In an instant, Ma Liang felt every gaze in the small side hall shift toward him.
Those looks quickly slid past him, landing squarely on the younger brother sitting cross-legged at his back.
Ma Su, styled Youchang.
Ma Su's face drained of color until it turned a sickly, translucent white. He could not force a single word past his throat.
Now, finally, the pieces clicked into place.
The unreadable glances from the veterans.
His brother's strange, funereal attitude.
And the cryptic words Liu Bei had whispered before they left Jiangzhou.
"Youchang, I only hope you know that from defeat comes courage, and from weakness one can plot strength."
At the time, Ma Su had been a whirlwind of confusion.We've been winning since Zigui all the way to Jiangzhou, he had thought. Where is this 'defeat' and 'weakness' coming from?
Now, the truth hit him like a physical blow.
"Youchang!" Liu Bei called out. "Do not overthink this. What burden is there for you in the responsibilities of a future life?"
Ma Su nodded gratefully, his eyes stinging. Lord Liu is truly a saint, he thought, even as a colder dread took hold.
Just how badly did I fail in that other life?
The others looked away after a moment, the crushing pressure easing just enough for Ma Su to shuffle forward on his knees, huddling closer to Ma Liang.
"Why is your name not in the records, brother?" Ma Su whispered.
"I am already dead," Ma Liang replied, his brush never stopping. His voice was as flat and final as a tombstone.
Ma Su froze.
Zhang Fei, meanwhile, was mentally reconstructing the battlefield.
"Holding the heights? Defending a choke point? How do you lose a place like that? If it were old Zhang... hell, if it were Fan Jiang or Zhang Da, even those idiots could have held it!"
"Perhaps the Cao army pressed them with overwhelming numbers," Huang Zhong suggested, offering a shred of professional doubt.
"Quiet. Let us watch," Guan Yu commanded, though his own curiosity was plainly piqued.
The Military Advisor's main army was right next door at Shanggui. The Cao army would not stay there to die. They would have to push past and reinforce the city. How could such a position fall?
[Lightscreen]
[Regarding Ma Su's defense of Jieting, let's be clear: he had more than enough men.
When the Prime Minister later retreated to Hanzhong and began handing out punishments, the records confirm four generals under Ma Su's command: Zhang Xiu, Li Sheng, Huang Xi, and Wang Ping.
Commanding four generals means that even by the most conservative estimates, a thousand men per general, he had at least five thousand troops.
When the Prime Minister first set out from Hanzhong, his total force was 'several tens of thousands,' meaning no more than fifty thousand. Those men had to be split as decoys for Zhao Yun, rear guards for the supply lines, and the siege force for Shanggui.
Ma Su was entrusted with at least a third of the available combat strength. It was an act of supreme, perhaps even blind faith.
He had a massive army.
He held the strategic high ground.
And how could he lose?
Ma Su essentially said, 'Hold my wine, watch this maneuver.'
First, he 'violated the Prime Minister's directives.'
Kongming had given him specific orders, which Ma Su promptly tossed out the window the second he took command.
His next move was to 'rely on the southern mountains instead of descending to hold the city.'
When Zhang He arrived with his vanguard, he was actually baffled. 'What is this guy doing?' he must have wondered.
But as a veteran of a hundred battles, Zhang He did not hesitate. He cut off their water supply.
He surrounded the mountain and choked the springs. Ma Su's army crumbled. The only bright spot was Wang Ping, who took his thousand men and mimicked Zhang Fei's old trick at the Dangyang Bridge, beating the drums and creating a clamor to look like a massive ambush.
Zhang He's victory had been so suspiciously easy that he started second-guessing himself, fearing a trap, and he did not pursue.
The Prime Minister saw the disaster unfolding and moved his own troops to rescue them, but by the time he was halfway there, Ma Su had already lost.
In Shanggui, Guo Huai saw the besieging force dwindle as they turned to help Ma Su, so he lunged out of the city and turned the retreat into a rout. The entire campaign rotted from the inside out. The Prime Minister had no choice but to retreat.
Usually, a defeat like that earns a demotion or a fine. But according to multiple records, the reason Ma Su was executed was 'Ma Su fled.'
He abandoned his army and ran. That is a capital crime of the highest order. Furthermore, the Prime Minister was a strict disciplinarian, both in the army and in the administration of Shu. Execution was the only possible legal ending.
Before his death, Liu Bei had famously warned the Prime Minister that Ma Su was 'too fond of empty talk' and 'should not be given heavy responsibility.'
The Prime Minister did not listen to Liu Bei, and Ma Su did not listen to the Prime Minister. It was a tragic chain of stubbornness that ruined everyone involved.]
"Good grief!"
Zhang Fei shook his head.
"Abandoning the army and fleeing? That's a death sentence! No question about it!"
In that room, it was a universal truth.
A common soldier fleeing was one thing, but a commander abandoning his post was not just a crime.
It was a stain on the soul.
Liu Bei's disappointment was palpable. He could not even bring himself to look at Ma Su.
Previously, he thought it was merely a tactical failure, something that could be coached or corrected.
But this? This was a fundamental failure of character.
Ma Su looked at the screen, his spirit adrift.
Fleeing? Executed? That is my ending?
The concept of death, something he had only read about in grand poems, suddenly gripped his throat, making it hard to breathe.
Ma Liang let out a long, shuddering sigh.
He finished transcribing the last word, then slowly reached up, removed his official headpiece, and placed it on the floor.
He took two steps forward and prostrated himself before Liu Bei, his forehead touching the cold tiles.
"My Lord, I beg you. Strip Ma Su of his rank as Consultant and reduce him to a commoner."
Ma Su stared at his brother, his mouth hanging open, unable to find words.
Liu Bei remained silent, his face a mask of contemplation.
Kongming's expression was equally unreadable.
Guan Yu stroked his beard, looked at his brother, and finally shook his head.
"Jichang, why do this? How can you punish a man for a crime he hasn't committed?"
Mi Zhu watched Ma Liang on the floor with a complicated expression.
He knew the pain of having a younger brother who did not measure up, and the burden it placed on the elder brother.
He suspected Liu Bei would not punish Ma Su based solely on a future vision, but the Lord's distaste for such a personality was now permanent.
In the heavy silence, Zhang Fei's voice cut through the air.
"Bah! If you ask me, Youchang just lacks a bit of backbone!"
Ma Su's breath hitched, but he did not dare argue. He felt a wave of self-loathing wash over him.
The coward who abandons his troops was exactly the kind of man he had spent his life mocking in history books.
"Since that's the case," Zhang Fei continued, "let him be my personal guard. After all, the people of the future say Zhang Fei is 'violent and shows no mercy.' Well, let's see it then."
Zhang Fei turned his fierce gaze on Ma Su.
"I've heard Jichang talk about you. He says you think you're some grand strategist. Fine. Come to my camp. I'll teach you what it actually means to take responsibility. If you can actually look me in the eye after a month of training, I'll let you join the officer again."
Is that a viable path? Liu Bei wondered.
It was better than letting the talent rot or executing a man for a ghost-crime.
He turned his eyes to Ma Su, but the young man looked hesitant, his face a map of indecision.
Ma Liang straightened his back and shouted, "My Lord, my brother accepts!"
Liu Bei took one last look at Ma Su, hiding a flash of lingering disappointment behind a calm nod.
"Then let it be so."
Zhang Fei stood up, strode across the room, and hoisted Ma Su up like a kitten by the scruff of his neck, plunking him down behind his own seat.
Ma Su looked up in a daze, only to meet Zhang Fei's terrifying, toothy grin.
"Since you're my guard now, let's get one thing straight: if you run, I'll be the one to chop you down myself!"
Ma Su nodded dumbly, his world spinning.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei helped Ma Liang back to his feet and straightened his robes.
"Jichang, do not do such a thing again. Ma Su is in Yide's hands now; Whatever sins Ma Su may or may not commit from this day forward, whatever failures or triumphs await him on the path ahead, they have nothing to do with you. You are released from this burden. Carry it no longer."
[Lightscreen]
[The First Northern Expedition was the Prime Minister's best chance.
When the news of the uprising first reached Luoyang, the Cao Wei court's reaction was panic and disbelief. No one could decide on a move.
In the end, it was the young Emperor Cao Rui who took charge, traveling to Chang'an to personally oversee the defense.
He sent Cao Zhen to guard the West against Zhao Yun and dispatched Zhang He to Longyou.
There's not much to say about Zhao Yun's side of things. He had only a few thousand men. Even for the 'God of War from Changban Slope,' facing the full weight of Cao Zhen's main army was an impossible task.
But he retreated beautifully. According to Deng Zhi's later accounts, Zhao Yun stayed at the rear and ensured that not only were there no losses, but even the supplies were salvaged.
He embodied the Prime Minister's legendary frugality; burning the plank roads while under pursuit by a massive army was a necessity, not a failure.
Once Zhao Yun was pushed back, Cao Zhen moved to Longyou to settle accounts. The governors who fled were severely punished, and the peasants who had welcomed the Prime Minister were 'shattered.'
This likely meant the leaders were executed and the followers heavily fined. This was the true tragedy of the First Northern Expedition.
We often say Cao Wei had the 'Heavens' and Sun Wu had the 'Earth,' but Shu Han had the 'People.' Under Cao Zhen's blade, the goodwill the Prime Minister had spent years cultivating in Longyou was wiped out.
After the dust settled, Cao Zhen made a prediction: 'The Zhuge Villager will attack Chencang next.' He sent Hao Zhao ahead to fortify the city walls.
Meanwhile, back in Shu Han, the local elites clan actually thought the expedition was a massive success! When the Prime Minister returned to Chengdu, even as he demoted himself and requested punishment, his door was mobbed by people coming to congratulate him.
In the midst of this, the Prime Minister thought of the people in Longyou who had answered his call. He picked up his brush and wrote 'To Those Who Congratulate Me.'
He wrote that all people under heaven were Han citizens... and that the death of even one man was his own sin. Personally, I believe this is the ultimate expression of the Prime Minister's character.
But the First Northern Expedition didn't end that cleanly. As we mentioned, Shu Han and Eastern Wu were allies again. They were supposed to support each other. So, where was Eastern Wu during all this?
Unsurprisingly, the 'Grand King of Wei's Wu' failed to act again. This triggered the Prime Minister's hasty and ill fated second expedition in the winter of that same year, a campaign launched largely just to get Sun Quan a imperial title.]
It wasn't until the Light Screen mentioned it that Zhang Fei roared, "I almost forgot! Where was our 'Sun Shinwan' brother-in-law?!"
The room seemed to wake from a dream. The Northern Expedition was in 228 AD, three years after Kongming had sent Deng Zhi to repair the alliance with Wu!
Ma Liang felt a weight lift from his heart. Feeling emboldened, he remarked,
"If Sun Wu could have tied down even one branch of the Cao army, or just kept Zhang He from moving so fast... if Shanggui had fallen, perhaps it wouldn't have ended so abruptly. At the very least, the people of Longyou wouldn't have suffered so much."
He felt a pang of sympathy for the northern people; his own home was currently occupied by the Cao. He knew what it felt like to wait for a liberator who never arrived.
Zhang Fei, remembering the host's earlier jokes about Sun Quan, guessed, "I bet he led a hundred thousand men to Hefei again just to get chased around the city walls, didn't he?"
"To provide support, he wouldn't even have to take Hefei," Guan Yu mused.
Simply surrounding it would have forced Cao Wei to divert reinforcements. But when it came to his 'brother-in-law,' Guan Yu wouldn't bet a single copper on the man's common sense.
Kongming, still absorbing the emotional impact of the "sin of one man" line, looked at the final sentence. His eyes widened.
"I... I secured a imperial title for Sun Quan?!"