Section 1: Humiliation

In June of the 14th year of Jian'an, the official road outside Xu County was scorching.

On the official road covered with green trees, a long convoy was slowly driving. Two hundred tiger soldiers were wearing full iron armor, their faces were covered in oil, but they were still standing upright on the horse without moving, except for the blood-red tassels that kept whirling with the horse's steps.

Sun Shangxiang sat in a carriage. She did not sit in the carriage, but sat on the shaft of the carriage in a greedy manner. Although Sun Pin, the captain of her personal guards, said several times, she was unwilling to sit back into the stuffy carriage. Looking at the tiger soldiers on both sides, her eyes were full of greed light. She glanced at the female guards who had already taken off their armor and were wearing thin silk clothes. She said with some dissatisfaction: "Pin'er, look at the guards, they are always energetic, no matter how hot they are, they don't even wear leather armor."

Sun Pin poked his head out of the car, looked at the tiger soldier with his armor shining, and smiled with a pursed lips: "Miss, stop talking. Since we were captured, you have to say it 10 or 20 times a day. If you don't bother us, we are bothered. Look, the sisters are tired now, and no matter what, they will turn a deaf ear to it."

"Hmph, all the little hooves are worthy of beating." Sun Shangxiang said hatefully. She looked at the wide carriage in front of Cao Chong, and said dissatisfiedly: "He himself rides such a big car, and there are food and drinks in it, and there are people waiting for me, but he asked me to ride this car. It's really bullying. Alas, Pin'er, I heard that there is also iced sour plum soup in his car, which is cool and quenches thirst, and it's very delicious. When I think about it, I feel..."

Sun Pin was so amused that she couldn't laugh. Seeing a snicker at the corner of the tiger's mouth next to her, she quickly pulled Sun Shangxiang's sleeve. Sun Shangxiang looked at her eyes and then remembered that she was like Zhou Yu. Although she was sitting comfortably in the carriage, she was still a prisoner's identity and could not be too demanding.

"It was all you. Without a single move, I was restrained by that black boy, which made me not have time to resist." Sun Shangxiang was annoyed when she mentioned the robbery. She clenched her fists tightly: "If you see that black boy again now, don't interfere anymore, I will definitely beat him hard. He will make him look for teeth."

Sun Pin ignored her. Sun Shangxiang's martial arts have indeed improved by leaps and bounds during this period, but compared to those who are locked up in prison camps every day, she is still vulnerable to those tiger soldiers. She now knows who the black boy named Li Wei is. He is Cao Chong's confidant and personal guard. He has good martial arts in the top five of Cao Chong's master Ruyun's. It is said that he is very popular with General Deng and has passed on many unique skills. Even Sun Shangxiang is not his opponent in practice for a few years. She is still the one who is looking for teeth all over the ground. If Li Wei really wants to start.

"Who wants to beat me?" Several horses swept past the carriage. Li Wei, on the horse, happened to hear Sun Shangxiang's words. He strangled the reins, stopped, and turned around and smiled at Sun Shangxiang. The other tiger soldiers seemed to have a heart-to-heart relationship, and at the same time they strangled the reins. They took advantage of the time to peek at the two beautiful sisters.

Sun Shangxiang's face turned tigers and shrank back to the carriage. Sun Pin lifted up the curtain and looked at Li Wei, who was smirking and covered in dust. He blushed his hand and put down the curtain and hugged his hands in front of his chest. He buried his head in his arms, but his eyes looked at Li Wei who was dirty outside through the crack of the curtain.

"Li Wei will teach you at any time." Li Wei laughed twice, and took the tiger soldiers to go away. The hurried horse hooves rolled up a wave of loess and rolled into the car, which made Sun Shangxiang cough. She mumbled twice, pulled the curtains of the car. She looked back at Sun Pin, but saw that she was still in that strange position.

"Hey, he's gone. Don't hide it anymore." Sun Shangxiang looked at Sun Pin who was shrinking into a ball and couldn't help but smile, lifting Sun Pin's head hard. Sun Pin's face was flushed and shy. Sun Shangxiang laughed and scolded: "I knew you, a girl, had moved your heart, so I might as well ask Cao Cangshu to give you to that black boy. Forget it, I won't want to see it every day. If I really see it, I'm embarrassed to see it. Just look at it openly."

"Miss..." Sun Pin was rude and pouted and patted Sun Shangxiang's hand away: "You go to Mr. Cao every day, who knows what you think? I haven't said anything about you."

"I want to defeat her so that he can keep his promise and let us go back." Sun Shangxiang made a statement, but looking at Sun Pin's eyes that didn't believe at all, her voice became lower and lower, and finally she didn't say anything. She turned her head, held her cheek with both hands, looked at the carriage in front of Cao Chongdi from the gap in the curtain, and murmured to herself: "Why is this master practicing martial arts so hard every day? If I continue to fight like this, I will beat him one day? Does he have a trick that he doesn't teach me, and he hides his own privateness? It seems that he still has to ask Master Deng for a few tricks to have a chance, otherwise he will be his captive for the rest of his life."

"That's better than marrying Liu Bei." Sun Pin smiled disdainfully, "Look at Big Shuang and Xiao Shuang, or his own daughter, you don't have a good impression of him. If you marry him, you might be lost one day as a burden."

Sun Shangxiang's face turned dark and she didn't say anything. It took a long time to say, "The Cao army cannot have the advantage in our two alliances. He shouldn't be so embarrassed anymore, right?"

"Miss, don't lie to yourself." Sun Pin snorted from his nose: "Governor Zhou is fighting in Jiangling, and Liu Bei is lying Jiangnan from behind. Such people can believe it. Who knows one day that he will turn his face and may go to war with our Jiangdong again."

Sun Shangxiang was a little annoyed when she heard this, and patted Sun Pin back and said, "Okay, OK, stop talking."

Seeing that she was annoyed, Sun Pin didn't say anything anymore. She had to retract back to the corner, picked up a fan and slapped it all over again, thinking about her own thoughts, with a hint of shameful smile on her face, and her face turned red from time to time.

"My son ordered to send two cups of sour plum soup to quench Miss Sun's thirst." A gentle voice came from outside the car. When Sun Pin heard it, he quickly raised the curtain of the car and saw Xiaoshuang holding a vermilion plate with both hands, with a few fine beads of sweat emerging from his forehead, standing in front of the carriage.

"Miss Xiaoshuang is here." Sun Pin quickly took the lacquer plate and handed the ear cup full of sour plum soup to Sun Shangxiang. When Sun Shangxiang looked at the dark red sour plum soup in the cup, he felt saliva from the bottom of his tongue, and quickly took it over and drank it all. As soon as the cold sour plum soup entered the intestines and abdomen, the whole body suddenly became cold.

"Thank him on my behalf, I'm finally a little conscience." Sun Shangxiang licked her red lips and said with satisfaction.

Mi Xiaoshuang smiled, but did not leave. She thought for a while and laughed softly, "My young master said that it was almost time to Xu County. Many officials were waiting in the long pavilion in front. In order to avoid being seen by the lady, she made some gossip for no reason, causing inconvenience to the lady. The lady... can't take a carriage."

"Can't you ride in a carriage? Then what should you sit in?" Sun Pin was stunned when he heard this.

Mi Xiaoshuang whispered from behind, the empty sill car, "Young Master, please feel wronged for a moment. After passing the Changting, please ask the lady to come back."

Sun Shangxiang's face turned cold. As soon as she drank it, the cold sour plum soup immediately turned into a poison intestine. Her face turned red. She didn't say a word, and jumped out of the car and walked towards the car behind. Sun Pin was shocked and hurriedly followed and ran backwards.

Mi Xiaoshuang covered her mouth and smiled, and glanced at Sun Shangxiang's back. She ran back to Cao Chong's carriage. Cao Chong was talking to Zhang Song who was wiping his face. When he saw that Xiaoshuang was back, he reached out and pulled her into the car and smiled: "How is that crazy girl got angry?"

"No, but I'm a little angry." Mi Xiaoshuang put down the tray and took the silk handkerchief from Zhang Song's hand and hung it, and said with a smile.

Cao Chong gagged: "There is nothing to do. She is a prisoner after all. If the officials saw her sitting in the car like a lady, I'm afraid it would be inappropriate."

Zhang Song smiled and said, "Actually, the young master is worried too much. I heard in Jiangdong that Sun Zhongmou is considering seeking peace. Maybe he will really promise Miss Sun to the young master. It will take about half a month to do so, and his envoy should also arrive in Yecheng."

"How is Jiangdong now?" Cao Chong asked with concern.

"It's messy, it's completely messy." Zhang Song took the sour plum soup handed over by Dashuang, shouting happily, and drank it several times. Then he smiled and said, "Young Master defeated He Gongmiao in one battle, and then killed the right governor Cheng Demou, and captured the left governor Zhou Gongjin alive in three battles. Jiangdong was shocked. In addition, Huang Gongfu, who had died in battle before, Dong Yuan Dynasty (Dong Xi), the veteran who followed Sun to fight against rebellion, died nearly half of the veterans, especially Zhou Gongjin was captured, and half of Jiangdong's country collapsed. How can you not panic?"

Cao Chong smiled and said nothing. He pondered for a moment: "Who is in charge of the army now?"

"Lu Zijing became the governor, but he only had 5,000 military power. It was famous but not true. Although Lu Ziming did not serve as the governor, his military power also increased to 5,000. Sun Zhongmou sent him to Danyang to meet with Duke Yi (Jiang Qin) of Lujiang County. There was a rumor that if Duke Yi could return to Jiangdong safely, he would probably be promoted."

"The generals vigorously promote their confidants, where are the people in the literary world?" Cao Chong nodded and asked again.

"Lu Gongji (Lu Ji), who was unemployed by the Lu family for a year, was recently appointed as the prefect of Yulin. Yu Zhongxiang, who was demoted to Danyang, was transferred back to the Mu Mansion. It seems that he should also be used. By the way, Liu Xuande and Sun Zhongmou made a confession with each other, one became the governor of Xuzhou and the other became the governor of Jingzhou, and Sun Zhongmou also became the general of chariots and cavalry." Zhang Song said, feeling funny and couldn't help laughing. Cao Chong burst into laughter when he heard this, and almost sprayed out the sour plum soup in his mouth.

"Yongnian went to Jiangdong this time and made a great contribution. Not only did he take Zhou Gongjin's family, but he also found out so many situations. Thank you for your hard work." Cao Chong looked at Zhang Song with approval, "I should have let you rest for a while, but unfortunately the situation is not tolerant. I'm afraid that you will have to work hard for a while when you arrive in Yecheng."

"Zhang Song is willing to serve the young master." Zhang Song responded seriously.

"Haha, Changting has arrived ahead. Let's get off the car and deal with it first. When we come back, we will tell you in detail how you brought Zhou Gongjin's family." Cao Chong suppressed his impulse to inquire about Mrs. Xiao Qiao and pulled Zhang Song out of the car. In the Changting, the confidant of the Prime Minister's Office headed by Prime Minister Changshi Wang Bi and the important officials in the court headed by Shangshu Ling Liu Xian were looking at Cao Chong who was strode with a smile on his face.

Like Sun Shangxiang, Zhou Yu entered the sill car when approaching Changting. Although his clothes were still neat and his face was still handsome, his handsomeness disappeared. His treatment was not as good as Sun Shangxiang. Sun Shangxiang's sill car was covered with a layer of gauze outside. Although he could see someone inside, he could not see the clear face. He thought he was taking care of Sun Shangxiang, and he had no such good conditions. He could only sit cross-legged with the eyes of the important officials in the court from time to time.

At that moment, Zhou Yu felt a great humiliation, and at the same time he forgot all the benefits of Cao Chong a few days ago. He watched Cao Chong, who was chatting and laughing with his ministers and politely, and made up his mind that if he had the chance to escape, he would definitely return this humiliation ten times.

Of course, the premise is if you have this opportunity.

Cao Chong came over with the ministers, with a very relaxed smile on his face: "Everyone. This is Zhou Yu, the Great Governor of Jiangdong." He turned around and smiled apologetically, "Governor Zhou, it's not that Cao Chong is troublesome, but you are so famous. You must come to see you, so I can only respect you rather obey your orders."

Zhou Yu was watched by everyone like a monkey. He clearly felt the disdain and regret in everyone's eyes, and the humiliation in his heart became even stronger. He couldn't help but sigh and closed his eyes. He has been envied and supported since childhood, but he did not expect that he would end up like this today.

He was insulted, and the Zhou family in Shucheng was insulted.

"Jiangdong Zhoulang, tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk." An unknown young man smacked his lips softly from behind, with a hint of envy and disdain in his tone. Zhou Yu felt as if a needle was pricked, and he was ashamed. He lowered his head and pressed his chin tightly against the rough sill car. The clean wood chips stinged his face. Only in this way can he relieve his discomfort. Compared with the heat on his face, it seems that the noon sun has also lost its power.

Cao Chong saw Zhou Yu's expression. He knew it was almost done, so he quickly smiled and smoothed out: "Hahaha, sirs, the weather is too hot. My qi cultivation skills cannot be compared with those of you. It's really a bit unbearable to be so sunbathed. Let's go to the city, right?"

When Liu Xian and others heard this, they laughed and gave in to each other for a while. They got into the car and entered the city. Before Cao Chong got into the car, he turned his head and looked at Zhou Yu with a flushed face in the car. He was in a good mood. My mother, I told you to ignore me, now you will talk about it.

Pang Tong, who was following him, smiled and said, "Young Master, don't go too far. Zhou Gongjin has never lost such an adult since he was a child. It really makes him popular. It will not be so easy to persuade him to surrender in the future." Today, Cao Chong not only introduced that he was Feng Chu whom Pang Degong mentioned, but also pushed most of the contributions to this battle to him. Liu Xian and others were shocked by what they knew him but did not take him seriously. He immediately became polite to him, which made him feel very proud. Naturally, his mood was very good.

Cao Chong laughed and turned around and said, "Shi Yuan, don't worry, I will do this slap in the face. If he doesn't bow his head, I might really hold a grand prisoner offering ceremony to spread his reputation all over the world. It would be difficult for him to turn the salted fish over. Sun Quan from Jiangdong chased his whole family, and his eldest son Zhou Xun was already dead under Sun Quan's knife."

"Oh?" Pang Tong was shocked.

Cao Chong glanced around and laughed in a low voice, "There are so many people here, so I will talk to you later and talk to you later."

Cao Cao did not enter the city. He lived in the camp of the prime minister and chief minister Wang Bi outside the city. The camp was strictly guarded and much safer than in Xu County. Zhou Yu and Sun Shangxiang were locked up together. I don’t know whether Cao Chong did it on purpose or was too busy, so he forgot them. No one came to see them for a long time, and even dinner was not arranged. They sat in the van for most of the day, and they saw that it was dark outside, and no one came in to ask.

Sun Shangxiang was hungry, and a gurgling sound came from her belly from time to time. Although there was a gauze covering the sill car, she still felt embarrassed. However, Zhou Yu seemed to have no reaction. He kept sitting quietly in the sill car, motionless, as if it had become petrified. Sun Shangxiang wanted to speak to him several times, but was forced to speak by his silent indifference.

Just when Sun Shangxiang was hungry and angry, he heard the sound of talking at the door. When the door was raised, Cao Chong led the way in.

"Come on, let Miss Sun come out." As soon as Cao Chong finished speaking, Sun Pin rushed forward, opened the sill car with neat hands and feet, and pulled Sun Shangxiang out. Sun Shangxiang got out of the sill car, staring at Cao Chong with his eyes slanted, and secretly was lucky. He wanted to pounce on him and beat him up, but first, his legs were numb, and it was difficult to stand firm, let alone hit him. Secondly, he was not a match for Cao Chong, and he was beaten up by him when he pounced on him. It was not cost-effective.

"Hahaha, don't look at me like this, you know, you should always pay attention to outsiders." Cao Chong smiled faintly: "Are you hungry? Go and have a meal."

"You have to care!" Sun Shangxiang cursed with a angrily voice, holding Sun Pin, moving her legs numbly, and then twisting and turning out. Cao Chong was not angry, but still smiled calmly. He watched her turn and leave the tent. Then he turned his head, touched his chin and looked at Zhou Yu in the car. He smacked his lips. Zhou Yu closed his eyes and said nothing, as if he hadn't heard it.

"Grandmaster, don't pretend to be asleep." Cao Chong sat down in the middle of the tent, coughed, "I have good news and bad news. I wonder which one the governor wants to listen to first?"

Zhou Yu still didn't say anything, but just opened his blood-red eyes slightly and looked at Cao Chong with resentment. Cao Chong didn't look at his eyes, but he seemed to feel the resentment in Zhou Yu's eyes. He couldn't help laughing, waved his hand, and let someone release Zhou Yu and sit opposite him.

"Don't blame me. The so-called face is not given by others, but it is all earned by yourself." Cao Chong raised his lips and showed a disdainful smile: "If you hadn't rebelled yourself, why would you have fallen to this point today? I'm sorry that the ancestors of the Zhou family are not me, but you. Why do you have to look at me like this?"

"The general and the local people are very kind and great, Zhou Yu will definitely repay him in the future." Zhou Yu gritted his teeth and said word by word.

"If you have kindness and revenge, you will be like a man." Cao Chong nodded disapprovingly. He laughed in admiration and asked in confusion: "I just want to ask the Grand Governor, you are just a prisoner now, and there are only two consequences waiting for you. One is that you are beheaded by the emperor and sacrificed the flag, and then you will find a place to bury it. I guess you don't want to enter the Zhou family's cemetery. By the way, I will tell you by the way, when Jiang Qin escapes in the battle of Shucheng, Lujiang County has been recovered."

Zhou Yu's face froze and he immediately smiled faintly. He looked at the ground without saying a word.

"The other result is that the emperor forgives you for his generation of loyalty and kindness in the Zhou family, and then gives you an official, so he can go back to his hometown to ride a ox cart and spend this life under the hidden mountain." Seeing that he didn't speak for a long time, Cao Chong had to continue saying: "No matter which result, it will be difficult for me to repay you in this life."

Zhou Yu snorted from his nose: "Do you dare let me go back to your hometown?"

"Dare, why don't you?" Cao Chong chuckled softly, "You can't go back to Jiangdong anyway."

"How do you say this?" Zhou Yu was shocked and raised his head in a hurry.

"Let me tell you the good news first." Cao Chong sighed: "Your family has been taken over by my people and is in the camp."

"What?" Zhou Yu straightened up suddenly. He widened his eyes and looked at Cao Chong in disbelief. Seeing that he was like that, he seemed to be rushing over to strangle Cao Chong at any time. Cao Chong seemed to have not seen him. He shook his head at Dian Man who was about to rush over, indicating that he didn't have to be nervous. He continued in a plain tone: "There is also bad news. Your eldest son Zhou Xun was killed by Sun Quan. Your wife was too sad and rushed for more than ten days. She was already sick and dying. Her sister was taking care of her."

"Impossible!" Zhou Yu shouted angrily, "I know my lord in love. How could he kill my Xun'er? It must be your trick that will ruin my monarch and ministers' disconnection."

Cao Chong frowned and looked at the angry Zhou Yu, sighed, looking like he was so angry that he turned around and left. When he reached the tent, he turned around and said, "I don't know if you and Sun Quan really know each other, but the fact is the fact. Mrs. Qiao is in the camp, you can ask him yourself, but I can remind you that your injuries have not healed yet. Don't be too angry to avoid the wound bursting and suffering in vain." After that, he strode away, and there were only two tiger soldiers left in the tent, standing with a knife, looking at Zhou Yu who was frightened and angry indifferently.

Zhou Yu took a few breaths and walked around the tent like a trapped beast. Then he covered his slightly painful chest and shouted to the tiger soldier in a deep voice: "Where is my wife? Take me to see him."

The tiger man's face remained unchanged, and he raised his hand sideways, "Please come with me by the governor."

Xiao Qiao's face was sallow, his hair was scattered, and he had no beauty at all. He leaned against Da Qiao's arms sickly, his expression was dull, and his eyes were covered with blood, but no tears. Da Qiao hugged her pity, comforted her softly, and fed the medicine in her hand little by little to her mouth. Xiao Qiao just opened his mouth mechanically, swallowed the medicine with empty eyes.

Zhou Yu strode in. Da Qiao was shocked and quickly leaned on Xiao Qiao to lie down on the brocade quilt, and stood up: "Brother-in-law."

"Madam..." Zhou Yu didn't care about talking to Da Qiao, rushed over and hugged Xiao Qiao, and shouted: "Madam, Madam, I am Zhou Yu, Madam..."

Xiao Qiao's eyes suddenly moved, she twisted her body with difficulty, looked at Zhou Yu with a steady state, her cracked lips trembled twice, and murmured: "Husband, is it really you, Husband..."

Zhou Yu was very sad. He ignored Da Qiao and hugged Xiao Qiao tightly in his arms. Tears were pouring like a spring, and he burst into tears: "Madam, it's me, it's me, why did you become like this..."

"Husband..." Xiao Qiao suddenly burst into tears, stretched out her hands and hugged Zhou Yu's neck tightly, "Xun'er...Xun'er is dead..."

Da Qiao quietly retreated and saw Cao Chong standing not far outside the tent, two ugly monsters Pang Tong and Zhang Song standing beside him, whispering something. When he saw Da Qiao coming out, Cao Chong hurriedly saluted respectfully: "Madam, I wonder if Ling Mei is good?"

Da Qiao nodded gently: "Gongjin has entered, she is finally willing to speak."

Cao Chong breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good."

Da Qiao bowed and said, "If you are worried about it, I will escape from death. I will meet Gongjin. I am here to thank the young master for the young master."

Cao Chong felt guilty. Xiao Qiao was planning all this by himself, including the death of his son Zhou Xun, which was as expected. That's why he stood outside the tent and didn't go in to see Xiao Qiao, a beautiful woman famous in the Three Kingdoms. Of course, he didn't know that Xiao Qiao is not beautiful at all now. He just was a sloppy woman, looking at the sloppy woman who lost confidence in life.

"Shame, it's a pity that Zhou Xun was not rescued, so he died in vain." Cao Chong wiped his eyes in a proper manner.

"Young Master, don't blame yourself. The men in the Sun family are so cold-blooded and ruthless." As soon as Da Qiao mentioned the men in the Sun family, her face immediately became cold. She bowed respectfully and left in a hurry.

Cao Chong glanced at Da Qiao's pretty back and swallowed secretly. He once again regretted that he was too young for time travel, which was a pity.

Pang Tong was also tragic for a while before retracting his gaze and smiling: "Young Master, Mrs. Qiao is doing well in Xiangyang, with a rosy face and a striking charm."
Chapter completed!