Three Kingdoms I: In Zhending County
Revising the Chaehyang effect as established in the Three Kingdoms prologue.
◈ Women under nineteen: affinity increase only.
◈ The instant a woman turns nineteen: full 100% Chaehyang effect unlocks.
◈ Arousal effect reduced in consideration of the protagonist’s age.
“Ian!! Hurry up and come out.”
“Yeah. Just a sec — I’ll grab my wooden staff and be right out.”
I stepped back into the room, straightened my clothes, and finished reading through the scenario as Jo Un’s voice drifted in from outside. Taking the staff propped against the wall, I left the annex.
In the courtyard, Jang Bi and Jo Un had already come out of the annex across the way and were standing there growling at each other.
I snorted, set the staff down for a moment, and pulled them both into a tight hug.
“What are you doing, An-ah? That’s embarrassing.”
“You two little mice squabbling is just too cute.”
My daughter Areum back home was born in ’94 — third grade, a bit older than these two — but even she had been this small once. Looking at the pair of them, the other world rose unbidden in my mind. A sudden wave of homesickness hit me; I shook my head and hugged them tighter.
Both little girls’ cheeks flushed red.
Is this what it feels like to have real daughters?
I pinched each of their cheeks once, then let them go.
“I’m going to make both of you my principal wives, so stop fighting.”
“Okay. But I’m higher than Bi-ya, right? You’ve known me longer.”
Soft-featured Jo Un clung to one arm. Sharp-eyed Jang Bi immediately latched onto the other.
“No way. When Father brought me here he said I was the betrothed. I’m First Wife.”
“That’s not right, is it, An-ah?”
I faced them again and pulled them both close.
Thank god we’re still a powerful clan. In this world, great families and scholar-gentry households could keep up to three principal wives.
“You’re both principal wives. No ranking between you. After you two, though, I’ll start assigning ranks.”
“Okay.”
“Fine.”
They were still young enough that their moods flipped in an instant. Watching them grin and giggle, I shook my head with a helpless smile.
“Where are Auntie and Hwa?”
“They went up the hill first to spar.”
Seop Yeong. Jang Hwa.
I had talent for fencing, but in this Changshan Zhao Family Village there was no one to spar with and no one to teach. Fencing wasn’t a battlefield art the way sword forms or saber forms were. It was entertainment for the scholar-gentry — the ancient equivalent of kendo or fencing, a sport. Just as people played with bows, they set rules and dueled with live blades, practice swords, or wooden ones to build camaraderie. That didn’t mean it lacked lethality. A sword in the hands of a kendo or fencing master was still deadly.
Plenty of people here could swing a blade. What no one could do was teach fencing systematically, so for now I was learning staff and spear first.
I can’t quite remember — was Xu Shu the fencing master?
Xu Shu, who had studied under the same teacher as Zhuge Liang and Pang Tong in Xiangyang. I recalled that a man named Sima Hui had been their master. Looking at the strategists that school produced, in this ancient age scholars became generals and generals took civil posts — so somewhere there had to be someone who could teach fencing.
My knowledge of this Three Kingdoms world was paper-thin. At first I could only remember about twenty names. Now and then someone like Wang Yun would come up and I’d think, Ah — that one.
Shu: Yu Bi, Guan Yu, Jang Bi, Jo Un, Hwang Chung, Ma Chao, Zhuge Liang, Xu Shu, Pang Tong.
Wei: Cao Cao, Hahu Yeon, Hahu Don, Xu Chu, Dian Wei, Guo Jia, Jia Xu, Xun Yu.
Wu: Sun Jian, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu, Taesa Ja.
Others: Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, Wang Yun.
Yu Bi, Guan Yu, Jang Bi — the greatest heroes under heaven~~
I’d at least watched the old animated Three Kingdoms that opened with that booming male chorus, which was why I remembered even this much. The regret was that once Yu Bi died, I never properly finished the series.
Damn… I should have at least read the novels.
I’d made that same regret hundreds of times. A ten-volume Three Kingdoms novel set. Volumes one and two were always missing from the school library, so every time the thought struck me I had to give up. If there had been a famous Three Kingdoms game I would have played it, but the Japanese studios that made historical simulations only ever produced games set in the Warring States period. Japan’s relations with China were bad enough that they never touched Chinese history when making games.
“An-ah. Hurry up.”
I’d been holding the little ones and drifting into thought when Jo Un’s cheerful whining pulled me back.
Beyond the main gate, tiled roofs stretched out in neat rows. The Changshan Zhao Family Village was a prosperous place; the houses were well kept. It was still early, and winter, so the alleys were nearly empty. We passed Jo Un’s house and started up the mountain path.
About ten minutes later a clearing opened ahead. Two women were sparring with real spear and glaive.
Clang—clang—
The ring of steel on steel.
“Hwa, you’ve improved a lot.”
“Of course, my lady.”
Seop Yeong suddenly closed the distance and thrust. Jang Hwa gave ground, gripped the middle of her glaive, spun the head, and knocked the spear down.
Thock.
Just how good are they…?
According to Seop Yeong, Jang Bi and Jo Un’s talent far outstripped her own. These two were already exchanging blows too fast for the eye to follow. If the girls were greater still, what level did that put them at?
“Oh — Mother’s here too.”
“Yeah. She said she’s teaching us archery today.”
Jo Un answered. Now that she mentioned it, I could see a bow beside Mother, along with two large bows and three smaller ones laid out nearby.
Jang Bi suddenly uncrossed her arms and sprinted toward Mother. Jo Un, realizing she’d been beaten to it, uncrossed her own arms and ran after her.
“Mother, did you sleep well?”
“I did, Bi-ya.”
“Mother, I brought An.”
“Good, Un-ah.”
Mother gathered them into her arms, stroked their hair, and smiled. The two women who had been sparring saw me, stepped back, and straightened their clothes.
“An, you’re here?”
“Young master has arrived.”
“Yes, Auntie. You too, Hwa — morning.”
I greeted Seop Yeong and Jang Hwa in turn and walked over. Both of them flushed.
After deciding at dawn to take Mother as a concubine, I had already resolved to accept these two as well. The real problem was ranking — Mother’s four maids plus these two.
Hwa and the four attendants are virgins. That means they should be raised to wife rank… but their status is low. Seop Yeong is Jo Un’s mother. And if I set a married woman aside, I’d have to set Mother aside too.
“Up we go.”
Seop Yeong lifted me into her arms. She looked down at my brooding face, then kissed my forehead.
Peck.
“Why are you so adorable?”
“Haha. Thanks.”
Jang Hwa fidgeted, watching Seop Yeong with naked envy — clearly the idea of daring a kiss herself had never even crossed her mind.
“And Auntie? What did I tell you to call me?”
Seop Yeong pinched my cheek and stretched it.
“N-Noona. Yeong-ie Noona.”
“That’s right. Call me Auntie again and you’re in trouble.”
“Yes… Noona.”
On the day the Chaehyang had first wrapped around her, I had called her Auntie, and she had quietly drawn me aside.
— An-ah. Will you call me Noona?
— Huh? …Yes. Yeong-ie Noona.
The look in her eyes as she stroked my cheek. She had stared at my lips as if boring a hole through them, then shaken her head and looked away.
Order: Mother, Seop Yeong, Jang Hwa, Rin-rin, Mi-mi, Dae-yeon, So-yeon.
Prerequisite: beauty.
High status, capable, and virgin — wife rank.
Married women with prior experience — slave rank.
Slaves who were still virgins — slave rank.
Everyone else — bitch rank.
The lack of body modification for the ones coming in at bitch rank was a pity. But once a principle was set, it had to be kept. And since they would be classified as bitch rank, my favor toward them wouldn’t run that high anyway — so I locked the rule in place.
Seop Yeong and Jang Hwa were both beauties. One stroke of luck since arriving in this world was how many of the women around me met modern standards of beauty. Looking at the rest of the Zhao Family Village, women this lovely were almost nowhere to be found. Unless they trained in martial arts, most women cultivated full, soft bodies — and the village overflowed with women who were simply plump. Even that didn’t suit my taste.
“Today it isn’t staff work. Unnie’s going to teach archery.”
Seop Yeong murmured it while still playing with my cheek. Jang Hwa cast a regretful look our way and went off to set up the targets in the distance.
Something strange, though — the smell of milk was strong. Looking carefully at her chest, I could see it was a little damp.
She felt my gaze and flushed deeper.
“Yeong-ie Noona, you’re still producing milk?”
“Mm. Weird, right?”
Whoa. Even Seop Yeong got hit with it?
“Does Un drink it?”
“No. Not since I weaned her. I just express it and throw it out.”
“Why?”
“It’s not normal. I don’t want rumors.”
She twisted her body, embarrassed. I looked up at her.
“Starting tomorrow, express it and bring it to me. I like milk. And Mother still produces, too. I drink from her every morning.”
“Really?”
I nodded. She nodded with me.
Large eyes, a sharp jaw, a clean nose. Not a traditional Chinese face. Bing Province was said to have many people who looked mixed with Western blood — and she fit that description exactly. She resembled modern Uyghurs.
A collateral branch of the Changshan Zhao family had married into Mayi County in Yanmen Commandery. That connection had brought Seop Yeong to Changshan as a bride. She said she was from Bing Province, and the foreign blood in her ran strong.
“An-ah. Yeong-ah. Come over here.”
Mother was waving from across the clearing.
“Yes.”
“Yes, Unnie.”
I tapped her arm and she set me down. The disappointment written across her face made it plain how thoroughly she had fallen for me.
Chaehyang. More powerful than I’d expected.
To survive in this world I would have to use the remaining four charges of Chaehyang carefully. Especially Yu Bi — whether man or woman, Yu Bi was the one who worried me most. Sworn sibling to Jang Bi and once Jo Un’s lord; I was afraid Yu Bi would take them from me. I trusted the Chaehyang… but I was also afraid they might meet Yu Bi before they turned nineteen.
Which was exactly why Jang Hwa and Seop Yeong had to become mine without fail — so that Jang Bi and Jo Un would never be able to leave.
“An-ah. I’m already past twenty.”
“Noona. I’m still only five.”
Seop Yeong’s eyes wavered. I smirked and started walking toward Mother.
Jo Un came over carrying an extra bow and held it out to me.
A longbow shape?
It was nothing like the familiar Korean composite horn bow. It looked carved from a single length of bamboo, a simple U-curve bent in one continuous arc.
“Good. Yeong and Hwa, take bows as well, and everyone gather here.”
As I took the bow, Mother rose from her seat and spoke while facing the targets.
We all approached. She nocked an arrow, drew, and loosed.
The sound of air being cut. The bowstring thrummed hard.
Thud.
The arrow buried itself dead center. The range looked like fifty meters, and she had hit it clean.
Whoosh-whoosh.
Two more in rapid succession. Her handwork was anything but ordinary. Both arrows slammed into the exact center without fail.
Wow… did Mother leave a name in history too?
The distance wasn’t extreme, but the speed of her hands and the precision were remarkable.
Wang Yeon. No matter how hard I thought, the name wouldn’t surface. Perhaps she had died of smallpox.
The thought of smallpox had driven me to prescribe preventatives for my whole family, Jo Un’s family, and Jang Bi’s household as soon as they arrived. Giving sleeping injections to two little kids and then bolting had been no easy job. For the adults, Grandmother Jwa Ja had left mamavaccine behind, so they had taken it half in doubt.
A month after Jang Bi’s family arrived — nine months ago now — smallpox had swept through this village once. Fortunately our household had all escaped the epidemic.
If we’d still been here then, Mother and Father — who had never once caught the pox — would both have been in real danger.
“Wow… Unnie. That’s incredible.”
“Hardly. Any scholar-gentry household can shoot. The gentry of Luoyang all practice the bow.”
Fourth cousin to Wang Yun.
Wang Yun’s name had been familiar enough that when Mother first said it I had paused. Then Lu Bu and Dong Zhuo had come to mind in sequence, Diao Chan had surfaced, and I had remembered who Wang Yun was.
Minister over the Masses Wang Yun. At present he held the post of Palace Aide to the Censor-in-Chief — deputy to the Imperial Counselor. Sometimes called Censor Wang Yun.
Remembering Wang Yun had been genuinely welcome. And when I learned he was a fifth-degree paternal uncle, even more so.
If I ask for Diao Chan, wouldn’t he give her to me? That was the thought.
When I go to Xiangyang, I should make a trip to the Yangtze as well. Confirm the Two Qiaos of Jiangdong before Sun Ce snatches them… heh.
“All right. You saw that? Breathing is the most important thing. Though at first, posture matters more. Yeong first — I’ll set your form.”
“Yes, Unnie.”
Wang Yeon stepped up to Seop Yeong, wrapped her arms around her from behind, and corrected the draw.
“Arm straight out. Good. Right arm up to shoulder height. Watch the angle. If the string slaps your left arm you’ll bruise.”
Then Wang Yeon stepped back and told her to draw again.
Seop Yeong drew the string. She had clearly shot a few times before; her posture settled quickly.
Whirr.
She released. Empty bow — only the sound of the string cutting air.
Mother nodded, then corrected Jang Hwa, Jo Un, and Jang Bi in turn.
“Son. You saw?”
“Yes.”
Watching them, I took up the bow, extended my arms, raised them to shoulder height, drew the string, and sighted on the target.
Ting.
Whooosh.
The bow trembled. A noisy vibration tickled my ears.
“Well done.”
Wang Yeon stroked my hair, then began handing out arrows one by one.
“Yeong and Hwa — the fifty-meter target. Un, Bi-ya, and Ho-ya — aim at the twenty-meter target. The fletching colors are all different, so you’ll know whose is whose. Don’t worry — just draw.”
All five of us nocked and drew. Children’s bows; the strings came back easily. We aimed the way she had taught us and held our breath.
“Stop breathing before you shoot. That’s how you keep from shaking.”
“Hup—”
“Loose.”
Whirr whirr-whirr-whirr whirr.
Thud thud-thud thud thud.
Five arrows flew. Three struck the twenty-meter target — mine buried itself dead center. Jang Bi’s and Jo Un’s hit just outside the bull’s-eye. Moments later arrows punched into the fifty-meter target as well.
“Hiiing… Mother, please teach me again.”
“Mother, me too.”
Jang Bi and Jo Un glanced at me once, then clung to Wang Yeon and poured on the charm. She stroked their hair and reset their form.
“All right… shoot.”
Guided by Wang Yeon’s arms around her, Jo Un released — bull’s-eye. Then Wang Yeon held Jang Bi the same way, and Jang Bi’s arrow also slammed into the center.
Thud. Thud. Thud!
This was fun.
Arrows spinning as they flew. The solid thud of impact. The satisfaction of a clean hit.
While the others were still learning from Wang Yeon, I was already on my eighth arrow. Every single one buried itself dead center.
“Hmm. As expected. The blood of the Longxi Li family runs true. An-ah — do you know Li Xin and Li Guang?”
Longxi Li?
Hadn’t it been Bohai Li? Father had clearly said we were of Goguryeo stock.
“No.”
“Your maternal grandmother was of the Longxi Li clan. Direct descendants of Li Xin and Li Guang.”
“My goodness, Unnie? The Flying General Li Guang?”
Mother nodded. She seemed genuinely proud of it. Seop Yeong, recognizing the name, launched into an explanation that even brought up Huo Qubing.
“Unnie’s skill with the bow must have inherited his gift.”
“Hoho. This much is nothing compared to Mother. I’m not even in the top ranks of her shooting.”
I had a feeling I already knew what trait I would gain from Mother. Archery talent, no doubt.