Chapter Forty-One: Bride and Groom
In Shu, rumors arrive of a new bride-to-be; in Wei, visits are announced of a new groom-to-be.
Outside, a cruel-eyed falcon let out its signature call, as it flapped its powerful wings and soared into the clouds.
Inside, Zhuge Liang paused briefly until the bird of prey's abrasive shriek had faded away, before continuing with his strategy session.
"We should split up our army and take two different routes to Yizhou—one by land, one by water," he suggested, adding by way of explanation, "That should make it more difficult for Liu Zhang to launch a definitive, systematic defense against us."
Liu Bei leaned back in his seat, silently absorbing his trusted tactician's words. They all made perfect sense, but then again, when had Zhuge Liang's words not made perfect sense? Yet the thought of attacking somebody from his own bloodline still troubled the noble leader of Shu, so that he couldn't seem to muster a single word, only a nod.
Sensing the tension in the air, Pang Tong quickly spoke up.
"I'll take Wei Yan and Huang Zhong," the quirky little man volunteered cheerfully. "We can go by land."
"Then I will travel by river," Zhuge Liang decided. "Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei can come with me."
At last, Liu Bei spoke up.
"Leaving Guan Yu behind to guard Jingzhou," he finished softly.
A brief silence settled amongst the three men, before Zhuge Liang once again took charge and steered their attentions back to the conquest of Yizhou.
"My lord, I would prefer if you went with Shiyuan on this campaign," he began respectfully.
Liu Bei looked startled, but before he could question his head strategist's proposal, Pang Tong himself had already guessed the motive.
"It's because Huang Zhong and Wei Yan are relatively new acquisitions when compared to the brothers and Zilong, isn't it?" he spoke up. "They haven't really gone on that many campaigns in Shu's name."
"Precisely. I don't know how trustworthy they are," Zhuge Liang stated bluntly. "Particularly that Wei Yan. Barbarians are never to be trusted; this country has had more than enough invasions by the Xiong-nu and the Qiang and the Nanman to the South to prove that notion."
Liu Bei opened his mouth, ready to defend the integrity of his two newer generals. Before he could construct a coherent sentence, however, a series of low, almost hesitant knocks sounded at the doors.
"Come in," the Shu lord spoke up distractedly, half of his mind still occupied on the map of Yizhou before him.
A slender figure entered, wearing not the uniform of a courier but rather the armor of a soldier. Liu Bei had no trouble recognizing her as one of Sun Shang Xiang's bodyguards, and hastily put on his most accommodating smile. It wouldn't do him well to offend one of his wife's constant companions.
"Is something the matter?" Now if he could just remember the girl's name…
The bodyguard bowed briskly without smiling, before reporting, "My lord, I believe there's something you might want to hear."
Liu Bei exchanged meaningful looks with Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong. Both of his strategists nodded.
"Go on," the ruler of Shu encouraged, while carefully rolling up the maps scattered over his desk.
"I was out by the city square when I heard the local people gossiping amongst themselves about an engagement recently announced in Wei." The girl's fawn eyes turned serious, and she proceeded to reveal, "My lord, it's that spy girl, Xi Gu Niang, whom General Zhao loves so much. She's to be married to one of Wei's rising young officers in six months, and Cao Cao is promoting it as if it were some sort of Imperial affair."
Liu Bei's eyebrows flew up in astonishment. So there had been other reasons for Xi Tian's hasty flight to Xuchang, he mused thoughtfully to himself. An unsettling thought still nagged at him, however: why should her upcoming nuptials be of such particular interest to Wei that they'd go to all the trouble of making sure people from as far away as Jingzhou would know about the event? Unless, of course, Cao Cao had an ulterior motive…and he almost always did.
Judging by the looks on his strategists' faces, Liu Bei knew that they must've figured out that motive already. Wearily, he raised a hand to dismiss Sun Shang Xiang's guard, but before the girl had a chance to leave, Zhuge Liang instructed briefly, "Su Lin, I would prefer that General Zhao does not hear any of this, if it's at all possible."
Su Lin! That's what her name was! As the girl nodded in understanding and exited the room, Liu Bei turned to his advisor with a concerned frown etched into his features.
"Is it right that we deceive Zilong like this?" he asked softly.
Zhuge Liang heaved a silent sigh, his fan a slow blur of white swan feathers in his hands.
"It isn't right at all—but it is necessary," he murmured quietly. "We need Zilong to be in a clear state of mind for the hard campaign up ahead, and I'm not sure how levelheaded he can be knowing that his beloved is going to be married to another man…and so quickly, too."
A small clinking sound, as Zhuge Liang set down his fan and picked up a cup of tea. He paused with the aromatic drink held beneath his mustache, to add contemplatively, "I believe I once remarked that Xi Gu Niang was too frivolous and innocent to cause much trouble inside Shu."
An ironic chuckle, as the Sleeping Dragon admitted his mistake: "Now it's beginning to look as if she'll be causing plenty of trouble while outside our kingdom."
"Ow!"
Xi Tian swiftly withdrew her hand from the rosy silk scarf on her lap, and gingerly held her index finger to her eyes. A tiny puncture mark, bright vermilion in the late morning sunlight, graced the surface of the skin. She winced and crinkled her nose in annoyance, before moving to put the finger in her mouth.
Immediately, Amah, seated across from her sulky charge, was up in arms.
"Don't you dare, Miss Xi Tian," the stout old woman warned, her own embroidery tucked primly on her knees. "No young wife has ever done something so plebeian."
Xi Tian shot her nurse an irritable frown.
"Well, I'm not even married yet," she pointed out defiantly. "And I won't be for another half-year, so I'm going to keep doing every 'plebeian' thing I want from now until my wedding day!"
Having made her assertion, she parted her lips and moved her pricked finger onto her tongue.
Amah's expression, surprisingly enough, softened when confronted with her charge's uncharacteristic impertinence.
"I'm sorry, Miss Xi Tian; I should have been more considerate of your feelings these past few days," she spoke up, with a touch of almost sympathy in her voice. "After all, it's only natural for a bride-to-be to feel nervous and scared."
Her tone turned teasing, as she added light-heartedly, "And just because I like both you and General Jiang so much, I'll allow you to throw these little tantrums if it will help placate your insecurities. I may be old, but I'm still your amah. I understand my little girl's touchy mood lately."
All the rebelliousness seemed to evaporate from Xi Tian when she heard those kind but miscomprehending words. Her hand slipped back to her side, and she pretended to concentrate on rearranging the embroidery on her lap.
"No, you don't understand." It was the softest of whispers—and coupled with the fact that Xi Tian's head was lowered, with stray locks of hair veiling her eyes, when she said those words—it was understandable why Amah couldn't be sure of whether she'd heard correctly nor not.
However, it wasn't too long before that formidable nurse had a new matter to occupy her attention. Yinchun's voice was soon heard, courteously announcing from the front doors, "General Jiang is here," and evoking only a faint frown from the young man's fiancée. Xi Tian tossed aside the pale pink scarf from her lap and stubbornly turned her back to the doors, crossing her arms and complaining under her breath, "Why must he come over now? Doesn't he have training or studying or anything else to do?"
Amah chuckled, as she stood up and busied herself with gathering up all the embroidery and loose needles and storing them in their appropriate places.
"You're being unfair, Miss Xi Tian," she scolded mildly. "The boy just wants to make a good impression on you."
Xi Tian made an annoyed little noise in the back of her throat, refusing to turn around or acknowledge either Yinchun or Amah's words.
"But I don't want to see him. He's boring." Her voice was bordering on a childish whine, as she searched for excuses to avoid playing hostess.
"Miss Xi Tian…" Amah rumbled in a warning tone, effectively bringing about a change of mind in her young mistress.
"Oh, all right." Xi Tian reluctantly turned around and uncrossed her arms.
"And get rid of that ridiculous spoiled pout," Amah added, hiding an amused smile. "You're not so pretty that you can get away with acting like that, or poor General Jiang will think he's been engaged to Bao Si(1)."
With an insulted huff, Xi Tian went to work, smoothing her stormy features and curving her mouth into an appropriately demure smile. After her task was accomplished, she batted dewy golden eyes at her nurse and asked, "Is this good enough?"
Amah nodded approvingly.
"Perfect. Now you're ready to receive General Jiang like a proper young lady," she decided.
Turning to the halls, the plucky old woman hollered, "Hurry and invite the young lord in!"
"Ai." Yinchun's voice sounded slightly fainter, as presumably the handmaid scurried outside to welcome Jiang Wei into the Xi household.
Amah turned back around and surveyed the room—and its single occupant—with a critical eye. After tucking some loose strands of hair behind Xi Tian's ears and rearranging the various accessories on the dresser, the old lady finally seemed satisfied.
"I guess I'll be leaving now, Miss Xi Tian," she said, hearing the telltale sound of footsteps coming down the halls. "You don't need an ugly hen like me standing around and chaperoning your every move. Yinchun will be sufficient company."
She caught a brief glimpse of the silly face Xi Tian made at her after those words, before discreetly slipping away to the gardens outside. It would do the girl well to spend some time with her future husband, away from the ever watchful hawk eyes of etiquette-obsessed adults. In the best-case scenario, she might even fall in love with the boy, Amah thought with a smile. After all, why shouldn't she? Miss Xi Tian certainly had nobody else to steal her heart away from Jiang Wei.
1. A lovely consort of the King of Zhou, who never smiled.