At the welcoming banquet, Zhuge Liang (Kongming) arrived last.
The moment he saw Pang Tong (Shiyuan), a wide smile spread across his face, as if the two had not merely been acquaintances but old friends who had somehow misplaced each other in the chaos of the age and finally found their way back. He stepped forward, clasped Pang Tong's hands warmly, and began reminiscing about the past. He skipped over the inconvenient middle chapters of their lives with deliberate ease, speaking only of how Jing Province had just stabilized and how this land held immense potential for the future.
Strangely enough, that casual confidence washed away the faint unease lingering in Pang Tong's heart.
In fact, Pang Tong even took the initiative, speaking with rare frankness.
"Gong'an County has its water-powered fertile fields, and sturdy walls. In terms of governance and management, Kongming, I admit I am not your equal."
Kongming only smiled, neither confirming nor denying, and simply raised his cup.
"Shiyuan should cherish this time," he said lightly. "Once late autumn passes, there will be no more moments like this."
Pang Tong lifted his cup as well, though his thoughts had already begun racing.
Late autumn? So around the end of the ninth month or early tenth month… was Lord Liu planning something big?
---
Pang Tong's arrival eased a considerable portion of Kongming's burden.
Not because the administrative affairs of Jing Province's four commanderies, now effectively five, were too much for him to handle. That part he could manage with ease. The real problem was everything else layered on top of it.
He had to oversee governance, agricultural reforms, improvements to the Eight Ox Crossbow, upgrades to the forges, and the expansion of the water-powered workshop. Each task alone was manageable, but together they formed a relentless flood of work.
Now, with Pang Tong taking over civil administration across the five commanderies, Kongming could finally focus entirely on the areas where Pang Tong had little interest or expertise.
So whenever Jiang Wan (Gongyan) came to deliver or retrieve documents, he would inevitably witness a strange and somewhat comical scene.
Zhuge Liang, bent over his desk, tirelessly working through piles of reports.
Pang Tong, sprawled on a mat nearby, half-asleep and completely unbothered.
Jiang Wan could not help but sigh.
This Pang Tong… when it comes to administration, he is terrifyingly efficient.
He had personally seen Zhuge Liang process in a single day enough documents to require three clerks just to copy them out.
And just yesterday, he had witnessed Pang Tong clear an entire day's backlog in half a day.
Carrying the processed documents in his arms, Jiang Wan glanced at the drowsy Pang Tong and shook his head.
Leaving the clerk's office behind might not be such a bad thing after all.
With the Sleeping Dragon and Young Phoenix gathered together, using barely four and a half commanderies to contest the world and ignite the flame of Shu Han… the thought alone was enough to stir the blood.
---
Back in Jiangling, the battle against Yue Jin felt almost unreal to the common people.
The city had not been breached.
There were no mutilated corpses littering the streets.
No civilians driven from their homes.
No forced conscriptions to man the walls.
The only noticeable change was that the new city construction site had gained over five thousand additional laborers, all of them prisoners captured by Guan Yu and Zhang Fei in that single engagement, now put to work building fortifications.
Inside Jiangling, for once, Guan Yu (Yunchang) was not drilling the navy.
Instead, he sat with a scroll in hand, teaching Zhang Fei (Yide) word by word.
"Third Brother, tell me, what does it mean to 'give one your clothes and food'?"
Zhang Fei's face was full of suffering, but he still sat upright, trying his best to answer seriously.
"When Wu She tried to persuade the Marquis of Huaiyin to surrender, he refused, saying he had received great favor from the Emperor and would not betray him."
Guan Yu nodded.
"To clothe a man is to share in his hardships. To feed a man is to bind him to your cause, even unto death. Gratitude and repayment are the natural way of men."
Then his tone shifted.
"Tell me, Third Brother. Have you ever shown such kindness to your soldiers?"
Zhang Fei froze.
If this had been in the past, he would have scoffed and said that following him into battle and earning merit was already a blessing beyond measure.
But now… that answer did not feel quite right anymore.
Seeing his hesitation, Guan Yu changed his approach.
"You saw what the Light Screen showed. When the flood drowned the seven armies, was it my strength alone, or the strength of the navy?"
"Of course it was the navy," Zhang Fei replied quickly, then added stubbornly, "but Second Brother also had the foresight!"
Guan Yu snorted.
"No matter how far your Second Brother sees, I cannot summon floods at will. Without the navy, I would have been standing in the water alongside Yu Jin."
His gaze sharpened.
"You must understand this. Your victories also rely on the courage and blood of your men."
"If they abandon you, do you truly believe you alone can face ten thousand?"
Zhang Fei knew the answer was no, but his pride still resisted.
"Even so, how dare those scoundrels plot against their commander!"
Guan Yu's patience snapped. He slammed the table.
"Third Brother, do you still not understand?"
"In the Light Screen, the fall of Jiangling was blamed on Mi Fang, but was it not also my fault for humiliating him and driving him into fear?"
"Your death comes because you lack kindness and rely on harsh orders. They endure while you win, but the moment you falter, they will turn on you."
"Do you truly believe you will never taste defeat?"
"I... I do not," Zhang Fei admitted
The Light Screen had already shown it. The opening of the Hanzhong campaign had been a disastrous defeat, repeating old mistakes and costing the lives of Wu Lan and Lei Tong.
"Then go and learn how to care for your soldiers properly!" Guan Yu said sternly.
"In the time of Gaozu there was the Marquis of Huaiyin. In the time of Emperor Wu there were Wei Qing and Huo Qubing. Even such great generals treated their men like sons. Why should you be any different?"
Zhang Fei lifted his head again, eyes already red.
"But Second Brother… if you truly die, how could I go on living alone? Our oath still echoes in my ears. How could you bear to leave me and our elder brother behind?"
Guan Yu's voice softened.
"Third Brother… you once said you wished to campaign against the tribes and establish merit that would last for ten thousand generations."
"Then you must learn from Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, Han Xin, Bai Qi… even from Zhang Wenyuan, who broke ten thousand with eight hundred… learn how they treated their men."
"Only with a veteran army can you leave a name that endures for ages and achieve merit that spans generations."
"Only then can you die in the same era as me and our elder brother."
Zhang Fei wiped his eyes roughly.
"Second Brother… I will listen."
---
Late September should have been an excellent time for military campaigns.
Yet the Xiangfan region was eerily quiet.
After losing six thousand troops, Yue Jin withdrew into Xiangyang, tightening his defenses while scattering scouts in all directions, determined to fully understand the situation before making another move.
On Jiangling's side, everything proceeded steadily.
Guan Yu and Ma Liang (Jichang) held Jiangling, training troops while continuing construction.
Zhang Fei advanced to Linju, where the local magistrate had already fled, leaving the city to be occupied without resistance.
Huang Zhong recruited strong soldiers and skilled archers, stationed himself at Dangyang, repaired the defenses, and hunted down enemy scouts with longbows while maintaining strict vigilance.
As for Jingyang, also known as Maicheng, it had been taken earlier during Zhou Yu's tenure and later abandoned. Guan Yu now sent Guan Ping and Wei Yan with two thousand troops, along with Zhao Lei as supervising officer, to garrison it once more.
"With this arrangement, Jiangling is like an iron barrel. Even without the dual-city defenses, Yue Jin has no way to act."
Pang Tong could not help but marvel.
Whether it was launching attacks or setting ambushes, Liu Bei's forces moved with precision and purpose, as if they already knew every inch of the terrain by heart.
His admiration for Kongming deepened further.
---
At the end of the ninth month, however, Zhang Fei, stationed at Linju, received an unexpected report.
"You say Master Jian is trapped by bandits in the mountain pass?"
Before him, a ragged man nodded frantically, tears streaming down his face.
"Master Jian declared himself an envoy from Liu Jiyu of Yi Province, but those bandits are reckless and attack fiercely. He sent me to break out and seek reinforcements. I passed by here, heard of General Zhang's name, and came to beg for help."
"Please, General Zhang, save Master Jian!"
"This is only proper," Zhang Fei replied immediately.
"Fan Jiang, gather three hundred men. You ride with me to rescue him."
"Zhang Da, bring all the gold and silver from the stores. If the bandits have already captured him, we may need it for ransom."
His orders were clear and orderly.
Fan Jiang and Zhang Da were still his personal guards. These past few days, Zhang Fei had been both rewarding and training them, attempting to apply what he had just learned about caring for soldiers.
If I can make these two willingly die for me on the battlefield, that should not count as me killing them myself, right?
His thoughts wandered in strange directions, as usual.
At that moment, Jian Yong's attendant added cautiously:
"General Zhang… it would be best to bring strong bows as well. On my way here, I saw a group of white bears. Extremely fierce."
Zhang Fei froze mid-step.
Then his face lit up with delight.
"White bears? Are you telling the truth?"