Chapter 76: Sun Quan's Ambition

  Wu County was the capital of the Eastern Wu Sun regime, which is now Suzhou City. It was built by Wu Zixu and has continued for two thousand five hundred years until today.

  On the Lingshan Mountain outside the west city of Wu County, a delicate and elegant building complex was built, covering an area of about 100 hectares. The jade pavilions and crystal kiosks are reflected in the mountains and forests, exceptionally elegant.

  This is the detached palace of Wu, Sun Quan's mother. It was originally a pavilion built by King Fuchai for Xi Shi, but it was destroyed by a great fire. However, Wu liked the scenery here, so Sun Quan rebuilt this detached palace on the original site of the pavilion and had his mother live in it.

  Not long after the New Year, Wu fell ill. Many famous doctors were invited to treat her, but none had any effect. Her condition worsened and several doctors said that the old lady would not survive past summer this year.

  Sun Quan also did not undress or unfasten his belt, day and night attending to his mother's side. As his mother's illness deepened, his mood became increasingly heavy.

  Not far from the Wu family's sickroom, a small courtyard was set aside as Sun Quan's temporary residence. This small yard of less than three mu became the gathering place for the military and political affairs of the Eastern Wu regime. Every day, attendants would come from the city to deliver various documents and military reports.

  In the study on the second floor, Sun Quan was sitting at his desk, writing quickly with his brush, occasionally stopping to think deeply.

  Sun Quan is twenty-one years old, the youngest lord among all the vassals. He has a purple beard and green eyes, with a sharp light in his eyes, a square jaw and a big mouth, with an extraordinary appearance that is different from ordinary people.

  At that time, the imperial envoy Gao Xi said, "I observe that although Sun's brothers are all talented and intelligent, they will not end well. Only the second brother, Xiaolian, has a remarkable appearance, but his body is not strong, and he has the appearance of great nobility."

  Sun Quan took over his elder brother Sun Ce's foundation the year before, with internal and external troubles. Sun Fu had ambitions to usurp the throne, while his elder brother Sun He wanted to take control of Kuaiji and establish himself independently. The governor of Lujiang, Li Shu, was openly rebelling.

  But Sun Quan comforted the interior and stabilized the exterior, suppressed rebellions, selected the virtuous and appointed the capable, pacified the mountainous regions of Yue, opened up and expanded territories. Not only had he completely grasped the great power of Jiangdong, but also his army was strong and well-provisioned, with soldiers willing to die for their cause.

  Last autumn, Cao Cao's army attacked Liu Bei in Ru'nan, and Jingzhou was shaken. Liu Biao assembled a large army of 100,000 to garrison Xiangyang, which resulted in insufficient military strength in Jiangxia, giving Sun Quan some ideas.

  At this time, Zhang Yu and Chen Sun of Jiangxia were dissatisfied with Huang Zu and wanted to rebel. They secretly sent a messenger to Jiangdong, and under the advice of Lu Su, Sun Quan decided to send troops to Pengze to observe the situation.

  If Liu Biao was unable to quell the rebellion of Zhang and Chen, he would take advantage of the situation to capture Jiangxia. If Liu Biao's main force came west, then the army in the east would also stand down.

  But Liu Biao ordered Liu Bei to lead his army westward and quickly put down the rebellion of Zhang Wu and Chen Sun, giving the Jiangdong army no opportunity.

  Just as Sun Quan was considering whether to increase troops in Peng Ze, and take down Chai Sang as a bridgehead for attacking Jiang Xia, his mother unfortunately fell ill, forcing Sun Quan to stop the war and pray for her recovery.

  At this time, footsteps came from the doorway, followed by a clear voice of a young girl, "Brother, may I come in?"

  It was the voice of his sister Shang Xiang, Sun Quan's father Sun Jian married Wu sisters as wives, the elder sister is also Sun Quan's mother, gave birth to four sons, while the younger sister only gave birth to a daughter, named Sun Ren, styled Shang Xiang.

  Although they were half-siblings, the Sun brothers were extremely fond of their only little sister, treating her as a treasure from childhood and protecting her as she grew up. She was known to the people of Eastern Wu as the Princess of Jiangdong.

  Sun Quan also loved his sister dearly and more than once told his young generals that whoever could marry her would certainly be the most outstanding husband in Jiangdong.

  However, last autumn, fourth brother Sun Kuang took Shang Xiang to follow uncle Wu Jing to Jiangxia for sightseeing, and almost got into trouble. After self-blame, Sun Quan also severely punished Sun Kuang and sister Shang Xiang, banning them from leaving their homes for two months.

  "Come in!"

  Sun Quan's tone was very gentle, and Shang Xiang's punishment period had passed, so he loved her even more, as if to make up for the lack of love in the past two months.

  A slender figure entered the room, it was Princess Sun Shangxiang of Jiangdong, who had brought back a heart-wrenching memory from a trip last autumn.

  It also brought her a severe punishment of being confined at home for two months. Even if her brother hadn't been confined, she wouldn't have taken a step out the door anyway. The several scars on her face made her feel depressed and unwilling to go out and meet people.

  She was also extremely resentful of Liu Xuan, and it wasn't until later that she found out the young officer who had kidnapped her was actually a nephew of Liu Biao. This both shocked and infuriated her, as she had promised to make him a general, unaware of how he must have been secretly laughing at her at the time.

  However, as the bloodstains on her face gradually faded and her beautiful complexion was restored, her resentment towards Liu Xuan also dissipated a little. After all, she was just a twelve-year-old girl, although somewhat precocious, but still naive and innocent at heart, unable to hold too much hatred.

  These two months, the old lady was seriously ill, and Sun Shangxiang didn't know how many times she cried. Although she wasn't her biological mother, the old lady had always doted on her since childhood. Every time she misbehaved and bullied her brother, the old lady would always take her side.

  It is said that the old lady's illness cannot be cured, and preparations for her funeral have begun. Sun Shangxiang's heart is even more sorrowful, and she cries every night.

  "Is my brother looking for me?" Sun Shangxiang asked with her head down, sounding sorrowful.

  Sun Quan held his sister's hand, feeling it was icy cold, and saw that her eyes were red like peaches from crying. He felt a pang of sympathy in his heart and forced a smile, saying: "You've been attending to Mother for the past two days, and you didn't seem to have slept last night either. You're still young and your body is weak, so be sure to get some rest. Tonight, don't stay up late again; we'll take care of Mother."

  "Brother has also been up for two nights, and still has to deal with military and government affairs during the day. You should rest more, I'm fine, if I get sleepy, I'll just take a nap, brother don't worry about me."

  Sometimes Sun Quan also worried about his sister's all-day sword dance, but this time her mother was seriously ill, and her sister showed a gentle and considerate side of the girl, he felt at ease, after all, she was a girl, and her gentle nature would never be lost.

  Sometimes he also considers finding a satisfactory husband for his sister, but as soon as he thinks about it, he realizes she's only just turned twelve years old, and suddenly feels embarrassed, it's too early! In the future, who knows who will be worthy of his sister.

  At this time, Sun Quan unexpectedly discovered that his sister's neck still had a fine blood stain, and he couldn't help but frown, "Shang Xiang, your neck..."

  At that time, Liu Jing left four blood marks on Sun Shangxiang's face and neck. Now all the others have faded away, leaving only a faint mark of blood on her neck, making her feel depressed.

  Unexpectedly, she was discovered by her brother. She was so frightened that she hurriedly covered her neck and said, "It's nothing, it will be fine in a few days."

  Sun Shangxiang was afraid of her brother, so she got angry and forbade her from going out. Although she also hated Liu Xuan in her heart, at this time she didn't want to cause more trouble, she would rather bear the anger herself than have her brother mention that matter again.

  Sun Quan's face turned gloomy, but he didn't hate Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan knew their identities as siblings and let them go, which made Sun Quan feel surprised and even a little grateful.

  He was angry with the two siblings' adventure, thinking of this matter, he wanted to blame a few words. Sun Quan also complained: "It's just a horse, if you get hurt because of this, how can I explain it to your mother?"

  Sun Shangxiang pouted, shaking her brother's arm and said: "I know, last time was an accident, I promise not to make the same mistake again, so brother don't mention this matter again."

  Sun Quan was at a loss with his sister and could only sigh: "Forget it, we'll talk about this later. Go keep Mother company for now, I have official business to attend to."

  Sun Shangxiang saw that her brother was no longer concerned about the matter, and she became happy again, slipping out like a small bird. Looking at his lovely sister's back, Sun Quan smiled and shook his head, wondering when this little treasure of a sister would truly grow up.

  Sun Quan regained his composure and asked the guard beside him, "What's going on?"

  "Report to Lord Wu, Zhou Hu Jun requests an audience!"

  Sun Quan was overjoyed, he was just thinking of sending someone to find Zhou Yu, and unexpectedly he came himself. "Quickly invite him in!"

  Before long, Zhou Yu walked in with an air of confidence. This year, he is only twenty-eight years old, tall and handsome, with a unique appearance, especially skilled in music, extremely famous in Jiangdong, so there is a saying among the people that "If the tune is wrong, Zhou Lang will fix it". Therefore, the people of Jiangdong also affectionately call him Zhou Lang.

  Sun Quan also attached great importance to Zhou Yu, and after he succeeded his brother's position, he appointed Zhou Yu as Zhong Hu Jun, along with Zhang Zhao, the chief historian, to take charge of Jiangdong's military and political affairs.

  Zhou Yu walked into the room, knelt down and paid a courtesy to Sun Quan, "Zhou Yu pays his respects to the Marquis of Wu!"

  "No need for formalities, please take a seat!"

  Zhou Yu sat down, and a guard brought tea. Sun Quan took out an imperial edict from the table and said: "A few days ago, I received an imperial edict requiring the Jiangdong Sun family to send their eldest son to Xuchang as a hostage. This matter has put me in a difficult position. If I don't obey the edict, I will be branded as a rebellious minister. If I obey the edict and send my brother to Xuchang, I'm afraid we'll be controlled by others."

  Zhou Yu sneered, "What kind of imperial edict is this? It's clearly Cao Cao's intention. Didn't he order Liu Biao to send his son as a hostage two years ago? But Liu Biao explicitly refused, and no one accused him of being a rebellious minister. Justice lies in the hearts of men, why must you follow Cao Cao's orders?"

  Sun Quan nodded, "Justice is in the hearts of men", this sentence is very well said. In fact, Sun Quan did not want to send his brother to Xuchang as a hostage either, but he was indecisive. Zhou Yu's persuasion made him make up his mind.

  "The ministers' discussion was indecisive, leaving me hesitant until now. Gong Jing's determination has made it clear what I should do."

  Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Actually, I came to discuss with Lord Wu the matter of advancing on Jiangxia. Cao Cao is focused on pacifying Hebei and has no time to look south. The Governor of Yangzhou, Liu Fu, is training troops in Huainan, but according to Gu Hui's reconnaissance, Liu Fu is only concerned with defense and has no intention of marching south. It can be seen that the main force of Cao's army is in Hebei.

  Xiahou Dun was stationed in Nanyang with 30,000 troops, threatening Jingzhou and tying down Liu Biao's main force. Jiangxia had only Huang Zu's 25,000 troops. Why not take advantage of this opportunity to capture Jiangxia?

  Sun Quan sighed, "I have thought about it, but my mother is seriously ill, I dare not take any rash action, fearing to leave a reputation for being unfilial."

  Zhou Yu lowered his voice and said, "I have asked a diviner to observe the celestial phenomena at night. Although Lady Wu is seriously ill, her main star has not shown any signs of falling, and I heard that Hua Tuo is recruiting disciples in Guangling, so I have sent someone to invite him, and he will arrive soon. Perhaps he can cure Lady Wu's illness, but the opportunity for battle is fleeting, and Lord Sun should make a decision quickly."

  Sun Quan thought for a long time, then said: "Mother's illness needs to be treated, and the opportunity for war also needs to be seized. How about this? First ask Hua Tuo to treat her, if he can stabilize Mother's condition, regardless of whether she is cured or not, we will first attack Chaisang, leaving a foothold for attacking Jiangxia. What does Gong Jian think?"

  Zhou Yu nodded and said, "Alright, that's fine. I recommend Xu Sheng as the vanguard to prepare for battle at Pengze and attack Chaisang at any time!"