A Proposal from Eastern Wu
A life spinning like a hamster wheel?
"Your Majesty. I trust you are well today?"
"Yes. Come in, come in. Thanks to you, I'm always well."
"I've brought a few things Your Majesty is fond of."
"You needn't go to such trouble every time."
Whenever I could spare the time, I called on Sun Ren to pay my respects and trade a little conversation. At first she had seemed rather low—not because of me, but because of the state of affairs between our two countries—yet as I kept visiting, sharing idle talk and good food, her spirits appeared to lift, little by little.
Even so, both of us still left any mention of Wu or Sun Quan carefully unspoken.
I sometimes wondered whether she ought to visit Eastern Wu at least once—her brother Sun Quan and the rest of her family were still there—but relations with Wu remained neither one thing nor the other, and the thought left me at a loss. On top of that, she had almost no one here with whom she could truly open her heart, and that alone was enough to make me feel for her. I still remembered how sorrowful she had looked when we first met, speaking of her political marriage.
At least her bond with Liu Bei was not a bad one, which was some comfort. They had not yet had any children besides Liu Li, but I had heard their relationship was sound enough.
If only she could have married someone she liked and lived quietly in the lands of Jiangdong. Being born into a ruling house, it seemed, was not always a blessing.
How to restore relations between the two countries? By Zhuge Liang's strategy of dividing the realm in three, an alliance with Wu was still necessary. If Wei and Wu joined hands again, that would be a headache of its own.
I found myself missing the days when our two states had still gotten along—after Red Cliffs, during the campaign for Nan Commandery. I had even kept a fair friendship with Gan Ning, Ling Tong, and the others back then. Gan Ning had eventually fallen ill and died, and of Ling Tong I now heard almost nothing.
In those days Sun Ren and I had been nearly friends. I never imagined she would one day come all the way to Chengdu.
There was a vague prediction that if Wei invaded Wu, Wu might reach out to us first—but it was only a guess, nothing more.
In the end I could only pass the time with her in small talk, though that was not so bad either. Aside from Huang Yueying, Sun Ren was just about the only woman in this place with whom I still kept any real acquaintance.
"Do you remember that time? When I got drunk and poured out every complaint I had. Most of it was just self-pity. You were only fifteen, and still you listened to all of it. I hardly behaved my age."
"Not at all, Your Majesty. You had left your homeland and been parted from your family. I knew perfectly well how troubled you must have been. Someone ought to have been there to hear you out."
"No. You were the one who put up with every bit of my childish temper. That was what finally let me pull myself together. Lately I've been feeling lonely again. I miss my mother back in Jiangdong. Still—being able to see your face like this does me good."
"I'm glad as well, Your Majesty, that we can spend time together. I should have come sooner, but there was so much to do in Jingzhou."
"You're here now, and that is enough. I hear you're still run off your feet these days. All the more reason I'm grateful you made the time."
"Of course I would come. I only regret I cannot spare more of it."
I sometimes wondered whether Sun Ren had been dragged all the way to Chengdu for nothing, forced into a life of watching her step—so different from the original history. But since things had turned out this way, I meant to see that she could live well here too.
"That reminds me—I keep thinking of the days we practiced archery together. When I have time, I'd like to go out and shoot with you again, the way we used to."
"Ah, I remember that as well. Do you still practice?"
"I go out now and then for something to do, but it is never as much fun as when I shot with you. To be honest, half the pleasure was watching your skill. You never missed, did you? Until then I thought myself a fair archer—then I saw you shoot, and I put that notion clean away."
"There are not many who shoot as well as Your Majesty. Come to think of it, it has been a while since I drew my own bow. I'll make time for it."
I thought of the days in Gong'an, shooting and sparring with Lady Sun. At the start I had never imagined we would grow close.
Talking with her like this, time slipped away. I needed to get to the training grounds and continue work on the Eight Diagrams Formation. Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wei would be waiting.
"Your Majesty, I must take my leave for today. I'll call again. There is still work to do."
"Very well. I'd keep you longer if I could, but go attend to your business. Don't mind me."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
I rose to leave for the training grounds, and Sun Ren called me back.
"Ah—there was one more thing. Wait a moment. You there—bring it."
At her summons a maidservant came forward with something wrapped. My eyes lit the instant I guessed what it was.
"Take this with you. It's something you like. See? You brightened the moment you laid eyes on it."
"Haha. I suppose it shows."
"Of course. I may not know much else, but I know your tastes."
Sun Ren held out a neatly packaged parcel of tea. She had a quietly sentimental streak, and often gave me tea she had wrapped herself.
"Your Majesty, my thanks again."
"It's nothing. Come again soon."
"Yes. May you remain in good health until then."
Leaving Sun Ren behind, I set out for the training grounds where we studied the Eight Diagrams Formation.
The weapons research was progressing smoothly enough that I had some room to spare for the Eight Diagrams Formation as well.
The small repeating crossbow was nearly finished, and the armor I had designed was gradually taking shape. My head ached at times, but the feeling of steadily completing things was not unpleasant.
I turned over other ideas. The repeating crossbow and the Yuanrong Crossbow were fine, but I wanted to strengthen the ordinary bow I used as well. Different materials, perhaps? I meant to keep using a bow, after all.
And it was not only the bow—I knew the arrows themselves could change the power of a shot. Arrows for greater accuracy. Arrows for greater range, and so on.
Mulling this over as I neared the training grounds, a figure came toward me.
"Left General. Welcome. I have been waiting for you."
"Ah, Baekyak. You needn't have gone to the trouble of coming out."
"Not at all. Of course I should meet you."
Jiang Wei had come out to receive me as I arrived.
"Has the Chancellor come yet?"
"He will be here shortly. The soldiers are already assembled. Shall we?"
We went to where the troops stood in ranks and were checking weapons and gear when Zhuge Liang, whom we had been awaiting, arrived.
"Chancellor. You've come."
"We pay our respects to the Chancellor."
"Haha. Seyoung, Baekyak. I've kept you waiting."
"Not at all. We have only just finished our own preparations."
He must have come straight from handling every kind of administrative and official business, yet Zhuge Liang's expression was calm, and his trademarks—the white feather fan, the crane-feather robe, and the silk cap—were all in perfect order.
Even I, who considered myself busy, was left shaking my head at the sheer volume of work he managed. At least the Battle of Yiling had never broken out, so he was not grinding himself down with illness as he worked.
Still, a man was a man. I resolved to bring him some restorative tonic later on.
"Well then—shall we begin at once?"
Under Zhuge Liang's direction, formation drill commenced.
In moments the training ground filled with the beat of drums, the snap of banners, and the soldiers' answering shouts.
The heart of forming the arrays lay in the drums and the flags.
One drumbeat and a blue banner raised, and a straight-line formation unfurled. Two drumbeats and a red banner rose, and a triangular formation took shape. In this way, drums and flags could shift the troops into any number of configurations.
Jiang Wei and I issued orders to the soldiers in time with Zhuge Liang's signals, and the men, following faithfully, built now a circle, now a bow-shaped array.
From a distance last time it had looked as ornate as embroidery on cloth; up close now, the multicolored banners stitching the sky carried a grandeur all their own.
Weapons development and formation study. Just when it seemed that squirrel-wheel of daily life would keep turning, something—or rather, someone—arrived to stop it.
"Left General. An envoy has arrived from Eastern Wu."
"From Eastern Wu?"
At the soldier's report, my eyes snapped up from the weapons designs I had been studying.
What business did Sun Quan of Wu have? There had been almost no contact until now.
Still—if they were reaching out first, did it mean they wanted to restore relations?
"The envoy says he must see the Left General in person."
"Me?"
Why me? Why not Zhuge Liang or Liu Bei? Even so, an envoy had come; I could hardly refuse to go.
I hurried to the official guesthouse where he was said to be waiting.
When I arrived, I found a young civil official I had never seen before.
"I am Zhuge Ke, courtesy name Yuansun. I come as envoy by command of His Majesty the King of Wu. You are the Left General of Shu, are you not?"
"Yes. I am Left General Jin Cheong."
Zhuge Ke. Eldest son of Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang's elder brother—Zhuge Liang's own nephew. In years to come he would become a great figure in Wu, though arrogance would also bring about his fall.
After a brief exchange of courtesies, we came to the point.
"What brings you so far, then?"
"His Majesty the King of Wu has put forward a marriage proposal."
"A marriage proposal?"
A marriage proposal. So he was playing a strong hand to renew the alliance. With Wu's national strength much diminished, perhaps he saw no other path.
But a marriage proposal meant a political match. Who was the intended?
Liu Shan was already promised to Zhang Fei's daughter. Liu Li was still young, and of the Sun bloodline besides.
Did they mean a match with some other powerful figure outside the Liu clan?
"Yes. His Majesty is advancing this match for the sake of relations between our two states."
"I see. But why come to me? And who is the intended party?"
"The intended party is none other than the Left General of Shu. That is why I have come to you directly."
"I beg your pardon—whom did you say?"
"The Left General Jin Cheong who stands before me. I have come to arrange a marriage between His Majesty's eldest son, Sun Deng, and yourself, General Jin Cheong."
"...!"
I thought I finally understood why Guan Yu had cursed Sun Quan for a rat.