“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne

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“Not before I throw a banquet, Xuande!” Lü Bu insisted. “I must let the world see that you are my respected younger brother!”
Guan Yu grunted irritably at Lü Bu’s reference to his lord as a ‘younger brother’, since that also implied that Liu Bei would be the subordinate in their relationship.
“I’ll assist with the preparations, my lord,” Chen Gong promised.
“We’ll retire to the guest tents that you have kindly provided, Fengxian, rather than go into Xiaopei City,” Liu Bei said. “Today… today, we have begun a great partnership of heroes! Now, the nation might one day know the peace that we both strive to see!”
Lü Bu, Chen Gong, Wang Kai and Xu Si bowed humbly, and the visitors retreated with their guide Zhang Liao. Minutes later, Gao Shun entered the tent and said, “My lord, I have carried out reconnaissance: be sure that Liu Bei has come to us sincerely.”
“Don’t you think I can see that???” Lü Bu retorted. “Get out!”
Gao Shun bowed, turned and left the tent.
“Gao Shun is a thinker, and should have stayed,” Chen Gong said.
“He’s arrogant and rude, and questions me continuously and needlessly,” Lü Bu insisted. “We don’t ‘need’ him; if I ‘needed’ him, and he was such a great ‘thinker’, then I wouldn’t have needed all of you.”
Chen Gong bowed slightly as a sign of deference; all of the advisers were aware that Lü Bu valued Gao Shun’s loyalty, skill, efficiency and shrewdness yet envied and detested him for those same attributes at the same time. They were also aware that Lü Bu could have avoided many of the predicaments that he had found himself in if he had listened to Gao Shun, and so was Bu himself: they sensed that Bu was completely intolerant of Gao Shun this day and did not question the matter further.
“…Liu Bei’s naïve beyond belief… that, or a different kind of thinker,” Lü Bu continued. “Still, that doesn’t matter: either way, we’re now going to the capital.”

“I already told you that I will not plot against Liu Bei,” Chen Gong insisted. “All I wanted to do was get you - us - away from the Yan border. Before Liu Bei arrived, I received a messenger from Chenliu: Zhang Miao is definitely dead, and Cao Cao is only concerned with the famine now. Xiapi is in the east of the province, on the other side of the Si River, so Cao Cao cannot surprise us if we’re there. If the capital had still been in the west, I’d have found us a way to go to Donghai.”
“So what next…?” Xu Si wondered.
“We learn what we can,” Chen Gong replied. “Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and Cao Cao will learn of this and act accordingly; Liu Bei’s own vassals will also have opinions, so we must be cautious. If Liu Bei is proven to be an incompetent governor, then we’ll seize the place, as you obviously want to. If not… we wait and see.”

“Lord Liu Xuande, you cannot genuinely trust Lü Bu,” Guan Yu said once the group from Xiapi were settled in their guest tents.
“Of course not,” Liu Bei sighed. “I am worldly enough to know a hankerer when I meet them. However, a man in a weak position must always wonder if a deception is in order when-”
Weak position…?” Mister Sun scoffed. “His army is decimated and has no grain! You’re a provincial governor twice over! You have strong men in your retinue that can match that rustic thug!”

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