Other Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Breath of Wu ❯ The Last Breath of Wu ( One-Shot )

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, or the characters within.

 

The Last Breath of Wu

By Gan Xingba

 

General Lu Kang, Queller of the East, gazed outward at the Great River from his favorite vantage point on a hill just outside Jiangkou. The scenery was beautiful, just as it had been for nearly every day since Emperor Sun Hao had ordered him there with the intention of leading an attack on Jin from there. That had been in the year one of the rein period Bao Ding, though honestly Kang had stopped caring about the names of reign periods a long time ago, as it seemed to be a habit of Sun Hao's to change it with rather ridiculous frequency. Now, in the third year of Bao Ding, Sun Hao had grown impatient. Not too long ago, he had sent a letter ordering Kang to attack, seeming quite paranoid that Jin would strike first.

 

Kang knew far better than to follow that order, however. An attack right now would be completely futile, and only serve to weaken his beloved nation. As such, he had sent a detailed explanation of this to the Emperor, and also listed a great many ways to strengthen Wu through benevolent rule.

 

`Indeed, now is the time to gather strength,' thought the forty-three year old general as he removed his helmet and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air. `I shall protect Wu from any threat beyond our fair borders for now. The very foundation of Jin is one of deception and betrayal, thus it is bound to weaken with time, while Wu will only get stronger. That is…if Sun Hao heeds my advice.'

 

Of course, Kang knew that this was a problem. While many of the most prominent men in Wu recognized the general as a man of wisdom that nearly equaled that of his father, Lu Xun, the Emperor was not one of those people. Repeatedly in the past, Sun Hao had rejected Kang's advice, despite the support it received from heroic men like Ding Feng, who Kang had realized was perhaps the most important man in Wu aside from the Emperor and himself. Even as the borderlands prospered under Kang's guidance, the Emperor would not listen. All that Kang could hope for was that the Emperor had the wisdom necessary to make this decision, for it was more important than any decision Kang had offered guidance for in a long time.

 

“General! A messenger from the Son of Heaven has a letter for you, sir!” reported a soldier as he rushed up behind the general and kneeled respectfully.

 

“Very good, send him forth,” replied Kang, turning around to greet the messenger.

 

The soldier rose, head still bowed down and backed away as another soldier, this time holding a letter, stepped forward and kneeled in similar manner as he held out the letter for the general. The general took the letter from the messenger, who exited in the same manner as the soldier before him, and quickly broke the seal on it. As he read the letter, his face lost its color, his pupils began to grow larger, and his lower lip started to tremble slightly. The letter was not simply an order to attack, as Lu Kang had feared, but it was far worse. It was a letter that ordered his immediate removal from command at Jiangkou, demoting him to a mere officer's rank. He would be replaced by General of the Left Sun Ji as soon as the latter party arrived.

 

`How could the Emperor do this?' wondered Kang in absolute dismay. `I detailed every reason why my advice should be headed, and every precaution that could be taken instead of an attack. It made perfect sense, how could he not see that?'

 

Kang looked up at the sky in despair, thinking about the last three years he had spent at Jiangkou. Three years of hard work and dedication, in which the borderlands swelled with peace and prosperity. Three years of planning and preparing, in which great strength was gathered and long term plans were set in motion. Now, it was three years wasted.

 

`If the Emperor does not listen to my advice, if he continues down this path that he has started down, than Wu is doomed,' realized the now ex-general as he looked upward towards the blue sky in despair. `Wu, my beloved homeland, is doomed to fall. The kingdom my father worked so hard to help build…'

 

Sadly, Lu Kang remembered his father, Lu Xun, a man said to be one of, if not the, most brilliant mind under heaven. Xun had spent his whole life trying to better Wu, achieving great feats that would surely be remembered throughout the ages. Yet now, all the hard work of both Xun and Kang would soon amount to nothing, for it was now clear that Wu would not last long due to its incompetent emperor.

 

Kang walked back towards the edge of the hill and once again gazed outward towards the Great River. He could no longer hold back his emotions, and several tears overflowed from his eyes and ran down his cheeks as he looked towards the land that was so recently his charge to defend.

 

“Father…I'm so sorry. I have done all that I could, and given all that I have, yet my greatest efforts could not save our homeland,” he spoke out loud, his voice a mournful whisper. “How can fate be so cruel as to rend a lifetime of work by both father and son to ash? Do our lives truly have any meaning at all?”

 

The wind began to pick up, and the green grass that bordered the river looked as though they flowing like the water itself. Kang turned towards where one of his guards was standing, loyally holding the reigns of his steed. Then, suddenly, he could swear he heard his father's voice.

 

“Our toils may have been in vain, but are they truly devoid of purpose?”

 

Kang whirled about, half expecting to see his father smiling back at him, but there was no one there. However, there was a new aspect to the picturesque scene by the river. A man was walking along the bank of the river, carrying some simple fishing gear as two young children were playfully running about in his wake. For several moments, Kang just stared down at the trio, and at last he understood the words he had heard whispered on the wind.

 

`Though my struggle to save my homeland may have been futile, I suppose there is still meaning to it in the end,' he thought. `Through my efforts, I have made the lives of my people much better than they were before. What greater meaning to life could I have asked for?'

 

Kang watched the happy family make their way down the riverbank from his hill for a few more moments, and his sorrow began to slip away. In fact, he even felt a smile form on his face. Still smiling, he turned and walked towards his steed, which he swiftly mounted and rode back to Jiangkou.

 

Five years later, Lu Kang died, and on his deathbed he knew that Wu, the kingdom which he had dedicated his life towards, would fall soon after his passing. Yet, despite this, he died a contented man.