The court officials filed out of Xuanshi Hall one after another. Liu Bei had seats prepared for all ten men who remained, and then a dozen or so scholars entered the hall behind them.
"Your Majesty, this is..." Zhuge Liang began, then stopped himself.
"Big Brother?" Zhang Fei asked, his face full of curiosity.
Liu Bei smiled and explained, "These are the capital's most renowned painters. Many of you will soon march out again, so I had them paint portraits of all my ministers. Then, in my daily life, I can look upon the paintings and think of the people."
"So that's it." Guan Yu stroked his beard and nodded, though no one knew what was on his mind.
"Then let us begin." Liu Bei waved his hand grandly. The painters each chose their subjects, sat cross-legged in Xuanshi Hall, and began to paint.
With nothing to do while they posed, Zhang Fei suggested to Liu Bei, "Your Majesty, just sitting here is too dull. Why not have Ziyu tell us a story? I remember he used to be quite the storyteller."
"Ziyu?" Liu Bei asked tentatively.
Lan Tian froze at the sound of it, then hurriedly shook his head. "Yide said that was in the past. You all fought out there, so you must have plenty of exciting stories. Zilong, wouldn't you say?"
"Uh... it was all right, really. Yun simply acted according to the stratagems of the various military advisers, so the campaign against Cao Zhen went fairly smoothly. But your disciple Shizai was truly remarkable. He actually made it through that gorge. If he had not launched a surprise attack from Jincheng and taken Gucang, we likely would have returned two months later." After speaking, Zhao Yun looked to Huang Zhong, signaling him to bear witness.
Huang