East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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Even with his cynical comprehension of the state of the country, Sun Jian could never have imagined how quickly the fragile peace would make way for war once again: no one was prepared, in fact, for the worse chaos that was to come.
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8
Within months of the end of the Yellow Turban Rebellion supposedly being quelled, the Turbans reappeared and began another swathe of attacks across the land, and within weeks of that, another crisis loomed in Liang Province in the northwest of China. Sun Jian and his allies watched the events with interest, and expected another call to arms against Yellow Turban forces in central China; one and all were set to be surprised when Sun Jian received a letter inviting him to undertake a more far-reaching expedition.
“Lord Sun,” Cheng Pu said as he welcomed Sun Jian into his family home.
“…Demou,” Sun Jian sighed.
Sun Jian followed Cheng Pu to his living quarters and was directed to
sit in the host seat.
“I can’t do that,” Sun Jian said humbly.
“Sit in the host seat, Lord Sun,” Cheng Pu insisted.
Sun Jian conceded and sat down.
“You seem to be troubled,” Cheng Pu prompted.
“I have been asked to go to Liang Province and act as an adviser to
General Zhou Shen, the ‘General that
strikes fear into the unlawful’,” Sun Jian reported.
“…I see,” Cheng Pu said thoughtfully.
“But Liang Province… that is
the other side of the country,” Sun Jian said with obvious reluctance. “Do I
really want to go all that way to advise some other man on how to fight an
enemy I know little about…?”