The Girl Named Sima Shang
Peace? I finished tidying up the joint performance with Zheng and made my way to the guest reception room to meet Li Mu. What awaited me there was a girl entirely different from what I had expected.
'If Li Mu crushed the Xiongnu ten years ago, he should be middle-aged by now, shouldn't he?' Even if he had risen to the rank of general at an astonishingly young age and was in his twenties during the campaign, he would now be well past thirty and nearing forty. Yet the girl seated in the reception room before me, meeting my gaze, looked no older than mid-teens no matter how I examined her.
No matter how much this world was one where I had to name it "gender-bent" due to the existence of figures whose sexes were reversed, people did not stop aging. Even Xinling Jun, whose youthful appearance made him look like he was still in his twenties despite being thirty, did not reach this level. Still, there was a chance I was mistaken or that this was a case of agelessness far beyond common sense, so I asked politely with proper courtesy.
"Are you Li Mu?"
"Huh? Me?" The girl pointed at herself with a finger, as if she had heard something utterly unbelievable, and asked back. When I nodded, she gave a somewhat cynical smile.
"That can't be. Me being Uncle Li Mu? That uncle is already forty years old."
Right. Even to myself, it had been a foolish question. But it was she who had first introduced herself as Li Mu, wasn't it? Feeling somewhat wronged, I suppressed it and asked again.
"Uncle, you say. Then are you General Li Mu's niece?"
"Well, something like that, but not a blood-related niece. More like a master-disciple relationship, I suppose?"
Master-disciple? I only knew Li Mu's name and origin from the historical records, but had he taken a disciple? Intending to learn more about the girl, I offered my own introduction. Since she had come looking for me, she likely already knew who I was, but courtesy demanded it.
"I am Ji Dan, the young lord of Yan. May I hear your name?"
"Hmm, how polite. I would have told you even without all that formality."
Even as she spoke, the girl performed a respectful bow just as I had and revealed her name.
"My name is Sima Shang. I have come at the command of Li Mu, the protector of Yanmen and Dai."
"Sima Shang…?"
I mouthed the name silently so that the girl, Sima Shang, could not hear. The surname Sima was so famous that it felt oddly familiar. Sima Yi, the final victor of the Three Kingdoms; Sima Xin, who appeared as a supporting character in the Chu-Han Contention; Sima Qian of the Later Han who wrote the great historical work Records of the Grand Historian, and so on. Yet the name Sima Shang was new to me.
"No need to strain yourself trying to remember. It's an unknown name."
Sima Shang added this after noticing I was desperately searching my memory. A cough escaped me from the embarrassment of having tried and failed to pretend recognition.
"Ahem, ahem. Then why did you introduce yourself as Li Mu?"
"If I said only Sima Shang, no one would know who I was. Using Uncle's name was the only way to get an audience."
So she had borrowed the name to draw attention. But since she had claimed to come under Li Mu's orders, it was hard to call it outright impersonation without permission.
"And," Sima Shang continued, as if there was another reason for using Li Mu's name. Her eyes, fixed on me, gleamed sharply like a hunter who had caught her prey. "It was also to verify the one bearing Pingyuan Jun's seal."
"Ah…"
I belatedly realized I had overreacted to the name Li Mu. In the letter I sent to Li Mu, I had stamped Pingyuan Jun's seal but had not written my name. In other words, on the surface, I was a complete stranger who had never met or spoken with Li Mu. Logically, would I have reacted to the name of Li Mu, with whom I had no connection? Although Li Mu was a general active in the north, he did not possess the fame of Pingyuan Jun or Lian Po. Yet I had stopped what I was doing and rushed out at the mere mention of Li Mu's name. Up to this point, I could still have made excuses. Li Mu was not as renowned across the land as Lian Po, but within Zhao his reputation was considerable. Claiming I had secretly admired him would not have been entirely unconvincing. The problem was that I had been so precisely struck that I had panicked. With this much circumstantial evidence, denial was impossible. Judging by how Sima Shang had approached, it seemed Li Mu had already seen through me from the start. Moreover, I had never intended to keep hiding it forever. If I had truly planned to conceal my identity, I would not have used Zhang Er, an important figure in my merchant guild, as an errand runner.
Lian Po and Li Mu. If Qin ever took the step toward unifying the land, these two were the only ones who could possibly stop it. Even without the status of Pingyuan Jun's successor, I had resolved to build friendly relations with them somehow. I had been wondering how to go about it when inheriting Pingyuan Jun's seal and the outbreak of the Yan-Zhao War aligned perfectly.
'Now that I think about it, the Yan-Zhao War brought more than one or two benefits.'
I had identified allies and enemies within the Yan court, made my hostage life in Zhao far more comfortable, and succeeded in forming ties with both Lian Po and Li Mu. It was a triple gain. Since I had already been found out, I chose not to deny it ugly but instead praised Li Mu's insight.
"As expected. General Li Mu's eyes cannot be deceived."
"Uncle's discernment is the best in Zhao. To surpass him, the late Chancellor Lin would have to return."
The Lin Shangbang Sima Shang referred to was Lin Xiangru, one of the previous chancellors. In diplomacy, domestic affairs, military strategy, and loyalty alike, he was truly perfect, as the word "perfect" itself suggested. It was no exaggeration to say that Qin Shaoyang Wang, the previous king of Qin who had struck terror across the land, feared no foreign figure more than Lin Xiangru. Comparing Li Mu to such a man showed plainly how deeply Sima Shang respected him.
"So then. What reason did General Li Mu have for sending you, Lady Sima Shang, to me? Did he have words to convey?"
"Not really? There were no specific messages he asked me to deliver. The only order I received was to stay by the young lord's side and observe what kind of person he is."
Having said that, Sima Shang presented an irrefutable justification, as if she would allow no refusal.
"Ah, right. He said this was in return for granting the young lord's request. Thinking of that, there was a message after all."
Li Mu, who had followed my request and directed the Xiongnu toward Yan. Zhao had avoided war as well, so it was a win-win, but honestly, from my perspective, Zhao had made an enormous concession. If the war had not stopped there, the only picture in my mind was Yan being unilaterally ravaged. Whether Lian Po or Li Mu, those called the finest commanders of their age possessed more than enough ability to do so. Even Lian Po, whom I had seen just days ago, was truly an absurd existence. If I were to turn Sima Shang away now, it would damage the relationship with Li Mu that had begun on such a positive note.
'I suppose it can't be helped.'
It was not as though I was so overwhelmed that I could not accommodate one extra guest, and the place I was staying had plenty of empty rooms after the recent move. Since she was supposedly Li Mu's disciple, Sima Shang would likely stay for a while before returning to him.
"Very well. I shall prepare a room so you may stay as a retainer for the time being."
"I like how straightforward you are. Well, I have no intention of just receiving without giving either. I have my pride too. At the very least, I'll earn my keep, so don't worry too much."
"I had no intention of demanding anything in return, but what do you plan to do?"
"That man named Zhang you sent to Uncle. He works in the merchant guild, right? That guild belongs to the young lord? I'm good with numbers, so I'll manage the warehouse or something."
"Hmm… It feels like a waste to use someone like you for that. Let's set that matter aside for now and look into it gradually. For the moment… yes. Shall we begin with a welcoming ceremony?"
§
Tung… tung….
The sound of the fenbu echoed forlornly in the room Ji Dan had left. Originally, the clear tones of the qin should have joined it, but the qin remained silent. Ying Zheng gazed at the empty seat across from her where Ji Dan had been playing, her eyes hollow. Because he had been there until just moments ago, his absence felt all the more vast.
Tung… tung….
The lonely reverberation of the fenbu. To Ying Zheng, it sounded as though it were speaking in place of her own situation. And in truth, it was not far from reality. The two instruments they had been playing, the qin and the fenbu, were far too different. Beyond the simple classification of qin as a string instrument and fenbu as a percussion instrument, their very natures diverged greatly.
The qin was the most beloved instrument. Scholars who enjoyed ritual music cherished the qin. Thus, many instruments accompanied it. It harmonized with wind instruments like the flute or xun, and blended with the zheng, another string instrument. And with the se, called the soul's other half, the harmony was so beautiful that the phrase "qin and se in harmony" came to be used even for married couples.
But what of the fenbu? The only instrument it could accompany was perhaps the zheng. Among musicians, it was not even treated as a proper instrument. Did performers come to resemble the instruments they played? Or did they seek out instruments that resembled themselves? Asking a question no one would answer, Ying Zheng reflected. She might be precious to Ji Dan, but she could never be his only one.
'Dan. Dan said he wanted me to do what I wished, didn't he?'
Dan's words, which had once evaded the question by saying he did not know. Though late, Ying Zheng gave her honest answer in her heart.
'I want Dan to look only at me.'