[Hey, what's with that word 'bothered'? He 'bothered' to hide his feelings, that's what! Those things get in the way of ambition.
God, he sounds like Cao Cao now.
Which reminds him- his family was still at Dongjun. Under Cao Cao's command. Chen Gong knows the man enough to deduce that, ruthless as he may be, he will have little to gain from killing the relatives of a strategist who has already defected. But minimal to no contact has to be kept with them to ensure Chen Gong's assumption of Cao Cao's selective mercy doesn't become a blunder. It's not that he doesn't want to send letters. It's not that he doesn't want to run home. They live under Cao Cao's rule. He literally can't.
And never will, because they failed to kill Cao Cao at Puyang, and it looks like Lu Bu is almost trying to keep the fucker alive. If they could just kill Cao Cao, they could've taken over Dongjun after picking on his forces that will scatter and panic at their leader's death. They could've made things so much easier.
But life rarely goes how you want it to.]
Some would call it foolish, rather than a warrior's might. [...] But the land would never support someone without benevolence. It's true in history, and will stay true for quite a length of time. I myself have no opinion on the matter, but the people believe it to be part of a warrior's might. They seem to love stories of how people with kind hearts overcome their initial reluctance to battle and devote themselves to the greater good, so on so forth.
delicious nutritious headcanon and history-matching
God, he sounds like Cao Cao now.
Which reminds him- his family was still at Dongjun. Under Cao Cao's command. Chen Gong knows the man enough to deduce that, ruthless as he may be, he will have little to gain from killing the relatives of a strategist who has already defected. But minimal to no contact has to be kept with them to ensure Chen Gong's assumption of Cao Cao's selective mercy doesn't become a blunder. It's not that he doesn't want to send letters. It's not that he doesn't want to run home. They live under Cao Cao's rule. He literally can't.
And never will, because they failed to kill Cao Cao at Puyang, and it looks like Lu Bu is almost trying to keep the fucker alive. If they could just kill Cao Cao, they could've taken over Dongjun after picking on his forces that will scatter and panic at their leader's death. They could've made things so much easier.
But life rarely goes how you want it to.]
Some would call it foolish, rather than a warrior's might. [...] But the land would never support someone without benevolence. It's true in history, and will stay true for quite a length of time. I myself have no opinion on the matter, but the people believe it to be part of a warrior's might. They seem to love stories of how people with kind hearts overcome their initial reluctance to battle and devote themselves to the greater good, so on so forth.
[He'll just leave it at that.]