The Lightscreen slowly dimmed and then walls of text poured down like a storm that would never run dry.
By now everyone knew exactly how this went.
Zhuge Liang wasted zero breaths. He waved Pang Tong over instantly. "Grab a brush, hurry." Both men leaned in and their pens started flying across parchment, racing to catch every word spilling from the future before it vanished.
[Server Chat Log]
[V0id_Stalker: Big sigh for Emperor Zhaolie. Losing cities or provinces you can always bounce back. But losing brothers bound like flesh and blood, closer than your own kin. When do you ever find that kind again? Rulers are supposed to be cold calculators with hearts of stone, yet this man just could not bring himself to turn into that.
Nitro_Trigger: Huang Quan only had to surrender because every other road closed, Fu Rong fought till his last breath covering the retreat. Decades later when Shu Han finally fell both their sons chose to die standing for this same land. That is the real ghost of Yiling still walking.
Null_Vector: Zhang Nan, Feng Xi, Ma Liang, Shamoke, Fu Rong, Zhao Rong, Cheng Ji. All gone right there on the field. Huang Quan, Shi He, Pang Lin forced to hand swords over to Cao. Du Lu, Liu Ning ran off to Wu. Twelve named commanders vanished in one swing.
Static_Wraith: Speaking of Huang Quan. Cao Pi again gave that man the title General Who Guards the South. Really. Petty move bro, like pouring salt straight into an open wound. Even worse, rumors flew Liu Bei wiped his whole family line. Cao Pi actually told Huang Quan to hold funerals for them. Huang Quan flat out said nope. Lord Liu Xuande is not that sort of man. That right there. That is what a true lord minister bond feels like. Only people who are genuinely good and wise can pull that kind of loyalty.
Apex_Shift: Liu Bei walked his whole life and never once set benevolence aside. On his deathbed he told his heir: Your old man's virtue was thin, do not just copy whatever I did. Meanwhile Cao Cao burned cities and slaughtered folk his whole career and went out saying: I lived exactly how I wanted, zero regrets. Both were absolute peaks of who they really were. Sun Quan though, eh, let us just skip him.
Cipher_Blade: The fire of Shu flickered low first at Maicheng, nearly died out at Yongan, finally burned right down at Wuzhang Plains. Jiang Wei from Tianshui picked up that torch Zhuge Liang lit, ran as fast as he could trying to fan it back alive. But in the end just one step too short. Heartbreaking stuff.
Viper_Protocol: Living they respected one another, gone they still walked side by side. Do not weep too hard, they gave absolutely everything they possibly could.
V0id_Stalker: One trusted another with mountains and rivers, second poured every drop of life till his heart gave out. Shu Han's brightest light shines exactly right there. River flows on, stones never turn, forever wishing we had swallowed Wu whole. Poet Du Fu loved writing about Kongming.
Ping Warrior: Broken but never bowed. That is Liu Bei summed up perfectly.
Wind Hit The Tree: River flows, stones stand still, regret we never brought Wu home. Du Fu sure got it. Though Xin Qiji hit it even better if you ask me. Heart forged pure iron till breath leaves, watch me patch the sky back together.
March If Paid: Reading all this makes Cao Pi sound like a spoiled kid who never actually grew up. Quick fact check, born 187, Sun Quan 182. Only five years older. Yet Sun Quan danced circles around him like he was holding strings. Sun bro, I officially apologize for every mean thing I said earlier.
Ant Under Grass: Cao Pi's whole vibe, grinning watching trouble start, blushing like a nervous bride, throwing tantrums, then reality slapping him straight across the face. Fair though, solid poet, great taste in food. As Emperor he mostly coasted because Sima Yi and Jia Xu carried the cart.
Wifi Warrior: Looking back Sun Quan basically winged it every single day. If Cao Cao lived longer, if Cao Pi had half a brain, if Lu Xun fumbled once, or if Jiangling had not held, Wu would have been dust ages ago. Dude's luck was honestly legendary. That is history though, right. Beautiful because you never know what is coming.
Li Shimin: It took seven years to pacify the realm. Only the Emperor Guangwu can stand shoulder to shoulder with me.]
The officials in the hall could not help but feel a wave of sympathy for the ministers of Wei.
Liu Ye, Jia Xu, Xin Pi.
All were men of extraordinary talent and lofty ambition.
Their strategies were sound, their vision sharp as an eagle's gaze, and yet Liu Ye died maddened by neglect, Jia Xu's final masterstroke was cast aside into dust, and even Xin Pi's desperate remonstrations could not bend the whim of a stubborn ruler.
To force a hundred thousand households to relocate hundreds of miles during a locust plague, when they did not even possess enough grain to survive...
That was not disaster relief.
That was cruelty imposed by the state itself.
"What crime did the common people commit to deserve this?" Guan Yu's voice rumbled with growing anger. "To suffer Heaven's wrath, only to be crushed beneath the folly of men."
He could tolerate incompetence.
But such disregard for human life was beneath the dignity of a sovereign.
"Big Brother, when we march on Jiangdong, give me the vanguard." Zhang Fei slammed a fist down loud enough to rattle cups. "I will make them regret ever touching our brother."
Liu Bei blinked and frowned, a little confused. "Uh, thanks Yide, but I feel perfectly fine right now."
The words sounded slightly strange to Liu Bei's ears, given that he currently felt quite healthy.
While the generals were stirred into righteous fury, the civil officials continued to transcribe the Lightscreen's words.
Jiang Wan, who had been copying the text with great care, paused thoughtfully.
"The Lightscreen mentioned earlier that after Lei Xu led his people to join us, Cao Cao relocated the entire population of the Jianghuai region, forcing a hundred thousand households to flee to Jiangdong. With his father's failure as a warning, how could Cao Pi repeat the same mistake?"
Ma Liang, whose expression had darkened while copying the list of the dead, including his own name, replied distractedly,
"Cao Wei controls most of the realm. They likely believe they can afford recklessness. Besides, this Cao Pi died young. I imagine the later ruler, Cao Rui, will not be so flighty."
Zhuge Liang, who had always held men of integrity in high regard, let out a soft sigh for Huang Quan.
"To offer the plan that won Hanzhong, and even after being forced to surrender, still trust in our lord's character... he did not fail Lord Liu. Only the tragedy of Yiling failed him."
Pang Tong's eyes lingered on the phrases Wuzhang Plains, Final Testament, and Northern Expeditions.
He was already piecing together the grim trajectory of the original timeline.
The teaser for the next Lightscreen segment made it obvious.
Zhuge Liang would be the one to pull the state back from the brink.
No wonder later generations revered him so deeply.
"Kongming..." Pang Tong began softly.
For once, his voice carried none of its usual sharpness.
He had wanted to ask whether, this time, he might help shoulder that burden.
But before he could continue, Zhang Fei's thunderous voice shattered the moment.
"Kongking, step aside! Make room, clear the floor!"
Everyone spun around fast.
Zhang Fei and Chen Dao were hauling a massive solid wood crate right dead center through the doors.
Zhang Fei beamed, looked like he had won heaven's grandest prize.
"Went out to meet Xianhe, scouted cliffs northwest of Linju, found a whole den of White Bears!" He announced, chest puffed out proud.
Zhuge Liang's stomach dropped, cold shivers running straight down his spine.
He instantly stepped right in front of Huang Yueying without even thinking twice.
"Wait, hold on, Yide. Tell me you are not saying," he spoke real slow and careful, "there is an actual White Bear locked inside that box."
Zhang Fei just laughed, confident like nothing could possibly go wrong.
"Future generations go crazy over these cute fluffy things. Look what a perfect gift! Those ones they drew looked barely strong enough to tear paper, but this one? Took two of our toughest guys just to help hold it still! Folks a thousand years from now are absolutely going to lose their minds seeing this."
Zhuge Liang's gut screamed: RUN. STOP. THIS IS A TERRIBLE IDEA.
Too late.
Whatever was inside already decided it had had plenty of sitting around.
ROARRR RR RR.
CRACK. SPLINTER. BOOM.
That thing was not some soft harmless toy, not even close. It exploded right out of thick planks like wood was just wet paper. A huge black and white blur shot everywhere at once.
The White Bear immediately sensed it was surrounded by dangerous armed men.
It wasted zero time hanging around.
It brushed past a startled Zhang Fei, smashed clean through the plastered back wall like it was made of wet paper, and bolted straight away toward the distant mountains without even looking back once.
"I will catch it before it harms any villagers!"
Zhao Yun was already halfway out the door before his sentence had even finished echoing.
"Hey, I caught that thing! Count me in, I am coming too!"
Zhang Fei roared right back and charged out after him as fast as his legs could carry him.
The remaining officials stood frozen in place, just staring at the big bear shaped hole now punched right through their hall wall.
This Zhang Yide really was one endless stream of surprises.
Zhuge Liang slowly closed his eyes and fanned himself faster than usual.
"Yide very nearly turned our entire command headquarters into a feeding ground for a wild beast."
Jian Yong, who was always the easiest going soul, crouched down beside the shattered remains of the crate.
Then his hand paused mid movement.
"Well, actually." He said with a faint amused smile. "It was not a total loss after all."