—187 A.D.——

Luoyang North.

Liu Bei ordered several Bai'er soldiers to carry gifts and visit the Sima family manor with Zhang Fei and Xiahou Ji.

"So, big brother, are we going to invite a 'big Sima'?"

"No, although Mr. Sima's ancestors were indeed given the surname 'Sima' because of their official position, his official position at this time was 'Luoyang Ling'."

"Oh......"

During Liu Bei's study in Luoyang, he had a few contacts with Sima Fang, and in his impression, this Luoyang Ling was a direct minister with an upright personality, acting fairly, being strict with himself, treating others leniently, loyal to the royal family, and not friends or parties.

When he encountered several disasters in Luoyang in recent years, he successively served as Jing Zhaoyin and Luoyang Commander, acting in an orderly manner, dealing with various emergencies in a busy but not chaotic manner, even if the Ten Standing Attendants, his relatives and courtiers issued completely opposite orders for the same matter, he could make the most appropriate response after weighing them.

The teacher Lu Zhi once mentioned that he liked to read the biographies of famous ministers in the Book of Han, and annotated tens of thousands of words of satirical non-ministers, which can be said to be a model among loyal ministers.

However, according to the evaluation of the contemporaries, even on occasions such as banquets and poetry meetings, he deliberately maintained his prestige, and when it was his turn to speak, he would publish some content that could easily lead to coldness such as loyalty to the monarch and the country, and the duties of courtiers.

Judging from the information obtained from "Luoshen", he was very dissatisfied with the fact that no one in Luoyang took the emperor seriously at this time, so he took advantage of the time when Lu Bu led the Liangzhou army into Luoyang, and his family quietly left Luoyang, preparing to return to his hometown Liyang to live in seclusion.

The two brothers were discussing, but they saw a scout returning on horseback, and reported: "There is a person in the pavilion on the side of the road ahead, Eguan Bo belt, with an extraordinary appearance, cast a spell to stop his subordinates, and asked the adults to go for a while." ”

Of course, there are scouts to explore the way, although Liu Bei is going to visit Xian at this time, but he is also on the march, and there is no reason to relax his vigilance.

"Could it be Taiping Dao Ancestor Zhang Jiao?" Liu Bei guessed, "The troops I led and the next actions may cause many casualties among the Taiping Daoists, and it is normal for the Dao Ancestor who has always seen the beginning and the tail to warn one or two." ”

Liu Bei was halfway through speaking, and looked back at Zhang Fei, who had already taken off the snake spear: "Don't do it first." ”

"Cut ......" Zhang Fei put away his weapon with regret.

————

A moment later, Liu Bei saw the Taoist.

"You think it's Zhang Jiao? Actually, it's Zuo Yuanfang. Zuo Ci, whose hair stood upside down and was wearing a gray and white robe, stood in the viewing pavilion next to a waterfall on the side of the road, and smiled at Liu Bei, who had an indescribable expression.

Behind him, a green bamboo fishing rod dangled on the surface of the waterhole below the waterfall with a straight hook three feet above the water.

"I don't know if Zuo Xian has grown here, what do you have to teach you?" Liu Bei ignored the strange fishing rod and asked him.

Liu Bei's perception of Zuo Ci is a little complicated.

Although he influenced his own childhood, he saved his father's life;

He made trouble everywhere and claimed that others were "great virtues", which caused him to be questioned a lot, but he really started the reputation of "Royal Brother Liu Xuande", and it was not unrelated to this that he would receive the "edict of clothes and belts";

He has been working against the "Bodhisattva" for several years, but each time it is himself who is unlucky.

In short, Liu Bei couldn't find a reason to beat people when they met.

"It's just to persuade 'Dade' not to recruit people from the Sima family," Zuo Ci still used his unique name for Liu Bei: "Their family is all eagles and wolves, and there are rebels in the back of their heads, if they can't satisfy their pursuit of power within a certain period of time, they will abandon you, and if you are willing to meet this pursuit all the time, they will eventually swallow up your great cause." ”

"Immortal Zuo, please be cautious," Liu Bei frowned slightly: "What you are talking about is a pillar of the society who is loyal to the monarch and the country, and is old and respectful." ”

"Maybe that Sima Fang is indeed like this, but no one can guarantee that all his sons will be like this," Zuo Ci shook his head: "Well, Xiao Sheng didn't think that just a few words could make 'Great Virtue' change his mind, just a reminder to beware of them." ”

After that, Zuo Ci didn't wait for Liu Bei to respond, he flew back in the air, stepped on the fishing rod and flew upside down into the curtain of the waterfall, and the green bamboo fishing rod also followed without anyone touching it.

"In any case, that 'Sima' is just a civil servant," Zhang Fei snorted: "If there is any strange behavior, I can beat him flat with one hand." ”

"Let's go meet first, 'Roselle' shouldn't make a mistake." Liu Bei shook his head and nodded.

————

Sima's other village is very easy to find, because according to "Luoshen", Sima Fang's excuse for going out at this time is just to relax, and he has no clear intention to escape, so he has never concealed his whereabouts, and asks passers-by at will to ask "where the official from Luoyang lives".

Specifically, the estate is located on the leeward side of a high mountain facing the river, surrounded by a wide but sparsely wooded dwarf forest, and the farms under its jurisdiction collect wild goods and dig stones.

Liu Bei came to the front of the village, went to knock on the door, and a tall and thin porter greeted him, so he informed: "Liu Xuande came to meet Mr. Sima." ”

The concierge looked at Liu Bei Zhang Fei and his entourage, and saw that he was not quite the same as ordinary visitors, and he didn't seem to be a person who could be sent casually, so he asked: "Then ask the guest to report the official position, title, title or nickname, so that the villain can return to the master." ”

Liu Bei was stunned for a moment, and then said while recalling: "Then please inform your master, the general of the expedition to the west, the county marquis of Jixian County, the commander of Guangyang County, the disciple of the great Sima Lu Zhi, and the imperial brother Liu Bei Liu Xuande, ask to see." ”

After finishing speaking, Liu Bei realized that he could be regarded as a celebrity, just looking at the concierge running back in a panic to know how scary this series of titles was.

"Big brother, shouldn't we be acting in secret?" Zhang Fei interjected in a daze.

“…… If you want to hide your name, you will only appear insincere. Liu Bei explained this to the third brother, but after asking himself, he found that the reason why he did not cover it up was just that the "Luo Shen" said that there was no need to hide it.

————

However, after the servant ran back to report, there was no movement in Sima Manor, and the originally faint human voice disappeared completely, as if it had become empty in an instant.

"Oh no, they fled early." Liu Bei waited for a long time, and after knocking on the door again but not getting any response, he thought in hindsight that it was probably one of his titles that caused Sima Fang to misunderstand, and decided to leave immediately.

As for which one it is, Liu Bei didn't have an idea for a while, but now the top priority is to stop them, "Luo Shen" said that he is a lonely minister who is only loyal to the emperor, as long as he shows him the "edict of clothes", he can be recruited smoothly, she didn't say that she wants to let herself apply for that list of titles!

"Third brother! You immediately bring someone to invite Mr. Sima's family back, remember not to be rude," Liu Bei sighed at the importance of having a resourceful person, and then began to dispatch troops: "You, stay here and take care of the gifts, you, you, follow General Zhang, and the rest of the people will come with me." ”

"Order!" The gift-giving team was instantly divided into three parts, except for the white-eared soldier who stayed at the front door, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei each led people to go around the back of the mansion one left and one right.

Liu Bei only halfway around and found that there was no way out, because the manor itself was built on the mountain, and the wall on this side was connected to a towering cliff, and there were no side doors found along the way, so if the people of the Sima family did not use the secret passage, they should have evacuated from the sparse woods on the other side.

Liu Bei hurriedly led people back the same way, and at the same time thought that with the skills of the third brother, it should not be difficult to intercept them, but the edict was not on him, and there should be no problem in stopping some family members and a few scribes without any basis and without moving...... Right?

This wishful thinking was shattered when Liu Bei rushed back to the main gate of the Sima family's manor.

"[You dare to say that my husband is black and ugly——?! 】”

As Xiahou Ji inexplicably magnified many times of his shouting, a huge rabbit with black flames all over his body fell from the sky, and then rolled on the spot, directly destroying a large area of dwarf forest in that location.

And the little girl in the black dress standing on its head, who else could it be if it wasn't Xiahou Ji?

"Don't want to run! Xiahou Ji's voice came from afar again, and then, the rabbit made two pounce movements, as if stopping someone who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to leave.

"[The lord of the husband said that the husband is not allowed to be rude, but he didn't say that he can't set fire~" Xiahou Ji was very proud for some reason: "[If you don't stay honestly, you will be reduced to ashes in this 'Nirvana Fire'!" 】”

"Alas......" Liu Bei sighed and raised his hand to support his forehead, leading his subordinates to rush over there.

On the bright side, at least the great sage was invited, although he didn't know how long it would be before he would be willing to give him advice.

However, with the quality of Master Sima Fang, it should not be the third brother who would say such things as "black and ugly", who is it......

————

In the place where the flame rabbit landed, in addition to some panicked servants, there was still a middle-aged and grim scribe, a simple young man who had just been crowned, and a boy about five years old, who did not care about the burning giant rabbit and the tall Zhang Fei.

The scribe didn't seem to intend to talk to Zhang Fei and Xiahou Ji, and closed his eyes slightly, while the young man seemed to be a little curious about the white-eared soldier, but his father didn't speak, and he didn't dare to say anything.

Only the boy who looked quite smart and had purring eyes remained, he looked at the flame rabbit, then at Zhang Fei, and grinned: "However, he is really black and ugly~ You don't always compare with children, right?" ”

"[You! Since he was indeed "honest", Xiahou Ji had no reason to be mad, so he angrily stomped his feet on the top of the rabbit's head.

"You're right." Zhang Fei nodded, and then untied a roll of hemp rope from his waist.

Sima Yi's smile froze on his face.