第129部分(第4/7 页)

at　her　family　home；　and　thus　we　shall　entice　Liu　Bei　to　Nanxu。　But　instead　of　marrying　a　wife；　Liu　Bei　will　find　himself　a　prisoner；　and　then　we　will　demand　Jingzhou　as　ransom。　When　they　have　handed　over　the　region；　I　shall　find　something　else　to　say　and　nothing　will　fall　on　your　head。〃

Lu　Su　was　very　grateful。　Then　Zhou　Yu　wrote　letters　to　his　master；　and　a　swift　boat　was　chosen　to　take　Lu　Su　to　see　the　Marquis　of　Wu。

After　the　lending　of　Jingzhou　had　been　discussed；　Lu　Su　presented　the　document　given　him　by　Liu　Bei。

〃What　is　the　use　of　such　nonsense　as　this？〃　said　Sun　Quan；　when　he　had　read　it。

〃There　is　another　letter　from　General　Zhou　Yu。　And　he　says　that　if　you　will　employ　his　scheme；　you　can　recover　Jingzhou；〃　replied　Lu　Su。

Having　read　that　letter；　Sun　Quan　was　more　pleased　and　began　to　consider　who　was　the　best　person　to　send。

Suddenly　he　cried；　〃I　have　it。　Lu　Fan　is　the　man　to　send。〃

Sun　Quan　called　Lu　Fan　and　said　to　him；　〃I　have　just　heard　that　Liu　Bei　has　lost　his　wife。　I　have　a　sister　whom　I　should　like　to　marry　to　him　and　so　make　a　bond　of　union　between　our　two　houses。　Thus　we　should　be　united　against　Cao　Cao　and　in　support　of　the　House　of　Han。　You　are　the　one　man　to　be　intermediary；　and　I　hope　you　will　go　to　Jingzhou　and　see　to　this。〃

Under　these　orders；　Lu　Fan　at　once　began　to　prepare　his　ships　for　the　voyage　and　soon　started。

Liu　Bei　was　greatly　distressed　at　the　death　of　Lady　Gan；　fretting　for　her　day　and　night。　One　day　when　he　was　talking　with　his　adviser；　they　announced　the　arrival　of　Lu　Fan　who　had　e　on　a　mission　from　the　South　Land。

〃One　of　Zhou　Yu's　devices；〃　said　Zhuge　Liang　smiling；　〃and　it　is　all　on　account　of　this　region。　I　will　just　retire　behind　the　screen　and　listen。　But