(The previous chapter had a little test run and ended up hanging...)
The sun shone brightly, and the sky was as clear as if it had been washed. The deep blue heavens foretold that today would be a rare day of fine weather.
Liu Bei led the civil and military officials at the very front, with the delegations from all sides who had come to observe the ceremony following behind. Cao Cao had still sent Chen Qun, Liu Biao was represented by Kuai Liang, and Yuan Shu had sent Yuan Huan. As for Sun Jian and Li Jue, one was not qualified to send an envoy to observe the ceremony, while the other was still busy conquering the various powers in Jiangnan and had no time for such matters.
Liu Zhang's representative was the most unusual of all. His name was Zhang Yu, courtesy name Nan He—not that he had anything to do with Chardonnay. He was a famous Divination Scholar of Yizhou in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In his youth, he had been as renowned as Zhou Qun of Langzhong. Zhang Yu excelled at using celestial changes to interpret human affairs and predict fortune and misfortune, and his talent and knowledge surpassed even Zhou Qun's. He later rose to the position of Assistant Commandant of the Rear Division of Yizhou.
Zhang Yu, Zhou Qun, Zhou Shu—Zhou Qun's father—Dong Fu, and Ren An were all illustrious Divination Scholars of the late Eastern Han Dynasty. In plain language, they were fortune-tellers. The reason Liu Yan had gone to Yizhou back then was because Dong Fu had said, "The capital will fall into chaos. The celestial omens over Yizhou show the aura of an emperor."
As it happened, all these Divination Scholars were from Sichuan. The reason Liu Zhang had sent