mtl008 Chapter 431 Sun Quan's Nightmare
Chapter 431 Sun Quan's Nightmare
Sun Quan was still in a daze when he returned to his bedroom from the backyard. The destruction of the eastern expeditionary army was a huge blow to him, far heavier than Yuan Shao's crushing defeat at Guandu and Cao Cao's defeat at Chibi.
It should be understood that the severity of a defeat is directly proportional to the wealth of one's family. Yuan Shao, whose family had held high office for four generations, was rich and powerful. Even though he lost the Battle of Guandu, he was not seriously injured. He could have taken the crushing defeat as a lesson and made a comeback.
The same goes for Cao Cao. By the time of the Battle of Red Cliffs, he had already unified the Central Plains. Even after his defeat, he was still the leader of all the warlords in the land, a behemoth that Sun Quan and Liu Bei had to unite to barely resist.
But Sun Quan was different. His territory was small and his population was small, so he didn't have the same terrible margin for error as the other two. If he lost once, he would be eliminated. To put it bluntly, he was poor.
At this moment, Sun Quan is somewhat similar to Liu Bei, who was defeated at the Battle of Yiling in history, and even worse than Liu Bei. Liu Bei could close the gates of Shu and isolate the country after losing, but Sun Quan was in Jingzhou, a place surrounded by enemies. After losing, he could only suffer from the encirclement and attack of his neighbors, and he did not even have the opportunity to isolate the country.
Thinking of the bleak future, Sun Quan returned to his bedroom and lay on the bed like a spineless mollusk, his eyes filled with confusion.
What should we do? Is there really no other way but to surrender?
if not?
This situation is far more dangerous than the Battle of Red Cliffs back then. Moreover, this time, Zhou Yu and Lu Su, who were strongly advocating for war and determined to protect Jiangdong, are no longer around. All around them are people who want to surrender.
Sun Quan stared at the ceiling for an unknown amount of time before finally drifting off to sleep, and then the nightmare began.
In his sleep, the door was suddenly kicked open, and Mi Fang and Fu Shiren rushed in, demanding in sharp voices, "My lord, what are we going to do now? You promised us that as long as we surrendered the city, you would protect us. Now you can't even protect yourself, what are we supposed to do?"
Sun Quan's expression changed drastically. The scene shifted, and Sun Shangxiang, dressed in mourning clothes and holding the memorial tablet of Lady Wu, appeared before him, angrily questioning, "Sun Zhongmou, you married me off to Liu Bei, who is the same age as my father, for the sake of the Jiangdong foundation, and then tricked me back from Bashu. In the end, did you sacrifice me to protect Jiangdong?"
Sun Quan was speechless when questioned. Just as he was about to make a sophistry, Sun Ce appeared from behind Sun Shangxiang and scolded her angrily and sadly, "Zhongmou, what did you promise me back then? I gave up my son and entrusted the Jiangdong foundation to you. Is this how you repay me?"
Sun Quan's expression changed again. Before he could even offer a rebuttal, the scene shifted, and Liu Bei, Zhang Fei, and Zhuge Liang, who was waving a feather fan, appeared before him. The three of them glared at him without saying a word, their angry eyes seeming to want to tear him apart.
Sun Quan was so frightened that he instinctively tried to run away, but the scene suddenly changed, and he was filled with deafening shouts of battle. Before he could figure out what was happening, the door in front of him was suddenly kicked into pieces. Then he saw Guan Yu, wielding his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, leading a massive army into the room. Guan Yu held the blade to Sun Quan's neck and demanded sharply, "Sun Zhongmou, why did you betray me and ruin my Northern Expedition?"
"When you crossed the river in white, you didn't expect that I, Guan Yu, would return alive, did you? Now, what do you have to say?"
Sun Quan was speechless again, but Guan Yu didn't waste any more words with him. He swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and chopped it down at Sun Quan's head.
"Ah ah ah..."
Sun Quan screamed as if he had risen from the dead and sat up abruptly in bed, panting heavily, large beads of sweat raining down onto the blankets in his arms.
In just a short while, his cheeks and back were completely soaked with sweat, and even the sheets beneath him were wet. But he didn't care about any of that. He stared straight ahead with an unprecedented fear in his eyes, as if Guan Yu was in the darkness ahead, ready to rush out and take his life at any moment.
Hearing the screams, Hu Zong, who was guarding outside the door, rushed into the room and asked with concern, "My lord, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare?"
Upon hearing the shout, Sun Quan instinctively turned his head, stared at Hu Zong for a long time before his eyes regained some focus, and asked weakly, "Wei Ze, how long have I been asleep?"
Hu Zong replied, "Less than 15 minutes."
Sun Quan was stunned. He'd had several nightmares in such a short time... It was truly...
After a moment of stunned silence, Sun Quan asked Hu Zong to pour him a glass of water. After drinking it, he bit his tongue hard to force himself to wake up. Leaning against the bed, he sighed weakly, "Eastern Wu is finished. It's time to consider surrendering. Weize, do you think we should surrender to Liu Bei or Cao Cao?"
You ask me what to do? Is that something I can decide or suggest?
Hu Zong comforted him, "My lord, there's no need to worry. We still have the strategist and Commander Gu. They will surely come up with a solution to help Jiangdong overcome this crisis."
Sun Quan sneered, "You're counting on them? They're probably already writing to their new master, discussing how to sell me for a good price."
"You heard what they were saying in the hall. What they said made sense, but it exposed a problem: they only talked about the benefits of surrendering but never mentioned the disadvantages. Do they really think I, Sun Quan, am so easy to fool?"
“What they said is indeed correct, but the question is, from what standpoint are they speaking? From their own standpoint or from Jiangdong’s standpoint?”
Ability issues can be addressed through training, but problematic stances lead to serious trouble.
Sun Quan now seriously suspects that Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, and others have shifted their allegiance to the new master.
Hu Zong didn't know how to answer, so he remained silent.
Sun Quan asked, "Where did Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, and Gu Yong go after leaving the general's mansion? Did they return to their own residences or go elsewhere to meet other people?"
"This..." Hu Zong had been guarding Sun Quan's side the whole time and had no idea where Zhang Zhao and the others had gone. Hearing this, he said, "Please wait a moment, my lord. I will go and check right away."
Sun Quan stopped him and said, "No need to investigate. If I'm not mistaken, Gu Yong must have gone to see Mi Fang and Fu Shiren. Zhang Zhao is probably going to find Fei Yi. As for Sun Shao, that old man doesn't have the guts of Zhang Zhao and Gu Yong. He'll probably go back to his residence and leave it to fate. Anyway, with his reputation and status, he can get good treatment no matter who Cao Cao or Liu Bei side with."
Whether Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao, Gu Yong, or others surrendered to Cao Cao or Liu Bei, they would become targets for appeasement and wooing by Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and would receive a warm welcome from them. Only Sun Quan was different; no matter who he surrendered to, his ending would not be good.
Just as Lu Su said back then, everyone in Jiangdong could surrender, but Sun Quan could not, because he was a feudal lord and a threat to any other feudal lord.
Hu Zong said indignantly, "What are they trying to do? Rebel?"
Sun Quan smiled wryly and said, "It's not so much a rebellion. We just want to offer Jiangling as a pledge of allegiance to our new master in exchange for high-ranking positions and generous salaries. But before that, we must clear some obstacles to surrendering the city, and those obstacles naturally include us."
"So the most urgent task right now is not whether to surrender to Liu or Cao, but how to ensure our own safety. Only by living can we have a future; if we die, we will have nothing left."
"Immediately order Zhou Tai to hand over the defense of Chaisang to Lü Fan, and then lead all the garrison troops of Ruxukou back to Jiangling."
"Send orders to Zhu Ran and Sun Huan, instructing Zhu Ran to abandon Yiling and retreat to Yidao City, and instructing Sun Huan to hand over the defense of Yidao City to Zhu Ran and lead his troops back to Jiangling at full speed."
"Yes..." Hu Zong nodded in acceptance, then asked with a puzzled look, "But this would leave Chaisang and Yidao City too vulnerable. Once Governor Zhou is withdrawn, Cao Ren is very likely to quickly take over Chaisang and then rush to the gates of Jiangling City."
"The same goes for Yidao City. Yidao is the last line of defense for Jiangling against Bashu. Is it appropriate to hand it over to Zhu Ran? Don't forget that Zhu Ran's adoptive father, Zhu Zhi, surrendered to Guan Yu."