Calm Before the Storm
The man before me was the Household General of the Center, Yuan Shu. My half-brother and the legitimate heir of the Yuan clan. By appearance alone, the term “noble young master” fit him perfectly. Yet his heart was more savage and uncivilized than that of the northern barbarians.
“It’s been a while, Yuan Shu.”
“It’s been a while, mongrel.”
“After you went off to wipe Jian Shi’s ass, you didn’t show so much as a single hair. What wind blew you here today?”
“Jian Shi is plotting something treacherous. For now, I remain a loyal subject of Han, so gathering people is only proper.”
“What? Loyal… pffft, hahaha! Loyal… what? Puhuhu… what? What god? Devotion?”
A man so barbaric that the nickname Ghost of the Streets suited him perfectly. There wasn’t a trace of etiquette to be found. Thanks to his innate bloodline, he enjoyed the Yuan clan’s full favor and monopolized every connection and marriage tie the family had built over generations.
My smile felt like it might crack, but fortunately Yuan Shao’s expression held firm.
“The Emperor is dead. Shouldn’t I prepare to switch sides?”
“Kekeke… kuhk. That’s right. That’s exactly what a mongrel would do. So, what do you want me to do?”
“Nothing. Everything is already prepared. Just hold your position. That will be enough.”
“Fine. The mongrel will handle it well enough on his own. Are you done?”
“I am.”
“Then get out.”
He waved his hand dismissively, issuing an order to expel a guest. It was hard to believe this was how one treated a member of the same family, but Yuan Shu had always been like this.
Once Yuan Shao left the mansion, Yuan Shu sat back in his chair and downed a cup of honey water.
“Treacherous plot… treacherous plot… hahaha! What a joke. I never thought the bastard who loves schemes more than anyone else in the Central Plains would accuse someone else of scheming. Don’t you agree, Wenda?”
“Isn’t the Colonel of the Central Army famous for his loyalty and filial piety?”
“Kukuku… Well, that’s what people think. But he’s nothing but a treacherous hero. Everyone mocks Cao Mengde as the treacherous hero of a chaotic age, yet at least that fellow becomes a capable minister in peaceful times. That mongrel will be a treacherous hero in peace and a fierce warlord in chaos.”
“…Is he really that dangerous?”
“Just wait and see. He asked nothing of me? Hah! If he truly wanted nothing, he wouldn’t have come to me after everything was over. I’ve watched that bastard for over twenty years. You think I wouldn’t know?”
After laughing for a long while, Yuan Shu summoned his retainers and, as always, gave his orders.
“Alright. Since our mongrel older brother said he wants nothing, we really won’t do anything. The Grand General may be a butcher, but he is still the Grand General of the empire. No matter what scheme that eunuch is cooking up, he cannot strike the Emperor’s uncle. Just in case, keep some men on him.”
Observe the Grand General. Do not act unless he moves against one of our own. The Emperor’s uncle must not be touched.
“It has been a long time, sir.”
“It has been a long time, Grand General.”
Guo Sheng was an elderly eunuch. He had already been one of the Ten Attendants when He Jin was still a young man, so by the standards of this era, it would not be strange if he died at any moment.
“Please speak comfortably. If not for you, sir, my sister and I would still be slaughtering pigs back in Sili Province.”
“How could that be my merit? It was all thanks to the Grand General’s outstanding ability. Even without this lowly eunuch, someone else would surely have recommended you.”
“You flatter me so much I don’t know where to put myself… Ah, this is a small token of my sincerity.”
“Hehe… There was no need for this.”
A jar of wine and the gold hidden inside it. There was no need for false modesty. In truth, there wasn’t even time for it. Guo Sheng had already given He Jin an uncountable amount of wealth, and He Jin had sent countless gifts in return.
“So… what does the Grand General desire?”
“Jian Shi… what exactly is that friend of yours thinking?”
“Jian Shi… Jian Shi… Ah, that young fellow?”
“Yes.”
And old men have always disliked the young. Or, to be precise, they dislike ‘young people who covet their seats.’ It was basic courtesy to kick away the ladder one had climbed, and to personally reach down and pull up only one’s own children or young ones who suited one’s taste. That was the standard mindset of the elderly in this era. The idea was that only then would they feel gratitude. It was a universal thought, unchanged across any age.
People are always more or less the same.
From that perspective, Guo Sheng did not look favorably upon Jian Shi, who had risen to the Ten Attendants by resolving the rebellion of Dou Wu and Chen Fan. A master of the sword? What use did a eunuch have for swordsmanship? If soldiers had already reached the imperial palace, the game was already over. Commander of the Western Garden Army? He Jin, the Grand General, was already on the side of Guo Sheng and the Ten Attendants, so why was he desperately clinging to the Western Garden Army that the late Emperor had created for his own amusement? It made no sense.
“Weren’t the two of you close friends?”
“We were, once. At some point he began to avoid me.”
“Hehe… Well, that’s how youthful bonds usually go. Even I don’t meet many of my friends from when I was young.”
In truth, most had died of old age, and he had indirectly killed most of the rest, but that was beside the point.
“It seems Jian Shi intends to enthrone the Prince of Bohai.”
“…The Prince of Bohai… the Prince of Bohai… Then the calculations change.”
“Sir… may I ask one favor?”
“What favor?”
“If I remove Jian Shi, will you turn a blind eye?”
“Hmm…”
Guo Sheng closed his eyes for a moment and fell into thought. If the Prince of Bohai were enthroned, he—who stood on the same line as He Jin—would become a useless old man in the back room. Thanks to the connections and wealth he had accumulated as one of the Ten Attendants, he could live comfortably, but he had not become a eunuch just to earn a few coins.
However, if the Grand General killed Jian Shi, it would mean the eunuch faction had been pushed back by the Empress’s relatives. Since He Jin was also close to the Clean Stream faction, there was a risk that the deep-seated grudge the Clean Stream faction had accumulated since the previous purges would pour down on them.
Jian Shi was unpleasant, but he was still one of the Ten Attendants. A mistake could end with a knife in his own belly.
Eunuch or Emperor… or… hmm… Yes. That method will work.
“Grand General.”
“Yes, sir.”
“If the beloved youngest son has become a scoundrel, what should his brothers do?”
“Sir?”
“The Grand General’s sword should be pointed at external enemies. The family’s scoundrel must be dealt with by the family.”
A member of the Ten Attendants would remove another member of the Ten Attendants. If handled that way, there would be no problem. The path Guo Sheng had walked was already soaked in a great deal of blood. Adding one more handful would not be noticeable.
They shared a cup of the wine He Jin had gifted, and Guo Sheng called a servant to gather his colleagues. Of course, only those colleagues whose tastes aligned with his own were summoned.
---
“So the Grand General met with Guo Sheng… Hmm…”
Luoyang had many eyes. Far too many. The news that Grand General He Jin had met with the great eunuch Guo Sheng reached Yuan Shu’s ears, Yuan Shao’s ears, Cao Cao’s ears, Dong Zhuo’s ears—in short, it reached the ears of nearly everyone who mattered.
The surprising thing was that the news had not reached the ears of the man himself, Jian Shi.
The power brokers of Luoyang were not of one mind, but they all knew who was the easiest to sweep away right now. Their methods differed, but the task remained the same.
“How long has it been since the Yellow Turban Rebellion ended, and now another bloodstorm is about to blow? Have we killed all of that eunuch Jian Shi’s lackeys?”
“Of course.”
“Hahaha! Good, good. The snobs of Luoyang hate dirtying their own hands, so this Dong Zhuo will have to help them out.”
“Then what will you do now, brother?”
“Let’s leave it alone for now. The more of a mess it becomes, the easier it will be for us to move.”
“Understood.”
“And is that friend Baigyu still giving us the silent treatment?”
“Yes. Everything beyond Bohai remains a dark zone.”
After Colonel of the Left Gongsun Zan fled to Liaodong, everything past the Bohai Sea had become shrouded in darkness. The taxes promised to the center arrived on time, and horses and hides occasionally came in as spoils from the northern barbarians, but every time an inspector or supervisor was sent, they met with ‘barbarian raids’ and became permanent guests of the afterlife far too often.
No matter how rugged the Bohai region was, lying close to the lands of the northern barbarians, and no matter how the threat of the savages who lived on the land of Dangun Joseon still lingered, it should not have become a land of such complete silence with no replies whatsoever.
When one considered how actively Liaodong merchants came and went through Dongnae, it made no sense that the security of Liaodong was so poor that not even a single supervisor could return.
“Hahaha! That young friend… he’s having quite a cute little thought, isn’t he? He’s building up strength in the borderlands. Hmm… Should we stay on good terms? Son-in-law, do you have any good ideas?”
“How about provoking the Inspector of You Province?”
“That gentleman? Isn’t he just a good man with nothing else to him?”
“Exactly. So we provoke him and see how the former Colonel of the Left reacts.”
“Hmm… That makes sense. Then we should prepare a gift that Inspector Liu Yu would like. Do you know what that gentleman prefers, son-in-law?”
“As befits an imperial relative, he is obsessed with archery. A single deer-horn bow should please him greatly.”
“Excellent! Very good. Boys! We’re heading to You Province for a bit! When the storm blows, we must get out of the way!”
In Dong Zhuo’s life, defeat and flight were never shameful. He had always fought in the mud and always survived until the very end. For him to display his full strength, the Han Dynasty was still far too clean.