The Stowaway in the Cart
Exactly on the third day of our stay, Bu Dai-in invited our entire militia to a banquet.
Soldiers are always starving. They devoured the food with ferocious intensity.
"Lord Xuande. Uh... you can stay in Nanpi if you like." Bu Dai-in said, tilting his wine cup. That seemed to be the whole point of the banquet from the start.
He's anxious, that's all. Even with imperial troops around, Nanpi had been ransacked. The Han army was nothing but paper tigers now, and from Bu Dai-in's perspective, having a reliable force guarding the place put his mind at ease.
"I hold considerable authority here in Nanpi. I'll make sure you get an official post." Bu Dai-in said plainly. It wasn't empty talk. In this Han dynasty, the power of great clans was immense. As central authority weakened, these clans grew stronger by the day.
The warlords we know from Romance of the Three Kingdoms—like Cao Cao, the Yuan clan, and even Sun Jian—were technically all from such great clans.
Honestly, staying makes sense. Helping Lu Zhi here wouldn't change much; he was a rotten rope to cling to. I couldn't say it outright—claiming knowledge from a soul-possession wouldn't convince anyone.
"Haha, I appreciate the offer. You've taken a great liking to me, Lord Bu. However, I, Liu Bei Xuande, have set my sights on pacifying this chaotic world." Liu Bei stated firmly.
Yeah, that's Liu Bei for you. Once he decides something, he never wavers. It felt like choosing the hard, winding path every time.
"As expected of my brother... not interested in some piddly Nanpi post, huh!" Zhang Fei used Liu Bei's words as a chaser and slammed back a massive gulp of wine.
Matching Zhang Fei's pace would get me wasted. I pretended to drink moderately, pacing myself while knocking back shots.
"Kim, try some of this pork belly too. It's been marinated since yesterday—super tasty?" But Bu Yong-hwa kept hovering by my side, acting like we'd become peers or something.
"Kim, don't be picky. The wild mountain veggies here are good too." Then Guan Yu jumped in, scooping some onto my plate.
The two of them fussing over me made it hard to focus on the drinks. Still, it was nice having them look out for me.
"My mentor, Inspector Lu, is currently studying the classics. And they've said Zhang Jiao, that beast of the Yellow Turbans, is rampaging around the Guangluo area. I want to lend a hand there." Liu Bei said firmly.
"Hmm..." Bu Dai-in closed his eyes.
"Lord Xuande, no offense intended." Bu Dai-in opened his mouth heavily.
"Do you know that political factions are tangled up in this Yellow Turban suppression?" Bu Dai-in asked.
"Political factions...?" Liu Bei tilted his head. Yeah, Liu Bei was a country bumpkin from Zhuo Commandery. He wasn't well-versed in court politics. Probably never even been to Chang'an.
"The court is divided between the Pure Stream Party and the Turbid Stream Party." Bu Dai-in said.
"Ah, I've heard of that." Liu Bei bowed his head, his expression saying he had no appetite for infighting amid national chaos.
The Turbid Stream Party were the entrenched central bureaucrats: elite families with generations of officials, eunuchs who'd wielded real power for centuries under the Han, and nouveau riche clans who'd bought their way in with bribes. That crowd.
The Pure Stream Party, on the other hand, were upstarts who'd infiltrated the center via recommendations and such—relatively powerless compared to the rest. In Confucian Han China, they were like ultra-Confucian Taliban, pushing meritocracy and strict Confucian governance. You could tell from how they called themselves the "pure stream."
With limited seats at the table and too many players, the two factions naturally bickered endlessly.
"You must know how the Ten Attendants rose and pushed the Pure Streamers out. Despite being Pure Stream, Lu Zhonglang was reinstated for his merits to suppress the Turbans. But a hunting dog gets eaten once it's served its purpose. The Ten Attendants have the pot boiling for our useful hound, Lu Zhonglang." Bu Dai-in's words were straight facts.
"If you go to him and sparks fly back onto you, Lord Xuande..." Bu Dai-in's eyes showed genuine worry mixed with calculation. Better if we just hunkered down and fortified Nanpi.
"I see, such are the circumstances." But Liu Bei didn't budge.
"Even so, abandoning my teacher would be unworthy of a disciple." Liu Bei stated firmly. Yeah, with his personality, he'd never ignore a backstory like that.
"Hah." Bu Dai-in looked impressed.
"What can one do when a man's will is set?" Bu Dai-in sighed.
"Then I wish you the best on your path ahead, Lord Xuande." Bu Dai-in said, clasping his fists in salute.
The banquet wound down like that, and after it ended, we crashed for the night in Bu Dai-in's empty mansion.
It had once been a grand place teeming with slaves and retainers... but now it felt desolate with everyone gone. Word was they'd all been killed.
Bu Dai-in and Bu Yong-hwa—were they really okay like this? The thought crossed my mind, but my own nose was too close to see straight. In these chaotic times, your life was ultimately your own responsibility. Trusting Bu Dai-in to handle it, I just lay down on the bedding and slept.
The next day.
Our volunteer army, now decked out in fine clothes and armor, set off at once.
Was it the big win in battle? Or the experience points piling up? They finally looked like proper soldiers.
No, supplies helped too. Thanks to Governor Liu Yan's funds and Bu Dai-in liquidating assets for gear, the troops' average equipment had shot up. Even regular infantry had iron spears and swords—not like the ragtag militia anymore.
"Alright!! We're heading to Guangluo!!" Liu Bei shouted firmly, then spurred his horse to the front.
Clop clop.
Wrestling my damn nag into line, I followed behind.
The trek from the commandery to Guangluo was a fair distance, so everyone braced for a night encampment.
No time to get bored. The horse's wild bucking left no room for dozing off. Bite my tongue while nodding off? Disaster.
Man, this horse has stamina. Speed wasn't an option anyway, so I'd rigged it to pull the cart voluntarily. It hauled like the cart weighed nothing.
I was carrying rations—enough for months by eye. With full bellies guaranteed, we were a real army now.
Rustle.
Then, something rustled inside the cart.
Rats? Likely mice hitching a ride on the grain cart, but the noise was too big.
Person. My hand went straight to my sword hilt. I'd seen it in Westerns—outlaw hides in the wagon, slits the driver's throat when he relaxes. Total cliché.
I halted the horse and hopped off toward the cart.
My stop brought the whole column to a pause.
"What's up? Gotta take a leak?" Zhang Fei asked.
"Yide! Don't say such crude things!" Guan Yu's face flushed red.
I shot them a look and put a finger to my lips.
Catching on, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei grabbed their weapons.
Shiiiing!!!
"Peekaboo!!" I yanked off the straw covering the cart and drew my sword.
"H-Hiiik! P-Peekaboo..." And inside the grain stash was Bu Yong-hwa.
"..." Why the hell was she here?
Nanpi's great clan heiress had snuck aboard our cart.
"Lady Bu! What are you doing here?!" Liu Bei exclaimed in shock.
"I... uh..." Bu Yong-hwa trailed off, then looked up at me with feverish eyes.
"I admire you, Lord Kim. Thinking of you leaving... I couldn't contain my heart..." Her face turned beet red as she confessed.
"..." Suddenly, every eye in the volunteer army locked onto me.
"Lady Bu's tastes are unique." "Damn, a real heartbreaker." "If he knocks her up and ditches her... poor Lady Bu." The troops gossiped openly.
"Lady Bu!! You know nothing!!" Guan Yu bellowed then.
"This is wartime!! We're on a perilous journey to pacify the chaos! Even keeping you safe will be a struggle! Running from your parents isn't enough—you'd abandon them entirely, an unfilial sin that follows you to the grave!! Go home!!" Guan Yu scolded her sternly.
Yeah, Guan Yu didn't seem to like Bu Yong-hwa much, but she handled this like a proper adult.
"Lord Kim will always protect me!" But Bu Yong-hwa suddenly professed boundless faith in me.
"..." Whoa, we'd barely met. Scary girl.
Wait, did I set some flag? What had I done to make her fall for me? No charm spells here. Crushing that hard out of nowhere?
Reason? My rock-throwing skills? Did she like baseball players or something...?
Anyway, setting my doubts aside.
"Lady Bu, go home! Aiding a daughter's elopement would shame me before Lord Bu!" Liu Bei shouted, then signaled me.
Yeah, spot on. This era was too brutal for a delicate girl like Bu Yong-hwa.
"Lord Kim... I don't want to part from you." She gazed at me with big, pitiful animal eyes.
My resolve softened for a second... but I had to stay firm.
I'll be wandering for a while anyway. Sure, a beauty like her fawning over me was flattering, but dragging her into hardship was another matter.
Yeah, I'd planned to send the lost girl home proper...
One of the volunteer army uncles raised his hand.
"So, do we turn back to Nanpi? How do we send Lady Bu?"
"Ah." Liu Bei looked deeply troubled.
Sending escorts would weaken our force and waste effort. Marching everyone back? Absurd. We'd come halfway, burning rations the whole way—pure waste.
But sending her alone? Straight-up evil. A woman traveling solo in these times was bandit bait. Escorts were a must to return her safely.
Tough spot, but... an opportunity for me.
"I'll take responsibility and see her back. Then catch up quick." I volunteered immediately.
No phones or anything in this era—drop her at Nanpi, go my own way. If chaos separated us, fine. Liu Bei saw me as a brother, but no news was believable enough. Not an apocalypse; comms just fail.
"No, without you, Kim Gong, this rain of worries feels heavier." But Liu Bei shook his head gravely.
Damn, shot down. Brutal.
"First to Guangluo. Settle the Turbans around Jizhou and Youzhou, then safely return Lady Bu—that's the wise play." Liu Bei decided to take her along for now.
And so, my secret escape attempt was thwarted once more. Not easy.