The Lightscreen's words hung in the air, and the office hall grew still for a long moment.
"Lu Zijing..."
Liu Bei murmured the name, staring at the glowing screen. He shook his head slowly.
"Such a man. Vast wisdom, clear vision, a true architect of alliances. And Sun Quan had this fine jade in his hands and did not know how to use him."
He sighed. "Stupid Sun Quan. What a pity. What a true pity that such talent cannot serve me."
Jian Yong leaned forward, looking amused. "My lord, you crossed paths with Lu Xun in Jiangdong as well. Do you ever regret missing him?"
Liu Bei thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Lu Xun is different. He is like Chen Deng from Xuzhou. Tethered to his powerful clan. Without controlling Jiangdong, I could never have won his genuine loyalty. But Lu Su?"
He paused. "I saw him at Red Cliffs. I spoke with him during the tensest moments of the alliance. That man understood the big picture in a way few others do. I even heard the Hefei campaign only went forward because Lu Su practically begged Sun Quan, even staining his robes with blood to make his point."
Fa Zheng snorted. "And what came of it? One hundred thousand men shattered by Zhang Liao's few thousand cavalry. Then the great clans of Jiangdong blamed him for the disaster?"
"That bunch of short-sighted fools," Liu Bei said flatly. "They call it stubbornness. I call it vision. Calling those aristocrats short-sighted rats is not an insult. It is simply fact."
Seeing his big brother looking so glum, Zhang Fei decided it was time to fix things. As a self-proclaimed master at reading the room, he figured he had to do something.
He jumped to his feet with a loud clatter that nearly sent his teacup flying.
"Big Brother, why sigh so deeply? Just give me the order! I will lead troops straight down to Jiangdong, kick their doors in, and drag that Lu fellow back here by his collar! That will cheer you right up!"
Before Liu Bei could respond, Ma Chao vaulted up as well, refusing to be outdone.
"I may not know much about fighting on boats," Ma Chao declared, thumping his chest hard enough to rattle the table, "but if Lord Xuande gives the order, I will march south without hesitation! I will break their naval lines with my cavalry!"
Liu Bei blinked. The two big men immediately started glaring at each other, squaring their shoulders, competing over who would lead this imaginary invasion. They looked genuinely ready to march.
All of Liu Bei's sentimental thoughts evaporated. He snapped:
"Hey, hey, you two... Guanzhong is in desperate need of manpower! We must watch the Western Regions, pressure the Central Plains, and pacify the northern tribes! This entire province is in ruins and needs rebuilding! Why in the world would we march to Jiangdong right now?!"
He did not let them answer.
"Furthermore! Jiangling has Zhao Yun holding the line, Jiang Wan managing logistics, Zhang Ni handling skirmishes, and Gan Gui now stirring up the river! What exactly do you two plan to do down there? Feed the fish?!"
With that, he squashed their wild ambitions flat. As he watched them sulk back onto their mats like scolded children, Liu Bei had only one thought left.
'Heaven, A-Dou is infinitely less trouble than you two maniacs.'
Across the room, Pang Tong slid his mat closer to Zhuge Liang. He dipped a finger into his teacup and wrote two names on the table: Gan Yi. Lu Meng.
Fa Zheng leaned over. "From Zhang Ni's letter?"
Pang Tong nodded. "The boy says these two serve Shi Xie down in Jiaozhou. Calls them outstanding talents. But Jiaozhou is a malarial backwater. Genuine top-tier talent rarely comes from those jungles unless they are exiles from the Central Plains. I have memorized every major family lineage in the realm. Never heard of these two."
He tapped the wet letters. "Besides, these names are definitely wrong. Too plain. Almost like aliases. We do not know much about this Gan Yi, but Lu Meng is already dead. I am honestly speechless here. If you want to create a false name, at least use a proper one. What do you think, Kongming?"
Zhuge Liang stared at the tea puddle on his desk. Then he slowly turned his head.
"I have not even taken a single sip of this tea yet."
Pang Tong's face flushed. He quickly wiped his finger on his robe.
"Sorry. Force of habit. Thinking and writing happen at the same time."
After the brief teasing, Zhuge Liang nodded. "You are probably right. They are likely using pseudonyms. We will know who they really are once they arrive in camp."
Using fake names was common, and Zhuge Liang had no interest in prying. But deep down, he shared Pang Tong's suspicion. That guess, however, seemed too absurd to voice aloud.
'Besides, if they are who I suspect, Xu Shu is much closer to Jiaozhou than we are. He would never let such fine jade stay buried in the dirt.'
The Lightscreen continued, and the mood shifted when the host described the treachery of White Robes Crossing the River.
Pang Tong's expression soured.
"Think about it," he said. "If that tactic had been used against Cao Cao's army to win a great victory for the alliance, everyone would call it genius."
He scoffed. "But to use it against your own sworn ally? Revolting. And the worst part? Their little treachery just handed the Cao thief the greatest stroke of luck he could have asked for."
"Bah, just a bunch of oath-breaking backstabbers," Zhang Fei said from the corner, his voice cold. "Such men deserve nothing but contempt."
The Ming scholar's sorrowful summary hung in the air: Lu Su dies. Guan Yu falls. Cao Cao gets lucky. And Liu Bei is left alone. Alas, how tragic!
Zhang Fei's expression turned serious. "Big Brother, now that Guanzhong is mostly pacified, let me ride south. Put me under Second Brother's command in Jingzhou. I will watch his back. Make sure no one tries any tricks like this."
Zhuge Liang did not let Liu Bei answer. He leaned across the table with a warm smile, waving his feather fan slowly.
"Yide, if you leave, who will answer the Cao thief's insults when he marches to Tong Pass and starts cursing our ancestors? Huo Jun is a master of defense, yes. But when we need someone to charge the enemy formation, shatter their lines, and ignite our army with a single roar?"
He waved his fan lazily. "For that, we must have you right here."
The flattery worked perfectly. Zhang Fei beamed with pride, sat back down, and shot Ma Chao a smug sideways glance.
Ma Chao gritted his teeth. Envy burned in his chest.
When Zhang Fei and Pang Tong first marched into Yongzhou and Liangzhou, I was still half the host here. Now this crude brute from Yan acts like he owns the whole camp!
He knew why, though. Ma Chao was not stupid. He just preferred not to use his brain.
Hearing how Liu Bei would burn an entire empire to avenge his brothers... something ached in Ma Chao's chest.
He envied that bond. That trust. His own relationship with his father was fractured, and everyone in the western provinces knew it. The only person he could truly trust was his cousin, Ma Dai.
He looked away and said nothing.
---
Inside the luxurious Ganlu Hall, Li Shimin pushed Cao Pi's words out of his mind.
Looking at the Lightscreen's lament for Lu Su, he sighed.
"Authority and Benevolence... Jiangdong truly produced some extraordinary talents."
He had read the Records of the Three Kingdoms in his youth, but honestly could not remember what he thought of Lu Su back then. The dry official histories did not leave much impression.
Now, hearing a scholar from the future deliver such a glowing, definitive evaluation... Li Shimin felt a faint twinge of something he rarely admitted.
Envy.
This young man named Wen Mang mentions the Tang often enough and clearly respects me. But I have never gotten a poetic, legendary summary like Lu Zijing just did.
He could not help but wonder: What will my final verdict be? Will they call me Authority and Benevolence? Or just say good at fighting and lived long?
"Seeing how much the future generations admire these heroes," Fang Xuanling said, turning to the throne, "perhaps we should follow their example. Commission the imperial theater to stage a grand play based on the Three Kingdoms."
As Minister of Rites, cultural performances were technically his job. He was also subtly steering the Emperor toward a harmless project.
Du Ruhui nodded absently.
His eyes were fixed on the characters he had just scribbled into his notebook.
"World War..."
The words hung in the air. A war that engulfed the entire world.
The scholar had mentioned future conflicts before. Barbarians invading sacred lands. The modern army crossing the Yalu River to aid the Korean peninsula. The whole lips gone, teeth cold logic.
But this was the first time they had heard the formal term: World War.
And it had happened more than once.
Every man in that hall had lived through the collapse of the Sui Dynasty. They knew the smell of burning cities. The sight of corpses in the fields. The sound of refugees wailing.
"A war that drags the entire known world into the fire," Du Ruhui muttered. "And it happened more than once."
He turned his head and found Li Shimin standing right behind him.
The Emperor stared at the western wall. A highly detailed world map hung there, copied from a previous Lightscreen broadcast. It was his most prized possession.
"You know," Li Shimin said, his voice casual, "when I first looked at that map and realized how vast the world truly is, a very natural thought came to mind."
He paused.
"I thought about conquering every inch of it. Making all of it the King's land."
Fang Xuanling and Du Ruhui exchanged a panicked glance.
'If His Majesty decides to conquer the world, can we even stop him? The logistics alone would bankrupt us for generations!!'
Li Shimin noticed their expressions and laughed.
"Do not look so frightened. I know the military technology of the future is far beyond anything we can comprehend. Their weapons might as well be immortal magic. They can destroy cities from the sky."
He smiled, but his eyes were sharp.
"Honestly, in an era with that kind of god-like power, it would be a miracle if no one tried to conquer the globe and crown themselves Emperor of the Earth. Human nature does not change much."
After that grim assessment, Li Shimin's mind drifted back to Cao Pi's words: The matters of Shun and Yu... I finally understand exactly how that worked.
The throne gave a man enormous power. A wise ruler used it with discipline. A fool indulged his darkest whims and plunged the world into chaos.
That was exactly why Li Shimin was so strict about teaching his heir, Crown Prince Li Chengqian.
The knowledge from the Lightscreen was a blessing. But it was also dangerous.
Li Shimin looked at the world map again.
"Take this map. If it had fallen into the hands of Emperor Yang of Sui, that relative of mine would have drafted a million peasants before breakfast, built a grand fleet by lunch, and launched a crusade to conquer Europe by dinner."
He paused.
"He would have named the fleet something grand like The Eternal Prosperity while half the crew starved."
The ministers shifted uncomfortably. They had lived through Emperor Yang's reign. They knew exactly how true that was.
"When an Emperor lacks self-control," Li Shimin said, "this kind of knowledge makes it dangerously easy to bring ruin upon the entire world."
The hall went still. The future held weapons beyond imagination. Wars could kill millions in a flash.
"Therefore," Li Shimin said, his voice calm but firm, "our duty is clear. We must make the Great Tang stand firm. We must build an unshakable foundation. We must give our descendants the strength, knowledge, and institutions to protect themselves."
He placed his hands behind his back.
"We must build such strength that no enemy from any direction can easily threaten them."
The declaration was simple. No grand promise to conquer the world. No boasts. Just a practical conclusion.
The future was dangerous. The only responsible answer was to prepare.