Chapter 368 (1/2)
“Your Majesty, King of Shu! What is the meaning of this? Did you think all the Lords in the world is like you who faces a surrendering person aggressively?” Jia Xu challenged. He would not be afraid if Liu Mang wanted him dead. As it was night time, it would be easy for him to escape in the darkness.
“All soldiers, prepare for battle!” Zhang Hu and Ge Jun was also influenced by Jia Xu’s high praise of Sun Ce and Cao Cao. They felt as though a good future could be found even if they do not surrender to Liu Mang. It was better to search for someone else rather than serve Liu Mang. So the two of them supported Jia Xu in this battle.
“You can leave if you want. I will not stop you since we are like kindred spirits. I will definitely burn incense for you at your grave several months from now.”
“Hmph!” Death? There is no one better than Jia Xu at self-preservation. He is able to abandon everything including his own reputation to protect himself. “If Your Majesty does not intend to stop me, I could live up until a very old age. There is no need for Your Majesty to burn me incense.”
“It does not matter if Mister Wenhe refuses to listen to my sincere advice. I only don’t want these two generals here to die as well!” Liu Mang knew that he could not persuade Jia Xu so easily. He also did not have the certainty that he could Jia Xu off. So, he attacked from a different angle.
“Hm?” Zhang Hu and Ge Jun was stunned as they did not expect to be mentioned by Liu Mang. The two of them never had their own opinions and simply followed Jia Xu. They would have already scattered away if it was not because of Jia Xu. There was even a chance for them to turn to bandits.
“Deluding people with lies! Let’s go! Your Majesty, there is no need to see me out!” Jia Xu showed disdain and was about to turn his horse around. His army also started to move.
“Milord!” Liu Ye started to become anxious. He was afraid that Liu Mang would be soft hearted and let Jia Xu go. Although he had been humiliated, he was not someone who would use his authority to take revenge for his own private matters. He knew how frightening the man Jia Xu was. The man’s ability to face this situation calmly and also his evaluation of Cao Cao and Sun Ce had made him feel alarmed. He knew that Jia Xu was someone who had to die if he could not be used.
“Ziyang, there is no need to worry.” Liu Mang stopped Liu Ye. Although he looked indifferent, he was actually more anxious than Liu Ye. He did not know where the Black Flag Army and the Formation Breaker were. “Killing a parent or a child would create mortal enemies. I wonder if they are truly irreconcilable!”
Liu Mang’s words caused Jia Xu to suddenly stop. Jia Xu turned around and asked, “What do you mean by that?”
Liu Mang knew that he had made the right move the moment he saw Jia Xu stop so he felt relieved. “Mister Wenhe. Are you truly uncertain about what I am talking about?” As Liu Mang asked this question, he rode his horse forward with Liu Ye trying to stop him. “Milord. It is dangerous in front.”
“No need to worry!” Liu Mang waved his hand. “With you and General Wenyuan around, Mister Wenhe would not be able to do anything to me!” Liu Mang approached Jia Xu. At that distance, Jia Xu would be able to kill Liu Mang if he wanted to. But if he did that, he would definitely offend the Lu Bu’s Army.
“Mister Wenhe. You spoke about Sun Ce but you did not say whether you could cross the Yangtze River!” War had started between Liu Biao and Sun Ce. Crossing the river would be possible for a small group but they would need a dozen s.h.i.+ps to transport all of the cavalry over. The men from Jingzhou would not be so blind that they would allow Jia Xu to cross the river and seek shelter from Sun Ce. “Even if you could cross, do you think he would accept those that killed his father?” Liu Mang asked with a smile.
“Father’s killer? Your Majesty. Are you joking? When did I kill Sun Ce’s father? The one that killed Sun Jian was Huang Zu.” Jia Xu looked at Liu Mang, not knowing what he was thinking.
“I am not joking. I am sure you understand what I mean deep down in your heart. After the death of Emperor Ling, Dong Zhuo placed Liu Xie as Emperor instead of Liu Bian and became Prime Minister. Around that time, you were promoted and controlled the Niu Fu and Zhong Fu’s Army. Am I right?”
“So what?”
“If I remembered correctly, at that time, the vanguard of the Coalition was Sun Jian.”
“What about it?”
“It is true that Huang Zu was the one that killed Sun Jian. There was no trace of Mister Wenhe there.” Liu Mang smiled at Jia Xu. Sun Jian was indeed killed by Huang Zu. However, the reason for that was the Imperial Seal. Sun Jian found it and then hid it. Yuan Shu and the others found out and ambushed Sun Jian. This was what caused Sun Jian’s death.
The question is, how did Sun Jian obtain the Imperial Seal? Sun Jian found it in a well after Dong Zhuo burned down Luoyang. Some would say that Sun Jian found it because the Imperial Seal was very s.h.i.+ny. This is not possible. Liu Mang had seen the Imperial Jade before. Although it was a precious and beautiful piece, it was definitely not very s.h.i.+ny. It is definitely not to the extent that one would notice it in a well, especially since an empty well was still about ten meters deep.
In other words, Sun Jian must have been guided there. This person could not be Sun Jian’s friend or acquaintance. Otherwise, they would have met. That left only one possibility. The Imperial Seal was given by the enemy.
Who could it be? Sun Jian fought at the front lines. The first people he would meet are Niu Fu, Li Jue, Guo Si and Jia Xu. It was these four that defeated Sun Jian and killed his general Zu Mao.
If Li Jue and Guo Si were the ones that found the Imperial Seal, they would have kept it instead of giving it to Sun Jian. Niu Fu would give his Lord and father-in-law, Dong Zhuo. The only one left is Jia Xu. The man was tricky and evasive. It was just like the time he sent Guo Si and Li Jue to attack Changan and at the same time, warning Lu Bu of the impending attack. He was one of the four that defeated Sun Jian’s Army, leaving Sun Jian with only one thousand men left. However, Jia Xu realized that Dong Zhuo was not a good Lord while Sun Jian showed signs of being a Lord. In order to apologize to Sun Jian and not mark himself as an evildoer, he had dispatched people to tell Sun Jian about the Imperial Seal. It was a reconciliation effort on his part. He never expected this to end up causing Sun Jian’s death. In other words, Jia Xu was also responsible for Sun Jian’s death.
“That is simply General Sun Jian’s luck!” Jia Xu coldly looked at Liu Mang coldly. He never expected Liu Mang to know about this. Liu Mang realized that he was right based on Jia Xu’s expression. Jia Xu was no longer calm. At first, he denied involvement but not he said it was Sun Jian’s luck. This meant that he is starting to admit that he was responsible.1
“Really? Would the Little Conqueror think that way?” Liu Mang smiled at Jia Xu. If Jiangdong knew that his father was ambushed and the main cause of it was Jia Xu gifting the Imperial Seal to Sun Jian, he would definitely kill Jia Xu. After all, like Lu Bu, Sun Ce was easily irritated. On top of that, his father held a high position in his heart. Similarly, if Diao Chan were to be killed and that the main cause of it was Jia Xu, Lu Bu would definitely have Jia Xu killed. After all, Lu Bu had already killed Dong Zhuo just for Diao Chan.
“Admittedly, Sun Ce cannot be counted on. However, there is still Cao Cao!” Jia Xu replied. “Cao Cao appreciates talented people. He would receive us to take in talents!”