The Filial Son, Honey Water, and the Straw Mat
Xiahou Dun arrived at Nusang Village in the late afternoon, a little past lunchtime. The suppression army’s feast, however, had begun that morning. Anyone would think that by the time they rushed over, they’d arrive too late for any decent food. Yet strangely, the departing soldiers walked with leisurely steps.
Both Xiahou Dun and the Nusang Village volunteer army ambled along without hurry. What was going on? Were they simply accepting that they’d be late? Of course not. If that were the case, they wouldn’t have set out at all. There was a perfectly reasonable explanation for their relaxed pace: in this era, a “feast” was never over in a single day.
Ordinarily, a banquet lasted three days. If it was a big one, it could stretch to a week, or even ten days of eating and drinking. That was common sense. So if they arrived late in the evening, would the feast really be over? Only if the host wanted to be cursed by the entire countryside.
Was it because rice and meat were so abundant in this age that feasts could go on that long? Or perhaps even the poor ate rice and meat stew every night? No. Quite the opposite. This was an era where, except for a handful of the truly wealthy, nearly everyone was dirt-poor.
Roughly eighteen hundred years later, even modest families would invite relatives and friends to celebrate happy occasions. But in this ancient society, such generosity was impossible. A feast here was a luxury only golden spoons could afford. In other words, only the famous rich families of Luoyang and Chang’an, or powerful local clans, could pull it off.
If those influential households simply clapped a few times, ate among themselves, and called it a day, what would the neighbors say? Rumors would spread that the family only pretended to be rich while actually being penniless. Therefore, in this era, throwing a “feast” meant at minimum providing free meals for three full days.
Of course, the late Han Dynasty was also an age that understood flexibility. Military banquets tended to be a bit more lenient with the rules. But this time was different. The commanders here were no ordinary people. They were Yuan Shu, the youngest daughter of the prestigious Yuan clan that had produced three generations of the Three Excellencies, and Cao Cao, granddaughter of Cao Teng.
Even in an army where standards were relaxed, the sheer prestige of these two families meant expectations were sky-high. The conclusion was simple: missing lunch was nothing to worry about.
And so the Liu Bei Army arrived at a leisurely pace. The time they reached the suppression army’s camp was that ambiguous hour—too early to call it night, too late to call it evening.
When more than five hundred guests poured into the camp, the place instantly grew busy. From among the bustling crowd, a giant bald head emerged to greet the Liu Bei trio.
“Chief Commander Ji Ling! We have been waiting for you!! Which of you is the woman named Liu Bei, commander of the volunteer army?!”
“Yes, that would be me. I am Liu Bei, commander of this small force.”
“I am Ji Ling, here to welcome you on behalf of the two Commandants who lead this unit. Come! You must be tired from the long march, so rest over there for a while before joining the banquet.”
“Ehh! I’m already starving and want to tear into some meat right away! Forget resting, can’t you just give us food first?!”
“Yikdeok, when he says rest, he means wash off your sweat before attending the banquet.”
“O-oh, that’s what he meant… Tch! Then just say ‘wash up’! Why go in circles and confuse people?!”
“You idiot! Do you think this is Nusang Village?! These people came all the way from Luoyang to save the citizens of You Province. Don’t act rashly—show some courtesy!”
“Tsk… Fine.”
Why was Ji Ling the one greeting the guests? Because Cao Cao was busy coaxing Fang Ye into drinking, and Yuan Shu was still sulking in her tent after his earlier reply. Naturally, the duty of welcoming visitors fell to the next highest in rank—Ji Ling.
After guiding the Liu Bei group, Ji Ling turned and left. Looking around, the suppression army soldiers had clearly loosened up for the night, fully enjoying the feast. Thus, the night in Zhuo County of You Province grew deeper, yet people continued to move busily according to their own circumstances.
The Liu Bei volunteer army, who had arrived at the suppression camp and were now washing up.
Yuan Shu, still sulking and holed up in her tent.
Ji Ling, who had entered Yuan Shu’s tent to endure her tantrum.
Fang Ye, drunk and barely holding onto his sanity.
Cao Cao, who had stepped out briefly after feeding Fang Ye liquor.
And Xiahou Dun, who was reporting the information she had gathered from Nusang Village to Cao Cao.
“So? Was it any help?”
Xiahou Dun asked after finishing her report. Honestly, while she had dug up all sorts of things, she had no idea how any of it would be useful. Still, since Cao Cao had asked, what could she do? The girl was smart—she’d figure something out.
“…Quite interesting. This is going to be far more entertaining than I expected! Wonyang, doesn’t it make you more curious the more you hear?!”
“Hmm… As usual, I don’t understand a single thing. I only asked what you told me to ask. I still have no clue why I was asking any of it…”
Xiahou Dun clicked her tongue and stared at Cao Cao. It was a silent pressure that said, I did all the legwork, so hurry up and explain what you figured out.
“You said we originally planned to follow Zhang Fei’s strategy, but switched to Fang Ye’s plan, right?”
“Yeah. He begged us, saying he wanted to personally crush the bastard who killed his parents.”
“Well… If it were me, I would have stuck with Zhang Fei’s plan… Fang Ye’s strategy has too many variables. If even one thing went wrong, wouldn’t he have failed to get his revenge and lost his own head instead?”
“That’s true, but… maybe he really wanted to kill the man with his own hands? Having personally cut down someone who insulted my teacher, I can understand that feeling.”
Well, I suppose that makes sense… Cao Cao nodded at Xiahou Dun’s words, but something still didn’t sit right with her.
“Anyway, the things he gained by ‘deliberately’ pulling off that reckless plan were Zheng Yuanji’s head and his family’s wealth. Then, at dawn today, he ‘deliberately’ joined the battle again, ‘deliberately’ took the risk, and cut down the enemy commander. Wonyang? What do you make of that?”
“Uh… Maybe he’s become the kind of guy who loses his mind with revenge the moment he sees a Yellow Turban?”
“Hahahaha!!! That’s one way to look at it! But if that were true, wouldn’t he have refused the banquet and gone hunting for the remaining Yellow Turbans? There are still Yellow Turbans left in You Province, so he wouldn’t have time to sit here drinking.”
“…Ugh, I give up! Aman, what do you think? You must have some guess, or you wouldn’t be acting like this, right?”
Xiahou Dun gave up thinking and scratched the back of her head vigorously. Watching her, Cao Cao kept her usual squinty smile for a moment before sinking into thought. Then she raised two fingers and spoke.
“There are two possibilities! But before that, you need to know we have three clues.”
“What are they?”
“First, even after successfully getting his revenge, Fang Ye keeps repeating reckless actions! Second, the people of Nusang Village call Liu Bei a saint, yet she tried to freely donate Fang Ye’s family wealth to the poor of Zhuo County! And third, during this battle, Fang Ye was not allowed to command the mid-cavalry from his own hometown of Dontou Village. Instead, Liu Bei forced him to stay in the rear.”
“…Now that you mention it, every single one of those is weird. Alright, just tell me the two guesses already. What are they?”
“First hypothesis. Fang Ye tried to use his family wealth and reputation to pull Liu Bei down from her position as commander! So Liu Bei distributed the spoils and sent him to the rear! …Honestly, this possibility is quite low.”
“Obviously. From what I saw in Nusang Village, Liu Bei’s position there can’t be overturned with mere money. Besides, there’s no reason for her to do that. With that much wealth, she could easily buy a county magistrate post. Why would she waste it trying to swallow a tiny volunteer army?”
“Therefore, the correct answer is the second one. Fang Ye is trying to break away from Liu Bei and use his family fortune as a bribe to buy himself an official position! Liu Bei donated the spoils to leave him penniless, stationed him in the rear so he couldn’t earn merit, but it failed! Now Liu Bei can no longer restrain the famous Fang Ye, and he plans to leave with the spoils!”
“No, Aman! That’s even stranger! Didn’t I tell you? That woman Liu Bei was a disciple of General Zhonglang Lu Zhi. If she helps Lu Zhi in Jizhou, it’s obvious she’ll receive a strong recommendation and land a high post. Why would he abandon someone like that and spend his own money to buy a position? It doesn’t make sense.”
Xiahou Dun dismissed Cao Cao’s guess with disbelief. Her objection was reasonable. Lu Zhi was indeed an upright man. But if his own disciple achieved great merit in You Province and even came to Jizhou to help him, would he really not take care of her? That would go beyond integrity and become ingratitude. On the contrary, because he was upright, he would even diminish his own achievements to help Liu Bei. In short, Liu Bei was guaranteed to receive a major position.
So why abandon her and buy an office with his own money? It was nonsense.
…Unless Lu Zhi somehow got dismissed from his Zhonglang General post.
“…Perhaps.”
“Huh?”
“Perhaps Fang Ye believes Liu Bei is a rotten pillar.”
“Liu Bei? If something happens to General Lu, maybe… But from what I saw, that old man doesn’t seem like the type.”
“It’s true that General Lu Zhi has the Yellow Turbans well contained… But still, Wonyang, we can’t know for sure, can we? He is so upright that besides fighting the Yellow Turbans in front, he also fights the Ten Eunuchs in the rear.”
Even Xiahou Dun could understand once it reached that point. The notoriety of the Ten Eunuchs was so widespread that everyone in the Han Empire knew it. Everyone also knew that Lu Zhi, who criticized them at every turn and refused their bribes, was their bitter enemy.
“Still, would they suddenly dismiss an old man who’s fighting well on the front lines?”
“Who knows… Thinking about it now, it’s entirely possible. Those creatures aren’t stupid enough to fail to realize that the more merit General Lu earns, the more their own necks are at risk. If Fang Ye is thinking that far and trying to break away from Liu Bei, then…”
Wow, that’s impressive! Cao Cao had been about to say that Fang Ye was far more talented than she had thought, but she suddenly fell silent.
At their first meeting, the moment Fang Ye heard her name, hadn’t he recoiled in horror and shaken off her hand?
If—if, though the chance was low—if Lu Zhi really did get dismissed from his post, just as Fang Ye predicted… then Fang Ye’s eye for people was almost divine.
And she, who had been rejected so violently by such a person… just what kind of person was she?
“You will be a treacherous subject in times of peace, and a treacherous hero in times of chaos!”
The words the terrified Xu Shao had once spat out flashed through her mind.
…No. She would not become that.
If Lu Zhi truly was dismissed… and if she had no choice but to acknowledge Fang Ye’s insight… then no matter what it took, she would prove it to him.
That she was not some treacherous hero.
She would show him clearly, right before his eyes.
Between her narrowed eyelids, Cao Cao’s red pupils flashed once.
When that time came, even if he did not want her… she would make him see her.