Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 576: Return to Maicheng
Sun Quan did not have enough horses, so he had to abandon most of his followers when he went south around Jingshan.

When he led Zhou Tai and several northern army envoys to Maicheng on fast horses, he saw that the northern and southern armies of Maicheng were stationed separately.

"Why?"

Sun Quan reined in his horse and pointed at several small villages within sight. All of them were built near villages and townships, or on the roadside near mountains and rivers.

The military officer under Cheng Pu who came to lead the way replied: "The common people are grateful to the Liu family and are unwilling to pay taxes. It will be easier to supervise and mobilize the people's manpower and material resources if we divide the troops and station them there."

The military officer replied by observing the envoy of the Northern Army, who was a local official recruited by Pei Qian, the governor of Jingzhou.

He just kept a gloomy face and said nothing. Sun Quan then said, "I heard that the four counties in southern Jing were rich. How did they fall to the point of dividing the troops and forcibly conquering them?"

The military officer replied awkwardly: "It is true that Jingnan is rich, but in order to build the new city of Jiangling, 40,000 to 50,000 people were conscripted for labor service. Our army is upstream and is not valued by the Grand Commander. It is inevitable that we will run out of food and military supplies. We have to be self-sufficient."

"What a self-sufficient person."

Pei Qian's messenger made a comment, not wanting to have a deeper conversation, and said, "Lead the way quickly."

"Here."

The military officer agreed, and when he turned around, he did not forget to glance at Sun Quan, as if it was Sun Quan who made the envoy unhappy.

As they were about to raise troops and join the Northern Army, Sun Quan also understood the other side's mentality.

They were afraid that after the Southern Army was defeated, the Northern Army would investigate the evil deeds of Cheng Pu's troops in the local area.

After observing the other party's mentality, Sun Quan gradually felt relieved.

The group dressed in scout uniforms and, under the guidance of military officers, successfully crossed the river and entered Maicheng.

Maicheng had become a garrison town, with mountain vendors selling mountain products on the streets and soldiers coming and going to buy.

The military officer reined in his horse and slowed down, saying, "The mountain folks have to return before dark, and the market will be over at noon. There used to be a military market, but Jiangling City conscripted a lot of people, and the people were resentful and stopped coming to the military market. Since they were unwilling to come, the mountain folks came."

Sun Quan said nothing, but just observed Pei Qian's envoy.

The other party said nothing and had no interest in talking, so the military officer led them to see Cheng Pu.

The largest house in the city had become Cheng Pu's temporary office as the general's mansion, and they entered through a side door.

Without having time to change clothes, he went in to meet him dressed as a scout.

After the briefing, Cheng Pu met them in a small courtyard.

When Sun Quan came in, he saw Cheng Pu sitting cross-legged on the corridor in front of him. In front of him was a bamboo round plate with a large piece of tea leaves on it. The leaves were dark green and thick. They must be old tea leaves at this season.

Cheng Pu rubbed the tea leaves and smelled them. When he saw Sun Quan, he raised his chin and sneered, "General, how are you?"

"I regret not listening to the old general."

Sun Quan bowed deeply, while Zhou Tai stood beside him with his brows lowered, also in a bad mood.

When the army marched into Jiangbei at the beginning, many people were opposed to it and asked Sun Quan to send troops to attack Wancheng.

"Old lord, Lord Bofu, never regret what you have done until you die."

Cheng Pu put aside the old tea leaves brought by the mountain people, stood up and rubbed his hands, and stretched out his arms to invite: "From the general's expression, I can see that what he regrets is not that he did not listen to my words, but that he was defeated in Hefei."

The military officer stepped forward and introduced: "General, this is Envoy Pei's confidant, Zhang Xiang from Nanyang."

Pei Qian's messenger stepped forward and bowed: "Greetings, General."

"Come in and talk."

After saying this, Cheng Pu turned around and walked into the hall. The military officers withdrew on their own initiative. Sun Quan and Zhang Xiang walked into the hall through the rain corridor together. Zhou Tai wanted to follow them, but was stopped by two guards in front of the door.

Sun Quan went to see Zhang Xiang, but Zhang Xiang said nothing, so Zhou Tai could only stay outside the door.

Zhang Xiang and Sun Quan entered one after another, and saw Cheng Pu's back lingering at the screen. After the two followed in, Cheng Pu walked around the screen and entered the inner hall.

But when they entered the inner hall, they saw Cheng Pu standing by, and a suit of armor was placed on the table at the top.

Sun Quan was stunned, and Zhang Xiang was surprised: "General, what do you mean?"

"Get rid of the harm for the old lord and Lord Bofu."

As Cheng Pu spoke, he turned around and bowed to the armor. As Sun Quan took a step forward, he was suddenly startled and instinctively sensed the danger, but it was too late.

An arrow hit his chest, and Sun Quan howled in pain.

As a result, the arrow bounced to the ground and failed to penetrate. Then Han Dang came out from the side door of the inner hall, holding a bow, and put the arrow in his right hand, and pulled the bowstring to the full. This time, the black iron arrowhead with a cold blade was aimed at Sun Quan. After Han Dang walked out, soldiers holding spears came out one after another.

Zhou Tai had already rushed to the corner of the screen with his sword drawn, but was stopped by seven or eight soldiers holding spears. If he dared to move forward, these soldiers would counterattack.

Sun Quan felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave. He turned his head and looked at Zhang Xiang: "Mr. Zhang, this is not what Envoy Pei said?"

Zhang Xiang was also very confused and looked at Cheng Pu: "What do you want, General?"

Cheng Pu just sighed and said, "The correspondence between us and Envoy Pei has been discovered by Jiang Ling. I have no choice but to pretend to surrender in order to win over this man. Only by getting rid of him can the Marquis of Wu live in peace."

Han Dang went to see Zhang Xiang and said, "Sir, you are from the north, so please leave now."

Zhang Xiang shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I came here on orders. If I lose General Sun and go back alone, it will be difficult for me to report to you. If you want to kill him, then kill him together."

"Sir, are you really not afraid of death?"

Han Dang asked back, as if he didn't believe it, and looked at Zhou Tai again: "Youping, if you kill yourself, we will leave your body intact. Otherwise, you will be reduced to a meat paste by the sword and axe."

Zhou Tai went to see Sun Quan. Sun Quan slowly turned around and looked at Zhou Tai. They locked eyes and shouted with all his might, "Go! Go!"

Zhou Tai stood still and heard the sound of dense footsteps coming from the small courtyard. Soon, he was hit on the back by a spear.

Sun Quan turned around and questioned Cheng Pu: "The defeat is not my fault alone. If you hadn't betrayed me and joined the enemy to cut off my retreat, how could the front army have been in chaos?"

"You are not a virtuous person. You ignored the time and people's hearts, so you suffered this defeat. You don't reflect on your own mistakes, but resent us and wish that we would die without a burial place."

Cheng Pu smiled at Zhang Xianglu and said, "We can't rest easy until he dies."

Zhang Xiang advised: "After all, there is a distinction between master and servant. If the general kills General Sun, both the southern and northern armies will have difficulty surviving."

"We are the subordinates of Marquis Wu. He is just managing things on behalf of Marquis Wu. How can we be called master and servant?"

Cheng Pu asked loudly, pointing at Sun Quan: "It was him who destroyed Duke Bofu's foundation! If it weren't for our help, the Marquis of Wu would have had a hard time escaping from Jiangdong."

Han Dang also spoke up: "In the past, we had similar ideas with Lord Wentai, and we were willing to follow Lord Bofu to start a business. After Lord Bofu leaves, we should also serve the Marquis of Wu."

Zhang Xiang also felt that there was some truth in it, so he nodded slowly and said no more.

Sun Quan suddenly realized what was happening and smiled: "Hahaha! So that's how it is, so that's how it is!"

No one paid any attention to him. After Sun Quan finished laughing, he glared at Cheng Pu and said, "No matter what you say, in the eyes of the Grand Marshal and the Emperor of the Southeast, you are still traitors who betrayed and murdered your master! You are so treacherous and will not have a good ending when the world is settled!"

Cheng Pu said nothing and turned to look at a strong warrior. The man took out a bowstring from his waist and walked straight towards Sun Quan.

When Sun Quan drew his sword, he was hit on the arm by several spears and halberds. The sword fell to the ground and bounced up, making a loud noise.

Two soldiers stepped forward to capture him, and seeing that Sun Quan was resisting, they immediately started beating him with their fists and feet.

Zhou Tai roared and stepped forward with his sword raised, but was immediately stabbed by spears in front and behind him, freezing in place, blood gushing from his mouth and staggering.

Cheng Pu and Han Dang couldn't bear to see this kind of scene, so when they saw Zhou Tai fall down, they signaled the soldiers to drag Zhou Tai away.

Soon Sun Quan's hands were tied behind his back and he was forced to kneel in front of his armor.

The sturdy warrior came up behind him with a bowstring in hand and said, "Excuse me, this is Ma Zhong."

After saying that, he stepped forward and strangled Sun Quan's neck with the bowstring, stepped on Sun Quan's back, his face immediately turned red, his eyeballs bulged out, and he sobbed.

After a few breaths, Sun Quan's tense and straight arms and head suddenly softened.

In front of Zhang Xiang, Ma Zhong stepped forward and knelt on one knee beside Sun Quan. He grabbed Sun Quan's chin and twisted it violently, breaking his cervical vertebra with a crisp sound.

Zhang Xiang took a deep breath and looked at Cheng Pu: "General, what do you think?"

"I had no intention of deceiving you. Jiangling has already discovered our unusual behavior."

Cheng Pu signaled the soldiers to retreat and continued, "I will lead my army north tonight and will not be able to cooperate with Xu Kun in attacking Jiangling. But I will send an envoy to inform Xu Kun that if he insists on attacking Jiangling, I will not be able to stop him."

Han Dang also handed the bow to Ma Zhong and said to Zhang Xiang: "We know that our behavior is inappropriate. After we go to Nanyang, we will hand over the troops and serve the Marquis of Wu."

"The two generals are truly loyal and righteous men."

Zhang Xiang could not help but praise him, and bowed to the armor: "Marquis Wucheng and Marquis Wu can rest assured now."

As for Sun Quan, who fell to the ground and gradually became as warm as the earth, no one would even look at him again.

(End of this chapter)