“Gongjin! Good news! Liu Mang has sent someone to negotiate with us!” Sun Ce rushed to Zhou Yu’s residence to tell Zhou Yu the good news.
“This is really good news!” Zhou Yu coughed and then replied happily. “As long as Liu Mang is willing to negotiate, then we will have an opportunity. What about the news from Jingzhou?” Zhou Yu asked.
“There is no news yet but it will come soon. Why can’t we just negotiate with Liu Biao directly?” Sun Ce asked. It would have been faster that way but Zhou Yu instead looked for Jingzhou’s current Military Advisor, Liu Pan. This caused the process to become slower.
Zhou Yu shook his head. “Milord. If we do that, we would expose our stratagem!” Zhou Yu could place spies in Yangzhou so he was sure that Yangzhou could also place spies in Jingzhou. It can even be said that the two largest noble families in Jingzhou, the Kuai Family and the Cai Family were Yangzhou’s spies. At that time, Jiangdong can forget about ‘negotiating’ with Yangzhou to buy time. They can only wait to be killed by Yangzhou’s Army.
This was why Zhou Yu looked for someone else. In this case, the best person to look for was Liu Pan. If Liu Pan were to agree, then Liu Biao would be persuaded as well.
“Milord. Who is Yangzhou’s envoy?” Zhou Yu asked. He needed to know who it is to form a countermeasure.
“Originally, Yangzhou’s envoy was supposed to be Zhuge Liang.” Sun Ce said to Zhou Yu.
“What!” Zhou Yu almost jumped from the shock. He had almost reopened his wounds.
“Zhuge Kongming is coming! Not good! Milord! We cannot deal with him!” Zhou Yu furrowed his brows. Both Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu were intelligent so they were naturally hostile to each other.
“Gongjin, there is no need to panic. I said originally the envoy was supposed to be Zhuge Kongming!” Sun Ce repeated himself as he smiled wryly. It would seem that Zhou Yu now feared Zhuge Liang.
“Huh? Milord, what do you mean?”
“Zhuge Liang was supposed to come but he was stopped by Liu Mang! Instead, someone we are familiar with will be coming instead.” Sun Ce explained.
“Someone we are familiar with?” Zhou Yu asked skeptically.
“Yes. This person is one of your good friends.” Sun Ce said to Zhou Yu.
“My good friend?” Zhou Yu thought for a moment and then lifted his head to look at Sun Ce. “Milord. Are you saying...?”
“Yes. That person is Lu Su Lu Zijing.” Sun Ce nodded.
“So it is Zijing!” Zhou Yu did not know how to face Lu Su. He had recommended Lu Su to Sun Ce but in the end, Lu Su was captured. Then Sun Quan was defeated and Lu Su was captured again.
Zhou Yu wanted to laugh because Lu Su was an honest person. Liu Mang must have gone mad if he made an honest person do the work of an envoy. But at the same time, Zhou Yu wanted to laugh because Lu Su was his friend. If he cheated Lu Su then Lu Su would be met with misfortune after returning to Yangzhou.
“Zijing! It is Zijing!” Suddenly there was a shout along with a group of soldiers while Lu Su was looking around.
“Protect the High official!” Yang Chen quickly took out his sword.
“Sheathe your weapons!” Lu Su ordered. “No one is allowed to take out their weapons without my orders!” Lu Su felt indignant. They were already within Jiangdong territory. If they wanted to harm him, they would not be able to escape either way.
“Marquis Wu?” Lu Su looked at the person that called out to him. This person was Sun Ce Sun Bofu.
“Haha! Zijing, it has been more than a month since we last met. You seem well!” Sun Ce laughed as he cupped his fist. Though Jiangdong was on its last legs, Sun Ce was still a Marquis and the Lord of Jiangdong. He was showing face by going out personally to greet Lu Su.
“Yangzhou’s envoy, Lu Su Lu Zijing greets Marquis Wu.” Lu Su wanted to dismount from his horse and return the greeting but Sun Ce stopped him.
“Sigh. Zijing, there is no need to be so courteous. Zijing is part of my Jiangdong but has grown his wings after being His Highness the King of Shu’s subordinate. Truly admirable!” Sun Ce praised. For some reason, Lu Su felt a hint of sourness from Sun Ce’s words.
“Since you represent His Highness the King of Shu, I am the one who should be saluting Zijing as a subject.” Sun Ce laughed.
Lu Su was shocked by Sun Ce’s words and actions. Can the prideful Little Conqueror really act like this? This must truly mean that Sun Ce had the intention to surrender.
“Come, Zijing. Let me guide your horse!” Sun Ce said as he dismounted. Yangye felt nervous from this. If it was not because Lu Su ordered all of them not to act, they may have already stepped forward to attack Sun Ce.
“This... You must not!” Lu Su panicked. Honestly speaking, Lu Su had not yet adapted to his role. It was possibly because Lu Su was too much of an honest person to take advantage of people. After all, Sun Ce was his previous lord. What would you think if your ex-boss suddenly started escorting you around?
“Why not? We are going to be co-workers soon, as His Highness’ subordinates. Zijing is currently a High official while I would only be a general of an army at most. Your position would be higher than mine. At that time, I would still need to salute you.” Sun Ce laughed.
Lu Su was one of the six High officials. These were similar to the Han Emperor’s Three Ministers. Only a Commander can compare to them. Amongst Liu Mang’s generals, the only one that can actually achieve this was Lu Bu. Others were only Commanders during war.
If Sun Ce were to move to Yangzhou, he could only become a general at most so it was true that he would need to salute Lu Su.
Though Sun Ce say this, Lu Su still felt awkward. In end, Sun Ce had to forcefully request to escort Lu Su before Lu Su gave up. Fortunately, the distance was not too far. At the same time, Lu Su felt relieved. Looking at Sun Ce’s attitude, he was certain that Sun Ce was willing to surrender. Otherwise, Sun Ce would not do such a thing even in the face of death.
Lu Su was observing Sun Ce but at the same time, Sun Ce was observing Lu Su. He was smiling on the surface but he was actually feeling angry. Many times, he thought of pulling Lu Su off his horse and cutting off Lu Su’s head. But he endured. Even Gou Jian had to maintain his resolve to take revenge.
Lu Su was not vigilant at all due to the warm reception. But while Sun Ce was misleading Lu Su, someone was watching Sun Ce’s every movement. A few servants saw Sun Ce leading Lu Su’s horse and disappeared behind the alleys. They then reappeared at every noble’s residence and gave their report.