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Bofu staged a grand banquet to celebrate the reunion of his family;
Bofu’s uncle Sun Jing was treated as a guest of honour since he rarely returned
to Qu’e.
“Once Huang Zu’s defeated, we can reorganise,” Bofu explained. “I have
lots of trustworthy men now; I want us to be together.”
“You want to recall me from Kuaiji indefinitely, Nephew…?” Sun Jing
exclaimed.
“…And I must leave Yangxian…?” Sun Quan asked.
“Kuaiji and Yangxian are very different, Brother,” Bofu replied.
“Uncle’s serving as a gate guard against any problems that we might have from
Jiaozhi, which some of my politicians say might have to be our next target for
pacification.”
“Politicians are always looking for fights,” Xu Kun complained. “Aren’t
they supposed to do the opposite…?”
“They’re right, though, Nephew,” Wu Jing said. “When we’ve dealt with
Liu Biao and Huang Zu - and, maybe, Cao Cao as well - we still need to worry
about the Shanyue in Wu, the-”
“The point of this conversation isn’t discussing how much more fighting
we have to do, Uncle,” Bofu pleaded. “I want us all to be closer. I want to see
you all, and I want to see my children grow, and… … …what’s so funny, Mother…?”
All eyes turned to the smiling Lady Wu, who said, “You raised the
subject without needing to be reminded; you are a family man now, and their
safety worries you. You’re just like your father, Ce. And you, Quan, happily
wed to the daughter of wise Xie Jiong… and Yi, to Lady Xū! It’s
magnificent! Your father would be so proud if… well, he is proud, looking down as he does!”
“…I need to talk to him,” Bofu declared. “I need to go to Dad’s altar,
pay my respects, and tell him that I finally intend to honour the promise that
I made six years ago. This time, I’m going to smash Huang Zu once and for all:
and then, after that, when the time’s right, I’m going into northern Jing, and
there will be nowhere for Liu Biao to run to, no one for him to hide behind…”
Sun Ben coughed deliberately and asked, “What would you do if Cao Cao
was to ask for our help?”
“…I don’t know,” Bofu replied. “It depends on whether the ‘Girdle Edict’
is real or not… or rather, whether certain people decide that it’s real. If a
lot of good men rise up against him, I’ll join Yuan Shao or remain neutral; if
the good refused to challenge him, then I would leave the matter to Cao and
Yuan or aid the Han in any way that I can. I can’t be fairer than that.”
“…And what about Yan Xiang…?” Sun Ben asked further.
“I can’t agree with the advisers,” Bofu admitted. “I’m going to write to
Li Shu and ask him to act.”
“That’s too risky!” Wu Jing complained. “Cao Cao will retaliate!”
Bofu smiled and said, “I intend to explain…!”
The next morning saw two plans put into motion: firstly, Bofu left Qu’e and sailed westward yet again, intent on destroying Huang Zu. At the same time, a messenger sped ahead of General Li Shu’s reinforcements and took a letter to his camp in southern Lujiang: it contained instructions to take decisive action against Inspector Yan Xiang, who had wasted no time in recruiting men and ordering the reconstruction of Shouchun City in neighbouring Jiujiang Prefecture.
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