When Sun Ce heard Zhou Yu praising Mrs. Wu, he waved his hand and said: "Let's not talk about it. Today is a matter between us men!"
He knew that his mother was very virtuous, capable and knowledgeable. It could be said that women were not inferior to men. Moreover, Mrs. Wu devoted herself to raising several children. Especially after Sun Jian's death, she took on the role of the Sun family. He could
The performance is said to be perfect.
But for Sun Ce, who respected his father very much, he had a problem.
He knew the truth about his father forcing his mother to marry him.
When Sun Ce once drank with Sun Jian, Sun Jian got very drunk and proudly talked about what happened that year.
He talked about how he killed several Wu family children, which frightened the Wu family and forced Mrs. Wu to marry him.
Sun Jian said proudly: "Your father is a melon farmer. If you don't do this, how can you let a noble family like the Wu family bow to me?"
"Since then, I have understood that these nobles are all fierce and cruel things, no different from wild dogs on the roadside. Just kick them a few times and they will be honest!"
"You see, I killed Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, and Zhang Zi, the governor of Nanyang. These are all noble people. I killed them all the way. Who in the world dares to give a shit?"
"Even if people like us become successful, the nobles will not think highly of us. In this case, we will kill them until they are frightened, and kill them until they kneel down and act like dogs!"
Sun Ce was stunned and speechless. From then on, he felt as if something from his father had spread into his heart, igniting a blazing fire.
From then on, he began to imitate his father. Especially after Sun Jian's death, he intensified his behavior and killed nobles at will to gain satisfaction from it.
But every time Sun Jian saw his mother, he felt more guilty in his heart, so when Mrs. Wu advised him to stop killing, Sun Ce would reluctantly obey.
It can be said that the only person who can persuade Sun Ce is Mrs. Wu, otherwise Sun Ce would have become the second Sun Jian.
Everyone didn't know what Sun Ce was thinking. They just felt that it was rude to talk about Sun Ce's mother in person, so they hurriedly apologized.
Everyone was drinking wine in a lively manner. After three rounds of drinking, Sun Ce said drunkenly: "It is only now that we captured Tancheng, the capital of Xiapi, that we realized that Xuzhou is a good place."
"Not only is there gold and silver everywhere, but even the women are not inferior to Yangzhou."
"It is said that this time I also captured the wife and children of Liu Bei and Kong Rong. I heard that the beauty is the best choice. I rushed back to stab Liu Bei in the butt, but I didn't have time to put them into the house."
"I have ordered people to escort him to Guangling. It is estimated that he will arrive in the next few days. Then everyone will share it together!"
Zhou Yu heard this and said: "This is too bad. I'm afraid the nobles will criticize me."
Sun Ce waved his hand: "Gong Jin is pedantic, what are you afraid of!"
"If you don't want it, I'll take it all!"
Zhou Yu couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing this. In his eyes, Sun Ce was good at everything, but he was quite hostile to the gentry. The most important thing was that Zhou Yu was also a son of a gentry family, which sometimes made him quite embarrassed.
While everyone was laughing and talking, a spy rushed in and delivered an urgent report.
Sun Ce tore it open and took a look. His face changed drastically. He started to slap the case and shouted angrily: "Thief Cao is bullying me like this!"
When everyone saw the urgent report, they were all shocked. Cao Cao actually sent troops to approach Tancheng!
Originally, the two sides had agreed that after Liu Bei's defeat, each would take half of Xuzhou. Now that the war is not over, why did Cao Cao take action?
If Xiapi is lost, Sun Ce will be alone in Guangling, with Liu Bei in the north, Cao Cao in the west, and Liu Yao in the south. This is a situation where he is besieged on all sides!
Sun Ce suddenly stood up, pointed at Zhang Xun and said: "You and I will lead all the cavalry and rush back to Tancheng to expel Cao's army!"
"Gong Jin and Qiao Gong stay in Guangling to guard the city!"
Zhang Xunqiao Rui quickly agreed, but Zhou Yu hesitated and said: "Cao Jun is difficult to deal with. Do you want to ask the wife for her opinion first?"
When Sun Ce heard this, he said displeasedly: "You don't have to ask my mother about everything, I have my own ideas!"
Seeing that he could not persuade him, Zhou Yu could only watch Sun Ce mount his horse and leave.
He thought about it, Liu Yao had not yet been able to cross the river to attack, and Liu Bei in the north was completely exhausted and could not raise any troops within a year and a half. Even if Sun Ce could not defend Xiapi, it should be no problem to retreat to Guangling.
With these forces in the way, even if Liu Bei asks for help from the Yuan family, it will be a long time before he mobilizes his troops.
What's more, in Zhou Yu's opinion, the Yuan family may not take care of Liu Bei.
Maybe I'm overthinking it, the enemy can't just fall from the sky, right?
In Haixi City, Liu Bei sat and watched his subordinate officials arguing endlessly, feeling quite anxious.
He has sent people to the Yuan family to seek help, but Yuan Shao has not expressed his stance so far.
Chen Deng came up with an idea and went to Yuan Xi to find a solution. However, Liu Bei heard that Yuan Xi had adopted him and was not in Yuan's inner circle. What role could it play?
What's more, I heard that the relationship between him and Yuan Shang was very tense, and it might even be counterproductive!
He looked at the few dozen officials left, and felt even more uncomfortable when he thought that his wife had fallen into Sun Ce's hands.
Sun Ce is a lunatic. Who knows what will happen to his wife and concubines?
The only good thing was that Mrs. Gan, whom he valued most, did not get trapped in Xiapi, but escaped with her.
But his legal wife probably couldn't run away with her daughter. Thinking that several of his wives had either died young or had accidents, Liu Bei thought to himself, could he have suppressed his wife?
Forget it, in the worst case, I won't have a wife anymore, it's just fine to have a concubine.
Everyone was talking about it. Sun Qian and Jian Yong suggested going to Qingzhou to ask for help from Yuan Tan. However, the area between Qingzhou and Xuzhou was full of dense mountainous forests, and there were Zang Ba's Taishan bandits in the middle. Yuan Tan could not capture it. Even if Qingzhou sent troops, it would be difficult to reach Xuzhou.
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The Yuzhou faction was in panic. As soon as Xiapi was lost, the connection with Yuzhou was completely cut off. Moreover, news came that Chen Qun was not captured when Tancheng was conquered, but ran to Yanzhou to defect to Cao Cao!
This was a huge blow to the morale of Liu Bei's side. Everyone knew that Chen Qun did not agree to take over Xuzhou at that time, and the current facts seem to confirm his thoughts.
Chen Deng and Mi Zhu's faction are even more disgraceful. It seems that they are not as good as Chen Qun in predicting the future. In fact, they also have troubles that they cannot tell.
Who would have guessed that Zhang Fei, who was sitting in Tancheng, the safest place, would cause internal strife and lose the most important Xuzhou government office?
Chen Deng was so angry that he couldn't eat for several days. Fortunately, Hua Tuo, who had escaped with him, prescribed some medicine, and he felt relieved after taking some medicine.
Most of the day passed, and everyone still had not reached a consensus. The current dilemma was that Liu Bei was short of troops and food, and was unable to counterattack the powerful Sun Ce.
At present, the most prosperous Xiapi Guangling has been lost, and the remaining Langya Donghai has been slaughtered by Cao Cao in the past two years. It is difficult to support Liu Bei's conscription in terms of money, food, and population.
In the evening, everyone dispersed. When Mi Zhu saw that everyone had left, he walked in again. Liu Bei was quite surprised and said, "What's the matter with Zizhong?"
Mi Zhu hesitated for a moment and then said: "My lord, this is the time of life and death. Zhu is willing to marry his sister-in-law to the lord, along with two thousand slaves and tens of millions of money to help the lord."
After Liu Bei heard this, he was immediately moved.
He thought about it for a long time and said, "Now that I have killed several real wives, I really don't want to marry again."
Mi Zhu was startled, what did this mean?
In Yecheng, Guo Jia was talking to Yuan Xi at this time, but there was a rare unpleasantness between the two.
After Guo Jia came in, he asked Yuan Xi bluntly: "Young master is traveling to Youzhou. Can you bring your family with you?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi raised his head and said, "This is natural. I will take my wife away."
Guo Jia said seriously: "Shu Jia bluntly said that the young master should keep him in Yecheng."
"No!" Yuan Xi said flatly: "Mr. Fengxiao knows much better than I do about the situation in Yecheng."
"If I keep it, wouldn't I be controlled by others?"
"Xi doesn't understand, please give me some advice."
Guo Jia spoke up and said: "If you are an heir, you can have concubines. This is not a problem."
"And if my wife does not stay in Yecheng, I am afraid that the young master will be doubted by the Yuan family and has the intention to be independent."
"No matter what the young master thinks, leaving your wife in Yecheng is the most appropriate choice."
"If I really want to be blackmailed, the worst I can do is find another real wife."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said coldly: "Just like Cao Cao's family members?"
Guo Jia nodded and said: "Same."
The atmosphere between the two began to turn cold.
Yuan Xi said seductively: "Does Mr. Fengxiao have the heart to leave his wife and children here?"
Guo Jia didn't even think about it and said flatly: "That's natural. I had no intention of letting them go."
Yuan Xi was choked and speechless.
After a long while, he said with difficulty: "I can't even protect my wife, how can I stand between heaven and earth?"
"Isn't this a violation of the vows made between husband and wife when they got married?"
Guo Jia said coldly: "My dear wife, as the head wife of a prince, since she wants to get possible benefits in the future, she must pay the necessary price now."
"I believe your wife will accept it, and she should have thought of this before getting married."
Yuan Xi thought of the troubled times and feuding princes. After the death of his lord, his wife and children would often end up in a miserable state.
It is better for a woman with a noble background. After all, she has to take care of face. However, if the hatred between the two parties is deep, or the woman's status is not high, then the situation will be worrying, and she is often given as a concubine to the general.
Just like Gongsun Zan's wife Hou, if Yuan Xi hadn't saved her, it's hard to say what would have happened.
Yuan Xi thought to himself that if he died, what would happen to Zhen Mi Zhaoji and the others?
He said aloud: "Is there no other way?"
Guo Jiadao: "In the past, Emperor Gaozu kicked his wife and children off the carriage when he was fleeing for safety. Is it really because there were a few more people that the carriage could not run fast?"
"He did it for his subordinates to see!"
"The purpose is to tell the subordinates that no matter what the time, the master must absolutely ensure his own safety, instead of making his family a burden!"
"Only such a lord can reach the end, and his subordinates will follow him wholeheartedly!"
Yuan Xi was silent, he knew that every word Guo Jia said was absolutely correct and maximized benefits for a qualified lord.
But he couldn't do it.
He said aloud: "Since I have made a promise, I don't want to break my promise to her."
"If you can't even protect your own wife, how can you protect the families of the soldiers?"
"If one person cannot keep his faith, how can he make a promise to the world?"
After hearing this, Guo Jia stopped talking, bowed his head and left immediately.
Yuan Xi sat in shock, knowing that he might never become someone like Guo Jia.
But for the sake of his own personal affairs, he may make his subordinates shaken. Are they a qualified lord?