Chapter 336 Falling Leaves Tell Autumn
To the south of Pei State is Longkang.

Sun Quan woke up from a nightmare, covering his chest and feeling cold all over.

It took him a long time to regain some strength. He put on his cloak and walked out of the dormitory. There were only two guards on duty at the entrance of the courtyard.

There was a campfire burning near the door. Sun Quan approached and reached out to warm himself by the fire, his heart still shaking with fear and his expression expressionless.

After recovering a little, he called out to the door, "Who's on duty?"

"It's the last general."

Zhou Tai's voice made Sun Quan feel more at ease, so he asked, "Where is Mr. Zijing?"

"Mr. Zijing has not returned from his diplomatic mission to Xudu."

Zhou Tai stood in front of the door and responded, only to see Sun Quan was stunned. Then Sun Quan nodded and said, "I forgot for a moment. Bring me some wine and meat, more."

"Here."

Zhou Tai bowed, and seeing that Sun Quan had no other instructions, he stepped back a few steps and personally prepared the ingredients that Sun Quan had asked for.

Sun Quan stood there, looking up at the dark night sky without any stars. He suddenly felt even more suffocated in his chest and turned back to the dormitory.

Soon Zhou Tai led two servants in. The two servants carried a low table with a charcoal brazier and some food on it.

Zhou Tai held a jar of wine in one hand and a torch at an angle in the other.

After the wine and meat were delivered, Zhou Tai was about to leave, but Sun Quan said, "Youping, drink with me."

"Here."

Zhou Tai gave the torch to his servant to take out and lit another oil lamp.

An iron helmet was placed on the charcoal brazier. Sun Quan picked up a piece of bright red meat with chopsticks and looked at the texture of the meat with lowered eyebrows: "Is it horse meat?"

"Yes, there has been no imperial decree from Xudu, and the food and fodder provided by the surrounding counties is barely enough to feed the officers and soldiers."

Zhou Tai still said the bright side of things, saying that Xiahou Yuan was also demanding various supplies on the East China Sea battlefield.

It’s not that the surrounding counties are short of food, but there are either problems with the food collection process or with the transportation link.

In short, the situation under Cao Cao's rule is like that during the decisive Battle of Guandu. It is not that there is no food, but that too many people are holding on to the food and waiting to see the situation, which has greatly reduced Cao Cao's efficiency in collecting and transporting food.

Providing food to Sun Quan now is only based on the standard of not starving him to death; the fear is nothing more than that Sun Quan will run out of food and will plunder everywhere.

Sun Quan looked at the sealed lacquered wooden wine jar again and asked: "How much wine is left?"

"Less than three stones. When Mr. Zijing returns, he will be accompanied by envoys from Xudu. Please leave some wine for them."

Zhou Tai lowered his head and said dejectedly: "This jar of wine is not full, only half full."

"No problem."

As Sun Quan spoke, he picked up the greasy slices of meat with chopsticks and rubbed them back and forth on the iron helmet, wiping away the remaining dust and rust on the surface of the helmet and fully soaking the surface of the helmet.

Then he picked up a piece of meat and spread it on the surface of the iron helmet. In the light smoke, the bright red horse meat slices quickly changed color, and Sun Quan went to stick another piece.

After pasting six pieces around the iron helmet, he began to flip over the first piece of meat.

Soon the first piece of meat was grilled, dipped in the sauce in the shallow dish, and then put into the mouth and chewed.

Horse meat is rough, so Sun Quan roasted it until it was 70% to 80% done.

After swallowing, Sun Quan took a sip from the wine cup and said to Zhou Tai: "Youping, do it yourself. There is no monarch or minister here tonight."

"Here."

Zhou Tai moved closer and sat down, took off his helmet and put it aside, and picked up a pair of chopsticks. At this time, Sun Quan pushed the only dish of sauce forward, indicating that Zhou Tai should dip the sauce himself.

Zhou Tai also picked up a piece of meat, dipped it in the sauce, and put it into his mouth to chew. At this time, Sun Quan had picked up the wine jar and poured wine for Zhou Tai.

The two of them have had many private dinners together, but the situation is different now.

Zhou Tai was in a low mood. He was not good at speaking, so he just ate meat in silence and drank with Sun Quan.

Soon the whole jar of wine was finished. Sun Quan took a long breath and turned the wine bowl upside down on the table: "I just dreamed of my brother. He hated me for not being able to avenge my father." Zhou Tai listened without saying anything. Sun Quan then said: "I overestimated the appeal of the Emperor of Xudu. I thought that the northern expedition against Cao Cao would win the hearts of the army. I never thought that Sun Ben still hated me and was narrow-minded."

If the Battle of Jiangxia was launched as planned, even if Huang Zu could not be destroyed, he and Zhou Yu would be able to establish their military prestige through this war.

Even if one of Sun Ben and Xu Kun could be eliminated, the internal situation would be completely stable.

Unfortunately, everything is irreversible.

Sun Quan looked calm at this moment, and was particularly calm: "At this point, neither Cao Cao nor Liu Fu will tolerate me. The world is now in trouble because of the black Sima. Liu Fu was the first to claim the throne, and now he controls the entire Jianghuai area. From what I know about Cao Cao, he will push Liu Fu to become emperor. The imperial seal is in Xudu, and if he wants to push this matter, Liu Fu will have no room to refuse."

Therefore, he is dead.

Sun Quan thought of a possible change in the situation and couldn't help laughing: "How ridiculous. The whole world is united because of one person, but they are too late."

Zhou Tai raised his head and looked at Sun Quan with respect: "Ming Gong?"

"I don't have much time left, and I don't know if I can escape from this prison."

Sun Quan sat up straight. His short legs and long waist made him look particularly tall when he knelt. He looked down at Zhou Tai and said, "I have seen the day when the people of high rank will migrate south. They are definitely no match for the Black Sima. Go and select your trusted men. We will take all the horses, money and food and set out immediately to Guanzhong."

"Ming Gong wants to abandon the army and go alone?"

Zhou Tai was horrified and whispered, "If this is the case, the knights will be scattered more than ten miles out of the city, and there may be a backlash."

"I'm not saying I'm going to abandon the army and run away, but Youping, you have to lead the elite cavalry to Guanzhong and apologize to the Black Sima on my behalf."

Sun Quan said this, but Zhou Tai already knew what to do.

Zhou Tai went out immediately, made some preparations, and then led two servants in to clean the table and dishes.

A servant came in and took off his clothes. They were all soldiers in the army, but it was inconvenient to serve without wearing armor.

Sun Quan also packed some of his important personal belongings and put on his servant's coarse cloth short coat, and the servant also began to change Sun Quan's clothes.

Although Sun Quan was still very young, in order to establish prestige in his image, Sun Quan had a very thick beard and deliberately grew a big beard.

Tonight, Sun Quan shaved off all his curly beard, leaving only two delicate moustaches.

Unless you are a close friend, it is difficult for others to recognize it in a hurry.

Zhou Tai led the disguised Sun Quan, and took the official documents and tokens signed by Sun Quan to start selecting guards who he considered reliable.

When the official document was circulated, many people saw that it was an order to go on a diplomatic mission to Guanzhong. Although they felt perfunctory and weary, they did not have much resistance.

The other managers did not go to Sun Quan to ask questions. Everyone knew that Sun Quan was in a bad mood recently and had drunk alcohol tonight.

If he went to Sun Quan now to question the military orders that Zhou Tai was executing, he would most likely be in trouble.

The morale of the army is already unstable, so it is normal to be used as a brain at this time.

Before three o'clock in the morning, Zhou Tai led more than 200 people riding nearly 500 horses out of the city.

After leaving the city, Sun Quan, wearing leather armor, felt comfortable all over. The suffocating feeling of depression disappeared.

In terms of personal martial arts, Sun Quan is actually very good.

It's just that his status was inherited, and he lacked the courage and spirit to start from scratch and have the guts to start all over again.

Now that there is nothing left, the suppressed banditry breaks out.

More than 200 people rode their horses lightly, and after leaving Longkang, they headed upstream along the river towards Qiao County.

At dawn, they walked westward at a crossroads, then crossed the river and headed towards Ruyin along the official road.

After arriving in Ruyin, you can turn northwest and head straight to Yan County, one of the hubs of the Yuzhou Chidao.

In order to avoid being captured and intercepted by Man Chong of Runan, these more than 200 cavalrymen conserved their horsepower while galloping along the way.

If you see anyone alive on the road, chase them down immediately.

In this way, Sun Quan escaped narrowly.

(End of this chapter)