Enemy Phase - The Grand General Enters the Palace
On the morning of the day He Jin had decided to enter the imperial palace at Empress Dowager He’s summons, Yuan Shao paid an early visit to the residence of Minister Lu Zhi. He had come to discuss He Jin’s entry into the palace that day.
“A sudden summons from the Empress Dowager is strange. Perhaps they mean to lower their tails.”
“You mean after banishing every last one of the Ten Attendants from the palace, they want their fortunes preserved? I’d love nothing more than to strip them of every last coin, but if Her Majesty bows her head that far, even the Grand General will find it hard to refuse.”
Yuan Shao had already delivered a joint petition conveying the consensus of the retainers. He Jin had issued an ultimatum to the Empress Dowager’s side, and today’s summons was the reply.
“Nothing for it, I suppose. Once the court’s discipline is a little firmer, it won’t be too late to finish them off then.”
Yuan Shao himself wanted every one of the Ten Attendants executed as an example. But so long as the Empress Dowager and He Jin remained brother and sister, defying that will would be difficult; better to plan for later.
“That aside… it seems your disciple is nowhere to be seen today?”
Yuan Shao casually inquired after Yu Bi. That was the true reason he had come—something he could not reveal to Lu Zhi.
“She went out to the marketplace. After receiving the pardon she was so overjoyed she must have gone looking for pretty clothes.”
“Pretty clothes? Yu Bi takes an interest in such things?”
“I don’t know how Lord Yuan sees her, but from the start she was the sort of child who never did her studies and preferred pretty clothes and cute animals. The family seemed to place rather high hopes on her, yet she turned out a girl through and through.”
“Well… that’s rather charming in its own way. It suits her quite well, doesn’t it?”
Yuan Shao found himself smiling as he recalled Yu Bi’s eyes going round while she chose ceremonial robes. Come to think of it, even when she had appeared at the poetry gathering that day she had worn a rather splendid set of feathered robes.
Ordinarily one would stop at something merely formal. Yet Yu Bi, without even intending it, naturally selected clothing of beautiful cut.
“…”
Lu Zhi regarded Yuan Shao with eyes full of suspicion. Pretend all he liked, this fellow was clearly quite taken with Yu Bi.
“Lord Yuan. I say this out of concern for you. I understand a grown man having his head turned by a woman. For someone of your standing, taking a concubine would hardly be strange. But Bi is not the sort of girl one can simply make a concubine.”
“What are you saying? I swear upon heaven I have never harbored any private feelings toward Lady Yu Bi.”
Yuan Shao waved both hands in frantic denial. Yet for someone who had been watching for any chance to bring her up ever since he arrived, the denial rang rather hollow.
“Is that truly what worries me? Is your wife an ordinary woman? If you take a lover without permission, disaster will surely befall my disciple.”
“I am well aware. Please do not concern yourself. I shall keep it firmly in mind.”
As Lu Zhi said, for a man of Yuan Shao’s stature keeping a concubine was no great difficulty. Yet as an illegitimate son, Yuan Shao found it hard to receive the full support of his powerful clan.
That was why he had chosen his present wife. Though she was of a collateral line, through her family he had received both the prestige of the imperial clan and political funds, and thus risen to his current position.
Above all, Lady Yu’s jealousy defied imagination. Records would later show that after Yuan Shao’s death she had cruelly murdered every last one of his beloved concubines; her obsession with him was extreme.
That was precisely what Lu Zhi feared. Should such a relationship form, Yu Bi stood to lose far more than Yuan Shao ever would.
“Ahh… how can this robe be cut so perfectly?”
Meanwhile, just as Lu Zhi had predicted, Yu Bi was thoroughly absorbed in browsing clothes and ornaments in the marketplace. The merchant was spitting as he explained how magnificent the artisan who made this robe truly was.
The neighborhood children could not tear their eyes from her transcendent beauty and trailed after her, whispering. Completely oblivious, Yu Bi listened with pure innocence to the talk of clothing.
“You are truly beautiful. Might you be a princess from somewhere?”
Just then a woman approached Yu Bi and spoke to her warmly. She too possessed considerable beauty, especially the mole beneath her eye that lent her a particular charm.
“Ahh… a princess? That is far too grand. I am merely an ordinary person.”
Yu Bi grew suddenly bashful at the word “princess” and covered both cheeks with her hands. Had she been of the direct imperial line she might indeed have been a princess with some king for a father.
Yet she was at best a distant collateral of the Former Han; she had only a mother who sold mats. Her grandfather and father had held minor posts, but compared to other members of the imperial clan she was little better than a beggar.
“I could believe you were the foremost beauty of Luoyang. Come to think of it, have you heard of Yuan Benchu, said to be the most handsome man in Luoyang? Don’t you think the two of you would make a fine pair?”
“W-what? Lord Yuan? That is utterly unthinkable! How could I ever be paired with so noble a gentleman…”
The woman suddenly brought up Yuan Shao and teased her. Yu Bi’s ears turned scarlet as she waved her hands in denial.
Then, all at once, the woman’s eyes changed. She cast off the mask of warmth she had worn until now and spoke in a voice cold and piercing, revealing her true nature.
“Of course not. How could a vulgar creature like you dare become his match?”
“Wh… what? W-what did you just say?”
But that was the end of it. Without another word the woman turned on her heel and went her way.
The merchants who had been watching, and even the children who had already become Yu Bi’s little followers and trailed after her, stood dumbfounded and could say nothing.
“…”
Yu Bi’s face fell at once. She had long since learned from Lu Zhi that Yuan Shao already had a wife and even adorable children.
Even so she had always been grateful for the kindness he had shown her when she was nothing more than a plague-stricken peddler of mats. Yet who was that woman to arbitrarily link the two of them and then spit venom?
So preoccupied was she that she never noticed the pursuers who had begun to trail her from behind. Yu Bi soon selected an ornament, paid for it, and turned to head back to Lu Zhi’s house.
Now!
There were two pursuers. They exchanged signals with their eyes alone and drew the daggers hidden against their chests.
Yu Bi had not even registered their existence. The matter looked as though it would resolve far more easily than expected.
The assassins rushed toward Yu Bi’s back as one. The distance between them was only a few paces. Whoever first sank a blade into that deer-like nape would claim the greatest reward.
Yet neither of them managed to reach her. Just before they could, a girl leapt down from the wall and barred their path.
“Waaah! What are you doing right now?!”
She was a tall girl, well over seven chi. Her straight hair with bangs whipped about as she brandished a spear longer than she was tall.
“Hup… what on earth is…”
Only then did Yu Bi sense the assassins’ presence and spin around. But that was the last moment she ever saw living assassins.
In a single sweep the girl drove her spear through one man’s belly. He collapsed without even managing to swing his dagger.
The remaining one realized the plan had failed and spun to flee.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But the rear was already blocked as well. Standing there was a cold beauty of nearly the same height as the first girl, her lustrous hair gleaming.
“Y-you… who the hell are you people?”
Without so much as a reply the woman swung her blade. The assassin’s head soared into the air and then fell to the ground with a dull thud.
“Yunchang? Yide? How did the two of you get here?”
Yu Bi herself showed no particular surprise at the assassins’ existence. She was simply so astonished that two people who should never have been able to come here had arrived that her eyes nearly popped from her head.
“Waaah! Big sister, what in the world were you doing here?!”
The tall girl was Zhang Fei. Confirming it was her sworn sister after months apart, she clung to her and wept like a child.
And the cold beauty who had severed the assassin’s head—Guan Yu—also stepped forward.
“Someone was chasing you with a knife and you weren’t even looking where you were going?”
Glad as she was, she still had to deliver a sharp rebuke for that habit of walking around without a brain. Yet Yu Bi simply let tears stream down her face at the unexpected reunion with her sisters.
“Lady Yu Bi has returned.”
Just as Yuan Shao, unable to wait any longer, was rising from his seat, a servant rushed in with the glad news. He glanced at Lu Zhi and sat back down.
“Master! Look at this! My younger sisters have come to find me!”
Completely failing to notice Yuan Shao’s presence, Yu Bi beamed as she announced that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had arrived. The two of them immediately bent at the waist in proper greeting the moment they saw Lu Zhi.
“How are you here already? It has hardly been any time since I sent the letter.”
“Ahh… the truth is, because I had not contacted them for so long they came looking for me themselves and we happened to meet in the market. Hup… but Lord Yuan was here as well?”
Only then did Yu Bi spot Yuan Shao and start in fright. Yuan Shao rose with an awkward scratch of his nose bridge, and Zhang Fei pointed a finger at him.
“Waaah! What a super handsome man!”
“Yide, you don’t point fingers at people.”
Guan Yu smacked her ill-mannered younger sister’s arm. Even so she stole a glance at Yuan Shao’s superior looks.
“So these are your younger sisters. I am Yuan Shao, courtesy name Benchu, currently serving as Colonel Director of the Retainers.”
Yuan Shao promptly introduced himself. This time both Guan Yu and Zhang Fei offered formal greetings. Yu Bi flushed again at having shown Yuan Shao before her sisters.
“Ahh… I never imagined you would be here. And all the while I was out at the market without knowing…”
“I heard from the Minister that you are fond of clothing and animals. Did you manage to buy anything decent?”
“Well… the truth is, with the silver taels Lord Yuan gave me last time I bought this.”
Yu Bi primly produced the newly purchased ornament. Yuan Shao’s lips curled upward at the news that the silver had finally fulfilled its purpose.
“It suits you extremely well, Lady Yu Bi. Well then, I must be going. Ah, by the way—will Lady Yu Bi also be coming when we go to receive the Grand General?”
Yuan Shao asked Lu Zhi whether he intended to bring Yu Bi along. His ulterior motive was so obvious that Lu Zhi stroked his beard with a bitter expression.
“It would make for good experience; no harm in bringing her. I was planning to ask the Grand General for a new official post for this child anyway.”
“Hup… a-a new post?”
Yu Bi could not help being startled. Obtaining the pardon had already fulfilled Lu Zhi’s duty as her master. And now he meant to secure her an official post as well?
“I don’t know how it will turn out either, so don’t get your hopes too high. Well then, I’ll see you later, Lord Yuan.”
With that Yuan Shao left the house first. Lu Zhi exchanged a few words with Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, then withdrew so the sisters could have time together.
“Who was that man just now?”
The moment Lu Zhi left, Guan Yu launched into interrogation mode with eyes full of suspicion. Yu Bi, for her part, failed to grasp the meaning of Guan Yu’s words.
“He introduced himself just now, didn’t he? He’s Lord Yuan Shao, who holds the post of Colonel Director of the Retainers.”
“I heard that much. I’m asking what sort of relationship he has with you, big sister.”
“Hup… w-what are you saying, Yunchang? Lord Yuan and I are nothing like what you’re thinking! He is the legitimate heir of the illustrious Yuan clan that has produced Three Excellencies for four generations, and he already has a wife and children…”
“Waaah?! How do you know what we’re thinking and start saying things like that?”
Yu Bi, who had only been given a hint yet managed to create controversy all by herself. The moment Guan Yu heard the explanation about Yuan Shao, her brow furrowed.
“Just what are you planning to do? You come all the way to Luoyang and all you’ve done is try to become some man’s concubine and live out your life as a woman? What happened to the oath we swore in the peach garden?”
“Aigoo… it’s nothing like that. Lord Yuan merely pitied me; he harbors no private feelings whatsoever…”
“Wooong? Then does that mean big sister is the one harboring private feelings?”
“I said no!”
Yu Bi flustered about insisting it was absolutely not the case. Yet the truth was that Yunchang already knew.
Because of the two of them, the one openly displaying interest was not Yu Bi but Yuan Shao.
That afternoon the three Yu Bi sisters followed Lu Zhi to the palace to see He Jin off.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had lived their entire lives north of the Yellow River, and even Xuande, who had spent quite some time in Luoyang, were entering the inner city for the first time.
“You’ve arrived.”
As expected, Yuan Shao, who had arrived earlier, greeted Lu Zhi and Yu Bi’s party. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei watched with hawk-like eyes to see where the two people’s gazes went.
“Where is the Grand General?”
“It has been a full shichen since he went in. He ought to be coming out soon.”
“I don’t see your younger brother or Cao Cao. Where have those two gone?”
“Gonglu said he was preparing for any eventuality and went to gather his followers. As for Mengde, even I have no idea.”
“…?”
The two had made completely opposite choices. Yuan Shu had prepared for armed action far too hastily, while Cao Cao had not even shown his face.
That was precisely why neither of them could ever catch up to Yuan Shao.
“His Highness the Prince of Chenliu approaches~”
Just then the procession escorting Yu Hyeop passed through the eastern gate and entered the imperial palace. Lu Zhi and the other court officials all bowed their heads in salute.
Waaah! So that’s the Son of Heaven’s younger brother?
Only Zhang Fei, who knew nothing of etiquette, kept her head held high as she stared. Guan Yu pressed that head down.
What are you doing? Don’t make a spectacle of yourself—bow your head this instant.
Wooong… but I want to see what he looks like. I heard in Mengjin that the Prince of Chenliu is a cute little girl just like Yide.
I told you to stop calling yourself Yide. And how dare you call a prince a little girl—what sort of…
Yet Guan Yu’s words went no further. Because at that very moment an even stranger sight stole her gaze.
While every court official bowed their heads in salute, there were exactly two people who kept their heads held high.
That one of them was Zhang Fei was entirely predictable, but she had never imagined the other would be Yu Bi.
Big sister! What are you doing?
Guan Yu felt ready to die of frustration at why the sisters had to act like this in pairs. But the words never reached Yu Bi’s ears.
W-why…
Her gaze was fixed upon a single eunuch who walked at the side of the proudly advancing Yu Hyeop. The mysterious man she had thought she would never see again—the one who had left a great hole in her chest and vanished.
Yu Bi swayed and collapsed. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei caught her almost simultaneously and asked with startled eyes.
Big sister, what’s wrong?!
Waaah! Big sister, are you hurt somewhere?
Yu Bi’s face had gone deathly pale. Her eyes reddened as though she had seen something she should never have seen, and in a hollow voice as if she had lost everything in the world she said:
“Do Yeop… has been castrated…”