Chapter 193

The possibility of Sun Quan personally leading the campaign is almost certain.

However, just as he entrusted the main force to Lü Meng during the defense of Jing Province and took charge of the rear support, it cannot be ruled out that he might push Lu Xun to the forefront.

Therefore, it is right for someone capable of dealing with Lu Xun to take charge of the Jing Province defense line.

With Emperor Liu Bei personally leading the attack on Luoyang and the main forces of the Han Dynasty tied up, Zhuge Liang was clearly the best card we could play.

‘They might be underestimating Zhuge Liang, but purely in terms of military talent, Lu Xun is considered superior.’

If it were just a simple battle, it would be difficult to determine who is greater between Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun.

With the Eight Array Formation, Zhuge Liang would push through Lu Xun’s strategies with straightforward tactics, but if both sides are inadequately prepared, Lu Xun’s ingenious moves could overturn the battlefield.

However, from the perspective of war rather than battle, it might be cautiously speculated that Lu Xun is a step above Zhuge Liang.

But if Zhuge Liang is in a defensive position rather than an offensive one, the story changes.

Originally, defending is easier than attacking, and considering the advantage of relying on fortresses, the difficulty for the attacking side increases even more.

‘Zhuge Liang’s excessive perfectionism and caution are also unparalleled virtues for a defender.’

Ultimately, defense is a matter of how well one holds the line. It’s hard to imagine how solid Zhuge Liang would be, having secured and fortified his position on home ground.

Even if Lu Xun were to come out as the supreme commander with full authority, Zhuge Liang would likely be able to hold Jing Province against him. And with the added uncertainty of Sun Quan behind Lu Xun…

If Zhuge Liang holds Jing Province, even the most capable Lu Xun would find it difficult to make a move.

‘Could it be possible to have Zhuge Liang provoke discord between Lu Xun and Sun Quan?’

There are still about five years before Sun Quan completely loses his mind, but aren’t humans creatures dominated by their environment?

If Sun Quan has a latent paranoia, a little push from the side could make him quickly fall.

While I was lost in thought, the meeting concluded. The war isn’t starting tomorrow, and everyone has their own tasks, so today’s meeting ended here.

As everyone dispersed to fulfill their duties, I quickly followed Zhuge Liang.

“Prime Minister.”

“Mingjing? What is it?”

“I have something I wish to discuss with you privately. Do you have time?”

Unlike Chengdu, Zhuge Liang seemed to have some free time and readily agreed.

The residence Liu Bei prepared for Zhuge Liang was right next to Miyang Palace. Initially, Liu Bei wanted to give him a room within the palace, but Zhuge Liang refused, citing it as improper etiquette, so Liu Bei granted him the nearest official residence.

“Just to be clear, I hold no grudge for your previous refusal. An official must have his own convictions. I actually admire your boldness in stating your opinion. So if that’s what you’re worried about, you don’t need to mention it.”

Uh… honestly, I wasn’t worried about that at all.

Zhuge Liang isn’t a rigid person and has often been flexible, overlooking Fa Zheng’s misdeeds or employing difficult personalities like Wei Yan or Yang Yi.

To avoid making Zhuge Liang feel awkward, I decided to go along with it.

“Yes, Prime Minister. That’s true, but since you mentioned it, I have something else to discuss.”

“Something else? What is it?”

“If you were to take responsibility for the defense of Jing Province, who would your opponent be?”

“Hmm… Currently, the only notable generals from Eastern Wu would be Lu Xun or my elder brother. A step down would be Zhu Yan and Zhu Huan, who fought bravely in your Jing Province recovery battle.”

Of course, the ruler Sun Quan was a given.

“The most threatening enemy to our state would be Lu Xun. But as they say, crisis and opportunity are two sides of the same coin. If Lu Xun comes, it might be an opportunity not to be missed.”

“An opportunity… I see. You mean to drive a wedge between Lu Xun and Sun Quan.”

Even without me saying it, Zhuge Liang had previously used a stratagem to sow discord between Lu Xun and Sun Quan.

He had proposed a marriage alliance between me and Lu Xun’s eldest son, Lu Yan.

Although it fell through due to Zhang Po’s death, it caused quite a stir between the Han and Wu states.

Ultimately, it served as groundwork for the Huainan campaign but also created discord between Sun Quan and the Lu family.

“That’s right. Although Sun Quan played a significant role in the Huainan campaign, the executor was ultimately Lu Xun. Sun Quan must feel that Lu Xun is different from the previous great commanders of Eastern Wu.”

Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lü Meng. They were absolute loyalists of the Sun family. Their foundation and base were solely the Sun family. Thus, Sun Quan gave them unlimited trust and support.

But Lu Xun is different. He is the de facto head of the Lu family, a powerful aristocratic family second only to the Sun family. Although he married Sun Ce’s daughter, they were once enemies.

There’s a saying, ‘Three people make a tiger.’ If three people keep saying it, even a non-existent tiger will be believed.

At first, Sun Quan probably trusted Lu Xun. He faithfully followed Sun Quan’s orders, and his marriage to Sun Ce’s daughter was harmonious, even producing children.

But if suspicious circumstances are created, and repeated, would Sun Quan still maintain strong trust in Lu Xun?

History answers: No.

“I understand what you’re getting at. So, tell me. How can we sow discord between Lu Xun and Sun Quan?”

“Huh?”

Why are you asking me? Isn’t that where Zhuge Liang’s genius strategies come into play?

As I stared blankly at Zhuge Liang, he suddenly burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Just kidding. Why so stiff? Well, that’s something for me to consider. But what if Sun Quan personally leads the campaign instead of Lu Xun?”

Ah, this is it.

I’ve known Zhuge Liang for more than a day or two. I can tell when he’s genuinely seeking opinions and when he’s testing me with a question he already knows the answer to.

This question is clearly the latter. A test question to gauge my judgment.

“Then it’s simple.”

“Simple?”

“Just lose to Lu Xun and win against Sun Quan.”

It’s an obvious tactic, but once suspicion sets in, the ability to discern such things dulls.

“And Lu Xun, having already fallen for our stratagem, would try to avoid such a situation. If Sun Quan personally leads, Lu Xun would step back.”

“Listening to you, it seems you’re not worried at all about Sun Quan personally leading?”

Sun Quan? Not bad. He’s brave, like his father Sun Jian, and has outstanding martial talent.

But look at the results.

Without Zhou Yu, Lu Su, Lü Meng, Lu Xun, or Zhu Yan, how did Sun Quan fare when he fought alone?

“With an army of 100,000, he couldn’t even capture Hefei, defended by just 7,000 men. How could such a Sun Quan dare to attack Jing Province, defended by you, Prime Minister?”

If Sun Quan’s authority further crumbles, it would be most welcome for us.

Although the Wu state wouldn’t collapse from this one incident due to Sun Quan’s established position and achievements, internal chaos would surely grow.

In the original history, Wu suffered internal strife due to the Shanyue tribes and defectors. Without Jing Province, it’s hard to say if Wu could survive further internal divisions.

“Another gold coating on my face.”

“Gold coating?”

“Mingjing, talking to you feels like conversing with someone who knows the future. And looking back, my thoughts seem less like delusions and more grounded in reality.”

Zhuge Liang spoke as if making a hypothesis, but there was a hint of certainty.

“Knowing the future. That explains your past actions clearly. Stopping Lady Sun from kidnapping the crown prince, preventing the death of the temple master, saving the family of General Biao at all costs, the ambush in Hanzhong, and saving the Supreme General twice.”

My past actions, which I thought had been smoothly explained, were brought up again by Zhuge Liang.

Yes, it’s strange. My actions, when scrutinized, are too peculiar to be dismissed as mere intuition.

And I had admitted as much before.

“The Supreme General said that knowing the Han River would flood and taking measures wasn’t due to his own brilliance but because he heard it from you.”

Zhuge Liang must have been suspicious of me all along. Not with ill intent, but out of pure curiosity.

And that suspicion turned into certainty with Guan Yu’s incident, I suppose. But why didn’t he ask until now? Did he think it unnecessary, or did he want to verify it himself by talking to me?

‘No. Maybe he didn’t believe in superstitions and only now brought it up.’

Regardless of the reason, I focused on Zhuge Liang’s immediate question.

“So I ask you. In this war, will we win?”

Will we win? How should I know? The timeline I knew has already disappeared, and the future is as unknown to me as it is to anyone else.

So the only answer I could give was this pitiful one.

“I don’t know. I just… will give my all to win.”