“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“You let him escape!” Xu Yòu heckled. “I hope that he continues to be as stupid as he has always been when you eventually decide to march on Yè, Mengde, or you might wish that you had not smiled and laughed today!”
“Don’t take that from him, Mengde,” Cao Hong complained. “He talks to you like he-!”
“Ziyuan is concerned, but he need not be,” Cao Cao interrupted. “Yuan Shao will be shuddering, grimacing, heckling, and leaping around on his saddle like a man possessed; he’s a man that’s making himself sick from the distress of repeated losses against a weaker opponent, and that will end his life soon enough.”
“After Yuan’s death, chaos will reign,” Guo Jia suggested. “Today might seem anticlimactic, especially after the amazing victory at Guandu, but today is special: it marks the beginning of the total decline of Yuan Shao’s national influence.”
“Today, I drove him from Cangting,” Cao Cao chuckled. “One day soon, he will drive himself to the netherworld!” Cao Cao then turned to the isolated Zhang Xiu and said, “General Zhang, thank you for rushing here with your men so quickly. Please return to Nan County and resume your observation of the Qiang and Liu Biao before they notice your absence. Mister Jia Xu, kindly see General Zhang to the gates.”
Zhang Xiu bowed to the assembly - which was mostly hostile, since Zhang’s ambush at Wan City 3 years before had cost Cao Cao’s clan dearly - and replied, “I shall, Excellency, with haste.”
Once Zhang Xiu, Jia Xu and Huche’er were gone, Xiahou Dun turned to Cao Cao and said, “You asked Jia Xu to walk him out? Aren’t you scared that they’ll go together, across the river to join Yuan Shao…?”
Cao Cao smiled and replied, “They know my word is honest.”

“Here we are, Mister Jia, in one-another’s company again so soon, but forced to part again,” Zhang Xiu said to his former adviser Jia Xu as soon as they reached the gates of the Anmin camp.
“Indeed,” Jia Xu replied. “I imagine that His Excellency wanted us to talk so that we could know we are safe. He is not without fault, but at heart he is truly a statesman.”
Zhang Xiu nodded and said, “I am inclined to agree. I can’t deny that his actions still leave me feeling tainted, but I took more from him than he from me, and… and…”
“Say no more,” Jia Xu said. “Farewell again… for now at least… Lord Zhang.”
Lord Zhang…?” Zhang Xiu exclaimed.
“A man can serve many lords, as I have,” Jia Xu replied. “It was an honour to serve you, so you retain that title in my heart.”
The former lord and vassal exchanged bows and parted ways for the second time in a year; Jia Xu returned to the command tent, and Zhang Xiu returned to Wan City in Nan County, a base that his uncle had stolen and he, he felt, had earned.

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