Chapter 110: Sun Ben Seeks Aid
Ten days later, the Xu Family received a letter from Gan Ning.
But it was already too late. Xu Wei’s second unauthorized escape had completely enraged Madam Sun.
Under Madam Sun’s direction, Xu Wei’s tablet in the Xu Family ancestral hall was formally removed, meaning the Xu Family no longer recognized her as a member of the Xu clan.
For several days in a row, the Xu Family did not deal with the letter Gan Ning had written. Xu Kun could no longer hold back and once again went to find his father.
“Father, what we are doing is too rude. Gan Ning is, after all, a local warlord. Even if we do not agree to this marriage, we cannot ignore him.”
Xu Zhen put down the book in his hand and took out a letter to hand to his eldest son.
“I did not ignore Gan Ning. I wrote a fast letter to Meng Yu asking for his opinion. He is, after all, Xu Wei’s father. This is his reply, which we received just this afternoon.”
“What did he say?”
“Read it yourself!”
Xu Kun hurriedly opened Xu Qiu’s reply and read it carefully. After a long while, he frowned and said, “What does Elder Brother Meng Yu mean? What does ‘handle it according to clan rules’ mean?”
Xu Zhen gave a bitter laugh and said, “Can’t you understand the tone in his letter?”
“It seems somewhat dissatisfied.”
“Not somewhat, but very dissatisfied. We removed his daughter from the family without his consent, so he must be extremely angry.”
“Then what does his reply mean?”
“His meaning is, you handle it yourselves. If you want a marriage alliance, then please restore Xu Wei’s family status first. That is handling it according to clan rules, which means he is not getting involved in this matter.”
“Then what do we do?” Xu Kun was truly anxious.
“I don’t know either!”
Xu Zhen sighed and said, “This morning I went to see Lady Wu to solicit her opinion. Lady Wu told us to resolve it ourselves. She said the matter has nothing to do with her. It seems our previous refusal of the marriage alliance also offended her.”
“Then what is Mother’s opinion?”
“Her attitude is very simple: have me write a letter directly refusing Gan Ning. She does not agree to Xu Wei marrying Gan Ning. She wants Xu Wei to come back on her own, admit her mistake, and then she will consider marrying Xu Wei to Sun Kuang.”
“Ah!” Xu Kun was greatly shocked. “Mother wants Yun Qing to marry Sun Kuang?”
Xu Zhen nodded. “She never told me until yesterday when she finally informed me. Including her previous opposition to Xu Wei and Gan Ning’s marriage alliance, it was actually for this reason.
It’s just that your mother has always been quite overbearing in her actions, doing things on her own without consulting me on many matters, which is why I only now know her intentions. If she had told me earlier that she wanted to marry Xu Wei to Sun Kuang, I would have properly appeased Xu Wei and not let the conflict escalate to the point of her eloping.”
At this point, Xu Zhen could not help but let out a long sigh. His wife’s arrogance had ruined everything.
Xu Kun was speechless. He finally understood Xu Qiu’s meaning now. What did “handle it according to clan rules” mean? It meant first restoring Xu Wei’s reputation and bringing her back into the family, and only then could marriage be discussed. Xu Qiu was also extremely dissatisfied that his daughter had been expelled from the family.
But Xu Qiu’s demand was undoubtedly slapping Mother in the face!
Xu Kun knew his mother too well. Since marrying into the Xu Family, she had been very dominant. After nearly thirty years, she had the family firmly under her control. In recent years, with the rise of the Jiangdong Sun clan, Mother’s authority had grown even greater, and the entire family was completely under her say.
“You understand now, right!”
Xu Zhen glanced at his son and said unhurriedly, “The Xu Family can never agree to Gan Ning’s marriage proposal. The only way now is to have Xu Wei come back on her own, apologize to Grandmother and admit her mistake, guarantee no more leaving home without permission, and agree to the marriage according to Grandmother’s arrangements. Only then might she be allowed back into the family.
Right now, it is not about discussing marriage at all, but first resolving her unauthorized elopement. This concerns the Xu Family’s face and also your mother’s face. Without resolving the first matter, how could there be a second?”
Xu Kun let out a long sigh. “Then there really is no way.”
Xu Zhen took out another letter and said, “This is the reply I have written to Gan Ning. I will plainly tell him that Xu Wei has no relation to the family anymore. If he wants to marry Xu Wei, he can write to her father and let her father decide for her. Do not ask us anymore.”
Xu Kun was truly helpless. In the end, the Xu Family had missed this marriage alliance.
……
News of the Sun-Gan alliance also reached Cao Cao’s ears. Jia Xu even specially sent someone from Xuzhou with a copy of the alliance treaty, but Cao Cao did not take the matter to heart. All his energy now was focused on dealing with Yuan Shao.
The Battle of Guandu was merely equivalent to the Liaoshen Campaign of later generations. It broke the situation where Yuan was strong and Cao was weak, balancing the power between Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.
Although Yuan Shao was defeated in the Battle of Guandu, he was still a starving camel larger than a horse. He currently controlled four provinces, and his strength could not be underestimated.
Eldest son Yuan Tan controlled Qingzhou, second son Yuan Xi controlled Youzhou, youngest son Yuan Shang controlled Jizhou, and nephew Gao Gan controlled Bingzhou.
Cao Cao still needed to keep working hard, step by step completely crushing Yuan Shao.
At this time, Cao Cao had received a top-secret message: Yuan Shao’s condition was serious, and he could last at most half a year. This news truly excited Cao Cao. Yuan Shao was set on making his youngest son Yuan Shang the heir. While he was alive, the other sons dared to be angry but not speak out. Once Yuan Shao died, how could his sons possibly accept the youngest as lord? They would inevitably fight each other fiercely for the position of lord.
While Yuan Shao was alive, they could still form a fist. Without Yuan Shao, his sons would become a scattered mess. Precisely because he saw through this, Cao Cao was not anxious and patiently waited in Xuchang for Yuan Shao’s life to end.
At this time, Sun Ben sent his eldest son Sun An as an envoy to Xuchang, hoping to gain more support from Cao Cao.
In the main hall, Cao Cao read Sun Ben’s letter and said faintly to Sun An kneeling at the lower seat, “A mere Sun-Gan alliance has scared you this much?”
Sun An kowtowed and said, “My lord does not know, but Sun Quan and Gan Ning’s alliance is entirely aimed at us. It leaves us unable to attend to both ends, unable to concentrate our troop strength to eliminate Jiangdong. Especially with Gan Ning occupying half of Lujiang Commandery, it seriously ties us down. I beg my lord to send troops to Wan County to help us recover Lujiang Commandery, linking us with Huang Zu. Then Huang Zu can tie down Gan Ning, and we can fully attack Jiangdong.”
What Sun An said had already been made very clear in Sun Ben’s letter. His goal was to have Cao Cao send troops to recover all of Lujiang Commandery for him and drive Gan Ning’s forces out of north of the river.
But Cao Cao did not think that way. He had supported Sun Ben to create a divide the river and rule situation between the two Suns precisely to counter Jiangdong’s northern expedition from the south while he campaigned in Hebei.
However, Sun Ben mentioned one thing in his letter that somewhat tempted Cao Cao: many in Jiangdong still secretly supported Sun Ben. He hoped to strike while Sun Quan’s position was not yet secure and wipe out Sun Quan in one go.
While Cao Cao was considering, Guo Jia gave him a look from the side.
Cao Cao nodded and said to Sun An, “You have come a long way and are travel-worn. Go rest first! I will give this matter careful thought.”
Sun An kowtowed and withdrew.
Cao Cao then asked Guo Jia, “Feng Xiao, what is your opinion?”
Guo Jia smiled faintly. “My lord, do not be deceived by Sun Ben’s flowery words. He is painting a big pie to sell to my lord, to cheat true gold and silver from my lord.”
Cao Cao was stunned. “How so?”
“Sun Ben has only over three hundred warships. How does he plan to cross the river to recover Jiangdong? Would my lord give him the warships from Xuchang?”
Cao Cao shook his head. “The warships are for me to cross the Yellow River. How could I give them to him?”
“Exactly! At least in the next three to five years, he has no ability to attack Jiangdong at all. He actually wants us to send troops and ships to help him take Jiangdong so he can reap the benefits. But if we can take Jiangdong, why need him? Would it not be better for my lord to rule Jiangdong himself?”
Cao Cao laughed in spite of himself. “That makes sense. I had not thought of it.”
Guo Jia continued, “Sun Ben’s role is to block Jiangdong’s impulse for a northern expedition for us, serving as a buffer zone between the Central Plains and Jiangdong. My lord need only grasp this point. Do not think too much about the rest.”
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and asked, “Then what about sending troops to help him recover Lujiang Commandery?”
