My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 697

Sun Quan's movements was not completely restricted but he was still detained in the government office.

“Zhongmou. I trust you have been well.” Lu Su who had finally settled everything else in Huiji finally came to see his friend.

“Lu Su Lu Zijing?” Sun Quan looked at Lu Su's scarred face and recognize him in a single glance.

“Zhongmou. Do you still remember the time we first met at Huiji? At that time, we drank happily together. It is truly a shame it has come to this.” Lu Su sighed. Sun Quan was the Prefect of Huiji at the time while Lu Su became Sun Quan's subordinate.

“No need to be hypocritical you traitor. Kill me, hang me! Do as you see fit!” Sun Quan completely ignored Lu Su's good intentions and even accused him of being a traitor since Lu Su used to be his subordinate and an official of Jiangdong.

“My brother is a traitor? Sun Quan! Do not be so shameless. My brother may be polite to you but I will not!” Yang Chen rudely said.

“Not a traitor? Haha! This coward surrendered after being captured by Yangzhou twice! What else would you call him?” Sun Quan snorted.

“Sun Quan! Since you do not want face, I will tear it apart for you! You called my brother a traitor but tell me what did you do after being captured?”

“I resisted to the end!” Sun Quan replied.

“You resisted to the end? Haha, I don't think so. In order to survive, you betrayed my brother. In order to live, you pushed all the responsibility onto my brother. And you call this resisting to the end? What a joke!” Yang Chen knew what Sun Quan did to survive when he was captured.

“I did that to keep myself alive!” Sun Quan argued.

“Haha! That's right! That Zhang Zhao also had the same idea as you which is why you are abandoned. How does it feel to be abandoned?” Yang Chen poured salt over Sun Quan's wounds.

“That Zhang Zhao! I must kill him!” Sun Quan's eyes turned red when he remembered that Zhang Zhao sold him out. He then remembered that he did the same thing to Lu Su. He suddenly became silent and squeezed out an apology. “I… I'm sorry.”

“Forget it. It is all in the past. There is no need to think too much about it.” Lu Su shook his head. The most hurtful thing in this world was being betrayed by someone close to you.

“Yang Chen. Send the Second Lord to take a bath and change his clothes. Tomorrow, we will be going to Shouchun.” Lu Su said to Yang Chen.

“Yes, brother!” Yang Chen nodded and pulled Sun Quan away without giving him any courtesy.

Lu Su could not help but sigh while lookin at Sun Quan's departing figure. It was difficult to find such a good friend. Unfortunately, Lu Su was fated to walk different paths from his friend.

“Marquis Wu. Are you not going to see him?” Lu Su furrowed his brows and asked the man hiding behind the wall.

Sun Ce who heard this knew that he was discovered and walked out.

“What difference would it make? I, the elder brother, raised him up. More than half of why Sun Quan turned out like this is my fault.” Sun Ce shook his head. Of course, he too wanted to see Sun Quan. If he had hated Sun Quan, he would not even be here. The troops here would also have been Yangzhou's elite New Army. At that time, Sun Quan would definitely die.

“I am sure the Second Lord knows Marquis Wu's kind intentions.” Lu Su sighed. One was Sun Quan's friend and the other was both Sun Quan's father and brother but now they are no longer on good terms with Sun Quan. This showed how much of a failure Sun Quan was as a person.

Liu Mang then left Bu Lu as the person temporarily in charge of Jiangdong. Jiangdong would also be defended by the New Army. Meanwhile, Lu Su and Sun Ce would take Sun Quan back to Shouchun.

***

“Everyone. Is there anything important going on these days?”

Back in Shouchun, Liu Mang was attending a meeting with his ministers. He looked at the officials and could not help but feel proud. Xu Shu, Zhuge Liang, Lu Su, Zhuge Jin, Yang Hong, Li Yan, Huang Zhong. All of them were famous figures in history and now, they were all his ministers.

“Milord, I have a report.” Xu Shu, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the head of all of Yangzhou's civil and military officials stepped forward.

“Yuanzhi, please speak.”

“Milord. The battle at Jiangdong has ended and Huiji has fallen. Zhang Zhao, Sun Quan and the others fled in a hurry. Except for Zhang Zhao, Sun Quan and the others have been detained and returned to Shouchun. The meritorious officials who pacified Jiangdong, Marquis Wu Sun Ce, Officer Lu Meng and Officer Ling Cao have also returned to Yangzhou.” Xu Shu said to Liu Mang. ȑ𝐚ꞐỐʙÊṥ

“Oh? Jiangdong have been pacified? Huiji has fallen?” Liu Mang's eyes flashed with joy.

“That's right. Summon Marquis Wu and the others.”

“Marquis Wu, step forward!”

With Xu Shu's command, a group of civil and military officials entered the hall. Leading them was the heroic figure of the Little Conqueror, Sun Ce. Right behind him were Lu Meng and Ling Cao, standing like door gods.

“Marquis Wu Sun Ce, Officer Lu Meng, Officer Ling Cao greets Your Highness.” Sun Ce, Lu Meng and Ling Cao knelt down.

“Marquis Wu, please stand up quickly. You are my older brother-in-law. I should be the one greeting you when you return.” Liu Mang said to Sun Ce with a smile.

“This Sun Ce does not dare. I am a guilty minister who was deceived by villains and did not know Your Highness' brilliance. Now that I am enlightened, I will serve Your Highness till my last breath.” Sun Ce did not dare to even raise his head.

“As the saying goes, the prodigal son who returns home is worth more than gold. As long you, Bofu, mend your ways, I will not pursue the past.” Liu Mang waved. These two brother-in-laws used to think about killing each other all day long in the past. Now that one has conquered the other, it can be regarded as a family reunion.

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Sun Ce knew that it would be shameless if he doesn't get up now. Liu Mang's words was also not directed to Sun Ce alone but to the rest of the Jiangdong's generals. Liu Mang also personally helped Sun Ce up to prove that he would not do anything to them or even discriminate them with Yangzhou's officials.

“The two of you must be General Lu Meng and General Ling Cao.” Liu Mang turned to them with a smile. How could he not recognize the two when they had been drinking in Wan. Even if Liu Mang was not familiar with them, he had still seen them before.

“Lu Meng and Ling Cao greets Your Highness.” Lu Meng and Ling Cao was about to kneel again.

“Stand up. Stand up and talk.” Liu Mang quickly pulled them to stop them from kneeling. Lu Meng and Ling Cao looked at Sun Ce for instructions. They only got back up after Sun Ce nodded.

“Lu Meng is a talented man.” Liu Mang nodded. “Amongst the people of Jiangdong who knows how to lead the troops, knows the art of war, and knows how to fight. You are Gongjin are the only ones amongst your age group.”

“Your Highness speaks too highly of me.” Lu Meng tried to be modest.

“You are even modest! Did you know that when I first saw you at Wan, I already saw that you are someone with ability. But at that time, you were not yet reputable. Whether you would truly become a talented individual or someone with wasted talents had yet to be proven. But now, you proved yourself to be a talent.” Liu Mang did not hestitate to praise Lu Meng. “After all, the two of us are somewhat related. We may have been from the same clan five hundred years ago.”

Everyone was shocked but then they understood that Liu Mang's father-in-law was Lu Bu. Both Lu Bu and Lu Meng were surnamed Lu. This meant that they could have been distantly related.

However, this claim of kinship was too far fetched. After all, one was from the North and the other was from the South. Also, if a lower ranked person said this to a higher ranked person, then it would be flattery. On the other hand, if someone of higher rank said this to a lower ranked person, then it would be an appreciation of the lower rank. The civil and military officials of Yangzhou all looked at Lu Meng with envy for being lucky enough to obtain Liu Mang's favor so easily.

“Of course! My brother is…” Ling Cao wanted to stand and praise Lu Meng some more but Lu Meng quickly kicked Ling Cao to shut him up.

“Then this must be General Ling Cao.” Liu Mang also smiled at Ling Cao. “The title of Little Marquis Wu is well deserved.” This title did not meant that Ling Cao was relatives with Sun Ce. Ling Cao was called this because he was as daring and fearless as Sun Ce even if he wasn't as strong.

“Huiji has fallen. Bring those who brought chaos forward.” Liu Mang sat back in the main seat after praising Sun Ce. Next on the list were the war criminals.

“Bring in the prisoners!”

“Get in quickly!” A group of guards walked into the hall leading several men tied in iron chains.

“Milord. The prisoners have been brought here.” The guard clasped his fists. Liu Mang then dismissed them.

“Milord. The one in front is Sun Quan. Marquis Wu's younger brother and the Second Lord of Jiangdong.” Xu Shu introduced.

Sun Quan had been imprisoned in Yangzhou before but Liu Mang had also never seen him before. Purple hair, blue eyes, cool and handsome. Liu Mang felt a bit jealous.

Liu Mang then saw Sun Quan look at him. No, he noticed that Sun Quan was looking at the seat he was sitting on with greed.

How interesting. Even at this moment, Sun Quan was still ambitious.

“Kneel!” The guard kicked Sun Quan's knee to force him to kneel.

“The second one is the Zuo Family's Patriarch and Huiji's Prefect, Zuo Li.” Zuo Li was an old man. He never expect himself to wear prisoner's clothes. He could not help but sigh and kneel down. He was completely betrayed by his own son. If it was not because of Zuo Jie, Huiji would not have fallen so easily.

“The third one is Zuo Jie, the eldest son of the Zuo Family.” Xu Shu introduced again.

“Please spare me Your Highness! This is all their fault! They are the one who told me to stop the King's army! Spare me Your Highness!” Zuo Jie quickly kowtowed and begged for mercy.

“Next is Hao Liu, the Patriarch of the Hao Family.” Hao Liu also knelt down. There was also the Patriarch of the Cheng Family but unfortunately, that guy was already killed and dismembered by bandits. These bandits were found by the Yangzhou Army and ran to the mountains. They believed that even if Liu Mang came in person, Yangzhou would not be able to deal with their stronghold on the mountains. They did not expect that Liu Mang would have so many Baiyue soldiers under his command. They were even more professional than the bandits when it came to mountaineering. Soon, the stronghold was breached, the place looted, and the bandits were all killed. This can be regarded as revenge for the Cheng Family.

“These four have committed many evils and caused chaos in Jiangdong. Because of them, the common people are unable to live in peace. According to the law, they should all be executed.” Zhuge Liang, the Minister of Justice stood up as he was the one in charge of punishing criminals.

Before Zhuge Liang could even finish speaking, Liu Mang had already whispered to a guard beside him. The guard soon returned with a long sword in his hand. Liu Mang drew the long sword. It's blade glinted coldly.

Liu Mang then walked down step by step towards these criminals.

“Don't kill me, don't kill me.” Zuo Jie was so scared he almost urinated. Hao Liu was also begging for mercy. On the other hand, Zuo Li felt resigned and closed his eyes. Anyone would give up if they had such a son.

Liu Mang slowly went towards Sun Quan and Sun Quan panicked. “You! What are you doing?”

“Milord. Please don't kill anyone in the hall. If you need to, drag them out before killing them.” Xu Shu thought that Liu Mang was already going to kill someone.

“Milord. I beg of you to spare Zhongmou's life. He is just a child. The fault lies with me! If I had surrendered to you earlier, this would not have happened!” Sun Ce knelt down. If Sun Ce had surrendered at the beginning instead of lie to Lu Su, none of this would have happened. Even if Zhang Zhao wanted to cause trouble, the troops from Yangzhou and Jiangdong would be able to quickly supress him. It was because Sun Ce wanted to plot against Yangzhou that the defenses of the prison was weak, allowing Zhang Zhao to succeed.

“Sun Ce! There is no need to be so hypocritical. Let Liu Mang kill me if he wants to! After all, I am already defeated. The defeated should die!” Sun Quan shouted back at Sun Ce.

“Sun Ce. Do you want to save such a brother?” Liu Mang asked calmly.

“Although Zhongmou is naughty, he is still my brother. If you want to punish someone, please punish me!” Sun Ce was heartbroken but he still knelt down and begged Liu Mang.

“Milord. Please let Sun Quan go.” Lu Meng and Ling Cao looked at each other and knelt down. Ling Cao secretly wanted Liu Mang to kill Sun Quan as Sun Quan's rebellion was one of the reasons Sun Ce ended up surrendering to Yangzhou.

“Milord, please show mercy.” The others from Jiangdong also knelt down. After all, Sun Quan was the little brother of their previous liege.

However, Liu Mang still swung his sword down.

“Aaah!” Sun Quan screamed with his eyes closed the moment Liu Mang swung his sword down.

He screamed for a while before realizing he did not feel any pain. Was he killed so cleanly?

When he opened his eyes, he realized that he was not killed by Liu Mang. Instead, Liu Mang cut Sun Quan's chains with his sword.

“How pitiful are the heart of parents all over the world. And this elder brother is also acting as the father. Sun Ce, today I will give you face and not kill Sun Quan. Sun Quan, let me remind you that this life is given to you by your brother!” Liu Mang said coldly to Sun Quan.

History's evaluation of Sun Quan was that he had the ability to accomplish great things but lacked relatives. He was the Great Emperor of Wu. However, Liu Mang felt disdain for Sun Quan as Sun Quan was unfaithful to his own relatives. What was the point of such a person living?

Now, Sun Quan no longer sneered at Sun Ce because it was the first time he had been so close to death.

“Sun Quan. You can escape the death penalty but you cannot escape punishment for your crimes.” Although Liu Mang did not kill Sun Quan, he cannot spare Sun Quan from punishment entirely. If he were to do so, he would also have to spare every rebel in the future.

“Sun Quan, you have ignored the teachings of Confucius. You have plunged Jiangdong into chaos. This showed disloyalty. You took away your brother's foundation and made him heartbroken. This is unfilial. It would be a disgrace to Yangzhou if I left you here. I will write a letter to the Han Emperor to have you enter the Holy Courtyard to listen to the teachings of Confucius and also accompany His Majesty.

The Holy Courtyard was the place the Han Emperor studies. There were no such thing as college during the Han Dynasty so not many can actually accompany the Emperor to his studies. Liu Mang was saying that Sun Quan is to be exiled to Xudou to accompany the Emperor.

In other words, Liu Mang does not want to see Sun Quan at all. Sun Quan was welcome to die somewhere far away.

“Go to Xudou?” Sun Quan was shocked. “I refuse to go! I refuse to go!” Sun Quan was also not a fool. Going there normally was one thing. But getting recommended there by Liu Mang of all people is a different story. Cao Cao already had restraining fear of Liu Mang. If Liu Mang sent someone to the Han Emperor like this, even an idiot would be able to tell that Liu Mang had no good intentions. Because of that, Sun Quan's treatment would also be horrible.

“Sun Ce. I will leave it at this. If he does not go to Xudou, he can join Zuo Li and the others!” Liu Mang said to Sun Ce.

“Men! Zuo Li, Zuo Jie and Hao Liu helped villains to cause chaos in the Han Dynasty. They are guilty of serious crimes. I order all one hundred and thirty eight people from the Zuo Family and all seventy two people from the Hao Family to be killed. Their heads will be hung on the walls of Huiji to serve as a warning to others!” Liu Mang shouted.

“Don't kill me! Spare my life!”

“Drag them out!” The remaining three were dragged out by the guards. There were no rulers who were willing to deal with rebellion. Even the death penalty exemption certificate states that they would excuse anything aside from rebellion. In other words, not even the promise of exemption from the death penalty can save you if you rebel.

Sun Quan was not stupid. He knew that Liu Mang was giving face to Sun Ce and Sun Shangxiang. Liu Mang also wanted to make the others from Jiangdong submit. That were the only reasons Liu Mang did not kill Sun Quan. However, this does not mean that Liu Mang would spare the others such as the Zuo Family and the Hao Family. Even the Cheng Family was not spared. Their patriarch may have already died but the rest of the Cheng Family were also wiped out.

Some people would say that it is cruel. But they would not be able to say anything when they learn that the common people ended up being sacrificed for the sake of these ambitious people.

Hundreds and thousands of the common people died in Huiji because of this war. Killing these families were considered a light punishment.

Sun Quan initially wanted to argue and continue refusing to go to Xudou. But after seeing Liu Mang's treatment to the other criminals he became dumbfounded. Did you really think that Sun Quan was someone unafraid of death?

Even if he does not value his family, he still valued his own life.

“This subject accepts the order.” Sun Ce cupped his fists at Liu Mang. Although Sun Ce knew that unless Liu Mang or Cao Cao unifies the land, he would never see Sun Quan again, it was still better than Sun Quan being dead.

“Take Sun Quan away.” Liu Mang waved his hand. Now, Sun Quan had to leave even if he didn't want to. There was no way Liu Mang would keep such a bomb by his side.

Sun Quan was a traitor and the Han Emperor Liu Xie was also not someone easy to deal with. If he was easy to deal with, Cao Cao would have managed to become an Emperor in his life. Liu Bei's disgracefulness was one thing but Liu Xie was still Emperor. Liu Xie's sharp wits was also one of the reasons Dong Zhuo disposed of Liu Xie's brother and made Liu Xie the Emperor. The land would have been peaceful if Liu Xie had been older.

More importantly, the Han Emperor also has another companion, Cao Pi. Putting these three power hungry people together would be entertaining.

Liu Mang then looked down and suddenly shouted. “Marquis Wu Sun Ce. Step forward.”

“This subject is present.” Sun Ce who watched his brother get taken away quickly knelt back down.

“Marquis Wu Sun Ce is a talented general who quelled the rebellion at Jiangdong. From today onwards, Marquis Wu Sun Ce will be General Pinglu. You will command three divisions of Yangzhou's New Army with a total of thirty thousand men to protect the peace in Xinye.” Liu Mang said to Sun Ce.

“Sun Ce accepts the order.” Sun Ce nodded and cupped his fist.

General Pinglu was just a miscellaneous general title but it was also the highest military title that Liu Mang could confer. On top of that, Sun Ce was even given thirty thousand men and was stationed at Xinye. This was the closest place to Jingzhou that is under Liu Mang's control. Remember that Liu Biao killed Sun Ce's father and was Sun Ce's mortal enemy.

Putting Sun Ce at Xin Ye would be a good motivator for Sun Ce to work for Liu Mang's sake. Another advantage is that it can also prevent Sun Ce from rebelling. If Sun Ce were to rebel, he would be pincered between Liu Biao and Liu Mang.

“General Lu Meng and General Ling Cao! Step forward!” Liu Mang continued.

“This general is present.”

“The two of you have made great contributions in quelling the rebellion in Jiangdong. Lu Meng will be made a deputy general and will lead a division of troops at Linhuai. You will obey the command of Chen Deng, the Prefect of Xuzhou. You must depart within ten days.” Liu Mang sent Lu Meng to Xuzhou to serve as Chen Deng's deputy general. This is because Chen Deng was struggling to handle things alone and had been asking for help. Lu Meng can lead the troops while Chen Deng can be responsible for coordinating the other affairs at Xuzhou.

“General Ling Cao will also go to Xuzhou alongside General Lu Meng.” Lu Meng and Ling Cao were both sent elsewhere. These two were Sun Ce's arms. As expected, Sun Ce seemed gloomy when the two were being given orders.

“Where is Jiangdong's Grand Commander Zhou Yu?” Liu Mang continued.

“Milord. The Grand Commander cannot be present due to illness. He told me to replace him.” Huang Gai stepped forward. He had already joined Yangzhou's Ministry of War. This military department is handles the logistics and strategic planning for the entire army. As a staff officer, Huang Gai has no real decision making power but he is still capable of making suggestions. This allowed Huang Gai to keep working. Huang Gai liked this position because at he was too old to go onto the battlefield. However, he also did not like to be away from the battlefield. This position as a staff officer was just right.

It can keep him busy as long as there is war. Huang Gai and the others can make plans such as where to place ambushes and such.

Besides that, Huang Gai was also made into a military teacher at Yangzhou's military academy. Liu Mang asked these veterans to go and use their experience to teach the other officers.

Liu Mang's Urban Army have already been disbanded and turned into a training camp. All the ones that come out from the Urban Army all go to the New Army.

“General Gongfu.” Liu Mang nodded. “Grand Commander Zhou Yu is intelligent and a great talent. The Grand Commander Zhouyu will be granted the title Marquis Yue and General Dangkou. He will work alongside General Lu at Xinye to keep the peace.”

“What?” Sun Ce was shocked. All of these titles were not the issue. Sun Ce was shocked because Zhou Yu was being handed back to him. In other words, Sun Ce was allowed to cooperate with Zhou Yu again.

Sun Ce and Zhou Yu had only just surrendered. Normally, they should be seperated as one was Jiangdong's Lord and the other was Jiangdong's brain. Putting the two together might give Sun Ce ideas to rebel.

Even Huang Gai was also shocked. He expected that Zhou Yu would be placed at Xuzhou to fight against Cao Cao. He did not expect Zhou Yu to be given back to Sun Ce.

“What's wrong? General Gongfu, did you not hear me? Should I repeat myself?” Liu Mang asked with a smile.

“No! No! The Lord is wise!” Huang Gai quickly replied. He was happy for Sun Ce to be able to work together with Zhou Yu again.

“No Milord! You must not do this!” Unexpectedly, Sun Ce himself objected.

“Oh? Why not?” Liu Mang laughed.

“Milord. Me and Gongjin are surrendered generals. We were lucky enough to receive your favor and can still work as officials. We do not wish to inconvenience you. You should dispatch Gongjin elsewhere!” Sun Ce cupped his fist at Liu Mang. He was saying that not being killed was already a big enough favor. To let this vassal and his number one strategist stay together was just asking people to gossip.

“Haha. Bofu. Do you remember what I said?” Liu Mang asked with a smile.

“Milord. Please explain.”

“I said before that I will not doubt people when I employ them. At the same time, I will not employ someone if I doubt them. Since I have already employed the two of you, I will make the best use of you. The two of you are familiar with each other. If I let seperate the two of you, the two of you would not be able to work as well. This will be disadvantageous to the army. Besides that, who else can understand Jingzhou better than the two of you?”

“But…!” Sun Ce frowned and wanted to argue.

“No buts. Are you asking what if you rebel?” Liu Mang looked at Sun Ce calmly but this gaze made Sun Ce feel cold. “I can defeat you once, I can certainly defeat you again. But I will not give you a second chance. If you rebel, your Sun Family can join the Cheng, Hao and Zuo Family. Do you understand?” Liu Mang looked at Sun Ce with a smile. Sun Ce did not dare to look back.

Sun Ce lowered his head. “Thank you for your trust Milord. I will do my best so that Milord can leave your worries behind!”

“Needless to say, I will tell you the same thing I told Zhou Yu. If you capture a city, I will make you a magistrate. If you capture a region, I will make you a Prefect. If you capture the entire land, I will make you King.” Liu Mang said to Sun Ce.

Sun Ce lowered his head. If he were to become King, it was clear that Liu Mang would be Emperor.

“Your Highness is wise!” The shouts rose in the hall.