Chapter 337: Death of Sun Ce...
Sun Ce went to Mount Yi to attack Zu Lang, but returned seriously injured!
Even if this news was intentionally concealed by his subordinates, after Huang Gai and others urgently withdrew from Jing County and transferred their garrison to Tongguan, inviting famous doctors from Lujiang, Danyang and Wujun for a secret consultation, and even Lujiang prefect Lu Kang rushed to Tongguan, no one would have thought that this was the situation where Sun Ce had returned with a great victory after attacking Zu Lang.
"Brother, what's your current situation?" Sun Quan, who was also brought here because of Zhu Ran, asked anxiously.
I'm afraid I can't keep this news secret from my mother for long, so I have to come up with a treatment method as soon as possible before alarming her.
However, each of the doctors who went in was known as a miracle doctor in the Jiangnan area, but they all came out shaking their heads. When they were asked to take them aside and not allowed to leave temporarily, they all expressed their dissatisfaction in a very bad temper. They only had to obey the arrangements because of the threat of force from Huang Gai and others.
"Snake venom, this is the only thing we can be sure of now." Huang Gai was so anxious that cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The moment he saw Sun Ce fall down, he regretted more than ever. He wondered why he had been so careless for a moment, causing Sun Ce to suffer such an accident.
It would be fine if it was just an arrow.
Even if the injury was really urgent, there was still a chance to find Chang'an and ask Zhang Zhongjing, who was stationed at Chiyang Medical College, to come over. However, the arrow that pierced the body not only had a rusty barb, but also had poison -
A highly potent snake venom that has yet to be classified.
There are so many poisonous snakes in the world. Even if there is a medicine to cure them, it is impossible to determine the type just by looking at the symptoms of poisoning, let alone find a treatment that counteracts the poison.
The most troublesome thing is...
"Zhongmou, these doctors speculate that this may not be a poisonous snake in the Han territory." Huang Gai said this and couldn't help but sigh.
Sun Quan was stunned: "How could this be?"
Han Dang explained, "The last poison arrow was made by Huang Zu's son Huang She. When Huang Zu was still alive, he particularly liked foreign things. In addition to the foreign parrot presented to him, there was most likely a batch of poisonous snakes. This time Huang She secretly returned to Yuzhang County to retrieve these things."
"It is quite troublesome to extract the poison of venomous snakes. Even if the poison arrow does not hit the target one day after it is made, it will lose its effect. It is very likely that Huang She started to extract the snake venom after the anti-rebel general entered the mountains."
"And this time, he really came here with the intention of avenging his father, regardless of his own life... There is no way he could leave any clues for us."
When Sun Ce was fighting with the Shanyue people, Huang She just lay quietly watching by the side, and only shot the poison arrow in his hand when Sun Ce went to bring back Ling Cao's body.
Even though Sun Ce still had many followers by his side after a fierce battle, and he could not dodge after shooting the arrow, Huang She still made this choice.
In fact, when he brought Zhu Zhi's head to the Four Families of Wujun, he had already left himself much room for survival.
So before Sun Ce's men could capture him, he ended his own life with the dagger he carried with him.
Once Huang She died, they no longer had anyone to ask questions.
unless……
"Unless we can find some poisonous snakes in the mountains that he hasn't used up, maybe we still have a chance." Huang Gai said.
This is very likely to happen, because even the Shanyue people, who are advancing step by step, probably cannot judge that today is definitely the best time to attack Sun Ce. If he had not suddenly chosen to advance alone with his close followers, others might not have had the opportunity to take advantage of him.
But this is easier said than done.
Even when they had previously taken advantage of the great victory they had won in the attack on Jing County and invaded the mountains, they were unable to directly attack Zu Lang's lair. Now Sun Ce was seriously injured and his life might even be in danger at any time. Could they really win this victory with their concern for Sun Ce?
Zu Lang probably hoped to see Sun Ce get into trouble. Perhaps by the time they attacked the mountain, the only remaining clues would have been cut off.
"He was hesitant on one hand, and on the other, and by the time he was done he was gone!"
Zhou Tai, who was standing in the corner, joined Sun Ce's army last year together with Jiang Qin from the same county. Because he was as good as a bear or a tiger in battle, Sun Ce relied on him very much and gave him the position of Sima of a separate department. With a gloomy face, he listened to another "famous doctor" sentencing Sun Ce to death, and couldn't help but shout.
"Mr. Zhang, I want to hear what you have to say." Zhou Tai suddenly turned to Zhang Zhao.
Zhang Zhao was not originally with the army, but as Zhou Yu was still in Xuzhou, someone had to make the decision when it came to such a decision, so Huang Gai had someone rush to find him. At this moment, he looked tired due to his hurried journey.
Zhou Tai asked, "Mr. Zhang, do you think we should attack Yishan and capture Zu Lang first?"
A straightforward person like Zhou Tai felt that since he could not help Sun Ce in saving his life, he might as well help him fulfill his long-cherished wish of pacifying the Shanyue. Perhaps they would be able to win the battle by defeating the enemy and capture Zu Lang in one fell swoop, and get some unexpected gains when they hit the enemy's lair.
Zhang Zhao was very hesitant.
Sun Ce's courtesy and the important tasks he entrusted to him would not make him think of defecting to another place when Sun Ce was seriously injured. He was just hesitating. If they suffered a second round of losses in the attack on Zu Langzhong, would the Shanyue not only retake Jing County but even choose to attack Tongguan? At that time, the situation in Yangzhou established by Sun Ce would really fall apart overnight.
However, before he could figure out what was going on, a personal attendant suddenly knocked on the door and came in. The first words he said made everyone's faces change. "A large number of ships that do not belong to us are heading towards Tongguan. The other party claims that--"
"He is one of the Grand Marshal's followers."
fleet?
Or Qiao Yan’s fleet?
Last year, Qiao Yan ordered the ships to depart from Hailing Port to Liaodong, which surprised the people in Jiangdong. Thinking that this fleet might have been built with the manpower and technology that Zhou Yu had given her when he traded farming methods with her, and that the port of Hailing had fallen under the control of the Chang'an court right under their noses, they could not help but marvel at the far-reaching nature of Qiao Yan's planning.
But this time she suddenly led the fleet eastward. For some reason, everyone who heard the news instinctively felt that it was not the fleet she was going to sail to Hailing.
But even though the people present had already had such an understanding, they had never imagined that the people who came here were not only the Grand Marshal's followers, but also the Grand Marshal Qiao Yan himself.
The woman in black skirt and red clothes came with her subordinates and entered the territory of Tongguan County in a swift and decisive manner.
Accompanying her was Zhu Jun, who was originally stationed in Changsha County!
"May I ask why the Grand Marshal has come here..."
Zhang Zhao had just asked a question on behalf of Sun Ce's subordinates when he saw Qiao Yan raising his hand to signal him, "No need to say more, where is Bo Fu?"
"A few days ago, I received a secret report from Yangzhou, saying that he ignored Zhou Gongjin's dissuasion and insisted on raising troops to encircle and suppress the Shanyue. Zu Lang of Jing County has been stationed here for much longer than he has, and his move is too reckless. Now that several counties in Yangzhou have finally been brought under the control of him, the governor of Yangzhou, why is he making such a hasty move?"
Qiao Yan's harsh words sounded just like an elder scolding a younger generation. Considering that she and Sun Ce were only one year apart in age, it sounded a bit funny. However, if one considered the difference in their official positions, there was nothing wrong with it.
She continued, "If Zhou Gongjin can't persuade him, then I will do it. If he puts personal vendettas above the overall situation, what is the point of being the governor of Yangzhou!"
Her eyebrows slightly raised, "Why are you acting like this? Where is he?"
Zhang Zhao was silent for a long time before he said, "The general who was fighting against the rebellion was ambushed by Zu Lang in the mountains and has now been shot by a poisoned arrow. I'm afraid..."
"I'm afraid it's a little bad."
When hearing Qiao Yan's words "If Zhou Gongjin can't persuade him, then I will do it", everyone present couldn't help but have a thought in their minds: how great it would be if she could come here earlier.
Sun Ce did not listen to Zhou Yu's advice, thinking that he had the confidence to defeat Zu Lang and that Zhou Yu was worrying too much about the matter.
Given the distinction between master and servant and the lack of sufficient evidence, it was difficult for anyone to stop Sun Ce's stubbornness.
But if Qiao Yan were to talk about this matter, there would obviously be a chance to persuade him to go back.
Because she was the only one who dared to warn Sun Ce with the sentence "Why do you want to be the governor of Yangzhou?"
She was the only one whom Sun Ce regarded as the direction of his efforts in terms of both strategy and martial arts.
When they first met in Luoyang that year, Sun Ce was hit once by Qiao Yan's two-section three-barreled spear. This probably became his most special experience.
Unfortunately, Qiao Yan was still a step too late.
Upon hearing the news that Sun Ce was poisoned and in critical condition, not only Zhu Jun who was persuaded by Qiao Yan to come, but even the Grand Marshal's face flashed a hint of shock.
But perhaps the storms she had gone through over the years had already made her unable to show her expression too much, so she immediately calmed down and said, "The military doctor is from Chiyang Medical College, let's have someone see if there is any hope of treatment. If we can still hold out, I will immediately send a letter to Guanzhong to order Zhang Zhongjing to come."
"Take me there first."
Qiao Yan's words were like a shot of adrenaline injected into the originally deadly atmosphere.
Zhou Tai, who had originally planned to lead his men to conquer the Shanyue, immediately gave up his plan and led the way for Qiao Yan, as if he was afraid that someone would bump into these two distinguished guests.
Qiao Yan did bring a medical staff member with him, because this was originally intended to prevent any emergencies among the members of his personal guards and Qiao Yan himself, and the level of medical treatment was quite high.
But after he looked at Sun Ce's condition, he shook his head solemnly: "If he had been shot in a different place and received proper treatment, he might have had a chance to be saved, but this one in the back of his shoulder... I can only forgive my lack of skills."
When a poisonous snake bites on the hands or feet, you can use bandages to block the blood from flowing back to the heart, or use fire to burn the wound to release the poisonous blood to delay the onset of the poison. But at the back shoulder, which is so close to the heart and the head, and almost a day has passed... there is no room for stopping it.
The young man lay prone after the arrow was removed. His face was pale and red, and he also showed symptoms of fever because the poison had entered his lungs.
"All I can do is probably to make him regain some consciousness and say whatever needs to be said. But... he may not be able to make a sound."
Qiao Yan couldn't help but feel a little sad as he watched Sun Ce change from his previous high-spirited state to his current dying state.
She didn't turn her gaze back until the military doctor finished speaking.
She had not made any advance communication with the doctor before arriving in Tongguan County, but the other party's diagnosis was obviously the most beneficial to her.
She lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then asked, "Is there any famous doctor in Jiangnan who hasn't been invited to see me? Or maybe in Xuzhou?"
"General Huang Gongfu, Mr. Zhang Zibu?"
Huang Gai and Zhang Zhao came back to their senses when they heard Qiao Yan call out their names individually.
Their already slim hope was completely shattered the moment they heard the verdict from the doctor brought by Qiao Yan. Thinking of the untimely death that Sun Ce was about to face, both Huang Gai, who was once a general under Sun Jian, and Zhang Zhao, who was personally recruited by Sun Ce, felt that they could not accept this reality.
Huang Gai smiled bitterly and said, "If there really were still some fish that slipped through the net, we would have sent people to invite them long ago. Why would we wait for the Grand Marshal to come?"
She frowned and asked the doctor, "How long can you save his life?"
The doctor replied, "If the venom of a poisonous snake is not reduced, it will basically take effect within two days, as is the case with this case. At most, it can only be delayed for one day."
This answer was almost the same as the one given by the doctors invited by Zhang Zhao, Huang Gai and others, some of whom even took less than half a day to answer.
In the absence of medical conditions such as antivenom and debridement, this inability to rescue cannot really be blamed on the doctors' abilities.
But one day was definitely not enough for them to send the news to Chang'an and invite Zhang Zhongjing.
Not to mention Hua Tuo. After all, everyone knows that he has been stationed in Liangzhou recently in order to study diseases outside the region.
Sun Quan's face had turned completely pale.
If his study partner Zhu Ran hadn't been there to support him, he would have almost fallen to the ground.
These words did not give them much hope, and completely denied the possibility that his brother could still be alive.
Sun Quan stared at Qiao Yan's back, hoping that this great Sima, who had performed countless miracles throughout the world, would say something that would change the outcome.
But to his disappointment, Qiao Yan only made a decision for them.
"Rather than letting him sleep until he dies, I think he would be more willing to give you an explanation," she said after looking around at everyone present, "Please ask someone to bring Mrs. Wu here immediately. I think a mother doesn't want to lose her child in a place she can't see."
She nodded to the medical officer and said, "Go ahead."
“No!” Sun Quan didn’t know where the courage came from, but he suddenly had some strength under his feet. After standing firmly, he broke free from Zhu Ran’s support and rushed to Qiao Yan. “What if my brother can still be saved? If he wakes up, wouldn’t it be like waiting for his last breath? If he tells us about his funeral, he will only die!”
Qiao Yan lowered his head and looked at the face of the thirteen-year-old boy in front of him.
The imperial aura of "blue eyes and purple beard" cannot be seen on this still young face. At the moment, he looks like a child who has not grown up at all.
After Sun Jian's death, Sun Ce protected him from the wind and rain, and since he was still at the age of studying, there was a clear childishness in his expression.
"Can you save him?" Qiao Yan waved his hand, signaling his subordinates who wanted to step forward to stop Sun Quan to step back.
Sun Quan bit his lower lip and shook his head.
If he could be saved, he wouldn't be so helpless and passive.
"Then there is no need to say more."
After these decisive words were uttered, everyone present could clearly see that Qiao Yan's gaze had slowly turned to the spear placed in the corner at the end of Sun Ce's bed.
She went on to say, "Your brother is a contemporary hero. To him, dying on the battlefield would be an honor, not a humiliation. It would make no difference even if his opponent was Zu Lang."
"What makes a hero a hero is that he can face life and death calmly. But there is one thing: he should die knowingly."
"If you let him lie here in a daze until he stops breathing, that would be the greatest blasphemy to his heroism!"
"Well said!" As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Huang Gai responding.
This veteran, who had served under Sun Jian and Sun Ce successively and witnessed the deaths of these two people with his own eyes, had tears in his eyes. However, when he said this, there was no hesitation in every word because of sobs.
He spoke word by word: "I support the Grand Marshal's opinion and rescue the general who is fighting against rebellion."
"I agree too." Zhou Tai immediately followed up. "The general must have something else to say to us. I also want to tell General Yu that we will definitely wipe out the Shanyue rebels for him and will never let him have any regrets."
"I...I agree too." Zhang Zhao hesitated for a moment, but still said this.
He vaguely felt that Qiao Yan's words "die with understanding" seemed to have a hidden meaning, but when he carefully examined the meaning of her words, it was clear that she just hoped that Sun Ce could make proper arrangements for his funeral and not die like General Wen Tai in the wilderness of Jingzhou, without even being able to see his son for the last time.
"Save the general."
After he said this, he felt that all the energy he had maintained to rush on the journey had completely collapsed.
He originally thought that showing goodwill to Sun Ce and accepting his recruitment would be the beginning of his career in Yangzhou, but he never expected that Sun Ce would die shortly after he pacified Yuzhang and Kuaiji counties.
Where should he go from now on?
But now is obviously not the time for him to care about this matter.
He heard Qiao Yan say again: "Send someone to Xuzhou as well. If Bofu can still hold on until Zhou Gongjin arrives, let the two of them meet."
The news of the siege in Huaiyin, Xuzhou, did not reach Yangzhou due to Zhou Yu's deliberate concealment.
Zhang Zhao, Huang Gai and others had no idea of Zhou Yu's current situation. They didn't know that even if a message was sent at full speed, he would never be able to break through the siege after Liu Bei and Zhang Fei's troops arrived, and there was no possibility for him to return to Yangzhou in a short time.
They just thought that they could take the water route from Tongguan where they were now to Wujun, but they would have to take a land route to Xuzhou, so it was actually unlikely that they would be able to come back in time.
Rather than fulfilling the brotherhood, Qiao Yan did this to let the people of Yangzhou see her attitude.
Her sudden visit to Yangzhou carried with it a sense of being too strong.
At this moment, the huge warships anchored on the waterway outside Tongguan County looked like they were going to attack Yangzhou, rather than come here to dissuade Sun Ce.
But now she didn't mind transferring Sun Ce's mother and other relatives, Sun Ce's close friends and powerful figures in Yangzhou to this place to listen to Sun Ce's last words in his final moments, and it was clear that she was doing her utmost to be kind to the Yangzhou governor.
At this moment, she tilted her head to look out the window, and only half of her face could be seen, and there was indeed some compassion for the death of the hero.
As if she was unwilling to see this sad scene where all of Sun Ce's subordinates were surrounding each other, she simply signaled the medical officer not to consider Sun Quan's opinion and to start taking action directly. She walked to the window and stood with Zhu Jun who was standing there.
"We are still late." Zhu Jun said in an almost inaudible voice.
Maybe it was because of the sadness of seeing the young die, but Qiao Yan felt that Zhu Jun's voice, which had aged so much compared to eleven years ago, was trembling even more.
"Things in the world are unpredictable, it has always been like this." She looked at the dusky sky outside the window and sighed, "I thought that after I mastered the flying birds as my communication tool, I would be able to save the disaster in time better than anyone else. But in fact, not all things can be controlled by me."
"Flying bird?" Zhu Jun asked.
"What do you think is faster, a horse running on the ground or a bird flying in the sky?" Qiao Yan asked back.
After she had quickly arrived in Yizhou and Yangzhou, the matter of the carrier pigeon was no longer suitable to be kept a secret. Otherwise, to some people whom she still wanted to accept under her command, she would be like the mastermind behind all the changes in these two states.
The goals of Qiao Lan and Qiao Ting's two operations in Xuzhou and Yangzhou had been achieved. There was no need to transmit information back and forth anymore, so the commercial and telecommunication systems could be separated.
It would be best to complete what this identity should do here, then retreat to Yizhou where the fake identity belongs, and then return to Bingzhou.
In this case, instead of waiting for someone to expose her secret of how she quickly gets the news, it would be better for her to say it directly and clearly, and then see who has the most carrier pigeons.
But this channel of information transmission was almost a subversive thing for Zhu Jun and Zhang Zhao who heard their conversation nearby.
Using flying birds to deliver messages instead of land scouts was an absolutely unimaginable thing before, but in Qiao Yan's mouth it seemed like it was a common thing.
No wonder... No wonder she could often make people advance on two fronts, and she didn't worry at all that her message wouldn't be delivered to the hands of these two parties in time.
And this is most likely not all the advantages she has!
In this personal expedition to Yangzhou, his true face is gradually revealed!
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about Bofu. Mr. Zibu, I'm new here. Please tell me more about the situation in Shanyue."
Zhang Zhao bowed to Qiao Yan and said, "I'm sorry to bother you. If the Grand Marshal wants to hear it, I'll tell you everything."
When candles were lit in the room, illuminating it completely, Zhang Zhao finally told Qiao Yan everything he knew or didn't know.
It was at that moment when a candle flame was blown by the night breeze by the window that Sun Ce finally broke free from the chaotic predicament and lifted his still heavy eyelids.
The scene in front of him gradually became clear, but he seemed to be covered by a huge rock, which pressed down his limbs and made him unable to move at all.
This situation where one's hands and feet cannot be controlled by oneself is the most fatal to any military general.
Sun Ce's eyes couldn't help but sink, but when he saw clearly the faces of his subordinates gathered around him, from the red eyes and sad expressions of these people, he suddenly realized his situation.
He might... be dying.
How does a person feel when he learns that he is going to die?
In Sun Ce's previous life, he had never thought about such a question. Even though his father died in Liu Biao's ambush and his decision to go to Yangzhou was extremely risky, he never thought about the possibility of death.
For a young man full of vigor and vitality, it seems that his life has only one outcome: moving forward.
But now he had to face such considerations.
He did not die after killing Liu Biao to avenge his father, nor did he die in a peak battle to quell a rebellion, but died from a cold arrow.
But within the short three breaths of time when he realized his situation, the gloom on Sun Ce's face turned into calmness. From the perspective of Huang Gai standing in front of him, this rebellious general even tried his best to force a smile with his somewhat numb mouth corners, and then asked silently: "Can it be the other way around?"
Could he not lie in this prone position?
This made it impossible for him to see the people around him clearly.
Huang Gai obviously wanted to smile back, but he found that the corners of his lips were frighteningly heavy and he couldn't lift them at all. He could only lower his head to hide the helplessness on his face, and then turned to the medical officer. "Can we do what the general said?"
It has come to this, there is nothing that cannot be done. His arrow wound was not actually deep, and the real fatal thing was the poison. After confirming that the wound would not burst, they worked together to turn Sun Ce back to a supine position.
Facing the scene in the room, Sun Ce's vision, which was already a little blurry, was suddenly illuminated by a strong light.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
However, after this dizzy spell ended, he was faced with a face that was both strange and familiar.
It's also a face that shouldn't be here!
He had seen this face in Luoyang City more than five years ago. During the brief clash between cavalrymen, he could clearly feel the impact of the expression on that face, let alone now!
Sun Ce would not fail to recognize her identity because of the interference of snake venom, nor would he ignore the strangeness of her appearance here because of this tormenting state.
As the Grand Marshal of the Chang'an court, she didn't need to leave to personally supervise ordinary battles, unless it was a situation like Liu Yan's, where she couldn't mobilize too many troops but needed a person with enough weight.
Does Yangzhou meet such conditions at this moment?
Maybe it fits.
But should she have arrived here so quickly?
Absolutely not!
The reason why Yangzhou remained independent for several years was because it was far away from the central government. If everyone could reach here as easily as Qiao Yan, it would not have taken Sun Ce several years to unify it.
Then it was really strange that she appeared here and in front of him.
Perhaps because Sun Ce looked at Qiao Yan for a long time, his doubts were reflected in his eyes during this silent gaze. Zhang Zhao on the side explained: "The Grand Marshal appeared here because of a message sent by carrier pigeon..."
Before he finished speaking, he saw Qiao Yan walking towards Sun Ce's bed. He raised his hand to signal them to step back a few steps to leave space for the two of them to "talk".
Although she didn't know the purpose of Qiao Yan's action, Sun Ce was temporarily rescued by the people she brought. Regardless of her identity or the situation of the favor she was doing, she should be the one to communicate first.
Zhang Zhao, Huang Gai and others retreated several steps away. Because Qiao Yan happened to sit down beside the bed, they could only see her back, blocking their view of Sun Ce's face.
But it seemed to be just an unintentional mistake. The next moment, they heard Qiao Yan say in a much softer tone than when he first arrived at Tongguan: "Sorry, I'm late."
She didn't actually need to say anything to apologize for this, but the sincerity in her apology made it easy for those present to hear it.
Thinking of what she said to Zhang Zhao and Zhu Jun before Sun Ce woke up, the meaning of this apology was self-evident.
But from Sun Ce's perspective, he seemed to hear a different meaning.
For a moment he could feel the warmth of her grip on his long-unconscious hand, forcing him to look at her face clearly.
There was indeed a hint of apology on this noble face, but this apology was not because she failed to stop Sun Ce from entering Yishan in time, but because -
She followed the vocalized words with the words, "I am responsible for your death."
Sun Ce was struck by lightning.
He has never been more sober than at this moment!
These words, which she repeated twice before he could recognize them, made his eyes, which were extremely beautiful under the light, freeze for a moment.
What does it mean...she is responsible for his death?
She should never have said such a thing unless there was a hand behind everything he had been through, and one of those hands was holding his wrist.
But how is this possible?
Even though she arrived in Yangzhou at such a fast speed, Sun Ce did not assume such a negative attitude towards her. Instead, she herself had confirmed this result!
Sun Ce couldn't tell for a moment whether it was because of the snake venom that he had created some false hallucination, but he soon saw Qiao Yan utter a few silent words, as if afraid that he didn't want to believe this fact, pushing all his speculations towards the final result.
"Pigeon."
Before he went deep into Mount Yi, he saw a gray dove and told his companions that it was a symbol of good fortune.
When he fell down due to the poison arrow, he saw the gray dove again, but it seemed to have become a signal of death.
But no matter whether it was auspiciousness or death, there was always a pair of eyes staring at him, paying attention to his every move.
"Jia Xu."
The bastard who gave advice to Dong Zhuo and caused his father's death was now staying safely in Xuzhou and continuing to do his work as a counselor. The only way he could get such power was at the instruction of Qiao Yan.
So is it possible that he never suffered alienation from Qiao Yan simply because the suggestions he made to Dong Zhuo were actually written by her?
The mixed feelings in Sun Ce's heart at this moment could not be described in words, but he knew very well that he must not get too emotional at this moment and let the poison get completely out of control.
However, at this moment, he saw the third word Qiao Yan said.
"Mou Han."
She even wrote the two words stroke by stroke on his palm with her little finger, as if to prevent him from hearing wrongly. There was not even a hint of hesitation when she wrote the word "Han".
Sun Ce felt as if he was already a person stuffed in a coffin, and that was why he was told such a terrible secret at this moment.
She was not worried at all about the consequences of telling Sun Ce about this, just as she was not worried at all that she would be targeted by the people of Yangzhou and put in danger.
This declaration of certain victory almost instantly destroyed all of Sun Ce's previous knowledge.
But at this moment, he felt a sense of touch on his fingertips, perhaps because of some kind of excited emotion that gave him control.
Without hesitation, he grabbed Qiao Yan's wrist with his backhand.
He endured the pain in his heart and the nausea in his throat, and silently and stubbornly said five words to her: "They don't know."
As if worried that she didn't understand his words clearly, he repeated them very slowly: "They don't know."
His subordinates didn't know such secrets.
His relatives didn't know this secret.
Only he, who was about to enter the grave, knew what terrible things Qiao Yan had said in this silent conversation.
Whether this was pity for him as a loser, or an explanation for him who had been kept in the dark, it was no longer important at this point.
Reflected in Qiao Yan's calm eyes was a face that had already revealed a gloomy expression, and it was absolutely impossible for him to resist her.
So instead of telling this secret to more people and letting them avenge him or even his father's death, causing endless hatred from generation to generation, it is better to let this secret end with him.
It is best for anyone other than him not to know, and must not know.
"I know." Qiao Yan replied this time, and his voice was heard by everyone present. "As long as I live in this world, I will ensure that your Sun family is safe."
"This is my promise to you."
To everyone, it seemed like Sun Ce first told Qiao Yan that he hoped she would take care of Yangzhou and his family, and then Qiao Yan made such a response.
But only Sun Ce knew that what she meant by this sentence was that she knew that as long as she was alive, people like Sun Quan and Zhou Yu would not be able to get out of her control, but once they made any unusual moves, she would show no mercy.
And if one day she dies, if the Sun family still poses a threat, she will eliminate this hidden danger before she dies.
But... enough.
For Sun Ce, this promise was enough.
He vaguely thought of the curved plow that Qiao Yan had sent to him when he first took over as the prefect of Kuaiji County.
The changes that thing has brought to the people's livelihood in Yangzhou are visible to the naked eye.
He vaguely thought of the various measures Qiao Yan had taken to maintain stability in the several states under his control during the drought last year.
I thought of the various things in the Leping Monthly News that had also been sent to Yangzhou.
think……
The person who could give such a gift, the person who could put so much heart into it, might really treat their opponents as chess pieces on the chessboard, and he does not have so much ill will towards the people of the world.
If she could really achieve her goal of seizing power in the Han Dynasty as she said, then by then, how could the Sun family not be part of the world?
Although Sun Ce died, the Sun family survived, and the people of Yangzhou had another way of survival, which might be a good thing.
He moved his fingertips again, signaling Qiao Yan to bring Sun Quan to his side, and Huang Gai, Zhang Zhao and others to his front. Then, in front of these people, he tried his best to say a sentence with clear lip movements -
In the future, I hope you will assist Grand Marshal Yu.
He handed Yangzhou over to her.
When Madam Wu, who had rushed to Tongguan, pushed the door open, Sun Ce's eyes looked at her for the last time, with an unforgettable smile in the light and shadow, and then closed forever, never to open again.
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