Chapter 603
Liu Biao was in his study. Though his body is weak, he still had to get up due to an urgent report. Shiyang has fallen. The Yangzhou Navy was now threatening eight regions within Jingzhou. They were now headed towards Jiangling.
Shiyang, Hanyang, Wuling were already lost. Jingling have already made contact with the enemy and were requesting reinforcements. The whole of Nanjun was being threatened.
Liu Biao could not help but furrow his brow and ask himself. When did the Yangzhou Navy grow so big? With the Yangtze River serving as a natural stronghold, the Yangzhou Army should not have posed a threat. At the same time, he planned to use Yangzhou to protect Jingzhou from Cao Cao.
He never expected Yangzhou to be equally unmatched on water.
Liu Biao regretted allying with Liu Mang and sending him so much provisions. He regretted helping Yangzhou break away from their predicament. If Jingzhou had not given them provisions, there would have been rebellions within Yangzhou.
However, regrets were useless. Liu Biao could only continue looking at the documents until he finally found something that he thought was strange. “Who is this Wu Lin?” Liu Biao saw an impeachment and an explanation regarding an individual named Wu Lin.
“Milord. Wu Lin is a County Military Officer at Shiyang.” One person replied.
“The County Officer at Shiyang?” Wu Lin had a fairly important position but Jiangling’s governor was Dong Zhi. In a sense, Wu Lin was this person’s subordinate. If he did something wrong, just sack him. Why was there a need to impeach him?
“Father. This Wu Lin has cooperated with Yangzhou. Half the reason Shiyang had fallen was because of him. When the enemy came, he was ready to surrender to Yangzhou. That is why Shiyang had fallen so easily.” Liu Pan interrupted while ignoring the actual fact that Jiang Ye had killed Wu Lin, preventing said scenario from happening. Jiang Ye was just a small county magistrate. Why would Liu Pan care about him?
The reason Liu Pan mentioned Wu Lin was because of the Wu Family of Jiangling. Jiangling could rely on the nearby Changsha so the relationship between the Wu Family and the Huang Family were good. As Liu Pan and Huang She do not get along, the Wu Family were targeted as well.
“They dare side with those Yangzhou traitors! Execute them all!” Liu Biao was immediately angered. He had been betrayed so many times that he dreaded betrayals. People hated traitors the most. However, Liu Biao was muddle headed. If Wu Lin had already joined up with Yangzhou, how was he going to execute Wu Lin?
“Father. Wu Lin is already killed by our Jingzhou. It is possible that the repulsive Yangzhou traitors awarded him with the Marquis title for this reason.” Liu Pan said as though he understood Liu Biao’s thoughts.
“Dead? He got off too easily!” Liu Biao harrumphed.
“This person still has family in Jingzhou.” Liu Pan reminded.
“A family?” Liu Biao asked skeptically and then smiled coldly. “That is good! He still has a family! What is that Jiangling Governor even doing? Confiscate their property! Kill all the males in their family and make all the women prostitutes!”
“Father. Jiangling’s Governor is unable to arrest this family.” Liu Pan added oil into the fire.
“Unable to arrest?”
“That’s right! This Wu Lin is from the Wu Family. Governo Dong did not dare to act recklessly. He is afraid that he would offend them and destroy your reputation!” Liu Pan continued to speak.
“Jiangling’s Wu Family?” Liu Biao hesitated. The Wu Family was a very rich and influential family in Jiangling. Liu Biao remembered them because they had given him a birthday gift. If he pursues Wu Lin’s guilt then the Wu Family would fall into ruin as well.
“Father. The people at Nanjun are already anxious. Countless officials are starting to think for themselves. Jingling also fell without fighting. If this continues, the situation at Nanjun would be very worrying.
“No need to say anymore!” Liu Biao’s head hurt. “Pass down my orders to Governor Dong. Arrest the Wu Family. If they resist, kill them all. All of the Wu Family is to be placed into prison until further notice.” Yangzhou was attacking Nanjun and many officials were thinking of how to protect themselves or how to surrender. Liu Biao needed a model example to warn these officials not to surrender.
“But Father. They are nobles! What do you want Governor Dong to do?” Liu Pan said worriedly but he was laughing grimly in his heart.
“Nobles? Should I be afraid of the Wu Family?” Liu Pan’s words reminded Liu Biao of the Kuai Family and the Cai Family. Though Cai Mao was under house arrest, Liu Biao did not dare to do anything to Cai Mao because of the thirty thousand troops at Fancheng. If he were to kill Cai Mao, these people would definitely attack.
The Kuai Family was even worse. They now become like a stone, saying nothing at all. Even when Liu Biao lowered his face to ask, Kuai Yue pretended to be stupid and know nothing. Liu Biao was enraged and even thought of killing Kuai Yue but he is unable to without causing a large rippling effect throughout Jingzhou. The Cai Family and the Kuai Family were just too influential to be harmed normally. Killing them would put an end to his own position.
Unfortunately, he has nowhere to vent his anger. Now that Liu Pan had mentioned this, Liu Biao became angrier. So, he decided to arrest the Wu Family with his own troops instead of Governor Dong’s. However, this was what Liu Pan wanted. After all, Liu Pan was the one in command of the troops. He accepted his order with a smile. After this, the heads of the Wu Family members would be rolling on the floor. Eradicating the Wu Family was just the first step. Afterwards, he would take in those with animosity to the Huang Family, such as Governor Dong.
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