“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample -- TPMThorne.com

“...Aiee... I did not want to do that!” Liu Bei sobbed.
“How could we go into Jing with that lot chanting the whole way?” Jian Yong grumbled. “Liu Biao would have thought we were all-!”
“I...! ...I know that, Xianhe, I know that,” Liu Bei said as he turned to face those that had decided to change their stance.
“We’re not evil,” one young woman pleaded. “W-we just want-!”
“Go home, and be a wife,” Zhang Fei jeered.
“We just want better!” the woman retorted. “Your emperor-!”
“Our Emperor,” Liu Bei insisted. “Any men that wish to join our cause and fight to restore the Han’s lustre - which, in turn, will bring about the ‘prosperous all’ you all crave, if only you would be patient - may join us. But women must return to their homes. The battlefield is no place for women.”
“How patient do you want us to be...?” a young man sobbed. “All I’ve ever known is having nothing! All any of my family’s ever known is having nothing! Nearly four-hundred years your Han’s been-!”
“The great day will come when corruption will be purged and Heaven’s will made material!” Liu Bei declared. “The Han are part of Heaven’s will... all things, good and bad, are Heaven’s design. I spent a year starving in Haixi, but I never wavered; even now, out here, with nothing much to smile about, I won’t waver. Heaven’s design is complex, beyond our meagre understanding, but it is so! I ask of all men and women that they know their place in that design, and do all they can to aid me in the end of that corruption that obstructs the path! Help me defeat Cao Cao, and peace and prosperity can belong to us all!”
The Yellow Turbans exchanged glances and mumbled.
“Nice speech,” Jian Yong snickered. “A load of nice-sounding, empty rubbish; have you considered starting your own cult?”
“Shut up,” Liu Bei muttered.
“Perhaps there are other groups of us left in Yu,” one young man sighed as he turned and walked away; a few followed him.

“...I give up,” the young woman whimpered as she turned and walked away; a few followed her.
“I’m going home,” another man said; a few followed his retreat.
“...I’ll stay,” one man said as he yanked the yellow turban from his head. “Lord Liu, you are a light in darkness, and I’ll follow you if it means bringing peace. Cao Cao is the problem, not the Han.”
Most of those that had remained murmured agreeably and removed their yellow turbans; others quietly slipped away.
“To those of you that have chosen to stay, I give thanks,” Liu Bei said sombrely. “To those that left, I wish them well and hope that they find what they are looking for. Now, onward: we must go to Jing’s capital and begin our fightback against the ‘Crafty Villain’ Cao Cao, who slaughtered the people of Xu, seduces widows and aunts, betrays brotherly covenants and murders unborn princes! Glory to the Han! Death to the villain Cao Cao!”
Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei urged their soldiers to echo their lord’s rallying cry; many raised their weapons and chanted repeatedly, “Glory to the Han! Death to the villain Cao Cao!”
“...And now, we’d better continue discussing what we’re going to do about Chen Lin’s letter,” Jian Yong suggested as he looked at the self-satisfied Liu Bei. “We might not have long before Cao Ren finds us again; I doubt you’ll be able to talk him into submission.”
Liu Bei’s face fell; he nodded seriously and said, “Quite right. EVERYONE: BACK TO YOUR DUTIES!”
The small militia quickly obeyed, having been purged of dissenting Yellow Turban elements.

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