Chapter 440: A Sigh of Love, Not for the Sake of Marriage

In the second year of Jian’an, as summer drew to a close, the Han General Who Smites the Caitiffs, Sun Jian, was assassinated and died. His deputy commander Zhu Zhi and his nephew Sun Ben led the main army, escorting the coffin north along the Yu River back to Wancheng, leaving only Captain Li Tong with three thousand troops to garrison Dengxian. When the news spread, the realm was shaken.

This shock even surpassed the earlier death of Yuan Shao, because when Yuan Shao and Gongsun Xun, two great powers, contended, the posture of a strategic decisive battle was extremely clear, so the realm had in fact imagined and anticipated the rapid defeat of either side — not to mention that before Yuan Shao’s death came first the defeat at Liangqi, then the great rout at Jieqiao, and then a pursuit battle lasting dozens of days.

Thinking carefully, the last “sudden” event that so shook the hearts of the realm probably had to be traced back to when Jia Xu suddenly surrendered Tongguan and led Gongsun Xun straight into Meiwu… There was no helping it — Sun Wentai died far too quickly, with no warning whatsoever, and it formed a stark contrast with his previous string of great victories.

However, as the news spread, the shock caused by this event — destined to alter the realm’s situation — remained only at the level of internal discussion among the various lords and did not provoke any substantive action… Leaving aside those too far away to reach, the several neighboring lords with interests at stake in the Central Plains each had their own fears and frustrations.

By all logic, Liu Biao should have been the one with the least psychological burden. His Xiangyang City had already become the front line, with tens of thousands of casualties suffered, and a commandery governor under him had been slain — what else was there to care about? He should just counterattack directly!

But, as Sun Jian’s primary opponent just before, he had precisely just suffered two crippling major defeats and simply had no strength to counterattack; he needed time to mobilize troops from the Jingnan region. And so, after confirming that he temporarily lacked the ability to send forth troops, Liu Jingsheng instead took the lead in sending mourning envoys… to show that when two states war, condolences proceed as usual — which actually drew praise from quite a few people.

As for Cao Cao and Liu Bei, the two naturally had the strength. In fact, the legitimate Inspector of Yuzhou, Liu Bei, was at that very moment leading troops within Runan territory, suppressing bandits on Sun Jian’s behalf. If he wished, the whole of Runan could fall into his hands at any time; and under Cao Cao, Li Jin was also responsible for transporting army provisions and was currently within Yingchuan territory.

But both men bore immense psychological pressure. Their sworn elder brother had just died, leaving behind a widow and orphans under the realm’s gaze — how could they have the face to devour a family with no heir?

In other words, Sun Wentai’s death was destined to stir great waves, yet because everyone was caught off guard, it was instead momentarily calm… Nearly everyone watched with open eyes as Sun Jian’s coffin was delivered to Wancheng, and then allowed Sun Jian’s former subordinates and family members to deliberate among themselves.

But that was as far as it went.

As Sun Jian’s body returned to Wancheng, someone finally could not hold back and made a move… In early autumn, just as Sun Ce, in the name of the filial son, sent out obituary notices to the four directions, the nearly forgotten General of the Rear, Yuan Gonglu, suddenly struck, attempting to seize control of the internally empty and masterless Jiangxia!

The heroes of the Central Plains were dumbfounded, and Liu Biao, acclaimed as one of the Eight Steeds and possessed of a certain bearing, was so furious he wished he could first slap himself twice across the face, then hack Yuan Shu into eight pieces.

Yet, faced with Yuan Gonglu’s almost bizarre act of the turtledove seizing the magpie’s nest, Liu Jingsheng was for a time powerless… At Xiangyang’s doorstep, Dengxian still held several thousand enemy troops, which he was temporarily unable to expel — so how could he dare casually send troops to recover Jiangxia?

And so, Yuan Shu, relying solely on the mere several hundred personal guards he had when he fled Nanyang, actually succeeded in controlling Anlu, where he had set foot after entering Jiangxia, forcibly conscripted two or three thousand “troops” within the city, and continued south along the Yu River, crossing Yunmeng Marsh, attempting to seize the Jiangxia commandery seat, Xiling City!

At this, Liu Biao truly could not bear it any longer. Although he dared not move the garrison troops within Xiangyang City, he issued successive orders demanding that the various counties of Jiangxia organize troops for local defense, while simultaneously ordering Changsha and Wuling commanderies to immediately mobilize troops and assemble at Jiangling City, the key southern stronghold of Nan Commandery. He also appointed his subordinates Wu Ju and Wen Pin as Generals of the Household, with Wu Ju entering Jiangxia first to organize defenses at Jingling City west of Yunmeng Marsh, and Wen Pin going to Jiangling to assemble troops.

However, even after these arrangements, Liu Biao still could not rest easy… He did not lack strength — he lacked time!

Assembling troops required time, and then sending a large army across Yunmeng Marsh to campaign against Yuan Shu required even more time. Meanwhile, with Sun Jian dead, who knew what colossal chaos might erupt in the Nanyang region to the north? If, while troops were still assembling, Xiling City were lost, and it ultimately evolved into a prolonged standoff across Yunmeng Marsh, compounded by the earlier great defeat, then not only would the opportunity to the north be missed, but chaos would also erupt within Jingzhou itself!

And just at this moment, Cai Mao, who had taken an arrow to the buttocks and was recuperating at home, had himself carried into Liu Biao’s official residence and, lying prone on a couch, recommended a person to Liu Biao — none other than Lu Bu of Jiuyuan!

In all fairness, Liu Biao was no fool. He knew that Lu Bu had saved Cai Mao’s life, and that this time it must be Lu Bu actively seeking to lead troops to Jiangxia. Moreover, he was extremely familiar with Lu Bu as a person… The two had been genuine colleagues in the Northern Army back in Luoyang, so unlike Cai Mao, he deeply distrusted this Tiger of the Age — was even extremely wary.

Yet, precisely out of this wariness, he instead agreed to Cai Mao’s request — because at this moment Xiangyang was empty, and compared to sending him to Jiangxia, he was more worried about Lu Fengxian remaining within the city.

And so, Liu Biao hosted a banquet for Lu Bu, and the two made a gentleman’s pact: if Lu Bu could this time enter Xiling City and block Yuan Shu from ravaging Jiangxia, then once the troops from Jingnan assembled, Liu Biao would certainly dispatch five thousand troops to assist Lu Bu in going north to Nanyang to take up his post, at the very least seizing the several counties east of the Bi River, as well as Xinye, Chaoyang, Dengxian, and other places, to give Lu Wenhou a foothold.

Having obtained this clear pledge, Lu Fengxian no longer hesitated. Carrying a military order stamped with Liu Biao’s seal, he led eight hundred cavalry directly to the Tanxi waterway southwest of Xiangyang City, boarded large boats disguised as merchant vessels, then entered the Han River and went downstream… Truly, the apes on both banks could not cease their cries, yet the light boat had already passed ten thousand layered mountains. How swift was a light boat going downstream? In just over ten days, Lu Bu’s eight hundred cavalry reached the mouth of the Han River — where the later Wuchang-Hankou area was then merely a stretch of marshland — turned into the Yangtze, traveled several dozen more li, then abandoned the boats, came ashore, and arrived south of Xiling City.

It is worth mentioning that if Yuan Shu’s troops wanted to go to Xiling, they also needed to travel via the Han River, and his route was shorter than Lu Bu’s; he had also already entered the Yangtze. Yet he had surprisingly not set up defensive points at the mouths of the Han and Yu Rivers, but instead plundered along the rich banks of the Yangtze to replenish military supplies — rendering Lu Bu’s merchant boat disguise entirely pointless.

The eight hundred Bing Province cavalrymen had by now vomited until their legs were weak, and several dozen of the warhorses they brought had collapsed and died… Yet, Lu Fengxian’s divine speed had ultimately gained a strategic advantage. A full day after he led his staggering, swaying subordinates into Xiling City, Yuan Shu’s forces finally arrived tardily, only to stare dumbfounded at the seven hundred cavalry arrayed in neat formation before Xiling City and that great banner bearing the character “Lu.”

In an instant, the General of the Rear, Yuan Gonglu, who had always been brave in facing life, even felt something akin to despair.

“How about we follow Registrar Yan’s earlier suggestion and return to Nanyang?” That evening, after withdrawing his troops without firing a single arrow back to the river crossing, Yuan Shu, with only two or three thousand new recruits at his side, drank some honey water and then very seriously sought the opinion of his Registrar, Yan Xiang.

In truth, having fallen to this state, the General of the Rear now had only a handful of loyal ministers still at his side; the rest following him were nothing more than some concubines, children, and a collection of diviners, shaman-doctors, and the like.

With Ji Ling dead, if he did not ask Yan Xiang, whom else could he ask?

“Returning to Nanyang now would probably be difficult too, wouldn’t it?” Yan Xiang, seated on a camp stool, declined the honey water offered by an attendant and analyzed with some difficulty. “At the time, I advised my lord to return to Nanyang and observe the situation from the east bank of the Bi River because with Sun Jian dead, the east bank of the Bi River would be empty after the army withdrew, while Xiangyang and Dengxian, locked in stalemate, would be powerless to intervene… If my lord had then been able to rebuild his strength on the east bank of the Bi River, given Liu Biao’s mindset, he might well have supported us in occupying the Yu River region to serve as his shield. But now, firstly, we have fallen out with Liu Biao; secondly, we have lost the opportunity… Who knows what the situation in Nanyang is at this moment?”

“What you say makes sense.” Yuan Shu slumped onto the couch beside the candlelight, his face full of helplessness after a moment’s thought. “There was an opportunity before, but now Sun Jian has already been in mourning for over ten days. Cao Cao and Liu Bei should have long since taken over Yingchuan and Runan, and then advanced to occupy Nanyang. Nanyang is now held by Sun Jian’s old subordinates and the main Sun-Liu forces — I fear there truly is no share for me! But now Lu Bu has entered Xiling City before me. With his combat strength, plus the height and might of Xiling City’s walls, I absolutely cannot take it… Do you want me to return to Anlu and wait for death?”

“Anlu cannot be returned to!” Yan Xiang answered solemnly. “Once we return to Anlu, then south we cannot exit Yunmeng Marsh, north we cannot return to Nanyang — we can only sit and wait for death!”

“True.” Yuan Shu grew even more helpless. “Then there is only one path left…”

Yan Xiang looked at his lord with curiosity.

“Registrar Yan, what do you think of us going down the river to Pengze?” Yuan Shu inquired earnestly.

“Is there a place to settle in Pengze?” Yan Xiang was momentarily puzzled. “Pengze belongs to Yuzhang. Did the Governor of Yuzhang, Zhu Hao, not fall out with my lord earlier? Back then, my lord nominated Zhou Shu as Governor of Yuzhang, and Liu Biao nominated Zhuge Xuan as Governor of Yuzhang — both were defeated by Zhu Gongwei leading Kuaiji troops. Now that we are destitute and going to seek refuge, can he tolerate us?”

“Not to Pengze County.” Yuan Shu hastily explained. “How could I not know that the Zhu father and son have also developed disloyal hearts and regard Jiangdong as their private domain… I mean, let us go into the great Pengze Lake!”

Yan Xiang grew even more puzzled.

“The Governor of Lujiang I nominated back then, Liu Xun, was defeated by Liu Bei and led his followers to flee into Pengze Lake, where he lives free and at ease…” Yuan Shu hurriedly clarified. “I say we go there, to seek him out as a companion — what do you think?”

Yan Xiang was dumbfounded, then repeatedly shook his head.

“Right!” Yuan Shu suddenly saw the light. “How would Liu Xun tolerate me? He would surely fear that once I reach Pengze, I would control him!”

“That is not it…”

“But Registrar Yan, saying this, does it not mean that I, Yuan Gonglu, have truly reached a dead end?” For some reason, Yuan Shu suddenly felt a touch of sorrow. “It has only been four years — how have I fallen to such a state? Pity my son Yuan Yao is only fourteen, and my two daughters — one just come of age, the other only seven. Who will prepare their dowries then?”

Seeing this, Yan Xiang also felt some emotion… However, upon hearing that last sentence, a thought suddenly dawned on him, and an idea of treating a dead horse as if it were alive arose in his heart.

“My lord!” Yan Xiang hesitated for a long time before carefully shifting his camp stool closer to Yuan Shu’s couch, then spoke in a low voice. “Have you heard the phrase ‘distance cannot come between kin’?”

“What does the Registrar mean?” Yuan Gonglu, having been tempered in officialdom since childhood, could not possibly fail to realize that Yan Xiang’s manner meant he had some stratagem. “At this point, what matter cannot be spoken of directly?”

“It is like this.” Yan Xiang spoke earnestly. “My lord, today Lu Fengxian arrayed his troops before the city gate — several hundred cavalry, awe-inspiring in their might — while our army was merely two or three thousand newly recruited motley soldiers. If it truly came to battle, I fear we could not withstand even one charge of their trampling hooves. But why did he not order a charge, and instead sit and watch us withdraw? And after we withdrew, he did not pursue…”

“What could there be?” Yuan Shu shook his head with a cold laugh. “We are all old hands from Luoyang — who doesn’t know whom? This Lu Fengxian is a northern barbarian, without great ambition for the realm. In peacetime, he only wanted to climb upward; in these chaotic times, I fear he only wants to occupy a patch of land, live in idle comfort, and not be controlled by others… His appearance at Xiling City today is nothing more than being entrusted by Liu Jingsheng, perhaps even promised that troops would later be sent to seize Nanyang on his behalf. And the reason he did not attack me is that, having been driven out of Chang’an, he has only eight hundred cavalry in hand and is loath to waste them for Liu Jingsheng’s sake. Besides, I, Yuan Shu, am after all the honorable General of the Rear, the direct-line scion of the Yuan clan. Since he had already secured Xiling City, what benefit would there be in killing me as well? Would he not fear offending some relative or former subordinate of my Yuan clan for it?”

“That is precisely it.” Yan Xiang interjected in a low voice. “Though Lu Bu is fierce and brave, he is merely a hired hand, not truly fighting for anyone with his heart…”

“You mean to win him over?” Yuan Gonglu’s eyes lit up, but then immediately dimmed. “In my current state, with only a few hundred bolts of silk at my side — and those just requisitioned — what do I have to win him over with?”

“Did I not say, ‘distance cannot come between kin’?” Yan Xiang faced him solemnly. “Everyone in the realm knows that Lu Fengxian was in fact driven out of Chang’an, with his wife and daughter all detained in Chang’an as hostages… He runs left and rushes right, seeking nothing more than a foothold where he is not controlled by others! Just as my lord said, what Liu Biao can promise him is merely to later send troops to Nanyang to help him gain a foothold. But my lord can also persuade him to help you seize Jiangxia, and then promise to use the strength of Jiangxia to help him go north and gain a foothold in Nanyang! The difference lies in gaining his trust more than Liu Biao… And in this world, is there anything more trustworthy than a marriage alliance? At this moment, isolated and helpless, might he not also be seeking a reliable power to lean on mutually? If he can form a marriage alliance with my lord, one gaining a foothold in Nanyang, the other in Jiangxia, would that not be just right for surviving among the surrounding great lords?”

Yuan Shu was stunned for a moment, then his face showed sudden realization: “You mean to have my son Yuan Yao betrothed to his daughter?”

“That would be proper, but there is no time. And in such circumstances, if we cannot quickly turn raw dough into cooked noodles, I fear Lu Fengxian would not believe it either.” At this point, Yan Xiang himself felt somewhat embarrassed, but thinking that Yuan Shu had reached the end of his rope, he ultimately gritted his teeth and said it. “Why doesn’t my lord take Lu Bu as a son-in-law?”

Yuan Shu stared wide-eyed at Yan Xiang, and for a long time said not a word.

“If my lord feels this plan is unworkable, then pretend I never said it. To Pengze it is, then!” Yan Xiang, after all, had some sense of shame. “Having come to this point, I, your subordinate, can in any case never abandon my lord again.”

“What nonsense are you spouting?!” Yuan Shu suddenly slapped the couch he sat on and spoke loudly. “This is an excellent plan! Registrar Yan, think about it — if I perish today by this riverbank, in these chaotic times, what good fate could my daughters have? And though Lu Bu is somewhat older, he is still a figure counted among the realm’s notable. What harm is there in marrying him? You are overthinking it!”

Yan Xiang was immediately at a loss for words.

“Moreover, I know this Lu Bu — he is merely a common man. To be able to form a marriage alliance with our clan, surnamed among the realm’s foremost, he would probably be willing in his heart as well…” Yuan Shu grew more and more animated as he spoke. “Think about it — even if the Yuan clan is now in decline, our Runan Yuan clan cannot be extinguished because of this, can it? I still have my clan, relatives like the Yuan clan of Chen Commandery, a brother-in-law like Yang Biao, old ties like the Zhou clan of Lujiang and the Chen clan of Xiapi. He, a military man from a border commandery, so long as he harbors no ambition to swallow the realm and declare himself king or solitary sovereign, what does he fight and risk his life out there for? Is it not precisely so that, besides his own comfort, he can stand among people like us? In my view, this plan is feasible! Then, with me in Jiangxia and him in Nanyang, I with my family prestige, he with his martial valor — would that not be a match made in heaven? Who knows, we might even live to see the day the realm changes…”

Hearing this, Yan Xiang, for some reason, instead regretted having spoken out of turn.

Yet, having come to this point, what Yan Xiang thought no longer mattered. On his side, Yuan Gonglu, fearing that delays might bring trouble, simply summoned that very night the diviner traveling with him, Zhang Ci of Henei, and sent him into the city to propose the match.

Lu Bu initially refused… He also felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, he was naturally willing to form a marriage alliance with the Yuan clan, and he did not care about the other party’s age — the Lady Gan and Lady Mi that Liu Bei next door had married were not old either. But first, he had a wife in Luoyang; second, he had come on this mission entrusted by Cai Mao and Liu Biao; third, if he truly became Yuan Gonglu’s son-in-law, it did seem as if he would be pointlessly lowered by a generation.

Those fair-weather friends from the old Luoyang banquets who called each other brother — meeting again and having to address him as "my lord father-in-law," wouldn't that be a little awkward?

Zhang Qi, a fortune-teller by trade, was most skilled at reading faces and expressions. Seeing Lu Bu's look, he understood at once, and that very night returned to camp and went to see Yuan Shu again.

By the evening of the next day, when that man entered the city once more, he simply brought along Yuan Shu's eldest daughter and several hundred bolts of silk, leaving both together in the government temple at Xiling City where Lu Bu was lodging... Poor Huang Zu — the government temple he had built with a hundred yi of gold from Liu Biao, less than a month after his death, became the bridal chamber for Lu Bu's wedding.

In the early autumn of the second year of Jian'an, just entering the last ten days of the month, Sun Jian's body still lay in state at Wancheng, and Cao Cao had already received letters of allegiance sent from the county temples throughout Yingchuan and even Nanyang — just as Liu Bei received pledges from the various cities of Runan... In any case, these people were perfectly self-righteous; Sun Wentai's last words had been spoken publicly before the assembled high-ranking officers of the army, and there was simply no way to keep them secret.

Yet, faced with this situation, Zhu Zhi, Sun Ben, Sun Jing, Zu Mao, Wu Jing, and the other old subordinates of Sun Jian, before anything else, acclaimed Sun Ce at Wancheng to inherit Sun Jian's title as Marquis of Wucheng. Then the army swept out in all directions, arresting, on charges of conspiracy and treason, multiple county magistrates and county chiefs throughout Nanyang Commandery... Their military edge reached north as far as Kunyang in Yingchuan, where Li Jin was stationed under the pretext of transporting grain; and east as far as Langling in Runan, where Zhang Fei, under orders to suppress the Yellow Turban rebel Gong Du, had arrived.

Clearly, these old subordinates of Sun Jian were still somewhat lacking in confidence, not daring to truly confront the forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

For the time being, however, these matters had little to do with the legitimate Grand Administrator of Nanyang, Lu Bu. Newly wedded and basking in marital bliss, he had just helped his father-in-law, Yuan Gonglu, take Xiling, allowing the rich lands of E County, Zhu County, Xiazhi, Qichun, and other places along the lower Yangtze within Jiangxia Commandery to fall easily into the hands of the allied Yuan and Lu forces.

For a moment, Yuan and Lu occupied half of Jiangxia, and their prestige and power revived... Immediately after, Yuan Shu conscripted a thousand more troops on the spot to block the mouth of the Yun River where it enters the Han River, and sent his subordinate general Zhang Qi with three thousand newly recruited soldiers to follow the current upstream and occupy Shaxian, controlling Yunmeng Marsh from across the river.

Why so few troops? Because the General of the Rear was a man of his word. He had forcibly conscripted a full ten thousand new soldiers, but gave five thousand of them to his son-in-law Lu Bu, letting the latter reorganize them at Xiling and prepare to march north at once to "recover" Nanyang.

When word reached Xiangyang, Liu Biao actually did not execute Cai Mao, who had only just managed to rise from his bed. One can only say that a man of the Eight Paragons truly possesses remarkable forbearance.

———I am the shameless dividing line———

"Xu Kun of the late Han was the nephew of Sun Jian. His father, Xu Zhen, married Sun Jian's younger sister, Lady Sun. When Sun Jian died, his followers raised Sun Jian's son Ce to inherit the title, but Kun held ten cities west of Nanyang and did not return to Wancheng for the funeral. Ce was troubled by this, and so betrothed his younger brother Quan to Kun's daughter. Kun then came." — A New Account of the Tales of the World, Chapter on Infatuation

PS: Let's keep things harmonious. Yesterday was two chapters, and this is today's... How about that? My sincere thanks to all you great lords for your magnanimity.

(End of Chapter)