Chapter 11: Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan

  In the morning, Zhuge Jun and his three daughters came to the courtyard to dance in the square.

  Today he changed to another song:

  You are my little apple

  Like the most beautiful cloud at the edge of the sky

  It's okay even if you don't understand me

  Because of you, I can read your heart

  All three girls liked this tune, the lyrics were elegant and pure, they also liked it, but singing directly about love made them blush. Fortunately, Zhu Ge was leading the dance in front, and the three of them stood in a row, so no one could see anyone else's expression, which wasn't too embarrassing.

  Ling'er just thought it was interesting, but San Ge really knows how to make things up.

  Huang Yueying was also used to him, and he often said some new words now, which she accepted.

  Huang Xiaowan felt embarrassed, her face turned red, and her heart was racing like a deer. She loved coming here, every time she returned home, she would think of coming to the Zhuge family again in just a few days. She liked Ling'er very much, but in her heart, there was always the shadow of Zhuge Jun. The image of that familiar and handsome face often appeared in her mind. This little girl was probably in love.

  In the Han Dynasty, women could get married at 15 years old according to law. If a woman was not married by 30 years old, she would be penalized with fines. Huang Xiaowen is almost 15 years old, it's normal for her to fall in love.

  Zhuge came from a later generation and thought that girls should be at least 20 years old before getting married, with no thoughts in her mind, chatting and laughing with Huang Xiaowei, looking natural and relaxed.

  After having breakfast, the four of them gathered in Huang Yueying's room and started playing a guessing game with lantern riddles. One person would ask the question and the other three would guess, taking turns. As agreed upon, those who couldn't guess correctly had to stick a paper strip on their face. The three women were all experts and naturally enjoyed this type of game.

  Xiao Huang first asked: "A little dog has a mouthful of mouths. Guess a character."

  Each of the three people wrote their answers on paper.

  The answer is "qi". Zhuge guessed it correctly, but to liven up the atmosphere, he intentionally wrote it wrong. He stuck a long strip of paper on his own face and made a comical ghost face, causing the three women to burst out laughing.

  "One person pulls a bow and lies in the grass. Guess a word."

  The answer is "Yi". He really didn't know this answer, and Ling'er also didn't guess it correctly. They each stuck a note on themselves.

  Round after round, Zhuge Jun's face was covered with paper strips, and the three beautiful women's faces were also stuck with them in a messy way. The few of them looked at each other and burst out laughing together.

  Then the three of them played a game of Chinese idiom linking.

  ……

  Finally, a few people talked about poetry. The three girls were very good at poetry, and Zhuge Jun had also learned poetry with his second brother, so he could appreciate it too.

  Huang Yueying saw the plagiarized poem from the second girl and thought it was great, so she suggested that he write another one, and the three girls looked at him expectantly.

  He suddenly had an idea and said: "Reciting poetry is nice, singing is also good, I'll sing one for you." He cleared his throat and sang:

  "Beside the bright moon, when shall we have our next meeting? I raise my cup and ask the blue sky."

  Unaware of the heavenly palace, what year is it tonight?

  I wish to ride the wind and go home, but I fear the jade halls and crystal palaces are too cold in their lofty heights.

  Dancing with the clear shadows, as if in the human world.

  Turned to Zhu Ge, leaned against the door, shining on the sleepless.

  There should be no hatred; why must things go in opposite directions?

  People have joys and sorrows, partings and reunions, the moon has its phases of darkness and light, fullness and emptiness. This is an eternal and unchangeable principle.

  "May we all be blessed with longevity and share the beauty of the moon together, though thousands of miles apart."

  This poem is one of the masterpieces of Chinese poetry, with a beautiful and profound meaning that cannot be described in words.

  Zhuge Yun used a melody they had never heard before to beautifully and gently interpret the elegant and lingering emotions of this poem.

  Zhuge had finished singing for a long time, but the house was still quiet as a mouse. Only one kind of surging emotion lingered in the hearts of the three women.

  Sunlight shines through the window and gently strokes the three faces of Lihua, who is wearing a rain-soaked dress. Zhuge Jun suddenly feels a little ashamed.

  In the afternoon, Zhuge Jun found Huang Yueying and said seriously: "Sister, I have a very important matter to discuss with you."

  Huang Yueying had never seen him so serious before. She put down the account book in her hand and looked at him, saying: "Speak."

  "He said: 'We have to go, we must leave here.'"

  Huang Yueying was shocked, the Zhuge family had been here for eleven years, and she had grown up here since childhood. (The Huang Chengyan family lived at the foot of Lianhua Peak on the north side of Gu Longzhong Mountain, also known as Huangjia Hidden House, this place name can be found on old maps) Why did they want to move away?

  The Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a novel, not history. Since it's called a romance, many stories are fictional; if one were to live according to its plot, they would be dead. However, major historical events within it did exist, such as the Battle of Red Cliffs and the existence of the three kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu, which is beyond doubt.

  In the 13th year of Jian'an (208 AD), in the seventh month of the lunar calendar, Cao Cao launched the Battle of Jingzhou. Geographically, Xinye was the first to bear the brunt. Some researchers have argued that there is no record of Zhuge Liang's fire attack on Bokou Slope and Xinye, and that it was fabricated by Luo Guanzhong. However, it is undeniable that Zhuge Liang inflicted heavy casualties on Cao's army in Xinye. Given Cao Cao's treatment of Xu Shu and Liu Cong's mother and son, it is also believable that he sent people to Longzhong to kill Zhuge Liang's family members in revenge during the eighth and ninth months of the lunar calendar.

  Even if Cao Cao did not have the intention of harming Zhuge Liang's family, Zhuge would still not dare to take this risk. Therefore, they must move away from here.

  He gave Huang Yueying a detailed analysis of the possible situation, and she also deeply agreed with her intelligence. Although she didn't know why he was certain that Cao Cao would come to attack Jingzhou this year, now she trusted Zhuge Jun very much, but unfortunately for this family business.

  She is a woman who does not settle for mediocrity and now manages the family business, living a fulfilling life. So she asked: "What about our family business?"

  "He could empathize with her feelings and said with a smile: 'Sister, don't worry, in the new place, there will be even bigger industries waiting for you to do.'"

  He stood up and refilled her tea, then poured himself a cup. After sitting back down, he continued: "I've been thinking about this for a long time, I have a plan and I'd like to hear your opinion."

  Huang Yueying gazed at him, quietly listening to what he had to say.

  He said: "Now it's May, and there are still three months left. We must make arrangements in advance. From now on, we need to prepare for the move. First, immediately select a location to build a new home, and once the new home is built, we will leave, and at the latest, we must complete the move by mid-July."

  Secondly, the soap factory here, along with the production technology, will be handed over to my uncle, and we'll only retain 50% of the shares. I've thought about it, and to make things easier, let's just have my uncle pay us a one-time technical transfer fee of 1,000 taels of gold, and then give us 500 taels of gold every month. He'll definitely agree to that. We can do the same with the tea leaves, handing them over to the two sisters. You calculate how much we should collect. The production at home will continue as usual, you can slowly discuss this with them. Don't worry about giving up these two technologies, I have new ones in store, and our wealth will keep rolling in.

  Third, do a good job in investigating and arranging the backbone personnel, see which reliable people are willing to follow us. Tomorrow I will go find Second Brother, tell him our idea. After returning, we will go select a location."

  Huang Yueying nodded in agreement with his arrangement. She then asked, "Where do you plan to set up our new home?"