Ugh! I am so disappointed in myself ---- But finally I have updated for you all, sorry for the wait.

Disclaimer: yea, I haven't done this in awhile, but I do own Sun Xuan, the prince everyone hates, and other OC's that I have forgotten about XD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 25

The Tiger's Plea

Noon, three days from the Wei Palace, the main road…

The warmth of spring was beginning to loosen the harsh grip of winter and with each passing day the sun would shine its radiant glow a little more. Warmth returned like a long lost friend and the icy clouds of snow gradually began to vanish into water. But evenings were still near intolerable for an ill-fated guardsman who was placed on sentinel patrol.

Once the Wu military, or perhaps what remained of it, surpassed the outpost station to the Wei territory, the endless road stretched on ahead of them with no end in sight. Since the incident with the peculiar bandits, provisions were becoming meager and cannibalism wasn't uncommon for soldiers who were neglected food, but the Wu military couldn't risk losing more soldiers.

"Lord, we must find food soon" Lu Meng told the Wu Emperor, hearing his own stomach rumble, "The bandits who fled pilfered much of our provisions and now we have almost naught"

Sun Quan faltered, glancing over his shoulder at his famished army. He himself was nearly starving, but he sought to evade stopping to rest and recuperate as much as possible. He would drive the army onward to reach the Wei capital hastily.

"We cannot stop now, we must go onward" Quan replied reluctantly, "We are moving too slow as it is"

"But, Sire, we cannot starve the men" Meng said firmly, watching a soldier chafe his forehead dizzily, "Let us stop here and travel through the night. There is plenty of game in these forests as creatures are awakening from their yearly hibernation"

No response.

"If we wait much longer, the soldiers will be too fatigued to scavenge at all" Meng pointed out further, certain the Emperor would be persuaded eventually and if not he would press harder, "And then they will resort to cannibalism"

With a defeated sigh, Sun Quan halted his horse and turned it towards the army that stopped along with him, nearly falling over each other. Quan directed his gaze over the army and then at the forest nearby, "We will rest here until nightfall and we will continue onward. Get food and regroup" He ordered, hearing generals repeat his instructions for those unable to hear him.

I didn't take long for soldiers to discover a flock of Red Crowned Cranes which they nearly let escape as they sought the meat severely. They ate ravenously, ignoring the need to cook the meat. Blood and feathers encrusted their insatiable faces as they consumed the birds mercilessly even while they were still struggling in their hands.

The hunger was so terrible that a few units had discovered two Siberian Tiger mates and attacked the two fierce monsters with now fear whatsoever. In that battle, a few soldiers were lost but the remaining soldiers who lived the epidemic didn't let the corpses go to waste as they ate the human flesh along with the tigers.

It was gruesome for one to watch; Lu Xun for one, found it despicable to even fathom. He sat in his quarters, wrapping his waist in a fresh cloth. His wound wasn't at all severe, but it would affect his fighting prowess for weeks. But it didn't dishearten him from the chancy strategy he was willing to try. An hour or so after they had stopped to reorganize, Xun had arranged a secretive assembly in Yu's quarters.

In this gathering, only a few generals attended. The rest were still disbelieving and were skeptical about Xun's loyalty to Wu. Xun disregarded their bitterness with a shake of his head and went on with the gathering without their praise.

Those who did attend still believed in his intellect and didn't shy away from his plans against Wei even though their own Emperor trusted Wei with the utmost confidence.

In Xun's strategy, the assistance of someone was inevitably required to bring the downfall of a kingdom so prevailing and isolated in mind and in power as Wei. Once Xun pronounced who it was they would be requesting assistance from, even Zhou Yu looked upon him with disapproval. Though Xun only expected them to shame him in thinking such crude ideas.

Gan Ning paced, throwing a fist in the air in anger occasionally, "First, it was infiltrating Wei, then disrupting an entire ceremony and neatly getting us killed, and now this?!" Ning scoffed, jabbing a finger in Xun's face, "I'm beginning the think that you are goin' crazy!"

Lu Xun brushed his hand away and with an unreadable grin said, "You all know that our Lord is leading this entire Kingdom into Cao Jin and Wei's filthy ensnare, don't you?"

Lu Meng and Zhou Yu nodded reluctantly. Ning heaved frustrated sighs and nodded finally in defeat. Ling Tong spun his Numchucks precariously in one hand and nodded as well.

Sun Shang Xiang remained very still and silent, her mouth forming a gape.

"Shu" Xun said firmly, looking upon all their faces as some frowned at the name while others remained stoic, "Shu is our only hope now, I am afraid. Wu is…too weary since the unforeseen ambush with the Shé to thwart what Wei is planning, whatever it is"

No one replied.

Xun dropped his head to look at the floor and then raised it again, "Xuan will die along with Wu if we don't stop him" Xun said, thinking about Cao Jin; standing before him with a malicious smirk and looking upon him with dark eyes. On the floor he depicted Sun Xuan in a bloody heap, her eyes falling in him lifelessly and then, nothing…

"Ever since my mother's death, I've been trying to straighten out my priorities" Xun went on, turning his back to them as he felt the pain in his side again. He refused the need to sit down. "And up until now, I never thought I had anything else to fight for than Wu. The most horrible thing…I have ever done, was let my father hurt her the way he did. And now I am about to let another life I care about slip through my fingers, but not this time…"

Xun felt a small commotion behind him and then he felt a kind hand on his shoulder. Zhou Yu smiled wryly and said, "You know well in you mind, that you could do nothing to save Lady Jia Xun; I have told you this before. But you're right in your suspicions, Sun Xuan is in danger along with Wu" He said, remembering what Ce had told him the night before. He tried to keep from breaking down like he had done after Ce left him.

Zhou Yu focused on the other generals now as he continued, "Without Shu we are all doomed and we have no choice but to request their assistance" He approached them, "But you all know Wu will never fall to Wei without a fight"

Gan Ning did punched the air with a gallant fist, "I know I'm not gonna sit around and let Wei destroy Wu! I'll go to Shu and request their help!" he volunteered, watching Yu and Xun exchange uncertain glances.

"What, you think I can't do it?!" Ning shouted at them defensively.

Ling Ting sneered, "Not if you plan on shouting your head off them" He said under his breath, but Ning heard him. Ning scowled at him and held a threatening fist in the air.

"Why don't you say that to my face?" Ning demanded, stalking towards Tong.

Tong repressed a laugh and spun his Numchucks again, "I would, but I wouldn't want to get that close to it!"

Ning seemed as if he was about to explode and get into an unnecessary brawl with Tong like he always ended doing when he didn't have a come-back. But Shang Xiang stood from the seat she had been sitting silently in, abruptly having something to say.

"I will go to Shu" She said, distantly.

"What?!" Ning cried, staring at her in disbelief forgetting about Tong completely.

Yu ignored him and looked at the princess whole-heartedly, "Are you certain, Lady Sun?" he asked, uncertain about her thoughts on Liu Bei, who was aged but still well alive.

The princess hesitated, looking at her feet. After a moment she nodded and peered at Yu with a firm gaze, "I know I'll be able to persuade my husband" She said with certainty, "I will go to Shu and I will go tonight" She confirmed, with her fists at her sides.

Gan Ning approached Shang Xiang and sighed, "I will go with her" He said as Shang turned to him with wide eyes. She seemed as if she was about to cry; for Liu Bei or for him, Ning didn't know.

Zhou Yu hesitated on allowing Ning to accompany her. He was concerned over the young princess' safety. Lu Xun folded his arms; he knew Ning wouldn't harm Lady Sun even if it meant his life. He would protect her and if not Shang Xiang would make him regret it in full.

"Very well" Yu replied, after receiving an encouraging nod from Xun. He bowed to the princess and gave Ning a complimentary nod.

"Good luck to you," Xun told them, "We will make immediate preparations for your departure. But we must keep all of this confidential. Be certain that what you have heard here does not come to our Lord's ear" He reminded them all as they filed out.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, the Wei grounds, the grave of the late Wei Empress…

"Mother"

Cao Jin stood in the small remembrance shrine that had been built over Zhen Ji's grave soon after her ceremony ended. In the center of the petite, open room was a headstone made of fine sapphire. Chinese characters had been carved into the stone describing her life and honor. Copper candle dishes hung from the ceiling from copper chains. Jin lit an incense stick with his candle and placed it in one of the copper plates, calling forth his mother spirit.

In one hand he held a candle in a small candle tray; in the other he held his mother's most favorite Phoenix crown. She had worn it every special occasion, believing that it brought fortune.

Kneeling before the headstone, he placed the crown on top of the stone and placed the candle at the base. He bowed his head and spoke aloud, "Mother, I apologize for my late visit. I have been quite busy, planning a new future for Wei; I think you would be pleased"

He paused, lacing his finger, "…We recently lost our emperor; it was quite tragic" He said, a smirk appearing on his face, "For my candor, Wei seems a little livelier without his presence, but also dejected without yours…"

He picked up the candle and held it before of him as if offering to her, "Mother, I will make Wei what it was before the misery came. For you" He blew out the candle and returned to the palace.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Before someone tells me something I already know, I am well aware that Xun is a little on the soft side. I can make it clear now, that he'll show a different side later. And I depict him in lovey-dovey kind of way anyways.

Oh! Btw there is a new photo of Cao Jin on my profile. Its anime styled but it's better than the last one I had of him. Lady Zhou Ying/ xp-of-wu helped me find this one. THANX YING! JIN LOVES YOOOOU!! 333

Some ppl were asking me this and I kno it's hard to read a fic when you can't pronounce a name. You pronounce Xuan like swan only you add an 'H', so it would be pronounced 'SHWAN'. I hope that helped some ppl who asked me.