Chapter 32: Sun Quan: “In this case, I will respond to Liu Xuande as the Marquis of Wu and attack Cao Cao together!”

Sun Quan suddenly heard the angel from Xudu announce that the court would grant him the title of Marquis of Wu, and grant him a fief of 3,000 households in Wu County, and even promised that if he could capture Jingzhou, he would be appointed as the governor of Jingzhou.

Zhang Liao will soon lead a large army to garrison Hefei.

Sun Quan immediately felt that his previous decision to join forces with Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao seemed to have been made too early.

Although Sun Quan had not yet thought about the imperial edict in detail.

Sun Quan reacted immediately and retrieved Sun Shangxiang.

Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Yu Fan, Lu Su and others looked at Zhou Yu’s quickly departing back with frowns on their faces. They were thinking about the imperial edict from Xu Du and how they, Jiangdong, should choose!
……

Zhou Yu led a team of several hundred men and pursued northwards.

Along the way, Zhou Yu was also thinking about the imperial edict from Xudu. What choice should Jiangdong make? Should it attack Hefei in the north and enter the Central Plains to compete for hegemony, or obey Cao Cao’s command and take the opportunity to attack Jingzhou.

After chasing all the way, Zhou Yu finally tracked down Xu Shu after several days.

South of the Yangtze River, Zhou Yu’s hundreds of soldiers were blocked by the surging river, but on the other side they saw Xu Shu and others had already landed.

“Mr. Yuanzhi, please stay. I have something to tell you, following the orders of my master!”

Zhou Yu immediately shouted.

On the other side of the Yangtze River, Xu Shu frowned as he watched Zhou Yu leading hundreds of troops in pursuit on the south bank.

Although he didn’t know what happened in Jiangdong, Zhou Yu suddenly led a large army to pursue them. He was afraid that he had bad intentions and was regretting it.
“Boom~”

At this moment, there was another cloud of smoke and dust in the distance on the north bank of the Yangtze River, and the earth shook.

But then they saw a heroic general in a white robe riding towards them, leading hundreds of cavalrymen.

“Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong, I am here on the orders of the Master to welcome Mr. Yuanzhi and his wife back to Wancheng!”

A heroic general in a white robe, holding a spear, shouted from afar. Who else could it be but Zhao Yun?

“Zilong is here!”

When Xu Shu saw that it was Zhao Yun leading hundreds of cavalry to pick them up, he was overjoyed.

“Zilong, why are you here!”

Hundreds of cavalrymen stopped, and Xu Shu immediately went up to them and asked.

“Mr. Yuanzhi, the young master is worried about something happening, so he specially asked Yun to lead 500 cavalrymen to wait for Mr. Yuanzhi on the north bank of the Yangtze River.”

“Now it seems that Jiangdong is going to regret it, just as you expected.”

Zhao Yun bowed to Xu Shu and at the same time looked at Zhou Yu and hundreds of other soldiers on the south bank with his eyes slightly fixed.

Xu Shu listened to Zhao Yun’s words and sighed in his heart at Liu Wu’s caution.

Xu Shu did not hesitate, and came to the shore, facing the Yangtze River and shouted to Zhou Yu:

“No matter what happens in Jiangdong, Liu and Sun are one family, and the two families should be united in facing the outside world. After all, only when the Liu and Sun families are one family can Nanyang continue to sell weapons to Jiangdong. Otherwise, my master will not cultivate an opponent.”

Xu Shu’s voice was so loud that it was heard by Zhou Yu on the south bank.

This made Zhou Yu look even uglier.

“Let’s go!” Xu Shu did not hesitate and immediately drove the carriage westward, while Zhao Yun followed behind with the cavalry.

“It’s too late, let’s go back!” Zhou Yu finally said through gritted teeth.

If Zhao Yun had not supported him, even if Xu Shu had crossed the river first, he would have ordered his soldiers to cross the river and continue the pursuit.

However, now that Zhao Yun was leading the cavalry to support them, if he went to cross the river to intercept them again, it would mean that Zhao Yun was inviting him to Wancheng for a wedding banquet.

……

Wu County, inside the county magistrate’s office.

When the news of Zhou Yu’s return came, Sun Quan immediately summoned a group of civil officials to discuss the matter.

“What! Shangxiang was not brought back?” Sun Quan’s face changed instantly when he heard that Zhou Yu did not get Sun Shangxiang back.

Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Yu Fan, Lu Su and others in the hall also looked unhappy.

“My lord, Liu Bei sent his generals with hundreds of cavalry to support us. Yu did not cross the river to pursue us.”

Zhou Yu told everyone about the situation at that time.

After a pause, Zhou Yu continued:

“Xu Shu also said that no matter what happens in Jiangdong, Liu and Sun are one family, and the two families should face the outside world together. Otherwise, they will not sell weapons to Jiangdong. They will not cultivate an opponent.”

Listening to Zhou Yu conveying Xu Shu’s words, Sun Quan’s face turned even darker.

“Let’s talk about it. What should Jiangdong do now? Cao Cao’s intention is very clear. He wants us to attack Jingzhou and also sends General Zhang Liao to guard Hefei. What should we do?”

Sun Quan took a deep breath, looked at Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Yu Fan, Lu Su and others in the hall and asked with a headache.

Sun Quan did feel a headache.

Now, no matter what I do, I don’t feel good.

Sun Shangxiang had been married to Wancheng, and the Sun and Liu families had an alliance.

Of course, this is just a marriage and it may not matter much.

They could still attack Jingzhou according to Cao Cao’s wishes.

However, in this way, they would not receive support from Wancheng’s iron-cutting weapons.

You know, 2,400 weapons in three months, plus the 2,000 weapons promised by Xu Shu, a total of 4,400 weapons, have not yet been delivered to Wancheng.

However, Liu Biao continued to obtain Wancheng iron-cutting weapons.

At that time, it might not be them who attack Jingzhou, but Liu Biao who sends troops to attack them in Jiangdong.

But what if we unite with Liu Bei to fight against Cao Cao?

Cao Cao gave him the title of Marquis of Wu, a fief of 3,000 households, and promised him the position of Governor of Jingzhou. So would he just give up like that?

What’s worse, Cao Cao sent a general to garrison Hefei, so it was not easy for Jiangdong to remove Hefei.

So, whether it is to unite with Liu Bei or fight against Cao Cao.

Or should they obey Cao Cao’s orders and launch an attack on Jingzhou? This was very confusing and troublesome for them.

Just when Sun Quan and the others were struggling with their headaches, Lu Su stood up, bowed to Sun Quan, and said solemnly:

“My Lord, I think that Jiangdong should unite with Liu Bei to attack Cao Cao!”

“Zijing, tell me why you do this?” Sun Quan was straightforward. He wanted to hear what Lu Su thought.

Lu Su met everyone’s gaze and said:
“First of all, Miss Shangxiang is married to Liu Bei. This cannot be changed. This means that the Sun and Liu families are indeed one family. The relationship between Liu Bei and the lord is better than that between Cao Cao and the lord!”

“Secondly, Cao Cao is a powerful hero in troubled times. He is the most powerful prince in the world. If he wants to defeat Liu Bei, then the next step is to wipe out the surrounding princes. Jiangdong will definitely be within his scope of conquest. On the contrary, Liu Bei has been fighting among the princes since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but he has been fighting and losing. His military ability is not as good as Cao Cao. Liu Bei is a better choice for the lord than the powerful Cao Cao.”

“Secondly, if we attack Jingzhou and become Cao Cao’s accomplice, Liu Bei will definitely not hand over Jiangdong’s iron-cutting weapons to us. Instead, Jingzhou will receive a large amount of Liu Bei’s weapons as support. At that time, Jiangdong will probably be in a difficult position and may not be able to take Jingzhou. Cao Cao will settle the score later!”

“Although these three points are not all the reasons, they are enough for you to choose Liu Bei instead of Cao Cao. As for the position of Marquis of Wu, it is bestowed by the emperor, so you should accept it. The most urgent task is to urge Wancheng to deliver weapons and open up the important town of Hefei. Only when the Jiangdong troops enter the Central Plains can we make Jiangdong rise.”

In the hall, Lu Su spoke passionately and powerfully, which made Sun Quan, Zhang Zhao and others feel as if they had suddenly been enlightened. The previous entanglement and headache disappeared instantly.

“In that case, I will respond to Liu Xuande as the Marquis of Wu, and together we will attack Cao Cao!” Sun Quan slammed the table and shouted.

“Yes!” Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, Yu Fan, Lu Su and others in the hall looked at each other and bowed in agreement.

……

Just when Jiangdong made the decision, Sun Quan responded to Liu Xuande as the Marquis of Wu, and together they attacked Cao Cao and conquered all the princes in the world.

Sun Shangxiang was also escorted all the way to Nanyang County by Xu Shu and Zhao Yun.

(End of this chapter)