Liu Wu stayed in the shipyard for two days and then prepared to return.

While at the shipyard, Liu Wu was not idle. He appointed Gan Ning as the General of Wei Hai and selected soldiers from the navy to be responsible for the training of seafarers and naval soldiers.

On the other hand, Liu Wu ordered Huang Zu to train the navy and be ready to deal with the navy of Jiangdong at any time.

Liu Wu did not intend to go to war with Sun Quan directly, but since the naval warships had been built, the preparation of the navy had to be put on the agenda. They had to go to sea, and since they had to go to sea, there was Jiangdong in the way. Liu Wu could not delay the speed of building a navy because of Sun Quan’s Jiangdong. The Chu navy sailed on the Yangtze River, so naturally they would not take Jiangdong’s territory into consideration.

This will cause friction between the two sides.

Liu Wu was eager to be beaten.

If we don’t fight, it naturally doesn’t matter for the time being.

Of course, the Xiangyang navy still needs to be prepared for a naval battle with Jiangdong.

After giving the instructions, Liu Wu took Zhuge Liang back to Xiangyang City.

When the State of Chu was first established, everything was very complicated and naturally it could not have been done without the presence of Zhuge Liang, a man who could be both a general and a prime minister.

……

The world seemed to have calmed down, and all parties were working hard to recuperate. However, for Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao, this period of time was extremely miserable.

“Peng~”

“Peng~”

Outside Xiangyang City, in the mountains and forests, several skinny middle-aged men were tiredly sitting on a large rock to rest. Their clothes were soaked with sweat from working, sticking tightly to their backs, and their foreheads were covered with fine beads of sweat, gleaming in the afterglow of the setting sun. The axes and sickles in their hands were thrown aside casually, with some wood chips and dirt still remaining on the blades.

Their faces were full of traces of time, their skin was tanned by the sun, and there were wrinkles at the corners of their eyes and mouths. At this moment, they were chatting and talking nonsense, and then they saw Zhou Yu who was still chopping wood diligently.

“Zhou Yu, you look very refined and you must be well-educated. You come from a wealthy family, right? Why did you come to our Firewood and Charcoal Department? We have never seen anyone like you here before. You should be a young master at home.”

A middle-aged man looked at Zhou Yu, who was tired and holding his waist, and asked with a smile.

“Haha, you can be a young master, but you still come here? All right, get up and work. We won’t be off work until we load ten carts of coal today!”

A middle-aged man with a pointed chin and monkey face came over and swung the whip violently. Immediately, a crackling sound was heard in the air, causing everyone to stand up in panic and rush to chop wood and push carts. They did not dare to be lazy or slack.

“Captain, don’t worry. We will definitely get ten carts of firewood and charcoal today. It will not affect the expenses of the imperial palace and the royal palace.”

“Hmph!” The middle-aged man with a pointed chin and monkey cheeks nodded in satisfaction after hearing this.

He was none other than the captain in charge of the firewood and charcoal department of the Imperial Palace and the Chu Palace.

Captain Zhou Quan of the Firewood and Carbon Division then turned his gaze to Zhou Yu, who was chopping wood silently, and snorted coldly.

On that day, under the supervision of Captain Zhou Quan of the Firewood and Charcoal Department, a group of people transported ten carts of firewood down the mountain and sent them into the city. It was already late at night, which would have been eight o’clock in the evening in later generations. Zhou Yu then dragged his tired body back to his residence.

This was a dilapidated courtyard far away from the center of Xiangyang City. Zhou Yu could clearly feel that there were no less than twenty spies watching him from a distance.

“Ugh!”

Zhou Yu sighed. Even if he wanted to escape, he had no chance.

Can you imagine the scene where Zhou Yu was working hard to chop wood alone, while in the distance there were twenty spies guarding the mountain and watching him to death?
This is undoubtedly a huge waste of manpower!

However, Zhou Yu understood that his life and death depended entirely on the other party’s decision, and he had no say in it.

A coughing sounded, and Zhou Yu saw his wife Xiao Qiao and his mother Wang were washing clothes under the night light. His mother Wang was coughing violently.

“Mom, why are you still washing clothes so late?”

Zhou Yu hurried forward, pulled Wang away, touched Wang’s cold hand, and asked with concern.

“Yu’er, the emperor will hold a ceremony to worship his ancestors in the palace in a few days, so there are a lot of clothes to wash. Mother was slow to wash during the day, so she brought them back. Xiao Qiao is helping her, and she’s almost done!”

Even though Wang was in her forties or fifties, if you ignore the wrinkles around her eyes, she was still charming. At this moment, she smiled at Zhou Yu with comfort and indifference.

However, Zhou Yu felt even more distressed after hearing these words.

After his family was taken away by Dong Zhao that day, they were assigned to work places. Zhou Yu was assigned to the Firewood and Charcoal Department, while his mother and Xiao Qiao were assigned to the Hanyi Department.

Hanyi Suo was the place where clothes were washed for the palace ladies.

However, Zhou Yu felt quite unhappy at this moment.

The Zhou family is a large family. Looking at the whole world, it can be ranked among the top families of the Han Dynasty, and its family background is very prominent.

Zhou Yu was born into a prominent family in Shu County, Lujiang. His family had a prominent status and a wide reputation in the Jianghuai region.

His great-grandfather Zhou Rong served as Shangshu Ling, his great-great-grandfather Zhou Xing was Shangshu Lang, his great-uncle Zhou Jing and his uncle Zhou Zhong both served as Taiwei in the Han Dynasty, which was the rank of Three Dukes, and his father Zhou Yi served as Luoyang Magistrate.

His cousin Zhou Shang was a subordinate of the great warlord Yuan Shu and also served as the prefect of Danyang County.

In such a family atmosphere and favorable conditions, how could Zhou Yu have ever suffered such hardships?
His mother, Wang, was also from a prominent family in Handan. She had enjoyed wealth and splendor all her life. When had she ever experienced such hardships?
“Mother, I am an unfilial son!” Zhou Yu sighed helplessly to his mother.

“Alas, my son, there is no need to say that. I believe that you can make a comeback. I believe that day will come.” Wang hesitated slightly, but still forced a smile and said to Zhou Yu.

“Thank you for your hard work, Xiao Qiao. Yu will help you with the work!”

Zhou Yu said this to his beautiful wife Xiao Qiao, then rolled up his sleeves and went forward to help.

“Yeah.” Xiao Qiao nodded with a smile, and then the three of them started scrubbing under the night light.

“Father, you are back. Please teach Xun’er martial arts. I want to beat Liu Wei. Otherwise, Li Zhi won’t play with me.”

A childish and confused voice sounded, and a little kid of two or three years old ran out, hugged Zhou Yu’s thigh, and said.

“Liu Wei? Li Zhi? Are they Liu Wu’s children?”

Zhou Yu frowned when he heard what his son said.

Although Liu Wu punished him, his wife and mother, he did not punish his son. Instead, he allowed Da Qiao to take care of him. Zhou Yu did not resist this. Indeed, as Dong Zhao arranged jobs for his family, no one took care of his son.

Although they didn’t believe Liu Wu, they still believed in Da Qiao.

“Yes, father, that Liu Wei is too powerful. He grabbed my clothes and held me up directly. My beautiful sister, you won’t play with me!” Little Zhou Xun nodded quickly.

Zhou Yu: “…”

(End of this chapter)