Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1291 New Master
The Jin army outside Nanchang City had blocked all land and water routes. When the Wu officials in the city heard the news, they naturally felt as if the end of the world had come and were in a state of panic all day long.

Of course, what made them collapse the most was not this. As Lu Xun expected, Sun Quan did not enter the city with the Wu army, but disappeared in the melee.

At that time, Wei Yan took advantage of darkness to raid the Wu army that was entering the city. Sun Quan and Yan Jun were also complacent. They did not expect that the Jin army could march quickly and arrive ahead. After a melee, Zhou Tai was seriously injured and dying, and Yan Jun was forced to lead his troops to retreat into the city.

At that time, he was protecting Sun Quan's carriage, and was discovered and approached by the Jin army. The two sides fought with corpses everywhere. Yan Jun desperately brought the carriage back to the city, but what made him vomit blood was that when the carriage was opened, Sun Quan was not inside!

He looked at the dozen holes on the board wall pierced by arrows and spears, and guessed that Sun Quan felt unsafe in the car at that time, so he secretly got out of the car. He had been resisting the Jin army but did not notice this, which led to the formation being broken up and Sun Quan being lost!

Yan Jun couldn't help feeling dizzy and his body began to shake. He was missing on the battlefield and was in great danger. Could it be that Sun Quan was already dead?

He saw Wei Yan's fierce attack outside the city and knew it was too late to leave the city. If the Jin army knew that Sun Quan was still outside the city, they would probably intensify the search. Now he could only pretend that nothing had happened, first find out the news, and then find a way to leave the city to rescue people!

At this time, Zhang Zhao and others hurried over. After listening to the truth told by Yan Jun, they couldn't help but feel dizzy. If Sun Quan was gone, who among the Sun family could support the Wu Kingdom?
Zhang Hong's eyes turned, and he quietly pulled Zhang Zhao aside, whispering: "The country cannot be without a king for a day, and now the Sun family still has an heir, why not..."

Zhang Zhao frowned and asked, "Is it the baby in Madam Xu's belly, or the king's brother?"

"The king's life or death is uncertain. If the king could come back, what would he think if I said this now?"

Zhang Hong listened to the shouting and killing outside the city all day long and asked, "Can the king really come back?"

Zhang Zhao was silent, and Zhang Hong took the opportunity to say, "The Wu Kingdom is now on the brink of life and death. If no one takes charge, I'm afraid the city will fall sooner or later. We must make plans as soon as possible."

Zhang Zhao sneered and said, "Don't do unnecessary things. The Prime Minister of Wu is not me, but Sun Shao!"

"Everything is decided by him. What you need to do is to find a way to send troops out of the city to search for the whereabouts of the king!"

Although the Xuzhou faction of the two Zhangs and the local Jiangdong faction were fighting fiercely in the court, the current prime minister of Wu was Sun Shao, who ostensibly stood with the Jiangdong faction but actually had little relationship with either faction.

In his early years, Sun Shao served as Gongcao of Kong Rong and worked under Liu Yao. Later, he defected to Sun Ce and served as a prefect and a chief secretary successively. However, he never had close friendships with anyone and was a very low-key person.

Therefore, when Sun Quan established the Wu Kingdom, no one in the court or the public thought that Sun Shao would become the prime minister. This was a big shock to the two factions in Xuzhou and Jiangdong, which had been fighting each other for this position. Then the two factions realized that Sun Quan would not let either of them become powerful.

After that, the two factions continued to fight for the position of prime minister for a while. Sun Shao was impeached by both factions because of some personal moral issues. He therefore submitted a letter of apology and asked to resign from the position of prime minister, but Sun Quan never agreed.

However, although Sun Shao did not have any major problems, his health was not good, so when Sun Quan wanted to seek his opinion, he usually asked him in private and then summoned officials from both factions to ask for their opinions.

Because of their different political views, the Xuzhou faction regarded Sun Shao as a thorn in their side. This was also Sun Quan's intention. But now that Sun Quan's whereabouts were unknown, the two factions naturally became interested.

At this moment, Zhang Hong disagreed with Zhang Zhao's words. He said, "Zi Bu, given the current situation, if we don't take action, they will do so."

"Guess what, if they knew that the king might no longer be here, would they surrender the city and send our heads to make up the number?"

"Yan Jun is still one of ours. If Yu Fan and the others find out, we will be in a passive position!"

"You know, the Wu army was defeated, but our Zhuge Jin didn't come back, but their Lu Ji escaped back!"

"Lu Ji's Lu family is the family of Lu Xun, the leader of the Jin army. Do you think they will have other ideas now?"

Zhang Zhao was speechless after hearing what Zhang Hong said. He said sullenly, "Then what do you say we should do?"

Zhang Hong said gloomily, "It is obviously not possible to support the king's unborn youngest son."

"The Sun family has two more sons, Sun Kuang and Sun Yi, both born to Marquis Sun's concubine. It is only natural that the younger brother will inherit the throne after the elder brother dies."

"Why are we not favored by the king? Isn't it because before Sun Ce died, our Xuzhou faction supported Sun Yi?"

"Now the opportunity has come. As long as we help Sun Yi ascend the throne of King Wu, we will be able to take the initiative. No matter whether we refuse or surrender, at least we can save our lives!"

"Otherwise, if the Jiangdong Sect supports their people, we won't know where our heads will be hanging!"

Zhang Zhao's face changed several times, and finally all he could say turned into a sigh, "Zi Gang, we are facing a powerful enemy, and we are still thinking about internal fighting. How shameful."

Zhang Hong replied: "Aren't we forced to do this?"

"Didn't the Jiangdong faction force us to stay alive?"

"We are willing to be the king's vanguard and fight against the Jiangdong faction. Isn't that what the king wants to see?"

Zhang Zhao heard this and said helplessly: "Now that things have come to this, let's send someone to find Sun Yi to report the news and see what he thinks."

"As for whether it will be in time, that's hard to say."

Sun Yi is now guarding Danyang, not in Nanchang. If the two Zhangs want to establish another King of Wu, they can only send a messenger out of the city, bypass the blockade of the Jin army, and then go to Danyang to ask Sun Yi to send troops to rescue.

The journey back and forth between the two sides would take at least seven or eight days at the fastest, but Er Zhang had no other choice but to give it a try.

The news of Sun Quan's disappearance and the Xuzhou faction's search for Sun Yi naturally could not be hidden from the Jiangdong faction. Soon, the Jiangdong nobles in the city also realized the seriousness of the matter. Gu Yong and others quickly gathered to discuss the matter. This time Lu Ji was also among them. Gu Yong said to Lu Ji: "Gong Ji retreated first this time and did not even meet the king halfway. The Xuzhou faction will definitely take advantage of this and even blame us for the king's disappearance."

Lu Ji said ashamedly: "At that time, I left Xu Sheng behind and sent Zhou Tai to meet the king. I came back to open up the water route to avoid being taken advantage of by the Jin army. I didn't know that the two routes would be defeated so quickly. I made a wrong prediction. I feel ashamed of the people of Wu."

Yu Fan snorted, "Gong Ji, you did the right thing, but no one expected that the Jin army would bypass Poyang Lake and block the king. I suspect there is a traitor in the city who leaked the news!"

Gu Yong said: "It is meaningless to doubt each other at this moment. The city is already in chaos. The most urgent task is to find a way to overcome the difficulties!"

"Now that the Xuzhou faction has taken action, the two Zhangs and Yan Jun hold a lot of military power. If they support Sun Yi or collude with the State of Jin to cause chaos, we will be in danger!"

Kan Ze asked, "Why didn't Changxu (Sun Shao) come today?"

"As the prime minister, he should come out to stabilize the situation. What's wrong with him not showing up at this time?"

Kan Ze said coldly: "He is also a northerner, and it is unknown if he hesitates at this time."

"It is said that the two major military advisors of Xionghu are Lu Xun and Langya Zhuge Liang. There are many people who have friendships with them."

Everyone seemed a little embarrassed, and Lu Ji was speechless. Lu's relationship with the other party was so close that he had always been suspected.

Gu Yong said in a deep voice: "Perhaps Xionghu saw this clearly and deliberately provoked our internal strife!"

"We can't lose our composure at this moment, otherwise no one will end up well!"

"Since Changxu is not coming, we have to make a decision now. Should we follow the example of the Xuzhou faction and establish another King of Wu, or cooperate with the Xuzhou faction?"

"If you can't do this, you might as well surrender!"

Yu Fan snorted coldly: "If we surrender, the other side may not need us."

"Xionghu now has many officials under his command. We are guarding an isolated city, and he has fought his way here. Do you still expect us to be reinstated after we surrender the city?"

"I'm afraid his officers and generals have long been planning to kill us all!"

"Gongji, I'm not talking about you. You were able to protect the people of the tribe, but I'm afraid our fate will be worrying."

Lu Ji said in a deep voice: "I am willing to live and die with you all, and advance and retreat together."

Yu Fan said, "Okay!"

"I do believe in Gongji. The two thousand remnants that Gongji brought back this time are our only hope for self-preservation. Please hurry to the barracks to avoid being seized by the Xuzhou faction with an excuse!"

When Lu Ji heard this, he hesitated and said, "Then what name should I use..."

Yu Fan said decisively: "Use Changxu's name to say that the Prime Minister has issued an order. Those who disobey the order will be punished by military law!"

After Lu Ji left, Kan Ze asked, "Do you think you can trust him?"

"You know, when Lord Sun attacked Yuzhang, most of the Lu family members died!"

"If you say that the king has shown him kindness, then it is believable, but asking him to support the Sun family at this time..."

Yu Fan said in a deep voice: "Sun family, Sun family, we have done our best for the Sun family and the Wu Kingdom, but we have to be buried with them, are you willing?"

"The Xuzhou faction is still trying to support Sun Yi. They are really confused. Not to mention whether Sun Yi can lead the troops to repel the Jin army, what's the use of him if he is not in the city now?"

"Now we have a chance. We can either support the youngest son of the king or the fourth son Sun Kuang in the city. Now we have to decide who we should bet on."

After arguing for half an hour, no decision was made. Finally, Gu Yong said, "I will go find Chang Xu now and ask him to see the queen. If he gives up, then the problem will be solved. After all, we don't know whether it's a boy or a girl yet!"

"The other thing is to have Gongji send troops out of the city to look for the king's whereabouts. If the king is still alive, at least we can have an explanation with the State of Jin!"

What happened in Nanchang was soon reported out of the city by spies. Yuan Xi looked at the secret letter and said to Lu Xun, "The spies of the Procuratorate in the city did a great job."

Lu Xun said: "Some nobles have already surrendered to us privately."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi burst out laughing, "If that's true, but if it can save lives, then they have done a great job."

"Sun Quan is really unlucky this time. He has not decided on his successor yet, and then he encounters something like this. I can only say that luck is not on his side."

After hearing this, Lu Xun took the opportunity to say, "I also hope that the king will learn from Sun Quan's lesson and take care of your health on the battlefield. Otherwise, if something unexpected happens, the situation in Jin will only get worse."

Yuan Xi, the Khan, said, "Bo Yan's teaching is correct, but now that the city is about to be broken, what does Boyan think?"

(End of this chapter)