IV: The Opportunity of a Lifetime
"And so I faced him and said, 'whelp, you'll know over my cold dead body, because three can keep a secret only if two of them are dead!'"
The entire Shu table erupted in laughter, and the gray-haired Huang Zhong lowered the chopsticks he had been gesticulating with, looking quite pleased at having delivered the punch line of his joke successfully. Though Sun Jian's kitchens were already preparing lunch across the Chang Jiang, it was breakfast here in Caisang, a happy, boisterous and pleasant affair held after a morning of sleeping in. The officers sat at a large table, low enough to allow them to recline on poufs on the floor. Zhao Yun and Jiang Wei sat on one end, looking like brothers with their matching ponytails; to their right, Wei Yan, Huang Zhong, and Pang Tong; to the left, Ma Chao, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu; and on the opposite end of the table, Liu Bei with his strategist Zhuge Liang, Yue Ying reclining on the latter's shoulder. The dining room suggested a world far removed from the splendor and pomp of the Palace at Jian Ye; instead of heavy red and gold it was decorated in hues of green, with shimmering bead curtains doubling for drapes. The lighting that filtered through the tall windows glittered like the reflection of rippling water on the table, staining the innumerable plates and dishes odd colors. A huge screen painted with bamboos covered the other side of the room. It was very tranquil and simple, and the gathering here was small and familial, no code of etiquette observed.
"Remarkable," noted Zhuge Liang, fanning himself delicately. "Age does seem to have given you quite a library of amusing memoirs, General Huang."
"We'll have to hear that one again, someday," Liu Bei added, shifting in his sprawling robes of peacock-green velvet. "Only you'll have to wait for us to forget it first, Zhong, so it'll be even funnier."
Yue Ying shifted and raised herself to a sitting position, using her husband as a means of support.
"Everything sounds like a joke after those silly Wu people have repeatedly given into our demands. Or rather, to be more accurate, your demands," she added absentmindedly, raising an eyebrow at her significant other. "I don't know whether to be impressed at or disgusted by all those cunning excuses you've used to send that bumbling Lu Su back empty-handed again and again."
"Cunning but necessary, my wife," retorted Liang, smacking Yue Ying lightly on the shoulder. "I'll start being honest once we've upgraded our military sufficiently to take Yi Province and Han Zhong – "
"And you're still going to hold onto Jing when we've accomplished that too!" sang Yue Ying, tugging her husband's goatee in revenge, "because no matter how smart or noble or righteous men are, they all think the same: the more land, the better."
This was promptly returned with a forceful pinch on the cheek, eliciting a surprised yell from Yue Ying. The others tittered as they watched this altercation: it was universally agreed upon that nothing in the world was more outrageously hilarious than seeing the calm, scholarly, no-nonsense Zhuge Liang flirt with somebody of the opposite gender.
Liang, even in spite of his superhuman composure, could not ignore their suppressed laughter for long; at length he flushed slightly pink and shot the rest of the table a withering glare.
"Stop laughing! What's so funny?"
"Well, at least we know you're still human!" laughed Zhao Yun – in his attempt to suppress his laughter, however, he sounded more like he was choking. "You're the only person among us with a wife – " cough – "we know you need to play with each other sometimes!"
"Zilong!" cried Jiang Wei, scandalized that Zhao Yun would speak of his mentor in that way. The entire table burst into open laughter once more, and Yue Ying seized her teacup, ready to fling it at Zhao Yun.
"Apologize, Zilong!" wailed Liu Bei, who was crimson and was endeavoring very hard not to visualize what Zhao Yun had implied. "Private affairs are not to be spoken of at the table- "
"Oh – he he – I'm sor – he he he – so sorry, milord," gasped Zhao Yun, clutching his stomach.
"But really," said Zhang Fei, "if there is one man among us who really needs a wife, brother Bei, it is you, not our strategist!"
"Ex-cuse me?" gasped Yue Ying. "Zhang Fei, you prat, I'd like to give you a taste of military life without me being on your team! Why, my husband's rotten bum would've been roasted on several occasions if it were not for me!"
Zhuge Liang glared at the speaker. Apparently, he didn't think his close calls were so spectacular to be described in such a manner.
"Well – ma'am – I didn't think brother Fei meant it in that way," said Guan Yu, placing a hand on Zhang Fei's burly shoulder to make sure the latter's temper didn't spiral out of hand at that one remark. "He was probably only saying that it's rather strange for our liege to remain unmarried for so long."
"Be quiet," said Liu Bei faintly, blushing even harder if possible. But the others did not seem to mind his extreme unease.
"I wholly agree with your respectable brothers, my liege," said Pang Tong. "As of my knowledge, you are the only liege-lord in all of China who has not tied the knot yet."
"Cao Cao has, what? Like…ten wives, or something?"
"And a whole flock of concubines to garnish that on the side," added Ma Chao naughtily.
"And as for the Tiger of Jiang Dong, Sun Jian," said Jiang Wei, "he has three grown children – well, I mean, at least three legitimate children, not counting the illegitimate ones."
"Thank you very much," snapped Liu Bei, annoyed at how the conversation had so quickly swung toward him. "But I'd prefer not to adhere to stereotypes regarding men of my rank. I'm rather fond of a single life. If my wife stays home when I'm out on campaigns, then I shall worry for her if I die because there'll be no one left to take care of her, and then consequently I'd worry about my own safety, which impairs me from doing my job…and if I brought her into war, I'd be worried about her getting hurt…And then, children…and fights…It's too much work, and too frightening, in my opinion. I'd prefer not to venture into those waters.
"The part about it being too much work is true," said Zhuge Liang absentmindedly. Yue Ying tightened as if somebody had administered a hot iron poker to her backside.
"But – I'm not finished," added the strategist in an instant, breaking into a grin. "The trouble is still definitely worth it."
Yue Ying sat up and raised an arm as if to hit Zhuge Liang squarely across the face; but at the very last moment, she lowered her arm
"Watch your words, Liang," she growled. "You try to get sweet on me to cover up your mistakes one more time – "
But Zhuge Liang leaned over and, to prevent her from finishing her sentence, kissed her squarely on the mouth. A roar of laughter went up again at her muffled scream, but disappeared almost as instantly – and not because Yue Ying had threatened to throw her teacup again.
"Sire, my liege! My lords, generals…uh…"
The warden standing at the door did not know whether to remain in place or to bolt at the sight before him. Zhao Yun was caught in mid-roll, sprawled on his side; Huang Zhong was holding up his cushion high, ready to pummel Jiang Wei, who had buried himself under his own pouf in an act of self-defense. Zhang Fei's wine bottle had fallen over and was rolling in a slow arc around the edge of the table, the only moving thing in the entire room, sloshing its contents onto Guan Yu's beard. Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying continued to kiss passionately, oblivious to everything.
"Well, what?" snapped Liu Bei, a little louder and more harshly than he'd intended – it was a halfway dignified attempt to rouse the couple next to him. "Has the throne room caught on fire?"
"Er – no," responded the warden, cringing. "Lord Lu Xun of Wu has arrived at the docks. He claims to be conducting a diplomatic visit."
Finally Ling and Ying extricated themselves from each other, thoroughly mortified. The former promptly covered his face with his fan; the latter tried to wrest it from him to hide her own burning complexion.
"Lu Xun?" said Pang Tong slowly. "Lu Xun? Never heard of him…who is he?"
"Isn't he that youngster Sun Jian promoted just before the battle of Chibi?" mused Jiang Wei. "He's Zhou Yu's deputy now, I think."
"Lord Lu Xun apologizes if his name is not familiar," said the warden.
"Why then, if he was Gonjin's assistant before Chibi, you ought to have seen him in the court of Sun Jiang, Liang."
The strategist fanned himself, trying to cool down his roasting face as much as making a show of being thoughtful. For a moment, he filed through his memories, pursing his lips.
"Only fleetingly," he answered at length. "I'd suppose he's just as tall as you, Pang Tong, only thinner. He has a very fair complexion, light hair…He was discussing something or another with a member of the Cabinet when I passed him, and his voice is still very high, quite boyish. And I wouldn't count upon him being much heavier than your blade, General Guan."
"So what's this little shrimp come here to our side of the river for?" grunted Zhang Fei as he seized the runaway bottle and swished the meager amount of remaining liquid in it. "They want to borrow you again, Liang?"
"Well, I'm almost certain it's about Jing…"
"No, sir," interrupted the warden, quite uncharacteristically: wardens never interrupted their superiors. "As a matter of fact, Lord Lu Xun has asked me expressly to reassure you that his business here today does not concern territorial disputes in the least."
It took several moments for the statement to sink in. Frowns appeared on the faces around the table, in order of intelligence.
"And where is he now?" asked Zhuge Liang.
"He's just outside, sir. Waiting for your permission to come in."
Everyone looked around and wondered with rising mortification how one could conduct diplomatic affairs at a table covered with a hundred dirty and disorderly plates. As if on cue, a mass of attendants filed out from several doorways, bead curtains swishing and glinting. They proceeded to collect all the scattered plates and cups, but bizarrely, Zhuge Liang got up and shooed them away with his fan.
"I don't want anything cleaned up," he ordered loudly, as the attendants retreated glumly back to their hidden stations. "Leave everything as it is."
Liu Bei glanced up at his vice commander, totally perplexed. Although he didn't care much about impressing visiting guests with grandeur and glitz, like the Wu and Wei courts, he considered fastidiousness and neatness indispensable.
"What maniacal designs are you up to now?" he asked, the quivering light in his amber eyes reflecting his worried tone.
Zhuge Liang laughed, and Liu Bei shuddered to see the demonic light in his eyes – a look he knew all too well.
"I already have some idea of what the little prodigy of Wunjun has come for. And as for you," he addressed the other frozen onlookers, "leave all your articles where they lie. Everybody behind the screen."
"Behind the screen?" said Jiang Wei, mystified. "We hide behind the screen?"
"Would you hear the interview in its entirety, the juicy bits along with the rambling ceremonious lines?" snapped Zhuge Liang, in a tone of annoyance he reserved for his protégé. "Or would you rather be confined in one of the back courts until Lu Xun takes leave?"
Jiang Wei hung his head. Slowly, fixing looks of doubt on their disarrayed surroundings and suspicion on their strategist, each officer rose one by one from their seats and filed neatly behind the huge pleated screen.
"And no noise at all from you, because it's supposed to be empty behind there," said Liang. "Or otherwise I shall dispose of you - personally."
Yue Ying, the last one to go into hiding, shot a dirty look at her husband ("What makes you think you're entitled to that kind of authority?") before ambling in after Ma Chao. Then Zhuge Liang gave one final glance around the room, as if to inspect it, was satisfied, and disappeared behind the screen himself.
So Liu Bei was left alone, sitting on his own golden pouf at a table collaged with dirty china amidst ten other scattered giant pillows. Fear, just as if some particularly infamous enemy general had ambushed him on the battlefield, rose in his chest, and he glanced around wildly, trying harder than anything else not to mind the mess about him, and not to think of conducting an official reception in this setting. He wished desperately that Zhuge Liang would at least tell him what he was doing.
"Zhuge Liang!" he called weakly, staring at the lacquered screen that hid all his other officers from view. "Zhuge Liang?"
A brief, muffled commotion ensued from behind, full of whispers and hissing and yelps as people were elbowed or stepped on.
"He's calling you, husband!" Liu Bei heard Yue Ying snarl, after several seconds of Zhuge Liang not replying. "Answer him! Who the heck do you think you are, anyway?"
"Hm?" mumbled Zhuge Liang absently, as if waking from a nap. "Oh, yes, call Lord Lu Xun in."
The warden bowed and retreated. Indignant cries and hissing erupted anew at Zhuge Liang's response.
"Our lord has asked you a direct question!" rumbled Zhang Fei, swelling like a bullfrog. "Sir, you are too impudent!"
"Has he?" asked Zhuge Liang, and Liu Bei heard the swish, swish of the white fan moving back and forth. "I do not recall him asking anything in particular. He only pronounced my name, and since I suppose I am to give him my attention and wait for further words, that, of course, is what I did."
Liu Bei gritted his teeth, not knowing whether to yell or cry at his devious subordinate's wit.
"Then here's a direct question - what did you think Lu Xun's come for?"
"Now that," said Zhuge Liang, "I cannot answer. You will simply ridicule me for the answer I'd give. Besides, my lord, he'll be here in just a few minutes – can't you just wait?"
"Liang!" screamed Liu Bei, bouncing on his pouf. Now he was sure he would settle on crying.
"And I'd hate to spoil the surprise," said the placid voice, green eyes shining out of the crack they stared through.
"Zhuge Kongming Liang – "
But before he could finish his sentence, the bead portals swished once more and the warden appeared, a blurred figure in tow.
"His excellency Lord Lu Xun, General of the Right, deputy commander of the armies of the South!"
And the blurred figure stepped through the sparkling beads with a clacking sound and stepped into the room, his headdress glaring fiercely with spangled light.
Liu Bei met his gaze, and promptly forgot about Zhuge Liang – and everything else.
OoOoOoOoOo
Lu Xun admitted to himself that he was terrified – perhaps as terrified as his first time on the battlefield. In retrospect, however, he would have preferred to relieve that day at Xu Chang instead of making this visit, for he had been accompanied by fifteen thousand equally scared men, and was not the least bit worried about manners.
His eyes widened and then narrowed at the sight that greeted him in the room. Mangled cushions and hundreds of plates littered the table, as if mysteriously abandoned by a huge (and disorderly) gathering. A single person - Liu Bei, he presumed – sat at the end of the expansive table. Though he knew it was utterly against protocol, he stared openly at the seated man: so this is the one that everyone back home insists is our swindler. But no one ever looked less like a swindler to Lu Xun. His gaze was open and honest, and his countenance kindly – even handsome.
Finally Lu Xun realized what he was doing and looked down at the wood parquet.
"Do I have the honor of addressing Lord Liu Bei?"
Liu Bei rose from his seat – not out of obligation (lords did not get out of their seats for visitors), but out of courtesy.
"The honor is all mine, sir," he said, "to be visited by the prodigy of Wunjun. Would you please raise your head so that I might have a good look at you?"
It was the last thing Lu Xun wanted to do, but he obliged, burning red as he did so. Liu Bei's gaze was neither scrutinizing nor analyzing, however, but rather soft and kindly, like that of an uncle welcoming a distant nephew.
"I must compliment you on your wardrobe, sir," he said at length, hoping to dispel the awkwardness. "Where did you find such fine white satin?"
Lu Xun blushed furiously, hating the question.
"This outfit, sir, was a gift from my liege."
"Ah – I see. Well, don't be shy. Shu and Wu are sister kingdoms, and I consider any officer of Sun Jian's to be my friend as well. My regards to the Tiger of Jiang Dong, by the way. Do sit." With that, Liu Bei gestured at the seat directly opposite him at the table.
Lu Xun shook his head.
"I would prefer to stand."
"Please," insisted Liu Bei. "I feel uncomfortable if those who talk to me stand while I recline."
Defeated, Lu Xun inched slowly toward the cluttered table, trying with rising anxiety to choose where to deposit himself. He thought first to sit at the spot indicated by Liu Bei, but realized that it was the equivalent of the "hot seat" back in Wu, the place at the table that fell directly in the emperor's line of sight. So he repositioned a stray pouf around and sank down gingerly somewhat to the right, so that he and Liu Bei faced each other diagonally.
"That's so much better," said Liu Bei, after Lu Xun had settled. "And – oh – uh – please, forgive me for the mess. It couldn't be helped."
Lu Xun stopped pushing away the plates filled with half-eaten food around him, and stared at Liu Bei, embarrassed.
"Oh– have you had breakfast yet, sir?" Liu Bei inquired.
Against his will, Lu Xun's stomach gave an audible gurgle at the mention of breakfast, which he had not had yet. Loading boats and ordering dim-witted soldiers around had taken the appetite out of him hours ago.
"Yes," he lied.
"Then some extra food wouldn't hurt," remarked Liu Bei. Several valets suddenly materialized out of nowhere, bearing loaded trays. "You have to try some steamed honey cakes – if I may be so bold to say, the recipe is a very old one of my own family, perfected through the generations, and it is made from the finest sweet dew from Nanjing."
"No thanks," said Lu Xun.
"Not even the smallest bite?"
"No, sir, thank you."
"Then I shall tell you that I would gain absolutely nothing apart from the breaking of our precious alliance and the wrath of your lord by poisoning you," said Liu Bei, raising an eyebrow. The trays went down in front of Lu Xun and all the dirty plates in the vicinity were whisked away. "Eat."
Lu Xun lowered his eyebrows, but gave in and slowly reached for the nearest pair of chopsticks. The cakes sat on their snow-white platters, colored in greens, reds, blues and purples with various food dyes (which reminded him so strongly of textile dyes with their bright colors that he didn't want to know what they really were); but the steam that wafted up his nose was making his mouth water madly. Liu Bei watched him as he broke off a small lump of cake and sent it into his small mouth, chewing very slowly.
"It's good," Lu Xun conceded at length, staring at the odd confections. "Very good."
"I'm glad you like them," said Liu Bei, relaxing a little at the success of his hospitality. "Shall I wait for you to satisfy yourself before we broach the subject you've come for? Or shall we begin now?"
Lu Xun lowered his chopsticks. The cakes were delicious, but he was more inclined to deliver his message and get out of this place as quickly as possible.
"I'd like to proceed right now, if it agrees with you."
"Of course. I'm all ears."
Taking a deep breath, Lu Xun pushed his plate away from him and silently ran through the delicately crafted lines he had rehearsed while on sailing down the river.
"I have first come here to extend my government's profuse thanks for your pivotal role in the engagement at Chibi," he began.
"We are entirely undeserving," said Liu Bei. "The credit belongs wholly to you and your colleagues."
"But without your extra numbers on the battlefield and crucial help from your esteemed strategist, Master Zhuge Liang, our solitary efforts would have been futile against Cao Cao," Lu Xun insisted. He waited for the effect of his flattery to register on Liu Bei's face – and it did – before continuing:
"Now, even though the threat of Wei is temporarily repulsed, we cannot bring ourselves to relax, for we know we shall have to face it again some day. To this end Wu seeks to strengthen our ties to your kingdom. When the union of Sun and Liu becomes great enough even Cao Cao at his full might cannot stop us."
Liu Bei nodded, agreeing with every word Lu Xun was saying. It was remarkable how the nature of the conversation had changed since they had "gotten down to business"; whereas before Lu Xun felt that he was having a real conversation, he now felt as if he were attempting to speak to Liu Bei through a pane of glass.
"My greatest wish also is to strengthen our ties," Liu Bei acknowledged. "I am happy that this is a priority for the Sun family as well."
Lu Xun nodded tersely. His heart seemed to be pounding in his throat now. How to drop the bomb and tell Liu Bei want Sun Jian wanted? What would happen? He cringed at the thought of Liu Bei jumping up and shouting his accord the moment he proposed; but the thought of him going ashen gray and refusing directly was even more frightening.
"What is it that Wu would like to offer?" asked Liu Bei, curious. "Gifts? A joint session of our cabinets? A goodwill party, perhaps, where our officers can meet and exchange pleasantries?"
"Something better than any of those," Lu Xun replied. He took a deep, steadying breath. "Wu would like to propose not just some temporary exercise or exchange, but the strongest bond possible between our kingdoms – a permanent alliance."
Liu Bei had still been nodding as Lu Xun went on, but he stopped abruptly at the mention of the "permanent alliance", chin suspended halfway. Then, the faintest shadow of a frown began creasing his lips; he had finally started to get suspicious. Go ahead then, thought Lu Xun wildly. Be as surprised as you want. I was expecting no less.
"Marriage."
Liu Bei's jaw dropped open. Lu Xun, unable to remain seated any longer, got to his feet. However many times he had rehearsed this final line, he had not been able to bring himself to say it sitting down.
"Lord Sun Jian would like to offer the hand of his daughter, Princess Sun Shang Xiang in matrimony to you, my lord."
OoOoOoOoOo
If lightening had struck the table at that moment, nobody in the room would have been more shocked. Everyone in the room, hidden and unhidden, swallowed a great simultaneous breath. Time itself seemed to have halted in its tracks. Then, Liu Bei slowly expelled a great spout of air and waved a hand.
"Sit down," he said weakly, and Lu Xun, whose building suspense and agitation had fled, plopped down limply, equally delirious. For a moment torturous silence reigned.
"I don't think I can do this."
A moment before Lu Xun's stomach had been writhing with snakes; but now it was completely empty.
"A yes or no within a few hours of such a proposal would be always considered too quick," he stammered, cold fear gripping in his heart. Well, that rules out him jumping up and down like a maniac and shouting "Yes, I will!" – but - this proposal wasn't going to fail – it could not – if it did, Sun Shang Xiang would declare her boundless love for him, but Sun Jian would be infuriated with him for the rest of his life…
Across from him, Liu Bei made a strange sound, something in between a sob and an exasperated chortle.
"But – me – and Princess Sun Shang Xiang?" he cried, pointing at himself. "She hardly knows me – and I hardly know her…except that I know she's only half my age!"
Lu Xun stared at Liu Bei, amused in a very strange way at how quickly panic had risen in him. For a moment, he understood perfectly and felt extremely sympathetic; if Liu Bei agreed to the proposal, he was taking a huge (and potentially dangerous) leap in the dark; but if he refused the proposal, their delicate and already strained alliance could be completely sundered.
"Sun Jian knows that too," he said softly.
"And – " Liu Bei wrung his hands, "what if – what if the poor girl dislikes me? What then?"
"That is a risk that every political marriage has undertaken. Politics are conducted without regard to feelings."
Liu Bei could no longer argue. He simply sat in his pouf, shaking his head and squeezing his eyes as if refusing to believe the reason for Lu Xun's visit.
"I'm not going to do this," he muttered shakily. "Never. I refuse to do this."
Though his face was a mask of calm, anger and savage frustration began to build steadily in Lu Xun. He had actually expected Liu Bei to be more cooperative; perhaps a "maybe", or even, in spite of Shang Xiang's misery, a "yes". And if Liu Bei said "yes", he might've even been willing to drop a little hint about the nasty plan Zhou Yu had in store for him across the river. He was going to tell Liu Bei everything. Perhaps "no" would have restored Shang Xiang's happiness, or even convinced Sun Quan to ignore Jing for the time being; but "no" would have been a professional humiliation for Lu Xun. His first diplomatic mission a failure…Sun Jian would never place such trust in him again.
"You don't know anything about Sun Shang Xiang," Lu Xun said. "She might be the sweetest, loveliest, most beautiful angel in the world, Lord Liu Bei."
"And that is why I am not risking anything," Liu Bei retorted. "I don't know anything about her."
Lu Xun smiled, but in truth he felt like punching Liu Bei.
"I'm sure the Princess will come to admire and love a man of such kindness and virtue as you. How could a young girl not like someone like you?"
"I know you're lying through your teeth," Liu Bei retorted. It was as if he had just declared the subject closed.
And closed it was for Lu Xun. At the end of his tether, he sprung up and glared openly at his host, all formality gone.
"I suppose I was wrong, sir," he said coldly. "I thought you a noble man for what you have done for us at Chibi. Perhaps you were so generous only because the outcome of your situation rested equally on the outcome of ours. When in a few months' time Cao Cao once again is breathing down your neck, remember that it was you – not we – who turned down the opportunity of a lifetime to bring peace to the land, and to your people."
A slap in the face could not have been more powerful. Liu Bei leapt to his feet too, shaking, and Lu Xun raised his chin, prepared to receive the blow. But the young strategist was not so artless: he would not have delivered such a powerful insult without the innate knowledge that it would embarrass more than anger Liu Bei. And though Liu Bei looked all but ready to hurl him out of the room - he was shaking and chalk-white with wrath - his next words, pronounced with titanic effort, proved him right:
"Is there anything else we can do for you, Lord Lu Xun?"
Lu Xun regarded him carefully. The effort Liu Bei had mounted to suppress an outburst had sapped all the strength from his voice.
"That is all, sir. I've said everything I've come to say. I now ask permission to take leave of you."
No reply came.
"Then I consider your silence a "yes". Good day."
Without waiting a moment more, Lu Xun spun around and made for the door. Before he could reach the bead curtains, however, a cry stopped him.
"Wait!"
Lu Xun turned around to see Liu Bei with one arm outstretched. He looked him straight in the eye, and Liu Bei finally admitted, on his part, that he had completely misjudged Lu Xun when he had first walked in. In spite of his youthful appearance and innocent countenance, he was already a man – one of great courage and chutzpah - and an officer to be feared and respected as any from Wu.
"Is there any service I may render you, Lord Liu Bei?"
Liu Bei swallowed. "What you said…about me…"
Lu Xun raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to finish, and a faint glimmer of hope rekindled in his heart. He had judged Liu Bei's character accurately.
"I think I'll consider your proposal," Liu Bei sighed, pronouncing his words with such fatalism as if he were surrendering his kingdom instead of withholding a refusal to a contract.
For all the self-control he possessed, Lu Xun's lips curled into a triumphant smile. A great calm – and some respect for Liu Bei – began to trickle back into his insides, and he bowed.
That's more like it.
"I thank you on Lord Sun Jian's behalf for your consideration. Once more, good day."
He was, again, almost out of Liu Bei's clutches, when –
"Wait!"
He stopped and turned his eyes upward.
"Is there any service I may render you?"
Scurrying footsteps sounded behind Lu Xun, and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Liu Bei, some attendants hovering behind him, holding something that looked like an oddly shaped package wrapped in gray cloth.
"If you please – just a small act of gratitude – " Liu Bei held out the package. "More steamed honey cakes. Very fresh. The rice was ground just this morning. Please do me honor by accepting it…I mean, even if you don't eat it, you can always give it to Princess Shang Xiang, with my regards."
Lu Xun hesitated, slightly taken aback by the strange offer. Then he turned around fully and extended his arms to receive the large parcel. It was warm. A funny feeling blossomed inside him.
"Uh – thank you, sir."
"And, yes, you may take leave of me. Again, please give my regards to your lord and his family. Good day."
Lu Xun gave one final bow, clutching the package of honey cakes to his chest, and wordlessly fled out of the room, followed by the warden. In the hallway he broke into a run, and did not slow down until he had put at least a hundred yards between himself and that room. As he was hurtling out, however, a sudden, inexplicable thread of intuition unwound in his mind, and he raised his free hand.
"Five," Lu Xun muttered to himself, retracting his thumb. "Four…" his index finger joined his thumb, "Three…" his middle finger, "Two…" his fourth finger, "One…"
And as his pinkie dropped, an explosion of screams occurred deep in the bowels of the villa from where he had run out.
Next: Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun bump into each other and our hero doesn't know whether to tell Liang about Zhou Yu's plan (which would, beyond a doubt, guarantee his victory in the bet), or to remain silent and prevail over Zhou Yu the hard but honest way. And will Zhuge Liang come to a realization before Lu Xun even opens his mouth? After all, he is Zhuge Liang. Stay tuned!