Tiger Owl

Chapter 53 Introducing you into the house
At the same moment that Zhang Zhao secretly switched Zhang Hong's letter with Zhang Zhao's, Xu Zhen received a message from Sun Quan and arrived at the Wu Marquis's residence.

Xu Zhen was the head of the Xu family of Wu Commandery. His wife was Sun Jian's sister, and Xu Zhen was also Sun Quan's uncle. The Xu family had always fully supported the Sun family, and their relationship was no longer simply that of a maternal relative of the Jiangdong family.

If we compare the Jiangdong regime to a company, the Sun family is the chairman of the board, and the Xu family, like the Wu family, are board members, or even the Xu family has a higher status and can be called the vice chairman.

The Xu family had previously supported Sun Yi, for a simple reason: Xu Wei, their daughter, had been betrothed to Sun Yi since childhood, and they were planning to get married this autumn.

Sun Yi is currently leading an army of 20,000 northwards, and his deputy general is Xu Kun, the son of Xu Zhen. Sun Quan's intention in summoning Xu Zhen at this time is very clear.

Xu Zhen was invited to the back hall and met Sun Quan. He was taken aback to see that Sun Quan did not look sick.

"Why is everyone outside saying that Lord Wu has fallen ill?"

Sun Quan sighed and said, "This nephew is troubled by heart disease. Uncle, please sit down!"

The two sat down, and Xu Zhen slowly said, "It was also beyond my expectations that the third brother led his army north. I will do my best to persuade him not to start a civil war. You two brothers still need to sit down and have a good talk!"

Sun Quan pondered for a moment and said, "I might use a trick on the third brother today. I don't think I can hide it from my cousin. I hope my cousin can remain silent and hand over the army to me afterward!"

Xu Zhen fell silent. He couldn't hastily agree to Sun Quan's request, or rather, he was waiting for Sun Quan to show his sincerity.

Sun Quan then said, "I agree to appoint Xu Kun as the Prefect of Kuaiji and Xu Qiu as the Prefect of Lujiang."

Sun Quan seemed to be very sincere, as Jiangdong only had five counties in total, and he offered the position of governor of two of them to the Xu family.

But Xu Zhen still didn't express his opinion. The position of prefect was one that could be appointed in the morning and dismissed in the afternoon, so it was not very meaningful. That was not what he wanted.

Sun Quan was really having a headache. What exactly did this old man Xu want? Wasn't he satisfied with two governorships?
Xu Zhen then slowly said, "The Xu family doesn't need two prefects; it would cause dissatisfaction among others. But Wei'er is going to marry Yi'er in the fall, and we don't want Wei'er to become a widow!"

Sun Quan quickly laughed and said, "The third brother is my brother, of course I won't kill him. If I kill him, how can I explain it to my mother? I will make him a civil official. I am considering appointing him as the governor of Wu Commandery, so it won't affect the wedding in the autumn."

Xu Zhen smiled and squinted, "Why not make good things come in pairs? Fen'er is a widow at home, and Wu Hou's wife unfortunately passed away last year. I really hope that Wu Hou will remarry Fen'er."

The Xu family has two famous beauties: Xu Wei, Xu Zhen's grandniece, and Xu Fen, Xu Zhen's granddaughter. However, Xu Fen married Lu Shang last year, and only half a year after their marriage, Lu Shang died of illness at the beginning of this year, leaving Xu Fen a widow at the young age of fifteen.

Sun Quan immediately understood that this was Xu Zhen's condition: he wanted to marry Xu Zhen's widowed granddaughter, Xu Fen.

Sun Quan's wife was the daughter of the powerful Xie family in Jiangdong. She unfortunately passed away last year, leaving behind a son. Naturally, Sun Quan had to consider remarrying.

Of Xu Zhen's two granddaughters, Sun Quan preferred Xu Wei, who was intelligent, beautiful, and had a good personality and was quite tolerant. He did not like Xu Fen very much, as Xu Fen had been quite jealous since childhood.

But the 20,000 troops in Xu Kun's hands are too important. I must get them. With these 20,000 troops, I will also gain the support of the Xu family, and my position will be secure.

Thinking of this, Sun Quan finally nodded, "Then it's a deal, I will marry Xu Fen in the autumn!"

Although Xu Zhen's granddaughter was Sun Quan's cousin, such intergenerational marriages were permitted in the Han Dynasty. The most famous example is Emperor Hui of Han, Liu Ying, marrying his own niece as empress.

Upon returning home, Xu Zhen immediately wrote a letter and secretly sent it to his son, Xu Kun.

...........
Sun Yi led an army of 20,000 and more than 500 large ships to a point 30 li south of Wu County. At the urging of his deputy Xu Kun, he agreed not to enter Wu County for the time being and ordered the army to set up camp on the spot.

Sun Yi received a letter from his mother informing him that his elder brother had been assassinated. His mother instructed him to come to Wu County immediately to succeed to the throne. He quickly led his army north, but he was too late, as his second brother, Sun Quan, had already seized the throne.

How could Sun Yi accept this? His eldest brother was dead. The brothers should sit down together and discuss it. In the end, their mother should decide who should inherit the eldest brother's position. Why should the second brother be allowed to take over? He wasn't the eldest son.

Enraged, Sun Yi immediately led his army north.

Sun Yi is only seventeen years old this year. He is tall and strong, with a heroic appearance, and looks very much like his older brother. Anyone who sees Sun Yi for the first time will be attracted by his handsome appearance. But the longer you spend time with him, the more you will discover Sun Yi's devilish side. He is cruel and regards human life as worthless. However, he is very good at hiding this from his mother. He packages his cruelty as a brave image, making his mother believe him without a doubt.

Xu Wei was well aware of Sun Yi's cruelty. Last year, they went to Xuchang together, but halfway there, Sun Yi complained that the boatman's cooking smoke bothered him, so he killed the boatman with a knife. She never paid any attention to Sun Yi again until she met Gan Ning.

At this time, Zhang Hong sent his son Zhang Jing to deliver a secret letter to Sun Yi. The contents of the letter surprised and delighted Sun Yi. Half of the civil officials and 40% of the military generals supported him, especially the lower-level civil officials and military generals.

The reason for supporting him was simple: most people believed that Sun Quan was no match for Sun Ben, and that Sun Ben would eventually seize the title of Marquis of Wu. They believed that only he could defend the land that the Marquis of Wu had conquered.

Sun Yi was very excited. He had always taken his elder brother Sun Ce as his role model and firmly believed that he could conquer the world for his brother.

In his letter, Zhang Hong also mentioned that Sun Quan had not yet obtained the Seal of the Marquis of Wu, and many military generals were observing the situation. The Seal of the Marquis of Wu was now crucial, and Zhang Hong suggested that he go to see his mother that night and obtain the Seal of the Marquis of Wu from her first.

Currently, Duan Qi, the leader of the Wu Palace guards, is one of his men and will not make things difficult for Sun Yi. Zhang Hong asked Sun Yi not to bring too many people; three hundred personal guards would be enough, so as not to alert the enemy.

Sun Yi was overjoyed. With the seal of the Marquis of Wu and his mother's support, he had the legal advantage. As long as the enemy's morale was unstable, his 20,000 troops could still defeat the second-in-command.

He then asked Zhang Jing, "Did your father say anything else?"

Zhang Jing nodded. "My father went to see the old lady today. He wanted to get the Wu King's Seal back and asked me to give it directly to the Third Young Master. However, the old lady insisted on handing it over to the Third Young Master herself, so the Third Young Master must go to the Wu Palace. In addition, Duan Qi, the leader of the Wu Palace guards, has received a great favor from my father, and he will guarantee the young master's safety."

Sun Yi certainly knew that Zhang Hong had saved Duan Qi's family's lives. If Duan Qi was the leader of the Wu Palace guards, then there wouldn't be much of a problem.

The Wu Palace is not located within Wu County, but rather in Mudu, west of the city. The old lady enjoys the scenery there, and currently, there are two thousand guards protecting the Wu Palace, so there is no need to worry about encountering Sun Quan's army.

Zhang Jing took his leave to report back to his father. Sun Yi then gave Xu Kun a few more instructions, telling him to lead the soldiers to guard the camp and that he would return before dawn.

Sun Yi immediately led three hundred personal guards on horseback towards Mudu, west of Wu County.

Just after Sun Yi left, Xu Kun began to assemble his generals. Xu Kun had already received a letter from his father, and he knew that his father had reached an agreement with the Marquis of Wu.

Inside the main tent, Xu Kun captured seven generals loyal to Sun Yi and ordered them executed on the spot. Xu Kun had no way out at this point; once Sun Yi returned, he would definitely not let him go.

He immediately led his army towards Wu County, where Sun Quan was waiting for Xu Kun's arrival in his military camp outside the south city of Wu County.

Sun Yi rushed all the way and arrived at the Wu Palace in the middle of the night. Sure enough, he had a smooth journey and the soldiers guarding the Wu Palace did not stop him and let him pass.

Upon arriving at the side gate of Wu Palace, the old steward was already there, holding a lantern and waiting for him respectfully.

"The old lady is still waiting for the third young master. Please come with me!"

Sun Yi nodded, then turned and instructed his personal guards, "Wait for me here, I'll be back soon!"

Sun Yi followed the old steward into the palace. "How is my mother's health?"

"The old lady is still in good health, but the assassination of Lord Wu has saddened her greatly. You must be careful what you say and not stir up her sadness again."

"I know what I'm doing, and I won't upset my mother!"

Upon reaching a side door of the inner palace, the guards demanded that Sun Yi lay down all his weapons. Without suspicion, Sun Yi handed over his personal sword and dagger to the guards.

The old steward waved his hand: "Third Young Master, please come in! I won't go."

Sun Yi strode into a small door, but as soon as he stepped inside, the door slammed shut behind him.

(End of this chapter)