Can I get to the other side?.

Chapter 42 Zhou Yu's Plan

After Yan Xiang was imprisoned, no one dared to oppose Yuan Shu anymore.

He directly dispatched troops to forcibly conscript laborers to build the Temple of Heaven day and night. Many people were exhausted or frozen to death, and countless civilians suffered terribly, but no one could stop Yuan Shu's madness.

Despite all the efforts made, the Temple of Heaven was finally completed on the eve of the coronation ceremony.

The next day, Yuan Shu officially ascended the throne in Shou County and worshipped the sky in the north and south suburbs.

He was given the imperial seal, named the country "Cheng", the reign title "Zhongjia", and appointed many officials, announcing it to the world.

For a moment, Kyushu was shaken.

……

Juchao County is located in the Jianghuai area.

It is also one of the important towns in Yangzhou.

Juchao is famous for its rich products and fertile land. Even in Yangzhou, it can be called a "land of fish and rice".

At this time, outside a mansion in Juchao County.

A carriage slowly stopped.

Then a scholar with an elegant appearance jumped off the carriage, ignored the butler who came to greet him, and rushed into the mansion in a hurry.

“Gongjin! Gongjin——!”

This elegant scholar ran and shouted, looking anxious.

In a quiet courtyard deep in the mansion, there was a handsome man reading a book in the yard. After hearing the voice coming from afar, he raised his eyes slightly.

"Xiaoqing, go prepare some tea."

The handsome man said to the beautiful maid serving him.

The maid looked at the man's face, her pretty face blushed slightly, and she responded softly, saying gently: "Yes, Zhou Lang."

After saying that, he stood up and returned to the house, and the handsome man once again turned his eyes to the book in his hand.

Soon, someone broke the silence in the yard.

“Gongjin——!”

The scholar in Confucian robes broke into the yard, and when he saw the man reading, he couldn't help but ask, "It's so late, why are you still here reading?"

"Something happened!"

This handsome man's surname is Zhou, his given name is Yu, and his courtesy name is Gongjin.

He is the current Juchao County magistrate.

Hearing the words of the scholar in Confucian robes, Zhou Yu put down the book in his hand and said with a smile: "Why are you so anxious? Sit down and have a cup of tea first."

At this time, the maid Xiaoqing brought the prepared tea over and brewed a cup of tea for each of them.

"No time for tea! You don't know what's going on!"

The scholar in Confucian robes sighed and said in a deep voice: "Just yesterday, Yuan Shu offered sacrifices to the heavens in Shou County and officially ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor!"

He thought this news would surprise Zhou Yu.

But who would have thought that Zhou Yu remained calm after hearing this, and drank a sip of tea slowly with a calm look on his face.

"I know."

The scholar in Confucian robes was stunned: "What? When did you know?"

This news just came through and he just found out about it. How could Zhou Yu know it earlier than him?

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "Yuan Shu is a man who loves to show off his achievements. He is extremely ambitious but short-sighted. From the day he got the imperial seal, I knew that he would become emperor one day."

"What's more, in recent months, Shou County has been forcibly conscripting civilians to build the Temple of Heaven, which has confirmed my suspicions."

He hadn't received the news, but he had expected it.

That's why he was not surprised by Yuan Shu's claim to the throne. The scholar in Confucian robes was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then he said with some resentment: "Since you guessed it, why didn't you tell me? Don't you regard me as a friend?"

"No no no."

Zhou Yu put down his teacup, shook his head and sighed, "I just didn't expect that you, Zijing, couldn't guess this. To be honest, I'm quite surprised."

This Confucian scholar, whose surname was Lu, given name as Su, and courtesy name as Zijing, was his good friend.

"hehe."

Lu Su smiled wryly, raised his eyebrows, then rolled up the sleeves of his wide robe, revealing his muscular arms.

"If Gongjin can't speak properly, I know a little bit about fighting."

Zhou Yu's face changed, and he immediately said sincerely: "Zijing, we are all scholars, fists and kicks are too vulgar, let's talk it out nicely."

He knew Lu Su's military prowess. Despite his elegant appearance as a scholar, he possessed outstanding martial arts skills, which were no worse than those of an ordinary centurion.

He can't beat him anyway.

"Humph."

Lu Su rolled his eyes at Zhou Yu, but didn't really want to take action.

After some banter, the two finally got down to business.

Lu Su took a sip of tea and asked directly: "What do you think of Yuan Shu's claim to the throne?"

Zhou Yu said calmly: "How does Yuan Shu compare to King Wen? How does the Yuan family compare to the Ji family? Back then, the Ji family occupied half of the world, but they still served the Shang Dynasty; Yuan Shu only occupied Yangzhou, but he dared to call himself an emperor, which is really ridiculous."

Although Zhou Yu's words were brief and to the point, Lu Su understood them. He was using the relationship between the Zhou royal family and the Shang Dynasty as an example. Lu Su could not help but nod in agreement. His thoughts were consistent with Zhou Yu's.

"Although the Han Dynasty is in decline, the emperor is not cruel and immoral. Yuan Shu dared to usurp the throne and claim the throne. He is really stupid."

"If he acts this way, he will surely become the enemy of all the princes."

Regardless of whether Yuan Shu unified the nine provinces, even if he did, he would need a legitimate reason to become emperor, and relying solely on the imperial seal would not be enough.

Zhou Yu didn't care and said, "This is not something we should be concerned about. For now, we should think of a way out. Juchao is not a place to stay for long."

"What are Zi Jing's plans?"

He is now the mayor of Juchao County and works under Yuan Shu.

Now that Yuan Shu has proclaimed himself emperor, he will inevitably become the enemy of the people of the world in the future. It would be unwise for him to continue staying here.

"I?"

Lu Su was stunned by this question. He frowned and thought for a while before shaking his head and saying, "To be honest with you, Gongjin, I don't know what to do now."

His home is in Juchao. Now the world is in turmoil. If he leaves Juchao, where can he go? More importantly, although he has a lot of ambitions, he doesn't know where to display them.

Zhou Yu smiled and said, "If that's the case, why don't you follow me to Jiangdong and join Sun Ce? With Zijing's talent, he will surely shine."

"Jiangdong? Sun Ce?"

Hearing this, Lu Su couldn't help but look up at Zhou Yu, with a look of surprise on his face, "Are you talking about that little tyrant Sun Ce? Gongjin actually knows him?"

Who doesn’t know the name of Little Overlord Sun Ce now?

This was the first time he knew that Zhou Yu and Sun Ce knew each other.

Zhou Yu laughed and said, "It's more than just acquaintance. I went to his house to pay my respects to his mother. We call each other brothers and have a close personal relationship."

"At first, Yuan Shu wanted to keep me in Shouchun, but I came to Juchao because it is not far from Kuaiji and I can go there at any time."

Lu Su was shocked when he heard this.

Going to the hall to pay respects to the mother is an extremely solemn etiquette, which represents the friendship between the two families and also represents the recognition of the person as a godparent.

All in all, the relationship between the Sun and Zhou families is very important!

When Zhou Yu came to Juchao to take up the post, he had actually already made a plan to abandon Yuan Shu and join Sun Ce!
(End of this chapter)