Chapter 37: Entrust an orphan

"Ah..." Liu Bei screamed in shock, turned over and sat up from the couch, sweating in cold sweat, looking at the dim tent in horror. The guards outside the tent rushed in after hearing the sound, and their hands and feet were lit up quickly.

"Lord, are you having a nightmare again?" Sun Gan stepped into the tent. Seeing that Liu Bei's face was very pale, he asked quickly with concern.

"Yeah." Liu Bei nodded weakly, waved his hand to let his guards go out, and whispered in a hoarse voice: "Gongyou, Yunchang... Yunchang is probably dead."

Sun Gan was shocked: "Lord, you are worried about General Guan. You think about it every day and dream about it at night. General Guan has more soldiers than Lu Xun, and there are still a thousand people in Kuangpu Pass. How can Lu Xun be General Guan's opponent?" He thought for a while and said: "Dreams in the first half of the night are positive, and dreams in the second half of the night are counter-intentions. Now it is early morning, so it must be anti-intentions."

Liu Bei smiled bitterly, looked at Sun Gan, and shook his head repeatedly: "Gongyou, I hope so too, but this dream is too real. I saw Yun Chang covered in blood, with a look of anxiety, and wanted to speak, but there was no sound. I was afraid he was..." He didn't dare to say anything anymore, but just looked at the swaying lights, and his eyes were filled with helpless panic.

Sun Gan glanced at the lamp that seemed to be out at any time, and hurried over to tuck the door. As soon as he touched the door, a gust of wind blew, and the light was blown out. The big tent suddenly became dark, and the cold moonlight shone in from the door. The shadows left by the long door on the ground formed a sharp spot, like a sharp knife, facing Liu Bei sitting on the couch.

Sun Gan's expression changed drastically and he hurriedly shouted, "Come on, light the light."

A personal guard walked in and took out the wooden flint from his arms and lit the lamp. Sun Gan saw Liu Bei sitting on the couch without moving, like a puppet, with a very strong bow on his back, messy white hair, wrinkles on his face, and muddy eyes staring at the light that had just been lit.

"Lord..." Sun Gan stepped forward and shouted carefully.

"Hmm?" Liu Bei was shocked and turned to look at Sun Gan: "Gongyou, what's the matter?"

"I... have nothing to do, I just come to see my lord." Sun Gan laughed dryly, his voice trembling a little.

"Oh, I'm fine, when will it be?"

"It's three o'clock in the hour of Yin." Sun Gan glanced at the roving pot next to him and replied quietly.

"Help me up." Liu Bei was stunned for a while, then stretched out his hand and said to Sun Gan.

Although Sun Gan was puzzled, he still came forward and helped Liu Bei put on a big cloak and helped him out of the tent. The night wind outside the tent was cold. Liu Bei wrapped the big cloak tightly on his body, raised his head to look at the moon still hanging in the west, and suddenly sighed. He bent over and walked up to the platform next to the tent step by step, holding the railing, and looking at Panyu City, which was hidden in the moonlight in the south, as if it was a creeping tiger, silent.

"Lord, it's cool to go upstairs, let's go down first." Sun Gan said with some concern.

Liu Bei did not respond to him, but just looked south quietly, with his eyes focused and confused. The surroundings were very quiet, with only the footsteps of soldiers patrolling in the sound of the wind and the monotonous commands. The big flag above his head was blown by the wind, and the flagpole was squeaking and moaning, making a sound that seemed to be broken.

Liu Bei suddenly turned his head, straightened his waist and looked north. Sun Gan turned his head and looked at it. The north was silent and there was nothing. Sun Gan looked for a moment, and turned around and looked at Liu Bei in surprise, but found that Liu Bei had a bright gaze and a squint, and murmured: "Come..."

"Come? What's here?" Sun Gan was puzzled. He was about to speak, but he heard a black dot in the north quickly approaching from a distance. After a while, he arrived in front of the camp. It turned out to be a knight. The knight turned over and dismounted, and almost fell to the ground with a stagger. Then he got up again and rushed into the camp. The soldiers on the night side quickly picked him up, and then saw several figures walking towards this side.

"Lord..." The knight fell to the ground when he saw Liu Bei, and choked and said, "General Guan...the entire army was wiped out."

Sun Gan was shocked, his mind seemed to explode. He looked at Liu Bei in horror, but Liu Bei was very calm, but his eyes were scary, shining like a wolf, his cheeks were bulging, his skin was tightly stretched, and he seemed to be a little flushed.

"Speak in detail."

This knight was a scout. He was sent out by Guan Yu to inform Kuangpu Pass that Hao Pu was careful of Lu Xun stealing the city. However, when he arrived outside Kuangpu Pass, he found a 20,000 army hidden in Songling outside the city. He was shocked and did not dare to pass through the river valley. He detoured to the west of Qinshui to report the message to Guan Yu. When he found Guan Yu, he saw Guan Yu's body carried back by Jiangdong soldiers. He waited overnight at the entrance of Songling Valley, and learned from the excited chat of Jiangdong soldiers that Guan Yu's troops had all died in battle, so he rushed back overnight to report the message.

"Lu Meng's men?" Liu Bei and Sun Gan exclaimed in unison.

"Yes, it was indeed Lu Meng's men who came from Guiyang." The scout said, "They took the way from Guiyang County. We only inquire about Nanhai County, so we did not receive any news."

Sun Gan held his breath and looked at Liu Bei in horror. A chill rushed to the back of his head and stared at Liu Bei's face. Liu Bei's eyes twitched twice, and suddenly laughed: "Okay, okay, okay." After that, he threw his hands off the platform, stepped into the tent, and left Sun Gan alone to stand on the stage in a daze.

Liu Bei sat alone in the big tent, and did not leave the tent until the sun was noon. Jian Yong, Yin Guan, Liu Yan and others felt strange and came to ask for orders to attack the city. Only then did Sun Gan quietly tell them the news he had just received before dawn. When Yin Guan and others heard this, they were also surprised and hesitated at the door of the big tent, not knowing whether to enter or not.

Liu Bei was no one. He sat alone in the big tent for a day. Sun Gan went to see him and found that he looked over and over at the map. His face was dry and his old look was revealed. Sun Gan and the others were at a loss and surrounded the side tent and discussed urgently to see how to persuade him. Several people thought about it and felt that there was no way to start. After Guan Yu's death, Liu Bei had only 10,000 troops left. Not to mention siege, he could not deal with Lu Meng who was about to rush from Kuangpu Pass. Nanhai County could not take it, and it was a question whether Cangwu could defend it. The personnel in each county had been almost wiped out, and only Zhao Yun of Cangwu had three or four thousand people. Apart from that, Liu Bei had no soldiers to adjust.

"Chief Yin, are we... no way out?" Even Liu Yan, who is in charge of the matter, knew that the problem was serious. Kuangpu Pass was only more than 200 miles away, and Lu Meng was coming soon, but Liu Bei seemed to be stunned. This was really not a good sign.

Yin Guan looked at Liu Yan who was helpless in embarrassment and smiled bitterly: "It's not a solution. Sun Quan sent Lu Meng to the South China Sea to take back Nanhai County. We are afraid that we will still want to regain Nanhai County. Our troops are insufficient, so it is impossible to seize Nanhai County. It is still possible to retreat to Cangwu to defend. Lu Meng's troops are Sun Quan's main force, and it is impossible to stay in Nanhai for a long time without leaving."

"Oh." Liu Yan let out a long sigh, and his beautiful face relaxed a little.

"It's just the lord..." Yin Guan looked at Liu Bei's tent with some concern. He was worried that Liu Bei would be angry again and refused to go back to Cangwu. He came excitedly, but left in shame, and even broke Guan Yu, a general. He really couldn't stand the face. What's more, the relationship between Guan Yu and Liu Bei was not just a simple relationship between the monarch and the minister. Two years ago, Zhang Fei was broken, and Liu Bei was in a slump as if he had been broken. Now Guan Yu has broken Guan Yu again. Yin Guan is not sure whether he can tolerate this anger.

"Dear sirs, lord, please invite me." A personal guard walked into the tent and said to everyone looking at each other.

Yin Guan and Sun Gan exchanged gazes and stood up and entered Liu Bei's tent. On the map in front of Liu Bei, a large cinnabar circle was drawn on Panyu City. The blood-red cinnabar was as dazzling as blood. Yin Guan's heart was suddenly lifted up by the red circle.

"I believe you all know the news of Yun Chang's death." Liu Bei raised his head, swept his cold eyes across everyone's faces, and said hoarsely: "I wonder what you guys can teach me?"

Yin Guan and others remained silent.

Liu Bei waited for a while, and saw that they didn't say anything, and he didn't ask again. He seemed to have any interest in asking their opinions. He pulled the map aside, straightened his body, and said to Sun Gan: "Gongyou, go to Guiyang and tell Cao Zhennan that I want to see him."

Sun Gan was stunned for a moment, not knowing what Liu Bei intended. Liu Bei took a letter from his side and handed it to Sun Gan: "If you give this to him, he will understand."

"Lord, Cao Zhennan may not be in Guiyang." Sun Gan said.

"He is in Guiyang." Liu Bei said affirmatively: "You go find him and go immediately."

Sun Gan had no choice but to take the letter and turn around and leave the big tent.

"Xianhe, go to Cangwu and let Zilong bring A Dou here."

Jian Yong was surprised. Why did Liu Bei not only not return to Cangwu, but also stay in the South China Sea? He looked at Liu Bei in horror, but Liu Bei did not look at him. He said to himself: "Kong Lin, don't attack the city in the next two days, let the soldiers rest for a few days. Send the scout farther, be careful of the clerk Lu Meng, strengthen the camp, and hurry up and prepare more stone bullets, and make more exquisite."

Yin Guan responded, but he didn't know his intention. After Liu Bei said that, he waved his hand and drove them out, sitting alone in the tent, not eating or drinking, not crying or laughing.

"Kong Lin, what should I do?" Jian Yong was a little panicked.

"Go, do as the lord said." Yin Guan sighed, shook his head and left. Jian Yong stood for a while, and had to stamp his feet and rush to Cangwu with a few followers.

As Liu Bei said, Sun Gan met Cao Chong in Guiyang County. Not only Cao Chong was in Guiyang, but Xiaoshuang was also there, but Deng Ai was also there. Sun Gan didn't bother to question Cao Chong, and immediately told him about the situation in Nanhai County and handed him Liu Bei's letter.

Cao Chong had just arrived in Guiyang. After Zhou Yu received the news of Guan Yu's death in the battle, he immediately passed the news to Cao Chong in Linxiang. Cao Chong immediately took his three thousand personal guards and infantry cavalry to Guiyang County. At the same time, he mobilized Deng Ai, Jingshan Army, the White Tiger Army, and Zhang Ren's troops who had been in Guiyang. There were a total of 15,000 infantry and cavalry. When he met Sun Gan, he had already arrived at Guiyang County, Guiyang County, and there were still a hundred miles to enter the boundary of Nanhai County.

"The lord wants to see the general." Sun Gan said very simply.

"He is still under Panyu City?" Cao Chong was a little surprised.

"At now," Sun Gan said: "When I set off, I saw the lord drawing a circle in the location of Panyu City on the map. It seems that he is going to have a bloody battle with Lu Meng under Panyu City."

Cao Chong was surprised. He thought Liu Bei's behavior was abnormal. With his personality, he knew that he would stay in Panyu and not leave without a chance? Although his troops were not as strong as Lu Meng, Lu Meng could not stay in the South China Sea for a long time and would have to retreat to Yuzhang in at most three or four months. If Liu Bei returned to Cangwu and took the defensive position, he might still be able to retain several counties. Why did he still stay under Panyu City and attack Lu Meng and Bu Zhi with more than 20,000 people?

"Is he... okay?" Cao Chong asked for a while.

"Not good." Sun Gan shook his head. Thinking of Liu Bei's appearance before leaving, Sun Gan felt panic from his heart. He rushed day and night, and rushed more than 300 miles a day and night. He felt an indescribable nervousness in his heart, forcing him to go crazy, for fear that one day would cause great regrets. As for what regrets it would cause, he himself couldn't explain them clearly.

Cao Chong took out Liu Bei's letter and looked at it, and said to Sun Gan, who was very tired, "Can you still bear it? Can you keep up with our speed?"

"Yes." Sun Gan didn't hesitate at all. Although he didn't know what Liu Bei said in the letter, he had already estimated that Liu Bei would ask Cao Chong for help. As for what conditions he would pay, it was not something Sun Gan could imagine.

"Then you go eat something and have a rest."

Sun Gan went out, Cao Chong spread the letter in his hand on the desk and pushed it in front of everyone. Zhou Yu didn't go to get it, and didn't even raise his eyelids, as if he didn't see it. Pang Tong stretched out his two fingers, turned the letter paper, and glanced quickly.

"General Zuo made a deal with the general on Jiaozhou as a condition. It seems that Guan Yu's death has dealt a lot." Pang Tong was silent for a while and said softly: "Do you want to agree?"

Cao Chong grinned, but there was no smile. He glanced at everyone: "Can I agree?"

Zhou Yu and others looked at each other and nodded at the same time.

"Since that's the case, please take the lead. I will set off first with the guard camp. Shi Zai, you will take Jingshan Army and Baihu Army, Lord Zhou, Liu Pan's army and Zhang Ren's army to you. You will set off together, seize Kuangpu Pass first, and then go south to intercept Lu Meng's retreat to prevent Lu Meng from retreating to Yuzhang."

Deng Ai hesitated for a moment: "General, you...can't take risks."

Cao Chong smiled: "Don't worry, Lu Meng is thinking about going to Panyu now. He will not believe that General Zuo would ask me for help. Besides, I will not fight him hard. If he turns around, I will lead them to Kuangpu Pass and we will also hit him in Songling to ambush."

Although Deng Ai was a little worried, he saw that Cao Chong had made up his mind and knew that the strength of the three thousand guards' infantry cavalry was unlikely to suffer as long as they did not fight hard but failed. He didn't say anything, so he immediately went down and prepared. Zhou Yu fell behind. He stared at Cao Chong's eyes: "General, more than 7,000 people are half of the total force. Are you really relieved to hand them over to me?"

Cao Chong also stared at his eyes, looked for a moment, Zhan Yan smiled and said, "Can Lord Zhou relieve me?"

Zhou Yu smiled, bowed down, and then turned around and walked away in big strides. Cao Chong watched him disappear outside the door, turned his head to Pang Tong, Lu Su and others and said, "You go and clean up too. The military situation is urgent. We will set off early tomorrow morning."

Pang Tong, Lu Su nodded, and got up and left. Cao Chong said to Zhang Song again: "You send orders to Xiaozhi, it's time to do it."

Zhang Song nodded, turned around and walked out without saying a word.

Cao Chong sat for a while before he got up and returned to the bedroom. Xiaoshuang was leaning against the door and lowering his head without saying a word. Hearing Cao Chong's footsteps, she quickly wiped her tears and came forward.

"Xiaoshuang, please clean up too, and let me go tomorrow." Cao Chong ordered while taking off his coat.

Xiaoshuang nodded, but said, "Husband takes me with me, aren't you worried that I will plead for my father?"

"So what if you plead?" Cao Chong turned his head and looked at her, and suddenly felt a little uncomfortable: "Xiaoshuang, do you know that your father probably... has no fun anymore. General Guan's death has dealt a great blow to him. In the letter, he told me that he wanted me to promise to take care of your brother for him, so he gave me Jiaozhou and helped me swallow Lu Meng's 20,000 troops."

Xiaoshuang opened his mouth in surprise, looking disbelief. Cao Chong handed the letter to her: "You can read it yourself, this should be written by him."

Xiaoshuang finished reading it in a hurry and she burst into tears: "Husband, my father really doesn't want to live anymore."

"So you have to go, maybe this is the last side." Cao Chong patted Xiaoshuang's shoulder, Xiaoshuang cried bitterly, threw himself into Cao Chong's arms, hugging Cao Chong's waist tightly, for fear that Cao Chong would leave her if he let go. Cao Chong sighed, gently stroked Xiaoshuang's back, opened his mouth, and wanted to persuade her, but he couldn't say anything.

Early the next morning, Cao Chong took Sanqian's personal guards and led the way with Sun Qian along the way. He avoided Lu Meng's scouts and went straight to Sihui from Zhongsu County west of the Qinshui River. He crossed the river in Sihui City. Three days later, he arrived at Songgang, forty miles west of Panyu City. After setting up a camp in Songgang, he asked Sun Qian to rush to Liu Bei's camp under Panyu City and invite Liu Bei to see him.

Liu Bei came soon and took Zhao Yun and Liu Chan.

Cao Chong clearly saw the hero of the Three Kingdoms for the first time. When he was jumping into the valley, he saw him in a telescope from a distance, but it was dark and he could only see his figure, but he could not see his face clearly. Now he had the opportunity to see Liu Bei at all, and he was a little surprised. Liu Bei's hair was all white, his face was as wrinkled as a knife, his face was gray, and he was not angry at all. His waist was also hunched, and his walking steps were a little staggering, without the agility he had seen at the beginning. He only had eyes and spirit, and he felt a very uncomfortable viciousness, like a wolf who had been hungry for a few days.

Before Cao Chong could come forward to greet him, Xiaoshuang beside him had already pounced on him, hugged Liu Bei and cried loudly: "Aweng, I haven't seen you for a few years, why... why are you...so?"

Liu Bei looked at Xiao Shuang with tears on his face and suddenly smiled: "Xiao Shuang, it's the first time you have cared about me so much in so many years."

"Ahon..." Xiaoshuang knelt on the ground with a plop, holding Liu Bei's legs and sobbing.

Liu Bei smiled and pulled Xiaoshuang up: "All of them are women, why are they still crying? This is not like you. If Dashuang is like this, I can still believe it. Xiaoshuang, why are you like this too? Is Dashuang okay?"

"Okay... OK..." Xiaoshuang was so crying that she couldn't speak, but nodded repeatedly. She had always disliked Liu Bei, but when she saw Liu Bei's appearance, she couldn't help crying. It's only five or six years that Liu Bei was so old that she dared not recognize him. This is not the ambitious General Zuo then, and the decisive Liu Yuzhou. Now he is an old man who has stepped into the coffin with one foot. No wonder his husband said that he is already bored.

"Is Dashuang going to give birth?" Liu Bei pulled Xiaoshuang's arm and looked at Xiaoshuang up and down, with a rare trace of warmth in his eyes.

"It's almost three months left. Now I can't walk anymore, so I haven't followed my husband." Xiaoshuang wiped her tears and helped Liu Bei sit down in the tent, nagging about Da Shuang's situation. Liu Bei nodded repeatedly while stroking his beard, his face was not like a hero who was fighting on the battlefield. He was a kind old father who was listening to Gui Ning's daughter telling interesting stories about her husband's family.

Cao Chong listened quietly, looking at Zhao Yun, who was holding Liu Chan's hand in the distance, and Zhao Yun's arm was still wrapped in cloth. It seemed that the wound had not healed yet. He looked at Cao Chong with a vigilant look. Only when he looked at Liu Bei would a trace of sadness flash in his eyes.
To be continued...