Desire:
Chapter 1: My Daughter at Ru Nan
My name is Sun Jian, father and head of the Sun family, King of Wu. My sons and my daughter have always brought me great pride. Never do they fail me, and always they return. They are loyal to Wu, myself, and most importantly each other more than anything else. I have great pride in all of them, but only one is the subject of this verse. My daughter has always held a special place in my heart. Throughout the war, I have tried to remain close to her. I have tried to keep her with me. Although I have been forced to send Sun Ce and Sun Quan on dangerous sorties, and often I have worried for their safety, my daughter I have always tried to keep safe, always tried to keep her away from the dangerous men who may hurt her or take her away. Now, however, I am faced with great difficulty. With the fall of Lu Bu's land and kingdom, I am faced with the danger that Cao Cao and Wei pose to Wu and my family. The solution to this, I had deemed even before Lu Bu had been moved into checkmate, was to ally with Liu Bei's Shu. I sent word to Liu Bei, asking him to end hostilities and ally with us, so that we may slay the dragon that lies to the north. He acknowledged my request, but asked for one thing in return. My daughter's hand in marriage. As I sat in my study in Yangzhou castle, I was outraged. I hurled the scroll, written and signed by Liu Bei's vassal Zhuge Liang, against the wall. I paced about, thinking of a way to negotiate. I sent back different offers, the services of various officers, land, money, position, anything I could think of. Liu Bei and his strategist refused. Zhuge Liang obviously could only think of the claim to my lands that Liu Bei's marriage into my family would bring, but I knew Liu Bei's reason. Liu Bei demanded this because of the pain it would cause me. He was just as ambitious as Cao Cao, and the only reason it was not I allying with Wei was because of the lands he held and soldiers he commanded. I would become a vassal, not an ally. With my daughter gone, Liu Bei knew I would lose something very important to me, and I would become weaker for it. For days I debated with myself, trying to decide for the good of my people, the good of my family, and the good for my daughter. I finally came to a decision. I would give in to Liu Bei's demands.
At Ru Nan I decided to speak with her about the arrangement. We had been passing through the area on our way to Luo Yang, where I expected to stay until the changing front demanded my presence elsewhere. We were all together for now, myself, my sons, and my daughter. Sun Ce and his sworn brother Zhou Yu talked together about future plans. Sun Quan sang a lilting tune he had learned in a tavern a few days ago, with Gan Ning belting out the chorus, and both of them doing their best to teach it to the Qiao sisters. I watched the road ahead, and decided that I would have to tell her. She didn't have any choice in the matter, I knew, and I felt disappointment with myself that I do not wish to write, for that would simply bring it back to me, something I do not want. As the sun set, we made camp. The soldiers that accompanied us, some thirteen thousand strong, made a general din and bustle in the small city we had created in the open field, the very field where Liu Bei had fled from Cao Cao not too long ago. I performed my end of day ceremony, stacking the metal plates and folding the cloth padding of my armor, polishing my sword and helmet. Then I left my tent and moved through the camp, asking the first soldier I came to if he had seen Lady Sun Shang Xiang. He told me she had left for the river, and I moved to follow her. Away from the camp's lanterns and torches, the moon lit the former battlefield at Ru Nan, the stars twinkled overhead. I pushed through the long grass and listened. I began to hear the sound of my daughter's voice as it floated across the plains. She was singing. It was not the drinking song Quan had belted out during the day. It was a song that her mother had taught her, the ballad of the hero Jin Wo and his wife, Xu Shi. They had fought, lived, and died for the formation of the Han Empire. Jin Wo had been the great warrior, and Xu Shi the guiding mind. The ballad's melody, however, was what made it a classic, what all his children had been sung to sleep with by both my wife and myself. The river at Ru Nan's banks were rocky and covered in boulders. Sun Shang Xiang sat atop one of these, her legs dangling out over the water. She wore a simple robe, with a sash tied around the waist. She had always avoided the fineries that women became accustomed to, preferring more to work alongside the men. That was something that I loved about her, her willingness to make Wu great. I approached silently, clearing my throat to make my presence known only after I had left the tall grass. She turned to look at me and smiled, greeting me,
"Hello, father."
Before she turned back to the river and continued to sing.
"Shang..."
I remember this as one of the worst moments of my life, telling my child that she had become nothing more than a bargaining chip in a game of kings, that she had been given to a man who I did not approve of as her husband to preserve my kingdom. She stopped singing. That was the last time I would ever hear her sing again. I told her of the state of the kingdoms, and how alliance with Shu was the only path. I told her Liu Bei had made demands on our alliance, and I had been forced to give in.
"He wants to marry you."
She drew her knees up to her chest and looked down at the river.
"I am sorry. I was for the good of our people."
I could see her back begin to shudder. She was crying. I understood that. She had spent much of her life fighting this man and those that had served him. She knew that he was responsible for the death of many people that she cared about, and now she was to become his bride. I tried to climb the rock, to sit beside her. She stood and dropped off the side.
"Shang! Come back here! Shang Xiang!"
She disappeared into the night.
"He wants her to WHAT?!"
Sun Ce slammed the table in outrage, rising from his seat.
"Calm down, brother." Sun Quan ordered. Ce sat again.
"Father, is there no other way?" Quan asked Sun Jian.
The three members of the Sun family, as well as Zhou Yu, were seated in a teahouse at the city of Ru Nan. The Lady Sun had returned later the previous night. Sun Jian had refused to speak with her. He was still too shamed by what had happened.
"No. I've been corresponding with Zhuge Liang for months. They will settle for no less."
Sun Ce launched into another outburst at this, clenching his fists as though he was wishing he held his weapons.
"Fine, then! If he'll settle for no less, let's forget this whole alliance! Let him be swallowed up by the Wei dragon for his arrogance! Maybe when he's on the battlefield facing Cao Cao's million man army, maybe then he'll see where his damn libido's going to send him!"
"Ce..." Sun Quan tried to interrupt. Sun Ce pounded on the table again to shut up his brother.
"Nobody is going to treat Shang like a bargaining chip! Not even..."
"That's enough, Sun Ce!" Sun Jian bellowed. The plates and cups rattled on the table from the force of the man's voice. Ce sat back down.
"What, my son, are you mad? This is the only way to stop Wei. Shu will not be able to hold them off without access to Wu held transport routes and Wu reinforcements. This is an absolute necessity to not only the future of Wu, but also the lives of our people. Do you know what Cao Cao did to those that supported Lu Bu?"
Zhou Yu nodded his head solemnly. Sun Quan and Sun Ce, however, looked to Sun Jian, waiting for him to continue.
"He massacred them. Every last one. Those who served his army had their heads cut off and hung from the walls of Xia Pi."
Sun Ce and Sun Quan made faces of horror. Sun Jian continued.
"We cannot allow this to happen. Sun Quan, I want you to take Zhou Yu with you and escort Shang's carriage to Cheng Du. Then, continue to Luo Yang. The rest of us will have already set up camp there in order to prepare for the campaign against Cao Cao."
"I want to go, too." Ce's voice had finally dropped to a normal tone.
"No. Ce, I need you to help with the preparations at Luo Yang."
Everyone at the table knew that was bullshit. Ce wasn't going because he would beat up the first Shu officer that so much as looked at Shang. Nonetheless, Sun Ce remained silent as Sun Jian continued.
"Quan, Zhou Yu, I want you to discuss with Zhuge Liang what the best strategy may be to use against Wei. Make sure that Shang is to be well treated, and make note of anything and everything about Shu's military. Understood?"
They both nodded and bowed. Sun Jian looked at Ce and sighed.
"Ce, I am sorry."
Ce's eye twitched for a moment. There was a tension in the air for a moment, and then Ce rose and stormed out, slamming the room divider behind him. Sun Jian sighed.
"Dismissed."
The two other men bowed, rose, and left. Sun Jian removed his helmet and took a sip of his tea. He meditated for a moment, the warmth of the cup comforting against his hands. He lowered it again and withdrew a scroll from the folds of his tunic. He lifted a pen and wrote.
Cursed are those that love.
Their lives are pain among pain.
Love is a burden often to be shouldered.
But always the burden is taken by choice.
Gold is the heaviest to carry.
Chapter 1: My Daughter at Ru Nan
My name is Sun Jian, father and head of the Sun family, King of Wu. My sons and my daughter have always brought me great pride. Never do they fail me, and always they return. They are loyal to Wu, myself, and most importantly each other more than anything else. I have great pride in all of them, but only one is the subject of this verse. My daughter has always held a special place in my heart. Throughout the war, I have tried to remain close to her. I have tried to keep her with me. Although I have been forced to send Sun Ce and Sun Quan on dangerous sorties, and often I have worried for their safety, my daughter I have always tried to keep safe, always tried to keep her away from the dangerous men who may hurt her or take her away. Now, however, I am faced with great difficulty. With the fall of Lu Bu's land and kingdom, I am faced with the danger that Cao Cao and Wei pose to Wu and my family. The solution to this, I had deemed even before Lu Bu had been moved into checkmate, was to ally with Liu Bei's Shu. I sent word to Liu Bei, asking him to end hostilities and ally with us, so that we may slay the dragon that lies to the north. He acknowledged my request, but asked for one thing in return. My daughter's hand in marriage. As I sat in my study in Yangzhou castle, I was outraged. I hurled the scroll, written and signed by Liu Bei's vassal Zhuge Liang, against the wall. I paced about, thinking of a way to negotiate. I sent back different offers, the services of various officers, land, money, position, anything I could think of. Liu Bei and his strategist refused. Zhuge Liang obviously could only think of the claim to my lands that Liu Bei's marriage into my family would bring, but I knew Liu Bei's reason. Liu Bei demanded this because of the pain it would cause me. He was just as ambitious as Cao Cao, and the only reason it was not I allying with Wei was because of the lands he held and soldiers he commanded. I would become a vassal, not an ally. With my daughter gone, Liu Bei knew I would lose something very important to me, and I would become weaker for it. For days I debated with myself, trying to decide for the good of my people, the good of my family, and the good for my daughter. I finally came to a decision. I would give in to Liu Bei's demands.
At Ru Nan I decided to speak with her about the arrangement. We had been passing through the area on our way to Luo Yang, where I expected to stay until the changing front demanded my presence elsewhere. We were all together for now, myself, my sons, and my daughter. Sun Ce and his sworn brother Zhou Yu talked together about future plans. Sun Quan sang a lilting tune he had learned in a tavern a few days ago, with Gan Ning belting out the chorus, and both of them doing their best to teach it to the Qiao sisters. I watched the road ahead, and decided that I would have to tell her. She didn't have any choice in the matter, I knew, and I felt disappointment with myself that I do not wish to write, for that would simply bring it back to me, something I do not want. As the sun set, we made camp. The soldiers that accompanied us, some thirteen thousand strong, made a general din and bustle in the small city we had created in the open field, the very field where Liu Bei had fled from Cao Cao not too long ago. I performed my end of day ceremony, stacking the metal plates and folding the cloth padding of my armor, polishing my sword and helmet. Then I left my tent and moved through the camp, asking the first soldier I came to if he had seen Lady Sun Shang Xiang. He told me she had left for the river, and I moved to follow her. Away from the camp's lanterns and torches, the moon lit the former battlefield at Ru Nan, the stars twinkled overhead. I pushed through the long grass and listened. I began to hear the sound of my daughter's voice as it floated across the plains. She was singing. It was not the drinking song Quan had belted out during the day. It was a song that her mother had taught her, the ballad of the hero Jin Wo and his wife, Xu Shi. They had fought, lived, and died for the formation of the Han Empire. Jin Wo had been the great warrior, and Xu Shi the guiding mind. The ballad's melody, however, was what made it a classic, what all his children had been sung to sleep with by both my wife and myself. The river at Ru Nan's banks were rocky and covered in boulders. Sun Shang Xiang sat atop one of these, her legs dangling out over the water. She wore a simple robe, with a sash tied around the waist. She had always avoided the fineries that women became accustomed to, preferring more to work alongside the men. That was something that I loved about her, her willingness to make Wu great. I approached silently, clearing my throat to make my presence known only after I had left the tall grass. She turned to look at me and smiled, greeting me,
"Hello, father."
Before she turned back to the river and continued to sing.
"Shang..."
I remember this as one of the worst moments of my life, telling my child that she had become nothing more than a bargaining chip in a game of kings, that she had been given to a man who I did not approve of as her husband to preserve my kingdom. She stopped singing. That was the last time I would ever hear her sing again. I told her of the state of the kingdoms, and how alliance with Shu was the only path. I told her Liu Bei had made demands on our alliance, and I had been forced to give in.
"He wants to marry you."
She drew her knees up to her chest and looked down at the river.
"I am sorry. I was for the good of our people."
I could see her back begin to shudder. She was crying. I understood that. She had spent much of her life fighting this man and those that had served him. She knew that he was responsible for the death of many people that she cared about, and now she was to become his bride. I tried to climb the rock, to sit beside her. She stood and dropped off the side.
"Shang! Come back here! Shang Xiang!"
She disappeared into the night.
"He wants her to WHAT?!"
Sun Ce slammed the table in outrage, rising from his seat.
"Calm down, brother." Sun Quan ordered. Ce sat again.
"Father, is there no other way?" Quan asked Sun Jian.
The three members of the Sun family, as well as Zhou Yu, were seated in a teahouse at the city of Ru Nan. The Lady Sun had returned later the previous night. Sun Jian had refused to speak with her. He was still too shamed by what had happened.
"No. I've been corresponding with Zhuge Liang for months. They will settle for no less."
Sun Ce launched into another outburst at this, clenching his fists as though he was wishing he held his weapons.
"Fine, then! If he'll settle for no less, let's forget this whole alliance! Let him be swallowed up by the Wei dragon for his arrogance! Maybe when he's on the battlefield facing Cao Cao's million man army, maybe then he'll see where his damn libido's going to send him!"
"Ce..." Sun Quan tried to interrupt. Sun Ce pounded on the table again to shut up his brother.
"Nobody is going to treat Shang like a bargaining chip! Not even..."
"That's enough, Sun Ce!" Sun Jian bellowed. The plates and cups rattled on the table from the force of the man's voice. Ce sat back down.
"What, my son, are you mad? This is the only way to stop Wei. Shu will not be able to hold them off without access to Wu held transport routes and Wu reinforcements. This is an absolute necessity to not only the future of Wu, but also the lives of our people. Do you know what Cao Cao did to those that supported Lu Bu?"
Zhou Yu nodded his head solemnly. Sun Quan and Sun Ce, however, looked to Sun Jian, waiting for him to continue.
"He massacred them. Every last one. Those who served his army had their heads cut off and hung from the walls of Xia Pi."
Sun Ce and Sun Quan made faces of horror. Sun Jian continued.
"We cannot allow this to happen. Sun Quan, I want you to take Zhou Yu with you and escort Shang's carriage to Cheng Du. Then, continue to Luo Yang. The rest of us will have already set up camp there in order to prepare for the campaign against Cao Cao."
"I want to go, too." Ce's voice had finally dropped to a normal tone.
"No. Ce, I need you to help with the preparations at Luo Yang."
Everyone at the table knew that was bullshit. Ce wasn't going because he would beat up the first Shu officer that so much as looked at Shang. Nonetheless, Sun Ce remained silent as Sun Jian continued.
"Quan, Zhou Yu, I want you to discuss with Zhuge Liang what the best strategy may be to use against Wei. Make sure that Shang is to be well treated, and make note of anything and everything about Shu's military. Understood?"
They both nodded and bowed. Sun Jian looked at Ce and sighed.
"Ce, I am sorry."
Ce's eye twitched for a moment. There was a tension in the air for a moment, and then Ce rose and stormed out, slamming the room divider behind him. Sun Jian sighed.
"Dismissed."
The two other men bowed, rose, and left. Sun Jian removed his helmet and took a sip of his tea. He meditated for a moment, the warmth of the cup comforting against his hands. He lowered it again and withdrew a scroll from the folds of his tunic. He lifted a pen and wrote.
Cursed are those that love.
Their lives are pain among pain.
Love is a burden often to be shouldered.
But always the burden is taken by choice.
Gold is the heaviest to carry.