I guess this could kinda take place after "No Love". Not really though.
The idea for this one-shot changed so many times! It went from something I don't even remember, to learning how to write to... Well, this.
All was peaceful in the kingdom of Wu. The birds could be heard chirping, and the leaves rustled in the soft breeze. Now was the perfect time for the young strategist to formulate some strategies. He sat by himself at a long table in the kingdom's library. As he contemplated whether or not to add more fire attacks to his plan, the door behind him burst open.
"Lu Xun!" a young girl called out in a distressed voice. Lu Xun stood up in alarm as he quickly ran over to her.
"What's wrong!? Are you hurt!? Are we being attacked!?" he hastily asked as he examined her. She shook her head as she let out a long sigh.
"I'm bored!" she cried out as Lu Xun groaned.
"You worried me!" The girl just rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm bored, so let's do something."
"Can't," was his only reply as she began to pout.
"But why?"
"Because I'm making battle plans. Why don't you go see Lady Sun, or one of the Qiao sisters? Maybe even visit Lord Ling Tong and Lord Gan Ning." He truly didn't want to send her away, but he had things to be done. Not to mention he really didn't have anything to entertain her.
"They are all training and I don't know how to fight," she said stubbornly.
"Why don't you learn how then?"
She shook her head and stuck her tongue out in disgust. "I dance, I don't fight," she said plainly.
"Very well then... Why don't you join me?" he offered as he sat back down at the long wooden table. The girl happily nodded as she sat beside him.
"What's that?" she asked, pointing to a stray scroll lying on the table.
"It's a poem. Why don't you read it? You might like it," he suggested, while writing on several maps. The girl gingerly picked the scroll up and began skimming through it.
"So... Uh, what does it say?" she questioned, not taking her eyes off the scroll. Lu Xun looked at her in confusion before he remembered. She couldn't read. It was common for a lady of these times to not be able to read or write; however, Da Qiao had taken a great interest in poetry and begged both him and Zhou Yu to teach her how to read and write. Now she loved discussing some of her favourite poems with Ding Feng and himself. The thought that Da Qiao was one of the only girls to write during that period had slipped his mind.
"I'm sorry, I forgot you couldn't read." The girl just shook her head as she put the scroll down.
"That's okay. Poetry doesn't really sound that great anyway."
"Oh? Why would you say that?" he asked.
The girl just shrugged as she leaned back into her chair. "They just don't seem that great."
Lu Xun rolled his eyes. "Well, how about this. I'll read you a few poems and you tell me what you think of them."
The girl contemplated the idea for a few minutes before agreeing. "Alright."
Lu Xun quickly got up from the desk and grabbed three scrolls. "These are some simple poems," he said as the girl nodded.
"Whatever," she murmured at he began reading the first poem.
"Her eyes were like the sun. Bright an-"
"Boring!" the girl interrupted.
"You didn't even let me finish," he complained as the girl shrugged.
"That one was terrible. Onto the second!" Lu Xun gave a her a quick glare as he began reading the second.
"Beauty was her smile. Beauty was her delicate face. Beauy was-"
"That one is really bad too! Onto the last!" Lu Xun just shook his head in disappointment as he began reading another.
"More beautiful than a rose was she. He-"
"Wow, that has to be the worst so far," she said as she laughed to herself.
"What's wrong with it!?" Lu Xun asked in frustration, angrily slamming the poem onto the desk.
"Everything! All these poems have been about the same stupid thing! The guys who wrote these poems have probably never even seen a real girl!"
Lu Xun slammed his head on the desk in frustration as the girl simply began laughing.
"Calm down, my lord. These poems were just not my thing. Why don't you try reading something that's not so... unrealistic." She gave him a gentle smile as he shook his head.
"That's not the point. I chose these poems for a reason."
"Because they were easy?"
"Yes, that. But I wanted them to teach you something!" he said as the girl gave him a confused look.
"What did you want to teach me?" she asked.
"About love," he muttered softly under his breath.
"About what?"
"Never mind," he said in a normal voice as he gave a long sigh.
"Well, I guess poetry just really isn't for me. And besides, those poems were really superficial anyway."
"What?"
"They only talked about the girl's appearance. I mean, what about her personality?" Lu Xun chuckled as he began cleaning the scrolls up.
"Well, you never let me finish any of them so you'll never get to know whether or not it talks about her personality."
"Oh well," the girl simply said. Lu Xun smiled to himself as he began walking away.
"I guess you'll also never know what the last poem was about," he said with a sly smirk.
"The last poem?" she echoed suspiciously.
"Oh, just a little something I wrote myself. But since poetry isn't your thing, I guess you won't want to read it," he said teasingly as he walked out of the room.
"Wait!" the girl called out desperately, scrambling out the door after him. "I want to read it!"
I know the poems are bad. I came up with them right on the spot.
Thanks for reading!
