Chapter Eight: Across the Chang Jiang

With the threat of a million-men invasion looming on the horizon, two former rivals are forced into an alliance.

In the Wei kingdom, Cao Cao's preparations were almost complete to launch his large-scale invasion of the South Land. The shrewd and charismatic leader was currently sitting in his private library, with a letter spread out on the low desk before him and a small group of advisors standing behind his chair.

Cao Cao had just finished reading the last lines of his letter, when a courier came dashing in. Quickly kneeling down, the young man proceeded to report breathlessly, "My lord, Liu Xuande has just led the forces of Shu-Han across the Chang Jiang to meet with the Sun Clan of East Wu!"

The reaction this evoked was hardly what most people would have anticipated: Cao Cao set down his letter upon hearing the news, gave a rather contemptuous snort, and declared while absently stroking his goatee, "Wu and Shu allying with each other to defeat my Wei kingdom are as two mongrels joining forces to bring down the mighty phoenix. Think you that I and my million-men army fear the likes of those two?"

And he laughed dismissively.

However, Sima Yi, standing to one side of him, frowned upon hearing this surprisingly careless and arrogant remark.

"Sir, is it truly wise to dismiss the Wu-Shu alliance like this?" he respectfully reminded his lord.

Without deigning to even turn around, Cao Cao coolly explained that, "Sun Jian of Wu is nothing more than an overglorified general. He is an able enough leader in the battlefield, but hardly an able leader of men."

Cao Cao folded up his letter, and reached for his teacup. After taking a sip of the steaming dark liquid, he went on.

"As for that weaver of straw mats, Liu Bei—I'll be the first to admit that he is one of the few true heroes in this vast land. However, he has but three generals, two strategists—one of them a woman, no less—and a mere handful of troops, and these he calls his Army of the Shu-Han? The man and his soldiers are nothing more than a pack of homeless dogs!"

And with these confident words, Cao Cao dismissed the messenger, while his advisors echoed amongst themselves that their Lord Mengde indeed had a Heaven-granted gift for analyzing both people and situations.

Only Sima Yi was silent. A worried frown found its way to his features, as he considered whether Cao Cao's confidence could be leading Wei to disaster.

Across the Chang Jiang, inside a large tent that had been hastily set up for the newly-arrived Shu officers, Liu Bei was sitting in front of a low wooden desk bearing a worn copy of Sun Tzu'sThe Art of War. The book was unopened, however, while the leader of Shu tiredly listened to his Third Brother Zhang Fei rage and bluster at the recent rumors that the Sun Clan was considering surrendering to Cao Cao.

"Give me three hundred soldiers dressed as Wei troops, and I'll lead them in a night raid—no, day raid!—of Wu's camps; then we'll see if that coward Sun Jian still wants to surrender to that son of a eunuch!" Zhang Fei bellowed ferociously, waving his Serpent Spear wildly about as he threatened to storm out and follow through with his half-baked plan.

Zhao Yun, desperately trying to hold back the taller and stronger warrior, only succeeded in narrowly escaping decapitation—on several occasions, no less—by that swinging weapon.

It was obvious that he wasn't going to get any help in restraining the bullheaded Zhang Fei from the latter's Second Brother. Tall and noble Guan Yu was sitting stoically on a hard-backed couch, his powerful arms crossed over his magnificent black beard. Only the thick, dark brows slanted sharply in a downward arc gave away the fact that he, too, was seething over the possibility of Wu's surrender; otherwise, Guan Yu presented a flawless picture of the great and dignified warlord.

Zhuge Liang and Yue Ying were seated across from the venerable, green-clad general. The former was calmly swishing his white swan-feather fan back and forth, as if the possible surrender of Shu's greatest ally bothered him not in the least bit. His wife, on the other hand, was visibly concerned over the issue, and would occasionally dart him brief, curious looks. Zhuge Liang kept silent, and the only indication that a plan had already formed in that brilliant mind were the traces of an enigmatic half-smile which would occasionally flash across his face.

In contrast, Liu Bei was hardly as relaxed as his genius advisor. Listening to Zhang Fei bawl and rumble and threaten to firebomb Sun Jian's palace, the virtuous leader of Shu began to feel a pounding headache flare up at his temples. The pain spread to his skull, building up beneath the thunder of Zhang Fei's voice, until Liu Bei finally snapped in an irritable tone, "Third Brother!"

Miraculously, Zhang Fei stopped in mid-tirade, and as all eyes in the room then turned to Liu Bei, the latter admonished severely, "Setting our ally's house on fire is no way to motivate him to fight—unless it's us that you're trying to get him to fight against!"

The normally brash and hot-tempered Zhang Fei relapsed into abashed silence at his Elder Brother's reprimand.

And then, Zhuge Liang stopped fanning himself and stood up.

Turning to the worried-looking Liu Bei, he announced reassuringly, "Do not worry, my lord. If you can secure for me an audience with the officers of Wu, I'll be sure to steer them onto the right path."

Inside the main hall of the Wu Palace, Sun Jian and his court were holding a final meeting to decide whether to fight to the death against Wei...or surrender to that larger and more powerful kingdom. The generals were still for fighting, the ministers were still for peacefully surrendering, and Sun Jian and his top strategist, Zhou Yu, were still undecided. However, their thoughtful expressions betrayed the fact that they were at least considering a possible surrender.

At that moment, a servant arrived, bowed low, and announced, "My lord, the Prime Minister of Shu, Zhuge Kongming, has arrived."

With a distracted wave of his hand, Sun Jian beckoned that he be ushered in.

After Zhuge Liang had presented himself before the Wu officers and had finished making the proper obeisance, Sun Jian asked him with a wry smile, "Mr. Zhuge, you're not here to make my decision any more difficult than it already is, are you?"

To this, Zhuge Liang replied with ease, "In point of fact, Lord Sun, I'm here to propose a strategy which will repel Cao Cao's million-person army using only two persons."

"Oh?"

Naturally, everybody's curiosity was piqued by that remarkable announcement, as wave after wave of excited murmurs rippled across the ranks.

Sun Jian sternly held up his hand for silence, and entreated, "Continue, please."

Zhuge Liang gave a little smile, and began pacing languidly back and forth while revealing, "From what I've heard, there exist two renowned beauties in the South Land, said to be so lovely that even the flowers and the moon are shamed by them. Cao Cao, as is evident by his recent completion of the Bronze Bird Tower, is quite devoted to collecting beautiful women from all four corners of China. Wu need only send these two girls across the Chang Jiang and present them as a peace offering to Wei; Cao Cao will be so grateful that he'll no longer have the desire to wage war against the South. A small price to pay, wouldn't you agree?—these two girls for the lives of millions."

Zhou Yu, who'd been listening to Zhuge Liang's rather nonchalant proposal with a growing scowl of suspicion on his face, now spoke up tensely, "And whom, sir, would these two beauties be?"

Zhuge Liang turned to the Wu strategist and general, replying graciously, "One of the two is supposed to be so famous for her beauty that her mere family name is enough to assert her reputation. As she is the younger of a pair of sisters, the people call her Xiao Qiao."

Zhou Yu's face turned white at the name, then bright red.

Pounding his fist on his desk, he leapt up in a fury, overthrowing his chair in the process, and almost howled, "What!"

Hearing the name and seeing the anger it evoked, his best friend and sworn brother, Sun Ce, whooped in a tone that could almost be described as obnoxious.

Until, that is, Zhuge Liang turned to the first prince of Wu and smoothly added, "As Xiao Qiao is one of the two beauties Cao Cao's after, I'm sure everybody here has already figured out that the other girl can be none other than her elder sister, Da Qiao."

Sun Ce's laughter abruptly died down.

The prince himself now leapt up in outrage, letting out an indignant squawk of, "What did you just say?"

Turning to his father, he proceeded to whine, "Pop, you're not going to take my wife away, are you?"

Then, as if realizing how much like a pouting child he sounded, Sun Ce blushed a bit, and coughed while mumbling, "Um...I mean, my lord, we can't let Cao Cao insult the South's women by locking them up in some bronze birdcage!"

Zhou Yu also spoke up.

Turning to Sun Jian, he declared firmly, "My lord, history will forever remember us as cowards without any pride or honor if we just surrender without a fight to that rebel Cao Cao."

Upon his words, the rest of the Wu generals also set up a cry demanding to fight the onslaught of Wei troops, overpowering the pleas for peace of the civil ministers.

Sun Jian leaned back in his seat and held up his hands. He swept a look toward his bristling eldest son and Zhou Yu, then at his enthusiastic generals, before finally coming to a rest on Zhuge Liang's figure.

"Well," he remarked dryly, "I think my decision has already been made for me!"