On June 21, the seventh year of Zhang Wu, Zhang Fei returned to Xiangyang.
The Henan front line was the closest, and the edict was sent to Wancheng via carrier pigeons, and then from Wancheng to the front line. The message transmission speed was also the fastest, so Zhang Fei came back the fastest.
Over the past few days, Liu Bei had become more seriously ill. Sometimes he fell into a coma, his fever persisted, and he was almost on his deathbed.
Zhang Fei was very anxious when he heard the news. At this time, he had a bandage on his arm. He was on the boat on the Hanshui River. The head of Xiangyang City was clearly visible in the distance, but he was walking anxiously back and forth on the bow of the boat, like an ant on a hot pot.
.
"Quick, quick."
he said.
Seeing how anxious he was, a young man in his twenties comforted him: "Father, we are already the fastest. We will arrive in Xiangyang soon."
The young man is Zhang Bao. His mother, Xiahou, was kidnapped by Zhang Fei in the fifth year of Jian'an. She gave birth to him within two years. She is now twenty-four years old. This time Zhang Fei is the general in the Northern Expedition, and he will follow him.
I went there and met my mother's uncle and my great-uncle Xia Houyuan on the battlefield.
Zhang Fei's right arm was injured, so he slapped the side of the ship with his left hand, and said angrily: "Your uncle was not in good health to begin with, and now you suddenly call me back. Something must have happened. How can I not be anxious?"
"Father, look, the Prime Minister is waiting for us on the shore."
Zhang Bao quickly pointed to the distance.
Zhang Fei hurriedly looked over and saw a motorcade waiting at the pier, and Zhuge Liang's honor guard could be seen in the distance.
Soon the ship docked.
Zhang Fei quickly jumped to the shore without waiting for the boat to stop, and quickly came to Zhuge Liang and asked anxiously: "Prime Minister, how is my eldest brother?"
"General Chariot and Cavalry, His Majesty is waiting for you, let's go."
Zhuge Liang motioned for him to get in the car.
Zhang Fei was so anxious that he simply grabbed the horse of a soldier in the honor guard next to him and said, "I'll go to the palace first."
Then he reined up his horse and rushed towards the palace.
Zhuge Liang was helpless, but he understood his mood, so he had no choice but to follow him.
Zhang Fei galloped all the way to the outside of the palace. The soldiers wanted to intercept him, but suddenly they saw Zhang Fei glaring over him. They recognized him and quickly got out of the way. The attendants took him all the way to the back garden.
"Brother, big brother!"
Zhang Fei almost jogged into the yard. Ma Liang outside the door shook his head to signal for silence.
But Zhang Fei misunderstood, thinking that Liu Bei was dead, so he rushed into the house almost crying, crying: "Brother."
"Yide."
Liu Bei happened to wake up today and his health seemed to be a little better. When he heard Zhang Fei's voice, he responded with a forced smile.
Zhang Fei came to Liu Bei's bed in three steps and was shocked when he saw Liu Bei's appearance.
When Liu Bei left the front line and returned to the rear to recuperate last year, he only had an old face and a normal body. But after he came back, in just over half a year, his appearance had changed drastically.
On the hospital bed, Liu Bei was seen as skinny as a stick, resembling a dead tree, his hair was all gray, his eyes seemed to be sunken, and he was almost without a human shape.
"Brother!"
When Zhang Fei saw this scene, he was so distressed that he burst into tears. He knelt down on the bed and cried, "How did you become like this?"
Liu Bei stretched out his hand and touched Zhang Fei's face. He felt that even though his third brother was in his sixties, he still had a beard like needles. He forced a smile and said: "You are so old, don't always act like a child. Separation between life and death is normal.
There’s nothing to be sad about.”
"woo woo woo woo."
Zhang Fei felt extremely sad and burst into tears.
When Liu Bei saw that his arm was bandaged, he changed the subject and asked, "I heard that you were injured before. How is it now?"
Zhang Fei shook his head and said: "It doesn't matter, he was shot by the kid from the Xiahou family."
He was talking about Xiahou Ba.
Xiahou Yuan always regarded Xiahou as his own daughter. In order to support his late brother's only daughter, he even gave up his youngest son in the famine years just to save her. After Zhang Fei abducted Xiahou, Xiahou Yuan always hated Zhang Fei.
Into the bone.
Although they were relatives, this time on the battlefield, Xiahou Yuan wanted to kill Zhang Fei more than anyone else. Therefore, during a previous fierce attack on the Han army camp, Xiahou Yuan's second son Xiahou Ba shot Zhang Fei in the arm.
Liu Bei advised: "Although we and the Xiahou family of the Cao family are in the same situation, Xiahou Miaocai is your wife's relative after all. You can be merciless on the battlefield. If you are captured alive, you should still be treated well."
"Yes Yes Yes."
Zhang Fei nodded in response, tears falling from his eyes. Seeing Liu Bei's sickly appearance made him extremely painful.
But Liu Bei had already looked away, and said: "I am very old, and I have no regrets in life. I am just worried about things behind me. I will leave my second and third brothers behind after I leave. Yide, you have a bad temper and are not suitable for handling national affairs.
You should listen to your second brothers, Kong Ming and Xiaoqing, when it comes to matters, and never act rashly."
"yes."
Zhang Fei grabbed Liu Bei's hand tightly and responded.
Liu Bei continued to say with difficulty: "Now that Kong Ming can govern the country, I can leave with peace of mind. But I can't worry about my child. From now on, he will be entrusted to the second and third brothers."
"Brother, Yide will never forget your instructions! Wuwuwu."
"Third brother, don't drink and get into trouble in the future."
"I know, brother."
"You are getting older now. You are less wielding swords and guns and more commanding from behind."
"I know, I know, woohoo."
"besides."
"Okay, okay, I wrote them all down one by one."
Zhang Fei had already cried and promised again and again, and now he promised Liu Bei everything.
But Liu Bei continued to give instructions.
Among the others, he was most worried about Zhang Fei. Zhang Fei had a bad habit of whipping soldiers after drinking.
Later, Shen Chen had a conflict with him over this. Liu Bei and Guan Yu stood firmly on Shen Chen's side and gave Zhang Fei a stern lesson.
After that incident, Zhang Fei could not say that he had completely changed his past, but he almost did not do so.
The main reason is that once he drinks, the general will give him the strongest soju. He drinks the liquor with 50 or 60 degrees to the point where he pours several kilograms into his stomach. If a cow is drunk, how can he still have the strength to whip the soldiers?
But although he no longer whipped the soldiers, his reckless temper remained unchanged.
Even though he is over sixty years old and his hair is gray and white, he still has a fiery temperament and wants to rush to the battlefield all the time, which is worrying.
Liu Bei was afraid that Zhang Fei would go to the battlefield privately without supervision after his death, so he kept nagging him.
In fact, he also thought about making Zhang Fei a minister of Tuogu.
But when he thought that Zhang Fei's temperament was really not suitable for being an important minister of the country, he gave up. It was only because he missed his brother before he died that he recalled him.
The people Liu Bei really wanted to take care of were Zhuge Liang, Shen Chen and Guan Yu.
Needless to say, Zhuge Liang and Chen Chen knew that Guan Yu was also a commander-in-chief, capable of both literary and military skills, and Yide also listened to his words. If his second brother could live a few more years, perhaps the country would be more prosperous.
Liu Bei thought so in his heart.
He rambled on for a while, his voice getting weaker and weaker, and in the end only Zhang Fei's cry was left.
When Zhang Fei raised his head to look, he realized that Liu Bei had fallen asleep at some point.
Zhang Fei was shocked, thinking that Liu Bei was dead, and quickly reached out to grab him. Unexpectedly, the imperial doctor next to him quickly grabbed him and whispered that his majesty was asleep and had a weak pulse. This made him feel relieved.
At that moment, he did not dare to disturb him. He left the palace and went home first. After seeing his wife and children, he came back and continued to stay by Liu Bei's side, not daring to leave for a moment.
A few days later, Shen Chen also returned to Xiangyang.
Although Guan Yu delivered the letter very quickly, the return was very slow. Because the whole journey was against the current, even if the sailors rowed hard, the speed was far less than when the wind was flowing smoothly, so it took two days to arrive.
Shen Chen, on the other hand, worked hard all the way. Except when sleeping, he changed horses without changing people along the way. It took him three days to return to Xiangyang from Wuguan over a thousand miles.
When he hurried to the palace, Liu Bei was still sleeping in the room, so he did not wake him up, but waited until Liu Bei woke up in the afternoon.
"His Majesty."
Liu Bei now lies in bed and sleeps for more than twelve hours a day, and the time to wake up is getting less and less.
Seeing that he was slowly waking up, Empress Wu quickly helped him drink some porridge and gave him some decoction. After working for a while and helping Liu Bei take care of him, the attendant next to him told him: "General Hussar is back."
"Xiaoqing is back?"
Liu Bei said weakly: "Summon him in."
"His Majesty."
When Shen Chen entered the house and saw Liu Bei's current appearance, he was shocked and said: "What's wrong, Your Majesty?"
When he was in Xuzhou, the high-spirited young Liu Bei was still vivid in his mind.
After many years, it had become like this, shaped like a dead tree, which shocked Shen Chen.
"Birth, old age, illness and death are all human events, so Xiaoqing doesn't need to worry about them."
Liu Bei smiled and said softly: "What is the situation in Guanzhong now?"
He didn't want Shen Chen and the others to worry about his health and condition all the time, so he changed the topic and talked about things in Guanzhong.
Shen Chen's eyes were sad, he walked to Liu Bei's bed and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, don't worry, Guanzhong is now fully prepared. I want to attack Hedong this year, capture Bingzhou, and cooperate with the generals and cavalry generals to capture Henan."
"That's good, that's good."
Liu Bei smiled and nodded repeatedly: "I will be very satisfied if I can see Guanzhong recovered and return to the old capital in my lifetime. I have nothing to worry about. The only regret is that I will not be able to see Xiaoqing recover the north for me and unify it." The world, cough cough cough cough cough”
At the end of the sentence, he coughed violently again, and even coughed up blood from the corner of his mouth. Queen Wu and others next to him were so frightened that they quickly wiped it with handkerchiefs, which showed that Liu Bei's lung disease had reached a very serious stage.
Seeing that he was seriously ill, Shen Chen sadly grabbed the edge of the bed and said, "Your Majesty. Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will definitely live up to your Majesty's trust."
Liu Bei coughed for a while before he finally recovered and said to him: "Xiaoqing is a man of great wisdom. I owe what I am today to Xiaoqing's help. I believe in Xiaoqing. You are a hundred times smarter than Cao Pi. After you dominate the world in the future, you will We must govern the country well and don’t let the people suffer anymore.”
"yes."
Shen Chen should come down.
Liu Bei held Shen Chen's hand and said softly: "From now on, major national affairs will be entrusted to Xiaoqing and Kong Ming."
"yes."
Shen Chen couldn't help but shed tears in the end.
Liu Bei's voice became smaller and smaller.
Seeing this situation, the imperial doctor next to him advised him: "General Hussars, please let your majesty rest for a while."
"Um."
Only then did Shen Chen stand up and slowly retreat outside the house.
Now Liu Bei spends more and more time sleeping. Even when he is awake, he often needs someone to serve him in order to eat. Otherwise, it will be difficult to take care of himself.
What's more important is that every time Liu Bei talks to someone, he spends a lot of energy.
Therefore, try to reduce the number of guests and the time spent visiting them.
At this time, Zhuge Liang was still engaged in government affairs. Liu Chan, Liu Yong, Liu Li, Liu Ning, Zhang Fei, Zhang Bao, Shen Yin, Shen Xi and others were waiting outside the house.
Everyone is sitting in the hall outside the house. Liu Bei's bedroom is on the side of the main hall. Everyone is now slumped in the main hall, and no one can cheer up.
Liu Chan, Liu Yong, Liu Li, Zhang Fei and Zhang Bao came over to greet Shen Chen. After Shen Chen returned the greetings one by one, he sat next to his wife Liu Ning. He hugged his haggard wife and sat quietly in the hall together with his two sons. .
There is nothing they can do now but wait for Guan Yu to come back.
Because Liu Bei obviously planned to wait for the three people to come back before making the final arrangements for his will, so they could only wait quietly.
In the next few days, everyone visited Liu Bei when he was awake and waited outside the house when he was asleep. It was not until June 29 that Guan Yu hurried back to Xiangyang from Hefei, two thousand miles away.
This is already the fastest speed.
Along the way, we had to change sailors but not boats. We traveled day and night, and I didn’t know how many oars were worn out. It took me eight days to reach Xiangyang despite the headwind and current.
Otherwise, under normal circumstances, it would take at least ten or even twenty days to arrive.
At lunchtime on June 29th, Guan Yu arrived at Xiangyang Pier after a long journey. Everyone went to greet him, but he was also very anxious and urged to get to the palace as soon as possible.
Soon the group arrived at the palace.
After Guan Yu saw Empress Wu, Mrs. Gan, Mrs. Mi and others who were waiting outside the house, he prepared to go to the audience.
But Liu Bei was still asleep at this time.
He usually wouldn't wake up until after noon for a while, so everyone could only wait.
At the beginning of the afternoon, he finally woke up.
After eating something as usual, Liu Bei seemed to be more energetic when he learned that Guan Yu was back. He quickly called everyone in.
The group of people entered the temple.
"Brother!"
When Guan Yu saw Liu Bei's appearance, even though Zhang Fei had told him before, he was still shocked, and then his tears also fell.
Liu Bei smiled and said: "Why are you three like this, making you cry when you see me?"
Guan Yu felt even more distressed when he saw that his face was pale but he still forced a smile to comfort himself. He knelt down in front of the bed and said, "I haven't seen you for two years, brother."
Liu Bei comforted him and said: "When I reach this age, it's time for me to die. Yunchang doesn't need to be sad."
"well."
Everyone behind them sighed.
Liu Bei said softly: "Everyone, please go out, Yunchang, Kongming, Xiaoqing, you three stay. I have something to say to you."
"Brother, I."
Zhang Fei was surprised when he saw that he was going out.
Guan Yu said to him: "Yide, you should go out first. Your voice is too loud. It will disturb the elder brother. Let me talk to the elder brother."
"oh."
Zhang Fei didn't doubt that he was there, so he followed everyone out.
Liu Bei waited for everyone to go out, then he wanted to sit up, but he couldn't straighten his back.
Guan Yu and Shen Chen stepped forward to help him support him, then leaned on the backrest behind the wooden couch and sat on the bed.
It was only then that Liu Bei looked at the three of them with turbid eyes but a hint of hope.
All three of them knew that he was going to take care of his funeral affairs and entrust the great cause of the country.