Chapter 438 Wu Guotai's Decision
Chapter 438 - Wu Guotai's Decision
Sun Quan had a long nightmare.
In his dream, he experienced what Sun Jian had gone through in the other timeline. He fought so hard for the country, but he died because of Liu Biao and Huang Zu.
Then, Sun Quan went through a long journey of the other life as himself in the world without an immortal. He went through the turbulent of the Three Kingdoms Period, fighting against Cao Cao's Wei Empire and Liu Bei's Shu Han Kingdom. He also almost lost his life at the Battle of Hefei, where Zhang Liao defeated him with fewer men.
In the end, he failed to accomplish the unification goal, but Sun Quan completed something for his descendants.
He laid a foundation for his family and his subordinates to be happy. All of his people, citizens, merchants, and soldiers were smiling as his kingdom prospered.
Although he did not know what the future of his descendants and the fall of the Wu Kingdom, he died a happy emperor.
After the long dream, Sun Quan regained his sense and his memories of the two lives.
Before he woke up, he heard his dearest father's voice.
[I'll be with you, always.]
Sun Quan's tears rolled down on his cheeks as he woke up from his long dream.
"I won't disappoint you, father."
His eyes and determination changed. From the innocent eyes of an 11-year-old boy, he became a veteran with years of experience in war and politics.
Furthermore, he learned a cultivation method by instinct. Even without guidance, Sun Quan knew what he had to do.
His white eyes blackened while his pupils turned silver. A bright aura and a dark aura combined into a Taishi diagram, forming Yin and Yang.
One white wing and black wing appeared behind Sun Quan's back!
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Lilim was surprised by the sudden awakening of a half-angel half-demon.
This was not a part of her plan.
"WTF!? I TRIED SO HARD TO GET A TABOO CHILD!! THIS BASTARD GETS SUN JIAN'S SOUL, THEN, HE CAN CULTIVATE BOTH PATHS NOW!?"
She wanted to kill somebody after seeing Sun Quan's cultivation technique.
Lilim thought that Sun Quan would learn one of the cultivation techniques from Sun Jian's soul like how Guan Yu and Zhang Fei got theirs. However, she did not expect him to be able to compatible with both cultivation techniques.
After staring at the little Sun Quan for a whole ten minutes, Lilim gained enlightenment.
"Hua Shi!"
Sun Jian's soul had been partly devoured by Hua Shi. When Lilim yanked his soul back and put it to Sun Quan's body, she believed that she might have taken a portion of Hua Shi's soul with it.
Thus, Sun Jian's weakened soul contained Hua Shi's cleansed soul, which might be the catalyst for this phenomenon.
Lilim scratched her head, messing her hair.
"WHY DID I HAVE TO BOTHER CONNING THAT BITCH INTO GIVING BIRTH TO A NEW SOUL WHEN I CAN JUST CLEANSE ONE OF THEM CAN SCATTER THEM TO EVERYONE!?"
She went ballistic for another hour.
When Lilim calmed down, she turned her gaze to a monitor, which was spying on Liu Yang.
Currently, the former goddess candidate worked hard to grow wings.
Lilim mumbled for a while as she stared at Liu Yang's monitor.
Then, she glanced at Zou Ci.
'I have a silly idea, but this bastard can ruin my plan. I need someone trustworthy to take care of the system when I'm away, but I can't trust anybody. Who can I use?'
Lilim searched for a human who had no worldly desire.
She looked at several monitors.
'Zhang Tong and his demon wives are no good. Those bastards are plotting to overthrow me when they reach my strength. If I give them this power, they will simply destroy everything I built, including me.'
'Te Langpu and Pu Jing are trash. They secretly want the world under their thump.'
'Sun Fang … also trash.'
'Li Feihong?'
Lilim rechecked Li Feihong's behavior and his attitude. Upon reading all the logs about his thought and his relationship toward Tong, she grinned.
'I can use this man!'
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A day later, Pu Jing and Cheng Yu departed from Jianye, leaving the Imperial Seal here.
Sun Ce stared at the seal.
"How irony…"
In the other life, he gave this seal to Yuan Shu to borrow his troops, so he could be a free man.
In this life, Cao Cao gave this seal back to him, so they could borrow his men to fight his enemies.
Even his wife and Zhou Yu's wife, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao, had been stolen by Tong!
Many unexpectable things happened in this life. Sun Ce could not think of a way to utilize his old memory as a reference to get ahead anymore.
He turned to his sworn brother, Zhou Yu.
"So, what's next, Gongjin?"
"We gather allies… young allies."
Zhou Yu clapped and summoned young men into the palace.
Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, two former pirates that Sun Ce had subdued during their campaign last year, joined forces with them and had been following Sun Ce and Zhou Yu around, entered the palace.
Jiang Qin was in the mid-20s while Zhou Tai was only 23. Both men had scars all over their bodies, revealing their experience in combat.
Lu Meng, a talented young soldier who served Sun Ce as a 100-man captain, was also summoned here.
Despite Lu Meng being only 15, his face and his body looked as if he was a grown man in his 20s because of his full beard and hardened face. Had he not told anyone his age, he would have been treated like a grown man instead of a young man.
Ling Cao, an ordinary 2000-man commander under Sun Ce's regiment, also joined the group as he was invited by Zhou Yu.
He was in the late 20s, and he had a son, Ling Tong, who was only 4 this year. However, Zhou Yu knew what this father and son could do in the future.
There were other military officers, such as Dong Xi, Chen Wu, and Song Qian, but they were only there to complement Sun Ce's forces as vice commanders.
Zhou Yu paid attention to the earlier four as they would grow into prominent figures, which could serve as a pillar of the Sun Clan in the future.
It was unfortunate that Gan Ning went missing after Zhou Yu had sent him on a mission to kill Zhuge Liang. Also, he tried to invite Taishi Ci, who was currently serving Tong, to betray the emperor and join them. Sadly, the general declined.
Zhou Yu did not only try to recruit Sun Ce and Sun Quan's talented subordinates who made a name of themselves in the other timeline, but he also tried to poach officers from Tong, Cao Cao, Liu Biao, and Liu Bei.
Although he tried his best to give them a good offer, most of the officers refused to join Zhou Yu.
But a few individuals gave him a positive reply.
Huang Zu, a major general under Liu Biao, was not happy with his current position as Huang Zhong was still acting as the grand commander of all Liu Biao's forces.
In this world, Huang Zu did not kill Sun Jian and Sun Ce, so his achievements were inferior compared to Huang Zhong, who had been actively hunting bandits and participating in the campaign of Yi Province.
Thus, Huang Zu showed interest in joining Sun Ce and Zhou Yu. With the bait of a grand commander position of a legion, Huang Zu hinted that he wanted to switch sides, but it was not the right time.
Many of Cao Cao's officers, such as Chen Gong and Zhang Miao, replied to Zhou Yu that they also wanted Cao Cao dead since the latter plotted to betray the emperor.
Zhou Yu tricked them that they also worked for Tong, so they should work together for the Han Empire.
The two officials agreed to switch sides whenever Zhou Yu wanted. Since Zhang Miao currently served as the governor of Chenliu and Chen Gong was working as Puyang governor, they could hand over the cities once Zhou Yu was ready.
With this preparation, Zhou Yu moved forward to the next phase of his plan.
"Gentlemen, I've gathered you here for a mission. This is urgent, so you should pay attention to my every word."
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Meanwhile, Sun Quan, Huang Gai, Han Dang, Cheng Pu, Zhu Zhi, and Wu Guotai also had a private meeting.
As Sun Quan was too young to make a decision, Wu Guotai led the agenda.
"We discussed this yesterday, and I've decided."
She turned to Sun Quan and patted his head before she returned her gaze at Huang Gai and others.
"All of us will surrender to Zhang Tong. We'll leave Sun Fang and Sun Ce to mind their own business while we will take shelter in Ye!"
Huang Gai and the other generals were shocked. Even Sun Quan turned to his mother.
"Are you sure, my lady!?"
Wu Guotai nodded.
"What about your other sons?" Zhu Zhi was concerned with Sun Ce and Sun Fang, who were still too young to handle the dirty politic world.
"Those two have decided to fight for the hegemony, so they will end up killing each other one day…"
Wu Guotai clenched her left chest as she had a heartache. Knowing that one of her sons, or both, might die for their ambition was painful for the mother's heart.
No mother wanted to see their child dead!
Still, this world was a cruel place, unlike the modern world with civil rights and sacred laws. Only those with military influence could defy laws. As for the rest, they were at the mercy of others, who had more power.
Sun Ce and Sun Fang had gotten involved in the conspiracy to betray the emperor, so they would not live a happy life. Staying with them and supporting them should be the right thing to do, but she could not stand seeing her sons working with the mastermind who had orchestrated her husband's death.
Between living with her two sons and her revenge, Wu Guotai chose neither.
After all, Sun Quan was still with her, and she was currently pregnant. She did not want innocent children to get involved.
For the sake of getting away from this fight, joining Liu Biao should be a better choice, and the mistress of the Sun Clan had thought about it many times.
However, Wu Guotai changed her mind after listening to Huang Gai's opinion about Tong and Ye City.
She had been thinking all night, evaluating Tong and his character.
Had Tong been a vile emperor, he would have already executed Sun Jian and everybody else on the first day that Sun Ce showed a sign of rebellion.
Yet, Tong released all of them, returning them home.
Secondly, Ye City was prosperous, which demonstrated his civil officers' abilities and Tong's skills in management. The people were happy, and the merchants spread the good news about his territory. This proved that Tong cared for his citizens and his people.
And lastly, Tong never demanded high taxes from their territories. This action alone told many things about the new capital's economic power and finance.
It was a common knowledge that had the capital demanded tributes from other counties, the emperor and the court's treasury might have been emptied, or someone inside the court spent too much gold and provision.
Yet, after all these years, Tong never asked them anything.
"Zhang Tong is a righteous emperor. I trust him more than my stupid sons."
"M-My lady, I'm afraid that Zhang Tong might use you as a hostage when Sun Ce reveals his true color," Huang Gai was afraid of Wu Guotai and Sun Quan's safety.
Wu Guotai scoffed, "If Zhang Tong were that evil, why are you all still alive?"
"…"
"Bofu has been delusional about his wife, right? He wants to rebel against the emperor because a girl he falls in love with married the emperor? If that is not foolishness, what should I call it?"
"…"
"Fang'er also has been acting strangely after his wife's death. Well, since he's an immortal, I can't dwell into his "secret" and his struggle against other immortals. But I know one thing about his character. He's a fool! Other immortals can co-living with Zhang Tong under his banners, but why is Fang'er still fighting? What's the point!?"
"…"
"Both of them are a disappointment and a disgrace to my husband's name. I won't be relying on them or supporting them anymore."