The cold moon sprinkled a silver-gray light on the earth, it was already the dead of night, and the Han army's barracks were quiet, except for some patrols on duty, the rest of the people had already fallen asleep.

But in Ma Chao's tent, it was brightly lit, and Ma Chao didn't seem to be a little sleepy tonight, and the arrival of Xu Huang half an hour ago made his originally depressed mood suddenly become cheerful, and for him, this was a very unexpected receipt.

At this moment, Ma Chao's heart is already full of longing, and how to return to Liangzhou has become the most urgent thing for him to solve now.

If the Western Expedition was an introduction, then Ma Chao at that time did not seem to realize how dangerous his situation was, he simply thought that after killing Zhang Fei, he could obtain higher honors and occupy a place in the imperial court headed by Zhang Yan.

However, as things unfolded, he felt more and more as if things were not so simple.

He pacified Xishu, logically speaking, it should be rewarded for meritorious deeds, but Zhang Yan did not do anything about this matter, although on the surface it was said that after the Nanzhong rebellion was quelled, they would be rewarded together, but this statement made Ma Chao feel that Zhang Yan was perfunctory to him.

This time, he brought 100,000 troops to the west, and now, there are less than 70,000 people left in the 100,000 army, most of whom died on the battlefield, and the rest were forced to separate in two places, some of which were led by Ma Dai to stay in Chengdu, and some of them were in Nanzhong.

The most important thing is that Ma Chao has never felt like being under the fence, and he came to Nanzhong this time. was always pressed by Zhang Liao. This made him feel very uncomfortable. And Zhang Liao's subordinates are also eyeing him, but only Xu Huang has a slightly better relationship with him.

However, Ma Chao didn't trust Xu Huang very much. Although he was born in Maoling, Fufeng County, he grew up in Liangzhou with his father since he was a child, and his personality is bohemian, he likes to be unrestrained, and he has a very fatal flaw, that is, he is suspicious.

So. Ma Chao has always hoped to return to Liangzhou, to the place that belongs to him, and only in that place can he Ma Chao become a formidable tiger. In these days in Nanzhong, Ma Chao only felt like a tiger trapped in a cage, not at all comfortable, and very eager for that kind of unrestrained life, running freely on the land of Liangzhou.

"General!"

Pound's voice suddenly sounded outside the tent, and the footsteps were very hurried, without waiting for the personal soldiers to report. He had already lifted the curtain of the military tent and strode into Ma Chao's tent.

Ma Chao is immersed in his own vision. Suddenly, Pound broke in so hard, and yelled at Pound: "You have been with me for so long, why don't you understand the rules at all?" Why not report? ”

Only then did Pang De realize that he had been rude, and hurriedly leaned down, hugged his fists and said: "General, it's the subordinates who are wrong, and the subordinates are in a hurry, so I forced my way in, and I ask the general to forgive me." ”

Ma Chao wasn't very angry, after all, Pang De had followed him for so long, and he knew him very well, if it wasn't for any urgency, Pang De would definitely not have trespassed in. So, Ma Chao asked, "Why not?" At this time, are you in a hurry? ”

Pang De hurriedly said: "General, the Governor is here!" ”

"Zhang Liao?" When Ma Chao heard Pound's words, he was immediately surprised, "Why did he come suddenly?" Where is he now? ”

"It's out of the gate." Pound replied.

"It must have been Xu Huang who said in front of Zhang Liao that I was seriously ill and bedridden, so Zhang Liao came to find out!" Ma Chao immediately thought of the reason and said to Pound, "Quick! Hurry up and prepare, I definitely can't let Zhang Liao see the slightest flaw, otherwise, my plan will be abandoned. ”

"Whoa!"

At this moment, Zhang Liao, Wen Ping and others, under the leadership of Ma Chao's personal soldiers, came to the outside of the Chinese army tent where Ma Chao was located.

The group stopped, and Ma Chao's personal soldiers turned to Zhang Liao and said, "Please wait for the governor of the capital, and the little one will go in and report to the general." ”

As soon as the words fell, the curtain of Ma Chao's tent had already been lifted, and Pang De walked out of it and scolded Ma Chao's personal soldiers: "It's really blind to your dog's eyes, didn't you see that the Metropolitan Governor came in person, the Metropolitan Governor is here, do you still need to report it?" Get out of the way yet! ”

Ma Chao's personal soldiers lowered their heads and hurriedly said to Zhang Liao: "The little one has eyes and no beads, and I ask the Metropolitan Governor to forgive me!" ”

The words were left behind, and Ma Chao's personal soldiers left in disgrace.

Pang De continued the conversation, and said to Zhang Liao respectfully: "The Metropolitan Governor has come in person, and the end will be distant, and I ask the Metropolitan Governor to forgive the sins!" ”

"It's okay!" Zhang Liao said slowly, "I heard from General Xu that General Ma is seriously ill and has been bedridden, and I am busy with military affairs these days, and I have not had time to care about General Ma, so this situation will occur." Therefore, I specially brought some small gifts to visit General Ma. General Pang, General Ma's illness, is there a big problem? ”

Pound's face was heavy, his brows were furrowed, he sighed heavily, and said slowly: "To tell you the truth, since my general came to Nanzhong, he first felt a cold, and then he was unaccustomed to the water and soil, and he also took many medicines prescribed by the military doctor, not only did it not work, but it became more and more serious, and over time, it led to being bedridden now, and I pity my general......

As he spoke, Pound's voice choked, and his eyes were filled with crystal tears, and hot tears swirled in his eyes, almost wanting to burst out.

Zhang Liao Pang De was also shocked in his heart, and secretly thought: "Isn't Ma Chao really seriously ill?" ”

With a hint of suspicion, Zhang Liao said to Pang De: "General Pang, can you let me go in to see General Ma?" ”

Pang Deqiang held back his tears, wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and then dodged away and said to Zhang Liao: "Dadu Governor, please come inside." ”

Zhang Liao turned to the soldiers behind him and said, "A few of you can stay outside." ”

Pound lifted the tent's curtains, and a strong smell of herbs wafted out of it, hitting Zhang Liao's nose.

Under the leadership of Pang De, Zhang Liao stepped into the big tent and caught a glimpse of the herbs that were being tormented in the tent over a low fire, and under a dim light, Ma Chao was pale, lying motionless on the bed, and his eyes were even more dull.

Zhang Liao frowned, his heart sank slightly, and he occasionally felt bad, and glanced back at Wen Ping, who came in with him and held a gift.

Wen Ping also frowned, but he didn't want to believe that Ma Chao was really sick, and hoped that Ma Chao was pretending to be sick, so that he could continue to slander him in front of Zhang Liao, making Zhang Liao hate Ma Chao even more. Otherwise, with Wenpin's understanding of Zhang Liao, if Ma Chao is really sick, it is very likely that he will be moved by compassion, which is the last thing he wants to see.

Zhang Liao and Wen Ping glanced at each other, and what they saw in Wen Ping's eyes was suspicion and doubt.

In order to get closer to determine whether Ma Chao was pretending to be sick or not, Zhang Liao walked straight to the front of Ma Chao's sickbed, wanting to feel it up close.

Ma Chao saw Zhang Liao walking towards him, pretending to want to sit up, but he couldn't sit up, the whole process was very realistic, not like he was pretending, and said weakly: "The Metropolitan Governor is here, Ma Chao has missed the distance, and I ask the Metropolitan Governor to forgive ...... sin."

Zhang Liao hurriedly said: "General Ma, don't say that, as the governor of the capital and the commander of the three armies, I don't even know that General Ma is seriously ill and bedridden, this is my dereliction of duty." ”

"Dadu Governor, since Ma Chao came to Nanzhong, he wanted to do his part for the Han, but his body was not adapted to the climate and environment here, resulting in unsuitable water and soil, vomiting and diarrhea...... cough cough cough ......"

"General Ma, don't get excited, stop talking, continue to lie here and recuperate. As the so-called illness comes like a mountain, we are not immortals, how can we not get sick, as long as General Ma recuperates with peace of mind and does not think nonsense, I believe that General Ma's strong body will be fine. In addition, I have already asked people to visit famous doctors, as long as the doctor comes, he can treat General Ma, and at that time, General Ma will be able to live again and quell the rebellion in Nanzhong, and I am looking forward to fighting side by side with General Ma! ”

"Thank you for your concern, Ma Chao is grateful."

Zhang Liao turned around and pointed to the gift in Wen Ping's hand and said: "This is some small gift I gave to General Ma, and I ask General Ma to accept it, and when General Ma recovers, I will definitely have a drink with General Ma!" ”

"Meng Qi is also looking forward to having a drink with the Grand Duke, I hope my illness can improve as soon as possible......"

Zhang Liao and Ma Chao said some inconsequential things again, nothing more than what kind of medicine to take, take care of your body or something, the two of them usually don't talk much, they are sitting here talking at this time, and they don't have a few words, and they don't know what to say next.

During this period, Ma Chao coughed constantly, and was even weaker when he spoke, and even gasped several times when he said a word, and the performance was very realistic.

In the end, Zhang Liao felt that he really had nothing to say to Ma Chao, so he got up to say goodbye, and when he left, he deliberately pulled Ma Chao's hand and said a word of comfort, and then said goodbye.

Ma Chao saw that Zhang Liao was leaving, so he asked Pang De to send Zhang Liao, after Zhang Liao walked out of the big tent, Ma Chao who was lying on the bed breathed a sigh of relief, if it wasn't for his cautious performance just now, I was afraid that Zhang Liao would definitely see through it.

Pound kept sending Zhang Liao outside the gate, and then separated from Zhang Liao, and when he left, Zhang Liao also specially instructed Pound to take good care of Ma Chao.

After leaving Ma Chao's barracks and walking a long distance, Wen Ping finally couldn't help it, and said to Zhang Liao: "Governor, Ma Chao must be pretending to be sick!" ”

"How so?" Zhang Liao asked. (To be continued.) )

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