Eastern Wu: Realm of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“I have a lord,” Zhang Xun replied. “Lord Yuan Yao, son of-”
“No, no,” Liu Xun said disparagingly. “Yuan Yao is not your lord,
General Zhang. Heaven has struck Yuan Shu’s clan down for its treachery: when,
exactly, did Yuan Yao rebuke his father…? Did he not accept the title ‘Crown
Prince’ willingly…? That makes him a traitor to the Han as well, and I intend
to turn him over to Cao Cao at some point.”
“But you want my service,” Zhang Xun prompted.
“I know that you ultimately planned to go southward, to Sun Ce,” Liu Xun
said. “I know that this was a short stop for you… but Sun Ce is a rebel,
General Zhang, a rebel bent on conquering Jiangdong and then northern Yang. I
must do as Governor Liu Yao and Administrator Wang Lang once tried to do, and
oppose him.”
“Bofu is not a hankerer,” Zhang Xun insisted. “He only wants-”
“Where is his tribute to the Han?” Liu Xun asked. “He has sent an empty
pledge, nothing more, a promise that he is not Yuan Shu’s vassal anymore. But
when the province cried out for stability after Yuan’s death, what did he do…?
He annexed southern Guangling and attacked Jiangxia!”
Zhang Xun lowered his head and sighed.
“You see Sun Ce as a friend, and that is very nice and all, but it isn’t
practical,” Liu Xun continued. “You have always known that, General Zhang, else
you would have betrayed Yuan Shu when he did: you like the man at a social
level, but when it comes to your politics, you are completely polarised.”
“…I must concede that you are right,” Zhang Xun said. “Bofu is a friend
that is always ‘just out of reach’, because he and I differ in our attitude to
loyalty, and that puts a chasm between us. But that chasm exists between you
and me as well, Administrator, because I owe the Yuans a debt that I must pay
in full.”
“… … …You are unbelievably stubborn,” Liu Xun complained. “Can you not
see that you have repaid the debt already…? You stayed with him until his last
breath! Look at how many other men did not do that, men that owe him as much,
like his senior adviser, Yan Xiang, and General Chen Lan!”
“Yan Xiang did not betray Lord Yuan,” Zhang Xun insisted.
“Then why is he not with you…?” Liu Xun heckled.
“…You know that he is alive,” Zhang Xun realised.
“Of course!” Liu Xun chuckled. “He was securing military reinforcement
for Yuan Shu after the loss of Ji Ling; he then joined you for the failed river
crossing, whereupon he fled westward yet again in order to try and secure a
different escape route: I am right, am I not…?”
“…You are,” Zhang Xun admitted. “You were approached…?”
“He sent a man to request reinforcements,” Liu Xun replied nonchalantly.
“But what could I do to help? I had Sun Ben and Li Shu to worry about. That
isn’t the point, though: the point, General Zhang, is where he is now.”
“…You insinuate that Mister Yan has abandoned our cause,” Zhang Xun
prompted.
“What ‘cause’?” Liu Xun scoffed. “Yuan Shu is a corpse! His capital,
Shouchun, is a pile of rubble! His money is spent, his army is scattered, and
his name is forever tarnished as a heretic! What will it take, Zhang Xun, to
make you see that Yuan Shu is no more and that you must now see things
differently???”
Zhang Xun was silent.
“…Fine,” Liu Xun conceded. “Go back to your quarters and rot, then. GUARDS!”
“…Wait.”