Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

On his way back to the palace by carriage, Sun Quan was perhaps weakened by the exhaustion of staying up all night, or perhaps the successive military attacks had temporarily broken his spirits, and he became somewhat dazed.

The carriage swayed and rocked. Sun Quan parted the inner curtain of the carriage and looked out at the street and the soldiers guarding both sides of the road.

The streets were orderly, the roads were clean, and the soldiers' armor gleamed. No one in the city knew that the Wei army was attacking from three directions. It was only through an old Taoist priest, whose true skill or cunning was unclear, that this misunderstanding was exposed.

Sun Quan blinked hard, seemingly growing even more tired.

In a daze, for some reason, Sun Quan thought of his elder brother Sun Ce, who had passed away more than thirty years ago. Sun Ce was brave and fierce in his youth, dominating Jiangdong, with good ministers and famous generals at his beck and call. Sun Ce's unrestrained and spirited demeanor back then seemed to flash back into Sun Quan's mind.

If my elder brother were here, what would happen?

If I become emperor, but only grant my elder brother the title of Prince Huan of Changsha, will my brother blame me?
Inside the swaying carriage, Sun Quan slumped against the backrest, his mind reeling back to the time when Sun Ce had executed Yu Ji. He had heard that Sun Ce's death was somewhat related to the curse of the sorcerer Yu Ji.

Back then, Ge Xuan and others encouraged me to become emperor, and now that I have imprisoned Ge Xuan, will I also be cursed by him? Should I kill him instead?

As he grew older, Sun Quan's energy waned, and he often found himself recalling past events. He recalled how, when Sun Ce killed Yu Ji, he hadn't understood why. Beset by internal and external troubles, facing powerful enemies, and resorting to sorcery to bewitch people, he had already sealed his fate.

Fortunately, Ge Hong told him to his face, rather than in front of a crowd, so let him live.

He himself was doing well in Yangzhou, but if Zigao himself met with some mishap in Wuchang, would he be able to shoulder the heavy responsibility of defending Jingzhou, and how would he be able to command Sun Huan to serve him?
At this moment, Sun Quan was half-lying down in the carriage, his limbs were gradually losing strength, and his mind was filled with fragmented thoughts.

If anyone else were present, they would have noticed that Sun Quan was running a high fever. Since the assassination attempt, the continuous setbacks had finally broken Sun Quan's body. He had been caught in the rain last night, and today, after hearing Ge Xuan's words, he lost his composure and finally collapsed on the last day of the year.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty!" The carriage had arrived at the palace gate at some point. Xu Xiang called out to Sun Quan from outside. When there was no response for a long time, he lifted the curtain and peeked inside...

Sun Quan glanced at Xu Xiang, then closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

Or rather, he fell into a coma.

Xu Xiang dared not delay and hurriedly ordered his soldiers to seal off the area. Together with Yi and Hu Zong, who were waiting at the palace gate, they carried Sun Quan into the palace. They summoned the imperial physician to take good care of him and ordered the sealing off of Jianye City. No one was allowed to leave their homes, the city gates were closed, and all personnel transportation was prohibited.

"Imperial Physician Xu, how is His Majesty's condition?" Bu Lianshi knelt beside Sun Quan's bed, her eyes already swollen from crying, and her cheeks still bearing many tear stains.

Yi and Xu Xiang, who were guarding the place, were also watching Physician Xu with equal tension.

As for the other attendant, Hu Zong, he was responsible for managing the Imperial Guards' blockade of the city.

Gu Yong and Gu Yuantan, who had just been reinstated as Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, were excluded from the decision-making circle by the three people in power. They were temporarily confined to their abandoned residence, which had been deserted for more than a year, and were treated the same as other officials and commoners in Jianye City. They were not allowed to leave without permission or communicate with others.

"Lady Bu," Physician Xu stepped back three paces and bowed, "His Majesty has been overwhelmed with worry and has also contracted an external pathogen. In addition, he has been weak from not sleeping all night, so he has caught a cold and developed internal heat. I will prescribe some medicine for His Majesty later, and he will recover with proper care." "Is it just a matter of taking medicine?" Shi Yi asked anxiously from the side.

"Yes," Physician Xu nodded, "It's not a serious illness. After taking the medicine, His Majesty should wake up in a few hours. But there's one thing to be careful about: avoid excessive worry and overexertion, otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?" Bu Lianshi's eyes were filled with tears. At this moment, she could no longer care about propriety. She leaned forward and looked at Physician Xu: "Physician Xu, please tell me quickly."

"Otherwise, things could get very bad." Imperial Physician Xu sighed. "I do not know what Your Majesty has been through during your two months of travel, but when Your Majesty was in Shouchun, I examined Your Majesty's pulse every ten days. Today, when I examined Your Majesty again, Your Majesty's internal organs have become much weaker."

"Go and prepare the medicine quickly." Shi Yi waved his hand and then looked at Xu Xiang: "Ziming, in the name of the Attendant-in-Ordinary, quickly send a letter to Tu Kou, informing General Wei Quan Zihuang of these battles, and asking General Wei to reply to Jianye within two hours of receiving the letter."

"Please bear witness, Lady Bu." Shi Yi nodded and said, "His Majesty is currently unconscious, and the Wei army is attacking from multiple directions. General Wei is a renowned general of the nation, and we should consult him on matters of military strategy."

While wiping away her tears, Bu Lianshi said in a trembling voice, "I will do as the Chamberlain says."

The Kingdom of Wu had no empress. Lady Bu Lianshi had two daughters, Sun Luban and Sun Luyu, who were greatly favored by Sun Quan. In addition, Lady Bu had been favored for many years, so both inside and outside the palace, she had long been regarded as an empress. Even Sun Quan himself, after learning about this, never refused her.

Physician Xu personally fed Sun Quan the medicine twice.

It wasn't until evening that Sun Quan slowly awoke.

"Ziyu, Ziming, Weize." Sun Quan slowly opened his eyes and pointed to the names of the three people in front of him. Of course, Sun Quan also saw Bu Lianshi guarding his side. When Bu Lianshi saw that Sun Quan had woken up, her worries were relieved. Ignoring the presence of her ministers, she buried her face in her arms and began to weep softly beside Sun Quan's pillow.

Sun Quan roughly guessed that he had fallen into a coma, and after tasting the bitterness in his mouth and smelling the medicine filling the palace, he sighed, "How long have I been asleep?"

“Five hours,” Shi Yi whispered.

"It's alright, it's alright." Sun Quan tried to sit up, and Bu Lianshi quickly helped him up. "You must not tell anyone about my coma today! Ziyu, go and get the defense maps of Jingzhou and Yangzhou. I need to mobilize troops to deal with the situation."

"Your Majesty, Imperial Physician Xu said that Your Majesty should rest and recuperate..."

As soon as Shi Yi spoke, he met Sun Quan's sharp gaze, then shook his head, sighed deeply, and went out to find a map. Hu Zong and Xu Xiang then reported on what the two had done that day.

“You have done well. Zihuang is a renowned general of the state; his reply should arrive by tomorrow morning.” Sun Quan remarked, “However, if Zigao were here, I would have even less to worry about…”

After Shi Yi returned and Lady Bu left the palace, the emperor and his three ministers discussed military deployment matters by the bedside.

Sun Quan said in a hoarse voice, "The Great Wu currently has as many as 110,000 troops available along the Yangtze River. If we mobilize for another half month, we can send about 30,000 more troops from Yangzhou and Jingzhou to provide reinforcements..." (End of this chapter)