Tiger Owl

Chapter 29 What Can Be Tolerated
At the same moment that Gan Ning captured Wan County, Sun Ce's special envoy Zhu Zhi also arrived in Shu County, bringing with him five large ships full of precious gifts, including thousands of pieces of gold and jewelry, three thousand bolts of silk, and ten thousand bolts of hemp cloth, escorted by five hundred soldiers.

Liu Xun was overjoyed and warmly welcomed Zhu Zhi's arrival.

In the main hall, Liu Xun invited Zhu Zhi to sit down. Zhu Zhi took out a letter written by his lord Sun Ce and presented it to him, saying, "This is a letter written by my lord to Lord Liu. Please take a look."

Liu Xun opened the letter, stroked his beard, and read it carefully. In the letter, Sun Ce exchanged a few pleasantries and then got straight to the point, expressing his willingness to join forces with Liu Sun to eliminate Gan Ning. Afterwards, the people, food, and wealth would all belong to Liu Xun, while Sun Ce would only want the land of Chaisang.

Liu Xun squinted and asked with a smile, "With General Sun's strength, taking Chaisang should be a piece of cake, right? Why did you have to drag me into it?"

Zhu Zhi laughed and said, "The main reason is that we have just formed a marriage alliance with Cao Cao. If we were to eliminate Gan Ning, it would be a loss of face."

Liu Xun was taken aback. "Gan Ning is Cao Cao's man?"

"No, his position as the magistrate of Chaisang was indeed appointed by Cao Cao, but he obtained it in exchange for the Imperial Seal of the State!"

"what!"

Liu Xun's eyes widened suddenly. "The person who stole the imperial seal that night was Gan Ning?"

"Of course, Lord Liu doesn't know?"

Liu Xun was speechless for a long time. He had always thought that Sun Ce had sent someone to steal the Imperial Seal. Although Zheng Bao and Gan Ning had a blood feud over the killing of their son, Liu Xun had not connected Gan Ning with the Imperial Seal.

Liu Xun slapped his forehead heavily. "So this Jin Fan bandit was just driven away by Liu Jingsheng, how come he became the magistrate of Chaisang appointed by the court in the blink of an eye? It turns out he got it by exchanging the imperial seal. Then he has nothing to do with Cao Cao! What is it that General Sun is reluctant to do?"

Zhu Zhi calmly replied, "Although Gan Ning has no connection with Cao Cao, the Second Young Master admires him greatly, so we should actually give the Second Young Master some face."

This was Zhu Zhi's most confident move. Liu Xun and Cao Cao had a deep personal relationship, and Liu Xun was supporting the third son, Cao Zhi.

Zhu Zhi continued, "At the banquet held at Grand Commandant Yang's residence three months ago, Gan Ning served as a bodyguard for the second son, Cao Pi. He severely humiliated the third son, Cao Zhi, at the banquet, which greatly pleased Cao Pi, who then valued him highly."

Liu Xun was somewhat persuaded. If that were the case, killing Gan Ning himself would be a way to vent the anger of the Third Young Master, and this was indeed an opportunity.

However, Liu Xun was still a little worried, fearing that Sun Ce would seize his Lujiang Commandery while he was attacking Chaisang.

He pondered for a moment and said, "How about this? Military Advisor Zhu, wait a couple of days, and I'll think about it."

..........
Liu Xun found Liu Ye and said worriedly, "I really want to agree to Sun Ce's request, but I'm afraid he'll take the opportunity to annex Lujiang County. Do you have any good ideas, sir?"

Liu Ye smiled slightly and said, "Then let's bring in another force as well, so that Sun Ce will be hesitant to attack Lujiang County."

Liu Xun hesitated for a moment before asking, "Sir, are you referring to... Huang Zu?"

Liu Ye nodded. "Have you forgotten the purpose of your alliance?"

"Join forces to deal with Jiangdong!"

Last year, after Sun Ce occupied Nanchang County in Yuzhang Commandery, Liu Xun allied with Huang Zu, who was also in a tense situation, to jointly deal with Sun Ce's eastward expansion.

“Sun Ce has been hesitant to attack Lujiang Commandery because he is wary of the alliance between you and Huang Zu. Your alliance makes him hesitant to act rashly. So, Sun Ce has to think twice before bringing Huang Zu into this matter.”

Liu Xun nodded slightly, "That's a good idea, but what if Huang Zu refuses to send troops?"

"My lord, there's no need to worry. His subordinate Hu Xian was killed by Gan Ning, so Huang Zu will let it go easily."

Liu Ye's reminder made Liu Xun hesitate. He realized that the situation had become complicated. If Huang Zu also sent troops, given Huang Zu's greed, he would definitely take everything. He was afraid that if he sent troops and effort, he would end up with nothing.

At this moment, Liu Xun was again somewhat reluctant to let Huang Zu participate.

"Sir, is there any other way?"

Liu Ye was waiting for him! He knew that Liu Sun would never let Huang Zu join him in attacking Chaisang. Huang Zu was too greedy and would make him lose more than he gained.

Liu Ye smiled slightly and said, "Another way is for you to send half of your troops and leave the other half to guard Lujiang. This will also make the Jiangdong army wary."

Liu Xun never considered whether sending only half of his troops would be enough to subdue Gan Ning.
In his view, Gan Ning was nothing more than a river pirate who had recently made a fortune, and he could easily wipe him out.

Liu Xun nodded slightly. This was a good idea. He would lead half of the troops and leave the other half to guard Shuxian. If Sun Ce attacked Lujiang, he could easily get back. There was no need to let Huang Zu get a share of the spoils.

Just then, a soldier came to report, "Reporting to the magistrate, there is an urgent military situation in Wan County!"

Liu Xun took the urgent report from Liu Song and opened it. It contained only one sentence: "Gan Ning led his army to capture Wan County yesterday and looted it completely." Liu Xun's face instantly turned red, and he was filled with rage.

Gan Ning burned Zongyang, cheated him out of his military supplies, plundered Juchao County, and now he's even plundered Wan County. It's like he's shitting on Liu Xun's head. This is intolerable! Liu Xun clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, saying, "Pass on my order to prepare to send troops to Chaisang!"

At this moment, Liu Xun no longer hesitated; he made up his mind.

..........
In a private room on the second floor of Qingfeng Restaurant in Shuxian County, a dark-skinned, thin, middle-aged scholar was leisurely drinking alone.

If Gan Ning were to meet this scholar, he would be greatly surprised, for this man is none other than Jia Xu.

At this moment, the door opened, and Liu Ye brought in two generals, who were none other than Yuan Shu's trusted generals from back then, Chen Lan and Lei Bo.

The two men occupied Qian Mountain as bandits, plundering Yuan Shu's grain and supplies, but eventually they could not hold out any longer and led their troops down the mountain to surrender to Liu Xun.

They already had a good relationship with Liu Xun, and after they solemnly expressed their loyalty, Liu Xun believed them and gave them important positions, appointing them as Generals of the Household, each commanding five thousand men.

Now that the situation has changed dramatically and it seems that Liu Xun will not be able to hold Lujiang, the two naturally have their own ideas. They had previously sent a letter to Cao Cao to express their loyalty.

"Greetings, Military Advisor Jia!"

Jia Xu smiled and invited the two men to sit down, saying, "Lord Cao has long wanted to recruit you two generals, but has never had the opportunity. That's why he specially ordered me to go south and invite you two generals to come north to Xuchang. I believe you two generals will have a better future. Lord Cao has already agreed to enfeoff you as Marquises within the Passes."

Chen Lan and Lei Bo were overjoyed and declared together, "We are both willing to serve Lord Cao with utmost loyalty. If there is anything we can do to help, please feel free to give us your orders, Military Advisor!"

Jia Xu nodded, then slowly said, "There is something that requires the assistance of the two generals. Chaisang is actually a pawn that Cao Cao has planted in Jiangdong..."

At this moment, a burly and imposing general walked in and whispered a few words to Jia Xu. Jia Xu smiled and nodded, then introduced the two of them, saying, "Let me introduce you. This is General Yu Jin, a general under Cao Cao!"

...........
The next morning, Liu Xun set off with 12,000 troops, led by generals Chen Lan and Lei Bo. The army consisted of a thousand warships of various sizes, 300,000 shi of grain, 100,000 guan of copper coins, and countless other supplies. Because he was worried about Sun Ce, he simply brought all his belongings with him.

At the same time, Liu Xun left his brother Liu Xun with 10,000 troops to guard Shu County.

On the dock, Liu Ye watched Liu Xun's fleet sail away. He took out a letter and handed it to his confidant, whispering, "Take two men and sail a fast boat to Chaisang. Deliver this letter to Lu Su."

Liu Ye returned to his residence and said to his wife, "Pack your things immediately, we're leaving Shuxian for Xuchang!"

The wife hurriedly packed her luggage with the maid.

Liu Ye then went to the guest room, where Jia Xu greeted him with a smile, asking, "Has the message been delivered to Gan Ning?"

Liu Ye nodded and smiled, "I've sent someone to deliver it. With Cao Cao's help this time, Gan Ning won't be defeated."

Jia Xu pondered for a moment and said, "Yu Jin has discovered that Sun Ce has already ambushed five hundred soldiers in the city. It is estimated that Sun Ce will make his move tonight. Brother Liu, you must leave Shuxian and go to Xuchang now."

Liu Ye was taken aback. "Isn't Master Jia coming with me?"

Jia Xu nodded. "I have another matter that Cao Cao asked me to do. I need to go to Chaisang."

Cao Cao gave Jia Xu four tasks: first, to persuade Liu Ye to go to Xuchang; second, to assist Gan Ning; and third, to bring Yuan Shu's family back to Xuchang.

In particular, Yuan Shu's wife was the daughter of Feng Fang, and she was exceptionally beautiful. Although she was over thirty, she still retained her charm, and Cao Cao, who had a penchant for unique collections, had long admired her.

Jia Xu had a fourth important mission on his southward journey: to meet Sun Ben.

.........

At the same time, Zhu Zhi also took his leave. Liu Xun's mind was entirely focused on Chaisang, and he did not notice at all that Zhu Zhi had brought five hundred escort soldiers with him when he arrived.

When Zhu Zhi left, the five hundred soldiers had vanished. Apart from Jia Xu, who noticed something amiss, no one else paid any attention to the matter.

Five hundred soldiers hid in the Zhou residence in Shuxian the night before, under the command of Zhou Yu, who was disguised as a soldier.

At this time, on the south bank of the Yangtze River, Sun Ce personally led 30,000 troops and thousands of small boats, who had been waiting for a long time. At this time, the northwest wind was blowing, and the large ships could not cross the river. They could only use small boats to row across the river.

At this moment, a persuader arrived in Chaisang, much to Gan Ning's surprise.

(End of this chapter)