Chapter 640

“How is my brother right now? Is he still drinking?” Sun Quan asked indifferently as he raised his cup of tea.

“Yes, the Elder Lord is still drinking.” Sun Quan’s servant responded.

Sun Quan liked this servant as she knew how to speak. Others addressed Sun Ce as their Lord but this servant called Sun Ce as the eldest son. Sun Quan felt comfortable hearing this as Sun Ce was addressed as his brother and not his superior, or the head of the household while Sun Quan himself was only a subordinate.

“The Grand Governor also came.” The servant continued.

“The Grand Governor? Why did he come?” Sun Quan furrowed his brows. Sun Quan feared Zhou Yu. He could afford to not pay attention to his brother Sun Ce but he was forced to be vigilant towards Zhou Yu.

“He accompanied your brother in drinking.” The servant said.

“He only drank?” Sun Quan asked.

“This servant does not know.” The servant shook her head. As a servant, she can only take a look when bringing the wine over but would not be able to stay and observe everything.

“Forget it. You can leave now.” Sun Quan waved his hand. “Go to the treasury and say it is my orders. Then take ten gold for yourself.”

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Sun Quan watched his servant leave and mumbled to himself. “Brother. It is not that I want to snatch your position. However, you are no longer worthy of it.”

“Where is Xudou’s envoy? I want to see him!” Sun Quan turned to his trusted subordinate.

“He is waiting for you at the West Wing.”

“Remember not to divulge the fact that I meet with people from Xudou to others.”

“Yes.”

**

Liu Mang was having a very comfortable time at Yangzhou. Two of his wives were having their menstrual period while one more decided to spare him. As a result, Liu Mang was very energetic. He had enough energy to respond to Lady Zou.

Lu Bu also came to Yangzhou with Lady Yan and Lady Ren to visit his daughter. They had probably taught her something since she looked at Liu Mang and blushed.

“Has Liu Biao’s money arrived?” Liu Mang asked Mi Zhu.

Though Liu Mang did not attack Jingzhou, it does not mean that he could not obtain their money. Yangzhou adopted a position as though they were about to attack Jingzhou, causing those in Jingzhou to be extremely worried.

That being said, they too knew that Liu Mang himself was unlikely to attack as he would not want to enter a life and death struggle. Unfortunately, Lu Bu was famous for his short temper and would definitely attack anyone that displeases him.

Lu Bu almost made Cao Cao lose all his possessions because Cao Cao displeased him. Liu Bei displeased Lu Bu and was now struggling on death’s door at Runan. Sun Ce displeased Lu Bu and lost Lujiang.

In other words, no one can stop Lu BU if he was angry. This was the main reason everyone in Jingzhou was anxious.

“We have already dispatched an envoy. There is no need for Milord to worry. As for the money, it is probably still being transported on the Yangtze River.” It was fortunate that Yangzhou dispatched an envoy to let Liu Biao feel at peace.

The envoy dispatched was Yang Hong as the man had diplomatic skill and a connection to Kuai Liang. He was also acquainted with many nobles in Jingzhou.

Yang Hong was Yuan Shu’s subordinate and Yuan Shu’s Family was many generations old. It can be said that most nobles originated from the Yuan Family. Though Yuan Shu was dead the connection was still there. Yang Hong himself was like a boss amongst these lesser nobles. As a result, Yang Hong’s arrival was welcomed by many nobles.

“How dare you not kneel in front of me?” Liu Pan scolded

“Who are you?” Yang Hong laughed and asked.

“I am Liu Pan. I am the Military Advisor of Jingzhou!” Liu Pan glared.

“Oh. So it is the Military Advisor. It seems that you are the Lord of this place instead of Lord Liu Biao. This Yang Hong greets you.” Yang Hong said as he knelt.

Liu Pan quickly stopped Yang Hong from kneeling. If Yang Hong were to kneel now, Liu Biao would lose face. People would say that Liu Pan was the one in charge causing Liu Biao to be resentful.

“What’s wrong, General?” Yang Hong pretend to be puzzled. “Are you not the one in charge?”

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“No, no. My father is the one in charge. You should be kneeling to my father!” Liu Pan said with a blush.

“Oh. So the Lord is still Lord Liu Biao. I thought that he had already abdicated!” Yang Hong added, causing Liu Pan’s face to turn red.

“Not yet but someone wished it was so!” Huang She said in an accusatory tone.

“Huang She!” Liu Pan said angrily.

“Enough!” Liu Biao furrowed his brows. He was in such poor health that furrowing his brows took a lot of energy. Yet his subordinates refused to let him feel relieved. Wasn’t it a joke for their own people to be making such a ruckus?

“Why is Master Yang Hong visiting Jingzhou?” Liu Biao asked, interrupting Yang Hong from watching a play.

“For no other reason than to fetch Milord’s belongings.” No longer having any drama to watch, Yang Hong cupped his fist at Liu Biao while speaking of his motives.

“Your Lord’s belongings?” Liu Biao furrowed his brows. “As far as I know, His Highness the King of Shu did not leave anything behind.”

“Milord departed in a hurry so he left a lot of things behind such as the residence, the gold and jewelries in that residence, and also his fine steed!” Yang Hong spoke in detail.

“How shameless! That residence is only a temporary residence my father had given that Liu Mang! All that gold in it also belongs to my father! And what fine steed are you talking about? Even if there was one, it belongs to Jingzhou! That man only came with three servants!” Liu Pan advanced and said coldly.

“Wrong. That residence was given to Milord by the Lord of Jingzhou. So the residence is already his. All the gold and jewelry there was given by Jingzhou’s civil and military officials as a way of hospitality. There is also the betrothal gift the Lord of the Kuai Family gave him. How could Milord from the bride’s family not take it back? As for the steed, did it die? Or perhaps someone privately claimed it for himself? Even if you take it, it is not important. I just need to be informed.” Yang Hong continued to speak.

“Who took your fine steed? Don’t slander us!” One military officer could not help but stand up.

“If no one took it then it should still be at the residence.” Yang Hong simply replied to the officer. It immediately became that there was a horse.

“I had indeed given that residence to Liu Mang. Since he want it, then he can have it. Since he cannot take the house with him, let us just exchange it for gold.” Liu Biao waved his hand. That residence was at the prime area of Xiangyang but it was only worth a thousand gold at most. Might as well give it to Liu Mang.

“Many thanks, Lord Liu Biao. That land should be sold at market price. Since land is extremely expensive in that area, how about one thousand five hundred gold?” Yang Hong asked with a smile.

“Alright.” Liu Biao nodded. That amount of gold was considered cheap.

“How about we exchange the jewelry to gold as well? Otherwise transporting it would be hard.”

“Also permissible.”

“The jewelry is not much. It is only about two piles. According to Milord, it should be more than thirty three thousand gold. So how about we count it as thirty three thousand gold?” Yang Hong said shamelessly.

“Thirty three thousand gold? What kind of jewelry do you have that adds up to thirty three thousand gold? Even the residence don’t come close!” The others at Jingzhou took a deep breath.

“You are just spitting nonsense!” Liu Pan said angrily.

Yet, Yang Hong seemingly ignored Liu Pan and continued to speak. “Though we have few jade artifacts, they were all left behind by Emperor Qin. It is equivalent to fifty five thousand gold.”

Another fifty five thousand gold appeared out of nowhere.

“The horse is not much, it is only about two thousand gold.” Yang Hong calculated everything and the total results in about ninety thousand gold.

Even the Cai Family could not afford this much money. If they were to sell everything, they could only take out two hundred thousand gold. So this is already half of the Cai Family.

“Haha! Why don’t that whelp Liu Mang simply say Jingzhou is his!” Liu Pan angrily sneered at Yang Hong. The amount of money Liu Pan had received from Liu Biao to expand the army was only a hundred thousand gold.

“Only if the land under the skies belong to the King. Milord is a Liu and the world belongs to the Liu! Jingzhou would definitely not be an exception.” Yang Hong said another thing that is technically correct. Since the world belongs to the Han, which was the Liu Family, he wasn’t exactly wrong either.

“Milord also said if they are willing to part without hard feelings then they can just return his possessions. If they intend to seize it, then Milord would not need to worry about bringing emotions. The way Jingzhou receive its guest is still fresh in his mind so he is willing to bring his subordinates to come and have fun as well. It would be a shame if the fire on the mountain spreads to Xiangyang.”

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This was basically a threat. Hand over the money or they will come and take it by force.

“Men! Drag this madman out and execute him! Let Liu Mang come if he wants! Let us see if Jingzhou is afraid of him!” Liu Pan angrily shouted but the rest of the civil and military officials were still pondering their options.

Just as Liu Pan’s bodyguards were about to drag Yang Hong away, Liu Biao suddenly said. “Wait!”

“Father? This madman should be killed to assuage the people’s anger! Leave this man to me. I will kill him and then attack that Liu Mang!”

“Put Yang Hong in prison first. Remember not to act without my explicit orders.”