flstandardbreds Chapter 153 The Wu Emperor and His Ministers Break Through Their Defenses
Chapter 153 The Wu Emperor and His Ministers Break Through Their Defenses
Upon hearing Xu Xiang's report, the lifeless crowd in the hall suddenly looked up as if they had risen from the dead, their eyes filled with doubt as they gazed at the sandalwood box in his hand.
When Guan Yu sent an invitation to Sun Quan, it was like a weasel offering New Year's greetings to a chicken.
While everyone else was inwardly complaining, Yu Fan asked soberly, "Whose invitation is this? Is Guan Yu getting his son married?"
Upon hearing this, everyone, including Sun Quan, turned to look at Zhang Zhao.
It should be noted that the first thing Guan Yu did upon entering Jianye was to ask Zhang Zhao for a marriage proposal. Although Zhang Zhao explicitly refused, Zhang Zhao's adult granddaughter did not retreat back to Jiangling with him, but was instead held hostage in Jianye.
Now that Wu's army has withdrawn, Guan Yu no longer needs to consult Zhang Zhao's opinion and can let his son Guan Xing force himself on him.
If they really forced Zhang Zhao's granddaughter into marriage, Zhang Zhao would have no choice but to accept it.
Besides, Zhang Cheng is still in Guan Xing's hands. Even if the Guan family father and son go through the proper procedures, they will contact Zhang Cheng. What does it have to do with Zhang Zhao?
Zhang Zhao was also aware of this possibility. Moreover, he was very concerned about his reputation and valued family traditions the most. Over the years, there had never been any family scandals exposed in public. However, today, he was being scrutinized and examined because of family matters. The feeling was comparable to being killed in the office. He was so ashamed that his face burned, and he wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Zhang Zhao said awkwardly, "Why don't we take a look first? Maybe it's not."
Sun Quan thought it made sense and instructed Xu Xiang, "Open it."
Xu Xiang placed the sandalwood box on the table, opened it himself, took out the contents, and handed them to Sun Quan with both hands.
At this moment, everyone in the hall focused their attention on Xu Xiang's hands, and they all gasped when they saw what was in his hands.
Xu Xiang was holding a golden book. Although it was thin, it was made of pure gold and shone brightly. The cover was inlaid with the words "Invitation" in the center with a ruby the size of a broad bean.
The calligraphy, made of gold and inlaid with gemstones, is the epitome of luxury.
Although luxurious, it exudes the air of a nouveau riche, and it's obvious at a glance that Guan Yu is a bumpkin with little cultural refinement.
Sun Quan took the invitation with a look of disdain, opened it, and his contemptuous gaze instantly turned to horror. Before he could finish reading it, he threw the invitation away and roared in a fit of rage, "Red-faced thief, you've gone too far!"
After saying that, everything went black and he felt a sweet taste in his throat. He spat out a mouthful of blood all over Xu Xiang's face, and then fell straight back down.
Fortunately, Xu Xiang reacted quickly. The moment he felt the surge of adrenaline, he reached out and grabbed Sun Quan's belt, forcibly pulling him back so that he fell onto him instead of the wall behind him.
Nevertheless, Sun Quan's reaction still left everyone speechless and at a loss for words.
After a long pause, Yu Fan was the first to react. He picked up the invitation and silently examined it. Zhang Zhao, Gu Yong, and the others gathered around and, upon seeing the contents of the invitation, collectively broke down in their guard and shouted without regard for their image, "Guan Yu, you red-faced thief, I will never let you get away with this!"
The invitation was quite lengthy, and its main content was that Guan Yu and Lady Qiao were getting married on the same day, and that a small feast had been prepared in Jianye to sincerely invite Lord Wu to attend the banquet.
This was not an invitation for Guan Yu to marry his son, but an invitation for himself to marry, and the bride was Zhou Yu's widow, Xiao Qiao?
Damn Guan Yu, you're already sixty years old, how can you be so shameless?
After cursing for a while, everyone turned their attention to Zhang Zhao.
It's all your fault, you old fool! If you had brought Xiao Qiao back to Jiangling, would this mess have happened?
Zhang Zhao's face instantly turned even redder than Guan Yu's, and he wished he could turn around immediately and smash his head against a nearby pillar to his death.
That's so damn embarrassing.
I'm over sixty years old and I can't bear to suffer this humiliation anymore.
He finally understood why Lü Meng had been hiding in Chaisang and hadn't returned. He had previously cursed Lü Meng for being foolish, but now it seemed that Lü Meng was truly wise.
Zhang Zhao moved his lips for a long time, but realized that whatever he said would be wrong, so he simply rolled his eyes and fell straight down to Gu Yong next to him.
I'm too ashamed to speak, so I'll pretend to be dizzy, okay? If I'm dizzy, you won't be able to scrutinize me anymore, right?
When Gu Yong saw Zhang Zhao fall towards him, he instinctively reached out to catch him and called Lu Xun over to help him put Zhang Zhao on the ground and lay him flat. Then they stared at each other, not knowing what to do.
This meeting can't be held anymore, let's just call it a day.
The problem is, who will announce the adjournment of the meeting? Sun Quan vomited blood, and Zhang Zhao fainted. Both of the people qualified to announce the adjournment were useless. What could they do but wait?
For a moment, the bewildered crowd fell into a deathly silence, even trying to control their breathing.
After a short silence, Sun Quan finally came to his senses. He pushed Xu Xiang aside and tried to stand up, but as he did so, he noticed a golden invitation card in the sandalwood box. Instinctively, he reached for it, opened it, and his composure crumbled again. He grabbed the sandalwood box and slammed it to the ground, cursing angrily, "Guan Yu, you bastard! You've gone too far! *smack*..."
The sound of the sandalwood box hitting the ground seemed to strike everyone's hearts, causing their hearts to pound and the same question to surface in their minds.
What happened again?
Yu Fan stepped forward again, gently pulled the invitation card from between Sun Quan's two fingers, opened it and his expression changed drastically. Helplessly, he handed it to Gu Yong behind him.
After Gu Yong finished reading it, he handed it to Lu Xun. After passing it around, everyone understood what was going on.
This is the wedding invitation of Guan Xing and Sun Luyu. The Guan family father and son are getting married at the same time, and both of them are people that the Jiangdong rulers and ministers find hard to accept.
The problem is, you can marry them, but after the wedding, you have to pretend to invite them to a banquet in Jianye. Isn't that just rubbing salt into their wounds?
Everyone cursed Guan Yu as a scoundrel, but Lu Xun remained silent.
He knew that Jiangdong was doomed. Unless a special event occurred, in which Guan Yu and the Wei army perished together, or Guan Yu suddenly died, it would be impossible to take it back in this lifetime.
With Guan Yu's martial prowess combined with Xiao Qiao's influence, Jiangdong could be stabilized instantly, and the longer the situation dragged on, the more secure Guan Yu's position would become.
Sun Quan smashed things for half an hour, finally sobering up after overturning the table in front of him. He then ordered Xu Xiang to rearrange the table, sat on his heels, and scolded, "Stop arguing, let's discuss what to do. Strategist, get up, stop pretending."
Zhang Zhao got up dejectedly, cleared his throat and said, "This matter is settled and cannot be changed. We should think on the bright side."
"First of all, Guan Yu has only taken Jianye and Wu Commandery, and he has to face the Wei army marching south. He has no time to attend to other matters for the time being. Yuzhang Commandery is still in our hands. In addition to Nan Commandery and the four commanderies of Jingnan, our lord still has six commanderies."
"Secondly, with Liu Bei's retreat, Guan Ping must have retreated as well. Jingnan can be stabilized for the time being. Once the rear is stabilized, things will be easier to handle on the front lines."
"Finally, as Cao Cao and Liu Bei went to war, our lord became the object of their vying to win him over. We could ask them for all we wanted, and if they refused, we would attack them. Even if we didn't actually fight, just making a show of attack would be enough to give them a hard time."
Sun Quan frowned and asked, "Then what do we do now?"
Zhang Zhao said, "Do nothing, just stand by and watch, and wait for Cao Cao and Liu Bei to start fighting before we talk about it."
Sun Quan then asked, "And what about Old Madam Zhou? Was she just taken away by Guan Yu like that?"
"And what about the two young masters Denglu and your families? Are we just going to leave them in Jianye and let Guan Yu keep them under his control?"
Zhang Zhao fell silent. Including himself and Sun Quan, most of the families present were in Guan Yu's hands. This was indeed a difficult situation.
Zhang Zhao remained silent for a long time before sighing, "For now, we can only wait. We'll send an envoy to negotiate with Liu Bei after Cao Cao and Liu Bei start fighting, and exchange the two princes and their wives for us."
Yu Fan continued, "The strategist's words are reasonable, but abandoning the Zhou family and allowing Old Madam Zhou to be taken away by Guan Yu has too great an impact. There must be an explanation. I suggest that the Grand Commander be summoned back immediately."