Liu Cheng stayed overnight on Upper Reaches Continent.
There was no entering the tent to share a couch and sleep with their feet touching, not with Huan Wen, nor with Xi Chao... They had already said enough that evening, and talked late enough. Tomorrow they still had to go to work on their special assignment, so they needed a good rest. The conditions here were much better than on the River-Island Sandbar downstream that was to serve as the meeting place, so he simply stayed here.
Nor did he hurry over early the next morning.
The main concern was the heat. That River-Island Sandbar was tiny, and the so-called preparations amounted at most to laying out a few mats and setting up a few canopies. If a scorching sun happened to roast both these men to death together, it might well trigger an all-out civil war.
Fortunately, though, the cloud cover was fairly thick.
To be safe, Liu Cheng wanted to wait until the hottest part of the afternoon had passed before holding the meeting, but neither Huan Wen nor Sima Yu could wait.
Well, if the leaders themselves were willing, with such deep feelings between them, who was he to stop them?
And so, after Fu Tao made a quick trip there and back, Sima Yu took Gao Song aboard one boat, while Huan Wen took Xi Chao aboard another. Each set off toward the little midriver islet where Liu Cheng was waiting.
Huan Wen came downstream and arrived first, without displaying any banners or the like. He was not even wearing his brocade robe and cloak. Instead, like a celebrated gentleman of the South of the Yangtze, he wore wooden clogs and loose clothing, leaving his purplish-red beard splayed over his chest hair. Who knew whether they would