Aftermath [Open To Wu]

[NPC Account]

The battle drew to a close after a lengthy engagement on the plains just outside of Jian Ye. Many lay dead. Cheng soldiers embedded with arrows that were cast from the wall, a large confederation militia formation was decimated by a calvary charge. Ji Ling's grand host swallowed the defenders; at the end of the day only a handful of soldiers still loyal to Liu Yong were alive in captivity. Liu Yong opened the massive gates to Jian Ye, distraught over the mysterious and shrouded death of his close friends Wang Lang and Yu Fan.

Cheng soldiers marched into the gates of Jian Ye, one of them identified the Imperial Governor immediately, "That's Liu Yong! Kill him!" The crowd parted in a circle, gasping as Liu Yong stood in shock. A captain unsheathed his bloodied sword once more, "For Emperor Yuan Shu!" He charged from the gathering and ran at Liu Yong with his sword raised above his head.

There was a man yelling from above the crowd, on his horse, Shi Yiguan seemed even smaller; but his voice carried through. "Stop right there!" The minister was carrying a very small crossbow in his hands, pointed at the captain.

Liu Yong was surprised, and turned to see who his savior was, and didn't even scowl when he realized it was Shi Yiguan and his silver tongue.

The captain stopped in his tracks, but kept his stance, "But my lord! It's-"

"I know who it is! I'm here to make sure Yuan Shu's orders are carried out! You are to detain Governor Yong and ensure that no bodily harm is done to him." Shi Yiguan placed his crossbow back into his holster smoothly, he then announced to the crowd present: "The Emperor will be a long shortly, he will delighted to inspect the newest addition to the Cheng Empire."

The crowd of soldiers; thousands deep, all yelled in deep unison: "All hail Emperor Yuan Shu!" An eratic cheer followed.

Shi Yiguan rose an eyebrow, "Yes... well..." he whispered to himself bewildered and cast his horse away from the spectacle. Outside the enormous column of Cheng soldiers, a clean-up operation was already underway, recruited peasantry from the city had to stomach carrying their own dead away from the battlefield and digging a massive graveyard outside of Jian Ye. For a time, soldiers were suffice with just throwing huge amounts of bodies into the Yangtze. However Ji Ling decided that wasn't exactly the perfect way to deal with the problem of the dead.

Ji Ling was throughly impressed with how Sun Ce had handled the battle. Though the Shanyue offered little to no resistance, and the late Wang Lang's troops surrendered, they still had the cunning and wit to break the confederation. Ji Ling was a skeptic of the abilities of Sun Ce's force, but they were proving an able contributor to the Cheng Empire. Now with the Emperor's dream of Jian Ye being in his possession, would he allow it to be governed by one of his vassals? There was no doubt that the entirety of Sun Ce's force wanted such a reward, still, the fate of Jian Ye lingered in the air.

The commander sat on his armored horse at the side of the column of solders. Inspecting the troops as they marched inside the city, but very deep inside his own thoughts as well. Shi Yiguan appeared at his side, "Those troops are too excited." Ji Ling smiled, "And why shouldn't they be?"

"Because the battle of Jian Ye isn't really over is it?" Shi Yiguan scoffed, "Bofu will attack the Emperor over the spoils-"

Ji Ling snapped at him immediately, furious, "Hold your tongue-!" He turned in his horse, "...what makes you say that, Shi Yiguan, you are a reasonable person?"

Shi Yiguan grinned though Ji Ling was serious, "Bofu is just as greedy as the Emperor in reality, I doubt he ever wanted to serve Cheng. I could tell in my meeting with that mistress, Lady Xiangli-"

"The admiral...?" Ji Ling spotted the Mengchong fleet in the sunset.

"Yes- that one, she played to Yuan Shu's greed to have him approve the mobilization, clever, everyone in Bofu's entourage is. Bofu requested troops twice, the first time he had an equal exchange: the Imperial Seal. The second -- then he was just being quite irrationally greedy, don't you think?

Lady Xiangli tempted the Emperor by offering him Jian Ye, but Bofu would never let the city slip through his fingers..."

Shi Yiguan wasn't at all concerned with the prospect, he seemed to enjoy being in the middle of the scandal. Ji Ling merely asked, "Are you trying to start a civil war right here?"

He received a chuckle in response, "I don't think I'm the one who's going to start it."

Ji Ling remained quiet and pondered the situation, "The Emperor will offer a deal to Bofu, then the next move in his..." he paused, Shi Yiguan nodded, he had known that Yuan Shu would try to keep the peace with his most talented vassal, "by the way," Ji Ling carried on, "I had heard that Taishi Ci was washed away down the Yangtze..."

"I'll lead the search party, do not worry yourself with it." Shi Yiguan answered, "You have a banquet to attend to celebrate, and do not trouble yourself with any more talk of war."

Ji Ling contemplated as Shi Yiguan rode away.

[Li Wang]

Li Wang did not have the sense of homecoming he'd expected when he accompanied the Cheng-Wu armies into the city; the citizenry scowled at all of the conquering army with hatred, and a few who recognized him scowled at him all the fiercer; Li Wang, a respectable citizen and property owner, had helped invade his own city!

Despite the glares, An-Chuai did not let the emnity of his estranged city affect him. Soon enough, they would come to love the Sun clan, and he would be either a member or retainer, depending on whether or not he ever became an asset enough to be married into the clan.

An-Chuai rode his horse through the throng, and presently came upon Liu Yong. Once he was quite near, he vaulted down from the saddle and humbled himself.

"Oh Governor Liu, I offer my sincerest apologies for taking arms against you. However, in these chaotic times, one with ambition is required to reunite the land. While you are a capable administrator, you lack the ambition prerequisite to keep Jian Ye safe. When the time comes, you should surrender and offer service to my liege." At this, he pressed a small bowl of rice into the govrnor's hand. Inside the bowl, buried within the rice, was a pouch which contained a short note, which read:

Governor, the man I speak of is not the false Emperor, Yuan Shu. Yuan is a greedy man who seeks only his own personal gain, at the expense of all others. Rather, I speak of Sun Ce, who commanded the early stages of the battle and who will be rewarded the prefecture of this city. The Sun clan claims allegiance to Yuan Shu only for the moment, so that it may borrow the strength needed to create it's own, at which point it will unify the land. Sun Ce is a great man, and cares for the people; when the time comes, I implore of you, join us. Your talents should not go to waste in the service of that traitor Yuan Shu.
Li Wang, former resident of Jian Ye, now a General under Sun Ce

Think carefully upon my words governor, and do not let yourself die; eat up! With this, An-Chuai took his leave, riding back to where other Wu officers were gathered.

[NPC Account]

Liu Yong was still in shock when General Li Wang approached him. Liu Yong had remembered his face from a long time ago, and did not even know his name, so when the General began to speak about his lord -- and forgot to introduce himself -- Liu Yong assumed he was a servant of Yuan Shu. Technically, he was anyway, though Liu Yong remained oblivious of the current animosity between Sun Ce's officers and Yuan Shu's.

Li Wang went on, offered his apologies, which Liu Yong mentally refused; and even intepreted the general's words as an insult to his ambition. The only 'ambition' Liu Yong had seen in Cheng was greed.

No emotions surfaced on the former governor's face however, he gave away nothing. His clothes were bloodied, he looked tired, and was probably even malnourished.

Li Wang gave him a bowl of rice, despite the generosity of the general: a bowl of rice would not compensate for the loss of Jian Ye. As the general walked away, beaming with positive energy, Liu Yong scowled at his back. He dropped the bowl to the ground, shattering, the small bag inside remaining hidden, and most likely to be destroyed if left to the elements.

A few supporters of the former governor greeted him, and Liu Yong's face finally showed a smile. The people of Jian Ye still loved him: probably a principle reason why he was still alive. Though Liu Yong swore to himself he would not become a tool of occupation for the Cheng Empire.

As he contemplated his next steps, he was invited into the house of a friendly resident to clean himself up and eat dinner.

[Li Wang]

Li Wang winced as he heard the bowl shatter; it had not been his intention to insult. However, what was done was done, and he'd make sure to have a junior officer loyal to the young Lord Sun clean up the mess, hopefully with the bag still hidden. This would serve a two-fold purpose- the people of Jian Ye would see that Sun Ce cared for the people to the point where officers were tasked with rehabilitating the city, as well as snatching his own and the lord Sun's heads off the chopping block they'd rest on if one of the Cheng officers got ahold of that message.

Wang was careful not to blanch; calmly, he ordered one of his junior officers, a certain Huangfu Liang, to clean up the mess, and discreetly added that anything unusual found in it should be brought directly to himself.

The indicated officer gave a reassuring salute as he crossed over to perform his indicated task; hopefully, no-one would accost a man cleaning rice out of the road. Wang only relaxed once the officer was stooped over the rice, preparing to scoop it up with his helmet. The man would dump the rice into some sort of communal waste area, and under the pretense of grubbing rice grains off the sweaty inside of the helmet would pocket the bag and proceed to deliver it to Li Wang in a discreet manner.

Li Wang would have to write the Governor a letter fully describing his intentions and what he knew of Sun Ce's, most likely using Huangfu Liang to deliver that message in secret while openly carrying a letter asking the Governor for a chance to meet and reminisce about the campaign in which he'd earned the nickname "Yuàn-líng"