Chapter 62: Zhuge Jian's Pride (Part 1)
Sun Quan said: "Speak up, as long as I can do it, I will definitely satisfy your request."
Zhang Zhao was secretly delighted and thought to himself, "It seems that my position in the eyes of the King of Wu has not diminished." He said, "Cheng Er and his wife have no grudge against Zhuge's subordinate, but they are extremely resentful towards the two culprits who killed Wei Er under his command. They want to take revenge on them personally for Wei Er's death. This matter can be considered settled."
Sun Quan was originally worried that he would propose harsh conditions, but seeing that they only wanted two servants, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He said: "This matter is not difficult, I agree to it."
Zhang Zhao thanked him sincerely.
Sun Quan said so because in the Han Dynasty, servants and slaves were like livestock to these aristocrats, who could be slaughtered at will. As for the two servants under Zhuge Jian, giving them to Zhang Zhao was nothing more than a small matter, using them to appease his important ministers was quite cost-effective.
Zhang Zhao came out from Sun Quan's place and was immediately approached by Zhang Cheng who asked: "Father, how did it go? What did the King of Wu say?"
Zhang Zhao said with a smile: "The King of Wu readily agreed, which shows that he attaches great importance to our attitude."
Zhang Cheng said: "That's good, I'll immediately lead people to surround the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa and prevent those two murderers from escaping."
Zhuge Jun was discussing with Huang Yueying how to carry out business activities in Jingzhou, when Fu Bo rushed in and reported: "Master, second madam, it's not good! A large number of government soldiers have arrived outside and surrounded the place, saying they want to catch a murderer."
Zhuge Jun hastily ran outside, and Huang Yueying followed. Zhuge Jun didn't know what the situation was like outside, so he hurriedly stopped her, saying: "Sister-in-law, you'd better not go out, going won't solve anything."
Huang Yueying was concerned about the development of things, but also knew that for such things, she couldn't help, so she stopped and turned to find Sun Shangxiang.
Zhuge Jun arrived at the gate, only to see a large group of soldiers and officers surging forward in front of the gate. The guards had formed a defensive formation, blocking the entrance tightly, while the soldiers also took up an attacking stance, waiting for the command from their commander.
The leading school lieutenant had heard of the situation with the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa and knew that the forces behind it were not something he could afford to provoke. He hesitated, looking at Zhang Cheng, thinking: "You're not giving orders, I'm not going to touch this sensitive topic."
Zhang Cheng brought his troops here, purely on a whim, only thinking that the murderer might escape, without considering the consequences. It wasn't until now that he remembered this was Sun Shangxiang's territory, and this little lady wasn't someone to be trifled with. Now it's hard to get off the tiger's back, so they can only catch the murderer first and talk later.
He gritted his teeth and gave the order to start the attack.
Just then, Sun Shangxiang burst out from inside. Holding a long sword in her hand, she shouted loudly: "All of you stop! Whoever doesn't want to live can come up."
Jiao Wei didn't want to take action in the first place, but he was constrained by Zhang Cheng being his superior. Seeing Sun Shangxiang come out, he let out a sigh of relief, stopped the soldiers and bowed to her.
When he saw Sun Shangxiang, Zhang Cheng could only step forward and pay his respects, saying: "Princess, I have come under the orders of Wu Wang to capture the murderer, please cooperate with me."
Sun Shangxiang is not a politician, but just a young woman with a strong personality and a fiery temper. Thinking of the dangers her brother has faced, all caused by this man's son, she feels that if she hadn't personally killed him, it would have been letting him off easy. And yet he still dares to come begging for mercy, his face unashamed, which only fuels the anger burning in her heart.
"What murderer? It's clearly your son who has been plotting against my brother time and time again. If it weren't for his siblings, my brother would have been killed by this evil person long ago. He died a good death, sparing the young lady from having to kill him herself."
As soon as the words came out, it was like tearing his face off. Zhang Chengyou's face turned red with rage, and he gave her a venomous look before ordering an attack. However, the school lieutenant and the soldiers did not move.
Zhang Cheng drew his sword and shouted loudly: "Advance immediately, those who disobey orders will be beheaded!"
Sun Shangxiang also raised her sword and shouted loudly: "I'll see who dares, anyone who takes one step forward, I'll call my brother to arrest him and destroy his whole family!"
The soldiers didn't dare move anymore. Both sides were at a stalemate like this.
Zhang Cheng saw that it was no use being hard on him, so he ordered the soldiers to surround the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa and not let the murderer escape. Then he sent someone to ask for instructions from King Wu.
Sun Quan received the news and was furious in his heart: "Zhang Cheng has gone too far, although I promised him. But how can you take action without waiting for me to speak to Zhuge Jun?" He immediately thought: "Probably Zhang Cheng is eager for revenge and fears that the murderer who killed his son will escape, so he did this."
He ordered Zhuge Jin to go and settle this matter. The messenger came back to report that Zhuge Jin had already gone to the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa.
He thought to himself: "What's going on with all these trusted officials of mine?" He ordered his horse to be prepared and personally rushed to the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa.
Zhuge Jin rushed to the Inviting Moon Mountain Villa, saw Zhang Cheng and loudly said: "Zhang Cheng, you've gone too far! The matter itself was caused by you, it's not over yet, do you really think that my Zhuge family is easy to bully?!" Zhang Cheng remained silent with a dark face.
Zhuge Jin walked up to the confronting soldiers and shouted: "All of you, get out of my way!" The soldiers parted to make a path for him to pass through.
He walked up to Zhuge Jun. Zhuge Jun said, "Big brother, why have you come? Don't get involved in this matter. I can handle it myself. You go ahead and don't get dragged into this."
Zhuge Jin said angrily: "What are you talking about? My brother is being bullied, can I as the elder brother not come?" As he spoke, he patted his shoulder.
Zhuge nodded and stopped persuading him.
Sun Quan rushed over and saw this scene, he was very angry, and said to the soldiers: "All of you retreat."
Zhang Zhao, who was hiding behind, also came out when he saw him coming.
Sun Quan said discontentedly to him: "You father and son are so impatient, isn't that too rash?"
Zhang Zhao said with self-reproach: "It's all because my son was eager for revenge and indeed acted rashly. However, you promised me that you would hand over the murderer to me." As he spoke, he knelt down on the ground.
Sun Shangxiang saw Sun Quan arrive, and cried grievously, shouting: "Second brother, they bullied your sister to the point of coming to our door. You don't care, I'll go find mother to judge what's right."
Sun Quan saw this formation, his head got big, and he couldn't catch his breath. He looked at Zhuge Jin, hinting that he should advise Zhuge Jun to hand over the person.
Zhuge Jin saw that Sun Quan was in a difficult situation and wanted to help him out of the siege, so he looked at Zhuge Jun and hinted at him to do it.
Zhuge Jun shook his head firmly and didn't say a word.
Sun Quan thought to himself, "They're just two slaves, giving their families a bit more money will do. Zhuge Jin is also too unscrupulous." His anger rising, he said, "Zhuge Jin, I order you to hand the men over!"
