Chapter 433 Provocation (2/2)
From citizens and ordinary officers' point of view, they did not know about the relationship between the two Qiaos, Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu. Therefore, had these warlords suddenly proclaimed that Tong stole their wives as a reason to wage war, their reputation would have hit rock-bottom. People would have spread the news that Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were selfish youths, who were jealous of the emperor, or they wanted to throw away the lives of their soldiers for their personal gains.
Also, since Tong returned Sun Jian to them, all of their subordinates would view Tong with a favorable opinion, and the future persuasion and recruitment would become more manageable.
With a simple big-heart move, Tong tied Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's next movement.
Rebel against Tong and the Sun Clan would be forever a rebel clan, which also would lose all supports from their people.
Thus, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu's next move had to be sitting still and get humiliated, watching their former wives getting stolen by Tong.
Lu Zhi: ”Why provoking them, though? I don't see the point. If you want to make the Sun Clan hates you, you can just kill Sun Jian right here.”
Tong: ”That's a waste. I want to entice some of Sun Jian's men to my side without causing a feud. Well, Huang Gai, Han Dang, and Cheng Pu are elites. If I kill Sun Jian here, they will hate me for life. If I treat Sun Jian well, they will look at me favorably. Also, these three are not that close to Sun Ce or Sun Fang. If the two sons of Sun Jian are proven to be a disgrace of their family, I don't think their generals will remain loyal to those two, right?”
It was a mind game to draw all Sun Jian's former subordinates to Tong's side to prepare for the aftermath of the unification.
To Tong, destroying Sun Fang, Sun Ce, or Zhou Yu was as easy as snapping his fingers. However, attracting their talented personal would be another story.
There were many promising youths in their ranks that had yet to shine, such as Zhou Tai, Lu Meng, Lu Xun, Xu Sheng, Ding Feng, Ling Tong, Zhu Ran, and many others. For the sake of getting these men to his side, Tong had to prove that Sun Ce and Sun Fang were trashy warlords unworthy of their services.
It was a pity that this plan would make Zhou Yu his enemy, but Tong had no choice. After all, Zhou Yu was Sun Ce's sworn brother, and the latter was an ambitious warlord that could potentially threaten the Han Dynasty.
Lu Zhi and the officers in the chat understood a bit of Tong's vision. They nodded to Tong and receded.
Xun Yu, at Tong's side, could not hide his proud smile as his lord was both wicked, yet merciful and farsighted. It suited his taste.
Meanwhile, Sun Jian was delighted that he could return home.
”Thank you, your majesty. We shall leave at once. Still, I'll tell my sons to disband our clan and join you as soon as possible.”
”Please do. And also … do me a favor. Tell Sun Ce and Zhou Yu that I've taken Xiao Qiao and Da Qiao as my concubines. Tell them in the clan chat, and thank them for me.”
”???”
Sun Jian was confused. However, he followed Tong's order and told them in the clan chat.
After Sun Jian had told everything to his clansmen, as Tong had predicted, Sun Ce went ballistic.
Sun Ce: ”TELL THAT SON OF A BITCH THAT I'LL BE COMING FOR HIS HEAD! I WILL SLICE IN A THOUSAND TIME!!”
All their clansmen were baffled by Sun Ce's reaction.
Huang Gai: ”Calm down, young lord. What's wrong with you? Zhang Tong is releasing your father.”
Sun Ce: ”THAT SON OF A BITCH HAS STOLEN MY WIFE!!”
Huang Gai: ”Whose wife? I don't remember you have a wife.”
Sun Ce: ”DA QIAO IS MY WIFE!!”
Everyone: ”WHAT!?”
Everybody in Sun Fang's clan was shocked. At the same time, they did not understand when and how Sun Ce married to Da Qiao.
Something was wrong!
Sun Jian stared at Tong, who was smiling at him.
'He knew!? But … something doesn't make sense! It's obvious that Qiao Xuan was a former noble in Lujiang, and their daughters were maiden. Both Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao are also interested in Zhang Tong. But since when my son is married to Da Qiao!? What the hell!?'
Tong feigned innocence and asked, ”Did he say something?”
Sun Jian was not a fool. He understood everything by reading Tong's expression.
'Just now, he intentionally said his concubine's nicknames and told me to relay his words. That's a provocation message to my son!'
He gritted his teeth. Since Tong was attacking his son, he would not take this lying down.
”Your majesty, how can you be so cruel? Da Qiao has married to my son before you've sent a decree to take her as your concubine. Then, you want to mock him that she's your woman now? That's immoral, your majesty.”
It was a direct slander against Tong in front of his thousand subjects in the throne room.
The crowd was enraged!
”BLASPHEMY!”
”HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE HIS MAJESTY!?”
”GUARDS!!”
Palace guards, with shining knight armors, rushed in with their weapons. They pointed their spears and swords at Sun Jian and his generals.
Tong raised his hand to stop the commotion.
”All of you ... stop!”
The hall was silent. All royal guards, however, retained their fighting stance, but they stepped backward by one pace.
Tong, who still had a sinister smile on his face, turned to Sun Jian.
Sun Jian gulped. It seemed that he had stepped onto a land mine.
Han Dang, Cheng Pu, and Huang Gai had already drawn their swords and were ready to fight their way through. They glanced at Tong and Sun Jian, hoping for a slim chance that this would not turn into a bloodbath.
”I think there is some misunderstanding going on here, and you're slandering one of my wives that she's having an affair before she has met me. This is something that I can't overlook.”