Tiger Owl

Chapter 51 A Step Apart

Inside the tent, Sun Quan knelt before his brother's body and wept bitterly, while Zhang Zhao stood to the side wiping away tears.

Lü Fan stepped forward and advised Sun Quan, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Please, my lords, take heart in your grief!"

Zhang Zhao also tried to persuade him, and Sun Quan wiped away his tears, gritting his teeth as he asked, "Who is the assassin?"

"The assassin claimed to be a retainer of Xu Gong, seeking revenge for his master, but that seems unlikely. Lord Wu went to Beigu Mountain on a whim; he couldn't have gone to Ganlu Temple to ambush them without prior warning."

"Is there a traitor among my brother's personal guards?"

Lü Fan nodded. "On the day Wu Hou was assassinated, two of his personal guards committed suicide."

Zhang Zhao asked from the side, "Have you checked the backgrounds of these two bodyguards?"

"Both of them are from Wu County, and their family circumstances are unknown. We can only investigate further when they return home."

Zhang Zhao gave Lü Fan a wink, and the two walked out of the tent. Zhang Zhao asked, "What are your thoughts on the successor to our lord, Lord Lü?"

Lu Fan pondered for a moment and said, "I want the old lady to decide!"

Zhang Zhao said calmly, "I consulted with the old lady before I set off, and she is inclined to make the third young master, Sun Yi, the heir!"

Lü Fan was shocked. "How can Sun Yi be allowed? He is cruel and tyrannical, definitely not a benevolent ruler. I absolutely do not approve!"

Lü Fan's opposition to Sun Yi was within Zhang Zhao's expectations. Lü Fan even opposed appointing Sun Yi as the governor of Kuaiji. How could he possibly support Sun Yi as the ruler of Jiangdong?
"What are Military Advisor Lü's personal thoughts?" Zhang Zhao asked tentatively.

After a moment's thought, Lü Fan said, "I prefer to establish the lord's son as the heir, and then have the ministers assist him."

As expected, Lü Fan wanted to install Sun Shao as the heir. Zhang Zhao then asked, "Is this the will of the Marquis of Wu?"

Lu Fan shook his head. "Lord Wu fell into a coma after being rescued and never woke up until his death. How could he have imagined that he would die young!"

Lü Fan sighed deeply, wishing that the Marquis of Wu could leave behind some last words.

Zhang Zhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief; it was good that there were no last words from the Marquis of Wu.

Zhang Zhao then earnestly said to Lü Fan, "If Young Master Shao were already a teenager, I would also agree to establish him as the heir. But he is only three years old now! He will not come of age for another seventeen years. If it were a prosperous era of unification, that would be fine, but now we are in a chaotic world. Are you not worried, Lord Lü?"

"this."

Lü Fan hesitated, which was also his dilemma. His lord's son was too young, only three years old.

Zhang Zhao pressed further, saying, "Sun Ben was already dissatisfied with the fact that the Marquis of Wu was the ruler. If a three-year-old child were to become the ruler, would Sun Ben accept it? Lord Lü, think about what the consequences would be if Sun Ben did not accept it?"

Zhang Zhao's shrewdness and cunning were on full display at this moment. Seeing Lü Fan hesitate, he immediately set up Sun Ben as an enemy. It should be noted that Lü Fan had fallen out with Sun Ben when he fought for military power for the Marquis of Wu. Although the Marquis of Wu eventually reconciled with his elder brother Sun Ben, Lü Fan had always been Sun Ben's mortal enemy.

It was precisely because of this that Lord Wu sent Lü Fan to Yuzhang Commandery as Sima. Although he was called Sima, he was actually a military supervisor, tasked with keeping an eye on Sun Ben.

Lü Fan was a veteran who had followed Sun Ce from the beginning. He had a deep understanding of Sun Ben's suppression of Sun Ce. Zhang Zhao's words made Lü Fan worried. If Sun Ben did not approve, splitting apart would be the least of his worries; civil war was the most likely outcome.

"And what does Chief Secretary Zhang think?"

Zhang Zhao pointed to the main tent, "Let the Second Young Master take the position. He has always had the support of the aristocratic families. Only he can stand against Sun Ben."

Lu Fan pondered for a long time, and it seemed that there was really no other way but for the second son to take the throne.

Lu Fan then thought of Sun Ben, and he finally made up his mind: "I can support the Second Prince to ascend to the throne, but I have one condition: the Second Prince must pass the throne to Sun Shao in the future."

Without hesitation, Zhang Zhao summoned Sun Quan and told him about Lü Fan's conditions. Sun Quan knew that he could not hesitate at this moment. Since Lü Fan had agreed, he had to seize the opportunity and deal with the future later.

He immediately raised his hand and swore, "I, Sun Quan, hereby swear that I will return the throne to my nephew in the future. If I break this oath, may Heaven and Earth not forgive me, and may I, Sun Quan, die from being pierced by a hail of arrows!"

Lü Fan was overjoyed and knelt down to kowtow, saying, "Lü Fan pays his respects to the new Marquis of Wu!" Sun Quan helped him up and exclaimed, "Having such a loyal minister as Ziheng is a blessing for the state of Eastern Wu!"

Lü Fan immediately ordered the tent to be raised, summoned all the generals to see him, and handed over the commander's seal, military tally, command arrow and Wu Hou sword to Sun Quan in front of everyone. Sun Quan sat in his elder brother's commander's seat, with military advisor Lü Fan on his left and chief clerk Zhang Zhao on his right.

The generals immediately understood, and Cheng Pu was the first to kneel down and perform a grand salute, "This humble general Cheng Pu pays respects to the new commander-in-chief!"

Cheng Pu was quite prudent. He knew that to be granted the title of Marquis of Xinwu, one first needed the Empress Dowager's approval, and then the court's approval, which was not so simple. However, becoming the commander-in-chief was easier; all one needed was the commander's seal and military tally.

Everyone knelt down in unison to pay homage, "Greetings to the new commander-in-chief!"

Sun Quan said slowly, "My elder brother is a towering tree. Because of him, we descendants have a place to rest in. I have nothing to say. Let's follow the rules set by my elder brother. Now, the most urgent task is to send my elder brother's spirit back to Wu County so that he can rest in peace as soon as possible!"

Just then, a soldier reported from the tent entrance, "The scouts have reported that General Sun Ben is leading 5,000 troops and is rushing over at top speed. They are already 20 li away!"

Lü Fan and Zhang Zhao exchanged a glance, secretly relieved. If Sun Quan had arrived an hour later, the army would have been captured by Sun Ben.

Sun Quan coldly said, "Order the army to immediately march out of the camp and form ranks to welcome General Sun Ben!"

Sun Ben pursued day and night, and finally caught up with the main force in Wuxi County.

With several miles still to go before reaching the main camp, a scout reported, "Reporting to the general, the army has marched out and formed ranks!"

Sun Ben was startled and immediately ordered, "The entire army must halt!"

By this time, Sun Quan had already led an army of 60,000 to form ranks in the open field. Before long, Sun Ben rode forward alone and called out loudly from afar, "Brother Quan, is that you?"

Sun Quan clasped his hands and asked, "Brother, have you come to pay respects to our elder brother?"

With just one sentence, Sun Ben's escape route was blocked. Faced with the greater good, who dares to disagree?
Seeing that Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were standing behind Sun Quan, not looking at him at all, Sun Ben realized that his original plan to use Cheng Pu and Huang Gai to support him, suppress Lü Fan, and seize military power was now impossible.

As one of the main leaders of the Sun clan's ruling group, Sun Ben was indeed able to overpower Lü Fan, after all, Lü Fan was also his subordinate in Yuzhang Commandery.

But now that Sun Quan has seized military power, he has no chance. Without an army, he has no hope of conquering Jiangdong.

Sun Ben sighed inwardly. The position of Marquis of Wu had slipped through his fingers again! With no other choice, he could only nod and say, "I have indeed come to mourn my brother!"

Accompanied by Lü Fan, Sun Ben went to the military camp to pay respects to Sun Ce. Not long after, Sun Ben came out with red eyes and said to Sun Quan, "I have to go to Danyang County to defend against Gan Ning. I hope you can arrange for Sun Fu's redemption as soon as possible."

By saying this, he essentially gave up the struggle for the position of ruler of Jiangdong and acknowledged Sun Quan as Sun Ce's successor.

Sun Quan nodded, "I promise my elder brother, I will rescue Sun Fu as soon as possible!"

Sun Ben left with five thousand men. Although he could not seize power in Jiangdong, he could settle for second best and establish a separatist regime in Danyang County.

Sun Quan led an army of 60,000 back to Wu County. He personally escorted his brother's coffin into the city. The entire city of Wu mourned, and every household hung white banners in front of their doors. Hundreds of thousands of people knelt to welcome the return of the coffin of Wu Hou Sun Ce.

Lady Wu originally intended to establish her third son, Sun Yi, as the successor to Sun Ce's position. However, now that her second son, Sun Quan, had obtained military power and was supported by both civil and military officials, Lady Wu had no choice but to publicly announce that Sun Quan would succeed Sun Ce as the Marquis of Wu and become the new ruler of Jiangdong.

Jiangdong thus entered the era of Sun Quan, who immediately announced the cessation of the Northern Expeditions and summoned Zhou Yu, who was preparing for war in Shouchun, back to the capital.

Zhou Yu led 20,000 troops back, leaving only Taishi Ci with 10,000 troops to garrison Shouchun.

On the day he ascended the throne, Sun Quan appointed Zhang Zhao as Military Advisor General, Lü Fan as Sima, and Sun Ben as Chief Clerk, attempting to lure Sun Ben back to Wu County with the position of Chief Clerk in order to seize his military power.

But Sun Ben was not about to be fooled. He immediately used the excuse of preparing to retake Yuzhang Commandery to reject Sun Quan's offer of an official position.

Left with no other choice, Sun Quan appointed Sun Ben as the governor of Danyang Commandery and sent Zhu Zhi as an envoy to Yuzhang Commandery to negotiate with Gan Ning and ransom Sun Fu.

(End of this chapter)