Testing the Waters with Lan Ziyu

"Ziyu has made Jiangdong suffer so badly. You still expect Sun Quan not to hold a grudge? This feud may never be resolved in this lifetime. Let the Blue-Eyed One's hatred run as deep as the sea—ultimately, all he can do is rage helplessly."

Zhang Fei mercilessly laid out the truth. Liu Bei couldn't help glaring at him, then came to Lan Tian's defense. "Political alliances may be fragile, but we can't openly tear them apart. At the very least, we must stand on the side of righteousness."

Lan Tian smiled and chimed in. "The world is now divided into three powers. None of them can yet claim an absolute advantage if it has to fight the other two at once. Jiangdong is the weakest of the three. We can enlist it as an ally, but not seek to annex it. We don't expect Sun Quan to keep Cao Pi in check; we only need him not to cause trouble during our northern campaign. So we still have to keep up appearances."

"Uh... though Yu Fan wasn't personally captured by Ziyu, Lan Boyang was in full command during the fighting at Nanye County. Sun Quan probably won't distinguish between the things you father and son did."

Zhang Fei's meaning was clear: whether Lan Tian or his son was responsible, Sun Quan would hold Lan Tian accountable.

Lan Tian said solemnly, "Yide probably doesn't make a habit of reading the papers. The Lingnan Newspaper explained the matter quite clearly. A band of mountain bandits had been terrorizing the area around Luling and Guiyang. Their leader, Wang Jin, led them in an attack on Nanye, Gan County, and other places. Along the way, they kidnapped Yu Fan's entire family—the newly appointed county magistrate—and extorted money from the Administrator of Luling. Jiangdong had