NOVPUB"This situation isn’t right, it seems like Sun Ce’s army isn’t concerned with our movements at all," Gan Ning, after several far-off exchanges with Sun Ce’s army, asked somewhat puzzledly.
"I don’t know, who knows what Zhou Yu is thinking? It’s better if he doesn’t deal with us, or perhaps he doesn’t want to fight us right now," Chen Xi speculated, attempting to grasp Gan Ning’s thoughts.
In fact, what Chen Xi wanted to say was that Zhou Yu knew he wasn’t at an advantage in a ground battle and didn’t want to waste his troops clashing with them. But the more it stayed like this, the more Chen Xi worried about how much military power Zhou Yu would commit to the Yangtze River; Wu State’s most classic strength was always naval battle. Since Zhou Yu defeated Huang Zu at Jiangxia, the title of the world’s number one navy hasn’t been taken from Wu State, even with the state’s fall.
"Let’s search for a few more days, if it doesn’t work out we can only leave," Chen Xi sighed. If Zhou Yu got the Yangtze River Navy ready, it wouldn’t be easy for them to leave either. Jiangxia was really not far from Lujiang.
"Are we just going to let them do as they please?" Sun Ce said, dissatisfied, standing on the city wall.
"We are also looking for the Lu family, consider it a rest. Besides, Youping’s wounds haven’t healed yet, and the navy that has arrived so far isn’t substantial. Our main forces haven’t arrived either," Zhou Yu said with a smile. As for whether or not the Lu family was found, he wasn’t concerned at all, he was just biding his time because their navy hadn’t arrived yet.
"Hmph, then I’ll tolerate them for a while longer," Sun Ce dissatisfiedly looked at Chen Xi, who was once again setting up camp in the distance. That guy had already set up five or six military camps outside Lujiang City.
"By the way, Bofu, you should dismantle those camps after a while, don’t let him really surround our military camps with his. That would be troublesome," Zhou Yu instructed Sun Ce.
Sun Ce, who was already bored, found something to do from Zhou Yu’s suggestion and went to dismantle them without much thought.
"Does Zhou Yu need to be so cautious? I haven’t even made any other moves, and he’s started dismantling my abandoned camps. It really is boring," Chen Xi sighed. He hadn’t held out much hope for the military camps, but having them dismantled by others still annoyed him.
Pang Tong had been pondering Zhou Yu’s unclear previous words these past few days, but as he observed deeper, he really did notice something fishy, although it didn’t seem right.
"Hey, Gongjin, I have a question for you, can I count on you?" Pang Tong slowly approached, looking somewhat hesitant. If what he was thinking was true, then Zhou Yu would be considered highly unreliable.
"Very reliable," Zhou Yu replied without even turning his head. In his memory, Pang Tong would enter an eccentric phase every so often, during which he would act all topsy-turvy, behaving bizarrely.
"I don’t think your approach is reliable, look at how righteous Bofu is. If you push him onto another path, would that really be good?" Pang Tong asked with a frown, "The path you choose might not be suitable for Bofu."
"No, it certainly is the most suitable, because in the end, the choice will be his own," Zhou Yu turned to look at Pang Tong and said, "You know, I never force Bofu to do anything."
"But what you’re doing now is cutting off all other paths, leaving only one in the end. You could sway Sunx Bofu so much that he’d have no choice but to follow you even if he didn’t want to," Pang Tong said with dissatisfaction. He was quite pleased with Sunx Ce’s sense of honor and naturally didn’t want to see a day when Sunx Ce would discard it all because of Zhou Yu.
"Oh?" Zhou Yu looked at Pang Tong, puzzled, then revealed an understanding smile, "Shiyuan, is that really what you think of me in your heart?"
"It wasn’t before, but it is now," Pang Tong said nonchalantly.
"You, go back and think it over again. Don’t let wild fantasies blind you," Zhou Yu said, slightly annoyed as he patted Pang Tong’s shoulder, "Remember one thing, I won’t harm Bofu, nor will I make him do anything that would be difficult for him. Bofu will carry his own responsibilities and choose his own path. I’m just helping him walk farther on that path than anyone else."
In a certain village to the west of the city, the Lul family of four calmly ate lunch with the peasants, chatting about the harvests of recent years. They appeared as if they had been small landlords living here for many years, and even the local peasants hadn’t noticed that the Liu Family of four had been switched out.
"Father, I think we should stay a bit longer before heading north. Sunx Bofu has issued a Decree for Pacifying the People, not harassing the subjects under his rule. The villagers of Liu Family Village can also vouch that we’re descendants of the Liu family, spanning three generations. We won’t be discovered," Lul Jun suggested casually as he picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks and began to eat.
"Let’s head north in two days. We haven’t received any news from Eastern Wu by now. Ah, the Zhang Family, the Gu Family, the Zhu Family, they really are a disappointment," Lul Kang said, shaking his head and wearing the happy expression of an old man coddling his grandchildren.
There had already been three troop patrols passing through Liu Family Village back and forth; most had only searched the house and none suspected the openly living descendants of the Liu family, since the Liu family had been living here for decades, and the entire village could testify for this family, who lived a reclusive life, being good people.
In reality, this was a maze designed by Lul Kang. The Liu Family Village was built over fifty years ago when the Lul family collected refugees. As for the reclusively living landlord, Master Liu, that was also Lul Kang’s creation, a ruse. He found look-alikes for each member of his family, some of whom closely resembled their originals, and arranged for them to play the roles of father and son, grandfather and grandchild, in various parts of Lujiang City.
There were eight such villages in total, each with members of the Lul family ready to replace the original three generations at any time, then continue playing the roles of sociable but reclusive good people without any flaws.
Put it this way, unless someone was very familiar with Lul Kang, his ruse would, at most, lead them to believe that there were just strikingly similar-looking people in the world rather than recognize them as Lul Kang. The honest and simple old farmer now was a far cry from the former resilient Lujiang Governor Lul Kang. 𝖓𝔬𝔳𝔭𝖚𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
The reason for staying in the west of the city was simple: it’s darkest under the lamp — Gongjin had indeed ordered a thorough search several times, and then gave up thinking the Lul family wasn’t there. So while the western part of the city was still occasionally raided by troops, none of them would suspect that this obliging old landlord who invited them for meals was the same Lul Kang they were fervently searching for.
"Recently, it seems not only Zhou Yu’s men are searching for us. Should we make contact?" Lul Kang’s son asked his father.
"Send a Death Soldier to make contact, but do not expose our current situation," Lul Kang pondered and instructed, "Let’s see who is looking for us. I’m a bit worried it’s Zhou Yu playing tricks. Of course, if it’s the Eastern Wu Aristocratic Families, that would mean we might have an opportunity to cooperate in the future. If they’re from Liu Xuande’s forces, then his sincerity is really considerable." Lul Kang still held a thread of hope for the aristocratic families of Eastern Wu, after all, they had supported each other for so many years. (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes at Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)
