Floppy Ears

"P-please, stop this!!!"

In that vast banquet hall, there was only one person who pitied me. Bibi shot up from her seat, rushed forward, and planted herself between me and Sun Jian as he closed in.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Everyone is going too far! The Do Yeop here is not someone who deserves this kind of treatment!"

"Not someone? Did you not hear what that Xu Shao fellow just said?"

Sun Jian spoke as if birds of a feather flocked together, his tone dripping with contempt. I was tearfully grateful that Bibi was shielding me, yet the more she did, the more pathetic I seemed to become.

An ordinary shop clerk had just had his worthlessness certified. Another shop clerk leaping to his defense only looked like ants grooming each other's antennae.

"That is not so! The Do Yeop here is a man who strives to know every renowned figure under heaven. He judges the state of the realm faster than anyone, and reaches the truth by chasing mere rumors alone. He is an excellent man!"

"People of the Central Plains must have nothing better to do. Discussing the affairs of the world with a shop clerk like that?"

Even Bibi's blood-and-tears defense bounced off them completely. Still steeped in shame, I turned my head and whispered to her.

Bibi... please, just stop...

"I cannot! Why must Do Yeop suffer like this? He is the only one who ever treated me kindly when everyone else looked down on me. Hup... more precisely, the 'only two.' Lord Yuan treated me the same way, after all..."

She was looking out for Yuan Shao even in the middle of this? And those words of hers slammed straight into Cao Cao's irrepressible brat button.

"Who is this young lady? Now that I look, her figure is rather fine."

He had discovered the electric beauty in Bibi that I alone had thought I noticed. He sprang to his feet and raked her body with eyes so blatant they crossed into vulgarity.

"W-why are you looking at me with those eyes..."

"Why? You may hide your face behind a cloth, but you can't fool Cao Mengde's instincts. I am certain something incredible is hidden under there."

Cao Cao flicked his tongue obscenely and swallowed a mouthful of drool. Even Cao Cao could miss the mark sometimes, though.

All that waited under the cloth was a face pitted with festering smallpox scars, dripping pus.

"Ah... please stop..."

"Are you embarrassed? Or do you already have a man waiting? You know that only gets me more excited, right?"

True to his reputation as a married-woman killer, he looked desperately hopeful that a man was already attached to Bibi. She retreated step by trembling step, at a complete loss.

Haa... why does it always turn out like this? One person already got humiliated—why does Bibi have to get harassed on top of it?

"L-Lord Cao? I beg you, can you not simply leave that person alone?"

I had no choice. I forced my shaking legs forward and stepped in front of Cao Cao. The moment I stretched out an arm to shield Bibi, fresh life sparked in his eyes.

"Come to think of it, you two arrived together. Is this fellow your husband, by any chance? I really must have a cup of tea with you today."

"N-no. That is not the case. Lady Bibi and I are merely colleagues who work together..."

"If you are nothing more than fellow shop clerks, why are you so desperate to protect each other?"

To Cao Cao, all of this was pure entertainment. Two shop clerks utterly unsuited to a banquet hall had appeared; one of them had boldly applied for office only to receive the Month Evaluation of Chi-byung-nan-byung and collapse. Watching those pathetic creatures scramble to defend each other—how could it not be hilarious? Then Sun Jian turned to Yuan Shu.

"Throw both of them out?"

"Do it."

"No! We will leave on our own feet. I beg you, please do not lay a single finger on Lady Bibi..."

"So it is not this fellow, but Benchu? Benchu, you speak. If she is your concubine, it would be a little awkward to touch her."

Failing to get the answer he wanted, Cao Cao now latched onto Yuan Shao. Well, Bibi had made a show of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fretting over Yuan Shao.

"Stop the nonsense and leave her be. Can you not see she is uncomfortable?"

Of course Yuan Shao would never admit to anything. And truly, there was nothing between them.

But what Cao Cao needed was not truth—it was pretext. He seized on that remark and launched another barrage of questions.

"Saying it like that only makes it more suspicious. She is neither your concubine nor your woman, so why the overprotection? Am I really the only one who finds this strange?"

Cao Cao immediately began working the room. Then Sun Jian offered an unexpected suggestion.

"Why not just pull off the face cloth? We can check for ourselves whether she is a woman worth Yuan Benchu's coveting, can we not?"

Why is everyone so desperate to devour us? Yuan Shu slapped his knee and piled on.

"Not a bad idea. Hey, Mengde, pull that cloth off. I thought it was suspicious how hard Yuan Shao was covering for her—why did I not think of that sooner?"

"Everyone seems to agree. What will you do, Benchu?"

Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, and Sun Jian had become a single pack, using Bibi as a weapon to mock Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao finally lost all reason and exploded.

"Enough, Gonglu! She is a young lady who hides her face because of a great scar. How can you humiliate a powerless woman like this?"

"We will not know until we take it off. What are you waiting for, Mengde? Pull it off already."

"Mengde, I am warning you in earnest—you had best stop. Sun Jian! That goes for you as well."

"Ah... Lord Yuan, for my sake..."

"..."

Meanwhile Bibi, watching Yuan Shao fight desperately to protect her face cloth, let out a sigh of pure adoration. Behind that cloth her eyes were surely heart-shaped and sparkling.

Fine. I get that Yuan Shao is doing his utmost to protect Bibi while facing Yuan Shu, Cao Cao, and even Sun Jian all at once.

But you never reacted like this when I defied Cao Cao himself to protect her.

A sudden surge of bile rose in me, yet Yuan Shao was useful here. Bibi had come for her own purpose; if the bandaged face beneath were revealed, everyone would drive her out.

There was one thing I had forgotten, however. Cao Cao might be Yuan Shao's friend, but in truth he thoroughly despised him.

"Miaocai. Take it off."

Cao Cao spoke. Miaocai?

Surely not the Miaocai I know? But Cao Cao, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought you came alone...

THUD!

In that instant a small, compact shadow dropped from the ceiling like lightning. Astonishingly, Cao Cao had not been the only one hidden up there.

Snap!

The movement was so swift that not a single person could react. Miaocai—Xiahou Yuan beyond any doubt—a woman in a mask, stripped away in a single motion the face cloth Bibi had been guarding with her life.

"Ah..."

Disaster! Now the filthy, bandage-swathed face will be exposed.

People will panic at the thought of plague, and Bibi will be driven out like a dog without achieving a thing...

"..."

Yet in that moment, time and space both froze. Silence fell over the assembly that had been heaping every sneer and curse upon me, as if cold water had been dumped on them. Even the silver-tongued Cao Cao shut his mouth.

It was not fear of some repulsive plague. Because Bibi had not been wearing bandages under the cloth at all.

At last even I beheld her true face for the first time. The problem was that it diverged from my imagination by a vast distance—in the completely opposite direction.

There was no disgusting scar. Far from pockmarks, not a single pore marred the pure white skin that lit the hall brighter than the lanterns.

The glass-like eyes I had always thought beautiful were only the beginning. Neat brows, a high bridge of nose, and lips that glowed red as ripe fruit.

Cold at a glance, wistful at another. Elegant and pure, yet carrying an unmistakable air of refinement—the beauty of innocence itself.

Chosun was without question Luoyang's foremost beauty. But I would stake anything that, before this person, one ought to reserve the words "finest under heaven."

Sniff... sniff...

Large, clear tears soon spilled from Bibi's eyes like chicken droppings. They were so wistful they made the onlooker's chest ache and summoned tears unbidden.

In that moment the fact that Bibi had been deceiving me all this time simply did not register. Cao Cao, Yuan Shu, even the bold Sun Jian stared at her, lost.

Ah... this is no time for that. Whatever else, Bibi has just been thoroughly humiliated.

I have to get the face cloth back somehow and cover her face...

Whoosh!

Someone was a step faster than I. Yuan Shao rushed forward like a prince just dismounted from a white horse, shrugged off his own robe, and draped it over her face.

"You insolent dogs... and you still call yourselves scholar-officials!?"

His ringing voice shook the entire hall. Typical of the cheap bastard—hogging all the cool moments for himself...

"You said there was a scar on her face? Far from a scar, she is a peerless beauty under heaven!"

Cao Cao demanded an explanation from Yuan Shao, as if this made no sense. But Yuan Shao himself had never anticipated such a situation and could only flounder.

"Ha! So I was right after all? A man who even married a daughter of the imperial clan, and behind the scenes he has been playing around with a lowly shop girl?"

Yuan Shu seized the opening and pressed the attack. Realizing he no longer needed to step forward, Sun Jian crossed his arms, grinned, and withdrew.

"Lord Yuan. Even I feel an explanation is required."

Even Wang Yun abandoned any attempt to shield Yuan Shao. If, as Yuan Shu said, Yuan Shao was already a married man, then a scandal of the highest order had just shattered the perfect image he had built.

"That is not so. This young lady told me she had to hide her face because of a plague, and I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠simply believed her."

"Even so, have you not shown kindness far beyond the proper degree? How does a mere shop girl come to wear such winged robes? And her entry into this banquet hall was thanks to you as well, was it not? Moreover, even now you stand at the forefront protecting her more than anyone."

"It is not so! Lord Yuan merely pitied me and showed compassion. There was never any romantic feeling between man and woman!"

Unable to simply listen, Bibi poked her face out from between the folds of the robe. The tear-streaked eyes reappeared, and the gallery stirred again, lost in admiration of her beauty.

"I-it is true! Haa... I will tell the truth. In fact, Bibi over there and I have promised our futures to each other. Naturally there can be no relationship whatsoever with the Colonel-Director of Retainers."

In the end I have no choice but to sacrifice myself again. I lied that Bibi and I were deeply involved.

Given how we have stuck together every day until now, it should be believable enough...

"Does that make any sense? What would a young lady like that lack that she would keep company with an incompetent like you? What do you take this Cao Mengde for, pulling a scam like that?"

H.o.w.e.v.e.r. Cao Cao believed not a single word. And because Xu Zijiang had just thoroughly exposed my abilities, the lack of plausibility was perfect.

There was nothing left to try. Yuan Shao could not prove his innocence, and both Bibi's words and mine were instantly refuted.

If the situation ends like this, what happens? Yuan Shao will take a massive hit to his image.

If he then loses his position in the political world, the history we know might never even occur.

"That is enough."

Fortunately, it seemed the developers had installed plot armor to control the variables. A deep, weighty voice from the raised platform cut the situation short.

It was Lu Zhi. Yuan Shu immediately flared up and demanded,

"What do you mean, enough? We are on the verge of exposing Yuan Benchu's frivolous conduct—why does General Lu take only his side?"

"I am not taking that fellow's side."

"Gonglu is right. Unless you give a proper reason, this Cao Cao will not be convinced either."

The three rising stars called the future of the court. Dreaming that toppling the sole frontrunner Yuan Shao would make them number one, they demanded an explanation from Lu Zhi to the very end.

Huu...

Lu Zhi let out a long sigh. Then he slowly opened his mouth and delivered an answer no one had expected.

"My disciple."

"...What?"

"Did you all not hear? When I withdrew from court to raise ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the next generation of scholars, I looked after a disciple from my hometown. That is why she is here."

"..."

Every gaze swung toward Bibi. And I, too, realized an enormous truth.

Lu Zhi was certainly an excellent general, but he was also a scholar of the age who had raised countless disciples. The problem was that his hometown was Zhuo County in You Province, and among the disciples from that place, I knew only one.

Slip...

Bibi's arms went slack of their own accord and the robe slipped free. Once more the exquisite features that had stolen every eye in the hall were revealed to the world.

Everyone was absorbed in appreciating her beauty, but my own eyes fixed on the one part no one had paid attention to until now—her ears.

Ears that flared out to either side like a monkey's—flappy ears. Those ears, the sole flaw in an otherwise perfect beauty, called to mind someone I knew very well.

This one... she is not Bibi. She is Yu Bi.