"Retreat the court!" The palace maid beside Liu Bei shouted.↗

With an order, the ministers respectfully sent Liu Bei. After Liu Bei left, all the ministers discussed and slowly withdrew from the court.

Prime Minister Xu Shao stood there without moving, looking at the depressed faces of civil and military officials in the morning, and sighed. At this moment, he noticed a face, with beautiful eyebrows, white face and blue beards, and a long gown covering his strong body, looking extremely elegant.

Seeing that the man was still standing in the hall, when all the ministers retreated, only him and that person were left in the hall, he walked straight towards the man, and asked with a smile: "All the ministers retreat, why didn't Gong Yan leave?"

"In the face of the great enemy, the ministers did not think about how to retreat to the enemy, but first discussed moving the capital. Gong Yan did not agree. He prepared to go to see Your Majesty later and informed His Majesty of what Gong Yan was thinking one by one, hoping to contribute to the country." The speaker, whose surname was Jiang, his name was Wan, his courtesy name was Gongyan, and he was from Xiangxiang, Lingling, and he was currently a counselor of the Han Dynasty.

After hearing this, Xu Shao nodded with satisfaction and said, "If all the ministers are like Gong Yan, the king and his ministers are united and share the same hatred of the enemy, even if the Chinese army has a million people, it is not worth fearing!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Shao reached out and patted Jiang Wan on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Young man, do your best, the future belongs to you..."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Shao coughed violently. He then took out a handkerchief, covered his mouth, then turned his body, looked at the handkerchief, frowned slightly, and hurriedly held the handkerchief in his hand, then turned to Jiang Wan and said, "When the emperor is unhappy, he always likes to sit in the pavilion of the imperial garden. Just go to find the emperor. He needs someone to offer advice the most now."

When he said this, Xu Shao's voice became much weaker. After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked out of the hall. Every step was very difficult, but he knew that he could not fall down just now. He had to hold on and see with his own eyes how the Han army retreated to the enemy.

Jiang Wan had already witnessed everything. He saw Xu Shao coughing out blood. Seeing Xu Shao slowly walked out of the hall step by step, and then got on the carriage with the help of the servants of the Prime Minister's Mansion. He was meticulous and naturally he would not be unclear. Xu Shao went to court with illness.

After sighing, Jiang Wan went straight to the Imperial Garden.

In the pavilion of the Imperial Garden, Liu Bei was so angry that he was killed by the actions of his ministers just now. China said he wanted to send troops. These unpromising ministers were going to move the capital. Before the battle was fought, they had already lost in terms of momentum. You Dao said that he would lose but not lose the formation. Now, Liu Bei lost the formation and the formation.

Liu Bei was angry when he saw a palace servant coming over and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Report to Your Majesty, I advise the counselor Jiang Wan to ask for a meeting."

"Jiang Wan? Which Jiang Wan?" Liu Bei didn't remember this person for a while. It was not his fault, because Jiang Wan was just transferred to the capital. It only took only three days.

The palace servant reminded: "It is the Jiang Wan recommended by the Grand Sima."

Liu Bei thought for a while and then suddenly realized. Zhang Fei had indeed recommended a man named Jiang Wan, but for a while he was always concerned about the war, and today he was angry with the ministers, so he didn't remember it for a while. Now he remembered that there was such a person and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

The palace servant replied: "Your Majesty, Lord Jiang said he is here to offer advice to retreat to the enemy."

When Liu Bei was at a loss, he suddenly heard the words of the palace servant and hurriedly said, "Let him in."

"promise!"

By the way, Jiang Wan was a talent discovered by Zhang Fei in Lingling. At first, he recommended Jiang Wan as the county magistrate in a county, but later the county magistrate reported that Jiang Wan was addicted to wine jars all day long and ignored all official duties.

In anger, Zhang Fei personally rode his horse to Lingling and forced Jiang Wan to handle official duties. As a result, Jiang Wan tried hundreds of cases in one day and tried all the cases accumulated over a hundred days. After seeing them with his own eyes, Zhang Fei was shocked and realized that Jiang Wan was not a talented person of Baili, so he transferred Jiang Wan to his side and served as the chief clerk.

Zhang Fei is a typical villain and a relative of the literati, so he is also very concerned about Jiang Wan. Later, Zhang Fei felt that it was too incompetent to stay by his side, so he recommended Jiang Wan to the court.

Back to the point: Jiang Wan followed the palace servants to the Imperial Garden. When she saw Liu Bei sitting in the pavilion, she immediately went to bow and bow.

After the ceremony, Liu Bei looked at Jiang Wan first. Seeing that Jiang Wan was a talented person and looked elegant, he said, "What good advice do you have to offer to me?"

Jiang Wan said: "There is no good strategy. I just came to recommend a few people to Your Majesty, which may help Your Majesty retreat to the enemy, that's all."

Liu Bei was originally full of smiles and expectation. After hearing Jiang Wan's words, his smile gathered, and he said with a stern face, "Who are you recommending?"

"I heard that there was a hermit in Jingzhou who revived Sima, with a single name named Hui, and the name Decao. The famous scholar Pang De Gong called him Mr. Shui Jing. Mr. Shui Jing was outside Xiangyang City. Why didn't Your Majesty ask for advice?"

After hearing this, Liu Bei said, "I have heard of this person, but I have never seen him. The previous few times I sent someone to recruit him, but I didn't know why."

Jiang Wan said: "Your Majesty should put aside his posture, respect the wise and the wise, and go to see him in person. Perhaps he can invite such hermits."

Liu Bei has been the emperor for several years, and has long forgotten the fact that he was frozen and hungry before. He sneered as an emperor and said, "Do you ask me to invite a mountain villager in person?"

Jiang Wan enlightened: "In the face of a crisis, your Majesty should spare no effort to use it for anything that can be used. As long as you can overcome this crisis, it is Your Majesty's wiseness. Jingzhou has outstanding people and many scholars with great learning. As long as Your Majesty is willing to respect the wise and inferior people, you will definitely be able to capture the hearts of more scholars in Jingzhou. In this way, those people will naturally be willing to be driven by Your Majesty. The famous scholars in Jingzhou are the most famous, but Mr. Shuijing has the highest reputation. If Your Majesty can invite Mr. Shuijing, as long as Mr. Shuijing a letter, Mr. Pang De will definitely come with him, and the other famous scholars in Jingzhou will naturally flock to him."

After hearing this, Liu Bei felt enlightened and immediately said, "It makes sense. Then I will leave now, and you can go with me."

"promise!"

After saying that, Liu Bei and Jiang Wan immediately disguised themselves and wanted to leave the palace. Later, Liu Bei felt something was wrong again. He ordered someone to carry a load of gold and go with him.

Seeing this, Jiang Wan hurriedly stopped him and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Shui Jing is not a person who can be invited by Jin and Stone. Such hermits are generally noble. I have already asked clearly. Mr. Shui Jing lives in the southwest of the city. Your Majesty only needs to go there in person, without bringing any gifts. As long as he shows sincerity, he will definitely be able to impress Mr. Shui Jing."

When Liu Bei heard this, he thought it made sense and gradually understood why Zhang Fei recommended Jiang Wan to him. At this moment, he felt that Jiang Wan was indeed not a talent of Baili.

The two of them disguised as ordinary people, each riding a horse, without any guards, left Xiangyang City and heading towards Nanzhang.

...

"A Chou, have you heard that? The Chinese army has promoted the whole country's troops, with a total of 700,000, and water and land. We are preparing to destroy the Han Dynasty, and Xiangyang will soon become a battlefield. I heard that Liu Zhang from Western Shu is recruiting talents. I am preparing to migrate with my family, will you go?" On the mountain path, a tall scholar with beautiful eyebrows and eyes walked, while saying to an ugly looking man beside him.

The vulgar man was only seventeen or eighteen years old, but he looked very short, only 1.5 meters tall. Compared with the pretty scholar beside him, he was dwarfed by him. After hearing the scholar's words, he shook his head and said firmly: "Liu Zhang is an incompetent person. Shu Han is dark and weak, and will be replaced sooner or later. I won't know how to go, and I advise you not to go, otherwise, if you meet again next time, you and I will probably be on the battlefield."

"A Chou, you and I have a friend. I kindly remind you, it would be fine if you don't go, why do you want to be enemies with me?" The scribe was extremely unhappy.

"Brother Zhouping, I'm just reminding you. If you really don't want to stay in Jingzhou, it's good to go to Yangzhou. Eastern Wu is becoming increasingly powerful and has a more promising future than Shu Han."

The man named Zhouping's surname was Cui, and was the son of Cui Lie, the Grand Marshal of the Han Dynasty. After Cui Lie died, he lived in Jingzhou. Because Cui Lie and Liu Biao had old age, Liu Biao treated Cui Zhouping very well. Later, when Liu Biao died and Jingzhou was in turmoil, Cui Zhouping lived in seclusion with several friends and studied with Pang Degong and Sima Hui.

The person called A Chou was Cui Zhouping's friend, with his surname Pang and his name Tong and his name was Shiyuan. After hearing Pang Tong's words, Cui Zhouping immediately asked, "Thank you. But where are you planning to go?"

Pang Tong smiled but didn't answer. Cui Zhouping wanted to ask something, so he saw two people riding two horses towards each other. It was Liu Bei and Jiang Wan.

When Jiang Wan saw Pang Tong and Cui Zhouping, he hurriedly stepped forward and asked, "How to get to the thatched cottage?"

Pang Tong and Cui Zhouping looked at Jiang Wan first, then looked at Liu Bei. They didn't know each other, but when they saw Liu Bei, they felt that Liu Bei was a little noble, but they didn't think much about it, so they pointed to not far behind them and signaled the location of the thatched cottage.

Jiang Wan thanked him and turned over to the horse. Liu Bei and Jiang Wan passed by Pang Tong and Cui Zhouping.

When Liu Bei rode his horse past Pang Tong, he saw that Pang Tong looked so ugly, and his eyes were filled with a kind of contempt. The scene that only swept through him made him permanently miss another outstanding boy in the world.

The four of them passed by. After Liu Bei and Jiang Wan rode away, Cui Zhouping said to Pang Tong: "A Chou, the one who didn't get off the horse just now is noble and born with a strange appearance. He looks very much like a person..."

Pang Tong nodded and said lightly: "Who can be seen except for the current emperor Liu Xuande?"

After hearing this, Cui Zhouping hurriedly looked back, but Liu Bei and Jiang Wan had long disappeared. He turned his head and asked, "What are Liu Xuande doing in the thatched cottage?"

"The Chinese army threatened to launch a large army of 700,000 and destroy the Han in two months. Although it was a rumor, it would never be groundless. The Chinese country took the lead and made everyone in Jingzhou dangerous. The Chinese country had already won the momentum. If the Chinese army took the Southern Expedition seriously, it would definitely not raise the troops of the whole country. In my guess, 300,000 is enough." Pang Tong said slowly, "Liu Bei came to the thatched hut this time, and he must have asked Mr. Shui Jing for advice."

After hearing this, Cui Zhouping said "Oh" and stopped saying a word. Not long after, Cui Zhouping asked again: "A Chou, do you think the Han State will be destroyed by the Chinese State? The Han State also has 300,000 troops from land and land. 300,000 to 300,000 may not lose. Moreover, Wolong has become an official in the Han State, and with him, he should be able to resist the Chinese State's army, right?"

Pang Tong laughed and said, "Brother Zhouping, whoever wins and loses, what does it have to do with us? Are you going to Western Shu anyway? Jingzhou will inevitably be in constant war in the next year, so it will be easier to leave early."

"I'm just talking casually. Brother Zhuge is alone and can't make a forest. Don't you want to help Brother Zhuge? You attack him, you are in charge of military affairs, he is in charge of the rule, what a perfect partner. As long as you annihilate the invading enemy, the Chinese army will definitely not dare to invade easily. At that time, you and Brother Zhuge can..."

"Wolong is Wolong, I am me, please don't confuse me with Wolong. He walked his single-plank bridge and I passed my Yangguan Road. Although Liu Bei was called a hero, it was a pity that Jingzhou was the place of four battles. The former had a feud with the Eastern Wu. The Chinese Kingdom and the Wu Kingdom had an offensive and defensive alliance. If the Chinese Kingdom sent troops to fight south this time, the Eastern Wu would definitely send troops to help, and Jingzhou was in danger. Wolong thought he was smart and always wanted to go against the will of heaven, but he forgot one truth, that is, the wrath of heaven could not be violated!"

Cui Zhouping knew that Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang were not in dealing with each other. Although the two were as famous, they were jealous about Huang Yueying's issue. It was not a matter of one or two days. He sighed and said to himself: "A Chou, don't talk anymore, let's go see the girl Yueying..."

"I have something to do, you can go by yourself." After Pang Tong finished speaking, he turned around and left.

Cui Zhouping shook his head and said, "If you don't go, what's the point of going alone? Anyway, sister Yueying won't look at me with her eyes on her?"

After the two separated, Cui Zhouping went straight to the restaurant in the mountains. He made an appointment with his friend Shi Tao and Meng Jian drank together. Seeing Pang Tong leaving without caring, he went to the appointment to drink.

Pang Tong originally wanted to go home, but when he was halfway through, he suddenly turned around and remembered an extremely important thing, so he took the path and returned to Sima Hui's thatched cottage.

...

"Your Majesty, hermits usually live in seclusion in green mountains and clear waters. This thatched hut is where Mr. Shuijing lives in seclusion. I have been inquiring for a long time before I found out. According to the guidance of the two young men just now, you can reach the thatched hut less than three miles away." Jiang Wan held the reins of the horse in one hand, and pulled the horse slowly forward.

The same is true for Liu Bei. It is difficult to walk on the mountain road here, so it is better to walk with your feet than riding a horse. After hearing Jiang Wan's words, he just nodded but said nothing.

After a while, the two of them walked to the end of the mountain road, but saw a clearing of land in front of them, several simple houses, and around the house, there were some cultivated fields with some vegetables planted on them.

When Jiang Wan saw this scene, he pointed to the house in front and said, "Your Majesty, there is a thatched cottage in front of him."

Liu Bei was already exhausted and panting at this time. He stopped exercising for many years. He suddenly started exercising and felt very tired. After being an emperor for several years, his waist became thicker and fatter, and he didn't even have the strength to go up the mountain.

"Okay, you go and spread it. I'll take a break here for a while." Liu Bei gasped and sat on the stone.

Before Jiang Wan could set off, he saw a boy walking out of the thatched cottage. The boy walked straight to Jiang Wan and Liu Bei's side. He bowed first and said, "The guest is here, my husband is here to welcome him. Please come with me."

After saying that, the boy turned around and left.

Liu Bei and Jiang Wan were very moved by Sima Hui's predecision, so the two followed the boy and went straight into the thatched cottage.

At this time, the sound of the piano came from the thatched cottage, which made people feel relieved after listening. For some reason, Liu Bei's initial fatigue was dispersed by the music and he quickly recovered his energy.

Liu Bei felt that it was wonderful. After following the boy into the thatched cottage, he smelled a thick stream of sandalwood. He saw a pine-shaped crane bone, with extraordinary artifacts, tall crowns and wide belts, and a very handsome person sitting there playing the piano.

The sound of the piano suddenly stopped, and the person who played the piano stood up and said loudly: "Dear guest is here, please forgive me for not being able to greet you. The breeze makes it clear to show the guests tea."

"Yes, sir." The boy who led Liu Bei and Jiang Wan came in responded, and went to pour a cup of tea for Liu Bei and Jiang Wan each.

"This is the tea grown by one's own home. I'll invite the guests to enjoy the newly picked tea this year." The man who plays the piano said.

Liu Beiyi was not drinking tea, so he sniffed a little bit, then put it down, clasped his fists and said, "Let's go..."

"Oh, there is no need to say anything about your visit. I already know your purpose. However, I am a mountain villager and I am not very talented. I am afraid I cannot help you solve your problems. Please forgive me."

Liu Bei looked at the person who played the piano suspiciously and said, "Mr. Shuijing is really a god!"

The man who plays the piano smiled and said, "The distinguished guest is a noble person and is willing to visit the thatched cottage. It has made the thatched cottage shine brightly. But I have no intention of becoming an official, nor have I had great talents in the king's assistant, so..."

"Sir, since we already know our purpose, we must know our identity. The person sitting in front of you now is the emperor of my great Han Dynasty. Your Majesty can be so respectful to the wise and the nobles in the ages, sir..." Jiang Wan said hurriedly.

"Haha. There is no need to say much. Although I cannot make peace and stability, I can recommend unparalleled geniuses to distinguish guests. There is already a genius in the army of guests. Why is it that the distinguished guest not satisfied?" The person who plays the piano was Sima Hui. He interrupted Jiang Wan's words, looked at Liu Bei, and said sincerely.

After hearing this, Liu Bei asked hurriedly: "Who?"

"Have you ever heard a word from a distinguished guest?"

"What's the matter?"

"If you want to save the dragon and the phoenix chicks, you will be able to have one of the two. You can be at peace with the world."
To be continued...