"So you are Ma Youchang?"
At the gates of the Gong'an county office, Ma Su looked calmly at the tall, broad-shouldered black-faced man questioning him.
Thanks to the info his older brother Ma Liang had provided, Ma Su only needed to look at the man's physique and hear his tone to identify him.
Zhang Fei, Zhonglang General under Liu Bei, courtesy name Yide.
"Reporting to the Zhonglang General, I am Ma Su, a native of Yicheng."
Zhang Fei raised an eyebrow. "Wrong! I am now Zhenglu General! Attendant Ma, try again."
Ma Su bowed slightly. "Reporting to the Zhenglu General, I am Ma Su, a native of Yicheng."
Zhang Fei burst into laughter and patted Ma Su on the shoulder. "Attendant Ma, work hard. I have high hopes for you!"
'No, who believes that? Your expression does not show any high hopes at all. Look, you are still laughing! Ma Su screamed in his heart.'
Behind his calm face, Ma Su felt deeply wronged.
He had read extensively since childhood, with a special fondness for military texts. His fourth brother Ma Liang had gained a great reputation and been recruited as an attendant by Liu of Jingzhou. Nineteen-year-old Ma Su was incredibly envious.
So after a lot of begging, his brother finally secured an official position for him too! And right beside the famous Zhuge Kongming!
After following his brother to Gong'an county, Ma Su finally met Zhuge Kongming. But things did not go as expected.
Kongming was extremely warm toward Ma Liang, linking arms and chatting before sending him off to verify the tax records for Wuling Commandery this year. He even told Ma Liang to visit the villages and take notes, which was a proper hands-on job.
But the moment Ma Liang left, Kongming's smile turned purely polite. With a casual remark about a vacant gatekeeper spot at the county office, he suggested Ma Su fill in for a few days to get familiar with the area. Just like that, Ma Su was sent to guard the front gate.
I, Ma Su, have studied military strategy for twelve years, and now I am reduced to a glorified doorman!
After the grievance came confusion. Why did it seem like he was already quite famous?
Today, Lord Liu Bei came over, asked his name, stared at him for a while, and then shook his head before walking inside.
Generals Zhao Zilong and Huang Zhong did not stop, but their eyes were full of curiosity when they looked at him.
General Guan Yunchang did not ask anything at all. He just patted Ma Su's shoulder and walked in, acting like they were old acquaintances.
And this General Zhang Yide seemed to have a personal grudge against him, going out of his way to make things difficult!
Ma Su was completely baffled. Was he really that famous? Or was his older brother just really close with these generals?
Inside the Gong'an county office, this side hall had become a highly classified area. Only Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong could enter without a written pass from Liu Bei.
Zhuge Liang had even moved his entire workspace here, spending more than half his day in this side hall.
Zhang Fei pushed a frozen dried persimmon closer to the fire and spoke up.
"This Ma Su guy does not look all that bright to me."
"Yide, you definitely gave that Ma Su a hard time!" Zhao Yun chuckled lightly. "I saw him take Kongming's humiliation without showing any resentment. He is truly no ordinary person."
"It is just guarding a gate. I could do it too!"
Zhang Fei grumbled. "My main issue is that if it were not for him, Kongming would not have died so early. And if Kongming dies early, nobody is there to manage that useless A-Dou. Speaking of A-Dou..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" Liu Bei slapped his forehead, wishing he could just shove a persimmon into Zhang Fei's mouth.
Putting the now obediently speechless Zhang Fei out of his mind for a moment, Liu Bei tucked his hands into his sleeves and squeezed next to the stove to warm up like an old farmer. Gong'an county did not get snow, but winter was still freezing. The chill seemed to seep right into his bones. He cleared his throat and spoke.
"I called you all here today to make some official announcements. Yunchang is promoted to Dangkou General. Yide is promoted to Zhenglu General. Zilong is transferred to Pian General. Hansheng is promoted to Tao Ni General."
The men cupped their fists in a messy fashion, their voices completely out of sync.
"Thank you, big brother."
"Thank you, my lord."
Everyone already knew this was coming. Liu Bei had thought about it for a long time. The petition for these titles had already been sent to the capital at Xuchang, so it was basically a done deal.
"How did the testing go for the curved plow and the round water wheel?" Liu Bei asked Zilong.
Originally, Liu Bei had planned to build them together with Zilong to see the results. But as the end of the year approached, his workload increased so much that he could not split his attention. Plus, Zilong was always reliable, so he ended up taking full charge of the project.
Since the new plow had a curved handle and the water wheel was perfectly round, they simply called them the curved plow and the round wheel.
"A massive success! The common folks are praising them highly!" Zhao Yun was visibly excited as he brought this up.
He cupped his fists toward Zhuge Liang. "We had a lot of confusion during the initial forging. Fortunately, Lady Huang sent over her personal notes. The craftsmen followed her instructions and finished the build. My lord can go inspect them later!"
"Lady Huang is an expert in this field?" Liu Bei was quite surprised.
"My humble wife has been skilled in mechanics since childhood," Zhuge Liang said modestly. "After looking at the drawings of the round wheel and curved plow that night, she studied them by lamplight and had them built within three days."
"She truly has incredible talent!" Liu Bei praised. "Assign a team of women to work with Lady Huang on mechanical research. From now on, whenever the light screen shows any technical drawings, send them straight to her first."
"I thank my lord on behalf of my humble wife." Zhuge Liang bowed in gratitude, then pulled out a letter.
"My lord, a letter arrived from Jiangdong early this morning."
"Oh?" Liu Bei took the letter from Zhuge Liang and opened it.
He read it rapidly, and his face showed clear surprise as he went through the text.
"Zhou Gongjin sent a letter inviting me to Dantu. Jiangdong wants to marry the Marquis of Wu's sister to me, forging a good union and strengthening the alliance between our two families."
If the light screen had never appeared, the civil and military officials would be thrilled right now. But hearing this news, a layer of worry inevitably settled over everyone's faces.
Zhang Fei was the most agitated among them.
"Pah! If they really want to strengthen the alliance, they should just send my sister-in-law Sun straight over here!"
The black-faced man jumped up and down. "As long as big brother gives the order, I will be the vanguard for the march on Dantu! Even if I have to turn Dantu upside down, I will find that fire-starting Lu Xun, and then I will use fire to..."
Zhang Fei suddenly got stuck and did not know how to finish his sentence. To be fair, Lu Xun had not actually done anything wrong yet.
Liu Bei was deeply moved, then waved his hand to signal Guan Yu to throw Zhang Fei out.
Zhao Yun was much more thoughtful. "My lord, we must guard against Jiangdong. I request to bring the Baima Yicong to ensure your safety."
Guan Yu and Huang Zhong exchanged a glance and also cupped their fists.
"Big brother, let me and Old Huang request to serve as your personal guard!"
Liu Bei did not answer right away. He exchanged a look with his strategist, and Zhuge Liang's eyes were also full of worry.
Right at that moment, Ma Su reported from outside the door. "My lord, there is an urgent letter for Chief Strategist Zhuge Liang. The messenger claims to be an old friend of Zhuge Liang from Jiangdong."
Just two breaths later, Liu Bei's steady voice came through. "Bring it in."
Ma Su held the letter and bowed as he walked into this mysterious side hall.
To his surprise, the side hall was incredibly ordinary. It was not filled with classified maps and documents like the rumors in the manor suggested. Right now, the top figures under Liu Bei's rule were just huddled around the stove chatting like a normal family to keep warm. The atmosphere just seemed a little bit tense.
Before Ma Su could finish his thoughts, Liu Bei stood up to take the letter.
He patted Ma Su on the shoulder encouragingly. "Youchang, work hard under Kongming. I have high hopes for you!"
Even though the words were exactly the same as Zhang Fei's, they felt completely different to Ma Su's ears. 'My lord truly had high hopes for him!'
So the generals in the hall watched as this newly arrived attendant stiffened his body and bowed all the way to the floor. "I am willing to die for my lord!"
Guan Yu and Huang Zhong stroked their beards and smiled.
Zhang Fei hid off to the side and muttered under his breath. "When I praised you, I did not see you act this solemn..."
---
Note:
At the time of the Battle of Red Cliffs, Sun Quan moved his seat from Kuaiji to Dantu to better face Cao Cao. In 211, he moved again to Moling, later renaming it Jianye in 212. In 229, he proclaimed himself emperor at Wuchang, establishing it as the capital. In his later years, after relations with Shu Han eased, he returned the capital to Jianye.
He moved quite a lot.