Tale
Chapter II, The Engagement

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you may recognise. Lu Shao, Wang Chun, Wang Cen, Wang Yue, Wang Fang and Wang Jie are all my own original characters. I do not own Lu Lingqi, although I have redesigned her personality to my own liking.
Author's Note: This chapter is also minimal, so please forgive me if it is too small. I promise, the next chapters will be more storylinial and will be longer, I am just setting the basis down for my story.

It was late at night and the lords were quietly leaving. Diao Chan sighed with relief of the silence which filled the house. It had only been a quarter of an hour before there was another pounding on the large doorway. Wang Chun rushed to the door and quickly peered through the small glass spectacle in the door, in order to see who it was, and opened it as soon as he recognised the man. It was Lu Bu, the great general of Han, who was adopted by the tyrant Dong Zhuo and worked for his armies. He was the very man who had seen to it that his first adoptive father was murdered and his armies surrendering to Dong Zhuo just over a year beforehand. Wang Chun smiled and took his cane, beating it into the ground three times. At that exact moment, Wang Yun, along with four other men, appeared from different doorways in the building.

"Lord Wang Yun," Lu Bu greeted, bowing in respect to the elder minister. "I have heard of your banquet earlier in the evening. I expect the guests have disappeared as of now?"

"You have come," Wang Yun said, his eyes lighting up. "I want you to meet my nephews, Chun, Cen, Yue and Fang."

Three of the four men who had entered with Wang Yun bowed, along with Chun, who had opened the door. They were all tall handsome men, but none matched the height or handsomeness of Lu Bu himself. Lu Bu looked to the fourth man and frowned. He looked similar to the other four men but was taller and more handsome. He seemed to hold the most power too, judging by the robes he wore.

"Who must he be?"

"He is my son, Jie," Wang Yun said, with pride. "My only son."

Lu Bu bowed to him before pulling back a chair and taking his seat opposite to his elder. The five men sat on different sides of the table so that there were three on each side and Wang Yun himself at the head.

"Why was I invited after the food and wine had gone?" Lu Bu joked, however, the four nephews exchanged hurtful glares.

"I'm sorry," Wang Yun laughed, stretching his hand outward in apology. "But many of my guests were, unfortunately, opponents of our great Chancellor. Your presence here would only have offended them and I did not want to see you harmed."

Lu Bu raised an eyebrow before slowly repeating the words, "Did not want to see me harmed? Harmed?"

"Well, I did not want to risk anything," Wang Yun responded, "I just wanted there to be a nice eerie moment of peace."

"You could crush them all single-handed," Jie called out, earning a respectful smile from Lu Bu and a resentful glare from his four cousins.

Lu Bu scratched his brow, "I guess we can start the discussion now," he said, stretching his arms. Chun slammed his cane onto the ground twice, signalling Diao Chan, his adoptive daughter, to enter with a jug of wine, with a trail of perfume following behind her. Lu Bu's eyes widened and a brow raised when he caught sight of the beauty, who slowly filled seven wine glasses, allowing each of the men around the table to take one.

"Drink," Wang Yun spoke, allowing the men to take a few sips of their wine before he continued. "I did have a hidden agenda behind this meeting, besides the wine, and she is right before you."

"Your maid?" Lu Bu asked, before rushing through the rest of his wine and turning his head to the beautiful woman. "She must be about fifteen? And still, isn't there other suitors out there?"

"Of course," Wang Yun nodded his head, "But I do not respect the other ones as I do you. You can protect her. And she would make a very beautiful wife, to replace Lady Yan, who you did not get along with very well. She'd make the perfect woman for you."

"I present her to you," Jie stood up and looked at Lu Bu. "As her brother, it is my duty to protect her until I can find her the right man to prize her to, and I have found that the man I had been waiting for was indeed you."

"Then, I will ask her for my hand in marriage," Lu Bu quickly spoke, turning to her and kneeling. "I ask you to be my wife, my lady?"

Diao Chan curtseyed to him and kissed his hand. Lu Bu looked to his elder minister and smiled before standing up and turning on the spot. He then bowed his head to each of the men and walked towards the door, his mind revolving around many different thoughts.

"I must take my leave," Lu Bu said, "I thank you for having me."

"It is my honour," Wang Yun bowed. "I will ask of you to allow my daughter to remain a maiden in my household for six weeks before I give her away."

"Indeed," Lu Bu replied, opening the door and leaving the household.

Lu Bu stepped out of the house. As one of the nephews closed the door, Lu Bu began to move towards his magnificent steed, Red Hare, and quickly mounted it. A young man with short blonde hair clad in purple, and a girl of the same age with long brown hair tied in a tail, looked towards Lu Bu. The blonde boy lifted a two hundred pound halberd into the air and threw it towards the grand general.

"Come on, old man," the boy said, unsheathing a sword and pointing it into the air. "We've got to get back to grandfather."

Lu Bu looked at the boy and snatched his halberd, the Lunar Spear, from the air. No man ever dared to insult Lu Bu by insisting he was growing age but this boy was an exception. If the boy had held no relations to him, however, Lu Bu would've cut his head off clean on the spot. The boy smiled at Lu Bu.

"Father, come on," the boy called out, kicking his horse to force it to speed off down the long road.

"Hurry up," the girl said, following the young boy from ontop her steed. "We will be killed if the dog finds out where we are."

Lu Bu nodded to his daughter as she followed his son down the long road. Shao and Lingqi, his son and daughter, meant the world to him. They were both just fourteen years old, but they spoke and acted as if they were double their own age. Shao was very wise and Lingqi could hold her own on the battlefield. Not that Lu Bu liked it when either of his children entered battle, especially Lingqi.