Ji Han Grand Commander

Chapter 7. Death of Guan Yu
Guan Yu and his son were captured and escorted to Sun Quan's tent by Ma Zhong. Sun Quan looked at Guan Yu, who had repeatedly annoyed him with words like "blue-eyed boy" and "how can a tiger's daughter marry a dog's son", with a smug look on his face. Guan Yu, who seemed to be high and mighty in the world, stood in his tent as a defeated general, looking humiliated and disdainful.

"I once wanted to make friends with you, but why did you slander me with such bad words? I heard that General Guan often boasted that he was invincible, but why was he captured by me today? General Guan, how are you doing today?"

Sun Quan was in a good mood at the moment and had time to make some sarcastic remarks to Guan Yu, a prisoner.

Guan Yu's eyes were wide open and he continued to curse Sun Quan.

"Blue-eyed boy, purple-bearded rat! In the past, my brother and I swore brotherhood in Taoyuan and vowed to support the Han Dynasty. How could I surrender to a spineless traitor like you?! Today, I have fallen into your evil scheme. There is no other choice but death!"

Sun Quan and the generals who participated in the Jingzhou war became a little bored after being scolded by him. Sun Quan waved his hand and brought the subject back to the main topic.

"Yun Chang is a great hero of the world. I want to treat him with courtesy, win his heart and make him surrender. What do you think?"

A scribe nearby immediately jumped out and shouted:

"My lord, you must not do that."

Everyone looked carefully and saw that it was the chief clerk Zuo Xian. He came to the center, bowed, and began to advise.

"In the past, Guan Yu surrendered to the King of Wei. The King of Wei held a small banquet every three days and a large banquet every five days. He generously gave him gold, silver, jewelry, beauties and antiques. However, when Guan Yu first heard about the Big Ear Bandit's movements, he resolutely resigned and left without saying goodbye. Later, he was even forced to move the capital due to the enemy's military force. This person's mind is like a stubborn stone. He cannot change his mind even after being attacked by a knife or an axe. It is better to cut the grass and eliminate the root of the trouble to prevent it from happening again."

After listening to Zuo Xian's words, Sun Quan pondered for a moment and secretly felt that Zuo Xian's words made sense. At this moment, Sun Quan had already offended Guan Yu. If he let the tiger go back to the mountains, and Guan Yu flooded the seven armies again, it would be too late for Sun Quan to regret.

"Zuo Zhubu's words make sense. Push him out and behead him."

Guan Yu's favorite magic weapon, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, was obtained by Pan Zhang; Guan Yu's favorite horse, the Red Hare, was presented to Sun Quan by Ma Zhong, but it refused to eat grass and died of starvation after a few days.

After killing Guan Yu and taking Jingzhou, it was appropriate to reward the officials according to their merits and hold a grand banquet for all the officials. If we talk about the meritorious officials in this battle, it should be the great commander Lu Meng. Lu Meng had a brilliant plan to cross the river in white clothes and attack Guan Yu's hinterland, making it difficult for the front and rear to take care of each other, and finally he was defeated and killed.

"In the past, Gongjin defeated Cao Cao at Red Cliff, and Zijing formulated the emperor's strategy and persuaded me to fight Cao Cao at Red Cliff. Today, you have devised a plan to seize Jingzhou and capture and kill Guan Yu. You are far better than Gongjin and Zijing!"

During the banquet, Sun Quan naturally did not hesitate to praise Lu Meng. All the generals were in harmony and Sun Quan even poured wine himself for Lu Meng.

Lu Meng stood up and took the wine glass, but suddenly his eyes widened with anger, he threw the glass to the ground, grabbed Sun Quan by the collar and shouted at him.

"Blue-eyed boy, purple-bearded rat, do you recognize me?"

Sun Quan was frightened when he heard the familiar voice, and dared not move. Lu Meng raised his fist to attack Sun Quan, but fortunately the other generals reacted, rushed forward, dragged Lu Meng, and helped Sun Quan away.

Seeing Sun Quan walking away, Lü Meng stopped his attack, and the other generals also stopped their attacks to see what would happen next. Lü Meng strode to the seat of Sun Quan, sat down, and scanned the people in the hall.

"I followed my brother and I since we became sworn brothers, fighting against the Yellow Turbans and Dong Zhuo, and have been active for more than 30 years. Now I have been harmed by the treacherous scheme of the little boy Lu Meng. I cannot eat your flesh while I am alive, but after I die I will chase after the soul of the thief Lu! I am Guan Yu, the Marquis of Han Shou Ting!"

After saying this, Lu Meng sat upright in the chair without saying anything else, his eyes staring at the ceiling.

"..."

After a while, Wu general Zhou Tai was more courageous and stepped forward to touch him, and found that Lü Meng was dead. As Zhou Tai touched him, Lü Meng's body slipped and he knelt on the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices. This death frightened the generals and Sun Quan, so they collected Lü Meng's body and let his son Lü Ba inherit his father's title.

Zhang Zhao heard about the capture of Guan Yu and knew the key, so he rushed to Jingzhou from Jianye. However, he found out that Sun Quan had killed Guan Yu and Lu Meng was also killed by Guan Yu. Zhang Zhao sighed when he saw Sun Quan, who was still a little frightened.

"It's a disaster! My lord has killed Guan Yu and his son, Jiangdong will suffer the consequences! Guan Yu and Liu and Zhang became sworn brothers in Taoyuan.

In the past, Liu Xuande was defeated by the Wei army in Xuzhou, and the three of them fled in all directions, but later they crossed thousands of miles to reunite. This shows how much they loved each other. Now Liu Bei has the soldiers of Erchuan, the strategy of Zhuge Liang, and the courage of Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Huang Zhong, and Ma Chao. If Liu Bei knew that the lord had killed Guan Yu and his son, he would definitely mobilize the whole country to avenge his blood feud. I am afraid that Dongwu would be hard to be the enemy! "

After listening to Zhang Zhao's analysis, Sun Quan finally realized the connection and fell to the ground in fright.

"I made a mistake! What can I do now?"

Zhang Zhao shook his head and could only ask Sun Quan to present Guan Yu's head to Cao Cao, so that Liu Bei would think that it was Cao Cao who ordered him to attack Cao.

Although Sun Quan knew that doing so would be tantamount to covering up the truth, the matter had already been settled and he could only go with the flow. He put Guan Yu's head in a wooden box and sent it to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao knew that this was a plan of the Eastern Wu, but he couldn't help but take a look for himself.

"Lord Yunchang, are you all right?"

When Cao Cao opened the wooden box and saw Guan Yu, who had passed away, he could not help but ask about Guan Yu's head with a tone of half joking and half regret. He did not want to see Guan Yu's head with eyes wide open and staring at him, so he collapsed to the ground in fear and dared not show any disrespect again.

Cao Cao ordered people to carve a body out of agarwood and put it together with Guan Yu's head. They then buried him at the south gate of Luoyang with royal rites to show that this was a plot by the Eastern Wu to sow discord.

After reading the intelligence Zhuge Liang had collected over the past few days, Liu Bei's face turned pale. First, the villains of Wu betrayed their alliance and attacked Jingzhou while Guan Yu was fighting a bloody battle with Cao Wei; then Wu dared to harm Guan Yu; and later, Guan Yu's body was pushed back and forth between the two families as a tool for intrigue. All these things had already made Liu Bei furious.

"Kong Ming, how many soldiers are available in the country?"

Zhuge Liang knew that Liu Bei had lost his mind at this time and could only try to delay it.

"Your Majesty, sending troops is a matter of great importance. I think it is best to discuss this with the ministers in the court."

Liu Bei nodded and asked Kong Ming to notify everyone that all civil officials and military generals must attend the court meeting tomorrow.

Zhuge Liang left Liu Bei's study and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Usually, Liu Bei was angry or crying, but he felt that it was nothing, and the king must have some intention.

However, Liu Bei's unusual calmness today but his tone of voice that left no room for doubt made Zhuge Liang feel a chill down his spine. It seemed that Liu Bei was truly angry.

"Alas... Lord Wu, Lord Wu, why did you do such a short-sighted thing? Why did you want to endanger General Guan's life?"

In Kong Ming's view, Wu had countless chances, but chose the most wrong one. Even if Wu had only seized Jingzhou and allowed Guan Yu to return to Sichuan, or placed Guan Yu under house arrest as a condition, Liu Bei would not have done so.

After Guan Yu's death, it would be difficult for Wu and Han to negotiate peace.

　Attached is the 77th chapter of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, "Guan Gong of Yuquan Mountain Appears as a Divine Being in Luoyang City and Cao Cao Moves the Gods":
　　Soon, Ma Zhong and Guan Gong came forward. Guan said, "I have long admired your virtue and wanted to make peace with Qin and Jin. Why do you abandon me? You used to think you were invincible, but why were you captured by me today? Do you still obey Sun Quan today?" Guan Gong scolded him, "Blue-eyed boy, purple-bearded rat! I swore to support the Han Dynasty with Uncle Liu in Taoyuan. How could I be with you, the traitor who betrayed the Han Dynasty? I have fallen into a trap and will die. Why bother to say more!"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)