As you take a chance to relieve yourself against a tree just outside your camp, thoughts run through your mind about the battle ahead. A strategy meeting will be held within the administration palace of the city tomorrow morning. You can only hope you have spent your limited time wisely, and fully prepared yourself and your army for the inevitable invasion. It is far too late for doubts or regrets, you have done all you can, the only thing left is for you to trust in your friends and soldiers and lead them to victory, as you always have done. What does concern you is the worrying reports of your estate being targeted by arson attacks, and troublemakers in the Fenshan Valley. You cannot help but feel this is no coincidence, and your lands are purposefully being aimed at here. Still, all you can do is entrust the defence of your home and protection of your sisters to Xu Tong, your aunt and the others. As much as you wish to rush back to your manor to personally oversee it, you cannot allow yourself to be diverted, not now. Another niggling worry that you have is that of the Ge clan, or specifically Ge Dejun. Why was he so obsessed with dismissing you, and trying to weaken your authority? It was not that long ago that the gentry claimed that they were behind you, that Ge Lang sung your praises and said your families would work together to protect the county. Had they already forgotten all that you had done for them? Do they still truly just think of you as a greenhorn, overly idealistic youth who needs to yet prove himself? Were they that forgetful, or was something more malicious at play here? The thought of being doomed to spend your life being undermined by your supposed friends and allies was a troubling one, not to mention rather depressing. Something about the Ge clan's actions and activity of late was problematic to you, and you are quite glad that your smear campaign against them seemed to have went rather well. You can only hope that this means the gentry finally, finally commit themselves to following your commands, instead of being divided.
Your long stream of thoughts, almost as long as the stream of urine snaking away from the base of the tree, are cut suddenly by a familiar voice from behind.
"Hard at work, I see!"
"Ah, Yu Zhong." You state, without turning around. "Apologies, my friend, give me a moment here to finish up." You adjust your robes and rub your hands against the trunk of the tree, before giving them a shake. Turning around, you see your friend and trusted adviser, standing there with his arms folded with a curious look on his face. "What? Don't give me that look. This tree is a good spot. It is nice sometimes to get some privacy away from the camp. I get to collect my thoughts here." You gesture to the south, to your small encampment and the walled city beyond. Yu Zhong lets out a chuckle, just as the sun begins to dip under the horizon.
"I had heard you decided to take a walk. This is good timing, actually, Liang Shu. Assuming you have finished with the tree, I mean." He says, placing a hand on his hip. "We do have some matters to discuss. I think you will be most interested in some intelligence I have managed to uncover during my investigations around the city."
"Oh? Regarding the battle ahead?" You ask. "Well, if we have strategy to discuss, let us return to camp and gather the others!"
Yu Zhong extends a thin index finger, and paces back and forth, waggling it slightly. "Perhaps it will influence the battle, perhaps not. Either way, for now, I think it would be best if this information I am about to share remains between the two of us. Which, funnily enough, makes this...this...pee tree of yours perhaps the perfect place to discuss it, given we are alone."
You watch him pace. He only does that if he has something profound he is desperate to share. "Very well. We can talk about it here, if you think it would be best to talk about it alone. Please, speak freely, Zhong."
"Good. Here, this might be interesting for you. It regards something you asked me to look into, after the New Year." With that, he reaches into his robes, and produces a small, folded piece of parchment, which he hands over to you. You snatch it up, unfurl it, and begin reading.
The parchment contains a letter, and is addressing none other than Sui Yuanjin. From what you can tell, this is part of a continued correspondence, with the writer promising...increased rewards if the murder of the Prefect is brought forward? Is this written by the person who hired the mercenaries to slay Leng Jun? What alarms you is...is the letter is signed by you...?!
No. Wait. You recognise this calligraphy. The delicate characters, the pen strokes... No. No, no, it couldn't be...Could it...? But that would mean...
"By the look on your face, it seems you figured it out." Yu Zhong says, as he takes the parchment back from you. "This letter was written by your dear friend, Ge Maiyu."
You find your hands shaking slightly, as the colour drains from your cheeks. "It couldn't be..."
"I have suspected the Ge for some time, Shu." Yu Zhong explains. "I was worried about discussing this openly with you, given your connections to Ge Maiyu, and the possibility of her having planted her own allies within your estate and ranks. Out of all possible suspects, they are the ones with the motivation and means to hire mercenaries to slay an official of the Han."
"Where...where did you even find that...?"
"My investigation into the County Bureau of Banditry revealed that one of the offices had been taken briefly by Sui Yuanjin, and used to house and station his Crimson Plumes. It seems although he didn't bother removing some of his personal effects from the building. In his clumsiness he left behind this rather incriminating letter." Yu Zhong continues. "Ge Maiyu has a rather distinctive writing style, as well as calligraphy. Without any offence intended, I can say it is more flowery and much lovelier than your own, rather practical and uncomplicated penmanship. It will not be difficult at all to compare them, as proof."
You wonder for a moment how exactly he knows about Ge Maiyu's writing style. He must have read your correspondences with her...
"Why?" You turn around and punch the tree. "Maiyu, why would you do this? Why would you attempt to frame me thus? Did you want Leng Jun dead that much? Is this why you were pushing so hard for me to take action against him? No wonder you acted so over dramatically and bizarrely when I presented my own solution..."
"There's more."
You look back to Yu Zhong, rather seriously. "What else? There is more to this?"
"I am afraid the treachery does not end yet." He sighs. "I thoroughly interviewed attendants, maids and servants employed by the administration building. Two of them, who had served as Leng Jun's personal aides, confessed something to me. Leng Jun did not snub the Ge, Ling and Mu families in regards to the three marriage proposals."
"He didn't?" You distinctly remember hearing otherwise from Maiyu...
Yu Zhong shakes his head. "Ge Lang called off the arrangement with his granddaughter, and convinced the elders of the Ling and Mu to do the same. Ge Lang met with Leng Jun mere moments after the first time we and Fang saw him, presumably to call off the engagement."
Your hands shake again as you realise you were lied to. "That is the opposite of what Maiyu told me! How many other lies has she spun to my face?"
Yu Zhong frowns. "I am afraid she was likely trying to use her wiles to garner sympathy from you, which appears to have worked. It is a classic strategem, for a beautiful lady to use charms and allure to deceive young men. It is fortunate indeed that you, rather intentionally or not, were able to resist them..."
"She was trying to seduce me?"
"Possibly. If anything, we are quite lucky that Fang dragged you to that tournament..."
"Right." You clutch your head, and shake it. "This is rather a lot to take in..." You then realise something. "Hold a moment, Zhong. Ge Lang requested me to have Maiyu's hand in marriage, but that was after the death of Leng Jun..."
"Yes, some things are still rather unclear, I fear." Yu Zhong rubs his chin. "There is more we need to uncover. Still, it seems extremely likely the proposal was just to save face, and distract you from any possible suspicion. I theorise the plan was for you to have been arrested long before the New Year. If Sui Yuanjin had not ended up in the hands of your friend, Lord Dong Zhuo, I am afraid you would be long dead by now."
You look upwards. "Lord Dong...how fortunate I am to have such a good man looking out for me. I owe the General much for all the help he has given me, and I have been so ungrateful, having given him nothing in return for all his aid."
Yu Zhong waves his hands at you. "Yes, yes, well, you can concern yourself with that later, Shu." You placate yourself, and listen to him. "Some of the more...well...corruptible aides and clerks I helped purge from the county offices have something in common. They were recommended by the Ge family, or one of their client clans, shortly after the passing of your father."
You gasp, "How deep does this quagmire go? Now I am starting to wonder just how much Leng Jun was truly at fault... Yu Zhong, who else knows of this?"
"I have told no one else." He says, before extending a finger again. "However, it is only a matter of time before Jia Xu uncovers the same information I have. Indeed, he is a wily one, and may already know more than we do."
Zhang Xiu's strategist...he told you that he was in fact an agent of Dong Zhuo. Zhang Xiu himself said it was his duty to investigate the death of his predecessor.
You need to think carefully about this, as Yu Zhong's statements and revelations spin around inside your head. Tomorrow, Ge Dejun will be joining you in a strategy council, and will be leading forces alongside you on the battlefield. Can you even really consider him an ally, after all this? Can you even be certain that Yu Zhong is correct? You drank to comradeship with the Ge not even that long ago, and you still considered Ge Maiyu a dear friend...Had they been tricking you and deceiving you this entire time? How was that even possible? Just how responsible were they for the condemnable state of Leng Jun's administration? Had everything Ge Maiyu said to you since meeting her been a lie? Or did Yu Zhong have his own agendas here, or was he being overly paranoid? You think this through for a moment, remembering all you can about your interactions with the Ge, and come to your own conclusion.
How do you truly feel about, and react to, this revelation?
[] Furious. The Ge will pay for this! You will reveal all to the Prefect, and see that they get punished for their crimes, post haste!
[] Pleased. This presents an opportunity for you. Now you have a chance to rid your home of this nest of snakes, and flip all of Xinshen to your own influence.
[] Saddened. You are depressed and hurt by this betrayal. You thought Maiyu and the Ge as friends, and cannot help but tear up at being used by them.
[] Paranoid. Just who else has been tricking you and betraying you? How far does all of this go? Who else can't be trusted?
[] Patient. You will focus on the matter at hand for now, the bandits come first. For now, you will set this aside...but you will deal with this, later.
[] Calm. You need more evidence, more proof before you can make a decision here. You calm yourself, and think rationally about this.
[] Write in?
)--she doesn't appear in Records of the Three Kingdoms. But I take your point.
