At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the court was wasted, the eunuchs took power, and the people were struggling to make a living. The giant deer man Zhang Jiao followed the technique of Huang Lao, rebelled, and called the Taiping Dao, claiming to be able to solve all the sufferings in the world. The people believed it was true, and word of mouth spread it, which caused hundreds of thousands of people in six counties and eight states to sell their fields and defect. The 400-year-old foundation of the Han Dynasty was in danger, and Sun Jian, the Marquis of Wucheng, was dissatisfied with the Yellow Turban thieves as the victim, and raised the banner of crusade with the Emperor Fu Song, the Taishou Emperor of the North, and the princes of the world gathered to respond. Sun Jian was brave and invincible, and used his soldiers like a god, which caused Zhang Jiao to suffer setbacks again and again, and soon died of a violent illness.

Who knew that the Yellow Turban Rebellion was peaceful, and the rebellion of stealing the country rose again, Dong Zhuo proclaimed himself the Taishi, coerced the Han Emperor to order the princes, disturbed the dynasty, and pointed to the deer as a horse, so that the people of the world dared to be angry and did not dare to speak. In order to save the humiliated Emperor Xian, the princes of the Eighteenth Route gathered, and Sun Jian also gathered under the righteous army of Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu, and led the army of Jiangdong tigers and wolves to be the vanguard, killing Dong Zhuo's general Hua Xiong in front of the battle, and shocked Shenzhou. When Lü Bu rebelled, Dong Zhuo knew that he was invincible, so he had to abandon Luoyang and flee to Hangu Pass, where he was finally killed by Lü Bu.

After the great enemy was annihilated, the rebel army fell apart. The two brothers Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu took the opportunity to plot to become dominant, and fought fiercely with Gongsun Zhan in the land of Hebei. Sun Jian lamented that when the power of the princes was tilted and the people's livelihood was hardship, he died in the chaos for no apparent reason. The Jiangdong rebels were leaderless, disputes broke out, and the city was conquered, and there was no day of peace. The people were greatly disturbed, but in two or three years, the population plummeted, and more than one million people were lost.

In the first four years of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, the troubled times were wandering, the people's livelihood was suffering, and the stars had fallen for five years, but Sun Jian's righteous deeds of first begging for the yellow scarf and then cutting down Dong Zhuo were still praised in the alleys. The people are looking forward to another hero coming into the world to relieve the suffering of all directions, but what they are waiting for is only endless killing.

In the remote area of the south of the Yangtze River, there is a small county on the bank of Chaohu Lake, which is called "Juchao", but it is different and idyllic like a paradise. It is the late spring of March, the peach color on both sides of Chaohu Lake is like smoke, a light boat in the middle of the lake, the sculls are shocking, the jade people are independent in the wind, but they are all vegetarian, presumably there must be hot filial piety.

The eyebrows are as strong as peaks, straight into the green temples, the thin lips are slightly pursed, and the eyes are clear and deep, like the water of Chaohu Lake. This person is handsome and picturesque, but his body is slender and tight, and he knows that he has martial arts at a glance. Inside the boat, the bronze sword stands obliquely, together with the master, reflecting the water of the jasper lake, and the shadows are in pairs.

Suddenly, another boat appeared on the surface of the lake, and the person who shook the pulp was in a hurry, hurried forward, and bowed his hand to the man: "Lord County Commander, Sun Lang has sent a prayer post, and he will arrive at the mansion immediately!" ”

It turned out that this person was Sun Ce's best friend since childhood, Zhou Yu, who was the commander of Juchao County at the time. Zhou Yu is the son of Luoyang Ling Zhou Yi, the year of Fang and the weak crown, last autumn, under the auspices of his father, married the daughter of Situ Wang Yun. Who knew that the good times would not last long, at the end of the year in the middle of winter, Zhou Yu's father passed away from tuberculosis, and his wife was infected with the epidemic. According to filial piety, Zhou Yu should keep filial piety for three years, so he declined the title of high-ranking official, transferred to his hometown of Lujiang County, Juchao County, and moved his beloved wife to the lakeside, with full loyalty and filial piety, the pain of losing his loved ones is by no means a temporary solution. Today's visit by his best friend Sun Ce can be regarded as the only thing that has made him feel a little comforted in half a year.

A slight smile appeared on the corner of Zhou Yu's mouth, bent over to pick up the oars, and drove the boat to the shore.

Juchao County, the east and west markets are very lively. It is the third day of the first month of March, the soft strips are rising, men, women and children subtract heavy winter clothes, put on bright spring clothes, and catch up with the temple fair. Although it is a small county in the southeast, it does not lose its nature. The peasants carried a burden and carried the begonias picked in the square, but in a moment they were snapped up by the girls and women in the market.

Suddenly, there was a faint sound of horses' hooves at the end of the road, and everyone followed the sound, only to see a big horse with a shiny coat carrying a young man with a silver spear rushing towards the crowd.

This young man is Sun Ce who came to Juchao to find Zhou Yu, he obviously didn't expect that there would be so many people in the temple fair, but it was too late to rein in the horse, the crowd was bustling, and he couldn't dodge. Seeing that the horse was about to crash into the crowd of people walking upstream, Sun Ce was in a hurry, tightened the reins with all his strength, turned to the side, and Dawan Ma Qiji jumped and stepped on the vegetable stall on the side of the road. The horse was frightened, jumped all the way along the thin wooden vegetable stall, stepped on the bamboo basket and kicked the slurry, which made Sun Ce very embarrassed.

The people who rushed to the temple fair did not dodge, rushed forward, looked up at Sun Ce, who was dancing like a royal horse, and laughed with their palms. A girl recognized Sun Ce's costume and shouted, "Sun Lang! He is the grandson of Jiangdu of Wu County! ”

This simple and simple "Lang" is exactly the name of a young man with outstanding appearance, which is by no means affordable for ordinary people. Sun Ce was born handsome and extraordinary, and he was a corporal of courtesy and virtuous, and he was quite famous at a young age, so the men, women and children of Wu County loved to call him "Sun Lang". Whenever Sun Ce traveled, he would drive the Dawan horse left by his father Sun Jian, carrying a twelve-edged silver spear and halberd, and in the long run, these two objects became his symbol.

Sun Ce didn't expect that when he first arrived in Juchao, someone had already recognized him, and he still smiled awkwardly and proudly in this situation. Da Wanju knows human nature, but at this time, he didn't give Sun Ce any face, and his front hooves stepped into the air, throwing him off the horse. Sun Ce's martial arts are superb, and in front of many spectators, he refused to land obediently, he turned around and swept it, wanting to hook the vegetable case, but he didn't know that the vegetable case was so overwhelmed and fragmented, Sun Ce secretly muttered a few times in his heart, so he had to pose well and honestly fell on the yellow earth.

The frightened Da Wan Ju ran forward, and the spring leeks flying on the vegetable table hit the beach like rain, falling all over Sun Ce's body, he didn't care about the pain all over his body, raised his arm, and blocked his red handsome face, not knowing how to close this embarrassing scene.

I didn't expect that this year's Shangsi Festival would have such a good show, and the people burst into laughter and rushed forward to surround Sun Ce. At this moment, a pleasant male voice came from behind: "Who is so bold as to dare to spread wilderness in my nest?" ”

Hearing that it was Zhou Yu, Sun Ce smiled with relief and closed his eyes comfortably. I haven't seen him for a few years, but the tacit understanding of childhood is still there, and if he wants what he wants today, Zhou Yu shouldn't refuse.

Green mountains on three sides and a lake, from the willow embankment to the place where the boat goes, shake the pulp more than 100 times, drift down the river to the most dense place of peach blossoms in the east of the lake, there is an old house on the shore. The bluestone house, with white walls and copper rings, is Zhou Yu's residence.

Although it is a three-entry courtyard, there are only two people waiting for the old woman and the child. There are a few sparse peonies planted in the front yard of the old house, the soil here is barren, and it is not suitable for planting this flower.

In the hall, the windows are bright and clean, and the stove is incense. Sun Ce took a shower, changed into a clean robe, and stepped forward to Zhou Yu and said, "Gong Jin, I didn't expect that I haven't seen you for many years, and I still fit so well in your clothes." You didn't come to pick me up earlier, and I was drenched in leeks, and now it still smells. ”

Zhou Yu saw Sun Ce walking back and forth in the hall with his toes proud, as when he was a child, without any suspicion, his heart warmed, but he only asked: "Come uninvited, I'm afraid there is some mess you want me to accompany you to pick it up?" ”

Sun Ce reclined and sat down, smiling slyly and festively: "No wonder even my mother said that you are the person who knows me best in this world." But this is really not a mess: I plan to go to Jizhou to find Yuan Shu and get back my father's army, you can go with me. ”

A bend of water leads from Chaohu Lake to the old house, and then into the hall house. Zhou Yu used a bamboo spoon to get water, and replied while cooking tea: "Don't be anxious, I have been secretly investigating for many years, and finally found a person who had served in your father's army......"

"Oh? Who is it? Is there a clue that I killed my father's enemy? Sun Ce didn't wait for Zhou Yu to finish speaking, he sat up straight, looking alert.

While talking and laughing, a burly man, with gray hair and a straight nose, drove to the gate of the old house, handed over the carriage and horse to the child, walked straight into the courtyard, and shouted: "Brother Gongjin! ”

Zhou Yu got up and beckoned, "Come in!" Bo Fu, this is my friend, a person from Linhuai, who once had the grace of Cangmi in my nest. ”

What Zhou Yu said is true, although Juchao is far away from the war, it is not enough arable land due to the topography. The Central Plains is still frequent, the price of rice is soaring, and the nest in the south of the Yangtze River suffers from it, and half of the county residents in the county have no rice grain to survive the winter in the cold winter last year. After this person was an official eunuch, there were people in the family who were in business and had a solid family background. Born in troubled times, this benevolent brother saw that the people were pitiful, and instead of managing his family property, he sold land to buy grain, and helped the poor, and became famous for a while. After getting acquainted with Zhou Yu, he gave a total of 3,000 yuan to one of the two warehouses of rice and grain at home without saying a word. The county government opened a warehouse for disaster relief, and the people living in the nest were able to survive the harsh winter.

The man walked into the hall and did not sit down, but stepped forward and stared at Sun Ce for a long time, and praised: "In the end, it is the old general's species, it looks really good!" ”

This person speaks straightforwardly, has a stubborn demeanor, and seems to be a lover of a person. Seeing that his hair was full of flowers, Sun Ce arched his hand and asked: "You are polite in your later life, I don't know what to call this uncle?" ”

Zhou Yu's hand in making tea shook and smiled dumbly: "Brother Lu is only three years older than me, and you are only two years older, how can you call someone uncle?" ”

"Shao Baitou, he is indeed a little anxious, and he doesn't blame the young general for calling it so. Don't look at my gray hair, I don't like me less than I like you both! ”

The three of them laughed, Sun Ce regretted his words, picked up the teacup and saluted: "It's me who is abrupt." ”

"The young general doesn't have to be polite, Lu is a famous Su Zijing, because he admires the old general's elegance, he threw his pen from Rong and joined the old general's command! I think that the old general led the allied army of the princes of the Eighteenth Route to defeat Dong Zhuo, fought fiercely at Dagu Pass, took the lead in defeating Huaxiong, and smashed Luoyang City, what a scenery! If Lu can see the young general today, he can be regarded as having no regrets in his life......"

Zhou Yu saw that Lu Su was foaming at the mouth, dancing the teacup in his hand, as if he had broken a halberd and a horizontal knife, he admired it, and arched his hand: "I didn't expect Brother Lu to join the army so early at a young age, and once followed Uncle Sun to crusade against Dong Zhuo?" ”

Lu Su was immediately embarrassed, put down the teacup, scratched his head and replied: "Lu has only participated in the battle of Da Xian Mountain, and the others are also hearsay...... Five years ago, Lu was a pawn under the partial general Sun Ben. When the old general was killed, I was only three or five feet away from him. ”

Hearing that the conversation turned to the main topic he was interested in, Sun Ce hurriedly asked, "Brother Lu, has you ever seen the murder of your father?" ”

Lu Su took a sip of tea and suddenly lowered his voice: "It's really weird...... At the moment when the old general was ambushed, thousands of birds suddenly flew in the forests on all sides of Da Xian Mountain, swooping down from all directions, pasting the abbot's land tightly, and the chirping sound shook the sky, so most people did not see who the general was killed. The birds were all winged and feathered, and they were really scared to death, and we used all our strength to disperse them, and the old general had already been hit by an arrow, and the scar was actually in the shape of the strange 'swastika'...... Lu speculated that the one who killed the old general was a birdman, if it wasn't for the demon law! ”

Birdman? Sun Ce couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and his thoughts became even more chaotic. At that time, he and Zhou Yu were only twelve or thirteen years old, and they secretly went to Da Xian Mountain to find their father without telling their mother, and they only saw Sun Jian fall to the ground the moment due to the terrain. At that moment he was so distracted that he didn't notice any sound, and now he remembered as if he had indeed heard the sound of birdsong, distant and vague, and difficult to trace. This ambiguous and unbelievable clue is like water without roots, there is no way to explore, Sun Ce frowned, and his expression was full of unspeakable loss.

When Zhou Yu saw Sun Ce rubbing the scar of the word "swastika" on his wrist, he knew that he was not in a good mood, and turned to Lu Su and said, "Thank you, Brother Zijing, for talking for a long time, just drink tea to moisten your throat." ”

At this time, as soon as the errand officer couldn't wait for the report, he staggered into the old house, arched his hand outside the hall, and shouted loudly: "Lord County Commander, a group of thieves suddenly came to the mountain north of the city, robbing a team of chariots and horses, and the swords and swords are very scary, please go over and take a look!" ”