Talking about the Future

"Now how about I introduce my lovely wife and mother to you as well as my brother," says Yun gesturing to his family which Madam Wu looked at showing respect since Madam Su gave birth to excellent Generals looking at Hua and Yun.

She then continued with Yun's brother who was holding his son, Zhao Yi, while Taiyin was beside him, and lastly was Zhen Luo who has Rin and Yang by her side while holding Ai.

They then proceeded with the protocol planned by Sun Quan and his mother and ate together to strengthen the bond between their families to know each other better and the intentions of either family with this marriage.

Yun noticed two new women and a young man join them as they sat down beside Madam Wu who says, "Right, let me introduce to you my daughter-in-law, Da Qiao. She was my late Sun Ce's wife."

The last sentence carried a bit of sadness which didn't pass anyone in the room before she continues, "Beside her is her sister, Xiao Qiao, with her husband and Sun Ce's sworn brother, Zhou Yu. Zhou Yu is like a son to me which is why I allowed his attendance at this feast."

"It is a pleasure to meet you three," says Yun honestly as he introduced his family to them while Zhou Yu was staring at him as if he was an enemy he had to eliminate.

"I heard that General Zhao is a medicine expert. Too bad that you couldn't visit us when we needed some aid," says Zhou Yu with a bit of venom in his words which didn't pass on anyone.

"Gongjin!" shouts Madam Wu seriously before she says, "We talked about this before and Zhao Yun couldn't have helped anyway. My Sun Ce was cursed by the Taoist Gan Ji which he executed previously. It was inevitable."

"Still," says Zhou Yu when Sun Quan wanted to intervene but Yun did it first.

"I still had my duty to fulfill and quell the uprising in the North of the Xu Province as well as planning my move from Puyang to Xiapi while mourning for my late father. As you can see I had many things at hand at that moment which tied my hands from coming here," says Yun explaining the situation he was in when he heard of Sun Ce's sickness.

Yun was quite convincing with his words as he was holding Ai in his arms playing with her using his fingers which she grabbed and held on while laughing innocently.

"We all know that it was impossible for you to leave your post back then to come and help us since you are always under Cao Cao's watchful eyes, father-in-law. I even heard that it took you some time to bring your father back to your hometown and bury him there," says Sun Quan explaining to Zhou Yu why Yun couldn't come to Jianye again.

"Still," says Zhou Yu when Madam Wu interrupts him.

"Enough!" shouts Madam Wu angry with Zhou Yu trying to blame Yun for Sun Ce's death when she continues, "We can't change the past but influence the future. Our descendants will be sharing the same blood in the future so we shouldn't try to fight each other."

"Truer words couldn't be spoken," says Madam Su supporting Madam Wu.

"I also came with a little warning for you, Sun Quan, since you will be my son-in-law in a few days," says Yun normally before he turned seriously and he looks at Sun Quan before looking at Zhou Yu.

"Cao Cao will soon call the Northern Plains his and direct his eyes to the south. Not only for your land but for your sister-in-law and his sister while his son will be trying to take Mulan from you. You should prepare for it since it could be at any given moment and I might be standing on the other side of the battlefield," says Yun warning Sun Quan and Zhou Yu which disturbed the Sun Clan members.

"But don't worry, I have a plan in motion which should be helpful for you in the near future when the day comes and Cao Cao tries to invade the south and your territory. I won't say much more since I gave my swore to the Heavens that I would support the man that would marry my first daughter," says Yun seriously as the Sun Clan was now surprised by Yun's words which implied that he swore loyalty to Sun Quan.

"I also swore to make the man the next Emperor of our Empire but let's try to survive the battle against Cao Cao first before talking big about making you the Emperor of this Empire," says Yun now shocking the Sun Clan members by saying those blasphemous words which made Zhou Yu open his eyes wide from hearing what Yun said while grinding his teeth together.

'I knew it. He planned everything from the very beginning after meeting Sun Jian all those years ago. He is going to make Sun Quan a puppet emperor like the current one is to Cao Cao,' thinks Zhou Yu feeling angry while Sun Quan was still in disbelief with what he just heard.

"You want to make me the next Emperor aren't you trying to defy Heaven's Will by saying those words," says Sun Quan when Yun just waves his free hand at Sun Quan.

"To tell you the truth my lead strategist told me to seize the throne for myself but I am not made to be an Emperor. I am a warrior who loves to stand in the middle of the battlefield feeling my heart pump blood through my veins in the excitement of meeting worthy opponents on it like Lu Bu for instances," says Yun revealing why he didn't want to seize the throne for himself which surprised the Sun Clan even more as they all looked at him in shock now.

They weren't the only ones with his children who understood the meaning of his words as well as Zhen Luo looked at him shocked as well after hearing him say that while his mother, his brother, and Taiyin didn't look surprised at all since they knew that Yun never wanted to become the next Emperor.

"Anyway, I said what I wanted to say and reassure you that no attack will ever come from the Xu Province while I am in charge of it. I will even make sure that the Guangling and Xiapi Commanderies fall into your hands once the time is right," says Yun assuring Sun Quan that half of the Xu Province would fall under his control when the time is right.

"See it as your wedding gift which arrives at a later time," says Yun making everyone think that Yun went crazy except for the three people knowing that he was talking seriously.

"Father, can I have a moment?" asks Fang trying to make his father stop spouting bullshit in his eyes when Hua stops him after leaving Yi with Taiyin.

"Don't, we all know of your father's plans for a long time and his schemes go deep into the future," says Hua confirming that Yun wasn't spitting nonsense.

"So you are telling us that you planned that far into the future even before our children were engaged?" asks Madam Wu seeing how calm the elders of the Zhao Clan were after Yun said all that.

"There were deviations in my schemes since I can't plan for who my daughter would have fallen for. But mostly everything since I formed my army was planned," says Yun which shocked Zhou Yu since that meant that Yun was planning everything since almost twenty years ago.

"How deep run your schemes?" asks Zhou Yu curious now since Yun's schemes appeared too perfect to him.

"Deviations are already appearing in my schemes since I can't control the actions of the people but they should still run smoothly for the next few years," says Yun with a smile on his face knowing that Zhou Yu wanted more information but Yun was withholding the information since it could change the future he knows if Zhou Yu interferes in his plans.

"You should just strengthen your army and avoid Liu Biao and Huang Zu while preparing for Cao Cao's invasion since he is the real threat to you," says Yun warning them again.

"And if we don't follow your schemes, what then?" asks Zhou Yu curious about what Yun would do.

"Then I might have to brute force it with my spear and bring victory to Sun Quan on my own instead of sharing the success with everyone," says Yun seriously which surprised not only Zhou Yu.

"What do you mean by brute forcing it?" asks Sun Quan curious when Yun looks at him.

"That I and my army will take all the merit for your victory over Cao Cao," says Yun seriously as Yun had other schemes running which he could follow instead of relying on Sun Quan and his army in defeating Cao Cao.

"Anyway, we should focus now more on your wedding with Mulan instead of the future that hasn't arrived yet," says Yun thinking that they should have gotten the point from him warning them about the future before looking at Sun Ren and Zheng.

"We might as well talk about me taking Sun Ren with me since she is quite affectionate with Zhao Zheng," says Yun which surprised Sun Quan as it might look like a prisoner exchange between both clans to ensure the safety of each member by holding one of the other family member as hostage.

"Are you sure about that? It might loo-," says Sun Quan when Yun interrupts him.

"Yes, it will even look better for me since I could fool Cao Cao like this," says Yun seeing an opportunity to fool Cao Cao by saying that Mulan was captured by Sun Quan while Yun could capture Sun Ren in return to trade an exchange between both Clans to return their respective family member.

"Don't you think that Cao Cao is intelligent enough to see through this scheme? He will attack you with his whole army," says Zhou Yu confident that Cao Cao would see through it when Yun smiles at him.

"He won't, since is too occupied to look at the northern plains than to look at me. I am like his current enforcer with the exception of his cousins," says Yun explaining why it would work.

"I agree with Zhao Yun. It will also strengthen the bond between Sun Ren and Zhao Zheng this way," says Madam Wu looking at Sun Quan since he needs to make the final decision.

"I will give my answer after the wedding," says Sun Quan seriously since he could send his sister into danger by following Yun's scheme.

"The dinner is over. The servants will take you to the guest rooms so you can rest from your long journey," says Sun Quan seriously before servants entered the room to guide the Zhao Clan members to their rooms while he retreated to his office to think about his future and the future of his sister.