The Huai Region trembled, and strange changes kept sweeping both banks of the Huai River.
The upheavals before had spread far and wide, but some people had enough confidence not to worry. Even when the ground shook, nothing could stop them from devoting themselves entirely to...
"Zhou and Qi are at war again! East wind!"
"Emperor of Zhou has nerve enough to shake heaven and earth. He even dared suppress Buddhism and Daoism! Pong!"
"Don't speak ill of His Majesty in front of me! I don't care how astonishing your Divine Abilities are! Mahjong!"
Clatter!
As tiles rattled through another shuffle, the atmosphere inside the General's Residence in Shouchun was taut as a drawn bowstring. Tension filled the room.
Xu Yanming sat at one side of the table, flanked by his two disciples. Both looked as though they faced a formidable enemy.
On either side sat Duan Changjiu and Dharma Lamp Monk, the Daoist and the monk. One was wholly absorbed; the other wore a troubled expression.
Across from them, Liang Shiyan, a general of Northern Zhou, sat bolt upright. He slowly breathed out, smiled, and looked as though he had just accomplished some great feat.
The four had originally been kept under house arrest in Huaiyin City. But as order gradually returned to the Huai Region, Chen Fangtai, under Chen Cuo's "guidance," firmly established Shouchun as its military and political center. They had all been moved there.
Now all four pairs of hands circled over the table, stirring the square tiles into a clack-clack racket.
Chu Zhengdao, standing beside Xu Yanming, the master from Overseas, caught Liang Shiyan's smile and bristled. "You only get to swagger at a Mahjong table."
Liang Shiyan could not even be bothered to lift his eyes. He smiled. "I've routed you on every side.