[nsw-fic] The Legendary Zhuge Liang - XIV

Liu Bei (courtesy name: Xuande), accompanied only by his loyal and brave General Zhou Yun, comes to the Southland Palace in order to meet Sun Quan (courtesy name: Zhongmou), Lord of the Southland, and Zhou Yu (courtesy name: Gongjin), Grand Commander of the Southland, and talk with them about his marriage with Sun Quan's sister Sun Shangxiang. When Liu Bei arrives at the entrance of the huge and magnificent Southland Palace, which is made by very fine marble, he is met by twenty Southland soldiers, all armed with swords and every fifth of them holding a Southland banner. The Palace is indeed magnificent. Around the Palace, there is a wall, inclosing a compass of 16 miles, and inside the Palace there is a Park, in which there are fountains and rivers and brooks, and beautiful meadows, with all kinds of wild animals. Moreover at a spot in the Park, Sun Quan has another Palace built of cane. It is gilt all over, and most elaborately finished inside. It is stayed on gilt and lacquered columns, on each of which is a dragon all gilt, the tail of which is attached to the column whilst the head supports the architrave, and the claws likewise are stretched out right and left to support the architrave.

A Southland soldier approaches Liu Bei and says "Please, follow us."

"Of course." Liu Bei replies.

As Liu Bei, Zhou Yun and the Southland soldiers walk towards the Throne Room through the long marble stairs of the Palace, which are on the entrance and lead directly to the Throne Room, Liu Bei thinks about the woman he met yesterday night at Mao's inn. He cannot stop thinking of her. That lady was honorable, beautiful, with great character and bravery and outstanding martial arts. If only he could marry her instead of Sun Shangxiang. But, he knows that this is impossible. He also knows that the restoration of the Han Dynasty to it's former glory is far more important than any woman. He cannot let down his ancestors. He cannot let down his people. He cannot let down his Emperor. He prefers to suffer and live an unhappy life than give up his quest of restoring the Han Dynasty. He must free the Emperor from the tyrant, usurper and traitor Cao Cao. And in order to do this, he must marry Sun Shangxiang, so he can maintain the crucial alliance with Sun Quan.

When Liu Bei and Zhou Yun arrive at the Throne Room, they find Sun Quan, dressed with a yellow robe made of silver and decorated with gems, sitting on his Golden Throne. Besides him, there is Zhou Yu and other five Southland Generals. The Room is guarded by more than sixty Southland soldiers, all armed with swords and with every tenth of them holding a Southland banner. When Sun Quan sees Liu Bei, he gets up and rushes towards him.

"Brother Xuande!" Sun Quan, smiling, shouts. "I have long heard of you, but never had the honor to meet you until now. Now, that I have met you, I feel very honored."

"Brother Zhongmou!" Liu Bei replies. "It is also my honor to meet such an outstanding man like you."

"Good. Let us talk about your marriage to my sister."

Sun Shangxiang's room

Princess Sun Shangxiang is waiting in her room for her maid to inform her when Liu Bei will come. She has made an agreement with her brother that she will watch Liu Bei in secret while he talks with him and play her flute if she likes him. If not, Sun Quan will cancel the marriage. As Sun Shangxiang waits for her maid, she cannot stop thinking about the man she had met yesterday in Mao's inn. "Could such a man really exist?" she thinks. "A man so loyal to his Emperor and the people, so willing to die in order to restore the Han Dynasty to it's former glory, so good orator, so handsome."

Sun Shangxiang had not stopped thinking about that man since yesterday night. She feels a love for him that he has not ever felt for an other man. If only he could marry him instead of Liu Bei. Suddenly, a young maid enters the room and says "My Lady, Liu Bei has arrived."

Sun Shangxiang leaves her room and heads, along with her maid, towards a small room that is beside the Southland Throne Room and allows them to see what is happening in the Throne Room. When they arrive, the maid looks at what is happening at the Throne Room and is amazed with Liu Bei.

"My Lady!" the maid shouts. "Liu Bei does not look at all like he is at his mid-fifties. He looks like he is in his thirties and is very handsome."

"Really?" Sun Shangxiang, surprised, asks and takes a look herself. But when she sees Liu Bei, she is ever more surprised. Liu Bei is in fact the man she had met in Mao's inn and had fallen in love with. She cannot believe it.

Meanwhile, in the Throne Room, Sun Quan and Liu Bei discuss about the marriage.

"Brother Xuande!" Sun Quan says. "My sister is a very outstanding woman and I believe that she will be a great match with you."

"Brother, I hope that this marriage will solidify our alliance and make it everlasting. For we must be united in order to restore the Han Dynasty to it's former glory. The Han Emperor is imprisoned and humiliated, the common people know no peace and are bullied by the rich and strong, the lands of the Han Dynasty have become personal feuds of Warlords. What sorrow! What sorrow to see the 400 years old Han Dynasty collapsing and no one even caring! What sorrow to see traitors prevailing over patriots! What sorrow to see treachery defeating loyalism! What sorrow! What sorrow! What sorrow! Brother, for years your family has been rewarded by the Han Emperor. You must not forget that! We should be united like real brothers in our war against the traitor and usurper Cao Cao!"

Although Sun Quan wants to assassinate Liu Bei, he is still impressed and moved by his words. Liu Bei has a loyalty to his Emperor and his people that Sun Quan is envious of.

Outside the Walls of the Southland Palace

Meanwhile, Chan and Kuang try to find a way to sneak into the Palace and protect Liu Bei from Sun Quan and Zhou Yu. Chan must not fail his friend, Zhuge Liang. As they see the huge walls surrounding the Palace, the two friends do not know what to do.

"Hell!" Kuang curses. "How will we be able to sneak into the Palace?"

"We must find a way to get past the walls!" Chan shouts. "But what way?"

As the two men try to find a way to sneak into the Palace, they see two Southland soldiers, one of them a lieutenant, walking towards the Palace. While no one is near, Chan says "I've found a way!" and charges at the two men. Kuang, understanding Chan's plans, also charges.

The Southland lieutenant, seeing Chan charging towards him, pulls out his sword and tries to kill Chan, but he dodges the attacks and kicks the man's chest, pushing him back and causing him to let his sword fall down. The lieutenant quickly gets up and fly kicks Chan's stomach. He then punches his fists twice on Chan's face, but when he tries to punch a third time his fists, Chan avoids the man's fists and back kicks the man's face with such a powerful kick that the man is killed.

At the same time, Kuang battles the other Southland soldier. The soldier tries to cut off Kuang's head with his sword, but Kuang dodges the attack, grabs the man's head by the hair and breaks it on his right knee. With the two soldiers dead, Chan and Kuang take off their clothes and disguise themselves as Southland soldiers. They then rush towards the Gate of the Palace Walls, which is guarded by three Southland soldiers. One of them approaches the two heroes and says "What do you want?"

"We have been requested by our Lord, His Excellency Sun Quan, to go to the Throne Room." Chan replies.

"For what reason?"

"To help him in his plans about Liu Bei."

"Alright. You can go inside the Palace!"

Chan and Kuang enter the Palace Gate and then run as fast as they can towards the Throne Room. After a few minutes, they arrive at the Throne Room. Seeing them, Sun Quan stops talking with Liu Bei and approaches them.

"What are you doing?!" Sun Quan, angry, asks.

"Sir." Kuang replies, while he and Chan kowtow before Sun Quan. "We have been asked to come here to make sure that you and your honored guest are safe."

"Alright. Go and take your positions along with the other soldiers!"

Sun Quan then talks once again with Liu Bei.

"I am sorry that I have such idiots for my soldiers." Sun Quan says.

"You are underestimating your brave soldiers, Brother." Liu Bei replies.

At the same time, Sun Shangxiang is able to get over her shock of realizing that the man she had fallen in love in Mao's inn was Liu Bei. So, she starts playing her flute. The sound of her flute is magical and bewitches even the most uninterested in music men. The sound of her flute just cannot be described in words. Liu Bei, hearing the flute, shouts "What a magnificent flute play! What beautiful sound!"

Sun Quan, knowing that this means that Sun Shangxiang has agreed to marry Liu Bei, thus ruining his plans, is devastated. He will have to give his sister to Liu Bei. But, Zhou Yu is not willing to let his plan fail because of his Lord's sister. So, he approaches a fat Southland General called Bin Lao and says to him "Order the men to attack!"

Zhou Yu does this so, in case something goes wrong or Sun Quan decides to agree to the marriage, he will not be blamed but Bin Lao. Indeed, Bin Lao shouts "Men, attack!" and more than forty Southland soldiers surround Liu Bei and charge at him with their swords. Liu Bei shouts "Sun Quan, what is happening?!"

"Brother!" Sun Quan replies. "I did not plan this! Stop, everyone!"

But the soldiers are ignoring their Lord and Bin Lao bows before Sun Quan and says "Sorry, my Lord, but for your own good, we will kill this bastard!"

Sun Shangxiang, seeing the soldiers attacking the man she loves, pulls out her long dadao sword and charges at the Southland soldiers. Seeing her, Liu Bei shouts "You!". He just cannot believe that the woman he had fallen in love with suddenly appears in the Southland Throne Room.

"Sister!" Sun Quan, worrying over his sister's safety, shouts.

"So, you are Lady Sun Shangxiang?" Liu Bei, surprised, asks.

"Yes." Sun Shangxiang replies. "It is my honor that I can marry such a chivalrous man like you."

"It is also my honor that I can marry such a chivalrous Lady like you!"

As the two lovers talk, Zhou Yun pulls out his sword and starts killing Southland soldiers who charge. He dismembers them, cuts off their heads, their chests, their legs, stabs them in the heart and even kills them with his kicks. He kills them with every way possible. Meanwhile, with Sun Shangxiang's appearance, Sun Quan shouts "Stop!". His soldiers, realizing that if anything happens to their Lord's sister, he will not forgive them, stop. Sun Quan then approaches Zhou Yu and orders "Brother Gongjin, take this Bin Lao, who had such stupid ideas and tried to kill my Brother, and behead him!"

"Yes, sir!" Zhou Yu replies and orders his men to grab Bin Lao and take him for execution. Chan and Kuang, who were ready to charge against the Southland soldiers and save Liu Bei, seeing that the attack stopped, walk slowly outside the Throne Room, taking advantage of the chaos that the attack caused.

Sun Quan approaches Liu Bei and says "Brother, please forgive me for this."

"I know that you have good intentions and did not plan this. So, there is not need to ask for forgiveness. You are my brother in law now. So, we are family and we will have to be united."

A few hours later, in Mao's inn

Chan and Kuang, having done their duty, come to Mao's inn to drink some wine and chat. They sit on a wooden table at the back side of the inn and chat while drinking good Southland wine.

"Brother Kuang!" Chan says. "Now that I have repaid Liu Bei's kindness and helped my friend, Zhuge Liang, I can at last return to my carefree life."

"Good! We should go back to our teacher as soon as possible. He may teach us his 'Crane and Tiger' Kung Fu style."

As the two men talk, three thugs, all muscular, enter the inn and one of them says to Mao, the innkeeper, "We've heard that someone wants to destroy your inn. If you pay us, we can offer you protection."

"I have no need for protection." Mao replies.

"Then, we shall burn this place to the ground!"

Chan, seeing this, gets up and says to Kuang "Our teacher said that we should use our Kung Fu to fight injustice and help the poor and the weak."

Kuang understands what Chan means and also gets up, and the two men approach the thugs. The leader of the thugs says "What do you want?!"

"I want you to stop bullying the weak!" Chan shouts.

"Then, I shall bully you!"

The man tries to punch his fist on Chan, but Chan blocks the man's attack, kicks twice the stomach of the man and then punches his right elbow on the man's face killing him. At the same time, the other two men attack Kuang. Kuang kills the first man with a powerful kick on the lungs and the second by punching his fists fifty times on the man's stomach. Seeing the two heroes' excellent Kung Fu, a man, clapping and smiling, approaches them. The man is tall, with long black hair, an aristocratic look and wears a black silk robe.

"Excellent Kung Fu!" the man says. "I, Wong, would like to sit with you and drink some wine."

"We would be more than happy to have you in our company!" Chan replies.

machievelli · March 29, 2014

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[nsw-fic] The Legendary Zhuge Liang - XIV

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