People from the East

When I first heard from Liu Bei that Zhuge Jin was coming, I wasn’t greatly surprised.

Left General, Governor of Jingzhou. It’s among the highest positions Sun Quan, who hasn’t yet declared himself emperor and remains as King of Wu, can bestow.

That such a prominent figure was coming in person clearly demonstrated the seriousness of this situation.

It was as expected. Currently, Han’s position was like a casting voter that could have a massive influence on the direction of the game.

Wei and Wu. Both countries had prepared border defenses in anticipation of our intervention, but would that be enough to stop Han’s military power? It’s just to hold out until the main force stops the war and comes to support.

Wei, having already crossed a river they can’t fully turn back from, is one thing.

For Wu, whose national power is already inferior, they would want to somehow guide our blade to target Wei.

There was no particular need to hide the fact that Zhuge Jin was coming, so I informed my people who were keeping their places as visitors.

“I still don’t understand well. Why has Sun Quan made such a dangerous choice with the threat of our country next door?”

“That’s right. It’s too reckless a judgment to simply ride the momentum and continue it.”

Bu Zhan and Ma Dai showed skepticism about Sun Quan’s northern expedition itself.

They said that even considering that Zhuge Liang had spread rumors to create an opening in Wei and used my marriage proposal to induce Lu Xun to be sent to the battlefield, the risk was too great.

But what I had heard from Zhuge Liang was the opposite of their thoughts.

“This isn’t Sun Quan being greedy and overreaching, but the result of inevitably following the natural course.”

“You’re saying this is the natural course?”

“Because if not now, it will be too late. An opportunity that may never come again has arrived, so we should call following it the natural course.”

“Too late? Wouldn’t it be advantageous for them to fully absorb Jingzhou they took from us this time and wait for another chance when our country and Cao Cao are fighting?”

To Ma Dai’s question, I shook my head.

There was a reason Sun Quan had to hurry. After confirming that no one was eavesdropping on our conversation, I carefully said:

“Sun Quan must want to ascend to emperor too.”

“Emperor…”

Wei and Han are imperial countries. But Wu is a kingdom.

The gap might seem trivial at first glance, but there was a very big difference.

“But to declare himself emperor, Sun Quan lacks justification.”

Cao Pi of Wei received abdication from Emperor Xian of the former Han, who held legitimacy. Outwardly, it was a peaceful abdication, not a usurpation by force, so this is legitimacy.

Liu Bei of Han, bearing the Liu surname of the former Han, pointed out the injustice of the abdication and newly raised the banner of the broken Han imperial family. When everyone was pursuing the way of hegemony, he alone walked the kingly way rooted in the people, so this is the right way.

But Sun Quan had none of these.

No emperor of the old era to abdicate to him, no surname and popular support to ascend to the throne himself, nothing.

Therefore, what Sun Quan needed was merit. He craved overwhelming achievements that would establish authority to suppress discontent.

Zhuge Liang said that what he did was nothing more than giving a little push to someone who wanted to rush out right away.

“I see…”

The two who heard my explanation sent gazes of admiration. I shrugged my shoulders and told them the truth.

“Don’t look at me like that. Everything I said was just relaying the Chancellor’s words.”

Zhuge Liang’s explanation wasn’t just this.

The friction between Sun Quan’s close faction and the powerful clans within Eastern Wu.

The possibility that Sun Quan thought it was a fight worth trying due to Wei’s weakening.

He talked about various other things too, but I omitted those.

Bu Zhan, who had been praising Zhuge Liang’s analysis, suddenly asked as if he had thought of something:

“Then wasn’t this marriage proposal unnecessary? If Sun Quan was going to wage war anyway…”

“It’s not to reassure Sun Quan, but to send out Lu Xun.”

The one who interrupted Bu Zhan’s words and cut in was not me, but Fei Yi.

He naturally joined the seat while wearing his usual faint smile.

“The envoys from Wu will have a hard time.”

At Fei Yi’s sudden words, Ma Dai criticized him for saying something so out of place. Fei Yi lightly laughed it off, but I caught the hidden meaning in Fei Yi’s words.

Fei Yi must have noticed Zhuge Liang’s plan.

“So that’s why they’re sending Zhuge Jin too.”

§

But I didn’t know Zhuge Ke would come too.

“I am Zhuge Ke. My courtesy name is Yuanxun.”

In the Wu delegation that came after the funeral procession was over, there was an unexpected figure far beyond my expectations.

Zhuge Ke.

A name I never imagined I would face so soon.

Zhuge Ke, one of the figures responsible for the later period of the Three Kingdoms, was a person who showed such remarkable activity that it could be said that if Shu had Jiang Wei, Wu had Zhuge Ke.

His wit shown from childhood was just the basics.

The astonishing military talent he displayed in the Battle of Dongxing, which could barely be compared to Jiang Wei’s Battle of Didao where he achieved a great victory.

The cold yet immediate political acumen he showed in surviving the Incident at the Eastern Palace while abandoning his own son.

Just looking at ability alone, Zhuge Ke can easily be counted among the top fingers in the late Three Kingdoms period.

However, even such a Zhuge Ke had flaws. And very blatant weaknesses at that.

‘The problem is his personality.’

Arrogant, proud, stingy, haughty, and hasty.

These were the negative evaluations of Zhuge Ke left in historical records.

True to those evaluations, Zhuge Ke was too confident in his own abilities and ended up failing to achieve any of self-cultivation, family management, governance, or bringing peace to the world, and drove everything to ruin.

He himself was executed, his clan was exterminated, and the country lost its foundation.

The one who predicted this better than anyone else was none other than his own father, Zhuge Jin. But to think that Zhuge Jin would bring his son at such a crucial moment like this.

‘Is Zhuge Jin’s concern for Zhuge Ke about later than now? Or could there have been changes in Zhuge Ke because of me?’

If it was the former, it might not matter, but if it was the latter, I needed to be cautious.

A Zhuge Ke who had resolved his personality issues might be a formidable opponent on par with Lu Xun.

‘I’ll need to keep this in mind.’

I thought I was maintaining a poker face as much as possible, but maybe something showed somewhere. Zhuge Ke’s gaze on me was not ordinary.

While Zhuge Ke and I were observing each other, the conversation between Zhang Shao and Zhuge Jin, the leaders of both sides, progressed steadily.

Although I was higher than Zhang Shao in both rank and fame, the reason Zhang Shao became the person in charge was simple. This place was not a meeting between Wu’s envoys and Han’s officials, but a meeting between the Zhang family and the condolence delegation.

Zhang Shao, myself, and the people of the Zhang family were still wearing mourning clothes. We could have taken off the mourning clothes early using the gongchu law, but no one did.

It wasn’t an urgent situation for official duties right away, and we thought even the 36-day short mourning period was short enough. In fact, not much of those 36 days remained.

The attire of Zhuge Jin’s condolence delegation was just as modest as ours. Not official robes but civilian clothes, plain single-colored clothes without fancy patterns or colors.

It gave a strong impression that they had come to sincerely pay condolences. Zhuge Jin was no ordinary person, knowing how to move the other party with an empathetic mindset.

After exchanging greetings and words of comfort with Zhang Shao, Zhuge Jin first brought up the main point.

“Then, would it be alright to pay respects now?”

Since the ostensible purpose of the visit was to offer condolences, like when I went as Cao Cao’s condolence delegation, it was planned to proceed with paying respects first and then have a meeting as envoys.

“Yes, please follow me.”

While Cao Cao, due to his status, had to visit the family shrine to pay respects, now we visited Zhang Bao’s actual grave.

Zhuge Jin truly paid his respects with full sincerity. So did Zhuge Ke.

Though arrogant, Zhuge Ke had sharp political sense. Knowing the time and place was basic for him.

After paying respects, the condolence delegation returned directly to the lodgings prepared for the envoys. This was the end of today’s schedule.

I quietly watched their retreating backs.

“Are you concerned?”

Zhang Shao, who had approached without me noticing, asked.

“About Zhuge Ke?”

“Yes. You were looking at him often.”

“…Yes, I’m concerned.”

“Hmm… not as a man, right?”

“Brother.”

Glare.

As I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, Zhang Shao awkwardly laughed and held up both hands.

“Ahaha, it’s a joke. Don’t look at me so fiercely.”

Honestly, because it’s really scary.

Pretending not to have heard the last part muttered quietly.

I was slightly surprised that Zhang Shao had laughed for the first time in a long time, or more precisely, for the first time since starting the mourning, and said:

“You laughed…”

“We can’t keep being sad forever.”

Zhang Shao lightly brushed off my words and continued what he had just said.

“But why Zhuge Ke?”

“He has talent.”

“Hmm, for you to be concerned… Indeed, he is famous.”

“You know about him too, brother?”

“Of course. He’s famous as the child prodigy of Eastern Wu. Though he’s probably not at your level, of course.”

“Well…”

It was hard to say if Zhuge Ke had successfully reformed and was in an awakened state.

‘Even if his position is low, he probably won’t have much influence, but I’d like to confirm if possible.’

My thoughts deepened.