Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 41. Zhuge Jin's Mission to Shu
The news that Sichuan had begun to prepare for war could not be concealed. Soon Sun Quan learned from his spies that Sichuan was preparing to attack Jingzhou in the east.

"Disaster has occurred! Summon all the ministers to discuss the matter!"

When Sun Quan saw this secret report, he was extremely anxious and immediately asked someone to invite important officials such as Zhang Zhao to come over.

"...That's the situation. What good ideas do you have?"

When Sun Quan told the audience that Liu Bei had already started preparing for war, there was a lot of discussion in the hall.

"My lord, why don't we first let Ziyu take gifts to Shuzhong to apologize and find out the situation in Shuzhong and the attitude of the King of Hanzhong. At the same time, we can let Han Dang, Zhou Tai and other generals in Jingzhou step up their vigilance and be ready to fight the King of Hanzhong at any time."

Zhang Zhao stepped forward and proposed this plan. Sun Quan had no other choice but to ask Zhuge Jin to bring all the gifts and guards upstream from Jiangling into Shu and head straight to Chengdu.

When Liu Bei learned about this, he immediately met with Zhuge Jin. Firstly, Zhuge Jin was Zhuge Liang's brother, and secondly, he wanted to hear what Sun Quan had to say this time.

"Meet the King of Hanzhong."

In the hall, except Zhuge Liang, all the civil and military officials were present. After Zhuge Jin entered the hall, he bowed and greeted them.

"Tzuyu, you don't have to be so polite. I wonder what you want to teach me today?"

Although Liu Bei looked expressionless, there was a hint of hostility in his words, which made Zhuge Jin feel a little pressured.

"I am not here for any other reason. I heard that the King of Hanzhong is preparing for war in Shu and raising military equipment. The Marquis of Wu is very concerned about him. I would like to ask whether the King needs me, Jiangdong, to join forces to attack Cao Wei?"

Zhuge Jin's words were pure ignorance and weakness. Wasn't it obvious who Liu Bei was going to beat? Zhuge Jin pretended not to know and asked whether they could jointly attack Cao Wei in the hope that Liu Bei would reconsider it. If not, let's make peace.

"Haha, Ziyu, you are joking. I am not recruiting troops for others, but for the Marquis of Wu. The Marquis of Wu broke the alliance and attacked Jingzhou. How can I let you come here and pretend?"

Liu Bei sneered, his voice was as cold as the cold winter.

Zhuge Jin forced himself to smile awkwardly.

"This is Cao's plan. The Duke of Wu was not careful and fell into the trap. I was sent here this time in the hope that the two countries can make peace and fight against Cao Wei together, instead of fighting among ourselves and letting Cao Wei reap the benefits."

It must be said that as a later Grand Commander, Zhuge Jin's words were quite insightful. Liu Bei might have listened to this under normal circumstances. But unfortunately, after experiencing the debate between Feng Xi and Zhuge Liang that day, Liu Bei was already dismissive of this.

"Could it be that Lord Ziyu is here to deliberately provoke me and bully me, Chuanzhong, who is incompetent?"

Although Liu Bei knew that Zhuge Jin was lying with his eyes open, he could not openly rebuke him because of his status.

Feng Xi saw what Liu Bei was thinking and took the initiative to step forward, ready to debate with Zhuge Liang's brother again.

"Who are you? Why do you say that?"

Zhuge Jin naturally didn't know Feng Xi, so he wasn't angry or annoyed when he saw a stranger coming out to question him.

"I am Feng Xi, the Godly General under the command of the King of Hanzhong. What Lord Ziyu just said is not a case of covering one's ears and stealing the bell? It has fallen into Cao Cao's trap. Even if Cao Cao sent an envoy to persuade the Marquis of Wu and promised him a large sum of money or official titles, the Marquis of Wu would betray his loyalty and attack his ally for such external things? Could it be that in the eyes of the Marquis of Wu, we are not as valuable as wealth and glory?"

Feng Xi sneered, but every word he said was as sharp as a knife, making Zhuge Jin sweat profusely.

"General, you are joking. Of course it is not true. Cao Cao's evil plot is beyond my mediocre ability and I don't know the details. But the Marquis of Wu will not abandon the alliance between Wu and Shu because of some vulgar things. After the Marquis of Wu knew that he had been tricked, he felt very guilty and couldn't sleep at night, so he sent me here, hoping that the two sides would make peace and fight against the traitors together." Zhuge Jin knew that he could not answer, so he simply played dumb and fooled him. But Feng Xi was not so easy to fool.

"If what Mr. Ziyu said is true, Cao used some means unknown to you and me to deceive the Marquis of Wu. Then how do you explain the matter of the Lord? The Lord is the sworn brother of the King, as close as brothers, and everyone in the world knows it. Why did Jiangdong, as a former ally, kill him so cruelly?"

Feng Xi continued to question Zhuge Jin, leaving him at a loss as to how to answer. After all, it was Sun Quan who ordered the killing, so it could not be blamed on Cao Cao.

"Besides, Lord Ziyu has been saying that we will fight against Cao Wei together. But given the character of the Marquis of Wu, how can we know if he will appoint Li Meng, Wang Meng, Zhao Meng and others as the Grand Commander when we leave Liangzhou and Guanzhong in the north, and then send the White Clothes into Shu again?"

Feng Xi was blatantly attacking Sun Quan's character. Zhuge Jin's face turned red. He could still make a few more rebuttals on this topic.

"General, you are wrong. The Marquis of Wu knows that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold. If the King of Hanzhong is defeated by Cao Wei, how can Jiangdong survive alone? I hope the general will be careful with his words!"

"How to be alone? Didn't Zhang Zhao and Zhang Zibu point out how to be alone during the Battle of Red Cliff? When the time comes, the Marquis of Wu will surrender with the three lands of Jing, Yi, and Yang as his assets, and will still be granted the title of Marquis. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be the Marquis of Wu in the Great Wei?"

At this time, he was still Emperor Xian, so Feng Xi naturally did not dare to say that he was the King of Wu of Wei. However, the title of Marquis of Wu of Wei was not far off.

"How dare you, General, lie to me with such a joke! We also suffered heavy losses in the fierce battle of Red Cliff in Jiangdong. How can you allow me to slander you like this!"

"The men of Jiangdong have sacrificed their lives. Could it be that when General Guan flooded the seven armies, he was not fighting against Cao Wei?! Now that the Marquis of Wu is attacking General Guan, is he not helping Cao to commit atrocities? Could it be that he is helping us?!"

Zhuge Jin blew his beard and glared, and Feng Xi followed suit. Originally, Dongwu was in the wrong in this matter, and you still dare to be angry?

"King of Hanzhong, this time the Marquis of Wu hopes that we can put aside the past and renew our alliance. I wonder..."

Zhuge Jin simply ignored Feng Xi and turned to ask Liu Bei.

"What Feng Xiuyuan said makes sense. Ziyu, how do you explain it?"

As Liu Bei's substitute, Feng Xi's questioning basically expressed what Liu Bei was thinking, and Liu Bei was also happy to let Feng Xi make things difficult for Zhuge Jin again.

"Lord Ziyu, even if the Marquis of Wu wants to rebuild the palace, can't these gifts be enough to show his sincerity?"

Feng Xi's voice sounded again from behind Zhuge Jin, making Zhuge Jin feel a chill on his back.

"Of course there are more than these. These are the gifts for this visit. I wonder if the King of Hanzhong has any advice for you? I will tell the Marquis of Wu when I return."

"This is easy. I have only three conditions. First, the Marquis of Wu must return the land of Jingzhou that he annexed. Second, hand over the traitorous generals Mi Fang, Fu Shiren and others, as well as the people who urged the Marquis of Wu to kill Yun Chang. Third, apologize according to etiquette. All three are indispensable."

Liu Bei solemnly proposed three conditions. Zhuge Jin knew that the third one was easy to say, the first half of the second one was also easy to say, but the second half was impossible, and the first one was even more impossible.

"This... King Hanzhong, please don't make things difficult for me. I hope King Hanzhong will be lenient."

As an envoy, Zhuge Jin would definitely bargain.

"If Lord Wu had known this, why did he do it in the first place? Do you think that you can get rid of us with empty words and some vulgar things?"

Feng Xi, who was standing by, also made sarcastic remarks as if following his shadow.

(End of this chapter)