"A man like Ma Chao... did you really think a single letter from Big Brother could stop him with just a few words?"
Zhang Fei said it bluntly, but everyone in the hall understood exactly why their lord had been sighing nonstop.
Ma Yuan, Fubo Jiangjun, General Who Calms the Waves, also titled Xinxi Hou, Marquis of Xinxi, was a founding meritorious minister, one of the true pillars of the Han.
He had spent his whole life on campaign: breaking the Longxi Qiang in the west, pacifying Jiaozhou in the south, striking the Wuhuan in the north. He died on the battlefield, his body wrapped in horsehide as he had always wished.
How had the once-glorious Ma clan of Fufeng fallen this far in just one generation?
Liu Bei beckoned toward the doorway, signaling for Ma Su to step inside.
"Since we know what is coming, we ought to send a warning. Regardless of his temperament, Ma Chao has rendered real merit defending Han soil."
This was also why Liu Bei had ultimately agreed to Pang Tong's risky plan back in Zigui. The vision shown by the Light Screen, the chaos of the Five Barbarians, had always sat heavy on his heart. Too much Han blood had already been spilled.
Ma Su walked in from outside. His skin had darkened considerably from sun exposure, and he carried the same road-worn exhaustion as Liu Bei, clearly having returned with him. He bowed respectfully, cupping his hands to greet everyone in the hall. When he spotted his elder brother Ma Liang, he grinned wide, showing two rows of white teeth.
Ma Liang's heart gave a nervous lurch, but in the end he could only force a thin, strained smile in return.
Zhuge Liang paid little attention to Ma Su and instead started laying out the latest intelligence.
"Judging from reports out of Yongzhou and Liangzhou, Ma Chao has shown remarkable patience. He only raised troops at the end of the third month, after Han Sui rose against Cao Cao. Now Han Sui has gathered 100,000 men at Tong Pass on the Wei River, building successive camps to prepare for Cao's army."
Zhuge Liang's judgment was plain and simple. "Our reach does not extend that far. We can only wait and watch."
Jiang Wan frowned at the gap in military strength. "What if Han Sui surrenders to Cao Cao..."
Before he could finish, Liu Bei shook his head firmly.
"Impossible. Han Wenyue is famous across Liangzhou for his political cunning. He has held military power for 30 years. How could a man like that lower his head to become Cao Cao's dog? And even if he did surrender, would Cao Cao truly let him keep command of his forces? That would only be a slower death."
Liu Bei's conclusion was unshakable. "Among all the Guanzhong coalition commanders leading that 100,000-man army, Han Wenyue is the least likely to surrender."
By late April, the heat of Jingzhou had already started to climb. Jian Yong lazily waved his fan back and forth.
"Even so, once Cao's army arrives, they will surely use Ma Teng as leverage. We can only hope the Ma clan avoids the calamity of total extermination."
There was little else anyone could do. As Zhuge Liang had said, this matter was truly beyond their reach.
Setting the issue aside, Liu Bei turned to praise Zhuge Liang and Jiang Wan.
"On my way back from Jiangzhou, I saw this year's spring plowing has gone perfectly. The people have all benefited from the agrarian officers Kongming established. And when the fields yield their harvest, they will surely give thanks for Gongyan's water-powered workshops too."
The two men hurriedly shook their heads, declining the praise with proper modesty.
At last, Liu Bei turned to Ma Liang and Jiang Wan with a faint smile.
"Shiyuan sent word that for this Light Screen session, a brief record will suffice. He specifically asked that any excessive praise directed toward Kongming be deleted entirely."
Both Ma Liang and Jiang Wan burst into laughter.
"Youchang, go sit beside your brother." Liu Bei pointed to the spot next to Ma Liang.
With Zhao Yun and Pang Tong stationed in Yizhou and unable to return, and the chaos in Guanzhong stopping Wei from reinforcing the Xiangyang-Fancheng front, old General Huang had finally been able to come back for some much needed rest.
Liu Bei sat at the seat of honor. To his right sat his second and third brothers, along with Huang Zhong and Wei Yan. To his left, the seats were packed full. Zhuge Liang sat there, feather fan in hand, looking faintly tense as always. Huang Yueying was still frowning over her sketches, half distracted. Ma Liang and Jiang Wan were already loosening their wrists, ready to take notes.
Ma Su sat behind them, brimming with curiosity, completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Jian Yong, meanwhile, chatted leisurely with Mi Zhu about what they had seen in Yizhou.
Noticing Liu Bei's gaze land on him, Jian Yong looked up and smiled.
"My lord, regarding what the Light Screen mentioned earlier, we have received news from Tianshui."
Zhuge Liang immediately perked up, though unfortunately the news was not entirely good.
"The Jiang clan is one of the four great families of Tianshui, with many branches spread across the region. Furthermore, judging from the dynasty timeline shown by the Light Screen, Jiang Wei is likely still only a child. I have already sent men disguised as peddlers to investigate carefully in Tianshui, but it will take time."
Liu Bei nodded. "Xianhe has worked hard."
Then Ma Su noticed something very strange. The civil and military officials in the hall were either relaxing or whispering among themselves. Even Liu Bei, seated at the head, had started nodding off, his head dipping as exhaustion finally caught up with him.
What is going on here? Ma Su was completely baffled. Shouldn't this be the time for civil officials to present strategies, generals to request battle assignments, and their lord to finalize the plan for Yizhou?
He quietly tugged on Ma Liang's sleeve.
Ma Liang slapped his hand away. "Hold your tongue. Watch."
Ma Su sat up straight immediately. The second he looked up, he saw the air in the middle of the hall split open, as if an invisible hand had torn a rift right through space itself.
He could not stop himself from blurting out, "Ah! Heavens, what is that?!"
Liu Bei jolted awake. He looked up at the Light Screen and stretched lazily. "Finally. It's here."
To Ma Su's utter shock, no one else in the hall seemed surprised at all. Several people were even looking at him with faint, unreadable smiles.
"Watch more, listen more, write more. Do not speak." Ma Liang repeated his warning firmly. He truly felt he had done everything an elder brother possibly could.
Under Ma Su's wide-eyed gaze, the tear in the air gradually smoothed itself into a flat glowing surface.
Complex yet beautiful music rang out, and words began appearing upon the Light Screen. Though the script looked different from what he normally read and wrote, the meaning became clear the second his eyes passed over it.
What is this? Why are my lord and elder brother not surprised at all? Could it be...
Ma Su suddenly remembered the first time he had served as gatekeeper for the strategist. Even then, he had believed this side hall to be the true core council chamber. But now it seemed it held an even more earth-shattering secret.
[Lightscreen]
[Hello everyone, this is your uneducated host, Wen Mang. Today's keyword is: Campaign of Mount Qi!]
[Server Chat Log]
[Phantom Blade: Holy hell, it's finally here! Didn't expect the host to jump straight from Yiling and Shu governance all the way to this. So Cao Pi just got skipped entirely?
Laughing Grandmaster: What's there to say about Cao Pi? The only chance he had for a heroic entrance was Yiling, and he personally managed to miss it. Then he attacked Wu three times and somehow ended up padding Sun Quan's battle record instead. Truly an unexpected EXP pack.
Scholar of the High-Speed: Stop talking about Cao Pi, I'm here to cry for the Prime Minister. "Dying before victory was won, leaving later heroes with robes drenched in tears." One hour by high-speed rail today, a lifetime for the Prime Minister back then. One economy fighting three kingdoms... way too hard.
Ticket-Stub Diviner: Just found out today that maybe it's to commemorate the Prime Minister: the ticket from Chengdu to Xi'an is exactly 263 yuan, because Shu Han fell in 263.
Distracted Disciple: Damn it, I'm literally studying for exams right now. We ministers are about to bury ourselves in books, why did the host update now!?
Keyboard Tactician: Honestly, looking back, if the Prime Minister had just stayed put, Wei might've split into Eastern and Western Wei on its own. But the moment he attacked, all of Wei's internal conflicts got redirected outward.
Unofficial Registrar: Real talk, Wei Yan should've changed his name to Zhuge Yan. He only made it through the Northern Expeditions because the Prime Minister protected him, and the moment the Prime Minister died he got chopped.
Truth-Seeking Gossip: Now that you mention it, the Prime Minister treated Liu Shan, Wei Yan, and Ma Su like his own sons. Except... who didn't he have time for?
Pulse-Checking Physician: Oof. But I'm a med student, and our professor actually mentioned this before. The Prime Minister was probably so overworked his health suffered badly, which is why he only had a son at 46 and still had no time to raise him. Modern 996 already destroys sperm vitality; his schedule was even more brutal.
Archive-Scouring: Not a med student so I can't comment, but I checked the Huang Quan matter. According to Wei records, including Huang Quan, 43 people from that group were enfeoffed as marquises, and over 100 became Generals or Colonels. That really shows the quality of Shu Han's talent pool.
Blood-Venom: Damn, now I want to vomit blood even more... Liu Huangshu, what have you done? Running a military academy like Chiang Kai-shek? You barely had any talent to begin with, and you sent half to Wu and the other half to Wei. Didn't keep a single one.]
Liu Bei pressed his fingers to his temples.
This damned descendant, please, stop talking. I already feel like vomiting blood.
Whether it was the western campaign or the journey eastward, every time he passed through the Yiling route, it left him full of tangled emotion.
Neither Ma Su nor Ma Zhong understood why their lord kept sighing. Only Liu Bei himself knew he had seen another version of himself, hair white with age, face full of grief, who had wagered everything built over more than 60 years and lost it all.
But at least, Liu Bei comforted himself, Huang Quan and the others were treated well. That is the best possible outcome from that disaster.
For the first time in his life, Zhuge Liang felt heat rise to his face. Tch... Are the people of the future always this... unfiltered? Caring about his legacy was one thing, but discussing that particular matter so openly?
Zhuge Liang had read widely, including the Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic, so he understood exactly what the Light Screen was implying.
Since both husband and wife were in the room, the others made a point of looking away, as if that part had never appeared. Several glances drifted toward Wei Yan instead.
Treated like a beloved son by the strategist! Zhang Fei, naturally, was delighted by the spectacle.
He looked at Wei Yan's flushed face, then at Guan Yu, and shook his head. "The resemblance. Too much alike."
Then he looked at the elegant, youthful Zhuge Liang, then back at the battle-worn, older-looking Wei Yan, and shook his head again.
"Strange. Too strange."
Wei Yan simply shut his eyes, pretending he could not hear a thing.
Guan Yu, meanwhile, was unexpectedly kind. "Yide, come rest with me in Jiangling tonight. Once you've had proper rest, you can return to Linju tomorrow."
Ma Su also saw his own name appear on the screen. Completely at a loss, he turned to his brother.
"Watch more, speak less. Don't overthink it." Ma Liang patted his shoulder reassuringly.
Ma Su gradually calmed down. Then he secretly glanced at the extraordinarily handsome strategist sitting ahead of him, and a wild, ridiculous thought popped into his head unbidden.
Is this Light Screen telling me to acknowledge him as my foster father?
[Lightscreen]
[In 225, the Prime Minister pacified the southern regions, completely eliminating the rear threat to the Northern Expedition.
That same year, Jiang Ji, the man who once forced Sun Quan to retreat with a single letter, wrote the Treatise on the Three Provinces to advise Cao Pi not to launch an invasion.
But as history loves to repeat itself, the Emperor did not listen. He returned empty-handed, and only ended up giving the King of Wu one last boost in prestige. Since Cao Pi was destined to die of illness the following year, the Prime Minister considered the situation and concluded: time for the Northern Expedition.
Sun Quan had the same thought and tried to strike Jiangxia and Xiangyang, only to suffer a crushing defeat and help create Wen Ping's nickname, the General Who Sleeps Through Battle. We'll talk about that another time.
In short, the Prime Minister always preferred stability. He decided on the Northern Expedition in 226, gathered troops in Hanzhong in 227, and formally marched in the spring of 228, catching Cao Wei completely off guard.]
Everyone's reaction to Cao Pi was complicated. Unexpected, yet somehow entirely expected.
"It seems Cao Pi's ministers must have lacked yin balance," Huang Zhong said dryly.
Zhang Fei frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Too much internal fire," Huang Zhong replied with three simple words.
Guan Yu, however, greatly admired this approach to warfare. "A general's work must be calm and deep-thinking, upright and disciplined. Kongming's method of war bears the style of a true master."
Zhuge Liang, meanwhile, still remembered the Xiangyang-Fancheng campaign from the Light Screen. "Yunchang is the true master of war. In the Xiangyang-Fancheng campaign, the situation was perilous and the window of opportunity brief. To seize the moment and annihilate seven armies in one stroke, such is the mark of a famous general."
The two men exchanged warm smiles. Beside them, Wei Yan's face was full of unreserved admiration.
[Lightscreen]
[But in truth, before the formal campaign even began, the Prime Minister and Sima Yi, those two old rivals, had already exchanged moves from afar.
Remember Meng Da? The Prime Minister's plan was actually quite straightforward: create an established fact of Meng Da's rebellion, leaving him no choice but to move along the path laid out for him.
Meng Da served as Administrator of Xincheng. Its predecessor encompassed Fangling, Shangyong, and Xicheng, connected to both Wu and Shu. The terrain was critically important.
If chaos could be stirred there, the Northern Expedition would become far easier. Perhaps even taking Chang'an in a single campaign would no longer be a dream.
Unfortunately for Meng Da, the one handling him was Sima Yi.
Sima Yi wrote letters promising rich rewards to soothe him, while simultaneously forcing his army into a relentless day-and-night march.
And then Meng Da's old flaw resurfaced: he actually started haggling with Sima Yi.
So 8 days later, Sima Yi arrived at the city gates and caught Meng Da completely off guard.
Sixteen days after that, Meng Da's nephew and subordinate generals opened the gates and surrendered.
Meng Da was executed.]