Chapter Twelve: Brothers' Heart-to-Heart Talk

  The next day, Zhuge Jun brought 20 family guards, escorting 500 stones of grain to XinYe, accompanied by Huang Yueying, Ling'er and Huang Xiaowei.

  Yesterday, at dinner time, Zhuge Jun said he wanted to go see his second brother and asked Ling'er if she had any messages for him. Ling'er hadn't seen her second brother in a long time, so she insisted on going together. Zhuge Jun said that Wan'er was at home, so why not keep her company? But unexpectedly, Huang Xiaowen also said she wanted to go out for a walk. He thought it would be nice to have someone accompany him on the way, so he agreed.

  Huang Yueying thought about it for a whole night and really wanted Zhuge Liang to come along, of course he had no objection. The whole family set out together.

  At this time, Jingzhou was still in good order under Liu Biao's governance. The next day, they arrived at Xinye without incident.

  I heard that there is a guest at home, so Zhuge Liang hurried out to greet him. Seeing his younger brother, he said with excitement: "Xiao Jun, you've arrived! Is everything okay at home?"

  Zhuge Jun smiled and said: "Second brother, look who's here?"

  Zhuge Liang looked over and saw Huang Yueying getting down from a spacious horse-drawn carriage.

  "Zhuge Liang's heart suddenly warmed up and he said: 'Yuanying, you've come.'"

  Huang Yueying's eyes were filled with tears, and if there hadn't been someone beside her, she would have burst out crying loudly.

  Zhuge Liang and Ling'er, Huang Xiaowei exchanged greetings, leading them into the mansion.

  Zhuge Liang ordered Book Boy Wang Hao to call out to them and say that he had something to ask Huang Yueying.

  Zhuge knew they were deeply in love and had something to say, so he took his second daughter to visit her brother's house.

  He saw that his second brother's house was not bad, and he also wanted to know if Liu Bei was really as described in the novel, extremely trusting of Zhuge Liang. So he asked: "Xiao Hao, is Uncle Liu good to you?"

  Wang Hao said: "The three gentlemen, Liu Xianggong is very respectful to the master, and everything is discussed with the master, and he also takes good care of him in his daily life."

  Zhuge Liang thought to himself, this Liu Bei is still okay.

  After a good while, Zhuge Liang and his wife came out with red eyes, to take them to see Liu Bei. This was necessary courtesy, on the one hand because of Zhuge Liang's identity here, and on the other hand they had also brought grain and supplies.

  Zhuge Liang's residence was very close to Liu Bei's residence and he arrived in a short while.

  Liu Bei had already known that Zhuge Liang's family was coming, and when he saw them visiting, he received them at home.

  Liu Bei first said some polite words and expressed his appreciation for their generous donation of food. He also called out two ladies to meet with them.

  Liu Bei's wife at this time was called Lady Gan, who was quite beautiful in appearance. Although she was already middle-aged, she still looked radiant and had a dignified demeanor, with the air of a noblewoman. She was the mother of Ah Dou and later became the Empress of Shu. The younger one was called Lady Mi, whose appearance was ordinary and her figure was average. In contrast to Sun Shangxiang's political marriage, she was the result of Liu Bei's economic alliance with the Mi family.

  Liu Bei had a famous saying: "Brothers are like hands and feet, wives are like clothes." It can be seen that his attitude towards women. He married Lady Gan before he had a wife at home. The Three Kingdoms did not mention it, presumably because the outcome was not good. In history, when he encountered danger, he abandoned his wife many times and escaped alone. It can be seen how tragic it is to be his woman.

  Huang Yueying was not impressed with this cold and unfeeling uncle of hers. However, for Zhuge Liang's sake, she didn't say anything.

  Zhuge thought of the deaths of Lady Mi and later Lady Sun, and felt some regret for them. Think about it, for the sake of one's own career, being able to sacrifice one's own family members at any time, how much benevolence can be spoken of?

  Back at their residence, after chatting about some family matters, the two brothers finally had time to sit down and have a private conversation.

  From Huang Yueying's letter and the previous chatter, Zhuge Liang has already understood the situation at home and is now very appreciative of his younger brother. He said: "Xiao Jun, your current performance is truly beyond expectations. Where did you learn those clever techniques? Your poetry is also so wonderful, where did you copy it from?"

  Zhuge Liang really understood his brother, and immediately asked about the root of the matter.

  Zhuge Jin's face was covered in sweat, and he repeated what he had said to Huang Yueying before, saying that the poem was also written by the same Taoist priest.

  Zhuge Liang did not ask any more questions. He just got straight to the point: "I heard from your sister that you're moving house, why?"

  He asked Zhuge Liang: "Second brother, do you think Cao Cao will come to attack Jingzhou, when will he come?"

  Zhuge Liang said: "It will definitely come. I don't know exactly when, but it will be within the next two years."

  He then asked: "When Cao's army arrives, can you defeat them?"

  Zhuge Liang confidently said: "It should be possible."

  He continued to ask: "If Cao's army comes with 200,000 men, can Xinye be kept?"

  Zhuge Liang said: "I cannot."

  He said: "You have defeated Cao's army, your reputation will surely be greatly enhanced. Will Cao Cao come to persecute your family?"

  Since war had not yet occurred, Zhuge Liang had not considered this matter. However, he knew that his brother was right. After a moment of silence, he asked: "Where do you plan to move?"

  Zhuge Qian asked Zhuge Liang: "If Cao's army comes to attack, how long will the battle for Jingzhou last?"

  Zhuge Liang said: "If you don't know, it will definitely last for a while."

  He said, "I have confidence in you and following you is no problem. However, I want to do business and must have a stable environment. Therefore, I think I'll go to Dongwu first, see my elder brother, and establish an industry there."

  "Zhuge Liang thought to himself, his current situation was quite embarrassing. First, settling down his family would be a good choice. However, regarding them going to seek refuge with his elder brother, he felt somewhat humiliated and remained silent."

  Zhuge Jian understood his idea and said, "Second brother, I'm not going there to rely on him or be taken care of by him. I want to establish my own business there. I won't bring shame to you. If you don't agree, I'll go to Hanzhong instead. Which one do you prefer?"

  Zhuge Liang thought that it wouldn't work on Cao Cao's turf, and Hanzhong wasn't good either. In the future, they would take over there, and they would be implicated. For now, going to Eastern Wu was the best choice.

  "Alright, it's settled then. I'll get back to you once things are clearer here."

  Zhuge Jin suddenly remembered the tragic death of Mi Fu's wife and said, "Since we have already decided to abandon Xinye, why don't you also make early preparations? Please ask Liu Xuande to make arrangements as soon as possible, so that he won't be held back by his family when the time comes."

  As he said this, he thought of another problem and his face suddenly changed color.