Three Kingdoms

In Jiangdong, although spring has warmed Jiangnan, there is still not much temperature in many places. The rain is like lingering sadness, which makes people think of the pain of the past.

Several fast horses galloped by on the official road outside Wujun City as if they were flying.

The knight covered his mouth and nose with linen cloth, not only to resist the still cold air, but also to resist the sand and dust coming along the way. The originally hemp-yellow cloth strips had turned a bit gray and black, and were extremely dirty.

Although there are few horses in Jiangdong, they are not without horses, especially those families that have been in Jiangdong for a long time. There is still no shortage of more than ten or twenty war horses, but there are not enough numbers to form an army. But there are still some differences between the war horses. The war horses galloping towards Wujun are obviously the best among them. They are tall and have long legs, and their coats are also soft and shiny. However, now they are glued together because of the mixture of Han water and dust. , as embarrassed as you want to be.

Wujun originally did not have such a wide stone road, but in the past two years, one section has been paved, and it looks decent. The horses' hooves clicked on the stone slabs, and the pedestrians and soldiers on the roadside had already moved out of the way without any special shouting. These days, there are no traffic lights, but no one dares to rush through them. All pedestrians walk honestly on both sides.

The soldiers guarding the city gate were about to step forward to intercept, but they saw the token held high by one of the cavalry, and immediately hurriedly moved the resisting horses out of the way, allowing these cavalry to enter the city.

The leading knight sat on the horse and did not speak. He just had a sullen face. His eyes exposed above the linen cloth showed deep weariness and eagerness. When he saw the horse being moved away, he almost immediately beat the horse and continued. forward.

Entering Wujun City, there were only a few pedestrians on the bustling streets in the past. There were armored guards standing guard at a distance. Everything was quiet, except for the sound of horse hooves.

Looking further north, the original Sun Mansion, with its overlapping eaves and corners, those red walls and blue tiles, for some reason, was a little less prosperous, but a little more decadent, like... The smell of his brother.

This government office, just like the Sun family's foundation, is anxiously waiting for the final decision.

Several guards, surrounding Sun Quan who remained silent, dismounted at the gate of the government office.

There were soldiers standing outside and inside the door. When they saw Sun Quan coming, the military marquis leading the team gave an order, and all the soldiers quickly saluted Sun Quan to greet him. At this moment, the city of Wujun was completely controlled by Sun's soldiers, monitoring and controlling everyone's every move in Wujun to avoid any unforeseen problems.

Especially after Sun Quan left.

But now, after seeing Sun Quan return successfully, the military prince was obviously relieved.

However, the military prince could also see Sun Quan's unswerving expression, so he didn't say much, and just asked people to open the door of Sun Quan's house. While sending people to pass the message inside, he stepped aside and respectfully welcomed Sun Quan into the house.

Sun Quan just strode forward, and several guards followed him closely. Their boots stepped on the ground, and their armor scales jingled. The old steward of the Sun family rushed towards him, and when he saw Sun Quan Doutou, he bye.

Sun Quan tore off his outer robe that was mixed with muddy water and Han water, revealing his armor that was also covered in dust. He stopped the old steward from letting people come forward to serve him, and asked in a hoarse voice: "Where is the madam?"

The old steward said: "Still in the backyard..."

Sun Quan walked forward quickly, and when he passed through the corridor, he didn't have the patience to wait for the oncoming servants to get out of the way. He frowned and pushed away the palm blocking the way, and then moved forward. The servants who had come to change Sun Quan's clothes immediately fell to the ground, not daring to make a sound.

The Sun family's mansion originally belonged to the Xu family. The Xu family used to rely on the relationship with the Yuan family in Nanyang, just like a strong dragon across the river. Relying on the position of the prefect, the Xu family was also prosperous in Jiangdong. The business was very big, and the mansion was naturally built magnificently. , but unexpectedly a catastrophe would befall the Xu family, and then they would take advantage of the Sun family.

However, Xu may not know who betrayed him until his death...

Many of the Xu family's properties in Wu County, like this mansion, fell into the hands of the Sun family. Of course, this became clear evidence that the Sun family occupied the Xu family's foundation. Someone had talked about this issue with Sun Ce before, but Sun Ce didn't take it seriously at all...

Interestingly, Xu Gong's dragon crossing the river died in the hands of Sun Ce, and Sun Ce was assassinated by Xu Gong's retainer. Of course, Sun didn't even need to say anything about this matter, it had already spread throughout Jiangdong.

Several guards stayed outside the door of the inner courtyard. Only Sun Quan entered the inner courtyard and walked through the middle hall in a few steps. As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, Sun Quan saw Mrs. Wu standing in the courtyard, with her back on her back and her head raised. , looking at the crabapple in a corner of the courtyard. Sunlight shines in from the courtyard wall on one side, and the dividing line falls diagonally on Mrs. Wu's body, making it look half bright and half dark.

Begonia has sprouted many new shoots, seemingly full of new hope.

"Mother!" Sun Quan lowered his gaze, took two steps forward, and bowed.

Mrs. Wu did not turn around, and did not seem to hear Sun Quan's voice. She waited for a while and then asked calmly: "...have everything... been done?"

"It's all done..." Sun Quan kowtowed.

Before Sun Ce died, Sun Quan, under the instruction of Mrs. Wu, rushed out of Wu County and contacted everyone. He not only received support from Wu Bi and other members of Mrs. Wu's family, but also received support from Zhou Yu and Huang Gai. With the acquiescence of the old and new generals of the Sun family, the transition of power in the Sun family was generally completed and they rushed back to Wu County.

There are some exchanges of mutual interests, but most of them are still about holding together for warmth, because the Sun family, the Wu family, Zhou Yu, Huang Gai, and even Zhang Zhao and others actually don't want the Sun family to fall like this, and The various clans in Jiangdong also don't want the Sun family to be cornered and will completely destroy the entire Jiangdong in a hurry.

Sun Quan was not the first choice of the Jiangdong gentry.

However, with the support of Zhou Yu, Huang Gai and other generals of the Sun family, as well as the endorsement of the Wu family such as Wu Bi, and with Zhang Zhao and others intervening, the originally open wounds were sewn up, and Jiangdong seemed to be able to reopen. Fusion into a complete piece...

Of course, this comes with a price tag.

"Huh..." As she exhaled in one breath, Mrs. Wu's body trembled, her whole back was obviously hunched up, and she was a little rickety. "When it's done... let's mourn..."

In fact, not only Madam Wu, but also Sun Quan and others knew what the Jiangdong nobles did or did not do when Sun Ce was assassinated. Madam Wu even tried to persuade Sun Ce at the beginning, but Sun Ce had no choice but to Not a person willing to follow the advice of others.

Sun Ce subconsciously chose the simple and crude method. After all, he had fought all the way here, so why not fight all the way back? The world is so big, how can there be anything that a knife can't cut out? Even if a knife fails, then add a gun! If you can't kill one person, then kill a group of people!

So, when Sun Ce was about to encounter danger, even though some people knew about it first, no one warned him.

At some point, Mrs. Wu burst into tears. Although Mrs. Wu's relationship with Sun Ce was not very harmonious, they were the flesh that fell from her body after all. Especially after Sun Ce's death, all the shortcomings and unhappiness disappeared, leaving only the shining points of Sun Ce in the memories. It kept piercing Mrs. Wu's heart.

Because Sun Ce's injuries were too serious, the wounds never recovered, but in the end he was unable to survive and died. Mrs. Wu has been guarding the backyard these days, just to delay some time for Sun Quan to deal with the interpersonal relationships between the various factions, so as not to cause any big problems during the handover of power.

It was once a choice between Madam Wu and Sun Quan whether to fully develop with the Jiangdong gentry, but in the end they chose to give in temporarily. Because if you make a move, it will inevitably affect the whole body. The manpower and material resources accumulated by the Jiangdong gentry for hundreds of years cannot be completely resisted by the Sun family and the Wu family...

That's it for the Sun family. Even if the Sun family worked together, the Wu family would not agree to put the entire family in a fight to the death just for Sun Ce's death.

Reconciliation has become an inevitable choice.

The Jiangdong gentry knew this, and they also understood that the Sun family and the Wu family would eventually choose this.

However, reconciliation requires something to be paid...

Sun Quan kowtowed again and made a "dong" sound with his forehead on the bluestone: "Mother, please wait... I have to kill the murderer first, so that my brother can rest in peace..."

The murderer is of course not those assassins.

"Are you going to kill again?!" Mrs. Wu suddenly turned around. Although there were still tears on her face, her eyebrows were already raised, "Brother, you are like this, why don't you teach me a lesson! I want the Sun family to die here." Huh!" Mrs. Wu thought something had happened again, and she was exhausted mentally and physically and could no longer suppress her emotions.

Sun Quan was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "I have to kill him!"

Mrs. Wu was so angry that she laughed and said, "Who said we have to kill him? Is it that Zhou Gongjin again?"

Sun Quan was silent.

"With Zhou's wisdom, he must know who the real murderer is, but why didn't he take action!? Huh?" Mrs. Wu said angrily, "I am forcing you to do this!"

Sun Quan was silent again.

"Zhou Gongjin!" Mrs. Wu shouted angrily in a low voice. After breathing rapidly for a few times, she stopped, remained silent for a moment, and asked, "What did he say?"

"If this matter is not decided, Jiangdong will be restless..." Sun Quan replied in a low voice.

"Hmph! Ha, ha..." Mrs. Wu looked up at the sky, the tears on her face gradually dried, "Now he actually wants to be 'Ning'... Why didn't he think about it before... Ah?! Someone is so disgusted Of!"

"Zhou Gongjin asked himself to go to Baqiu to be the vassal of the Sun family forever..." Sun Quan lowered his head and said.

"Good! I don't want to see him again in this life!" Mrs. Wu lowered her head, stared at Sun Quan, and said, "...So when you see Zhou Gongjin performing the courtesy of a monarch and a minister, you ignore it? You must be aware of Zhou Gongjin's strategy. , the purpose is five! Not all of them may be for the Sun family!"

Sun Quan was stunned, frowned and said: "What is the use of five? Someone only knows four..."

Mrs. Wu snorted coldly and disdained to explain.

"Mother mother..." Sun Quan kowtowed again.

Killing the so-called murderer means closing the case, but Mrs. Wu does not want to close the case now, but wants to leave a hole until the Sun family has passed this disaster and then slowly clean it up...

However, it is obvious that the Jiangdong nobles naturally know this. Therefore, they demanded that the case be closed. Even if they handed over a few people, they were not willing to leave a clue in the hands of the Sun family.

You die, I die, everyone returns to the original point, no one owes anyone anything.

Unless Sun Quan doesn’t want to be the lord of Jiangdong...

Mrs. Wu sighed deeply: "Tell me...who do you want to kill?"

Sun Quan turned his attention to the crabapple tree in the corner of the courtyard.

"..." Mrs. Wu followed and looked over, "Flower fairy? Huh? Fairy?"

Sun Quan nodded.

Mrs. Wu shook her head and said, "No. Ge...um, could it be...Yu?"

Sun Quan nodded and said: "Yu Ji is a traitor, he cursed his brother, acted like a monster and caused chaos. His crime is unforgivable!"

Being assassinated by a few ant-like thieves, wouldn't Sun Ce's lifelong reputation on the battlefield be in vain? How could the Sun family's father and son's illustrious military exploits on the battlefield, cultivated by two generations, be tainted by a few thieves?

Because he was cursed, which caused his personal abilities to decline, he was taken advantage of by Xiao Xiao, so as not to damage Sun Ce's reputation.

Mrs. Wu narrowed her eyes and said, "Is it Zhou Gongjin's intention again?"

Sun Quan replied: "Zhang Zibu can also do it..."

"Zhang Zibu..." Mrs. Wu groaned for a moment, sighed, and said: "This... is more or less... alas... but only for a Taoist..."

"Therefore he still needs to die in Jiangdong..." Sun Quan said in passing, "I heard that the bandit Dao of Ji often came to Jiangdong, and he was very happy to live in Yutangzhuang outside the city..."

Killing Yu Ji would not quell the Sun family's anger, but handing over a leading figure from the Jiangdong gentry would more or less reflect the sincerity of the Jiangdong gentry.

Jade is Magnolia, and Tang is Begonia. There is a mountain outside the city, and some magnolias and crabapples are planted all over the mountain. When the flowers bloom, the mountain is dazzling and very beautiful, so there is a manor located in it. When Yu Ji came to Wu County, he also loved its beauty and made it convenient for him. Stay for many days.

"Is the Lu family willing?" Mrs. Wu said coldly.

Sun Quan said: "He can't help it... The Zhu family and the Gu family have no control. Only the Lu family has gathered the guests of the Xu family..."

"Lu Jicai is a humble gentleman with mellow conduct. He loves poetry and books, flowers and birds..." Mrs. Wu suddenly burst into laughter. "Those who have nothing to do with the world will not die well, but those who are thoughtful will live forever... Haha, hahaha... Very good, very good..."

Sun Quan gritted his teeth and kowtowed again: "For the record, mother, everyone in the family is also involved..."

Mrs. Wu was stunned for a moment, then she stopped smiling little by little, lowered her head, and glared at Sun Quan: "The dead of the Sun family are not worthy of mention. What do you want?!"

Sun Quan buried his head on the ground and couldn't see clearly what his face was like. He could only hear a dull voice, as if coming from the cracks of the bluestone on the ground: "If no one in the family leaks the news, how will the thief know where my brother is? "

This is a reason. But Sun Ce likes hunting, but he is not forced to do so by others. From the Sun Mansion to the mountains, not only the Sun Mansion had the opportunity to deliver news, but also the people in the city. Sun Quan's reason was not very sufficient.

However, just like before, I actually need an excuse.

Mrs. Wu walked up to Sun Quan, but did not help Sun Quan up. Instead, she lowered her eyelids and stood like that for a long, long time.

There was silence in the courtyard, except for the whimpering sound made by the wind blowing through the treetops, as if someone was sobbing quietly...

"Although Lang'er has a naughty personality, he has no desire to kill his brother!" Mrs. Wu said in a deep voice, "This is unnecessary!"

"However, he has many complaints, which are enough to make Xiao Xiaoyan..." Sun Quan still fell to the ground, "He made friends with Ji, and once asked about his fortune... If the child is exempted from his sin, how can he calm the hearts of everyone... "

"This..." Although Mrs. Wu still insisted on not giving in, her tone became more relaxed, "But this will not lead to death!"

Sun Quan raised his head, with tears on his face for some time, and emphasized again: "Mother, my child does not want this! If he is not blamed for his crime, Sun Wu will not be safe!"

Mrs. Wu let out a long sigh, and then said after a long time: "...it's not Sun Wu who is uneasy, but your heart is uneasy... Anyway, let's each take a step back, Lang'er is imprisoned in Shanyin... and will never be pardoned... Is this okay?" (Note to this chapter)

Sun Quan kowtowed silently.

"That's it..." Mrs. Wu turned around, stooped, and moved slowly step by step, from the light to the shadow.

Sun Quan stood up, stretched out his hand, and wanted to help him, but in the end he didn't. After bowing his hands again, he turned around and left the yard.

Mrs. Wu did not look back, but looked at the begonias in the courtyard and the new shoots sprouting from them. After a long time, she suddenly shouted loudly: "Come here! Cut down the begonias in the courtyard by the roots! Chisel them with axes and burn them!"