Bu Zhi, courtesy name Zishan, had previously served as Lu Su's capable deputy when Lu Su was Administrator of Jiangxia.
Now encountering one another upon the Han River, logic dictated that Bu Zhi should have righteously raised his voice, angrily demanding why Lu Su had defected from Marquis Sun, and where Gan Xingba was now.
Yet upon drawing close and seeing General Lu calmly ask him where he was headed, Bu Zhi instead found his own confidence faltering.
After all, when he had been stationed in Jiangxia, it was the frontline facing Jiangling, and he had consecutively served under both Lu Su and Lü Meng.
Having personally witnessed the internal struggles of Jiangdong from the front row, Bu Zhi dared harbor no improper thoughts. Even now, he maintained a respectful attitude toward Lu Su.
"Where is General Lu headed?"
After carefully examining the banner on the small boat, Lu Su smiled.
"Where Zishan goes, so too do I go."
Bu Zhi nodded. In truth, he did not know why he was nodding. After that, silence fell. The two men stood separately at the bow, watching the river flow and clouds drift.
An air of awkwardness spread across the river.
Normally, two boats traveling side by side like this could not maintain the formation for long. But perhaps the boat owners, seeing the two men speaking and assuming they were acquaintances, made a deliberate effort to keep pace. From Bu Zhi's position, he could step across to General Lu's boat in a single stride.
At such proximity, saying nothing felt unreasonable. So Lu Su casually proposed:
"The boatman just caught a fat crucian carp. I recall Zishan is fond of the taste. Why not come over and eat together?"
In the end, Bu Zhi found himself kneeling at the bow beside Lu Su, muddled and confused, conducting a silent self-critique in his heart.
It must be because I heard there was a fat crucian carp that my resolve was shaken.
I am loyal to Marquis Sun.
Yet seeing Lu Su on the other side, relaxed and frequently checking the color of the fish soup as it cooked, Bu Zhi ultimately could not suppress the doubt in his heart.
"General Lu, why is it that…"
His words trailed off. Using the word betrayal felt too heavy, too difficult to speak aloud.
Lu Su merely smiled, ladling soup into Bu Zhi's bowl.
"Eat the fish."
But Bu Zhi did not accept this evasion. He stared at Lu Su with stubborn insistence.
"General Lu, now that General Ziming has already… Marquis Sun speaks your name daily. Everyone within and beyond the hall knows it."
Lu Su sighed at this, then tossed aside the ladle and stood up straight.
"Things have come to this. What more is there to say?"
Returning to Jiangdong, even if Marquis Sun did not hold it against him, a thorn would remain lodged between them. In times of adversity, they could work together wholeheartedly. But once Jiangdong stabilized, then what?
Moreover, after hearing the Prefect Jiang's explanation, Lu Su already understood that to salvage Jiangdong's perilous situation would require the strength to prop up a collapsing edifice.
Betraying allies abroad, aligning with Cao's faction within, unrest among the mountain tribes in the north, and Gan Gui moving freely along the river. The Jiangdong that once blunted Cao's edge at Red Cliffs now collapsed at the slightest touch, beset on all sides.
If he were still in Jiangdong, he would have no excuse to shirk responsibility. But now, his aged mother would never agree to return there.
Enough. Enough.
He would go to Chang'an, meet Lord Liu and Kongming to fulfill his promise. After that, he would find a place of peace and stability, farm the land to support his mother, and open a school to teach and nurture students. That would be good.
These were Lu Su's truest thoughts. The grand enterprise of Jiangdong, the restoration of the Han, the Cao clan's monopoly of power. What did any of that have to do with him?
Bu Zhi's face showed traces of conflict. In the end, he still pressed on.
"Has General already pledged himself to the General of the Left?"
Lu Su shook his head. But from Bu Zhi's choice of title for Liu Bei, he keenly realized something.
"Is Zishan's journey meant to seek rapprochement with Lord Xuande?"
Seeing Lu Su deny it, and trusting the character of his former superior, Bu Zhi relaxed somewhat and nodded.
"Within and without Jiangdong, all desire to halt the weapons."
"Halt the weapons." Lu Su smiled faintly and did not bother discussing who had initiated the war. Still, this did indeed fit Marquis Sun's style.
Moreover, based on Lu Su's understanding, Bu Zhi likely carried a personal letter from Marquis Sun, its contents surely filled with generous promises.
Only, having already been stabbed in the back by Jiangdong, would Lord Xuande truly believe it?
Thinking this way, Lu Su instead felt a genuine sense of relief.
At least he no longer needed to exhaust himself over this impossible mess.
With that thought, even the fat crucian carp seemed to smell more fragrant.
Bu Zhi noticed that General Lu's mood had inexplicably improved. Yet for some reason, there also seemed to be a trace of pity in the way he looked at him.
Reflecting on it himself, Bu Zhi also felt the irony. Last year, a woman of the Bu clan had married Marquis Sun as his wife. At the time, everyone believed the Bu clan's ascent in Jiangdong had arrived.
Yet at the start of this year, the great war left the Bu clan reeling. Bu Zhi, due to Lady Bu's status, obtained this assignment to travel as envoy to Chang'an. But thinking about how Lord Liu had been betrayed first and then approached for peace, no matter how one looked at it, this was not a pleasant errand. Even his favorite crucian carp held no appeal.
A hint of grievance even rose in Bu Zhi's heart.
Last year, clan elders had repeatedly persuaded him to mediate the marriage between Lady Bu and Marquis Sun. This year, after the crushing defeat, those same elders now avoided him whenever they met, washing their hands of the matter clean.
Looking again at General Lu, Bu Zhi instead felt a trace of desolation.
"General Lu, do you have any good wine?"
At the same time, Gan Ning was in Jiangxia, thoroughly inspecting the ships moored at the docks.
The massive vessels were not present, but the warships modified under Lady Huang's designs, better suited for mounting giant crossbows, were already enough to astonish Gan Ning.
What was more, he even saw two vessels said to be experimental models.
Experimental ships were nothing unfamiliar to Gan Ning from his days in Jiangdong. Back then, they were often bizarre contraptions, some of which began sinking the moment they left the dock.
But the shipwrights of Jiangling were different. On a platform beside the dock, the master craftsman spread out blueprints one by one, explaining the design logic of the new ships in meticulous detail, orderly and precise, occasionally even questioning Gan Ning.
"General Gan is truly a naval general? How is it you do not understand such basic principles of shipbuilding?"
Gan Ning chuckled without the slightest irritation. He could hardly admit that his naval combat doctrine consisted of just two steps, accelerate and board bravely.
A brief review of recent battle results was enough to show the talent of these shipwrights. Instead, Gan Ning clung to the master craftsman with an ingratiating expression.
"Old sir, tell me more about that swing-arm."
The most eye-catching feature of these two experimental ships was undoubtedly the pair of wooden pillars erected at both bow and stern. Above hung massive stones, below were pulleys. Soldiers inside the cabin hoisted the stones with winches, and the soldiers at the bow and stern aimed at enemy ships and released them directly, with unparalleled force.
Speaking of it, the master craftsman's face filled with admiration.
"These experimental ships were originally meant to mount multiple ship-mounted crossbows. But later, a descendant of a Hanzhong ship engineer presented ship diagrams to Lord Xuande. Master Zhuge extracted this swing-arm design from them, and only then did we refit the ships overnight."
"Truly unmatched in power. With ship-mounted crossbows at range and swing-arms up close, who could stand against such warships?"
Gan Ning sighed in sincere agreement.
"Indeed. Who could stand against them?"