Chapter 47: Sun Ce is Dead

  The Northern Gate Ambush, the defenders of Guangling can be said to have won a great victory, burning more than 700 enemies including Sun Ce's general Sun He inside the city, while also killing more than 300 Sun Ce soldiers outside the city with long-range weapons such as bows and arrows. The casualties on their side were very small, totaling less than 50 people - after all, who made Sun Ce's army not even prepare siege weapons before coming to steal the city? Being able to kill so many enemies in the dark of night with just bows and arrows is already quite impressive.

  No matter what, this battle greatly stabilized the hearts of the people of Guangling and greatly boosted the morale of the defenders. Even those who were most disheartened and had the weakest will among the surrendered soldiers from Taoyuan were filled with confidence in the victory of the defense of Guangling, eagerly awaiting Sun Ce's army to return and preparing to make them suffer again in the city wall defense battle, showcasing the military might of Guangling. At the same time, Tao Ying's influence within the city of Guangling and among the Xu State troops also greatly increased, facilitating his adjustments and reforms of the Xu State troops, strengthening their training.

  However, what made the defenders of Guangling City puzzled was that after Sun Ce's army retreated back to their camp, there was no movement for two consecutive days. Not only did they not come to attack the city again, but they also didn't even carry out the most basic preparations for filling up the moat, as if they had already given up on the plan to attack Guangling City. All the generals in Xuzhou were baffled and couldn't understand Sun Ce's intentions. Tao Ying was also extremely suspicious, because he was very clear about the situation of Sun Ce's army. With their current military food reserves, they shouldn't have delayed for even a day, so why did Sun Ce still choose to hold back his troops for two consecutive days?

  On the third day, which was also the thirteenth day of September in the first year of Xingping, a scout from the Xu state military suddenly rushed back to the city and brought great news to Tao Ying and the Guangling defenders - The camp of Sun Ce's army, which had been quiet for more than two days, suddenly changed its flag to pure white today, raised a white banner, and all officers and soldiers hung white cloths to mourn! From this, it can be seen that Sun Ce's army must have lost a high-ranking general, who was definitely an important one!

  Such a major change occurred, and the Xuzhou generals led by Zhang Zhao rushed to Tao's front, discussing the next move with Tao. Given the current favorable situation, the Xuzhou generals led by Zhang Zhao also unanimously demanded that they immediately go out of the city to fight back, and take advantage of the fire to attack Sun Ce's army from Shouchun to Guangling, and teach them a lesson, and drive away Sun Ce's army at once.

  Facing the unanimous request for battle from the Xuzhou generals, Vice Director Tao, who is familiar with the Three Kingdoms, would not easily agree. After all, Zhou Yu had used this trick to outsmart Cao Ren once before. So, Tao thought carefully for a long time before turning his gaze to Lu Su and asking: "Military Advisor, in your opinion, is the enemy's display of grief a ruse to lure us into a trap?"

  "The situation is unclear and cannot be judged." Lu Su replied very concisely, "In my opinion, our army had better not move and observe the changes quietly, so as to avoid advancing rashly and leading to unpredictable consequences."

  Lu Su's words were exactly to Tao Ying's taste. The original purpose of the Xuzhou army was to keep Guangling, and whether or not to defeat Sun Ce's army again was a secondary goal. Now, choosing to hold back and not act, if Sun Ce's army really encountered a major change, it would inevitably retreat in no time, and the Xuzhou army would win the victory of defending Guangling. If Sun Ce's army was using a clever plan to lure the enemy, the Xuzhou army held back and did not act, and the grain-deficient Sun Ce's army would also inevitably lose morale soon, and return again, the Xuzhou army would have no losses, and could continue to defend Guangling with sufficient force. So Tao Ying immediately nodded and said: "The military advisor's words are extremely correct, let's do it this way, hold back and observe the changes!"

  "Gentlemen, an opportunity like this cannot be missed! If we miss it, it will never come again!" The Xuzhou generals were displeased and said: "Gentlemen, the other day our army ambushed Sun Ce's troops and succeeded. In the darkness of night, who knows how many enemy generals were killed? Among them must have been important enemy generals, severely damaging their morale. Now that Sun Ce is in mourning, it is the time when their morale is at its lowest, and also the best opportunity for our army to strike!"

  "Although what you said makes sense, have all of you generals considered this?" Tao Ying asked calmly: "If our army had killed the enemy general in the dark three nights ago, why didn't they mourn and hold a funeral for the first two days? Why did they wait until today?"

  The Xuzhou generals were speechless, but Zhang Yu's cousin, Qu Zhangxuan, was not convinced. He analyzed: "It's possible that the situation is like this: in the past three days, we only seriously injured the enemy general, and the enemy general did not die on the spot. Therefore, yesterday and the day before yesterday, the enemy did not take action, until last night or early this morning, when the seriously injured enemy general finally died of his injuries. That's why the enemy camp is mourning today."

  "That makes sense, it should be that way." The Xuzhou generals all nodded in agreement, thinking that Zhang Xuans words were reasonable.

  "If it's really like that, then it's even more suspicious." Tao Ying said calmly: "If I were in such a situation, I would not let the three armies mourn, I would only choose to remain silent and quietly retreat. Sun Ce and Zhou Yu are not ordinary generals, they will not make such mistakes! So I have decided, absolutely do not go out of the city to fight, even if it means missing an opportunity for battle, I will never take risks!"

  Encountering Tao Ying, a main general who is so suspicious and timid as a mouse, Zhang Xuan and other Xu Zhou generals are considered to be in a good mood. Fortunately, there is also an old general named Zhang Rao in the Xu Zhou army who is highly respected for his virtues and prestige. Zhang Rao bowed his hands to Tao Ying and said: "Sir, I know you are doing this for our own good. Although our army has won battle after battle, the enemy's strength is still far superior to ours. Sir, you should be careful and cautious, I deeply agree with you."

  "However, I think that if our army persists in not making a move, and we really miss this rare opportunity to attack, it would be a pity. Therefore, I think that our army can send out one division to probe the enemy's camp, while the main force stays in the city to provide cover. If the enemy is indeed treacherous, our army can quickly retreat and return to the city under the protection of the main force, with minimal losses. But if the enemy is truly not treacherous, then our main force can also take advantage of the opportunity to attack and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop!"

  Zhang Yu had always assisted Tao Ying as an old general, and Tao Ying was both concerned about and respectful of him. When Zhang Yu spoke, Tao Ying couldn't possibly not give him some face, especially since Zhang Yu's words were very reasonable and well-considered. After hesitating for a long time, Tao Ying finally nodded and said: "Alright, let's follow the old general's plan. Please ask General Zhang Xuan to lead an army of one thousand to go and provoke the enemy, to test their strength."

  "Agreed!" Zhang Xuan happily agreed.

  "Hold on, don't be in a hurry to thank me." Tao Ying added, "General Zhang Xuan, you can only bring the new recruits we surrendered from Fu Rong's place with this thousand troops, not the old soldiers from Xuzhou."

  Zhang Xuan's face turned gloomy, and he began to cry. Tao Ying observed his expression and said: "If General Zhang Xuan is unwilling to go, it doesn't matter. I can replace him with another general."

  "I'll go! I'll go!" Zhang Xuan was greatly surprised and hastily agreed before his eager companions could.

  Tao Ying smiled and warned, "General Zhang Xuan, please be extremely careful. Sun Ce's son is not an ordinary person, and Zhou Yu's son is even more cunning and deceitful. Whether we win or lose this battle is not important, the key is to understand the enemy's strengths and weaknesses." Zhang Xuan responded, and Tao Ying handed over the command arrow to him, ordering him to lead a thousand surrendered soldiers out of the city to lure the enemy into battle. He also ordered Zhang Ruo and other generals to prepare for backup, before leading Lu Su, Tao Ji, and Xu Sheng up onto the west gate tower to observe the battle with binoculars.

  In an instant, the thousand-strong army of new recruits gathered under Zhang Xuan's leadership and marched out of the city to attack Sun Ce's army. When they saw the Xu state troops coming out of the city, the scouts from Sun Ce's army who were scattered in the open fields also rushed back to the main camp to report. However, it seemed that Sun Ce's main camp had no intention of engaging in battle outside the camp, but instead quickly closed the gate and reinforced the defenses, even adding bows and crossbows behind the palisade to prevent the Xu state troops from charging into the camp. Seeing this situation, even Ru Su, the new military advisor of the Junzi army who had not read about the Three Kingdoms period, couldn't help but feel suspicious in his heart, suspecting that a major change had indeed occurred within Sun Ce's army and that victory was already beckoning to the Xu state troops.

  Whether Sun Ce's military change was true or false, Zhang Xuan's provocation was naturally fruitless. No matter how Zhang Xuan's army shouted and provoked in front of the gate of the big camp, Sun Ce's army tightly defended the camp and refused to come out for battle. Later, they even hung up the legendary "免战牌" (a sign that means "we won't fight") and put on a rogue appearance like a dead pig not afraid of being scalded by boiling water. In the end, Zhang Xuan's throat was hoarse from shouting, so he simply led his army to launch a charge, but the camp of Sun Ce immediately fired a barrage of arrows, forcing Zhang Xuan's troops back. Zhang Xuan had no choice but to lead his army back to the city, reporting to Tao Ying.

  "Is there really a problem with Sun Ce's army?" Seeing this situation, even Lu Su was shaken and couldn't help but say to Tao: "Young master, if Sun Ce is pretending to be weak, then when Zhang Xuan comes out of the city to challenge him, he should seize this opportunity to launch a surprise attack and win a victory to boost morale. Why did Sun Ce miss this opportunity? Is there really a problem in his camp?"

  "Perhaps Sun Ce's little boy and Zhou Yu's little boy are fishing for big fish with a long line." Tao Ying still refused to believe it, saying coldly: "Zhang Xuan has thousands of troops, even if Sun Ce's little boy swallows up Zhang Xuan's army, it won't decide the outcome of the Guangling battle. So Sun Ce's little boy is likely waiting, waiting for an opportunity to decide the victory or defeat of the Guangling battlefield!"

  Lu Su nodded in agreement with Tao Ying's views, and from then on Lu Su no longer questioned him. He even helped Tao Ying persuade the Xu State generals to reject their request for a night raid on the enemy camp, advising them to be cautious and continue to observe the situation quietly. The Xu State generals had no choice but to secretly complain about Tao Ying's excessive caution and honestly retreated.

  The night fell quickly over the land of Guangling, just as Tao Ying was about to go find Lin Qing's little maid to talk about love. Suddenly, Xie Yan, the commander of Xu State who was guarding the west gate, sent a report to Tao Ying saying that an enemy general had come to surrender with dozens of men. These people had already been disarmed and were being closely guarded on the city wall by the defending army. They asked for instructions from Tao Ying whether to summon them or not. After hearing the report, Tao Ying thought for a moment before ordering: "Bring the leader of the enemy general to the governor's mansion, separate the other surrendered soldiers and lock them up, treat them well, send people to interrogate them separately, record their confessions, and then send them all together to me."

  The messenger took orders and left, and after a while, Xie Yan sent someone to bring the five-flower-bound surrendering general to the governor's mansion. At the same time, Zhang Yu and Lu Su also heard the news and rushed over, accompanying Tao Ying in interrogating this surrendering general. As soon as the Sun Ce army's surrendering general was brought onto the main hall, he immediately knelt down on both knees and kowtowed to Tao Ying, respectfully saying: "The guilty general Fu Yin, pays respects to Master Tao of Xuzhou."

  "What's your name, Fu Ying? What position do you hold in the government? Whose subordinate are you?" Tao Ying asked casually while sizing up this Fu Ying, seeing that he was only around twenty years old, with a round face and a dignified appearance, not looking like a cunning or deceitful person.

  "Return to the young master, the crime will be surnamed Fu, named Yin, with the character Gao Yuan. He is currently a Qujiang and is under the command of General Ji Ling, who is one of the most trusted generals of General Yuan Shu, also known as the Marquis of Yang." Fu Yin knocked his head on the ground and replied honestly: "This time, Sun Ce's young master led an expedition to the east. General Yuan was worried and not at ease, so when he dispatched troops and generals, he secretly ordered General Ji Ling to send a few trusted officials to infiltrate Sun Ce's army, pretending to follow the army on its expedition, but actually to spy on Sun Ce's young master. I am one of them."

  Tao Ying and Lu Su exchanged a glance, both secretly rejoicing in their hearts. Then Tao Ying asked again: "Fu Yin, you are Ji Ling's confidant and also bear the heavy responsibility of secretly monitoring Sun Ce's young son. Why do you want to surrender to me?"

  "Gentlemen, the crime will not come to an end if you don't take action." Fu Ying knocked his head and replied: "Because if the crime doesn't hurry up and surrender, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai's old men will take the criminal's head to offer sacrifices to Sun Ce's young son!"

  "Buried alive with Sun Ce's child?" Tao Ying was shocked and asked, "What do you mean? Has Sun Ce's child already died?!"

  "Return to the young master, it is indeed so." Fu Ying knocked his head and honestly replied: "Sun Ce's child was hit by your poisonous arrow during the great battle in the eastern city. The poison gradually penetrated into the bone marrow, with a high fever that did not recede. Last night at the fourth watch, the golden wound burst open, and he died with convulsions in all four limbs!"

  Tao Ying's eyes lit up, and he suddenly remembered that day on the battlefield in Dongcheng, his Junzi army had indeed shot Sun Ce with several horse dung arrows, which might have caused tetanus bacteria to enter Sun Ce's wound, leading to infection! And the symptoms of tetanus were also consistent with high fever and muscle spasms! Overjoyed, Tao Ying hastily asked: "General Fu, quickly tell me about the before and after of Sun Ce's death from severe injury, the more detailed the better."

  "Yes." Fu Yin replied, and then detailed the process of Sun Ce's death. It turned out that on the day of the Northern Gate ambush, Sun Ce saw his own army being slaughtered by the Guangling defenders and became enraged, which triggered an arrow wound relapse. He fell off his horse and fainted on the spot. After being rescued by Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, Sun Ce remained unconscious, with a high fever that wouldn't subside, leaving the military doctors helpless. That's why Sun Ce's army had been stationary for two days, not daring to attack the city. However, last night at the fourth watch, Sun Ce's condition suddenly took a turn for the worse, and he died in agony, convulsing all over, without leaving any last words. Only then did Sun Ce's army hang up mourning flags today.

  "The mortality rate of tetanus is not 100%, am I just that lucky? Sun Ce just happens to be one of the few percent?" Tao Ying thought to herself, then asked Fu Yin: "Since Sun Ce's child died from severe injuries, why did you say that Cheng Pu and Huang Gai want to take your head to bury with Sun Ce's child?"

  "Sir, all this is due to your clever plan." Fu Ying replied with a flattering expression: "You sent someone to post notices in Shouchun, exposing Sun Ce's disloyal intentions. General-in-Chief Yuan Shu became suspicious and first sent Yuan Yin to summon Sun Ce to withdraw his troops. Sun Ce disobeyed the order, and then General-in-Chief Yuan Shu flew into a rage. He first captured and imprisoned Lv Fan, who was hiding in Shouchun, and ordered Ji Ling to lead 30,000 soldiers eastward to capture Sun Ce and bring him back to Shouchun for execution! Cheng Pu and Huang Gai were both trusted advisors of Sun Ce, but they found it difficult to escape. They planned to kill the loyal general Yuan Shu in the military camp, then escort Sun Ce's body south across the Yangtze River to join his uncle Wu Jing, the governor of Danyang."

  Fu Ying's words were reasonable and revealed many absolute secrets. Even if Tao Ying was extremely suspicious, he couldn't help but believe seven or eight parts of it at this moment. After exchanging a quick glance with Lu Su, Tao Ying gave Fu Ying no time to think and asked hastily: "How did these two old men, Cheng Pu and Huang Gai, know about these secrets? And how do you know? Answer!"

  "Sun Ce's little ones in Shouchun City, apart from Lü Fan, there is another spy named Zhu Zhi!" Fu Yin replied honestly: "General-in-Chief captured Lü Fan's little one and put him in prison, and ordered General Ji Ling to lead the army eastward to capture Sun Ce's little one. Zhu Zhi's little one knew that things were not going well, so he abandoned his wife and children and rode alone to report to Sun Ce's little one. However, when Zhu Zhi's little one arrived at the military camp, Sun Ce's little one had already died from severe injuries. Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Zhou Yu, a few treacherous officials, knew that things were coming to an end, so they decided to put all these loyal ministers of the Yuan family to death, and then led the army southward, crossing the river to join Sun Ce's maternal uncle."

  "How did you know these secrets?" Tao Ying shouted: "You are a loyal minister of the Yuan family, and when Cheng Pu and Huang Gai discussed such important matters, they would not have let you know. How do you know so much? Speak!"

  "Cheng Pu's personal soldier has been bribed by the little man!" Fu Yin was frightened out of his wits and hastily replied: "The little man, in order to monitor Sun Ce's movements more conveniently, secretly bribed one of Cheng Pu's personal soldiers. When Cheng Pu and others were discussing their poisonous plan, this soldier happened to be present and reported the matter to the general in secret. The general knew that he was doomed and could not escape even if he returned to Shouchun, so he led dozens of Yuan's old soldiers to surrender to the young master under the cover of night."

  Fu Ying hastily added, "The crime will buy off that old soldier of Cheng Fu's and he will also surrender to the young master at the city gate. If the young master does not believe it, you can ask him at any time."

  Tao Ying stopped talking, blinking his treacherous triangular eyes and calculating for half a day. Tao Ying first ordered the soldiers to take Fu Ying away and imprison him, then ordered someone to bring the confessions of other surrendered soldiers, carefully comparing them. Lu Su advised Tao Ying to bring that soldier who was with Cheng Pu to confront him, and after repeated questioning, Tao Ying and Lu Su finally came to a conclusion - Fu Ying was not lying!

  "General Zhang." With a sure victory in hand, Tao Ying also became somewhat excited and instructed General Zhang: "Please trouble the general to pass on the order, let all the generals sit well and prepare for battle. Tonight at the second watch, gather at the governor's mansion great hall, waiting for my command."

  "Yes!" Zhang Mou answered with a fist bump, and happily accepted the order and left.

  "Zi Jing, you also go and pass on the order." Tao Ying turned to Lu Su and instructed: "Let Tao Ji and Xu Sheng prepare for battle, feed the war horses fully, bring enough weapons, tonight we will greatly defeat Sun Ce's little son!"

  Lu Su also received the order and left, while Tao Ying tried to calm himself down and started thinking about how to take advantage of the situation tonight and maximize his victory. But just then, from the back hall came Lin Qing's cold hum, "Poison arrows? Even poison arrows were used, do you still have the face to call yourself a gentleman?"

  Scoffing, Lin Qing, who rarely wore women's clothing, walked out with a gentle and elegant gait, directly to Tao Ying's face. Using her delicate finger, she lightly stroked her own pale and rosy lovely face, taunting: "I really don't know how you, this bookworm hypocrite, have the nerve to wave the banner of being a gentleman? How do you have the nerve to wave the banners of benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, and sincerity, as well as kindness, respect, and frugality? You even used poisonous arrows; aren't you afraid of being ridiculed by everyone under heaven?"

  "It can't be helped if I don't use poison arrows, who made Sun Ce's little kid so fierce? If I didn't use poison arrows to shoot him and he broke through Guangling City, wouldn't my beautiful concubine Lin Qing be taken away by him?" Tao Ying replied with a smile, taking the opportunity to take a close look at the rare sight of Xiao'er dressed in women's clothes. And indeed, the spoiled and willful little kid looked stunning after putting on women's clothes, having both figure and face, surpassing even the daughters of the Mi family by half a point."

  "Who is your mistress?" Lin Qing's face sank, and she began to show signs of losing her temper.

  "Not be a concubine? Then being a wife is fine." Tao Ying smiled and said: "When we return to Xuzhou, I'll immediately go to your family to propose, and marry you as my wife. This should be okay, right?"

  "Pah! Who wants to marry you?" Lin Qing spat out a mouthful of saliva, looking down on Tao Ying's sweet words.

  "Not marry? Then I'll snatch you!" Tao said with a sly smile, "When the time comes, I'll snatch you back and point a knife at you to ask if you'll follow me or not. If you don't follow me, I'll stab you..."

  "How dare you!" Lin Qing was not afraid of Tao Ying's threat, and instead threatened back: "If you dare to treat me like this, I'll let my dad catch you and cut you to death one knife at a time...... Eh?"

  Threatened here, Lin Qing couldn't say anything more because Tao Ying suddenly stared blankly with both eyes fixed on his face, looking extremely fascinated. Lin Qing's little girl felt a bit shy and unconsciously turned her pretty face away, scolding: "Stinky bookworm, what are you staring at? Don't you know that it's impolite to stare?"

  "Strange?" Tao Ying thought to herself, "Why do I feel that something is off when I say 'rob the beauty' and use a knife to coerce the beauty into asking if she will obey me or not? Where exactly is it off, and why can't I think of it?"

  "What's wrong with you, bookworm?" Seeing Tao Ying didn't respond for a long time, Lin Qing couldn't help but turn his head back and ask.

  Once again, Tao Ying saw Lin Qing's lovely face clearly and found that this little girl was indeed a rare beauty. Her slender eyebrows were like delicate willow leaves, her skin as pale as light smoke, her cheeks tender as flowers, with a hint of red beneath the white, and her small cherry mouth slightly pursed, looking as if she might cry at any moment. This made Deputy Director Tao, who hadn't been with a woman for a long time, feel like he was drooling all over the place. At the same time, Deputy Director Tao suddenly thought of several key words and instantly broke out in a cold sweat. "Beauty! Strong robbery! Fu Ying! No wonder I felt that this name was somewhat familiar earlier!"

  "Lin Mei." Tao Ying suddenly spoke up, shamelessly saying to Lin Qing: "This time you must marry me, otherwise it won't do. If it weren't for you appearing before me now and saying these things, I almost fell for it, and Guangling City and our several thousand soldiers would have been lost! Luckily you reminded me, saving me, saving Guangling, and saving the precious lives of several thousand Guangling soldiers! This time, even if I suffer a huge loss, I must bring you back as my wife! Otherwise, I really don't know how to thank you!"

  "Bookworm! Have you had enough? If you utter one more shameless and obscene word, I'll kill you right now!" Lin Qing's little maid was red in the face and waving her small fist as she scolded loudly.