The man who came in a hurry, dressed in a cyan Confucian robe, dressed like a literati, but his figure was very tall and muscular. On an angular face, the facial features are matched just right, and there is a bit of a man's rough and bold charm in the subtlety. It's just that at this moment, there was hesitation in his eyes, and the two sword eyebrows were twisted like ropes.

It's Xu Shu.

"It's Mr. Xu!" Liu Feng's eyes were amazing, and he took advantage of the last touch of afterglow to see the face clearly.

Zhao Yunmeng's reining horse, the starry eyes passed through the cold space, and a few seconds later, he also recognized Xu Shu's face. As soon as the old lady behind him heard her son's name, her weak body trembled with excitement as if it had been charged for a moment, but because she was so excited, her throat was blocked by wet tears, and she couldn't open her mouth for a while.

"Mr. Xu, why are you here alone, where is my father?" Liu Feng asked loudly first.

Xu Shu also recognized the two of them, but the light was dim, and Zhao Yun was in good health, covering the old lady behind him.

Although Liu Feng's identity has undergone some subtle changes due to Adou's birth, if you talk about identity, he is still the eldest son of the Liu family.

But now, when Xu Shu saw him, he didn't even call the eldest prince, but just arched his hand perfunctorily: "The lord and they are safe and sound, now that they have crossed the Dangyang Bridge, the eldest prince and Zilong should go and join them quickly, I am afraid that Cao Jun will catch up again when it is late." ”

When Xu Shu spoke, he always looked preoccupied, and as soon as he finished speaking, he turned his horse and wanted to go north.

"Mr. Yuanzhi, the north is full of Cao Jun, why don't you go to the north alone if you don't go with us to meet your father." Liu Feng had already guessed a few points, but he didn't break it for the time being.

Xu Shu smiled bitterly and sighed helplessly: "I can't hide it, I heard that my mother has been taken captive by Cao Ying, and filial piety is the first word, for the safety of my mother, I can only go to Cao Ying." ”

Zhao Yun's expression changed, and he didn't put it through for the time being, and asked: "Mr. Yuanzhi, do you want to turn your back on the lord and submit to Cao Thief?" ”

Xu Shu said weakly: "The lord and I have the grace of acquaintance, but for the sake of the old mother, I have to do this, the lord is merciful and has understood my difficulties." Two, my heart is in turmoil, so I won't say much, take care. ”

Xu Shu's eager look, as if he didn't want to stay for a moment, and when he wanted to pat the horse away, Liu Feng grabbed the reins of his horse first, and said with a smile: "People say that Xu Yuanzhi is a filial son in the world, and when I see it today, it really deserves its name." However, if Mr. Yuanzhi goes to Cao Ying today, I am afraid that the reputation of your filial son will stink from now on. ”

"Eldest son, you ......" Xu Shu was puzzled.

"Sir, look who this is."

Liu Feng pointed behind Zhao Yun, Xu Shu's blank gaze turned to Liu Feng's point, when he saw clearly the excited old woman behind Zhao Yun who was bursting into tears, the whole person seemed to climb from the cold abyss to the top of the mountain like the sun in an instant, and tears immediately burst out.

"Mother!"

Xu Shu rolled the saddle and got off the horse, and the old mother who was helped off the horse by Liu Feng threw themselves together, the mother and son experienced life and death, thousands of emotions, and they were in tears at the moment.

Seeing this scene of mother-son love, he suddenly remembered his relatives who were separated from another world, and Liu Feng's heart was filled with emotion.

After the mother and son hugged each other and cried for a while, the excited feelings calmed down, Xu Shu restrained his tears, and asked his mother why she was with the eldest prince and Zhao Zilong, and the old lady told her son how she was captured by Cao Jun and how she was saved by the two of them.

After hearing this, Xu Shu immediately cleaned his face and bowed deeply to Liu Zhao and the others: "The kindness of the eldest prince and General Zilong, Xu Shu has nothing to repay, please accept my worship." ”

Zhao Yun hurriedly helped Xu Shu up: "It's just a gesture, Mr. Xu is outside." Besides, this matter is due to the good eyesight of the eldest prince, and he recognized the old lady in time, otherwise, I would have almost made a big mistake. ”

"Eldest son, your kindness will be remembered in my heart." On the bold face, surging with gratitude from the heart, Xu Shu faced Liu Feng, bent his knees and bowed again.

Liu Feng hurriedly stretched out his hand to support him, and said with a faint smile: "Mr. has made suggestions for my father and devoted his efforts to it, what is it that I have done this little thing." If you really want to thank me, just invite me to drink a good wine. ”

Although Xu Shu is currently serving as a strategist under Liu Bei's curtain, he traveled all over the world in his early years, and was famous for his chivalrous deeds.

Liu Feng was so heroic and magnificent, just right for Xu Shu's taste, he no longer stuck to those etiquettes, and said with a hearty smile: "Okay, the eldest prince said well, I will drink a thousand cups with the eldest prince." Zilong, you must come when the time comes, we will not get drunk with him. ”

Zhao Yun smiled lightly: "It's not necessary, you know, I never drink." ”

"Uncle Yun, don't spoil the fun, this wine must be drunk."

Zhao Yun smiled without saying a word.

The baptism of blood and fire in Changbanpo has experienced the small warmth of the mother-son reunion in front of him, as if he has temporarily forgotten the previous thrilling, and the hearty laughter drifts away with the wind on the wilderness of the autumn breeze.

Before dark, Liu Feng and the others successfully crossed the Dangyang Bridge guarded by Zhang Fei, diverted and walked five or six miles east, and finally caught up with the large army. And the so-called "big army" is actually only twenty or thirty people.

This time he withdrew from the south of Fancheng to Xiangyang, and after discussing with Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei decided to divide all the more than 10,000 or so men and horses into two routes. The water route led by Guan Yu about 5,000 sailors and more than 300 warships from the Han River to the south. On the land route, Liu Bei Qianzi led 5,000 soldiers and horses to Jiangling by Dangyang Avenue.

At that time, when the tiger and leopard cavalry of the Cao army chased after him, Xu Chu led a thousand soldiers and horses to attack the 2,000 troops behind the palace where Liu Feng was, and at the same time, Cao Chun led another 2,000 soldiers and horses to bypass the civilian team of 100,000 people from the side, and directly killed Liu Bei's army at the front of the team, preparing to give Liu Bei a beheading operation.

However, due to the time difference, Xu Chu's troops launched an attack in advance, which caused the huge southward fleeing team to collapse first, and the chaotic flow of refugees delayed Cao Chun's attack. Despite this, the most elite 3,000 Liu Jiajun still failed to stop the attack of the tiger and leopard cavalry that had been reduced. Three thousand soldiers and horses died to death, and they were defeated, but it was only under Zhang Fei's desperate battle that Liu Bei was able to take Zhuge Liang and other core teams to escape from Dangyang Bridge luckily.

The flickering bonfire crackled from time to time, and beside the fire, Liu Bei, who was in shabby clothes, sat silently, and the blackened wooden stick in his hand was playing with the fire at will.

His forehead was full of traces of time, a long and thin face, his eyes slightly apart, and the two mustaches on his lips were still stained with ash. A mediocre-looking face does not seem to have any majestic momentum at all, but it is this mediocrity, for some reason, that can make the silent subordinates around him feel the implicit momentum.

Underneath the expression of silence as water, there is a heart dripping with blood, five thousand soldiers and horses who have worked hard for seven years, and they are all lost in one day, and it is no wonder that it is not painful. However, what really made him feel like a knife was Xu Shu's departure.

Thousands of troops are easy to obtain, but one will be hard to find!

In the silence, a brisk sound of horses' hooves was heard in the distance, and everyone's hearts suddenly tightened, followed by the sound of weapons unsheathed one after another.

After a while, the sentry who could hear it shouted excitedly: "It's the eldest prince and General Zilong who are back, and Mr. Xu!" ”

"Yuan Zhi is back?" The silent Liu Beiteng jumped up suddenly, and his gloomy expression was instantly filled with surprise.

――――

Note: In the official history, Xu Shu was captured by Cao Jun because of the defeat of Changbanpo, so he left Liu Bei.