What should have been a warm, cheerful after-dinner gathering in the side hall suddenly felt as though the temperature had dropped ten degrees. An invisible chill swept through the room.
"Those Jiangdong rats really can't be trusted!" Liu Bei exploded in fury. "Sun Quan! I swear I'll kill you!"
Only Kongming's calm, steady voice managed to rein him in.
"My lord, please don't be alarmed!"
Having followed Liu Bei since the Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage more than two years ago, Zhuge Liang understood the bond between the sworn brothers better than anyone.
"If what the light screen shows is the future—things that have not yet occurred—then doesn't that mean the ancestors of the Han are warning you in advance, so that General Guan may avoid this calamity?"
After a round of gentle persuasion, Liu Bei's reason finally returned. The letter from his second brother, still tucked against his chest, served as a reminder: Guan Yu was currently fighting alongside Zhou Gongjin for Nanjun—alive, energetic, and very much intact.
Yet once he calmed down, Liu Bei grew even more uneasy.
"Kongming… will we truly become traitors in the future?"
Zhuge Liang did not answer. The light screen continued speaking at its own unhurried pace.
[Everyone knows that Eastern Wu was a regime built by outsiders from the Jianghuai region suppressing the local Jiangdong elites. To put it bluntly, they were harvesting the local aristocracy like leeks to make room for their own people—Cheng Pu, Han Dang, and other trusted followers.]
[Official histories say Sun Ce was assassinated by three retainers of Xu Gong. But how did those men infiltrate Jiangdong? How did they find Sun Ce alone so precisely? Who supplied their weapons? The histories never say—but we have reason to believe the Jiangdong aristocratic clans played an unsavory role in the affair.]
[Sun Quan was much like Sun Ce: lacking decisiveness and long-term resolve, favoring appeasement over force. The Jiangdong clans, however, never forgot the blood debt owed by the Sun family, and Sun Quan himself could not immediately bring them into his inner circle. This was the root of Wu's internal instability.]
"Precise," Kongming murmured as he copied furiously, deeply resonating with the analysis of Wu's internal contradictions.
Before Red Cliffs, Jiangdong had been like oil poured on raging fire—the conflict between the Jianghuai faction and the local Jiangdong aristocracy had nearly reached the point of no return.
The Jiangdong clans didn't really care whether their ruler's surname was Sun or Cao. But Sun Quan, Zhou Yu, and the Jianghuai outsiders had no choice but to fight Cao Cao to the bitter end.
It was under such circumstances that Kongming traveled to Jiangdong, debated the scholars into submission, temporarily binding the Jiangdong elites to Sun Quan's war chariot—and only then was the great victory at Red Cliffs achieved.
The light screen continued:
[So how was this fragile balance between locals and outsiders broken? To understand that, we first need to look at a figure often overlooked in discussions of Red Cliffs: Pang Tong, the "Fledgling Phoenix," equal in fame to Zhuge Liang.]
[Everyone knows Pang Tong—at least in Romance. He offers the chained ships plan to help Zhou Yu's fire attack, later joins Liu Bei, and ultimately dies young at Fallen Phoenix Slope. A tragic genius.]
Pang Tong joined me?
Liu Bei couldn't hide the joy that flashed across his face. He had always been desperate for talent, forever feeling that he never had enough capable people.
He remembered Sima Hui once saying, "Here lie the Crouching Dragon and the Fledgling Phoenix."
To think that both would eventually serve under him!
As for dying young at Fallen Phoenix Slope… that was hardly important. He'd simply issue strict orders forbidding Pang Tong from ever going near a place with such an ominous name.
Fallen Phoenix Slope—who even names a place like that?
Liu Bei was already sighing inwardly for his future strategist.
[But if we strip away the Romance, Pang Tong was a native of Jing Province, the nephew of Pang Degong, from a major Xiangyang clan. He was officially recruited as a gongcao—strictly speaking, a subordinate of Liu Biao.]
[When Cao Cao's eight hundred thousand troops arrived, Jing Province fragmented. Later, when Zhou Yu attacked Nanjun, Pang Tong directly became Zhou Yu's subordinate. Notice something, folks?]
[That's right—Pang Tong switched camps smoothly and effortlessly. This was actually a political allegiance shift by the Jingzhou local elite. After Red Cliffs, Zhou Yu's prestige was overwhelming. What choice did they have but to submit? Remember—Zhou Yu once slaughtered Jiangdong aristocrats alongside Sun Ce. Jingzhou bordered Jiangdong; they knew exactly what that meant.]
[But Zhou Yu didn't live long. Pang Tong traveled all the way to Jiangdong to mourn him—and then promptly defected to Liu Bei.]
[The implication isn't hard to guess. Pang Tong was likely representing Jingzhou interests in negotiations—and the talks probably failed.]
[Side note: Romance adds the famous "Three Times Zhuge Liang Enrages Zhou Yu," which we now know is pure fiction. Historically, Zhou Yu was broad-minded and elegant, praised as "a hero of his age, the most refined gentleman of Jiangdong."]
[As for his death, official records state that Zhou Yu was wounded by a stray arrow during the Nanjun campaign and died the following year in Baqiu while preparing to take Shu—likely from infection after the wound never fully healed.]
"Three times enraging Zhou Yu?" Zhuge Liang froze. What nonsense is that?
Why would he antagonize Zhou Yu? Zhou Gongjin was Wu's Grand Commander, fresh off crushing Cao Cao and on the verge of taking Nanjun. Meanwhile, Liu Bei's position—well, it wasn't exactly nothing, but calling it "bare walls and empty coffers" wouldn't be far off. There was no enmity to speak of.
"So Zhou Gongjin will die young…" Liu Bei murmured.
The screen had mentioned many things, yet barely touched on Zhou Yu earlier. Liu Bei had felt uneasy then—now he understood why. Losing such a pillar would make Sun Quan's control over the Jiangdong elites even more precarious.
Zhao Zilong sat quietly to the side, diligently recording everything, offering no commentary.
[Zhou Yu's death triggered a chain reaction. For instance, Jingzhou elites—who once had no choice but to grovel before Zhou Yu—now dared to negotiate with Sun Quan.]
"That phrase 'grovel like dogs'…" Liu Bei shook his head. He wanted to call it outrageous, but softened his words instead. "It's… inelegant."
"This ancestor's apparition seems to be showing us how future generations speak," Kongming said with a light laugh, fan swaying even in winter. "Just as people of Qin wouldn't revere Shang kings, perhaps our present-day gentry seem trivial to those who come after us."
[What did the Jingzhou elites want? The same thing elites have always wanted—some degree of autonomy. 'Imperial authority doesn't reach the countryside,' after all. Sounds great, right?]
[And they succeeded once. After Liu Biao's death, Cai Mao and Zhang Yun supported Liu Cong—the son of a Lady Cai—as Governor of Jingzhou, effectively allowing the local clans to control the province themselves.]
[Now, with Zhou Yu dead, Sun Quan would never grant Jingzhou autonomy. So the Jingzhou elites found a new candidate: Liu Bei.]
[At the time, Liu Bei had no manpower. Whether he wanted to or not, taking over Jingzhou required reliance on local elites—and Liu Biao's fate might even be replicated on Liu Bei.]
[Thus, when Pang Tong defected to Liu Bei, the later 'borrowing Jingzhou' was simply going with the flow. Jingzhou elites paid lip service to Sun Quan while undermining him, and Sun Quan himself was happy to dump the burden so he could focus on internal conflicts after Zhou Yu's death.]
[From AD 208 to 219, Liu Bei entered a period of explosive growth: territorially, he took Yi Province; in talent, Huang Zhong and Ma Chao submitted; militarily, he triumphed at Hanzhong—Huang Zhong slew Xiahou Yuan, and Guan Yu flooded the Seven Armies, shaking all under Heaven.]
[As the saying goes: you fear your brother suffering—but fear even more when he starts driving a luxury car. Liu Bei's "brother-in-law," Sun Quan, couldn't sit still anymore.]
[Lu Meng and Lu Xun executed the famous "White-Clad Crossing the River," launching a fatal surprise attack on their ally, completely seizing Jingzhou—and beheading Guan Yu and Guan Ping.]
[In the same year Guan Yu died, Lu Meng conveniently passed away as well. Thus, when Liu Bei attacked Wu two years later, Lu Xun became the only viable commander.]
[After Lu Xun burned Liu Bei's camps for eight hundred li at Yiling, Eastern Wu inevitably declined. Internal strife between the Jiangdong elites and the Sun royal house intensified, leading eventually to its collapse.]
[A regime consumed by internal struggle has no chance of unifying the realm.]
Liu Bei stared blankly at the images on the screen.
Zhou Yu—handsome and heroic—lay dying in Xiao Qiao's arms, sighing, "Why was Zhuge Liang born, if Zhou Yu had to be?"
The unremarkable-looking Pang Tong clutched an arrow in his chest, gazing at the sky. "My death today… is Heaven's will."
Another "Liu Bei" donned imperial robes in Chengdu—then the scene shifted. Wu soldiers disguised as merchants crossed the river. The banner bearing the character Guan was hacked down and trampled into mud.
Another "second brother" was beheaded on Sun Quan's orders, his head sent to Cao Cao. Another "Liu Bei" raged and raised an army—only to stand numb before the inferno at Yiling.
The final image showed "Liu Bei," pale as paper, entrusting his last words to "Kongming":
"If my heir may be aided, then aid him. If he is unworthy—take the realm yourself."
[Therefore, in this uploader's view, after Yiling, Eastern Wu completely lost the world.]
[That's all for today's episode. Like and follow so you don't get lost—next time, we'll talk about how the Cao clan lost the realm as well!]
"So this… is my future? And the future of the Han?" Liu Bei said hoarsely.
Betrayed by allies.
Second brother beheaded.
Burned by fire, dying of rage and illness.
And from the very beginning, the screen had already said it plainly: Shu Han would fall in two generations. The realm would return to Jin.
"My lord—don't forget to like and follow," Kongming reminded him while organizing his hurried notes. Judging by his tone, these actions seemed to be the key to seeing further revelations.
Liu Bei looked lost but mimicked the icon on the screen, awkwardly raising his thumb.
"Like this?"
Golden light flashed.
A line of text appeared:
[Next video update: one month later]
Liu Bei relaxed. He'd stumbled into the correct answer. Then another worry surfaced.
"Kongming… should we prepare some offerings?"
"My lord, no need," Zhuge Liang said after a moment's thought, boldly concluding, "The person in the light screen is likely from the far future. In that case, we are his ancestors. Sacrifices of livestock would be inappropriate."
"Sound reasoning!" Liu Bei clapped his hands. Having studied under Lu Zhi, he quickly reached a decision. After glancing around, he removed the jade pendant from his waist.
"Since we're facing a descendant, formal sacrifices won't do. Let's meet them with sincerity."
He wrote a short note, dipped in ink, and held it together with the jade pendant toward the screen.
"To our descendant of the future—these insights are priceless. May you appear often. This jade is of little value; please accept it as a token of thanks."
The light screen shimmered once.
The jade vanished from Liu Bei's hand.
With the matter settled, Zhuge Liang frowned at the notes he'd taken and spoke softly:
"My lord, with revelations of this magnitude, we should immediately summon Generals Guan and Zhang back to discuss matters. What comes next requires careful planning."
"That's exactly my thought," Liu Bei replied. Fully aware of how powerful foreknowledge was, he finally showed a heroic confidence worthy of Heaven.
"Kongming—this time, we will not let my second brother's tragedy repeat itself."