“You want to die? It won’t be so easy!” Sun Qian sneered.
“You!” Mi Zhu’s eyes widened. He had already admitted defeat and all that was left to do was to die. All he asked was to die comfortably. Yet Sun Qian would not grant even this wish.
“Men! Tie Mi Zhu up and send him to my residence!” Sun Qian loudly ordered.
“Understood!” The soldiers behind Sun Qian nodded and then moved to tie up Mi Zhu.
“Sun Qian Sun Gongyou! You will not die well! I will not let you go even after I become a ghost!” Mi Zhu shouted with a sinister expression on his face.
Mi Zhu regretted trying to fund a nation instead of just staying rich happily. He initially thought he could stick himself to Liu Bei, become his brother-in-law and eventually become a noble. Now he got his wish but everyone is dead. What was the noble title for? Had he not do all this, he could have grown old with peace and wealth.
Mi Zhu regretted the fact that he had misjudged Liu Bei. The man known for his benevolence was just someone with wild ambitions. He had gone bankrupt funding Liu Bei and the man would not even pay ransom for his siblings. He never thought something was wrong and had even tried to cover for Liu Bei. How could his siblings be worth less than noble titles? Now, he had even gotten himself into trouble.
“Even if you are a ghost? Haha! Can you even tell what kind of ghost you will become? I am not afraid of you when you are alive! Why would I be afraid of you after you die?” Sun Qian sneered at Mi Zhu.
Mi Zhu wanted to struggle but he was a weak man. He was quickly tied up. To shut him up, they even tore a piece of rag off his clothes and then stuffed it into his mouth. The entire time, Mi Zhu glared at Sun Qian wishing he could have killed with his gaze.
Mi Zhu was pushed into a carriage by one of Sun Qian’s subordinates. He was to going to be sent to Sun Qian’s residence. Once there, Mi Zhu would definitely be dead. Jian Yong’s subordinates also watched the surrounding dutifully. They had the intention of escorting Sun Qian straight to his residence.
Sun Qian who sat in his carriage closed his eyes and gave a smile. He initially had no intentions of getting rid of Mi Zhu as the man was unrelated to everything. He only did it because he was incited to by Liu Mang’s messenger. However, he now realized that he had also benefitted from this. First of all, Mi Zhu could no longer expand which would mean less trouble for him in the future.
Second, Liu Bei ordered Sun Qian to handle Mi Zhu’s punishment. This meant that all of Mi Zhu’s power and privileges now belonged to Sun Qian. Although it was not much, Mi Zhu was still Liu Bei’s source of money. The five thousand gold that Pang Tong took to Jingzhou all came from Mi Zhu. If Pang Tong failed in his task, Sun Qian could use this fact to pressure Pang Tong. However, if Pang Tong were to succeed, the money would go to Sun Qian as Sun Qian had already taken over Mi Zhu’s tasks. Those that want to do business would also have to go through Sun Qian. This meant that Sun Qian’s position in the Liu Bei’s Army would become more important.
Now all he needed to do was get rid of Mi Zhu. “Fatty Pang! I am sure you never expected that all of your work would only be for my sake!” Sun Qian thought to himself happily. He would have been laughing heartily if he had not been sitting in a carriage.
However, the carriage suddenly stopped. Sun Qian stumbled around and knocked his head, causing it to bleed. His good mood was lost.
“Do you even know how to drive?” Sun Qian roared angrily. He wanted to take out his sword and kill the person driving the coachman.
“Protect the master!”
“Protect the Military Advisor!”
“What is going on?” Sun Qian knew that he was being protected the moment he heard that but he did not know exactly what was happening.
“Military Advisor, please return to the carriage or we may not be able to protect you as there are many assailants!” One of Jian Yong’s men cupped their fist to Sun Qian.
“Hm?” Sun Qian took a look and saw that they had been intercepted by a group in black clothing. The assailants rushed in to kill the troops.
“Who are you?” Sun Qian asked as he looked at the people in black.
“Haha! Naturally, we are the ones that will kill you!” One of the assailants replied.
“The ones that will kill me?” Sun Qian became angry. This was the Wancheng district of Nanyang. One could say that this was Liu Bei’s second home. Tens of thousands of Liu Bei’s soldiers were garrisoned here including his elite Xiliang Cavalry. How could such a person just come out and claim that he would kill him?
However, immediately after that, Sun Qian noticed that the voice of the assailant sounded familiar. When he looked back at the assailant, he saw the assailant gave him a strange smile. The assailant holding the sword had a reddish face and a familiar voice.
Sun Qian’s eyes grew wide the moment he realized that this assailant was Wei Yan. He remembered that Wei Yan was just the captain of a small team. However, Wei Yan was the one that captured him. That was why he had some hatred and also fear for Wei Yan. Last time, his own men had been cut down by Wei Yan. He was so astonishing that the only ones that could stop him amongst Liu Bei’s subordinates were Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
As Wei Yan had a red face, Sun Qian could not help but compare Wei Yan with Guan Yu. Both of them were extremely arrogant and proud individuals.
Without doubt, the assailants were Wei Yan and his Yiyang Troops. They had accompanied the second messenger into the city but had hidden themselves until that moment.
Sun Qian had his subordinates and also Jian Yong’s subordinates. Together, they outnumber Wei Yan and his men. However, they were still no match for Wei Yan and his men. The assailants were all battle-hardened soldiers. They all slaughtered in fights involving hundreds of men. On the other hand, Sun Qian’s guards all specialized in assassinations and interrogations. Naturally, they would not be as skilled in close combat. That was not even counting Wei Yan who was even more powerful. Dozens of corpses soon littered the ground.
“Stop them! Stop them!” Sun Qian shouted. Although he knew that Wei Yan would not really kill him as it would be detrimental to Liu Mang’s interest, he was still afraid of Wei Yan. After he had been captured once, he did not want to be captured again.
“You think you can stop us?” Wei Yan laughed as he looked at the people surrounding Sun Qian to protect him. Truthfully speaking, Wei Yan had no bad impressions of Sun Qian. This is because the last time Sun Qian appeared, Wei Yan is able to obtain merits and rewards. The empty fort strategy stalled Liu Ye outside of Ruyin for several days and in the end the rewards for breaking into Ruyin ended up going to Wei Yan. Although Liu Mang managed to see the truth, Wei Yan was still able to bring out news and also capture Sun Qian.
Capturing the enemy general was not a small matter. It was how Wei Yan was able to get promoted to the governor of Zaoyang and have five thousand Yiyang Troops as subordinates. Now he ran into Sun Qian again. This time, Xu Shu had instructed him to ambush Sun Qian’s carriage although he was not allowed to kill Sun Qian. If he succeed in his task, obtaining a noble title may even be possible. So he was very excited.
“Hold the line! Reinforcements will come soon! You must persevere!” Sun Qian shouted loudly. The sounds of the battle would definitely be loud enough to alert the other soldiers guarding the city. They simply needed to hold on for a while before their reinforcements arrive.
Sun Qian’s luck was truly good. The moment he finished his sentence, reinforcements really came. They could hear the earth shaking along with the sound of horses and armor.
“Hm?” Wei Yan frowned when he heard the sound of horses. The only cavalry Liu Bei had was Zhang Xiu’s Xiliang Cavalry. While the Xiliang Cavalry would not be able to show off their full power inside a city, they were still more than Wei Yan and the others could handle.
Wei Yan was not a stubborn fool. Otherwise, Xu Shu would not have dispatched him. He quickly ordered for his men to retreat.
“What do you want?” Wei Yan’s subordinates all retreated but Wei Yan remained. His energy exploded. He himself was a warrior in refinement stage and could easily take on hundreds of soldiers on his own. Only a general of the same rank as him had the chance to kill him.
His explosive energy was very astonishing. Two heads fly with a single swing of his blade. Wei Yan would not do this on the battlefield. Battles during war lasted for several hours but this trick consumed a lot of energy. In just an instant, five men were killed by Wei Yan. Now, Sun Qian only had two left with him.
“Stop him! Stop him!” Sun Qian panicked as he tried to climb back into the carriage.
“You think you can stop me?” Wei Yan sneered. The two remaining guards who worked for Sun Qian were afraid but they still rushed forward for the sake of their master. However, having valor does not mean that they had the strength to compensate. The only thing they did was throw their lives away.
“What do you want?” Sun Qian asked in a panic. He believed that Liu Mang would not kill him but he could tell that Wei Yan’s killing intent was genuine.
“Master Gongyou need not be so flustered. I won’t kill you!” Wei Yan smiled. However, his smiled only looked more malevolent when he was covered in blood.
“You are Wei Yan?”
“I am here to save you! You will thank me for this!” Wei Yan did not bother to talk to Sun Qian and swung his sword down. Blood then splashed out.
“How daring!” The Xiliang Cavalry shouted as they finally arrived. One 1000-men commander charged forward with his pike pointing towards Wei Yan.
This was Sun Qian’s place. When he was attacked, his other subordinates had already gone to ask for help. That was how the Xiliang Cavalry that had been patrolling the area arrive so quickly.
Sun Qian was one of Liu Bei’s most important ministers. He only ended up in second place because of Pang Tong’s appearance. Even then, he is still not a small figure that a 1000-men commander could provoke. That is why he resolutely charged forward. If Sun Qian were to die, he was likely to be executed for failing in his duty of guarding the city.
“Hmph!” Wei Yan spat and withdrew after he saw the 1000-men commander approach. This person was just a second grade warrior that Wei Yan could easily kill. However, there were many more enemies behind him so Wei Yan could only withdraw.
“Stop!” The 1000-men commander shouted out. As he chased, he saw a body on the floor and recognized the body as Sun Qian. Although he wanted to chase Wei Yan, he would be unable to catch up even on horseback because there were too many obstacles in the city. Wei Yan could simply hide in an alley where the horses could not pursue.
