Jiangdong was getting strange. Cao Cao could feel it.
He sat in the Xuchang war room, reading the latest intelligence reports with a faint smirk. His senior advisors were scattered around the table, wearing expressions that ranged from confused to deeply suspicious.
"Look at this," Cao Cao said, tapping the reports. "Sun Quan gave Liu Bei Jiangling. He gave him his sister. Half the court swore this alliance was unbreakable."
He tossed the papers onto the table.
"And now? Now Sun Quan is stacking troops in Jiangxia behind Guan Yu's back like a man preparing to stab someone in the dark. Damn, this guy is insidious."
Dong Zhao leaned forward carefully. "Perhaps we should send someone. An envoy. Quietly. Just to see what Sun Quan is actually thinking."
The room split instantly.
"That's exactly what we should do," one advisor said. "Push them apart before they remember they're supposed to be allies."
Absolutely not," another advisor shot back. "We tried marching south once. It went wonderfully. The fleet is still at the bottom of the river, but aside from that, flawless campaign, right? Ten out of ten. Our troops are still feeding the fish."
"That was different. Zhou Yu was alive then."
"Zhou Yu is dead now, but his navy is still there."
"The navy is not the problem. The problem is we have no navy. Which is exactly why we should let Sun Quan and Liu Bei tear each other apart instead of us."
Cao Cao sat back and watched his ministers tear into each other. Yes, go on. Argue. Show me how much brainpower you can waste. It is like watching dogs fight over a bone, except the bone is the future of the empire.
Finally, Liu Ye cut through the noise. "Zhou Yu is dead," he said flatly. "The man who burned our fleet at Red Cliffs is gone. And with him, the one commander who could force Jiangdong's squabbling clans to fight as one. The table is different now. Sun Quan is still young. Lu Su is cautious. The Wu generals are skilled, but none of them carry Zhou Yu's authority. If we keep making decisions based on a battle that happened two years ago, we are fighting a ghost." He paused, glancing around the room. "And why are we afraid of ghosts?"
Cao Cao glanced toward Xun Yu and Xun You. Both men gave slight, almost imperceptible nods.
That settled the matter.
The planning took hours. Dong Zhao was meticulous about these things. He spread the map across the table, tracing the route with his finger. Wancheng first. Then a boat south along the Yu River. Transfer to the eastern bank of the Han. Slip into Jiangdong from there. Fastest route available. And, more importantly, it never came within fifty miles of Guan Yu's fleet.
Cao Cao studied the route, then nodded. "Good. I would rather not have my envoy delivered back to me in pieces because someone down there got careless."
The letter was drafted, rewritten, and drafted again. Every word had to be perfect. Just enough warmth to seem friendly. Just enough ambiguity to provide cover if things went wrong. Cao Cao wrote the final version himself.
When the envoys finally rode out, Cao Cao turned to the next problem.
"I'm moving south," he announced. "Wancheng. I want to be close enough to oversee the siege personally. Objections?"
Nobody objected. Wancheng was three hundred miles north of the fighting. Safe distance. The administrative staff would pack up and follow with the second wave of reserves.
Cao Cao had barely slept since arriving in Xuchang. Now he was leaving again. He was starting to feel like a man who lived his entire life inside a carriage.
As the headquarters buzzed with activity, Xun You quietly approached him.
"My lord. A word."
"What is it, Gongda?"
"When we reach Wancheng... stay there. Inside the walls. Let your generals handle the actual fighting."
Cao Cao laughed. "What's this? Are you worried I'll see Guan Yu on the battlefield and fall in love all over again? That I'll order my men to capture him alive and waste their lives for a reunion?"
Xun You's face did not change. In fact, his expression became even more serious.
"No, my lord. I am worried Guan Yu will see your carriage, recognize the banners, and decide to do exactly what he did to Yan Liang at Baima. He will cut through our lines and take your head."
The room fell silent.
Every veteran present had survived Guandu. Every one of them remembered Baima.
They knew exactly what Guan Yu was capable of when given even the smallest opening. All of them suddenly found reasons to look at the floor.
Cao Cao opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again.
The sound that came out was not laughter.
---
General Yu Jin had absolutely no idea that Cao Cao and his advisors were currently busy trying to decipher Sun Quan's intentions.
He had his own problems.
When the first reports arrived claiming that Guan Yu was personally leading a naval offensive, Yu Jin had actually felt a little sympathy for Yue Jin.
The man was one of Cao Cao's finest battlefield commanders and had built his reputation the old-fashioned way: climbing walls, charging formations, and personally hitting people with sharp objects. Unfortunately, none of those talents were particularly useful against a giant ship.
The order to reinforce Fancheng itself had not surprised him.
What surprised him was running into several waves of fleeing soldiers only a few hours after passing Wancheng.
At first, Yu Jin assumed they were deserters from some minor skirmish. By the time the third group appeared, he began to suspect something had gone horribly wrong.
He immediately sent cavalry to gather the stragglers and started questioning every officer he could find.
The answers made less and less sense.
Fancheng had fallen.
Yu Jin spent several moments staring at the officer who delivered the report. The officer looked exhausted, injured, and sincere. That somehow made the situation worse.
Fancheng was not supposed to fall. Fancheng's entire purpose in life was to remain standing while everyone around it suffered. It was a major fortress protected by thick walls, large garrisons, and enough supplies to survive a prolonged siege.
Even after Yue Jin transferred many veteran troops to Xiangyang, the city should still have held out for a respectable amount of time. Instead, it had collapsed so quickly that Yu Jin had not even arrived.
At that point, military doctrine became less useful than common sense.
Yu Jin immediately halted the army and ordered a fortified camp constructed. While engineers dug trenches and soldiers raised earthworks, he spent the afternoon interviewing survivors and trying to separate facts from battlefield hysteria.
The process was exhausting. One survivor claimed Guan Yu possessed a ship larger than the city itself.
Another insisted the vessel had appeared out of the morning fog like a dragon king emerging from the sea. A third swore that giant iron spears were flying through the air and punching holes through stone walls.
Normally, Yu Jin would have dismissed such stories immediately. The problem was that every witness seemed to be describing the same thing.
By sunset, he finally assembled a rough estimate of the enemy's strength. Guan Yu commanded roughly twenty thousand naval infantry, dozens of warships, and one absurdly large flagship equipped with siege ballistas powerful enough to terrify experienced soldiers. More importantly, he now controlled Fancheng.
Yu Jin looked down at his own roster and felt a headache forming.
Fifteen thousand men. That was all he had.
Had he arrived before the city fell, those fifteen thousand troops would have transformed Fancheng into a nightmare for any attacker.
Now that Guan Yu was sitting behind the walls instead, the entire equation had changed.
Attacking a fortified city held by Guan Yu with fewer troops than the defender possessed was not bravery. It was the sort of decision future historians described with phrases like "unfortunate miscalculation" and "completely avoidable disaster."
Yu Jin had no interest in becoming a cautionary tale. He planted his camp sixty miles north of the city, ordered his soldiers to fortify every position, and settled on the most intelligent strategy currently available.
He would wait for reinforcements.
If anyone had a problem with that plan, they were welcome to march south and explain it to Guan Yu themselves.
---
Xu Shu's scouts had little trouble locating the newly arrived enemy camp. The moment the reports reached him, he climbed the battlements and took a look for himself.
What he saw immediately put him in a good mood.
The Cao Wei army was not here to fight. They were here to survive.
Thousands of soldiers were busy digging trenches, raising earthworks, reinforcing barriers, and constructing defensive positions.
From a distance, the entire camp looked less like an army and more like a group of extremely nervous farmers trying to build a second city before winter arrived.
Xu Shu could not help laughing.
"It seems the Cao army never seriously considered the possibility that Fancheng would fall this quickly."
He leaned against the battlements and continued studying the layout.
"Their vanguard commander is smart. He has buried himself inside a turtle shell and is now waiting for reinforcements to arrive."
The camp itself told a story. The defensive layers were carefully arranged. The supply areas were well protected. The watch rotations were disciplined. Nothing about it looked sloppy.
Xu Shu nodded to himself.
"If I had to guess, that should be Yu Jin."
Years spent under Cao Cao's administration had given him a good understanding of the Wei command structure.
Although he had kept a low profile during his time there, he had paid close attention to the people around him. Generals tended to leave fingerprints on their armies, and Yu Jin's fingerprints were all over this camp.
Combined with what he knew of the broader situation, the answer was obvious.
"The only commander who could have mobilized from the capital this quickly is Yu Jin."
He turned toward Guan Yu.
"Yunchang, as good neighbors, we should send a greeting to the new arrivals, should we not? Take a small force. Let us see how sturdy that shell really is."
Guan Yu's eyes immediately brightened. Unlike most men, Guan Yu genuinely enjoyed being handed military assignments.
"Very well."
A short while later, Xu Shu watched from the walls as Guan Yu rode out with a cavalry detachment. As the riders disappeared into the distance, Xu Shu rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"At some point, we really need to start buying better horses."
The thought had been bothering him for months. Conquering Yongzhou and Liangzhou would be a logistical nightmare, but opening trade with Ma Chao would be worth the effort for that reason alone.
Jingzhou had rivers. Lots of rivers. What Jingzhou did not have was horses, every decent mount in the province seemed to cost a small fortune.
Most of their cavalry stock either came from expensive imports through Sun Wu or from aging northern warhorses that had already survived more campaigns than some officers.
Watching Guan Yu's cavalry ride out was honestly a painful experience for anyone who appreciated horseflesh. Some of the animals were too small. Some were too old. Some looked as though they had personally witnessed the fall of the Qin Dynasty.
Xu Shu sometimes felt that the cavalry was held together entirely by Guan Yu's prestige and the horses' desire not to embarrass themselves in front of him.
Fortunately, the Han River was doing most of the heavy lifting in this campaign. Nobody was winning or losing Fancheng because of cavalry charges.
Less than half a day later, Guan Yu returned. Xu Shu took one look at his expression and immediately understood how the expedition had gone.
"You look disappointed."
Guan Yu gave a small snort. "Yu Jin deserves his reputation."
"Oh?"
"His camp is flawless. The defensive layers are properly arranged, the patrol routes are disciplined, and every vulnerable approach is covered. A cavalry raid cannot even scratch the outer perimeter."
Xu Shu was not surprised. Yu Jin had always been one of Cao Cao's most disciplined commanders.
A less competent officer might have panicked after hearing that Fancheng had fallen. Yu Jin had apparently responded by digging. A lot.
Since a quick victory was no longer available, both sides settled into their work. The Jingzhou army focused on repairing Fancheng's damaged defenses while the Cao Wei army strengthened its encampment and waited for reinforcements.
A tense calm settled over the region. Everyone understood what was at stake. Whoever controlled Fancheng controlled the gateway between north and south.
Xu Shu pushed his engineers relentlessly, demanding that every breach and damaged section of wall be repaired as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Yu Jin unleashed swarms of scouts across the countryside. He wanted maps, measurements, terrain reports, and anything else his officers could find. Somewhere out there, he was convinced, a weakness existed.
He just needed to find it.
The scouting war quickly became vicious. Yu Jin's cavalry enjoyed a clear advantage in horse quality. Northern breeds were faster, stronger, and far better suited for long-range reconnaissance.
Unfortunately for them, Guan Yu's scouts had recently received a new toy. The repeating crossbows designed by Huang Yueying and Kongming proved extremely unpopular with anyone trying to ride through a forest.
Cao Wei scouts would spot a handful of Jingzhou outriders, confidently move in for a closer look, and suddenly discover that the enemy was capable of producing an alarming amount of arrows in a very short period of time.
The northern cavalry still possessed superior horses. The Jingzhou scouts possessed superior reasons to stay out of bow range.
As casualties slowly accumulated on both sides, the atmosphere across the region grew heavier with each passing day. Neither army had committed its main force yet.
Neither commander had made a decisive move.
But everyone could feel it.
A storm was coming.
---
By the time Fancheng finally stopped looking like a construction site and started resembling an actual fortress again, the Cao army's reinforcements began arriving one after another.
First came Xu Huang from the western passes with three veteran armies. Then Cao Ren arrived from the capital with another three.
The moment he stepped onto the battlefield, everyone knew who was in charge. Cao Ren carried the title Zheng Nan Jiangjun, General Who Conquers the South, which meant both Yu Jin and Xu Huang immediately found themselves reporting to him.
As if that was not enough, Cai Mao and Wen Pin also showed up from Wancheng, bringing eight thousand local Jingzhou troops who actually knew how to survive the southern climate without collapsing from heat and humidity.
When all the numbers were finally counted, the total reached roughly fifty-five thousand elite soldiers.
Cao Ren looked at the figure. Then he looked at the scribes. The scribes looked back.
A moment later, the official announcement was released. One hundred thousand troops.
Nobody argued. Military arithmetic had always been a mysterious art.
Soon, black banners filled the plains around Fancheng from horizon to horizon. Camps sprang up everywhere. Watchtowers rose from the earth. Supply wagons rolled endlessly across the roads. The city was surrounded.
Inside the Cao camp, confidence soared.
Inside Fancheng, everyone could see exactly how many enemies had arrived.
Up on the newly repaired walls, Xu Shu stood quietly with his hands behind his back as he looked out over the massive encirclement. The sight should have been intimidating. Instead, he smiled. A real smile. The kind that made nearby officers slightly nervous.
Guan Yu noticed it immediately.
"Yuanzhi," he said, stroking his beard, "you seem unusually pleased."
Xu Shu nodded toward the endless sea of enemy banners. "Why would I not be?"
Guan Yu raised an eyebrow.
Xu Shu laughed. "For years we have been chasing opportunities. Every campaign, every retreat, every gamble. We finally have one sitting right in front of us." He gestured toward the Cao army. "Look at them. Cao Cao has gathered nearly every problem he owns into one convenient location."
Several officers nearby exchanged confused looks.
Xu Shu continued calmly. "Yunchang, the chance to bend the fate of the Han Empire begins here. The chance to prevent generations of future chaos begins here." His eyes remained fixed on the enemy camp. "It begins with this battle."
The wind swept across the battlements, tugging at banners and cloaks. Below them, tens of thousands of enemy soldiers were preparing for war. Above them, Guan Yu stood as steady as a mountain.
He rested both hands on the shaft of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and stared toward the distant command tents.
After a long moment, he nodded.
"Victory."
Xu Shu chuckled. The officers around them felt their morale rise instantly.
Somewhere beyond the walls, Cao Ren had assembled fifty-five thousand elite troops. Inside the city, two men looked at that army and somehow seemed disappointed it was not bigger.
---
While the great armies of Shu and Wei prepared to settle their fate around Fancheng, the political situation in Jiangxia was becoming its own battlefield.
For Lu Su, it was somehow even more 'exhausting'.
He sat behind his desk listening to Lu Meng speak, though "listening" was probably too generous a description. After five straight days of the same arguments, Lu Su could predict every sentence before it left the man's mouth.
Lu Meng had arrived in Jiangxia with twenty thousand troops and thrown himself into a frenzy of activity.
Troops moved in and out of the city at all hours. Small groups of soldiers vanished from camp and reappeared days later under increasingly creative disguises.
According to Lu Meng, they were merchants, laborers, and travelers.
According to everyone else, they were soldiers wearing slightly different hats.
Lu Su had stopped pretending not to notice.
"The situation is far more dangerous than you are willing to admit," Lu Meng said, leaning forward. "Jiangling controls the river. Guan Yu has concentrated his entire navy there. If he decides to turn those ships east, he could threaten the heart of Jiangdong before we have time to react."
Lu Su massaged his forehead.
"General Guan is trying to fight Cao Cao's entire northern army," he replied. "He is not sailing east to attack us. Why are you so paranoid?"
"That is the kind of thinking that gets people killed."
"And assuming every ally is secretly preparing to betray you is the kind of thinking that starts wars for no reason."
The conversation had followed this pattern so many times that even the servants outside the office knew the script by heart.
Lu Meng believed Lu Su was dangerously naive.
Lu Su suspected Lu Meng was trying to manufacture a crisis where none existed.
Neither man could convince the other.
Eventually Lu Su let the argument fade and glanced toward the piles of documents covering his desk.
Over the past year, he had developed a habit that now bordered on obsession. Intelligence concerning Guan Yu went on the left. Intelligence concerning Sun Quan went on the right.
The left side overflowed. Reports from Jingzhou arrived almost daily.
Yicheng had fallen.
Fancheng had fallen.
Thousands of prisoners taken. Massive warships sighted on the Han River. Strange new siege weapons producing reports that sounded increasingly ridiculous each time they were read aloud. Every dispatch seemed designed to shorten Lu Su's lifespan.
The only comfort was Cao Cao's response. The northern warlord had mobilized a huge army and was moving south.
At least someone was trying to stop Guan Yu.
The right side, however, was nearly empty. That worried Lu Su far more.
Weeks earlier, he had sent a lengthy memorial urging Sun Quan to attack Hefei while Cao Cao's attention was fixed elsewhere. An obvious move.
No response came. No approval. No rejection. No criticism. No instructions. Nothing.
Political quiet was rarely a good sign. In Lu Su's experience, it meant someone was making decisions without telling you.
The thought had been gnawing at him for days when Lu Meng broke through his train of thought.
"Commander Lu! An envoy from Lord Cao has arrived!"
Lu Su looked up. His mind was still on military reports.
"Which Lord Cao?"
Lu Meng blinked. "Cao Cao."
Lu Su sat up straighter. That changed things.
Lu Meng, meanwhile, looked almost eager. "The envoy came south in secret. He requests an audience with our lord."
The smile on his face made Lu Su deeply uncomfortable.
A secret envoy from Cao Cao arriving at this moment was not the kind of development that made cautious statesmen happy. It was the sort of thing that kept them awake at night.
"This is a sensitive diplomatic matter," Lu Meng continued. "You should remain in Jiangxia and keep things stable here. I will escort the envoy to the capital myself."
Before Lu Su could respond, Lu Meng turned and strode from the room as though the matter was already settled.
Lu Su stared after him. Then he stared at the empty side of his desk. Then he stared at the door.
A secret envoy from Cao Cao. Sun Quan ignoring military recommendations. Lu Meng operating outside normal channels.
No. He was not letting this happen.
Bu Zhi entered carrying a stack of records. He took one look at Lu Su's face and stopped cold.
"Commander Lu?"
"I am leaving for the capital."
Bu Zhi nearly dropped the documents. "What?"
"Jiangxia is secure. Guan Yu is busy with Cao Cao. Nobody is attacking us." Lu Su shoved the paperwork back into Bu Zhi's arms. "You are acting commander until I return."
Bu Zhi opened his mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Lu Su was already out the door.
By the time he reached the docks, Lu Meng's ship was preparing to depart. Sailors casting off ropes. Guards boarding. The envoy's escort already assembled.
Lu Su walked toward the gangplank.
Lu Meng's expression darkened. "What are you doing?"
"Coming with you."
"No."
"Yes."
Lu Meng frowned. Lu Su folded his sleeves.
"I command the frontier. I have the latest intelligence on Jingzhou and the northern campaign. If Lord Sun Quan is going to make a decision involving Cao Cao, he deserves the full picture."
The logic was airtight. That was the problem. Lu Meng could not reject it without implying Sun Quan should make decisions while ignoring critical information. He stood there grinding his teeth.
Lu Su waited.
Finally, Lu Meng stepped aside. Lu Su boarded without another word.
The vessel pulled away from the docks and slipped into the current, racing east. Neither man spoke during the departure. Both watched the river ahead. Both knew the situation was reaching a breaking point.
The difference was that Lu Meng looked eager.
Lu Su looked like a man running toward a fire, hoping the building had not already collapsed before he got there.
---
Sun Wu was an economic powerhouse, and nowhere was that more obvious than Jianye. The city had been the capital for barely a year, yet it already carried itself like a metropolis that had stood for generations.
Merchant ships crowded the docks. Warehouses overflowed. Silver flowed through the markets with such enthusiasm that even seasoned traders struggled to keep up.
Inside the palace, Sun Quan was enjoying the results.
A lavish wine-tasting banquet filled the grand hall with music and laughter. The heirs of wealthy merchant families drank alongside the sons of veteran generals who had followed the Sun clan through years of war.
Watching them raise their cups together, Sun Quan felt a deep satisfaction. Wealth and military power. Commerce and conquest. Old families and new fortunes. All of it gathered beneath his banner.
This was Jiangdong. This was his kingdom.
The atmosphere was warm and pleasant.
Then someone screamed.
Actually, a lot of people screamed.
The music cut off. Conversations died mid-sentence. Guests spilled wine across their robes as they turned toward the entrance.
Something rolled across the polished floor with a wet, heavy sound.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
It stopped in front of Sun Quan's seat.
A human head. Not one he recognized.
Sun Quan's face darkened. "Who dares..."
He looked up. The words died in his throat.
Two men stood in the doorway. Both were supposed to be guarding the western frontier.
Lu Meng was there, looking furious and glancing nervously to his left.
And next to him stood Lu Su. Or at least, Sun Quan assumed it was Lu Su. The face was right. Everything else was alarming. His robes were soaked through with blood. Dark crimson covered his sleeves, his collar, his hem. Small droplets dotted his cheeks and forehead. The man who usually looked like a gentle scholar now looked like a butcher who had gotten lost on his way home.
Lu Su ignored the gore dripping from his sleeve. He casually tossed a bloodstained longsword onto the floor. The weapon clattered through the silent hall. Then he stepped forward and dropped to his knees.
"My Lord!" His voice echoed off the palace walls. "A vicious rumor was spreading through Jiangxia. Traitors claimed that Sun Wu intended to betray our allies. Worse, a rat arrived at our borders claiming to be a secret envoy from the tyrant Cao Cao. He sought to poison our officers with lies." Lu Su gestured at the severed head. "I dealt with him personally. I present his head to you as proof of my loyalty."
Several guests quietly moved their chairs farther away from the gift.
Lu Meng rubbed his forehead. "The moment we got off the boat, he drew a sword and cut the man down. I did not even have time to ask who the envoy was."
Sun Quan's political instincts were sharp. Within seconds, he understood what had happened. He looked at the severed head. At Lu Meng. At Lu Su. Then back at the severed head.
The dead envoy had probably spent weeks sneaking through enemy territory. He had likely rehearsed his speech dozens of times. Unfortunately, he had run into Lu Su before he could say any of it.
What terrible luck.
Sun Quan kept his face expressionless. "Spreading treasonous rumors is a capital offense. Executing enemy spies is worthy of commendation."
Lu Su crawled another step forward and lowered his forehead to the floor.
"My Lord. Have you forgotten your ambition to conquer the world?"
That question caused several officials to stop breathing.
Sun Quan did not care about the dead envoy. Watching Lu Su behave like this, however, was deeply unsettling. This was Lu Su. The same Lu Su who solved disputes through conversation. The same Lu Su who preferred diplomacy over bloodshed. The same Lu Su who could listen to an argument for three hours without raising his voice.
Now that man was kneeling in a pool of fresh blood, demanding answers about world conquest.
Even Sun Quan took half a step backward. Realizing what he had done, he recovered and stepped forward again. He grabbed Lu Su by the shoulders and pulled him to his feet.
"I have never forgotten my ambition. Not for a single day."
Lu Su stared into his eyes. "The reports are confirmed. Cao Cao has mobilized fifty thousand elite troops and is marching south to crush Guan Yu. My Lord, this is the moment. Strike now and you claim the world."
Sun Quan hesitated. His gaze drifted toward the back of the hall. A quiet military advisor sat in the shadows. Their eyes met briefly. No words were exchanged. None were needed.
Sun Quan turned back. "This is certainly a tremendous opportunity..."
Before he could finish, Lu Su grabbed both of his forearms. The grip was so strong that Sun Quan nearly checked whether the man had replaced his hands with iron clamps during the journey from Jiangxia.
"If Yunchang falls, the north wins. Cao Cao will swallow Jingzhou whole. Then he turns east and devours Jiangdong. We will be trapped in a corner of the map waiting for the executioner's blade. If you abandon the alliance today, you abandon the world. Forever."
The hall was so quiet you could hear the blood dripping off Lu Su's robes.
Sun Quan looked at the severed head. At his terrified guests. At the madman gripping his arms.
The hesitation faded. The wine haze vanished from his eyes.
He nodded.
"Zijing. You arrived at an excellent time. We were just discussing a major military mobilization against Hefei. Your experience on the Jingzhou front will be invaluable."
Lu Su released his grip. He stepped back and bowed.
"Please forgive my conduct, My Lord. I accept whatever punishment you deem appropriate."
Around the hall, the gathered nobles and officials exchanged bewildered looks. A man had arrived covered in blood. Thrown a severed head onto the banquet floor. Bullied the ruler of Jiangdong in front of the entire court. And somehow ended the conversation by receiving an invitation to participate in military planning.
Politics was a mysterious art.
Lu Su barely noticed them. He closed his eyes and let the tension drain from his shoulders.
Yunchang. I promised you at that banquet. I promised I would hold this alliance together.
I kept my word.