Taming Lady Sun
“Your name was Jin Cheong, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, my lady. My name is Jin Cheong. My courtesy name is Seyoung. I hold the rank of Lieutenant.”
When I turned fifteen, Father had bestowed upon me the courtesy name Seyoung.
“Jin Seyoung. Shall I call you Lieutenant Jin, then?”
“Yes. You may use my courtesy name as well. Whatever is most comfortable for you, my lady.”
“And how old are you?”
“Fifteen this year.”
“Fifteen. A fine age. Four years younger than I am. Have you married, by any chance?”
“Not yet.”
“I see…”
The two of us talked while sampling the tea and sweets I had brought.
“You’ve got quite the nerve, don’t you? I’d heard you were as valiant as any man on the battlefield, but still. Even General Liu, who’s spent half his life at war, hesitates every time he sees this.”
Anyone without a heart of steel would hesitate—that was only natural. The difference between Liu Bei and me was that I already knew the contents of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Lady Sun had caused her share of chaos, but I had never seen any record of her actually killing anyone. Her maids might be armed, but they were still maids in the end.
And if she were going to assassinate someone, she would target a figure of real consequence—Liu Bei or Zhuge Liang—not someone of my modest rank.
And if they did come at me? Well. I wondered how many I could drop in bare-handed combat.
“So what’s your real reason for coming here? You’re here to keep an eye on me, aren’t you? Who sent you? Zhuge Liang? Zhao Yun? Those men all hide behind a young girl like you?”
“Nothing of the sort. I’ve come to see whether your ladyship has found any inconvenience in settling here. And if there is anything you wish to say, you may speak freely to me.”
“Oh-ho. Anything I wish to say. I may speak freely, then?”
“Of course. Whatever is on your mind.”
“Is that so.”
Something ominous glittered in Lady Sun’s eyes, and I swallowed hard. This does not feel good.
A short while later, as I absorbed her full offensive with every fiber of my being, I realized just how badly I had miscalculated.
“I’m telling you! I traveled all the way here from Wu—do you have any idea how far that is?—and this is the reception I get? This is how I’m treated? I’m a newly married bride, for heaven’s sake, and that so-called husband of mine—”
“My lady, perhaps a gentler choice of words…”
“—doesn’t show his face even once! Do I look like a joke to you? Huh? Do I look like a joke!?”
Her offensive was nothing more and nothing less than a torrent of self-pity. Her chatter put even Ma Su to shame.
Where Ma Su’s rambling was a blend of praise and self-congratulation, Sun Ren was the type who said whatever she pleased without the slightest regard for anyone else’s feelings.
I was beginning to understand why Liu Bei had been so wary of her. To think I would actually miss Ma Su’s chatter…
The conversation currently underway—if one could call her one-sided tirade a conversation—centered largely on badmouthing Liu Bei behind his back.
“My lady, please calm yourself. I understand your frustration, but Lady Gan has only recently passed away, and so…”
I could hardly join in insulting my own lord, which left me in no position to play along. I would have preferred she simply state some demand or condition.
Biting back the urge to say, Perhaps your husband stays away because of the way you behave, I did my best to soothe her.
“Huff… huff…!”
She exhaled in furious little snorts and drained the tea in front of her.
Whew. Is it over?
Just as I was about to breathe an inward sigh of relief, she swallowed with a gulp and unleashed another venomous volley.
“Ah, and that Zhao Yun—what’s with him being so difficult!? Every time I try to do something, he pops up with ‘My lady, you mustn’t do that here,’ ‘My lady, please calm yourself.’ I’m still his lord’s wife—can’t I even do as I please?”
“My lady, please calm—”
That’s because you keep causing public nuisances…
Having shifted her target to Zhao Yun, she poured out another rapid-fire stream of gossip.
“Mm. This tea. The fragrance is excellent. And the sweets are delicious.”
After yet another lengthy round of backbiting, she stuffed her cheeks full of the sweets I had brought and gulped down tea in great swallows. It was hardly the refined conduct one might expect of a woman of her standing—a princess, no less—but that hardly mattered now. I hastily agreed.
“Yes, isn’t it? I prepared only the finest. I’m glad it pleases your ladyship…”
But she set her teacup down on the table with a sharp clack and launched into speech once more.
“And that brother of mine—how could he even think of sending his own sister to a place like this? Does that make any sense? His sister leaves home and suffers like this, and all he does is drink himself senseless every day!”
She was capricious, too. Ugh. I never should have come here. Her voice stabbed at my ears like arrows.
“You’ve worked hard, Lieutenant Jin. But are you all right? You look rather pale.”
“No, I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
Having completed my Lady Sun assignment, I went to Zhuge Liang’s official residence to speak with him.
Despite my words, I was still pressing my fingers into my throbbing temples, so he asked again.
“Are you truly all right? If it was too much, you might have rested early today and come tomorrow instead.”
“I’m truly fine.”
I reassured him once more that I was all right.
“Very well. And how was Lady Sun?”
“Just as you anticipated, Military Advisor. She seems despondent from living so far from home.”
I had softened the report considerably. There was no need to relay things exactly as they had been, was there? Still, by the time we parted, she had vented so much of her anger that she seemed ever so slightly calmer than at the start. How she might change again was anyone’s guess.
“I see.”
Zhuge Liang fell into thought.
“Is there no good solution?”
I was not exactly eager to see her again, but leaving her as she was would only mean more trouble for Zhao Yun and the common people—that much was plain as day. If you draw a sword, you ought to cut something with it.
I could only hope Zhuge Liang would think of a good approach.
“Hmm. In that case, what if you kept her company and played with her?”
“Pardon? Play with her?”
“Exactly as it sounds—spend time together and amuse yourselves. She’s left her family and friends behind to come all this way; she may simply be lonely. Lady Sun has never opened her heart like that since arriving here. I suspect she confided in you because you are a woman as well.”
“Yes. She did seem rather lonely.”
“So if she found something enjoyable to do, it might ease things somewhat. The idea is to give her something diverting to focus on. And since it would be among women, there would be no risk of unsavory rumors.”
“Ah. I understand. You mean I should show her something interesting enough that she won’t cause any more trouble.”
“Mm. Though I’m not sure how women amuse themselves among themselves.”
I had scarcely any memory of playing the way ordinary women did in this world either. Nearly all my time had gone to learning martial arts or riding.
Ah—wait. A decent idea had just occurred to me.
“Then leave it to me. I’ll keep Lady Sun entertained.”
The word “play” might sound cheap in some contexts, but here it was being used with genuine seriousness.
I drew my bow and took aim at a bird wheeling through the sky.
Whish!
Thuk!
The moment I released the string, the arrow flew true as lightning and struck the bird cleanly.
Sun Ren, standing beside me, exclaimed in admiration.
“Truly remarkable! I always carry a bow myself, but next to your skill, mine is little more than a hobby.”
“You flatter me.”
“Not at all. If the gap were smaller, I might feel jealous. But when the difference is this great, even jealousy can’t take root.”
I laughed awkwardly and loosed a few more arrows; each time, the servants scrambled this way and that to collect the animals I had hit.
The amusement I had devised was nothing elaborate. Simply going hunting together and practicing martial arts.
It was a pastime made possible by the common ground we shared in the martial arts.
We sparred with her maids and handled swords and spears as well, but her greatest love was the bow, so we went hunting often.
“Would you teach me a little?”
“Of course. Here—hold your stance like this, and your arm like so…”
Twang!
“Ah! It went wide…!”
“Still, you’ve improved since earlier. Steady your breathing a little more…”
And so, several times a week, I met with Sun Ren to practice martial arts or go hunting. Later on, there were even days when I stayed at her residence for several nights at a stretch.
That I could spend time with Lady Sun this way was partly because she never treated me too harshly.
I learned this only later, but while she had taken a liking to my nerve, she also felt that bullying a girl younger than herself would be a bit much even by her own standards.
Of course, there were still occasions when I had to listen to her gossip, but compared to before, things had improved a great deal.
Her troublemaking had diminished so much that Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang both expressed their gratitude to me.
“Lieutenant Jin. Do you drink?”
“Ah—no. Forgive me. I don’t drink. I’m still young, besides.”
“Ah, never mind, then.”
It was one evening.
After a hunt, Sun Ren and I had returned to her quarters and were sharing the evening meal. She drank the wine her maids brought; I, who had little fondness for alcohol, drank tea instead.
“Lieutenant Jin? You know… I envy you, Lieutenant Jin.”
The wine had taken hold; her words came out slurred.
“Pardon? What do you mean?”
“You can do whatever you want. You go around like the men, and honestly, no one says a word about it. Look at me. My status may be high, but there’s nothing I can do as I please.”
“Haha. I envy your ladyship’s noble station far more. And there is less I can do freely than you might think.”
“Do you really think so?”
“I do.”
Sun Ren took another long drink, then spoke.
“Lieutenant Jin… you said you haven’t married yet, right?”
“Yes, not yet.”
Why was she asking this all of a sudden?
“I’ve been through it already, so I know. Lieutenant Jin—never, ever get married.”
“What? Why would you say such a thing so suddenly?”
“Just… don’t. Look at me. Look at me. They call me a princess and put me on a pedestal, but what am I doing right now? I can’t see my family. I can’t see my mother. I’m just… an object. An object. A tool for an alliance between two states—nothing more, nothing less.”
“…My lady, I believe you’ve had quite enough. You should go in and rest.”
“I’m just a tool… a tool…”
She dropped her head onto the table with a thud and kept muttering.
“Her ladyship seems quite intoxicated. Please help her inside.”
The maids supported her and led her to her room. As they helped her along, she mumbled something more.
“I won’t grow old like this. Not like this…”
The maids laid Lady Sun on her bed. I stayed by her side a moment longer, tucked the blanket carefully around her, and returned to my own quarters, carrying a bitterness different from any I had felt before.
The next day I met with Zhuge Liang and spoke with him about Lady Sun. He was greatly pleased with the results I had achieved.
“Lieutenant Jin. You’ve truly worked hard. Things have stabilized considerably thanks to you. Nothing out of the ordinary, I hope?”
“Not at all. I merely did what was expected of me.”
The words she had spoken in her drunken state the night before still troubled me somewhat. I was debating whether to tell Zhuge Liang when a civil official entered and reported to him.
“Military Advisor, everything is ready.”
“Understood. I’ll be there shortly.”
Zhuge Liang seemed to have some business to attend to. Come to think of it, people had been coming and going constantly, and the city had looked rather busy.
“Military Advisor. Is something afoot? As I came in, it seemed preparations of some kind were underway.”
“Ah. An important guest is expected, you see.”
“A guest?”
“You’ve been with Lady Sun for some time, so you wouldn’t have heard yet. A very important guest. Military Council Lieutenant Fa Zheng is coming from Yizhou, and we are preparing to receive him.”
Ah. Fa Zheng. And Yizhou. Those two words alone told me that something momentous was about to unfold.
The entry into Shu.