Sun Ce rushed into the city with his troops, and strictly ordered not to disturb the people, in the name of protecting the prefect, but in fact, he tied up Xu Gong firmly and handed it to Zhu Zhi. Seeing that Xu Gong was in trouble, his subordinates scattered like birds and beasts, not daring to approach him.
Sun Ce specially asked Zhu Zhi to take care of Xu Gong, but no one dared to step forward because he was afraid of throwing a mouse.
At dawn, more than 10,000 people entered the city. Yan Baihu's men and Xu Gong's family soldiers almost all fell down with hemp arrows. Within two hours, Wu County was completely pacified. Then all the soldiers had to do with fighting the fire. Poor Xu Gong's people's fat and people's anointment, which he had scavenged for many years, was half burned by a fire.
Zhou Yu used the excuse of fighting the fire to move out all Xu Gong's belongings and put them on the street. The people in Wuxian city didn't know how much they stole that day, but Sun Ce just pretended not to see it.
After noon, the fire was finally put out and Xu Gong was released. Sun Ce sent troops to strictly guard the prefect's mansion, and all the people in the mansion escaped cleanly, except for the prefect of Wu County and his wife, whose face turned into a pig's liver.
Zhou Yu didn't sleep all night, and swam in the icy cold water for nearly an hour, and then intercepted people, wrote false letters, set fire, and made a sneak attack.
Sun Ce was very energetic, and went into the mansion to take over the defense of the whole city. Zhu Zhi stood aside, and the soldiers went to check the ledgers. Twelve officials under Wu County's administration didn't know what had happened until early in the morning, and they all went inside to listen to orders.
Now that Sun Ce has a heavy army in his hands, no one dares to speak for Xu Gong, and everyone listens obediently.
"Xu Gong," Sun Ce said, "You hid the bandit Yan Baihu and almost killed the whole city. Now I ask you, do you accept it or not?"
Xu Gong's face was ashen, and he kept nodding in front of the hall, with resentment in his eyes. I knew that Sun Jian and his gang were cruel by nature, so I expected that his son won Wu County and would not keep himself anymore.
Zhou Yu said: "The prefect was also deceived for a while. Now that Yan Baihu has bowed his head, why not let the prefect take the blame and make meritorious deeds."
Sun Ce didn't expect Zhou Yu to intercede for Xu Gong at this moment and here, so he couldn't help being startled.
Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu, and Zhou Yu signaled with a wink that Xu Gong would be spared.
"Forget it," Sun Ce said, "untie him."
Since he was going to be spared, Xu Gong untied the rope, got up and smiled, and hurriedly said: "General Sun has a lot of people, I was negligent this time, luckily the general came in time."
Sun Ce thought for a while, but he didn't expect Xu Gong to change his face so quickly. He couldn't help laughing, and he wanted to say a few more words. Zhou Yu knew that Sun Ce wanted to tease him, but at least he was an official of the court, so he shouldn't be humiliated, so he said, "Master Xu, please be kind." Rest and recuperate, the rest of the matter will be planned after my lord reports to Chang'an."
Xu Gong saved his life, knowing that today Sun Ce could kill him for any reason, so he bowed quickly and retreated out.
His subordinates brought Yan Baihu in again.
"Kneel down!"
Yan Baihu knelt down, and said angrily, "I don't accept it! Treacherous tricks! Useful tricks! Sun Ce! You bastard! Your father doesn't even dare to stand and talk in front of me, you little bastard!"
Sun Ce was furious and shouted, "Smack me!"
The subordinate raised the whip, and with one stroke of the whip, Yan Baihu's face was torn apart. Zhou Yu was terrified when he saw it, but Yan Baihu became more and more courageous, but he couldn't stop scolding, from Sun Jian to Sun Jiazu, a group of people around the prefect's mansion watched Sun Ce punish Yan Baihu's crimes.
"My lord." Zhou Yu whispered.
Sun Ce was still angry, and was about to order Yan Baihu to be beheaded outside, but Zhou Yu stopped him with a look.
"You want me to spare his life?" Sun Ce said.
"It must be spared." Zhou Yu said, "Although this man was born as a bandit, he has never done anything vicious. At most, he robbed his family, robbed young men, and rebelled against the imperial court."
Sun Ce said, "I am General Polu..."
"I know." Zhou Yu frowned, "You spare his life first..."
"No way!" Sun Ce waved his hand and said, "Absolutely no way! Xu Gong's life is my life..."
Zhou Yu's face darkened, and finally said: "Then the lord can figure it out."
Yan Baihu was still kneeling in the hall, swearing profanely, Sun Ce looked at him and then at Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu's face was a little red, his breath was hot, and his forehead was hot.
"That's all." Sun Ce said a little bored, "I respect you as a man, get up and untie him."
Yan Baihu was stunned and said, "You won't kill me?"
"My father is here today," Sun Ce said, "he won't keep your head alive."
"But I'm not my father."
After saying this, Sun Ce got up and left.
The rain stopped, and the sun in Wu County was shining brightly. There were crystal drops of water on the branches and leaves. Nearly half of the prefect's mansion was collapsed, but the back garden and the wing were intact.
Sun Ce left all the aftermath to Zhu Zhi to deal with, and was naked alone, practicing stick in the garden, sweeping red all over the ground, with the sound of the wind, the petals and leaves flew all over the sky wherever he passed.
"When you enter Wu County today, no one can be killed." Zhou Yu came to the corridor, sat down on the stone bench in front of the corridor, and said, "You saved Yan Baihu's life, and all the heroes in Jiangdong will come to you."
Sun Ce didn't speak, but just practiced the stick. Zhou Yu said, "I will distribute all the money that Xu Gong hid to the people for you."
Sun Ce put away his stick and said, "It doesn't matter if you don't pay money, and if you don't kill a single person, how can you build your prestige?"
"Not killing people," Zhou Yu said earnestly, "is the best way to stand up."
"How about my subordinates who died outside the city gate?" Sun Ce asked again, "The hemp arrows I used were used by Xu Gong's subordinates, but they are real swords. Have you counted the casualties?"
"Forty-seven people." Zhou Yu replied, "A team of tens of thousands of people has reached this point, and it is already a complete victory."
Sun Ce said: "Yan Baihu and my father rebelled at the same time. If this guy is not eliminated now, there will be serious troubles in the future."
"There will be disasters in the future, and we have to get rid of them in the future." Zhou Yu said patiently, "If you want to be the lord, you have to try to subdue him, and you can't kill anyone who doesn't like it. I know your father has always been like this, but you …”
Sun Ce put away his weapons and left.
Zhou Yu couldn't stop feeling dizzy, and pressed his temples. The shoulder injury was still aching. He staggered and pushed a room, regardless of who owned it, and fell asleep, feeling that he couldn't hold on anymore.
After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, I heard Sun Ce's voice and a woman's voice.
Zhou Yu was in a daze, and wanted to open his eyes and say a few words to Sun Ce, but he heard him worryingly say, "Why are you sick?"
"Let me come." The woman's voice was very gentle, followed by the sound of water twisting the cloth towel, and the cold cloth was applied to his forehead.
The sound of footsteps disappeared, and Zhou Yu slept for a whole day and two nights. During this period, he smelled the smell of medicine, as if someone was brewing medicine under the corridor. Then a pair of cold catkins supported the back of his neck, made him stand up, and fed him medicine. Zhou Yu opened his eyes and looked at her in a daze, feeling very familiar.
Then he fell asleep again.
Until the sun came in, Zhou Yu's fever subsided, he let out a breath, sat up pale, and found that he had changed into a clean robe.
He remembered that when he had a fever, it was a girl who took care of him, so this robe...Zhou Yu hastily looked through the single clothes in the robe, and saw that he was naked without any single clothes inside, and was immediately embarrassed, got up in a hurry, tripped again Down.
"Zhou Lang is awake?" a female voice outside the door said softly.
"Yes... Exactly." Zhou Yu blushed and said, "Thanks for your hard work, girl."
"It was General Sun who wiped your body and changed your clothes." The girl smiled, "He asked you to wake up and go to the main hall."
Zhou Yu couldn't bear to see him, and said, "Thank you."
Presumably she was a maid in Xu Gong's mansion, so Zhou Yu didn't think much of it, tied up her robe and went to the main hall. Soldiers along the way had already repaired the prefect's mansion and hung a lantern with the word "Sun". It's time for the dove to occupy the magpie's nest. Zhou Yu stood outside the second door and watched for a while, then said, "Move to the left."
The soldier bowed, did as he was told, and hung up another pair. Zhou Yu saw that it was a lantern with the word "Zhou" on it, and couldn't help laughing immediately.
I thought only Sun Ce was there, but when I entered, there were two old men and a girl sitting in the hall, and the girl was pouring wine for one of the old men.
"Are you awake?" Sun Ce said with a smile, "Come and get acquainted, this is Lord Zhang Zhaozibu."
Zhou Yu stepped forward and cupped his hands in the gift of the younger generation, Zhang Zhao hurriedly cupped his hands and said, "Don't dare, I am an official in the court with Lord Zhou. How old is Brother Yu, and he is equal to his peers. Gongjin's good name has long been You can hear it, but you can’t see it once a hundred times, how lucky you are to see it today!"
Zhou Yu said: "Brother Zhang finally gave up Tao Qian and went south. It is my lord's blessing."
During the banquet, the three laughed, and Sun Ce said again: "This is Mr. Qiao. You two have not known each other for many years. This is Mr. Qiao's beloved daughter, Ms. Qiao."
The girl called Miss Qiao looked up at Zhou Yu, and the two met each other, Zhou Yu couldn't help laughing - it was the person who caught fire in the prefect's mansion that night, holding Bai Lian, chasing Zhou Yu.
The other person was Qiao Xuan, who came to pay a visit after hearing that Sun Ce had regained Wu County. It happened that Qiao Xuan and Xu Gong visited Yuan Shu a year ago, and then his daughter stayed at Xu Gong's residence. Zhou Yu thought to himself that it was fortunate that the killer was not killed at that time, otherwise the trouble would be serious.
When Zhou Yu entered the table, Qiao Xuan introduced his twin daughters, and another one named Xiao Qiao, she was the one who made medicine for Zhou Yu a few days ago, Zhou Yu hurriedly thanked them again and again, saying that he had caused a lot of trouble for the two of them.
"How is the situation in Xuzhou?" Zhou Yu sat down and asked.
Xiao Qiao brought the porridge over, and Zhou Yu hurriedly thanked her again.
He had heard about Zhang Zhao before, and it was rumored that Zhang Zhao was a student of the great Confucian Baihou Zi'an, who was filial and honest when he was young. Everyone excludes it.
Later, Zhang Zhao suffered a lot because of his teacher's school, and verbally offended Tao Qian, governor of Xuzhou, and was locked up by Tao Qian. He was not released until recently.
"There are endless wars in the north." Zhang Zhao stroked his beard. "All the scholars have gone south, and the people's life is not easy. A few years ago, Cao Song originally wanted to go south to avoid disaster, but he didn't expect to provoke Tao Qian when he passed by Xuzhou. , a family of twelve, all of them were killed by the sword."
"Cao Song..." Sun Ce frowned, "Why is this name so familiar?"
Zhou Yu said, "It's the father of Xiaoqi Captain Cao Cao, and the grandfather of Cao Pi."
Sun Ce's face changed, thinking about it, he couldn't help sighing, it's a pity that Sun and Zhou Tui had some kind of friendship with the Cao family, but they didn't expect to suffer a catastrophe, and with Cao Cao's temperament, he didn't know how to retaliate.
"Now Wu County is in my hands." Sun Ce said: "The only remaining two places are Lou County and Haiyan. They have just established themselves. In recent days, they are discussing with Gong Jin and Qiao Gong about the next step. I hope Brother Zhang can give you some advice. .”
Zhou Yu took a sip of the porridge and did not participate in their conversation. He raised his chopsticks and put some side dishes into the bowl.
"Exercise both kindness and power." Zhang Zhao thought for a while, and said seriously, "Since my lord has gained a foothold in Wu County, there must be no shortage of soldiers, horses and food in a short period of time. According to the information I got, Yuan Shu will proclaim himself emperor soon. There is civil strife in Chang'an, and Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu's father and son are at odds with each other, so they probably can't control it here."
"Yuan Shao stationed troops in Jizhou." Zhou Yu said calmly, "The only trouble comes from him, but Shouchun has Yuan Shu to resist, so it must be okay."
"Exactly." Zhang Zhao said, "The next step is to go south."
Sun Ce said: "Brother Zhang thinks, how about driving Liu Biao as soon as possible and taking Jingzhou?"
Zhou Yu thought to himself that you haven't forgotten this, it's really not easy.
Zhang Zhao said displeased, "Jingzhou is a battleground for military strategists, how can you send troops rashly?"
Sun Ce hurriedly said yes, Zhou Yu thought to himself that he finally dispelled his idea of revenge, thanks to Zhang Zhaocai, otherwise Sun Ce would not be able to let go of this matter at all.
"Yuhang, Fuchun, Kuaiji and other places are in the south." Zhang Zhao said, "This place must be resolved as soon as possible while Yuan Shu has no time to leave."
"Jiangdong scholars are entrenched." Zhou Yu shook his head and said, "I'm afraid it will be difficult to settle in smoothly."
"One word, kill." Zhang Zhao made a decapitating palm motion, looked into Sun Ce's eyes, and said, "Nowadays, the power of imperial court order officials is complicated and complicated. In Wu County, Danyang, Liyang and other places, each has its own place. official."
Zhou Yu frowned slightly, but Zhang Zhao didn't notice Zhou Yu's expression, and said to Sun Ce, "Danyang and Liyang are both relatives of yours, so it's not difficult to merge them. But if you go further south, these prefects must be dealt with as soon as possible. It is."
"Leaving one in place is a disaster." Zhang Zhao said again.
Sun Ce looked at Zhou Yu with a clear look - let me tell you.
Zhou Yu said: "The prefect has been ordered to guard one side for a long time, and the teacher came out of nowhere, so it is hard to escape the harsh punishment of the court."
Zhang Zhao said: "Therefore, we must show kindness to the common people. Show kindness widely, and only kill a few people. Those who are willing to abdicate, like Xu Gong, may as well keep it. If you don't want to cooperate with the lord, naturally you only have one knife."
Sun Ce nodded with a smile. Zhou Yu knew that he was there, and it was hard for Sun Ce to make a statement, so he didn't say anything else.
What Zhang Zhao said had his reasons, but it wasn't all to cater to Sun Ce. If he let go of his scruples and ran over one place after another, killing those who didn't hand over power and replacing them with his own people, it would naturally be an excellent solution. However, Zhou Yu was always worried that the means would be too drastic, which would easily cause the local gentry to rebound.
Zhou Yu didn't comment on Zhang Zhao's strategy. After drinking the porridge, he left the table and said goodbye. At night, he sat and played chess with Qiao Xuan.
"Gongjin."
Zhou Yu made a move, and Qiao Xuan picked up the piece and tapped on the board.
"The old man has a sentence, I don't know if it should be said or not."
"Old Joe, please speak up."
Qiao Xuan said: "Wu County fought beautifully."
Zhou Yu nodded.
"This afternoon, scholars from the north came to vote, and they all stayed in the mansion."
"I see." Zhou Yu turned around and turned on the oil lamp a little.
Qiao Xuan said again: "You and General Sun are close friends, but sometimes, you have to let him go."
"Yeah." Zhou Yu nodded again.
Qiao Xuan said, "You don't mind the old man's talkativeness."
Zhou Yu smiled and said, "I also think Zhang Zibu's words are reasonable, but I am indecisive by nature, and I always want to take care of both sides in everything."
"There are many things in the world that I can't take care of." Zhou Yu sighed and said, "I am not suitable for leading soldiers, I can only manage them. Now there are more people who vote, and there must be some advisers who can come up with better decisions. A good way. I was thinking of not getting involved, but when he asked me, I helped him think about it, and didn’t say a word if I had too much to say. "
Qiao Xuan said "En", and there was a hint of approval in his eyes.
That night when Zhou Yu passed the main hall of the mansion, he saw the bright lights inside and Sun Ce was entertaining guests.
Every day more people came to vote, and the mansion became more lively every day. Cao Cao and Yuan Shao couldn't fight for a long time, and the scholars fled south. After entering Wujun, they first came to pay homage to Sun Ce.
Zhou Yu was living in the mansion, feeling somewhat disturbed. He wanted to go back to Shu County to see the navy, but he didn't know how Lu Zijing was doing. A few days later, the cold spring turned warmer, and the peach blossoms in the garden were in full bloom.
Zhou Yu found a qin in the room and stroked it. Xiao Qiao happened to pass by and said outside, "Zhou Lang is feeling bored today?"
"You can hear it." Zhou Yu said, "This piano has been placed for too long, and one of the strings is old. When it is played here, it trembles a little."
Xiao Qiao rolled up her sleeves and said, "My sister asked if the old wound on your shoulder is better."
"Thank you for your concern, Miss." Zhou Yu replied, "It's almost fine."
Xiao Qiao said again: "There is a hot spring behind the mountain in the mansion. If there is a scab, you can go to soak it. The hot spring water is warm and effective for healing."
Zhou Yu thanked her, and Xiao Qiao left.
When Fei Yu came back with Lu Su's letter, Zhou Yu was wondering why Fei Yu went to find Lu Su on his own when he didn't go back to Shu County. After untying the letter and looking at it, he realized that Sun Ce had written a letter a few days ago, intending to recruit Lu Su to his subordinates, and ask him to come to Wu County as soon as he finished his work, and meet with him.
Lu Su's letter also mentioned that Sun Ce asked his mother and younger brother to come to Wujun. Zhou Yu himself didn't know about this. It is expected that Sun Ce wanted to change his family. But the Wu family didn't want to come, preferring to stay in Shu County, and only let Lu Su take Sun Quan south.
Zhou Yu still wanted to go home and have a look, but Lu Su was about to come. He had no choice but to return or not to return, so he had to go to Sun Ce with the reply letter. Sun Ce was talking to a group of scribes, smiling brightly, and still making jokes about Zhang Zhao, Zhang Zhao just had a straight face, and everyone laughed again.
Zhou Yu smiled, and tapped on the open door with his fingers.
"Come on, Gong Jin!" Sun Ce said, "Let's chat for a while, and I'll pour you a glass."
All the scribes nodded one after another, they all admired Zhou Yu's name for a long time, presumably when Zhou Yu was not around, Sun Ce had already praised him like a flower.
Zhou Yu didn't take the wine glass, and replied: "The injury is not healed, so I can't drink."
"Our Gongjin," Sun Ce said, "when he was young, he was proficient in Qihuang Yishu. He cured all diseases. The doctor's temper, the doctor's ability, if you don't accept it, you will obey it."
Everyone laughed, and Sun Ce said, "It is said that doctors are parents, and Gong Jin is stricter than my mother treats me."
This remark caused a burst of laughter again, and after being recommended, Zhou Yu got acquainted with the people in the hall, many of whom were scholars from the north and south, as well as Lu Fan, Zhang Hong, Zhou Fang and others, all of whom were well-known celebrities at that time . Zhou Yu said hello and handed the letter to Sun Ce.
"Whose?" Sun Ce asked.
"Letter from home." Zhou Yu replied, "It's from Lu Zijing."
"I heard that General Sun's navy ruled the Jingjiang River with Liu Biao." Zhang Hong said, "It's amazing."
"Ask Gong Jin." Sun Ce said sternly, "He brought out the navy." Then he said to Zhou Yu, "I asked Zijing to bring the navy along, and they will stay in Taihu Lake for the time being."
Zhou Yu nodded and said, "It's up to you. Sun Quan came with him. Your mother said that she is lazy and doesn't want to move, so she won't bother."
"Okay." Sun Ce nodded.
Zhou Yu went to write a letter, and Sun Ce said, "After writing the letter, come back later."
Zhou Yu agreed, and went back to his room to write a letter. Finally, someone came to ask Zhou Yu again. Sun Ce wanted to allocate a house in the east of the city for him, and asked him what he wanted.
"There is no need to reward." Zhou Yu replied, "When it is an emergency, let's save some money first."
Rewards come and go, but it's not his own money. Thinking of this, Zhou Yu just felt that life was boring. This year, the spring rains have been delayed. Except for a few light rains in February, there was a severe drought at the end of the month. He didn't go back to the hall and apologized to all the counselors, he wrote a letter to Fei Yu to send him away, then he wore wooden clogs, walked around the path behind the mansion, and walked towards the mountain.
Sure enough, there is a hot spring on the mountain. I don’t know if Xiao Qiao has been there before. The hot spring is located in a hidden place, and there are guards outside. After Zhou Yu asked, he knew that it was the place surrounded by Sun Ce. There are people, just go in and soak.
The hot spring water was hot, and when it touched the wound, there was still piercing pain. Zhou Yu let out a sigh, with her hair loose, and leaned in the spring water, with her hands resting on the shore.
The surrounding stalagmites dripped water, ticking softly.
The chaotic laughter in the prefect's mansion seemed to be still in my ears, and Sun Ce's cheerful expression was also very familiar to Zhou Yu. It was Zhou Yu who knew him, but it was not him anymore.
In retrospect, Sun Ce seems to be like this to everyone, not just Zhou Yu. Except for those times when Sun Jian died in battle, Sun Ce never failed to laugh. His smile can light up the whole dark sky at once, and it can also make people follow him willingly.
When everyone was talking, Sun Ce would look into each other's eyes with a smile in his eyes, which was a compliment and an open-minded question.
"In the future, there will be you and me..."
Really think so? Zhou Yu sighed, but isn't this the best result? He has been waiting for Sun Ce to have this day, and everyone follows him wholeheartedly. The house is full of celebrities and soldiers. Now they are in troubled times, enough to protect themselves.
This is what Zhou Yu wants, but it is not what he wants.