The Battle of Kuangting (1)
It had not been long since Sun Jian was ambushed by Liu Biao's army and driven back in retreat.
"It has come to my ears that the eunuch bitch has been overstepping herself of late, with no notion of her proper place."
So spoke Yuan Shu, who had abruptly summoned his generals together — and not one of them failed to grasp the meaning behind the gathering.
"To harm Liu Dai, the Inspector of Yanzhou formally appointed by the court, and then swallow Yanzhou whole in a single stroke — it is an outrage that beggars belief."
"..."
In truth, it had been Dong Zhuo, pursuing his policy of appeasement, and not the court, who had installed Liu Dai as Inspector of Yanzhou — but no one in this room was so tactless as to point that out.
Yuan Shu continued.
"Is this not the very moment for me, the rightful heir of a house that has produced Four Generations of Three Excellencies, to punish that eunuch bitch and bring Yanzhou to heel as it deserves?"
"Just so, my lord!"
The civil and military officials serving Yuan Shu cried out with ringing voices and bowed their heads.
Watching them, Yuan Shu allowed himself a contented smile.
Every soul exalting his every word and deed, singing his praises — this, precisely this, was the ideal scene Yuan Shu had dreamed of.
He called upon one figure.
"Sun Ce."
"You called for me?"
A woman with auburn hair grown nearly to her waist stepped forward and bowed.
Yuan Shu gave her a once-over, then deliberately donned the mask of a benevolent lord.
"I am inclined to name you vanguard of this coming invasion of Cao Cao. What say you?"
"..."
At Yuan Shu's attempt to put her to use with the easy familiarity he had once shown her father, Sun Ce's brow twitched.
Her bow hid her face from him, and after holding her silence for a moment, she answered in a listless voice.
"It is a glorious offer, my lord, but this once I must beg you to rescind the command."
"Hmm..."
"Please, I ask you to consider the heart of a child who wishes to attend a parent's deathbed."
Faced with so earnest a plea, Yuan Shu deliberated briefly, then at length nodded.
"Very well. How could I refuse the request of a child who thinks of her parents? You are excused from this expedition."
"Such magnanimity leaves me not knowing where to place myself."
It was Yuan Shu's confidence that he could crush that worthless eunuch bitch without the Sun family's help that loosened his tongue so.
"While I lead the army against the eunuch bitch, Sun Bofu, you will devote yourself to holding this Wancheng alongside General Li Feng."
"I receive your command."
Sun Ce bowed with perfect composure and quietly withdrew.
"Then Yue Jiu shall have the vanguard," Yuan Shu declared. "I count on your efforts."
"Leave it to me!" shouted the bearded general, clasping his hands together in a bold, confident gesture.
"Let this conclude our council. All of you, withdraw."
No sooner had the words fallen than Sun Ce and the other generals moved for the doors, and before long only a single civil official remained at Yuan Shu's side.
Yuan Shu looked at the man beside him and asked, puzzled.
"Hm? Yuan Yin, is something the matter?"
"There is a matter I would bring to your attention, my lord."
Yuan Shu nodded to his cousin.
"Then speak. Let us hear it."
"I am grateful, my lord."
Yuan Yin bowed once, then raised what had been nagging at him for some time.
"There are reports that the Sun family's movements of late have been... unnatural."
"..."
"I confess I worry whether it is truly wise to leave them at Wan. Perhaps even now you might summon Sun Ce and set her at the head of the vanguard—"
"Hahahaha!"
At Yuan Yin's anxious words, Yuan Shu burst into hearty laughter.
"So you would have me cinch her leash tight, lest Sun Ce bolt I know not where."
"Precisely so, my lord."
"There is no need for worry."
Yuan Shu spoke as he recalled the Sun family's present circumstances.
The tiger who had led them seemed liable to breathe his last at any moment.
Yet even in such a state, Sun Ce had managed to quiet the unease of the officers and men under her command.
As the saying went — a tiger father begets a tiger child; fine parents raise fine offspring.
And since Sun Ce was a woman, "a tiger father begets a tiger daughter" would be the proper turn of phrase.
But that was where it ended.
The Sun family was superb at leading armies, yet their political judgment was sorely shallow, and they had blundered time and again because of it.
"The Sun family of today is nothing more than a tiger with its teeth drawn."
"..."
"Sun Jian's soldiers, once numbered in the thousands, have dwindled to barely a hundred. In such a state, what could they possibly scheme among themselves?"
When a forged proclamation ordering the death of Wang Rui — the Inspector of Jingzhou who had long scorned them — fell into their laps, they had leapt to obey it without a second thought; and when Zhang Zi, the Grand Administrator of Nanyang, refused to bend to them, they had cut him down on that pretext alone, then offered the whole of Nanyang Commandery to Yuan Shu, the very man who had extended them a helping hand.
Plotting anything great required many hands, and the Sun family had never built the strength to manage it.
In truth, part of the reason they had been driven into such a corner was by Yuan Shu's own design.
"Even supposing Sun Ce truly were plotting something — I have entrusted Wan's defense to Li Feng. What is there to worry over?"
"But should they draw in some outside power—"
"And whom, pray, could they draw in?"
The coward of Jingzhou who had driven her father to such straits? The eunuch bitch, too busy putting her own house in order in Yanzhou? Or failing those, the country bumpkin of Bing Province, skulking behind his mountain passes ever since the coalition's assault?
"Sun Ce has no power worth joining hands with. Not one."
Hearing this, Yuan Yin bowed with deep respect.
"As ever, none under heaven can rival your wisdom, my lord. This Yuan Yin is moved to gratitude by your grace yet again."
"You need not heap it on so thick."
As the flattery flowed, Yuan Shu made no effort to hide the upward curl of his lips.
"The Sun family is already as good as in the palm of my hand."
So saying, he stroked his beard.
"Hmm... Yes. To celebrate their service, perhaps I shall take Sun Jian's daughter as a concubine. Not a bad notion at all."
"A masterstroke, as expected of you, my lord. If it is done, the Sun family will render all the deeper loyalty."
The truth of it was that he had simply been bewitched by exceptional beauty, but Yuan Shu wore the pleased look of a man rendering a magnanimous judgment.
"Of course it is. To be joined to the true line of Four Generations of Three Excellencies — if that is not an honor, what could it be?"
Had Sun Ce overheard, it was a conversation that would have drawn from her not rage, but a look of sheer incredulity.
While Yuan Shu conversed with his cousin in the government office, Sun Ce had hurried home to her own residence.
The moment she stepped into the mansion where the Sun family lodged, she spied Zhou Yu in the garden, playing the guqin.
──♪ ──♬
It was a melody so lovely that her head began to nod along before she knew it.
It was a scene any artist would have acknowledged without reservation. Sun Ce stopped in her tracks, watched for a moment — then blurted out:
"Holding court with the ambiance again, I see."
Twang!
"..."
A slipped note — what most would call a sour one. Zhou Yu opened her closed eyes and fixed Sun Ce with a fierce glare.
"What?"
Sun Ce, for her part, went right on grinning ear to ear.
But it wasn't as though she could simply have left it be.
Zhou Yu sighed.
"And just when a fine melody had finally come to me... I suppose I shall have to play it again later."
"You'll play it for me too, right?"
"As if I would."
Zhou Yu shot her a sharp look as she tidied up around her, then asked:
"How did today's meeting go?"
"All that talk of the eunuch this and the eunuch that — and it turns out they're finally getting around to attacking Cao Cao."
"They said nothing about setting you at the head of the vanguard?"
Sun Ce answered Zhou Yu's question with a face of perfect indifference.
"I did just as you told me, and he said they'd have more than enough without me."
"Just as expected."
Lately Yuan Shu had been showing Sun Ce a generosity so consistent it bordered on the uncanny, and Zhou Yu drove straight at that point without hesitation.
What Sun Ce had just reported from the meeting was precisely what Zhou Yu had urged her, over and over, to remember against any eventuality.
"Then get inside, quickly."
Having gotten the information she needed, Zhou Yu spoke in a voice that plainly said she found her companion tiresome.
Sun Ce pulled a wounded face.
"That's awfully cold of you. Gongjin, we are friends, aren't we?"
"..."
Zhou Yu closed her eyes as though to say she was done humoring the joke, and ignored Sun Ce entirely.
Sun Ce knew from long experience that once Zhou Yu slipped into that state, she would ignore her to the very end. She gave a shrug and made for the house.
"Sister Ce, you're home!"
As she entered, a young girl came to greet her — her eyes a blue-tinged azure, so unlike Sun Ce's auburn ones.
At the sight of the girl's auburn hair, so like her own and her father's, Sun Ce's face lit up.
She swept the girl before her into a tight embrace.
"Aigoo, adorable every single time I see you!"
"W-wait...! Please let go of me...!"
The child — blessed, rare for one of the Sun family, with a calm and gentle temperament — squirmed in Sun Ce's arms.
"Don't be embarrassed! No one thinks anything of it!"
"That's not the point...! I can't breathe...!"
Alas, Sun Quan's protest never reached her elder sister.