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So Zhuge Liang called in Zhao Yun, gave him three silken bags, and whispered in his ear, saying, “Here are three schemes enclosed in three bags. When you escort our lord to the South Land, you will take these with you and act as they direct.”

Zhao Yun hid the three silken bags in his breast so that they should be at hand when required.

Zhuge Liang next sent the wedding gifts, and when these had been received, the preliminaries were settled.

It was then the early winter of the fourteenth year of Rebuilt Tranquillity (AD 209); and the bridegroom elect, his escort, and the intermediary, left the city of Jingzhou with a fleet of ten fast ships to sail down the river to Nanxu. Zhuge Liang remained to guard and rule the region.

But Liu Bei was far from feeling comfortable. They arrived and the ships were made fast. This done, the time had come for the first of the silken bags to be opened. And so it was; and thereupon Zhao Yun gave each of his five hundred guards his instructions, and they went their several ways. Next Zhao Yun told Liu Bei what he was to do: to pay his visit first to the State Patriarch Qiao, who was the father-in-law of Sun Ce and of Zhou Yu.

The State Patriarch Qiao resided in Nanxu and to his house, leading sheep and bearing wine jars, went the bridegroom elect. Having made his obeisance, Liu Bei explained that as Lu Fan had arranged, he had come to marry a wife.

In the meantime the five hundred guards, all in gala dress, had scattered over the city place buying all sorts of things, as they said, for the wedding of Liu Bei with the daughter of the Sun House. They spread the news far and wide and the whole town talked about it.

When Sun Quan heard of Liu Bei's arrival, he bade Lu Fan wait upon him and take him to the guest-house. Meanwhile the State Patriarch Qiao went to the Dowager Marchioness, mother of Sun Quan, to congratulate her on the happy event.

“What happy event?” ejaculated the old lady.

“The betrothal of your beloved daughter to Liu Bei. And he has arrived too, as surely you know.”

“My poor old self does not know;” said the Dowager, “I have heard nothing of all this.”

She at once summoned her son and also sent her servants out into the town to see what was going about. They quickly returned to say: “The whole city know of the coming wedding, and the bridegroom is now at the guest-house. Moreover, he has come with a large escort, and they are spending freely, buying pork and mutton and fruits, all in readiness for the wedding feasting. Lu Fan and Sun Qian are the intermediaries on each side, and they are in the guest-house too.”

The Dowager Marchioness was terribly taken aback and upset so that, when Sun Quan arrived, he found his mother beating her breast and weeping bitterly.

“What has disturbed you, Mother?” asked he.

“What you have just done,” said she. “You have treated me as a nonentity. When my elder sister lay dying, what did she tell you?”

Sun Quan began to be frightened, but he said boldly, “Please speak out plainly, Mother; what is this great sorrow?”

“When a son is grown he takes a wife, and when a girl is old enough she goes to her husband. And that is right and proper. But I am the mother, and you ought to have told me that your sister was to become the wife of Liu Bei. Why did you keep me in the dark? It was my place to promise her in marriage.”

“Whence comes this story?” said the Marquis, really much frightened.

“Do you pretend ignorance? There is not a soul in the city who does not know! But you have succeeded in keeping me in the dark.”

“I heard it several days ago,” said the State Patriarch Qiao. “And I came just now to offer my felicitations.”

“There is no such thing,” said Sun Quan. “It is just one of the ruses of Zhou Yu to get hold of Jingzhou. He has used this means to inveigle Liu Bei here and hold him captive till Jingzhou is restored to us. And if they will not give it back, then Liu Bei will be put to death. That is the plot. There is no real marriage.”

But the Dowager was in a rage and vented her wrath in abusing Zhou Yu.

She said, “Zhou Yu is a pretty sort of governor over the six territories and eighty-one counties if he cannot find any means of recovering one region except making use of my child as a decoy. Truly this is a fine deed, to spoil the whole of my child's life and condemn her to perpetual widowhood, because he wants to use the fair damsel ruse to slay a man! Who will ever come to talk of marriage with her after this?”

Said the State Patriarch Qiao, “By this means you may indeed recover Jingzhou, but you will be a shameful laughing stock to all the world. What can be done?”

Sun Quan had nothing to say; he could only hang his head, while the Dowager abused his general.

The State Patriarch Qiao tried to soothe her, saying, “After all Liu Bei, the Imperial Uncle, is a scion of the reigning family. You can do nothing better now than to welcome him as a son-in-law and not let this ugly story get abroad.”

“I am afraid their ages do not match,” interposed Sun Quan.