East of the River: Home of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“Cheng Pu complains a lot about ‘men of the north’… well, they all do, really… and they’re right,” Sun Jian decided. “The men of the north are really, truly fools… the court is a terrible place, run by eunuchs, just as the rumours said.”
Yuck,” Sun Ce exclaimed. “Why would they let eunuchs tell them what to do?”
“Do you know what a eunuch is…?” Lady Wu asked.
“…I dunno… something terrible, I guess,” Sun Ce replied. “I heard somebody say that they’re-”
Go and play,” Lady Wu ordered. “Your father and I have to talk.”
Sun Ce retreated obediently, and Sun Jian smiled dryly.
“…That boy is such a handful,” Lady Wu chuckled. “Still… he takes after you, so that’s to be expected. Oh, and we did not greet you because your return was not announced.”
“I… I realise that now,” Sun Jian said apologetically. “I probably forgot… no, I did forget to send someone on to tell you. I’ve been so angry…”
Lady Wu smiled comfortingly and said, “Why did you let them talk you into going all that way, you silly man…?”
Sun Jian scratched his head awkwardly.
“…And making you an adviser???” Lady Wu continued. “Just this once, I might have said that you should have been at the front as some sort of warrior, or something; perhaps you might have defeated them all by yourself.”
“Thanks,” Sun Jian said quietly. “Well, the hero of the day ended up being Dong Zhuo, of all people… oh, of course, you don’t know who he is, though.”
“Another fool,” Lady Wu suggested.
“Close enough,” Sun Jian chuckled. “He used a ruse to escape defeat, and never fought the enemy properly, yet he’s a hero because he lost no men. I heard that he might be promoted.”
Disgusting,” Lady Wu grumbled. “Rewarded for running away.”
“The tribes and lawless rebels now rule Liang Province, so we have had no victory; and we are told that the rest of us ‘failed to face the enemy’, which I only accept because it sounds better than ‘failed to win’,” Sun Jian scoffed.

“However, the whole thing has inspired rebellions in Changsha now, so I heard on the way back… I suppose we’ll have to see what idiot the court sends from the north to quell the west.”
Lady Wu touched Sun Jian’s hand and said, “The people that matter know that you did your best. Forget the whole thing.”
Sun Jian nodded silently, but he knew that he would probably be dragged into more irrelevant and unnecessary conflicts that would take him away from his home and family, and the thought of it angered him more than ever.

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