At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 405: Serving the King with Loyalty, But Leaving the Group and Becoming a Nuisance

After Tian Feng returned home, he always felt a little uneasy. Even though he had finished washing up, he couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

His wife hadn't seen her husband for a long time and wanted to have some sex with him, but when she saw Tian Feng like this, she couldn't help but ask, "What's on your mind?"

Tian Feng did not hide it and said to his wife: "I have been feeling uneasy since I returned to Gongyu's residence."

Tian Feng's wife was quite virtuous. Upon hearing this, she immediately advised: "Since this is the case, why don't you go back and visit Ju Gongyu again?"

Tian Feng came to his senses, stood up and said, "I'll be back soon!"

However, after Tian Feng got dressed, he took two guards and hurried towards Ju Shou's residence, regardless of the curfew in Xiangyang City.

Unexpectedly, Tian Feng had just left the mansion and had not walked far when he was stopped by patrolling soldiers.

Because Zhou Qi is hosting a grand banquet for his ministers tonight, in order to avoid any mistakes in the process, the inspection in the city is obviously much stricter than before.

"It's curfew time now, why are you walking around the city at will?"

When Tian Feng returned home, it was almost the last minute of curfew. Although he didn't stay at home for long, he happened to hit the curfew.

"I am the Minister of the Chancellery, Tian Feng. I have an important matter to deal with. I hope you can be lenient with me!"

The officer in charge of patrolling the streets was shocked when he heard this. After checking Tian Feng's seal, he saluted and said, "It's my duty. Please forgive me, Minister Tian!"

When Tian Feng returned to Xiangyang from Jiaozhou, His Royal Highness the King of Chu personally led all the civil and military officials out of the city twenty miles to greet him, and then held a rare grand banquet to welcome him.

Putting aside the significance of the position of Shangshu Ling, the mere fact that he was so favored by the King of Chu was something that a mere patrol officer like him could not afford to offend.

However, Zhou Qi was very strict in his military discipline. Although the soldiers had good welfare and treatment, they had to perform their duties conscientiously. Therefore, even when facing a superior like Tian Feng, he did not dare to break the rules. Instead, he said with some embarrassment: "Minister Tian did not hold the night patrol document. According to the law, he is not allowed to walk around the city at will."

"If there is something important, why not wait a while and let me ask for instructions? Is that okay?"

Tian Feng was anxious, but he also knew that he couldn't break the law, so he immediately came up with a compromise and said, "My mission is of great importance and cannot be delayed. The lord ordered a curfew because he was worried that after the banquet, the city's defenses would be relaxed and some scoundrels would take advantage of the night to cause trouble."

"If you are worried, you may send a few soldiers to follow me while I go to ask for instructions from my superiors."

The lieutenant followed his advice and divided his men into two. Half of them continued to patrol at night, while he personally took a few people and followed Tian Feng to Ju Su's residence.

At the same time, a soldier went straight to Dian Wei's residence to report the matter.

However, Tian Feng brought Xiao Xiao and others to the place where Ju Shou lived. Since Ju Shou refused all servants and maids, he lived alone in the small courtyard.

Tian Feng shouted outside the door for a long time but there was no response, so he ordered the lieutenant to break down the door and then rushed directly into the house.

"Gong Yu!"

"Gong Yu!"

"Why is this so!"

"Why is it so?"

When Tian Feng entered the inner room, he saw Ju Shou kneeling on the ground facing north. He didn't care about the blood on the ground, and rushed forward in two steps, hugging Ju Shou's body with a sad face.

The lieutenant colonel was also stunned by the scene before him, but fortunately he was an elite soldier in the army and had the ability to respond to emergencies.

After the shock, he hurried forward to feel Ju Su's breath, and he could not help but turn from surprise to joy. Then he said to Tian Feng: "Minister Tian, ​​don't be sad. Although this man's breath is weak, he is not dead yet. For now, we should stop the bleeding first, and then send him to the doctor. Maybe he can still be saved!"

Tian Feng suddenly woke up.

After the lieutenant finished speaking, without waiting for Tian Feng to reply, he directly drew the sword from his waist, cut a piece of clean cloth from the bed, wrapped the wound on Ju Shou's left arm, and then pressed the wound tightly.

Soon, Zhou Qi and Dian Wei, who received the news, led their troops to the scene personally, and Hua Tuo, Zhang Zhongjing and other great doctors all gathered together.

If it had happened in the past, Ju Su would have surely died after losing so much blood.

However, with the current medical technology of the Chu State, it is already possible to simply determine whether the blood is compatible. Under Hua Tuo's personal operation, a blood transfusion was performed for Ju Su, which barely saved his life.

However, Ju Shou was still unconscious due to excessive blood loss.

outside the ward.

Zhou Qi looked at the blood letter written by Ju Shou, and could strongly feel Ju Shou's unwillingness, anger and helplessness from the words.

This was a suicide letter left for Yuan Shao, and also Ju Su's defense and self-affirmation. The letter did not contain the wisdom of pointing out the way forward, but it contained a self-affirmation of innocence like the cuckoo crying its blood.

After reading the contents of the blood letter, he held up the blood letter and looked around at the civil and military officials who had gathered after hearing the news, and sighed: "Yuan Benchu ​​should not use such a righteous man, otherwise the world would have belonged to the Yuan family long ago!"

After saying this, Zhou Qi stood up, walked to the door and looked north for a long time, then sighed: "After Ju Gongyu recovers, if he still doesn't want to stay in Xiangyang, let him return to Hebei." Upon hearing this, Lu Jun stepped forward and whispered: "He is a hero, but we are a bandit. It is precisely because of Ju Gongyu's loyalty and wisdom that we cannot let him go back to the mountains and order him to return to Hebei to continue serving Yuan Benchu."

"If you don't want to kill talented people, just leave him in Xiangyang."

Although Xu Shu was reluctant, he advised: "If Hebei loses Ju Gongyu, it will be like a building losing its foundation. Since my lord has his eyes on the world, he must not be soft-hearted!"

Zhou Qi looked up at Xu Shu, remembering the historical story of him being in Cao's camp but with his heart in Han. He could not help but sigh, "It is only a matter of time before I take Hebei. However, such a righteous man is rare in the world. I cannot bear to see him trapped here, and his heart is dead."

"I have given up, please stop trying to persuade me!"

After saying this, Zhou Qi left with a sense of melancholy.

After watching Zhou Qi leave, Zhou Yi turned to look at Jia Xu, who was stroking his beard and saying nothing, and asked, "Everyone knows the ability of Ju Gongyu. The lord wants to let the tiger go back to the mountains, why doesn't Wenhe speak out to persuade him?"

Lu Jun also said: "Although the lord is quite opinionated, it is often difficult to change his decision. However, Wenhe is highly valued by the lord. If we are willing to appeal to his emotions and reason, we may be able to convince the lord to change his mind."

Jia Xu looked at Lu Jun and said in a slightly humble tone, "Mr. Lu's words really embarrass me. My lord is wise and brave, and his mind is firm. Even the chief minister, the military advisor, and the minister cannot change his mind, let alone me."

After everyone had left, Xu Shu caught up with Jia Xu and asked, "Is there any hidden reason why Wenhe did not advise the lord?"

Jia Xu looked at Xu Shu and a bright smile appeared on his face.

Xu Shu was the best among all the counselors of the Chu State in terms of military strategy, but he was a little worse in terms of grasping people's hearts.

Of course, this is also the case when Jia Xu is hiding his incompetence.

Jia Xu came from a family of generals and had been familiar with military books since childhood. He thought to himself that if he could lead an army, he would be no less capable than Xu Shu.

In fact, Jia Xu's talent in military strategy might not be worse than Sima Yi's.

However, Jia Xu was self-aware. He knew that he was good at reading people's minds and was already very tolerant of being suspected by others. If he continued to show his talent in military strategy, he would probably be dead soon. That was why he concealed his shortcomings everywhere.

Looking at Jia Xu's brilliant smile, Xu Shu felt a chill on his back. He immediately pulled the corner of his mouth and asked, "Why is the Praetorian Guard laughing?"

Jia Xu stroked his beard and said, "Even if Ju Gongyu can return to Hebei, what's the point? Even you and I know that he is talented, so how could Yuan Benchu ​​and his subordinates not know?"

"Also, Yuan Benchu ​​seems to be a man who recruits talented people and has the spirit of Mengchang, but in fact he is narrow-minded. If he saw Ju Gongyu's blood letter, he would not feel remorseful or blame himself, but would be angry and resent Ju Gongyu for ruining his reputation."

"If Ju Gongyu returns to Hebei, not only will he not be valued, but his life may be in danger."

"If such loyal men were to die at the hands of Yuan Benchu, they would surely lose the hearts of the people. Then it would be easy for the lord to attack Zhao in the future."

Xu Shu was shocked when he heard this, and then asked in disbelief, "Could it be that the lord had this plan?"

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "My lord may not have thought of this. He may just be cherishing Ju Gongyu's talent and not wanting to force him to stay here any longer."

After hearing this, Xu Shu breathed a sigh of relief.

If this was really Zhou Qi's own plan, then the impact on Xu Shu would be extremely huge. Fortunately, this was just an unintentional act by Zhou Qi.

But when Zhou Qi returned to his mansion, he thought about the contents of the blood letter and couldn't fall asleep for a long time.

Loyalty, filial piety, righteousness, wisdom and trustworthiness.

These virtues are ingrained in the Chinese people's bones. Even though Zhou Qi cannot do these things, it does not prevent him from respecting those who can do these things from the bottom of his heart.

There is no doubt that Ju Su was loyal to Yuan Shao. Although his loyalty was a bit blind, he was still loved and respected by Zhou Qi.

It's just like Cao Cao in history, who knew that letting Guan Yu leave would leave him with a powerful enemy, but he still let the tiger go back to the mountains against all odds.

In addition to his love for Guan Yu, he was also telling his generals that he liked such loyal and righteous people, and that even though they were in different camps, Guan Yu would still be respected by him.

As the saying goes, what goes up comes down. After the generals of Cao's army learned of Cao Cao's preferences, they would naturally subconsciously want to learn Guan Yu's loyalty.

At this time, Zhou Qi didn't think so much, he just purely respected Ju Shou as a person.

He tossed and turned for a long time, still feeling a little upset, and then he stood up and picked up the blood letter from Ju Su, wrote on the back of it the words "I have served my king with all my loyalty, but now I have left the group and become a burden", and stamped it with his own personal seal.

He summoned his trusted subordinates and ordered them to pack the blood letter and send it to Yecheng overnight.

Even after the blood letter was sent away, Zhou Qi still did not go back to his room to rest, but stood alone in the garden and looked at the starry sky. After a long time, he murmured to himself: "Because of my appearance, Brother Benchu ​​has lived for several more years. This can be regarded as repaying Brother Benchu's kindness in the past."

"The world has been in chaos for too long. It's time to end it."

"After you leave, if I capture your family, I will definitely treat them well!"

(End of this chapter)