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Zhang Fei, meanwhile, with horror in his expression, stepped between Liu Bei and the others, his massive frame blocking the way. "Brother, no matter the news, you do not take it out on your wife and our sister in law!"
Then Zhang Fei took a step forward, veins bulging in his neck. "You raise your hand to a woman who's never wronged you and accompanied you for so long?! We've fought tyrants and madmen together, Big Brother, but this?!"
"She doesn't understand, none of you understand! I trusted Liu Qi! I tried to be a father to him! And now, he hands the city to Lie Fan! Like a pet dog licking his master's boots!"
Guan Yu's voice was colder than ice. "You speak of betrayal, big brother. But it is not Liu Qi who has disgraced himself today."
Liu Bei stared at him, breath heaving, eyes bloodshot.
For a long, painful moment, the three sworn brothers stood in silence.
Then Lady Gan, trembling, managed to keep herself at her feet with the help of a maid. She looked not at her husband, but at Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.
"I will retire to the temple for now," she said softly. "Please excuse me, generals."
Neither man stopped her. Liu Bei didn't move.
When she was gone, Zhang Fei finally spoke again.
"If this is how you lead your house, how can you claim to lead a nation, Big Brother?"
Liu Bei's lip curled when he heard that. "Since when do you lecture me, Yide? You, who cannot hold your wine or your temper?"
The insult hung in the air like a blade. Zhang Fei's face darkened. Guan Yu's face was ashen, his hand clenched tightly. For the first time in their sworn brotherhood, there was doubt.
Later that night, Liu Bei sat alone in the darkness of his study. The candle beside him flickered in silence. The scroll detailing Xinye's surrender lay beside untouched wine.
Liu Bei seethed.
He had spent years crafting his image, the benevolent lord, the virtuous leader, the man who wept for his people. And now, in a single moment of weakness, it was crumbling around him.
All because of Liu Qi. All because of Lie Fan.
His fingers curled into fists.
Lie Fan had won. Not with armies, but with cunning. With timing.
And Liu Bei? He had nothing.
He reached for the wine at last and drank deeply, the bitterness numbing his tongue. Outside, the city slept. But inside, Liu Bei dreamed only of fire. And revenge.
The next day, the news of Liu Bei's outburst spread through Xiangyang like wildfire.
Whispers could be heard in every corner of Xiangyang.
"Did you hear? He struck his own wife."
"He called her nothing but a vessel."
"Is this the man we follow?"
Even his most loyal officers and followers hesitated when they saw him. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, though they did not openly defy him, were distant. The unshakable bond between the three brothers had been fractured.
Meanwhile, at Xinye, Lie Fan stood atop the walls of Xinye, watching as the Qilin and Xuanwu army prepared for the next phase of the campaign.
Zhuge Liang stood beside him, his fan fluttering gently. "Liu Bei will not take this lightly, my lord."
Lie Fan smirked. "No. He will rage. He will lash out. And in doing so, he will reveal his true nature to the world."
Zhuge Liang nodded. "And when he does, the people will see him for what he truly is, especially Guan Yu and Zhang Fei."
Lie Fan nodded, his gaze calm yet sharp like a blade sheathed in silk. "Let the fire consume what little goodwill he has left. If we're lucky, it will burn the bridge between him and the only two men who've ever truly stood by him."
Zhuge Liang's fan swayed lightly, his eyes glinting with quiet calculation. "And if it does, my lord?"
"Then," Lie Fan said with a slight smile, "I will give Guan Yu and Zhang Fei what Liu Bei could not, clarity. A cause worth dying for, led by a man who doesn't mistake sentiment for strategy."
The winds tugged gently at their robes as they stood atop Xinye's walls, the camp below alive with the rhythm of steel, voices, and preparation. The Qilin and Xuanwu armies had rested, horses groomed, rations resupplied, and wounds tended. Now, the march toward Xiangyang would begin in earnest. Lie Fan would not give Liu Bei the luxury of time.
Back in Xiangyang, the candlelight of the great council chamber flickered over tense faces.
Liu Bei sat at the head of the room, but there was no warmth in his presence. The man who once wore humility like a second skin now seemed a ghost draped in pride, haunted by paranoia. His eyes, bloodshot and sunken from a sleepless night, swept over his gathered commanders and advisors with quiet contempt.
Around him stood Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, silent and distant, as if they were watching a stranger speak from behind their brother's face. Chen Dao stood with arms crossed, unreadable.
Cang Xiu, Liao Hua, and Sun Guan exchanged furtive glances. Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue stood to one side, while Ju Shou and Wang Xiu remained quietly contemplative.
Liu Bei broke the silence with a bark.
"He is coming," he said. "Lie Fan marches from Wan with his armies. He will not stop. He will not reason. He seeks to rob us of our capital!"
He slammed his hand on the lacquered wood table. "I ask you, all of you, how do we respond?"
The room was silent.
Then Kuai Yue cleared his throat, his words cautious. "My lord… we may consider reinforcing the city walls, ensuring all food stores are secured, and opening negotiations through an intermediary. Perhaps a gesture to stall his advance while we gather our army to Xiangyang from the south."
Liu Bei's eyes narrowed. "Stall?"
Kuai Liang interjected. "We do know of his exact intentions, my lord. Lie Fan comes seeking occupation, we must be prepared, and being on the defensive was the only choice we could make. Siege—"
"A siege?!" Liu Bei's laugh was bitter. "You suggest we cower behind walls while Lie Fan picks apart our lands? Is that the wisdom of the Kuai brothers?"
Kuai Yue's lips thinned. "My lord, we must also consider the morale of the people. After recent… events…"
He didn't need to say more. Liu Bei's jaw clenched.
Ju Shou, who had been listening in silence, cleared his throat. "If I may, my lord, we still hold the river crossings south of the city. If we fortify those positions, we can delay Lie Fan's advance long enough to—"
"Delay?!" Liu Bei's fist slammed onto his armchair. "I do not want delays! I want victory!"
Another silence, heavier than the last.
Guan Yu, who had been standing like a statue, finally spoke. His voice was low, and measured, but there was an edge to it that had never been there before.
"Big brother… if we act rashly, we risk everything."
Liu Bei's eyes burned into him. "Since when do you counsel caution, Yun Chang? Since when do the brothers of the Peach Garden shy from battle?"
Guan Yu's brow twitched, but he said nothing. Zhang Fei, arms folded, looked away.
He stood now, voice rising. "Do you think I am blind? Do you all think me a fool? I know what this is, cowardice wrapped in counsel!"
Cang Xiu's tone was neutral, measured. "My lord, this is not cowardice. It is prudence. Lie Fan's forces are rested, well supplied, and his reputation grows with every battle. We must be prepared before committing to a confrontation that may destroy us."
Liu Bei laughed, a dry, hollow thing.
"You speak of his reputation?" he spat. "That upstart is a snake who worms his way into cities through soft hearts and softer minds! Xinye was ours! Liu Qi was my godson!"
His voice cracked with fury.
"And now we grovel at the feet of a child who believes he's a king?"
He looked around the room, at their eyes, their stilled hands, their silence, and he saw it.
Doubt.
Liu Bei's voice dropped, venom lacing his tone.
"Tell me the truth. How many of you have already spoken with him in secret? How many of you send word to Xinye like simpering traitors?"
Ju Shou hearing that stepped forward. "My lord," he said with quiet steel. "We are here answering your call. That alone proves our loyalty."
"Is it?" Liu Bei shot back. "Because what I see are empty eyes and shivering tongues."
He pointed at Ju Shou, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, and Wang Xiu. "You speak like merchants. Not one of you offers me a real strategy. Only delay. Only preparations. Only excuses."
Then he turned to Cang Xiu. "And you. I remember when you would speak plainly to me. What happened? Have you already packed your bags to join Lie Fan's court?"
Cang Xiu didn't flinch. "What happened, my lord, is that you no longer listen to our counsel."
Liu Bei's face reddened.
Zhang Fei feeling he had listened enough stepped forward before things exploded. "Big Brother," he said slowly, "You asked for advice. You have it. You may not like what you hear, but it was given in loyalty."
Liu Bei spun to face him.
"You. You dare lecture me again, Yide? Are you still pouting about yesterday? Is that what this is about?"
Zhang Fei stiffened at those words. Guan Yu who was scolded before, stepped in between them so that Zhang Fei didn't do anything rash.
"This is not a battlefield, Big Brother," he said. "Save your wrath for the one who marches on us."
But Liu Bei's anger was no longer restrained. "You both think I've changed? That I've lost my way? You think I've become something else?''
He stepped forward, accusing finger pointed. "Well, maybe I have! But while you two clung to honor like children with toys, I carried the burden of ruling! Of sacrifice!"
"You mourn virtue while I drown in politics, betrayals, and blood! You would not last a day in my place!"
No one responded. The silence was thunderous.
Then, Ju Shou said quietly, "You do not lead by screaming, my lord."
The words hung in the air like a blade.
Liu Bei's face contorted. He clenched his fists as the hall seemed to hold its breath. Then—
"Get out."
The command was quiet. Deadly.
"All of you. Get out."
No one moved.
"GET OUT!"
The advisors bowed stiffly and retreated. The generals followed, though Guan Yu and Zhang Fei lingered for a heartbeat longer, their gazes unreadable. Then they, too, turned and left. Liu Bei was alone. Alone with his rage and paranoia. Alone with his crumbling empire.
Later that night, in a small pavilion at the back of the compound, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei sat in silence, a jug of wine untouched between them. Zhang Fei looked out into the moonlight, jaw clenched. "He's not the same anymore, second brother," he muttered. "Not the big brother we swore with under that peach tree."
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Name: Lie Fan
Title: Overlord Of The Central Plains
Age: 33 (200 AD)
Level: 16
Next Level: 462,000
Renown: 1325
Cultivation: Yin Yang Separation (level 9)
SP: 1,121,700
ATTRIBUTE POINTS
STR: 951 (+20)
VIT: 613 (+20)
AGI: 598 (+10)
INT: 617
CHR: 96
WIS: 519
WILL: 407
ATR Points: 0