The afternoon sunshine in Xiangyang in March is dazzling, and the temperature is not too high, probably only over 20 degrees.
Outside the west city, there are overgrown weeds, with undulating mountains in the distance, some villages and fields at the foot of the mountains, and further away, the Qinling Mountains towering into the clouds like the back of a black dragon.
The carriage drove slowly past Atou Mountain along the road full of yellow mud. Not far ahead was Longzhong, where many carriages could be seen parked.
Longzhong is actually in the mountains. There are two low mountain tops on the left and right sides. There is a large area of farmland in the col below the foot of the mountain. Some houses have been built in rows and rows along the top of the mountain.
The Zhuge family is among them. It is not an ordinary farmhouse, but a tiled courtyard common to the gentry in the Han Dynasty. It cannot be said to be the waterside pavilion of a top wealthy family, but it can be regarded as a well-established family. It is surrounded by walls outside and has a tiled roof inside. Four or five rooms.
After hearing the news that Zhuge Xuan was critically ill, many of his friends in Jingzhou came to visit him. When Shen Chen arrived, there were many carriages parked outside the hospital, about a dozen of them, and there were also carriages coming from behind.
There was a child greeting him at the door. Shen Chen was a regular visitor. When he saw him coming, the child said, "Shen Xiaolang."
"Anu, how is uncle?"
Shen Chen got off the carriage and asked about the situation immediately.
The boy shook his head and said, "Now that he is unconscious, Da Lang and Shao Lang don't know what to do."
"What did the doctor say?"
"He said he might not be able to survive tonight."
"Oh, let me go in and take a look."
Shen Chen sighed. In the medical situation in ancient times, even pneumonia was a terminal disease. Hua Tuo and Zhang Zhongjing couldn't cure it, so we could only rely on God's will.
Entering the courtyard, passing through the front hall and arriving at the atrium, I saw many people in the courtyard, some of whom I knew and some who I didn't know. After greeting the people I knew, I went to the atrium. At this time, Zhuge Xuan was lying on the wooden floor, covered with a piece of silk. He was lying on bed, his eyes were closed tightly, and his face was pale.
Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun, the Zhuge sisters, their husbands Kuai Qi, and Pang Shanmin were all around.
At this time, Zhuge Liang's face was solemn, Zhuge Jun's eyes were red, Zhuge sisters were kneeling on the table next to them, wiping tears silently, while Kuai Qi and Pang Shanmin were standing next to their wives, their faces not very good-looking either.
Although Zhuge Xuan was only Zhuge Liang's uncle, Zhuge Gui died of illness early, so Zhuge Liang's brothers and sisters were raised by his eldest brother Zhuge Jin in the first few years. When Cao Cao massacred Xuzhou, Zhuge Xuan went to Mount Tai to bring the Zhuge family over. Jingzhou, after that, Zhuge Xuan raised them.
Therefore, in their eyes, Zhuge Xuan is no different from his biological father. His critical illness is a very bad thing for Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun, or the married Zhuge sisters. For a moment, it feels like the sky is falling. Generally, there is no place to rely on.
Shen Chen stood at the door and did not go in. After a while, Deng Hong and Liu Xian came over. Seeing Shen Chen nodding, they entered the hall. Zhuge Liang and others saluted them. They looked at Zhuge Xuan and saw that he was still there. He was unconscious, so he didn't bother him. He took a few glances and came out. Everyone was waiting in the yard.
"Achen."
"Uncle, Mr. Zongshi."
"Um."
Deng Hong nodded and said, "I heard you went down the mountain?"
Shen Chen smiled bitterly and said: "Good things don't go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles."
"It's okay to go down the mountain."
Deng Hong said: "What are your plans for the future?"
Shen Chen thought for a while and said: "Let's continue learning. There is no end to learning."
"Um."
Deng Hong responded.
A few more people came outside the talking room, all of whom were colleagues at the Zhou Mu Mansion, and they greeted each other and started chatting.
Shen Chen was still sitting cross-legged on the porch.
Zhuge Liang actually saw him, but he couldn't leave his uncle's side at this time, so he nodded slightly to him. Shen Chen also nodded and said nothing.
Soon in the evening, more than 30 or 40 people came to the courtyard. After everyone visited Zhuge Xuan, who was still in a coma, and expressed their regrets to Zhuge Liang and others, they all sat in the banquet and waited.
The doctor said he might not survive the night, so no one left.
At this moment, a voice called "uncle" suddenly came from the inner room, and everyone suddenly felt shocked and hurriedly rushed into the room.
Due to the distance and distance between relatives, the positions were different. The ones in the innermost were relatives such as Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jun, followed by friends such as Deng Hong and Liu Xian, and then the rest of his colleagues and friends. Shen Chen was in the crowd, leaning against the wall and watching.
Then he saw Zhuge Xuan wake up faintly on the wooden collapse, and his face was not as pale as before. When he saw Zhuge Liang beside him, he forced a smile and said with difficulty: "Ah Liang, Ah Jun"
"uncle."
Zhuge Liang stepped forward and held his hand, holding back tears and said, "Are you awake?"
"Um."
Zhu Ge , you should take the responsibility of taking care of your little brother, do you understand?"
"Uncle, don't talk about life and death. You will get better."
Zhuge Liang comforted him in a deep voice.
Zhu Ge
"Please uncle give me the words."
Zhuge Liang lifted up his robe and knelt down in front of Zhuge Xuan.
In ancient times, men generally reached adulthood at the age of twenty, which was called Jiguan, which meant that they had grown up since then and had to take on family responsibilities and even become the head of the family.
But there are exceptions.
That is, when all the elders die, the oldest male among the remaining children must inherit the family business in advance.
For example, before Zhuge Xuan took the Zhuge family to Jingzhou, Zhuge Gui died of illness. Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang's half-brother, had to serve his stepmother and raise Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun and other brothers and sisters. Therefore, when he was fifteen years old, he already took the cousin name Ziyu. Became the head of the Zhuge family.
Later, after the death of Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jun's biological mother and Zhuge Jin's stepmother, Zhuge Xuan came to take them to Jingzhou, but Zhuge Jin did not go. At this time, he separated from Zhuge Liang and the others and went to Jiangdong to develop alone.
Therefore, at that time, Zhuge Jin left home to start his own business, and the head of the Zhuge family in Langya became Zhuge Xuan, so Zhuge Liang did not need to take a second name to inherit the family business.
Now that Zhuge Xuan is dead again, and Zhuge Jin has separated and left, the burden of being the head of the Zhuge family in Langya will naturally fall on Zhuge Liang.
Zhuge Xuan gave Zhuge Liang the words before his death. In a sense, it is an ancient inheritance order.
His breath gradually weakened, and he looked at Zhuge Liang kneeling in front of him and said softly: "I have already thought of your word, so let's call it Kong Ming."
"Kong Ming would like to thank my uncle for the calligraphy."
Zhuge Liang kowtowed.
From then on, his surname was Zhuge, his first name was Liang, and his given name was Kongming.
"I have no regrets in this life."
Zhuge Xuan showed a smile.
After he gave Zhuge Liang the calligraphy, many friends came to visit him.
As an elegant scholar, Zhuge Xuan had a wide range of friends, including the Cai family, Kuai family, Pang family, Huang family and other major aristocratic families in Jingzhou.
For example, Pang Tong's father, Kuai Liang of the Kuai family, Huang Chengyan of the Huang family, and even Cai Zan and Cai Yan of the Cai family are all here.
Among them, Cai Yan is not Cai Wenji, but Cai Mao's cousin.
When Luo Guanzhong wrote "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", he fictionalized the Cai family as Cai Zhong and Cai He, but in fact Cai Mao's cousins' real names were Cai Yan and Cai Zan.
Both of them served as officials in other places in their early years. Cai Yan was once the governor of Ba County, and Cai Zan was the magistrate of Yi County. After Dong Zhuo's rebellion, they both abandoned their official positions and returned to their hometowns. They are not serving as officials now. At the same time, Cai Zan is also the Cai family of Deng Hong's wife.
's father.
Many of Zhuge Xuan's friends came forward to express condolences one by one. Zhuge Xuan dragged his sick body and talked to them one by one. Firstly, he said goodbye to them. Secondly, the most important thing was to tell them his last words and ask them to die before he died.
Later, I was able to take care of Brother Zhuge Liang.
Hearing that their uncle was still worried about them before he died, Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jun stood solemnly, but tears fell silently from their eyes, and they had already become weepers.
To a certain extent, Zhuge Xuan, dragging his sick body with difficulty to explain his funeral to his friends, was actually using his last bit of influence to ask his friends during his lifetime to help brothers Zhuge Liang and Zhuge Jun in the future.
Later, Zhuge Liang had relations with all the major aristocratic families in Jingzhou, and he worked as a lobbyist everywhere to help Liu Bei gain a foothold in Jingzhou, and he also persuaded Sun Quan to unite to fight against Cao Cao. Perhaps it was because of the political legacy Zhuge Xuan left for them during this period.
It's working.
Therefore, Zhuge Xuan's kindness to Zhuge Liang and the others was really as high as the mountains and the sea. The four brothers and sisters couldn't stop crying. They were afraid of disturbing their uncle and many guests, so they could only cover their mouths and cover their faces with their sleeves.
, sobbing softly.
After a while, Zhuge Xuan said hello to many of his friends with difficulty, lay down on the wooden slump, and continued chatting with everyone. It was considered as an end to his life, and he said goodbye to everyone and left.
When it got late, his voice became weaker and weaker, and his face, which had improved slightly, began to turn pale, and then it seemed that there was only air coming out and no air coming in. His mouth was slightly open, as if there were countless words.
I wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
"Uncle, uncle?"
Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun, and Zhuge sisters rushed forward in a hurry.
Zhuge Xuan finally forced a smile, and then his head slowly slid off the pillow.
"Uncle! Wuwuwuwuwu."
Sister Zhuge tremblingly stretched out her fingers and pressed on Zhuge Xuan's pulse, then she let out a loud cry and burst into tears.
"Uuuuuuuuuu, uncle."
Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jun and others couldn't hold back their tears and cried bitterly.
Everyone around him suddenly realized that Zhuge Xuan had passed away due to illness, and everyone looked sad and sighed.
Many of them shed tears, and all his close friends shed tears of sadness.
Liu Xian wiped the tears from the corner of his eyes with his large sleeve robe, stepped forward and advised: "Kong Ming, Ah Jun, the most important thing now is to handle the funeral arrangements for your uncle."
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"
The three Zhuge brothers and sisters were still crying.
Only Zhuge Liang's eyes were red, he wiped away his tears and lowered his head and said sadly: "My uncle is right. My uncle died of illness. As a son and nephew, you should first take care of your uncle's funeral arrangements."
As the head of the family, he must shoulder this responsibility.
At that moment, Zhuge Liang got up and ordered his servants to start arranging the things that had been prepared.
In fact, everyone has already expected this step, otherwise the Zhuge family would not have notified everyone to come, so they have been prepared for it.
These were also Zhuge Xuan's last words. He could feel that the end was approaching, so he asked Zhuge Liang to buy some plain cloth and also asked him to send someone to notify his friends.
One is to see the last scene, and the other is so that everyone can help Zhuge Liang after his death.
Now that Zhuge Xuan has died of illness, the funeral will naturally begin.