Early in the morning, outside Mount Bagong, Zhao Yun lifted the bleary-eyed Cao Pi onto his horse.
“I’ll take my leave now, my two xiandi.” Zhao Yun cupped his hands at Sun Ce and Zhou Yu.
“I will never forget your kindness of coming to our aid,” Sun Ce said to Zhao Yun. “If, in the coming days, you intend to head to Jiangdong, please do come at any time to find Gongjin and me.”
Zhao Yun smiled. “We shall meet again.”
He and Sun Ce saw Zhao Yun off, and under the first rays of the morning sun, he passed through a thick white fog, leaving the valley behind.
Sun Ce shook his head. “What a pity.”
“With how he is,” Zhou Yu said, climbing onto the carriage, “he will not give up his allegiance to Gongsun Zan to serve under you instead. Know when to quit—”
Sun Ce leaped onto the carriage, smiling. “You have such a low opinion of me. Don’t you know how many men with lofty ideals want to join me?”
“You?!” Zhou Yu said. “What visionless idiots want to follow you?”
“There are naturally those with no vision,” Sun Ce said gleefully. “Isn’t there one right in front of me? Hm?”
The corners of Zhou Yu’s mouth quirked upward, and he nearly responded with what was on the tip of his tongue before ignoring him altogether. Sun Ce, however, kept tugging on Zhou Yu, insisting that he explain, and the two of them scuffled as they directed the horses out of Mount Bagong.
But when they arrived at Shanyang County, Sun Jian was not there, as originally arranged. Instead, one of his subordinates, Cheng Pu, had come instead. Seeing Zhou Yu climb off the carriage, Cheng Pu came forward to kowtow.
“My family’s Zhugong thanks Zhou-gongzi for his great benevolence.”
“It was but a trifling matter. No need to be so hung up on it.” Zhou Yu hurried to lift Cheng Pu to his feet.
Since Sun Jian wasn’t there, Sun Ce figured his father must have been caught up in something important.
“General Cheng, is my dad in battle?”
Cheng Pu took off his helmet, revealing his head was streaked with white, and while his face was that of a young man, it bore scars. His hair had gone white in his youth and was especially eye-catching.
“The general accepted the written orders of Yuan-gong and mobilized his troops on an expedition against Liu Biao.”
“What?” Zhou Yu’s heart thumped.
Sun Ce replied as if this were nothing. “What’s wrong with Liu Biao now?”
“Jing Province is unwilling to take orders,” Cheng Pu said. “And because of that, Zhugong is heading there on an expedition. Since it is on the way, he ordered me to escort the madame back southeast to Danyang.”
Zhou Yu pondered this silently. It was a private matter of Sun Ce’s family, so he shouldn’t interject. The Lady of Wu lifted the curtain, asking what had happened, and Zhou Yu reported it just as he heard.
Cheng Pu had brought five hundred men for Sun Ce to take command of, to head south along the river.
Sun Ce climbed onto the carriage and discussed this at length with Zhou Yu. Though Zhou Yu had originally intended to hold his tongue, that Sun Ce so openly spoke of this with him showed that he was already treating Zhou Yu as one of his own.
And so, Zhou Yu considered his words—before the new year, Sun Jian had received his military provisions, and now, the correct course of action would have been to stay at Hangu Pass. However, as Liu Biao of Jing Province had delayed mobilizing his forces time and time again, and Jing Province was historically fought over, Sun Jian coveting it was within reason.
Sun Jian probably also felt the pressure Yuan Shu was exerting on him. If he didn’t take over a region and claim himself as its ruler soon, it would be difficult to maintain a balance with Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and the others. But selecting a location to call his own was the issue: Sili was out of the question, and if they took Luoyang, enemies would descend on them from all sides. They had no choice but to retreat and choose to head south.
There was Jiangzuo region, which was highly important and where many aristocrats resided with their families. It was right next to Yuan Shu’s territory, but taking it would not be as profitable as taking Jing Province. Of course, for any of this to matter, they would need to slaughter Liu Biao. They had justification to wage war against him; he did not accept the orders of the King of Qin, nor did he participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Liu Biao’s death would bring joy to the various marquises. No one would send out troops to aid him in the Jing Province.
Zhou Yu had to admit this was indeed an excellent strategy. The only question was if Sun Jian could win against Liu Biao when he went south to Jing Province.
“You must go forth to support your father,” Zhou Yu said.
“What can I do with five hundred men?” Sun Ce said. “Relax. Since he sent out his troops, he must have a plan.”
“My guess is that as soon as he touches Jing Province, Yuan Shu will immediately be alerted,” Zhou Yu said. “We cannot head to Danyang. If Yuan Shu moves his troops toward Danyang, we’ll be dealing with trouble there.”
Sun Ce stopped contributing to the conversation.
The Lady of Wu listened and supplied her own comments. “Yu-er speaks rightly. If your father can gain Jing Province, I’m afraid Yuan Shu will only make things more difficult for us. There is no better alternative, aside from returning to Changsha.”
“There is,” Zhou Yu said. “Come to my home.”
The Lady of Wu jumped.
Zhou Yu continued, “Right now, Yuan Shu is most definitely on his way to Danyang, and customs controls will be set up along the two roads to Changsha, but he would never expect us to head to Shu County. Auntie and Sun Quan can stay at my home, and after General Sun gains Jing Province, General Cheng Pu can escort you there. Then, we can reunite in Jing Province.”
“I’m afraid that this will trouble your mother…” the Lady of Wu replied.
Zhou Yu said, “How could it? Should you come, she won’t even have the time to grow overjoyed before you arrive.”
Sun Ce knew Zhou Yu’s offer would undoubtedly be of great help. In the span of just a few sentences, he arranged everything all so neatly.
“Gongjin is also missing home, Mother, so there is no need to decline any further,” he said.
The Lady of Wu smiled, and accepting Zhou Yu’s sincerity, she no longer pushed back.