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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 7, 2010 5:29:55 GMT
Jieming was taken aback by Ci's statements. He thought for a moment while furrowing his brow slightly.
"Is Jiang Dong not already unified under the Son of Heaven's rule?"
The white-clad warrior watched his men as they charged, calling out to one of the soldiers and fixing his form. He noticed that the veteran's form was off, and realized that it was not lack of skill, but injury that plagued the soldier. Jieming sent the man to a tent where Jieming had a few soldiers with medical knowledge look at the man's arm.
"I would be most honored to aid Lord Sun in protecting the land, but I must stay with my Standard here in Ru Nan. My first duty is to my family, and my home here in Ru Nan. I cannot abandon it for some position elsewhere, not without the Imperial Throne's order. As I know your Lord is a devout servant of the Son of Heaven, I shall pray for him and his endeavors to aid the people of Jiang Dong."
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Post by Taishi Ci on Jun 7, 2010 5:36:15 GMT
Damn, that wasn't the answer Ci wanted. The "Son of Heaven" needs to start doing his job, so much corruption recently, Ci, nor anybody else should be able to trust the Emperor. Though he musn't express this out loud, so he lied through his teeth and said,"I understand, thank you so much for consedering it atleast."
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Post by Cao Ren on Jun 7, 2010 13:33:30 GMT
Cao Ren nodded to himself as he saw that his predictions had been right: the Gongsun indeed followed their tradition and had been using much cavalry. And now that he knew, they were in fact all cavalrymen, and not a single official spearman; only horsemen able to fight with a spear. Zixiao smirked as he continued to observe the men drill, they were well-trained alright, with a few people falling out of formation here and there but with no huge flaws. But that was the problem. There should be no flaws AT ALL.
And then the two men walked back out of their tent, still in their conversation. Zixiao stayed low in case Taishi Ci would look at him once again, but apparently that wasn't the case. Slowly looking up again, he continued to witness and eavesdrop on their talk. Ah, so that was Ci's true intention of coming here. Of course, he had failed closely in his mission.
"Jiang Dong is trying to scout the Gongsun."
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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 7, 2010 15:27:31 GMT
Jieming shrugged off Taishi Ci's apology, as if it was not needed. He knew that many regional lords would be seeking his aid, but his Standard could not be reduced to regional politics. His men had one purpose, to defend the true will of the Son of Heaven, which Jieming assumed must be the protection of the people of the land. As much as the corruption bothered Jieming, to him it was merely a sign that certain officials were hindering the Emperor from expressing his true will of benevolence. He was curious about something, though.
"Might I ask you something quite important, Lord Taishi?"
He leaned closer and spoke his question very softly, not wanting most of his own men to hear. He didn't want certain opinions known until he was prepared to announce them.
"What does your Lord think of General Li and General Guo, are they not merely the second generation of Dong Zhuo?"
At this time, as Jieming leaned in, Liu Pi began to boredly scan the area with his eyes for anything strange or out of place. He was, after all, guarding Jieming, though there was very rarely such a need in his own camp. Still, Liu Pi had nothing better to do than to look around, since the talk of politics wasn't quite his strongpoint. He hated Dong Zhuo and Li Jue, but he knew it was not his place to speak of such.
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Post by Taishi Ci on Jun 7, 2010 20:50:06 GMT
"I can't speak for my lord cause I don't know whe thinks about them. Though I think they are just people who want to control China. Not for the Emperor, but for themselves. So I think they need to be dealt with...as well as that officer of Cao Cao over there spying on us. Show yourself coward!!"
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Post by Cao Ren on Jun 7, 2010 23:54:13 GMT
Cao Ren was indeed surprised by Taishi Ci's sudden response, but the content itself wasn't so out of expectations. He had assumed that with Ci's eyes he would be caught sooner or later, and it was only to his best to get himself out of the situation without any or too much suspicion. After all, it was only necessary and voluntary duties, not something that an enemy was doing within their camp, an uninvited spy for the war.
"Greetings, fellow warriors."
Zixiao spoke in a rather deep voice as he stood up from the wet grass, revealing his form. His trident was in hand, yes, but not in a position to strike. His two followers, prepared for any battle to the death, pointed their spears at everyone else, but Zixiao simply waved them to lower their weapons, to which the men obliged.
"You have a good observation, General Taishi. May I introduce myself? I am Cao Ren, styled Zixiao. I am from Chen Liu as an officer serving under Cao Cao.
"I assume that the action I was doing might have caused some suspicion. But it is not easy to simply leave unacquainted neighbors freely in such times. It would never have hurt to keep an eye on everyone. I apologize if it seemed a bit too... offending. I do not wish any strife to occur between our armies."
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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 8, 2010 0:12:27 GMT
Jieming smiled slightly at Taishi Ci's first words. He knew that the time would come when it would fall to loyal warriors like them to defeat the corrupt officials who care for themselves and not for the Son of the Heaven or for his people. As Cao Ren was pointed out, the white-clad leader raised his spear, as did many of the soldiers around. Cao Ren was clearly outnumbered, being that he was inside Jieming's home camp. Many soldiers flocked over, but Jieming laughed.
"Greetings, Lord Cao. You do know that you would be welcome in my camp if you merely introduced yourself and walked in, as Lord Taishi has done. I do not mind if you evaluate my men and my strategies. We will not be enemies in the coming times, what with your Lord's devotion to rebuilding Luo Yang and serving the needs of the Son of Heaven. Am I incorrect, Lord Cao?"
His question was a bit ironic. Jieming liked forcing people to talk of their loyalty to the Son of Heaven, since he would try to read body language to see if they were telling the truth when they responded. In truth, Jieming didn't know very well whether Cao Cao would be an ally or an enemy, but his attention was certainly not focused on the Chen Liu-based Governor. His attention was focused on his beloved Emperor and the two corrupt Generals that "protected" him.
Jieming and his men lowered their spears slightly. Not enough so that Cao Ren could make a sudden attack or anything, but as a gesture that they were not planning any hostilities against the uninvited guests.
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Post by Taishi Ci on Jun 8, 2010 0:18:54 GMT
Taishi looked at both officers, waiting for a response."I shall let them talk, for now."said Ci in his head.
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Post by Cao Ren on Jun 8, 2010 0:32:21 GMT
It looked like Gongsun Jieming himself wasn't too surprised either. Well, that or he was a very firm-hearted warrior, not swayed by sudden circumstances that hit him. The more he observed, Cao Ren felt that Jieming might be a valuable asset to the Cao army if they could earn his service. But if Jiang Dong had so coldly been refused, could the Cao army have a chance? Maybe. After all, Zixiao placed them above all others, even the feared army of the Little Conqueror. But not getting directly to business now.
Jieming gave a slight grin back at Jieming, as a sign of peace and casual talk. His soldiers seemed to grow a bit less tense, though the sight of the opposing soldiers still kept them on guard. There was no need; they weren't in a risk as long as they didn't attack first.
"My lord is indeed working loyally to reconstruct the capital, as he had dutifully promised the emperor.
"Now, may I ask you a question in return? Do you promote the actions of Guo Si and Li Jue in the capital? Or would you rather bring them down?"
It was a rather direct inquiring, but it was nonetheless the question that would decide whether or not the two armies would stand opposing or not. It was the purpose of the current affairs at state for Cao Ren, and hopefully it would be for the other two officers as well.
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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 8, 2010 0:45:16 GMT
The white-clad leader nodded, impressed by Cao Ren's inquiry. The young Cao general had read Jieming's mind, and asked the question Jieming wished to ask. Luckily, Jieming knew exactly the correct response for the situation.
"As a servant of the Son of Heaven, I support anyone who follows his true will, and oppose anyone who wishes to obscure or corrupt that will. Sadly, my meager intellect and lack of wisdom does not allow me to fully evaluate the Generals you mention. Perhaps in your superior intelligence, Lord Cao, you could enlighten me on the reality of the capital."
By this point, Jieming had likely already been convinced to act against Li Jue and Guo Si, but he wished to hear Cao Ren's opinion on the matter. Cao Cao could be a valuable ally, due to his strong position in Chen Liu and Luo Yang, but Jieming did not know whether he could trust the powerful warlord. He did plan on speaking to some of the land's warlords, and quite soon, but he didn't know enough of Cao Cao to know whether he should be on the list or not.
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Post by Cao Ren on Jun 8, 2010 0:50:31 GMT
Cao Ren's grin slowly faded as they began to sink into more serious matters. It was impossible to avoid the topic these days, in such situations the land was in. Very well, so be it. If they had to discuss the matter, they would to the full extent. Though Zixiao did honestly wish that they were sitting in chairs comfortably instead of standing in the middle of a training camp, weapons in hand, with all eyes turned toward them.
"I do not have extreme wisdom, General Gongsun. I only try to evaluate what I can. And in my personal opinion, I find that Li Jue and Guo Si, former servants of the tyrant Dong Zhuo, are simply following in their late master's footsteps in the exact manner, beginning to cause havoc in the court once again.
"I firmly believe that both men are vile, and that both shall have to go to meet their demise very soon, preferably at my own hands. But I hope that I am not the only one who will work against these men."
With the last statement, Zixiao eyes Jieming and Taishi Ci, as if asking for their opinions in return.
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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 8, 2010 1:01:50 GMT
Jieming ordered his men away. He shared Cao Ren's sentiments about discussing this with his men. If any spy got word to Li Jue or Guo Si, there could be problems.
"Would you like to come inside for a drink, Lord Cao? I do not want my men to grow lazy thinking this is an extended break."
He chuckled a bit, but his raised eyebrows told his men that he wasn't joking. Most of them, except for about half-a-dozen trusted guards and Liu Pi, returned to their exercises. Jieming led Cao Ren and Liu Pi into the wooden structure, this time to a smaller room rather than the dining hall. Jieming entered first and sat at what amounted to his desk, and Liu Pi stood beside him. While Jieming allowed his spear to rest on the window beside his desk, Liu Pi held his spear in hand in case either of the guests tried anything. Of course, at this point doing so wouldn't be smart. Jieming's men did surround the place, after all.
Assuming that Cao Ren and Taishi Ci followed him into this office, wine was brought in for the three generals to share.
"If what you say is true, Lord Cao, then it is our duty to act against them as we did act against Dong Zhuo. How could we do such a thing without endangering the Son of Heaven, though?"
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Post by Taishi Ci on Jun 8, 2010 1:20:17 GMT
"I say since Cao Cao is close to him, he could try and move him so we could strike. I agree, we must strike soon."as Ci said this, he sat down and took a drink of wine."The Emperor needs to be our top priority first. Once he is moved we could strike against them...what do you think about that Cao Ren?"
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Post by Cao Ren on Jun 8, 2010 3:41:18 GMT
Cao Ren silently followed Gongsun Jieming inside the large tent belonging to the general, Taishi Ci and Jieming's officer coming along with them. Finally, a place to sit and hopefully a proper drink would be provided, and things might be a bit more relaxed physically. None could ease the psychological tension of everyone at the moment, however, at least as long as the current affairs were so largely important to everyone.
Placing himself at the table facing Jieming, Zixiao received his cup of wine from the servant bringing him a drink. He only took a small sip as a sign of respect for the hospitality before he listened to the other two's statements.
"I assure you, Li Jue and Guo Si cannot harm the emperor. They are nothing by themselves; they need a hostage representation of power. However, we shall not risk the emperor's safety. I think someone should cause something of whatever importance to have the court escort the emperor to elsewhere outside Chang An, before Master Cao's army can easily intercept them and rescue the emperor from those evil hands.
"It won't be too difficult once the plan begins to execute."
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Post by Gongsun Jieming on Jun 8, 2010 4:18:01 GMT
Jieming shakes his head sadly in response to Cao Ren's strategem.
"General Li and General Guo may be corrupt fools, yet they are not stupid enough to march out of Chang'an into the open where any of the regional lords could ambush them."
Jieming frowned slightly, thinking how much easier it would be if they were to do such a thing.
"No, what I think is required is a mix of power and stealth. If someone with strong contacts to the Imperial Family were able to enter the city and ensure the Emperor's safety, or open the gates to the city, my men and the men of whoever chooses to ally themselves with the Emperor can crush General Li's weak forces."
Jieming adds a note about Cao Cao.
"Besides, if we were to trouble your Lord for too many forces in the matter, it may weaken your position with respect to Lord Yuan. Lord Yuan's ambition makes him a danger to your Lord, I fear."
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