My Father in Law is Lu Bu

“Is Gongjin awake?” Sun Ce did not know what happened after he left. He had rushed back to the rear court where Zhou Yu and the doctor was. As Zhou Yu was injured, Sun Ce had given up his own room to allow Zhou Yu to rest.

“Not yet. The others have already help pull out the arrow from his chest but…” One of the doctors replied. There were several doctors there, all of them were amongst the best in Jiangdong. They had helped pull out the arrow from Zhou Yu’s chest. Though the arrow did not pierce Zhou Yu’s heart, it still struck a main artery. They struggled to stop the bleeding but because Zhou Yu had lost a lot of blood, he turned pale.

“Whether the Grand Governor survives now depends on himself.”

The biggest problem was infection. In that era, people did not know how to deal with infection. People with good physique can survive. Otherwise, they would die.

“Then what should we do?” Sun Ce had never worried about someone this much before. While he was feeling anxious, a messenger came to find. “Milord. The Grand Governor is awake!”

“Gongjin has woken up!” Sun Ce rushed over to Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu who was lying down slowly opened his eyes.

“Gongjin! Gongjin!” Sun Ce went to Zhou Yu’s side, pleasantly surprised.

“Milord…” Zhou Yu struggled to get up and greet Sun Ce but he was stopped. “Don’t move. You need to rest.”

“Milord. What about the Second Lord?” Zhou Yu asked. When they were at the forest, he saw Sun Quan standing opposite of Sun Ce so he naturally asked about the situation.

“Don’t bring up that evil creature!” Sun Ce’s anger returned the moment he heard Sun Quan’s name. Then he explained everything that happened regarding Sun Quan.

“Guo Jia Guo Fengxiao?” Zhou Yu never expected that talented man was also making schemes in the South. Sun Ce was almost assassinated. At that time, it would be hard for Jiangdong to be maintained.

However, Liu Mang was more frightening. He could actually predict and warn Sun Ce before everything happened.

“Wish I could kill that evil creature!”

“Milord, you must not! Though the Second Lord was wrong, he was misled by villains. He is your little brother!”

“Gongjin! Why are you still protecting him at this moment? He is my brother but so are you!” Sun Ce said angrily.

“I…” Zhou Yu did not know what to say to this. “Milord. I am not sure if I should say this.”

“Is there anything you need to hide from me?”

“Milord. I believe that the Second Lord was wrong. However, he is correct at some points.”

“Hm? Are you talking about allying with Jingzhou? Impossible!” Sun Ce quickly understood what Zhou Yu meant.

“Milord. This is a critical moment for Jiangdong. Only by allying with Jingzhou can Jiangdong survive.” Zhou Yu advised.

“Gongjin. Do you still not know me? I can ally with anyone except Liu Biao! I can listen to anyone’s orders except Liu Biao! It is not possible to reconcile with the man that killed my father!” Sun Ce gnashed his teeth. Sun Ce was even angrier at Liu Biao. If his father was still alive, Sun Quan would not turn out this way.

“Milord. Think of Gou Jian who waited patiently for revenge. As long as you endure it, your ambition…” Zhou Yu still tried to persuade Sun Ce.

“Gongjin, you must be tired. It is better to rest early.” Sun Ce said and wanted to leave.

“Milord! Milord! Listen to me!” Zhou Yu tried to stop Sun Ce and his wounds reopened. He then fainted again from the pain.

“Gongjin! Gongjin! Someone! Come over here quickly!”

***

“Interesting.” Liu Mang said after receiving news of what happened at Jiangdong. Sun Quan had acted did not kill Sun Ce. Sun Ce almost abdicated but fortunately Xu Gong was there to injure Zhou Yu.

“Zhou Yu is Sun Ce’s sworn brother. However, his relationship with Sun Ce is thicker than blood. Xu Gong who was Sun Quan’s subordinate had injured Zhou Yu. In this case, there is no longer any need to worry that Jiangdong would ally themselves with Jingzhou. Sun Ce must now hate Cao Cao.” Xu Shu laughed. With Zhou Yu injured, Sun Ce would definitely try and take out his anger on the people that schemed against him. One of which was Cao Cao. Now it was even more difficult to get Sun Ce to ally with Jingzhou.

“What a pity.” Liu Mang shook his head because of Zhou Yu’s injury. Liu Mang wanted Jiangdong to surrender and everyone knew of Zhou Yu’s talent.

“Milord, it is better not to celebrate too early.” Zhuge Liang said, as though pouring cold water on Liu Mang and Xu Shu.

“Does Kongming have anything to teach me?” Other Lords would get angry at Zhuge Liang’s words. But not Liu Mang. Liu Mang have heard so many stories about Zhuge Liang that he already worshipped Zhuge Liang. His respect for Zhuge Liang was so high that he immediately gave Zhuge Liang an important post.

“Milord knows Sun Ce but you do not know Zhou Yu.” Zhuge Liang explained.

“Hm?”

“If Zhou Yu Zhou Gongjin were to die from his injuries, then congratulations. Jiangdong would already be yours. If Zhou Yu Zhou Gongjin survives then Milord should prepare for Jiangdong and Jingzhou allying with each other.” Zhuge Liang added.

“Huh? Why?”

“Zijing. Come and tell the Lord about your good friend.” Zhuge Liang passed the ball to Lu Su.

Lu Su initially did not plan to speak. He may no longer be friends with Sun Quan but he was still friends with Zhou Yu. It was not right to scheme against a close friend. Yet Zhuge Liang passed the responsibility to him. Lu Su could only shake his head bitterly. “Milord. Gongjin regards Marquis Wu’s ambition as his own. He would spare no effort on it.”

Lu Su’s words allowed the others to understand. One could say Zhou Yu was loyal to a fault towards Sun Ce. It was like Pang Tong and Liu Bei in the original history. Pang Tong was willing to give up his life to give Liu Bei what he needs. Zhou Yu was also such a person. If Sun Quan could tell that allying with Jingzhou was the most beneficial thing to do, Zhou Yu would be able to see it too.

If Zhou Yu were to die, Sun Ce would not have a chance to relax. However, if Zhou Yu survives, then it would not be good for Liu Mang.

“Then your suggestion is…” Liu Mang furrowed his brows. Zhou Yu Zhou Gongjin was really giving him a lot of worries.

“We dispatch our troops to Jiangdong. If they do not surrender, we will take it by force.” Zhuge Liang suggested.

“We no longer have our title. Are we going to attack without justification?” Xu Shu hesitated as they were all still subjects of the Han Emperor. Without righteousness, there would be a huge effect on morale.

“Effects on morale? If we use Yangzhou’s new army then us. However, we have a different option, the Jiangxia Navy.”

Jiangxia was now under Yangzhou’s control but the one that caused Jiangxia to be in ruins was the Jiangdong Army. They would jump at the chance to take revenge.

“Using the Jiangxia Navy? That might cause Jiangdong’s common people to fight back.” Both sides were mortal enemies. It would be a problem if Jiangdong’s people all climbed the walls to fight back like the ones in Yuzhou.

“No, we will have justification!” Zhuge Liang added.

“What justification?”

“The justification depends on our Lord.” Zhuge Liang smiled happily. Lu Su froze for a while and then laughed as well.

“Milord. This time, we might have to wrong you.” Zhuge Liang laughed. Liu Mang felt his blood turn cold. An evildoer like Zhuge Liang is skilled at scheming. Liu Mang did not want to be duped.

“Kong… Kongming. What do you mean?”

“Milord. Do you have prestige at the rear court?” Zhuge Liang asked. He was basically asking if Liu Mang had a strong position at home or is he someone afraid of his wife.

Of course, Liu Mang could not say he was afraid of his wife. Even if he was afraid, he could not let such a scandal go public.

“Of course I do. I am the King of Shu. How could I not have prestige at home?” Liu Mang said confidently on the surface but was secretly terrified.

“That’s good. So this matter would not be too difficult for Milord. Truly, Milord has good foresight for setting establishing the female barracks so that they could treat the soldiers.” Zhuge Liang praised. It was true that women were more particular with details than men and so would be better at treating wounds. On top of that, men all want to look good in front of women so they would struggle less when being treated. This improved their medical efficiency.

“You flatter me!” Liu Mang said contentedly. Of course women should be nurses. The men were all too crude.

“It is also because of the female barracks that an advantageous person came to our side.”

“Who?”

“Come. Bring Sun Changhu1 孙长护over here.” Zhuge Liang said to one of Liu Mang’s guards.

Liu Mang nodded to give his approval. The guard left and soon returned with a graceful person wearing clothing for officials.

“Hm? Is this a man?” Liu Mang looked at Sun Changhu with admiration. This man was too good looking.

“Kongming. Who is this?” Liu Mang was about to ask when Sun Changhu spoke up.

“Sun Changhu greets the Lord!” Liu Mang’s eyes grew wide as he heard Sun Changhu’s voice. This person was a woman. No wonder she looked so good. One could dress up as a man but the voice could not be hidden.

“Milord has forgotten. The nurse here here is a female official.” Zhuge Liang laughed.

“Sun Changhu, quickly get up.” Sun Changhu was another devastatingly beautiful woman.

“Thank you, Milord.” Sun Changhu said as she took a peek at Zhuge Liang. She felt it was odd that Zhuge Liang suddenly called her over.

“Milord. This person has your righteousness. If Milord marries her, Jiangdong would have no choice but to give priority to Milord.” Zhuge Liang said, causing Liu Mang’s eyes to grow wide.

“Marry Sun Changhu? It was true that she was beautiful but Liu Mang was not someone who just goes for anyone he fancies. Besides that, he has four more fierce wives at home! It took so long for them to forgive him. Wouldn’t he be courting death now?

“Jiangdong? Marry me?” Sun Changhu was confused. What happened at Jiangdong? Sun Changhu started to feel anxious. She cupped her fist at Liu Mang and replied. “Thank you Milord for the favor. However, this lowly subject is not worthy.”

Sun Changhu rejected the marriage offer, allowing Liu Mang to breathe a sigh of relief. But then he became sullen. Why was Zhuge Liang playing tricks on him?

“Not worthy? Lowly? Hahaha! If the Marquis Wu’s little sister is lowly then what does that make the rest of us?” Zhuge Liang laughed.

“Sun Ce’s little sister? This Sun Changhu?” Liu Mang’s eyes grew wide.

“High official Zhuge. You recognize the wrong person. This subject is not Marquis Wu’s little sister. If I was, why would I be here supporting Jiangdong’s enemy.” Sun Changhu replied calmly.

Liu Mang also agreed. It was unbelievable to be supporting an enemy to fight against your own brother.

“Haha. Who doesn’t know that Miss Sun here likes holding weapons and crossdressing. If she is a Jiangdong, would Marquis Wu allow her to join in on military affairs?” Zhuge Liang laughed.

“High official Zhuge. You recognize the wrong person.” Sun Changhu repeated herself.

“Zijing, it is better if you do it!” Zhuge Liang shrugged and handed over this task to Lu Su.

“Sigh.” Lu Su sighed. “Second Miss. It has been half a year. I never expected to see you here.”

Sun Changhu was stunned to see Lu Su.

***

Chang hu is basically some kind of senior medical/insurance officer but I can’t find a proper term for it. Individual meaning is ‘long’ and ‘guard’