Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1270 News of Death
When Zhen Mi saw Yuan Xi losing his composure, she felt uneasy at the moment, but when she saw Yuan Xi close his eyes and start thinking, she did not dare to disturb him and just sat quietly beside him.

After a long while, Yuan Xi opened his eyes. He reached out and handed the letter to Zhuge Liang.

Zhuge Liang quickly took it. He glanced at the letter and his face changed immediately. He sighed and said, "This is such a pity."

"General Zhang's reputation was rising, and he suppressed the Wu Kingdom with his own strength, but he didn't expect this to be the end."

Yuan Xi also sighed: "Yes, it's such a pity."

What was written on the letter was the news of Zhang Fei's death.

Previously, Zhang Fei resisted the invasion of Wu's army in Changsha County. He did not fight Wu head-on on the water, but retreated to the shore and lured the enemy deeper.

At that time, Zhuge Jin of Wu was the military advisor, Cheng Pu was the commander-in-chief, and Huang Gai was the vanguard. After Huang Gai went ashore, he saw that Liu Bei's army was quite weak, so he advanced straight ahead. As a result, he was ambushed by Zhang Fei's army. Huang Gai stepped forward to fight. The two fought for dozens of rounds. Huang Gai gradually became exhausted and was stabbed by Zhang Fei's spear, so he had to flee with the injury.

Zhang Fei was in hot pursuit, and Cheng Pu came to support them. The two sides fought again. Zhang Fei saw that he was no match for the enemy, so he turned around and ran away. Cheng Pu saw that Liu Bei's army was retreating in a panic, so he wanted to lead his entire army to chase after them, but was persuaded by Zhuge Jin, who said that the other side might have an ambush.

However, Cheng Pu was unwilling to listen to advice when he saw the opportunity of a great victory, as many Jiangdong generals had died at the hands of Zhang Fei before. Although he was old, Huang Zhong, who was about the same age as him, had made a great name for himself in the State of Jin in recent years, which aroused Cheng Pu's competitive spirit, so he immediately led his troops in pursuit.

However, Zhang Fei was pretending to be defeated. When Cheng Pu chased him for more than ten miles, archers on both sides shot Cheng Pu's army into pieces. Cheng Pu was also hit by several stray arrows and almost fell off his horse. When his subordinates were about to step forward to rescue him, Zhang Fei rushed out on his horse and stabbed Cheng Pu to death with a spear.

Zhang Fei's army took advantage of the situation and charged, killing the Wu army in pieces. Zhuge Jin, who came behind, cried out in grief when he heard that Chen Pu had been killed. Fortunately, Huang Gai became even braver after being injured, and immediately led his troops to cover their retreat, allowing the Wu army to withdraw.

Zhuge Jin led his troops to retreat to the water, and seeing that Zhang Fei's army was advancing step by step, he had no choice but to send a letter to Sun Quan to inform him.

When Sun Quan received the news of Zhuge Jin's loss of troops and generals, he was furious. He summoned his trusted ministers to discuss countermeasures and said angrily: "My Wu country has many soldiers and generals, but a mere Zhang Fei has stopped my army of tens of thousands in its tracks. How shameful!"

Zhang Zhao thought to himself, "Your Majesty, if you hadn't sent a hundred thousand troops to Hefei, how could the State of Wu be in such a predicament as it is now?"
Of course he didn't dare to say this, he stepped out and said: "I have heard that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under Liu Bei's command are braver than ten thousand men, now I see that their reputation is well-deserved."

"It's a pity that General Cheng died for his country, but if we want to attack and destroy Liu Bei in the future, we must find a way to stop Zhang Fei."

"But now it seems that Wu has no general who can rival him, so we can only seek other methods besides fighting, either to negotiate peace, or..."

Sun Quan understood and asked, "Who do you think is the most suitable?"

Zhang Zhao pondered for a moment and said, "This person must be brave and resourceful, and also have the determination to die. I think Zhu Zhi's adopted son Zhu Ran is brave and capable of this task."

Sun Quan's expression remained unchanged, and he said, "I understand. You can leave first."

After Zhang Zhao left, Sun Quan's face darkened. Zhu Ran and Zhu Hao were both second-generation trusted generals cultivated by Sun Quan. Zhang Zhao was not surprised to know the inside story, but his suggestion to let Zhu Ran do such a life-threatening thing, wasn't it letting the Wu Kingdom destroy itself?

Sun Quan thought about it and finally called Zhu Ran into the palace. After explaining the whole story, he said, "Cheng Pu's body is in Zhang Fei's hands. I want you to go on a mission under the pretext of bringing back the body and wait for an opportunity to assassinate Zhang Fei. Can you do it?"

Zhu Ran said decisively: "I am willing to take Zhang Fei's head for the king, even if it means death!"

Sun Quan nodded and said, "We have known each other since childhood. I will not harm you. To tell you the truth, I have someone planted by my side."

"Zhang Fei is a wine lover and likes to make friends with nobles. You just need to bring some good wine and follow his plan, and you can do this and that."

After listening to Sun Quan's instructions, Zhu Ran immediately took the order and left. Not long after, Zhang Fei's army received a request from the State of Wu to temporarily cease fire and bring back Cheng Pu's body first.

Zhang Fei had already fought his way to the river. After hearing Wu's request, he sneered, "Fight if you want, stop if you want. How can it be that easy?"

Just as he was about to take advantage of the situation to pursue, the Wu army general Zhu Ran came directly with wealth and wine and demanded to redeem Cheng Pu's body.

Zhang Fei ordered his men to bring Zhu Ran back. Zhu Ran was alone in the tent. He bowed to Zhang Fei and said, "I am here by the king's order to bring back the old general's body. I hope the general will show mercy on the old general's death in the battle."

Zhang Fei slammed the table and shouted, "You bastards of Wu, you are so bold! You invaded Changsha and killed the people, and now you have the nerve to beg me!"

"Drag him away and behead him!"

The soldiers on both sides of the tent immediately drew out their swords, and there was a continuous clanging sound. For a moment, the tent was filled with the bright flash of swords.

Zhu Ran's expression remained unchanged as he said, "General, you may kill me, but please return my body to the State of Wu after my death so that I can rest in peace. Then I will have fulfilled my mission."

Zhang Fei heard this and suddenly burst into laughter, "Good!"

"I didn't expect that among the Jiangdong rats, there is someone like you!"

He stood up and walked to Zhu Ran. "Sun Quan is a waste. Why don't you abandon the dark and join the light, and help my brother to support the Han Dynasty? It's better than being buried in a place like Jiangdong. What do you think?"

Zhu Ran said, "I have received the King of Wu's kindness, and I dare not betray him."

Zhang Fei heard this and shook his head regretfully. "Under normal circumstances, I would have killed you anyway, but seeing that you will achieve great things in the future, I will make an exception and let you go this time."

Seeing that Zhang Fei's lips had softened, Zhu Ran quickly handed over the ransom note. After Zhang Fei took it, he glanced at it and said, "Hey, there's some wine?" Although he was fond of drinking, he would not violate military orders on his own. But he thought that if he agreed to the Wu Kingdom, he could have a truce for a few days. Since it was not a war period, then he could not drink, right?
Thinking of this, his alcohol addiction also came up, and he immediately said, "Okay!"

"Send a message to the Wu army, and ask them to cease fighting for five days. Tomorrow you will bring back Cheng Pu's body!"

Zhu Ran hurriedly thanked him, and then heard Zhang Fei say: "I like you very much, so please drink with me tonight, and I won't leave until I'm drunk!"

Zhang Fei saw that Zhu Ran was not afraid of death and had a talent for it, so he wanted to recruit Zhu Ran, so he held a banquet to entertain him. Zhu Ran understood the situation and agreed immediately. Zhang Fei then held a banquet in the evening and drank with Zhu Ran in the tent.

Zhang Fei did not expect that Zhu Ran could hold his liquor surprisingly well. After drinking three or four jars, they were already about 70% drunk. Zhang Fei squinted his eyes and said, "Sun Quan is a dog. What future do you have if you hang out with him?"

"If you come to Hannan, I will definitely recommend you to my elder brother and make you a general. How about that?"

Zhu Ran said incoherently: "Thank you very much, General. I am grateful to the king for his kindness. I must not be ungrateful."

His voice gradually became weaker and weaker, and finally he lay motionless on the table.

After hearing this, Zhang Fei shook his head regretfully, stood up shakily, and was about to walk back to his tent.

Two generals came up to support Zhang Fei. When the three turned around and passed by, Zhu Ran suddenly opened his eyes. A trace of unhappiness flashed across his face, and then he made up his mind and shouted, "Where are Fan Qiang and Zhang Da?"

"Do it!"

Zhang Fei was in a daze when he heard two "puff" sounds and then felt a sharp pain in his body. He subconsciously looked down and saw that two daggers had pierced deeply into his abdomen.

He tried to open his eyes wide, looked at his two lieutenants in disbelief, and growled, "You..."

He knew at this moment that he had been ambushed, and he shook his arms in an attempt to shake the two men off.

But Zhang Fei was drunk and his body was weak. After being stabbed, his strength quickly disappeared. However, despite being seriously injured, the force still almost knocked Zhang Dafan away. The two men subconsciously drew out their daggers and stabbed Zhang Fei in the abdomen again.

Blood gushed out of Zhang Fei's abdominal wound like a fountain, and his body went limp and fell to the ground. But he still tried to struggle to get up, and his fingers left deep grooves in the ground.

His eyes widened and he shouted, "You... a bunch of villains!"

"Little man!"

He turned to Zhu Ran: "Despicable villain!"

With a "puff", Zhang Qiang stabbed the dagger into Zhang Fei's throat. Blood spurted out of Zhang Fei's mouth, his body twitched a few times, and he died.

The few soldiers nearby watched the whole process in fear and did not step forward to stop it. Only when they saw Zhang Fei dead did they feel relieved.

Fan Da wiped his sweat and said with lingering fear: "We are lucky today. All the people on duty in the tent are ours. It must be God's will that he will die."

He stretched out his foot and stomped hard on Zhang Fei's face a few times, "Don't you usually yell at us and insult us at will?"

"You never thought that we would kill you one day, did you?"

"If you die, we can go to Wu and enjoy wealth and glory!"

Zhu Ran showed an unhappy look on his face, "That's enough, let's go quickly, otherwise if we are discovered, we will all die here."

Zhang Qiang, however, showed a look of madness on his face. He continued to stab the dagger into Zhang Fei's neck, and pulled it horizontally with force, completely cutting off Zhang Fei's head.

He moved very quickly. Zhu Ran wanted to stop him, but it was too late. He saw Zhang Qiang stand up, grab Zhang Fei's hair, and tie the head with angry eyes wide open tightly to his belt.

Zhang Qiang grinned and said, "This is our proof of merit to the King of Wu, we can't lose it!"

Zhu Ran opened his mouth, and with mixed feelings he stood in front of Zhang Fei's body and bowed, thinking to himself, "I am just following orders, I have no choice. I am afraid there will be retribution later."

He said, "Now, before we are discovered, quickly find a horse and rush out of the camp."

"We only need to hurry 20 miles to the riverside, where there are warships of Wu. Then we can go back and report to the king."

Zhang Qiangfan Da heard this and said with a smile: "Then the general will have to say a few good words to the king and commend us for our achievements."

Zhu Ran heard this and suppressed his disgust, saying, "Don't worry, you killed the man, so the credit is naturally yours."

Everyone took out Zhang Fei's token, sneaked out of the tent, found the horses, killed several guards from behind, and fled out of the camp in a hurry under the cover of night.

It was not until half a moment later that shrill shouts were heard in the camp, but by then everyone had already gone far away.

(End of this chapter)