Zhou Yu, Zhou Gongjin, was tall and handsome, born of a powerful clan, and a famed general of Eastern Wu.
Yet beneath the halo of his renown as a general, Zhou Yu himself was also highly gifted in civil administration.
Ever since he had surrendered to Liu Bei that day, Zhou Yu had become a rather unusual presence under Liu Bei's command.
Because Zhou Yu had helped persuade Wu County to surrender and had brought his troops to join Liu Bei, he could be counted as a man of merit.
Yet when faced with Liu Bei's recruitment, Zhou Yu showed no sign of yielding.
It was as if he were telling Old Liu, I surrendered to you only out of respect for Sun Ce's dying wish.
But in my heart, I hold not the slightest favorable impression of you, Liu Bei, or the forces under your command.
Liu Bei was naturally quite helpless about this. Had Old Cao been handling it, it would have been simple: either find an opportunity to cut him down, or send assassins to kill him.
But Liu Bei was different. He greatly admired Zhou Yu's talent and loyalty, and could not bear to harm him.
Thus, even though Zhou Yu would not enter service, there was nothing Liu Bei could do about it. Yet if he did not kill Zhou Yu, neither did he dare casually let him go.
For Zhou Yu was formidable in both strategy and tactics. The reason Liu Bei had struggled so hard against Sun Ce was more than half due to Zhou Yu's contributions.
Naturally, Old Liu could not allow such a man the chance to defect to another warlord.
Therefore, on Qin Tian's advice, Liu Bei handled Zhou Yu much as he had Lu Bu, granting him an estate