The return of the three(Cao Pi/Cao Cao)

[Zhang He]

The battle of Fan castle was some time ago, the bloodied battlefield still remained stained with the blood of loyal Wei soliders, blood that will never be regained, blood that would be spilt once more. 3 mens blood was not spilt on that day, those 3 men were Zhang He, Xu Huang and Pang De but time had passed and these great warriors hadn't returned from that battle. 3 top officers missing in battle with their bodies still unfound by Wei loyalists, however the body of Pang De was found by a small tribe. Pang De had been presumed dead by his fellow generals, he was knocked off his horse in a duel with Guan Yu and was last seen headed down the river, face down. After the dust had settled and the battle was over they sought their fallen comrades body. After hours of searching all that remained was a trail of blood from the river across the grass which then stopped at hoove prints, drops of blood led to a lively village, population of around 1000. Both men staged a surprise attack to retrieve the body of Pang De however both men were captured...

The sun blazed down upon the three fatigued generals, it had been 3 months and 3 days since they had set foot inside Xu Chang, the city was busy as all ways. They rode in through the city, toward the palace, ignoring all questions from the city folk and guards, they had only one man to answer too and that was their lord Cao Cao, it had been far to long after their last encounter. Xu Huang was first to get off his horse and began the climb of the stairs into the palace.
"Hurry, I do not wish to be explaining on my own" He said as he looked back towards the other two generals who were both lost in thought after gazing upon the palace building.
"Inform Lord Cao of our return, we wish to seek an audience with him" Pang De said to the most senior guard at the door in quite a rough tone of voice.

[Sam]

It was a pleasant day outside, inside not so much. The past few nights has been incredible gloomy, the leader of the empire was failing, all was kept that inside the King's residence, not even the Emperor knew of the matter. The King's chief advisor was not the fool enough to allow the Emperor another chance to try and get some authority back.

It has been a couple of months since the conclusion of the war in Jing, a war which had turned into a disgusting defeat for Wei. Only now where those defeated showing up to meet the king, whether it was shame or a sense of duty to their soldiers, the First Advisor cared little. Big names had came knocking at the palace, Zhang He, Xu Huang, Pang De, all three fierce warriors of their time, but as they were with the cold steel of a sword, this man was with his three inch tongue.

They requested an audience with the King, and he was happy that so far word had failed to leak of the condition of their lord. Wandering out into line with the palace guards, still empowered by the sword of the empire, the ruling sword, he was invincible - or so he felt when wielding this kind of power, a great change he thought.

Emerging from the shadows of the gates he addressed the three generals from under the eaves of the palace. "You are late, generals, Xu, Zhang, Pang. It has been months since the fall of Fan and our unexpected defeat in Jing; yet here you are, now - late. Have you been shirking from duty? Embarrassed and humiliated at your failure? What has kept you?"

Cheng Qi knew all three of these men, he was here before all of them, in the service of their lord. All were valiant and prized by his lord, he respected them well enough for their abilities, but whether these were those who would side with him, unlike the other officials and officers or not, he had not yet considered.

Either way, for now he held all authority in the King's stead, and they would do as they were bid - as Shen Ha had. Cheng Qi didn't have any intention of letting them near their lord in his condition - not unless he was commanded so, he would hear no voice speak down to him, bar his lord.

[Zhang He]

The 3 generals were met by one of Cao Cao's closest's advisor and friend, Cheng Qi. They know of the status that Cao Cao held him at, but why him? After all, it has been 3 months since the leader of the kingdom hadn't heard from 3 of his top generals. Something wasn't right, Qi questioned why it had taken them so long, as opposed to greeting them with open arms, what was he hiding? He seemed agitated yet nervous Xu Huang could sense this, he did not speak, however Pang De stepped forward to answer the question that Cheng Qi had delivered.
"I was..." Pang De said just before Zhang He put his hand over his mouth and spoke for him.
"... Scared. We were scared. Scared that we would be punished for our failures, we would like to atone for our errors by fighting in the next battle, if thats okay with Lord Cao..." He paused for a moment and turned to Xu Huang, who nodded in acknowledgement.
"Where is Lord Cao, why have we not been able to see him" Xu Huang said in a cool and calm tone.

[Sam]

Bewilderment, that's what Cheng Qi found when talking to these three men. These once proud generals of Wei, untouchable, fierce, and proud. He was bewildered at what they had become after one campaign, sure they were getting old, but there was older men than these fellows still active in the empire.

Cheng Qi shook his head slightly, and his brow hardened as he looked upon them, both disgusted and disappointed he was with their behaviour. One hand behind his back, one on his beard Cheng advanced with studied slowness, "Scared? What happened to these three generals, undaunted by any danger, peerless champions of the north? You may of heard of them. Xu Huang, Zhang He and Pang De! Those three men do not stand before me today."

Cheng curved around their vision and slipped beyond their forward sight and came behind them in his wanders. "When did tigers become mice? Punishment for your failures is entirely appropriate. You and Wu and Guan Yu in your grasp. Yet you both allowed him to sully your names, hurling you face first into the dirt, dimished men you seem to be. Defeated by a isolated enemy commander."

Cheng reached their right side, and came into their line of sight again, "But since you wish to atone for your failures, I suppose you should have another chance. You are high in favour and I would hate to dirty my blade with scared mice blood. Stop cowering, and become tigers again already."

His initial barrage over, Cheng took a breath of pause and looked at Pang De, noticing there was something not in his possession. "General Pang, do you not remember your vow upon departure? I do not see the head of Guan Yu, nor the casket bearing his body." Cheng Qi couldn't resist getting the last jab in.

These men were a disgrace, all these years of service and recognition, and for what? They were lost, what happened to those brave soldiers who Cheng had watched his lord recruit and lead to victory after victory? He didn't want his lord to see them like this, it wouldn't help matters. "Our lord is otherwise occupied, and cannot receive guests right now." Cheng turned away from them and said over his shoulder bluntly, "I doubt he would want to see the three of you in such a weakened state. It is quite nauseating."

[Zhang He]

Something was wrong, Cheng Qi for all his intelligence was unable to see past the lies of Zhang He, he even failed to question why He stopped Pang De from speaking, he missed the nodded agreement between Xu and He. Something wasn't right, Qi defiantly had something weighing on his mind, what in the world could be tarnishing his vision?

"We are the three men you speak of, we are the fierce generals of the north, but... but your not the Cheng Qi of yesteryears." Xu Huang stated as he responded to the half hearted jibe given by Cheng Qi.

Pang De moved forward towards the ageing advisor, he looked the man up and down, he walked towards the left and then back to the right before speaking.
"Guan Yu is a remarkable individual, his military talents are above and beyond all of the men in the land. You do remember Guan Yu has foiled our lords plans, helped our lord defeat Yuan Shao and then spared his life? Or have you forgotten all this? Wei has suffered bigger defeats, remember Wan? Of course you do, Jia Xu outshone you as an advisor and a battlefield strategist. I remembered what I vowed, however is it my fault he could not kill me? I suppose it is, maybe next time I wont put up a strong resistance next time." Pang De said as he smirked at the advisor.

Next up was Zhang He, he however was much calmer and cooler than Pang De, although, Cheng Qi hadn't tried to attack his ability yet..
"Advisor Qi, I agree that we should be given a second chance, please allow to fight any battles that we can, but I do disagree with you not allowing us to see our lord. He will want to see us, I demand that you take us to him!"

[Sam]

Pang De being captured had not made the slightest entry into the thoughts of Cheng Qi, he had heard of Yu Jin's but there had been no reports of Pang De, bar that he went missing. The old advisor had so much on his mind he was partially blind and less perceptive.

"General Gongming, ever the perceptive of the bunch aren't you? Indeed I am not the same Cheng Qi, now I am older and hold more favour with the King, than Fan Kuai did with Liu Bang." That favour Cheng Qi knew was soon to expire, a day Cheng Qi didn't long for. On the outside Cheng Qi was professional, nothing vexed him, but on the inside there was a maelstrom of emotions.

Cheng then turned to Pang De, who had the nerve to give him a history lesson albiet brief. "Save the history lessons for the next generation General Pang. I have no use for them. You forget that was is not in part by my hand that Jia Xu was defeated in the end and his lord Zhang Xiu cast down? A man who helps win a single battle cannot be compared to one who helps win a war.

You would be wise to remember that. For it is the same thing I will tell you about Guan Yu. He killed one general, one general - and he is credited with helping us defeat Yuan Shao? It is not the same, for you hand him, and his massive ego in the palm of your hand and you still let him slip!"

Next up was Zhang He for a round. Ding ding. "There are no battles that require you attention as of yet. But with the advance of that purple bearded goof in the south, you would do well to have your soldiers on stand by - what's left of them. For any call to arms from our lord."

"But like I said, our lord is occupied. He will not be able to see you, it would be in the interest of the empire if you do not to press the matter further, for all our sakes." If anyone bar those in the residence to see how the King was and word got out, it wouldn't be long before the shit hit the fan. Cheng Qi was keeping order, no matter what the cost. He hadn't even notified the crown prince...

[Zhang He]

Xu Huang was quite taken back by Cheng Qi's insult, he did not fully understand what he meant, the way he said it suggested that he was holding something from the 3 generals, but what? What could the advisor be holding back? Xu Huang did not reply to what the man said, he simply nodded and continued to think about the situation.

Pang De however responded to the comments made by Cheng Qi, the man clearly had no ability in judging talent, maybe this is why he was mainly a political figure as opposed to the war specialists that stood before him.
"A man who is outwitted, outskilled and then crushed by a man with less than a tenth of Wei's army and with only two officers at his disposal is a better man than you, regardless of the eventual victor." Pang De said in a harsh tone.
"Guan Yu has accomplished so much more than what you credit him, remember Chi Bi? Our lord would be dead by now if it had been any other man.."
Pang De closed his eyes, he did not like to think about what Wei would be like without their incredible leader, Cao Cao was so much more than a figurehead, he was Wei, no man would be able to replace him.

Zhang He spoke upbefore Pang De could continue and make a fool of himself.
"Understood, If Cao Cao wishes to be left alone then so be it. I shall ready my troops right away."
He paused for a moment.
"If all that needs to be said has been said then we shall take our leave, please inform our Lord of our return. If you need anything to be done, please inform us and it shall be taken care of." Zhang He said, the threemen waited to hear what last bit Cheng had to say before taking their leave.

((You can wrap it up sam, and no i dont mean your penis.))

[Sam]

Cheng laughed coldly at Pang De's backlash. "Master Jia is able indeed, we won in the end did we not? Maybe you should take that tongue of yours and rub the defeat at Hanzhong in our lord's face? Or perhaps his miscalculation at Red Cliff?" Cheng was quite harsh in his remarks in the first place, but this was one of his ways of exhaling his inner feelings, and it was efficient enough for him.

Pang De moved on to speak of Guan Yu again, "Again, with Guan Yu. You give him more credit than he is due it seems. He released our lord, why should I respect him for that? For failing in his duty to his own lord? That is not praiseworthy!" Cheng Qi wasn't really surpirsed with Pang De's ignorance, this man was from Xiliang; and as Cheng saw it that place was the spawning point of all barbarians, Ma Teng, Ma Chao, barbarians, the lot of them.

Now Zhang He, suddenly sensible spoke up, Cheng nodded, "Take some rest generals, and remain on hand here for now. Expect summons within the next few days and be prompt in answering them." Cheng didn't want to vex the generals with the impending problem of the empire. It grieved him just thinking about it.

Cheng was about to turn away when he offered a few last words, "Remember, be prompt. Take care generals..." Cheng clasped his hands, and bowed, a sign of respect - out of character after the tongue lashing he had just gave them. He turned away, and once he did his shoulders slumped, as he retreated back into the King's residence, gloom returning to him. It was only a matter of time.