In the spring of the eighteenth year of Hongwu, night, Yingtian (Nanjing), Zhongshan Palace.

The night is silent, and the night is getting dark. Xu Da, the king of Zhongshan, was lying on his side on the bed, sleeping. In the corridor outside, a rush of footsteps approached quickly, Xu Da opened his eyes and asked impatiently, "Who is outside?"

The footsteps stopped outside the door, and someone answered, "Father, it's me." ”

It was Xu Jizhong, the second son of King Zhongshan. At the beginning, on the battlefield of expelling the Northern Yuan, the eldest son Xu Jizu sacrificed his life for the country, and Xu Da was left with only this one son under his knees.

Xu Da closed his eyes and said, "I'll talk about it tomorrow, I'm tired." ”

Xu Jizhong said outside the door: "Father, someone is visiting. ”

Xu Da exhaled impatiently: "Let him come back another day." ”

"It's Uncle Liu here. ”

"Which Uncle Liu?"

"Uncle Liu Bowen Liu. ”

Xu Da opened his eyes: "Is the military advisor here?"

Xu Jizhong responded: "Exactly." ”

Xu Da sat up from the bed and said, "Please come in!"

Xu Jizhong answered and walked away.

Xu Da got out of bed and instructed the maid to open the door to welcome the guests. A moment later, a middle-aged Taoist priest with immortal wind bones, accompanied by Xu Jizhong, walked in. When he saw Xu Da, he made a joke and said, "Poor Dao has seen the prince." ”

Xu Da hurriedly took two steps forward, held Liu Bowen's hands, and said in a trembling voice: "Strategist, you and I have been separated for more than ten years, and I want to be brothers!"

Liu Bowen sighed lightly and said, "Over the years, I haven't missed my brother all the time. ”

Xu Da looked at Liu Bowen and said with a smile: "I haven't seen you for more than ten years, and your demeanor is still the same as it was back then." ”

Liu Bowen looked at Xu Da and said with a wry smile: "I haven't seen you for more than ten years, marshal, you are much older." ”

Xu Da sighed: "As a brother, you are not as good as a virtuous brother, you are at ease and carefree." ”

In the former anti-Yuan battlefield, Xu Da and Liu Bowen served as marshals and military advisors respectively, and often stayed up all night to discuss strategies to deal with the enemy. Over time, the two became accustomed to nature, and to this day, they are still used to calling each other by old titles.

Xu Jizhong reminded on the side: "Father, your second elder should sit down and talk slowly." ”

Xu Da held his forehead with his hand: "Yes, yes, yes." Advisor, please be seated. ”

The two sat down separately, and Xu Jizhong stood on the side.

Xu Dadao: "You and I have been separated for more than ten years, and today we suddenly came to visit at night, could it be that something happened?"

"Poor Dao was going to Yangzhou to visit a friend, passing through Yingtian, I heard that my brother was seriously ill and came to visit. I don't know what kind of illness my brother has? Have you ever seen a doctor?"

Xu Da sighed: "Brother Xian has a heart, and I can be regarded as a recurrence of the old disease." ”

"Oh?"

Xu Dadao: "Do you remember the battle of Lanzhou?"

Liu Bowen said: "What my brother said, is it about Yu Gao?"

Xu Da nodded slightly: "At the beginning of the Lanzhou battlefield, the general of our army, Gao, was provoked, thinking that I killed his father, and took advantage of my unpreparedness to slash me in the back. Fortunately, I wore two extra pieces of soft armor at that time, which saved my life. However, because of the serious injury, he has been recuperating for more than half a year before he can be considered recovered. Since then, I've had a dull pain in my back. It's just that at that time, the country was initially decided, and Yu Kou had not yet cleared, so I was ordered by the emperor to lead troops to go around to fight, and I had no time to look around. Now that I think about it, I already had the root of the disease left at that time. Over the years, the world is peaceful, I am also a few years old, I don't have to go out to fight, the dull pain in the back is no longer attacked, I thought it has been cured, but a few days ago, the scar on my back suddenly grew gangrene, at first I didn't care, but this gangrene grew more and more, and it was painful and itchy, pus flowing, the smell was unbearable, so I asked someone to heal. These days, the injury has improved and is less painful. ”

Liu Bowen nodded: "I see." Can you let me see it, brother?"

Xu Da said: "Of course you can." ”

When Xu Jizhong heard this, he hurriedly stepped forward to help his father remove the clothes on his body, and at the same time said happily: "The world calls Uncle Liu the living Wolong, who knows everything about astronomy and geography, and knows everything about medicine and astrology. ”

Liu Bowen smiled faintly, stood up, turned to Xu Da's back, leaned over and bowed his head, and watched carefully. Xu Jizhong was afraid that he wouldn't look carefully, so he held a candle and lit it on the side.

Liu Bowen looked at it for a while, nodded, sat down again, and then said to Xu Da: "Please brother stretch out his hand." ”

Xu Da knew that he was going to check his pulse, so he stretched out his left hand and put it on the table.

Liu Bowen stretched out three fingers, put them on Xu Da's ruler, closed his eyes, and carefully identified the pulse. After a while, he opened his eyes, sighed slightly, and said, "As my brother said, my brother's illness is indeed caused by an old injury. At that time, although the wound was healed, the residual poison was not cleared, so it was a dull pain. Over the years, the evil poison has continued to accumulate, coinciding with the recent irregular season, and the elder brother is worried about national affairs, and his heart is vigorous, but his liver is stagnant and unable to evacuate, which leads to the recurrence of the old disease. ”

Hearing this, Xu Da sighed and said, "Those who know me, Brother Liu Xian also." Although I didn't say a word, my brother had already guessed what was on my mind. In recent years, although the external strife has been peaceful, internal troubles have gradually arisen......" When he said this, he stopped, and then instructed the maids on both sides: "You all stand down." ”

The maids said yes and exited the room. Xu Jizhong also followed to the door, turned around, and said to Xu Da and Liu Bowen: "If the two old men have any orders, just open your mouth, and I will serve outside the door." With that, he closed the door.

Seeing that there were no outsiders in the house, Xu Da continued: "Although the virtuous brother is far away from Yingtian, he must have heard of it. His Majesty is old and ill-informed, and Han Ma's party (Queen Ma, Han Jinhu) is bewitching, and in the name of rebellion, he first killed Prime Minister Hu Weiyong, and then executed the general Lan Yu, implicating tens of thousands of people. Most of the founding feats of the past, your and my old friends, are involved. In the long run, the power of the imperial court will fall into the hands of the Han and Ma parties. The disaster of Xiao Wall is not far away. Alas!" After saying that, he sighed again.

Liu Bowen lowered his voice and said: "The little brother came to visit this time, one is to visit the patient, and the other is for this matter. The elder brother said that His Majesty was old and true, but he said that he could not see clearly, but not necessarily. ”

"Why did Brother Xian say this?"

Liu Bowen said: "May I ask my brother, where did Hu Weiyong and Lan Yu come from?"

Xu Da was stunned for a moment, and then muttered.

Liu Bowen continued: "That Hu Weiyong was originally a follower of the Ming Sect, and the general Lan Yu was originally a leader of the Ming Sect. Hu Weiyong, Lan Yu and others were killed, ostensibly to suppress the rebellion, but in fact, it was the emperor who was using the name of rebellion to eradicate potential hidden dangers. ”