East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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He was a man of strong features, whose past had seen as much combat as
it had affairs of the state; that man was Sun
Jian, and his chosen ‘courtesy’ or ‘style’ name - a name by which friends
past and future would better come to know him - was ‘Wentai’. Like most men of
his time and culture, he wore a full-length robe, had straw sandals upon his
socked feet and had his uncut hair - which no one willingly parted with as part
of their belief in the sanctity of all gifts given by their parents - wound into
a ball and secured atop his head: he preferred a small cloth turban for
covering, but this day he was wearing a square black cap over his hair. Nothing
about his attire was unusual, but he drew stares nonetheless because of who he
was.
“What should I do first…?” Sun Jian whispered as he stared at the
fateful words on the board.
“…Forgive me, but… it’s Mister Sun
Jian, isn’t it…?” a man asked.
Sun Jian turned to the man that had spoken - a handsome, imposing man in
smart robes - and smiled politely.
“That sounds like quite a difficult task, I think, Mister Sun… quelling
these bandits and cultists,” the man continued.
“Oh, I expect that enough people
will respond, and the numbers will make a difference,” Sun Jian said surely.
“Will you respond, I wonder…?”
the man prompted.
“I am nearly thirty years of age, and have yet to make my mark on this
world,” Sun Jian replied. “I have answered the call to quell pirates that
threatened a small part of the east; why would I not answer the call to quell
traitors that threaten all of us along both sides of the Great River that
divides the land…?”
“Well put,” the man said. “But you’ll never get any sort of valuable
commission on your own; you’ll need to find a noted general or some other
figure of fame, and fight under their banner.”
“Actually… I know just the person,” Sun Jian replied. “The problem is-
…Actually, I realise that I am being rude in not asking your name, sir. I think
that I should do that before we go any further.”
With that said, Sun Jian bowed slightly.
“I am as much at fault!” the man said as he returned the bow but lowered
himself even further than Sun Jian.
“My family name is ‘Cheng’, name ‘Pu’,
styled ‘Demou’, originally from Beiping. I am not surprised that you were
hesitant in being cordial: a man with your reputation for bravery, a true
‘tiger’, bowing to me… I am a happy man today, Mister Sun!”
“A man should always be polite, and I am sorry that I failed in that,
Cheng Demou,” Sun Jian insisted. “And please, call me Wentai: today, we are colleagues, and brothers-in-arms.”
“You want my help…?” Cheng Pu realised.
“I can tell just by looking at you that you are a man of strong stature
and charisma, and such men will inspire others,” Sun Jian suggested. “Oh, you
might know a bit about warfare, you might not: we’ll fix that!”
“The man you spoke of, that you’d be fighting under,” Cheng Pu prompted.
“Forgive my bluntness, but I hope that it’s someone impressive.”
“Commander Zhu Jun,” Sun Jian revealed.
“C-Commander Zhu Jun…? …One of
the three overall commanders of the campaign???” Cheng Pu exclaimed.
“Actually, it humbles me,” Sun Jian chuckled. “The thought that I was
recommended by Commander Zhu as an ‘essential asset’ for the expedition: he had
said that he considered me a friend of sorts when we last met, but-”
“Wait… wait, but then why were you hesitating?” Cheng Pu wondered.
“You’re a man that doesn’t hesitate when faced with pirates, so why now?”