Even shorter chapter. Sorry, but I realize that I can't abandon this fic yet I'm having difficulty with the finale, which will come soon due to fading interest. (Because this fic's too idealistic, relying on Shizai hypothetically joining Shu... And I want to work on my Ma Liang fic without any more Dynasty Warrior distractions, pronto.)

Chapter 10: Feeding a Hawk

Noble houses needed to follow noble routines.

Noble men had to do noble things.

That was proper, after all. That should be common knowledge for civilized people.

And despite their machinations and their ruthless nature, the Sima house was no different.

Sima Zhao calmly sipped his cup of tea as performers from across the Gobi desert danced before him. They claimed to come from the land known as "Russia," some place far to the north, where barbarians shivered in furs to try to fend off overwhelming snow storms. What civilized culture would volunteer to live in such dreadful places? He couldn't understand that mentality. If you already had the chance to live in a land as plentiful and amiable as China, why would you want to live anywhere else?

Then again, the Emperor reasoned, perhaps these people were forced to live in such horrible conditions… It wasn't so easy even for Chinese convoys to travel through the desert, after all. Being born in an inferior land meant that one had to live an inferior life… What a pity. At any rate, they apparently knew how to dance better than his own entertainment troupe… He'd have to pay these "Russians" to teach his own servants how to dance so well.

Sima Yi's son sighed in content. Despite the fact that Jin might be significantly smaller than what Wei once was, Sima Zhongda himself could never experience the glory his son was basking in now. The Sima clan was a clan of Emperors, not mere Ministers! Sima Zhao was Emperor of a vast portion of China, and was powerful enough to one day crush the petty states of Shu and Wu, uniting China under their glorious Jin banner! Those idiots in Shu and Wu, with their barbaric ways of living, were so inferior to Jin, and one day Jin's light could shine upon their unworthy skins… But that day had not come yet, and instead of lavishly living in Xu Chang, Sima Zhao was forced to take shelter in Ye.

So his face boasted no merry expression when Sima Zhao received the latest news from Jin's northern border.

Deng Ai entered his carriage with a wide smile on his face. Chen Xin quickly followed after him.

Sima Wang sighed as he watched the couple. Clasping his hands together, he shook them for a moment, before getting seated at his own post at the front of the convoy. "Cousin… Forgive me, but your mad reign shall end now…" He muttered.

Sima Fu's son let out a deeper sigh. Society dictated that a man who betrayed his clan was the greatest filth of all, yet a man who seizes power and abuses the people and the nation isn't even fit to be a person. Sima Zichu would rather be filth than lose his humanity.

"My lord, the Guanqiu army has overwhelmed our positions at Bo Hai. (1.) Sooner or later they will arrive at Bingzhou, and when that happens we will be finished. Our morale will be crushed and our people will lose the will to fight. We must defend our border at all costs. With General Zhong Hui still wounded, I fear that, without reinforcements, I will be unable to fulfill my duties." Wei Guan kowtowed before Sima Zhao.

"General Wei has a point. We are at the situation where our veteran commanders are unable to provide us with the leadership we need to fend off a powerful opponent… Perhaps we could attempt to speak to the northern Qiang tribesmen. Tian Shui might be in Shu hands, but that doesn't mean that they necessarily are on good terms with the Qiang. Though they are barbarians, the Qiang will be able to divert Guanqiu Jian's strength away from us by quite a large degree." Shao Ti spoke.

"I see your point, but a better plan would be to disrupt relations between the Guanqiu and Qiang armies. The Qiang already hate us, I'm sure. Otherwise why would they have attacked our bases north of Tian Shui? Why would they have helped Shu take Tian Shui from us? I don't trust those inferior bastards one bit. Rather, we should spread rumors among the Qiang of Guanqiu's ill treatment of whatever nomadic tribes he comes across. They know of Guanqiu's exploits in Korea… They know how fiercely the Korguryo bandits tried to stop him. They will clearly put two and two together and declare Guanqiu Jian as their sworn enemy. Once that happens our lives are secured." Sima Zhao laughed.

"Your majesty… The Qiang might be barbarians, but they're not idiots. They, of all people, should know what's going on between us and all the other factions, mainly because we've shown ourselves to be hostile to inferiors. They would find it far too convenient for such a rumor to be spreading among their ranks. Guanqiu Jian is attacking us and all of a sudden they learn that he's racist towards nomads? It's a rumor that's far too convenient for us, since Guanqiu Jian has no intention to attack Shu or Wu as of yet. They'll know that we're the ones who began this rumor and even if that rumor is true, they will be unwilling to act because their actions would be in our favor. They consider us a far greater enemy than Guanqiu's much smaller force… We should improve relations with them rather than use such a simple ploy." Shao Ti replied with a sigh.

Sima Zhao shook his head. "You think too highly of those inferiors, Shao Ti. I'm glad that you're prudent enough to make considerations, but there's no need to believe that we'd fail. Did you really think that, after having been beaten by Zhong Hui so many times, that they'd really have the brains to see through our plan? You don't have to worry. Just get a spy to spread the rumor and our future is secured."

Shao Ti blinked. Had his majesty not learned a thing from their recent defeats?

Jiang Wei growled. Because of the Minister of the Exterior's actions, Shu could not punish the Jin rebels for betraying the glorious Han Dynasty. Boyue had to wonder whether appointing that woman as Minister of the Exterior was the right thing to do. What would a woman know about politics, anyway? Women were better as mothers as nurses, as healers, not as politicians or warriors. If he wanted a woman officer in his army then she'd better be Chief Medical Officer or something where she could actually be quite useful, rather than a person holding such a high political and even military rank. Whoever appointed Chen Xin was an idiot, he decided.

The Regent Marshall wondered if he'd have to talk to Prime Minister Jiang Wan about this. Jiang Wan seemed skeptical of Chen Xin's abilities, and he wished that the Prime Minister would call her out on that and demote her accordingly.

A small convoy of supplies: weapons made from various territories of Shu and Wu, as well as grain, armor, and other such necessities for an army traveled by ship towards the ports of the Bei Ping area, an area that was firmly in Guanqiu Jian's control. Curiously, a green flag waved over every supply ship, with a large squadron of red flagged ships surrounding and escorting the vessels towards that "Wei" territory.

Guanqiu Jian stood there as the ships reached port. "Not long ago, I considered Shu and Wu to be Wei's sworn enemies... Yet even they seem to understand the meaning of unity and what our true foe is... The nation of Jin oppresses Chinese people, so it must be destroyed. I'm glad to see that even these southerners, who live far from the more noble north, are able to see this truth." With a shake of his head, he ordered his men to receive those supplies in return for gold and some Mongolian herb salt, for apparently they were a hit in the land of Wu. The people of Wu had never seen any desert, let alone one as unique as the Gobi Desert, so this spice was quite rare and tasty to them.

And so the Shu barges and the Wu cruisers escorting them left the port, and Guanqiu turned to his troops.

"Prepare our artillery and cavalry divisions. We will strike Yizhou tonight..."

Wei Guan was not at Yizhou... But even if he was it probably wouldn't matter.

Hundreds of Wu's bomb shells smashed against the walls of Fortress Yizhou, sending the province's most powerful fortification crumbling down. Before it's Jin defenders could react, waves of Guanqiu Jian's snipers moved in with Shu-made rapid fire crossbows, and opened fire at their shocked faces. The governor of Yizhou, a man named Shen Qing (2.), realized how pointless it was to fight weapons that they did not expect to face, and surrendered just the same.

Sima Zhao would never learn what had transpired here at Yizhou, and sooner or later Ye would fall from an onslaught of technologies for which Xu Chang was prepared for, not his beloved capital.

1. Yep, I take the time to research out these things. All places can be found on the Chinese territorial map (ancient, mind you, though Changsha (the city from which my mother's clan originated), Chengdu, Luoyang, Hanzhong, Gui Yang, and Tian Shui still exist in their original names, with, obviously, several other large cities, like Changan (now Xian,) and Jian Ye (now Nanjing) still existing but with changed names) on Kongming dot net.

2. For once, I made up a name. Contrary to what you might think, there aren't that many Jin-named officers living at this particular timeframe, so I based this guy's name on Shen Ying. He will not appear again. :P