Even if Sun Ce returned alive, he would not live much longer.
Cheng Yu's words, or rather, Lu Yu's prediction, carried a great deal of information for Liu Ye.
If these words had come from someone else, Liu Ye would have dismissed them as a jest and let them pass.
But... Lu Yu, Young Master Lu...
He had just accurately predicted Sun Ce's attack, and this prediction of "Sun Ce's death" was deeply meaningful!
Liu Ye, a man who liked to get to the bottom of things, immediately pressed for details:
"Sima Cheng? What does Young Master Lu mean by that? According to his prediction, after Sun Ce returns to Jiangdong... he will die?"
"Hahaha..." Cheng Yu stroked his beard and smiled as he explained, "At first, I didn't believe it when I heard this, but after witnessing Sun Bofu's demeanor today, I have come to have deep faith in Young Master Lu's words. This little Hegemon, Sun Bofu, will not live long!"
Cheng Yu continued with a faint smile, explaining, "When Young Master Lu spoke of Sun Ce before, he said he loved riding horses, enjoyed hunting, and would often venture out with a few men. Even when leading troops in battle, he never cared for his personal safety and would lead from the front. Initially, I didn't believe it, but today's battle proved it true. And is this not the funeral march of his demise?"
This...
Liu Ye was clever. With Cheng Yu hinting so strongly, he understood immediately.
Indeed, according to the intelligence previously obtained by spies.
Sun Ce was indeed a bit... to put it in high-minded terms, he was a man who led from the front. To put it in less flattering terms, he was a madman!
When he campaigned against Huang Zu, he personally beat the war drums;
When he campaigned against Zha Rong, he personally charged through a hail of arrows, resulting in an arrow piercing his thigh;
When he pacified Liu Yao, he dueled Taishi Ci, and in the end, even had his helmet stolen.
Such behavior, was that of a commander of an army? He was clearly a seasoned warrior, no, a reckless fool whose mind had been kicked by a donkey!
Just as Liu Ye had obtained this intelligence.
Sun Ce was such a person.
Every time he picked up his weapon, he would become agitated and frenzied, charging ahead of everyone. This seemed to have become a habit.
How could Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao not know the danger and hidden risks of such behavior? They had advised him many times, but their words fell on deaf ears.
It was helpless...
"Sima Cheng, I now understand what Young Master Lu meant." Liu Ye looked as if he had suddenly realized something. "Young Master Lu is predicting that Sun Ce will eventually lose his head due to his recklessness! Indeed, when he leads troops into battle, he puts himself in a dangerous position! This is the greatest hidden danger for their Jiangdong!"
"Haha..." Cheng Yu was still laughing, but he waved his hand as he spoke, "Not entirely correct."
"Master Liu, you must understand that Sun Bofu uses his absolute martial prowess to intimidate Jiangdong. However, Sun Bofu's personality is not generous. He offended many people while pacifying Jiangdong, and even more Jiangdong families. There are already those who covet his life. Now... with his army collapsing like a landslide, perhaps some families who already held grudges against him will soon stir!"
"According to Young Master Lu's reasoning, to deal with a 'hothead' like Sun Ce, these Jiangdong families don't even need to show themselves. Sending a few assassins would be enough!"
Cheng Yu's words were almost entirely Lu Yu's thoughts.
As for Lu Yu's words, they were not baseless.
According to ancient texts and historical records, Sun Ce would be assassinated three years later. The reason was that during his efforts to pacify Jiangdong, he had severely suppressed the local powerful clans and their armed forces.
Furthermore, due to Sun Ce's personality, he repeatedly launched military campaigns to expand outwards and conquer new territories.
It should be known that wars are fought with money and supplies. Relying solely on the support of the common people would not be enough. Therefore, Sun Ce forced these Jiangdong magnates to hand over large amounts of military grain, money, and strategic materials.
The Jiangdong magnates, having been suppressed earlier and then forced to hand over money and grain, how could they be willing?
Joining forces to resist was almost a certainty.
Even...
They had reached some kind of unspoken agreement.
As long as Sun Ce was overthrown, they could continue to support the Sun family as usual.
As long as... the next successor of the Sun clan was not as fond of military spending and expansion as Sun Ce, consuming money and grain;
As long as the interests of the major clans were preserved, they would provide strong support.
One had to admit that in terms of balancing the various powerful families, Sun Quan was far more outstanding than Sun Ce, and he could pinpoint the crux of Jiangdong's stability more incisively!
Therefore.
In Lu Yu's view, it was actually better to keep Sun Ce and let him engage in covert struggles with the major powerful clans and aristocratic families of Jiangdong;
It was much easier to deal with than letting Sun Quan succeed to the throne, balance Jiangdong, and develop steadily.
In times of chaos, a reckless man is never a threat.
On the contrary, a person with a mind, a person who can balance all relationships, is the most troublesome.
Of course, Cheng Yu and Liu Ye could not understand this level of reasoning.
"Sima Cheng, you mentioned that you were going south to Lujiang under Young Master Lu's orders to accomplish three major tasks..."
Liu Ye continued to speak.
Having understood Young Master Lu's plan to let Sun Ce go, he was now suddenly curious about those three so-called major tasks.
"Three major tasks? This, hahaha..."
Cheng Yu was about to answer...
Unexpectedly, Liu Ye interrupted him, "Sima Cheng, allow me to guess."
"The first major task, I presume, is to persuade the Prefect of Lujiang, Liu Xun, to surrender to Chancellor Cao!"
"As for the second major task, it is to secure Lujiang, ensuring that the Little Hegemon of Jiangdong, Sun Bofu, returns in defeat. Only... the third one? Forgive my ignorance, Liu Ye, I cannot figure it out no matter how hard I try. I hope Sima Cheng will enlighten me!"
Upon hearing this...
Cheng Yu's alcohol completely sobered up. He laughed heartily, patting Liu Ye on the shoulder as he did so.
"Ziyang, oh Ziyang, how could you have imagined? The third major task that Young Master Lu repeatedly emphasized was you—Liu Ye, Liu Ziyang!"
"Young Master Lu said that even if the first two tasks were not done well, as long as you, Liu Ziyang, could be identified, the trip would not have been in vain! Ziyang, haha, you cannot imagine, both Young Master Lu and the Dragon Soaring Camp have been longing for you!"
Hu...
Upon hearing this, Liu Ye was stunned. How could he have imagined...
He? Just a nominal official under Liu Xun in Lujiang City, could he... could he be considered a major task by Young Master Lu?
This...
This...
"Hahaha..."
Seeing Liu Ye standing there in a daze, speechless for a long time, Cheng Yu patted his shoulder again with a smile.
"Brother Ziyang, you are the first person Young Master Lu personally named. This shows that your status in his heart is not insignificant. In the future, within the Dragon Soaring Camp, we must help each other and give each other strong support!"
Hu...
Liu Ye let out a heavy sigh.
At this moment, his heart was filled with a whirlwind of emotions.
This... this invincible army that shook the nine provinces?
This... this Young Master Lu who devised strategies without error!
He... he, Liu Ye, was fortunate enough to join, to become a member of it, to become one of Young Master Lu's subordinates!
Not only that, but Young Master Lu had personally selected him!
What kind of honor was this?
This was... being flattered beyond measure?
"Ahem..."
With a slight cough, Liu Ye tried his best to calm his emotions. In front of Cheng Yu, he did not want to appear as if he had never seen the world.
However, the throbbing in his heart was not so easily quelled.
"Sima Cheng, let's go back and continue drinking."
"Tonight, we are happy. I will definitely not return until we are drunk with my brother, for the Dragon Soaring Camp, and also for Young Master Lu!"
The moon was bright and the stars were sparse. These two brilliant stars of strategists once again raised their cups and drank. The moonlight grew more intense, but their spirits became even clearer!
This was destined to be a night of not returning until drunk!
After finishing this cup, there were still three more to go!
...
...
In the backyard of the Chen State Yamen, within the west wing.
"Pat"
With a sound... Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao knelt before Lu Yu. The ground was very cold. This pair of sisters had not worn any undergarments beneath their skirts, so they knelt before Lu Yu with their bare legs.
It was very clear and made Lu Yu feel a bit pained.
He quickly helped the beauties before him up.
"Don't be in a hurry to kneel. Let's talk about the main business. Has the Qiao family encountered any problems?"
Lu Yu asked directly.
Da Qiao hesitated for a moment. She slowly looked at Xiao Qiao and then poured out all her thoughts.
"We have long heard of Young Master Lu's superb medical skills and his unparalleled righteousness. My sister and I have traveled hundreds of miles to Chen State to seek an audience with Young Master Lu, precisely to... to save our mother's life."
Hmm...
Lu Yu noticed the flicker in Da Qiao's eyes and her fists clenched slightly. A look of determination appeared on her delicate and beautiful face.
She seemed a little nervous and also a little worried.
"What's wrong with your mother?"
Lu Yu asked directly.
Although he did not understand medicine, he had plenty of disciples.
Moreover, as he had marched to this place, although his junior, Zhang Zhongjing, had not come, several of Zhang Zhongjing's disciples had come and were responsible for treating the soldiers for cold-related illnesses.
Lu Yu mused that if it were a difficult cold, these disciples might be able to resolve it.
"My mother..." As soon as she uttered these two words, Da Qiao became quite emotional, as if she immediately thought of her mother lying in bed, her voice choking.
Xiao Qiao, however, blurted out directly.
"My mother's health has not been good all these years. Ever since father brought us to Lujiang, she has been sickly, her complexion always pale, and she coughs from time to time. Especially... a few days ago, for some reason, my mother's condition suddenly worsened significantly. She coughed violently, even coughing up blood. We searched everywhere for imperial physicians... but... but they all said, they all said mother would not live for more than ten days!"
This...
Upon hearing the symptoms, Lu Yu's eyes flickered. It didn't seem like a cold.
Wait, sickly, pale complexion, frequent coughing, even coughing up blood?
Lu Yu felt that these symptoms were very similar to Lin Daiyu's illness in "Dream of the Red Chamber"!
All the symptoms matched perfectly.
This...
One should know that Lin Daiyu's illness, after countless "Redology" masters' deductions, could be roughly identified as melancholia, also known as depression, simply put, a psychological illness!
And the reason she fell ill was the death of her mother. This occurred when she was very young. But... the mother of the Qiao sisters?
At present, Lu Yu could not confirm.
So he tried to ask about it in that direction.
"Did your mother fall seriously ill as soon as she arrived in Lujiang?"
Upon this question, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao exchanged glances, as if recalling together.
"Not exactly..." Da Qiao answered more firmly. "It should have been in the fifth month of the first year of Chuping... I remember it very clearly. Suddenly, Mother fell ill. At first, she wept incessantly, and then... she just... became bedridden."
First year of Chuping?
Lu Yu's eyes fixed. This was the year Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang and moved the capital to Chang'an.
And it was clear that the Qiao family had moved to Lujiang before this. And the Qiao family... if historical records were correct, they originally lived in Luoyang and were from the same family as the former Grand Commandant Qiao Xuan...
That is to say.
Lu Yu asked, "In the first year of Chuping, in February of that year, I remember Dong Zhuo set fire to Luoyang, and the entire Luoyang was destroyed by fire! Then... are there any relatives of your Qiao family left in Luoyang city?"
Upon this statement...
Xiao Qiao seemed to suddenly recall something. "Mother... Mother's family, the Li family, was... was in Luoyang city!"
"Then what about your mother's family? Do you have any news of them now?" Lu Yu pressed on...
"No... it seems, since we arrived in Lujiang, we have lost all news of our maternal grandfather's family!"
Xiao Qiao replied truthfully.
Hearing this...
Lu Yu nodded. This matched perfectly.
It was highly likely that Lady Li suffered from the same illness as Lin Daiyu, which was melancholy!
Lin Daiyu lost her mother at a young age, while Madam Li, after following her husband's family, moved to Lujiang Commandery with her two daughters.
And Dong Zhuo's great fire that burned down Luoyang, confiscating the property of the rich households in Luoyang, it was likely that Madam Li's maternal family, the Li family, was confiscated, and perhaps... even perished in this fire.
Having lost her parents, Madam Li wept incessantly, and coupled with her already weak constitution, she thus contracted this melancholy.
Her body was gradually worn down by this illness!
Speaking of which...
This melancholy could be severe or mild, minor or major.
Some, like Lin Daiyu, ultimately perished;
Others, slightly milder, could live on with medication.
This depended on the person's constitution and personality.
And the most crucial point was that this illness originated from the heart. If the knot in her heart was not untied, it would be difficult to recover, and it was not something that ordinary medicine could treat.
Of course, if it were thousands of years later, it could be treated with the assistance of a psychologist...
But at this point in time, where were the psychologists?
Hu...
With a gentle sigh.
In fact, Lu Yu did have some methods.
Of course...
These methods were not reliable.
It was from his past life that he heard about some medical scholars who were obsessed with "Redology" and, out of boredom, researched methods to "treat Lin Daiyu," how to prolong Lin Daiyu's life with traditional Chinese medicine and avoid the tragic fate of her demise.
Of course, Lu Yu could not understand...
Why would a group of medical scholars obsessed with "Redology" research a "patient" who did not exist? Were they that obsessed?
But... speaking of which.
They did come up with a method.
Now, all Lu Yu could do was use this method.
Let's just consider it... treating a dead horse as if it were alive.
"Ahem..."
Having thought this through, Lu Yu coughed lightly. "I can understand the feelings of you two girls, but to be upfront, I may not be able to cure Madam Li's illness."
As these words escaped his lips...
"Pat" With a sound, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao knelt again, still with bare legs on the cold floor.
Lu Yu felt so sorry...
Sorry for those knees.
Speaking of which, he was a very observant person.
Before crossing over...
On the streets, inadvertently... he would notice the bruised knees under the miniskirts of some beautiful girls.
Lu Yu discovered a pattern.
The prettier the girl, the more likely her knees would be bruised, or... scarred, or very dark, as if... they always knelt in silence every night.
Pure-hearted Lu Yu naturally did not know what they were kneeling for.
However, this always added some visual imagery to his eyes.
Seeing beauties kneeling this time!
He felt sorry, and besides feeling sorry, he felt sorry again.
"Let's make it clear first. If you keep kneeling, then I won't save your mother!"
Upon hearing this...
Da and Xiao Qiao exchanged glances, then bit their lips and stood up together.
Their height was not great. The elder sister, Da Qiao, could reach Lu Yu's chest, while the younger sister, Xiao Qiao, was slightly shorter.
"Who in the Great Han Empire does not know that Young Master Lu is a peerless divine physician? As long as Young Master Lu is willing to save... there is no illness that cannot be cured!" Da Qiao slowly spoke, her voice gentle...
Yet, there was a hint of determination in her tone, as if she were carrying out the decision she had made long ago.
"My sister and I both know that Lujiang is Liu Xun's territory, and Young Master Lu is in the Cao camp... an enemy of Liu Xun. Venturing rashly into Lujiang Commandery will inevitably involve some risks!"
"Precisely because of this... my sister and I have discussed it. If Young Master Lu is willing to risk saving Mother, regardless of success or failure, my sister and I are willing to enter the Ministry of Agriculture, whether as maids, or as concubine maids, or as concubines, for life, my sister and I will serve Young Master Lu, and will never betray him. I... my sister and I can both swear oaths."
As she spoke, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao raised their left hands one after another, appearing as if they were about to swear to the heavens.
This...
Lu Yu mumbled to himself.
So, it turned out that this pair of sisters, after traveling hundreds of miles to Chen State, opened their mouths to become maids in the Ministry of Agriculture, and the reason... was this.
Their concern... was the ownership of Lujiang...
They were worried that Lu Yu, due to the conflict between Liu Xun and Cao Cao, would not risk going to Lujiang to save people, and thus they were using seduction and temptation.
It was truly difficult for these two sisters.
"Alas..."
Lu Yu shook his head helplessly.
Little did they know...
Perhaps tonight, Lujiang city would change hands, and there was no talk of enmity or not.
Tomorrow... he, Lu Yu, would go to Lujiang, and Liu Xun might even welcome him with open arms.
Thinking of this...
Lu Yu waved his hand.
"No need to swear oaths... How about this, we'll set off tomorrow morning!"
"However, let's be clear first, I can only try. As for whether I can save your mother, I dare not guarantee it! But, rest assured, I will do my best."
This...
As Lu Yu's words escaped, Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao blinked repeatedly, looking incredulous.
Just... just so easily, they... they agreed?
Young Master Lu agreed too quickly, didn't he?
He... he didn't seem to consider his own safety at all!
This...
Xiao Qiao subconsciously tugged at Da Qiao's clothes.
She bit her lip slightly, her eyes darting around, as if telling her sister...
This is truly a gentleman of unparalleled righteousness. To save their mother, he even disregards his own life and death, and has not made any improper requests!
What a... what a handsome and gentle gentleman, what a gentleman who makes it impossible not to be moved.
"Is... is it really true?"
Da Qiao murmured, she still felt... all of this was unreal.
Young Master Lu agreed too... too simply?
"Of course it's true."
Lu Yu smiled slightly.
"Achoo..." Then, he subconsciously opened his mouth and let out a big yawn. Chatting with these two sisters for so long had truly made him sleepy.
"It's getting late, get some rest early. We'll set off tomorrow morning."
Having said this, Lu Yu was already walking towards the main door.
Before leaving the room, he did not forget to remind Da and Xiao Qiao.
"It's cold at night, don't wear so little clothing. It wouldn't be good if you catch a cold."
With these words said...
Tap...
Lu Yu took a step and crossed the threshold of the west wing.
"Young Master Lu, aren't you... aren't you staying?"
Whether out of gratitude or simple admiration for Lu Yu's righteousness, the usually timid Da Qiao subconsciously uttered such a sentence.
As soon as she said it, she immediately covered her mouth!
Da Qiao herself did not know how she, as if possessed, blurted out such a frivolous remark.
As a woman, urging Young Master Lu to stay, it seemed... it seemed a bit immodest!
Unexpectedly, Lu Yu did not turn around, but merely waved his hand.
"Let's forget about it tonight. Aren't you on your period? When your mother is cured, your period will be gone, and there will be plenty of time then!"
Having said this...
Lu Yu smiled and strode away.
Leaving behind Da Qiao's bewildered gaze.
One had to admit, this man before her, for the first time... made her... feel a flutter of emotion. It wasn't the physical flutter of emotion for saving her mother, but a deep, instinctive flutter from her soul.
For a long, long time...
Da Qiao looked at Lu Yu's departing back for a long time, unable to recover.
It was Xiao Qiao who tugged at her skirt.
"Sister, you seem a bit strange today. Have you... have you fallen for Young Master Lu?"
Gulp...
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
With a light sigh, Da Qiao just pursed her lips and remained silent for a long time.
Such a gentleman of unparalleled righteousness, who disregards life and death to save people...
Which girl would not be moved?
"Xiao Qiao, don't tease your sister. You... your gaze just now, your tone just now, weren't you also quite reluctant to let Young Master Lu go?"
"I... then..." Xiao Qiao spoke again. "Sister, do you think... if our sisters enter the Ministry of Agriculture, will Young Master Lu... will he take us as concubines?"
This question.
Da Qiao shook her head, she didn't know either.
All she knew was that in the Han dynasty... marriage was often a union of two families.
What was needed was the same social class of the families.
And Lu Yu, or rather... the threshold of the Ministry of Agriculture was too high, so high that their Qiao family had to look up to it. Indeed... the most they could hope for was to be concubines, right?
And this, for them, seemed to be the best outcome!
Thinking of this, Da Qiao's eyes became distant again.
This night...
She was afraid she would dream of this man.
... This man whose every word and action was incredibly captivating!
...
...