[Three Kingdoms 365 · Day 162] First Night of Two Minds — Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang meet for the first time at a riverside pavilion in Xiangsang, sharing wine.

It was the evening after the morning on which Sun Quan (孫權) struck the table. At a pavilion by the river at Chaisang (柴桑), the first face-to-face meeting of two minds was held.

Zhou Yu (周瑜) arrived at the pavilion first. It had four pillars and a single roof. Beneath that roof rested a stone table, and upon it a bronze flask and two cups had been set. Zhou Yu took the seat facing the river. The sound of the river's water swept past the stone wall beneath the pavilion, steady and unhurried.

A short time later, Kongming (孔明), guided by Lu Su (魯肅), arrived at the pavilion. Lu Su bowed his head to the two men at the door and stepped back. Kongming crossed the threshold.

"Commander Zhou. By this morning's decision, this scholar has come to sit beside you. At an evening's seat, I meet you for the first time."

Zhou Yu rose from his seat and received Kongming's greeting. Upon his left hand rested a sword. The scabbard was engraved with the figure of a dragon. Zhou Yu's height was similar to Kongming's. The shoulders of the two men faced one another at the door of the pavilion.

The two men sat on opposite sides of the stone table. With his right hand Zhou Yu lifted the flask and poured into Kongming's cup, then into his own. The two cups stood side by side upon the stone.

"Wolong Sir." Zhou Yu opened first. "The rumor of your words from yesterday morning — of gathering the eleven into a single stream — I had already heard on my road from Poyang (鄱陽). This morning's decision leaned, in the end, upon that stream. I thank you."

Kongming lifted his fan, quietly. Its tip touched the air at the center of the pavilion.

"Without Commander Zhou's night of words upon your return from Poyang, this morning's striking of the table could not have been brought down. The scholar's stream of the eleven and the Commander's night of words became the two wings of the sovereign's single resolve."

Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed slightly. This line of Kongming was dressed in a garment of courtesy; yet beneath that garment lay two meanings overlapped. The first was a sliver of sincere thanks. The second was a quiet remark that, without Zhou Yu's night of return, Kongming's stream of the eleven could not have been completed. Upon a corner of Zhou Yu's pride, that second sliver settled.

Yet Zhou Yu did not let that settling show upon his face. He lifted his own cup.

"Two wings, you say. The weight of your line seems to stretch further than a scholar's fan. With this evening's cup, let us balance those two wings."

The two cups met above the stone. The sound of bronze rang long beneath the roof of the pavilion. The sound of the river's water and the sound of bronze briefly overlapped.

Zhou Yu drained his cup at once. Kongming also drained his. The two cups were set back down upon the stone, and the two men sat once more.

As Zhou Yu poured a second cup, he brought out another line.

"Sir. From tomorrow, Jiangdong's thirty thousand naval force, together with Jingzhou's ten thousand, will meet Cao Cao's (曹操) two hundred thousand upon the river. Thirty thousand against two hundred thousand — a ratio of seven. By what means will your scholar's fan overturn this ratio of seven, with a sliver of fire?"

Kongming lifted his fan. Its motion this time was slower than in yesterday morning's hall.

"Commander Zhou. A ratio of seven is a ratio of numbers. Behind the ratio of numbers stands the ratio of the wind upon the river. In the short breath in which the direction of the river's wind turns, the ratio of seven will be overturned at once. The name of that short breath I shall not yet call at this seat. Only — that name will, from tomorrow's dawn, become a shared task of both the Commander's seat and this scholar's."

Zhou Yu's eyes narrowed slightly again. Inside this line of Kongming, a name already lay hidden. Zhou Yu already knew that name. Inside the pavilion of the two minds, the name floated still uncalled.

The second cups of the two men met again. The sound of bronze rang a little longer this time. The sound of the river's water trailed long behind the sound of bronze.

Zhou Yu rose from his seat.

"Let us close this evening's seat here. Tomorrow's task we shall speak of tomorrow, at its seat."

Kongming also rose.

"As is fitting. I shall meet you again at tomorrow's dawn, at its seat."

The two men stepped out of the door of the pavilion. Lu Su saw them off from outside. Kongming and Lu Su left first along the road westward. Zhou Yu remained alone in the pavilion for a while.

Upon the stone table stood two empty cups. Upon the handle of the sword in Zhou Yu's left hand, the fingertip of his right hand settled quietly. Inside the first night of the two minds, one strategist's hand was already resting upon a sword.

The moon was above the river. The sound of the river's water flowed longer beneath the pavilion. The sixth evening of Book 6 was closing quietly upon the seat of the first night of the two minds. A breath whose name was not yet called floated above the shoulders of the two men.

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