I did it all for the Han Dynasty!

Chapter 48 Ambush from Ten Sides!

"I see! That makes sense!"

Lu Jun only then realized what had happened and kept slapping his thigh.

"Right now, there are only two thousand soldiers here at Quezhu, and they are all newly recruited soldiers. Although they are fully equipped with armor, they are all just for show. They can scare people here, but if they really enter Chaohu Lake, I'm afraid the moment those river bandits emerge, they will be terrified!"

"On the other hand, Sun Ben's troops are genuine veterans! Moreover, Zhou Ang's soldiers are the elite Danyang troops trained by his elder brother. Aren't they more effective than our two thousand new recruits?"

Lu Jun had obviously also figured out the key point.

"At that time, with Sun Ben's veteran soldiers as the main force, we will cheer from the rear, while Zhou Ang will intimidate from Hefei in the north. How can those river bandits not surrender at the mere sight of us?"

Zhou Yu agreed.

“Those river bandits and robbers claim to be an army of tens of thousands, but in reality, at most only one or two thousand are capable of taking up arms and fighting.”

"Now that we have gathered several thousand elite soldiers, we are ready to annihilate these bandits on Chaohu Lake!"

After being enlightened by Zhou Yu, Lu Jun put aside his last bit of concern.

"In that case, we are bound to win this battle!"

"what's the topic?"

Liu Miao's voice suddenly rang out, causing the two of them to involuntarily shudder.

Before anyone knew it, Liu Miao had already put on a light blue cloak and was leaning against the door, chewing on a dried plum.

"I came out to find some midnight snacks because I was hungry! What bad things are you two saying about me in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?"

Liu Miao sat down next to Zhou Yu with a thud. Zhou Yu moved aside a little, and Liu Miao moved his buttocks closer to Zhou Yu as well. The two were so close together that there wasn't a single gap between them.

Three times in a row, Zhou Yu failed to shake off Liu Miao, so he simply resigned himself to his fate and let Liu Miao lean on him, using him as a cushion.

"I'm not saying anything bad about the magistrate."

Lu Jun told Liu Miao what Zhou Yu had just said. Liu Miao was intrigued and turned his head to ask curiously, "I thought Gongjin was still complaining about being kidnapped. I didn't expect you to speak well of me behind my back?"

Zhou Yu usually prided himself on his gentle temperament and kind nature, but when facing Liu Miao, he was a completely different person, like a cat with its fur standing on end, always on guard: "What are you saying, Lord Liu? Do you think I, Zhou Gongjin, am a petty person who cannot distinguish between public and private matters and has a narrow mind?"

"It wasn't me who said it; I heard it from a scholar named Luo."

"How can you believe such a thing, Your Excellency? There are also people outside who say that Your Excellency is a lecherous and incompetent man. Is that also true?"

Liu Miao pondered for a moment, then nodded seriously to Zhou Yu: "I think what those people said makes sense!"

It's true that he was lustful, and it's also true that he was incompetent; otherwise, why would he have kidnapped Zhou Yu from his home?

"Ah."

Zhou Yu grinned, but he was actually laughing in anger.

"Gongjin, don't be angry. Come, come, have some dried plum!"

Liu Miao leaned to one side, lying in Zhou Yu's arms. He then stuffed a dried plum into Zhou Yu's mouth without saying a word, turning Zhou Yu's anger into a grumpy chewing of the plum.

"What's that's so hard?"

Liu Miao reached under his clothes and found a golden orange.

Just as Zhou Yu skillfully peeled the orange and was about to put it in his mouth, he finally finished chewing the dried plum and began to stop him: "That's my orange!" "You're so stingy! Here! I'll share half with you!"

Although he said half, Liu Miao only broke off a third of the orange and fed it to Zhou Yu, while he ate most of the orange himself, his mouth full of sweet juice!

Zhou Yu watched helplessly as his large orange disappeared, feeling utterly frustrated!
Bo Fu, oh Bo Fu, today is the fifth day since you left. I miss you, I miss you so much~~~
Zhou Yu looked down at Liu Miao and felt a tightness in his chest. He didn't know if it was because Liu Miao was angry or because he was under pressure, but he felt very uncomfortable.

"Lord Liu, you have gathered so many troops, is it merely to quell the bandits of Chaohu Lake?"

"..."

Liu Miao suddenly sat up, his eyes shining brightly.

"If Gongwei had asked me this question, I probably wouldn't have paid any attention to him, but since Gongjin has asked me this question today, I will definitely tell you everything!"

"First of all, I've heard of Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin's reputations... Although they've become river bandits, it's probably out of necessity, not because they're truly lawless thieves who want to live as outlaws in Chaohu forever. So, to deal with them, we can't just send troops to attack them directly, but rather we have to use military force to coerce them into surrendering."

"Secondly, if the bandits of Chaohu Lake really surrender willingly, then I might as well just give them the grain they stole. When Sun Ben's soldiers see this, they will surely think that I, Liu Miao, am wealthy enough to support them, and they might just come to my command!"

"what!!!"

Before Zhou Yu could react, Lu Jun cried out in alarm.

"Lord Liu, you actually intend to give those grains to the bandits of Chaohu Lake?"

Liu Miao was speechless at Lu Jun's words.

"I said, you clearly come from a prominent family, and your family's wealth and provisions must be piled up like small mountains, so why are you making such a fuss over such a small amount of money and provisions?"

Lu Jun felt that his good intentions had been taken for granted: "Is it because you feel sorry for me? It's clearly because you feel sorry for Liu Shijun! You handed over all the grain transported from Shouchun to Sun Ben and his men before, and now you want to give them back the grain that the bandits of Chaohu Lake robbed. Won't you be penniless? In these chaotic times, how can you accomplish great things without money and grain?"

Although the Lu family of Wu Commandery is wealthy, if Liu Miao spends money like this, even ten Lu families of Wu Commandery wouldn't be enough to fill the pockets!

Liu Miao replied matter-of-factly, "When I, Liu Miao, do my work, why would I need money or provisions?"

As he spoke, he laughed and patted Zhou Yu's head, saying, "Look! Our strategist was brought back by just a broken rope!"

Zhou Yu: ...

As the three were talking in the tent, a clump of reeds near the shore outside began to sway gently.

Suddenly, a dark wooden boat without oars or poles appeared, its dark blue canopy covered with withered weeds that rustled in the night wind.

It seemed to glide along the mud, and when the bottom of the boat skimmed over the water plants, it only made a soft sound like silk being torn, which was then swallowed up by the croaking of frogs, without alerting the soldiers at all.

The boat lingered for a while, until the fog and sleet were at their thickest, at which point ripples appeared faintly at the stern, only to disappear again shortly afterward, leaving behind only ripples slowly pushing the water into the depths of Chaohu Lake.

"My men have investigated and found out."

"There are two thousand soldiers brought by Liu Miao at Quezhu to the east."

“Sun Ben, to the south, is leading his elite troops from the Ruxu River to Chaohu.”

"The most critical situation is Hefei in the north, where a large number of warships have suddenly been stockpiled, and even Zhou Ang, the prefect of Jiujiang, has personally gone there to oversee the situation!"

"This time, the government really wants us dead!"

(End of this chapter)