That afternoon, Sun Quan came to visit his nephew and two nieces.
Everything in Fu Garden was as usual and in good order.
Such tranquility and serenity.
Sun Quan, on the contrary, felt a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, mixed feelings).
He was too shallow; it was the outside world that was in turmoil and chaos.
His sister-in-law remains steadfast in her resolve.
Sun Quan ordered Jiang Qin to move the finest spring tea of the year into his sister-in-law's house.
"Sister-in-law, how have you been these past few days? Everything is due to Zhongmou's youth and incompetence. He is overwhelmed by external affairs and neglects his family matters."
Major family matters are still handled entirely by the eldest sister-in-law and mother.
Xu is new here and doesn't understand many things yet. Sister-in-law, please teach her well. If she doesn't listen, just tell me.
Qiao Jingjing told Sun Quan not to be polite.
“I understand all those things! You don’t need to say more. Whether you believe it or not, and no matter what outsiders say, I treat you the same way I did when your older brother was alive. We’re all family.”
Qiao Jingjing is quiet, composed, and open-minded.
What he said truly moved Sun Quan.
“Sister-in-law, recently, Liu Biao of Jingzhou has raised a large navy, and Jiangxia has begun to rebel. They all plan to take advantage of my brother’s recent death to bully Jiangdong.”
Zibu, Gongjin, and I have already discussed and agreed that I will still lead the troops and personally lead the expedition to Jingzhou, while Zhu Zhi and Zibu will stay to guard Wu County, and my third brother will garrison Wucheng County.
"Sister-in-law, I came to see you today. Firstly, to check on you and see if you're eating well, worried that you might be missing your brother and neglecting yourself. Secondly, I wanted to say goodbye. I'm leaving to fight in the war, and I don't know when I'll be back. Please take good care of yourself."
Sun Quan stood before Qiao Jingjing with great courtesy.
Qiao Jingjing returned the greeting to Sun Quan.
"Since you've made your decision, then go ahead. I have nothing to tell you. It's just that there are things within our family clan, and Cao Cao in the north..."
“I know what my sister-in-law means, I understand, I will have someone keep an eye out.”
Sun Quan and Qiao Jingjing have many similarities.
He will be careful not to let anyone undermine him when he goes to war, not even those who seem to be his closest relatives.
Sun Quan would also have a backup plan.
Sun Quan knew best that his relationship with his cousins, Sun Ben and Sun Fu, was not as close as his relationship with his elder brother.
It is obvious that Sun Ben and Sun Fu, Sun Ce's two cousins, were very wary of him.
But Sun Quan seemed to have something in common with him.
Or perhaps everyone thinks that Sun Quan was incredibly lucky to inherit his elder brother's position and generals.
Sun Quan led his troops to attack Jiangxia and Liu Biao, passing through Moling along the way and sailing upstream along the Yangtze River.
In the Yangtze River region, Sun Ben, the prefect of Yuzhang, and Sun Fu, the prefect of Luling, learned of the situation immediately.
Guo Jia, who had quickly fled back to Xuchang after Sun Ce's death, was still not idle.
After three months in Jiangdong, Guo Jia had come to understand which people in Jiangdong were truly loyal to the brothers Sun Ce and Sun Quan, and which were only superficially loyal but whose true intentions were unknown.
For example, Lu Xun, this representative of the young aristocratic families, might be thought to be an irreconcilable enemy of the Lu and Sun families, but Lu Xun's thinking is quite unique.
Lu Xun not only served Sun Ce while Sun Ce was alive, but also protected Sun Ce's wife and his younger brother Sun Quan after Sun Ce's death.
People like Lu Xun were considered to possess the integrity and character of scholars in their time.
There are others, such as those in the Sun family who hold military power, like Sun Ben, the Prefect of Yuzhang, and Sun Fu, the Prefect of Luling, as well as Sun Jing and his son Sun Hao from the third branch of the Sun family. These are all people with great potential.
Although Guo Jia fled back to Cao Cao's side in disgrace.
But his mind still seemed to be working perfectly.
At this point, Cao Cao had already forced His Majesty the Emperor to appoint him as Chancellor.
After Cao Cao went from being called Uncle Mengde to Duke Cao, he went on to become Chancellor.
"Prime Minister! I personally believe that the brothers Sun Ben and Sun Fu are people we can contact. They both hold military power and have fought on all sides. They know that conquering a country is not easy, and they are both worried about whether Sun Quan can defend Jiangdong. They are both observing calmly. I think the Prime Minister should take this opportunity to contact Sun Ben and Sun Fu."
Cao Cao thought it made sense.
then.
While Sun Quan was away fighting wars, Sun Fu, who was also the General Who Pacifies the South and the Prefect of Luling, had already begun to secretly communicate with Cao Cao.
Their dealings were kept extremely secret.
Even so, Sun Quan had made prior preparations.
Zhang Zhao intercepted many letters between Sun Fu and Cao Cao, and carefully preserved each one.
But that's a story for another time.
Sun Hao, who was imprisoned by Sun Ce in his hometown of Fuchun County in his early years and studied behind closed doors.
It's already impossible to keep it closed!
Upon hearing of Sun Ce's death, Sun Hao no longer wanted to study or pretend to be a subservient person.
His father, Sun Jing, remained as aloof as ever, seemingly uninterested in worldly affairs.
Sun Hao argued with his father:
"Father, how long are you going to tolerate this? Sun Ce is dead! The six counties of Jiangdong are leaderless. Do you really think that blue-eyed brat Sun Zhongmou can hold Jiangdong?"
In the end, weren't we all completely devoured by Cao Cao?
Do you really think that Sun Ben and Sun Fu will still unite and assist Sun Quan as they did when Sun Ce was alive?
Father, open your eyes and look, the world has changed.
You don't need to stay by my side while I read anymore.
Even if I understand this book, who will read it to me?
Should we show it to Sun Ce? He's dead!
Or should we show it to Sun Ce's widow?
That widow really didn't know her own worth. Relying on Sun Ce's power, she became arrogant and thought she was the eldest sister-in-law and the most beautiful woman in Jiangdong.
Bah!
Sun Hao cursed and swore, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.
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