besiege Niuzhu. When Sun Ce heard of that, he returned to break the siege, defeated Fan Neng and Yu Mi, and brought thousands of civilians under his control with his victory. Sun Ce then headed back to attack Ze Rong, but was wounded by a stray arrow during the battle so he stayed in the camp at Niuzhu. To lure Ze Rong out of Moling, Sun Ce ordered his soldiers to spread false rumours that he had died from his injury. Ze Rong fell for the ruse and sent his subordinate Yu Zi (于茲) to attack Sun Ce. Sun Ce sent a few hundred men to engage Yu Zi and lure him into an ambush, where Yu Zi suffered a crushing defeat. Sun Ce then went to Ze Rong's camp and ordered his men to shout, "So, what do you think of Sun Ce now?" Yu Zi was terrified and escaped at night. When Ze Rong learnt that Sun Ce was still alive, he immediately strengthened his defences by ordering deeper trenches to be dug and higher ramparts built. As Ze Rong was in a strategic defensive position, Sun Ce abandoned the assault. Sun Ce defeated Liu Yao's forces at Hailing, conquered Hushu and Jiangcheng, and led his troops to besiege Qu'e County, the administrative centre of Liu Yao's territories. Around this time, Taishi Ci arrived from Donglai to assist Liu Yao. Although his subordinates advised him to make good use of Taishi Ci in resisting Sun Ce, Liu Yao was suspicious of Taishi Ci and did not dare to let Taishi Ci assume important responsibilities. One day, when Taishi Ci was scouting outside Qu'e County, he encountered Sun Ce at Shen Village. Sun Ce had about 13 riders accompanying him at the time, including Han Dang, Huang Gai and Song Qian. Taishi Ci knew that the lead rider was Sun Ce so he rode forth to challenge Sun Ce to a duel. During the fight, Sun Ce managed to grab one of Taishi Ci's jis but he also lost his helmet to his opponent. By then, reinforcements from both sides had arrived so Sun Ce and Taishi Ci retreated to their respective bases. Not long later, Liu Yao was defeated in battle by Sun Ce and his troops abandoned the city and fled. After occupying Qu'e County, Sun Ce rewarded his men and issued an order to the people: