Chapter 5: The Deal (Part 2)
The night in Luoyang was like a corpse draped in gaudy funeral robes.
When Minju stepped out of Wang Yun's study, a cold, damp night air greeted him. Lanterns hung along every street alternated between spilling blood-red and golden light, adorning the avenues. The sharp wail of instruments bursting from brothels and taverns scraped at his eardrums like screams. Sleek carriages rumbled over the cobblestones, flaunting their luxury, while patrolling soldiers in gleaming armor strode about, projecting an air of authority.
But to Kang Minju—no, to Zhang Fei—this vast capital looked like one enormous tomb. Flashy on the outside, yet rotting from within, reeking of decay. Those who clutched power were traitors, and the emperor was little more than a puppet dangling on strings. Loyal ministers cowered in the shadows, desperate merely to survive. And right in the festering heart of it all, Minju had just forcibly twisted one of the greatest threads of destiny in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
"General."
A slender yet firm voice called from behind. Minju halted and turned to see Diaochan standing before a small carriage draped in black curtains. The attitudes of her attending maids had shifted dramatically from just an hour ago. Where before they had served her like any household daughter, now they exuded a grim tension, as if transporting a secret upon which the fate of the nation hung.
Diaochan stood with her hands neatly clasped, meeting Minju's gaze squarely.
"Do you truly intend to take me to him?"
Minju paused, gauging the depth in her eyes. These were not the trembling eyes of a frightened woman.
"Yes. The discussion with Lord Wang is already concluded."
"Aren't you afraid?"
"Of what?"
"I might change my mind midway, or General Lu Bu might not believe my words. Or... everything could go awry, and you and your sworn brothers could be branded traitors and meet with disaster."
Minju let out a wry chuckle. Zhang Fei's coarse beard quivered faintly.
"In this mess, who wouldn't have a thing or two to fear? If death scared me, I never would have set foot in Luoyang."
Her eyebrows twitched ever so slightly at his words. She bit her lip for a moment, then signaled her maids to fall back. Minju nodded to Zou Jing, who had been watching from behind, and dismissed him as well.
In the dark alley untouched even by lantern light, only the chill night breeze passed between them.
Minju broke the silence first.
"Back in the study, you only said you'd follow your father's will. Is that truly your heart's desire?"
Diaochan offered no reply. But her silence was not denial—it was the weight of a truth too heavy to voice.
"I know this about you, Diaochan. You're no mere beauty who captivates with her looks. You're sharp enough to see clearer than anyone how this game truly turns. So tell me honestly. Why throw yourself into this perilous gamble?"
To sustain an alliance staked on their lives, they needed to bare their true hearts.
Diaochan kept her gaze lowered for a long while. When she finally lifted her head, her eyes held a chilling blend of sorrow and resolve.
"What do you think of General Lu Bu?"
"The world's greatest warrior. That's what everyone says."
"That's just the surface."
"My take is this: Brutal, arrogant, selfish, suspicious, impulsive... yet at the same time, a man so fragile he'll stake everything on a single bond of loyalty."
Diaochan's eyes widened in shock. Minju didn't miss that fleeting tremor. The moment she uttered Lu Bu's name, the timbre at the end of her voice had changed. It wasn't the tone of someone naming a mere pawn to be used.
Quietly, but with the edge of a blade, Minju asked, "You love Lu Bu. Truly."
Perhaps the question was too direct. Diaochan froze as if holding her breath. Her lips parted several times before she smiled bitterly, as if resigned—or unburdened at last.
"Yes."
The short answer dropped into the night air.
"It wasn't always so. At first, I approached him only on my father's orders. I saw him merely as a terrifying man—the crimson beast at Dong Zhuo's side. One wrong glance, and my life would be forfeit. I was afraid. I wanted to run."
Minju listened silently to her confession.
"But the more I faced him, the more I realized: He's far simpler... far more transparent than he seems. He roars fiercely on the outside, but when someone approaches with true sincerity, he gets flustered like a child and rejoices. Once he opens his heart, he becomes strangely vulnerable. The world will remember him only as a bloodstained blade, but I know. On the nights he's alone, how deeply the void engulfs him."
Diaochan clenched her sleeve until her knuckles whitened.
"That's why I grew even more afraid. Being with him... I could see the tragic end so clearly."
Minju's gaze deepened. The fate history recorded for Lu Bu: the war god executed at the end of betrayal and distrust. This woman had instinctively scented that doom.
"If things followed my father's plan, Lu Bu would slay Dong Zhuo and be hailed a loyalist. But that would be fleeting. Soon, Dong Zhuo's remnants and jealous courtiers would hound him, and he'd be cast aside in the end. I don't want to be the tragic woman who perishes with him."
She took a step closer.
"I want to walk proudly beside him before the world. Not as a traitor's dog or whore, pointed at in scorn—but as the woman at the side of the hero who saved the Han dynasty. With General Liu, a descendant of the imperial house, at his side... Lu Bu could live differently. And so could I."
That was why she had embraced this dangerous gamble.
Minju exhaled slowly. Just as he thought. She wasn't a mere bait. Because she loved Lu Bu with all her heart, she was a gambler willing to twist history to save him from ruin.
"If that's truly your heart, then I won't treat you as disposable."
Minju turned.
"Now, let's go. My brothers and I need to prepare to receive this dangerous guest."
"Yes, General."
It was time to alter the flow of the realm.
Liu Bei and Guan Yu were staying at a rundown inn on the outskirts of Luoyang. Beneath the flickering old oil lamp, the paired swords, the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, and the long weapons leaning against the wall filled the room with tension.
The moment the door opened, Guan Yu's head snapped up like lightning.
"Yide?"
But when his gaze fell on Diaochan following behind Zhang Fei, Guan Yu's eyes turned icy.
"Who is this woman?"
Liu Bei rose from his seat as well. Surprise flashed across his face, but unlike Guan Yu, he didn't immediately bare his killing intent.
"Yide, what in the world happened? Surely this is Lord Wang's..."
Minju closed the door and stood before his two brothers. He recounted everything that had transpired at Wang Yun's mansion, holding nothing back: Wang Yun's Connected Rings Plan, the new deal he had twisted it into, and even why Diaochan had joined this perilous gamble.
When the tale ended, a heavy silence settled over the inn room.
Guan Yu spoke first.
"Yide, you've gone and stirred up a storm that pierces the heavens."
His voice was low, yet laced with astonishment and a strange undercurrent of trust beyond mere reproach.
"Laying bare Wang Yun's schemes to his face and living to return is a miracle. And to claim that bait for ourselves? One misstep, and your head would be mounted on his gatepost by now."
"But I made it back alive, didn't I, Second Brother?"
Minju flashed a grin, and Guan Yu snorted.
"That brazen attitude of yours is the real problem."
Meanwhile, Liu Bei quietly regarded Diaochan. Her eyes were clear and profound.
"My lady, do you truly intend to join hands with us?"
Diaochan knelt primly before Liu Bei.
"I report to you, General Liu. I have chosen to follow my own heart over my father's will. I do not wish for General Lu Bu to rot in Dong Zhuo's shadow. Even if his hands are stained with blood, I want him to end as a hero of honor."
Liu Bei nodded.
"Very well. I trust you not because of Lord Wang's reputation or your beauty. It's because that desperate light in your eyes—the wish to save someone—rings true."
Minju breathed a sigh of relief. The die was cast.
All that remained was whether Lu Bu would move as they intended.