The Three Kingdoms Voyage

Chapter 231 The Pirate Empire's New Wife
"General Fuyi?" Sun Quan snorted disdainfully, and lightly flicked the thin paper between two fingers. The information that Hu Zong spent ten taels of gold to get flew up like a butterfly, tumbling in the air. After a few somersaults, it landed on the side of the brazier. The light yellow paper was licked by the flames and rolled up. When the flames lit up, it only took a breath for it to turn into ashes.

Hu Zong looked at the still curly ashes, and was as silent as a stone. He knew that Sun Quan would be unhappy when he got the urgent report, but he didn't expect Sun Quan to act so fiercely.But since Sun Quan has seen it, it doesn't matter whether it is burned or not. If Sun Quan thinks that it will be gone if it is burned, Hu Zong thinks it may not be a bad thing.

Sun Quan caressed his knee with one hand, and rested his hand on the bed. His nostrils moved quickly, and the sound of wheezing and wheezing could be heard clearly. As if rubbing something.

"Is there any news from Yizhou?" Sun Quan looked at the sky that was sandwiched between the eaves and the roof in front, and felt more and more sullen.

"The king of Yue forced more than 1 barbarians to surrender, and then moved all their families out of the mountains one after another. Now the city is being built in Keelung, with a total population of nearly 6." Hu Zong replied carefully, he was afraid that Sun Quan would not listen. Happy, the number has been greatly reduced. In fact, according to the information he got, Sun Shao tricked him this time and moved [-] to [-] tribes from the mountains. The total number may be more than [-]. What is the concept of [-] people?There is a custom in the Han Dynasty. If the number of households in a county exceeds [-], it can be called a large county. So far, the six counties in Jiangdong—no, now there are five counties—only five large counties with more than [-] households. And Sun Shao built a large county out of thin air in just half a year after he arrived in Yizhou. Such a record is enough to make anyone jealous.For Sun Quan, who was already uncomfortable, this stimulus was even greater, so Hu Zong picked a conservative number to avoid arousing Sun Quan's anger.

But he was disappointed, and Sun Quan was still very angry.

"3 people? So, he has gained one more county." Sun Quan snorted with a half-smile and said nothing more.He originally thought that Sun Shao would rashly send troops to Yizhou, traveling thousands of miles, and traveling alone. Not only was it difficult to transport supplies, but also the Yi people were not obedient to discipline.

Hu Zong didn't say a word, thought for a long time, and finally reminded cautiously: "Your Majesty, these are just the Yi people in the northern part of Yizhou. Now the King of Yue is sending people to the south to appease or suppress them. With his background in Keelung, if everything goes well If so, three to four counties can be built within two to three years. Although Yizhou is mountainous, it has a lot of land, and the weather is hot, so it is said that two to three crops of rice can be planted a year."

"Time doesn't wait." Sun Quan sighed, becoming more and more irritable, stretched out two fingers and rubbed the center of his brows, and suddenly asked, "How are Zhang Wen and the others, what are you up to lately?"

"This... I don't know much about it." Hu Zong hesitated for a moment: "I just came back from Yue, so I haven't understood the situation yet."

"Oh, I got it." Sun Quan waved his hand and signaled Hu Zong to go down to rest. Hu Zong took two steps, but was stopped by Sun Quan again: "Wei Ze, Ziming is dead, and I can't find a suitable candidate for a while, you He Ziyu has to work harder."

Hu Zong was taken aback, Xu Xiang is dead?He looked at Sun Quan for a moment, then came back to his senses, bowed his head and said, "Here." Then he turned and hurried away.He, Xu Xiang and Shi Yi were in charge of secret affairs under Sun Quan's tenure. Although they didn't get along very well, after all, they had a good relationship after a long time. When they suddenly heard that he died, they couldn't help feeling a little sad.

Hu Zong walked quickly into the small courtyard next to him, and at a glance, he saw Shi Yi was sitting in front of a desk full of documents, frowning to check a document. Immediately a happy smile appeared: "Wei Ze, when did you come back?"

"Just arrived." Ignoring the greetings, Hu Zong went to sit opposite Shi Yi, stretched out his hand and poured himself a cup of tea, poured it into his mouth, wiped his mouth, and then said: "Zi Ming is dead. ?”

The smile on Shiyi's face froze, revealing a sad expression, and he nodded silently: "It's because you left not long ago."

Seeing Shi Yi's expression, Hu Zong was a little surprised. As a person who has been engaged in secret affairs for many years, as well as his understanding of Shi Yi, he knew that Xu Xiang's death might not be that simple, so he quickly lowered his voice: "What's going on?" ? When I left, he was fine."

"Wei Ze, don't worry, take a break first, wait for me to explain the few things at hand to you, and then tell you about Ziming."

Hu Zong nodded, didn't say anything more, and sat quietly by the side.Shiyi took a few documents and explained to him, it was nothing more than which ministers got closer recently, which people had some abnormal behaviors, and then there were several documents about Wei and Shu. The matter of the prince was in full swing. Cao Cao was old and his health was getting worse day by day, but the position of the prince was still pending.Cao Pi and Cao Zhi each have a group of supporters, and neither of them has an absolute advantage.The Kingdom of Shu seems to be relatively peaceful. Although Guan Yu and Zhuge Liang have some conflicts, they seem to be in peace on the surface. However, after the prince Liu Chan got married, he had a bad relationship with the princess Zhang. After more than two years of marriage, Zhang has not been able to give birth to a boy and a half Because of this, Liu Bei took a fancy to Zhang Fei's second daughter and wanted to take a concubine for Liu Chan, but it seemed that Liu Chan was not satisfied, so the father and son had a quarrel, and Liu Bei slapped Liu Chan twice in a rage.

Hu Zong listened one after another. Of course, there are very important information in these news, but it is undeniable that there are quite a lot of hearsay, and they are the majority. Their task is to find problems from these news mixed with truth and falsehood. , Then go to check, and finally send reliable information to Sun Quan's desk for reference.

After finishing the official business, it was Yi who confessed, and pulled Hu Zong out of the Wu Palace, and went home all the way.When they arrived at home and sat down, it was Yi who served tea and closed the door. Then she approached Hu Zong and said, "Wei Ze, Zi Ming is doing something for public service. Two months ago, there was a robbery in Jianye. Someone entered the Zhou mansion at night and stole some property. After the king heard about it, he sent Ziming to investigate. Unexpectedly, during the roundup, a rogue boy violently wounded others, stabbed Ziming, and then fled. Ziming Because of the serious injury, he passed away before the doctor arrived."

"Is there such a thing?" Hu Zong gasped. You must know that Xu Xiang is an important minister beside Sun Quan. Although his official position is not high, his status is extraordinary. If he goes to investigate the case, he must be protected by soldiers with high martial arts skills. , It's too weird that someone can kill him with a single blow, and then walk away.He thought for a while: "The Zhou mansion you are talking about is the mansion of the old governor Zhou Yu and Zhou Gongjin?"

"Exactly." Shi Yi nodded.

"Then the Zhou mansion was attacked by thieves, and what things were lost?"

"Some betrothal gifts, and a few belongings. There is a list of the specific items. I don't know much about them with the king." Shi Yi took a sip from the teacup, and then said slowly: "After Ziming died, because of manpower It was too tight, so this case was put on hold. The Zhou family was in such a difficult situation, Zhou Yu was frightened, and got a strange disease, so this marriage was also postponed."

"Strange disease?" Hu Zong had a flash of inspiration: "What strange disease?"

"I can't tell you the specifics." Shi Yi stared into Hu Zong's eyes with flickering eyes and said, "The king sent Zhao Quan to look at her and said that when she is normal, she is no different from ordinary people, but every two or three days , There will always be a suspended animation. During the suspended animation, there is no breath, it is no different from a dead person, and the length of time is indefinite, or it may be an hour, or a night, and she wakes up again. During this period, she knows nothing. "

"What kind of disease is this?" Hu Zong was dumbfounded: "Zhao Quan claims to be able to judge life and death, but he can't tell what kind of disease it is?"

"I can't see it." Shi Yi smiled wryly: "Zhao Quan was very frustrated by this. He thought that his medical skills were not good, so he resigned from the imperial doctor's order and traveled around the world to visit experts. Because he couldn't figure out what the disease was, he couldn't help it. Since then, the marriage has been delayed. Your Majesty originally wanted to choose a good wife for the prince, but the prince was unwilling, so the father and son argued several times. Fortunately, the prince was sensible and came here first after each conflict. To accompany the present to the king, but... Regarding the marriage, he is resolutely unwilling to make any concessions."

"So, Ziming's death is related to Zhou Yu's illness?" Hu Zong mused, "Could it be that Ziming discovered something wrong, so he was murdered to silence him?"

Shi Yi stared into Hu Zong's eyes without saying a word, and after a while, she nodded: "I thought so too, but no one dared to say that. The king didn't ask me to investigate later, so whether this is the case , I can't tell."

"That Ziming died so inexplicably?"

"Your Majesty rewarded him as a marquis, with one son as his son, and rewarded him with 1000 million coins and a hundred pieces of silk."

Hu Zong curled his lips, no matter how many rewards, Xu Xiang died, the cause of death was unknown, Sun Quan did not allow anyone to investigate, obviously he knew there was something wrong, but kept it secret for some reason.He suddenly felt chills. Xu Xiang was loyal to Sun Quan. He did not know how many secret matters he had dealt with over the years, but he just died like this. This time he went to Yue country and he had a narrow escape. He hid for five or six days without eating or drinking, and if he died, would he be the same as Xu Xiang?His mission was to investigate the King of Yue, which was much more serious than investigating the Zhou family. In order to prevent Yue King Sun Shao from blaming him, Sun Quan would definitely not admit it, and would even bite back and accuse him of fleeing abroad.

The two were thinking about each other, but neither of them spoke. After a long time, they both sighed at the same time.

Zhou House.

Sun Luban was wearing a crimson deep coat with branches and grass patterns, and sat quietly with one leg on his side, sitting in front of Zhou Yu's sick bed.She wore a side bun, drew thin eyebrows, and painted a little danzhu on her lips. She looked very dignified, but her eyes were looking around restlessly, which didn't match her makeup.She pushed Zhou Yu who was dozing off: "Ayu, wake up."

Zhou Yu was pale and weak, Sun Luban pushed her several times, and then she slowly opened her eyes, and when she saw that it was Sun Luban, she forced a laugh: "So it's the princess, why are you free to visit me today? "

"Which day am I free?" Sun Luban stared, waved his sleeves and screamed, "Your elder brother is in the camp every day, and I don't see him once in half a month. I'm so bored to death, so I have to Came to play with you."

Zhou Yu smiled wryly, this princess is really embarrassing, this year she is only 14 years old and she is going to be a wife, she is nearly ten years older than her elder brother, who has become a general, training soldiers in the barracks every day, even for ten and a half months Seeing a figure, no wonder she was so bored that she was going crazy.

"Then wait for me to get up and wash up, and play chess with the princess?"

"What kind of chess are you playing?" Sun Luban jumped three feet high and rolled his eyes: "Come with me to Dashi, I'll buy you a gift."

"Go to Dashi?" Zhou Yu smiled wryly and shook his head: "I'm not in good health, what if halfway..."

"What are you afraid of? If you really fall ill, I can carry you back." Sun Luban didn't take it seriously. He bent his arms and put on a posture as powerful as a mountain. He smiled proudly: "I practice martial arts with the method taught by my elder brother , You have great strength, your eldest brother is not my opponent, fortunately he came out of the Fengfeng Camp. Let me tell you, what I want most now is to go to Yue State, enter my aunt's Flying Tiger Camp, and They fought together. Hey, do you know? My aunt is very powerful now. She became the fifth general with more than 500 female soldiers. The barbarians beat them to pieces, and finally set up an ambush to cut off the head of a barbarian leader..."

Sun Luban was so excited that he couldn't hold back his mouth as soon as he spoke, and even danced and demonstrated when he was excited, lest Zhou Yu would not understand, as if she had come to the scene in person.Zhou Yu watched intently, with a longing smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, I hate it." Sun Luban slapped his thigh: "If I knew it was so fun, I would have gone to Yue country just like Zhong Ying."

Zhou Yu's face froze immediately, and she was stunned for a moment before she said: "You are a dignified princess, and now you are my brother's wife, how can you go to Yue country when you talk about it."

"That's why I hate it." Sun Luban held his chin and blinked his eyes: "If I knew that getting married is so boring, I wouldn't get married." She rolled her eyes and suddenly smiled: "Ayu, is it because you don't want to get married?" , so you get sick?"

The corner of Zhou Yu's eyes twitched, he glanced at Sun Luban, and smiled helplessly: "Princess's words are wrong. I don't want to get this disease. I can't get married because I don't want to. I can't get married because I'm sick, but It's not because you don't want to get married that you get sick. It's fine for the princess to talk about it at home, but if it reaches the king's ears, my Zhou family will commit the crime of deceiving the king, if I can bear it?"

"And!" Sun Luban waved his hand disapprovingly: "Whatever is going on with him, let me tell you, you are very sick." She looked around and leaned close to Zhou Yu's ear, mysteriously Said: "Let me tell you, although your elder brother is boring, he is not bad, Arden, tsk tsk..." Sun Luban smacked his lips while shaking his head: "Don't think he is only one year older than me, but It’s bad, the eldest brother has helped him so much, but how do you think he treats the eldest brother?”

Zhou Yu looked at Sun Luban's expression without saying a word.This big tiger princess is really a tiger. In her mind, the crown prince Sun Deng has become a hypocrite, while the obviously cunning King Yue has become a good person. What's wrong with this world.However, Zhou Yu didn't have any bad feelings towards Sun Deng, but she didn't feel good about it either. Sun Luban's words were heard in her ears, and apart from being a little nervous, there was nothing harsh about them.She was very curious about what Sun Luban just mentioned, but she didn't dare to inquire rashly, so she had to wait for Sun Luban to speak before interjecting: "Why, the fifth general won the battle again?"

"Yeah." Sun Luban was very interested when it came to war. She was talking when she suddenly remembered something, slapped her head and shouted, "Wait a minute, I just asked someone to buy the first chapter of "New Book of Mountains and Seas" Volume two, it’s pretty good, I’ll have someone show it to you. Come, come, come—”

Seeing the screaming Sun Luban, Zhou Yu was very embarrassed. No wonder his brother Zhou Xun hid in the barracks, and no one could handle her.

A maid ran over in a hurry, seeing Sun Luban getting angry, she fell to her knees in fright, begging for mercy repeatedly, Sun Luban lifted the hem of his clothes, rushed up and kicked, angrily said: "Where are you all dead? I haven't called for a long time. Someone heard it. Go quickly and bring the "New Classic of Mountains and Seas" in my room, and I want to discuss the study of classics with Ayu."

The maid was kicked a somersault by her, knocked her head on the door frame, grinned in pain, but didn't dare to make a sound, got up quickly and flew away.After a while, she came back with another book in her arms, and carefully delivered the book to Sun Luban.Sun Luban took the book in his hand, and suddenly frowned: "Who stained my book? Is this your blood?"

"Ah? Ah!" The maid looked at her hand in horror, and then realized that there was blood on it. It must have been scratched just now. When she went to touch the wound, she touched the blood on her hand and printed it again. on the book.She was so frightened that Huarong turned pale, and fell to her knees with a plop: "Princess, spare my life, princess, spare my life, this servant didn't do it on purpose—"

"You useless thing, you actually stained the book written by my elder brother, I—" Sun Luban was furious, and reached out to draw the knife from his waist, but found nothing, and then remembered that he didn't bring a knife now , She looked at the four walls, Zhou Yu’s room had pianos and books, but there were no weapons such as swords, she was so angry that she barked like an angry tiger: “Bring the knife, bring my knife—— "

"Princess." Zhou Yu quickly got up and bowed down in front of Sun Luban.Seeing her kneeling down, Sun Luban didn't take it easy for a while, and said disapprovingly: "Get up, it has nothing to do with you, I'm going to kill this clumsy little maid."

"Princess, it's not good for the King to hear about killing someone for a book."

"Your Majesty?" Sun Luban curled his lips, dismissively: "My father doesn't care about me, he only praises me for a good job. This lowly maidservant dirty the book written by my elder brother, he deserves death, I Just killing her once is already taking advantage of her."

Zhou Yu was stunned, and then smiled bitterly: "Princess, if King Yue knows that you killed someone for this book, he will regret it, right?"

Sun Luban was taken aback for a moment, and looked at Zhou Yu hesitantly: "Will you?"

Zhou Yu hurriedly said: "Of course, the king of Yue cherishes human life and refuses to kill easily. As you said just now, he mainly caresses the barbarians and suppresses them as a supplement. That's why the barbarians are grateful to him. He not only cares about men , and caring about women, that’s why Feihu Camp was established, there are quite a few maidservants in Feihu Camp, and there are also beard girls.”

"It seems to be the same." Sun Luban scratched his head, and the messy hair that had been messed up by her jumping and jumping made it even more messy. She glanced at the pale maid and shouted: "Look at my brother For the sake of my face, I will spare you my death, get out, and get thirty army sticks myself."

The maid narrowly escaped death, did not dare to say a word, gave Zhou Yu a grateful look, and ran out as if fleeing.

"Oh, I just don't understand why my aunt can train women into elite soldiers, but I can't?" Sun Luban muttered, "It seems that we have to find an opportunity to ask her for advice."

Zhou Yu heaved a sigh of relief, did not answer her words, picked up the book, took out a volume and flipped through it.These books are all printed by Fuchun Publishing House. Fuchun Publishing House is owned by Fuchun Xu's family.Looking at the new book that exudes the fragrance of ink, Zhou Yu suddenly felt a pang of heartache.It turned out that when the book was called "Southern Travel Essays", she could get a copy written by Sun Shao every time. Now that these books have been changed to print, anyone who likes them can buy them, but she can't own them anymore. Even the treasured manuscript volume is gone.

"Ayu, isn't it pretty?" Sun Luban didn't notice the abnormal expression on Zhou Yu's face. She excitedly turned to a page, pointed to a bird with beautiful patterns on it, and said, "Brother's book says that this bird has The five-color pattern is very beautiful, and the most unexpected thing is that this bird can also speak human language. Brother, I heard this bird say that the world is peaceful, do you think it is fun?"

"Really?" Zhou Yu glanced at Sun Luban suspiciously, slid his slender fingers across the page, and read softly: "Shile Bird, written in five colors, with a red beak and a red head, with a crown on its head, can speak , saying 'the world is peaceful', the king will be virtuous."

"Well, I didn't lie to you, did I?" Sun Luban raised his eyebrows, showing off proudly.

"Birds can still speak human language?" Zhou Yu still couldn't believe it.

"It's okay if you don't believe it. The eldest brother said that he will send a pair of these birds to Jianye, and you will be able to see them when the time comes."

"Oh, when will we be there?" Zhou Yu also became interested.

"Well——" Sun Luban rolled his eyes, held a finger in his mouth, thought for a while and said, "I think it should be during the New Year. The eldest brother said before that he was going to find a unicorn to present to his father. Now Although we didn’t find the unicorn, but if we can find this kind of Shile bird, we will definitely dedicate it to my father in the New Year.”

Zhou Yu nodded, but did not speak.She is not as simple-minded as Sun Luban. In her opinion, Sun Shao and Sun Quan are already in conflict, and they probably wouldn't be so kind as to send Shi Le Bird to Sun Quan.

(End of this chapter)