My Father in Law is Lu Bu

Chapter 745

“Haha! That is a good joke. The Yangzhou Navy came from afar and is tired while our Liaodong Navy is well rested. Besides that, Yangzhou only have three warships. The rest are transport ships. Our Liaodong Navy have hundreds of warships and is led by the famed An Yixuan. How can we lose?” Gongsun Kang laughed. He did not believe the report at all.

The retainer was trembling and crying. “Young Master! This is a military matter! I would not dare to joke around!”

“Who is the Commander of Yangzhou’s navy?” He Ping asked.

“It is Gan Ning Gan Xingba!” The retainer replied.

“Gan Ning Gan Xingba?” He Ping’s eyes widened. He had heard of Gan Ning before. Cao Cao had been praising Gan Ning and hoped that Gan Ning would join his army ever since Gan Ning fought at the Yangtze River. It is because of this knowledge that He Ping took the report seriously. “Your Excellency Zhongshu. This might be real.”

At this moment, another messenger entered. “Report! Young General. The Old General is calling for you to immediately return to Liaodong and discuss An Yixuan’s defeat!”

Gongsun Kang dropped the wine bottle in his hand realizing that the Liaodong Navy had indeed been defeated.

He Ping did not say much. This was Liaodong’s business and he was just an outsider. He could not interfere. After taking his leave, he quickly sent a letter to Cao Cao who was still in Nanpi, telling him about Yangzhou’s arrival and the Gongsun Family’s defeat.

Meanwhile, Gongsun Kang also promptly left for Liaodong despite the late hour. By the time he arrived in Liaodong, it was already completely dark. But even at this late hour, Gongsun Du was still waiting for Gongsun Kang at home.

“Father!” Gongsun Kang called out as he stepped forward. Unexpectedly, Gongsun Du slapped him in response. Gongsun Du was extremely angry. Otherwise, he would not act like this.

“Father! You…!” Gongsun Kang stared at his father with his eyes wide.

“I told you long ago not to be reckless! I told you to buy Yangzhou’s things but you decided to rob them! Now look what happened!” Gongsun Du shouted angrily. Originally, he planned to use the money he had earned from Yangzhou to buy up Yangzhou’s equipment. He was ready to take out a million gold but Gongsun Kang settled the matter with one thousand gold. This was the reason Yang Chen returned with the Yangzhou Navy.

“Father! You cannot blame me alone for this! Didn’t you agree to this in the beginning?” Gongsun Kang was also angry. He was no longer just his father’s eldest son but a Zhongshu Ling. He outranked his father.

Gongsun Du turned silent at this. Yes, he was also guilty. Yang Chen had sent someone to Gongsun Du asking if this was his intention. Gongsun Du pretended to be sick and refused visits. This meant a silent approval for Gongsun Kang’s actions. One million gold was a lot of money. That was why Gongsun Du agreed to his son’s plans. That does not mean that Gongsun Du was willing to admit to his own mistakes.

“Didn’t I tell you to keep Yang Chen here? Why did you let him run away? Do you know who Yang Chen is? He is the son of Yang Hong, one of the King of Shu’s most trusted retainer! If he was still here, would the Yangzhou Navy treat us like this?” Gongsun Du asked his son angrily.

At that time, Gongsun Kang had only just received weapons and armor worth millions of gold from Yang Chen. He was so happy and arrogant that he forgot about Yang Chen until Yang Chen left Liaodong.

“Now our Liaodong Navy has been wiped out! What do you think we should do now?” Gongsun Du asked angrily.

“Father! There is no need to panic. These are just kids from Yangzhou. Even if they beat us at the ocean, they will not beat us on land. We have strong walls while their ships can barely reach the shore. When their troops land, these few thousand men would be like fish in a barrel!” Gongsun Kang said.

“Hmph!” Gongsun Du glared at his son angrily. He may be satisfied with his son in the past but now he was not. This is because Gongsun Kang had become too arrogant. Gongsun Kang was like this just before the Liaodong Navy was wiped out.

“Men! Have Mo Ran and Zhou Hai bring thirty thousand men to the Liaodong Port!” Gongsun Kang ordered.

“Mo Ran? Zhou Hai?” Gongsun Du looked at his son. These thirty thousand troops were Liaodong’s elites. Thousands of them used Yangzhou’s equipment and at least five thousand were elite heavy cavalry. These thirty thousand troops were the one that suppressed Buyeo and Goguryeo, allowing Gongsun Du to become the King of Liaodong.

These troops were currently guarding the borders from Cao Cao’s army but now, Gongsun Kang was sending them to guard Liaodong. If Cao Cao even has the slightest intentions of attacking, the Gongsun Family would be finished.

“No!” Gongsun Du replied immediately. He did not trust Cao Cao and did not like to put his life in the hands of others. If he had troops, he would feel secure. Without troops, he would be at the mercy of others.

“Father! Why are you so rigid?” Gongsun Kang refuted his father’s words. “Even Yuan Shao Yuan Benchu was no match for Prime Minister Cao’s army of three hundred thousand. Do you think your army of thirty thousand can stop Prime Minister Cao? Sooner or later, this world will belong to Prime Minister Cao. If you don’t surrender now, when will you?”

“Surrender! Surrender! All you talk about is surrendering! Once you do, what will happen to Liaodong’s foundation? What will happen to my Gongsun Family?” Gongsun Du roared back. He was not sure if his son was pretending to be stupid or he was actually this stupid. There were many forests and mountains in Liaodong. If Cao Cao really trusted the Gongsun Family, he would not have left his army in Nanpi. In the end, the Gongsun Family would either become idle rich or die from a mysterious illness. At the moment, Cao Cao’s army was still resting and were studying the terrain.

“This insignificant Liaodong is not worth mentioning!” Gongsun Kang said with disdain. “Father. It is time for you to open your eyes. I am now a Zhongshu Ling under Prime Minister Cao! I am already one of the Nine Ministers! It will be the rise of the Gongsun Family once I become a Three Duke! If the Yuan Family can do it, so can the Gongsun Family!” Gongsun Kang said arrogantly.

“Zhongshu Ling? What about your position as Liaoxi’s Governor?” Gongsun Du asked with his eyes wide.

“I already gave up that position. Prime Minister Cao has a different choice.” Gongsun Kang replied.

“You… You…!” Gongsun Du was dumbfounded. He had seen those who cheat their fathers but even then not this much. Imagine two companies. The Gongsun Family was a small but powerful company. The Cao Family’s company want to take over. The eldest company did not simply hand over his company to others at a bargain price.. He paid others to take it from him.

“You rebellious son! I will beat you to death!” Gongsun Du was furious. He worked so hard to build his kingdom but now it was going to be ruined by Gongsun Du.

“Father!” Gongsun Kang cried out in pain as Gongsun Du grabbed a chair and used it to beat up his son. The chair broke into pieces but Gongsun Du refused to stop.

Gongsun Kang was initially afraid because of Gongsun Du’s prestiage but getting hit over and over made him angry. Besides that, he had been brainwashed by Cao Cao for so many days that his father’s prestige had disappeared to him. Why should he be beaten by this old man? He was the Zhongshu Ling and had higher rank than this old man!

Thinking this, Gongsun Kang fought back. To be precise, he simply grabbed the chair and pushed back. This caused Gongsun Du to fall onto the ground full of wooden fragments.

A splash a blood flew up.

“You… You…!” Gongsun Du stared at his son with disbelief. Soon, his arm dropped and his eyes closed.

“Father? Father!” Gongsun Kang panicked and checked his father’s breath. But his father had already stopped breathing.

“Ah!” Gongsun Kang trembled with fear. His father was dead. A piece of sawdust had penetrated his father’s skull. When he pulled it out, white brain matter spilled out.

“Father! Wake up! I didn’t mean to…!” Gongsun Kang muttered.

“What’s going on?” Hearing the noise, Gongsun Du’s guards rushed in from outside. They were shocked by the scene in front of them. One was the future heir of Liaodong in a panic and the other was their current Lord lying in a pool of his own blood.

“Young Master! What is this? Where did the bandits come from? Why is the Lord like this?” The captain of the guards asked. Gongsun Kang was the only other person around. He was

The captain of the guards did not accuse Gongsun Kang for patricide as he knew that Gongsun Kang was the heir. If he arrested Gongsun Kang, he would be arresting his future boss. This was not possible unless he wants to rebel.

“Bandits? Bandits!” Gongsun Kang’s eyes lit up as he nodded. “Yes! There were bandits!” Gongsun Kang could not afford to be known for patricide. He would be doomed otherwise. Take the Yuan brothers as an example. After killing Yuan Xi, the disciples of the Yuan Family who originally had hopes for the Yuan Family now avoid them like the plaque. In the end, the Yuan brothers became like stray dogs.

In ancient times, filial piety was the most important virtue. Gongsun Kang would be doomed once he is accused of patricide. Even Cao Cao would not dare to promote Gongsun Kang as the rest of the world would disapprove.

“What are you all even paid for? How can the enemy be allowed to enter such a huge residence? What is the point of keeping you trash?” Gongsun Kang shouted loudly. The nearby elites all looked back coldly.

The captain of the guards joined in the performance. He walked behind one of his own men and gave an apology before stabbing his subordinate in the back. He even twisted the sword to ensure that his subordinate had no chance of survival.

Once his subordinate is dead, the captain fell to his knees and said. “It is my fault for not being observant enough to discover the intruder. This subordinate asks to be punished by the Lord!”

“Hm.” Gongsun Kang nodded with satisfaction. His guilt and fear over killing his father was gone and was now replaced with the comforting feeling of having power and authority in his hands.

“What is your name?”

“This insignificant one is Wei Kang!” The guard replied.

“Good! Good! Good!” Gongsun Kang replied. “Wei Kang. From today onwards, you will be the leader of my guards with the title of Officer Yanping.

“Officer Yanping?” Wei Kang was happy. Though he worked for Gongsun Du in the past, Gongsun Du was someone clear with rewards and punishment. Those without military merits won’t gain any titles. But how much military merit can one obtain under Gongsun Du? That was why Wei Kang only remained as a minor officer all these years. How can he not feel happy now that he was promoted?

“Thank you Milord! For your sake, I am prepared to go through fire and water!” Wei Kang kowtowed.

“Good!” Gongsun Kang nodded. “For now, do not make my father’s death public. If anyone dares to leak this secret, do not blame me for being merciless!” Gongsun Kang also knew that Gongsun Du’s death had to be kept a secret for now. If people found out that Gongsun Du is dead, there would be chaos. Besides this, many officials were dissatisfied with Gongsun Kang for siding with Cao Cao. Gongsun Kang would have a hard time they found out about Gongsun Du’s death.

“Wei Kang. Go and pass my orders. Have Mo Ran and Zhou Hai take thirty thousand men to Liaodong Port. They must stop the Yangzhou Navy at all costs!”

“Yes Milord!” When one person is promoted, the others would get promoted as well. So all of them except the scapegoat was pleased and gave Gongsun Kang their loyalty.

***

With the Liaodong Navy defeated, the people at the Liaodong Port were in panic. At the same time, Gan Ning was still cruising outside the port.

Yang Chen walked out of the cabin looking depressed.

“How is it? Are those two willing to surrender?” Gan Ning asked. An Yixuan and Dongfang Ming were both talented people. Gan Ning admitted to An Yixuan’s ability as An Yixuan had been fighting at sea his whole life. On the other hand, Yang Chen admired Dongfang Ming’s cunning and bravery for being willing to die with the enemy. Dongfang Ming did all this for his family rather than any form of loyalty towards Gongsun Kang. Yang Chen knew that Liu Mang place a lot of importance in talents. With the way Liu Mang treats talents, Dongfang Ming would sure to be loyal.

This was why Yang Chen tried to persuade these two to surrender and even stopped the attack on Liaodong Port. It was a pity that Yang Chen was completely ignored.

“These two refuse to speak at all.” Yang Chen replied. Dongfang Ming still spoke a bit but An Yixuan was completely silent.

“Hmph! Aren’t they just defeated generals? Why bother? Just kill them!” Liang Chen did not care at all. You admit defeat but refuse to surrender? Shameless.

Yang Chen shook his head. “General Liang Chen. You know that there are five more Monarch-class ships being built and they need people to operate. Dongfang Ming and An Yixuan are both talents. Only by keeping them can our warship show their strength!”

“If we want to use them, they have to become enemies of Liaodong.” Liang Chen casually replied.

“Enemies?” Yang Chen suddenly had an idea.

Yes, the reason An Yixuan refuse to surrender was because of his relationship with Gongsun Kang. On the other hand, Dongfang Ming was afraid that his family would be implicated. But what if An Yixuan and Dongfang Ming’s family were killed by Gongsun Kang? They would definitely become the vanguards attacking Liaodong.

However, there was a risk that both of them would also resent Yang Chen. Yang Chen frowned.

“Haha! Your Excellency! Why are you worrying about this? Liang Chen did not wipe out the entire enemy navy that day!” Gan Ning laughed. Although Liaodong’s navy had been completely destroyed, there were still a few people who escaped and report back. Otherwise, no one would know about the battle taking place.

The only ones that were dealt with by Liang Chen were those who could not escape. Particularly those that participated in Dongfang Ming’s strategy. The ones that escaped believed that Dongfang Ming betrayed An Yixuan to surrender.

As expected, Gongsun Kang was enraged. People hated traitors the most and Gongsun Kang was no different. He immediately ordered Wei Kang to execute Dongfang Ming’s entire family. At the same time, Gongsun Kang also ordered the execution of An Yixuan’s family. This is because An Yixuan had a special identity. An Yixuan was the prince from before Buyeo and Goguryeo split up. Gongsun Kang originally kept An Yixuan so that he would have the pretext to attack Buyeo and Goguryeo. But with An Yixuan dead, it was possible that Buyeo and Goguryeo would unite against him. With An Yixuan no longer useful, Gongsun Kang abandoned him.

Wei Kang was frightened by Gongsun Kang’s orders but as a loyal lackey, he faithfull carried it out.

Not long after, all eighteen people from An Yixuan’s family and all thirty five people from Dongfang Ming’s family were beheaded. This frightened the other Liaodong generals enough that they abandoned any thoughts of surrender. They would not dare to surrender even if they would die in battle.

“Impossible! How could Brother Gongsun do this to me! You must be lying to me!” An Yixuan shouted loudly. He could not believe his ears.

“Brother An. Please accept my condolences.” Yang Chen replied with tears in his eyes as he placated the two prisoners. However, Yang Chen was secretly smiling in his heart. That idiot Gongsun Kang actually pushed these two talents to him.

“No! Brother Gongsun and I are brothers! We burned incense and became sworn brothers! He will not treat me like this! You must be lying!” An Yixuan did not believe it and continued to shout loudly. He and Gongsun Kang were close. If it was not because of Gongsun Kang, he would have died at Goguryeo long ago. Because of this, he believe this to be Yang Chen’s trick.

Dongfang Ming was much calmer as he had seemingly given up. “Lord Yang Chen. Please tell me if you had send someone to tell Gongsun Kang that the both of us have surrendered.” Dongfang Ming asked as he observed Yang Chen carefully.

As expected, Yang Chen was suspected. Fortunately, he did not deliberately give false information. If he did, Dongfang Ming and An Yixuan would definitely become enemies of Yangzhou as well. Yang Chen who was innocent had nothing to fear. On top of that, he had good acting skills so he showed nothing on his face. “If Brother Dongfang finds any evidence that I informed Gongsun Kang, then you are free to take my head!” Yang Chen was innocent so he could look back at Dongfang Ming calmly.

Dongfang Ming stared at Yang Chen and thought to himself for a long time. Finally, he said. “Lord Yang Chen. I surrender.”

Yang Chen smiled. Dongfang Ming had surrendered but An Yixuan was still stubborn.

“Dongfang Ming! Are you crazy? You actually surrender to Yangzhou?” An Yixuan shouted.

“No, I’m not. I, Dongfang Ming, am just an ordinary man. I am not ambitious nor do I have any selfish desire to conquer the world. I am just someone who loves my family. They are my everything. But now, they are gone! Gone! They were killed by Gongsun Kang! I risked my life to die together with the Yangzhou Navy but what did I get? My entire family is executed! All thirty five of them! My seventy year old mother! My few months old child! All of them! I want revenge! Lord Yang Chen simply gave me this opportunity!” Dongfang Ming shouted. He was indeed just an ordinary man with no ambitions. He was ready to sacrifice himself not out of loyalty to Gongsun Kang but because he was afraid that Gongsun Kang would vent his anger on his family. But now that Gongsun Kang had killed Dongfang Ming’s whole family, Dongfang Ming is only left with vengeance.

“I..” An Yixuan was speechless but he refused to give up. “Dongfang Ming! Yang Chen is lying to you! Our family is still alive! I know Brother Gongsun will not do this!”

“Haha! General An! I always thought that you were a smart person who could see things others could not. But now I realized that I was wrong. You are not a smart person. In fact, you are a fool!” Dongfang Ming sneered. This is something they would find out the truth of once they get out of prison so why would Yang Chen lie to them? Yang Chen was persuading them to surrender so that they would be used by Yangzhou. If Yang Chen was lying, then these two would simply cause trouble once they find out the truth. At that time, Yangzhou would lose more than they could gain.

If Yang Chen dares to tell them this now, then it must be true.

An Yixuan was not stupid otherwise he would not have become Dongfang Ming’s superior. He was just in denial. So Dongfang Ming’s words completely silenced him.

“General An. Stop deceiving yourself. Join me. Gongsun Kang killed thirty five people of the Dongfang Family! I want him to pay in blood!” Dongfang Ming’s eyes were red and full of hostility.

“Lord Yang Chen. General Gan Ning wants you to on the deck. He wants to discuss important matters.” Gan Ning’s men shouted to Yang Chen.

“Alright. I will head there right away!” Yang Chen nodded. Something big must have happened if Gan Ning was calling for him. “General Dongfang. Will you come up to the deck with me?”

Dongfang Ming nodded. He had every intention of taking revenge and Yangzhou were the ones who could help him.

“General An Yixuan. What about you?”

“Let me think about it some more.” An Yixuan still could not accept it. Gongsun Kang was just a boss to Dongfang Ming but to An Yixuan, Gongsun Kang was a brother.

“Alright. If you want, you can always let me know.” Yang Chen replied. The place where Dongfang Ming and An Yixuan were detained was an officer’s room. It was a very comfortable place especially in a warship.

When Yang Chen and Dongfang Ming reached the deck, Gan Ning solemnly handed over a telescope to Yang Chen. Yang Chen looked over and saw many small ships at the port. Some merchant ships were also there. Were they planning to sacrifice these small ships because the Liaodong Navy was wiped out?

Yang Chen had no intentions of underestimating the enemy as Gongsun Du was a sly fox. Yang Chen needed to be careful not to get fooled.

Soon they noticed people pouring something out of the small ships and the merchant ships were being sank.

“Are they trying to block the port?” Yang Chen muttered. This tactic would work at the river but would it work at the port? Even if they sank all those ships, the galleons would still be able to pass through.

“They are not trying to stop our transport ships.” Gan Ning said bitterly. Liaodong’s main objective in doing this was stopping the three Monarch-class warships. Once the port is blocked, the three Monarch-class would not be able to get through or risk being stranded.

“There are still people who understand naval warfare.” Yang Chen said.

“Mo Ran Mo Zihui!” Dongfang Ming suddenly said.

“Who?” Yang Chen was surprised. Although he knew about Liaodong, he did not know everything. After all, Gongsun Du would definitely not divulge everything to others.

“Mo Ran Mo Zihui is a general under Gongsun Du. He was the Commander of the navy and oversaw all maritime affairs before General An returned. Once General An came back, Mo Ran was reassigned elsewhere. He is one of Gongsun Du’s most trusted general and commands an elite army of twenty thousand! This person knows naval warfare!”

“Hmph! They think blocking the port will stop us?” Liang Chen sneered. “Our transport ships can get through. We can simply land and destroy them!”

“I think that is what he wants.” Yang Chen interrupted. Mo Ran must want the troops to land so that he could fight the land troops on the shore while the warships can only watch from afar.

“This Mo Ran Mo Zihui may know naval warfare. Unfortunately, he doesn’t know us!” Gan Ning had been paying attention. The blockade was only several hundred meters away from the port. There were nothing else behind. These people were underestimating the range of the cannons.

Soon, a small ship carrying a white flag was sent towards Yangzhou’s warship. The ship was intercepted and a message was given from that ship. “Yangzhou whelps! Your grandfather is already waiting at Liaodong Port. Don’t disappoint your grandfather by being a cowardly grandchild!” This was a clear provocation from Mo Ran.

“Grandchild! Grandchild!” Tens of thousands of Liaodong’s troops roared in unison.

The expression of Yang Chen and the others turned cold from the provocation.

“Since he wants the transport ships, let us give it to him!”