christos200 Posted March 19, 2014 Share Posted March 19, 2014 (Chapters: The Legendary Zhuge Liang - I The Legendary Zhuge Liang - II The Legendary Zhuge Liang - III The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IV The Legendary Zhuge Liang - V The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VI The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VII The Legendary Zhuge Liang - VIII The Legendary Zhuge Liang - IX The Legendary Zhuge Liang - X The Legendary Zhuge Liang - XI The Legendary Zhuge Liang - XII I hope that you will enjoy the story. ) The Legendary Zhuge Liang - XIII: Wuchang, Capital of the Southland Liu Bei has just arrived to the Capital of the Southland, Wuchang, accompanied only by his loyal officer, Zhou Yun. Following Zhuge Liang's secret instructions, Liu Bei starts buying as many gifts as possible for his future wife, many of them very expensive. Thus, he has got the attention of all residents of Wuchang, and now pretty much everyone in the city knows about the marriage. This is bad for Sun Quan, since Sun Shangxiang, his sister, had not been informed of the marriage, as Zhou Yu had planned to kill Liu Bei before the marriage taking place. Also, Sun Shangxiang, who is fierce in nature and a very skilled martial artist, would never agree to marry such an aged man. Liu Bei is in his mid-fifties, and although he is quite good looking for his age, Sun Shangxiang has never met him, so she thinks of him as an old man. After Liu Bei buying almost everything valuable in the city, Sun Shangxiang calls Sun Quan to her room. Sun Shangxiang is a very, very beautiful young lady, only 18 years old, with long black hair, skin as white as snow, green eyes and an elegance beyond convention. But she also looks fierce, especially when practicing her swordplay. When Sun Quan enters his sister's room, he sees her furious. Sun Shangxiang is the only person that Sun Quan fears. Despite being Lord of the Southland, he is unable to do anything when his sister is furious. "Sister...." Sun Quan tries to say, but not being able to speak calmly because of fearing the rage of his sister. "What.......do....do....you....want?" "How could you arrange for me to marry an old man without me even knowing about it?!" Sun Shangxiang shouts while throwing a porcelain vase on Sun Quan, who barely manages to avoid it. "Do you think I will marry an old man?!" "Sister.....you....I.....him....Zhou Yu.....I....I mean......" Sun Quan tries to explain himself, but cannot utter a single sentence. "What?! Do you dare to talk back to me?!" Sun Shangxiang throws an other vase at Sun Quan, who manages to avoid it in the last second. "Sister, please calm down. It is not as tragic as you portray it." "What?!" "You were not going to marry him anyway." "Then why did you propose my marriage to him?" "It is a trick devised by Zhou Yu. We would kill him before the marriage." "But, now that everyone knows of the marriage, my reputation will be damaged beyond repair. Who will marry me in the future?" "Sister, you should think of the Southland, which is more important than...than..." "More important than my happiness?" "Yes!" "I will kill myself if you force me to marry this old man!" "But....." "There is no 'but'! Either cancel the marriage or I will kill myself!" "But....this cannot happen!" "You! You put yourself and your political machinations above your own sister! You are a monster!!!" "Sister....calm down." "I will not calm down!" Sun Shangxiang starts crying and bows before her brother. "Brother, do not force me to marry him." "I......" "I understand. You love for power is far larger than your love for your sister." "Why do we not make an agreement? When Liu Bei comes to the Palace tomorrow, you will hide and watch him. If you like him, you will play your flute and you will marry him. If not, I will cancel the marriage." "Alright!" Sun Quan leaves, delighted, the room. If his sister does not like Liu Bei, then not only he will cancel the marriage, but he will have Zhou Yu and his troops to ambush and kill Liu Bei. Although his sister's reputation may be tarnished, he will have killed his greatest enemy. Late in the night, Mao's inn Sun Shangxiang, late in the night, and dressed with a black silk robe, enters Mao's inn. Being a martial artist and hating being closed inside the palace with nothing to do, Sun Shangxiang sneaks out of the Palace in the night and drinks in inns and chats with other pugilists, dressed as a simple martial artist, instead of wearing a Princess' clothes. When she enters the inn, which is open in night because many martial artists have the habit of drinking and chatting in the night, the place has five companies chatting and drinking, all of them martial artists. There is also a man sitting alone and drinking some wine. Sun Shangxiang sits on a table and orders wine. The waiter serves the wine immediately. Sun Shangxiang waits for her martial artist friends to come and chat with her. She needs to tell to someone how bad she feels about her forced marriage to Liu Bei. As she drinks her wine and waits for her friends, she hears someone shouting. A tall muscular man, who is sitting on a table along with three other men, shouts at the waiter: "What?! You want us to pay?" "But, sir..." the waiter tries to say. The man slaps him. "I will not pay anything!" Sun Shangxiang gets up, approaches the man, pulls out her dadao long sword and says "You will pay or you will have to battle me!" "Men!" the man shouts at his three friends. "Attack her!!" The three men pull out their swords and charge at Sun Shangxiang. The first man tries to cut off Sun Shangxiang's head, but she dodges the attack and stabs him on the heart, killing him. The other two men attack at the same time, but Sun Shangxiang jumps on the air, avoiding their attack, and when she lands on the ground, she cuts off the second man's head with a swift move and kicks the third man on his genetic organs, causing him to fall on the ground. The leader of the thugs shouts "Fight me without sword!" "Alright!" Sun Shangxiang replies and puts away her sword. The man tries to kick thrice Sun Shangxiang, but she blocks all his kicks. The man then punches his right fist on Sun Shangxiang's chest, causing her to fall back. "Quite good Kung Fu!" the man, laughing, says. But Sun Shangxiang is quick to counterattack. When the man charges at her, she kicks him on the head with a powerful back kick. She then punches her fists ten times on the man's face, breaking his nose. Her moves are swift, fast and coordinated like a chain. The man grabs a table and throws it at Sun Shangxiang, but she dodges it and then fly kicks the man's chest, causing him to fall back and vomit huge amounts of blood. Seeing that he cannot defeat his enemy, the man runs away. The waiter approaches Sun Shangxiang and says "Thank you Miss!" "It's nothing." she replies. "Defending the weak is the duty of all martial artists." Suddenly, the man who is sitting alone gets up, comes towards Sun Shangxiang and, clapping, says "My lady, you are a true heroine! You are skilled in the sword and the martial arts, but you also have an admirable character and courage. Would you give me the honor of sitting with me and drinking some wine together?" Sun Shangxiang looks at the man, who is very elegant in his ways and very handsome. He seems to be in his 30's. His way of speaking impresses Sun Shangxiang, who thinks that the man must be either a scholar or a fellow pugilist. But, without knowing it, the man who is speaking to her is Liu Bei. "I will sit with you!" Sun Shangxiang replies. "Good! We can chat all night! Waiter, bring us the best wine you have!" Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang, not knowing each others identity, sit together and chat about several subjects. "My lady." Liu Bei says. "Your swordplay is one of the best I have seen. But your beauty and character are unparalleled" "You are flattering me." "Not at all." "Why are you drinking here all alone?" "I have many worries. I believe that this may be the end of me. But it is a danger I am willing to undertake in order to restore the Han Dynasty to it's former glory!" "The Han Dynasty?" "Yes. So many noble families have been benefited for centuries by the Han Emperors, but once crisis arose, they rebelled against their Emperor. They rule the lands that belong to the Han Dynasty like they own them. Cao Cao, the great villain and traitor, has put the Han Emperor under house arrest and humiliates him, respecting neither protocol nor tradition. The Emperor is oppressed and a mere puppet. The mission of my life is to restore the glory of the Han Empire. If I do not restore it, I will have let down everyone, and especially my ancestors. That is why I am willing to come here, despite that my life is in danger." "Who would kill you?! I will protect you!" "You have only known me for a short time. Why would you risk your life for me?" "I consider you my friend. And even thought we know each other only a short time, I am willing to die defending you!" "Such character! Such courage! Such chivalry! You are such an admirable lady, far more admirable than many men!" "And you have such an admirable character too! Even thought everyone has betrayed the Han Emperor, even his most close relatives, you remain loyal to him and you risk your life for him." "I do not do this only for the Emperor. I also do this because only if the Han Dynasty is restored to it's former glory and peace comes to the land will the common people be able to live a peaceful live without having to be afraid of their life and being abused by the rich!" "I will drink in honor of you, a true gentleman who has his Emperor and the people in his heart and is willing to die for them! Cheers!" "Cheers!" As Liu Bei and Sun Shangxiang drink the wine, the pugilist friends of Sun Shangxiang enter the inn. Seeing them, Sun Shangxiang decides to leave Liu Bei and go chat with them. "Master." Sun Shangxiang says. "I am sorry to offend you, but I need to chat with my friends." "You do not offend me at all. I only hope that I can meet you again." "If fate wants us to meet again, we shall meet again." Sun Shangxiang leaves and Liu Bei stays once again alone. He is even sadder now than before. Before he was only sad because he could be killed before his quest of restoring the Han Dynasty to it's former glory could be fulfilled. Now, he is also sad because, although he knows that woman for such a short time, it seems that he has fallen in love with her. But, he will have to marry Sun Shangxiang in order to maintain the alliance with Sun Quan. The Han Dynasty is more important than his feelings. Not to say that he does not even know the name of that lady and who she is and if she is already in love with an other man. But, somehow, he feels a genuine love for her. Although he has known her for such a short time, he loves her far more than his previous wives. This may not seem logical, but this exactly how Liu Bei feels. A few minutes later, Liu Bei goes to upstairs to his room, to rest because tomorrow he will have to go to the Southland Palace. He can only hope that Zhuge Liang's plan to making known to everyone about the marriage will force Sun Quan to reconsider any thoughts of assassinating him, in order to save his sister's reputation. Meanwhile, Sun Shangxiang and her friends, three men and one woman, all martial artists, chat. After chatting for several hours about her forced marriage, one of them asks "Who was that man you were chatting with?" "Chatting with?" Sun Shangxiang, not remembering, asks. "Now I remember! He is a true gentleman. He is handsome, loyal, cares for the people, is loyal to the Han Emperor, is elegant, speaks with great oratory skill. If only I could marry such a man instead of that old Liu Bei!" "But you brother said that if you do not like him, you will not marry him." "It is not this my only problem. My brother wants to assassinate him, something that will ruin my reputation and no man will want to marry me." "Then you must stop your brother from killing him." A few hours later, Sun Shangxiang's room Sun Shangxiang, after hours of chatting with her friends, sneaks into the Palace and goes to her room without anyone noticing her. As she enters the room, she thinks of the man she had met and shouts "How stupid I am! Why I did not ask his name?!" Sun Shangxiang feels that she is in love with that man. She cannot explain how she is so in love with a man she spend only a few minutes together. But she has fallen in love for him. If only she could marry that man instead of Liu Bei, she thinks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
machievelli Posted March 29, 2014 Share Posted March 29, 2014 read Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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