Chapter 174 A life-and-death battle! Three thousand versus fifty thousand? You want me to save you? I want to marry your mother and be your father!

Sun Ce's body shook and he was stunned.

He slowly turned around and looked at Zhou Yu, who was half-kneeling on the ground, with surprise, as if he was not sure of what he had just heard.

"Bofu, I am willing to defend Hulin to the death for you and hold back the big-eared thief!"

Zhou Yu knew that Sun Ce didn't believe it, so he repeated it with a stronger tone.

Sun Ce's heart trembled, and he finally confirmed that he had heard correctly.

Zhou Yu was determined to defend Hulin to the death, even if it meant he was surrounded by an army ten times larger than Liu Bei's!

Originally, Sun Ce was worried about who would guard Hulin.

Zhou Yu stepped forward and volunteered at this time, which was equivalent to solving a big problem for him.

He should have felt happy, but now he couldn't feel happy at all. Instead, he felt deeply confused.

"Gongjin, you should know that I can only leave 4,000 soldiers to guard Hulin at most."

"Liu Bei has nearly 50,000 troops, a 10-fold advantage in manpower."

"I don't know when Yuan Shu's army will be able to march south, and I can't guarantee how long we can defend Hulin City."

"Defending Hulin is a matter of life and death."

"Do you really want to defend this city?"

Sun Ce expressed his confusion.

He didn't understand why Zhou Yu would take such a big risk and volunteer to take on this important task.

"If Yu hadn't miscalculated several times, we wouldn't have been defeated in Eshan, and Chaisang wouldn't have been lost."

"Bo Fu would not be forced into a desperate situation and be forced to surrender to Yuan Shu."

"Jiangdong's current predicament is all caused by me."

"Although you didn't kill me, Bofu, I know that my crime is unforgivable. I also know that all the soldiers in the camp hate me to the core!"

Zhou Yu looked ashamed and remorseful as he enumerated his sins.

Then he took a deep breath, clasped his hands and said resolutely:

"If I cannot make amends for your faults, how can I, Zhou Yu, live in this world?"

"Holding on to Hulin is my only chance to redeem myself from my crime."

"Looking at all the generals in Jiangdong, no one is more suitable than me to defend this city."

"Bofu, please grant me what I ask for and give me a reason to live!"

After saying this, Zhou Yu bowed deeply and knocked his forehead heavily to the ground.

Sun Ce finally understood.

Zhou Yu wants to die to show his determination!
He was willing to risk his life to defend Hulin to the death and hold back Liu Bei's army until Yuan Shu's reinforcements arrived south.

If we can hold on, we can make up for our mistake, regain his trust, and win the respect of the Jiangdong soldiers.

If we fail to hold it, we will die with Hulin and lose our lives.

"At this critical moment of life and death, the only one I can rely on is you, Gongjin."

Sun Ce sighed bitterly and leaned over to help Zhou Yu up.

At this moment, there was no longer any resentment on his face, only deep emotion.

This sigh also represented that he accepted Zhou Yu's request.

In fact, at this point, only a general of Zhou Yu's caliber could command thousands of soldiers and defend the Hulin City.

Given Zhou Yu's friendship with him and his hatred for Liu Bei, he would naturally never surrender the city to Liu.

Zhou Yu was indeed his only choice.

Sun Ce's words also deeply moved Zhou Yu, and he even choked up for a moment.

Sun Ce helped Zhou Yu sit down, personally poured him a glass of wine, and discussed matters concerning how to defend Hulin.

"Gongjin, you know that I am short of manpower right now. I can only give you another 500 men at most..."

"Three thousand soldiers and horses are enough for me!"

Zhou Yu interrupted Sun Ce, and a long-lost confidence reappeared between his brows.

Sun Ce took a breath and said in surprise:

"Gongjin, now is not the time to act on impulse."

"Liu Bei has nearly 50,000 troops. How can you defend Hulin with only 3,000 soldiers?"

Zhou Yu's mouth curled up into a strange look, and he sneered:
"Doesn't Liu Bei claim to be kind and righteous? I will take advantage of his weakness, and then I will..."

Zhou Yu slowly and sarcastically explained his strategy for defending the city.

The surprise on Sun Ce's face gradually disappeared, replaced by ecstasy, and in the end he burst into laughter.

"Okay, okay, Gongjin, this plan is really brilliant!"

"Isn't that big-eared thief greedy for the so-called reputation of benevolence and righteousness? Gongjin's plan is to let him have a taste of what it means to be trapped by false reputation!"

Zhou Yu smiled and said nothing.

After Sun Ce laughed loudly, he patted Zhou Yu on the shoulder:

"Gongjin, it seems that you are not gambling your life, but have already made up your mind."

"I've already said that you are my Zifang, and this still holds true now!"

"Just rest assured and hold on to Hulin. Within a month, I will join Yuan Shu's army to defeat the big-eared thief!"

As he spoke, Sun Ce raised his glass high.

The two drank it all in one gulp and laughed at each other.

Zhou Yu had an illusion that he had returned to the good old days when Sun Ce obeyed his orders and was regarded as his strategist.

...

Shouchun.

Zhang Zhao stood respectfully in front of the hall, staring at the pot-bellied "Son of Heaven" sitting on the throne.

At this moment, Yuan Shu was squinting his eyes, flipping through the letter of surrender written by Sun Ce.

The letter was written with earnest words, full of regret and self-blame, and he begged Yuan Shu to be magnanimous, forgive his "youth and ignorance", and allow him to surrender the three counties of Jiangdong.

Yuan Shu's eyes were narrowed into a line, revealing a secret delight that he couldn't conceal. If he hadn't been forcing himself to suppress it, he would have probably laughed out loud in ecstasy.

But he didn't laugh. Instead, he slammed the letter on the table and his face became stern.

"Sun Ce, this ungrateful brat, I treated him as my own son, but he turned against me and betrayed me at the critical moment. How despicable!"

"Now that he has been cornered by that big-eared thief, he has finally thought of admitting his mistakes and wants to surrender to me, asking me to send troops to rescue him?"

"Zhang Zibu, tell me, why should I forgive him?"

Yuan Shu was full of resentment and questioned Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Zhao coughed a few times, and then spoke eloquently and eloquently, describing Sun Ce's regret and self-blame.

As for why he betrayed Yuan Shu in the first place, it was naturally due to his youthful arrogance, being deceived by Cao Cao, and being bewitched by the villains around him.

"General Bofu often said that he has always regarded Your Majesty as his father."

"Your Majesty, since you regard General Bofu as your own son, seeing that your child has made a mistake and has now repented, how can you, as a loving father, not forgive him?"

"General Bofu said that if Your Majesty is willing to forgive him, he will personally cut off Liu Bei's head to avenge the late Crown Prince and repay Your Majesty's forgiveness."

After Zhang Zhao talked about "father and son", he mentioned Yuan Yao's death calmly.

The so-called former crown prince was the title posthumously given to his son Yuan Yao by Yuan Shu after he proclaimed himself emperor.

Zhang Zhao's last words were like rubbing salt into Yuan Shu's wounds, instantly bringing back the pain of losing his son.

"Big Ear Thief~~"

Yuan Shu's teeth suddenly clenched, and his fleshy face was twisted with deep hatred.

The ministers in front of the palace could clearly see from the change in Yuan Shu's expression that Yuan Shu intended to send troops.

"Marquis Wen!"

Chen Gong gave Lu Bu a secret look.

Lu Bu rolled his eyes a few times, and suddenly understood the meaning of Chen Gong's eyes.
"Father!"

Lü Bu understood what was going on and leaped forward, angrily clasping his hands:

"I am willing to lead my troops south to relieve the siege of Jiangdong, and cut off Liu Bei's head for my father to comfort the late prince's spirit in heaven!"

At this time, Lu Bu had already recognized Yuan Shu as his adoptive father, so he could naturally respectfully call him "Father".

After Lu Bu asked for a fight, other generals including Ji Ling reacted immediately.

So all the generals stood up and asked for battle, all clamoring to avenge Yuan Yao.

Looking at the angry situation, Zhang Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, with the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

Yuan Shu's rage for revenge was also ignited at this moment.

"boom!"

He slammed the table and stood up, immediately accepted Sun Ce's request for surrender, and announced that he would lead his troops south.

"His Majesty!"

However, a counselor stood up first and stopped Yuan Shu.

The person who stood up was Yuan Shu's trusted adviser Yang Hong.

"Your Majesty will naturally avenge Liu Bei's murder of the former crown prince."

"But regarding Sun Ce's request for surrender, I think Your Majesty should be more cautious."

"Your Majesty treated Sun Ce like a son back then, but he still dared to betray you. If your Majesty helps him defeat Liu Bei and resolve the crisis in Jiangdong, who can guarantee that he won't break his promise and make a fortune?"

Yang Hong reminded with a meaningful look in his eyes.

Yuan Shu suddenly calmed down and swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.

Yang Hong’s reminder made him alert. After all, Sun Ce had a criminal record. Since he betrayed him the first time, why wouldn’t he betray him the second time?

Seeing Yuan Shu hesitate, Zhang Zhao suddenly became nervous again and hurriedly expressed his loyalty to Sun Ce.

"That's enough, you don't have to say any more."

Yuan Shu interrupted Zhang Zhao and said coldly:

"As long as Sun Ce is willing to do three things, I will trust him again, forgive his previous sins, and allow him to surrender."

Zhang Zhao was overjoyed and hurriedly asked Yuan Shu what the two things were.

"First of all, since I know he has no son, I will ask him to send one of his brothers here as a hostage."

"The second thing is that I want him to come to see me in person and worship me as his foster father!"

"Third, I know his widowed mother, Wu, has always been virtuous and kind. I intend to take her as my concubine. Ask him to send Wu to Shouchun as soon as possible!"

After hearing this first thing, Zhang Zhao was able to remain calm.

When he heard the second thing, Zhang Zhao's brows were already furrowed.

When Zhang Zhao heard the third thing Yuan Shu said, his face turned pale with horror and he was stunned for a moment.

(End of this chapter)