Three Kingdoms

Liu Bei seemed to hear his mother's low-pitched cries, dripping, whimpering, and even deeply felt that his arms seemed to be wet with tears, and his robes stuck to his body, like a tight wrap. The restraints on him pressed him smaller and smaller, and pressed him tighter and tighter.

"ha!"

Liu Bei suddenly turned over and sat up, only to realize that it was already raining, and the raindrops drifted in and wet his clothes.

"Brother..." Guan Yu, who was guarding outside, turned around, with raindrops still on his face. The broken shirt in front of him had been soaked by the rain, and a large dark stain spread out, while Guan Yu's back was covered with raindrops. Dry.

Liu Bei smiled, his smile still gentle, showing no trace of the decadence and frustration of defeat, as if he just lost his prey while hunting. Well, he also broke his bow by the way. Well, he also fell off his horse...

"Second brother, thank you for your hard work." Liu Bei did not say any words of thanks, nor did he say any kind words to prevent Guan Yu from having to shelter him from the wind and rain, because Liu Bei knew that they were not brothers, but they were better than brothers.

Guan Yu nodded silently and stepped aside.

In fact, this cave might be better if it is said that it is a concave. It is a recessed stone platform under the rock. It can barely accommodate two or three people. Although it is crowded, it is much better than lying on the soil that will return to moisture at night.

Liu Bei jumped off the rock and stood in the drizzle. He raised his face, closed his eyes, and let the slightly cool rain fall on his head and face. He took a long breath and pulled off his robe at will. He wiped his face, completely ignoring this piece of brocade clothing with fish and dragon pattern embroidery that was originally Liu Bei's favorite.

"Where is the third brother?" Liu Bei looked around and asked.

"I took some people and went to the woods to cut firewood..." Guan Yu responded from the side. After a moment of silence, he added, "...last night, more than ten people escaped..."

Liu Bei's smile stiffened for a moment, and then continued to bloom, "It doesn't matter! Everyone has his own ambitions, let him go!"

The city was lost and the soldiers were scattered, but Liu Bei's smile remained the same, making people feel at ease just by looking at it. However, the shadow hidden deep in the wrinkles of his smile was a pain that only Liu Bei could understand.

"Hahaha!" Zhang Fei's voice arrived before Zhang Feiren arrived. He emerged from the forest with something dangling in his hand, "Brother! Look, I hunted two rabbits! There are also two pheasants!"

"Okay!" Liu Bei's smile became brighter, "Wash and peel them, and put them in the pot to stew! Share them with everyone, everyone has something!" Some soldiers came out with Zhang Fei, holding some wild vegetables and Mushrooms and the like seemed to be a good harvest.

Seeing the blood food, the originally listless soldiers seemed to have some energy, and they immediately became busy in the open space in front of the forest. Some people dug earth stoves, some went to get water, and some went to find dry wood and dead branches. …

Liu Bei walked slowly, smiling and nodding with almost every soldier. Sometimes he saw familiar veterans, and even stopped to chat for a few words. When he came back after walking around, he saw Zhang Fei He had been sitting on the big rock for a long time, with his hands in his arms and his eyes rolling.

Seeing Liu Bei and Guan Yu coming back, Zhang Fei jumped down quickly, then got closer, and carefully took out four small bird eggs from his arms, then gave two to Liu Bei, and then gave one to Guan Yu. Finally, he held a small bird egg and laughed twice, "I happened to see a bird's nest in the forest. I took it out... I specially kept it for the eldest and second brothers. It's still warm... With such a small amount, brother doesn’t need to distribute it to the soldiers..."

Liu Bei held two bird eggs that were no bigger than his thumb. He looked at the eggs and then at Zhang Fei. He couldn't help but burst into laughter. Zhang Fei carefully hid such fragile things and emphasized that, This is really...

"Okay, we can't tell the difference..." Liu Bei smiled, nodded, took Zhang Fei's hand, and then returned a bird egg and said, "Third brother, it's hard work hunting early in the morning... I'll just eat one." That's enough, I'll give this to you..."

"Ah? This... eldest brother... second brother..." Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then looked at Liu Bei and then at Guan Yu.

Guan Yu glanced at Zhang Fei: "Look what he is doing! Since big brother gave it to you, just eat it!"

"Oh!" Zhang Fei was not polite and threw the two eggs directly into his mouth, bit them into pieces with a clicking sound, and swallowed them in a few mouthfuls.

Liu Bei smiled slightly, and like Zhang Fei, he bit the whole bird egg into pieces and swallowed it.

The same is true for Guan Yu.

Although the eggshell of a bird egg is hard, it is considered a solid material after all. The empty abdomen was crying, and it was painful to rub against each other. With some mixture of eggshells and egg liquid, the burning feeling between the chest and abdomen became better.

"Come, sit down." Liu Bei greeted, looked at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, and said, "We were defeated... There is no need to deny this, but we must know why we lost... and for next time... next time Don’t make the same mistakes again…”

No matter what the two warring parties think, one thing is definitely the same, no one wants to lose.

During the battle with Ji Ling, Liu Bei originally tried to use this time to order him to go north to attack Yuan Shao to hide the truth, but unexpectedly failed.

Liu Bei mobilized his troops on a large scale and pretended to go north, which naturally lured Ji Ling to attack. However, the ambush army was detected by Ji Ling...

To ambush, one must naturally divide the troops, and dividing the troops means the dispersion of forces. The dispersed troops were attacked by Ji Ling's large forces. Even strong generals like Guan Yu and Zhang Fei still could not save the defeat and could only protect them. Liu Bei fled all the way.

"I have been thinking about it for the past two days as to why a certain ambush was exposed..." Guan Yu squinted his eyes and said in a deep voice, "The whole army went north, and Yuan Jun came to pursue... Everything is normal... However..."

Liu Bei closed his eyes, and the eyes under his eyelids moved rapidly.

"It's really strange..." Zhang Fei also scratched his head and said, "A certain person led an army and was located in the valley. For some reason, Yuan's army attacked directly... It was as if he knew I was in the valley a long time ago. generally……"

Guan Yu narrowed his eyes and said: "It is impossible to say that there are Yuan Jun scouts investigating...the third brother has not noticed..."

Zhang Fei's eyebrows were raised, and he said angrily: "Impossible! I, Old Zhang, are at the mouth of the valley, not leaving even an inch! There is a forest outside the valley, so if you don't go out through the forest, how can you see what's going on inside the valley? I didn't see any Yuan Jun scouts. , what came directly was Yuan’s army!”

Liu Bei opened his eyes and said: "Other than the two wise brothers, who else knows about the ambush?" There is nothing strange about the strategy being seen through. After all, what Liu Bei can think of, others can also think of. , but it is very strange that the place where the ambush was located was accurately found without the scouts' early exploration.

Guan Yu's slender phoenix eyes glanced left and right and said: "Zizhong, Yuan Tan... and the army commanders... hmm? Third brother, where are your army commanders Chen Song and Chen Zicheng?" Mi Zhu and Gu Yong said: The civilian officials who followed Guan Yu and Zhang Fei naturally knew the specific plans and arrangements, and the Army Sima was the front-line commander responsible for the specific arrangement of military sundries. Of course, they could not hide it.

"Chen Zicheng?" Zhang Fei was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Liu Bei and said, "Didn't Chen Zicheng get the order from his elder brother to go... Could it be..."

Liu Bei shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Why did I have an order? Even if something happens, I will go directly to you, third brother. How could I go past you, third brother, to give orders to your army officers and horses..."

"Ah, ah, ah, ah! You are so angry!" Zhang Fei was so angry that he stood up and roared to the sky, scaring many surrounding soldiers who turned their heads to look over.

"Third brother!" Guan Yu said in a deep voice, "Shut up! Sit down!"

Chen Song, a native of Chenjun. His family was in decline, so he traveled around. He knew that Liu Bei was looking for talents, so he came to join him.

Liu Bei quickly recalled the relevant information about Chen Song. Although he was unwilling to associate everything with the young man with a beard, no matter from which perspective, Chen Song was still most likely to be a traitor.

"..." Zhang Fei sat down and wrinkled his face tightly. He didn't cry loudly, but just shed tears silently. Big tears jumped out of the corners of Zhang Fei's eyes and jumped to his beard. , and then like a swing, swaying a few beards before falling to the ground.

Zhang Fei was very sad and cried like a child weighing two hundred pounds.

Because of his negligence in this aspect, Liu Bei and Guan Yu had to return to rescue, which led to the regret that the entire army was defeated...

Although Liu Bei and Guan Yu didn't say a word of blame after their defeat, Zhang Fei still felt very uncomfortable in his heart. Now that he learned that the most critical factor in the defeat may be due to him, the turbulent emotions in his heart naturally became... hard to control.

Chen Song also had a beard. Although not as exaggerated as Zhang Fei, Zhang Fei and Chen Song seemed to hit it off, and there was an indescribable sense of intimacy. Perhaps this sense of intimacy and trust was due to Zhang Fei listening to Chen Song. I didn’t think too deeply about the reasons when I made excuses...

Guan Yu sighed, then reached out and patted Zhang Fei's shoulder gently.

Liu Bei was silent for a while, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Third brother! What's so sad about this! Instead, we should be happy!"

"Ah?" Zhang Fei was a little confused.

"It's only when the weather is cold that we know how green the pines and cypresses are, and when the earth is far away we know how powerful the horses are..." Liu Bei said with a smile, "What's the point of a small defeat now? You must know that only by getting rid of the clutter can you get the essence!"

Liu Bei circled his arms and said loudly: "Go away, you little treacherous villain! Go away! Why should I cherish them! There are two brothers here. Their friendship is as good as gold and stone, and their loyalty shines through the world! That's enough, that's enough!" That’s right! Despite this disaster, there are still people who are here to stay, so why worry about the big thing not happening! Congratulations, congratulations!"

The soldiers around him understood what was going on. Although not everyone understood or believed the happy event Liu Bei said, at least the surrounding atmosphere was no longer heavy and somewhat energetic.

Zhang Fei also knew that he was losing his temper, so he wiped his tears, looked at Liu Bei and Guan Yu, and said, "Eldest brother, second brother, you...don't you blame me?"

Liu Bei smiled and said: "No wonder, no wonder."

"What's your fault?" Guan Yu patted Zhang Fei, "Next time, just be more careful..." As he said that, Guan Yu suddenly raised his eyebrows, like a long knife raised, and swept towards the man in the distance. Another military commander, Liu Li, commanded the soldiers.

Liu Bei noticed something strange about Guan Yu and followed Guan Yu's gaze. After pondering for a moment, he waved his hand and said softly: "Second brother, there is no need to be like this... Chen... Zicheng is Zicheng, and Jingguo is Jingguo. , should not be confused..."

Guan Yu still stared at Liu Li and said: "I know that my eldest brother has a kind heart...but this person also has many contacts with Chen Thief..."

Liu Bei thought about it for a while, still shook his head, and said softly: "If it was before, it would be suspicious, but in the current situation, what can you and I do for him to plot? Second brother, don't chill people's hearts... Besides, Jingguo and Zicheng is both a military commander and naturally has many contacts, so this incident is not surprising..."

"Well..." Guan Yu nodded slowly after hearing this, and then looked away from Liu Li.

Although the reason for the failure has been found, it does not mean that we can get rid of the current predicament. Where to go next is still a question that needs detailed consideration.

The failure to conquer Xuzhou for the second time was not only the pain of Liu Bei, but also the pain of the people of Xuzhou. Since the Tao Qian era, Xuzhou has been plagued by disputes. Therefore, many Xuzhou people gradually fled. As the population declined, Xuzhou was no longer a prosperous place, but had a situation where ten houses were empty.

The most critical point is that Xuzhou is between Cao Cao, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. It is a grassroots that is swaying between the three parties. After all, it does not taste very good, and there is no stable development. As long as there is a slight sign of growth, it will immediately It will attract a lot of attention. Liu Bei has experienced this once and does not want to experience it a second time.

The soldiers on the side had cooked the wild vegetable porridge, and the faint aroma of food filled the air. Liu Bei clapped his hands, stood up, and said with a smile: "Let's go eat first! After eating... let's go to Jingzhou!"

"Jingzhou?" Guan Yu frowned.

Liu Bei smiled and said: "The Lord of Jingzhou is a clan member of the Han Dynasty, and he has the elegant name of Eight Horses. He should be happy to accept me..."

"I'm not saying that Jingzhou is not good..." Guan Yu followed him a few steps and whispered, "Brother, you know what I mean..." Guan Yu also knew that, after all, it was either Cao Cao or Yuan Shao in the north. There seems to be some space in the south, but to go and seek refuge like this would mean that Liu Bei has once again been reduced to the level of a junior brother, living at the mercy of others. Guan Yu is proud, so he is unwilling to see Liu Bei compromise.

"You naturally know what my second brother is thinking!" Liu Bei laughed loudly, with a bright smile. He pointed his hand forward like the edge of a sword and said categorically, "As long as the three of us brothers are in the same place and our hearts are in the same place, It doesn’t matter if we are in all kinds of difficulties! One day, we will eventually find a glorious avenue!"

Guan Yu stroked his long beard, narrowed his eyes slightly, and replied proudly: "In that case, let's go to Jingzhou!"

Liu Bei laughed, smiled, nodded, and walked forward.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei followed Liu Bei on the left and right, their waists straight, like swords out of their sheaths, still sharp, just like when they set off from Taoyuan.

Although he is middle-aged.

Although nothing was accomplished.

Although defeated again.

Although there is no food and clothing.

But failure is not terrible. The terrible thing is that after defeat, he could no longer stand up and lay down in the mud, turning into pus and blood.

Liu Bei's smile is still brilliant and bright, with the innocence of a child. It seems to warm people up just by looking at it. It also seems to be exactly the same as the smile before he experienced failure.

The only thing that was different from before was the two or three extra wrinkles on Liu Bei's face, hidden under his bright smile. They were as deep as scars, which would only be cut open in the dead of night. It pulled and stung, reminding Liu Bei and telling Liu Bei that he was still a loser. His childhood dreams, his brothers' promises, and his soldiers' expectations had not been realized yet.

"As long as you don't lower your head..." Liu Bei looked into the distance and said proudly, "You can still see the whole world!"