"I am telling you, this material goes toe to toe with authentic Zuo Bo paper."
Xiahou Yuan sat on the floor of their temporary hideout, a pile of medicinal roots resting near his knee. Doctor Zhang Zhongjing had prescribed the medicine, then casually grabbed a random sheet of paper from a desk to wrap it up. Xiahou Yuan held that discarded sheet up to the sunlight like a merchant inspecting gold. He rubbed it between his fingers, checked the grain, tested the tensile strength, and flipped it over once more before giving his final review.
Zhang He sat on his woven mat. A heavy, depressed sigh left his mouth.
"If that is truly on par with Zuo Bo paper, then they have already beaten us."
Being from Hebei, Zhang He knew the brutal economic reality of the north. Growing up, he heard his relatives talk about Donglai with pure jealousy. It was just one city, but they had a total monopoly on the legendary Zuo Bo paper. That single product generated enough wealth to make the entire surrounding region filthy rich.
The name Zuo Bo echoed across the north. It represented peak luxury and elite craftsmanship.
Yet here was Doctor Zhang Zhongjing, treating a material of the exact same quality like a cheap cabbage wrapper. He simply tore it up without a second thought.
That casual display of wealth sent a chill straight to Zhang He's bones. It proved a horrifying truth he had been trying to ignore. They actually knew nothing about the true depth of Liu Bei's resources.
Zhang He leaned forward, his tactical brain shifting into overdrive. The dots started connecting.
If the paper was real, then the other absurd rumors were likely real too.
He thought about the recent war in Jingzhou. Reports claimed Liu Bei's naval ships were basically floating fortresses. The size alone was terrifying. But the true nightmare sat on the decks. Spies whispered that Liu Bei's engineers had mounted heavy siege ballistas directly onto those warships.
Then he thought about the absolute disaster at Wancheng. That memory still hurt. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei literally had their engineers build siege towers right outside the city walls. They parked them in broad daylight and had archers rain arrows down into the streets. They completely stripped Wancheng of every defensive advantage it had.
The chaos got so bad that inside agents exploited the gaps. Prime Minister Cao had been forced to run for his life. He nearly fell into enemy hands.
If all this intelligence held true, then Liu Bei possessed the power to simply roll over them.
Zhang He froze. A brand new, terrifying realization crashed into his brain.
The gossip they heard in the streets today. If it was true, then Lu Meng was really dead. His own subordinates had taken his head and surrendered. That meant the strategic stronghold of Jiangxia had already changed hands.
The entire geopolitical map was flipping upside down. The dry season was over. The river waters would rise. That terrifying Jingzhou navy, the same navy that gave Cao Cao nightmares, now had a free pass down the Yangtze River. They could sail eastward without hitting a single bottleneck. Sun Quan was about to face the exact same artillery barrage that had broken the northern armies.
The alliance between Sun Quan and Cao Cao was functionally dead. Sun Quan would have to pull his forces back to protect his own borders. With the Jingzhou navy cutting the river in half, the northern and eastern armies could no longer support each other. They could only shout useless encouragement from opposite banks.
Zhang He smacked his own forehead.
Why am I sitting here mapping out grand strategies for a Prime Minister Cao who cannot even hear me?
He was a prisoner. He was stuck in Chang'an. Plotting out wars he was never going to fight was just a waste of brain cells.
A helpless, genuinely relieved chuckle escaped him. He stood up, shook his head, and dumped the entire tactical map out of his brain.
"General Xiahou. You should really get some sleep tonight."
Zhang He walked to his room and crashed on his mat. The grand military strategies were gone, but his brain was still buzzing. He started looking at their current mess from a completely different angle.
Perhaps I should convince General Xiahou to invite Zhang Fei over for a casual chat over tea.
The messy, complicated history between the Xiahou family and Zhang Fei was basically an open secret in the military camps. They shared bloodlines. People owed people favors.
Years ago, during the absolute chaos of Changban, Zhang Fei's second son had been separated from the main army. The boy, Zhang Shao, found himself trapped in a sea of routing soldiers. General Xiahou Yuan had personally intervened. He pulled the child from the meat grinder, saved his life, and gave him a safe place to stay in his own estate back in Xuchang.
Zhang He stared at the ceiling.
Does Zhang Fei even know he owes us a favor for that?
Thinking about family made his chest hurt. His own family was back in Yecheng, trying to survive under Cao Cao's paranoid watch.
He let out a long groan, rolled over, and forced his eyes shut.
Sleep. Just shut up and sleep.
Hundreds of miles away, the sun hammered down on the city of Jiangling.
The city was not completely back to normal yet. You could still see the nasty scars of war on the walls. But the docks were wide open for business. Commerce waited for no man, because capitalism never sleeps.
A huge transport ship bumped against the wooden pier. The boat owner stood on the deck, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead with a dirty rag. He blew out a long breath. His crew had finally finished unloading the last crate.
A voice suddenly broke his concentration.
"Excuse me, good sir. The fires of war have barely cooled, and your ships are already sailing east toward Jiangdong to trade paper and silk?"
The boat owner turned around. The voice sounded like a fancy, over-educated scholar, but it felt incredibly forced. It was like listening to a tiger try to recite poetry.
He looked at the guy who spoke and just blinked.
What a terrifying monster of a human being.
The guy standing on the dock was built like a brick wall. Thick muscles were practically ripping through his clothes. He was dressed like a scholar, but he looked like an underground cage fighter who had robbed a library.
Behind this giant stood an actual, genuine scholar who looked like he had not slept in three years. The tired scholar was gently helping an old woman off a passenger boat. Around them, 12 heavily armed, dead-eyed men formed a tight security circle.
The boat owner had enough street smarts to know when to back off. The war was over, but anybody traveling with their grandma and a dozen elite hitmen was clearly a big deal. He kept his distance and shook his head.
"Jiangxia is locked down. Liu Huangshu's navy is still out there, scaring the wits out of Jiangdong. Nothing goes east. How would you even slip past them?"
He pointed a calloused finger in the totally opposite direction.
"General Zhao Yun secured Jiangxia, though. So the other routes are wide open. We can sail west into Yizhou. Or we can skip Jiangxia and go straight north to Xiangyang-Fancheng. A wave of refugees relocated there to rebuild. They lack everything. The markets are empty. That is where the actual money is right now."
The muscular giant absorbed the market analysis. He nodded slowly, a thoughtful look settling over his rugged face.
The boat owner nodded back. He was not about to stand around asking questions. He spun around, hopped onto his empty ship, and started yelling at his tired crew to get moving.
The giant walked back to the tired scholar, raised a huge hand, and slapped him on the shoulder hard enough to rattle teeth. He let out a booming laugh.
"Hey, it is a really good thing Jiangxia did not collapse while you were the guy running the show, right Zijing?"
These two guys were Gan Ning and Lu Su.
The absolute mess in southern Jingzhou was finally over. They had done their jobs. Now, they just wanted to disappear. The plan was simple. Sneak north, take a right turn east, go back to Gan Ning's hometown, and officially retire from the political headache.
It was a flawless plan. Except they completely forgot to factor in Shi Hui.
Shi Hui was the son of Shi Xie, the warlord of Jiaozhou. The young man proved to be a force of nature. He pursued them like a merchant chasing a wealthy patron.
On day one, Shi Hui casually mentioned that he owned several fully staffed mansions in Jiaozhou that were just sitting empty. He literally tried to hand them the keys.
On day two, he changed his strategy. He started casually bringing up all the rich, educated, single daughters of prominent families who had moved south to avoid the war.
On day three, he dropped the act completely. He dragged Gan Ning and Lu Su into a VIP room, poured a ton of wine, and aggressively demanded they sit down and write him a 10-year political roadmap for Jiaozhou.
The kid was not subtle at all. He desperately wanted them to stay and work for him.
Gan Ning and Lu Su wasted an unbelievable amount of energy dodging the kid. They refused the free houses. They refused the blind dates. They refused the job offers. They pulled out every polite excuse in the dictionary.
Shi Hui finally accepted that his recruitment dream was dead. He acknowledged their plan to head north.
But then, one morning, he showed up with a grin that took up half his face. Puffed up with pride, he announced that he had personally written a letter of recommendation for them. And he sent it straight to the Governor of Jiangling.
He struck a heroic pose.
"I only got Liu Huangshu's attention because you two mentored me! I could never be selfish and keep all the credit!"
He saw the absolute skepticism on their faces and immediately started thumping his chest like a gorilla.
"Put your worries to rest. The Governor of Jiangling and I go way back. I know the man personally!"
Gan Ning and Lu Su had no choice. Shi Hui arranged their transport ships. He provided the armed escort. They traveled on his coin. They had to humor the kid and meet this governor who supposedly knew him.
The journey north was slow. News drifted down the river in fragments.
The death of Lu Meng hit Lu Su hard. He gripped the railing of the ship and said nothing for a long time. Gan Ning shook his head and offered a sigh for the man he had once served.
Then came the news that Jiangxia had changed hands. Lu Su stood at the prow, watching the water slide past, and felt a hollow ache settle in his chest. He spent his entire career building the defense systems for Jiangdong. Now, he had to watch those walls get kicked down one by one.
The bodyguards Shi Hui hired did not care about the geopolitical depression happening on the boat. They were just getting paid to do a job, and they were doing it well.
They reached Jiangling. The lead guard sprinted into the city to deliver the calling card. He returned shortly after, sweating and grinning.
"Alright, Sir Lu. Sir Gan. Shall we head into the city?"
Gan Ning shrugged. He had no objections. He took the lead, walking through the gates with open curiosity, clicking his tongue as he looked around.
Jiangling was a surprise. It looked absolutely nothing like the stiff military camps he was used to.
Merchant houses lined the main avenues. Residential estates packed the districts. The streets ran shoulder to shoulder with traders, artisans, and haggling citizens. The raw, buzzing energy of the marketplace was nothing like the rigid atmosphere of Jianye.
The guard walked next to them, trying to be a good tour guide.
"Alright, gentlemen, the Governor's schedule is packed. We can rent a courtyard at the local inn and wait a few days. I will check his availability every morning."
Gan Ning heard this and turned around with a wicked smirk.
"Wait, I thought your master said he was close friends with the Governor."
The guard did not even blink.
"Look, the Governor holds great authority. He likely has 100 men who call themselves close friends."
Gan Ning threw his head back and cracked up. He liked this kid's honesty.
But his laugh faded when he looked down the road.
A squad of heavily armed soldiers was shoving their way through the crowd, walking directly toward them. Regular people were scrambling out of the way. The soldiers never took their eyes off Gan Ning's group.
Gan Ning sighed and crossed his arms.
"Well. Looks like we get to skip the inn."
The guard blinked in confusion. "Wait, Sir Gan, do you know the Governor too?"
The soldiers loudly called out the last names Gan and Lu, forcing the crowd to clear a path.
Gan Ning laughed again, looking completely fearless.
"I have admired his name from afar for years. How could I not know him?"
The guard stared, genuinely impressed by the giant's nerve.
The soldiers surrounded them. They did not draw weapons. They verified identities with polite firmness, then took over the escort. They were far more aggressive than Shi Hui's men, practically herding the group down the street toward the Governor's estate.
Deep inside the estate, Jiang Wan was sitting at a desk that was completely buried under a mountain of paper and bamboo scrolls. He was holding a brush over a logistics report. His eyes were looking at the words, but his brain was absolutely not reading them.
He looked at the door. Looked back at the paper. Looked at the door again.
He did this about ten times until a servant finally came sprinting into the room.
Jiang Wan did not let the man speak. He dropped the brush, ink splattering across the documents, and shot to his feet.
"They arrived?"
The servant bowed. "Already seated in the main hall."
"Good. Good. Wonderful." Jiang Wan laughed, the sound bouncing off the rafters.
In the main hall, Gan Ning lowered himself onto a wooden chair. A maid poured steaming tea. He reached for the cup.
Before his fingers even touched the cup, a man practically exploded into the room.
The newcomer had a face like carved jade, the bearing of a refined scholar, and the frantic energy of a man chasing a runaway horse. He stormed in from the rear corridor, speaking before he even finished crossing the room.
"Gan Xingba! Lu Zijing! The two of you made me wait long enough!"
Jiang Wan stopped dead in the middle of the room. He did not bother catching his breath. He did not even let them introduce themselves. He locked his eyes right onto Lu Su and dropped the bomb.
"Zijing. Lord Xuande and Chief Strategist Kongming want you in Guanzhong. Right now."
Gan Ning pulled his hand away from his tea. He raised an eyebrow.
"Guanzhong? To do what?"
Jiang Wan's smile vanished. His spine straightened. His voice dropped, and each word carried the fate of an empire.
"To fulfill the ambition you have carried your entire life."
He stared Lu Su dead in the eyes.
"To govern the people. And to finally bring peace to this damn broken world."