Zhuge Liang naturally had no idea that someone elsewhere had claimed familiarity with him.
Seeing the light screen already beginning to shift images, Kongming did not waste words. He raised three fingers and said calmly,
"Three questions only. After that, you may watch together with us. With Zijing's talent, it should not be difficult to piece together the truth."
That was the limit. Lu Su could ask only three questions.
After the initial shock had passed, Lu Su observed how relaxed everyone else in the hall appeared. Zhang Fei's gaze, undisguised and oddly gentle, looked at him like one would look at a confused child. Combined with the intelligence reports he had seen earlier about Liu Bei's mysterious three month deadline, Lu Su began to understand.
As for the earlier panic stricken question about whether he had drowned and ended up in the underworld, thinking back on it now made his ears burn with embarrassment.
To cover it, Lu Su sat down calmly and popped a sugar coated lychee into his mouth.
The sweet juice washed over his tongue, steadying his breathing and settling his thoughts. After a moment of reflection, he asked,
"Left General, this thing you are watching. When did this light screen first appear?"
Zhuge Liang remembered it clearly. Hearing the question brought him back to that winter when they had just secured southern Jing Province.
"Winter, the fourteenth year of Jian'an."
That matched perfectly. Lu Su nodded to himself.
He then asked the question that weighed most heavily on his heart.
"The matter of Marquis Sun. Was it learned from this?"
No matter what, Sun Quan was still his former lord. Lu Su phrased it carefully.
But the meaning was obvious to everyone present. The war with Jiangdong was still ongoing, after all. Zhang Fei burst out laughing before Zhuge Liang could respond.
"Ha ha ha. Counselor Lu asks an interesting question. Which matter of Ten Thousand Brothers does he mean?"
"Do you mean the ten thousand men who were terrified by Zhang Liao's eight hundred?"
"Or attacking Hefei five times without success, then turning around to stab my brother in the back?"
"Or submitting a memorial to surrender to Cao Cao and shamelessly accepting the title King of Wu under Wei?"
"Or perhaps…"
"Yide!" Liu Bei leapt up.
He clapped a hand over his younger brother's mouth and offered Lu Su an apologetic smile. Nothing more needed to be said.
Lu Su, however, was the one truly shaken. He stumbled back two steps, unable to hide his shock.
"Sun Quan surrendered to Cao Cao? How could he do such a thing. How could he dare?"
"Has he forgotten his father, his elder brother, and Gongjin's dying wish?"
He had served Sun family for over a decade and worked in perfect harmony with Zhou Yu. Even now, five years later, the sea of flames at Red Cliffs still visited Lu Su's dreams.
Hearing Zhang Fei's words, he instinctively reached for his sword, only to realize it was not there. That did not stop his fury.
"If I had known that banquet in Jian'an City during the first month was an act of self humiliation and surrender, I would have stormed the hall with blade in hand and offered Cao's envoy's head to Gongjin's spirit."
His words rang with conviction.
Now Pang Tong and Zhuge Liang felt awkward. They hurried to restrain the furious Lu Su.
"Zijing, wait. What Yide spoke of belongs to the future. At present, Sun Quan has not surrendered to Cao Cao."
Only then did Lu Su calm somewhat. Hearing the word "future," his understanding of the light screen deepened further.
Seeing the chaos, Ma Chao stepped forward helpfully.
"Counselor Lu, do not panic. Divine Physician Zhang is in Chang'an now. You will certainly not die in two years. Everything has a turning point."
Liu Bei no longer bothered to speak. He even regretted not bringing his sword.
Zhang Fei, however, moved faster. He flicked Ma Chao on the forehead.
"Mengqi, watch your mouth."
"With the divine physician here, Counselor Lu will surely live a hundred years."
Lu Su silently thanked them both with clenched teeth.
At the same time, his curiosity toward the light screen grew stronger. It could reveal the future? Was his own life truly short?
He did not notice that he was no longer resisting the title Counselor Lu quite as much.
Amid the noise, Lu Su forgot his third question entirely. The light screen had finished a brief opening transition and settled on a portrait.
[Lightscreen]
[A woman clad in a bright yellow imperial robe appeared. Her crown was unlike that of any Han emperor. Her face carried unmistakable authority. Beside her were small characters of annotation.
Wu Zhao.
Wu Zhou regime.
Posthumous title: Zetian Dasheng Emperor.
The image faded. The screen darkened. Lu Su saw figures in court robes moving swiftly through the night, heading straight toward the heart of the palace.
The voice they had heard before resumed, steady and methodical.
"In the year 705, first year of Shenlong.
Zhang Jianzhi, an eighty year old chancellor who had taken office barely a month earlier, finally acted after months of secret plotting. That night, he cornered the eighty two year old Wu Zetian in her bedchamber.
Led by Zhang Jianzhi, five ministers joined forces with Crown Prince Li Xian and several hundred palace guards. Under the banner of 'removing traitors from the ruler's side,' they immediately executed Wu Zetian's two most beloved male favorites, the twenty year old brothers Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong.
They then surrounded the Ji Xian Hall and requested that the emperor return authority to the Li Tang house.
With no alternative, Wu Zetian followed a familiar process.
The crown prince assumed regency.
The emperor abdicated.
Wu Zetian became the only female Retired Emperor in history.
One month after Li Xian ascended the throne, he formally proclaimed the restoration of the Tang dynasty. Official titles, clothing colors, writing, and customs all reverted to Tang norms.
Thus, the Wu Zhou regime came to an end. The event, led by Zhang Jianzhi and framed as a purge of corrupt courtiers, became known as the Shenlong Coup.
This was perhaps the simplest coup in ancient history. On one side stood the chancellor, the crown prince, and the palace guards acting in unison. On the other was Wu Zetian, ill for months, with her two favorites throwing the court into chaos.
More importantly, throughout the months of plotting, the Wu clan remained silent. Wu Zetian was caught completely unprepared and could only accept demotion to Retired Emperor.
For loyalists of the Tang, this was a fortunate outcome. It spared Tang from a fate like the Qin dynasty, which perished in three generations.
But from today's perspective, the problem is clear.
In a male dominated society, no matter how formidable Wu Zetian's political skill, she faced an inescapable flaw.
The Wu Zhou regime had no legitimate successor of its own.
The choice was a matter of kinship. Li Xian bore the Li surname, yet he was her biological son, and she was still Empress of Gaozong in the Tang genealogy.
Had she dared to establish Wu Sansi as heir, that nephew would have posthumously honored his own father Wu Yuanqing and grandfather Wu Shihuo. Wu Zetian herself would have gained little.
Though the logic was clear, behind Zhang Jianzhi stood an old minister who labored until his death to restore Tang.
His name was well known.
Di Renjie.
Turn the clock back twenty two years.
In 683, Li Zhi died. Li Xian ascended the throne.
Two months later, Wu Zetian personally deposed him, made him Prince of Luling, installed Li Dan as emperor, and ruled as regent.
Over the next six years, she empowered cruel officials such as Suo Yuanli, Zhou Xing, and Lai Junchen to control the court, purge opponents, and suppress anti Wu movements.
At the same time, she vigorously promoted Buddhism, reinforcing prophetic claims that Wu Zhou should replace Tang.
In July of 690, monks led by Faming at Dongwei Temple compiled the Great Cloud Sutra, proclaiming Wu Zetian as the reincarnation of Maitreya, destined to rule the world.
Delighted, Wu Zetian ordered the sutra circulated nationwide and required every prefecture to build a Great Cloud Temple to house and expound it.
By September, the atmosphere was fully prepared. Officials, clansmen, foreign leaders, monks, and Daoists jointly petitioned to change the state name to Zhou and grant the emperor the Wu surname. Wu Zetian refused.
Soon after, Emperor Li Dan himself petitioned to take the Wu surname.
Only then did Wu Zetian agree, reluctantly.
Thus, the Wu Zhou dynasty was formally established. Tang royal clans and institutions were abolished and replaced.
Afterward, to balance court factions, Wu Zetian both indulged cruel officials to persecute Tang loyalists and heavily promoted Wu clan members.
The Wu family's rising elites soon presented their first token of loyalty.
Di Renjie was accused of treason. The evidence was said to be conclusive."]
Lu Su opened his mouth.
From the moment the narration began, he had forced himself to ignore Zhang Fei and Ma Chao's nonsense. The shifting images alone proved the screen was no ordinary thing.
Yet as he listened, doubt crept in.
Regent rule. Deposing emperors. Changing dynasties. Abdication. Becoming Retired Emperor.
Had the screen not been so uncanny, Lu Su would have thought it no better than a teahouse storyteller's fabrication.
For once, he found himself agreeing with Zhang Fei.
"An eighty year old female emperor and twenty year old male favorites?"
The implication needed no explanation.
Jian Yong chuckled dryly.
"Seems that whether male or female, an emperor's affairs are much the same."
Lu Su accepted that. Thinking of the Han dynasty's own centuries of history, he could only nod.
Still, he asked quietly,
"This Tang dynasty. How many years separate it from us?"
Pang Tong smiled and, during a pause in the screen's narration, softly explained Tang's place in history.
…
Inside Ganlu Hall, Empress Zhangsun had resolved to watch more and ask less. Yet when the screen involved her own children, she could not help herself.
"What does 'ga' mean?"
"This I know," Li Shimin said at once, smiling confidently.
"In later ages, they do not say 'death.' They say 'ga.'"
Empress Zhangsun froze.
Zhinu was your own son.
Li Shimin's good mood lasted only a moment longer.
As the narration continued, his face slowly flushed.
"Voluntarily changing one's surname? Such a system?"