Chapter Thirty-Eight: Reconstructions, Part I
A new arc begins, as characters struggle to rebuild old lives.
A stallion's abrasive neigh was the sole fanfare announcing Xiahou Dun's triumphant return to Xuchang. Hearing it, civilians on the busy city streets hastily scurried about to make way for their famously quick-tempered general. Minutes later, the striking, blue-and-gold-armored warrior indeed rode into view, the Kirin Fang gleaming threateningly at his side, his razor-sharp features etched into lines of deep irritation.
The source of his thunderous mood soon revealed itself, as a close-topped carriage emerged, following Xiahou Dun's horse at a demure pace. Already, whispered conversations were beginning to spring up amongst Xuchang's populace. A girl was said to be the sole passenger of that mysterious carriage, a girl who was allegedly the last daughter of a house of fallen aristocrats, who was a captive from the kingdom of Shu, and who was being brought to the Wei capital to be married to one of Cao Cao's rising young officers. Some even speculated that the as-yet unseen maiden might be Xiahou Dun's own secret lover, although those bold enough to hold such views only dared voice their thoughts in the most conspiratorial of whispers.
It wasn't too long before both Xiahou Dun and his companion had disappeared behind the soaring stone walls of Cao Cao's extravagant palace. Steel-faced guards slowly closed the gates after the two, and the curious citizens had no choice but to scatter and return to their daily businesses.
Yet the predominant feeling amongst these men and women was that they would not have to wait too much before their questions about the girl in the carriage would all be answered. Their Lord Mengde was not one to keep quiet about his women—not for long, at least.
Inside the palace walls, Xiahou Dun curtly dismounted and tossed his horse's reins to a nearby soldier. In a single snapping motion, he had turned around and stridden over to the carriage behind him.
"Get out," he ordered coldly, flinging the door wide open and adding to the girl seated inside, "Time for a little family reunion."
Xi Tian stepped out uncertainly, forcing herself to swallow back a shriek when Xiahou Dun reached in and virtually yanked her from the vehicle. Well! Some men certainly knew how to hold grudges, she decided to herself after being dumped rather unceremoniously onto the ground.
Meanwhile, Xiahou Dun had already begun walking—marching, it seemed more like—presumably towards that "family reunion" he'd alluded to just then. Xi Tian gave herself a couple of seconds to smooth over her rumpled clothes to the best of her abilities, before gathering the crimson edges of her long traveler's cape around her legs and hastening to follow in his brisk steps.
Together, they moved past exquisite gardens and stone paths lined with armed soldiers, until at last, Xiahou Dun stopped before a pair of closed mahogany gates. A lightning scowl flashed across his one eye upon finding the gates locked, before he picked up the brass doorknockers and impatiently clanged them against the polished burgundy wood.
"Open up in there, old man!" he barked in what Xi Tian deemed an unnecessarily rude voice.
Before she could dwell on that thought for too long, the gates were indeed hurriedly opened, and a stout old figure tottered out.
"Amah!" Xi Tian rushed past her grumpy escort and flew into the portly woman's arms, while her nurse simply held her and wept in noisy gulps.
"Miss Xi Tian…Miss Xi Tian, it's really you," Amah managed to choke out between sobs.
Xiahou Dun swept a quick glance at the two females as they held each other and cried a lifetime's worth of tears. For a fleeting moment, he looked almost uncomfortable: a third party intruding upon this familial scene. He coughed, glared in annoyance, and tried muttering something under his breath, but all his actions were to no avail, as he continued to be—surprisingly—ignored.
"I suppose I'll go to my cousin now," he finally harrumphed, before turning around and fleeing the scene lest he find himself drowning under the weight of a flood of tears.
The two that his words were intended for didn't seem to have heard, as Amah and Xi Tian continued to hold each other and weep.
"I was out by these gates waiting for you until well into the afternoon," Amah revealed after she had regained some measure of control. "I…Lord Xi…the girls…We all thought you wouldn't be coming back today…"
"There, there, Amah," Xi Tian murmured, fondly patting the other woman's back. "I've finally come back…but where's my father? I have to go see him at once!"
Amah was instantly back on guard and up in arms again, although why, her charge wouldn't figure out until she opened her mouth and the following sentence stampeded out.
"Not looking like this, you're not!" Amah chastised, taking out her handkerchief and dabbing at her young mistress's tear-stained face.
"Oh, Amah—" Xi Tian started to protest embarrassedly, but the old woman cut her off with a huff of, "Don't tell me you've lost all sense of propriety in Shu, young lady…And just where is your own handkerchief, anyway?"
Xi Tian could only lower her head and blush in silence, unwilling to disclose the episode on the Chang Jiang that had led to the loss—or rather, the impartment—of her handkerchief. Thankfully, before she would be forced to think up a plausible excuse, the sound of footsteps rang across the air.
The handmaids Yinchun and Firelight emerged from inside the house, one clad in lavender and pearls, the other in vibrant carmine silk. Between them they supported a frail and gaunt form, bent with grief rather than old age and clutching a tall cane to support his daily-diminishing weight.
Xi Tian let go of her nurse as soon as she saw the fragile, snow-haired figure heading down the steps. The tears that Amah had worked so hard to wipe away now flowed afresh, as Xi Tian collapsed weakly onto her knees and bowed until her forehead touched the ground.
"Papa!"
"We're facing a sudden and unexpected crisis, one from within the heart of our nation, and I cannot allow myself to remain selfishly with my own family. I now bear the responsibilities fitting of the Queen of Shu, and with this new ordeal about secret spies and Wei's clandestine agendas, my place should rightfully be by my husband's side…and, uh…in my own kingdom…um…"
Liu Bei found himself unconsciously bending his lips into a half-smile as he recalled his young wife's hasty return from Wu and subsequent hastier speech. A spokeswoman Sun Shang Xiang was not, and though she'd memorized her lines admirably well (Liu Bei suspected it was her head bodyguard, Phoenix, who'd penned most of those flowery words), she'd been unable to keep up the charade for very long.
Thankfully, Zhuge Liang had foreseen that, as he seemed to foresee just about everything nowadays. With impeccable timing, the strategist had sent a courier into the meeting hall to interrupt with breaking news that must be delivered, privately and at once, to the leader of Shu.
The conference had been duly called off, much to the relief of the floundering Sun Shang Xiang and the chagrin of Zhang Fei. The swarthy Second Tiger was still paying up for all his misplaced little bets when Liu Bei stepped into his library with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong following closely behind.
Now, the virtuous Shu king forced his mind back to the situation at hand, as his two strategists debated amongst themselves about expansions and conquests.
"Jingzhou's a nice stronghold, but it's only one little province," Pang Tong was arguing. "We can hardly call ourselves a kingdom if all we have is just this one piece of land. Yizhou, on the other hand, would be an excellent acquisition: It's rich and fertile of soil, and we already have the maps from Zhang Song, telling us every nook and crevice of that territory. Really, I see no reason why we're still idling around here."
Zhuge Liang sat and listened, calmly fanning himself as he waited for the eccentric little man to finish before putting forth his own views.
"Except that now is not the appropriate time for a campaign," he insisted calmly.
Pang Tong snorted something not-very-flattering behind his multi-layered cloaks, before turning to his king and prodding, "My lord?"
Liu Bei's chest rose and fell in a heavy sigh, his face fixed along lines of deep and troubled thought.
"Liu Zhang, the current ruler of Yizhou, is my relative. I cannot even begin to fathom attacking someone of my own bloodline," came the eventual response, softly uttered yet undeniably firm in its stance.
"And Shu as a whole cannot afford to lose the citizens' trust," Zhuge Liang brought the argument to its next logical level.
He calmly fanned himself a couple of times, before raising a second, more serious point: "Then there is also the matter of Zhang Lu to the east. He may not seem like such a viable threat, but he does have under him one Meng Jiang(1) in particular who troubles me quite a bit."
"You mean that headstrong Ma kid from Xiliang?" Pang Tong guessed. "He's but a boy."
"A boy whom the people don't call Ma Chao the Splendid for nothing," Zhuge Liang reminded the shorter man.
Pang Tong looked like he wanted to hop up and down in frustration. Ultimately, he managed to quell that rather unprofessional urge, and simply pointed out, "In the end, it won't matter how 'Splendid' this horse-boy(2) is—we can still afford to spare four superior warriors to occupy Yizhou and suppress Zhang Lu's threat at the same time. Besides, for all we know, the locals calling him 'Splendid' could merely be a horde of girls smitten with his looks. And, with all due respect, sir—" here he turned to face Liu Bei—"Liu Zhang is hardly an able ruler. It'll only take a couple of weeks to take over Yizhou."
"That does not justify my invading a kinsman's land," Liu Bei answered quietly.
"If you don't do it now, somebody's bound to sooner or later," Pang Tong declared, traces of impatience beginning to creep into his voice.
Liu Bei looked torn. Raising his eyes to his other advisor, he parted his lips in a silent question, one which Zhuge Liang answered with, "I agree with Shiyuan in that we should eventually prepare an expedition into Yizhou…only now's not the right time."
"Oh, sure it is—" Pang Tong started to scoff, but was shot down by a single statement from his old schoolmate.
"One of our best generals is currently not in the right state of mind to march on such a rigorous campaign," the Sleeping Dragon interrupted plainly.
1. Literally, a fierce warrior. This term is a common way to refer to the foremost generals serving under a ruler.
2. A pun on Ma Chao's name. "Ma" is both written and pronounced the exact same way as the Chinese character for "Horse."