Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1294 Violation
The person sent by Wu to negotiate was Zhang Zhao. Yuan Xi was quite surprised by this. So when he welcomed Zhang Zhao in, he pointed at Lu Su and said, "Zhang Changshi, aren't you afraid that I will detain you here like I did to Lu Zijing?"

Compared to Lu Su's embarrassment, Zhang Zhao's answer was quite straightforward, "The King of Jin is now sure of victory. I am now negotiating in name only, but in reality I am surrendering. What is there worth withholding?"

Yuan Xi burst into laughter and invited Zhang Zhao to the seat of honor. He said, "This is the first time that the Chief Secretary and I have met. Seeing is believing. The Chief Secretary is able to remain calm in the face of the changing times in the State of Wu. He is truly an extraordinary person."

Zhang Zhao cupped his hands and said, "I am ashamed. Zhao Wenzhi is a sloppy person and has no martial arts skills. He is far inferior to Zi Jing."

"Zhao is now the most useless person in the city, so he was sent out to negotiate. Zhao can only go back and convey the king's requirements and conditions for him to decide. Zhao is powerless to do anything else."

Yuan Xi said, "I was quite surprised to hear that Sun Quan is missing and Sun Kuang is the regent. I wonder what price the new King of Wu wants to pay?"

Seeing Yuan Xi speak directly, Zhang Zhao did not hesitate to say, "Your Majesty's intention is that Wu can surrender, but King Jin is requested to retain the name of Wu and guarantee the safety of the people and officials in the city."

Yuan Xi said: "The latter is not difficult, but the former is not possible."

"The name Wu was obtained by Cao Cao on behalf of Sun Quan, because Cao Cao abused his power and usurped it. How can we keep it?"

"I can promise the safety of everyone in the city, but the Wu Kingdom is unnecessary. If I occupy Jiangdong in the future, I will definitely set a new title. This country name really has no meaning at all."

Zhang Zhao heard this and said, "Your Majesty had anticipated that the King of Jin would say this, so he asked Zhao to convey a message."

"What the King of Jin is going to do in the future is already known to everyone. If that's the case, why do you still use the Han court's order as an excuse?"

"Your Majesty, even if you really got the Emperor's order to establish the country, you will abandon this title sooner or later. If that's the case, why do you still treat Wu harshly?"

Yuan Xi said in a deep voice: "I am not doing this to embarrass you, but to save you."

"Previous facts have proven that if I retain the name of Wu, it will lead to mutual suspicion. Hasn't the Chief Secretary heard of the story of Emperor Gaozu's eight kings?"

"On the contrary, I am very confused. The Wu Kingdom is now in a state of existence in name only. Why is the new King of Wu so obsessed with this?"

Zhang Zhao listened and sighed, "Everyone says that the King of Jin is good at fighting, but I didn't expect that he is also so good at speaking."

"Your Majesty, you must have your own reasons for making this decision. I can only convey the request of King Jin."

"I just hope that after I return, the King of Jin can give me some time to gather all the ministers to discuss the matter."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi said, "Three days."

"I can give you three days."

"If Wu still hasn't responded by this time three days from now, I will attack the city again and will not stop until the city gate is breached."

Zhang Zhao heard this with a bitter taste in his mouth, and said, "Zhao will definitely pass on the message."

Yuan Xi turned to Lu Su and Lu Xun and said, "What do you want to say to Zhang Changshi?"

Lu Su made a gesture to Lu Xun to invite him in, and Lu Xun asked directly, "How did my uncle die?"

Zhang Zhao said: "He was assassinated."

Lu Xun asked, “Who did it?”

Zhang Zhao shook his head. "I don't know. When the soldiers arrived, the murderer had already escaped."

Lu Xun sneered and said, "With the abilities of so many officials in Wu, how can they not find out?"

"Since the Chief Secretary has the courage to come out, he must not be the murderer who killed my uncle. Although I will find out sooner or later, shouldn't the Chief Secretary show some sincerity?"

Zhang Zhao replied: "Even if I knew, I couldn't tell you."

"I can only say that the situation in the city is very complicated. Whether or not one agrees to negotiate peace is not the criterion for judging the murderer."

"I still hope that the military advisor will put aside personal hatred and put the issue of reconciliation between the two countries first."

Lu Xun sneered, “Well, I will ask the Lu family to leave the city first.”

Zhang Zhao flatly refused, "I can't do that."

"Military advisor, you should understand that if Lu leaves the city alone at this time, it will inevitably cause chaos among the people. If the Jin army attacks the city again, won't we be fish on the chopping board?"

Lu Xun didn't know what Zhang Zhao was thinking, so he looked at Lu Su. Lu Su cleared his throat and said, "Zi Bu has been criticized for the sake of Wu. I can't say much."

"There is only one thing. Su hopes that Zibu can go back and persuade the King of Wu. Even if the two countries have agreed on terms, he should first control all the military power in the city."

Zhang Zhao heard this and said, "Don't worry, the king has the situation under control. Sun Shao and Yan Jun are jointly in charge of the army. They are both people the king trusts, so there won't be any problems."

After hearing this, Lu Su nodded and said, "If that's the case, then I'm relieved."

Yuan Xi asked Lu Xun, Lu Su and Zhang Zhao to discuss other details, which took most of the day. Finally, Zhang Zhao said, "I have taken note of the request from the King of Jin. Whether the King agrees or not, I will give him an explanation." Yuan Xi laughed and took Zhang Zhao's hand and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Chief Secretary."

After sending Zhang Zhao away, he asked Lu Su and Lu Xun, "Do you think Zhang Zhao told the truth?"

Lu Xun looked at Lu Su, and Lu Su could only say: "I have observed carefully that this person does not hide much in his words, so he should be trustworthy."

Lu Xun thought for a while and said, "There is not much problem with Zhang Zhao's words and deeds, but after talking to him, I always feel that there is something wrong."

Yuan Xi asked, "Why do you say that?"

Lu Xun said: "If the city wants to negotiate, why must they kill my uncle?"

"It is true that the Lu family was once an enemy of the Sun family, and it is true that I am also under the command of the king, but the Lu family has been loyal to the Sun family over the years. Why did they choose to target my uncle?"

"It's not that Wu doesn't know the relationship between my lord and me, but they are willing to risk the wrath of Jin and put all the blame on my uncle. It's okay to find a scapegoat, but why him?"

Lu Su also said at this time: "What Bo Yan said makes sense. I can't figure this out either."

"I always feel that it is possible that at the beginning, or even now, the voices in Wu State are not unified."

"The death of Lu Gongji should be the result of infighting among many parties. In the end, he was chosen because he had a weak foundation and was easily framed."

"From this perspective, it seems that people in Nanchang may not be able to reach a consensus so quickly."

After listening to this, Yuan Xi finally said, "Then we can only wait."

"Anyway, we can still wait for two days. The only thing is that we are afraid that reinforcements will arrive from Yuzhang and Danyang. As long as we are prepared, Wu will not be able to mobilize many troops within three days."

For the next two days, everything was calm inside and outside the city. When Yuan Xi thought that the State of Wu would agree to the conditions, news came from Danyang that surprised everyone.

Previously, Xuzhou sent people to ask Sun Yi for help, and at the same time asked Sun Yi to rush to Nanchang to take over the throne of King of Wu. Although Zhang Zhao did not mention this news, Yuan Xi knew about it.

However, the news that has come now is that Sun Yi was assassinated!
Lu Su was also extremely shocked when he heard the news. He murmured, "How is it possible? Why would someone want to kill him at this time?"

“It’s totally unreasonable!”

Yuan Xi also couldn't figure it out, so he said to Lu Xun: "Who do you think might be the murderer?"

Lu Xun pondered for a long time, and then he shook his head with difficulty, "Strange, it's really too strange, it doesn't make sense."

"The biggest beneficiary of this incident is Sun Kuang, who is in direct competition with Sun Yi. However, he has already succeeded in ascending the throne before Sun Yi returns, and then surrendered to the lord. What threat can Sun Yi still pose to him?"

Lu Su hesitated and said, "Could it be that when the overall situation was still undecided, Sun Kuang sent assassins to assassinate Sun Yi in advance, and then the situation developed more smoothly than he expected. The assassination was successful, but Sun Kuang ascended the throne directly, so he didn't have time to stop it?"

"But that's not right. Sun Kuang and Sun Yi have a good relationship. Why would they kill each other now?"

Yuan Xi asked, "How's Sun Yi doing?"

Lu Xun said, "In fact, around the time Sun Yi got the news, the army led by General Wu Jing had already entered Danyang from Wujun and almost surrounded the city."

"The person who was confronting General Wu Jing at that time was Sun Ben, who had once served under Yuan Shu. Although he was Sun Ce's cousin, he had a good relationship with General Wu, so the two sides had actually reached a consensus. Both sides temporarily stopped fighting and waited for Nanchang to be captured."

"However, at this time, Sun Yi was stabbed. Sun Ben rushed back to the city to arrest the murderer, but the murderer committed suicide."

"After this incident, Sun Ben felt that there was no point in continuing like this, so he surrendered directly. General Wu occupied Danyang and temporarily protected Sun Yi's family."

After hearing this, Yuan Xi shook his head and said, "This attack by the Wu State is really inexplicable."

"Although it's not a bad thing for me, but as Boyan said, there must be something we don't understand."

"The three-day deadline is almost up, and the Wu Kingdom's response will have a result today."

Sure enough, a few hours later, an envoy was sent from Nanchang City, saying that the King of Wu had agreed to surrender the city, so he came out to agree on a time.

Yuan Xi was also very happy to hear this. He thought for a moment and said, "At noon tomorrow, when Nanchang opens the city gate, I will lead my troops into the city."

After hearing this, the messenger wanted to go back and report. Yuan Xi saw him off and asked, "Why didn't Zhang Changshi come this time?"

The messenger hurriedly said, "Zhang Changshi is busy stabilizing the people in the city, so he didn't have time to come."

Yuan Xi nodded and said, "Tell the Chief Secretary for me to take care of himself."

The messenger reported back as ordered. He returned to the city and entered the palace. He bowed his head and said to the people sitting on the throne, "Your Majesty, I have delivered the message. The Jin army will enter the city at noon tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)