge Liang beside him.
Zhuge Liang got married in the spring and summer of the year before last. At that time, war had not broken out in Jingzhou and the roads were clear. Therefore, Liu Gao knew that Zhuge Liang had married the daughter of the Huang family of Xiangyang's wealthy family.
Zhuge Liang once said in a letter that his wife Huang Yueying had the virtues of Meng Guang. Meng Guang was the wife of Liang Hong, a hermit in the early years of this dynasty. She was ugly and dark, but she was quite virtuous and was praised by the world. Zhuge Liang compared his wife to Meng Guang,
Liu Gao thought he was speaking modestly, but when he saw Huang Yueying today, he realized that what he said was true.
Although it was a bit unexpected, Liu Yao was not a common person who judged people based on their appearance, and he was polite to Huang Yueying calmly.
Huang Yueying turned a blind eye to Liu Gao's gorgeous, womanly appearance. Her expression was calm, her manners were polite, and her conversation was extraordinary, which gradually gave Liu Gao a sense of respect.
Huang Yueying knew that her husband and Liu Gao must have something to talk about, so she and her uncle Zhuge Jun left the room soon, leaving only Zhuge Liang and Liu Gao in the room.
Then, without waiting for Zhuge Liang to ask, Liu Yao took the initiative to talk about the reason for going north.
Zhuge Liang couldn't hide the shock on his face when he learned that Liu Yao was going to work in Xudu on behalf of Liu Jing. His friend actually became an official?
Zhuge Liang thought he knew Liu Yao quite well. His long-cherished wish was to be a hermit who escaped from the world of mortals and traveled the rest of his life. What happened in the past two years? It made him undergo such earth-shaking changes.
Liu Yao explained: "As you know, I have been in love with the landscape since I was a child and have no intention of pursuing an official career. My mother can only place her hope of revitalizing the family on Wenshi. Wenshi suffered from angina pectoris at the beginning of this year and died young. My mother mourned the loss of her son.
I am in pain, and hate that there is no hope for the family's revival. I cry all day long, and my body is getting weaker and weaker. If things go on like this, the consequences will be disastrous. As a last resort, I can only choose to become an official to forgive my mother."
Hearing that Liu Ji died of illness, Zhuge Liang frowned deeply. They were the same age, both were born in the fourth year of Guanghe (AD 181). They were just 20 years old this year. How could they not be sad to die at such a young age?
regret.
"Wen Lang, the deceased is gone, please bear with me and accept the change..." Zhuge Liang consoled him warmly.
Liu Gao nodded with a heavy face. It had been more than half a year since his younger brother passed away, but every time he talked about it, he still felt extremely sad. He immediately changed the subject and said: "Kong Ming, Zhongda asked Kuai Zishou to write you a letter. Please accept it."
Reached?"
"Received." Zhuge Liang nodded slightly. The words in his letter were sincere and sincere, and he is still moved by them to this day.
Liu Yao said: "If Zhongda knew that you were going south to defect, I don't know how happy he would be."
Zhuge Liang sighed with emotion: "I originally lived in seclusion in Nanyang, farming and studying for my own entertainment, but I didn't expect that Zhongda would rise up in Jingnan so quickly."
Liu Yao also sighed with emotion: "Not only you, but even me, who has always been by Zhongda's side, didn't expect this."
Zhuge Liang added: "Zhongda has always had the ambition to revive the Han Dynasty and clarify the world. He used to lament that Liu Jingzhou was not a talented king, sitting in Jingchu, but had no distant aspirations. Now Zhongda controls Jingnan, and the place
Thousands of miles away, there are millions of households, and the foundation has been established, so it is time to expand our ambitions. Zhongda and I are inseparable and share the same goal. Although we are short-sighted, we are still willing to serve under my command, save all people from water and fire, and resolve the world's upheaval."
Liu Gao sighed and said: "Zhongda once said: 'Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world.' Zhongda and Kongming both cared about the world when they were in poverty. I am not as good as me." When he said this, Liu Gao suddenly said
After a moment, he said again: "By the way, Kong Ming, you said you were living in seclusion in Nanyang. I wonder what the situation in Nanyang is now?"
Longzhong, where Zhuge Liang lived in seclusion, belonged to Deng County in Nanyang, but it was three to four hundred miles away from Wan County in Nanyang County. On the contrary, it was only ten miles away from Xiangyang. In addition, more than ten counties in the central and northern part of Nanyang, including Wan County, were included.
It is owned by Cao Cao, so Zhuge Liang doesn't know much about it, but there is one thing worth mentioning.
Zhuge Liang said: "Currently, Cao Cao and Yuan Benchu are at a stalemate in the Yinguandu area of Henan, Runan, Nanyang and other places. There are many people who rebel against Cao and join Yuan. Wenlang goes north alone. It is not easy to reach Xudu. Fortunately, Du (
Brother Du Zixu is currently the county magistrate of Xi'e County, north of Wan County. Wenlang took a boat through the Han River and entered the Feishui River, heading north all the way to Xi'e City. Brother Du Zixu will send troops to escort you there when the time comes.
Xudu."
"Du Zixu is in Nanyang now?" Liu Yao was overjoyed when he heard this. He had completely lost sight of Du Xi since he returned to the north four years ago. He was very surprised to hear the news from him suddenly.
Zhuge Liang nodded and said: "Last year, Zhang Xiu summoned all the counties in Nanyang to surrender to Cao Cao, and Xi'e was among them. It seems that Cao Cao thought that brother Du Zixu had fled to Jingzhou and was familiar with the situation in the south, so he appointed him as the county magistrate of Xi'e."
Liu Yao couldn't help but high-five him and said, "With Du Zixu here, I won't have to worry about going north." Relieved, Liu Yao recounted everything he had seen and heard in the past two years, down to the smallest details.
Zhuge Liang sighed after hearing this. Liu Jing's starting point was not high, he was just a city official. Until last year, he only had one county.
With Liu Jing's strength, he was originally just a spectator between Liu Biao and Zhang Xian, but he insisted on becoming the master of Jingnan through his own planning.
It is true that "the plan is like a god, the talent is unparalleled, and the hero is unparalleled." Zhuge Liang does not think that anyone in the world can do better than him.
After chatting with Liu Yao for a long time, Zhuge Liang suddenly remembered his friend Xu Shu on the ship and hurriedly invited him into the room to introduce the two of them.
Liu Yao was aloof and arrogant, and had a high self-esteem. He didn't even bother to make friends with others. After living in Changsha for so many years, he could count on his fingers the number of people he could call his friends.
Xu Shu used to be a knight-errant in his early years. Although he later put aside his sword and halberd and studied hard, he still had a bit of free and uninhibited temperament, which appealed to Liu Yao. He hated vulgar people who adhered to vulgar etiquette.
That night, the three people who talked about each other sat at the same table and lay down on the same couch. They talked without stopping, and the candlelight was not extinguished all night long.
Liu Gao had a heavy responsibility and did not dare to delay, so after breakfast, he said goodbye to Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu and continued northward.
In the next few days, the journey went smoothly. However, as soon as we left Xinye, the northernmost county of Zhangling County, and officially entered the area of Nanyang County, bandits began to appear on both sides of the Feishui River.
Fortunately, the dozens of people on Liu Yao's ship were all elites of Liu Jingshui's army, with excellent armor and weapons. After several trials, the bandits found that they were tough and could not help but hide quietly.