My Father in Law is Lu Bu

“The Second Lord is there.” Zhang Zhao did not say whether Sun Quan was suitable to be the new Lord. He did not say if ‘there’ meant on top or just an affirmation of his existence.1

Though Zhang Zhao spoke vaguely, but the others understood it. Zhang Zhao was angry at Sun Ce for sending him away to Xudou. But the reason Sun Ce did this was because of Sun Quan. Zhang Zhao knew of Sun Quan’s scheme but did not report it and just waited to see what would happen. Though it is justified, Zhang Zhao still preferred Sun Quan to be the Lord now.

“I think the Second Lord is worthy of being a leader.” Zuo Li said. They did not have any choice left. If they did not do anything, Yangzhou would annex Jiangdong. At that time, not only would they need to be on guard against Liu Mang who may come and settle accounts with them. They would also lose their wealth. All the top nobles would become second grade. The second grade nobles would become third grade nobles. The third grade nobles might even stop being nobles. On top of that, all of them hated Liu Mang since they had all participated in the campaigns which they lost.

None of them wanted Jiangdong to become a part of Yangzhou. None of them would say it before Zhang Zhao brought up this topic. But now it was too late to stay silent. They had to act or they would regret it.

“All of you think this?” Zhang Zhao narrowed his eyes. He wanted to confirm if everyone, especially one person, thought the same.

“We all think the same. The Second Lord is virtuous. He can lead!” The Zheng Family’s Patriarch replied.

“Yes. The Second Lord has blue eyes and purple hair so he has innate talent. Even the Conqueror Xiang Yu was like that!” The Hao Family’s Patriarch said.

“The Second Lord is our Lord!” The Cheng Family added.

“He Family Patriach. What do you think?” Zhang Zhao turned to one person. The He Family had been in Jiangdong for generations. They were also skilled and familiar with the Zhou Family, allowing them to grow from a third grade noble to one of the most influential nobles in Jiangdong.

What Zhang Zhao wanted was to look at the He Family’s approach since he was one of Zhou Yu’s chess pieces amongst the nobles.

In the past, Zhang Zhao did not care much because it was not necessary. He did not have a falling out with Zhou Yu. In the past, Zhang Zhao was like the dealer of a gambling den. Regardless of who wins, he gains profit. Regardless of who won, Zhang Zhao would stayed at the top amongst the culture officials. There was no need to touch Zhou Yu’s chess piece.

However, the situation is different now. Zhang Zhao was no longer the dealer but an unhappy gambler after Sun Ce chased him away to Xudou. The Zhang Family was not native to Jiangdong. Instead, they escaped to Jiangdong to avoid the flames of war. The Zhang Family had to work hard to achieve their current wealth. He would definitely not be willing to give it all away by listening to Sun Ce.

For this gamble, if he were to win, he could remain as one of Jiangdong’s top officials. In fact, he may rise even higher with Sun Quan’s support. On the other hand, losing this gamble meant losing everything. Though the cost is high, it was not much different compared to going to Xudou.

As Zhang Zhao was now a gambler, he wanted to get rid of anything that might cause him to lose. One of this was the He Family. He no longer cared if it would offend Zhou Yu. Zhang Zhao’s eyes glinted as he looked at the He Family’s Patriarch He Chen.

He Chen could not help but smile bitterly. He did not have any other choice left. There was only one way out of this.

On top of that, He Chen was not genuinely a loyal official. Before this, he followed Zhou Yu because the He Family was weak. They could easily be crushed in a single moment. That was why he hid behind Zhou Yu’s back and listened to Zhou Yu in exchange for shelter.

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Zhou Yu made the He Family a spy amongst the nobles. Zhou Yu also protected the He Family, allowing the He Family to offend others. Slowly, the He Family rose from the bottom and became one of the noble families in Jiangdong that commanded respect.

But people change. The He Family could work with Zhou Yu in the past because they had not yet achieve success. Any bitterness they experienced was normal. But now that they were successful, they were not willing to go back and experience hardship.

If Zhou Yu and Sun Ce still ruled Jiangdong, then He Chen would feign civility towards Zhang Zhao before informing Zhou Yu about this and letting Zhou Yu deal with this.

But now, Yangzhou’s envoy is here and Sun Ce personally went out to greet them, and even pulled their horse. It obviously meant that Jiangdong was about to be incorporated into Yangzhou. If Jiangdong were to become part of Yangzhou, it was unlikely that Zhou Yu could defend his family. Zhou Yu may even be too powerless to defend himself. The He Family would decline again. That was why the He Family would not join Zhou Yu and Sun Ce. His job as Zhou Yu’s spy ends here.

“Don’t worry, Master Zhang. If the Second Lord were to become the new Lord, my He Family will protect him and be at his beck and call. That whelp Sun Ce is no longer worthy of being Marquis Wu!” He Chen said publicly. He can already be considered a rebel. Even the others who wanted Sun Quan to be the Lord would not dare to speak out against Sun Ce like this.

“N!” Zhang Zhao nodded. It seems like He Chen has a good understanding of the circumstances. Zhang Zhao no longer wanted to kill He Chen. It would not be good if he pushed He Chen over to the other side.

“But how can we make the Second Lord become the the ruler of Jiangdong?” Zuo Li asked. Sun Quan was a very important person to Sun Ce. If they tried anything, Sun Ce would be alerted. If Sun Quan was executed as a result, then their actions would be in vain.

“That would depend on Master He Chen.” Zhang Zhao said with a laugh as he looked at He Chen.

Since He Chen’s relationship with Zhou Yu was good, a lot of lucrative posts were left in the He Family’s hands. One of which was to look after Sun Quan.

“I will do my utmost to ensure that the Second Lord escapes.” He Chen did not dare to decline.

“That’s good. This matter cannot be delayed. You should act now.” Zhang Zhao said to He Chen.

“I understand.” He Chen nodded and left.

Zhang Zhao watched He Chen leave before turning around.

“Lord Ambassador. Is this He Chen reliable?” Hao Liu asked. “He is not a good person. If you let him go, what if…” Hao Liu hesitated. Everyone knew that He Chen was Zhou Yu’s chess piece. So everyone was aware that letting He Chen go meant risking Zhou Yu getting informed about this.

“Haha. I know that. But he should know what to do.” Zhang Zhao laughed.

“But…!”

“No need to worry. Master Zhang is doing this meant that he already has a plan.” Zuo Li stopped Hao Liu from continuing. “Am I right?”

“Haha. Master Zuo speaks highly of me. But how can I compare to Brother Zuo?” Zhang Zhao had really underestimated Zuo Li. He initially thought of Zuo Li as an old fool but it would seem that Zuo Li was actually really insightful.

“Does Master Zhang have an important matter to entrust to us?” Zuo Li asked like a parasite clinging to Zhang Zhao.

“Of course!” Zhang Zhao nodded. “Brother Zheng, Brother Hao. Are the Shanyue men you raised still healthy?”

“Shanyue!” If Zhang Zhao were to ask this in the past, they would immediately turn hostile. This is because the Shanyue represent rebellion. Zhang Zhao’s words would imply that the rebellion was caused by the Hao Family and the Zheng Family.

The Shanyue wreaked havoc and the both the Hao and Zheng profit from it. That was until Liu Mang made that rubbish thirty percent tax law and Sun Ce sent all the Shanyue people to Yangzhou. This caused their profits to decrease.

However, the Hao Family and the Zheng Family still raised some Shanyue people. One was to have more hired thugs. The other was because they were afraid this matter would become exposed. They never expected that Zhang Zhao knew of their secret.

“This… Of course they are still here.” Zheng Shuang still wanted to hide the matter when Hao Liu spoke frankly. “Master Zhang. There are three thousand of the Shanyue men but only one thousand and five hundred armors. It is insufficient.”

“The matter about the armor can be handled.” Zhang Zhao laughed. “There are still five thousand sets of heavy armor at Jianye’s treasury. You can just go and collect them.” These armor was meant to form heavy infantries for when Jiangdong is going to attack the Central Plains. They simply did not expect to not even have the chance to use them after Liu Mang captured Lujiang. After all, armor was a burden for naval battles. Now these armors would only make it convenient for the Shanyue men.

“There are five thousand reserve soldiers at Huiji.” Zuo Li added. He was really not bad as a governor to be able to have five thousand men in his employ.

“Oh? How are these reserve troops?” Zhang Zhao also did not expect Zuo Li to have so many men.

“Haha. They used to have the surname Yan.” Zuo Li replied. The ones who take out soldiers now would show their competence. All of this would be considered in the end when considering merits. They all wanted to show their good sides to their new Lord.

“Yan?” A few other nobles became speechless. The Yan Family was famous. Their late Patriarch was Yan Baihu. This meant that these soldiers were survivors of the Yan Family.

One by one all of these secrets were revealed. One has Shanyue bandits the other has surviving members of the Yan Family.

“These troops can also go to Jianye to collect the armor.” Zhang Zhao was rich enough so he just took out the money for the troops.

“In that case, I will not refuse.” Zuo Li smiled before the pain from his injury made him feel like crying again.

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1. Raw Chinese is you 有 It can mean “to have” (as in have the talent) or “to exist” which in this context means he is useless.