Chapter 201 Are you making a fool of me? Are you making me the sinner of Jiangdong? I’ve had enough. I’m going to rebel!

Sun Ce was confused.

He sat on the couch in a daze, his expression dull, his eyes glazed over, as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue.

Both Sun Kuang and Zhang Zhao looked stunned, as if they had heard the most incredible news in the world.

"Nonsense! You lied about military intelligence!"

"My brother Zhong Yi is guarding the city gate, and there are more than 8,000 soldiers and horses. How could it be possible for the big-eared thief to break through?"

"You lied about military intelligence, I'll kill you~~"

Sun Kuang was furious. He rushed forward, grabbed the guard and put his sword to his neck.

The guard was so frightened that his soul flew out of his body, and cried out in tears:
"How dare I lie to the military? The west gate has indeed been lost. This is what the soldiers who escaped said!"

"They said that it was Gu Yong and Lu Xun who started the rebellion and took those private soldiers to catch our army off guard and seize the city gate!"

Sun Kuang's head buzzed and he let go of the guard, standing there in a daze.

At this time.

Upon hearing that Gu Yong and Lu Xun were in rebellion, Sun Ce felt as if he was struck by thunder again, and was awakened from his stupor.

"How could Gu Yong and Lu Xun cause chaos?"

"They offered their slaves to help me defend the city, so why would they rebel?"

"You are talking nonsense. How dare you lie!"

Sun Ce didn't care about his injuries, he jumped up and rushed forward, with an angry and ferocious face, he picked up the guard again.

The unfortunate bodyguard was so frightened that tears fell from his eyes, but he could not figure out how to answer.

"Oh no, we were fooled by Gu Yong and his gang!"

Zhang Zhao, who was in shock, suddenly realized what was going on and shouted excitedly:

"Gu Yong and those Jiangdong gentry and powerful people never thought about helping the lord defend the city from the beginning."

"I guess they must have secretly surrendered to Liu Bei, but under the pretext of offering troops to the lord to help in the war, they have legitimately gathered all their private soldiers under the lord's nose."

"Today they must have made an agreement with Liu Bei. Liu Bei will gather troops in the outer city to pretend to attack at night. The lord will certainly dispatch these 5,000 private soldiers of the noble family to help in the battle."

"That way, they can take advantage of the opportunity to launch a mutiny and seize the city in one fell swoop!"

"My Lord, we have been deceived by Gu Yong and his gang of treacherous villains!"

Zhang Zhao was still smart after all. He finally figured everything out and stomped his feet and cursed in anger.

Sun Ce let go of the guard, staggered back a few steps, and fell back onto the couch.

He finally woke up completely.

He, the lord of Jiangdong, was betrayed by Gu Yong and his gang of Jiangdong local tyrants.

From beginning to end, this group of people never submitted to him and always remembered the blood feud between them and him.

They have been patient and endured humiliation for many years, just to stab him in the back at this most critical moment!

The people of Jiangdong have never forgotten the blood feud over his massacre of the Jiangdong people!
"Lu Xun, I should have known that you were a traitor. I should have killed you during the battle of Eshan!"

"You Jiangdong thieves, I should have slaughtered you all back then, leaving not a single one alive!"

"I regret it, I regret it—"

Sun Ce beat his chest and stamped his feet, then looked up to the sky and cursed in anger.

At this time, outside the government hall, the sound of killing had already been heard, indicating that Liu's army had entered the city and was approaching the provincial capital.

"My lord, the situation is hopeless. Jinling City cannot be defended."

"Please give the order, my lord, to quickly cross the east of Zhongshan and retreat to Wujun to meet Master Zhongmou."

"Although Danyang County has been lost, we still have Wu County and Kuaiji County, so we can fight again."

After a long sigh, Zhang Zhao regained some composure and bowed to persuade him.

Sun Ce felt as if his heart was being cut by a knife, and his eyes were filled with reluctance.

The core of the three counties of Jiangdong is Danyang County, and the heart of Danyang County is Jinling.

Jinling fell and Danyang County was no longer safe!

The last 5,000 soldiers were almost all killed or wounded. Even if they escaped to Wujun and joined Sun Quan, how could they withstand Liu Bei's subsequent pursuit?
It was just a way of lingering on and delaying death for a few days.

"I won't leave. I will fight to the death with that big-eared thief. I will live and die with Jinling City!"

Sun Ce staggered to his feet, picked up the silver spear and shouted angrily.

When everyone around heard this, they were all shocked.

Sun Kuang half-knelt down and urged:

"Brother, the fall of Jinling City is inevitable. Staying here will lead to death."

"My Jiangdong cannot be without a brother, and my Sun family cannot be without a brother."

However, Sun Ce ignored his brothers' advice, picked up his gun and walked out, ready to fight Liu Bei to the death.

"Bo Fu!"

Zhang Zhao stepped forward to stop him and said sternly:

"Have you ever thought about how humiliating it would be if you insisted on fighting to the death but unfortunately fell into Liu Bei's hands and became a prisoner of that big-eared thief?"

"You are the Little Overlord of Jiangdong, can you really endure such a great humiliation?

Sun Ce's body stiffened and he suddenly stopped.

Zhang Zhao's words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly dampening his determination to fight to the death.

"You are right. I, Sun Ce, can die in battle, but I cannot be a prisoner of that big-eared thief!" "No, absolutely not!"

Sun Ce's will to fight collapsed, and he immediately screamed:
"Pass the order down, abandon the city immediately and break out from the east gate to Wu County."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and felt relieved.

Sun Ce immediately jumped on his horse and rushed out of the provincial capital surrounded by the crowd.

There was chaos outside, with soldiers constantly fleeing and heading towards the provincial capital.

"My Lord, General Zhong Yi was killed by Lu Xun, the west gate was seized by the rebels, and Liu Bei's army has already rushed in."

"The enemy has too many troops and their attack is too fierce. We can't resist them."

Ling Cao came running and shouted at Sun Ce with a panicked look on his face.

Sun Yu was killed!

These four words were like a blow to Sun Ce's head.

The anger that had just been suppressed suddenly rushed to the top of his head again.

"You Jiangdong bastards, you betrayed me and killed my brothers!"

"How can I let you give this Jinling City to the big-eared thief for nothing!"

Sun Ce gnashed his teeth and cursed, his eyes filled with bloodshot, and said sternly:
"Fourth brother, you take Ling Cao and the others to follow our plan and set fire to the city!"

"I want to burn Nanjing to the ground!"

Sun Kuang was stunned at first, but then he understood Sun Ce's intention.

As early as when the outer city fell, Sun Ce had made up his mind to live and die with Jinling, and ordered the storage of kerosene and firewood in various places in the inner city in case of emergency.

Once the inner city was lost, they would set fire to the city as they had no other options.

Sun Ce would rather destroy the city of Jinling than give it to Liu Bei.

Stimulated by Sun Yu's death, Sun Ce remembered his previous deployment and angrily ordered Sun Kuang to burn the city.

"Brother is right. Jinling City belongs to our Sun family. Even if we burn it down, we can't give it to that big-eared thief."

"Didn't those Jiangdong people betray our Sun family? Let's burn them all to death!"

Sun Kuang's eyes also burned with hatred, and he angrily clasped his hands:

"Brother, go first. I will set the fire and then chase after you!"

Sun Ce patted Sun Kuang on the shoulder and warned him:

"Fourth brother, after you set the fire, come and join me quickly. Don't linger in the battle. I will be waiting for you on the east side of Zhongshan Mountain."

After saying this, Sun Ce turned his horse and rode away.

When Zhang Zhao wanted to persuade him, he swallowed the words back, sighed softly, and followed Sun Ce.

"My lord, my lord!"

Ling Cao was anxious and when he was about to speak, Sun Ce had already left.

Sun Kuang turned his horse around, sword in hand, and shouted:

"Ling Bode, quickly bring your men and follow me to set fire to the city!"

"Let's start with the state capital!"

After Sun Kuang finished speaking, he turned his horse around and rushed back to the provincial capital.

Ling Cao hesitated for a moment, and had to follow in reluctantly.

After a while, the group came to a closed side hall.

The door of the hall opened, and mountains of firewood and kerosene came into view.

Sun Kuang pointed with his whip and shouted, "What are you still standing there for? Set the fire!"

None of the soldiers on the left and right said a word, and all their eyes turned to Ling Cao.

They were all Ling Cao's subordinates, so whether to set the fire or not naturally depended on Ling Cao's wishes.

Sun Kuang was displeased and could only yell at Ling Cao:

"Ling Bode, why don't you give orders to your men to set fire immediately?"

Ling Cao stared at the firewood in the room, but remained silent. His eyes kept changing and he seemed to be having a fierce struggle in his heart.

Sun Kuang was anxious and shouted:

"Ling Cao, why don't you give the order to set fire?"

"Do you want to disobey my brother's military orders? Do you also want to rebel?"

The word "rebellion" instantly ignited the resentment that had been accumulating in Ling Cao's heart.

Recalling the battle of Mount E, he was captured while trying to save Sun Ce. Later, Sun Ce suspected him of secretly communicating with Liu Bei and leaking the opportunity, and he was almost beheaded in public.

From then on, he lost Sun Ce's trust.

Then, during the night attack, he advised Sun Ce to retreat, but was wounded by Sun Ce's spear and nearly lost his life!

Now that the city had fallen, Sun Ce actually forced him to set fire to the city and burn all the civilians in the city, making him, a native of Jiangdong, a sinner of Jiangdong!
All these things finally made his dissatisfaction and resentment reach the critical point of explosion.

Ling Cao took a deep breath, and cast a resolute gaze towards Sun Kuang, saying in a deep voice:

"I, Ling Cao, am from Jiangdong, but your brother wants me to burn down Nanjing and become a criminal of Jiangdong. How can I obey your orders?"

"I have tolerated your brother for a long time, and today I am rebelling against him!"

(End of this chapter)