Chapter 17: A Dream Come True
Zhuge Kongming stood on the walls of Baidicheng. He watched as a large army of blue flags and troops appeared before him. "It is good to see you, Sleeping Dragon. I am Sima Zhao, son of..."
"A bastard, and your mother was a female dog. No human being would bear Sima Yi children. Sima Zhao, you are a piece of filth and I feel that it is unworthy for the men of Shu to dirty their blades with your blood. You should be proud that you were lucky enough to kill Zhou Yu. Had Sun Quan had a sense of loyalty to the people of Wu and had Lu Su had half a brain, your father's attack on Wu would have failed, but because Jian Ye and so much of Wu was lost, Zhou Yu was unable to regain that territory. You filth of Wei won by luck, not by skill, but today you shall die before a truly skillful opponent. I do this not only for the good of the Hans, but to avenge Zhou Yu. If only Zhou Yu were a Han General, he'd be one of my most honored warriors, and I'd probably rely on a man like him much more than I rely on the Young Phoenix. Too bad he fought as a Wu General. But even so, he was a far better man than you, even if you and him are both rebels. Today, I shall claim your head." Zhuge Liang snarled.
The warriors of Shu surged forward like a flood. They ran across the Wei lines, and from a distance the giant pandas of the great Sichuan bamboo forests could see curious streams of green weave through large patches of blue. Thousands of Wei troops fell like flies before the Shu lines.
Xiahou Yuan, the old general who lost his son to General Zhou Yu, engaged Zhao Yun in hand to hand combat. His mighty bow pierced the younger man's shoulder, but Zhao Yun twirled his spear and lopped off his head. Zilong continued to ride forward, hacking away at the vast sea of Wei soldiers.
The Wei forces took heavy losses, and Sima Zhao found that he had to retreat. "Truly, that man was my father's rival..." Sima Yi's sole surviving son thought as he fled back to Yiling.
But the aging Pang Tong was not so lucky...
Chen Tai sighed as their troops moved forward: "Shizai... You've heard of the victory in Wu, right?" He turned to a younger man who was marching beside him.
"Victory? What victory? If anything, it merely consisted of the slaying of heroes and the rise of a villian... Wei is doomed..." Deng Ai sighed in response as he turned to his older friend.
"Do not speak of the Prime Minister in such a fashion! Sima Zhao is a far greater man than you!" Zhong Hui growled. Deng Ai and Chen Tai were forced to lower their voices to an inaudible murmur.
The young general had mixed feelings. Sima Yi had given him the life he had now. He owed everything to the older man. Yet, Zhongda had taken the lives of so many innocent people. Much of China was now in ruins because of his actions. It was ironic how his benefactor had done so many horrible deeds.
And Sima Zhao was no better, but what could Shizai do?
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Pang Fengchih had his troops in waiting on the roads before Hanzhong. He was pretty sure that there wouldn't be any trouble.
That is, he was sure that he'd be fine until another army began to close in from behind him...
Meng Da had long wished to defect to Wei. Yang Yi had recently returned from Wei and convinced him that it would be the right thing to do. With Guan Yunchang and Zhang Yide away, defending Hanzhong with Pang Tong while Zhao Yun stayed with Kongming, Meng Da realized that nothing was stopping him.
Lord Liu Bei really wasn't much of a fighter, and neither was his son, Liu Feng. It took only twelve minutes for Meng Da to single-handedly dispatch both men with his sword, and it was rather laughable that the one man the people of Shu put their faith in, and one of the three heroes who fought Lu Bu, could be so pathetically weak...
With Liu Bei dead, Meng Da suddenly turned and slew Yang Yi, claiming that he'd murdered the assassin who killed their beloved lord. The people of Chengdu willingly accepted the fact that Meng Da was now the Governor of Cheng Du, and didn't resent him when he sent a large portion of Shu's army to Hanzhong.
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With Meng Da behind him, and with Zhong Hui before him, Pang Tong was surrounded. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei ran for the traitorous Meng Da, but by the time they succeeded in cutting him down, Pang Tong had already been cut apart by Zhong Hui. The two sworn brothers were able to clear out an entire legion, but they were both still mortal men. They'd grown old over the years, and eventually succumbed to fatigue. Zhong Hui was lucky to be alive, and he happily kept their heads on pikes.
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Kongming read the report from the Capital, and his eyes widened... Yang Yi may have died, but his scheme was a total success... Then, as he received the battle report from the defeated forces of Hanzhong, he realized what was coming for him.
Zhuge Liang threw his head back and screamed, and, to Sima Zhao, that scream was music to his ears... The Sleeping Dragon had been defeated.
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In Baidicheng, the young Lord Liu Chan was crowned Emperor. Five days later, Chengdu fell to Zhong Hui, and with his subordinates Chen Tai and Deng Ai, Zhong Hui marched towards Zhuge Liang. From the other side, Sima Zhao marched towards Baidicheng.
Kongming, his son Zhuge Zhan, Zhao Yun, Guan Yu's sons Guan Ping and Guan Xing, Zhang Fei's sons Zhang Bao and Zhang Zun, and Zhao Yun's own son Zhao Guang were by his side. But the one other veteran Zhuge Liang knew he could rely on was Wei Yan. Turning to that cryptic General, Zhuge Liang bowed and spoke: "Wei Yan, please forgive me for doubting you for so many years... Yang Yi was the traitor, not you, yet I treated you so unfairly..."
Wei Yan nodded, and gave a rare smile: "Doesn't... Matter... Now... Now... We... Fight... For... Shu!"
Kongming nodded, and raised a wine glass. "To Sichuan!" He yelled as Zhao Yun charged towards Zhong Hui while Wei Yan rushed at Sima Zhao.
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Five legions of Wei soldiers died that day. Wei Yan hacked left and right, taking down ten soldiers with every stroke, before he met Wen Yang of Wei, and was struck down by the man's giant whip. Kongming watched as his misunderstood general fell, and tears came to his eyes.
Zhao Yun killed Zhong Hui of Wei, yet, to his surprise, Deng Ai of Wei and Chen Tai of Wei suddenly turned and joined him. Zilong was taken aback, and Deng Ai explained his move: "Criminals we may be in the people's eyes, but in the end, it is what we do in times of crisis like this that will show our true colors. I may have wronged you, but I am willing to stand beside you and die here on this day. I couldn't live with myself if I continued to fight for Jin, and I think that friend Chen Tai agrees with me."
Jiang Wei emerged from hiding from the south, with a few reinforcements, but from Zhong Hui's lines, Wei Guan emerged. Zilong turned to Shizai and Xuanbo (1.), "Now is the time for you to prove your goodwill." He reminded them.
Deng Ai and Wei Guan clashed swords while Chen Tai tried to take on the legions of Wei troops heading from the west. Now that Chengdu was officially Wei territory, more Wei soldiers were coming via Changan down that path, trying to reinforce Sima Zhao from the other side and trap the Shu army between two forces.
Turning his head, Zhao Yun saw the Shu lines disperse before Wei's might, and his eyed widened when Zhuge Liang was stabbed by a thousand arrows. Jiang Wei ran forward, trying to avenge his master and kill Xiahou Dun, but the enemy warrior's son, Xiahou Shang, threw his spear and skewered the younger strategist.
Zhao Yun ran towards Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Shang, and the rest of Sima Zhao's unit. He knew that the Shu army had lost, but it wasn't over until Zilong himself was killed.
But as he slashed away at Xiahou Dun, and as he continued to fight, Zhao Yun slowly felt weaker and weaker, and his great strength slowly drained away... The great General of Shu, who slaughtered legions of men throughout his life, finally succumbed to old age. General Xiahou Shang avenged his father and took out Zhao Yun by shoving his sword through Yun's bladder. The Shu general fell, yet Chen Tai and Deng Ai fought on, and also were overwhelmed by the tremendous majority of Wei soldiers. Every Shu officer present was executed, and the few officers who survived either surrendered and went back into hiding.
Emperor Liu Chan of Shu announced his abdication, and was given a small feifdom. Sima Zhao, proud of his final victory over both Shu and Wu, went back to capital Xu Chang. Emperor Cao Rui personally went to congratulate his fabulous general, but with one quick stroke, the son of Sima Yi killed the son of Cao Pi. None of the ministers at court supported the Wei Emperor, so once he died, they acknowledged Sima Zhao's coronation, and in 245 AD, Sima Zhao of the Sima Yi clan was pronounced Emperor of Jin.
Fifteen years later, during a severe thunderstorm, Emperor Sima Zhao was struck down by a lightning bolt, and was fried to death. Sima Yan, his son, became Emperor, but in 275 AD, he died from an unknown illness. Shortly afterwards, the tribesmen of the Xiong Nu, eager to avenge their brothers who died by Wei hands, burst through the northen gates of the Great Wall and entered capital Xu Chang. With the fall of Jin, China once again fell into chaos, and the people of Jiang Dong, Sichuan, and the Northern Plains never knew peace until the Middle Kingdom was finally reunited under the Tang Dynasty, but that peace came with the price of a five hundred year war.
The world, under heaven, after a long period of unification, tends to divide, and after a long period of division, tends to unite. That unchanging law caused the Han to collapse and allowed Jin to reign over the Three Kingdoms, yet that same law also forced Jin to fall before the Xiong Nu and bring China into another five hundred years of war. Truly, heaven can be so cruel... Zhou Yu, Sun Shangxiang, Lu Meng, Kan Ze, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, Zhao Yun, Pang Tong, these men and women stood for their respective nations, hoping that somehow, the vicious cycle could have turned in their favor, but alas, heaven chose Jin as the successor to the Han, and these heroes died cursed by their fate...
As the world turns on, we mortals are forced to look back at their lives and sigh with regret, yet, at the same time, we must move on and hope to bring some meaning into our lives. Let us strive to be like Zhou Yu and Zhao Yun, brave men whose devotion to the people never faltered, and let us learn from the errors of Sun Quan and Zhuge Liang... But, above all, we should always remember that we should appreciate all of the precious things in our lives, for, who knows, something might be just around the corner.
Fin
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1. Sorry, it's a habit of mine to refer to people by their style names. Shizai is Deng Ai and Xuanbo is Chen Tai.
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Well, people, now that this fic is over, I guess I have to say sorry. It was a rather depressing tale. Someone asked me whatever happened to Yue Ying. I'll leave that for you to decide. Like many officers back then, the Yue Ying in the tale has really no ending, for, based in this universe, the records about her were lost. Zhou Yin simply wasn't able to record whatever happened to her.
Yeah, this fic was tough to write because it's so depressing... I hate depressing fics and my next Dynasty Warriors fic is planned to be much merrier. So, please, stay tuned and continue lovin' the Three Kingdoms series. It's a great series, with many great characters!
Thank you for reading, and, well, see you soon.