Mythical Three Kingdoms

Compared to Zhuge Liang’s first encounter with such matters, Fa Zheng was already accustomed to Jia Xu not playing by the rules.

”Chancellor Jia, what brings you here?” Fa Zheng was entertaining Jiangg Ying at his home when he was told that Jia Xu had come to see him. Fa Zheng immediately prepared for battle, as he, who had worked under Jia Xu, was very wary of him. If Jia Xu came looking for him, it must be a big issue.

”Xiao Zhi, I’m interrupting your time with your beloved wife and concubines, so let me first apologize here,” Jia Xu said insincerely.

Fa Zheng rolled his eyes and invited Jia Xu inside, already accustomed to Jia Xu’s style. ”Chancellor Jia, aren’t you at home disciplining Lu Zijia? Why have you come here?”

Based on many years of experience, Fa Zheng knew that beating around the bush with Jia Xu could only result in being sold out, so he got straight to the point.

”That youngster Zijia has learned to manage on his own; he doesn’t need me watching over him all the time.” Remembering how Lu Yu was now getting along with the youths of Mount Tai, and even Lul Xun, whom he had once outplayed, was now able to live in harmony, a smile appeared on Jia Xu’s lips.

Fa Zheng sneered. Lu Yu was definitely treating the kids of all the families like monkeys, showing exceptional talent in this area and had already learned three parts of Jia Xu’s craft.

”How did we end up talking about that guy? I’ve come to assign you a task. You’re familiar with Gan Xingba, right?” Jia Xu asked.

”Yep, quite familiar.” Fa Zheng nodded. Gan Ning’s personality was somewhat quirky, making him easy to deal with. Most of the civil and military members of Mount Tai had a good relationship with Gan Ning, and Fa Zheng had a lot of interaction with him because of some matters.

”Good, this mission involves assisting Gan Xingba in suppressing Yuzhou and also making contact with Yizhou on the side, to extract Gan Xingba’s clan members.” Jia Xu nodded and began to lay out the task to Fa Zheng.

Fa Zheng was taken aback. What kind of mission was this, with no clear beginning or end, and what did making contact with Yizhou imply? With Liu Bei’s current strength, if Gan Ning wanted to take his clan members, Liu Zhang’s weak character wouldn’t stop him.

After pondering for a long time, Fa Zheng reviewed the whole matter before speaking, ”I’ll accept the mission. As for the rest of my administrative duties, I would ask Chancellor Jia to assist in resolving them. Yizhou, the Land of Abundance, hengheng.”

Fa Zheng wasn’t a fool. Although he hadn’t gone to get the latest intelligence from the four directions at Jia Xu’s place in over half a month, the mention of Yizhou by Jia Xu meant that something unpredictable had occurred there, and upon further consideration, he understood what had happened.

[This is for me to understand the situation in Yizhou and see if I can find an opportunity to intervene, or at least make contact with the ministers of Liu Zhang in Yizhou.] Fa Zheng thought silently.

Even though Fa Zheng didn’t fully understand why Liu Zhang, who they presumed would only wait for his death in Yizhou, suddenly dispatched troops, now that he had, it was time to quickly grasp the real strength of Yizhou firsthand and prepare for the eventual conquest of the land.

”Don’t worry, after you leave, I will find someone to handle your administrative work for you,” Jia Xu nodded, knowing that Fa Zheng would understand what he was being asked to do.

”...” Fa Zheng stiffened, then was scared half to death, ”Please don’t let Lu Zijia and Uncle Lul take over for me. This is a deadly rhythm.”

Jia Xu’s face darkened. He wasn’t that unreliable, was he? To let two kids aged twelve or thirteen do this kind of thing. He glared at Fa Zheng, ”I have other candidates. Zichuan recommended someone, suggesting that Wen Ru should first nurture him, then hand him over to Zijing for deeper cultivation.”

”That’s great, another administrator in the making, and with this method of nurturing, it wouldn’t be another Zhuge Kongming, right?” Fa Zheng first got excited, then realized that the person being nurtured this way could be Zhuge Liang. Remembering Zhuge Liang’s expression, Fa Zheng felt like hitting someone.

”Probably,” Jia Xu said vaguely. He hadn’t seen the person yet, only heard about Chen Xi writing to Liu Bei, who then passed the message to Li Youu, ”But this is good news, only with a solid foundation can all of us rest more easily.”

Fa Zheng sneered. He always wanted to tell Jia Xu that being too comfortable meant you’d get phased out, but he never actually said it. He didn’t believe Jia Xu failed to see such a stark reality.

In Fa Zheng’s view, Mount Tai’s combat power was already sufficient, and there was no need to continue stockpiling like this. Was there any enemy they couldn’t handle? This was different from a year ago when attacking Xuzhou, and they were worried about the Yuan Family joining forces. Now, even if the Yuan Family were to unite, they wouldn’t be able to hold them back. Read latest chapters at NovelFire.Côm

”Xiao Zhi, actually, there are a lot of interesting places in this world. Don’t be too narrow-minded. This time, having you serve as Xingba’s staff officer is also to let you learn about other matters. Don’t just focus on the Central Plains. The Lord’s oath cannot be contained by the Central Plains alone,” Jia Xu said, patting Fa Zheng on the back with a smile.

Fa Zheng frowned and wanted to ask further, but he eventually held back the question, ”Alright, I’ll go and see what it can be. However, let me make it clear upfront, I believe my precise task should be to help the Imperial Relatives in Jingzhou and Yizhou hold back Yuan Shu and suppress the development of Yuan Shu in the south.”

”It’s no longer about Yuan Shu. You’ve spent too little time in touch with outside affairs recently, staying at home with your lovely wife and concubines. Yuzhou, Jingzhou, and Yangzhou are now under the control of Sun Ce,” Jia Xu said with a sigh.

Though Jia Xu had long known that Sun Ce would step forward, he had not anticipated such a situation. He had intended to force Sun Ce into a rift with Yuan Shu, tainting Sun Ce with a blemish that would substantially reduce his appeal to talents.

But the current situation was completely unexpected to Jia Xu. He suddenly realized he had been careless when asking questions to Zixu before, regretting that the wildcard Bai Xiaotong was gone.

”No way,” Fa Zheng’s face was written with ”You must be joking.”

”I wish it was a joke too, but this is the fact. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have asked you to sort it out,” Jia Xu said helplessly and then recounted the whole affair to Fa Zheng.

The fact that Sun Ce took over Yuan Shu’s forces was so full of twists and utterly beyond Fa Zheng’s imagination. He truly understood what ’reality is stranger than fiction’ meant. How had the world outside become so absurd in just the over ten days he hadn’t kept up with events?

”There’s even more absurd stuff you’ve missed out on by not checking the reports recently, a major mistake for sure,” Jia Xu twitched his mouth corner, ”We’ve taken down Yanzhou.”

”Pff, how is that possible, it hasn’t even been a month, has it!” Fa Zheng said in disbelief, ”What have I missed these last few days!” (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian ) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please go to m.qidian.com to read.)