In the blink of an eye, three days later, Jiangling City is still heavily guarded.
The direct descendants of the Cai family are spread throughout the four gates, and on every street in the city, groups of patrolling soldiers pass by from time to time. The soldiers and people of this city have a vague feeling that something big is about to happen.
Outside the south gate of Jiangling, a group of people were slowly heading towards the dock.
Liu Qi was lonely, walking silently in the team, looking back at Jiangling City from time to time, sighing at the sight of the city, and reluctant to leave.
"My eldest son, there is nothing to miss. Let's get on the boat and head south as soon as possible."
Zhuge Liang, who was riding side by side, waved his feather fan slightly, but looked calm.
Liu Qi gritted his teeth and said bitterly: "My father is critically ill. I hate that Cai Mao and Kuai Yue control the state capital and don't let me see my father. It is really hateful."
Zhuge Liang said calmly: "Zhou Mu was so angry with Yan Liang that there was nothing he could do to save it. Kuai and Cai were afraid that Master Zhou Mu would make you the eldest son as his heir, so they took advantage of Zhou Mu's orders and sent you to Changsha.
Prefect."
Hearing Zhuge Liang's words, Liu Qi's face became even more filled with hatred.
"Cai Kuai and the two villains are certainly disgusting, but Yan Liang is even more detestable. If my father really angers him to death, I, Liu Qi, swear that I will personally take his head to avenge my father."
Liu Qi was so angry that he gritted his teeth and his face was full of resentment.
"It's hard for Liang to expect that Yan Liang could come up with such a vicious plan. However, Jiangling is a place of trouble and trouble right now, and it is also dangerous for the eldest son to stay there. Rather than being in a dangerous place, he might as well use the trick and go to Changsha to take up his post."
After hearing Zhuge Liang's persuasion, Liu Qi's anger softened a lot. But he said unwillingly: "Although I am out of danger by leaving, if something happens to my father, Cai Kuai will definitely forge his father's will and appoint Liu Cong as his father."
As the lord of Jingzhou, at that time, how could I be inferior to that kid?"
Zhuge Liang sneered and said disapprovingly: "After the eldest son went to Changsha, he could struggle with the soldiers of Changsha, plus Huang Zu's soldiers of Jiangxia. If Cai Kuai really dared to forge the order of Zhou Mu, the eldest son would be great.
You can just take two troops and march directly to Jiangling to take back the position of Zhou Mu."
Zhuge Liang's words made Liu Qi feel like he had a sudden enlightenment. His gloomy spirit suddenly lifted up.
Kong Ming was right. There was still an elite army of his clan brother Liu Pan leaning towards him in Changsha. In addition to Huang Zu's Jiangxia soldiers, Kuai and Cai only had tens of thousands of Jiangling soldiers and horses, so how could they be their rivals?
You used despicable methods to take away my position as state pastor, and I, Liu Qi, retaliated with tooth and used force to take back what belongs to me!
As his thoughts turned around, Liu Qi's spirit quickly cheered up, and his eyes were filled with passion.
"Brother Kong Ming is right. Without further delay, let's go to Changsha as soon as possible."
Liu Qi was in a good mood and without any hesitation, he rode towards the dock.
When the cavalry and horses hurriedly embarked on the road to Changsha, Liu Biao, the state pastor, was still lying on the cold couch, struggling painfully between life and death.
Liu Biao felt that life was rapidly flowing out of his body like ebbing water, leaving only an old body.
In the slightly opened eyes, the second son Liu Cong and his confidants Cai Mao and Kuai Yue came and went from time to time, mysteriously, as if they were brewing some plan.
Although Liu Biao was groggy, a trace of his meaning still remained.
He knew that he was going to die soon. On his deathbed, there was only one person he wanted to see most, and that was his eldest son Liu Qi.
But every time he opened his eyes, he never saw the shadow of his eldest son, and Liu Biao's heart became even more desolate and joyful.
In this way, he did not know how long he lay in a daze in the painful suffering.
One morning, when he woke up again, he suddenly felt a burning pain in his lungs. He didn't know where he got the strength, but he suddenly sat up straight and spit out a stream of blood arrows from his mouth.
"Master, wake up, Master, wake up -"
The surroundings were noisy and chaotic again. When Liu Biao woke up from his daze, he found that he was being watched by his second son and Cai Kuai, and there was no one else around him.
"My lord, Zhang Zhongjing is on the way here. Please bear with me for a moment." Cai Mao comforted him.
Liu Biao shook his head and said with difficulty: "Old... I have no time... Yi, Yidu, it is up to you to record the old... old man's will..."
Everyone's expressions changed. Kuai Yue and Cai Hao looked at each other. They knew that Liu Biao was having a flashback. He knew that he was going to die soon, so he was anxious to make a will.
Kuai Yue did not dare to hesitate, and quickly asked someone to bring paper and pen, and rolled up his sleeves to write in person.
But Liu Cong cried and said: "My father is in his prime, how can he make a will? This is too unlucky."
However, Liu Biao turned a blind eye to the second son in front of him and only stated his last words word for word intermittently:
After my death, I appointed my eldest son Liu Qi as the pastor of Jingzhou and took over the military and political power of Jingzhou. Kuai Yue, Cai Mao and Huang Zu were appointed as ministers to assist the new master.
As soon as the will came out, Cai Mao and Liu Cong were shocked.
The hand of Kuai Yue, who was writing the pen, was even more frozen, wondering whether he should continue writing.
He never expected that after working hard to support Liu Cong for so many years, at the last moment, Liu Biao would choose his eldest son Liu Qi as his successor.
At this moment, Kuai Yue felt like he was being tricked, and annoyance gradually emerged on his stiff face.
Liu Biao seemed to have lost his consciousness and could not feel the increasingly cold atmosphere around him, so he just repeated his suicide note to himself.
After dry coughing for a while, he sighed quietly: "Yidu, Degui, you two have assisted me in holding Jingxiang for more than ten years. I am grateful and trusting to you. I am leaving now. I hope you will."
I hope that we can continue to assist Qi'er through our many years of friendship."
Kuai Yue and Cai Mao felt extremely uncomfortable, and they just responded to Liu Biao's instructions with a "hmm".
"Also, Yan Liang, I have a mortal feud with him. You will definitely remove Yan Liang's head in the future to pay homage to my spirit in heaven. Remember, remember..."
As soon as he said these words, Liu Biao's body shook violently. It was as if something was blocked in his throat, and he could no longer breathe.
The old sick body straightened up a few times and then lay down on the bed with a bang.
Everyone's bodies trembled. Looking at Liu Biao who was motionless on the bed, they didn't dare to make a sound.
Cai Hao was the first to come to his senses. He stretched out two trembling fingers and tried it between Liu Biao's nose.
After a while, Cai Mao shook his head and sighed, and said in a deep voice: "My lord has gone."
silence.
"Dad, how could you just go like this? It's too late for me to honor your old man -"
Liu Cong was the first to burst into howl, threw himself on Liu Biao's body and burst into tears.
The rest of the maids and servants also knelt down. Along with Liu Cong, he burst into tears, and the whole inner room became a mess.
Cai Mao didn't shed a tear, and quickly pulled Kuai Yue out of the inner room.
"As expected, my lord was so sick that he actually made Liu Qi the Lord of Jingzhou before he died. What should we do now?" Cai Hao asked nervously.
Kuai Yue sneered, "My lord, Liu Qi is the lord of Jingzhou, who knows?"
As he spoke, Kuai Yue slowly tore into pieces the handwritten Liu Biao's testament in front of Cai Mao.
Cai Mao was stunned for a moment, and then a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. The worry on his face had disappeared.
Looking at the fragments scattered all over the ground, Cai Mao's face showed a little guilt, and he sighed: "My lord has been very kind to us. It seems a bit ungrateful for us to violate my lord's orders like this."
Kuai Yue said: "My lord has already lost his head due to illness. Maybe he didn't even know what he said at that time. Besides, even if we support the second young master as the lord of Jingzhou, we are still supporting him from the Liu family.
How can this be considered ungrateful?"
After being relieved by Kuai Yue like this, the little bit of guilt that Cai Mao had left disappeared in an instant.
In the inner room, Liu Cong was still crying loudly.
At this time, Kuai Yue and Cai Hao looked at each other, and then they walked inside with solemn expressions.
The two of them took a step forward, clasped their hands and said in unison: "I see you, Mr. Zhou Mu."
Liu Cong was stunned for a moment, his crying suddenly stopped, and he looked at the two of them in confusion.
Kuai Yue said loudly: "Since my late father-in-law has made my lord the state shepherd in his will, millions of people in Jingzhou are still waiting eagerly for the new lord to take charge of the affairs. My lord should express his condolences and pay attention to the overall situation."
Liu Cong was at a loss for a while, and then he understood what they meant. A hint of excitement quietly passed through his eyes that were red and swollen from crying.
#####
Newfield.
Ten days later, the news of Liu Biao's death finally reached here.
Immediately afterwards, there was news that Liu Cong had succeeded Jingzhou Mu. In other words, from a legal perspective, the ruler of the seven counties in Jingzhou had become that teenage boy.
Everything was as expected by Yan Liang and his counselors.
When the news came, Yan Liang immediately issued an order, ordering all the troops under his command to stand ready and wait for the opportunity to immediately send troops south.
In addition to the 5,000 troops and horses left to guard Wancheng, the 6,000 troops and horses guarding Xiangyang, and the more than 1,000 troops stationed in Xinye, Yan Liang can mobilize as many as 25,000 troops this time.
As long as Yan Liang gives an order, these elites from hundreds of battles can quickly go south and head straight to Xiakou.
In the big tent, Yan Liang stared at the map on both sides of the Yangtze River, already sketching the strategic blueprint of drinking the Yangtze River in his mind.
Footsteps sounded, and Xu You hurried in. Judging from his solemn expression, it seemed that there was some bad news.
"Mr. Ziyuan, don't tell me that old guy Liu Biao has faked his corpse again." Yan Liang sneered.
Xu You was startled, shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Of course not. The old man brought news about Jiang Xia. My lord may be a little unhappy after hearing it."
"No matter how bad the news is, I've heard it, so tell me." Yan Liang didn't take it seriously at all.
"The latest information is that Huang Zu seems to have been prepared for us, and I don't know whose advice he listened to. He actually built dozens of beacon towers at starry night along the Han River north of Xiakou. This means that,
Even if our army makes a surprise attack south, Xiakou City will get the news in a blink of an eye."
