The Strategist's Gift
Among the low-ranking officials who practically littered the streets of Luoyang, there was one civil servant from Xiliang who had begun his career after being recommended through the Filial and Incorrupt selection process.
He was a descendant of a scholar famous for his learning during the Former Han dynasty. Though he possessed a certain degree of reputation and an exceptionally sharp mind, no one recognized his outstanding talent. On top of that, thanks to the central plains scholars' tendency to discriminate against and look down on those from the provinces, he had suffered prejudice as a man from Xiliang.
This young woman had grown up in poverty after her family's fortunes declined sharply. She desperately wanted to escape her circumstances and achieve success, yet...
'There is no place for me in this city. I might be able to scrape by in a minor post, but I will never rise any higher.'
Having entered officialdom through the Filial and Incorrupt recommendation, she harbored fierce ambition for success. Yet with her naturally gifted intellect and exceptional skill at reading the world, she instantly understood her situation. She realized that relying solely on her own power would never allow her to climb far.
She had neither the wealth to buy influence, nor connections from the same hometown, nor any blood ties, regional ties, or academic ties whatsoever. No matter how extraordinary her talents were, she was never even given the chance to display them.
Somehow, through the recommendation of someone who had recognized her, she had managed to enter service via the Filial and Incorrupt path. But how many such people existed in the capital of Luoyang? And among them, how many possessed far better backgrounds than she did?
'Still, I am young, and I don't want to give up. I didn't leave my hometown and come all the way to Luoyang just to quit like this...'
She had resolved to succeed at all costs, but success was no easy thing—especially not for a poor official from the frontier like her.
With her clever mind, she thought long and hard. Though her thoughts ran deep, she concluded that remaining in Luoyang would not lead to success. Even securing a position as a county magistrate in the provinces was no simple matter for her. That too required connections, at least some achievements, or an enormous bribe—none of which she possessed.
She had neither connections, nor opportunities to earn merit, nor money. Enduring and holding out was equally difficult given her circumstances...
She keenly felt that to succeed, she needed the shadow of a powerful patron. Yet in this land, such a shadow felt impossibly distant for someone from Xiliang.
She realized it would be far better to return to her homeland and seek shelter beneath the wing of someone who could take advantage of these chaotic times, aiming higher from there. She had already begun making thorough preparations to do exactly that.
If the people of the central plains discriminated against those from the borders, leaving her to rot away day after day in Luoyang without even the smallest opportunity, then there was no reason to stay. It would be wiser to return to Xiliang, where their discrimination and contempt might actually cause people to band together, and wait for the right moment.
Just then, a rumor that piqued her interest reached her ears through the gossip of the capital.
The heir of the empire's most prestigious family. Though he held the post of General of the Gentlemen of the Household, he was a man of such exalted status that even the most powerful figures hesitated to touch him for fear of the backlash. While powerless members of the imperial clan might be fair game, the legitimate heir of a mighty noble house was not something one dared provoke—unless one could bear the consequences.
He had refused the overtures of both the Grand General and the Ten Attendants, maintaining strict neutrality. Already standing at the center of the Yuan family in Luoyang, he was the one destined to become its master in the near future.
Normally, such a being would have been completely beyond her reach. Would someone so noble and lofty ever spare a glance for a mere low-ranking clerk from the frontier—one of the countless insignificant officials who filled Luoyang to the brim?
By ordinary common sense, that was only natural, and her own thoughts had been much the same.
But that changed the moment she heard one particular rumor.
'...He took in a common warrior from Xiliang? And not only that—the legitimate heir of the exalted Yuan family personally sent a letter of invitation and accepted him as a guest retainer...?'
The fact that the man was a descendant of the renowned General Who Pacifies the Waves, Ma Yuan, was not particularly compelling. Though Ma Yuan's fame was great, his descendants had fallen so far that the name offered them little help. They lived in poverty on the barren lands of Xiliang, and the current heir, Ma Teng, was even a half-breed with barbarian blood.
The common sense of the central plains and the tightly woven web of blood ties and connections among its great families had no place for someone born with half-barbarian blood in the remote region of Xiliang. Anyone not from a central plains powerful clan would be rejected, directly or indirectly. Far more people behaved this way than those who did not.
There were plenty of other sources of money or useful people, after all. The land of Han was vast, and the number of people living across it was equally great, so it had never been an issue.
At least, it was self-evident that people of such exalted status had no reason to concern themselves with someone from the frontier. It was basic common sense.
Yet someone had appeared who shattered that very common sense.
From then on, she focused intently on gathering information about Yuan Shu and his retainers. She wanted to determine whether the legitimate heir of the Yuan family had simply acted on a whim... and if it wasn't a whim, whether it might present her with an opportunity.
It wasn't just that he had summoned Ma Yuan's descendant. He had taken in the man's entire family and relatives as well. Moreover, he had accepted an ordinary man with ties to Ma Teng purely because he was impressed by the fellow's martial prowess.
He didn't merely accept them—he treated them as honored guest retainers and close companions, living comfortably among them. The shock she felt was greater than she could have imagined.
Even Pang De, a friend of Ma Teng who had been moved by Yuan Shu, had recommended another Xiliang talent named Yan Xing. Yuan Shu trusted Pang De, gave the man a chance to prove his skill, and accepted him after being impressed.
Wasn't that astonishing? In most cases, such an opportunity would never even be granted, yet Yuan Shu had done so without hesitation.
'How can the great legitimate heir of the Yuan family—born into the illustrious house of the Four Generations of Three Dukes and expected to inherit it all—behave this way? Just how...?'
After receiving this shock, she began to see a faint possibility and collected every rumor about Yuan Shu. There was no need for deep investigation; the stories already circulating in the world were more than enough.
That was how she learned of Yuan Shu's unique nature.
The anecdote about how he had acknowledged his half-brother—not even a legitimate son—and called him "elder sister." The story of how he had personally taken in a Western Regions slave sold into servitude, a local thug who caused trouble in the neighborhood, and a half-barbarian girl who had been half-sold to the Yuan family. Using only his fists and his keen eye, he had accepted them as younger siblings and, together with them, suppressed bandits in his youth to earn military merit.
There was also the tale of how he had personally stepped forward to recruit a low-ranking military officer after hearing his story.
She felt it then.
'Ah... even in this stagnant Luoyang, it exists...!'
The "opportunity" she had longed for so desperately still remained in this world—in this very city of Luoyang.
To that man, status, region, or any such thing held no importance. The only thing that mattered to him was ability. And if she could catch his eye, she might achieve the success she had dreamed of for so long.
The legitimate heir of the Yuan family of the Four Generations of Three Dukes, a man who was even now earning military achievements, was someone who could not fail. At the very least, he would rise to the rank of General of the Resolute Cavalry or higher. Considering his uniqueness, attaining a high position as a military officer seemed almost inevitable.
The success she desired was not that grand. If she could simply ride along with that soaring dragon and grasp its tail, her goals would be more than achievable.
'Given my current situation, I was already planning to return home using illness as an excuse to seek other opportunities. Testing the waters here wouldn't be difficult... but I need certainty.'
Years of reading the room, combined with her naturally gifted talent for navigating the world—which would make her quite famous in the original history—prevented her from acting rashly.
Therefore, she recruited one particular man.
She knew someone with genuine ability who, despite being of mixed barbarian and Han blood and not particularly fluent in the Han language, had yet to obtain even a single official post despite his strength. She informed him that an opportunity for advancement existed and sent him toward Yuan Shu.
'If this succeeds, I will have presented him with a talent worthy of his notice, and I will gain the certainty I need to approach the General of the Gentlemen of the Household. It will be killing two birds with one stone.'
At the very least, the man's talent itself was real. Sending someone mediocre wouldn't have given her the assurance she sought.
This was the kind of woman she was.
Someone who, when there was more than one path available and the situation called for her to take a risk, required solid certainty first. A personality that might appear ordinary but fit perfectly with the saying, "Strike the bridge twice before crossing it."
If things went well, she would gain certainty for herself while presenting a talented individual to the man she saw as her opportunity, putting him in a good mood.
The identity of this bold yet rarely disliked civil official from Xiliang who had orchestrated such a scheme was...
Surname Jia. Given name Xu. Courtesy name Wenhe.
The person who, based on her actions in the original history, would one day be called the undefeated strategist and the pinnacle of political maneuvering in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, was now looking toward Yuan Shu.
And following the plan she had devised, a massive man who had unknowingly become the "gift" Jia Xu was offering to Yuan Shu—a giant easily twice the size of an average adult male—arrived boldly before Yuan Shu's residence wearing nothing but shabby clothes.
"Um... may I ask who you are and why you're standing here like this...?"
The gatekeeper, intimidated by the man's extraordinary physique, asked cautiously. The giant responded with a booming voice that matched his size.
"I am! Surname Hu! Name Che'er! I have come! To show! My ability! To the General of the Gentlemen of the Household—!!!"
The man Jia Xu had recruited for this task and sent to Yuan Shu was none other than...
The warrior who would later display the greatest bravery under Zhang Xiu, a monstrously powerful fighter capable of carrying five hundred jin and walking seven hundred li—Hu Che'er.