Wu Kingdom, Jianye.
"Your Majesty!!"
"This old servant deserves ten thousand deaths!!"
Shi Ji knelt before Emperor Sun Xiu, tears in his eyes.
Shi Ji had traveled overnight by boat to Jianye to report on the fighting in Jingzhou and pay his respects to the new emperor.
He had brought no troops, coming entirely alone, which also showed his loyalty to the emperor.
The young emperor, Sun Xiu, was startled when Shi Ji suddenly knelt before him and hurried down to help him up.
"Grand General, why do this? Please rise! Please rise!"
Sun Xiu tried to help him up, but Shi Ji did not dare even raise his head to look at him.
"This old servant lost Jiangbei. How can I have the face to pay my respects to Your Majesty? Your Majesty has not held me accountable for my crimes, and already I am filled with fear and unease. How could I dare serve as Grand General?"
"Your Majesty, please punish this old servant!"
Hearing Shi Ji's words, Sun Xiu instinctively wondered whether the man was sincere or applying pressure on him in a roundabout way.
But when he saw the old general before him, tears streaming down his aged face, his suspicions immediately vanished.
Sun Xiu solemnly helped him up. "Grand General, Jiangbei was lost because of those two damned traitors, the late Jun and the late 𬘭. What does that have to do with you? Had it not been for you, I fear not just Jiangbei but the entire Wu Kingdom would have fallen into the Cao Thief's hands."
"In the Wu Kingdom today, you alone can turn back the raging tide and defend Jingzhou. Please do not say such things again."
Sun Xiu's manner was also utterly sincere.
Hearing this, Shi Ji felt all the