Crouching Dragon: The Journey of Zhuge Liang sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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7
As soon as Kongming finished relaying his eventful trip to his stunned wife Yueying, his brother Jun, and his father-in-law Mister Huang, he sipped his tea and awaited the response.
“…You turned him down…?” Mister Huang chuckled. “You really are a cheeky one. I like you for it, but at the same time…”
“The battle sounded like a waking nightmare,” Yueying noted quietly. “Perhaps it is for the best.”
“But then you said you felt like you could do it, Elder Brother!” Jun exclaimed. “I don’t understand… why did you turn it down…?”
“Firstly, I am not ready,” Kongming replied. “To join Liu Bei’s service is as easy as turning over one’s hand. To be of genuine service… to stand at his side, conduct his battles, or preside over court… for that, I’m not ready. I’m not ready to handle those roles, and I’m not old enough to be accepted by the pillars of his cause, like old Mister Sun, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei. I would be a minor clerk, and play a tiny, inconsequential role… no, no, brother, I know what I’m doing.”
“…I don’t doubt that, even if others do,” Mister Huang said seriously. “But what if others come seeking your service, like Sun Quan, and Cao Cao…?”
“Cao Cao, never,” Kongming scoffed. “Sun Quan… has too many men around him as it is. I would simply be another… he has Zhou Yu, and Lu Su, and Zhang Zhao… so what need has he for Zhuge Liang…?”
“Your friends are going to be annoyed,” Mister Huang noted. “If I were you, I’d steer clear of them, even your new ‘sworn brother’.”
“On the contrary,” Kongming replied, “I intend to have it out with them. I’m heading to the city tomorrow, and I shall meet them in a tavern for a debate… let them challenge me.”
“…So explain,” a young man in patterned robes prompted as Kongming sat within a six-strong group that was seen as some of the brightest young stars in Jing Province.
“…Explain what…?” Kongming chuckled as he fanned himself. “I was offered a minor role in a petty office, and I refused it, brother Meng.”
“…Lord Liu Xuande’s forces… ‘petty’…?” Meng Jian exclaimed. The two young men that sat either side of him - Shi Tao, and Cui Zhouping - shook their heads.
“Perhaps there is sense in his actions,” another young man - whose eyebrows were characteristically dashed with white hairs - suggested hesitantly. “Do we know…”
“…Jichang,” Meng Jian retorted, “even for men of lesser intellect than yours, there to be no excuse for not knowing who Lord Liu Xuande is!”
“Of course I know who he is!” Ma Liang protested. “Let me finish! I am saying that I think Brother Kongming is very sensible… there is perhaps some good reason in refusing to serve Lord Liu at this moment in time… like ascertaining his motivations, and considering our worth to him at this point…?”
“…I agree,” another, slightly older man - Yi Ji - declared. “Lord Liu is in a precarious situation at the moment, and it would do well to let him establish himself properly before we go offering our energies to his cause. We might end up with low-ranking jobs, and never advance beyond them.”
“How so…?” Cui Zhouping challenged. “Pang Tong is an Officer of Merit in Jing Province! Xu Shu is an adviser to Lord Liu! They are not petty roles, so why should any of us do any worse…?”