On August 15 of the year of Wuzi, on the mouth of Dongting Lake, the river surface was not alarmed. In the afterglow of the setting sun, thousands of warships were trimmed with gold and lined up in a uniform manner swaying on the banks of thousands of golden waves.

And the night is approaching, the sound of the piano suddenly comes into the ears, from the top of the high-rise building, sometimes sonorous like a sword, sometimes resentful like a complaint. The soldiers who were on the night vigil took three steps and one post, and when they heard the sound of the piano, they not only did not revel in it, but cheered up a little more.

On the upper floor of the moon, a delicately shaped carriage slowly drove up and stopped under the dangerous building. The curtain opened, but I saw a slender woman wearing a white hat and a white hat wearing a masked veil and getting out of the car, and she was carrying a small wooden basket in her hand. The wind was strong above the tall building, and the woman couldn't help but hold on to the railing and climb slowly.

On the west side of the tower is a wide lookout platform that protrudes from the river. The woman climbed the steps, but saw a figure in a white jacket and a deep coat stroking the piano alone. Compared with the huge and round moon, the back of the man was completely submerged in the moon ring, as if he was not sitting on the lookout, but on the moon and playing the harp, and his posture was as elegant as a fairy in the moon.

Under the white veil, the woman smiled softly at the corner of her lips, put down the bamboo basket, and floated towards the man. The sound of the piano suddenly stopped, the woman was surprised for a moment, and then smiled again, and then her lips opened lightly, and she said in a voice like water: "Your ears are too smart." ”

The man turned his head, and it was a handsome face like a peak, eyebrows like flowing clouds, eyes like stars, and the jade mountain was toppling, only the shallow beard on the lips and the big hands with slightly convex knots showed the vicissitudes of this person's experience. The man looked back and smiled, and said in a voice as warm as jade: "Madame has come to see me from thousands of miles away, and I have been waiting here for several days, how can I be intoxicated by the sound of the piano and forget to listen to the footsteps of Madame approaching?" ”

When the woman heard this, she smiled and took off her hat, revealing her waterfall-like hair, which she tied in a plain cloth and hung down to her waist. She stepped forward in three steps and two steps, threw herself into the man's arms and said emotionally: "Zhou Lang..."

After nine years, Zhou Yu was already the former governor of the entire Jiangdong, except for Sun Quan himself, the person with the highest military power, commanding 20,000 naval troops and 7,000 warships, sitting on the front line of Baqiu, supervising the army Dongting Lake, making 3,000 miles of Jingzhou cold. About this time last year, he had just personally led the army to smash the base camp of Huangzu after the comeback, beheaded him, and sacrificed to Sun Jian and Sun Celing. There is only one step left before taking Jingzhou and completing the agreement made with Sun Ce before his death.

Zhou Yu stroked Xiao Qiao's back and shoulders dotingly, and asked, "Are the children okay?" ”

At this time, Xiao Qiao is already the mother of two children, but her figure is still slender and lovely, with a smile and a smile showing the color of the country, and her every move is also dignified and demure, which is not inferior to her sister Da Qiao's demeanor back then. Only the corners of the mouth that inadvertently rose showed a different playfulness from Da Qiao.

"Besides, I heard that I was going to come to the army to see you, Xun'er was clamoring to follow, and even Yin'er, who was just a full year old, couldn't stop crying, but it took me a lot of effort to comfort me. This stubborn guy really doesn't look like you at all. After Xiao Qiao finished speaking, he snickered and looked at Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu laughed loudly: "Madame, I don't know, maybe my husband was so stubborn when he was a child?" ”

"No, since we got married, I have heard Aunt Zhou talk about it thousands of times when you were a child." Xiao Qiao looked at Zhou Yu, his eyes were full of affection.

Zhou Yu shrugged his shoulders and smiled: "I originally wanted to bear the burden for my wife, but who expected my wife to be so conscious." Since it is not me, then the lady said, "Who is this?" ”

Xiao Qiao Mei's eyes were disgusted: "Who do you say is stubborn? Okay, you, after a few months away from home, your guts have become fat, and you actually arranged me! Saying that, the two of them made a gesture of flying stones, but no stones flew out, but Zhou Yu lay down on the ground very cooperatively, and then both of them laughed heartily.

Sending Xiao Qiao back to the women's tent specially served by the maids, Zhou Yu walked back to his big tent to handle official business alone, looking at the map of the soldiers on the iron screen with magnets, but the mood was not as relaxed as before. At the beginning of the year, after Cao Cao returned from his expedition to Wuhuan, he dug a Xuanwu Pond in Yecheng and practiced the navy. In addition, in June this year, Emperor Liu Xie of the Han Dynasty was forced by Cao Cao to abolish the three dukes and appoint him as prime minister, which must be Cao Cao's move to go south to the Yangtze River and annex Jingzhou. If he wants to fulfill the grand wish he made with Sun Ce back then, Jingzhou must not fall into the hands of Cao Cao, otherwise not only will it be difficult to achieve the great cause, but once Cao's army goes down the river, Jiangdong will also be in danger. Thinking of this, Zhou Yu couldn't help but clench the chess piece engraved with the word "Cao" in his hand, as if he wanted to crush it.

At this moment, there was a neighing sound of horses outside the tent, and Zhou Yu's heart tightened. After living in the army for a long time, Zhou Yu could tell by the neighing of his horse that it was an expedited fast horse to report to the detective. On such a Mid-Autumn Festival night, if it is not a very important matter, it will not be sent overnight. Could it be that Cao Cao has already sent troops south?

The curtain was opened, and the guards took three steps and two steps to present the secret letter, which was a personal opening. Zhou Yu immediately opened it, then took out a small medicine bottle from his arms, took off the stopper and dripped it on the empty white paper taken out of the bamboo tube, but saw that eight characters gradually appeared on the paper: "Liu Biao died of illness, and Cong is in his place." ”

Although he had expected a few points, Zhou Yu's heartstrings couldn't help but flutter. Liu Cong is the youngest son of Liu Biao, and his eldest son Liu Qi has won the support of Liu Biao's ministers, but he does not like Liu Biao himself. There are Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang brothers competing with each other first, and this move will definitely lay the root cause for the fall of Jingzhou. If Cao Cao also gets this news at this moment, I'm afraid he won't be able to hold it back.

Zhou Yu immediately burned the secret letter on the candle next to the desk, and then wrote a new secret letter with a stroke of a pen, handed it to the guard, and said, "Gate urgently sent it back to the main office." ”

The guards bowed down and strode out. Zhou Yu walked out of the tent, but saw that the night sky was still cloudless, and dark clouds had rolled out at some point, and the huge bright moon was gradually being swallowed by it.

Witnessing this situation, Zhou Yu was not afraid to laugh. If Cao Cao really marched south, that person would definitely make a move, and this would be a great opportunity from God for him. For nine years, he had been waiting for this opportunity to avenge Sun Ce, and now he had finally waited for it.

At the Hanshui ferry, the sky is polished, a man in a cloth leads a horse to stand on the bamboo raft, and the boatman stands at the stern of the boat with a long artemisia in his hand, and is holding the bamboo raft across the river.

This is the only place to cross the river from Jingzhou to the north, usually there are not many ferrymen, but there are people ferrying so early in the morning, and they also spent a lot of money to let themselves start the boat immediately, which shows that this person is indeed unusual.

"The guest officer is busy on the road so early in the morning, I'm afraid there is something important on him?" Seeing that there was no one around, the boatman chatted with each other.

"Ah, indeed. I just received a letter from home last night, saying that my father was critically ill, so I hurried back to Jiangbei. I hope you will forgive me for disturbing your business. ”

I saw that this person was extremely generous, and the silver taels he gave were already enough to buy the entire ship, if he could be "disturbed business" like this every day, it was too late to be happy, how could it be his turn to "forgive"? The boatman smiled and asked, "Where is the guest officer?" Listening to the accent is not like Jingzhou people. ”

"Yes, I am originally from Qinghe County, and later because my father's generation was convicted of raiding the house, I once lived in seclusion in Lujiang to collect medicine for a living, and this time I came to Jingzhou to do some medicinal material business."

This person is none other than Changmu Xiu, or now he should be called Zhang Xiu. Since the Dantu ferry design poisoned Sun Ce nine years ago, he and his sister Zhang Qing have become Cao Cao's most trusted eyes and ears. At that time, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were holding each other in Guandu, if Sun Ce was still alive at that time, with the peak of his troops, and Zhou Yu strategizing, I am afraid that going north to attack Xuchang would be like probing for things. From then on, whenever Cao Cao wanted to point his troops or regard someone as a thorn in his side, he would sneak in first and secretly sabotage. However, this crusade against Jingzhou was the first time he took the initiative to ask Cao Cao to carry out the mission.

"You say, you want to take Jingzhou for Lone?" Cao Cao stared at Zhang Xiu, who bowed his head, with suspicious eyes, and asked.

"Don't dare. Only the prime minister can take Jingzhou, and what the minister can do is to make some trivial preparations for the prime minister to take Jingzhou. ”

"Oh? How to prepare? ”

Zhang Xiu stood up and replied: "Liu Biao is now old, but he has not yet established an heir, because he dotes on his stepwife Cai, so he prefers his youngest son Liu Cong and dislikes his eldest son Liu Qi, but because of the abolition of Changli and the lack of etiquette, he can't make up his mind." However, the Cai family has the heart of Empress Lu, hoping to join his brother Cai Mao and his henchmen to control the power of Jingzhou after Liu Biao's death, and Liu Qi has the support of old ministers inside and Liu Bei outside, and will not sit idly by. Therefore, the minister only needs to defect to the Cai family as Cao Cheng's secret envoy, help him get rid of Liu Biao, and then forge the will of Liu Cong, then Jingzhou will be in chaos. At that time, the minister will use Liu Cong's heavy money to persuade Liu Cong to surrender to the prime minister, and the prime minister will be able to pocket Jingzhou in one fell swoop without much effort. After Zhang Xiu finished speaking, he said goodbye.

"But how do you know that you are not going to join the enemy?" Cao Cao sneered and asked again.

Zhang Xiu got up, his eyes did not evade, and he calmly accepted the Ling Chi-like gaze of the hero in front of him, who almost dominated half of the country: "The majesty of the prime minister, like the sun and the moon, is added to the sea, and the five states are all subservient. This is a sign of world domination, and no one can compete with it. Xiu thinks that he is not stupid, so how can he abandon the light and the dark, give up the prime minister and turn to something else? ”

After the two looked at each other for a moment, Cao Cao laughed, and the stone in Zhang Xiu's heart was slightly lowered. It is difficult to feed a tiger to a person like Cao Cao, and even Zhang Xiu is not completely sure, I am afraid that if he is not careful with a word, he will be in a different place. Even now that he thinks about it, Zhang Xiu couldn't help but shudder.

Reminiscing, the bamboo raft has crossed the vast river and docked. Zhang Xiu turned around and waved at the boatman, stepped off the bamboo raft, turned over on his horse, and headed north.

The boatman whistled and propped the bamboo raft back to the south bank, unhurriedly took out the bamboo strips and a knife and pen from under the stool, and engraved: Zhang Xiu has left Jingzhou, August 16 of the year of Wuzi.

Not long after the end of the crusade against Huang Zu, Sun Quan was in Chaisang at this time, so early the next morning, Zhou Yu's letter was presented to him. Nine years have passed, and Sun Quan is no longer the somewhat ignorant and arrogant young man he was at the beginning, but has transformed into the mighty Wu Hou of Jiangdong. Although he does not have the martial arts of Sun Ce to break the enemy on the battlefield, if he talks about the affairs of the emperor and weighs the pros and cons, he is not inferior to his brother.

Several advisers, including Zhang Zhao and Lu Su, hurriedly responded to the call and participated in the deliberations. After Sun Ce's death, Lu Su began to work for Sun Quan under the recommendation of Zhou Yu, and soon became one of Sun Quan's important think tanks, only Zhang Zhao was very resentful that young juniors like Lu Su could be placed alongside him, and often slandered him for not being modest enough in front of Sun Quan, etc., but Sun Quan didn't take it to heart at all.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the guards went to the big tent and passed the word, and after a while, Sun Quan, who was dressed in dark purple clothes and wearing a gilded crown, walked out from behind the screen, and everyone immediately got up and saluted: "See Wu Hou!" ”

Sun Quan waved his hand to signal everyone to be exempted, and then went straight to the crowd: "I got the news this morning, Liu Biao has died of illness, and the position of Jingzhou pastor will be passed to his youngest son Liu Cong, the eldest son Liu Qi is very dissatisfied with this, and is preparing to unite with Liu Bei to crusade against Liu Cong, Jingzhou is afraid of falling into civil strife." Therefore, Gu Chen summoned everyone Aiqing to come in order to discuss how to deal with this matter, whether to take the opportunity to send troops, or ......"

When everyone saw this, they all looked at each other, although everyone was familiar with Jingzhou affairs, and Liu Biao's favoritism towards Liu Cong because of his preference for his stepwife Cai's was also well known, but at this delicate moment, I don't know if Sun Quan had already made a decision, so no one dared to say anything substantial, lest he would go against the will of the lord. Sun Quan was dizzy when he heard this, and asked Zhang Zhao beside him with a little dissatisfaction: "Zibuqing, what do you think?" ”

Zhang Zhao waved his hand and said to Sun Quan: "The minister thinks that our army has just defeated Huang Zu last year, and the treasury has consumed a lot of grain and grass, and now it is the autumn harvest season, so it is not appropriate to use troops immediately, this is one of them; Jingzhou infighting, brothers fighting each other, has not weakened each other, if I rashly use troops, I am afraid that the two brothers will shake hands and make peace, unanimously to the outside world, this is also the second. Liu Cong has the support of the Cai family, and Liu Qi also has Liu Bei as foreign aid. As the saying goes, 'the praying mantis catches the cicada, and the yellow finch is behind', I should wait and see how it changes, and when the victory or defeat is decided, it is not too late to send troops. ”

As soon as Zhang Zhao said this, all the civil officials present couldn't help but nod in admiration and seconded the proposal. Lu Su did not follow, but was a little anxious. What Zhang Zhao said is indeed true, but it is only analyzed from Jingzhou itself, and external factors are not considered. Now that Cao Cao is training his naval army in Yecheng, it is clear that he has the intention of crossing the river south and capturing Jingzhou, and neither Liu Cong nor Liu Qi can be Cao Cao's opponent. If Jingzhou falls into the hands of Cao Cao, Jiangdong will be in danger. It's just that Zhang Zhao has always been dissatisfied with himself, and now he doesn't know when Cao Cao will really go south, will Sun Quan accept his words?

At this moment, Huang Gai stood up and said to Sun Quan: "My lord, the minister has objections. Although the praying mantis catches cicadas well, we are not the only ones with yellow finches. Cao Cao has already conquered Wuhuan in the north, purged Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, and it has been half a year since he returned, and Xiliang is no longer a threat to him. At the beginning of the year, Cao Cao had already trained the naval army in Xuanwu Lake in Yecheng, if we missed the opportunity to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight, so Cao Cao went south to crusade against Jingzhou before us, it would be too late to regret it! ”

Zhang Zhao smiled disdainfully and said: "Cao Cao Fang returned from the expedition to Wuhuan, although he won a big victory, he lost Guo Fengxiao, and it should be the time to recuperate the army." Training a navy is just a preparation for the future, and there is really nothing to be afraid of where the navy can be trained in a year and a half. ”

Although Huang Gai has been on the battlefield for a long time, it is impossible to talk about Zhang Zhao when it comes to eloquence. Although Sun Quan was more inclined to send troops, he had little reason to refute it. When he was in a dilemma, the curtain behind him was suddenly lifted widely. Everyone looked back in amazement, but saw that it was Sun Shangxiang who walked in.

At this time, Sun Shangxiang was already a pretty woman in her early twenties, but she didn't like red makeup and arms, and most of the other girls had brocade embroidery threads, exotic flowers and plants, etc., but her boudoir was full of gold helmets and silver armor, knives, guns and sticks. Since the age of sixteen, there have been countless high-ranking officials and dignitaries of various ethnic groups in Jiangdong who want to get close to the Sun family, and it is not impossible to say that they are peugeot, but Sun Shangxiang does not pay attention to them at all, in her eyes, only a battlefield hero like her deceased eldest brother Sun Ce can be worthy of her. For this reason, she begged Sun Quan to select a full hundred maids for her, and there is only one standard, that is, in addition to the basic care of diet and daily life, everyone must be proficient in a weapon, teach her to dance swords and guns on weekdays, once a young man comes to the door to propose, let these hundred maids hold a hundred weapons in the front yard to list the battle, as long as the other party can pass the pass of the hundred maids, you can marry yourself. Who knew that nine years had passed, and no one could meet the conditions, and her name of "Xiao Ji" spread farther and farther. In this regard, Sun Shangxiang didn't mind at all, but was happy to do it, and Ping Su often took her "100 women's team" in and out of the barracks, and even entered and exited Sun Quan's camp tent at will without notification.

Sun Quan didn't care about this, but spoiled his domineering sister very much. Seeing Sun Shangxiang coming in, he immediately smiled and said, "Why is my sister here?" But what's not going well? ”

Sun Shangxiang stuck out his tongue and said with a smile: "I got up early in the morning to practice martial arts, and I saw the messenger under Brother Gongjin coming here, so I was curious to follow him." But this letter is a secret letter, and I can't read it. As he spoke, he handed a letter to Sun Quan.

Sun Quan was about to take the letterhead, but Sun Shangxiang suddenly withdrew the letter and said to Sun Quan: "Brother has to tell me what is written in the letter, otherwise, I won't give it to you." ”

When everyone saw this, they couldn't help but smile. Sun Quan laughed and said: "Okay, a gentleman's word, the horse is difficult to chase." Here, show me. ”

After receiving the letter in Sun Shangxiang's hand, Sun Quan used the developing water order he carried with him to show his words, but his face suddenly changed greatly. Sun Shangxiang asked anxiously: "Brother, what is written in it?" ”

Sun Quan's hand hung down weakly, and he said stupidly: "I'm sorry Shangxiang, this time I have to break my promise for my brother." ”

Sun Shangxiang asked urgently: "What's wrong?" Could it be that Brother Gongjin had an accident? ”

Sun Quan shook his head, but did not explain, his eyes were irrefutable.

Sun Shangxiang bit his lip and was silent for a moment, and without waiting for the guards outside the tent to come in and invite someone, he strode out by himself. The tent, which had only been active for a few minutes, returned to a dead silence.

When Sun Shangxiang's departing footsteps went away, Sun Quan said: "Gong Jin's inner line in Jingzhou came to report that Cao Cao had secretly sent Zhang Xiu to Jingzhou to collude with Liu Cong's party, and Liu Biao's death was probably inseparable from Cao Cao." ”

Huang Gai asked in surprise: "Zhang Xiu? But that nephew of Zhang Xun, the former general of the Yuan Shu Department? ”

Sun Quan didn't answer, he naturally knew who Zhang Xiu was, and he also knew that he was the one who killed Sun Ce nine years ago. However, this matter is a big matter, if it is widely publicized, firstly, the evidence will be insufficient, and secondly, Jiang Qin and Zhou Tai on duty will inevitably be guilty of capital crimes, and it will also give arrogance to other ill-intentioned Xiaoxiao disciples. Therefore, only Sun Quan, Mrs. Wu, Zhou Yu, and Lu Su knew about this matter, and they only said that it was done by Xu Gong's disciples, and even Sun Shangxiang, who was taken captive that day, did not know the details, so Sun Quan did not care about her brother and sister. Seeing the confused eyes left and right, Lu Su knew that he had to speak at this time, so he mustered up his courage and got up and bowed:

"Lord, Jingzhou is adjacent to our Jiangdong, the water flows along the north, the Jianghan is brought outside, and the mountains and tombs are blocked inside, which can be described as impregnable. In the meantime, the fertile fields are thousands of miles, and the people are rich, if we can occupy them, we can achieve the cause of the emperor. Now that Liu Biaofang has passed away, Liu Qi and Liu Cong have never been on good terms, and the generals in the army are also their own masters. Liu Bei is not a thing in the pool, and the contradiction with Cao Cao is also very deep, and now he is temporarily living in Jingzhou and has not been reused. For the sake of today's plan, we can make two plans: if Liu Bei can assist Liu Biao's son and make Jingzhou unified, we should support and appease him, and form an alliance against Cao; If Liu Bei intends to replace him, we should strike decisively to achieve great things. The minister asked the lord to send me to Jingzhou for the funeral, so as to find out the situation, if I didn't go quickly, I am afraid that Cao Cao would seize the opportunity. Please make a decision quickly! ”

After Lu Su finished speaking, he bowed his head and bowed. After hearing this, everyone understood that Lu Su was going to take on a tricky drudgery for himself, so although they did not necessarily agree with Lu Su, they did not refute it. Sun Quan was very happy when he heard this, and immediately said: "Okay! If everyone has the courage of Lu Zijing, the big thing can be accomplished. After that, he handed the token on the table to Lu Su and said: "This is not as good as usual, pay attention to safety, if there is an accident, you can directly use this token to contact the nearest garrison and dispatch troops." ”

Lu Su bowed again: "Thank you, lord!" ”

Since Sun Ce's death, Zhou Yu has been preparing to fulfill the agreement he made with Sun Ce and take Jingzhou all the time. At the same time, he also sent people everywhere to secretly inquire about Zhang Xiu's whereabouts. It's just that after Sun Ce's death, Zhang Xiu has been promoted to the captain of the school affairs office because of his merits, and he is the most powerful eyes and ears of Cao Cao's subordinates, how can he appear easily? But Rao is like this, Zhou Yu still believes that no matter how cunning the fox is, there will definitely be a day when the fox's tail will be exposed, so no matter how busy the military affairs are every day, how late the official business is, he must read the secret report one by one, just to not let go of any news related to Zhang Xiu, this is nine years.

Due to his hard work every day, Zhou Yu's body has also lost a lot of weight, and he is no longer as strong as he was at the beginning. But Xiao Qiao knew that Zhou Yu's temperament would not give up if he did not achieve his goal, and she could not share Zhou Yu's military affairs, so she only hated herself for not being a man at this time. So she spends nearly half of her time in the military camp almost every year, accompanying Zhou Yu and making soup for him to recuperate. Despite this, Zhou Yu often returned to his bed in the middle of the night every day, often so tired that he couldn't speak, and fell asleep.

Until one evening a few months ago, when Zhou Yu received a detailed report from Liu Biao's department to send Cai Mao, saying that Zhang Xiu had secretly infiltrated Jingzhou to meet Liu Biao's stepwife Cai, no one could imagine the excitement in Zhou Yu's heart. However, in order to find out Zhang Xiu's intentions on this trip and completely wipe him out, Zhou Yu not only did not order his subordinates to do anything to Zhang Xiu, but instead ordered them not to act, so as not to expose their identities.

Zhou Yu knew very well that with a person like Zhang Xiu, who was also skilled in strategy, he had to be extremely cautious, otherwise he would make the nine-year wait go to waste. It is precisely because of this that Zhou Yu was able to find evidence that Zhang Xiu secretly poisoned Liu Biao on the orders of Cao Cao without Zhang Xiu noticing anything unusual. According to the report disguised as an undertaker, Zhang Xiu used the diluted poison of the strange bird this time. Because of its colorlessness and concealment, ordinary Langzhong could not detect it, and only thought that Liu Biao was old and seriously ill and died, but after countless battles with Zhang Xiu, Zhou Yu had already mastered the method of testing this poison, and this spider-like detail naturally could not escape the web laid by Zhou Yu.

Now, Sun Quan has sent Lu Su to Jingzhou to mourn, although it may delay the fighter, but it is also for the sake of prudence. After all, if the situation develops into a dispute between Jiangdong and Jingzhou, letting Cao Cao sit and reap the benefits of the fisherman is not what Zhou Yu wants. It's just that Lu Su went into the tiger's den alone on this trip, which inevitably made him worry as a close friend, but Zhou Yu also believed in Lu Su's talent very much. At this moment, it is necessary to wait for the good news of his dear friend.

Suddenly, the guards outside the tent lifted the curtain and walked in and presented a secret letter. Zhou Yu immediately opened it, and the potion was developed, and it turned out to be a report from Jiangbei.

At dusk, after a two-day long journey, Lu Su arrived at Xiangyang City, where Liu Biao stopped Ling. Although there were customs clearance documents issued by Jingzhou, the soldiers at the checkpoints along the way strictly interrogated and searched the Jiangdong envoys, which delayed Lu Su on the road for a lot of time. Obviously, there was a much more powerful common enemy like Cao Cao, but the Jingzhou generals were so vigilant and wary of Jiangdong, and Lu Su felt that the burden on his shoulders was a little heavier.

Under the leadership of the official in charge of greeting, Lu Su arrived at the mourning hall. The guards presented a white scarf, Lu Su took it and put it on his head, went to Liu Biaoling to offer incense, and then got up to see Liu Cong. After saluting and greetings, Lu Su responded freely, while observing carefully, only to see that among the people in Jingzhou, the widow wife Cai and the general Cai Mao sisters and brothers surrounded Liu Cong, who was only thirteen years old, sometimes asking questions and answering questions with himself, and sometimes giving orders to his subordinates, and Liu Cong, although he was the de facto monarch, did not have to say a word. Although he was dissatisfied, Liu Cong did not dare to speak up, for fear that the Cai sisters and brothers would do something unfavorable to him in anger.

Liu Biao's stepwife Cai is not Liu Cong's mother, only because Liu Cong married Cai's niece, and he took the opportunity to support Liu Cong. Liu Cong knew that he was just a pawn of the Cai sisters and brothers usurping power and seizing the throne, and even that family affair was agreed to under coercion and temptation. His biological mother was born in poverty, and he was not valued by Liu Biao since he was a child, if it wasn't for Cai's help to speak well in front of Liu Biao, how could he get the position of Jingzhou pastor? Now the large group of courtiers kneeling in front of him are actually the henchmen of the Cai brothers and sisters, and none of them will go to the soup for themselves, so Liu Cong has no other way but to obey.

Therefore, seeing the situation clearly, Lu Su turned his focus to understanding the Cai siblings' views on Cao Cao. After Cai's retreat from the idle people, he knocked on the side and asked: "When the first marquis was here, he formed an alliance with Yuan Shao to fight against Cao Cao, but now Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang, who are in exile in Wuhuan, have been destroyed, and Jingzhou has no foreign alliance to rely on. I don't know what ...... future."

Lu Su was halfway through speaking, but when he looked up, he saw that Cai Shi did not listen, but turned to Liu Cong and said, "It's getting late today, so if we meet, we will end here." Then he turned around and apologized to Lu Su and retreated.

Just when Lu Su was a little embarrassed, Cai Mao came over and patted Lu Su on the shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, the eldest sister has normal living habits, as long as the sun sets, she can't help but say thank you for closing the door." Mr. came from afar, and he must have been tired, so it was better to send Mr. to the post house. ”

After arriving at the inn room, Lu Su pondered the details of the meeting, and felt that Cai's reaction was really intriguing. He only said half of the words that he proposed to form an alliance with Jingzhou, did the Cai family really leave because he wanted to rest? Did she really not hear her own words? Or did she not want to engage in this topic at all? If it's the latter, then is it that she doesn't want to hear it, or does she not want Liu Cong to hear it?

Puzzled, Lu Su couldn't help pacing up in the room, and when he came to the window, he suddenly saw Cai Mao, who had just sent him to the post house, whispering to his subordinate general at the door of the post house downstairs, but he seemed to be surprised when he saw that the general heard it, and Cai Mao's hand unconsciously held the handle of the saber at his waist.

At the third watch, there was a deathly silence on the whole street. In front of the dark post house, more than a dozen soldiers with knives gathered, half of them guarded the front and back of the post house, and the other half of them quietly sneaked in from the back door of the post house with the door left, and went straight to the second floor where Lu Su was located.

The soldiers guarded the two ends of the corridor on the second floor, and the two soldiers leaned against the wall to the left and right of Lu Su's door, exchanged glances, and one of them knocked on Lu Su's door.

There was no response in the four places, thinking that the middle of the night was the time when people were sleeping the most soundly, and they would not be woken up easily. Seeing this, the soldier took out the spare key he had obtained from the store and opened the door of Lu Su's room. The two soldiers tiptoed in one after another, and when they reached the couch, they raised their knives and stabbed them into the bulging quilt.

In the dense forest south of Xiangyang City, Lu Su was only wearing a middle coat and galloping on his horse. Seeing Cai Mao's gesture inadvertently, combined with Cai's reaction to himself, Lu Su only thought of one possibility: Cai's sisters and brothers had already secretly defected to Cao Cao, and it was not even ruled out that the two of them had taken the initiative to collude with Zhang Xiu as early as when Liu Biao was alive, in order to kill Liu Biao and lead Jingzhou to surrender without a fight, in exchange for the glory and wealth of the rest of his life. For this reason, he even did not hesitate to kill himself as an envoy of Jiangdong to force the alliance to fail. If Sun Quan was angry and crusaded against Jingzhou, he could still make Jiangdong and Jingzhou snipe clam fight, which would not only weaken Jiangdong, but also make Cao Cao's next protection of Jingzhou and crusade against Jiangdong justified. Knowing this, he can't sit still and become the *** of Jiangdong and Jingzhou. Lu Su immediately made the couch and pretended to be sleeping, locked the door, blew out the oil lamp, and then climbed out of the window on the second floor and rolled down.

For now, Jingzhou has nowhere else to go, but Lu Su has no intention of returning to Jiangdong. Since the Cai family had already thought of this plan, if he escaped back the same way, I am afraid that he would be intercepted before he reached Jiangdong territory. At present, there is only one way in front of Lu Su: to go to Liu Qi and Liu Bei.

In the camp tent of the Baqiu army, Zhou Yu held the secret letter from Jiangbei that he had just received, and he couldn't stop shaking because of excitement.

Cao Cao's army has arrived in Xinye, and this time, it is a personal expedition. The more than 100,000 elites of Cao's army who returned from the expedition to Wuhuan all came out, holding Jin Ge and stepping on iron shoes, all the way south.

If you change to an ordinary general, I am afraid that I will have to be shaken when I see this letter, either I feel that there is no hope, or I am thinking about turning against myself to protect myself. However, Zhou Yu was so excited that he couldn't help himself. If Cao Cao always held Jiangbei and acted step by step, no matter how clever he Zhou Yu was, there was nothing he could do. But now Cao Cao actually led a large army to personally send it to the door, in his opinion, it was the most precious gift from heaven to him.

Zhou Yu knew very well that if he wanted to defeat Cao Cao in one fell swoop, the only way to defeat him was in this place on the surface of the river. This land, which gave birth to him and raised him for more than 30 years, is very familiar to him. Even if he exhausted his life's learning, Zhou Yu vowed to avenge Sun Ce and kill Cao Cao without leaving a single piece of armor. Zhou Yu thought about it, and beckoned to the guards outside the tent and said, "Someone is coming......

When the curtain was lifted, it was not the guards who came in, but Xiao Qiao, who came in with all the money. Zhou Yu's face softened a little, and asked with concern, "Why are you here, the guards?" ”

Xiao Qiao smiled, and with a wave of his hand, a paper ball flew out, gently hitting Zhou Yu's forehead, and said with a smile: "It's already time to eat, you forget to sleep and eat, do you know how hard it is for people to stand guard for you?" ”

Zhou Yu sighed and said, "I can't help myself. Cao Cao's army had left Yecheng and headed south, and if Cao Cao's troops came to Jingzhou, Liu Cong would definitely surrender, and Liu Bei and Liu Qi alone would not be enough to hold Jingzhou. If I don't be diligent, I'm afraid I'll miss the best opportunity to send troops. ”

Xiao Qiao has been familiar with military books since he was a child, so he naturally knows the principle of "soldiers are expensive and fast". This expedition must be a decisive battle between Sun Cao, and if he can't inflict heavy losses on Cao's army, Cao Cao will not give up. Xiao Qiao was a little worried about Zhou Yu, but seeing Zhou Yu's calm and relaxed appearance, he was relieved, and stepped forward and said with a smile: "Dare to be a general, where do you want to break the thief?" ”

Zhou Yu smiled and pointed his hand to the mouth of the river between Baqiu and Jiangxia, where there were two small characters engraved on the north of the river: Wulin.

It is said that after Lu Su escaped from Xiangyang, instead of encountering any sentry checks, he saw many deserters from the direction of Xiangyang. I saw that they were wearing the clothes of Jingzhou soldiers, and they were shocked between their words.

Seeing this, Lu Su hurriedly stepped forward to investigate, only to learn that Liu Cong had opened the gate of Xiangyang City and surrendered to Cao Cao. This Jingzhou soldier's family was in Wuling, and he didn't want to do the matter of surrendering to Cao Cao, so he hurriedly wrapped up and broke away from the army, planning to return to his hometown to farm.

After some time, Lu Su heard the movement of a large group of people coming from the rear, and he was alert, could it be that Cao Cao's vanguard had arrived? In a panic, I saw the flag behind me, but it was the word "Liu" that took the lead.

It turned out that the person who came was Liu Bei, and Lu Su was going to find Liu Bei's whereabouts, but he met on the way south, which was really a coincidence. Lu Su immediately stopped his horse and beckoned to the team: "I am Jiangdong Lu Zijing, on the order of Wu Hou, who came to meet Liu Yuzhou, please pass it on as soon as possible!" ”

This place is already in the territory of Dangyang, and the name is Changsaka. Liu Bei ordered the sergeant to rest on the spot nearby. Lu Su stepped forward and said respectfully: "See Liu Yuzhou!" ”

When Liu Bei saw Lu Su, he looked a little vigilant and said, "General Sun sent you here, but you have already led your troops into Jingzhou?" ”

"No, I came to mourn Liu Biao, I just left Xiangyang City last night, and I am on the same road as you. But why is Liu Yuzhou so embarrassed? Could it be that he has already lost to Cao Jun? ”

Liu Bei sighed and said: "Song Zhong harmed me and concealed the matter of Cao Jun's southward movement, if it wasn't for my department's awareness, he would have been buried in Fancheng." Now that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei are broken, they plan to take refuge in the south. ”

Seeing this, Lu Su lost no time in asking, "What does the general want?" ”

Liu Bei sighed again and said, "I have an old relationship with Cangwu Taishou Wu Ju, and I want to throw myself into it." ”

Lu Su thought for a moment in his heart, and then said: "Wu Ju is just an ordinary man, Cangwu is located in a remote area, and sooner or later he will be swallowed up. If General Liu really wants to protect himself, why don't you come with me to see General Sun? Sun is wise and benevolent, respectful of virtuous and virtuous scholars, heroic and heroic in Jiangbiao, and has been attached to it by salt, and has six counties, and there are many soldiers and food, which is enough to do things. Today, for the sake of the general, it is better to send an envoy with me to visit me and conspire with me to achieve great things. ”

When Liu Bei heard Lu Su say this, he was overjoyed, grabbed his shoulder with one hand, held Lu Su's hand with the other, and said excitedly: "Heaven will not kill me!" In that case, I will send Mr. Kong Ming with you to meet General Sun!" ”

While speaking, a young man with plain clothes and a straight nose walked out of the crowd, it was Zhuge Liang. But seeing him holding a feather fan, he smiled while shaking it: "Is my brother-in-law safe in Jiangdong?" ”

Lu Su laughed and said: "It's still the same, when we went to meet General Sun together, he was as clever as a ghost. Now that you and I are gone, it just so happens that you brothers can meet again. As he spoke, he turned to Liu Bei and said, "Without further ado, if it's us, we'll go first." If the general wants to avoid Cao's army, he can go east to Fankou in Exian County and wait for good news. ”

After receiving the news of Cao Cao's entry into Jiangling, Zhou Yu immediately led his troops from Baqiu to Poyang after leaving a small number of defenders, in order to meet Sun Quan's large army. Lu Su was the first to arrive at Chaisang two days after riding his horse, and met Sun Quan with Zhuge Liang. Under Lu Su's care, Zhuge Liang answered Sun Quan's inquiries fluently. Sun Quan was very happy and agreed to Liu Bei's request for an alliance.

If you want to defeat Cao Cao in Jingzhou, you can't let go of any force that can unite, which is also the purpose of Lu Su's maneuvering. And the reason why Liu Bei was ordered to enter Fankou to the east was precisely to lure the Cao army from the south to Wulin, which was a special stage set for this revenge battle carefully planned by Zhou Yu.

To this end, Zhou Yu specially ordered the herald lurking in Cao's army to produce a military report about Liu Bei's movements at the planned moment, and claimed that Jiangling had a large amount of Liu Biao's military supplies. Cao Cao was afraid that Liu Bei would get it before himself or burn it in advance, so he gave up his baggage and personally led 5,000 elite cavalry to chase after him.

Everything is in Zhou Yu's plan.

In December, the wind is high and the waves are fierce, and the Yangtze River flows eastward. The Sun-Liu coalition army advanced by land and water, and met the forward of Cao's army who was crossing the river at Chibi. In this battle, the main force of Jiangdong was exhausted, and Lü Meng and Zhou Tai were the vanguard, each leading 2,000 troops, and launched a condescending charge from the mountains on the south bank of the river to the Cao army on the river beach. Zhou Yu personally led the Jiangdong fleet to fight against Cao Cao's newly surrendered naval army from Jingzhou.

The Jingzhou naval army, which had already suffered a heavy setback in the battle against Huang Zu, immediately lost its fighting spirit when it saw the banner of the word "Zhou" raised on the warship in Jiangdong. Cao's vanguard suffered heavy losses and had to retreat north of the river in embarrassment and set up camp in Wulin.

The so-called Wulin is a stretch of hilly area on the side of the Yangtze River, facing the Chibi on the south bank of the Yangtze River across the river, and a relatively sparse Berlin between the two mountains in the north of the Yangtze River is where Cao Cao set up camp. Cao Cao, who was marching all the way here, thought that he had mastered the essence of "the speed of soldiers", but he still did not know that he had lived in a trap tailored for him by Zhou Yu.

On the top of Chibi Mountain on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Zhou Yu saw that Cao Ying had finished settling up, and showed a relieved smile. He casually took out the bamboo flute that could summon strange birds, climbed up to the top, and blew it.

In Cao Ying, there was a person who heard Zhou Yu's flute and walked out of the tent, it was none other than Zhang Xiu. Manipulating strange birds was his unique secret, but now that someone imitates it, it goes without saying that except for Zhou Yu, no one else can do it.

Seeing that the main general of Jiangdong actually swaggered and blew the bamboo flute, revealing his whereabouts, although the two armies were now close at hand, he believed that Zhou Yu would never have thought that he would have the courage to swim across the river after sunset and poison him, just as he did to Sun Ce back then.

If Zhou Yu died, the Sun-Liu coalition army would definitely retreat without a fight.

In the middle of the night, Zhang Xiu changed into a black masked costume and quietly dived into the Yangtze River.

In December, the river is turbulent and icy. Seeing this, Zhang Xiu had to spend more physical strength than expected on swimming, and when he surfaced, he found that he was still half the way to the other side.

Seeing this, Zhang Xiu had to calm down and continue to swim. Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters...... Seeing that the opposite riverbank was getting closer and closer, Zhang Xiu felt that he could already land on the shore, so he put down his feet and wanted to step on the solid riverbank, but he didn't expect to step on a strange thing. Zhang Xiu felt puzzled and was about to struggle, but his legs were immediately entangled by him, and he couldn't get out.

"Just to prevent rats from crossing the river, I set up a fishing net trap under the bank here, I didn't expect you to really dare to swim over by yourself." On the riverbank, Zhou Yu walked out from the boulder on the bank and came to Zhang Xiu.

Zhang Xiu's legs were entangled in the fishing nets at the bottom of the riverbank, and he couldn't move, so he could only let the river slap wave after wave on his head, which was only half of the water exposed, and he couldn't stop choking on the water. Seeing Zhou Yu coming over, he glared viciously, and said with half a saliva in his mouth: "If you want to kill or chop, listen to it." ”

Zhou Yu smiled, squatted on the bank of the river closest to Zhang Xiu, and said to him, "Do you know why you are here?" Because I know that if the person who plays the flute opposite me on the top of the mountain will be able to hear the mystery of my flute music. And I knew from the beginning that there was no one but you. ”

Seeing the look of surprise on Zhang Xiu's face, Zhou Yu continued: "At that time, the injury on your leg was said to have been smashed by an axe, but in fact, you tied the wooden handle of the axe to your leg to act as a supporting foot, so that even if you are lame, you can still climb to the top of Mount Yishan and play the flute with me. ”

"What about the tea...... If I really climb the summit with you, why can I make warm tea for you when you return......

Zhou Yu smiled: "What's so difficult about this?" It's the height of summer, as long as you use the big vat behind your house to boil a full tank of hot water in advance, and then cover the lid, the water can maintain the temperature even after half a day. ”

Zhang Xiu said with a smile: "I see, it is worthy of Zhou Gongjin." ”

Zhou Yu said again: "Also, the owner of the other room, you said that it was the boudoir of your sister who married Shouchun, but it was actually Ji Qing's, right?" No, maybe it should be called Zhang Qingcai. In order to commemorate your dead father Zhang Liang, your sisters and brothers deliberately took the compound surname 'Changmu', which is taken from the word Zhang Liang. And the person who came to buy medicine from you that day and pretended to be a drug dealer was the messenger between you and her in Shouchun at that time. Your true identity at that time was to do things for Cao Cao, lurking in Jiangdong's school affairs. ”

Zhang Xiu let out a louder and louder laugh, and suddenly changed his words and said: "Zhou Gongjin, if I killed Sun Bofu, you must hate me very much, so you didn't hesitate to set such a trap for me for ten years, in order to lure me into the bait." But Zhou Gongjin, even if I die miserably now, Sun Bofu will not be able to come back, and what is the difference between you who avenge him and me, whom you hate? ”

I thought that Zhou Yu would grit his teeth with hatred, but he didn't expect it to be light and light. Zhou Yu stood up and began to pace by the river, pacing as he said, "The difference is really not small. Whether it is Bo Fu or the old general, they raised troops to protect the country. They have never hated you and your father Zhang Liang, and they have never designed to frame him. And you are killing innocents indiscriminately for the sake of Cao Cao in order to restore the Yellow Sky, and you do not hesitate to use the most despicable means to trap an innocent person. As for me, I have only made some fortifications along the river, and if you don't have the idea of swimming across the river to assassinate me, how can you fall for it? It's just self-inflicted. Let's see your final outcome together. ”

After that, Zhou Yu walked to the boulder, and at the same time, Xiao Qiao also walked out from behind the boulder, looking at Zhang Xiu, who was gradually annihilated by the rising river, with extremely cold and unfamiliar eyes, without saying a word.

"Wan'er...... Do you even want to do this...... I'm your brother Xiu...... I really like you......"

Xiao Qiao shook his head and said, "My brother Xiu has long since died. Now I'm no longer Wan'er, and you're not my brother Xiu. ”

As the water level continued to rise, Zhang Xiu's head was gradually submerged by the river. He struggled, and for a moment dived into the water, as if trying to tear the net under his feet, but only to make it tighten and tighten. And he desperately stuck his mouth and nose out of the water, but in the end he was still completely submerged under the water. When he landed, several large bubbles bulged on the surface of the water, and then quickly disappeared, and the silence of death was restored.

At the bend of the Chibi River, the smoke waves are vast, the clouds are hazy, and the mountains on both sides of the river are like pigs, as if they want to swallow up more than 10,000 boats on the river.

In the dark night, the huge seal "Cao" on the mast flags of the ships is very unclear, and the fierce wind is like a soul flag, which makes the soul of the seeer throb; The river is turbulent, tens of thousands of boats are connected by ropes, colliding with each other, and making a rumbling sound, such as a bear roaring and a dragon's roar, which makes the listeners chill and frightened.

In the midst of the dark scenes, Zhou Yu's white robe and deep clothes, scarf and feather fan, standing on the shore of the rocks, although he is eight feet tall, he still looks extremely thin and ethereal in this monstrous white wave. At this moment, he had no time to take care of himself, just staring coldly at the armored boat not far away, with a solemn expression.

Xiao Qiao came from the shore, walked to the shore, and called softly: "Zhou Lang......"

Zhou Yu suddenly turned around, reached over Xiao Qiao, and instructed in a deep voice: "Madam, tomorrow's battle, no matter whether you win or lose, don't forget the agreement between you and me." ”

Xiao Qiao lowered his eyes, and two tears rolled down his cheeks: "I've known you for more than ten years, I never thought you would lose......"

Hearing this, the chill in Zhou Yu's eyes subsided, he smiled slightly, and said in a low voice: "I only have 30,000 soldiers, and there are 800,000 troops on the other side. ”

The sound of the waves shook the sky, the more relaxed Zhou Yu looked, the more distressed Xiao Qiao became, she wiped away the tears on her white jade-like cheeks, and sighed: "I know, you have been waiting for this opportunity all these years to avenge him......"

A trace of pain spread in his heart, his eight-foot body trembled slightly, and the figure of that person suddenly appeared in Zhou Yu's mind, happy and angry, and never damaged by the years.

The next day, in the face of Zhou Yu's fire attack released with Huang Gai's deception as bait, Cao Cao's main force suffered heavy casualties and fled on all fronts. This place is originally a tuyere, and the southeast wind is continuous from autumn, and Berlin is burning, which has become a very suitable place for fire attack.

On the water, thousands of warships on fire were burned; On the shore, the 200,000-strong army and company camps were all destroyed. Coupled with the swamps on Huarong Road located on the retreat route here, the Cao army in a panic retreat fell into a quagmire again.

In order to be able to escape, Cao Jun's rear team couldn't get out despite the front team, so he stepped on them. Countless Cao soldiers who fell into the quagmire were trampled to death in this way, and the remaining soldiers who flowed through the swamp alive were also infected with the epidemic and died a few days later.

In this way, Cao Jun left Cao Ren to guard the lonely city of Xiangyang, and the rest all withdrew to the north, and did not dare to invade Jiangdong for the next ten years or so. And although Cao Cao escaped by luck, he did not make any achievements in the southern expedition. At this point, the Battle of Chibi ended with the victory of the Sun-Liu coalition army.

In the fifteenth year of Jian'an, that is, the third year after the Battle of Chibi, Zhou Yu died of illness in Baqiu at the age of Chinese New Year's Eve. Due to being hit by an arrow during the expedition against Cao Ren, and later overwork, Zhou Yu finally failed to fulfill the promise he had made to Sun Ce, and took Jingzhou, Yizhou, and Hanzhong into his pocket, and then conquered the world.

But in any case, this heroic young man with a strong temperament, courage and strategy, and elegance has left his name in history. Later generations praised him as "the world's heroes and heroes, Jiangzuo's beautiful husband." ”