Crouching Dragon: The Journey of Zhuge Liang sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…Now things are different,” Kongming sighed. “Lü Bu killed his foster father, Ding Yuan, and joined Dong Zhuo. Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu repeatedly turned on each other. Sun Jian was contented to serve Yuan Shu, and died a miserable death fighting Liu Biao… now his son and heir is more concerned with conquering the lands below the Great River than rescuing the Emperor. Ma Teng has fled northward, happy to accept a government post and rely on petty intrigue to seize an opportunity that will never come. …And Lü Bu…? …He redeemed himself by killing Dong Zhuo, but followed that by joining Yuan Shao on a purge of lesser warlords… and we all know why.”
“…It became a game, didn’t it, amongst us all… guessing who Lü Bu would side with or betray next,” Pang Tong chuckled.
“Yes, it did,” Kongming recalled with amusement. “Back and forth he went, until the warlords became collectively sick of him… he won’t be missed.”
“And then there was Yuan Shu declaring himself Emperor,” Xu Shu sighed.
“Who wasn’t angered by that…?” Kongming noted, aiming his fan at Xu Shu. “…And like Lü Bu before him, the other warlords rebuked him or fought him, and he died destitute and alone. Tell me, who foresaw that of Yuan Shu…?”
Xu Shu nodded agreeably.
“So many ‘heroes’ gone… but were any of them really as great and magnificent as they proclaimed to be…?” Kongming continued. “They were mostly the descendants of great men; ‘son of this man’, ‘nephew of that man’… that means nothing. Whatever the Yuans did to earn their wealth and power, Shao and Shu lost it due to incompetence, and…”
“…What…?” Xu Shu exclaimed.
“…Kongming… have you been on the wine…?” Pang Tong teased.
“Exactly what I was thinking,” Xu Shu chuckled. “Kongming, are you serious???”
“Completely,” Kongming insisted as he continued to fan himself rhythmically.
“…Drunk,” Pang Tong teased again. “Yuan Shao’s still going, isn’t he…?”
“…A slip of the tongue,” Kongming snickered. “Yuan Shao is yet to lose his power… but he will, I guarantee it. He’s made a lot of logistical errors that are the talk of scholars in Jing province. I tell you, he’s doomed.”
“Yuan Shao…?” Xu Shu chortled. “Who’s going to defeat him…?”
“Technically, he’ll defeat himself,” Kongming replied. “But in actuality, Cao Cao.”
“The two are sworn friends,” Xu Shu countered, waving his hand dismissively.
“…Since when did that mean anything to men of ambition…?” Kongming chuckled.
“Even there’s any truth in that, Yuan Shao commands over a hundred-thousand men!” Xu Shu protested. “Who is Cao Cao, compared to that???”
“…The best of them all,” Kongming insisted. “He’ll defeat Yuan Shao within a year or less, and in less than ten years, Liu Biao will follow. Yuan Shao and Liu Biao are senile idiots, and if Shao had a million men, Cao would still beat him. Liu Biao can’t act against Cao Cao because he would need to divert troops from his eastern borders… which he can’t do, since Sun Jian’s son would seize Jing Province as revenge for his father’s murder.”
Xu Shu’s expression softened, and his gaze wandered, to Pang Tong’s amusement.