203. The Alliance Of Sun Clan And Lie Clan?

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Jia Xu and Xun You only eat tiny bits of pieces, the both of them sit seat with the other beside them, and the two keep looking at the Sun Clan emissary group and conclude that they came here in peace and to not probe, seeing the cautious Zhou Yu and Huan Jie the two of them feel its normal for them to be cautious.

Even though Huan Jie is the enjoy or emissary that was sent by Sun Jian, in terms of hierarchy Sun Ce is higher than Huan Jie, as he was the eldest son and heir to Sun Jian's position.

That's why Huan Jie just drinks wine and eats the food calmly, sometimes joining in on the conversation between Lie Fan and Sun Ce. Nobody talked about the intention of the visit, they just ate and drank merrily.

Sima Yi who was a page for Lie Fan was standing beside him, listening to the conversation and taking notes on how some words can have different meanings, by their tone or how you use them.

He feels that this is the perfect chance for him to study close up since listening to Lie Fan and Gan Ning in Huai'An, after learning under Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun he realized how powerful words are.

At this time Sun Ce who was drinking and talking to Lie Fan, saw Sima Yi who was standing beside Lie Fan. He feels funny seeing such a young boy, seriously listening to the conversation that is happening.

Sun Ce forgot that he had just received his age ceremony a year ago, and already thought of himself as a man, well a young man but still the age difference between him and Sima Yi is not that big only 4 years

Sun Ce: "Governor Lie Fan, may I know who is this boy who was standing beside you?"

Lie Fan: "No need to call me so formal, just call me Big Brother Bofu! This is Sima Yi Sima Zhongda, the son of my friend Sima Fang. He is a talented boy who now is my page, and the proud pupil of Wenhe (Jia Xu), Gongda (Xun You), and Changwen (Chen Qun)."

Sima Yi: "Sima Yi has seen Young Master Sun Ce!"

Sun Ce: "Haha alright then Big Brother Fan, oh so Sima Yi received such a high evaluation from Big Brother and all of the masters, then why don't we have Gongjin test him."

Huan Jie: "Young Lord! I'm sorry Governor Lie Fan, My Young Lord may have drunk a bit too much and said such nonsense words."

Sun Ce: "No I'm not drunk Master Huan Jie, I just want to liven up the dull atmosphere with such friendly competition."

Lie Fan: "Haha I see that Bofu likes a competition! It's alright Master Huan Jie, since Bofu has suggested such interesting competition, I agree, but first Sima Yi would you like to do this? If you don't want to it's okay, you don't have to accept it."

Sima Yi even though young, was always mature on such serious occasions and only acted like a boy around his age when he played with Wannian, which he himself never thought why he only did that with her.

He feels like this is a good challenge to test his knowledge, since no matter how strict his teachers are, they never go super hard on him and always guide him with care and understanding, which he doesn't know that it was under Lie Fan's order.

Sima Yi agreed to participate in this challenge, Zhou Yu on the other hand felt that it was wrong to compete with a boy who hadn't held his coming-of-age ceremony, and he was reluctant to accept.

Sun Ce sees his reluctance, and persuades Zhou Yu to accept, saying that it's to liven up the dull atmosphere, only listening to music is boring, and since Lie Fan doesn't hire courtesans it is a new way of entertainment.

So Sima Yi and Zhou Yu began to have some sort of friendly competition, debating many topics like the Military, Poems, and other things. Huan Jie and Jia Zu acted as the mediator, to ensure that this friendly competition didn't hurt the diplomatic relations.

Zhou Yu at first doesn't take Sima Yi too seriously, but slowly he sees that Sima Yi's knowledge and understanding are very profound, so he slowly begins to take Sima Yi seriously.

Sima Yi and Zhou Yu's battle of wits and words was a beautiful thing to see, Lie Fan evaluates young Sima Yi against young Zhou Yu and he could see that Zhou Yu wins by experience, Sima Yi is still too young and lacks experience in the real world.

In the original history, Zhou Yu has never taken on Sima Yi since Zhou Yu died early and Sima Yi rose as Cao Cao's and then Cao Pi's top advisor in the Middle era of the Three Kingdoms.

Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun also take note of what Sima Yi lacks, and they decide to teach Sima Yi or just bring him alongside them when they handle their duty, exposing Sima Yi to the world and gaining worldly insight.

Huan Jie hides the surprise that passes through his eyes, he can see that Sima Yi has the same talent or is even higher than Zhou Yu, he only lacks experience and Sima Yi's future is immeasurable.

This shows that Lie Fan will have another top advisor in the making, joining the ranks of Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun. Lie Fan also had a large amount of high, middle, and low-level talents who supported his government and brain of strategy making.

Different from the Sun Clan, which has many generals and warriors but a small number of advisors, he and Zhou Yu can be counted as advisors of the Sun Clan and heirs number may be smaller than the fingers in two human hands.

Sima Yi and Zhou Yu trade words and insight until Sima Yi is finally defeated by Zhou Yu with experience, everyone gives applause and congratulates both sides, and Sun Ce who started the competition feels glad that Zhou Yu won.

The end of the exchange between Sima Yi and Jia Xu signaled the end of the banquet, Lie Fan had Liu Ye and Chen Wun escort the Sun Clan emissary to their accommodation, saying that they would meet again tomorrow in the main hall in the afternoon.

Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Huan Jie discussed Sima Yi's potential when they reached their accommodation, Huan Jie also scolded Sun Ce for doing such a thing recklessly, it was fortunate that Lie Fan is not a small-minded person.

Lie Fan who returned to his residence, talked with Sima Yi to not let what happened at the banquet to his heart, he losing to Zhou Yu was not a bad thing as it showed him what he lacks.

Sima Yi smiles at Lie Fan, saying that he doesn't take it to heart and promises him that he will do better next time after learning more practical experiences under Jia Xu, Xun You, and Chen Qun.

Wannian the little princess passed by and heard about what happened from the conversation between the two, she immediately came forward and patted Sima Yi on the shoulder saying that he would definitely beat Zhou Yu next time.

Sima Yi gave a smile to Wannian, feeling happy that his friend encouraged her not knowing that this was another feeling he experienced, Sima Yi is smart and very sensitive to people's feelings but not his own.

Seeing the traction between the two caused Lie Fan to be annoyed, as his little sister is off limits even to the unparallel Sima Yi. After taking Wannian away, Lie Fan returned to his quarters to accompany Ying Yue and the two babies.

The next day, Lie Fan meets with the Sun Clan emissary again in the main hall to finally discuss the true purpose of the Sun Clan visit. What he doesn't know is, that Wannian and Sima Yi followed him from behind silently.

Lie Fan's bodyguards saw this and when they wanted to block Wannian from following, she immediately said that she would report them to Lie Fan that they buried her, making them helpless and only allowing her to follow Lie Fan silently.

They hide behind one of the outermost pillars, which is adjacent to Lie Fan's chair. Lie Fan at this time accompanied by Jia Xu, Xun You, Chen Qun, and Liu Ye meets formally with Huan Jie, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, and Cheng Pu.

Lie Fan: "Master Huan Jie, since our festivities have passed and we have for closer, then let's discuss what is the purpose for Brother Wnetai to send you all here?"

Huan Jie: "Governor Lie Fan, the purpose of Our Lord to send us here is to discuss a possible alliance between the Sun Clan and Lie Clan."

Jia Xu: "Oh? I would like to know what makes the Sun Clan to be confident that Our Lord will accept this alliance."

Sun Ce: "Of course with the friendship that My father has with Big Brother Fan, that's what makes the Sun Clan confident."

Chen Qun: "In terms of Political influence, economy, and military power My Lord beyond what the Sun Clan has to offer, and the alliance that we always established is based on the same strength."

Huan Jie: "Yes we understand that we are very weak, even weaker than Kong Zhou in terms of economic power and political influence, but we are the best choice for Governor Lie Fan to ally with."

Lie Fan: "Please don't take offense to the words of Wenhou and Changwei they only have my interest in their heart, I would like to hear why Brother Wentai and the Sun Clan are my best choice to ally with?"

Zhou Yu: "Because we would never stab Governor Lie Fan in the back, we honor the life favor Governor Lie Fan has shown to Our Lord, and we would like to offer Governor Lie Fan northern lands of Yang Province."

Lie Fan: "Haha! Such big and populous lands and Brother Wentai would like to cede it to me? The Life Favor is worth nothing compared to this land."

Huan Jie: "Please Accept it, Governor Lie Fan, this is the sincerity of the Sun Clan and Our Lord, we also would like to propose something that could bring the two clans closer."

Lie Fan and his advisors who heard this immediately have some bad feelings, as the only thing that could bring the two clans together is only by marriage, and true to their thought that is what Huan Jie proposed.

The marriage of Wannian which is Lie Fan's sister to Sun Jian's second son, the Emperor of Eastern Wu in the original history Sun Quan, even though younger than Wannian by 4 years it's not that big of a deal.

Lie Fan who hears this immediately feels his heart boil, as even though this could benefit him as maybe he can even bring the Sun Caln to his side, sacrificing his only sister is a big no to him.

Lie Fan wanted to rebuke politely the proposal that Huan Jie had just given when suddenly everyone in the hall heard the sound of Wannian giving a startled shout hearing Huan Jie proposal, everyone turned their head toward the pillar, Wannian knew she messed up but didn't know that Sima Yi behind him put his head down, not knowing what he was thinking.

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Name: Lie Fan

Title: Three Heroes Who Defeat Lu Bu

Age: 25 (192 AD)

Level: 15

Next Level: 938.000

Renown:  645

Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)

SP: 571.700

ATTRIBUTE POINTS

STR: 906 (+20)

VIT: 578 (+20)

AGI: 563 (+10)

INT: 567

CHR: 93

WIS: 489

WILL: 377

ATR Points: 0