Chapter 390: 376. Han Xuan Intrigue Games
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Lie Fan hearing this nodded his head as he was enlightened by Jia Xu's words, Lie Fan's other advisors were also in the same mind as Jia Xu especially the military advisors Xun You, Chen Gong, and Lu Su who think in a military perspective what Jia Xi said make so much sense, and as Lie Fan ended the court meeting, something happened at their southern neighbors.
Sun Ce who had replaced Sun Jian as the leader of the Sun Clan for some time now, was holding a meeting with his advisors and his father Sun Jian concerning a letter they had received from Han Xuan, The Governor Of Changsha under Liu Biao.
The sudden arrival of the letter shocked Sun Ce who received it when he was on an outing in the town with his most trusted comrade Zhou Yu, as they were surveying the Capital of the Sun Clan with a group of guards accompanying them.
As Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were surveying the town, suddenly a man managed to sneak past the group of guards accompanying them and bumped into Sun Ce who was talking with Zhou Yu.
This caused a commotion as he was thought of as an assassin who tried to assassinate Sun Ce, and Zhou Yu who was beside Sun Ce reflexively protected Sun Ce and tried to take down the man who bumped into Sun Ce.
The guards around them immediately join in to help and protect Zhou Yu who is now in danger as he takes on the man, while Sun Ce who was surprised woke up from his daze and he felt in his hand that he is holding something hand when he takes a look, there was a letter in his hand.
He stored the letter in his sleeve so that he could read it later, and while he was doing so Zhou Yu and their guards had taken hold of the man and took a rope from one of the market stalls to bound the man.
The man was bruised in several areas of his face, but he kept looking down and didn't let out any sound whatsoever, causing Zhou Yu and the guards to be confused and more cautious raising their guard against the man.
Sun Ce let out a cough which attracted the attention of everyone around him, especially Zhou Yu who immediately read the eye code from Sun Ce and instructed the guards to bring the man with them, as they will return back to the Castle.
Arriving at the Castle, Sun Ce and Zhou Yu meet with Sun Jian, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, and Huan Jie who receive news about an assassination attempt on Sun Ce in broad daylight.
Seeing that Sun Ce was alive and well without any wounds, Sun Jian heaved a sigh of relief as he was horrified when he received the news that there was an assassination attempt on his son.
After making sure that Sun Ce was completely fine, the four of them began to ask Sun Ce and Zhou Yu what happened and how could it happen, as they were guarded by a contingent of guards.
Sun Ce doesn't explain much as he takes out the letter he received before from his sleeve, and while showing the envelope he explains how the man who bumped into him stuffed this into his hand.
Afraid that it was poisoned, Zhou Yu took it from Sun Ce's hand and told Sun Ce that he would be the one opening the letter and not him because it could be a trap to poison him.
Listening to Zhou Yu's words, everyone except for Sun Ce took a step back distancing themselves from HOU Yu, while Sun Ce was angered by Zhou Yu's action as he didn't want his closest friend and comrade to sacrifice himself for him.
Ignoring Sun Ce who was berating him, Zhou Yu opened the letter, and when he was sure there were not any weird smells or substances on the letter, he began to read the content of the letter and was soon surprised by what he read.
Paying attention to Zhou Yu's changing expression, Sun Ce took the letter from Zhou Yu and read the content, soon his face was the same as Zhou Yu who read the content of the letter.
It turns out it was a letter from Han Xuan, Liu Biao's Governor for Changsha who contacted him as he wanted to talk about a term of submission to Sun Ce, showing that he had an interest to change side.
He also apologizes for the way the letter arrived in his hand because he had instructed his men to be as discreet as possible without anyone outside especially Liu Biao knowing about his movement.
Finished with reading the letter, Sun Ce informs his father and his advisors about the content of the letter and proposes for them hold a meeting with just the six of them to discuss the content of the letter.
Everyone agreed with Sun Ce's suggestion and that's how they hold their current meeting, where they will discuss whether to accept Han Xuan's plan to submit to them and possibly join under the Sun Clan banners or refuse Han Xuan and expose him.
Sun Ce: "Father and everyone, what do you think we should do? Han Xuan's plan to submit to us was very tempting but this term to negotiate with us, it's like he holds the power and we are the ones who beg him to submit to us, I don't like his attitude."
Zhang Zhao: "I have heard of this Han Xuan, he had risen to become the administrator of Changsha after Liu Biao took Changsha from the Old Lord in the past, he is somewhat cruel and arrogant but also cared for his people, where the People of Changsha all loved him."
Zhang Zhong: 'That's true, he was somewhat cruel and arrogant but that was when he was having his retainers, for the people of Changsha on the other hand, he truly cared for them so it could be said that he despises people with power and cared for the commoners."
Huan Jie: "So that's why the choice of words in his letter was very arrogant and easily could offend the people he sent the letter to, this meant he could be a wildcard and I'm sure that he at least will request for hi mo retain his position the administrator of Changsha."
Zhou Yu: "I agree with Master Huan Jie, but I think we should promise him that and even give some monetary support to Changsha to help the commoners, I'm sure doing so will increase his goodwill toward us and could reduce the request he has."
Sun Jian: "I met Han Xuan in the past when I was the administrator of Changsha. He was somewhat talented but his brashness at the time offended a lot of people, I think either he was favored by Liu Biao or Cai Mao was the one who pushed him to become the admibstarot of Changsha to gain an ally in the southern Jing Province."
Sun Ce: "Alright, then how should we proceed with this? Agreeing to his request for a term negotiation or we immediately promised him he will retain his position and we will send some monetary support, then we ask of his term?"
Sun Ce who was listening to the discussion of his advisors and father had become dizzy because he wasn't like his father who could do both martial arts and intrigue, his talent was pure martial arts and zero intrigue.
So he interrupted the discussion and asked what action should be taken, and hearing Sun Ce's question everyone in the room turned solemn, and after some time passed by everyone agreed to promise Han Xuan his position and monetary support and then asked him for his request.
A decision was made, Zhang Zhao immediately drafted a letter filled with the decision that was made, and after being signed by Sun Ce, the letter was sent to Han Xuan through Han Xuan's men who were thought to an assassins.
After that was done, Sun Ce and the others could only wait for Han Xuan's response but unbeknownst to them that is Han Xuan not only sent the letter to them but also to Liu Bei in the north.
Liu Bei who received the letter discussed with all of his advisors Kuai Yue, Kuai Liang, Wang Xiu, and Ju Shou, how he should respond to Han Xuan's letter whose content was the same as the one sent to the Sun Clan.
Ju Shou who had returned from the siege of Jiangling, ended in the victory of Liu Bei's army as everything was going according to the plan made by four of Liu Bei's advisors.
True to Kuia Yue and Kuai Liang's expectations, the moment Huo Jun and Lu Gong entered Jiangling with their units to support the rioters, Cai Mao and his army were soon overrun from both sides.
Having nowhere else to go, Cai Mao could only order a retreat where he led his army to pick up Liu Biao and all of Liu Biao's retainers alongside their clansmen to leave Jiangling, while Guan Yu led his army to enter Jiangling after Huo Jun and Lu Gong opened the gate.
After opening the gate, Huo Jun and Lu Gong led their men to pursue Cai Mao and Liu Biao who were retreating from Jiangling with their army, angering Ju Shou as they were acting out of the plan.
He could only have Guan Yu lead some of his men to stop Lu Gong and Huo Jun who were pursuing Liu Biao and his entire army, knocking both of them in the head when he managed to catch up with them.
After that, they returned to Jiangling where the two received a scolding from Ju Shou, who after doing some government matters in Jiangking returned to Xiangyang while Guan Yu and the rest stayed at Jiangling to consolidate Liu Bei's influence.
As for Liu Biao, he could only retreat to Wuling which was in the southern part of Jing Province, meaning that he already lost control over the entire Northern part of Jing Province, and while crossing the Yangtze River with what remains of his navy, he was scolding Cai Mao for his incompetence.
Defeat after defeat from Cai Mao has pushed Liu Biao into the corner, and with this retainers began to lose respect with him and not listen to some of his orders choosing to consult with Liu Cong and Lady Cai, he decided to demote Cai Mao from the position of the grand general of his army to show his stature to all of his retainers, not knowing that this would backfield to him.
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu
Age: 31 (198 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 825
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 936 (+20)
VIT: 598 (+20)
AGI: 583 (+10)
INT: 587
CHR: 96
WIS: 509
WILL: 397
ATR Points: 0
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
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