Discussion in the Dark (Jia Xu, Xun Yu)

Jia Xu had followed Cao Cao to the residency where the midnight meeting would take place. They had been given weak wine, food and reports, detailing the events that had taken place between Sun Shang Xiang and Zhang Liao. Most of the writings were unnecessary, detailing any random point or event, regardless of their accuracy, and Cao Cao himself rose to attention once or twice to put in detail the more specific events that had transpired. In the end, it was more of a dilemma than an issue regarding stratagem.

And he was not too good with moral dilemmas.

He would try though. He flicked his wrist, threw out his rune sticks and watched the patterns and the shapes form when they landed. He could see three shapes in the mixed splatter and then sighed uneasily, for it spoke of a mixed omen, and a mixed opinion.

He lent to pick up the rune sticks and placed them neatly in his pocket, and then turned to Xun Yu – suggesting with a nod that he would follow suit once the man had finished talking. He had spoken rightly so, but had been brief and to the point. And that was something Jia Xu had never done. He spent his time forming scenarios in which he would try to destroy or find weakness in, and only when he felt sure that a plan was theoretically flawless would he jump forward and sprout the words coming to his mind.

"My Lord, they say blood runs thicker than water, and with such little knowledge gained from this, princess – how are we to expect truth?"

He motioned with his hand a gesture of unease, a slippery slope which usually was the difference between a victory and a defeat, and then went for the wine that had caught his eye. It had tasted weak and overly bitter, but he had gulped it down eagerly and wiped at the edges of his mouth once he was done.

"A woman married to Shu and bound in blood to Wu arrives at the feet of our large kingdom, speaking of crazed plots and ideas to destroy things beyond her power, and we are to what? Respect her, believe her?" He laughed at the idea, "The poisoned tongues of women have often sought the lives of foolish and rash men in the past, it would be unwise to listen to what she suggests, whether she hates them or not – what use do we have for an over-glorified warrior princess who has shown nothing but the ability to spread her legs for the northern generals of Wei?"

He sighed as he finished, gulping more wine from his golden goblet. He spoke harshly, and he knew he had not spoken with the poetic ease of a strategist, or with the over confidence often used by preachers, but then when beyond the ears of the others, why bother with accented speech, why layer and decorate words that are much more efficient when spoken truthfully and directly?

There was no reason, ans so he did not make one. He simply said what he had meant to say regarding Sun Shang, and turned to the other subject at hand. Sun Quan.

"Whether," he began, "we believe Sun Shang is irrelevant, should Sun Quan succeed what do you think would happen? Would new large armies rise in rebellion against the Han, or would we treat the threat as we did Cheng, and utterly destroy it? The title of emperor has always been but a name, it is the power, and the symbol of peace, of hope that makes it worth while, and whilst you rule the north, whilst we have land and resources – the people of our territory will stay and they will fight. The Southland is too small to compete directly, even if they become a dynasty or not – it makes no difference to their political, economic or military strengths. Sun Quan and Liu Bei might as well be emperors right now, for realistically what are they, if not masters of their own domain?"

Jia shuddered at the thought of Zhang Liao bedding Sun Shang; of all the women to love, and to, in turn – receive love, Sun Shang was the worst, and the thought of uniting the two houses of Shu and Wei sickened him even more than the conversation that was taking place.

"This is absurd." He muttered, though loud enough for the others to overhear. "Why are we concerning ourselves with the ethics of emperorship. What are Sun Quan and Liu Bei, if not hands of their emperor, we all know they claim us to be the traitors – and in turn, we accuse them of being the traitors. Who declares what is irrelevant, in terms of military strength, being an emperor grants you nothing. Actions speak louder than mere words, it would be wise to remember that"

He sighed, not at Cao Cao, but at the fact that he needed to say such. He felt disappointed and let down, especially in the way Cao Cao had agonised over such trivial matters.

"It is also irrelevant what you believe, or in fact- what lady Sun declares. Unless she provides factual evidence, rather than mere word – what are we supposed to do with it. She is the bitch who was thrown out of Wu to serve Shu and now she is with Zhang, whether she beds him or not I do not know, but it seems highly likely that she is...she is after all – a dishonourable spouse."

He gazed to the floor, and then back to the table. He took another gulp of wine, finishing his goblet, "Keep her close, or do as I would, and dispose of her once you have learned all you can." He stood up from the couch and moved over to the table, where more wine was placed. "She cannot be trusted by blood or through the bond and oath of marriage, if she defies the two strongest bonds in life – why should we waste our breath on her excuses. Liu Bei is not known to be cruel, and Sun Quan is not known to be savage, after all – he dots heavily on his mother, and his mother in turn, dots heavily on lady sun. She is a fickle, sly creature....we don't need people like that driving wedges in walls where none are needed."

The King was quick to reply, "Actions speak louder than words? A bit of a cliche don't you think Wenhe?" Cao joked of course and followed up a moment later. "What is becoming Emperor if not taking action? We all know the Han has expired it's only a matter of time before someone does assume the throne. Yuan Shu was foolish enough to attempt it when the Han was still established and had many loyal retainers who would serve the dynasty until death."

"Now such retainers are rare, loyalists still exist I'm sure we all are loyal to different extents, but loyalty there still is to the Han. But not enough to see it restored now. The dynasty has failed. But whoever rises as Emperor first, will effectively set his rivals against him, justification for war."

"Liu Bei talks of the Han, and seeks to restore it, though I do not believe he will the same it was. The Han system needs a rennovation the times have changed."

Cao hand raised to stroke his beard as he said finally, "I'm not going to oppose Sun Quan's decision. I want him and Liu Bei to tear each other apart. If Liu Bei is as honourable as he says and his loyalty is still one with the Han then he will march against Wu and beat them into the Eastern Sea."

Cao changed the topic back to Sun Shang Xiang, "As for Miss Sun, I only hope that she has not confused the loyalties of Wenyuan. I trust to put his duty before this woman. For his, and my sake. I won't have her ripping apart the pillars of my kingdom."

"I will be having another interview with her soon and I will find out her true intentions. I would like both of you to be present in court at that time."

"She claimed it was not Xuande who wronged her but those in his service, she is still partial to him. A dangerous thing. But I cannot decide what to do with her yet, perhaps after banging one of my top generals she might feel good enough to actually tell me something useful."

To Xun Yu he commented in conclusion. "If Zhuge Liang sallies forth then I have a chance to get some revenge. Shouchun is safe. Zhang left Yue Jin and Li Dian in charge of the new castle, if five-hundred men can halt Sun Quan's personal advance the region is forever safe."

Cao smiled at Jia Xu's assessment and replied with words of confidence. "But Zhuge Liang is stationed in Xinye on our border, how is he to once again pardon Wu on behalf of his lord when he is so far from Liu Bei? I don't think he can persuade Xuande to sponge all of Wu's abuse forever, there is a limit to that man and it will be a great day when he finally reaches that limit."

"Liu Bei has set himself a myriad of principles to follow, if he forsakes this fundamental one of his, to restore and avenge the wrongs the Han suffers - how will he maintain the trust and support he enjoys today?"

Cao nodded and sighed, "I hope you are right about Zhang Liao. But, I have seen many a man ruined by the devices of women in my lifetime. I can't help but consider the awful prospect that it could even happen to one of my own loyal retainers."

The King too had considered the potential of Sun Shang Xiang's ploy if that's what you could call a plan that she had never given details of. It could leave him stronger, a further augmented place in the country, but he trusted his instinct that she would grow distant as time grew on and would stray back to either Shu or Wu. To either her husband, or her clan, it would be only natural, he would have to wait and see.

Jia Xu cast his runes to the ground and gave his divination, "Oh, how I hope you are wrong this time Wenhe, but my heart believes you." Cao said regrettably, he hoped the rune sticks were wrong, but he didn't believe they would be, if he said he did, he would be lying.

((Closed with Steve's character change.))