The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 216 The Pirate Empire Comes to an End
The father and son finished their family chat calmly and affectionately. Sun Deng prayed again for Sun Quan's speedy recovery. Then he withdrew, went out, and returned to his residence. With respectful servants and Zhuge Ke and Xie Jing standing aside, Sun Deng finally found a little old feeling.

"Prince, how is it?" Zhuge Ke asked in a low voice.

"What's the matter?" Sun Deng twitched his lips: "Fortunately, it should be fine after a few days of recuperation, but here..." He pointed to his heart, and glanced at Zhuge Ke: "It's not easy to recover."

Zhuge Ke nodded knowingly, with a look of embarrassment on his face.

Sun Quan didn't believe in Sun Deng, so how could Sun Deng believe in Sun Quan?Not to mention the medicines that Sun Shao administered intentionally or unintentionally, just that Sun Quan chose Sun Li instead of Sun Shao's son, and indirectly pushed Sun Deng to the death line, which was enough to make Sun Deng reject Sun Quan.At this time, although Sun Deng would not trust Sun Shao completely, he certainly would not trust Sun Quan.A situation of suspicion between father and son has formed. Although Sun Deng has returned to Jianye, he is not getting closer to the crown prince, on the contrary, he is farther away.

There is only one way left, and that is to rely on Sun Shao and the power behind Sun Shao, and take advantage of the current predicament to suppress Sun Quan, so that he has to make Sun Deng the prince, just like he has to make Mrs. Xu the queen.This road is a road of no return. Once you step on it, there is no chance of turning back.Before setting foot, they must be cautious and careful, not only to consider the possibility of success, but also to evaluate the conditions that Sun Shao may offer, lest they become prey in Sun Shao's hands again, and be blackmailed by Sun Shao without limit.

Sun Deng asked Sun Shao to promise not to be enemies with each other, which is one of the links.

"Prince, it's time for you to pay your respects to the wives." Xie Jing reminded.

Xie Jing was in his thirties, a native of Nanyang, a talent discovered by Zhang Cheng when he was stationed in Nanyang, Zhang Cheng recommended him to Lu Su, Lu Su returned to Jianye for treatment, and then introduced him to Zhuge Jin, and then through Zhuge Ke came to Sun Deng's side.During the period when Sun Deng was not in Jianye, he would summarize the situation in Jianye and send it to Sun Deng on a regular basis.The journey is far away, many news cannot be timely, his role is limited, but he is very familiar with the situation in Jianye, and he is also aware of the open and secret struggles in the Wu Palace, this is the time for him to play a role.

"How are the ladies doing?"

"It's not very good." Xie Jing showed a worried look: "Mrs. Xu has too much resentment. Once she arrived in the palace, she made many enemies. Mrs. Wang is certainly very hostile and difficult to get along with. Even Mrs. Bu and Mrs. Yuan are also somewhat repulsive. , she... she said that the eldest princess is arrogant and rude."

Sun Deng frowned.As soon as he entered the door, he found that Mrs. Xu's behavior was not quite right. Now that Xie Cheng said this, he knew that his adoptive mother of the same generation had stayed in Wu County for more than ten years. Apart from accumulating a lot of grievances, he hadn't learned much. .

"I see." Sun Deng thought for a moment: "Let's go, I'll pay Mrs. Bu first."

Xie Jing breathed a sigh of relief, and hurriedly followed with the gift he had prepared.Sun Deng took two steps, then turned back, took out the saber that Sun Shao gave him, looked at it regretfully, put it on the brocade box resolutely, and stuffed it into Xie Jing's arms.

Dug pouted while embroidering the handkerchief resentfully. The phoenix bird pattern on the handkerchief was embroidered into a strange ugly bird by her. Mrs. Bu sat aside with a sullen face and sulked.Hearing the maid's report, Sun Deng begged to see him, Du Hu waved his hands angrily: "No see!"

"Nonsense!" Mrs. Bu yelled, pointing to the embroidery frame: "Sit down, continue to embroider, when will the embroidery look good, and when will it end."

Dahu panted heavily, and stared at Mrs. Bu, the two of them were in a stalemate for a moment, Dahu was defeated, and had to sit down obediently again.

Sun Deng walked in, glanced at Dug, who was facing away from him, smiled silently, first saluted Mrs. Bu, and presented the exquisite top-grade silk produced in Linzi, and then walked across to Dug, and pulled it by himself. Passed a seat and sat down, watching Dumb's embroidery with full attention.Where is Dahu embroidering, she is pretending, deliberately ignoring Sun Deng, hoping that Sun Deng will leave quickly, so as not to make him angry, but Sun Deng will not leave.She glared at Sun Deng, pushed the embroidery stand away with a "snap", and said angrily, "What are you looking at? It's up to you to go back and embroider!"

"Coo coo coo..." Sun Deng covered his mouth and laughed. He pulled the embroidery frame to look at it, and nodded again and again: "Brother will be very surprised if he sees that you still embroider this."

"He... What's unexpected about him." As soon as Sun Shao was mentioned, Duhu's anger subsided by half. She bit her lip and thought for a while, then couldn't help asking curiously: "How is brother now?"

"Him?" Sun Deng raised his eyebrows, showing a playful expression that didn't match his original character: "He is the majestic King of Yue, what do you think of him?"

"I knew it." Duhu pouted and said disappointedly: "He has become the king of Yue, so he forgot about us."

"You're not right." Sun Deng smiled slightly, took the brocade box from Xie Jing's hand, and pushed it in front of Dahu: "This is a gift that my elder brother asked me to bring to you. No other younger sister has it." .”

"What is it, I don't care for it!" Although he said that he didn't care for it, Duhu still opened the brocade box, and when he saw the delicate ring knife inside, Duhu's eyes lit up.This knife is so beautiful, with a black leather scabbard, a brass mouthpiece, a lifelike knife ring carved into a tiger's head, and crystal ornaments that are crystal clear.When Duhu saw it, he couldn't put it down. He held it in his hand and stroked it, and said strangely, "What kind of skin is this? It feels so weird in the hand?"

"Shark skin." Sun Deng said with a smile: "Brother said that sharks are kings in the sea, and only a knife decorated with such skin is worthy of my sister."

"Hahaha...Only he understands me." Dumb laughed loudly, jumped up, first inserted the knife into his belt, then waved his hand and pulled out the long knife, slashing in the air, the light of the knife was like a horse, and the embroidery frame responded And off.Duo's eyes lit up, and he tested the blade with his fingertips: "What a sharp knife!"

Sun Deng's eyes tightened, and he almost jumped up, then he relaxed his body again, and said with a calm smile, "For my sister, of course it's a good knife."

"Well, I like it, I like it." Dui carefully put the knife back into its sheath, sat down again, and moved closer to Sun Deng: "Tell me, how is brother now?"

"Brother... not good." Sun Deng glanced outside and said carefully, "He is very sad now."

"Oh." The smile on Dug's face immediately dimmed, and he said with self-blame, "It's because I'm useless, I didn't take good care of Ah Yi, and he was robbed. Hmph, if I catch that damn I will cut him [-] knives."

"The sister-in-law of the Guan family heard that the robbers had gone east, so she took people to search in the sea." Sun Deng sighed: "Dahu, you don't know, the sister-in-law of the Guan family has suffered a lot in the past two months. Because The eldest brother is willing to reconcile, but the Guan family's sister-in-law said that the eldest brother has neglected righteousness for profit, and the two had a big argument."

"Can you find it in the vast sea?" Dui sneered, and glanced outside: "Hmph, he thought that the elder brother would definitely kill you. He is the prince of Wu. I'm afraid his son will kill you when you come back." The dream is about to come to nothing."

"Oh——" Sun Deng sighed, got up and said, "I don't think too much, just come back to be with my mother, and I can see my sister often, so I am satisfied. Sister, my mother is alone. If you stay for too long, your temperament will inevitably be a little weird, just for my sake, don't bother with her, okay?"

When Mrs. Xu was mentioned, Du Hu was a little unhappy, but she nodded reluctantly because of Sun Deng's face.Sun Deng took advantage of the heat and held a family banquet in the name of Mrs. Xu, inviting Mrs. Bu, Mrs. Yuan, and Mrs. Wang to attend.Of course Mrs. Wang did not go, but this did not prevent Sun Deng from successfully becoming the focus of the palace.Under Sun Deng's persuasion, Mrs. Xu also lowered her posture, and made friends with Mrs. Bu and Mrs. Yuan and others.Sun Deng donated [-] war horses to Sun Quan, but Sun Quan only accepted half of them, and gave him back [-] horses, but Sun Deng didn't keep any of them. The horses were given to several generals.War horses are rare in Jiangdong, let alone this kind of good horse. For a while, in addition to the name of Sun Dengrenhou, he also added the advantages of being able to conquer battles and commanding well. The Battle of Liangjin became Sun Deng's maiden battle - only a few people such as Zhuge Ke knew that this battle had never been fought at all.

During this period, Sun Quan kept watching quietly. Whether Mrs. Wang complained or cried in front of him, he didn't make any statement. He looked at Sun Deng like a bystander. Slowly calm down.

At this moment, Sun Shao sent Sun Song to Jianye, and informed Sun Quan of the good news. God bless, his son Ah Yi really turned the bad luck into good luck, and the death became auspicious.Guan Feng led people to search mountains and seas, and finally found traces of the robbers on an unnamed island. After a life-and-death struggle, Guan Feng killed the robbers and took back the child. Fortunately, Ah Yi was safe and sound.

Sun Song brought a thousand war horses and told Sun Quan that Sun Shao felt very embarrassed about this, because he had turned against King Wu because of his son's impulsiveness, and even forcibly punished Kuaiji County and Nanhai County. The place cannot be returned now, and a thousand war horses are regarded as accomplices. I hope that I can resolve the past suspicions with King Wu and restore a friendly cooperative relationship.In addition, he specially prepared a generous gift for Wu Fan, boasting that Wu Fan is really a fortune teller.

Hearing this news, Sun Quan was dumbfounded, not even knowing how Sun Song got out.He is now [-]% sure that this is Sun Shao's trick, and he sent those two robbers, otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that the child has been kidnapped for three months, and he is still safe and sound?Is that a robber or a nanny?

Looking at the thousand horses, Sun Quan couldn't hold back in the end, a mouthful of blood spewed out, this time he really fell ill.

Sun Shao once wanted to exchange Daqiao and Ayi with two thousand war horses, but Sun Quan did not agree, but now, Daqiao and Ayi were picked up by Sun Shao. The two thousand war horses became one thousand, and Sun Quan also paid two The Daijun of a county, by the way, a queen.

This dumb person suffered a lot, worse than the last time Su Chuleg killed Jiang Qin—by ​​the way, this Su Chuleg is now the governor of the East China Sea, and he is the first important general under Sun Shao. This can already explain, that incident Also inseparable from Sun Shao.

Sun Quan understood, but what if he understood?Can you cry to someone?Others will only say that you don't know how to flatter. At that time, you accepted two thousand war horses and sent them back as hostages, wouldn't it be over?

The more he thought about it, the more angry Sun Quan became ill, so Sun Deng took care of Wu's affairs as a matter of course.Although Sun Deng was only 14 years old, after a year of tempering, he behaved very calmly. He first congratulated Sun Shao, then accepted Sun Shao's reconciliation, and then wrote a letter to the Son of Heaven in the name of Sun Quan, condemning Cao Cao and Liu Bei When Wu Yue had a misunderstanding, he didn't come forward to mediate. Instead, he was ready to take advantage of the fire, ignore the hard-won peace situation, and try to expand the situation, pushing the big man into the abyss of war again.

Everything seemed orderly and well-founded.

After this accident, Sun Deng's position as the crown prince was already indestructible. Immediately, a minister wrote a letter stating that Sun Quan was seriously ill.Sun Quan knew that this was a conspiracy planned by Sun Shao, but he had no room for bargaining, so he had to obey the public opinion and make Sun Deng the crown prince.

Sun Shao, the King of Yue who got the news, sent someone to congratulate him, and at the same time to check on Sun Quan's condition, he sent a precious gift, an exquisite clock.This clock is the latest product of Yue State. It is more accurate and beautiful than the hourglass and clepsydra used for timekeeping in the past. The body of the clock is agarwood from the South China Sea. Gold and all kinds of jade from the Western Regions are rich and magnificent and extremely beautiful.Sun Shao said that it took more than a year to develop this new type of clock. There are only two of this specification. One was dedicated to the emperor at the beginning of the year, and the other was dedicated to the king of Wu to express his condolences.

Sun Quan looked at the glittering, tick-tocking clock, and at the pendulum swinging back and forth, his eyes darkened intermittently.Sending the bell, sending the bell, this Zhuzi is not here to deliver the bell, he is sending me to my death, he is cursing me to death.What is a bad name for you, but Zhong?Does the clock have something like this?The clock is a musical instrument, okay?

During Sun Quan's serious illness, Sun Deng served Sun Quan in addition to handling state affairs. He never left his body, and he couldn't take off his belt. He had to taste the medicine that Sun Quan took before feeding it to Sun Quan. (Han Dynasty drowning device), Sun Quan wanted to spit, and he held the spit pot with his own hands, anyway, you can't find any faults.Mrs. Xu also waited on the side all the time, asking for warmth and caring.

Sun Deng's filial piety has been verified once again. Everyone said that the state of Wu is blessed to have a loyal, filial, benevolent and righteous prince.

Then Sun Quan's illness became more and more serious.The more filial Sun Deng was, the angrier he became. With that knot in his heart, Sun Deng's performance changed, and everything became a fraud, and everything became a scheming.Just like that clock, no matter how beautiful and expensive the decoration is, it is nothing but a curse in the final analysis.

At this time, someone suggested that Sun Quan's illness is so serious, shouldn't it be a joy?The marriage between Sun Deng and Zhou Yu has been fixed for several years. Now Sun Deng is 14 years old. He has established a prince and started to manage state affairs personally. Zhou Yu is also 19 years old. In a powerful family, this 19-year-old woman is Older, if Sun Quan has something to say, Sun Deng can't get married within three years, wouldn't it be necessary to drag Zhou Yu to his 20s?

Sun Quan was actually very unwilling at this time. He had a strong opinion of Zhou Xun. As a partial general in charge of the Wu Palace, he actually let the robbers break into the palace, took away two children, and pushed him directly into a dilemma. Zhou Xun has an unshirkable responsibility for him being so ill now.However, considering the domestic situation of the undercurrent in Wu State, Sun Quan thought about it and decided to accept this suggestion. In any case, Sun Deng's succession to the throne is irreversible. The Zhou family has a very close relationship with Sun Shao. Sun Dengneng and Zhou Yu Marriage will more or less help him gain Sun Shao's support in the future.

Since we want to do it, let's do it together. Sun Quan issued an edict to marry Zhou Yu for the prince Sun Deng, and at the same time marry the princess Sun Luban to Zhou Xun.

The imperial edict came to the Zhou mansion, and Zhou Xun, who closed his doors and thought about his mistakes, received the imperial edict, and then held the imperial edict to talk to Xiaoqiao and Zhou Yu.Zhou Yu was visibly thinner, so thin that his chin pointed out, and his eyes appeared bigger.Xiaoqiao also lost a lot of weight. Daqiao left Jianye and went to Qiantang, and she was dying when she left, and she didn't know what was going on now.

"Sister, don't worry, I'll go to Qiantang to find elder brother." Zhou Yin jumped up, turned around and was about to go out.

"What are you going to do?" Xiaoqiao stopped him, Zhou Yin stood at the door unconvinced, turned to look at Zhou Yu, his eyes were full of pity: "I can't let my sister marry that hairy boy Sun Deng like this, she doesn't want to marry him at all. like him."

"Shut up!" Zhou Yu, who had been biting his lips tightly and not speaking, suddenly became furious, and his pale face flushed: "Whether it is a man or a woman in my Zhou family, when does marriage put love first? Do you understand rights? Do you understand rights? Sun Deng is already a prince, and Sun Luban is a princess. What are you dissatisfied with? You think they are like you, and you know how to mess around all day long, and you don’t know how to think about your family .”

Zhou Yin was stunned, he was confused by Zhou Yu's accusation, could it be that his sister cut off her relationship with Sun Shao for the sake of power and profit?He curled his lips, a little disdainful, when Sun Shao was named the king of Yue, she and her mother thought that Sun Shao was dead this time, who would have thought that Sun Shao not only broke through the siege, but also flourished, breaking through within a year Liaodong, and extorted the entire Kuaiji and South China Sea from Sun Quan.It's nothing more than Sun Quan being disgraced by Sun Shao, and even Zhou Xun was implicated. Although Sun Quan didn't dismiss him, he made him think about his mistakes at home, which was tantamount to depriving the Zhou family of all rights.For the sake of rights, if they don't agree to this marriage, they have no choice but to escape, but where can they escape?They abandoned Sun Shao when he needed help the most, would Sun Shao help them again?

"Hmph, I don't care about your affairs." Zhou Yin shook his hand and strode out the door: "I don't want your rights, I'm leaving."

"Zhuzi, where are you going?" Xiaoqiao was trembling with anger, rushed out the door and reprimanded loudly.

"I earn my fame and wealth by my ability." Zhou Yin said loudly: "I will do what my father did back then."

Xiaoqiao was still waiting to chase, Zhou Yu came out and stopped her: "Let brother go, one more road, always one more security." As she said, she couldn't help but shed tears, "We have already chosen Wrong, we can’t let him choose wrong again.”

"Then how can I do it?" Xiaoqiao said anxiously: "If he goes to Qiantang, what will you do?"

Zhou Yuqiang laughed, wiped away his tears with a handkerchief, and said sobbingly: "It's okay. Gu Yu and Gu Tan are officials in Qiantang. Isn't the Gu family still stable? It's okay. If Sun Deng wants to stabilize his position, he also needs his help. With his brother in Qian Tang, we may have a better life."

"It's just..." Xiaoqiao regretted Mo Die, knowing that Sun Shao had such unpredictable means, why did he make that choice in the first place.She embraced Zhou Yu's shoulders and remained silent for a while: "Mother missed you."

Zhou Yu couldn't bear it anymore, and fell on Xiaoqiao's shoulder, crying loudly.

On the same day, Zhou Yin simply packed up his luggage, took a few servants, and rushed to Qiantang in the starry night.

Qian Tang changed its appearance, but the city was fine, it just went through simple repairs, but the population increased a lot. The arrival of high-ranking officials made Qian Tang City, which was originally not a large population, denser.Among the crowd coming and going at the gate of the city, there are many Shanyue people with heads and legs on their feet. They carry picks or baskets and rush in and out of the gate of the city.The city gate, which originally had only one opening, has now become three openings, the middle one is closed tightly, the left opening goes out of the city, and the right one enters the city, in order.The soldiers in charge of the inspection only let them go after a little inspection, and their attitude is also very good. Common things like beating and scolding are almost invisible here.

Zhou Xun's dusty appearance caught the attention of the city gate Sima.

"From outside?" Sima at the gate of the city stood in front of Zhou Xun's horse holding his saber, and a dozen soldiers surrounded Zhou Xun and the others. Xun, but the people who entered and exited the city gate were not surprised at all, they just cast a curious look, and then continued to drive their way.

"Why do you say I'm from out of town?" Zhou Xun signaled his men not to move, leaned on the horse's back, and grinned.

"Although your accent is not that bad, but your eyesight is not right." Sima at the gate of the city smiled faintly, "People in the hundred miles around Qiantang are not as curious as you are, and they will not stop at the gate of the city like you are. , Whether you are entering or leaving the city, you just pass by.”

Zhou Xun took a look at the passers-by next to him, and it was indeed as the city gate Sima said, they were all in a hurry, and none of them stopped to look.

"My surname is Zhou. I'm here to meet His Royal Highness the King of Yue." Zhou Xun said with a smile.

"See His Royal Highness the King of Yue?" Sima at the city gate sized him up and smiled: "Are you from the old governor's mansion?"

"You know me?" Zhou Xun was curious, and looked him up and down for a long time: "I don't seem to have seen you before."

"I'm making money Tang Ding Qiao." Ding Qiao smiled, cupped his hands, and let Zhou Xun enter the city: "When I was in Wu County, I saw a step, but it's been a long time, and some of them don't remember clearly. When you say that the surname is Zhou, I just remembered, it’s really offending.”

"Qiantang Dingxuan Ding Wenda?" Zhou Xun called out suddenly, and slapped his head, he remembered.Ding Yu was originally a servant, and was later promoted by Gu Shao to enter Shilin, but Gu Shao died later, so he could not be further promoted. Unexpectedly, he is now a city gate Sima in Qiantang.He was a little surprised, Ding Qiao and Sun Shao are also related, why did he become a city gate Sima, even if Qiantang is the capital of the country, but the city gate Sima is only a small official of [-] shi, in terms of actual benefits, it is not worth it. It's not like a county magistrate at the same level.

"I am not based on seniority, but on assessment." Ding Qiao smiled, introduced Zhou Xun into the city, pointed out the direction, and said goodbye: "You will know when Mr. Zhou has stayed in Qiantang for a while, and I still have official duties. I won’t accompany you any longer, and I’ll talk to Zhou Jun when I have time.”

(End of this chapter)