“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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The advisers - who sat to Bei’s left - were sat in order of
influence. The closest was the wealthy Mi Zhu, a former vassal of Bei’s predecessor Tao Qian; Zhu’s brother, Mi Fang,
was sat at his side; after Fang was Mister Sun Qian, an older man that had also served Tao Qian; next was Chen Yuanfang, a learned
scholar and elder statesman that had fled the court in Luoyang some time before Dong Zhuo destroyed the city and entered
Liu Bei’s service by pure circumstance; the last was Chen Yuanfang’s son, Chen Qun, whose great wisdom and foresight
made him more valuable to Liu Bei than his father.
“Reply…? …And say what, Xuande…?” Jian Yong asked in response to Liu Bei’s question.
“Gongsun Zan won’t like what you’ve done.”
“I… I know that, Xianhe, I know that,” Liu Bei conceded. “But it is as we have discussed it so many times,
and… and what’s done is done. My concern now is where we might go from here.”
“And more importantly, who might come here,” Chen Qun said.
“…Yuan Shu,” Guan Yu muttered.
“…Lü Bu,” Jian Yong said with concern.
“Or even a triumphant Yuan Shao, a ‘disobedient’ Cao Cao, a vengeful Gongsun Zan… we must be ready for a
lot of possibilities,” Chen Qun said. “We must be ready for anything.”
“Would Gongsun really attack Xuande…?” Zhang Fei asked.
“…I truly believe that we must be prepared for anything,” Chen Qun reiterated.
“…It’s stupid!” Zhang Fei exclaimed. “How did we get ourselves in such a mess, mm…?
We were fine in Qing Province, helping Tian Kai fight Yuan Tan for Gongsun Zan: how’d we end up back here in Xu, having
to put up with men like that bloody Cao Bao, and-”
“Yide!” Liu Bei chortled.
“…You’ve turned my style name into a rebuke, Xuande,” Zhang Fei complained. “I swear you only use
it to tell me off.”
“I use it to remind you that I only reprimand you for your own good!” Liu Bei retorted. “Will you please leave
Chancellor Cao alone…?”
“…He was rude to you! He’s always rude!” Zhang Fei snapped.
“He is concerned - and rightly so - about the state of things here in Xu,” Chen Yuanfang suggested. “Tao
Qian’s sons are still aggrieved that they were passed over for the governorship, and-”
“What can they do against Cao Cao… or Lü Bu, for that matter?” Zhang Fei asked. “A pair of
educated dandies… they’re fit for nothing but-!”
“Yide,” Liu Bei said through laughter.
“…Alright, alright,” Zhang Fei grumbled. “I can see that Yunchang isn’t going to back me up, so I’ll shut up.”
Guan Yu coughed deliberately and said, “I have already said that I am worried about Lü Bu, Yide, and I agree about
the Tao brothers as well. I do not like Cao Bao either, but he is a pedant toady, and such types are like so many pieces of
chaff in any court, hard to sift from the finer stuffs that are always so lacking.”
“Aiee… was that aimed at us?” Mister Sun complained.
“No, no!” Liu Bei insisted. “Yunchang would never say such things to you!”
“…Forgive me, Lord Liu, but shouldn’t we be talking about Lü Bu, who is either poised to enter Xu Province
or has done so already…?” Mi Zhu proposed.
Zhang Fei pointed at Mi Zhu and said, “There, look! A man that sees what I’m trying to say! We don’t want Bu here!”