Chapter 591

“General Huang is magnanimous!” Zhuge Liang said with admiration. Zhuge Liang was very worried because of the murderous glare Huang Gai had been giving him. Zhuge Liang had also guessed that this was because of Han Dang’s injury. It was why Huang Gai had been antagonizing him this whole time.

Now, it seems like Huang Gai was willing to put aside his hatred. This was not an easy thing to do especially since Han Dang and Huang Gai were close like siblings. Huang Gai drinking the tea reflects this fact.

The reason for this is because Sun Ce was his Lord. Huang Gai was willing to put aside his hatred if it would help Sun Ce’s ambition. Such a person was surely admirable.

“Hmph!” Huang Gai harrumphed. Huang Gai had served the Sun Family for years. He felt gratified watching Sun Ce grow up and mature. He would not go against Zhuge Liang if Zhuge Liang were to help Jiangdong. After all, Zhuge Liang was as talented as Zhou Yu. In the first place, the reason Han Dang received such a severe injury was because Zhuge Liang was too formidable. With Zhuge Liang’s help, Jiangdong would definitely ascend to greater heights.

“General Huang. There is poison in the tea.” Zhuge Liang smiled.

“Poison?” Huang Gai was shocked for a moment and immediately became alert. He then noticed Zhuge Liang laughing. “If there is poison, you would be the first to die.”

Huang Gai may have let go of his grudge but he would still not be polite to Zhuge Liang. Huang Gai prepared the tea himself so how could there be poison? On top of that, Zhuge Liang was the first to drink the tea. If there was poison, they would all die together.

“Haha, General Huang is good at telling jokes. Allow me to ask. Does General Huang prefer does that speak the truth or those that lie?” Zhuge Liang asked.

“I hate people like you.” Huang Gai replied without concealing his hatred.

“But I am someone who speaks the truth.” Zhuge Liang shook his head. He was about to pour himself another cup of tea but then seemingly remembered something and stopped.

“I…” Huang Gai was about to reply rudely when he suddenly felt dizzy. “Poison?”

“Haha. General Huang. Like I said earlier, there is poison in the tea. Why did you not believe me?” Zhuge Liang said with regret.

“How is that possible?” Huang Gai could not believe it. He made that tea himself. Zhuge Liang and the book servant had also drank the tea. It cannot be said that Huang Gai was not vigilant.

“Haha.” Zhuge Liang laughed and did not bother to explain. After all, Huang Gai would not be able to listen in his condition. He had already slumped down onto the table from his dizziness.

Zhuge Liang shook his head at Huang Gai and then ordered the book servant to keep the tea. However, the book servant did not seem to act.

“Wu Hui. What’s wrong?”

“Teacher. This tea…” The book servant pointed and stammered. Zhuge Liang laughed because Wu Hui was thinking that they were both poisoned as well.

“Wu Hui. Do you think I would harm you?” Zhuge Liang asked.

“No but…” Wu Hui shook his head. Wu Hui had followed Zhuge Liang since he was young. He was with Zhuge Liang when they were in Jingzhou and he followed Zhuge Liang when the man started travelling. Wu Hui was Zhuge Liang’s most trusted aide.

“Then why are you being paranoid?”

“Why are we alright when Huang Gai collapse?” The book servant asked.

“Go and take a look at the base of the teapot.” Zhuge Liang said as he pointed at the teapot.

“Yes.” Wu Hui nodded and then looked into the teapot. There was some leftover tea in it as Huang Gai did not drink everything. Despite looking at the base of the teapot, Wu Hui could not see anything different.

“Pour out the tea first.” Zhuge Liang advised.

“What is the secret here?” Wu Hui asked while doing as he was told. His eyes widened as a second layer underneath the base revealed itself. “This is…”

“This teapot has two base.” Zhuge Liang explained. He then showed that there was a button at the handle of the teapot. When the button is pressed, the other layer would appear. The first layer was the tea Zhuge Liang had drank. The second layer contained the poison that mixed into the tea.

Huang Gai was strong so the effect of the poison was small. However, he drank half the pot of tea which saved Zhuge Liang the trouble of attacking Huang Gai with a hidden crossbow.

“Haha. I knew you have a clever scheme.” Wu Hui laughed as he kept the teapot.

“Hah! Serves you right for trying to bring harm to Teacher!” Wu Hui said impolitely as he kicked Huang Gai. Huang Gai groaned in response. Though he was unconscious, his groan caused Wu Hui to feel frightened.

“Wu Hui. Do not be rude!” Zhuge Liang furrowed his brows. He then opened up one of the windows of the towered ship and looked at the Yangtze River. “It is almost time to leave.”

“Teacher. What should we do about him?” Wu Hui asked. Huang Gai was unconscious but he was still one of Jiangdong’s generals. There were many of Jingzhou’s men that were killed by Huang Gai. Wu Hui himself originated from Jiangxia. He was sold off as a servant because of the war between Jiangdong and Jingzhou. That was why he too did not have any good impression of the Jiangdong Navy.

Wu Hui was powerless before Huang Gai. However, now that Huang Gai was unconscious, Wu Hui would be able to kill Huang Gai even if he wasn’t trained. He could just shatter a porcelain and stab Huang Gai’s neck with a sharp fragment.

Zhuge Liang also felt tempted. Unlike Han Dang who was stubborn and predicatable, Huang Gai was actually well studied to the extent that he was even admired by Zhou Yu. He was one of Jiangdong’s strongest pillars. Wu Hui saw that killing intent in Zhuge Liang’s eyes and was prepared to shatter a porcelain.

“Enough.” Zhuge Liang took a deep breath and said to his book servant.

“Teacher?” Wu Hui was confused. Wasn’t this a good opportunity to kill Huang Gai without wasting a single soldier?

“Haha. Either way, how much fighting strength could Jiangdong have after this?” Zhuge Liang said to Wu Hui though those words were seemingly directed towards himself.

“But…”

“Enough. Let us go. It is time!”

“Yes.” Wu Hui bregrudgedly nodded his head. After all, Zhuge Liang still had prestige.

Wu Hui packed up and opened the window. “Teacher. Aren’t we escaping from here? Teacher should go first while I support you.”

“Hm?” Zhuge Liang looked at Wu Hui with doubt before realizing that Wu Hui thought they would climb out the window. Zhuge Liang rubbed his forehead. “Why are we escaping through the window? There is a door.”

“Ah!” Wu Hui was stunned. Were they going to escape through the front door?

“Haha. Wu Hui. If there is a door, there is no need to use the window.” Zhuge Liang laughed. Wu Hui then opened the door with a flabbergasted expression.

Wu Hui was afraid because they were right in the middle of the enemy’s camp. On top of that, Huang Gai was still in the room. If they were discovered, escape would be impossible.

Wu Hui was trembling in fear but Zhuge Liang was calm. With wide eyes, he watched Zhuge Liang talk to a few officers with a smile and even pointed at one of the rooms. Wu Hui did not hide Huang Gai’s body as they were in a hurry yet Zhuge Liang was chatting with people in a carefree manner. Was Zhuge Liang not afraid of being caught?

“Wu Hui. What are you doing? Come over here!” Zhuge Liang shouted.

“Yes!” Wu Hui quickly walked towards Zhuge Liang after being shouted at.

“General Liu. This is my book servant Wu Hui.” Zhuge Liang joked happily.

“G, General Liu!” Wu Hui quickly greeted.

“Brother Wu Hui, there is no need to call me a general. I am just a military officer.” The officer surnamed Liu replied politely and cupped his fist towards Wu Hui.

“Report! Officer! The mengchong is ready!” One of Jiangdong’s men reported.

“In that case, I will take my leave first.” Zhuge Liang smiled and said his farewells.

“Teacher, walk slowly! Allow me to personally escort you.” The officer surnamed Liu quickly replied. He seemed to be very close to Zhuge Liang.

“Wu Hui! Let’s go!” Zhuge Liang said to stunned Wu Hui again as he patted Wu Hui’s back.

Wu Hui could not believe his eyes as the officer was too cordial towards Zhuge Liang. It was to the extent that Wu Hui felt afraid.

“General Liu, no need to see me off. We will meet again.” Zhuge Liang cupped his fists.

“Of course. I hope you will take care of us next time!” The officer replied.

“No problem! General Liu, hope to see you again!” Zhuge Liang said and got onto a small mengchong with Wu Hui before leaving.

“Teacher. Who is this officer Liu?” Wu Hui asked after leaving. He was acting too cordially and even helped them to leave the ship.

“That officer is genuinely one of Sun Ce’s subordinates.” Zhuge Liang replied.

“Then why?” Wu Hui asked.

“What do generals want the most?” Zhuge Liang asked back.

Wu Hui started to think. As he had been with Zhuge Liang for a long time, he was naturally influenced and would think like Zhuge Liang. “Generals want merits the most.”

“Oh. Not bad. You got it right.” Zhuge Liang smiled.

“This is all because of Teacher’s teachings!” Wu Hui smiled bashfully.

“Yes. It is merits. However, merits is for fame. That being said all of that merits he painstakingly risked his life for would only make him a 1000-men commander. That is the extent of his abilities. However, it is a different story if he had the recommendation of a high ranking person.

“A high ranking person? Is it you Teacher?”

“Haha. Correct.” Zhuge Liang explained. That officer was treating Zhuge Liang so courteously because he believed that Zhuge Liang was going to join the Jiangdong Army. Even the soldiers would have noticed that Zhou Yu was trying to attract Zhuge Liang over to their side.

Zhuge Liang simply took advantage of this. Zhou Yu and Sun Ce had placed a lot of bodyguards supposedly to protect Zhuge Liang but they really did it to keep watch over him. This meant that Zhuge Liang would need to send away these bodyguards or he would be suspected.

It was fortunate that Huang Gai offered himself up to Zhuge Liang. The whole gamble made it clear that Huang Gai had lost the bet and became Zhuge Liang’s servant. Also, with someone powerful Huang Gai watching over Zhuge Liang, there was no longer any reasons to have bodyguards. Zhou Yu and Sun Ce also felt relieved.

None of them had expected Huang Gai to fall into Zhuge Liang’s trap and lose consciousness in Zhuge Liang’s room. With Huang Gai gone, Zhuge Liang was free to do as he pleased.

“Hm? Why is that mengchong heading towards the shore?” Zhou Yu asked when he noticed a mengchong heading towards the shore.

“Maybe there is something important they needed to do?” One deputy general replied, covering for the escapees thinking that they were nobles. Even Jiangdong had noble children that entered the army for merits using their family’s help. One cannot hope for all of these nobles to have any ability. The nobles with talent like Lu Su were a rarity. However, there were more talented people among the commoners such as Taishi Ci, Lu Meng and Han Dang as they had less to lose and were more daring.

On the other hand, the noble families would lose a lot of their influence their children died. That was why they had the tendency to hide whenever they could. The upper ranks generally don’t care. These nobles tend to fall sick because they are not used to hardship. If they die, there would be annoying problems and they were also a burden to allies. If they were to win, they would get merits. If they were to lose, they simply don’t need to return to the military.

Zhou Yu understood they all needed the support from the nobles as well, they had to permit these things. However, these noble children should have escaped before they dispatched instead of now. Just as he was about to give an order for these people to be investigated he received a message.

“The whole army is ready to meet the enemy!”

The two fleets faced each other on the Yangtze River. On one side was a small fleet with twenty ships. On the other was a large fleet with four hundred ships. Although it was frightening, the Yangzhou Navy still decided to fight. Whether they would win or lose was a different matter.