The Scoundrel's Good Deed and an Old Friend's Toast
The tale of Yuan Shu, the greatest rascal in the capital, personally leading a bandit extermination campaign spread far and wide. It was beautifully packaged as a heroic story: the legitimate heir of the prestigious Yuan family had stepped forward himself to crush the bandits threatening the common people. A young nobleman, driven by youthful vigor and a sense of justice, had taken up arms to slay the villains! It was the perfect tale of bold chivalry. In reality, he had properly wiped them out and even delivered their heads to the authorities. And since it all happened within the sphere of the Yuan family's overwhelming influence, there was nothing anyone could criticize. Framed as a righteous young hero who had risen up despite his tender age to protect the people by cutting down thieves, the incident became a cherished anecdote.
The bandits, who had been toyed with, tossed around, and shattered like playthings by Yuan Shu and his friends before dying, might have felt a little wronged... but what could they do? Even if they were bitter, it was their fate. If Yuan Shu hadn't intervened, the government troops would have dealt with them eventually. They had simply met their end a bit earlier. If anyone deserved a scolding, it would have been Yuan Shu's father, yet upon seeing his son return without a single scratch and throw a grand feast, the old man simply chuckled and looked upon him with fondness.
Richard and Xiang Yu, whose true natures were that of battle-crazed maniacs, cackled with delight after finally getting to swing their blades to their hearts' content, slicing through bandits and earning merit. Choe Jun-gyeong, who had suppressed her violent instincts while growing up gracefully, had finally let them explode after tasting blood. Her pretty face now carried the aura of a bloodthirsty killer, and after bathing in plenty of gore and entrails, she was visibly thrilled. Ji Ling had managed to piggyback on a decent achievement without even taking office yet, so he was pleased. Yuan Shao was happy simply watching her brother shine and being of help to him. In the end, it was a happy ending for everyone!
With that minor escapade of Yuan Shu's behind them, time flowed on without any other major incidents.
Yuan Shu knew the Romance of the Three Kingdoms well and was a fan. That said, he was a rather casual one. He wasn't some hardcore expert who could rattle off every tiny detail, but he certainly knew that an age of chaos was coming.
'First of all, the world right now is already a complete mess.'
The emperor acting like a merchant, with the Ten Attendants as his backers, openly selling government offices with price tags? That alone was far from normal. On top of an already miserable life, officials who had bought their positions tried to recoup their losses through exploitation, turning an already terrible world into absolute dogshit. It was a vicious cycle with no end in sight. The worst part was that no one seemed interested in changing this behavior.
What finally erupted from all that pent-up suffering was none other than the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When life is that hard, people become easy prey for cults. On top of that, this was ancient China; basic education wasn't nearly as widespread as in modern times, so more people fell for the nonsense. Many had accumulated enough resentment to want to rise up anyway. The human heart is more fragile than it seems. When someone offers sweet comfort in the midst of unbearable hardship, people are naturally drawn to it. And that story they told was truly captivating.
'It's unstoppable. Even if the entire Yuan family poured out all its power, we couldn't prevent this.'
At its root, this disaster had been born from a rotten nation. No matter how prestigious one's lineage, there was no stopping something like this. How could a mere youngster prevent chaos when even the emperor—the absolute ruler at the pinnacle of the land—seemed to be encouraging it? Even as the legitimate heir of the greatest noble house, some things simply could not be stopped.
That meant the famous Dong Zhuo's rise that would follow, along with the chaotic warlord era of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, would be equally difficult to prevent. Yuan Shu had concluded that he could not hold the entire world in the palm of his hand. Besides, given his personality, a chaotic era actually seemed more advantageous for success. In times of peace, the man with the brush succeeds. In times of war, the man with the sword prevails.
'I'll just take good care of the people under me. There's no reason to greedily swallow everything until my stomach bursts when I already have plenty.'
In truth, he hadn't thought that deeply about the future. He simply lived with the mindset that things would somehow work out. After all, what great sense of mission did he have to make fixing the world his goal? This was just like the crazy alpha male Yuan Shu who would brawl with local thugs and, even when a slave girl he had taken in threw the first punch, would gladly fight her fair and square until she dropped. A rascal is a rascal precisely because he doesn't live by grand calculations.
Anyway, knowing that a chaotic world would need capable people, and wanting to meet the famous figures from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms in person, Yuan Shu mobilized the Yuan family's network to search for talents. It wasn't easy, though. China was disgustingly vast, and with that vastness came a ridiculous number of people. Unless someone came from a somewhat well-known family, even the Yuan family's extensive network made finding them difficult.
'Ha... I was really curious whether Guan Yu actually had that legendary beard...'
Any fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would want to see the beautiful beard of the Lord of Magnificent Beard at least once. That long, flawless, perfectly straight, and flowing beard that reached all the way to the floor...! Unfortunately, he couldn't find him. Since Guan Yu's original name wasn't actually Guan Yu, the information Yuan Shu possessed made the search even harder.
Still, he had managed to meet some fairly well-known figures. Excluding Ji Ling, the first major character from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Yuan Shu became acquainted with was none other than one of the four great traitors who would help ruin the Han Dynasty—the one representing the "Cao" in the infamous "Meng Tak Jo Ui" quartet: Cao Cao.
It wasn't that he had sought her out on purpose. Yuan Shao had become friends with her first and then introduced her to Yuan Shu. After that, through drinking, causing trouble together, and more drinking, they naturally became close friends.
"Well if it isn't the greatest rascal of the Yuan family, Yuan Gonglu himself!"
"It's the shorty Cao Aman! Still the same as ever! Hahaha!"
Yuan Shu had been genuinely shocked the first time he met Cao Cao. After all, Cao Cao was a woman. But since Xiang Yu, Richard, Choe Jun-gyeong, and even Yuan Shao were all women, he had already experienced this situation before. As an open-minded man, he simply thought, 'Oh, so that's how it is,' and accepted it coolly. Surprisingly, their personalities matched well, and before long they had become genuine friends who shared a deep bond.
"I see your Xiahou friends and Cao relatives didn't come today?"
"Hahaha! Dealing with both my wild spirit and Gonglu's is no easy task, is it?"
In this era, connections meant everything among the powerful clans, so noble houses were naturally intertwined. Just as Cao Cao had recruited Xun Yu and ended up with a whole string of talents from Yingchuan following like a set of dried fish on a rope.
Thanks to drinking and befriending Cao Cao, Yuan Shu had also grown close to Xiahou Yuan, Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong. The reason they weren't here today was because of a certain incident during Yuan Shu and Cao Cao's last meeting. When a woman who was about to get married confessed she was in a forbidden love and wanted to elope, something in them had clicked. They had half-forcibly dragged those guys along, wrecked the wedding, set fires, kidnapped the bride, handed her over to her anxiously waiting lover outside, and even gave them money to help them escape. It had been a complete disaster.
Incidentally, only the masterminds—Yuan Shu and Cao Cao—had escaped punishment. Of course they didn't cause such incidents every time they met, but whenever they did, the fallout was so massive that...
In this world where the original Cao Mengde had been a married-woman killer, now that she was a woman herself, she and Yuan Shu had formed quite the pair. She would use her natural beauty to seduce newlywed husbands or grooms-to-be, lure them out at night, bury them in the mountains, and commit all sorts of outrageous acts. Cao Cao's poor younger siblings, who were always dragged into her schemes, truly could not handle this terrible rascal duo. Not to mention their drinking capacity was no joke. One wrong move and they could end up completely smashed beyond mere intoxication!
"By the way, your siblings didn't come either?"
"Ah, those guys... they got a bit too heated during sparring and ended up with a few broken bones. They're resting in the infirmary right now."
They had gone at it pretty intensely recently. Several bones had been broken, and now they were lying peacefully in bed, wrapped up nicely in bandages together. Though with their ridiculous recovery, they'd probably be fully healed in four days. These were people whose durability was so monstrous that even arrows couldn't leave a scratch, and their natural healing ability was on another level. They were truly superhumans who had surpassed ordinary mortals.
"I can already picture them bickering at each other's bedside," Yuan Shu chuckled as he downed an entire bowl of liquor in one go.
"Those friends of yours really have too much spirit for how they look!" Cao Cao laughed in agreement, clinking her cup against his. The drinking party continued merrily.
Cao Cao was a rich family's rascal with money to burn, and Yuan Shu was the legitimate heir of the even wealthier and more influential Yuan family. There was no better place for two such people to enjoy themselves without restraint.
As the drinking deepened, Cao Cao suddenly asked,
"Say, Gonglu. You're getting to a proper age now. Isn't it about time you took an official post? Benchu is already serving the court."
"Well... I suppose so. I've been living like this, but I have no intention of remaining a burden on the family without holding any office."
"Haha, as expected. Though I'm not sure if the temperament of the Yuan family's hero Yuan Gonglu is suited for official life!"
"Hahaha! What's there to worry about? Most people would prostrate themselves before the Yuan family's prestige anyway. I have no interest in the central government. Once I gain some experience, I plan to quickly transfer to a regional post."
For the legitimate son of a family that had produced three dukes for four generations—a family said to stand above all but the emperor—this was actually the far better choice.
"Reeeally~? As expected, our Gonglu has it all planned out! Still, it's so unusual~ To speak so casually about leaving Luoyang..."
Her face flushed bright red from the alcohol, Cao Cao slurred her words with a giggle.
"I too will be taking office soon. That's actually why I arranged this meeting today. We've played to our hearts' content until now. Once we enter official service, shouldn't we do our jobs properly? Even if the country is in chaos... as ministers, we must at least fulfill our duties!"
'Heh heh. So this is the capable minister of a peaceful age and the treacherous hero of a chaotic one?'
It was hard to imagine this was the same Cao Cao who would later lay the foundation for the Han Dynasty's destruction. Then again, it was said that in his youth, the original Cao Cao had also been a young, loyal official devoted to the country, so it wasn't that strange.
"You've really grown up, Cao Aman! Who would believe this is the same Cao Aman who helped me kidnap a bride and complete a perfect elopement? Hahaha!"
"Ahaha! Yeah... I might end up missing those days..."
If she intended to do her job properly, it would no longer be easy to pull off those refreshing, carefree acts of mischief that could be dismissed as youthful folly. It seemed Cao Cao wanted to cherish those old memories during this drinking session. A strange light flickered in her eyes as they reflected in the wine cup. Yuan Shu watched her with interest.
'To think someone like this could change enough to be counted among the four who ruined the Han...?'
Perhaps it was because the world was so chaotic that people could transform in the blink of an eye.
'Speaking of official posts...'
After drinking a bit more and watching Cao Cao begin to doze off, Yuan Shu ended the gathering. He hoisted her onto his horse and rode while thinking.
'Now that I think about official posts, it seems like my invitation should be arriving soon.'
Finding people in this era was difficult, but if they came from a notable family, it became much easier. With that in mind, Yuan Shu had sent a letter to a certain man who was currently living in hardship despite his great ancestor's name, asking to meet. And this time, that letter had been properly delivered to the person Yuan Shu had been hoping for.