Tiger Owl

Chapter 26: Using the False Passage to Attack Guo
Zhou Yu, grateful for his lord's trust, bowed and said, "Lu Su said that Gan Ning killed Yuan Shu, seized the imperial seal, and presented it to Cao Cao..."

Just then, Sun Ce jumped up, "So the Imperial Seal was obtained by Gan Ning, not Liu Xun?"

Yuan Shu's family and subordinates were all in Liu Xun's hands. Sun Ce thought that Liu Xun had also obtained the imperial seal, but he did not expect that it had been snatched by Gan Ning.

"He presented it to Cao Cao!"

Sun Ce suddenly understood everything. Why was Gan Ning appointed as the magistrate of Chaisang by the court? Why did he receive Cao Cao's support? It turned out that it was obtained in exchange for the Imperial Seal of the State.

Sun Ce slumped down, a deep sense of loss welling up inside him. The imperial seal his father had left him had ultimately been lost.

Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "Does Gongjin mean that Gan Ning is not under Cao Cao's command, so we can just kill him without considering Cao Cao's feelings?"

Zhou Yu nodded. "That's true. Zijing would never surrender to Cao Cao. So Gan Ning and Cao Cao are just using each other. However, I agree with General Sun Ben's plan!"

"Why?" Sun Ce stared sharply at Zhou Yu.

"General Lü believes that Gan Ning's rise is similar to that of our lord. I think this is an exaggeration. Our lord swept through Jiangdong in just a few months and became famous throughout the world. What a heroic and mighty man he is!"

Gan Ning merely eliminated cowards like Zhang Ying, Zuo Rong, and Zheng Bao—a trivial achievement. How could Gan Ning's insignificant contribution compare to the lord's brilliant achievements? Isn't this General Lü's exaggeration?
As far as I know, it was because Gan Ning stole military equipment and warships right under General Lü's nose, causing General Lü to lose face, that he harbored resentment towards Gan Ning.

This hatred clouded his judgment of the situation, to the point that he believed Gan Ning was more important than Liu Xun—a serious miscalculation of the war situation.

Zhou Yu's words left Zhang Zhao speechless.

Sun Ce's eyes were full of admiration. Lu Fan compared Gan Ning to himself, which made Sun Ce very uncomfortable. Zhou Yu, however, saw through it all and directly refuted Lu Fan's argument. It seems that Lu Fan's suggestion did indeed have personal feelings involved.

But what Sun Ce didn't know was that Zhou Yu also had his own selfish motives. Lu Su told Zhou Yu that Zheng Bao had killed his steward, burned down his house in the east of the city, and his brothers had almost died.

Lu Su's misfortune immediately reminded Zhou Yu of his family back in Lujiang County.

"Then, in Gongjin's opinion, what should we do?"

Zhou Yu smiled slightly and said, "Why don't we turn the tables on them? We can join forces with Liu Xun to attack Chaisang. The prisoners of war, provisions, and valuables will go to Liu Xun, and the land will be ours. Then, while the forces in Lujiang are weak..."

Sun Ce's eyes lit up. What a brilliant plan to use a pretext to attack Guo!

..........
Since Gan Ning crossed the river and killed Zheng Bao, the entire Lujiang Prefecture and the counties along the river were in a state of panic. Wan County, the largest county in the south, was no exception. All sorts of rumors were flying around, and for a time, everyone was on edge and feared for their lives.

Near the south gate of Wan County, there were several large mansions where Yuan Shu's retainers and family members were placed under house arrest.

Liu Xun failed in his attempt to seize the Imperial Seal of the State, and only captured Yuan Shu's family and troops. The surrendered soldiers were incorporated into the army. Yuan Shu's wife, Lady Feng, son, Yuan Yao, brother, Yuan Yin, and two daughters, as well as his subordinates Zhang Xun and Yang Xuan, and their families, totaling more than 300 people, were all settled by Liu Xun in Wan County.

It was called resettlement, but in reality, it was house arrest. Liu Xun wanted to hand them over to the imperial court. He had already sent people to Xuchang to negotiate with Cao Cao. Once an agreement was reached, these hostages would be sent to Xuchang immediately.

That noon, a military officer walked to a small courtyard inside the mansion. Seeing that no one was around, he slipped a note under the door, knocked, and left.

A moment later, a man emerged from a house. He was about thirty years old, of medium build, and looked quite shrewd and capable.

The man's name was Qiao An, a native of Wei Commandery. He was the younger brother of Qiao Rui, a general under Yuan Shu. Qiao Rui was unfortunately killed by Cao Cao at the beginning of the year, so Qiao An took his sister-in-law and two nieces and prepared to follow Yuan Shu back north.

Unexpectedly, Yuan Shu was defeated by Liu Bei and Zhu Ling and had to retreat to Shouchun. On the way, he was killed by Gan Ning, who stole the Imperial Seal of the State. Yuan Shu's family and subordinates were all captured by Liu Xun, including Qiao An and Qiao Rui's wife and daughters.

Qiao An spotted the note lying on the door at a glance. He quickly picked it up, opened it, and was overjoyed. He rushed to the main room and knocked on the door, saying, "Sister-in-law!"

A moment later, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged woman, around thirty years old, dressed in simple clothes and with a haggard face. The woman was Qiao Rui's wife, surnamed Yang, from Wei County. After her husband's death, she and her two daughters had been observing mourning for him.

Her two daughters were doing needlework in the room. One was about twelve or thirteen years old, and the other was a year or two older. They looked like sisters. Both of them had very delicate features. Perhaps due to malnutrition, the two sisters looked rather thin and pale, which obscured their beauty.

"Is there anything wrong, uncle?"

“I have news about my sister-in-law, uncle, and cousin. They are indeed in Chaisang. Yang Jing is currently serving as the chief clerk of Chaisang.”

A look of surprise flashed in Yang's eyes. She also came from a prominent family in Wei County. Her father had served as the magistrate of Wei County. Ten years ago, her whole family was unfortunately killed in the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

She also has an uncle who once served as the county magistrate of Chaisang, and her cousin Yang Jing also worked in Chaisang. She doesn't know if they are still alive or not.

Now that her uncle and cousin are both in Chaisang, how could she not be extremely excited?

"What should we do? Can we find a way to escape?"

"Liu Xun's army is very guarded, and it's impossible to escape. The only thing we can do is try to send a letter to Yang Jing. He is the magistrate of Chaisang, and perhaps he can help us."

Qiao An was well aware of the current situation. If they did not find a way to save themselves, they would be beheaded by the court as remnants of Yuan Shu once they were sent to Xuchang. They were like drowning people, and they had to try to grasp any glimmer of hope they could find.

Yang was the same; her main concern was for her two daughters, both of whom were exceptionally beautiful. If she hadn't been so good at hiding them, they would have been taken by Yuan Shu long ago. She herself could be executed by the court, but she absolutely could not let her two daughters die with her. No matter what, she had to send her two daughters away.

Qiao An and Yang's property had long been confiscated by Liu Xun, but she still had two pieces of jewelry. It was she who used the gold hairpin to exchange for news of her uncle and cousin last time.

Yang immediately wrote a letter and, without hesitation, took out a gold bracelet from the bottom of the box and handed it to Qiao'an.

"Please, Uncle!"

…………

The following afternoon, a small boat slowly docked at Chaisang Wharf, and a middle-aged man who looked like a businessman stepped off.

The middle-aged man entered the city and inquired along the way. Before long, he arrived at the residence of Yang Jing, the registrar.

The man stepped forward and knocked on the door knocker. After a short while, the door opened, and the butler came out and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

"Excuse me, is this the residence of Yang Jing, the registrar?"

"That's right, you are..."

The man took out a letter and said, "I'm here to deliver a letter. Please pass this letter on to your master."

"Oh! I understand. Thanks for delivering the message!"

The steward took the letter, gave the man several hundred coins, and the middle-aged man took his leave.

The butler hurried into the inner courtyard and happened to run into the master, Yang Jing.

"Sir, someone has delivered a letter."

Yang Jing took the letter, opened it, and was immediately filled with surprise. "How come Rui Niang is in Wan County?"

(End of this chapter)