Three Kingdoms: Jiangdong is no longer a rat

Chapter 36 Shi Ran
Most of the people who came to the banquet had had interactions with the original owner. After some greetings, Yan Yi recalled the identities of these people.

Most of the other unfamiliar faces were from wealthy families. Whether in terms of status, wealth or population, they were not as good as the wealthy families. It was rare for them to meet Yan Yi, so they were particularly attentive.

Yan Yi never refused anyone who came to him, and he never put on airs. He greeted each of them one by one. His gentle attitude won the favor of some people and also eliminated the anxiety of many people.

But there were also two people who, after a brief greeting, bowed and said goodbye to Fei Shang, saying that there was an emergency at home and they needed to rush back to deal with it.

However, as soon as the two men reached the intersection, they were stopped by several soldiers guarding the intersection in full view of everyone, and walked back with nervous expressions.

Everyone present was watching with their eyelids twitching. Fei Shang's face was even uglier, and he felt uneasy standing there. He had already begun to wonder what he would do if Yan Yi was deliberately making things difficult for him and something happened? Was he going to let this person mess around in his own house?
But he was overthinking it. Yan Yi came here today with no real intention of doing anything to these people. Apart from asking for some money, food and people, he wanted to understand the attitude of the nobles of Wucheng towards him so that he could act in the future.

At this time, he already had a rough idea in his mind.

The Fei and Shen families had recently caused trouble and were his main targets, so the heads of both families came in person. However, the other powerful families only sent their own children to attend the banquet.

Unexpectedly, the Shi family, the only aristocratic family in Wucheng, also sent people over this time.

The Shi family is a descendant of Shi Yan, the Grand Marshal during the reign of Emperor Shun of Han. They moved from Qi County in Pei State to Wucheng. Shi Yan's tomb is now twenty miles west of Wucheng.

Shi Yan had three sons, and the youngest son Shi Xian had four sons. The eldest son Shi Liang was the one attending the banquet today.

Next to Shi Liang stood a young man who was only twelve or thirteen years old, but had already grown into a heroic spirit. Shi Liang brought him out to gain experience at such a young age, which showed how much he valued this young man.

Yan Yi didn't take it seriously at first. No matter how handsome this boy was, he was just a little kid. But after a conversation, he was shocked to find that this boy was actually Zhu Ran, the Left Grand Marshal, Right Military Advisor, and Marquis of Yong'an of the Eastern Wu in history!

Zhu Ran once followed Lu Meng to capture and kill Guan Yu, and also followed Lu Xun to defeat Liu Bei, but what really made him famous was the Battle of Jiangling in the second year of Huangwu. In this battle, Wei generals Cao Zhen, Xiahou Shang, and Zhang He led tens of thousands of people to besiege Jiangling, and the siege lasted for six months without success, which made Zhu Ran famous.

However, Zhu Ran's surname was still Shi at this time. As for why he changed his name to Zhu Ran and worshipped Zhu Zhi as his father, Yan Yi was confused.

He asked Shi Liang indirectly, and although Shi Liang felt a little strange, he still replied politely: "My wife is Zhu Zhi's sister."

Yan Yi immediately understood that the relationship between the Shi and Zhu families was so close, so it was not surprising that Shi Ran changed his name to Zhu Ran in the future. Most likely, he was adopted by Zhu Zhi.

Zhu Zhi was Sun Ce's trusted and beloved general. In history, Xu Gong was defeated by Zhu Zhi and lost Wujun.

Yan Yi immediately became alert, especially after learning that Shi Ran and Sun Quan were close friends, his alertness became even stronger.

The Shi family is too close to the Sun family. If Sun Ce and I go to war in the future, there is a high probability that the Shi family will defect to Sun Ce.

Everyone walked into the manor together, seemingly having a good time, and came to a main room on the third floor of the attic. They sat in order of nobility, official position, and age.

Twelve beautiful and graceful dancers wearing pink skirts walked barefoot. The skirts were thin and light, clinging to their curvy bodies, showing their towering breasts, slender waists and round buttocks, which was very tempting.

However, the dancer was not performing the pan drum dance that Fei Shang had mentioned before, but the long-sleeved dance popular in Wu.

Zhao Cuo, standing beside Yan Yi, was dazzled. Ten days ago, he was just a poor country boy. He had never imagined that one day he would be able to enjoy singing and dancing with the city's dignitaries. Even the usually calm Xu Sheng was dazzled.

Chen Gan was so envious that he couldn't stop swallowing his saliva.

On the couch behind the dancer, a maid was kneeling, playing the piano with her slender hands. The sound of the piano was clear, graceful and pleasant to the ears. It was the deer-calling song commonly used by guests at banquets in this era.

Amidst the melodious sound of the piano, maids carried hot meat dishes and various seasonal fruits and vegetables, moving around the table.

A pretty maid was kneeling beside Yan Yi, pouring wine for him.

Yan Yi knelt on a sheepskin-covered mat, his hands on his knees, his expression heavy, and he ignored the delicious food and wine in front of him.

"Why don't you pick up your chopsticks, young master? Is the food not to your liking?" Fei Shang was always observing Yan Yi. Seeing that he was sitting still, as the host, he had to ask.

Yan Yi sighed deeply, "The people are suffering, and bandits are plundering. Whenever I think of this, I feel depressed. Even though the food is delicious, how can I eat it?"

As soon as the words fell, a cold wind seemed to blow through the room, and the conversations in the room stopped abruptly. Some people were picking up dishes with chopsticks, and their outstretched hands were frozen in mid-air as if they were under a spell. The maid playing the piano also stopped in a bewilderment.

Fei Shang's forehead veins throbbed, and he chuckled dryly, "Young Master, you're joking. Although some bandits invaded the country a few days ago, they were easily repelled by the Marshal. Last year was a rare year of bumper harvest, and the people had surplus food in their homes."

Yan Yi sneered and pointed at the two people who had been stopped before saying goodbye. "Mr. Fei, you are wrong. With such evil gentry and bullies still exploiting the villagers, how can the people have a good life?"

After he finished speaking, he turned around and glanced at Cao Qiu who was sitting at a lacquered table below.

Cao Qiu understood and stood up, went down the attic, walked out of the manor, and soon returned to the main house with a few scrolls of bamboo slips.

The two men were already so frightened that their faces turned pale and they were shaking like sieves.

Yan Yi took the bamboo slips from Cao Qiu's hand, flipped through them for a moment, then tossed them to the ground. He shouted, "Everyone, please look! These evil deeds are simply too numerous to list. Come, drag these two away and put them in jail for investigation!"

There was a sound of stepping on the wooden stairs, and several soldiers guarding the stairs came up aggressively, pressed down the two men who were begging for mercy loudly, and dragged them downstairs.

"Wait a minute!" Fei Shang stood up with a sullen face and said in a deep voice, "Young Master, could you please give me a favor and deal with this matter another day?"

He was hosting a banquet at home today. If he allowed Yan Yi to take the people he invited away for investigation, the matter would spread throughout the streets of Wucheng tonight, without waiting until tomorrow, and the Fei family's reputation would plummet.

Yan Yi stood up and walked to his side, saying in a voice that only he could hear, "Can you reply to Wu Jingzhi's letter?"

Fei Shang's face turned pale and he stood there in a daze.

(End of this chapter)