Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 298 Zhuge Liang: I have never seen such a shameless person

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

"Sir, you are unwilling to come out and meet us. We had no choice but to use some extraordinary means. Please forgive me if I have offended you."

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

Although Qingzhu claims to be the Embroidered Robe Envoy, this organization has disappeared for a hundred years. Who knows whether it is true or not?

And the wording is also very suspicious.

Zhuge Liang asked calmly, "You claim to be here on the orders of the emperor. May I ask how the emperor knew me? And why did he let a commoner like me go to Yecheng?"

"Your Excellency, have you found the wrong person?"

He had been staying in Nanyang since he came to Jingzhou with his uncle Zhuge Xuan. After his uncle passed away, he worked in the fields.

Although he had contacts with famous scholars such as Pang Tong, Sima Hui, Pang Degong and Xu Shu, he himself was not famous.

Not only was his name known throughout Jingzhou, not many people even in Nanyang County knew him, let alone the emperor who was thousands of miles away?

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

“You didn’t find the wrong person.”

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

"We are just following orders. As for how your majesty knows you and why you want to come, you should wait until you arrive in Yecheng and then ask your majesty for advice."

"We really don't know."

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

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

"The sun is about to set. Please follow us, sir."

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

After hearing Qingzhu's words, Zhuge Liang was sure that they were looking for him, but after thinking it over again and again, he shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, I can't obey your order. Please go back."

He still didn't trust the identities of these three people, and even less did he believe the so-called summons from the emperor.

Yinzhen and Wutong couldn't help feeling very anxious when they heard this. Now that they had seen the person, but he didn't want to go with them, what should they do?

The two of them turned their gaze to Qingzhu again.

"Ugh."

Qingzhu sighed slightly, his eyes becoming darker, "Sir, you don't want to go with us to Yecheng, so we can't be violent with you."

"But if we fail to complete the task that Lord Jia personally assigned us, our fate will be either death or a fate worse than death."

"Of course, I'm not saying this to make you pity us, sir. Rather, I hope you understand that we will use extraordinary measures when necessary."

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

"Sir, you don't want them to have any accidents, right?"

Zhuge Liang was shocked when he heard this. Then he became angry and stared at Qingzhu and cursed: "I have never seen someone as shameless as you!"

Not only did he set fire to the house, but he also threatened family members. Such despicable means, could this be someone sent by the emperor?
Yinzhen and Wutong were also stunned by Qingzhu.

Because if it were them, they would only persuade the other party with kind words and would never dare to use violence or threaten the other party's family.

For some reason, they saw the shadow of Jia Xu in Qingzhu - is this the weight of the only General of the Embroidered Uniform Envoys?

As expected, he was promoted by Lord Jia!

Qingzhu ignored Zhuge Liang's gaze and said calmly, "As long as you go back with us, they will be safe."

A gentleman can be deceived.

When dealing with a man like Zhuge Liang, threatening him with his life will probably have no effect, but threatening him with the lives of his family members might work.

Seeing Qingzhu's indifferent expression, Zhuge Liang knew that if he refused, his two brothers might really meet with an unexpected disaster.

"I'll go with you."

Zhuge Liang restrained his expression and spoke calmly.

He had to go on this trip.

The boy behind him became very anxious upon hearing this, and was about to open his mouth to persuade him, but Qingzhu's cold eyes looked over at him, scaring him so much that his face turned pale.

I could only swallow back the words that were about to come out of my mouth.

Qingzhu retracted his gaze and nodded to Zhuge Liang, saying, "We have prepared the carriage, please get in, sir."

Zhuge Liang said nothing and walked out of the yard with the boy.

Before getting on the bus, he looked back at the thatched cottage where he had lived for three years, which was gradually being engulfed by fire, and could not help shaking his head.

……

Although Liu Qi was turned away on the first day of his visit, this did not discourage him from inviting Zhuge Liang back.

After resting in an inn in Longzhong County that night, he came again around noon the next day to prevent Zhuge Liang from taking another nap.

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

"Where's the thatched cottage? Where's such a big thatched cottage?"

Liu Qi looked at the ruins in front of him that were burned by the fire and rubbed his eyes in disbelief.

When he came here yesterday, there was a thatched cottage here. How come it has become a ruin now?
"Could it be... a fire?"

A terrible guess came to Liu Qi's mind, and his face suddenly changed. He hurriedly ordered his servants, "Quick, go in and see if there is a body!"

If Zhuge Liang died because of the fire, his trip would be in vain!

Upon hearing this, several servants immediately started searching in the ruins. Even Liu Qi personally participated in the search, but after searching for a while, they did not find 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 made sense, otherwise how could it be such a coincidence that the thatched cottage caught fire.

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

"Sir, come and see!"

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

The servant pointed to the ground and said, "Sir, there are traces of wheels and horseshoes on the ground. They must have been left by Zhuge Liang!"

It is now the time when the snow is melting and the ground is very muddy, so the traces of the tire tracks are very obvious at night and can be seen at a glance.

They didn't come here in a carriage, and there were no corpses in the ruins, which meant that Zhuge Liang must have left by carriage.

"Follow me!"

Liu Qi made the decision after only a brief hesitation. Regardless of whether Zhuge Liang was willing to be recruited by him or not, he would try his best.

At least you have to ask clearly in person!
After that, the group mounted their horses and, led by Liu Qi, followed the traces of the wheel tracks.

...the other side.

Qingzhu and others escorted Zhuge Liang on the journey all night and only stopped to rest after they left the territory of Nanyang County.

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

Inside the carriage, the boy asked Zhuge Liang in a low voice. His face was full of fatigue because he had not rested well the whole night.

Zhuge Liang said, "I didn't see Master Liu yesterday, but he will definitely come to visit me again today."

"Although the thatched cottage was burned, our bodies were not found inside. He would probably think that I avoided him on purpose."

"Since Master Liu had the fortitude and persistence 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 way."

"They are hurrying to avoid being caught up."

Zhuge Liang knew clearly why Qingzhu and others were in a hurry. He had previously guessed that they were Liu Qi's men, but now he was sure that they were not.

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

"They are definitely not sent by the Emperor!"

But Zhuge Liang did not respond to the boy. He looked at Qingzhu and others who were feeding water and hay to the horses outside the carriage, his eyes were very deep.

He had his fortune told last night, and the divination indicated that this trip would be extremely auspicious.

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

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

While he was thinking, Yinzhen handed him a water bag and some dry food through the car window and said, "Sir, please eat something. After that, we will continue on our journey."

"Thank you."

Zhuge Liang took it and saw the thin clothes on Yinzhen's body. He couldn't help asking, "You are wearing so little, aren't you cold?"

The weather was still a little cold when the snow melted. He felt a little cold even with the crane cloak on, but Yinzhen and the other two were wearing very thin clothes.

"It's not cold."

Yinzhen smiled, opened his collar, revealed the wool sweater underneath and said, "We are wearing sweaters underneath. This is the clothing invented by Your Majesty."

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

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

The winter in the south is not as cold as that in the north. Besides, they are martial artists, so wearing these clothes is enough to keep them warm and they don’t need to wear more clothes.

"I see."

Zhuge Liang suddenly realized. 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 clothes.

After getting this answer, Zhuge Liang became more convinced of the identities of Yinzhen and the other two. A lot can be seen from these details.

"Someone is coming, be alert!"

Qingzhu's voice suddenly rang out.

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

Because the person leading the opposite side was Liu Qi!

Liu Qi led a dozen cavalrymen to surround the carriage, then dismounted and said respectfully, "Excuse me, is Mr. Kong Ming in the carriage?"

Qingzhu and the other two were already extremely alert. Although they appeared calm on the surface, they had already made plans 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 more than a dozen of them. The only way to break the deadlock was to find an opportunity to hold Liu Qi hostage to delay time, and then have the other two take Zhuge Liang away.

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

"Mr. Liu, please go back."

Hearing this, a hint of astonishment flashed in the eyes of the three people.

Liu Qi's expression also froze.

After he realized what was happening, he suddenly felt a surge of anger in his heart, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Mr. Kong Ming, I came here on my father's orders to pay you a visit, but you didn't even want to show your face, and even burned down your thatched cottage and left. Why is it like this?"

"Isn't my sincerity enough?"

If he were to ask himself, he had already shown enough attitude and sincerity. He really didn't know what he had done to displease Zhuge Liang, and where did Zhuge Liang get such a big airs from.

Yesterday he stood outside the thatched cottage until he passed out.

In order to find Zhuge Liang today, he did not hesitate to expose his identity and ask the local garrison for help in the search, and it took a lot of effort to catch up with him.

As a result, he was asked to go back right after he arrived!
Even if he was a famous scholar like Pang Degong or Sima Hui, if he showed such sincerity, the other party would not let him go without even listening to his purpose!
"Mr. Liu, although Liang was lucky enough to be praised by Mr. Pang and Mr. Shuijing, in fact, his talent and virtue are shallow and he is not qualified to take on such a great responsibility."

"I am deeply grateful for the favor from the Jingzhou Mu. But I am sorry that I cannot serve in the Jingzhou Mu's mansion."

"So Mr. Liu, please go back."

Zhuge Liang's remarks were very appropriate, giving face to Liu Qi and Liu Bian, while also 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 did not expect that Zhuge Liang did not do so, but instead rejected Liu Qi.

But this is certainly a good thing.

Liu Qi's expression changed, and he finally sighed, cupped his hands and said, "Excuse me, sir, please go on."

After saying 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 just kidnap him by force.

But at this moment, Zhuge Liang's voice came from behind again: "Mr. Liu, before we part, I have a few words to give to you and the governor of Jingzhou, as a token of my gratitude for your 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 is safe in exile. Your coming to look for me this time will attract too much attention, so you must be careful."

These words are confusing and I don't know what they mean.

But Liu Qi was shocked after hearing this.

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

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

It was only then that Zhuge Liang lifted the curtain of the carriage and said to them with a smile: "If you have rested enough, then continue on your journey."

"The road to Yecheng is still long."

Qingzhu was stunned for a moment, then smiled knowingly.

He bowed deeply to Zhuge Liang.

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

(End of this chapter)