Chapter 479

Sun Qian was overjoyed at the unexpected good news. He initially held hatred for Wei Yan for trying to kill him after promising to let him go. More importantly, he had done as asked and helped Liu Mang forced Mi Zhu to a dead end. He had helped the envoy reach Mi Zhu’s residence. He even got the permission to kill Mi Zhu once Mi Zhu reached his residence.

However, Liu Mang had Mi Zhu saved and then tried to kill Sun Qian. This was like abandoning one’s benefactor after achieving one’s goal. Then Sun Qian thought to himself. Was this truly the case? Did Liu Mang want to silence him?

Now, Sun Qian felt gratitude towards Wei Yan. With just one stab, Wei Yan managed to make Liu Bei value him once again after so many years.

The last time Sun Qian had been so appreciated by Liu Bei was when he was introduced to Liu Bei by Zheng Xuan. Liu Bei then told Sun Qian about his grand ambition. At that time, one was ambitious and wanted talented people by his side. The other had talent but did not have the chance to show it. As a result, both of them got along well with each other.

The two drank and chatted merrily. Sun Qian stayed in Liu Bei’s residence and was even given his own room. They were almost lovers. Then Pang Tong came and destroyed everything. Sun Qian’s room was given to Pang Tong and Liu Bei was also fooled into sacrificing Sun Qian.

That was why Sun Qian and Pang Tong had nothing to discuss with each other. At the end of the day, one of them will have to die.

Now that Sun Qian had once again receive this kind of good treatment, he felt moved. He hoped Wei Yan was around to stab him a few more times so that he would be valued even more by Liu Bei. Even if he were to die, it would be worth it.

“Left General. Master Sun Qian’s wounds have been bandaged but he still needs rest.” The doctor said.

“Yes. Yes.” Liu Bei nodded vigorously. Sun Qian had lost a lot of blood so it was reasonable that he needs rest. “Gongyou, take a good rest. I will visit you again tomorrow.”

“Milord!” Sun Qian was reluctant to part with Liu Bei. He silently complained to the doctor for ruining their emotional moment. Although Sun Qian urged Liu Bei to stay, Liu Bei was adamant in making sure that Sun Qian recuperated and left.

Few days later, Jian Yong met up with Liu Bei at the governor’s residence.

“Milord!” Jian Yong greeted as he stood at one side. Now, he no longer dared to call Liu Bei by his courtesy name even when they were no alone.

“Jian Yong, how is it going? Are the black clothed individuals sent by that False King Liu Mang?” Liu Bei inquired as he entered the hall.

“Milord!” Jian Yong shook his head silently in reply.

“Hm?” Liu Bei frowned when he saw Jian Yong’s expression. “Who else could have sent them? Is it that Traitor Cao? Or perhaps it is Gatekeeper Liu?” Liu Bei asked. These two were the only other people that could have made use of Mi Zhu.

Cao Cao would want Mi Zhu because when Cao Cao captured Hebei, he would also have a lot of spoils of war. A merchant like Mi Zhu would be able to help him sort it out. On the other hand, Jingzhou was developed in commerce. Someone like Mi Zhu would be like a guest of honor. They would want Mi Zhu to help them earn more money.

“Milord, it is not Traitor Cao and Liu Biao.” Jian Yong smiled bitterly. How could he interrogate someone he had not found?

“What?” Liu Bei became angry. “Why have you not found them yet? Of course they are still in the city! They can’t possibly have flown away with magic powers!”

“If you can’t find them at the outer city, search the inner city as well! Search everywhere for that traitor Mi Zhu! Otherwise I would not be able to explain this to Gongyou and the other generals!” Liu Bei shouted. Jian Yong had already dispatched his men to find Mi Zhu ever since he heard about the assailants. Report said that the guards at the inner city saw someone with Mi Zhu’s token. As Mi Zhu’s current status as a traitor had yet to be made public, that token was still useful.

However, Jian Yong was not able to find Mi Zhu even after searching the entire place.

“Have you searched the inner city?” Liu Bei asked. Jian Yong then explained that he had searched everywhere except for two places. The first was Liu Bei’s governor residence and the other was Sun Qian’s residence.

“Useless! Useless! I spent thousands of gold every year for this group! Yet the enemy was able to sneak into the city and ambush major figures of my government! Jian Yong! Why do we still need these useless people! We might as well disband them!” Liu Bei shouted angrily. It had already been a few days and they were still unable to find any clues. If they were still unable to find anything, Liu Bei’s subordinates would begin to lose faith in him. Dying on the battlefield was one thing but how could they serve effectively if they could easily be assassinated from within the safety of their city?

“Milord! Quell your anger!” Jian Yong quickly knelt down.

“Then you tell me what we should do now!” Liu Bei demanded an explanation. If he had no explanation, he could not pacify his men.

Jian Yong then gritted his teeth and asked. “Milord. Do you not think that Sun Qian’s injury was too coincidental?”

“Coincidental?” Liu Bei froze.

“That’s right. He immediately found Liu Mang’s messenger when he arrived at Mi Zhu’s residence. He got attacked immediately after escorting Mi Zhu out. His injury was also ultimately a flesh wound even though it initially looked serious! All of this is too coincidental. Milord, do you not think of this as strange?”

“Jian Yong, what are you saying?”

“This Jian Yong requests to investigate Sun Qian’s residence and interrogate Sun Qian!” Jian Yong requested. He was in charge of Liu Bei’s intelligence division. Although he had no personal interest in Sun Qian, he had information about visitors appearing at Sun Qian’s residence several days ago. This coupled with those coincidences made Sun Qian suspicious.

Liu Bei stayed silent for a long time. Just as soon as Jian Yong thought that Liu Bei agreed with him, Liu Bei suddenly laughed. At this point, Jian Yong’s heart sank.

Sure enough, Liu Bei glared at Jian Yong and shouted, “Jian Yong Jian Xianhe! Are you trying to say that Sun Qian is a spy sent by the enemy? Do you think I am so blind that I can’t identify traitors?1”

“This subject dares not!” Jian Yong hurriedly replied in fear. “This subject only thinks it is too coincidental!”

“If Sun Qian wanted to betray me, he would have done so a long time ago! He had the chance to betray me at Xuzhou and Xudou! Did he do it? He did not!” Liu Bei’s words made Jian Yong feel displeased. When Sun Qian first joined Liu Bei at Xuzhou, Liu Bei was not yet governing Xuzhou. When Liu Bei was chased out of Xuzhou by Lu Bu, Chen Gong also took plenty of Liu Bei’s subordinates such as Cao Bao. This is because Liu Bei only had Xiaopei left and was facing a crisis. If Lu Bu had not stopped to fight against Cao Cao, Liu Bei would have already been destroyed. Only Sun Qian and a few others continued to support Liu Bei.

Besides that, Cao Cao had also invited Sun Qian to join him. While Sun Qian was certainly not the best, he was still talented. Obtaining Sun Qian meant having more talents with him. At the same time it would deprive others of said talent. Liu Bei would become powerless. Cao Cao promised Sun Qian a lot of things such as a title and even Xuzhou once Xuzhou was captured. It was a place where Sun Qian could make his talents shine. However, Sun Qian still refused.

“But Milord!” Jian Yong wanted to argue. Sun Qian had indeed went through many trials together with Liu Bei. However, people change.

“There is no but about this! If you still think he is a traitor, how about you get stabbed and survive! Then I will trust you!” Liu Bei sneered. If it was before this, Liu Bei would have joined Jian Yong in being suspicious of everyone. However, Sun Qian getting attacked had dispelled Liu Bei’s doubts. Sun Qian was stabbed in the chest and survived through a miracle! Can this be a coincidence? It was not possible for someone to waste their life just to betray another person!

“I understand, Milord!” Jian Yong sighed and no longer argued. If only he had persisted and searched Sun Qian’s residence, he could have gained a profit. What a pity!

****2

Sun Qian lived a comfortable life the past few days. People from all over came presenting gifts. Liu Bei also treated him very well. Liu Bei visited him every day after he was finished discussing official businesses and also gave him gifts that helps with recovery.

It can be said that Sun Qian was the current focus in Yuzhou.

“Master. A 1000-men commander has presented you with a tiger skin and fifty gold. He wants to meet you.” One housekeeper reported.

“Tell him to leave.” Sun Qian replied lazily. Sun Qian was currently Liu Bei’s most favored minister. The Xiliang Cavalry may be of Qiang ethnic but even he had learned how to flatter others after living in Han territory for so long.

“Hmph!” Sun Qian sneered. He won’t get up for anything less than a hundred gold and he certainly won’t do it for a Xiliang barbarian. He still remembered the Xiliang Cavalry sweet talk Pang Tong while neglecting him when Pang Tong was around. Now they tried to curry favor with him once he was the one that flourished. Why should he show them face?

Suddenly the door was knocked again.

“Didn’t I say that I will not meet him?” Sun Qian was stunned. He was thinking about how to use the money he obtained. Should he buy people’s loyalty or should he give it to his Lord? After all, there is not much money left in Yuzhou. If the incident at Ruyin did not happen, Sun Qian would have definitely remained Liu Bei’s loyal dog. However, Sun Qian’s mindset had now changed.

At this point the door was forcefully opened.

“How dare you! Who let you in?” Sun Qian who was behind the curtains noticed that someone had entered. This was his own personal room in his residence. Who could be so impudent to enter his room without his permission?

“Oh! Master Sun Qian has such amazing temperament! You changed so much after being injured for a short while!” The intruder sneered.

Sun Qian lifted the curtain and took a peek. “It’s you!”

____________

Yes.

Decided to use asterisks for line breaks now to differentiate between line breaks and the separation between story and footnotes.