Chapter 181 You are the biggest sinner! There is no chance of peace, just be Lu Bu's brother! The three forces will fight in Jiangdong!

Jiangdong, Liyang.

In the dim palace hall, Sun Ce had a gloomy face as he listened to Zhang Zhao reporting on the results of his second mission to Shouchun.

The three conditions that Zhang Zhao brought back last time almost made him vomit blood in anger.

Sending my brothers to Shouchun as hostages is barely acceptable.

But Yuan Shu was so arrogant that he forced him to go to Shouchun and shamelessly worship Yuan Shu as his adoptive father?

Where is my face?
Do you think I'm a slave of Lu Bu's four families, who can recognize me as your father just by being told to?
What made Sun Ce most angry was that Yuan Shu was not satisfied with being his adoptive father and even wanted to marry his widowed mother and become his stepfather!
It's simply too much!

If he agreed to this and sent his mother Wu to Shouchun to be Yuan Shu's concubine, how could he be worthy of Sun Jian's spirit in heaven?
This little bully will probably become the laughing stock of the whole world in no time.

Naturally, Sun Ce would not agree to this. He flew into a rage on the spot, scolded Zhang Zhao, and ordered him to go to Shouchun immediately to bargain with Yuan Shu.

Perhaps it was because Sun Ce assured Zhang Zhao that Zhou Yu would be able to hold Hulin for one to two months that Zhang Zhao felt more confident and his attitude became much tougher.

After some bargaining, Yuan Shu finally made concessions.

The conditions of sending the brothers to Shouchun as hostages remain unchanged, but the matter of taking Wu as a concubine can be postponed for the time being.

Sun Ce still had to acknowledge Yuan Shu as his adoptive father, but he didn't have to go to Shouchun again. He could wait until Yuan Shu led the army in person and the army reached the Yangtze River, and then Sun Ce would go and acknowledge him as his adoptive father.

"Yuan Shu, this old dog, is he worthy of being recognized as my foster father by Sun Ce?"

"If I agree, wouldn't I be like Lu Bu, despised by the world?"

After listening to Zhang Zhao's report, Sun Ce pounded the table with his fists, still showing dissatisfaction on his face.

Zhang Zhao sighed and said:

"Yuan Shu said that this is his bottom line. The lord must worship him as his adoptive father no matter what."

"Zhao has tried his best, but Yuan Shu was deceived by Yang Hong and refused to give in."

Sun Ce clenched his fists, his face gloomy, and he was in a dilemma.

A light cough was heard and Lu Su stood up.

"The conditions offered by Yuan Shu are too harsh. If you agree to them, it will be a loss to your dignity."

"Su, I still say the same thing. Instead of being humiliated by Yuan Shu, why don't you ask for peace with Liu Xuande?"

"With Liu Xuande's magnanimity, he would never humiliate the lord like Yuan Shu did."

Seeing that Sun Ce was hesitating, Lu Su again brought up the matter of asking Liu Bei for peace.

This time, Sun Ce did not reject Lu Su on the spot. Instead, he tapped the table with his fingertips, frowned, and pondered in silence.

Obviously, he was weighing which path would cause the least damage to his reputation and dignity.

"Bofu, you are the son of Sun Wentai. How can you follow the example of Lu Bu, a slave of three surnames, and recognize someone else as your father, let alone the Han thief Yuan Shu?"

"If you really do this, how can you be worthy of the spirit of Mr. Wentai in heaven and the ancestors of the Sun family!"

An angry voice sounded, and an old general with half white hair and beard walked into the hall with an angry face.

"Old General Demou!"

Sun Ce's face changed and he subconsciously stood up to greet him.

The veteran general was none other than Cheng Pu, the leader of the three veteran generals of Jiangdong and also the one with the longest seniority.

Among the three veteran generals, he was the only one who dared to call Sun Ce by his courtesy name in front of everyone.

Originally, Cheng Pu assisted Sun Quan in guarding Nanjing. After hearing that Sun Ce had surrendered to Yuan Shu, he rushed from Nanjing to Liyang.

Intimidated by Cheng Pu's prestige and qualifications, Zhang Zhao, Lu Su and other counselors and generals all stood up to greet him.

"Zhang Zibu, you are the head of Jiangdong's civil officials. How could you offer Bofu such a bad idea that would make him a laughing stock for the world?"

"I think you have ulterior motives and want to take this opportunity to join Yuan Shu and find a new master!"

Cheng Pu stood in front of Zhang Zhao like an iron tower and scolded him harshly.

Zhang Zhao was completely frustrated and wanted to defend himself but didn't know how to explain.

Cheng Pu turned around and glared at Lu Su again:
"And you, Lu Zijing, what a stupid idea you came up with!"

"Bofu is the son of Sun Wentai, the Little Overlord of Jiangdong. How dare you let him seek peace with a mat weaver and shoe seller?"

"Where is your reputation as Zhi Bofu? Do you want those Jiangdongxiao people to look down on him and make fun of him?"

Lu Su was also severely reprimanded.

He had less experience than Zhang Zhao, and faced with Cheng Pu's angry retort, he dared not say a word and could only lower his head in embarrassment.

After teaching the two men a lesson, Cheng Pu turned to Sun Ce with a generous and fearless look on his face.

"Bofu, our ancestor Wen Tai swept across the world, never feared anyone, never bowed to anyone!"

"You are the son of Sun Wentai, and now you are the ruler of Jiangdong. How can you ask for peace with Liu Bei, and you should not surrender to Yuan Shu."

"Not to mention that Liu Bei has not yet captured Hulin, even if he has captured Hulin and is really approaching Jiangdong, what do we have to fear?"

"You haven't had enough of the humiliation of living under Yuan Shu's roof. I have had enough anyway!"

"This time, I would rather die standing than live on my knees!"

After hearing Cheng Pu's impassioned words, Sun Ce couldn't help feeling a little ashamed, so he could only take a few sips of the tea to hide his embarrassment.

"General Demou's words make sense. In fact, I don't want to be humiliated by Liu Bei and Yuan Shu unless it is absolutely necessary."

Sun Ce sighed helplessly and asked again:

"Then according to General Demou's opinion, how should we deal with the current situation?"

Cheng Pu waved his hand and said proudly:
"How else can we deal with it? Bofu, you should lead us to fight that big-eared thief to the death. The worst that can happen is death."

Sun Ce frowned and fell silent.

I thought that after you, Cheng Pu, said a lot of passionate words, you would have some more brilliant response strategy, but after all this time you just let him fight to the death with Liu Bei.

"General Demou, with my current military strength, I am no match for—"

Sun Ce was just about to complain and let Cheng Pu face reality.

General Song Qian rushed in and half-knelt on the ground with a panicked look on his face.

"My lord, urgent news from the west." "Liu Bei captured Hulin two days ago. Chen Wu died in the battle. Commander Zhou failed to break through the siege and was captured by the enemy. He was beheaded by Liu Bei as a public display!"

"Liu Bei has led an army of 50,000 soldiers and sailors down the Yangtze River and is heading straight for Jiangdong!"

Sun Ce froze.

Zhang Zhao's face turned pale with shock, and Lu Su's expression changed drastically.

Even Cheng Pu, who had been so passionate just now, looked surprised.

After a moment of dead silence, the hall exploded.

"Hulin was lost so quickly? It's only been a few days."

"Didn't Zhou Yu sign a military order saying he could defend Hulin for at least two months?"

"If Hulin is captured, Liu Bei's army will be able to reach Jiangdong in no time. How can we resist them?"

"My lord, you shouldn't have used Zhou Yu!"

The generals were shocked and all kinds of horrified discussions arose one after another.

Among these discussions, there were many complaints about Sun Ce once again misusing Zhou Yu.

Sun Ce's fists gradually clenched, his face began to twist, and his eyes gradually widened, and the shock in his eyes was gradually replaced by anger and extreme disappointment.

"Zhou Yu, you misunderstood me!"

"I should have known that you were useless, and I shouldn't have trusted you again!"

"If my Jiangdong foundation is lost, you will be the biggest sinner, and your death is not a pity~~"

Sun Ce suddenly exploded, overturned the table to the ground, and started cursing in anger and frustration.

Sun Ce was furious, but the other generals dared not say a word. They all fell silent and watched him trembling with fear as he raged.

Sun Ce cursed for an unknown amount of time, until he was exhausted and finally sat down with a thump.

"How did Liu Bei conquer Hulin?"

Sun Ce weakly raised his hand and looked at Song Qian.

Only after he had lost his temper did he remember the suspicious thing.

You have to know that when Zhou Yu volunteered, he was confident. He claimed that he would take advantage of Liu Bei's weakness of benevolence and righteousness and use the people of Hulin as a shield to make Liu Bei afraid to attack the city.

It was because of Zhou Yu's strategy that he decided to trust Zhou Yu again and gave him the important task of guarding Hulin.

Song Qian then came to his senses and hurriedly told the causes and consequences of the fall of Hulin.

The anger and disappointment on Sun Ce's face gradually turned into astonishment, and his eyes were filled with disbelief.

"How could a country bumpkin use such a trick on a mere underground plan?"

"This Xiao Fang, really, really is..."

Sun Ce's voice trembled, and he had a creepy illusion all over his body, and he was unable to speak.

Inside the mansion, there were sounds of people gasping for air.

After Lu Su sighed, with a somewhat sad look on his face, he said helplessly:
"This Xiao Fang is a man of great wisdom and foresight, and he is truly unrivalled in history. Gongjin was born at the wrong time to meet him."

"Now that Hulin has been lost, Liu Bei's army is heading eastwards along the river. It seems that he is determined to seize Jiangdong from us. There is no chance for peace now."

Sun Ce's figure stiffened.

At this time.

Zhang Zhao stood up again and said solemnly:

"My lord, Liu Bei is determined to seize Jiangdong. There is no hope for peace."

"The only hope now is to surrender to Yuan Shu as soon as possible and ask him to rescue us."

"If we continue to delay and hesitate, Liu Bei will arrive at Jiangdong and it will be too late!"

The words "It's too late now" were like a bucket of ice water, chilling Sun Ce to the core.

All the luck and all the concerns about dignity were extinguished.

"Zhang Zibu, leave immediately and rush to Shouchun!"

"Tell Yuan Shu that I agree to all his conditions and ask him to send troops to rescue Jiangdong immediately!"

"immediately--"

Sun Ce jumped up and shouted urgently in a hoarse voice.

Zhang Zhao heaved a sigh of relief and left in a hurry.

Cheng Pu's face changed drastically, and he hurriedly raised his hands to object and persuade.

"enough!"

Sun Ce interrupted Cheng Pu and said with a sullen face:

"Jiangdong is the foundation I laid for the Sun family. Even if I have to endure humiliation and bear heavy burdens, I will protect this foundation!"

"Demou, if you have a plan to achieve the best of both worlds, please tell us."

"If you just want me to fight a losing battle with that big-eared thief with my remaining troops, you don't have to say anything more!"

Cheng Pu was retorted and was speechless.

After a long time, all he could do was stamp his feet in hatred and let out a long sigh of helplessness.

...

It was late spring.

Liu Bei led an army of 50,000 soldiers and sailors, sailed down the river and reached Jiangdong.

Sun Ce gathered the remaining 10,000 soldiers and horses and stationed them at Zheqi Ferry upstream of Jinling City to resist the enemy.

Yuan Shu personally drove the army, with Lu Bu as the vanguard, and led 30,000 troops southward along the Fei River, out of the Yangtze River at Ruxukou, forming a cross-bank response with the Zheqi Ferry on the south bank.

The three forces of Liu, Yuan and Sun, with nearly 100,000 troops, formed a confrontation at the Ruxukou line.

(End of this chapter)