“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample -- TPMThorne.com

“I was a fool,” Lü Bu sighed theatrically. “When I was washing the blood of Ding Yuan from my hands, I knew that I had made a mistake. But at the time, I did not know how to atone… instead, I made matters worse. When he destroyed villages, I aided him, because he convinced me that they were his enemies, and that they were being righteously punished.”
“…Cao Cao said the same of Xu,” Chen Gong volunteered.
“When the Eastern Pass Coalition formed against Dong Zhuo, I wanted to join it,” Lü Bu continued. “Oh, how I wanted to turn against him, but I was surrounded on all sides by men that would have cut me down before I could act! Instead, I allowed him to manipulate me once again, and helped him to sack the capital, to loot the tombs of former emperors…”
Liu Bei’s eyes filled with tears, and he said, “As they are my ancestors, I must weep openly and feel sadness… please, go on.”
“…I have been a terrible villain,” Lü Bu sighed. “But I have tried to atone since then, Xuande. When the opportunity arose to kill the tyrant, I did so without hesitation, for the good of the land.”
Zhang Liao recalled the true reason for the assassination - Lü Bu’s fear of punishment for craving one of Dong Zhuo’s maids - and started to think about what sort of man his master was.
“I then left Chang’an when the wretches like Li Jue, Guo Si, Li Ru, Jia Xu and the fickle Hu Zhen besieged me,” Lü Bu continued: he paused, wiped a false tear from his eye, and added, “I tried to save Director Wang Yun, my associate in the plan to stabilise the capital, but I could not.”
“You did what you could,” Liu Bei suggested.
“Yes, but it was not enough!” Lü Bu chuckled miserably. “I was forced to flee, abandoning my family; it is only recently that I have been reunited with them. I had with me the head of the tyrant, and I went to Yuan Shu, but he turned me away. I then went to my old friend and colleague Zhang Yang, but he was a prisoner of his own corrupt vassals, and he could not receive me.

I then went to Yuan Shao, but he proved his reputation as a man that uses and discards as being quite true: he feigned having buried his hatred for me, had me help him to defeat the Black Mountain Bandits, and then he tried to kill me!”
“…I admit that I worry about having him as my lord,” Liu Bei said.
“You should,” Lü Bu warned. “I only barely escaped… but then I travelled south, where I met poor Zhang Miao, who, like me, was trapped serving a vicious master that he had mistaken for a hero. We became friends, Mengzhuo and I: when I think that his clan was probably slain for his so-called treachery, I feel responsible.”
Chen Gong stifled laughter at such a blatant lie.
“We are all responsible, my lord,” Wang Kai sighed.
“Ah, Mister Wang and Mister Xu,” Liu Bei said as he looked at the defectors from Yan Province. “It is good that you also survived.”
“Were it only that the Zhangs were as lucky!” Xu Si replied.
“…So terrible,” Liu Bei sighed. He then turned to Lü Bu - who was visibly irritated at being interrupted in the middle of telling his tale of woe - and said, “Go on, please, Fengxian, and tell us what happened after first meeting Zhang Miao.”
“I again went to Zhang Yang, but was forced to hide, because Li Jue and Guo Si, the wicked captors of the sovereign, still seek my head for my failed efforts to depose them and stabilise the nation,” Lü Bu continued. “I was then offered the opportunity to aid Chen Gong, Wang Kai, Xu Si, Zhang Chao and poor, dear Mengzhuo in their fight against Cao… the rest, you know.”

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