Xuzhou, Guangling Pavilion.

The undulating water slammed against the wooden piles standing on the river, and on the long bridge, the paved planks creaked under the feet of the two people in parallel, and soon they stopped, and Sun Ce stood there looking at the mist rising from the river.

The voice of taking a deep breath sounded in the silence, and the mouth full of short whiskers opened and closed: "...... Gongjin, what do you say is going on over there in Wu County?" It's almost the New Year, and I don't know how Shao'er and his mother are doing, when he was going west for his brother, he couldn't even walk, and now I'm afraid he's becoming a little man......"

Zhou Yu, who was side by side, picked up a stone on the wooden board and gently threw it into the river, the ripples dissipated with the waves, and the corners of his mouth hooked: "The war in Jingzhou in ...... has ended, and it is estimated that the Xichuan side is almost over, and the time when my brother and nephew are reunited is getting closer and closer." ”

"Exactly...... The more urgent the heart became. Sun Ce smiled and returned along the bridge with Zhou Yu, "I haven't been home for many years, and I feel a little apprehensive." ”

"Brother I'm afraid I don't know how to meet Zhongmou in the future?"

The white mist filled the air with the words, Sun Ce heard his words, turned his face slightly in front of him, and in the light shining from the water village in the distance, he couldn't see any expression, and was silent for a moment: "I really don't know...... He has done some things, but after all, it is my brother, if he kills him, his mother will not want her to be sad for his brother. ”

"But Zhongmou continues to resist stubbornly, with the character of King Jin, he will probably die." Zhou Yu walked over.

Sun Ce shook his head, not knowing how to continue, turned around and walked towards the camp, but his brows were furrowed. The cold night wind howled in the water village, flags were waved all around, and many soldiers who were warming up surrounded by speckled bonfires, and the firelight was reflected on his face, and a trace of water stains could be faintly seen in the corners of his eyes flickering in the rickety light.

"After my father's death, it was my brother who has been taking care of Zhongmou, watching him grow up little by little, if he really uses a knife on his neck in the future, he doesn't know if he can go down, but over the years, he has become a prince, and his heart is no longer the original Zhongmou, but Sun Ce is still the original Sun Ce...... Gong Jin, you won't understand this kind of mood. ”

The words are over......

Zhou Yu looked at his brother's back immersed in the firelight, stood in place and sighed, in fact, he and Sun Ce both knew that the young and vigorous Sun Quan would not compromise on this, and the fate he faced after this battle was already very clear, so Sun Ce's mood was also a little sad as time approached, but the world is like this, once a person chooses, he must make due responsibility for the choice, even if it is death.

The two walked into the barracks, all kinds of voices mixed with the hustle and bustle, the lively atmosphere made the two feel a lot better, in these years, starvation and cold are indispensable, in the past, when the princes were divided, the army often had the dilemma of not having enough to eat, not to mention the people. And now there is no war in the north and the Central Plains, Xuzhou is even richer, after the 30,000 East Route Army was stationed in Guangling Pavilion, the general who guarded Xuzhou was to maintain all the supplies in the army, after all, now the Central Plains and the north belong to the King of Jin, many things, everyone needs to re-stand in line, and the most basic thing is to express their greatest goodwill.

There are sufficient manpower and materials, Guangling Pavilion Water Village is also in the middle of most of the year, build water villages, build warships, a large number of Xuzhou young Zhuang was requisitioned to assist, and at the same time along the river bank to build beacon towers, arrows and a series of defensive measures, so as not to take advantage of the night fire of the sailors on the other side of the river to burn the ships. From May to the beginning of the twelfth, Guangling Pavilion Water Village has the conditions to cross the river, a full 375 warships, of which there are as many as 200 warships with a narrow and flexible body, covering the roof with Beidi cowhide, opening crossbow windows on both sides of the body, and erecting three large yellow crossbows on each side.

In addition, there are large boats loaded with soldiers, scout boats, war drums, and tooth flags, among which there are also ships called fighting ships, which are surrounded by high wooden walls to cover the type of ship named Matu to quickly meet the enemy, and the soldiers of this ship sit in the compartment to guard against arrows, and the oars are exposed, and they quickly row to link with the enemy ships, and then board the ship for blade combat.

The building ship is also called the door ship, the body is huge, more than ten zhang high, there are three ships and buildings, each weight is respectively set up throwing stones, bows and crossbows. It is the ship of Sun Ce and Zhou Yu this time. It's a pity that time is pressing, if there is another year or two, maybe the scale can be expanded several times, that is, without the help of Jingzhou Cai Mao's navy, it can not be afraid of thousands of fleets in Jiangdong.

"This is also the benefit of the unification of the Central Plains and the North, otherwise An Neng will build more than 300 warships in such a short time....... think about the scene of Yang Fan full of ships on the river, it is expected to be able to see it in this life, if hundreds of ships like this big ship kill Daqin, I really want to see the look of such a barbarian."

Sun Ce covered his previous demeanor, and when he said with a smile, Le Jin came over from the front camp from a distance, "Wu Hou, this person came across the river alone, saying that he had something important to see you." He also had a Jiangdong man dressed in a robe beside him, and when the other party approached and saw Sun Ce, his face suddenly became excited, and he half-knelt and arched his hand: "Wu Hou!" It's really your ......."

"Zilie?" Sun Ce saw his appearance clearly, and people were stunned for a moment, and then went up to help him up, this dignified Jiangdong man, named Chen Wu, followed Sun Ce in the army in the early years, and served as Sima of other departments, and later the Western Expedition opened, he entered Sun Quan's command and temporarily became Huang Gai's deputy general. At this time, when the monarchs and ministers saw each other, the eyes of the two of them were slightly red, and they couldn't speak for a long time, and after a while, Zhou Yu came over and smiled: "How did Zilie come over?" Who are you serving under now? ”

"The last general is now under the command of Old General Huang......" Zhou Yu, who came from Chen Wuchao, also arched his hand, "The old general sent the last general over to see if the person who led the army here was Wu Hou." ”

"Where is the repetition now?"

"At this moment, it should be past the Dantu, if it goes well, it should be on the river."

The night was dark, after Le Jin left, the three of them talked a lot about Sun Ce's expedition to the west in the camp tent, and after learning that most of his old generals had been transferred to levy Shanyue, he clenched his fists angrily and slammed them on the desk, and later Chen Wu said that Huang Gai saw the clues from the battle report sent by Tai Shici of Qu'a, and then he felt that this matter was different.

"Zhongmou......" Sun Ce closed his eyes and shook his head.

Zhou Yu frowned, and after listening to the words, his gaze stayed on Chen Wu's face: "On the way to this side, did Old General Huang see Sun Quan?" ”

"Naturally, I have seen it, otherwise, how can the old general leave his post and come here....."

As he spoke, he saw the elegant figure standing up suddenly, and a little wine splashed on the desk he touched, he looked at Sun Ce, who was surprised, and said softly: "...... Bo Fu, the old general is probably in danger. ”

"Let's—"

The lights suddenly deviated to the extreme, Sun Ce's voice was raised and roared, grabbed the big gun on the rack and rushed out, Zhou Yu and Chen Wu hurriedly followed, out of the tent, the surroundings were already noisy, a team of soldiers came out of the bonfire and the camp tent, and heard Wu Hou's voice resounding through the night: "Anchor, follow me out of the boat!" ”

…….

The night breeze is mixed with flakes of snow.

The old man standing at the bow of the boat was not wearing armor, and his body still looked tall and strong when standing in the cold wind, the wind blew, and the white beard was stained with a few snowflakes and gently stroked, and he was in a good mood and said to the soldiers who were paddling behind him: "Although the old man failed to see Wu Hou achieve hegemony, as long as their brothers can coexist in harmony, the old man will be worthy of Wentai in the next hundred years." ”

In the distance, the calm water also rippled, and a small boat silently approached the torch-stained boat.

"...... two children are good, if the general trend is in the hands of the king of Jin in the north today, it is difficult for a corner of Jiangdong to become a climate, if the two children die on this, it will be sad, when these thirteen states are unified, there will be nothing to fight for, Bo Fu and Zhongmou should be able to coexist peacefully......"

The old man's words seemed to be speaking to himself, as if to the soldiers behind him, and after a pause, someone on a ship in front of him shook the torch in his hand, and then a voice sounded: "General, there is a ship approaching ahead." ”

…….

In the dark, on a small boat in the remote, someone took off his shirt and went into the water with a knife.

…….

"Call the signal to see if Bo Fu is coming to meet me."

Huang Gai said with a smile, asking the soldiers to speed up to catch up with the boat in front, the mist filled the river, and there was the sound of water splashing in front of the night, as well as the light of the torch that was also shaking, and he vaguely saw that on the bow of the ship over there, the silhouette of the figure standing with a big gun was waving his arms, and the old man smiled even more, "Even if this figure can't be seen clearly, the old man can recognize it, it is really Bo Fu!" Quick, faster—"

"Public, dangerous!"

In the urging voice, Sun Ce over there also faintly heard here, Huang Gai listened carefully for a while, but the listening was incomplete, "What did Bo Fu say?" Then he turned to the paddling soldier and said, "Hurry up!" At the moment, there was a 'goo' sound on the water surface below, how could the general who had been fighting on the water for half his life not hear the abnormality, the old man looked at the past, and there were also soldiers' torches shining in that direction.

The sound of cooing suddenly became louder, and in the next second, the sound of water exploded, and a figure rushed up with several water curtains, reached out and grabbed the paddle in the water, and dragged the soldier into the water.

Huang Gai also waved the iron whip in his hand in an instant, but after all, it came too suddenly, the blade slashed violently, and when the golden sound sounded, the iron whip was pressed back to the old man's chest, and the burly man who attacked pulled out a knife with all his might.

"Huang Gai, you dare to surrender to the enemy-"

The blade slashed diagonally from the neck and shoulders, the rough roar and blood light splashed under the light of this torch, the old man's body fell down violently, in the distance, Sun Ce and Chen Wu stood there in a daze, their heads were blank, and then, Sun Ce's "ah-" cry of grief came out, stride, and threw the big gun in his hand towards the opposite side.

Phew-

The blade hit the big gun that was thrown, and the man's arms were also shocked and took two steps back, and he glanced back at the soldiers who pounced, and then turned around and plunged back into the river, disappearing into the undulating river.

The boat approached, Sun Ce jumped over directly, picked up the old man lying on the bow of the boat, blood had flowed out of his neck and shoulders and infected his robe, the boat swayed and undulated, Huang Gai seemed to have fallen asleep, slowly opened his eyes, his white hair and beard stroked in the cold wind, and smiled at Sun Ce in front of him, "....... Birf, come back...... That's it. ”

The hand covered with blood trembled and raised, and Sun Ce hurriedly held it: "Ce is back." ”

".......... it's good to come back...... Guotai is still waiting for you at home...... Your wife and children are waiting for you...... The old minister ..... be able to see Bo Fu come back...... It's a pleasure...... Don't blame Zhongmou...... Don't blame him....." The old man said something intermittently, his body suddenly struggled and trembled, a large stream of dark red blood flowed out of the wound that could see the neck bone, his hoarse voice paused for a moment, the color of his eyes dimmed a little, and he looked at the black sky, "The old minister wants to ..... down and follow Wentai..... there is still Darong, Bo Fu...... The old minister will say goodbye to you here......"

The blood-stained hand lost all its strength and fell on the plank, and the river was still flowing eastward with the waves pushing it........

"Sun Zhongmou—"

Sun Ce hugged the old man and pressed it in his arms, and the hysterical voice, mixed with anger, spread and echoed on the river surface under the night sky. However, one day not long after, it was reported in Jiangdong that Huang Gai was ordered to attack Guangling Pavilion at night and was killed by the fake Sun Ce and others, and for a time the resistance of Jiangdong Zhuwen and Wu became even stronger.

This is Sun Quan's backhand.

******

At this time, outside the turbulent city of Xudu, a group of 10,000 soldiers and horses who came back from Xichuan passed through Luoyang, and turned to the south to return to Xudu.

Sixteen years of Jian'an, the last month.