Rebirth of the Three Kingdoms: Da Qiao doesn't want to be a widow anymore

Chapter 381 The Marriage Alliance of Cao and Sun
It was quite unusual for Cao Cao to take the initiative to write a letter seeking a marriage alliance.

Since Yuan Shao's death, his three sons have been fighting amongst themselves for power. Cao Cao took advantage of this and seized Qingzhou and Youzhou from Yuan Shao. As a result, almost the entire Central Plains was under Cao Cao's control. North of the Yangtze River, no other warlord could rival Cao Cao.

At this time, Cao Cao had become the person with the best chance of unifying the world. He would suddenly change his previous tough stance and take the initiative to ask the Sun family for a marriage alliance.
There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Although Yuan Langlang lived in the inner quarters, she was not completely unaware of what was happening outside. Her aunt from her maternal family would write letters from time to time, and she had heard about the situation in the north to some extent.

After annexing Yuan Shao's territory, pacifying the Wuhuan in the north became Cao Cao's top priority. After all, during the years of confrontation with Yuan Shao, the Wuhuan frequently plundered the land and people in the north, forcing Cao Cao to tie down a large number of troops to defend against the northern invasions.

The Wuhuan cavalry became a major concern for Cao Cao, a concern that was even more urgent than his southward campaign against Liu Biao and Sun Quan.

In fact, for Yuan Langlang and her son, this marriage was entirely beneficial.

Looking across the land, among the various warlords and warlords, Cao Cao possessed the greatest power, occupying the most fertile regions of the Central Plains and the North. If we were to consider who had the best chance of unifying the country, Cao Cao would indeed have the greatest opportunity.

After all, the Yellow River Basin has always been the center of the country's economy and population, boasting the highest levels of production technology, labor force, and cultural literacy.

An army marches on its stomach; ultimately, war comes down to population and economy, and in this respect, the North does have an advantage over the South.

At this time, Cao Cao wanted to use a marriage alliance to temporarily stabilize Sun Quan in order to resist the Wuhuan in the north, in order to plan for the future. If Cao Cao could really achieve the merit of the Duke of Zhou spitting out his food to feed his guests in the future, Sun Shao would naturally be able to protect himself because of his marriage ties with the Cao family.

If Sun Quan could secure a territory and protect his family in this situation, Sun Shao, as Sun Quan's nephew, would naturally share in the wealth and glory.

No matter how you calculate it, Yuan Langlang and Sun Shao are both in the clear.

Qiao Wei thought about it again and understood Sun Quan's considerations. Now that Cao Cao was powerful, Sun Quan did not have absolute confidence that he could defeat Cao Cao. If the Cao family and the Sun family could form a marriage alliance again, it might be the best plan to preserve Sun Ce's lineage.

Lying on the couch that night, Qiao Wei was almost asleep when she heard Sun Quan sigh, "I didn't leave this marriage to Deng'er, will you blame me?"

Qiao Wei's mind was blank, and she couldn't quite process what was happening. Her voice also had a slightly nasal quality, "Why should I blame you?"

Sun Quan turned over and pulled Qiao Wei into his arms. The burning heat came from his palms and pressed against Qiao Wei's back. With a little force, Qiao Wei's lips were pressed against Sun Quan's ear.

"I gave my sister-in-law my way out..."

Qiao Wei forced her eyelids open and reached out to put her arms around Sun Quan's neck. "I made my choice back then, and now that I've made it, I don't regret it."

In this life, who can say that all the choices they make are on the right path? It's just that they made choices based on the circumstances at the time, choices that they thought were the best.

Sun Quan rested his chin on Qiao Wei's head, feeling a mix of bittersweet emotions, yet also a sense of satisfaction and gratitude.

While his elder brother was still alive, he charged into battle, risking his life to carve out a legacy for his younger brothers, so that they could have a place to stand in this cannibalistic world.

Having constantly struggled on the brink of life and death, he would make careful arrangements for endurance and escape routes before each campaign, ensuring that even if he met with misfortune, his brothers would have a way to survive.

Now that he has lost his elder brother, he has become the elder brother in his own family, following in the footsteps of Sun Ce, arranging all the escape routes for the clan's members. However… the only people he feels he has let down are his wife and two children.

He failed to prepare a way out for them in the first place, which even made him seem despicable and selfish.

Qiao Wei suddenly sensed something was wrong. He struggled to get up from Sun Quan's embrace and studied Sun Quan's face in the faint moonlight streaming in from the window. His last bit of sleepiness vanished. "Cao Mengde wants more than just a marriage alliance, doesn't he?"

Although she didn't understand Cao Cao, she did understand Sun Quan.

"He wrote a letter to me, reminiscing about the old days when my father and I raised an army together to quell the rebellion of Dong Zhuo. He said he wanted to go south to pay homage to my father's remains and that he would also take his sons with him to hunt in Jiangdong."

They would hunt in Jiangdong.

That's a more elegant way of putting it; it would be better to just say we're heading south to take over the Jiangdong region.

Taking advantage of the power struggle between Cao Cao and the Yuan family over the years, Jiangdong seized the opportunity to grow stronger, allying with Jiaozhou in the south, advancing westward into Jingzhou, and seizing Runan and other places in the north. Indeed, looking at the whole world, Cao Cao should have regarded the Sun family of Jiangdong as a major threat.

Over the years, Zhou Yu, Zhao Yun, and other troops have not fought major battles against Cao Cao's army, but they have fought many minor battles. Sun Quan is not the kind of person who would be afraid of battle. If Cao Cao really wants to fight, then let him fight.

But this sudden drop in mood is really strange.

“I don’t believe you’re afraid of him.” Qiao Wei was telling the truth.

Sun Quan nodded, then shook his head, and reached out to pull Qiao Wei back into his arms. "I'm not afraid, but I'm not completely unafraid either."

"Did someone say something?"

Sun Quan closed his eyes and did not answer the question, as if uttering the name would represent embarrassment and helplessness.

There are actually very few people who can cause such emotional turmoil in Sun Quan.

Several names immediately came to mind, and after reviewing their actions over the years, she quickly identified one person.

"Is it... Ji Zuo?"

Over the years, Sun Kuang had some private dealings with Cao Yuan's relatives because of his wife. Sun Quan was not unaware of this, but he trusted that his brother would not do anything that would overstep the boundaries and harm the Sun family, so he turned a blind eye.

Even when preparing New Year's gifts for Cao Ren, Sun Quan would have Qiao Wei add extra generous gifts according to the etiquette of relatives, to show his respect for Cao Yuan, his sister-in-law.

Therefore, upon hearing Qiao Wei's guess, Sun Quan's breathing quickened, as if he could no longer contain himself, "We are clearly blood relatives..."

Of his five brothers, Sun Ce died in battle, and Sun Yi turned against him and died on the battlefield. He was left with only two younger brothers, Sun Kuang and Sun Lang. But now Sun Kuang seemed to have lost his heart as well. No one could understand his loneliness and sorrow.

Qiao Wei had no idea what Sun Kuang had said that could so deeply move Sun Quan. All she could do was hold him tightly and try to comfort him, reminding him that he still had her and their two children.