“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“Are you going to list them all one by one…?” Chen Gong scoffed. “I am your chief adviser, Lord Lü! I know who
is alive and who is dead, and what we gained and what we lost! Do you not think that I am as annoyed as you are…? In fact, I am more
annoyed than you could ever be: I instigated the entire sorry affair, so now I have a reputation as a betrayer of masters, regardless of
the nobility of my motives! Cao Cao will hate me for my treachery, and he will not rest until I am dead, just like that
poor naïve fool Zhang Miao!”
“I’m as dead as both of you for my part in this,” Wang Kai suggested.
“As am I,” Xu Si lamented. “Why did Heaven favour such a wicked man???”
“Why ask?” Chen Gong replied. “What’s done is done, gentlemen.”
“…So what can we achieve here in Xu Province?” Lü Bu prompted.
“Liu Bei is a hero of the age,” Chen Gong retorted. “If you think that I am going to scheme against him after
what just happened, then the answer is ‘No’.”
“So we’re just going to hide here, then,” Lü Bu grumbled.
“Let’s meet Liu Bei, and see what happens,” Chen Gong pleaded. “Perhaps he will give you his other
‘holding’, Yu Province, since he cannot govern both at the same time. Or perhaps he will send you north to Qing to
bolster Kong Rong, or south to aid Liu Yao against Sun Ce. Let’s see what happens.”
“As long as I am not left idle, I shall be grateful,” Lü Bu replied. “All that I fear is that I will be
rebuked by the world and exist without purpose.”
“That’s highly unlikely,” Chen Gong promised.
The imposing yet humble officer Gao Shun gestured that he would like to speak, but Lü Bu glared at him and said, “I can
well do without any of your condescending criticism right now, Gao Shun! In fact, I’d rather you stayed silent!”
Gao Shun bowed silently.
“…I will meet Liu Bei,” Lü Bu continued. “…And Bei should hope that he impresses me…
he will not like what happens if I am not suitably impressed.”
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