On June 21, the seventh year of Zhang Wu, Zhang Fei returned to Xiangyang. The Henan front line is the closest, and the edict is transmitted to Wancheng through carrier pigeons, and then sent from Wancheng to the front line, and the news transmission speed is also the fastest, so Zhang Fei came back the fastest.

In the past few days, Liu Bei has become more sick, and sometimes he has fallen into a coma, with a high fever that does not go away, and he has almost reached the point of dying.

Zhang Fei was anxious when he heard the news, at this time he had a bandage on his arm, on the boat of the Hanshui River, the head of Xiangyang City was clearly visible in the distance, but he was walking anxiously back and forth on the bow of the boat, like an ant on a hot pot.

"Hurry, hurry." He said. A young man in his twenties on the side saw him so anxious, so he comforted: "Father, it's already the fastest, and I'll be in Xiangyang soon." "The young man is Zhang Bao, his mother Xiahou was snatched away by Zhang Fei in Jian'an for five years, and gave birth to him in less than two years, and now he is twenty-four years old, this time Zhang Fei is the general of the Northern Expedition, he also followed, and also saw his mother's uncle on the battlefield, his uncle Xiahou Yuan.

Zhang Fei's right arm was injured, so he slapped the side of the boat with his left hand, and secretly hated: "Your uncle's health is not good, and now he suddenly summons me back, something must have happened, how can I not be in a hurry." ”

"Father, look, the prime minister is waiting for us on the shore." Zhang Bao hurriedly pointed to the distance. Zhang Fei hurriedly looked over and saw that there was already a convoy waiting at the dock, and Zhuge Liang's honor guard could be seen from a distance.

Soon the ships docked. Zhang Fei quickly jumped onto the shore without waiting for the boat to stop, and walked quickly to Zhuge Liang and asked anxiously, "Prime Minister, how is my eldest brother?" ”

"General Che Cai, Your Majesty is waiting for you, let's go." Zhuge Liang motioned for him to get into the car. Zhang Fei was so anxious that he simply grabbed the horse of a soldier from the honor guard next to him and said, "I'll go to the palace first." With that, Lema rushed to the palace.

Zhuge Liang was helpless, but he also understood his feelings, so he had no choice but to follow him. Zhang Fei galloped all the way to the outside of the palace, and the soldiers wanted to intercept him, but when they saw Zhang Fei glaring angrily, they recognized him, and hurriedly got out of the way, and the attendants took him all the way to the back garden.

"Big brother, big brother!" Zhang Fei almost trotted into the courtyard, and Ma Liang outside the door shook his head at him, signaling quiet.

But Zhang Fei would be mistaken, thinking that Liu Bei was dead, and almost rushed into the house with a crying voice, crying: "Big brother." ”

"Yide." Liu Bei happened to wake up today, his body seemed to be a little better, and when he heard Zhang Fei's voice, he responded with a forced smile.

Zhang Fei took three steps and made two steps to Liu Bei's bed, and was suddenly startled when he saw Liu Bei's appearance. When Liu Bei left the front line and returned to the rear to recuperate last year, he was still just old and his posture was quite normal, but after he came back, in just over half a year, he had changed greatly.

I saw that Liu Bei on the hospital bed was skinny and woody, resembling dead wood, his hair was all gray, and his eyes seemed to be sunken in, almost human.

"Big brother!" When Zhang Fei saw this scene, he was so distressed that he cried directly, fell to his knees on the bed, and cried: "How did you become like this." Liu Bei stretched out his hand and touched Zhang Fei's face, feeling that even if the third brother was sixty years old, he still had a needle-pricked beard, and said with a forced smile: "When you are so old, don't always be like a child, life and death, it is normal, there is nothing to be sad about." ”

"Woooooooooooooo Zhang Fei felt grief, and tears rained down. Liu Bei saw that his arm was bandaged, so he changed the topic and asked, "I heard that you were injured before, how is it now?" Zhang Fei shook his head and said, "It's okay, I was shot and injured by the little boy from Xiahou's family." "He's talking about Xiahouba.

Xiahou Yuan has always regarded Xiahou as his own daughter, and even in order to support his late brother's only daughter, he once gave up his young son in the famine year to save her, after Zhang Fei abducted Xiahou, Xiahou Yuan has always hated Zhang Fei.

Although they are related, but this time on the battlefield, Xiahou Yuan wanted to kill Zhang Fei more than anyone else, so in a battle to attack the Han army camp before, Xiahou Yuan's second son Xiahou Ba shot Zhang Fei's arm.

Liu Bei persuaded: "Although we are on the same page as the Cao family and the Xiahou family, Xiahou Miaocai is your wife's relative after all, and you can be merciless on the battlefield. ”

"Yes, yes, yes." Zhang Fei nodded again and again, tears kept falling, and seeing Liu Bei's sick appearance was already painful.

Liu Bei had already seen it, and said: "I'm very old, and I don't have any regrets in life, I'm just worried about the things behind me, I will leave the second brother and the third brother after I leave, Yide, you have a short temperament, and you are not suitable for managing national affairs, you have to listen to your second brother, Kong Ming and Xiaoqing more in things, and you must not act recklessly." ”

"Yes." Zhang Fei responded by holding Liu Bei's hand tightly. Liu Bei continued to say with difficulty: "Now that the country has Kong Ming to govern, I can leave with peace of mind." I just can't worry about my child, and he will entrust it to the second and third brothers in the future. ”

"Big brother, Yide will never forget the big brother's entrustment! Woooooooo ”

"Third brother, don't drink and make mistakes in the future."

"I know, big brother."

"You're also old now, you don't wield knives and guns, and you command more in the rear."

"I know, I know, woo-woo."

"And ....."

"Okay, well, I've written them all down." Zhang Fei had already cried and agreed, and he now promised Liu Bei everything.

But Liu Bei continued to instruct. Among the several people, he was the most worried about Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei had a bad problem of whipping soldiers after drinking before.

Later, Shen Chen also had a conflict with him for this, Liu Bei and Guan Yu firmly stood on Shen Chen's side and taught Zhang Fei a stern lesson.

After that time, Zhang Fei couldn't say that he had changed his ways, but he almost didn't do so. The main thing is that once he drinks, the generals will give him the strongest soju, fifty or sixty degrees of strong liquor until he is happy to pour several catties into his stomach, and a cow is drunk, how can he still have the strength to whip the soldiers?

But although he didn't whip the soldiers, his recklessness still didn't change. Even though he is over 60 years old and his hair is gray, he still has a temperament like fire, and he wants to rush and kill on the battlefield all the time, which is worrying.

Liu Bei was afraid that Zhang Fei would be left unsupervised after his death and go to the battlefield privately, so he kept nagging and instructing.

In fact, he also thought about making Zhang Fei a minister of Tuogu. But when he thought of Zhang Fei's temperament, he was really not suitable to be an important minister of the country, so he also gave up, and only missed his brother before he died, so he was called back.

Liu Bei really wanted to support Zhuge Liang, Shen Chen and Guan Yu. Zhuge Liang Shenchen doesn't need to say much, Guan Yu is also a commander, he can be civil and martial, and Yide also listens to him, if the second brother can live a few more years, maybe the country will be more prosperous.

Liu Bei thought so in his heart. He chattered for a while, his voice getting weaker and weaker, and in the end, only Zhang Fei's cry remained.

When Zhang Fei raised his head to look, he realized that he didn't know when, Liu Bei fell asleep. Zhang Fei was shocked, thinking that Liu Bei was dead, so he hurriedly reached out to grab it, but the imperial doctor next to him hurriedly pulled him and whispered to him that His Majesty was asleep, and there was a weak pulse, which made him feel at ease.

At the moment, he didn't dare to disturb, and left the palace to go home first. After seeing his wife and children, he came back and continued to stay by Liu Bei's side, not daring to leave for a moment.

A few days later, Shen Chen also returned to Xiangyang. Although Guan Yu's delivery of the letter was quite fast, the return was very slow.

Because the boat was sailing against the current, even if the sailors tried to paddle hard, the speed was far less than the speed of the smooth wind, so it took two days to arrive.

And Shen Chen is all the way fast, except when sleeping, along the way is to change horses without changing people, from Wuguan to run more than a thousand miles back to Xiangyang, it took three days.

When he hurriedly ran to the palace, Liu Bei was still asleep in the house, so he didn't wake him up, but waited until Liu Bei woke up in the afternoon.

"Your Majesty." Liu Bei now spends more than twelve hours a day lying in bed and sleeping, and the time to wake up is getting less and less.

Seeing him waking up leisurely at this moment, Empress Wu hurriedly helped him drink some porridge, fed him with decoction, and waited for a while to help Liu Bei serve him, and then the attendant next to him told him: "The hussar general is back." ”

"Xiaoqing is back?" Liu Bei said weakly: "Summons in." ”

"Your Majesty." Shen Chen entered the house, and when he saw Liu Bei's current appearance, he was also taken aback and said: "How did Your Majesty ......" When Xuzhou was in that year, the high-spirited young Liu Bei still remembered it vividly.

Many years have passed, but it has become like this, shaped like dead wood, which shocked Shen Chen.

"Birth, old age, sickness and death, human nature, Xiaoqing doesn't need to worry." Liu Bei smiled and said softly, "What is the situation in Guanzhong now?" He didn't want Shen Chen and them to worry about their bodies and conditions all the time, so they changed the topic and talked about Guanzhong.

Shen Chen's eyes were sad, and he walked to Liu Bei's bed and knelt down and said: "Your Majesty, rest assured, Guanzhong is now fully prepared, and the minister wants to attack Hedong this year, capture the state, and cooperate with the general and the general of the chariot to take the land of Henan." ”

"That's good, that's good." Liu Bei smiled and nodded again and again: "I can see the recovery of Guanzhong in my lifetime, and I am already very satisfied, and there is nothing to worry about, the only pity is that I can't see Xiaoqing recovering the north for me, dominating the world, cough cough ....." In the end, he coughed violently again, and coughed up blood at the corner of his mouth, so frightened that Queen Wu and others next to him hurriedly wiped it with a handkerchief, which shows that Liu Bei's lung disease has reached a very bad point.

Seeing that he was seriously ill, Shen Chen grabbed the edge of the bed sadly and said, "Your Majesty..... Your Majesty can rest assured that the minister will definitely live up to His Majesty's trust. Liu Bei coughed for a while before he finally recovered and said to him: "Xiaoqing is a person of great wisdom, and I can have today, all thanks to Xiaoqing's help." I believe in Xiaoqing, Qing's talent is a hundred times better than Cao Pi, and after ruling the world in the future, Qing must govern the country well, and don't let the people suffer anymore......"

"Yes." Shen Chen should come down. Liu Bei held Shen Chen's hand and said softly: "After that, the major national affairs will be entrusted to Xiaoqing and Kong Ming." ”

"Yes." Shen Chen's tears finally fell uncontrollably. Liu Bei's voice became smaller and smaller. Seeing this, the imperial physician next to him persuaded him: "Hussar general, let Your Majesty rest for a while." ”

"Hmm." Only then did Shen Chen get up and slowly retreat outside the house. Now Liu Bei has more and more time to sleep, and even when he is awake, he often needs someone to serve him to eat, otherwise it is difficult to take care of himself.

What's more, every time Liu Bei talks to someone, he has to spend a lot of energy. Therefore, it is necessary to minimize the number of guests and the time of the meeting.

At this time, Zhuge Liang was still in government affairs, and Liu Chan, Liu Yong, Liu Li, Liu Ning, Zhang Fei, Zhang Bao, Shen Yin, Shen Xi and others were waiting outside the house.

Everyone is sitting in the hall outside the house, Liu Bei's bedroom is lying on the side of the main hall, everyone is now in the main hall one by one, no one can afford to lift the spirit.

Liu Chan, Liu Yong, Liu Li, Zhang Fei, and Zhang Bao came over to greet Shen Chen, and after Shen Chen returned the salute one by one, he sat down next to his wife Liu Ning, hugged his haggard wife, and sat in the hall together accompanied by his two sons.

They can't do anything now, they can only wait for Guan Yu to come back. Because Liu Bei obviously planned to wait for the three of them to come back before making the final will arrangements, they could only wait quietly.

In the next few days, everyone visited Liu Bei when Liu Bei was awake, and waited outside the house while he was asleep, and it was not until June 29 that Guan Yu hurried back to Xiangyang from Hefei, two thousand miles away.

This is already the fastest speed. Along the way, there were no change of sailors or boats, day and night, and I didn't know how many oars were broken, so I arrived in Xiangyang after eight days of walking against the wind and water.

Otherwise, it would take at least 10 or even 20 days to arrive. At midnight on June 29, Guan Yu arrived at the Xiangyang Wharf in the dust, and everyone went to greet him, and he was also anxious, urging him to go to the palace as soon as possible.

Soon the group arrived at the palace. After Guan Yu saw Empress Wu, Mrs. Gan, Mrs. Mi and others waiting outside the house, he was ready to go to the audience.

It's just that Liu Bei is still asleep at this time. He usually doesn't wake up until mid-afternoon, and everyone has to wait.

By the beginning of the afternoon, he had finally woken up. still ate some things as usual, and when he learned that Guan Yu was also back, Liu Bei seemed to be in a lot of spirits and hurriedly summoned everyone in.

And they entered the temple.

"Big brother!" Guan Yu saw Liu Bei's appearance, although Zhang Fei had already told him before, he was still shocked, and then tears also fell.

Liu Bei smiled: "Why are the three of you like this, you have to cry when you see me?" Guan Yu saw his pale face but still forced a smile to comfort himself, so he was even more distressed, knelt down in front of the bed and said: "I haven't seen you for two years, my eldest brother is actually ....." Liu Bei said with relief: "When I reach this age, it should be time to die, Yun Chang doesn't need to be sad." ”

"Ugh." Everyone in the back sighed. Liu Bei said softly: "Everyone go out, Yun Chang, Kong Ming, Xiaoqing, the three of you stay, I have something to say to you." ”

"Big brother, me." Zhang Fei was surprised when he saw that he was going out. Guan Yu said to him: "Yide, you go out first, your voice is too loud, it will make a noise to the eldest brother, let me accompany the eldest brother to talk." ”

"Oh." Zhang Fei didn't doubt him, so he followed everyone out. Liu Bei waited for everyone to go out, and he wanted to sit up, but he couldn't straighten his waist.

Guan Yu and Shen Chen stepped forward to help him hold him, and then leaned on the back of the wooden couch and sat on the bed.

It was only at this time that Liu Bei looked at the three of them with cloudy eyes and a hint of hope. The three of them all knew that he was going to give an account of the future and entrust the great cause of the country.