Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

The river's surface shimmered in the sunlight, a shimmer of gold. The splashes of the warships, as they cut through the waves, shone rainbow-colored reflections, a seemingly peaceful scene. Sun Ce reclined on the cushioned couch. After several doses of herbal decoctions, his fever gradually subsided, and his pale cheeks finally regained some color. The military doctor lifted the curtain to peer in, twirling his beard and nodding repeatedly: "General, your pulse is stabilizing. You only need to rest for a few days..." Before he could finish his words, Sun Quan had already diligently handed over the warmed medicine, fine droplets still clinging to the rim of the porcelain bowl.

As the boat reached the Yunmeng Lake area, the reeds undulated like green waves in the wind. Wei Yan leaned on the side of the boat and gazed out into the distance, his tense back quietly relaxing a fraction. Since leaving Xiakou, the river had remained calm, with no pursuing troops from Jingzhou or bandits in sight. The eagerly awaited soldiers even began chatting and laughing across the side of the boat. The clatter of oars pounding the water blended with the chatter, gradually dispelling the tense atmosphere of the past few days.

As dusk fell, the setting sun stained the clouds blood-red. Sun Quan stood on the deck, watching the last rays of sunlight fade from the horizon. The small gilded bottle hidden in his sleeve prickled his palm, causing it to ache. He turned to look at the main cabin. Wei Yan was dozing against the cabin door, his long sword resting across his knees. But as the ship's rhythmic swaying swung, the veteran's eyelids drooped lower and lower, finally closing completely.

Inside the cabin, a candlelight flickered, casting a swaying halo of light across Sun Ce's angular features. His breathing was long and even, his chest rising and falling slowly with each breath, evidently a deep sleep. Sun Quan knelt before the medicine cauldron, his gaze fixed on the bubbling medicinal broth in the earthenware pot, his Adam's apple rising and falling with difficulty. The boat swayed with the current, making a creaking sound that mingled with Wei Yan's heavy snoring and echoed throughout the silent cabin.

The aroma of medicine gradually filled the air. With trembling hands, Sun Quan removed the jar and placed it on a nearby low table. The porcelain jar collided with the wooden surface with a soft sound. He jerked his head up, nervously glancing at Wei Yan and Sun Ce, only to see them both still asleep and unresponsive. Sun Quan took a deep breath and fished out the small, gilded vial from his sleeve. The coolness of the bottle made his fingers tremble slightly.

His heart pounded wildly in his chest, threatening to burst through his throat. He watched Sun Ce's movements from the corner of his eye, subtly adjusting his posture to block Wei Yan's view with his back. As the cork was gently pulled out, a faint bitter aroma mixed with the aroma of medicine filled the air. Sun Quan held his breath, held the bottle mouth against the medicine bowl, and with a slight flick of his wrist, the powder in the bottle slowly fell into the decoction like fine sand, creating tiny ripples on the surface before disappearing in an instant.

By the end of it all, Sun Quan's back was already drenched in cold sweat, chilling against his brocade robes. He forced himself to remain calm, picking up two bowls of medicine and slowly approaching Sun Ce's bedside. His gaze was a crisscross of nervousness, guilt, and determination. The cabin was silent save for the rocking of the ship and the murmur of their breathing. Yet, it felt like a tremendous weight, weighing him down, suffocating him.

The candlelight in the cabin flickered like a butterfly in the wind. Sun Quan watched the tiny ripples of the medicinal juice in the bowl, his Adam's apple rolling up and down. As he leaned forward, his wide sleeves barely brushed the back of Sun Ce's hand, hiding the fleeting trembling in his clothes. "Brother...it's time to take the medicine."

Sun Ce jolted awake from his deep sleep, his brow still etched with weariness. Wei Yan opened his eyes almost immediately, his hand already on the hilt of his sword. Only when he saw it was Sun Quan did his tense spine relax slightly. The candlelight fell on Sun Quan's flushed cheeks and beads of sweat on his forehead. Sun Ce attributed it to the heat from the medicine cauldron and said with a hoarse laugh, "Thank you for troubling me again, Zhongmou..."

"As I should." Sun Quan's voice trembled. When he picked up his bowl of medicine, the edge of the porcelain bowl knocked against the low table with a light sound. He tilted his head back and drank half of the bowl. Bitterness exploded on the tip of his tongue, but it was nothing compared to the chill that surged in his heart. His Adam's apple rolled violently, and he deliberately coughed a few times. He frowned and shook the remaining medicine at the bottom of the bowl, "Brother, this medicine... is really too bitter." The ending tone was drawn out, just like the cunning of a young boy when he was acting coquettishly.

Sun Ce reached out and stroked his brother's messy hair, his fingertips brushing Sun Quan's cold earlobe. He hadn't noticed the boy's hidden fingers digging into his palm, nearly drawing blood. As Sun Quan helped him drink the bitter medicine, he thought it was just an ordinary potion, unaware that the thick liquid contained a deadly poison.

Before Wei Yan closed his eyes again to pretend to sleep, he caught a glimpse of Sun Quan staring blankly at an empty bowl, but he mistook that panic for exhaustion from boiling medicine. The river breeze whipped the waves against the side of the boat, and the main cabin fell silent again. Only the steady breathing of Sun Ce and the pounding of Sun Quan's heartbeat echoed fiercely in the dark night.

The night was as dark as ink, thick and indissoluble. Sun Ce suddenly curled up in his sleep, his pajamas instantly soaked with cold sweat. A sharp pain exploded from his abdomen, like countless steel needles piercing him, like a raging fire. He suddenly jumped up from the couch, and a heartbreaking scream rang out from his throat: "This pain is killing me!"

Wei Yan had been feigning sleep, but upon hearing the shrill cry, he leaped up like an arrow, his sword unsheathed, a flash of cold light. He quickly rushed to the bedside, only to find Sun Ce's face pale as a sheet, his features distorted by the agony, beads of sweat streaming down his cheeks.

Sun Quan suddenly threw himself to the side of the bed, his eyes wide open, his face filled with fear: "Brother! What happened to you, brother?!" His voice trembled and he cried, but his falling hair hid the barely perceptible panic in his eyes.

Sun Ce pressed his hands tightly against his abdomen, his knuckles turning white from the strain. Wave after wave of cramping pain surged like a surging tide, one after another, threatening to consume him completely. He struggled to speak, but a fishy-sweet taste welled up in his throat. When he opened his mouth, blood gurgled from the corners, creating a seductive red blossom on the snow-white quilt. His eyes gradually blurred, and in the last glimmer of clarity, a lingering sense of bewilderment and confusion at the sudden, excruciating pain remained.

Sun Ce's shrill roar shook the candlelight in the cabin violently. Blood welled up from his throat and dripped down his jaw onto the pillow, spreading a hideous dark crimson. His nails dug deep into his abdomen, his vein-riddled neck tensed into a terrifying arc. Every cry of pain seemed to be forced from his shattered chest.

"My lord!" Wei Yan's long sword clanged to the ground, and he rushed to the bed in two steps. He frantically tried to hold down Sun Ce's twitching body, but blood oozed out through his fingers. "Quickly call the medical officer! Everyone, be on alert!" He turned and roared at the top of his lungs outside the tent, his voice shaking the deck slightly. The footsteps of the guards approached from afar, and the cold light of their unsheathed weapons shone through the curtains, casting flickering shadows in the cabin.

Sun Quan fell to the ground, trembling as he grasped Sun Ce's hand. The skin beneath his fingertips was already starting to feel cold. "Brother! Brother, hold on!" he cried, his voice filled with heartbreaking despair, yet his drooping brows concealed a subtle tension. The boat suddenly shook violently, and Wei Yan staggered. In that moment of distraction—

Sun Ce's body twitched violently, and a faint gasp escaped his throat. His dazed pupils focused one last time as he looked in Sun Quan's direction. Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. With a long, weak sigh, his hand fell limply, slamming heavily against the edge of the couch.

"Lord!!!" Wei Yan's roars pierced the tent ceiling. He shook Sun Ce's shoulders like a madman, sweat seeping through the cracks in his armor and dripping onto the blood-stained quilt. From outside came screams of surprise. The guards burst open the tent door and rushed in, only to find their usually brave lord, his eyes wide open, already dead. Sun Quan, kneeling in a pool of blood, buried his face in his brother's sleeve, trembling with sobs.

The moment the hatch was flung open, the doctor stumbled into the mess, spilling the needles and bottles from his medicine chest. Wei Yan, his eyes bloodshot, grabbed Sun Quan by the collar and flung him into a corner. The sound of his brocade robe ripping, mixed with the young man's muffled groans, startled the guards outside the tent, who all gripped their weapons tightly.

"Hurry! Help me!" Wei Yan pressed the tip of his knife against the doctor's back, the cold light almost piercing his trembling back. The old medical officer slammed his knees against the blood-stained deck, and his trembling fingers touched Sun Ce's wrist pulse. His cloudy eyes suddenly widened - the pulse had long since stopped like a gossamer. He pried open Sun Ce's eyelids again, and the dilated pupils made him whimper in his throat, and he collapsed to the ground: "My lord, he..."

"Impossible!" Sun Quan stumbled forward, his messy hair covering half his face, his fingertips tightly gripping Sun Ce's cold hand, "Brother, your fever has obviously subsided! We clearly agreed to return to Jiangdong together!" Hot tears fell on the back of the dead man's hand, but between the drooping hair, panic and ecstasy were surging in his eyes.

Wei Yan suddenly roared, his iron-like hands gripping Sun Quan's throat as he lifted him up. The young man kicked wildly, his red face emitting broken sobs. Behind him, Sun Ce's body lay quietly in a pool of blood, the blood at the corner of his mouth a strange dark purple in the candlelight. "Tell me! Did you poison him?" Wei Yan's blade was already pressed against Sun Quan's cheek, the sharp tip of the blade piercing his skin and oozing blood. "Why did he suddenly..."

The medical officer suddenly knelt, crawled forward two steps, and tremblingly raised Sun Ce's medicine bowl: "General, calm down, perhaps it's an old injury..." Before he could finish his words, a flash of cold light flashed, and the old medical officer's head flew off, blood spurting from the severed neck splattering on Sun Quan's robe. Wei Yan kicked the body away, and the sweet smell of blood mixed with the aroma of medicine filled the cabin. His eyes were fixed on Sun Quan's terrified pupils, as if he wanted to burn through his soul: "One last chance - who killed my lord?"

Sun Quan's neck was pinched so tightly that veins bulged, but he suddenly grinned, tears and blood mixed with foam spilling from between his teeth: "General Wenchang..." He stretched out his hand with difficulty, trembling, and pointed at the half-finished bowl of medicine on the table. "This medicine was brewed in the same furnace as my brother's..." His throat gurgled, but he forced himself to move, grabbed the medicine bowl, and drank it fiercely. The brown liquid flowed down the corners of his mouth, down his jaw, and soaked the front of his clothes. He smashed the empty bowl against the deck, fragments flying: "If it was poisonous, how could I survive alone?!"

Wei Yan's hand trembled slightly as he gripped the hilt of his sword. Murder and suspicion surged fiercely in his eyes as he looked at Sun Quan's pale, yet frantic face. Sun Quan stumbled over to Sun Ce's corpse, burying his face in his brother's blood-stained shirt. His voice suddenly rose: "My brother's body is still warm, yet instead of tracking down the real culprit, you're accusing your own brother!" He spun abruptly, his forehead resting against Wei Yan's blade. "If it means my brother's resurrection, I'll take my life!"