Twenty-five
Twentieth Year of Reestablished Peace · AD 215
'Ziyu, how did General Sun reply to Liu Bei?' General Lü enquires impatiently upon seeing Zhuge Jin enter the residence with Zijing. General Lü, Zijing and I had just been discussing the situation now that Guan Yu has withdrawn and Liu Bei requested for peace. Shortly after General Sun met with Liu Bei's messenger, he sent a messenger to our residence in Lukou informing the family that Zijing would be stationed in Baqiu temporarily henceforth; Qing'er and Rong'er advised me to join Zijing in Baqiu first while they packed up our belongings at Lukou. Just before, a soldier had announced that Zhuge Jin had stopped by on the way to bring the General's reply to Liu Bei; Zijing had gone to receive Zhuge Jin at the door.
Zhuge Jin remains silent, throwing Zijing a glance. His expression serious, Zijing replies, 'The General intends to return what was hard-won with such effort of mouth.'
'The General is returning all three commandries?' General Lü questions, stunned; I too am perplexed by Zijing's words. In our discussion, General Lü and Zijing had predicted that General Sun would turn over Lingling to Liu Bei while retaining Changsha and Guiyang. Zijing had commented that he wished Lingling could be kept for General Lü's sake, as it was the commandry that General Lü had spent the most effort to take.
'As I said, the General is returning what was hard-won with such effort of mouth,' Zijing repeats.
Still disbelieving, General Lü grabs the official document from Zhuge Jin's hand. 'Ziyu, let me have a look myself,' he says.
Scanning through the document, General Lü exclaims, 'Why, the General is only returning Lingling, just as we expected!' Looking back up at Zijing and Zhuge Jin, who are trying their best to hold their laughter, he pronounces, 'The two of you tricked me!'
Zijing chuckles. 'Wasn't Lingling hard-won with effort of mouth?' he questions.
When General Sun commanded General Lü to lead generals Xianyu Dan, Xu Zhong and Sun Gui in taking the commandries of Changsha, Lingling and Guiyang, General Lü addressed a letter to the Grand Administrator of each of the provinces. The Grand Administrators of Changsha and Guiyang surrendered, but Hao Pu, the Grand Administrator of Lingling, refused to. The situation at Yiyang turning critical, General Sun ordered General Lü to abandon Lingling and return to aid Zijing. Earlier, when General Lü had taken Changsha and passed by Ling city on the way to Lingling, he had picked up Deng Xuanzhi, an old friend of Hao Pu, intending to use Deng Xuanzhi to persuade Hao Pu to surrender. Upon receiving the summons, General Lü kept it secret and convened his generals by night, telling them that he wished to attack the seat of government of the commandry the following morning, then turning to Deng Xuanzhi and saying, 'Hao Zitai knows that there is such a thing as loyalty and righteousness, and wishes to abide by them, but doesn't understand the times. The General of the Left is now besieged by Xiahou Yuan in Hanzhong. Guan Yu is in Nan Commandry, where General Sun is headed. These are all events happening before our eyes, and you have witnessed them yourself. At present, your forces are completely frustrated and cannot even save themselves; how could they spare strength to keep their hold here? On the contrary, my soldiers are fresh and prepared to fight to the death; reinforcements from General Sun are also arriving soon. What Zitai is doing now is hoping against hope for reinforcements while his life hangs by a thread, in the way that a fish in a puddle created by the footprint of a cow hopes for the waters of the Great River and Han River—it's clear that this is in vain. If Zitai could unite the hearts of his soldiers and maintain the defence of this isolated city for certain, he might be able to survive slightly longer and wait for reinforcements to arrive. However, I have already calculated our strength carefully before besieging the city and know that the city will fall before long. What good would it do for Zitai to lose his life when the city falls? And would it not be tragic for his white-haired mother to be killed as well? My guess is that he does not have access to outside information and thinks that he may obtain reinforcements, thus acting in this way. Sir, you should go and see him and advise him about the gains and losses.'
Thus Deng Xuanzhi went to see Hao Pu, telling him General Lü's words. Hao Pu became fearful and assented to surrendering. Deng Xuanzhi then returned to report back to General Lü, informing him that Hao Pu would arrive shortly. General Lü ordered his generals to close the city gates as soon as Hao Pu left the city. When Hao Pu exited, General Lü took him by the hand and brought him on the boat, then showed him the summons from General Sun. Upon seeing the letter, Hao Pu understood that he had been tricked and was mortally ashamed. Thereafter, General Lü left Sun Jiao to take care of affairs in Lingling and led his troops back to Yiyang that day.
'To think that I was tricked by you so easily! Lu Zijing, you're a sly one!' General Lü exclaims.
'Every word I say is the absolute truth,' Zijing defends himself, his eyes twinkling.
General Lü laughs, glad to have been the source of some amusement, and we soak in a reunion of friends.
See endnotes for chapter notes.