I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 152 Not Worth Mentioning: Xu Gongming
What happened to the unknown person they were promised?

How could Huang Zhong be so brave?

Moreover, Huang Zhong did not stop for a moment at all. Even with occasional injuries, he kept moving forward! Forward!
His only goal from beginning to end was Sun Ben!

In order to kill Sun Ben, Huang Zhong didn't even have the strength to return!

This scene, resembling the descent of a demon god, terrified the soldiers on both sides, who scrambled to the back.

At this moment, a Sima under Sun Ben stepped forward to oversee the battle: "Do not be afraid of him! He is just one man... uh?"

The other person stared in disbelief at their throat.

Where there was nothing before, a bloody hole suddenly appeared!
Huang Zhong was an excellent archer! His archery skills were no less than those of Taishi Ziyi!

At first, Sun Ben thought it was just a rumor.

A master archer like Taishi Ci is a rare find, and it's a stroke of luck to find even one in the world. How can some nobody now be ranked alongside Taishi Ci?
But when Sun Ben saw his subordinate Sima die just ten steps away from him... he believed it!

Sun Ben, who had originally intended to issue orders, dared not utter a sound at this moment, fearing that Huang Zhong would lock onto him because of it!
"Where did Liu Miao find this old monster?"

Seeing Huang Zhong getting closer and closer, Sun Ben could no longer pretend to be deaf and dumb. He quickly summoned his personal guards and ordered them to scatter throughout the camp shouting, "Liu Miao is not dead! Liu Miao is not dead!"

The lord is not dead?

Huang Zhong, who was still searching desperately for Sun Ben in the enemy's ranks, suddenly paused.

Then, Huang Zhong, incredibly, used his arm strength to lift a fully armed soldier off the ground and hoist him into the air, loudly demanding, "Where is our lord now?"

When had this soldier ever seen someone like Huang Zhong? He quickly cried out, "Our lord is alive! Our lord is alive! That head was just a condemned prisoner's head! General, please don't kill me! We are comrades!"

"Pooh!"

Huang Zhong threw his opponent aside, the bloodlust in his eyes gradually fading.

"Too."

"If our lord were to meet with misfortune, Sun Ben and Sun Fu would surely go to take over Jinling first. How could they possibly lead their troops to attack Baishilei?"

Huang Zhong searched again but could not find Sun Ben. In the end, he decided to prioritize the overall situation and return to Baishi Fortress to continue defending the place and prevent its fall.

Sun Ben fled Baishilei in a panic. Sun Fu, who was in Shitoucheng, was also shocked to hear the news of Sun Ben's defeat and quickly led his troops to come to his aid.

"Was Liu Biao blind? How could he send such a monstrous general to Liu Miao?"

Upon hearing what had happened, Sun Fu comforted Sun Ben, saying, "Although Huang Zhong is just an unknown old soldier, he is still a general under Liu Biao, so it is not surprising that he has some skills."

“But Xu Huang is different! He was just an insignificant bandit general of the White Waves before. If it weren’t for his merit in protecting the emperor, how could he have been granted the position of colonel?”

"Since we can't capture Baishilei now, let's take Xizhou City first and then make further plans!"

To ensure everything went smoothly, Sun Ben and Sun Fu concentrated all their forces and marched in a grand procession towards Xizhou City.

As its name suggests, Xizhou City is a fortified town built on a water island.

The surrounding rivers serve as a natural shield for Xizhou City, protecting it in the center and overlooking its surroundings.

Sun Ben first ordered his soldiers to take small boats to the vicinity of Xizhou City, but Xu Huang smashed them in the river with stones, giving them no chance to get close at all.

Sun Ben then launched his warships into the river, hoping to use their height advantage to suppress Xu Huang. Xu Huang, however, simply abandoned the city walls and ordered his soldiers to hide at the city gates and hold their ground below.

In a final act of desperation, Sun Ben ordered his soldiers to build a dam upstream, intending to destroy Xizhou City. However, Xu Huang discovered this and led his soldiers upstream at night to destroy the entire dam before returning to the city.

Unlike Huang Zhong's sudden, chilling rage, Xu Huang was like an unyielding rock, unmoved by any action, which would instead be easily neutralized by him, displaying the demeanor of a renowned general.

"How come Xu Huang is so powerful?"

Sun Fu refused to believe in superstition!
He asserted, "Xu Huang is merely good at defense! If we continue the siege, we can defeat him in just a few days!"

That very night, Xu Huang, who had been countering every move, suddenly launched a surprise attack! He led over five hundred soldiers, all clad in iron armor and armed with sharp blades, into the camp of Sun Ben and Sun Fu.

Xu Huang not only set fires everywhere, but also ordered his soldiers to shout: "Our lord is back! Our lord is back! Whoever kills the two Suns will be richly rewarded!"

Liu Miao is back?
These words terrified not only ordinary soldiers, but even Sun Ben and Sun Fu!

The two men, without bothering to organize their soldiers, hurriedly fled back to Stone City with only a few dozen personal guards, where they finally had time to catch their breath.

When the two brothers learned that this was just Xu Huang's scheme, they were filled with rage: "How could such a lowly bandit be so treacherous?"

With Zhu Huan's army about to arrive, Huang Zhong and Xu Huang were unable to defeat them, and the two Suns finally began to panic.

Sun Ben blamed his younger brother: "I told you we shouldn't have hastily raised an army. Now that things have come to this, how are we supposed to handle this situation?"

Seeing that his elder brother was already disheartened, Sun Fu quickly advised, "Brother, don't panic! There is still someone we can rely on."

"Who?"

"Bo Fu!"

Upon hearing this, Sun Ben's hair stood on end, and he made a move to beat Sun Fu: "Are you crazy? At a time like this, do you still want to drag Bo Fu into this mess?"

Sun Fu retorted, "Brother! Don't be naive! Do you really think that after what we've done, Liu Miao will still let Bo Fu go?"

"This is a do-or-die situation! As a member of the Sun clan, Bo Fu must understand the gravity of the matter!"

"Yuan Shu sent a message a while ago saying that Zhou Yu and Bo Fu have led troops to Guangling to support Liu Bei! If we can get Bo Fu to persuade Zhou Yu, or even kill Zhou Yu, and lead the army back to reinforce, then Jiangdong will still belong to the Sun family!"

Sun Fu patiently advised, "Brother! Aren't we doing all this for the Sun family and for Bo Fu?" "If that's the case," Bo Fu replied, "how can it be that we two have fought a bloody battle while Bo Fu remains unharmed?"

"I urge you, brother, to write a letter to Bo Fu immediately, explaining the advantages and disadvantages in the letter, and urging him to gather his army and come quickly to seize Jiangdong!"

Sun Ben felt that he and his brother were like drowning people trapped in a pool of water.

He clearly wanted to reach out and save Sun Fu, but Sun Fu's struggles only made him sink deeper and deeper, until he could no longer see any light.

"Ugh."

Sun Ben finally couldn't resist his younger brother's pleas and wrote a letter, which he then sent to Sun Ce.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce arrived in Jiangdu, south of Guangling, early on. They planned to travel north along the Hangou Canal, which King Fuchai of Wu dug during the Spring and Autumn Period to attack the State of Qi, and head to the Huaiyin area to meet up with Liu Bei.

"Bo Fu, something's not right."

"Yes, I noticed that too."

The grain and supplies transported from Nanjing should have arrived three days ago, but there has been no news of them until today.

"Could something have happened in Jiangdong?"

Zhou Yu was about to order Lü Meng to lead scouts to investigate when Sun Ce came in with a letter.

"Has Bofu received the news?"

Zhou Yu was focused on military affairs and did not notice that Sun Ce's face, which was usually full of vitality, was now completely bloodless and terrifyingly cold.

"Gongjin, have Ziming and Boyan leave. I have something to say to you."

"What is this doing?"

Zhou Yu didn't understand why Sun Ce wanted him to suddenly expel Lu Yi and Lü Meng, but when he met Sun Ce's eyes, Zhou Yu's heart skipped a beat, and he clearly realized that something big had probably happened!
"Ziming, Boyan, you two go out and check the grain and fodder first."

After assigning the two men a task haphazardly, Zhou Yu looked at Sun Ce with a serious expression: "Bo Fu! What exactly happened?"

Sun Ce's lips moved several times, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself, clearly finding it difficult to speak.

Zhou Yu simply snatched the letter from Sun Ce's hand and read it all at a glance.

"..."

"..."

Zhou Yu was not alarmed, nor did he ask Sun Ce anything; he simply maintained an eerie silence with Sun Ce.

"Has Bo Fu verified the authenticity of this letter?"

“Sun Ben and Sun Fu are both my cousins, and I will not mistake their handwriting.”

"So, they've really rebelled?"

Sun Ce gave a word of advice, and Zhou Yu, feeling lost, finally sighed.

"They really know how to pick their timing for a rebellion."

Zhou Yu put down the letter and instead gripped the hilt of his sword.

This little action did not escape Sun Ce's notice, but Sun Ce was unable to feel angry at it at this moment, and even dared not look at Zhou Yu.

“Bo Fu, I have two questions for you, and you must tell me the truth.”

Zhou Yu gripped the hilt of his sword, his eyes sharp: "First! Were you aware of Sun Ben and Sun Fu's plot to rebel beforehand?"

Sun Ce shook his head blankly.

"If I had known, I would have earnestly advised you and then discussed it directly with you, Gongjin. Why would it have dragged on until now?"

Zhou Yu and Sun Ce were closer than brothers, so when Zhou Yu saw Sun Ce's expression, he immediately knew that Sun Ce was not deceiving him.

The sharp look between Zhou Yu's brows vanished without a trace, and his hand, which had been gripping the sword hilt, loosened and slowly fell to his side.

"Secondly, Bo Fu, do you really intend to seize Jiangdong?"

Faced with this question, Sun Ce was clearly not as decisive as he had been with the first one.

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Ce told Zhou Yu the truth—

"A true man is born between heaven and earth; how could he willingly live as a subordinate to others?"

“During my mourning period for my father, I did think about whether I could seize a territory and achieve hegemony in the future, so as not to repeat my father’s mistakes and be harmed by that unscrupulous lord.”

“But ever since Gongjin had that heart-to-heart talk with me that day, and after I saw with my own eyes the prosperity under Liu Shijun’s rule, I have never had such foolish thoughts again.”

"So... I dare not say I didn't have the intention to seize Jiangdong. But I absolutely did not intend to take Jiangdong from Lord Liu!"

"Besides... he has already taken my mother as a concubine, and my mother is pregnant with his child. From the perspective of etiquette and filial piety, he is either the ruler or the father. How could I, Sun Ce, do such a thing as betraying the ruler, killing the father, abandoning the mother, and severing ties with the brother?"

Sun Ce's eyes were sincere: "Even though my two cousins ​​have betrayed me, I have absolutely no intention of betraying my lord! Otherwise, may I, Sun Ce, be reduced to ashes and never find peace again!"

　Thank you, King Yanbao, for your generous donation and concern!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)