Can I get to the other side?

Qingzhu took the initiative to express his identity and purpose to Zhuge Liang, and then apologized.

"Sir didn't want to come forward to meet you, so we had no choice but to use some extraordinary means. Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way."

His tone was full of apologies, and his attitude was very polite and respectful, but Zhuge Liang still did not let go of his guard.

Although Qingzhu claims to be the messenger of embroidered clothes, this organization has disappeared for a hundred years. Who knows whether it is true or false?

And the wording is also very suspicious.

Zhuge Liang asked calmly: "Your Excellency claims to be here on the orders of the Emperor. May I ask how the Emperor found out about me? Why did you let me, a commoner, go to Yecheng?"

"You are not looking for the wrong person, are you?"

He has been staying in Nanyang since he came to Jingzhou with his uncle Zhuge Xuan, and worked in the fields after his uncle's death.

Although he had contacts with celebrities such as Pang Tong, Sima Hui, Pang Degong, and Xu Shu, he himself was not well-known.

Not to mention that his name spread throughout Jingzhou, not many people even knew about him in Nanyang County, let alone the emperor who was thousands of miles away?

That's why he was suspicious of Qingzhu's purpose.

"You have not found the wrong person."

Qingzhu shook his head and replied: "The order we received is to come to Jingzhou to find Zhuge Kongming, the son of Zhuge Gui, the former Prime Minister of Taishan County, and escort him to Yecheng."

"I'm just following orders. As for how your majesty knows about you and why you want to invite him over, I'd better wait until you arrive in Yecheng before asking your majesty for advice."

"We really don't know either."

As embroiderers, they don't need to know anything else, they just need to complete the orders. Knowing too much is not a good thing.

As for finding the wrong person, it is even more impossible. Zhuge Gui does not have a second son named Zhuge Kongming.

"The sun is setting. Sir, please come with us."

After briefly explaining to Zhuge Liang, Qingzhu turned slightly sideways and made an invitation gesture, indicating that Zhuge Liang would leave with them.

After listening to Qingzhu's words, although Zhuge Liang had confirmed that he was the one they were looking for, after thinking about it again and again, he still shook his head and said: "Forgive me for not obeying your order. Please go back, you three."

He still couldn't believe the identities of these three people, let alone the so-called summons from the emperor.

Yinzhen and Wutong couldn't help but feel very anxious when they heard this. Now that people have seen them, they don't want to let them go. What should they do?

The two of them turned their attention to Qingzhu again.

"well."

Qingzhu sighed slightly and his eyes became dark, "Sir doesn't want to follow us to Yecheng, so we can't be rough with him."

"But if we fail to complete the tasks assigned by Mr. Jia himself, our fate will be worse than death, if not death."

"Of course, I am not saying this to make you pity us, but I hope you will understand that we will use some extraordinary measures when necessary."

"For example, my elder brother Zhuge Jin is now in Danyang County, and his younger brother Zhuge Jun is in Longzhong County."

"Sir, you don't want anything to happen to them, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Liang was shocked, and then a look of anger appeared on his face. He stared at Qingzhu and cursed: "I have never seen such a shameless person like you!"

He set fire to the house and threatened his family with such unbearable methods. Could this be someone sent by the emperor?

Yinzhen and Wutong were also stunned by Qingzhu.

Because if it were them, they would only give nice words to persuade, but would never dare to use violence or threaten the other person's family.

For some reason, they saw the shadow of Jia Xu in Qingzhu - is this the weight of the only Zhonglang general among the Embroidered Clothes Envoys?

It is worthy of being promoted by Jia Gong!

Qingzhu ignored Zhuge Liang's eyes and said calmly: "As long as you, sir, come back with us, they will be safe."

A gentleman can be deceived.

For people like Fang Geliang, threatening his life will probably not have any effect, but threatening his family's lives will.

Seeing Qingzhu's indifferent expression, Zhuge Liang knew that if he refused, something might happen to his two brothers.

"I'll go with you."

Zhuge Liang calmed down and said calmly.

He couldn't go on this trip.

The boy behind him suddenly became anxious when he heard this. Just as he was about to speak to persuade, Qingzhu's cold eyes looked over, frightening him so much that he turned pale.

I could only swallow back the words that came to my lips.

Qingzhu withdrew his gaze, nodded to Zhuge Liang and said, "We have prepared the carriage. Sir, please get on board."

Zhuge Liang said nothing and took the boy out of the yard.

Before boarding the car, he looked back at the thatched cottage where he had lived for three years and was gradually being swallowed up by the fire, and couldn't help but shake his head.

…

Although Liu Qi was turned away during his first day of visit, this did not dispel his determination to invite Zhuge Liang back.

After casually finding an inn to rest in Longzhong County that night, he came over again near noon the next day, in order to prevent Zhuge Liang from taking a nap again.

But when he arrived at Zhuge Liang's residence, he was stunned by the scene in front of him.

"Where's the thatched cottage? Where's that big one?"

Liu Qi looked at the ruins burned by the fire and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

When he came yesterday, there was a thatched cottage here. Why is it now in ruins?

"Is it possible... that something went wrong?"

A terrible suspicion came into Liu Qi's mind, his expression suddenly changed, and he hurriedly ordered his servants: "Quick, go inside and look for any corpses!"

If Zhuge Liang died because of walking into the water, then his trip would have been in vain!

After hearing this, several servants immediately started searching among the ruins. Even Liu Qi personally participated in the search, but after searching around, they did not see the body.

"Sir, could it be that Zhuge Liang didn't want to see you, so he deliberately burned down the thatched cottage and left this place?"

A servant couldn't help but guess.

Liu Qi frowned, because this guess was reasonable, otherwise how could the fire in the thatched cottage be so coincidental.

But based on the relationship between his father and Zhuge Liang's uncle, even if Zhuge Liang didn't want to see him, he didn't have to be so cruel, right?

"Sir, come and see!"

Just as Liu Qi was deep in thought, another servant suddenly shouted, attracting his attention.

The servant pointed to the ground and said, "Sir, there are ruts and horse hoof marks on the ground. They must have been left by Zhuge Liang!"

It's snow melting time now, and the ground is very muddy, so the traces of ruts are very obvious late at night and can be seen at a glance.

They did not come in a carriage, and there were no bodies in the ruins, indicating that Zhuge Liang must have left in a carriage.

"Follow me!"

Liu Qi only hesitated briefly before making a decision. Regardless of whether Zhuge Liang was willing to be recruited by him or not, he would try his best.

At least ask clearly in person!

After saying that, the group got on their horses and, led by Liu Qi, chased along the rutted tracks.

…

The other side.

Qingzhu and others escorted Zhuge Liang on their journey all night, and did not stop for a rest until they left the boundary of Nanyang County.

"Sir, why are they in such a hurry?"

In the carriage, the boy asked Zhuge Liang in a low voice. Because he had not had a good rest all night, his face was full of exhaustion.

Zhuge Liang said: "I didn't see Mr. Liu yesterday. He will definitely come to visit me again today."

"Although the thatched cottage was burned, there were no bodies of the two of us inside. He would probably think that I avoided seeing them on purpose."

"And since Mr. Liu has the perseverance and perseverance to stand outside the thatched cottage for two hours waiting for me to wake up, he will definitely not give up until he sees me, so he will definitely chase me along the road."

"They were rushing so as not to be caught up."

Zhuge Liang knew clearly the reason why Qingzhu and others were on their way. He had previously guessed that they were Liu Qi's people, but now he confirmed that they were not.

The boy was very surprised when he heard this and said: "Isn't that a good thing? We can deliberately delay the time, so that when Mr. Liu Qi catches up, he will be able to rescue us!"

"They are definitely not people sent by the emperor!"

But Zhuge Liang did not reply to the boy's words. He looked at Qingzhu and others outside the car who were feeding the horses water and fodder with a very deep look.

He made a divination for himself last night, and the divination indicated that this trip would be auspicious.

In addition, the road they took was indeed heading to Jizhou, which made him start to doubt.

Could it be that these three people were really sent by the emperor?

While he was thinking in his mind, Yinzhen handed a water bag and dry food through the car window, and said: "Sir, please have something to eat. After eating, we will continue on our way."

"Thank you."

Zhuge Liang reached out to take it. When he saw Yinzhen's thin clothes, he couldn't help asking: "Your Excellency, you are wearing so little, isn't it cold?"

It was still a bit cold when the snow melted. He felt a little cold even with the crane cloak on his body, but the clothes Yinzhen and the other three wore were very thin.

"It's not cold."

Yinzhen smiled, opened his collar, revealed the woolen sweater underneath and said, "We are wearing sweaters underneath. This is a garment invented by His Majesty."

"This sweater is made of wool. It is extremely warm and lightweight. In addition, there are wool pants, wool socks, etc."

"It is precisely because of the existence of these clothes that the imperial army was able to fight in winter and capture Bingzhou in one go."

Winter in the south is far less cold than in the north, and since they are martial arts practitioners, these are enough to withstand the cold, and they don't need to wear more clothes.

"I see."

Zhuge Liang suddenly realized that he had been curious about how the imperial army could fight in winter and capture Bingzhou. Now this question was finally answered.

I just didn’t expect that wool could be woven into clothing.

After receiving this answer, Zhuge Liang became more confident in the identities of the three people in Yinzhen. A lot of things could be seen from these details.

"Someone is coming, alert!"

Qingzhu's voice sounded suddenly.

Upon hearing this, Yinzhen immediately turned around and saw a dozen cavalrymen coming along the official road, and his expression changed slightly.

Because the person leading the opposite party is Liu Qi!

Liu Qi led a dozen cavalrymen to surround the carriage. Then he dismounted and respectfully said to the carriage, "May I ask if Mr. Kong Ming is in the carriage?"

The three people in Qingzhu were extremely vigilant. Although they remained calm on the surface, they were already planning to take action in their hearts.

They would never be a match for the fully armed cavalry in a head-on confrontation, and there were still more than a dozen cavalry. The only way to break the situation was to find an opportunity to hold Liu Qi hostage to delay, and then let the other two take Zhuge Liang away.

Just when Qingzhu clenched the dagger in his sleeve and was about to take action, Zhuge Liang's voice suddenly came from the carriage.

"Master Liu, please come back."

Hearing this, the three of them flashed a trace of astonishment in their eyes.

And Liu Qi's expression was also stiff.

After reacting, he suddenly surged with anger in his heart, and gritted his teeth and said: "Mr. Kong Ming, I came to see you on the orders of my father, but you didn't even want to show your face, and even burned down the thatched cottage and left. Why is it so?"

"Isn't my sincerity enough?"

Ask yourself, he has already shown his attitude and sincerity very well. He really doesn't know where he made Zhuge Liang dissatisfied, and where Zhuge Liang got such a big frame from.

Yesterday he stood outside the thatched cottage until he fainted. .

Today, in order to find Zhuge Liang, he took the initiative to expose his identity and asked the local garrison to help search, and it took a lot of effort to catch up.

As a result, he was asked to go back just after he came!

Even if it was a famous scholar like Pang Degong and Sima Hui, he showed such sincerity, and the other party would not let him go without even listening to his intentions!

"Mr. Liu, although I am lucky enough to be praised by Mr. Pang and Mr. Shuijing, I am actually not talented enough to take on such a great responsibility."

"I am very grateful for the favor from the governor of Jingzhou. But I cannot obey your order to serve in the governor's mansion of Jingzhou."

"So Mr. Liu, please go back."

Zhuge Liang said this very appropriately, giving face to Liu Qi and Liu Bian, and at the same time simply rejecting the invitation.

Qingzhu and the others were also surprised.

They were also worried that Zhuge Liang would take this opportunity to ask Liu Qi for help, but they didn't expect that Zhuge Liang didn't do so, but rejected Liu Qi.

But this is certainly a good thing.

Liu Qi's face changed, and finally he sighed and said, "Excuse me, sir, please do as you please."

After that, he turned around and left.

Since Zhuge Liang had made up his mind and decided not to go back with him, he couldn't force people to take him away.

But at this time, Zhuge Liang's voice came from behind again: "Master Liu, before we part, I have a few words to give to you and the governor of Jingzhou, as a return of these requests."

Liu Qi stopped and frowned and asked: "Please give me your instructions, sir."

Zhuge Liang said: "Shen Sheng of Jin was executed in the country, and Chong'er was safe in exile. It is too conspicuous for you to come to me this time, so you must be careful."

These words were confusing and I didn't know what they were talking about.

But Liu Qi was shocked after hearing them.

He stared at the carriage for a long time, and finally bowed and saluted, and left with a dozen cavalrymen.

Qingzhu and the other two finally breathed a sigh of relief.

It was not until this time that Zhuge Liang lifted the curtain of the carriage and smiled at them: "If you have rested enough, let's continue to set off."

"The road to Yecheng is still a long way."

Qingzhu was stunned for a moment, and then smiled knowingly.

He bowed deeply to Zhuge Liang.

Soon the carriage set off again, heading towards Jizhou along the official road.