Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

No sooner had Sun Jian finished speaking than Zhou Yu and Lu Xun led the man away.

Gu Rubing sneered upon seeing this.

"Alright, why don't you tell me, King of Wu, what exactly do you want?"

"King Wu, you've borrowed quite a few things from me all this time, haven't you? Why don't you return everything? Also, you had General Zhao renovate my place, so why don't you settle the renovation costs for me?"

After Sun Jian finished speaking, a soldier placed a list in front of Gu Rubing.

Gu Rubing saw that the list alone required him to return 200,000 troops, along with countless supplies of grain, warhorses, and armor, and even a million gold coins.

Seeing this list, Gu Rubing finally understood what it meant to ask for an exorbitant sum.

Gu Rubing tore the list in his hand to shreds.

"King of Wu, you really have no shame! How can you do this?"

"What's there for me to be embarrassed about? You borrowed all of this from me back then."

"Don't you know why I'm borrowing from you? How much trouble have you caused me all this time?"

Sun Jian and Gu Rubing looked at each other, neither of them showing any intention of compromising.

After a long while, Sun Jian's complexion gradually improved.

"Your Highness, there's no need to rush. I'll give you a few days to think it over. If you're still not satisfied with what I've said, then I'm afraid I can't release him."

After saying this, Sun Jian turned and left.

"My lord, Sun Jian has gone too far. Let's leave."

Zhao Yun frowned as he looked at the scattered pieces of the list on the ground, his eyes filled with deep dissatisfaction.

"Yes, brother, that person is a traitor. Why should we sacrifice so much for a traitor?"

Guan Yu also strongly agreed with Zhao Yun's suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing smiled helplessly.

"How can you two be so sure that the centurion betrayed the others?"

"Isn't it enough that he's the only one alive?"

"His survival means he betrayed us? What kind of logic is that?"

Gu Rubing smiled helplessly, then slowly explained, "You didn't take a good look at the centurion's wounds. Some of them are old wounds, inflicted when he was captured, while others are new wounds, clearly inflicted recently."

"If the centurion really betrayed his own men, and Sun Jian knew perfectly well that this man could bring him considerable benefits, why would Sun Jian beat him? Was it to vent his anger? But these people are all informants; how ruthless could they make Sun Jian? Even beyond the benefits he could gain?"

Upon hearing this, the two fell silent instantly.

However, he still harbored some doubts about this centurion.

"Besides, don't you think about it? There are dozens of crossbow captains sent here. I know that the investigation is about Sun Jian, so it will definitely be very difficult. That's why I sent two centurions. With two centurions, there are naturally two people in charge. How many spies can one centurion know?"

Upon hearing this, the two immediately realized what was happening.

Yes, there were two centurions. They only caught one of them; how could they possibly reveal all their informants?

There is clearly a misunderstanding here.

"Alright, let's not talk about that now. We definitely need to save him, but Sun Jian's appetite is really too big. I'm in a bit of a dilemma."

Gu Rubing rubbed his head and led the two people out of the palace.

Early the next morning.

Gu Rubing was then called up by Zhou Yu.

"What's the matter so early?"

Gu Rubing looked at Zhou Yu with some dissatisfaction.

"Prince Lie, didn't my lord say yesterday that he was going to bury those people? Preparations are underway now, aren't you going?"

Gu Rubing then realized that Sun Jian wanted to bury the men of the Younu Xiaowei.

"go."

Gu Rubing immediately led Guan Yu and Zhao Yun, following Zhou Yu, to a mountain.

Upon seeing everything on the mountain, Gu Rubing's face instantly darkened, and his eyes flashed with anger.

"Sun Jian, is this the place you said you arranged?"

"Yes, is it possible that King Lie is not satisfied with my arrangement?"

"Satisfied, I'm so incredibly satisfied, absolutely satisfied! Are you blind? Can't you tell this is a mass grave?"

"Oh, I see. But isn't that how it should be?"

Upon hearing this, Gu Rubing was so angry that he laughed, and then kicked Sun Jian.

However, Gu Rubing's level of attack could not harm Sun Jian in the slightest, and Sun Jian skillfully dodged it.

"Prince Lie, what are you doing? Why are you attacking?"

As Sun Jian's voice fell, the surrounding soldiers drew their weapons, while Sun Ce and Gan Ning watched Gu Rubing and the other two warily.

"You'd better find somewhere else, or don't blame me for turning your Constantinople upside down."

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian glanced at Gu Rubing.

Given Sun Jian's strength, he shouldn't have been afraid of Gu Rubing, who was only a second-rate general. But for some reason, seeing Gu Rubing's murderous gaze, he felt a sense of fear.

"Fine, since King Lie has made the request, I'll find another place. But I hope King Lie won't make so many demands. Our Anluo Empire is a place where every inch of land is precious, so having this place is already quite good."

Sun Jian then led everyone to a mountain again.

Looking at the beautiful scenery around him, Gu Rubing nodded in satisfaction.

Soon, everyone was buried.

Gu Rubing stood in front of his tombstone, and then, to everyone's surprise, knelt down on the ground.

This was the first time they had ever seen royalty kneel before their subordinates.

Guan Yu and Zhao Yun were so frightened that they immediately stepped forward to help Gu Rubing up.

"Don't touch me."

Gu Rubing glared at the two men, and only when he saw that they dared not move did he kowtow to the tombstone.

The reason Gu Rubing felt so guilty was entirely because the deaths of these dozens of people were entirely due to his own command errors.

Gu Rubing hadn't thought of it that way before, but when he couldn't sleep at night and kept thinking about it, he realized a huge problem.

Having only just learned of Sun Jian's legendary military identity, how could Sun Jian possibly be wary of him?

Therefore, Sun Jian would inevitably think that he would send someone into the Anluo Empire to investigate his situation.

Sending people to the Anluo Empire at this time is like sending lambs to the slaughter.

Eyeliner does indeed carry many risks, and can often result in failure.

However, Gu Rubing could not accept that such a large number of deaths were caused by his own miscommand.

This is why Gu Rubing is kneeling here now.

"My lord, it's ready."

Guan Yu's voice roused Gu Rubing from his self-blame.

Gu Rubing then slowly got up.

At this moment, Gu Rubing also saw the centurion who had been brought over in the distance.

When the centurion saw the tombstone, he immediately knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

She even cried so much that she fainted in the end.

Seeing this, Guan Yu and the others were convinced that the deaths of these people had nothing to do with the centurion.

"Alright, King Lie, I have fulfilled all your requests. Now, when will you give me an answer regarding my conditions?" "We need to consider it further."

After saying that, Gu Rubing turned and left.

The three returned to the post station.

Gu Rubing silently took out paper and pen and handed over the maximum amount of money he could afford to Sun Jian.

This is all he can accept.

Seeing what happened today, Gu Rubing made up his mind to rescue the person from Sun Jian's clutches.

However, what Gu Rubing didn't know was that after Sun Jian saw him leave, he whispered something in Sun Ce's ear.

Sun Ce then nodded and left the Anluo Empire.

after one day.

Gu Rubing arrived at the palace.

Meanwhile, Sun Jian was in the palace looking at some bamboo slips.

Upon seeing Gu Rubing arrive, Sun Jian immediately stood up.

"King Lie, do you already have an answer?"

“That’s right, but I can’t accept the condition you mentioned, King Wu. This is all I can accept. King Wu, please take a look.”

After saying that, Gu Rubing threw his list onto Sun Jian's desk.

Sun Jian picked it up, looked at it, and then burst out laughing.

"Your Highness, are you joking with me? This is less than half of what I asked for. Do you think I'm a beggar trying to get rid of me?"

"King Wu, you mustn't go too far."

"Hmph, Prince Lie, don't try to scare me. We've already broken off relations, so what's the point of talking about going too far? When you sent Zhao Yun to threaten me and try to kill me, why didn't you say that was going too far?"

After saying this, Sun Jian tore the list to shreds right in front of Gu Rubing.

"King Wu, do you know that according to your list, I will lose the great battle against Cao Cao and Liu Zhang completely, and at that time, even half of the Han Dynasty will fall into the hands of Cao Cao and Liu Zhang?"

"That's your problem, it has nothing to do with me."

"Have you thought this through? Even if you are a legendary general, you are not invincible."

"So what? What are you going to do about it?"

Sun Jian looked at Gu Rubing with a smug expression, completely disregarding Gu Rubing's threat.

Guan Yu stared at Sun Jian with a gloomy expression, and the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in his hand even trembled.

Zhao Yun, however, could no longer contain himself and was about to take action.

After a moment of silence, Gu Rubing exhaled and calmed himself down.

"Okay, I can give you what you're talking about, but you should still take me to see my people."

"no problem."

"Someone, take Prince Lie to see his men."

"Yes!"

Soon, several soldiers stepped forward and led Gu Rubing away.

However, Sun Jian did not see that the murderous intent in Gu Rubing's eyes had reached its peak the moment Gu Rubing turned around.

Soon, Gu Rubing arrived in front of the centurion.

Gu Rubing saw that the centurion was locked in a dungeon, and the surrounding environment was extremely damp, with snakes, insects, rats and ants everywhere.

"My lord, I really didn't betray the brothers, I really didn't."

"I know, I know, don't worry, we all believe in you."

Gu Rubing kept comforting the centurion in front of him.

Upon hearing that Gu Rubing believed in him, the centurion immediately knelt down in front of Gu Rubing, his eyes red.

"My lord, I know that Sun Jian asked you to exchange a lot of things with me. My life is worthless. I am only doing this because I am still alive. My lord, I will not make things difficult for you."

After saying that, the centurion smashed the porcelain bowl beside him, took a shard, and was about to slash it at his own throat.

Gu Rubing reacted quickly, immediately using his hand to block the porcelain shard in the centurion's hand.

The porcelain shard instantly pierced through Gu Rubing's hand.

"Lord."

"Big brother!"

The three of them screamed in surprise at the same time.

"I am fine."

Gu Rubing waved his hand.

"Remember this: now that I'm here, you must live. Sun Jian is no threat to me. He may have asked for a lot, but I have no intention of giving it to him. If you die, wouldn't my trip have been in vain? And I'd also be branded as someone who killed one of my own people."

Upon hearing this, the centurion realized what had happened and hurriedly knelt down, kowtowing and admitting his mistake.

"Alright, don't worry, you stay here for now, I'll be able to take you away soon."

"Thank you, my lord. Thank you, my lord."

Gu Rubing pulled the porcelain shard from his palm, then led Guan Yu and Zhao Yun away from the dungeon.

Zhao Yun immediately tore his own robe into pieces, preparing to bandage Gu Rubing's wounds.

Guan Yu also took out the hemostatic powder prepared by Hua Tuo.

However, just as the two were about to treat Gu Rubing's wounds, Gu Rubing immediately dodged away and looked at the two people in front of him.

"Why didn't you stop that centurion who was about to commit suicide? Even I was able to notice and stop him, I don't believe you couldn't."

Upon hearing this, the two fell silent instantly.

It's not that they couldn't stop it, or rather, they could have easily stopped it, but they didn't want to.

Sun Jian's condition was to take their lives, and Sun Jian was different from Cao Cao.

Cao Cao knew when to stop while he was ahead, but Sun Jian did not, and stubbornly continued to demand those things.

In their view, the best course of action now is for the centurion to commit suicide. As long as he dies, Gu Rubing can preserve his reputation and at the same time take revenge on Sun Jian.

"My lord, we..."

Zhao Yun opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Guan Yu, however, didn't care about any of that and said directly, "Brother, no matter what, I also feel that it would be most beneficial for us if that person died."

"Bullshit! You all need to remember this: they risked their lives for us, so we can't let them down."

Hearing this, the two looked at Gu Rubing and could only nod in the end.

“But brother, how can we give those things to Sun Jian? If we don’t, Sun Jian will definitely not release the people.”

“I never told him to release the person; I was going to take him away.”

"Robbing someone?"

The two had no idea what Gu Rubing meant by snatching someone from his family's territory, and it was obviously impossible for just the two of them to do it, especially since they also had to protect Gu Rubing's safety.

"If it's just the two of us, my lord, we... can only guarantee that we can bring you back a whole person, not just fragments."

Zhao Yun spoke his mind.

"Haha, don't worry, it's not just you guys." (End of Chapter)