The Emperor and the General
Cao Pi led the imperial army south.
A single report reached him.
"Your Majesty. Sun Quan of Eastern Wu launched a surprise attack on Jiangling, but was defeated in a single engagement by Xu Shu and Jin Cheong. He has since withdrawn to Jiangdong."
"...Understood. Leave me."
Once the messenger had withdrawn, Cao Pi furrowed his brow.
That Sun Quan — crushed in a single fight at Hefei, and now crushed in a single fight at Jiangling too?
He had hoped Sun Quan would harass Shu's rear, but there was nothing to be done. He would have to content himself with the knowledge that the Shu–Wu alliance had at least been cracked.
Then another report arrived.
"Your Majesty. The enemy general Zhang Fei's army has appeared at the front."
This time his teeth ground together.
The one who killed Wenlie — Cao Xiu — was Zhang Fei. You bastard...!
Cao Pi was a man who despised those he hated to the extreme, yet cherished those he favored with equal intensity.
The enemy's numbers were not great, but Zhang Fei was renowned for his ferocity. Preparing for battle as things stood would have been fine enough — yet Cao Pi had another idea.
First, I'll break their momentum.
He resolved that he, the Emperor himself, would step forward — to raise his own army's spirits and crush the enemy's.
"Tell Zhang Fei I want to see him. I shall meet him in person and break that arrogant nose of his myself."
"Your Majesty, there is no need for Your Majesty to go in person. Simply give the order to your subordinates. We will fight with our lives."
Xu Chu tried to dissuade him, but Cao Pi would not yield.
"No. The Emperor has come this far — if I do not step forward and show them something myself, how will the soldiers follow?"
Xu Chu tried again, but there was no turning this young emperor's heart. In the end he could only say:
"Then this subordinate will guard Your Majesty's side."
"Do so."
At that moment, a powerfully built general standing nearby stepped forward.
"Your Majesty, please permit me to accompany you as well. I wish to protect Your Majesty at your side!"
He was younger than Xu Chu, whose hair had already begun to gray, yet looked a touch older than Cao Pi himself.
"Ah, General of Martial Might. Come along as well. With the two of you at my side, I shall feel secure."
"Leave it to me. This subordinate will guard Your Majesty with his life."
Xu Chu's face remained expressionless, as though he were stepping forward purely from duty. The man called General of Martial Might, by contrast, radiated fighting spirit — convinced that this was his chance to display loyalty to the Emperor.
After leaving Xinye, I headed straight north and soon met Wang Ping, who had been commanding my forces in my absence.
Wang Ping, along with Gou Fu, Liu Min, and the others, had all performed brilliantly against the Wei army while I was gone.
After exchanging greetings with my ever-reliable officers, I came face to face with Zhang Fei as well.
"General Zhang Fei! Jin Cheong, reporting back."
"Ah. So, General Jin. In the meantime you went all the way to Jiangling, did you? Hah! And here I thought you were off recuperating."
Zhang Fei greeted me in that characteristically booming voice of his.
"Yes. I heard some troublemakers were running wild, so I went and put them down."
"Right, I heard about it later myself. Wu stirring up trouble again, eh? Still, thanks to you going and cleaning it up, I was free to keep my eyes on the front."
"I'm glad I was of help."
"And how is your body now?"
"No need to worry. I'm fully recovered. By the way — I hear you cut down the enemy general Cao Xiu?"
"That I did. That thorn in the eye. Feels damn good to have him out of the way."
"A magnificent achievement. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry has always been a nuisance — things should be a bit easier now."
"Aye. But this time, that Cao Pi bastard has come out in person."
"Yes, I've heard. Seems Cao Pi has finally come to his senses. A little late, though."
In the early stages of the war, Cao Pi's response had been somewhat halfhearted — though that was partly because crises had erupted on every front at once.
In my estimation, Cao Pi had come this far less to fight in person than to raise his soldiers' morale.
"If we've dragged even Cao Pi out here, haven't we been a bit too successful as a decoy force?"
"Yes. We have no plans to advance further, so holding them by the ankle here will be enough. And if you ask me, this northern campaign will be called off soon."
"Ahh. Well, dragging a war on too long is no good either."
Liu Bei had already taken Yongzhou, and seizing Yangzhou was now only a matter of time.
Still, the occupied territories needed to be properly incorporated into our domain, and prolonging the war any further would be exhausting. The soldiers were weary, and the consumption of supplies was enormous. On top of that, renowned generals like Cao Ren and Zhang He had sortied with great armies — pushing any farther would not be easy.
"That aside, General Jin. I've a favor to ask."
"Anything. Speak freely."
"Nothing much. The fact is, Cao Pi has proposed a meeting in person. So when I go to see him, I'd like you to come with me."
"A meeting? Cao Pi himself proposed talks?"
At my words, Zhang Fei snorted.
"Talks in name only. In truth, he just wants a shouting match. He'll step out himself and try to break our momentum with his mouth."
"Ah. Of course. I'll go with you."
Ever since succeeding Cao Cao, Cao Pi had done nothing but lose to us, to the point of nearly having Yongzhou and Yangzhou stripped away. Given his temperament, there was no chance he would be the first to propose a humiliating peace.
His real aim was clearly to rally his own troops with words and break our morale.
That said, cutting people down with words was something of a specialty of Zhang Fei's. Before ever thrusting his spear, he would always bellow in that great voice of his, intimidating or goading his opponent into shrinking back.
And with a psychopath like Cao Pi on the other side, I was rather curious how he would handle Zhang Fei.
I would go along as Zhang Fei's attendant, watch from the side, and be ready for anything unsavory. Ordinary threats would barely register to Zhang Fei — but a battlefield was a place where you never knew what might happen.
"Then I'll bring Yu Eun as well."
"No reason not to. Do as you like."
And so, with Yu Eun in tow, I followed Zhang Fei to the meeting ground.
It was a meeting ground in name only — no special venue had been prepared. The two armies faced each other across an open plain, and the commanders simply rode out to exchange words.
Looking across, I could see the Wei army arrayed in formation.
Most conspicuous among them was a great banner of gold. A golden standard could be used only by the Emperor — so Cao Pi's presence was confirmed.
What kind of conversation would pass between Zhang Fei and Cao Pi? With that thought, the three of us rode forward.
Zhang Fei took the lead, with Yu Eun and me riding abreast behind him, forming a triangle.
From the Wei side, three riders came forward in the same fashion.
The man in the center was, of course, Cao Pi. The mountain of a general to his right was almost certainly Xu Chu.
Xu Chu was a middle-aged warrior whose hair had gone gray at the temples. His physique was impossibly massive, yet his expression seemed somehow melancholy. Perhaps he had not yet escaped the grief of Cao Cao's death.
To the left rode a general younger than Xu Chu. I did not yet know who he was, but he too was powerfully built, scanning the surroundings with a confident look.
He, too, seemed to have come along as Cao Pi's escort.
Once their party had fully emerged, Zhang Fei opened fire first.
"Hey! Where's that self-proclaimed emperor, that traitor bastard! Elder Zhang Fei is here — crawl out this instant and show some respect!"
Instead of Cao Pi, the unidentified general on the left rode forward and shouted back.
"How dare a mere general of a petty state address His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei in such a manner! You are the one who should show some manners!"
"I came to see that Cao Pi bastard — who the hell are you to stick your nose in? One of Cao Pi's lackeys?"
"I am Deng Zhan, General of Martial Might! If you commit any further insolence toward His Majesty, I will not forgive—"
"Deng Zhan? Some mongrel who rolled in from god knows where, strutting around calling himself a general? Are you Cao Pi's mouthpiece? Fine then — if you've stepped up to take a beating in place of your master, I'll grant you that much courage. But I don't give a rat's ass about the likes of you! I'm not interested in some lackey — I'm interested in Cao Pi. So if you're a mouthpiece, act like one: stick to his hindquarters and eat whatever horse shit falls out! Oh, right — I'll invent a new post just for you: General of Night Soil. You can haul dung under my command. If you don't like it, get that half-baked face of yours out of the way and bring out that precious head you all serve so devotedly!"
"Wh-what...!"
Deng Zhan had apparently meant to display his loyalty to his lord, but under Zhang Fei's machine-gun barrage of abuse he could only flush red and purple, unable to form a coherent reply.
"General of Martial Might, do not step forward rashly. Restrain yourself. This is a matter for me to handle."
"Yes. Forgive me, Your Majesty..."
At Cao Pi's words, Deng Zhan withdrew with a reddened face. The contrast with Xu Chu, who still wore no expression at all, was striking.
So that was Deng Zhan.
Not a particularly famous figure, but he had been close to Cao Pi and was said to have been skilled in military affairs. I especially remembered the record that praised him for being able to walk barehanded into a place where blades were flying.
Here he had taken the role of Cao Pi's bodyguard. He'd probably hoped to score some points in front of the Emperor — and hadn't even recovered his stake.
"Where is Cao Pi! Don't tell me the mere name of Zhang Fei of Yan made him piss himself!"
"Silence! I am the Emperor of Wei. You lowly cur — kneel at once!"
The lavishly dressed man in the center edged his horse forward a little and shouted.
Zhang Fei and Cao Pi. The war of words between the peerless warrior and the psychopath was about to begin.