Post by Yuan Shao on Apr 19, 2012 13:07:48 GMT -5
(Continuation of the thread here: shattered-legends.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=shangdang&action=display&thread=238)
Yuan Shao was stunned. A woman made such a flawless argument, the first he had seen in his long life. And Yuan was sure that he had seen all there was to see in this world, for if he had not then who had? What the woman said was true; a war on two fronts could be a fatal flaw to his rebellion. The King in the North had truly ruined his plans, and Yuan Shao was furious. And he was not the only one furious, Shen Pei, who almost convinced Yuan Shao to go to war with the King in the North, was also irritated towards Shen Fei. Not wanting to allow Shen Fei to ruin his plans, he strode proudly to the centre of the room, almost shoving the young girl out of his way. He stroked his beard before he spoke. ”My Lord,” he began, ”What reason do you have to believe this foolish woman? What hope is there for peace between us and the King in the North when he has shown such unwarranted aggression towards us? We too have fought the Xianbei rebels, and yet they deny the truth? How dare these fools dare to insinuate such slanderous things about our Lord?” Shen Pei paused to give time for the words to sink in. Just as he saw Shen Fei open her mouth he continued his argument. He pointed to the woman: ”This woman openly defies the unanimous decision achieved by our council and should be punished for it.” When he saw Yuan nod slightly, giving his approval, and hearing the approving cheers of his fellow advisors, he nodded to some guards who took the suddenly dismayed woman out of the room. Shen Pei continued, ”Let me tell you, my Lord, if we use this woman’s theory then we should be able to defeat the King in the North twice as fast; they are sandwiched between us and the Xianbei; what is there to stop us from destroying those fools with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers at our command?” A few cheers and smiles were directed towards Shen Pei.
”In addition to this, if Lord Ju Shou is so adamant that Cao Cao will attack us then we should play his game.” He slyly grinned, ”I suggest that we send an envoy to Cao Cao asking for his aid against the King in the North. If he does not send us aid, then we can assume that he wishes to conspire against us. If he does then we will be able to attack without threat of retaliation from our so called ‘Lord’. Either way, it is necessary to prepare the defences for this city and the rest – we cannot afford to lose any more of our territory to these common bandits.”
Yuan stood again. He was very impressed with Shen Pei’s strategy-making. Shen Pei had always stood out during the war councils, but his opinion had never made more sense to Yuan Shao than now. It was almost as if he was on the same wavelength and frequency as Yuan Shao, a feat that only a few could be proud of; for Yuan Shao had his own special frequency that only a few could truly understand. He knew at that moment, which while Ju Shou was absent at Xuchang, Shen Pei should be the one advising him. He stood and proclaimed with his goldenly grand voice: ”All of you, we shall be implementing Ju Shou’s plan. I myself will be riding out to put down this pitiful rebellion against us – along with several thousand of my finest troops. Meanwhile, Shen Pei, you shall be fortifying our defences here at Ji.” Before he continued, he gazed at Ju Kou, and his crippled hands. And in Yuan’s plan, a devious scheme erupted. He pointed at Ju Kou, not really a point, it was more of a thrust of his index finger. ”You! He shouted to Ju Kou. ”Son of Ju Shou. You are to become an envoy to Cao Cao. Explain our situation to him, and get him to join our side or do not return here at all! The room fell silent before Yuan cleared his throat and it burst into action, as if the men had turned into bees trying to find the right honeycomb to begin their job.
Yuan Shao was stunned. A woman made such a flawless argument, the first he had seen in his long life. And Yuan was sure that he had seen all there was to see in this world, for if he had not then who had? What the woman said was true; a war on two fronts could be a fatal flaw to his rebellion. The King in the North had truly ruined his plans, and Yuan Shao was furious. And he was not the only one furious, Shen Pei, who almost convinced Yuan Shao to go to war with the King in the North, was also irritated towards Shen Fei. Not wanting to allow Shen Fei to ruin his plans, he strode proudly to the centre of the room, almost shoving the young girl out of his way. He stroked his beard before he spoke. ”My Lord,” he began, ”What reason do you have to believe this foolish woman? What hope is there for peace between us and the King in the North when he has shown such unwarranted aggression towards us? We too have fought the Xianbei rebels, and yet they deny the truth? How dare these fools dare to insinuate such slanderous things about our Lord?” Shen Pei paused to give time for the words to sink in. Just as he saw Shen Fei open her mouth he continued his argument. He pointed to the woman: ”This woman openly defies the unanimous decision achieved by our council and should be punished for it.” When he saw Yuan nod slightly, giving his approval, and hearing the approving cheers of his fellow advisors, he nodded to some guards who took the suddenly dismayed woman out of the room. Shen Pei continued, ”Let me tell you, my Lord, if we use this woman’s theory then we should be able to defeat the King in the North twice as fast; they are sandwiched between us and the Xianbei; what is there to stop us from destroying those fools with the hundreds of thousands of soldiers at our command?” A few cheers and smiles were directed towards Shen Pei.
”In addition to this, if Lord Ju Shou is so adamant that Cao Cao will attack us then we should play his game.” He slyly grinned, ”I suggest that we send an envoy to Cao Cao asking for his aid against the King in the North. If he does not send us aid, then we can assume that he wishes to conspire against us. If he does then we will be able to attack without threat of retaliation from our so called ‘Lord’. Either way, it is necessary to prepare the defences for this city and the rest – we cannot afford to lose any more of our territory to these common bandits.”
Yuan stood again. He was very impressed with Shen Pei’s strategy-making. Shen Pei had always stood out during the war councils, but his opinion had never made more sense to Yuan Shao than now. It was almost as if he was on the same wavelength and frequency as Yuan Shao, a feat that only a few could be proud of; for Yuan Shao had his own special frequency that only a few could truly understand. He knew at that moment, which while Ju Shou was absent at Xuchang, Shen Pei should be the one advising him. He stood and proclaimed with his goldenly grand voice: ”All of you, we shall be implementing Ju Shou’s plan. I myself will be riding out to put down this pitiful rebellion against us – along with several thousand of my finest troops. Meanwhile, Shen Pei, you shall be fortifying our defences here at Ji.” Before he continued, he gazed at Ju Kou, and his crippled hands. And in Yuan’s plan, a devious scheme erupted. He pointed at Ju Kou, not really a point, it was more of a thrust of his index finger. ”You! He shouted to Ju Kou. ”Son of Ju Shou. You are to become an envoy to Cao Cao. Explain our situation to him, and get him to join our side or do not return here at all! The room fell silent before Yuan cleared his throat and it burst into action, as if the men had turned into bees trying to find the right honeycomb to begin their job.