Mi Han

Chapter 678: Sun Quan's Counterattack at Jingkou

Chapter 678: Sun Quan's Counterattack at Jingkou

Compared to Cao Rui's hasty relocation of the capital in the midst of crisis, Sun Quan's recent life has been much more comfortable.

Although under Zhuge Liang's planning, Zhang Zhao, an important official of the Eastern Wu, and Sun Quan were almost on the verge of breaking up, the political contradictions within the Eastern Wu were secretly intensified.

But Sun Quan was confident.

Now nearly 50 years old, after decades of ups and downs in ruling, he is no longer the naive young man he was in the fifth year of Jian'an.

Sun Quan believed that with his ability to control the political situation for many years, people like Zhang Zhao would definitely not be able to accomplish anything in the end, and the internal political conflicts in Eastern Wu would also be gradually resolved by him quietly.

With such certainty, it is understandable that Sun Quan, who had fulfilled his lifelong dream of ascending the throne, felt quite comfortable.

What made Sun Quan feel even more comfortable was that something was delivered to him in Jianye City on the day when February was about to begin.

Looking at the letter in his hand that contained conclusive intelligence, Sun Quan was surprised, but many strange emotions suddenly emerged in his heart.

Liu Bei is dead?

Liu Bei finally died!

Such a thing could greatly boost the morale of the people of Dongwu, and there was really no need for Yi, who was in charge of Dongwu's intelligence, to conceal it.

Therefore, when this shocking news just reached Jianye, the news of Liu Bei's death spread throughout the entire Jianye City in an instant under Shi Yi's operation.

What Yi had expected was correct. When the ministers and celebrities in Jianye City learned of the news, they all ran around to tell each other and celebrated.

However, Shi Yi was not satisfied with this phenomenon. What he really wanted to see was Sun Quan's ecstasy.

But it was obvious that Sun Quan's reaction made Shi Yi a little disappointed.

Although Sun Quan's face showed joy at the moment, it seemed a little restrained, far from the ecstasy he expected.

Shi Yi expressed deep confusion about Sun Quan's reaction. According to common sense, Sun Quan's reaction should not be like this.

Yi, like Zhang Zhao, was an important official in Huaibei. Seeing that he could not figure out Sun Quan's thoughts for a while, he could only lower his head in panic.

Sun Quan, who was sitting on the throne, clearly caught Shi Yi's reaction. Sun Quan could easily see what Shi Yi was worried about, but he did not speak to comfort Shi Yi immediately.

Sun Quan's silence did not last long. Suddenly, Sun Quan's voice rang out clearly in the hall: "Zi Yu, come with me for a walk."

"Bring King Jin with you."

Previously, under Zhang Zhao's fierce resistance, Sun Quan did not insist on appointing Sun Lu as the crown prince in order to stabilize the situation in Eastern Wu. However, in order to reflect the special status of Sun Lu in his heart, Sun Quan still bestowed on Sun Lu the noble title of King of Jin.

Shi Yi didn't know why Sun Quan suddenly had this idea, but facing Sun Quan's request, Shi Yi did not dare to have any objection.

After bowing slightly, Shi Yi walked out. Soon after, after arranging everything, Shi Yi entered the hall again and welcomed Sun Quan to the carriage outside the palace.

Because it was clear that Sun Quan did not want to alarm too many people when he went out this time, Shi Yi only arranged a team of elite armored guards to follow him.

Escorted by elite guards, the magnificent chariot, after welcoming its master, slowly headed out of Jianye City.

At first, Sun Quan did not tell Shi Yi where the destination of his trip was, but soon after Sun Quan's personal instructions, Shi Yi knew where Sun Quan's destination was - it was Jingkou, adjacent to Jianye City.

Jingkou is an important town along the Yangtze River. Due to its special geographical location, Sun Quan deployed heavy troops here at that time. The main purpose was to let Jingkou play the role of protecting Jianye.

As a close minister of Sun Quan, Shi Yi certainly knew the strategic importance of Jingkou to Eastern Wu, but Shi Yi did not know why Sun Quan suddenly wanted to tour Jingkou today.

Could it be that Sun Quan felt that after Liu Bei's death, Mi Yang would hold power and would launch a war to annihilate the Eastern Wu, so he wanted to inspect the border defense of Jingkou to reassure himself?

Perhaps this idea underestimates Sun Quan, but based on Sun Quan's previous performance towards Mi Yang, Shi Yi has to think in this direction.

While thinking about this, Shi Yi led the convoy to the outskirts of Jingkou. Although Jingkou was nominally a city, it was actually more like a large military camp.

After realizing that they had arrived at Jingkou, Sun Quan signaled the convoy to stop. When the carriage came to a complete stop, Sun Quan slowly got off the carriage holding Sun Lu.

Originally, Shi Yi thought that Sun Quan would be heading towards the Jingkou camp, but what made Shi Yi even more puzzled was that Sun Quan and Sun Lu were heading towards a high slope outside the Jingkou camp.

Shi Yi overlooked one point. Jingkou was not only an important military town of Eastern Wu, but also had another meaning in Sun Quan's heart.

In the 14th year of Jian'an, taking advantage of the sweet period of the victory at Chibi, Liu Bei accepted the invitation of Sun Quan and came from Jingzhou to Jiangdong to meet Sun Quan.

And that time, the place where these two heroes met was just outside the city of Jingkou.

With every step forward towards the top of the slope, the inexplicable emotions in Sun Quan's heart would grow more intense.

Ask yourself, doesn’t Sun Quan want Liu Bei to die?

This is naturally impossible.

The death of Liu Bei meant that Sun Quan would have one less powerful enemy in the future. No matter how you look at it, this was news that made Sun Quan thank God.

But beneath the joy of letting things take their own course, Sun Quan's heart was still filled with sighs and melancholy from time to time.

For many years, he and Liu Bei were relatives and allies, and finally became mortal enemies. Such a relationship is more complicated than ordinary people can imagine.

Under this complicated relationship, Sun Quan was full of fear and hatred towards Liu Bei.

Although he didn't want to say it out loud, Sun Quan himself knew that he had admiration for Liu Bei in his heart, or rather, it was the kind of mutual respect between a friend and an enemy?

After standing on a huge rock on a high slope, Sun Quan looked at the sword marks on the rock, and his thoughts couldn't help but go back to that day.

It was a sunny day, and Liu Bei and Sun Quan did not have so many white hairs on their heads. In addition, due to the excitement brought by the great victory in Chibi, Sun Quan and Liu Bei looked particularly excited.

At that moment, Liu Bei and Sun Quan drank and talked happily with each other, discussed a marriage alliance, and hoped to work together to save this chaotic world.

Maybe the two of them were not as powerful as they are now, but with their ambitions at that time, they both felt that their dreams were likely to come true.

When their emotions were excited, Liu Bei and Sun Quan drew out their swords together, leaving their sharp edges on the huge rock in front of them.

Sun Quan also had the spirit of a hero.

But as the situation developed, somehow, the rift between Liu Bei and Sun Quan inevitably grew from nothing to something, and eventually became irreparable.

Times have changed, things and people have changed. Today, standing in front of this huge rock covered with sword marks again, Sun Quan couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Sun Quan lamented the death of Liu Bei, but wasn't he also lamenting his own departure, the one who dared to draw his sword and ask the sky?

In fact, for many years, Sun Quan has always had a feeling of jealousy towards Liu Bei.

Sun Quan was jealous of Liu Bei. Why was he able to stick to his original intention and create such a huge foundation without being contaminated by the secular world?

"Xuan De, are you really right?"

Thinking of the past, Sun Quan couldn't help but mutter to himself, and at this time Sun Quan used a respectful title for Liu Bei.

But after muttering to himself, Sun Quan struggled again and went with the flow. Could he blame himself entirely for this?

Complex emotions surged more and more intensely in Sun Quan's heart, and as an urgent report from a flying cavalry came from afar, Sun Quan's complex emotions were added with a touch of sadness.

"Your Majesty, when Madam Liu heard the news of Liu Bei's death, she was so angry that she threw herself into the river!"

The messenger knelt down in fear and reported this shocking news to Sun Quan.

Before Sun Quan could react after hearing the news, Yi and Sun Lu's faces changed drastically.

There was only one person in the Eastern Wu who was called Madam Liu, and that person was Sun Shangxiang, Liu Bei's younger sister who was married to him by Sun Quan in his early years.

As Sun Quan's biological sister, Sun Shangxiang's status in the Eastern Wu is self-evident. Moreover, when she married Liu Bei, she had a strong political intention. If Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei had not stopped her, Sun Shangxiang could have brought Liu Chan, the lifeline of Liu Bei, back to Jiangdong.

Because of this, Shi Yi and Sun Lu could not hide the shock on their faces when they first heard the news.

Compared to Sun Lu's sadness after being surprised, Shi Yi's heart was filled with fear.

If we really want to talk about it, Sun Shangxiang's jumping into the river today seems to be closely related to him.

Just when Shi Yi was fearful and Sun Lu was sad, Sun Quan had just recovered from this sudden bad news.

Back then, he did not hesitate to disobey his mother and decided to marry Sun Shangxiang to Liu Bei. On the surface, it was for the purpose of concluding an alliance, but his inner intention could not be concealed from others.

When Sun Quan heard the news that Sun Shangxiang jumped into the river to follow Liu Bei, his first reaction was, if he had not done this back then, would his own sister have ended up like this today?

The answer is self-evident.

Her brother was ambitious, and her husband was also ambitious. Such a marriage doomed Sun Shangxiang to a tragic ending from the very beginning.

Perhaps it was because he thought of the brother-sister love in his childhood, coupled with his grief for Liu Bei just now, that Sun Quan, who had not shed tears for a long time, actually had some tears in his eyes.

But the current situation is such that we can’t blame him!

The sadness and lament on Sun Quan's face did not seem fake. After all, humans are not plants or trees, so who can be heartless?

Whether it was his sympathy for Liu Bei or his reluctance to part with Sun Shangxiang, Sun Quan did not need to pretend in front of Sun Lu and Shi Yi.

This is the gentle side of Sun Quan, but Sun Quan is Sun Quan after all.

Sun Quan signaled Sun Lu to bow towards the direction of the Yangtze River and the huge rock to express his condolences to Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang.

And just as Sun Lu obediently followed Sun Quan's instructions and completed this act of remembrance, before the tears in his eyes could accumulate into tears, Sun Quan reached out and wiped away the rare tenderness in his eyes.

Since you left first, I won't be polite next time.

The nostalgic look on his face disappeared in an instant, and was replaced by a look of determination and coldness on Sun Quan's face.

"Ziyu!"

Sun Quan's gentle call almost frightened General Yi to his knees.

"My lord, my lord is here!"

After receiving Shi Yi's response, Sun Quan immediately gave the order: "Order the navy to salvage Madam Liu's body, fix her makeup, preserve her body with the best medicinal herbs and put it in the coffin."

"Once all this is sorted out, issue an imperial decree to have Zhang Wen take Madam Liu's body and go to Chang'an!"

Sun Quan's speech was not fast, and Shi Yi was able to hear every word he said. However, after understanding what Sun Quan meant, Shi Yi's fear instantly increased a little bit - Your Majesty, you are so cruel!

In Sun Quan's words, he did not feel the slightest bit of sympathy for Sun Shangxiang who had just committed suicide by jumping into the river, and even called her the cold Madam Liu.

If it were just that, it would be fine, but the most important thing is that Sun Quan's disposal of Sun Shangxiang's body is truly shocking.

As we all know, after Sun Quan failed in his attempt to use Sun Shangxiang to seize Liu Chan, Sun Shangxiang lost Liu Bei's trust and could never return to Liu Bei.

After Liu Bei captured Yizhou, he married Wu as his principal wife and directly announced to the world that Sun Shangxiang would have nothing to do with him anymore.

In this case, generally speaking according to legal principles, Chang'an had every reason not to accept Sun Shangxiang's body.

However, Sun Shangxiang's death was due to her grief over Liu Bei's death, so she jumped into the river to follow Liu Bei. In this way, no matter how you look at it, Sun Shangxiang's death embodies the words "chastity and righteousness".

With these two words, it is no longer impossible for Chang'an to accept Sun Shangxiang's body.

The reason why Sun Quan wanted to return Sun Shangxiang's body to Chang'an was certainly not to fulfill Sun Shangxiang's "chastity and righteousness". He wanted to use these "two words" to occupy the moral high ground and criticize the world for Liu Bei's act of "abandoning" his wife during his lifetime.

To put it bluntly, Sun Quan used Sun Shangxiang's death to inflict a blow on the Han Dynasty, which had gradually gained a reputation for righteousness in recent times.

Sun Quan also wanted to use this incident to announce to the world that if Chang'an accepted Sun Shangxiang's body, it would mean that Chang'an recognized Sun Shangxiang's identity as Liu Bei's wife.

Once Chang'an acknowledges this, then naturally, Liu Chan's identity as his nephew will be reestablished.

Once this impression is re-established in people's minds, in an era where human relations are put first, it will no longer be so tenable for the Chang'an court headed by Liu Chan to use the name of righteousness to criticize or even attack Dongwu.

Sun Quan's method was disgusting, but predictably effective, because it was a blatant conspiracy and an excellent reflection of Sun Quan's extraordinary political talent.

As a court official of Eastern Wu, Shi Yi should be happy for Sun Quan's intelligence. However, when she thought that Sun Shangxiang would not have peace even after death and would become a tool used by her brother, Shi Yi's heart was filled with sadness.

But Sun Quan didn't care what Shi Yi thought, and the purpose of his action was not that simple.

Thinking of the intelligence he had just read about the team of people Liu Bei had arranged to take care of his son, Sun Quan couldn't help but smile.

Sun Quan happily picked up Sun Lu and warned him, "As a king, you must be careful about one thing.

That is, don’t trust the minister too much.”

Is Liu Bei’s entrusted team luxurious?

Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, Mi Yang, such a team is definitely luxurious, but in Sun Quan's view, Liu Bei made two serious mistakes.

One was that he trusted his ministers too much, leaving Liu Chan with no power at all.

Second, the will did not clearly state who was the chief among the three great ministers.

Wouldn’t such a mistake be fatal?

Human hearts are complicated, but sometimes they are also simple, so simple that they will do anything to achieve the supreme position.

Looking at the sword marks on the huge rock in front of him, which symbolized the support for the Han Dynasty, and then gazing at the twelve bundles of imperial pearl crowns swaying in front of him, Sun Quan believed this without a doubt by judging others by himself.

There will only be one Liu Bei in the world.

And after Liu Bei's death, what he had to do was to infinitely magnify the mistakes Liu Bei made before his death!

　One chapter today, 2 chapters tomorrow.

　　I hope today's chapter can bring you a familiar taste~

(End of this chapter)