Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

However, the next moment.

What Li Ji whispered into Sun Ce's ear surprised Zhou Yu greatly.

"Only, does Ce'er trust your teacher?"

"If you trust your teacher, then give up the idea of going to the four commanderies of Jingnan. Perhaps a fledgling must also have a time to spread its wings and fly high. Letting Ce'er lead troops to the four commanderies of Jingnan alone for revenge might not be a bad choice…"

"But, I would rather Ce'er stay by my side, as my wings, as the lord's wings, and even more as the Han Dynasty's wings, instead of forgetting great ambitions for personal revenge."

"Perhaps due to the lord's and Liu Biao's common ancestry, I cannot attack Jing Province for the time being, but sooner or later I will send Huang Zu's head to Ce'er, so that Ce'er can use it to pay tribute to General Sun."

At this moment, Sun Ce felt warmth and care, something he had never even felt from Sun Jian.

Sun Jian was of a fierce temperament, both externally and internally. From a young age, he was very strict with Sun Ce, demanding that Sun Ce take it as his responsibility to revitalize the Sun family in everything, forcing Sun Ce to practice martial arts diligently from a young age.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Sun Ce to be so skilled in archery and horsemanship when he first met Li Ji, at only about ten years old.

It was precisely because of the lack of care and warmth that, while forming Sun Ce's equally fierce character, also made Sun Ce particularly value family affection.

At this moment, the care, concern, and warmth that Li Ji revealed were exactly what Sun Ce craved and hoped for.

Either completely sever ties with Liu Bei and Li Ji, and insist on leading troops to Jing Province to avenge Sun Jian;

Or stay by Li Ji's side and obey orders, as the teacher's wings, the lord's wings, and the Han Dynasty's wings;

Faced with a choice between these two, Sun Ce only hesitated for a moment before choosing the latter without hesitation, saying with a bit of a sob.

"I will follow the teacher's orders, and Ce'er will have no objections."

"Good."

Li Ji responded softly, feeling quite satisfied in his heart, and said.

"A gentleman takes revenge, ten years is not too late, but I will definitely not make Ce'er wait bitterly for ten years, so rest assured."

"I believe in the teacher."

Sun Ce replied without hesitation.

At this moment, Li Ji and Sun Ce were playing out what is called deep affection between teacher and disciple, while only Zhou Yu, who thought the situation was settled, was completely bewildered.

The development was right, but how could the ending be completely different?

What Zhou Yu didn't know was that his judgment based on the current interests was naturally correct, and Li Ji also knew that letting Sun Ce go to the four commanderies of Jingnan was indeed the best policy.

But what Li Ji valued more was the long-term future.

Liu Biao was not an incompetent person; otherwise, he would not have entered Jing Province alone and still controlled most of Jing Province. Even the current Liu Bei might not be able to match this kind of political skill.

Relatively speaking, Liu Biao's age, ability, and character also destined him to be at most a dog guarding his house, and it would be difficult for him to dominate the world.

But Sun Ce was different. Perhaps Sun Ce lacked strategy, but his courage, ability, and breadth of mind were all indispensable.

If Sun Ce was really allowed to go to the four commanderies of Jingnan, and with Zhou Yu's wholehearted assistance, Li Ji felt that it would not be surprising if Sun Ce eventually swallowed the entire Jing Province.

When it really developed to that point, even if Sun Ce was quite close to Liu Bei's group, his subordinates would have already formed a group of interests, and Sun Ce would not be able to return to Liu Bei's command based on his personal wishes alone.

Moreover, based on Li Ji's understanding of Sun Ce, at that point, Sun Ce would be more likely to want to fight Li Ji, his teacher, with great pride.

Therefore, whether it was based on selfish reasons for not wanting to stand on the opposite side of Sun Ce, or based on public reasons to avoid greater trouble on Liu Bei's path to hegemony.

Li Ji was obviously not willing to let Sun Ce go to the four commanderies of Jingnan, and part ways with Sun Ce, a promising talent, for the sake of temporary gains and losses.

Even…

'Fortunately, Ce'er did not act recklessly, otherwise, before Ce'er was about to swallow Jing Province, I might have used Ce'er's character weaknesses, like the historical trajectory, to assassinate Ce'er who was traveling alone with a strong crossbow, right?'

Thinking of this, a bitter smile appeared on Li Ji's face. After comforting Sun Ce a few words, he let Sun Ce go down to rest well.

Sun Ce, who had been resentful and unable to sleep for many days, felt much more relaxed after confiding in Li Ji, and retreated to rest with a slightly lighter step.

Only Zhou Yu was still somewhat puzzled…

'Could it be that the world-renowned Marquis of the State is actually an indecisive person, who disregards the overall situation and interests for the sake of personal feelings?'

When following Sun Ce out of Li Ji's room, Zhou Yu couldn't help but turn his head and look at Li Ji again.

Responding to Zhou Yu was a gentle and meaningful smile.

…

Afterwards, the army rested in Yangquan for two days.

Considering the changes in the current situation, after Liu Bei and Li Ji discussed it, Guan Yu led 15,000 elite troops to Shouchun in Jiujiang Commandery for garrison to prevent the Yuzhou direction.

Shouchun City is also the stronghold on the front line of Yangzhou near the Yuzhou direction.

Even if Yuan Shu, who is about to be the new governor of Runan Commandery, has a whim and wants to take advantage of Liu Bei's unstable foothold in Yangzhou to attack Jiujiang Commandery or Lujiang Commandery.

As long as Shouchun City does not fall, then the Yuzhou direction will definitely not dare to go deep in order to prevent the grain road from being cut off.

Moreover, Guan Yu led most of the elite soldiers to control Shouchun City, which implicitly blocked the passage for the Yangzhou aristocratic families to escape to the Yuzhou direction.

Only Guan Yu is the most stable person to entrust with such a dangerous and key place.

In addition, a part of the troops were also left to garrison in Danyang Commandery and Yuzhang Commandery respectively to stabilize the situation and further deter the Yangzhou aristocratic families.

About half a month later, the remaining army crossed Lujiang Commandery and then successfully returned to Wu Commandery by water on the Yangtze River.

Winter when leaving, late autumn when returning…

This trip back and forth took more than half a year.

This made Liu Bei, who had been staying in Wu Commandery for several years, feel a little unaccustomed and melancholy for a while.

After that, naturally, a series of celebration banquets were arranged.

Whether it was the campaign against Dong Zhuo or the victory of turning the Wu Commandery defense battle into an annihilation battle, it was worth writing about and celebrating.

In addition, Liu Bei was promoted to the governor of Yangzhou and successfully initially controlled the entire territory of Yangzhou. All aspects of promotion matters, autumn harvest matters, and the implementation of the system that has been implemented in Wu Commandery for many years to the entire territory of Yangzhou.

Many matters can be described as extremely cumbersome and complicated.

However, Li Ji only simply showed his face at the celebration banquet, and then asked Liu Bei for leave to go home to recuperate.

This was naturally not because Li Ji's body had a problem, but because Zhao Ji was about to give birth, and after Zhang Zhongjing's diagnosis, it had been confirmed in advance that Zhao Ji was likely to have a daughter in her womb this time.

This made Li Ji very much looking forward to it and very happy. For a while, he really had no intention of official business, so he simply took a few days off to go home and wait for Zhao Ji to give birth.

After leaving Wu Commandery for nearly a year, Li Xiang, this kid, was another year older and a little taller, but he was still the precocious look of a little adult.

But it happened that Li Xiang was in the period of changing teeth, and his front teeth were missing.

As long as Li Xiang opened his mouth, it would set off the look of that little adult with a bit of comedy, which made Li Xiang, who felt ashamed, have a bit of an unsmiling demeanor at a young age.

However, this in turn made Li Ji, a twenty-something old father who had not lost his childlike innocence, have a lot of interest in teasing Li Xiang.

Li Ji was lying on a rattan chair specially woven by someone, watching Li Xiang kneeling and sitting upright on the side, pointing his finger at the pastry in front of Li Xiang, and said.

"Xiang'er, this thing is very delicious, melts in your mouth, sweet but not greasy, try it."

"Thank you for your father's reward."

Li Xiang cleverly took the pastry, and replied politely and properly, and his words were steady without showing his teeth.

Guo Tu, whose teeth were knocked out, couldn't do this, so that he obviously leaked air when speaking.

'Guo Gongze is not as good as my son.'

Li Ji secretly said a sentence, and then looked at Li Xiang with a bit of playfulness and expectation in his eyes.

The pastry was indeed quite delicious and soft, sweet but not greasy, but precisely because of this, a clear tooth mark would be left when you bite into it.

Without the front teeth, Li Xiang's bite would only be more obvious and funny.

So Li Ji was already waiting for Li Xiang to take a bite, then take the pastry back, and carefully seal it up, as Li Xiang's black history… cough cough, growth history.

Perhaps, this small pastry will be able to break Li Xiang's defense in the future?

However, under Li Ji's seemingly casual gaze, Li Xiang was always sitting upright, with no intention of touching the pastry at all.

This made Li Ji's brow furrow slightly, and then he asked seemingly casually.

"Xiang'er, why don't you try it?"

Li Xiang replied.

"Since this pastry can be praised and liked by my father, it must be quite delicious. But there are only two pieces of pastry left, so I want to bring one of them to my mother, and take the other to the kitchen to tell the cook to make similar pastries for my father to taste in the future."

"It's not too late for me to taste the deliciousness of the pastry after telling the cook."

Li Xiang's answer moved Li Ji greatly.

This kid is simply a model of filial piety!

Filial piety is commendable!!

It's not in vain that Zhao Ji always teaches him with the 《Classic of Filial Piety》.

However, at this moment, Li Ji noticed a trace of joy inadvertently revealed between Li Xiang's eyebrows.

This made Li Ji suddenly realize that Li Xiang might have filial piety, but he was probably aware that the sudden fatherly love was fraudulent, so he was now playing tricks with his old man.

Li Xiang's intelligence and quick wit made Li Ji very satisfied…

But this kid is only so young, and he dares to play tricks in front of his old man, which made Li Ji very unhappy.

Immediately, Li Ji opened his mouth with a smile.

"It's good that Xiang'er has such a heart; it deserves praise."

"It's just that the Marquis of Guo's residence isn't so impoverished that even a tael or two of pastries needs to be meticulously divided by my son."

Immediately, Li Ji looked at the maidservant waiting far away outside the pavilion and said,

"Instruct the kitchen to make two more plates of the same pastries and send them up so that my son can savor them slowly."

(End of chapter)