Eastern Wu: Realm of the Sun Clan sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…I am inclined to agree,” Xun Yòu said as he thought of his own lord
Cao Cao, whose more questionable actions included two successive genocidal
rampages in Xu Province and forcing his affections on the aunt of a
recently-surrendered general.
“I do not deny that Lord Yuan strayed from the path in later years, but
he was once a man that wanted to maintain the order we cherish,” Yan Xiang
continued. “I believe that he still wanted order, Mister Xun, but that hubris
and desperation clouded his judgement and caused him to mistake chaos for
order. But the fact is that he is dead: right now, I am more concerned for
northern Yang, for Yang Province as a whole in fact, and also for Yu Province,
both of which suffer without a single point of light to look to.”
Xun Yòu hummed thoughtfully and said, “Answer honestly, Mister Yan:
would you say that you were widely respected…?”
“I was able to find men to aid Lord Yuan when his capital still visibly
burned and his head carried a high price: I appealed to their need for
stability as well as their love of money,” Yan Xiang replied. “I survived a
meeting with Chen Lan, and angry men in Yu let me leave their company despite
disliking my words… I suppose that is because I am respected, yes.”
“…And I find your having survived to be an impressive feat in itself,”
Xun Yòu admitted. “I think that you can yet be of use to the Han Dynasty; would
you like to be of use to the Han Dynasty, Mister Yan…?”
“A man of talent wants nothing more than to be useful,” Yan Xiang
replied. “I will serve the Han directly as I once did, Mister Xun: loyally, and
without rest. I erred in allowing Lord Yuan’s dreams to draw me away from the
light, and even he saw, in the end, that he should have me call him ‘lord’ and
not ‘majesty’. Now I am offered a chance to redeem myself fully, and I would be
a fool to refuse it.”
“…Then you shall accompany me to Xuchang,” Xun Yòu declared. “I cannot
guarantee that you will meet His Excellency, but you will, at least, meet my
colleagues and face their scrutiny: if you are deemed sincere, then you will
soon have your chance to restore stability in the south…”
“And if I am not, I join Han Yin in the afterlife,” Yan Xiang said with
a smile.
Xun Yòu reciprocated the smile and said, “I’m glad that we understand
each other.”
Days passed. Bofu sat in front of the desk in his private study and
stared at a half-finished letter to his enemy Liu Xun; he grimaced at every
ingratiating character that he had scrawled and fought the urge to say what he
actually felt.
“…This is ridiculous,” Bofu
whispered as he stared at the flickering fires that lit the room; it was night,
and he had been trying to pen the letter for hours. “This is ridiculous… I’m the son of the ‘Tiger of
Jiangdong’, not a… a…!”
Bofu’s beautiful young wife - who, because she was the elder of the two
Qiao sisters, was known as Daqiao - shuffled into the room and giggled, saying,
“You’re still trying to be a toady!”
“Yes, and it’s killing me,”
Bofu groaned. “I want to tell him that I want to-! …Well, you know… something violent… but instead, I have to…!”
“Just think of it as something that has something good happen after you
do it,” Daqiao suggested. “Like… like maybe when our children are born. Giving
birth is very painful, but I don’t mind, because then we’ll have our own
children!”
Bofu smiled, turned around fully and placed his hand on Daqiao’s swollen
stomach.