Alright alright, I went about three days without updating, but before you go crazy and claw my eyeballs out, don't forget it took me TWO YEARS to start updating this thing again. :D
And I'm fresh out of pre-written chapters now, so everything I publish now will come out of... aw, man, I'm gonna have to THINK? Shoot.
Jusssst kidding. D:
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"Hey, Shang Xiang!" Xiao said, waving at me when I entered the castle.
"Hey, Xiao, do you know what's going on?" I asked, not mincing words.
"Huh?" Xiao asked.
"You know, with this war supposedly coming up. Do you have the details?" I asked. Being married to our chief strategist, Xiao might know SOMETHING.
"Um, what war?" Xiao asked. "I know something's wrong with Zhou Yu, though. He looks like he's catching some illness, and every time I ask him what's the matter, he just tells me not to worry about anything."
"Then something is definitely wrong," I said. "I'll let you know if I find out what's going down, alright?"
"OK. Thanks, Shang Xiang," Xiao said. She turned and headed off in the opposite direction.
I continued walking down towards the Great Hall, where Quan spent the majority of his time. Quan was there, deep in discussion with Ce and Zhou Yu. They all looked up when I came in.
"Hello, Shang Xiang. Sit down, we need to talk with you," Quan said, gesturing to an empty seat nearby. I came over and sat down. "What's up?" I asked.
"First we need your word that everything we're about to tell you will remain completely confidential. You can't tell ANYONE, and since we know you're going to tell Ling Tong anyway, swear him to secrecy before you tell him anything," Zhou Yu said.
"Um, OK, I promise," I said.
"I'm serious. If word of this escapes and reaches the Qiaos, I don't want them to be frightened or worried, so please, keep it quiet," Zhou Yu continued.
"You've got my word," I replied. "What's going on?"
"Cao Cao has, finally, demanded the Two Qiaos. He's sent us an ultimatum-- send him both Da and Xiao Qiao, by the time the Winter arrives, or his massive army will lay seige to Wu," Zhou Yu said, looking angry.
"He also said he would willingly take the Princess of Wu, but since you're neither pregnant nor easily frightened, we decided it's best to let you know," Quan added.
I groaned. Cao Cao? Ew. Give me a break.
"Of course, since giving up Da and Xiao isn't an option we're even going to think about considering, this means war," Ce said. "I don't want Da finding out; she'll get worried and it might endanger the baby."
"But how are we supposed to explain how the whole Wu army's leaving for battle without them knowing it's a war? Tell them we're going on a giant picnic?" I asked sarcastically.
"Simply tell them we're going to battle, and no, they can't come," Zhou Yu replied. "If they inquire why, just say Cao Cao threatened us. That's all."
"Unfortunately, we're stuck allying with Shu, for two reasons. One, as much as I hate to admit it, we're just not a big enough force to take on Cao Cao. Our generals are strong, and our navy is unbeatable, but unfortunately Cao Cao's got more generals and his navy is larger. We're outnumbered. Shu's forces help-- not much, but they're a start," Ce growled. He hated alliances, and with good reasons. Bad stuff always resulted.
"The second reason is because of our strategy. We're thinking fire attack," Zhou Yu said. "However, as you know, the wind is a key part of fire attacks. Since the direction the wind blows is volatile, we're unsure where it'll blow. We need Zhuge Liang, the Shu strategist's, assistance."
"So when are we fighting?" I asked.
"We start preperations tomorrow," Zhou Yu said. "It's already early Fall. Two months preparation should be enough to get ready. Of course, we should be ready to go at any given moment. Cao Cao's naval fleet could arrive any day now."
I shuddered at the thought of Cao Cao's gigantic fleet, arriving in the Chang Jiang river while we all slept. Cao Cao's army was probably big enough to cover the entire Wu country.
"Alright, so that's basically all we need to tell you. Sorry for completely ruining your day," Ce said, smiling a little.
"And remember- you can tell Ling Tong, but absolutely NO word of this operation reaches the Two Qiaos. Understood?" Zhou Yu said.
"I hear you," I replied. "See ya!" I headed out of the Great Hall and walked smack into Tong, standing right outside the door, obviously eavesdropping.
"Ow!" he complained.
"Come on, we gotta talk," I said, grabbing his hand and dragging him back outside.
"What's going on?" Tong asked, confused.
"I'll tell you, come on!" I said.
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"Another war? Are you kidding?" Tong asked, looking annoyed.
"I'm not happy about it either, but we're doing it for the Qiaos," I said.
"And you," Tong said. "You said that Cao Cao'd take you, too."
"You don't have to worry about me," I said, sounding more confident than I felt.
"Yeah, but... Can't we just kill Cao Cao?" Tong asked.
"It'd be nice if we could," I grumbled. "Well, we leave for war in two months, and Zhou Yu said we begin preparing tomorrow."
"And we're allying with Shu, right?" Tong asked.
"Unfortunately. I don't like the thought of allying with anyone, but we don't have many other options at the moment," I said.
"Alright, whatever," Tong said, standing up.
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Me: -sleeping-
Gan Ning: Oi! Wake up!
Sun Ce: Are you kidding!? Run for the hills, before she does more bad things to us!
Gan Ning: Good point.
Both: AAAAAAAAAAAAAHH!! -running away screaming-
Oops, my bad. This is the shortest chapter yet. xD Ah, whatever. I'm so tired I'm dead, but I promise a better review soon. I don't wanna say tomorrow, I don't wanna guarantee anything...