The Tragedy of Sun Shang Xiang and Liu Bei (Part 2)

Messenger: My Lord! Liu Bei and Mistress Shang Xiang are fleeing the castle.

Sun Quan: What? He is escaping and Shang Xiang is going with him?!

Messenger: Yes, my Lord.

Sun Quan: Guard all possible escape routes. Make sure they do not escape. Liu Bei must be captured.

Guard 1: Stop!

Guard 2: You shall not pass.

Sun Shang Xiang: And why not?

Guard 1: Lord Sun Quan has ordered us not to let Liu Bei and yourself go past the castle.

Sun Shang Xiang: Quan has set this up?

Guard 2: Yes. I’m sorry Mistress Shang Xiang but you are not allowed to go past with Liu Bei.

Sun Shang Xiang: How dare you do this! We are allowed to live the way we want to live. I have chosen to live my life with my husband and no one is going to stop me.

Sun Shang Xiang: Let us through and no one will get hurt.

Sun Shang Xiang: I think we got past them all.

Liu Bei: Is this what you want, Mistress Shang Xiang? You know that you might never be able to return to Wu.

Sun Shang Xiang: This is what I want. You’re kind, virtuous and I like being around you. I want to be with you.

Liu Bei: As long as you are sure . . .

Sun Shang Xiang: I am sure.

Sun Shang Xiang: (voice over) I could hardly believe what we had done. We had escaped a trap laid out to entrap Liu Bei. I then lived in the courts of my husband.

Sun Shang Xiang: (voice over) Liu Bei’s son, Liu Chan, was placed in my care. He was such a lovely child and I grew fond of him. It was nice to be able to be a Mother to Liu Chan who had lost his own.

Sun Shang Xiang: (voice over.) You know the best part of it? I had fallen in love with Liu Bei. Of course, I can’t quite tell him that yet. He probably doesn’t feel what I feel.

Sun Shang Xiang: (voice over) I guess it doesn’t matter.

Sun Shang Xiang: (voice over) I just wished it could’ve stayed like that forever.

Sun Quan: It’s been two years. He still has Jingzhou and Shang Xiang. What am I going to do?

Zhang Zhao: My Lord, I have an idea. Spread the rumour that Lady Wu is gravely ill and wishes to see Mistress Shang Xiang and her step grand son Liu Chan. We can trap Liu Chan and hold him for ransom insisting on getting Jingzhou back.

Sun Quan: Excellent idea! It’s foolproof. Liu Bei is a man of virtue and wouldn’t want to prevent his wife and his son from seeing his mother-in-law. Prepare a letter to Shang Xiang. Ask her to come back to visit her “ill mother”.