When Sun Ce heard Zhou Yu praising Madam Wu, he waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this for now. Today is a matter between us men!"
He knew that his mother was very virtuous and capable, and had considerable insight. It could be said that women were as capable as men. Moreover, Mrs. Wu had taken great care in raising the children, and especially after Sun Jian's death, she had taken on the responsibility of supporting the Sun family. It could be said that her performance was perfect.
But for Sun Ce, who respected his father very much, he had a worry in his heart.
He knew the truth about his father forcing his mother to marry him.
Once when Sun Ce was drinking with Sun Jian, Sun Jian got drunk and proudly talked about what happened in the past.
He talked about how he killed several members of the Wu family, causing panic in the Wu family and forcing Mrs. Wu to marry him.
Sun Jian said proudly: "Your father's ancestor was a melon farmer. If I don't do this, how can I make the Wu family, a noble family, bow to me?"
"From then on, I understood that these nobles were all cowardly people, just like stray dogs on the roadside. If you kick them a few times, they will behave themselves!"
"Look, I killed Wang Rui, the governor of Jingzhou, and Zhang Zi, the governor of Nanyang. They were all from great noble families. I killed them all the way. Who in the world would dare to fart?"
"Even if people like us become successful, the nobles will not look down on us. In this case, we will kill them until they are terrified and kneel down like dogs!"
Sun Ce was stunned and speechless. From then on, he felt that his father seemed to have planted something in his heart, igniting a raging fire.
From then on, he began to imitate his father, especially after Sun Jian's death, he became even more outrageous, killing gentry at will and getting satisfaction from it.
But every time Sun Jian saw his mother, he felt more guilty, so when Mrs. Wu advised him to kill less, Sun Ce would reluctantly listen.
It can be said that the only person who could persuade Sun Ce was Mrs. Wu, otherwise Sun Ce would have become the second Sun Jian long ago.
Everyone didn't know what Sun Ce was thinking, but they felt that it was indeed rude to talk about Sun Ce's mother in person, so they quickly apologized.
Everyone was drinking happily. After three rounds of drinking, Sun Ce said drunkenly, "It was only after we captured Tancheng, the seat of Xiapi, that I realized Xuzhou is a good place."
"Not only is there gold and silver everywhere, but even the women are as good as those in Yangzhou."
"Speaking of which, we also captured Liu Bei and Kong Rong's wife and children this time. I heard that they were all top-notch beauties. I was in a hurry to come back and poke Liu Bei in the ass, but I didn't have time to take them into my room."
"I have ordered people to escort him to Guangling. He will arrive in the next few days. We can share the money together then!"
Zhou Yu heard this and said, "This is too bad. I'm afraid the nobles will criticize it."
Sun Ce waved his hand and said, "Gongjin is pedantic, what are you afraid of!"
"If you don't want it, I'll take it all!"
After hearing this, Zhou Yu smiled bitterly. In his eyes, Sun Ce was good in every way except that he was quite hostile to the gentry. The key point was that Zhou Yu was also from a gentry family, which made him quite embarrassed sometimes.
While everyone was laughing and talking, a spy rushed in and delivered an urgent report.
When Sun Ce tore it open and looked at it, his face changed drastically. He slammed the table and stood up, shouting angrily: "Cao the thief bullied me so much!"
When everyone saw the urgent news, they were all shocked. Cao Cao actually sent troops to approach Tancheng!
Originally, the two sides had agreed that after defeating Liu Bei, each would take half of Xuzhou. Now the war is not over yet, why did Cao Cao take action?
If Xia Pi was lost, Sun Ce would only be left with Guangling, with Liu Bei to the north, Cao Cao to the west, and Liu Yao to the south. He would be in a situation where he was surrounded by enemies on all sides!
Sun Ce suddenly stood up, pointed at Zhang Xun and said, "You and I will lead all the cavalry to rush back to Tancheng and drive out Cao's army!"
"Gongjin and Qiao Gong stay in Guangling to defend the city!"
Zhang Xun and Qiao Rui quickly agreed. Zhou Yu hesitated and said, "The Cao army is not easy to deal with. Should we ask the Madam for her opinion first?"
When Sun Ce heard this, he said unhappily: "No need to ask mother about everything, I have my own ideas!"
Seeing that he could not persuade Sun Ce, Zhou Yu could only watch as Sun Ce got on his horse and left.
He thought that Liu Yao had not been able to cross the river to attack, and Liu Bei in the north was at his wit's end. He would not be able to muster any troops for a year or two. Even if Sun Ce could not defend Xia Pi, he should have no problem retreating to Guangling.
With these forces blocking the way, even if Liu Bei asked Yuan for help, it would take a long time for them to dispatch troops.
What's more, in Zhou Yu's opinion, the Yuan family might not care about Liu Bei.
I must be overthinking it. The enemy can't just fall from the sky, right?
Inside Haixi City, Liu Bei sat and watched his subordinate officials arguing, feeling quite anxious.
He has sent people to the Yuan family to seek help, but Yuan Shao has not yet made any statement.
Chen Deng came up with an idea and went to find Yuan Xi to think of a solution, but when Liu Bei heard that Yuan Xi had been adopted and was no longer in the core circle of the Yuan family, what role could he play?
What's more, I heard that his relationship with Yuan Shang was very strained, and it might even have a counterproductive effect!
He looked at the dozen or so remaining officials, and felt even more upset when he thought of his wife falling into Sun Ce's hands.
Sun Ce was a madman. Who knew what would happen to his wives and concubines?
The only thing to be thankful for was that his most beloved Madam Gan did not get trapped in Xia Pi, but escaped with him.
But his wife would probably not be able to escape with their daughter. Thinking about how several of his wives either died young or had accidents, Liu Bei wondered if he was unlucky with wives.
Forget it. At worst I won't get married in the future. Taking a concubine is fine.
Everyone was talking about it. Sun Gan and Jian Yong suggested going to Qingzhou to ask Yuan Tan for help. However, there were mountains and dense forests between Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and there were Zang Ba's Taishan bandits in the middle, so Yuan Tan could not take them down. Even if Qingzhou sent troops, it would be difficult to reach Xuzhou.
The Yuzhou faction was in a panic. Once Xia Pi was lost, their connection with Yuzhou was completely cut off. Moreover, news came that Chen Qun was not captured when Tancheng was captured, but ran to Yanzhou to surrender to Cao Cao!
This was a huge blow to the morale of Liu Bei's side. Everyone knew that Chen Qun did not agree to take over Xuzhou at that time, and now the facts seemed to confirm his thoughts.
The faction of Chen Deng and Mi Zhu were even more ashamed, thinking that they were not as foresighted as Chen Qun. In fact, they also had their own grievances that they could not express.
Who could have guessed that Zhang Fei, who was in charge of the safest Tancheng, would cause an internal conflict and lose the most important Xuzhou government?
Chen Deng was so angry that he couldn't eat for several days. Fortunately, Hua Tuo, who escaped with him, prescribed some medicine for him, and he felt better after taking it.
After most of the day, everyone still hadn't reached a consensus. The current dilemma was that Liu Bei was short of soldiers and food, and was unable to fight back against Sun Ce, who was on the rise.
At present, the most prosperous Xia Pi and Guangling have been lost, and the remaining Langya and Donghai have been massacred by Cao Cao in the past two years. It is difficult to support Liu Bei's conscription in terms of money, food or population.
Finally, when it was evening, everyone dispersed. Mi Zhu came back in after seeing that everyone had left. Liu Bei was quite surprised and asked, "What's the matter, Zi Zhong?"
Mi Zhu hesitated for a moment, then said, "My lord, this is a matter of life and death. I am willing to marry my sister to you, and bring two thousand servants and millions of treasures as a dowry to help you."
When Liu Bei heard this, he was immediately interested.
He thought for a while and said with embarrassment: "Now that I have killed several wives, I really don't want to marry again."
Mi Zhu was stunned. What did this mean?
In Yecheng, Guo Jia was talking with Yuan Xi at this time, but a rare unpleasantness arose between the two.
When Guo Jia came in, he asked Yuan Xi directly, "Sir, can you bring your family with you when you go to Youzhou?"
After hearing this, Yuan Xi raised his head and said, "Of course, I will take my wife away."
Guo Jia said sternly: "Zhu Jia said frankly that you should keep him in Yecheng."
"No!" Yuan Xi said decisively: "Mr. Feng Xiao knows the situation in Yecheng much better than I do."
"If I leave it here, won't I be controlled by others?"
"Xi doesn't understand, please give me some advice, sir."
Guo Jia said, "If it is for the sake of having children, you can take more concubines. This is not a problem."
"And if your wife doesn't stay in Yecheng, I'm afraid that the Yuan family will suspect that the young master has the intention of becoming independent."
"No matter what you think, leaving your wife in Yecheng is the most appropriate choice."
"If I really have to be blackmailed, the worst that can happen is to find a new wife."
After hearing this, Yuan Xi said coldly: "Like Cao Cao's family members?"
Guo Jia nodded and said, "Same."
The atmosphere between the two began to grow cold.
Yuan Xi said in a hoarse voice: "Mr. Fengxiao, do you have the heart to leave your wife and children here?"
Guo Jia didn't even think about it and said decisively: "Of course, I didn't intend to let them go."
Yuan Xi was choked and speechless.
After a long while, he said with difficulty: "I can't even protect my own wife, how can I stand between heaven and earth?"
"Isn't this a violation of the vows made between husband and wife at the time of marriage?"
Guo Jia said coldly: "Madam, as the legal wife of a local lord, if you want to get possible benefits in the future, you must pay the necessary price now."
"I believe your wife will accept it and should have thought about this before getting married."
Yuan Xi thought about the chaotic times at that time, with the princes fighting each other, and that after the death of a lord, his wife and children would often end up in a miserable state.
It is better for a woman with a noble background, after all, she still has to consider her face. But if the hatred between the two sides is deep, or the woman's status is not high, then her situation will be worrying, and she will often be rewarded to the generals as a concubine.
Just like Gongsun Zan's wife, Hou, if she hadn't been protected by Yuan Xi, it's hard to say what would have happened to her.
Yuan Xi thought to himself, if he died, what would happen to Zhen Mi, Zhao Ji and the others?
He asked aloud: "Is there no other way?"
Guo Jia said: "When Emperor Gaozu fled, he kicked his wife and children out of the carriage. Could it be that it was because there were a few more people that the carriage could not run fast enough?"
"He did it for his subordinates to see!"
"The purpose is to tell the subordinates that no matter what the situation is, the lord must absolutely ensure his own safety and not let his family become a burden!"
"Only a lord like this can make it to the end, and his subordinates will follow him wholeheartedly!"
Yuan Xi was silent. He knew that every word Guo Jia said was absolutely correct and beneficial to a qualified lord.
But he couldn't do it.
He said aloud: "Since I have already promised, I don't want to break my promise to her."
"If you can't even protect your own wife, how can you protect the families of the soldiers?"
"If one person cannot keep his promise, how can he keep his promise to the whole world?"
After hearing this, Guo Jia stopped talking, bowed his head, and left.
Yuan Xi sat there in a daze. He knew that he might never become a person like Guo Jia.
But for the sake of one's own personal feelings, one may cause his subordinates to waver. Am I a qualified lord?