Mi Zhu broke down in grief.
His sister had only been gone a few years, and not even a decade later his own younger brother betrayed his brother-in-law, leading to Yunchang's death, and in the end even he himself would die of sorrow and anger.
He had once believed that pouring out his entire fortune for the state meant that even in death he would leave no stain upon his name.
But because of this single betrayal, his family would be nailed to history as true traitors of the state.
Liu Bei pulled Mi Zhu down to sit and comforted him in a low voice.
Kongming, however, seemed thoughtful. He beckoned Ma Liang over and whispered a few instructions into his ear.
Ma Liang's refined face showed reluctance as he glanced at the Light Screen, yet he still accepted the order and quietly withdrew.
Huang Yueying tilted her head slightly toward her husband.
"You figured it out?"
Kongming shook his head and replied softly,
"Only a suspicion."
Then he sighed lightly.
"What that later Ming eunuch said is not without reason. To serve as an official, one must be cautious in both word and deed."
"But do you not find it strange?" Huang Yueying asked.
"What is strange about it?" Kongming said calmly. "The chaos of the Han began with the eunuchs, yet does that mean later generations will avoid the same fate?"
"Learning from the past does not guarantee avoiding it, and a precedent is not always a lesson."
Many in the hall were still stuck on those few words, 'Nine Clan Elimination Game'.
That… definitely meant exterminating nine clans, right?
Then why phrase something so terrifying like it was nothing?
---
[Light Screen]
[The "burning of military supplies" was, in reality, a cover-up for embezzlement. For something to bring down even an imperial in-law, the buyer must have been highly problematic.
Given the context of the time, the Xiang River Pact was a desperate compromise between Sun and Liu.
After the river was set as the border, checkpoints were established, but management was a nightmare because the territory had changed hands so many times.
Records from Lü Meng, Sun Quan, and Liu Bei all mention occasional friction, but Lu Su biography puts it best:
"Suspicion arose repeatedly, borders became entangled."
Even with a treaty, infiltration never truly stopped.
Under such conditions, Mi Fang's sale of military supplies was most likely to Sun Quan.
Whether it was Lu Su, Lü Meng, or Lu Xun, the Wu commanders stationed in Jingzhou were all exceptionally sharp minds. Using Mi Fang to extract intelligence would have been effortless.
The missing supplies could be explained away to Guan Yu by burning them, but if Wu produced records of both the transaction and intelligence exchange, Mi Fang would have had no path left but surrender.
Looking back, even Lady Sun's unclear return to Wu, and Sun Quan's ships appearing at just the right moment, may have involved internal collusion.
Of course, these remain deductions based on historical sources.
In the end, the flame of the Han's revival was extinguished here.
Yang Xi gave the final verdict in the Appraisal of Ji-Han Officials: "He cut himself off from humanity and became the laughingstock of two nations."]
---
The hall was utterly silent.
Even though the Light Screen called it speculation, when one followed the chain of events backward, everything seemed to line up all too cleanly.
At that moment, Ma Liang returned. Zhuge Liang looked up calmly. "Report to the Lord."
"My Lord," Ma Liang began, "following the Military Advisor's orders, we searched General Mi's residence. In a secret box, we found three suspicious letters."
He presented them.
Liu Bei took them, his expression dark as water.
Mi Fang lunged forward in panic.
"My lord, this must be that Ma Liang brat framing me!!"
Zhang Fei reacted faster, pinning him down and stuffing a belt into his mouth.
After reading, Liu Bei shook his head slowly.
"Zi Fang… I have not treated you poorly. Why were you exchanging secret letters with Gongjin?"
Mi Fang's eyes filled with tears, his voice muffled and incoherent.
Zhang Fei glanced at Liu Bei's expression and pulled the belt away.
Mi Fang coughed, then suddenly shouted with venom:
"You mat-weaving, sandal-selling nobody! When my brother and I joined you, we abandoned a post worth two thousand dan!"
"And how did you treat me? I could not even command a force of my own! A butcher, a fugitive, and even some old relic can rank above me!"
Huang Zhong instinctively touched his own hair.
"My brother spent our fortune on you! My sister suffered and died for you, and yet you, the 'Lord of Jingzhou,' couldn't wait to take a new wife! How happy you must be!"
"And now you stumble from defeat to defeat like a stray dog, wagging your tail before Sun Quan!"
His gaze finally locked onto Guan Yu.
"To know that you, the fugitive from Hedong who can't see people for who they are, will die... that is my greatest comfort!"
He burst into manic laughter.
Guan Yu looked at him with nothing but cold pity.
Mi Zhu removed his headpiece, set it aside, and silently kowtowed.
Zhang Fei's hands tightened, ready to act at a word, while Kongming watched Liu Bei.
Their lord did not take long to decide.
"I will not punish the present you for a crime committed ten years later," Liu Bei said calmly. "Ji Chang, detain him under the charge of colluding with Wu. Guard him strictly."
Then he personally helped Mi Zhu to his feet.
The elder Mi brother was weeping so hard he couldn't speak. Liu Bei carefully refitted Mi Zhu's cap and patted his hand.
"Zizhong has never failed me. I shall repay you as a true statesman of the realm."
Then, looking at the others, Liu Bei smiled.
"Since the Mi Zifang thinks us peddlers, butchers, fugitives, and villagers can achieve nothing..."
The room erupted in laughter as he pointed to each of them in turn.
"Then we shall simply have to restore the Han, just to show him how wrong he was!"
---
[Light Screen]
[After Mi Fang and Fu Shiren surrendered, Jiangling and Gong'an fell. Guan Yu was left without reinforcements, while the enemy held the families of his soldiers.
Lu Meng played his best card here: he invited Guan Yu's messengers into the city to see how well the civilians were being treated.
He even executed one of his own countrymen from the same village for a minor crime to prove his discipline.
The messengers brought this news back, and Guan Yu's army lost all will to fight. Morale collapsed completely...]
---
Executing a fellow countryman? What a cold-blooded way to buy hearts!" Zhang Fei muttered.
He looked at his second brother. "And you said this Lu Meng was just a 'brave soldier'?"
Guan Yu looked equally confused. "The Lu Meng I saw at Nan Commandery didn't seem to have this kind of brain."
---
[Light Screen]
[This method may sound familiar.
Armies that maintain strict discipline, do not harm civilians, and do not mistreat captives will always win the people's support.
Among Lü Meng's lifetime strategies, this was his finest.]
---
The crowd was stunned.
"War always brings damage," Zhang Fei muttered. "Why should we compensate for losses? And not mistreat prisoners? Sparing them is already mercy!"
Kongming's eyes gleamed with interest.
Simple principles, yet they struck at the very core of military strength.
Guan Yu watched silently before saying,
"If Cao Cao could uphold such discipline, the realm would already be his."
Huang Zhong stared in disbelief.
"General, you jest. Cao's army takes no loot, but the strong are conscripted, the women are forcibly married off, and the elderly are slaughtered for merit. Cities fall like grass before the blade."
Silence followed.
---
[Light Screen]
[The final weight on the scale came from Lu Xun.
Wu forces captured Yidu, completely cutting off Guan Yu's path back to Yi Province.
Previously, Meng Da had governed Yidu, but Liu Bei reassigned him. Had he remained, Guan Yu might still have had a chance.
With his retreat severed, Guan Yu fought while withdrawing. Even his feigned surrender failed.
From Maicheng, he took the Zhang River route, beginning the final journey of his life.
In the twelfth month, Ma Zhong, an officer under Pan Zhang, captured and executed Guan Yu and Guan Ping at Linju. A God of War had fallen]
---
The Light Screen shifted.
A figure resembling Guan Yu stood there, speaking:
"I am but a soldier from Jie County, My Lord treated me as a brother; how could I turn my back on righteousness for an enemy state?
If the city falls, then I die.
Jade may shatter but never lose its purity. Bamboo may burn but never lose its integrity.
Though the body perishes, the name shall live on in the scrolls of history."
"Big brother took the elite to Hanzhong? No matter! Watch me drown the seven armies and take Yu Jin!
Big brother returns to Chengdu in glory? Fine! Watch me shake the capital from afar!!!
Sun Quan wants Jingzhou? Let him try! We three brothers have risen and fallen for ten years before!!!
As long as I return to Chengdu, Big Brother and Third Brother will laugh and say this was just like Xuzhou all over again.
With the Military Advisor's help, I will be the vanguard to restore the Han!!!
As long as I return to Chengdu, they will be waiting for me where the peach blossoms bloom...