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“Can strategists not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 304: Sea Voyage to Liaodong…
A few days ago, when Liu Biao was trembling with fear over Qiao Yan’s troop movements in Yingchuan, Yuan Shao was actually feeling a bit smug about the same news.
Yuan Shu’s death meant that the price Yuan Shao hoped to extract from Cao Cao when he allowed him to mobilize troops had finally been paid.
This brother, who had been trying to pin the blame on him ever since Yuan Ji passed away, could no longer contend for the leadership of the Runan Yuan clan, nor could he open his mouth to cause any unnecessary trouble.
Cao Cao’s hold over Runan County certainly brought a wave of pressure to Yuan Shao, but the subsequent news about Qiao Yan’s mobilization turned that pressure into mere spectator sport.
Thinking about it, if Runan County fell into his hands, he would never willingly give it up to anyone else.
Similarly, Qiao Yan had always been relentless in her military endeavors and surely had a stubborn attitude towards the territorial claims of Yu Province.
Regardless of whether Qiao Yan or Cao Cao emerged victorious, Yuan Shao knew a fierce battle was unavoidable.
The more troops they consumed over Runan, the more comfortable his own situation would become, given the balance of power.
He even told Xu You, “If Cao Mengde wins, we can prepare a further political assault on the Chang’an court, taking advantage of the chaos to launch a counterattack from River North County. Even if Cao Mengde wins, it’ll mostly be a Pyrrhic victory, allowing us to support Zhang Mengzhu to resist him in Yanzhou, diluting his power there.”
“If Qiao Yan wins, that’ll be fine too. If Cao Mengde loses troops, he’ll need my support. A couple of years ago, I wanted him to send his eldest son Cao Ang to Ye City for an official post, but he always found excuses to reject it. Now, I might actually achieve it.”
The more Yuan Shao considered it, the better the scenario appeared to him. Even when Shen Pei reported on the drilling progress, requesting large-scale production of the bamboo fan drills, he wasn’t displeased by the expense and even agreed with the proposal gladly.
However, this good mood lasted only until the next dispatch from Cao Cao reached Ye City.
This report boldly stated that reinforcements from Guanzhong and Jing Province had arrived in Yingchuan. His troops were insufficient; at best, they could only maintain guard along the defense he had set up at the borders of Yingchuan and Runan, without successfully attacking Yingchuan.
Self-awareness is crucial; since he couldn’t conquer all of Yu Province, and couldn’t timely receive troop support from Yuan Shao, rather than wasting his forces in a pointless battle, it would be better for him to quickly wrap things up.
In talks with Qiao Yan, given that Yu Province was still plagued by drought and locusts, they decided to set a temporary boundary for governance between Yingchuan and Runan. Otherwise, intensifying conflict would only lead to more suffering for the people of Yu Province, which would be bad for everyone.
Fortunately, the results were already much better than he had anticipated before dispatching his troops.
Originally, a significant portion of Yu Province, which wasn’t even under the authority of Ye City’s court, had come under their control. Once they weathered the disaster year and restored agricultural order, it would undoubtedly become a boon for the Ye City court, yielding a substantial tax revenue.
“Such sweet words, yet Yanzhou hasn’t provided any decent tax revenue to Ye City!” Yuan Shao cursed internally upon reading this.
However, the promised tax revenue wasn’t what truly troubled him about this report.
What he found most unacceptable was that the anticipated battle would end in such a lackluster manner.
Any battle would result in casualties. In Cao Cao’s last report, there was mention of Xiahou Dun’s defeat. While some managed to flee home, others were captured by Qiao Yan near Lingying City and the Black Lyu Gorge, resulting in over two thousand casualties.
If skirmishes were like this, a full-on confrontation would surely be even more shocking.
In such hard times for the populace, the civil unrest Liu Shu faced back in the day could easily repeat itself.
Even if Cao Cao and Qiao Yan wouldn’t end up in the same dire straits as Yuan Shu, they could still run into some trouble.
Supplies and resources would continuously flow into Yu Province, making it an investment without immediate returns compared to his drilling hammer project.
But what now?
Now, Cao Cao had taken the territory of Runan County—the most expansive in Yu Province—and Yingchuan, famed for its noble talents, had fallen to Qiao Yan.
The former result confirmed the success of Cao Cao’s campaign, utterly crucial for his reputation as the Yanzhou governor.
And the latter was even more critical.
The scholars from Yingchuan held various high positions in the Chang’an court, from Grand Herald to Military Governor, and if they realized that Qiao Yan managed to retain Yingchuan under her control after a hasty military move, they could easily keep the chain of endorsements going.
“Yingchuan… why is it always Yingchuan!”
Yuan Shao knew full well that this lament was unreasonable.
The concentration of scholars in Yingchuan was somewhat related to its proximity to the capital; such a position—close to the center and yet not directly under the Son of Heaven—contributed to its unique status.
After all, Qiao Yan had set her troops out through Huan Yuan Pass and aimed to seize Yingchuan first.
But Yingchuan didn’t fall; and the implications affected not just Cao Cao but him as well.
Wouldn’t figures like Xin Pi from Yingchuan be stirred by the situation?
“Wait a minute…” Yuan Shao suddenly wore a look of suspicion, “Why would Qiao Yan agree to Cao Cao’s suggestion of territorial governance?”
Did she really appear that easy to negotiate with?
At least from Yuan Shao’s knowledge of her, she certainly wasn’t!
Yet the messenger delivering the report simply had no clue, stating that this dispatch had arrived rapidly in Yanzhou and was then sent here at the quickest pace—merely for the timeliness of news, he didn’t grasp the details of Yu Province.
Yuan Shao felt a slight headache and didn’t see the unclear news reaching him as something to cheer about.
Luckily, he wasn’t the only one getting updates on Yu Province.
After scolding the esteemed noble families of Yanzhou for causing internal chaos, they were still trying to build a bridge to him, hoping that gaining his support could topple Cao Cao.
This expedition to Yu Province involved many personnel, making it inevitable that some of their people would be involved.
These individuals might not serve other purposes, but they could definitely serve as informants for Yuan Shao.
This message, arriving days later than Cao Cao’s dispatch, stripped of some embellishments, could potentially convey a more accurate reflection of what was happening in Yu Province.
Rather than saying it was hard for Cao Cao to invade Yingchuan, it would be more accurate to say Qiao Yan actively sought discussions with Cao Cao regarding a ceasefire and once they agreed, Cao Cao sent Qiao Yan away from Pingyu and delivered Yuan Shu’s remains to Yingchuan.
“This reeks of complaints,” Xu You chuckled upon seeing the confidential letter, “If Cao Mengde could be so flatteringly propped up by the overwhelming power of Qiao Dashi, sending him from Pingyu towards Yingchuan, I reckon he’d have already become the bridge to Chang’an, and we would never see this sudden attack on Runan today; he was probably coerced by Qiao Yan instead.”
Seeing the not-so-kind glance Yuan Shao shot his way, Xu You quickly coughed and adjusted his expression, “Not that I’m making excuses for Cao Mengde; I just think there’s something to uncover here.”
Yuan Shao said, “Go on, enlighten me.”
Xu You continued, “If this ceasefire agreement came about under pressure from Qiao Yan, it would prevent Cao Mengde from accomplishing a total victory in the Yu Province siege. Right now, this peaceful situation is merely temporary.”
“Moreover, Yingchuan only occupies one-tenth of the entire Yu Province; at most, it serves as a springboard for invading Yu Province. It’s not in Qiao Yan’s hands, so those who ought to go to Chang’an won’t abandon that intention, and the resources she can offer are limited. However, if Yingchuan falls into Cao Mengde’s hands, it will truly become a crucial threat to Yan Gong.”
“What Cao Mengde needs is the support of Yu Province’s nobility to form a balance against the forces of Yanzhou. With Yingchuan’s top families gone, the remaining families in Runan have grievances against him due to Yuan Gonglu’s death; achieving subjugation will not be as easy as imagined. This, in fact, presents the most favorable situation for Yan Gong.”
Yuan Shao listened with skepticism as Xu You spoke, but the more he heard, the more plausible it seemed.
With Cao Cao’s nature, having a juicy piece of the spoils snatched away would be intolerable—even if the one doing the snatching was an old friend and the granddaughter of Qiao Xuan, he wouldn’t just swallow this loss.
Given that friction at the border was now a possibility, Yuan Shao had a perfect pretext to get involved.
Additionally, the more complicated the situation in Yu Province, the more energy Cao Cao would have to devote to it. If he relaxed his efforts toward Yanzhou…
That could be Yuan Shao’s chance!
With this thought, Yuan Shao found himself back to the good mood he was in upon receiving the first piece of news.
What still irked him, though, was Liu Biao, that royal, who, during Dong Zhuo’s reign, had played a role in the death of Sun Wentai and could thus be regarded as reckless. How come now, under Qiao Yan’s command, he acted as meek as a quail, sending both his generals and elite troops to Yingchuan?
It was like tying oneself up.
With people already in Qiao Yan’s hands, could they possibly be returned?
Just look at Han Fu, the former General of Liaodong.
When Qiao Yan borrowed Qu Yi from his ranks, she didn’t say it was a one-off; meanwhile, Han Fu had shown no suspicion, and where did that lead him?
Qu Yi transitioned from a lieutenant in Liaodong’s army to now being the Middle General of the Eastern Campaign, and his entire family fell under Qiao Yan’s command.
While Han Fu, the Grainger General, was first imprisoned for abandoning his post and trying to flee, it was as if he had never existed in Bingzhou, until recently when the demand for labor due to iron mine operations had led to a review of all prisoners in various jails, pulling Han Fu from some forgotten corner.
He hadn’t really committed any crimes, so there was hardly a reason to keep him confined. According to Bingzhou’s explanation, Han Fu was always regarding the Ye City court, leading them to send him back.
This really ticked Yuan Shao off.
In prison, Han Fu had books to read and work to do; his mental state wasn’t too grim, but figuring out how to remedy this was a headache for the Ye City court.
A newly appointed General of Liaodong being pushed aside before he even achieved anything substantial would raise eyebrows; people would question whether he would stir up yet more trouble. But if he were left disregarded, that boasted another problem.
Han Fu could be considered half a celebrity…
Qiao Yan had grounds to act against him, and since she hadn’t imposed severe punishments, it could be conveniently claimed that amid the numerous shifts in the situation, she merely forgot he was around. It could almost be justified.
Now, however, she was sending him back to Ye City with great fanfare, meaning Yuan Shao couldn’t just ignore him.
Having heard of the several changes occurring in Jing and Yu provinces, he even thought to send Han Fu to Liu Biao as an envoy of sorts to help him pay more attention.
Before he could fully untangle that decision, another message diverted his attention.
This message clearly started with four characters: “Xuzhou in turmoil.”
What on earth now!
Seeing those four words made Yuan Shao want to tear his hair out.
The pressure from the locusts, the expenses from drilling in drought, and the results of Qiao Yan benefiting from confrontations in Yu Province were already giving him chills; now, there was also trouble from Xuzhou.
If previously the standoff between these neighboring forces generated some anticipation for play-by-play action on his part, now that sentiment had fizzled out.
Just hearing that something was happening in Xuzhou had his face turning slightly green.
Fortunately, his habitual exposure to frequent shocking news helped him maintain his composure when he said, “Share the specifics with me.”
Rubbing his temples, he dreaded suddenly seeing news of Liu Bei being assassinated by a riotous mob; so he thought it best to let them deliver the info directly.
But considering Liu Bei’s slow-paced approach to reviving the populace in Pei State, he figured the possibility of him landing in such dire straits was minimal, so he pushed those chaotic thoughts aside.
The bearer scrutinized Yuan Shao’s complexion and relayed, “To be precise, it started with problems in Yang Province. Governor Sun Ce was attacked by the forces from the Wu County nobility and the Mountain Yue Alliance.”
Yuan Shao sprang up from his seat, “He’s dead?”
The messenger, nearly intimidated by the expectant gaze, almost backpedaled but hastened to clarify, “N-no, he’s not dead. The Grand Governor of Lujiang, Lu Kang’s grandson was a student at Leping Academy; having come to Xuzhou for tactical practice and a trip to Yang Province, he paid a visit to Lujiang to see his relatives and then went to Huating to pay respects. He noticed something was up with the Wu County aristocrats and promptly informed Madam Wu.”
Madam Wu was Sun Ce’s mother. Due to the tensions between Sun Ce and the Wu County aristocracy, she had rushed back from her home in Changsha County on Qiao Yan’s advice to advise her son against causing too much chaos.
Yet Sun Ce was dissuaded by his mother, but the unruly families in Yang Province seemed not to have heeded her advice.
Seeing Sun Ce’s influence grow stronger in Yang Province day by day, they feared he was merely putting on a good face to his mother while keeping his ruthless behaviors—like those when he exterminated Wang Sheng and others—intact, only waiting to settle scores later, so they colluded with the Mountain Yue to strike first.
Upon receiving the warning from Lu Yi, Madam Wu didn’t dismiss him for his youth, but rather sent her brother Wu Jing to seek out Sun Ce immediately.
Fortunately, the warning came in time; Sun Ce had managed to avoid a trap, sustaining only minor injuries.
However, to catch the thieves and seize evidence, Sun Ce shamelessly declared that he had narrowly escaped death during a solitary hunt, claiming he had been ambushed by assassins and almost lost his life.
His decision wasn’t without reason; the agitated Wu County families, hearing of Sun Ce’s predicament, sprang into action, with the true perpetrators among them being the most outspoken.
This way, when it came to accountability, no one could contest Sun Ce’s judgment against the main culprits.
But how was this…?
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“He doesn’t care about the faces of the noble families from Wujun, not leaving them an ounce of dignity, it’s clear that…”
These people are just too bullyish!
He is now the legitimate Governor of Yang Province, so how dare they try to take his life like this?
But there was a slip-up in the string of injuries and messages; Sun Ce forgot to inform Zhou Yu in advance that he wasn’t severely harmed.
What Zhou Yu received first was the news sent from Wujun across the river—
Sun Ce was injured in an assassination.
At that time, he was in Xuzhou discussing military deployments, and upon learning this, he immediately turned back towards Yang Province.
If something happened to Sun Ce, the situation in Yang Province would surely descend into chaos at once; why would he still need to focus on the Huai River front?
He had to ensure the situation in Yang Province was secure as soon as possible.
Here comes the problem: there’s a well-known fact in Xuzhou—Zhang Yang, dispatched by Qiao Yan to garrison Hailing and supervise the situation in Xuzhou and Yang Province, was not only clueless about naval warfare but also rarely involved in Xuzhou’s military defenses. Zhang Yi’s footing here was basically due to Zhou Yu’s efforts.
In most cases, this is actually a good thing.
It means Qiao Yan granted enough autonomy to the places far from Chang’an’s control to prevent friction between outside and local powers.
But sometimes, this isn’t such a good thing, for instance, right now.
Zhou Yu hurriedly retreated to prepare for potential changes in Yang Province, taking the soldiers with him, which directly left the southern defenses of Xuzhou wide open for the enemy to see.
Even with the drought causing Zang Ba and others stationed in Langya to extort Liu Bei, and the natural disaster detracting attention from Liu Bei and Chen Deng, when the enemy has so many gaps, they definitely won’t hold back.
Under Chen Deng and Lu Su’s advice, Liu Bei launched an attack towards southern Xuzhou.
Yuan Shao’s eyes brightened up at this.
Even if Liu Bei were to win this battle, considering Cao Cao’s earlier advances into Runan, he found it acceptable.
If Longan’s territory could be further reduced, it would count as good news.
But due to the previous miscalculation, he gestured for the messenger to continue.
It turned out his decision was indeed correct.
Because what the messenger said next was—
They had been deceived! All duped by that Zhang Yi guy.
He was not some incompetent guy who could only rely on Zhou Yu to escape his previous predicament and rise to the position of Governor of Xuzhou; he was a genius playing the fool!
The defenses set along the south bank of the Huai River seemed to have been exposed due to Zhou Yu’s withdrawal, and where the water level had dropped, those areas became even easier to breach, but secretly, new deployments had already been made.
When Guan Yu and Lu Su led their troops to invade, they each fell into a trap.
Yuan Shao: “…And the result?”
“Liu Xuande’s troops suffered a great defeat; Guan Yunlong needs to retreat, and with Zhang Yi’s soldiers there, he can’t be held back. Lu Zijing wasn’t so lucky; he has now fallen into Zhang Yi’s hands.”
The messenger added, “The situation in Wujun was only relayed to Xuzhou after this battle. Since Sun Ce was unharmed, the noble families involved in the assassination faced a round of reckoning, and once Zhou Yu learned of the situation in Xuzhou, he immediately returned to fill in the defense gaps. Therefore, Chen Yuanlong, who originally wanted to rescue Lu Zijing, was still obstructed north of the Huai River.”
In other words, Sun Ce was fine, Zhang Yi was also fine, only Lu Su under Liu Bei was taken prisoner.
Is this considered an abrupt change in Xuzhou? According to the twists and turns of this story, it definitely counts.
But it seems the situation is completely developing in an unfavorable direction for Yuan Shao!
What on earth is going on!
But what Yuan Shao doesn’t know right now are some circumstances from this series of events in Yang Province and Xuzhou that he hasn’t been informed of, and that won’t be known to outsiders for now.
For example, Lu Yi going to Wujun was intentional.
Because Hailing is not far from Wujun, and Zhang Yang often sent boats back and forth to exercise his seamanship, he heard plenty of rumors while in Wujun.
But merely rumors weren’t enough for them to plot a plan, so with Jia Xu’s involvement, they successfully obtained more accurate information from Qiao Yan’s intelligence organization.
Thus, a plan to disrupt the balance in Xuzhou was launched under Zhuge Liang and others’ arrangements.
To minimize the manpower allocation on the Xuzhou side, letting most civilians continue their work on waterway excavation, they decided to use the assassination attempt on Sun Ce as the starting point for their plan, making their weakness visible to their opponents north of the Huai River through Zhou Yu’s return to Yang Province.
As for what if Zhou Yu didn’t leave?
“Fortunately, we didn’t have to persuade Zhou Gongjin, saying that only if he withdrew could the internal spy captures in Yang Province proceed more smoothly. That’s one less hassle,” Lu Lingju yawned after several busy days.
Lu Su, who had been firmly tied up after being flattened by her thrust, sighed internally as he watched the young folks discuss seriously.
Though he felt a little disillusioned when encountering those who set up the ambush, realizing it wasn’t Zhang Yi but this bunch of kids, he thought these folks from the north were being so careless; otherwise, they wouldn’t have suffered such a defeat.
But the more he listened to the discussions among these young people, the more he felt they were definitely not as simple as he imagined.
These individuals were indeed the backbone of Qiao Yan!
In some occasions, you could still catch glimpses of their naiveté, like how Lu Lingju regarded Lu Su as a trophy from her first real battle, holding onto him tightly. Or the topics they were currently discussing.
Lu Su wasn’t quite sure what they were about to do next but vaguely sensed they were about to undertake a very important task, one that needed a bit of luck, and those without good fortune would be left behind here.
The criteria for assessing luck were whether the areas they were originally responsible for defending encountered enemies approaching from the north of Xuzhou.
There were three known vulnerabilities laid along the Huai River, corresponding to three trap-setters.
Logically, all three spots could encounter enemies, but this time, only two paths were coming from the north.
So, obviously, the one that didn’t face an attack was marked as unlucky.
“Isn’t deciding luck based on this a bit rash?” Pang Tong grumbled from the side.
Their specific combinations were—
Tai Shici, Guo Huai, and Sima Yi.
Lu Lingju, Gan Ning, and Zhuge Liang.
Zhang Yang, Zhang Yi, and Pang Tong.
It goes without saying that among Zhuge Liang, Pang Tong, and Sima Yi, the only one who didn’t encounter any enemies was him.
“We are also considering your safety,” Lu Lingju, the head of the academy and the most powerful one among the students on this trip, patted Pang Tong’s shoulder reassuringly.
“Think about it, even though we have a sturdy ship, a compass that directs our vessel’s course, and a navigation car sent by the lord, when it comes to maritime navigation, risks are still to be faced. In this situation, not letting you participate is still taking responsibility for you.”
“You can continue assisting in the Xuzhou campaign,” Sima Yi chimed in.
If it weren’t for the selection criteria, based on Sima Yi’s thoughts before arriving at Xuzhou, he genuinely wanted to take on this responsibility, but unfortunately, they had to stick to the rules.
Zhuge Liang immediately added, “Shiyuan has, in the previous days, cooperated a bit with Zhang Governor and General Zhang.”
Pang Tong rolled his eyes, unable to hold back, “Kongming, calling it cooperation just because you dodged an enemy ambush doesn’t really add up!”
But that doesn’t mean he was entirely wrong; if they had to say, there probably was a bit of cooperation.
Upon confirming that they had lucked out this time, Zhang Yang directly suggested they not come for nothing and attract a batch of locusts to visit with firelight, then burn them all. That would at least count as a bit of enemy suppression.
One could only say, the only comforting thing was that both Zhang Yi and Zhang Yang were easy to get along with, and he didn’t seem to be overly careless just because he was young. In fact, due to Qiao Yan’s past high expectations towards him with the Phoenix Chicks evaluation, he was held in high regard.
Once Zhou Yu returned, his alliance would also gain an additional clever mind.
Facing the situation of the South-North rivalry in Xuzhou, that should alleviate some pressure.
Pang Tong looked at Lu Su, catching a glimpse of perplexity on Lu Su’s face.
It wasn’t surprising for Lu Su to wear such an expression.
It was understandable that these students from Leping Academy were involved in the Xuzhou battle.
But in Lu Lingju’s earlier words trying to persuade him to accept reality, there was a word that shouldn’t have appeared at this moment—maritime navigation.
Crossing the Huai River or the Yangtze River can’t be called maritime navigation; their target could only be going out to sea!
But the question arises, where on earth were they going to set sail to?
Lu Su’s heart was filled with confusion.
Pang Tong decided not to dwell on the issue of staying behind and instead turned to Lu Lingju, “Aren’t you going to solve the confusion of your prisoner?”
Lu Lingju shook her head, “You’ve got it all wrong, from now on, he’s your prisoner. For being caught by us, this guy is probably pretty unlucky; what if he brings us a storm once we board the ship? For safety’s sake, it’s better to leave him here.”
She seriously instructed Pang Tong, “You remember to keep an eye on this hostage. If necessary, you can let him go or even kill him. It’s best if you can turn him to our side, but whatever you do, make sure he doesn’t feign surrender or turn tail and escape to Jiangdong.”
“Got it, I’m not Dong Zhuo,” Pang Tong agreed readily.
But just as he turned around, he noticed that Jia Xu, their teacher, had appeared behind them without him realizing.
Whether Jia Xu heard the other things they said is hard to say, but he certainly heard Pang Tong’s last line.
On that cunning old face, there wasn’t a hint of unusual expression, just a slight raising of his eyebrow.
Pang Tong: “……”
Is it too late to say he didn’t mean any disrespect towards Jia Xu?
But he soon heard Jia Xu say, “Pang Shiyuan, I won’t think about going to sea at my age; just stay here and teach you how to lure enemies into traps accurately instead. Submit a practice report in two months.”
After failing to appeal his case, Pang Tong decided to convert the pressure he received into motivation against the enemy.
And then, he started murmuring in Lu Su’s ear.
“Are you really not considering switching sides?” Pang Tong asked with a hint of helplessness.
Lu Su countered, “What is darkness, and what is light?”
Pang Tong corrected his earlier feeling of being under Jia Xu’s thumb, firmly replying, “Darkness is that when things happen, you’re just led by the nose, being brought to a high position without affecting the situation fundamentally. Light means you can always see a step ahead of developments, and because of it, execute the most suitable development.”
“Are you talking about maritime navigation?” Lu Su responded.
Pang Tong replied, “You don’t need to pry for information from me; this isn’t something you should know right now.”
Who would have thought, after an initial twist in Yu Province, Xuzhou ended up with a whole series of events, yet the real target for them next was actually Gongsun Du from Liaodong?
It was just at the moment when Lu Su and Pang Tong were having this dialogue, Zhuge Liang, Sima Yi, Lu Lingju, and Guo Huai had already boarded the flagship of their fleet, with the company of Gan Ning and Tai Shici.
This was the large ship equipped to pinpoint Gongsun Du’s location, ensuring they wouldn’t veer off course.
Even though they had walked back and forth on this ship countless times, checking every last nail, when it was truly time to set sail, Lu Lingju still took a deep breath and clenched her fist to calm her nerves.
She suddenly heard Gan Ning ask, “Did we forget to bring anything?”
Lu Lingju instinctively looked at Gan Ning.
This guy had initially been a bit reluctant to be tricked onto this ship, but now, no matter how unwilling he might have been, he had to accept the reality. Besides, embarking on such a challenging task as crossing seas to Liaodong was clearly a splendid opportunity for this grandstanding pirate.
The boat went from being a river vessel to now being a sea ship; the stark contrast between the two was not only significant but also a form of honor!
Especially when the fleet had expanded to over twenty ships!
“We shouldn’t have left anything behind, right? Didn’t our luggage get put on board days ago?” Lu Lingju replied.
For this upcoming naval battle, the students who participated in that previously assigned project had a thick stack of documents in hand, which of course included all the necessary items to bring for the sea voyage.
Derived from the wisdom of these top scholars, combined with Jia Xu’s checking of leaks, if they still managed to leave anything behind, that would be too pathetic!
It’s impossible, absolutely impossible.
But when the ship sailed out of the shipyard, everyone on the deck heard hurried footsteps.
Lu Lingju poked her head out of the ship’s rail, looking towards the source of the sound, and saw a disheveled young man rushing towards them. Once he noticed that they had heard him, he shouted loudly, “Hey! Did you guys leave me behind?”
Lu Yi was truly going to be infuriated by his companions.
Just because he ran across the river to warn Sun Ce, did they seriously forget about him?
Who would be so treacherous!
Gan Ning watched as Lu Yi was brought aboard and couldn’t help but laugh, “I knew something was left behind; turns out it was a person!”
As one of the culprits who tricked Gan Ning onto the ship, if Lu Yi had been left behind, that would indeed be ridiculously amusing.
Possibly, this is just the way unreliable young people are…
Seems like they really need to remind each other a bit.
Gan Ning whistled and wandered towards the bow of the ship.
As soon as he turned, he saw the young ones following along after him.
“I didn’t offend any of you, did I?”
Lu Lingju replied, “Who has a problem with you! We’re just here to enjoy the view at the bow!”
Of course, who would want to miss such a sight?
As the ship sailed from the shipyard into the Yangtze River and then into the sea, the red sun from the east bathed the marine expanse ahead in a golden glow, making the ship feel like it was gliding into a shimmering sea of gold.
This was the beginning of their journey!
