"My lord!" Ling Tong ran out crying again and knelt on the ground: "This is my fault, please punish me, my lord."
Sun Quan rebuked him, "General Gan shot your father to death. We were each serving our own master and had to do our best. Now that we are here to help, we are allies. How can we seek revenge?"
Ling Tong bowed his head to the ground and begged for mercy: "My father's hatred is irreconcilable. I was impulsive just now and caused great trouble to my lord. I deserve death!"
Sun Quan sighed and said, "Since you know you made a mistake, you should apologize to General Liu!"
After all, Ling Cao was a meritorious service member of the Sun family, and Ling Tong had saved his life. He was young and promising, so Sun Quan was reluctant to punish him.
Zhuge Jin hurriedly said, "My Lord, you are right. Everyone makes mistakes, but it is good to correct them! General Liu is a generous man, and he will not hold it against you."
Ling Tong stood up and bowed deeply to Liu Qi: "I was reckless, please forgive me, General."
Liu Qi stepped back with his hands behind his back and let Gan Ning go in front: "You should apologize to General Gan. If he can forgive you, I have nothing to say."
"Ah?!" Ling Tong's whole body stiffened. He raised his head and glared at Gan Ning, his teeth grinding.
Liu Qi sneered and said, "When your father attacked Jiangxia, I don't know how many soldiers he killed. May I ask how you are going to avenge those people?"
"This..." Ling Tong clenched his fists, sweat pouring down his forehead.
When Sun Quan heard about the Jiangxia incident, he stepped forward and said, "Today is the time for us to unite and fight against Cao Cao. The old grudges are written off. Gongji, for my sake, you apologize to General Gan. How about that?"
Ling Tong's chest heaved. Both family feuds and national affairs were on his shoulders alone, and he was full of contradictions.
At this moment, Gan Ning stepped forward, clasped his fists and said, "Although we each served our respective masters, it is understandable that the young general was impulsive! Gan Ning respects men who hate evil the most, so let's just bypass him for a while!"
Gan Ning was also a man who knew the big picture. Seeing that things were about to get out of hand because of him, he took the initiative to step forward to resolve the situation, thus saving face for both parties and restoring his own dignity.
Liu Qi smiled and said, "Since Xingba is no longer pursuing the matter, let's forget about it. The most important thing is to unite to fight against Cao!"
Sun Quan also breathed a sigh of relief and clasped his fists, saying, "Bo Wei, please!"
The two returned to the mansion for a feast. Ling Tong stared at Gan Ning's back for a long time before he followed him.
"Mr. Zhuge, please!" Xu Shu called over the dazed Zhuge Jin.
Zhuge Jin wiped the sweat off his forehead and said thankfully, "Fortunately, I didn't bring the Jiangxia soldiers with me, otherwise this place would have been a river of blood!"
Everyone sat down again. Liu Qi winked at Gan Ning, who poured wine to Ling Tong and said:
"After all, I was the one who made the mistake first. A real man should distinguish between gratitude and resentment. Although I cannot say that this glass of wine can resolve the grudge between you and me, it is a sincere way to comfort your father's spirit in heaven!"
After saying this, he poured the wine on the ground, and then poured another cup and said, "Young General, can you let go of your worries?"
Ling Tong's face turned pale. Under the gazes of everyone, he finally pursed his lips, picked up the wine glass, raised his head tremblingly, drank it all in one gulp, and coughed continuously.
Gan Ning sighed inwardly, knowing that he was forced into this situation, so he drank some wine and returned to his original position.
Liu Qi said with emotion: "If it weren't for the treacherous party seizing power and the collapse of the government, how could we have so many grudges? The culprits of all this are Cao thieves and their ilk. It is our duty to fight against them and eliminate violence."
Sun Quan also said: "My father and brothers were killed in the war. I have put aside my personal grudges and raised an army to fight against the usurper. You must remember this."
Everyone nodded. After all, the two families had already agreed to an alliance and a marriage, and now Liu Qi had personally led his troops to help, so it would be a bit unreasonable to find fault again.
Seeing that Ling Tong still looked unhappy, Liu Qi said to him, "I was angry because of what Mr. Zhang said just now, but I didn't mean to target you. In fact, I was also depressed for a long time when I was in Jingzhou. I wrote a poem to encourage myself. How about sharing it with you, young general?"
Zhuge Jin smiled and said, "Young Master's talent has already shocked the scholars. Your five-character poems are novel and neat, and your seven-character poems are even more trend-setting. We are all ears."
Ling Tong looked up at Liu Qi, laughed at himself, and said in a hoarse voice: "If it is the phrase 'A golden unicorn is not something that can be kept in a pond', I will never take it for granted."
Although Ling Tong is young, he is very cunning. If Liu Qi said this to him deliberately to frame him, wouldn't Sun Quan have to deal with him in the future
Liu Qi laughed and said, "Of course not. This poem is a great encouragement to myself and I have never shown it to anyone."
Sun Quan also became curious and stroked his beard, saying, "Bo Wei has endured hardships and must have something shocking to say. We are all ears."
"Excuse me for showing off!" Liu Qi stood up, clasped his fists around him, coughed lightly and said slowly:
"It is difficult to grow up without experiencing poverty, and it is difficult to grow up without experiencing setbacks.
Since ancient times, heroes have emerged from purgatory, and riches have entered the mortal world.
Who can succeed in living a life of drunkenness and dreaming? Tuoma's spear will decide the outcome.
"Leading the army thousands of miles across the mountains and rivers, establishing a name and prestige that will be passed down to future generations."
"What a good poem! What a good poem!" Sun Quan's eyes lit up after hearing it, and he clapped his hands and praised: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful..."
Although this is a poem written by Liu Qi to encourage himself, it seems as if it was written about himself, which is exactly what Sun Quan wants, and his praise comes from the heart.
Amid the admiration, Ling Tong seemed to have realized something. He stood up, clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for your guidance, General. I am grateful for your guidance."
Liu Qi smiled and said, "General Ling is a leader among the younger generation in Jiangdong. He has great potential in the future. He must not be blinded by hatred and waste his skills."
Speaking of the one who could fight in Jiangdong in the late period, there was only Ling Tong. Liu Qi had a good impression of him. Beating him with a stick and then giving him a sweet date was considered to be worthy of this young hero.
The banquet ended happily, and everyone had forgotten that Zhang Zhao left with hatred. Sun Quan completely entrusted the war at the front to Zhou Yu.
Liu Qi led his troops north, while Xi Guan followed Sun Quan to Jianye as a scout, sending gifts to smooth relations.
“Those who share the same desire will win!” After seeing off the Jingzhou troops, Sun Quan stood on the shore with his hands behind his back, looking at the rippling river with a complicated expression.
He also wished that the same was true in Jiangdong, but the situation in Jiangdong was far more complicated than that in Jingzhou. Those aristocratic families all had private armies, ranging from hundreds to thousands, and sometimes even tens of thousands.
Sun Quan knew very well that Jiangdong was like the Yangtze River and the sea. It seemed calm on the surface, but in fact there were undercurrents. If one was not careful, the situation that had been stabilized with great difficulty would collapse.
Bu Zhi said with emotion: "Huainanzi said: 'The ruler and his subjects are of one mind, and they work together to protect the country. Even if they die, the people will not leave.' This is probably the situation in Jingzhou, right?"
Sun Quan frowned and said, "The people of Jingzhou are united as one. Liu Qi is young, but his cunning is unfathomable. I'm afraid he will be a great threat to Jiangdong!"
When we first met Liu Qi, we all thought he was weak and lacked authority, unable to command his subordinates. But after seeing his actions today, we realized that he is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, and may even be extremely scheming.
Standing up for Gan Ning just now may not be without the intention of winning people's hearts!
Now thinking back to the original plan of marriage with Lu Su and Zhou Yu, using Sun Shangxiang to control Liu Qi, and further taking over Jingzhou, it might not be that easy!
In fact, Sun Quan's guess was correct. Liu Qi had intended to persuade Ling Tong during the banquet to resolve their grievances.
But then I thought, this is a good opportunity to show off and establish my authority, so I just walked away.
Anyway, the fire is burning in Dongwu, and it is you, Sun Quan, who are anxious. If you don’t teach Jiangdong a lesson, do you really think you are a sick cat
Moreover, this move will surely make Gan Ning completely obedient and win the loyalty of his subordinates, thus achieving multiple goals at one stroke.
Now that someone has set up the stage, it would be a shame if this play is not performed!
Although it was just acting, this was also Liu Qi's true inner thought. How could there be any cohesion if the leader did not protect his subordinates
Liu Qi stood at the bow, and for a moment he couldn't even tell what was true or false, and sighed inwardly: "This really is life as a play!"