Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Lu Xun paused for a moment: "Is Huan Yuan in Yuzhang or Poyang?"

"Yes." Cao Rui nodded.

Lu Xun said, "I understand. I should go to Chaisang now! I should try to join forces with Huan Yuanze and keep the Wu army at bay west of Chaisang!"

“That makes perfect sense,” Cao Rui said. “I haven’t received any letters from Huan Fan for quite some time now. You may go now, and you can handle the matters upstream yourself. I will have someone send you an imperial edict later, granting you the authority to hold the imperial staff. If you reach the vicinity of Chaisang, Huan Fan’s troops will also be allowed to be mobilized by you. You are only allowed to keep the Wu army at Chaisang, and you are not allowed to advance any further west.”

"Yes, Your Majesty understands." Lu Xun then pressed on, "What if I encounter the Wu army before I reach Chaisang?"

Cao Rui scoffed: "What can I say? You have 40,000 naval troops at your disposal, with large ships and sturdy weapons. How can Wu's fleet, which is half navy and half infantry, compare? Wu's ships are not even as big as yours! Why do you need to ask me?"

The closer it got to this point, the more cautious Lu Xun became, even unconsciously bending his back a little more. He cupped his hands and asked, "Then I will fight if I can, but if conditions do not permit, I will either confront them or drive them away?"

Cao Rui nodded: "Okay, let's do it this way!"

Almost simultaneously, Wu Jianggan, leading his fleet, also located Sun Quan's small boat on the river.

This morning, Sun Quan rode his horse and fled for more than sixty li. Seeing that he was about to be caught up by Li Tong's troops, he seized a small boat and immediately rowed into the river. Just then, he caught a current and the boat's speed increased.

Li Tong led his troops to stand on the shore and shoot arrows at Sun Quan from afar. One arrow did hit the boat, but it only grazed the hem of Sun Quan's clothes and did not cause any harm to Sun Quan himself.

Sun Quan was lucky to survive.

After drifting on the river for a morning and then downstream for nearly thirty li, Sun Quan was finally safe once the riverbanks turned into mountains, making it impossible for the Wei army to pursue him. However, temporary safety did not guarantee complete peace. The river was swift, and he dared not row his small boat into the middle of the river. He had no choice but to find a place to rest along the gentle slope near the bank, where he ate some of the dry rations left on the boat by the old man. After regaining some strength, he rowed upstream again, trying to find out if the Wu army had any fleets sailing downstream.

After Gan Tong brought Sun Quan onto the ship, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed. The Sun Quan before him did not look like an emperor at all. He was only wearing his sleeping clothes, wrapped in a raincoat, and wearing a bamboo hat. His hair ornament was missing at some point. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were frighteningly bright, like a hungry tiger eager to devour its prey.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty! It is my dereliction of duty, it is my fault! I failed to find Your Majesty sooner, and Your Majesty has suffered so much injustice today!"

"Gan Qing, if it weren't for your saving me today, I would almost be in dire straits." Sun Quan, still aware of the situation, stepped forward to help Gan Tong up and said softly, "You do not yet hold a title, but I hereby grant you the title of Marquis of a Township, with a fief of a thousand households, and the additional title of General Who Guards the East!"

Gan Tong wept uncontrollably: "I have done nothing of merit, how dare I accept such a great favor from Your Majesty! Please punish me, Your Majesty!"

"Don't say that, Gan Qing." Sun Quan patted Gan Tong on the shoulder. "I've figured out where to go. How many ships do you have right now?"

Gan Tong replied, "I have three here, and there are six more forty li upstream. In Pengze... there should be five more boats in Pengze!"

“That’s enough.” Sun Quan nodded, about to smile, but his smile was even more terrifying: “Take a boat upstream to Lei Chi, opposite Pengze. I will wait for Quan Zihuang’s fleet there!”

"As for now," Sun Quan took a deep breath, "go find me a clean set of clothes! I need to bathe, put on my hat, and change my clothes! Heaven has not forsaken me, I will surely pull myself together!" "Yes, Your Majesty," Gan Tong replied.

There is not much equality in the world.

For the Yangzhou region of Wu, only Danyang and Wu commanderies held strategic significance. Besides these two commanderies, Wei also needed to secure key locations along the Yangtze River. The remaining Yuzhang and Kuaiji commanderies were utterly worthless territory and did not need to be captured immediately; taking them would offer little benefit and would only deplete Wei's valuable military and logistical resources.

In other words, a Wu prefecture that was peacefully negotiated was truly better than one that was conquered city by city.

After capturing Wuxi, Guanqiu Jian led 10,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantrymen along the waterway towards Wu County. After besieging the city for a day, he sent two groups of envoys, and the north gate of Wu County was opened from the inside out at midnight.

Teng Yin, the governor of Wu Commandery and Sun Quan's only legitimate son-in-law, was jolted awake in his sleep and attempted suicide but failed. He was captured by the Wei army that night.

Guanqiu Jian captured Wuxi on the 23rd, and on the afternoon of the 24th, he arrived outside Wu County, besieged the city, and displayed his troops in a show of force.

Although Teng Yin was Sun Quan's son-in-law, he was not a man of great talent. He was eloquent and refined, but when faced with important matters, he became fearful and conservative. The garrison in the northwest of Wu County had been captured by Wei cavalry in a surprise attack, and the five hundred soldiers in the city were not of much use. Teng Yin had no choice but to hastily conscript the people and wealthy families in the city to help defend it.

What kind of place is Wu County? To be precise, it was practically the third political center of the Wu Kingdom after Jianye and Wuchang, and the most populous and commercially prosperous area within Wu Commandery. Not only did the powerful families of Wu Commandery almost all wield considerable influence there, but officials from Wu also frequently retired there, and Gu Yong himself had spent over a year there…

In short, the forces within the city were incredibly complex, so Sun Quan had no choice but to leave his son-in-law there to keep an eye on these shady characters from the Wu region.

But things didn't go as planned. When the authority of the Wu court was in place, everyone gave Teng Yin face. Teng Yin, who was over thirty years old, was called "Lord" and "Lord" all day long, which made him feel conceited. But when something happened, he couldn't handle it at all.

The people who took the initiative to open the city gates were not the Wu soldiers who were defending the city, but Gu Tan and Zhu Yi, who were in Wu County.

Back when Crown Prince Sun Deng was reprimanded by Sun Quan for communicating with Jianye, Zhang Zhao's second son Zhang Xiu and Gu Yong's eldest grandson Gu Tan had already been demoted by Sun Quan and forced to return home from Wuchang, where Crown Prince Sun Deng lived, to study. It had been more than a year since then. Zhang Xiu's home was naturally in Jianye, while Gu Tan's home was undoubtedly in Wu County.

Gu Tan was Gu Yong's eldest grandson. He was constantly instructed at home and had a full understanding of his grandfather's gradually changing political leanings. Naturally, he was also full of dissatisfaction with the Wu court.

And Zhu Yi...

Zhu Yi certainly had reasons to rebel!

Of the hundreds of members of the Zhu clan in Wu Commandery, both close and distant, except for Zhu Yi's branch which benefited from his father Zhu Huan's military achievements in Wancheng, all the others, regardless of age or gender, were executed by Sun Quan. This deep-seated blood feud became the catalyst for Zhu Yi's resolute decision when the Wei cavalry arrived.

They've been driven all the way to Wu County by Wei cavalry; what hope does Wu have left? (End of Chapter)