Kongming Emerges. And the Few Remaining Peaceful Days in Xinye
Zhuge Liang. At last, we met.
Eight chi tall, with a striking, handsome face. A straight back and a bearing full of quiet dignity.
To see with my own eyes the future chancellor I had only ever imagined — the legendary prime minister of the ages…
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, Xu Shu, my father Jin Do — all of them had already lived in my memories. Even after I possessed this body inside the novel, none of them had felt truly strange.
But Zhuge Liang was different. Here, he was a named figure I was meeting for the very first time.
"Kongming. You've finally come."
"Indeed, Yuanzhi. How glad I am to see you again."
Zhuge Liang and Xu Shu exchanged warm greetings. Then Zhuge Liang turned to me and asked,
"And this person is…?"
"Yes. I am Jin Cheong, eldest daughter of General Jin Do. It is an honor to meet Master Wolong."
I bowed at the waist. Beside me, Xu Shu added with unmistakable pride,
"Lord Jin Cheong currently serves as one of our army's five-man commanders — a true heroine. Her martial skill is extraordinary; she performed brilliantly at the Battle of Bowang Slope. In time, she will become one of the great heroes of our forces."
"A female general, you say? My own Lady Huang is gifted in many arts, but she has never trained in martial ways. The honor of meeting such a distinguished person is mine."
He looked at me with startled eyes and returned the greeting. I answered that I was still very much a student, and that his praise was far too generous.
Then Zhuge Liang narrowed those same surprised eyes and turned back to Xu Shu.
"By the way, seeing the two of you arrive so companionably, I wondered if you had finally shed your bachelor's status. Yuanzhi — was my guess wrong?"
Xu Shu's face flushed scarlet, and he stammered,
"W-what nonsense. We are merely friends."
For a man who looked so solemn and austere, Zhuge Liang had a ready wit. I waved my hands in mild panic as well.
"At present I am studying herbal medicine and scholarship under Lord Xu Shu. He is as much a teacher to me as anything else."
And so my first meeting with Zhuge Liang ended amid a rather cheerful uproar.
Having secured Zhuge Liang after three visits, Liu Bei seemed in excellent spirits these days. And little wonder — he had long fretted over how to expand his power. Zhuge Liang had scratched that itch clean through.
The Longzhong Plan. The strategy of dividing the realm into three.
Seize Jingzhou and Yizhou, then stand against Cao Cao and Sun Quan. In plain terms: split the world into three and hold the balance.
If it succeeded, Liu Bei — who now commanded only a handful of men — could rise into a power capable of contending for the realm itself.
The scheme commonly known as Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan.
Liu Bei rejoiced at gaining a man who could paint the great picture. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, however, were far less pleased.
After decades of shared hardship, they now watched their lord spend more and more of his time with Zhuge Liang. From their perspective, the resentment was hardly difficult to understand.
When they began to grumble and speak ill of the newcomer, Liu Bei answered them thus:
Liu Bei mediated between them, and Zhuge Liang, for his part, demonstrated proper conduct and administrative skill. Little by little, the complaints faded.
And so Liu Bei's forces, having gained Zhuge Liang as their mind, devoted themselves to supply and training and slowly accumulated strength — all within the small county of Xinye.
"Kongming. With you here, the road ahead seems to open a little. Truth be told, I had been fretting over how we might press forward on my abilities alone."
"So that is why you recommended me? Ha. Your own talents are hardly lacking."
"No. Compared to yours, they fall far short. Our lord harbors great ambitions, yet his strength has always been wanting — and that has pained me. Now that you have joined us, it feels as though we have gained a host of ten thousand."
"Ha. Somehow that sounds like a promise to work me to the bone. What can a man who was, until recently, a farmer in some backwater village possibly do?"
"Such humility is unlike you. I know full well you already laid out a grand design at Longzhong. Of course, I too will serve our lord with everything I have."
I was listening to the exchange between Xu Shu and Zhuge Liang from the side. Having grown close to Xu Shu, I now found natural opportunities to draw near Zhuge Liang as well — a welcome development.
"In any case, I was half-doubtful you would actually enter our army."
"I came exactly as you intended. Haha."
"Is there anything inconvenient about your living arrangements?"
"What can a newcomer expect? Everything is inconvenient."
"Hearing you put it that way, I take it you are settling in well."
When Zhuge Liang first arrived, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had grumbled, but once Liu Bei stepped in, they fell quiet. Both men had formidable temperaments; watching Liu Bei hold them in check, I could not help wondering whether that very quality was part of what had drawn Zhuge Liang into our ranks.
"With me here, you need not worry about our household, my lord."
A woman's voice came from beside us.
"Ha. My lady, really."
She was Lady Huang — better known as Huang Yueying, wife of Zhuge Liang.
The official histories record that Lady Huang was unattractive: yellow hair, a dark complexion. Her father, Huang Chengyan, was even said to have remarked,
Do not learn from Kongming how to choose a wife. He took A-Cheng's ugly daughter.
So I had been rather curious whenever Zhuge Liang mentioned her. Upon meeting her in person, however — well. She was quite beautiful.
Her hair did carry a yellowish cast, and her face was tanned dark, just as the records said. By my standards, though, she was no beauty of the ugly sort at all.
Her looks were exotic; perhaps they simply did not fit the ideals of this era. Honestly, when I first saw her, I half wondered if she might be of mixed blood.
In any case, Zhuge Liang praised her talents again and again. Historical records claim that Lady Huang invented the wooden oxen and flowing horses and passed the designs to her husband.
I could not quite picture what those devices looked like, but I found myself hoping they would see fine use. The two of them were clearly devoted to each other — a pleasant sight. May she continue to support him well.
"I have heard that Lady Jin here is extraordinarily skilled in the martial arts."
"Yes, that is so. I understand she trained directly under General Jin Do. I myself witnessed her brilliant performance at the Battle of Bowang Slope with my own eyes."
"My goodness. She still looks such a young lady — I can hardly believe it. How remarkable."
"Haha. I still fall far short of my father. I must keep striving."
I answered Lady Huang's praise with awkward modesty.
"My lord. Perhaps you ought to take up martial training yourself?"
"Ha. I lack Yuanzhi's gift for the martial arts. Cultivating scholarship, as I do now, suits my constitution far better."
Watching the two of them, I found them rather sickeningly sweet.
Wait. If I grow a little older here, will I have to marry as well? I have no thoughts of marriage…
But this was no time for such thoughts. Opportunities to sit in peace and simply talk like this would soon grow scarce. Great trouble was coming. All I could do was steel myself for it.
The news that reached us from beyond Xinye was far from peaceful.
"Huang Zu of Jiangxia has fallen in battle against Sun Quan's army."
A messenger came racing in with the urgent report. The stir among those present was not quite what it had been when Xiahou Dun invaded, but the room still murmured.
Gan Yong, who still occupied an entire bench with a pillow under his neck, lifted his head just slightly and said,
"So the House of Sun has finally severed that long, bitter feud. Watching from the side was exhausting enough — I suppose they can sleep with both legs stretched out now."
As he spoke, Gan Yong himself stretched both legs out and settled into an even more comfortable sprawl, as if the matter were nothing of consequence.
What a thick-skinned man. And yet even our lord Liu Bei sat present, and no one particularly scolded him — which suggested that, as a person, he was genuinely well-liked.
True enough: he was freewheeling, but he never crossed the line. He had a sense of humor, and a gift for wrapping remonstrance and advice in turns of phrase that never grated.
He never displayed any great talent or dazzling achievement. He was, in modern terms, something of a mood-maker. I did not dislike him. If anything, his presence nearby felt rather comfortable.
"Even so, Huang Zu's death will affect us for the worse. He was the one holding Jiangxia, after all."
Sun Qian spoke with a worried face.
He was right. From Sun Quan's perspective, avenging his father Sun Jian was nothing but good news. For our forces and for Jingzhou as a region, however, it was frankly bad. One of the commanders who had been defending Jingzhou was gone — for us, it meant one less shield.
And I already knew what was coming next.
Before long, Cao Cao's great army will march south!
Beside us, Mi Zhu said in a quiet tone,
"You might get up and offer a thought or two yourself, if you have any."
But Gan Yong only wore an expression of pure inconvenience.
"Well, nothing truly dire has happened yet, so I shall lie here a while longer. Age, perhaps — these days I find it hard to haul myself upright. Last time Xiahou Dun came calling, we turned him back easily enough. If you want me on my feet, it will take someone on the order of Cao Cao."
"Honestly. Ha."
Mi Zhu could only laugh in disbelief. The others present knew the man for what he was, and simply snorted along.
But the news that would haul Gan Yong up from that bench was not far off.