Three Kingdoms: I am not Cao Rui

Like father, like son; this saying is absolutely true.

After receiving Zhuge Liang's letter, Sun Deng flew into a rage and it took him a while to calm down. Before becoming emperor, Sun Deng's only thought was to quickly seize control of the remaining military power of Wu. But after ascending the throne, the things that troubled him increased tenfold or even a hundredfold.

This is the difficulty of being in charge; many times there is no best choice, and you can only grit your teeth and accept one of two bad options.

Previously, Sun Deng and Bu Zhi had been waiting for Zhuge Jin in Jiangling City for a long time, but he did not return. Only after asking the returning cavalry did they learn that Zhuge Jin had been taken away by Wei Yan in public once again.

For a time, Sun Deng and his hastily constructed small court were plunged into extreme chaos.

This kind of thing can't be hidden, and there's no way to hide it.

Zhuge Jin had commanded troops in Jingzhou for many years. When Sun Quan became emperor, Zhuge Jin was already the Grand General and Governor of Jingzhou. Almost every general and county official in the army was his subordinate or former subordinate. Sun Deng then realized that he, as the hastily enthroned crown prince of Wu, was almost unable to manage the complex situation at hand. Fortunately, Bu Zhi worked hard in the city to persuade and encourage the generals, which stabilized the situation.

At this time, the 50,000 Wu troops in Jiangling City did not dare to make any rash moves.

Within three days, six batches of messengers were dispatched, and it wasn't until the last batch returned that they brought Zhuge Liang's formal reply.

In his letter, Zhuge Liang stated that because the Emperor of Wu had delayed reporting military intelligence for several days, the Wei navy could threaten Jiangling at any time. As the Chancellor of the Han Dynasty, he had no choice but to consider the Han army and retreat westward to the Xiaoting and Xiling areas.

The retreat is for the sake of stability, not a betrayal of the alliance.

Zhuge Liang also said that Wu had lost half of its territory. In order to show the friendship between Han and Wu for many years, Han was willing to return Xiling County, which Sun Quan had explicitly ceded, to Wu. The entire area, from Wuxian in the west to Xiling and Xiaoting in the east, was included as a congratulatory gift from Han to the new emperor of Wu.

Zhuge Liang stated that Xiling Commandery was adjacent to Nan Commandery, where Jiangling was located, and could form a mutually supportive relationship. To ensure logistical support, the 50,000 Han troops would remain stationed in Xiling Commandery, ready to provide assistance to Nan Commandery at any time. Xiling Commandery also needed to be governed by Zhuge Jin, who was trusted by both Han and Wu, which was why he took Zhuge Jin with him.

At the end of the letter, Zhuge Liang clearly stated that if the Wei army suddenly arrived and Jiangling was difficult to defend, and if Sun Deng led his troops westward to Xiling, Zhuge Liang would do his utmost to accept and protect them.

“Your Majesty, although Zhuge Liang’s actions were not entirely appropriate, he did make many concessions…” Bu Zhi bowed sincerely and replied, “For the sake of the nation, I believe Your Majesty should perhaps approve this matter.”

Sun Deng sighed, "What can we do if we don't allow it? Zhuge Kongming is right. It was my mistake that I informed him of the situation too late. The situation is so critical that Zhuge Kongming may not trust me. Fortunately, we still have the Grand General to act as a bridge between me and Zhuge Kongming. For Wu to act this way, as allies, it is already a sign of benevolence."

Bu Zhi dared not reply to this.

“Very well.” Sun Deng shook his head and said, “I will personally write a reply to Prime Minister Zhuge and the Grand General. I ask the Minister of Works to draft a letter for me and send it by boat to Xiakou, stating that I and Great Wu are willing to submit to Wei, only asking that Wei withdraw its troops and return the body of the late emperor. As for things like tribute or other etiquette conditions, the Minister of Works can write them down as he sees fit. We only ask to preserve our current territory.”

Bu Zhi sighed inwardly, then bowed and accepted.

The two were quite in sync, and neither of them mentioned that Zhuge Liang also wanted to save his brother's life.

It's one thing to be sad, but Sun Deng did nothing wrong in wanting to submit. The Shu army has already retreated, so how can they possibly fight with just Jiangling City?
But not fighting doesn't mean waiting to die or surrendering. Even gaining a few more months to regroup is good and can increase the chances of survival. Submitting as a vassal is not shameful in the face of the survival of the Wu state; Sun Quan surrendered in the past too…

Although Zhuge Jin was unwilling, how could he refuse Zhuge Liang's suggestion to station himself in Xiling as a last resort? In the end, dying with Sun Deng in Jiangling was one way, but if Sun Deng had a way out and could preserve Sun Quan's bloodline, that would also be another way to show loyalty.

With the situation in such a state of collapse, Zhuge Liang, Zhuge Jin, Sun Deng, Bu Zhi, and everyone else were doing their best to maintain order. They had to be patient and patient, and this was not the time to act impulsively.

Several days later, the envoy who had gone to Xiakou returned, bringing only a document bearing the seal of General Cao Zhen. The blank document contained only two characters written in clerical script in the middle: 'Not permitted'.

Sun Deng almost burst into tears again.

……

In mid-April, Shouchun. Almost half of the city was bustling with activity.

The emperor approved the memorial submitted by Grand Secretary Pei Qian, agreeing to elevate Wuhan to a secondary capital. He also granted the request from Sima Yi, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, authorizing the relocation of government offices such as the Ministry of Personnel and the Privy Council from Shouchun to Wuhan.

Xu Shu, who is now in charge of the Privy Council, will naturally go to Wuhan, but Grand Commandant Dong Zhao will not have to go. His Majesty orders Grand Commandant Dong Zhao and Minister of Works Chen Qun to return to Luoyang. All the concubines and princes in Shouchun Palace shall also return to Luoyang under the escort of Zhen Xiang's five thousand cavalrymen.

Most of the accompanying items had already been loaded onto the cart. Sun Luban, carrying the third princess Cao Fu, and her sister directed the maids to carry the remaining items.

“Now that we’re leaving the palace, we can travel back with Mother by carriage.” Sun Luyu whispered to her sister, “Since we came to Shouchun, we haven’t left the palace and haven’t seen Mother for almost two months.”

Sun Luban nodded and said, "It should be fine on the way. I will just tell Zhen Boming, the Commander of the Central Guard, when the time comes. He is His Majesty's cousin, so there should be no problem."

“My sister’s words still carry weight,” Sun Luyu said with a smile.

Sun Luban smiled slightly and remained silent.

The convoy slowly left the palace. Zhen Xiang heard from the escorting cavalry that Consort Sun had something to say to him, so he personally rode his horse to the carriage of the Sun sisters, Sun Luban and Sun Luyu, and asked through the carriage:

"I wonder what Consort Sun has summoned me for?"

Sun Luban mentioned that she wanted her mother to come along, but Zhen Xiang dared not agree to it privately. He asked Dong Zhao for permission before inviting Bu Lianshi from the back carriage.

Sun Luban's voice came through the carriage curtain: "Thank you for your trouble, Commander Zhen. Now that we are returning to Luoyang, will you also bring back the Sun clan members captured by your army?"

Zhen Xiang hesitated for a moment, torn between whether or not to speak. After a long silence, he finally said, "So that Consort Zhao may know that the Ministry of Justice has already carried out the execution fifteen days ago... She will probably be unable to return to Luoyang."

"Then... what about Zhongmou?" Bu Lianshi had just sat in the carriage when she heard this and almost collapsed.

Zhen Xiang, of course, knew who Zhongmou was, and gritted his teeth as he bowed, saying, "Without permission, I dare not speak."

"I dare not speak..." The meaning behind this is self-evident.

The three women inside the carriage cried in different ways, one after another, and they cried for an hour without stopping, even missing the departure time.

Everyone in the convoy knew that the three women were crying in the carriage. Consort Mao called Zhen Xiang over and scolded him, saying that he shouldn't have said these things to Consort Sun. Zhen Xiang knew he was in the wrong and could only listen to the scolding. The Central Guard during the Taihe era was different from before. Although they were in the central army, they could also enter the palace for daily duties. They were like eunuchs, similar to the Attendants-in-Ordinary. Consort Mao's scolding was not against the rules.

After Zhen Xiang left, he went to find Dong Zhao. Dong Zhao did not scold him, as such matters of the inner court were insignificant to him. However, a short while later, a knight arrived, holding a note and handing it to Zhen Xiang, saying that it was written by Consort Sun herself.

Dong Zhao reached out and took it, glanced at it a few times, and asked the knight, "Was this made by Consort Sun?"

The knight quickly bowed and said, "Reporting to the Grand Commandant, Consort Sun said that these are lines from a poem written by His Majesty. She has copied them and asked Protector-General Zhen to deliver them to His Majesty."

Dong Zhao shook his head and chuckled. He was old and only found these things amusing.

The note was not concealed, and Zhen Xiang looked down at it; it appeared to contain only three lines of text:

'My first wish is for my beloved to live a thousand years; my second wish is for myself to remain healthy; my third wish is to be like the swallows on the beam, meeting each other year after year.' (End of Chapter)