Author Notes: Nothing new to say really, more non-historic moments. Still no pairings, so yeah nothing changed for author notes, read and review or a baby tiger will haunt you while you sleep!!!
Chapter 2: The Fire of Redemption
In Wei's camp an angered Xiahou Dun paced back and forth in his room. He had a bandage wrapped tightly around his upper arm from where Ma Chao injured him. It has been two weeks since the attack on Ma Chao went sour for Xiahou Dun and he was getting tired of sitting around doing nothing. Cao Pi placed Sima Yi in charge of coming up with strategies against Ma Chao, while he dealt with finding alliances with Dian Wei. Xiahou Dun, however, was not enjoying this time of waiting while the two of them dealt with their jobs.
"This insidious waiting is driving me mad! I can't stand not doing anything while someone like Ma Chao sits around and gets away for killing not only Lord Cao Cao, but my brother too! It's not like Sima Yi or Lord Cao Pi really are concerned about getting revenged, both of them were just waiting for Lord Cao Cao to die or be killed anyway so that they both would be one step closer to the throne. But this--" Xiahou Dun quickly turned around with his hand on the handle of his sword as he heard a noise behind him. Standing there was Zhang He with a somewhat odd grin on his face. Xiahou Dun sighed to himself and put down his sword as Zhang He walked in.
"My, my Lord Dun, I can hear you pacing and ranting from across the hallway, you really should learn to calm down some," Zhang He said with a smirk on his face. Xiahou Dun, on the other hand, had nothing close to a smile on his face.
"How am I supposed to be calm when Ma Chao is out there alive? He took away two important people in my life like it was nothing. I need to get revenge on him!" Xiahou Dun punched the wall hard, causing a dent in it. Zhang He shook his head.
"No, being angry won't help anything Lord Dun. You need to be calm and wait for the right time to get your revenge. If you stay angry this whole time you will not be able to fight with beauty or grace." Xiahou Dun rubbed his forehead with a bit of frustration. "Listen, I know you are angry about the loss of Lord Cao Cao, but if we want to get revenge for him we must do it in an orderly way, let Sima Yi and Cao Pi figure out everything and we will get back at Ma Chao beautifully!"
Xiahou Dun sighed and nodded his head a bit as he slowly calmed down out of his angry mood. Zhang He, noticing the change in mood, smiled to himself and bowed to Xiahou Dun. Zhang He then walked out and left Xiahou Dun by himself. Dun, now alone, looked at his sword for a moment, and then looked out the window to the sky.
"Lord Cao Cao, Brother Yuan, I promise you, one day I will kill Ma Chao for you. And when I do, it will be a painful death for him." Xiahou Dun dropped his sword onto the ground and left his room.
Back at Ma Chao's camp, Zhang Lu, Ma Chao and Han Sui were sitting at a large table in their meeting tent. With them sat a man by the name of Sun Qian. Sun Qian was asked to visit Ma Chao. Ma Chao sent a letter to Sun Qian for his presence to discuss matters. He knew that Sun Qian worked for Liu Bei and wanted to see if there was a possibility for his forces and Shu's forces to become strong allies and help each other. Sun Qian, being a loyal advisor of Liu Bei, of course discussed the letter with Liu Bei before deciding anything. Liu Bei, knowing of what has been going on between Ma Chao and Wei, allowed Sun Qian to go.
"Lord Ma Chao, I am happy that you asked to see me, my Lord Liu Bei also sends his greetings to you and says you may talk to him personally, any time you would like." Sun Qian bowed to all three men after saying that. Ma Chao nodded to Sun Qian and asked him to sit down. "Now, Lord Ma Chao, Zhang Lu, Han Sui… I am guessing there was something you would like to discuss with myself?"
"Yes, as you well know by now, Wei is not on very good terms with us right now, and we, obviously, would like to make sure that there is no chance that they can come back from our attack and wipe us out so easily. We are looking for alliances for our fight against Wei and Ma Chao, Han Sui and I thought that Shu would make a worthy ally." Zhang Lu took a sip of his tea after addressing Sun Qian. Before Sun Qian could respond Ma Chao spoke up.
"Although I already killed Cao Cao, I don't feel comfortable with men like Cao Pi, Xiahou Dun and Sima Yi in Wei. I know by now Wei has been looking for allies. I sent out a spy a few days ago and he came back with information." Sun Qian raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "My spy came back with word that Cao Pi has been to several lords asking for alliances, he wasn't able to find out if any rulers agreed to the alliances however. He also came back with information about Sima Yi; he has been formulating plans against us. He thought of attacks, defenses and other kinds of ideas to use against us."
"With this information we could really do with some assistance against Wei. We are down to a few generals and soldiers. Not to mention our supplies are going to be running low in a few weeks…" Han Sui told Sun Qian as he looked over to a small supply of grain in the corner of the tent. "We could really use the help if your lord is willing to join us against Cao Pi."
Sun Qian nodded a few times and drank some of the tea in front of him. For several minutes no one said anything as Sun Qian thought to himself. Han Sui and Zhang Lu started to get a bit unnerved by the silence when one of them finally spoke up.
"Lord Sun, do you think Lord Liu Bei would be able to assist us or not?" Sun Qian turned his attention over to Zhang Lu who had a somewhat annoyed look on his face. Sun Qian smiled and made a small nod.
"I think that this may be able to answer your thoughts and concerns." Sun Qian pulled out a letter from his left sleeve. It was rolled up and tied with a small ribbon. Sun Qian placed it in front of where Ma Chao sat. Ma Chao looked up at Sun Qian for a moment in confusion. After Sun Qian made a gesture towards Ma Chao to open it, he decided to take a look at what had been written in the letter. Ma Chao slowly unrolled it and began to read it.
"Lord Ma Chao, I have heard your troubles with Wei and I am sorry for your losses. By now I am sure you, Lord Zhang Lu and Lord Han Sui have already spoken with Sun Qian. Before sending out Sun Qian to meet with you however, I have written this letter. My strategists Sun Qian and Zhuge Liang both agreed that this meeting would most likely be because of your need of alliances, if that is what you seek then you can count on getting assistance from Shu. I believe that with Cao Cao gone, Wei will be weaker at first; however, his son is not one to be taken lightly. His strategist, Sima Yi, is a very intelligent man. Sima Yi is also one to be taken with care and caution. To put it in one way, he is an evil strategist that will do anything to defeat his enemy, and Cao Pi is just the kind of lord that would accept his strategies with open arms. But if we can get to Wei before they get help, we may be able to stop them early and for good. Please, either send someone, or come yourself to visit me so that we can meet in person and make everything official."
Ma Chao rolled back the letter and handed it to Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu looked at the letter and then up to Ma Chao to see what he had to say. Sun Qian smiled at Ma Chao. He knew that Ma Chao would want to bring the alliance together just by the look on his face. All he had to do was wait for Ma Chao to admit it himself.
"Well, it looks like we will have to meet with Lord Liu Bei then so that we can officially create the alliance between our forces and Shu's forces." Sun Qian nodded while smiling. Han Sui nodded to himself. The four men stood up and bowed to Sun Qian as he made his way out to his horse. "You may tell your lord, Liu Bei, that I will send Han Sui to visit him in the next day or so to set up the alliance."
Sun Qian nodded and bowed once again to Ma Chao. He then got on his horse and rode off for Shu. After Sun Qian left Ma Chao turned to Zhang Lu and Han Sui and made a half smile. Ma Chao knew that even with a new alliance at hand, Wei would be a troublesome foe to deal with. They already lost a few good men and many soldiers to Xiahou Dun alone. With Wei getting allies, they may be even more difficult to beat.
Sima Yi walked into the throne room of Cao Pi. He stood in front of Cao Pi and bowed. Zhen Ji, standing beside Cao Pi's throne, looked over with an arrogant and stuck up facial expression, wondering what Sima Yi was doing bothering them. Cao Pi had a look of annoyance across his face as Sima Yi stood before him. The Wei ruler made a gesture to Sima Yi for him to say what he has to say and to be quick about it.
"Lord Cao Pi, I have come up with a plan that will crush Ma Chao from the inside out! This plan will be so devastating that most likely only one of two things could happen. Either he would be too hurt to fight anymore, or he would attack with a blind fit of rage causing him to meet an early death." Cao Pi's interest peaked and he leaned forward a bit. "This plan is genius if I do say so myself."
Sima Yi handed Cao Pi a scroll with the plan written on it. Sima Yi watched with an evil smirk on his face. As Cao Pi read it he began to smile as well. Sima Yi also smiled more as he noticed the enjoyment that the plan gave to Cao Pi. Sima knew that meant that Cao Pi would go ahead with his idea and give Sima Yi the okay to do so.
"Lord Sima Yi… this plan you have given me is… perfect to use. I give you permission to use any means to get it done. And make sure that it is as vile as it sounds on this letter." Cao Pi tossed the letter back to Sima Yi who nodded with a now sadistic grin across his face. Zhen Ji rolled her eyes at them both and left the room. Cao Pi waved his hand at Sima Yi for him to leave now. Sima Yi nodded slightly and walked out of the building.
"Haha… this plan will surely destroy the spirit of Ma Chao and his forces' morale. With that it will make it much easier to destroy him and all that follow. If am I lucky, maybe he'll even kill off Cao Pi as well… it would do me a favor of having to do it myself…" Sima Yi laughed to himself as he walked back to his own room, getting ready to start his plan against Ma Chao.