Title: Three Envelopes
Fandom: Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Novel)
Rating: PG
Length: 996 words
Content notes: Light alcohol use, implied homosexuality
Author notes: Set in a 1920s gangland AU, further notes at end
Summary: A reworking and expansion of a scene from Chapter 54 of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms." Familiarity with the source material is not necessary. Very slight spoilers of the plot, which is to be expected in this case. ^^;

      "Quit pacing in the hall way, Zhao Zilong," Zhuge Liang called from his office. "If you're wanting to talk to me, just come in." Zhao Yun startled at the summons, but went in through the open door. After a quick glance up and down the hall, he pushed the door shut. Liang was at his desk, his coat hanging off the back of his chair. He had several pages spread out in front of him, pen in hand. The meager light from the desk lamp cast strange shadows around the room. It was all a careful construct on Liang's part, and Yun knew it. Look like a hick, play the book-learned academic card, act shy and humble and a bit mysterious, and no one would notice when he led them straight into the noose. He had been playing it up tonight, in his stiff, old-fashioned collar and suit. Here though, in the half-light, the facade had slipped a little. The collar was gone now, his shirtsleeves were rolled up to the elbows, his too-long hair rumpled like he had been running his hands through it, his eyes dangerous behind his glasses. Anyone who mistook him for a soft-spoken farm boy right now needed their eyes checked.

      Yun could have looked at him all day and never gotten sick of the view, but admiring the fine features of the Sleeping Dragon was not what had him pacing the hall. It was the proposal that Lu Fan had brought to Liu Bei--a marriage proposal. It was bugging everyone, primarily their boss.

      "He's convinced he's walking straight into a trap. How do you read it?" Yun asked as he leaned against the edge of the desk. Liu Bei's chief advisor glanced up over the gold wire rims of his glasses.

      "Offering up a girl not even half Liu's age in marriage when his wife is barely in the ground? I'd say that it's definitely some sort of ruse." He dropped his usual soft professorial tone, and slipped into that of the cold calculator. "The Sun Family is rather displeased that we've taken turf that they see as theirs with a bit of brains rather than brute force. They want us out, one way or another. That is not going to happen if I have any say in the matter." He turned his focus back to what he was writing. Yun made an aggrieved noise and paced to the window. There wasn't much to see, just a narrow dingy alley with a scrawny cat sniffing hopefully at the trash cans. "Sit still, Blue, you're making it hard to concentrate." He paused in his writing. "There's a bottle of scotch and two glasses in the top drawer of the filing cabinet, if you please."

      Yun grinned to himself and crossed to the filing cabinet. He noticed a small suitcase with a tattered lining sitting open in the chair where Liang had discarded a derelict typewriter. He poured a hearty splash of scotch into both tumblers, then returned to lean against the desk.

      "Are you going with him then?" he asked, nodding to the open suitcase. It didn't hold much in the way of clothes, merely some papers and several rolls of petty cash. Liang shook his head, a mischievous smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

      "Zhou Yu is rather too keen on putting a creatively violent end to me, especially after that stunt at Red Wall. I'm afraid I'm going to have to sit this one out and manage things here." He paused to take a lengthy sip of scotch. "Thank you again for your help in securing my escape from that mess. I owe you more than I can easily repay."

      "I'm glad to help. But if you aren't going to go with us, then how are you going to keep him out of this trap?" He didn't want to voice it, but their boss has a very bad habit of thinking with his heart and ignoring cool-headed advice, no matter how sound. Both he and Liang had come out on the short end of it when this had happened, and he wasn't eager to repeat that experience.

      "That is where you come in, Blue." Liang carefully blotted the papers he had been writing. "You're going to keep him out of the frying pan and the fire."

      "I'm flattered, Kongming, but I'm afraid I'm no where near as keen-eyed as you. I'd miss it."

      "Nonsense. You're quite savvy." Each page was crisply folded, and each slid into an envelope. "Especially with my help."

      "Right, but you're not coming across the river. How do you plan on helping?" Yun watched Liang seal each envelope, then write a brief line across each of them. "Are you going to go in disguise? Sneak in after us?"

      "Hardly." He got up and crossed to the suitcase. He slid the envelopes behind the tattered lining, then paused and withdrew them. "These are too important. You had best carry them on your person." He handed them to Yun. There was no real information on the outside of the envelopes, just an instruction indicating the order in which they should be opened. Liang pressed closer to Yun, so close that he could smell the advisor's cologne, feel the warmth of his skin near his cheek.

      "Listen carefully and remember, Zilong. Open the first as soon as you get the boats secured," Liang whispered, his voice husky from the scotch. "But you must get everyone, including our boss, to cooperate." He tapped the second envelope. "This one, open it at year's end. The last one, that one should only be opened when your backs are in a corner and there is no clear way out."

      "And you'll come riding in to the rescue?" Yun murmured. "Save the day and get us out of a fix?"

      "Something like that." There were dangerous lights dancing in Liang's eyes. "Don't you ever question how much you mean to me."



Author notes: Zhao Yun's style (or familiar name) "Zilong" literally translates as "Blue Dragon."  "Red Wall" (or "Red Cliff") is the accepted translation for "Chibi," the site of an important conflict. 

My choice for a gangland-style setting for this stems from a lengthy discussion between myself and my brother, and how much the Three Kingdoms Period would translate well into an Americana gangland fairy tale. Thank you for indulging my whimsy!