Chapter 498

“Thirty thousand gold? That Slave-Of-Three-Surnames is crazy!” The nobles cursed Lu Bu instead of Liu Mang as the Han Dynasty still existed. Poor Lu Bu was accused wrongly even though this entire case had nothing to do with him.

Liu Mang had only asked for ten thousand gold but Zhou Yu changed the demands to thirty thousand gold instead.

“I do not know if Lu Bu has gone mad but we need to fork out thirty thousand gold.” Zhang Zhao shook his head. Liu Mang could not ask for provisions as Sun Ce also needed provisions to fight against Jingzhou. That was why the letter only stated money. That being said, it was also hard to gather the money needed as Jiangdong had been warring for quite a long time. Most of their savings had already been used up.

Zhang Zhao’s words caused the others to turn silent. The most they could do was look at each other in the frightening silence.

“Milord! How are we going to get the money?” One noble asked Sun Ce only to be glared at by the others. He immediately realized he said something wrong. Sun Ce already had no money. He would not think of the nobles if he had the money. If Zhou Yu had not stopped him, Sun Ce would have even plundered their homes.

“You are correct. The Lord could not gather that much money!” Zhang Zhao said not giving the man a chance to escape. He wanted someone else to declare the current situation so that he could declare his purpose.

There were a dozen nobles there so each of them would have to come up with a few thousand gold. As they were not as rich as the nobles in Jingzhou, these amount was like cutting into their flesh.

“Lord Zhang Zhao. We are honor bound to save the Second Lord. However, you yourself know that there is war for the past few years. I, Cheng Mou, can come up with a few hundred gold by living frugally to help rescue Second Lord.” One noble spoke up.

“Me too! The Second Lord has been kind to me! I of the Liu Family is also willing to come up with a few hundred gold!”

On the other hand, Zhang Zhao sneered at them. “I of the Zhang Family will come up with three thousand gold.”

Zhang Zhao’s words caused the others to mock him in their hearts. That was so much money and it was not like they did not support the Lord by coming up with a few hundred gold.

“Lord Zhang Zhao is righteous. You are able to come up with three thousand gold unlike us, the poor nobles.” The other nobles mocked him believing that the more money Zhang Zhao took out, the less money they had to take out.

“Really? Don’t the Cheng Family have a fertile land that’s ten thousand mu wide and four courtyards?” Zhang Zhao asked back.

“Haha. That land is inherited from my ancestors. Since the weather is not good, it is mostly abandoned. As for the four courtyard, that is just my humble home.

“Oh?” Although the weather was bad, the land in Jiangdong was never abandoned since they had to make use of it to not suffer any losses.

On the other hand, each room in the courtyards were at least a hundred gold. If these people had no money, they would not have been able to fund Sun Quan’s expedition.

“Oh? The Cheng Family is really frugal! Don’t worry. I will inform the Lord about your generosity so that you don’t have to pay taxes and will be able to survive this crisis. I am sure the Second Lord would also be very touched by your generosity and give you more benefits such as the trade of salt in the future.” Zhang Zhao said with a smile.

The Cheng Family’s lord was not happy at all with this statement. Salt was expensive and could only be sold by those with permit. As it was a common necessity, the market is big which also meant that there were a lot of illegal traders of salt especially amongst the nobles. While Sun Ce was powerful, it was not possible to go after every single one of them. However, the Cheng Family would still be in trouble if Zhang Zhao point at him specifically.

“Oh! I just remembered!” The Cheng Family’s lord suddenly yelled as he smiled again. “My ancestors also left behind a lot of jewels. Since we can’t use it anyway, we can use it to save the Second Lord! We should be able to sell it for two thousand gold!”

“Haha! The Cheng Family is so generous! You can even take out your ancestors mementos to save the Second Lord! How admirable!” Zhang Zhao mocked.

“It’s nothing.” The Cheng Family’s lord knew he was being mocked but he could only tolerate the insults.

“Haha! The Cheng Family promised two thousand gold!” Zhang Zhao said as he had the Cheng Family’s lord write his name down on a piece of paper.

The other nobles could not say a word as Zhang Zhao started to threaten another family. In the end, each of these families had to give away between one thousand gold to three thousand gold. The total he obtained was twenty four thousand gold. Ten thousand would be used to save Sun Quan while the remaining fourteen thousand was for Sun Ce to spend however he saw fit. Zhou Yu’s plot worked out well.

The nobles were all very unhappy but they had to treat Zhang Zhao with respect and a smile. As for Zhang Zhao, he left after the nobles promised the money. He believed that the nobles would obediently send the money to Sun Ce and did not need to him push them any further.

*****

Meanwhile, Sun Quan was despairing in prison. “Zijing. Tell me. Am I truly a useless person?”

“Milord. How could you be useless?” Lu Su replied. Both of them were wearing the same white clothing of a prisoner.

“If that is the case then why am I here? How could I with an army of seventy thousand lose to an army of ten thousand?”

Sun Quan in this timeline was fated to have a tragic life. In the original timeline, Sun Ce conquered Jingzhou and ended up being more carefree. He then went for a hunting trip where he was assassinated. Unfortunately, Liu Mang’s existence changed history. While they still had half of Jiangxia, they did not have the advantage due to Zhuge Liang’s meddling. With all of his current problems, Sun Ce did not have the mood to go hunting. Since Sun Ce was alive, Sun Quan had go out to prove himself. As a result, he ended up in his current situation.

“Milord!” Lu Su did not know how to console Sun Quan. Sun Quan was absolutely not useless. Unfortunately, his brother was too powerful. As a result, Sun Quan became too eager and impatient which is the reason for his downfall. He could have succeeded if he had been patient and advanced steadily.

While Lu Su was trying to find a way to console Sun Quan, a group of soldiers visited them. These soldiers were from Yangzhou’s most elite troops, the Urban Army.

“Which one of you is Lu Su Lu Zijing!” The man entered the prison area and asked as he frowned from the stench.

“Sir. This is him.” Another soldier stepped forward and replied.

Hearing the voices, Sun Quan and Lu Su became alarmed. They did not know why the soldiers were looking for them.

“Open the cell doors.” The officer ordered. He then entered the prison cell and said with a smile. “Master Lu Su Lu Zijing. I trust you have been well!”

“Are you Chu Ergou?” Lu Su asked in doubt.

“How dare you speak so rudely to our general!” Another soldier berated him. “This is our General Chu Ju!”

“Chu Ju1?” Lu Su was stupefied for a while and then laughed. Aren’t they both the same thing? His name simply became a little bit more refined.

“Haha. Zijing. The Lord loves talent and gave me the name Ju. I hope you can call me Chu Ju from now onwards.” The officer spoke to Lu Su very respectfully as Lu Su was an admirable and impartial person.

“A dog is still a dog! Yet you want to be called Chu Ju?” Sun Quan harrumphed in disdain.

“You!” The soldier stepped forward with the intention of hitting Sun Quan but was stopped by his general.

“Why is General Chu Ju here?” Lu Su gave the man face as the soldier had advanced in life.

“I am here to send Master Zijing on his way.” Chu Ju replied.

“What?” Sun Quan was stunned. The ones that die in battle were all 1000-men commanders and 100-men commanders. It was very unlikely for generals and strategists to die, especially in captivity. They would simply be redeemed.

“Can General Chu be clearer?” Lu Su asked again calmly.

“Master Zijing, I am sorry. I cannot help you. We work for different Lords. Master Zijing could return to Jiangdong last time because people are willing to redeem you. However, Jiangdong has abandoned you this time.” Er Gouzi replied.

“Is that so?” Lu Su said with desolate eyes. The Lu Family were not particularly rich but they had enough to ransom him the previous time. This time, Lu Su’s ransom price would have definitely gone up while the Lu Family would no longer have enough money.

“Please follow me. I will make sure it doesn’t hurt. That is all I can help you with!” Er Gouzi cupped his fists at Lu Su.

“Then I will have to thank you.” Lu Su cupped his fist in reply and allowed himself to be taken away.

“Zijing! Do not leave me!” Sun Quan panicked. At first, Lu Su was still accompanying him. Now, Lu Su was going to be executed and he would be left alone.

“Scram!” The soldiers kicked Sun Quan and then threatened him with their swords when Sun Quan tried to get up. They did not care about his status as Second Lord at all.

“Milord. Take care of yourself.” Lu Su bowed at Sun Quan before being taken away. After a while, Sun Quan heard them announce Lu Su’s execution.

“Lu Su Lu Zijing of Jiangdong offended his superiors and tried to start a rebellion! The punishment will be execution!”

Sun Quan sat down on the ground in fear. He was experienced with executions as he had carried them out in the past. However, there was a difference between carrying out the execution of a stranger and experiencing the execution of someone close to him.

“Let me go! Let me go! I don’t want to die!” Sun Quan lost his cool and started shouting as he shook the bars of the jail cell.

“Shut up!” The prison guard shouted back and whipped Sun Quan on the head. He was not the Second Lord of Jiangdong. He was simply a prisoner.

“Let me go! My brother will definitely save me! My brother is the Lord of Jiangdong! He will definitely pay my ransom! Let me go! I don’t want to die!”

“Haha! Your brother have already abandoned you! He himself is helpless! Do you know how much your ransom costs? Ten thousand gold! Can your brother afford it?”

“Ten thousand gold? My brother will definitely pay it!” Sun Quan was stunned for a moment before he continued to shout. While it was a lot of money, was it worth more than his life?

At this point, the prison cell opened up again as Er Gouzi returned. He walked in front of Sun Quan.

“You must be the Second Lord of Jiangdong. Last time, I really admired you and thought of serving as your subordinate. Yet this is all you amount to. Master Zijing has already be sent off. Now it is your turn.” Er Gouzi reeked with the stench of blood. That stench caused Sun Quan to panic

“It cannot be! How is it my turn? My brother would definitely save me!” Sun Quan shouted in fear of his death.

“Ten thousand gold? Your brother is unwilling to part with that money! Jiangdong is at war with Jiangxia and they have already used up most of their money. For the sake of his great cause, your life is not worth much!” Er Gouzi said with disdain.

“Impossible!” Sun Quan still could not believe it. He wanted to go to the back of the prison cell to hide but it is not like he had anywhere to go. He was immediately caught and dragged away.

“Second Lord, let’s go. Look at Master Lu Su. His death was comfortable. If you still struggle, do not blame me for not being able to kill you in one slash.” Er Gouzi’s words were like a death sentence to Sun Quan.

“My brother will save me! I don’t want to die!” Sun Quan still believed that his brother would save him and at the same time, he was also afraid to die. It was as expected of the man who treasured life the most in the Three Kingdoms era. Cao Cao, Liu Bei and Cao Pi also could not outlive him.

Sun Quan feared death so much that he was afraid his children to seize the throne. This resulted in his fickleness regarding his heir. This resulted in the death of Lu Xun and his son Sun Ba while his other son Sun He was exiled. In the end, his youngest son Sun Liang was named heir.

Sun Quan wanted to prove himself on the battlefield. He did not want to die at Shouchun in such an obscure way. He wanted to struggle but it was useless.

“Sun Ce! Brother! Save me!” Sun Quan yelled mournfully as he was dragged away like a dog but nobody answered.

“Sun Ce! If you don’t save me, you will die a horrible death!” Sun Quan said with full of hate. He blamed his brother for not saving him. He blamed his brother for not giving him a higher position. If he had a high position, he would not have gone out to battle and be defeated. As he was dragged to the execution grounds, he saw a freshly chopped head on the ground and became even more afraid. Could this head belong to Lu Su?

“Second Lord. Be on your way.” Chu Ju said with a cold smile as he raised his sword.

“No! Don’t!” Sun Quan yelled mournfully as the sword came down.

__________________

Gou and Ju can both mean dog.