The Mythical Version of the Three Kingdoms: The Evil God Arrives

Chapter 434 Sun Quan Appears
"You're leaving now without telling them about persuading them to surrender?" Zhuge Liang asked Yang Ji with some confusion. He remembered that one of the reasons why Yang Ji came was to ask Sun Ce and Zhou Yu to persuade the remnants of Sun Wu to surrender.

As a result, up to now, he has only said a few words to Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, and has not said anything to persuade them to surrender. Could it be that Yang Ji has other ideas about this?
"Now that you have met both of them, do you think that given their character, they will obey our wishes and persuade those people to surrender?" Yang Ji asked Zhuge Liang in return.

Zhuge Liang recalled his impressions of the two men and understood why Yang Ji told Zhou Yu and Sun Ce about this matter on the spot.

"If it's just Sun Bofu alone, he won't agree to this matter. But if there's a more rational Zhou Yu, Sun Bofu is likely to be persuaded by Zhou Yu to agree to this matter." Zhuge Liang said slowly.

"Sure enough, what you said before about not understanding human nature was actually deceiving others, right?" Zhuge Liang said with some emotion. No wonder those people in the Government Affairs Office had that kind of expression when they talked about Chen Xi and Yang Ji's slight understanding and lack of understanding.

Yang Ji did not express any opinion on Zhuge Liang's sigh. At this time, he was wondering whether he meant what Zhuge Liang said, that is, let Zhou Yu persuade Sun Ce?
It seems not. What he meant by saying this before was that with Sun Ce's stubbornness and Zhou Yu's indulgence of Sun Ce, it was impossible for the two of them to persuade the remnants of Sun Wu to surrender. Now was the time to prepare to mobilize the army and let the remnants of Sun Wu recognize who was right now.

However, Zhuge Liang's interpretation seems to be correct. With Zhou Yu's rationality, he might be able to convince Sun Ce to persuade those people to surrender.

And from the later text, it seems that Sun Ce in this world is not very interested in fighting for the tripod. After Liu Biao's death, the reason why he took that path seems to be because he carried the will of the people, especially Zhou Yu's ideals and wishes.

But these are no longer important. No matter what choice Sun Ce and Zhou Yu make, Yang Ji will make those who are lucky enough to realize the gap between them and let them know what the margin of strength is.

"Okay, let's stop talking about these useless things. Wenru is finally free to receive these prisoners. It's time for us to send troops to Shouchun. I don't know what the situation is over there now." Yang Ji patted Zhuge Liang on the shoulder and said.

"Aren't you waiting for Zhou Yu to persuade Sun Bofu?" Zhuge Liang said with some surprise, and then reacted on his own, "I understand, you want to put pressure on them and let them make a choice earlier." Zhuge Liang suddenly realized that every choice made by Chen Xi, Yang Ji and others was paving the way for the next choice in the future.

"..." Yang Ji didn't know how to describe his feelings at this moment. Was Zhuge Liang such a person who was good at imagining things?
"Forget it, interpret it however you want. I don't think that much about it anyway." Yang Ji shook his head. Since when did he become a person whose actions could be interpreted in various ways by others?

Hearing Yang Ji's words, Zhuge Liang blinked. What did Yang Ji mean by this? What did he mean by he didn't think that much, or did he mean that although Yang Ji didn't think that much, he instinctively laid the foundation for the next move?

...

Soon, the people sent by Li You from Xuzhou to receive the prisoners of war arrived at the camp. However, because they were not people Yang Ji knew, Yang Ji arranged for Zhuge Liang to contact them. After all, they were people close to Li You, so it was just right to send Zhuge Liang there.

Yang Ji mobilized his troops and began to prepare for departure, waiting for Gan Ning's fleet to transport all the prisoners of war across the river before setting off for Shouchun.

"Gongjin, can the two of us really persuade them?" Sun Ce looked at the soldiers who were sent across the river by Gan Ning's fleet in silence, then turned to Zhou Yu beside him and asked.

It seems that just as Zhuge Liang guessed, Zhou Yu has already convinced Sun Ce. Only by actually facing Yang Ji can we know what kind of abilities Yang Ji possesses.

"No, Yang Ziyu will not let us go to persuade them to surrender." Zhou Yu looked at the army that had already begun to gather and said slowly, "He will only beat up Zibu Gongyuan and the others, and then let us go out to appease them."

Zhou Yu sighed. He saw clearly that Yang Ji did not need them to persuade them to surrender, and the remnants of Sun Wu were not to the point where Yang Ji needed someone to persuade them to surrender.

"Appease? Who does he want us to appease? The civil officials like Zi Bu, Gong Yuan Yuan Tan, or the military generals represented by the three old generals?" Sun Ce was a little confused. Sun Ce did not think that Yang Ji needed them to appease those people.

"..." Zhou Yu was silent. Just as Sun Ce said, did Yang Ji really need them to appease someone?

Zhou Yu didn't think that there was anyone under Sun Ce who needed Yang Ji to find someone to appease. If there really was such a person, Zhou Yu would not be unaware of who he was. Don't forget that Zhou Yu's spiritual talent includes the ability to detect talent.

"Perhaps he needs to appease the local people." This was the only possibility Zhou Yu could think of. After all, the importance Liu Bei attached to the people during his rule far exceeded that of any previous dynasty.

"The people..." Sun Ce nodded, agreeing with Zhou Yu's guess. After all, apart from the people, Sun Ce could not find anyone else under his command who needed to be appeased.

Although Sun Ce felt that the people did not need Yang Ji to use him and Zhou Yu to appease them, after all, since he took over the territories under his rule, he had not paid much attention to the people in the territories. He and Zhou Yu's focus was basically on the aristocratic families in these places.

The one who was truly recognized by the people of Yuzhou was Yuan Shu, not him and Zhou Yu.

"Do you think the one who really needs to be appeased is Lord Yuan?" Sun Ce thought of another possibility. Compared to the people under his rule, Sun Ce was more willing to believe that Yang Ji brought them along in order to appease Yuan Shu.

After all, in the eyes of most people, Yuan Shu must have reached some agreement with Liu Bei during his last trip to Fenggao, otherwise Yuan Shu would not have passed on his foundation to Sun Ce after returning and confronted the aristocratic family he came from.

"Lord Yuan..." Zhou Yu thought for a moment and felt that what Sun Ce said was very likely to come true, because the people in Sun Ce's territory were really not to the point where they needed to be appeased by the two of them.

Just as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were making wild guesses, Zhuge Liang had already handed over all the prisoners of war and was reporting the specific matters to Yang Ji.

"General, the prisoners of war have all been transported to Jiangbei by the Qingzhou fleet, and the captains sent by Li Changshi of Xuzhou to receive the prisoners of war have also completed the inspection of them all. This is the signed document confirming that they have been received." Zhuge Liang handed the document in his hand to Yang Ji.

Yang Ji took the document handed over by Zhuge Liang, opened it and checked it carefully, then signed and sealed it, and then handed it to the chief clerk for filing. After these things returned to Fenggao, they had to be checked by Liu Bei before being filed, and they could not be taken lightly.

"Okay, the issue of the prisoners has been resolved, and the only thing left is to send troops to Shouchun." Yang Ji stood up and glanced around. On both sides were Zhuge Liang, Cao Cao, Dian Wei, Cheng Yu, Cao Ren, and Le Jin, as well as some army commanders that no one was familiar with. As for Chen Qun and Chen Dao, they had already returned to Fenggao a few days ago, and should have just arrived in Xiapi. They were going to return to Fenggao with Xi Zhicai from there.

As Yang Ji's order was issued, the troops that had already assembled began to move. With the help of the Qingzhou fleet, they crossed the Yangtze River and marched towards Shouchun. In the process, they captured all the cities they encountered along the way and then raised Liu Bei's flag.

Just as Yang Ji's army was on the way, Shouchun City finally ushered in a brief alliance after fierce power struggles.

After fierce struggle, the aristocratic families in Shouchun City persuaded Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong and others to agree to their proposal to bring up Sun Ce's younger brother Sun Quan. At the same time, a joint meeting formed by them assisted Sun Quan in making decisions that would benefit all parties.

At this time, Sun Quan was sitting next to Sun Ce's original position, watching the people below arguing and trying to come up with a way to deal with the aggressive Yang Ji.

What a pity, even his elder brother Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were defeated by Yang Ji and captured. What can they, who are not as good as Sun Ce and Zhou Yu, do? Can they really defend Shouchun City?
Don't forget, the last time Shouchun City was almost captured by the Qingzhou fleet led by Gan Ning who was passing by. If Yuan Shu hadn't personally led his troops to support the city wall, Shouchun City might have really been captured by Gan Ning who was passing by.

This time too, if Yuan Shu had not been absent, how could these people dare to force Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong and others to abdicate and carry Sun Quan out of his home?

Even though Sun Quan seems younger than Zhuge Liang now, he can see things more clearly. These people bring him up just to use his name to control the power of Sun Wu.

Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong and others did have some thoughts on this, but they were also from aristocratic families, so how could they go against the decision of their families? Not everyone could betray their own class.

"Second Young Master, we request that the 80,000 troops from Yuzhou and Jingzhou be recalled and joined with the 50,000 troops from Shouchun, totaling 130,000 troops, to repel the invasion of Yang Ji's army near Shouchun City." An unknown guy stood up and said to Sun Quan.

"The 30,000 troops commanded by three veteran generals in Jingzhou can be recalled to Shouchun, but how do we withdraw the 50,000 troops in Yuzhou? You know, Yuzhou relies on these 50,000 troops to fight against Guan Yu from Chenliu." Another unfamiliar guy stood up to refute the person in front of him.

"Then what do you say we should do now? If we don't recall the troops outside, how can we defend Shouchun City with only 50,000 defenders?" The man in front put forward the question and questioned the person who had just refuted him.

Zhang Zhao and others looked at the guy who said that 50,000 people could not defend Shouchun City, wanting to see who he was from and who could say such a brainless thing.

Even the young Sun Quan couldn't help but look at this guy. Even he knew that as long as everyone in the city was united, they could still defend Shouchun City with the help of 50,000 defenders. After all, the enemy army was only 60,000, a difference of only 10,000, which did not meet the standard of 'surrounding it with ten' in military books.

However, Sun Quan was very clear about one thing: he was just a mascot and had no say at all. Although Zhang Zhao and others who really had a say had their own ideas, their positions were on the side of these aristocratic families. It was hard to say how loyal they were to Sun Ce.

By the way, are Zhang Zhao and his men really loyal to Sun Ce? Sun Quan expressed his doubts.

It was the experience of being used as a mascot by these people that made Sun Quan realize how capable his elder brother and Zhou Yu were. They could actually suppress these guys with different thoughts and make them move in the direction they wanted.

Sun Quan sighed silently. He felt that he should be able to balance the demands of these people and come up with a more reasonable plan. After all, these people were all capable, so it should not be a problem for him to come up with an executable plan for defending the city.

But, again, he has no say, he is just a clay sculpture carried by these people. What they need is the legal principles that Sun Quan inherited from Sun Ce.

As for Sun Quan's own will, that is not important. They do not need the clay sculpture to have its own will. When they discover the will of the clay sculpture of Sun Quan, they may just destroy it. After all, what they need is a clay sculpture, not a clay sculpture with its own will.

After leaving Sun Ce's protection, Sun Quan finally understood what Sun Ce had been blocking him from.

Sun Quan is very smart, especially when it comes to personnel matters. It’s just that he had always been protected under the wings of Sun Ce and had not seen the turbulent world outside. His experiences in the past few days were even more exciting than those in the past ten years.

The only price he paid was that it was no longer his elder brother Sun Ce, but him who had to face the surging malice outside.

Facing the surging malice and danger from all directions, Sun Quan raised his head and looked into the distance, where Yang Ji was marching.

Sun Quan's mysterious intuition allowed him to sense the danger coming from afar. This danger was not directed at him, but at everyone present and the city they were in.

Sun Quan sighed again. This time he was not going to be silent. He wanted Zhang Zhao, who was sitting below him, to notice him. Although Sun Quan should keep a low profile now, only by keeping a low profile as much as possible could those guys treat him as a clay sculpture and save the Sun family.

However, Sun Quan did not want his elder brother's foundation to fall apart, so Sun Quan could only walk a tightrope and use the power of Sun Ce's civil and military forces to balance the demands of these people as much as possible.

"Hmm?" Zhang Zhao, who was frowning and thinking about how to convince the representatives in the hall, noticed Sun Quan sighing.

After seeing Zhang Zhao noticed him, Sun Quan blinked, hoping that Zhang Zhao could understand what he meant. He didn't want to speak directly, otherwise the Sun family would be targeted by these guys, although they had been targeted for a long time.

[This is...] Zhang Zhao raised his eyebrows. He found that the second young master of the Sun family seemed to be a little unusual.

(End of this chapter)