A Loyal Patriot of the Han
The Yellow River was not nearly as vast as I had imagined. We had barely boarded the ferry before we reached the landing on the far bank and began unloading our baggage.
"Ah... to think I would meet you again, Do Yeop... All those nights I set out a bowl of water and prayed were not in vain."
"Yu Bi? For someone who prayed that hard, you sure didn't wait for me. You were about to leave with Yuan Shao for Bohai, weren't you?"
"Hup... Th-that was beyond my control. Yun Chang kept pestering me so relentlessly that I had no choice..."
The moment I jabbed at her weak point, Yu Bi crumpled and fidgeted in place. She looked so adorable doing it that I almost wanted to torment her a little longer.
"But how on earth did you produce this letter of appointment? Even Master and Lord Yuan Shao were completely taken in."
"What are you talking about...? This is the real thing! It bears the actual imperial seal of the Son of Heaven."
"What!? But where would you even get such a letter of appointment...?"
"I'm a palace eunuch of the Emperor, remember? And a proper eunuch is supposed to dabble in a little selling of offices now and then."
"Th-then am I supposed to pay you for it? But I have nothing to my name, so what am I to do... Hup! Don't tell me you mean for me to pay with my body instead?"
Yu Bi hastily crossed her arms into an X, locking into a defensive stance. Of course, her face was flushed scarlet the whole time, and the corners of her mouth kept climbing no matter how hard she tried to stop them.
"Would you please stop with the nonsense? Just go say a proper goodbye to Yuan Shao first."
"I already did that before we got off the boat."
"You mumbled it in passing! Can't you see how offended he looks right now?"
"...?"
It was true. Yu Bi had glued herself to my side the entire crossing like we were filming Titanic, and Yuan Shao's mood had hit an all-time low.
But that wouldn't do. Think about why I planted you in Yawang in the first place.
You need to stay on the best possible terms with Yuan Shao.
"Ah... Lord Yuan? Are you departing for Bohai now?"
In the end I half-dragged Yu Bi over to deliver a proper farewell. His expression darkened the moment he saw the two of us still together.
"I must go and attend to my duties. That aside, allow me to congratulate you once more. Having received a letter of appointment from the Son of Heaven, I imagine traveling with me would have been rather burdensome."
"That is..."
"No! Yu Bi insisted to the very end that she would follow you, Lord Yuan. I was the one who talked her out of it. That's also why she stuck to me the whole way across on the boat."
"...?"
Yu Bi stared at me in bewilderment, clearly wondering what I was suddenly playing at. Yuan Shao, however, wore a faintly pleased look.
"Is that true? Even after the Emperor's command arrived, you still meant to leave with me?"
"Well, that is to say..."
"You said so yourself earlier, didn't you? But I kept arguing that someone had to keep an eye on the traitor right under his nose, and eventually I wore her down."
I poured everything into painting Yu Bi as an incurable Yuan Shao devotee who had only been led astray by my cunning persuasion. She probably wanted to murder me on the spot, but Yuan Shao was so moved by her supposed devotion that he seized her hand in both of his.
"Such loyalty is truly admirable. Perhaps it is for the best. Though we must part for a 'little while,' I shall save the joy of our reunion for when we meet again."
"A little while... what do you mean by that?"
"Haha! It wouldn't be any fun if I told you in advance, would it?"
Yuan Shao laughed heartily and left the rest hanging. But I was the only one who understood exactly what he meant.
Before long, the famous Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition would form — that unprecedented moment when warlords from every corner of the realm joined forces against the central government.
Of course, nothing as novelistic as every warlord gathering in one place for a single decisive battle would actually happen. Cao Cao's Yan-Qingzhou contingent would camp at Sanzhao, while Yuan Shu's Jing-Yuzhou faction gathered in Nanyang.
And finally, the Hebei contingent under Yuan Shao — supreme commander of the alliance — would take up position right here in Henei. In other words, Yu Bi would automatically be folded into the coalition army and thrust onto the front lines.
"On another note, what does General Lu intend to do?"
Yuan Shao asked after Lu Zhi. Originally, the old man had meant to return to Youzhou simply to see Yu Bi off.
But now that Yu Bi was staying in Yawang, why not simply follow Yuan Shao and assist him instead? Lu Zhi answered at once.
"You make a fair point. In that case, I too shall accompany Lord Yuan to Bohai..."
"You're not seriously going, are you? Your disciple is about to risk her life on a dangerous mission right under a traitor's nose, and her teacher, Lu Zhi, is going to run off to safe, distant Bohai to enjoy wealth and glory?"
"What was that, you little brat? What did you just say to me?"
Lu Zhi exploded at my provocation. But I had no choice. There was a very good reason Lu Zhi absolutely had to stay here.
"None of you know what happened in Luoyang three days ago, do you? There was an assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo himself!"
"I-is that true?"
The bombshell left Lu Zhi, Yuan Shao, and Yu Bi's entire party stunned. As one of the parties involved, I felt more than a little awkward saying it out loud.
"It's true. And the ringleader of the attempt was Cao Cao. The same Cao Cao you always looked down on so contemptuously, Master Lu, risked his life to strike at Dong Zhuo. What will the people of the realm think if a man who once stood among the pillars of the court abandons his own disciple and flees to Bohai?"
"Th-that... does put me in a difficult position. So even this rascal can say something sensible once in a while."
"..."
I had been saying sensible things in the exact same tone the whole time. The problem was that Lu Zhi only ever judged people by their stats, so nothing I said ever sank in.
Then Yuan Shao spoke up.
"Mengde did something like that? You said 'attempt,' which means it failed in the end, does it not? Then is Mengde dead?"
"Ah. No. He was perfectly alive and well — even ran off with a widow in tow. To be precise, he put Xiahou Yuan on the job; she failed the assignment but managed a lucky escape."
"I see. What am I to do about this..."
Yuan Shao seemed privately jealous that Cao Cao was climbing the ladder so fast. Fair enough — an assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo would make a man's name ring across the land overnight.
The Yuan brothers and Cao Cao. Each of the three rising stars had his own weapon. Yuan Shu had the backing of a great clan. Cao Cao had absurd amounts of money.
But all Yuan Shao possessed was the reputation he had built by observing six years of mourning and battling the court's enemies. If Cao Cao stole that from him, he would have nothing left.
"It seems I can delay no longer. Lord Yu, I must take my leave. Let us be certain to meet again."
To the very end, Yuan Shao clung to Yu Bi's hand and refused to let go as he said goodbye. Yu Bi, crushed under the weight of the moment, saw him off with a bead of sweat rolling down her temple.
"Wooow! Then Master's coming with us too, right?"
"What choice do I have? If Cao Cao has accomplished something so momentous, and I — who was once an elder of the court — run off to Hebei, I'll be called a fugitive exactly as this brat said."
"Ah... that is truly wonderful news. With both Master and Do Yeop at my side, I shall fear nothing."
"Uh... I don't think so? My role ends at delivering the imperial letter. I have no reason to follow you, Yu Bi."
She was casually trying to fold me into her party. Yu Bi's eyes bulged as if they might pop out of her head.
"W-what do you mean? Was this not the moment we would finally perform the rite of lord and vassal?"
"What 'rite of lord and vassal'? There was an assassination attempt on Dong Zhuo. He's going to clamp down with even harsher terror politics from now on. Someone has to stay by the Emperor's side — even if that someone is me."
That was a lie. Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu were grinding their teeth, dying for a chance to tear me apart. How exactly was I supposed to waltz back into the imperial palace?
Serving Yu Bi, on the other hand, was a voluntary reservation for Hell Mode. Better to dodge it for now.
"Aigoo... so that was it. And here I believed I would spend the rest of my life at your side, Do Yeop... Though we were born on different days, I thought we would die on the same one."
"We're not even sworn siblings. What are you talking about? Anyway, I'll be on my—"
"Did you hear? About Xiahou Yuan and that fellow Do Yeop, the ones who tried to assassinate Dong Zhuo. They say Cao Cao sent them both."
"...?"
Just then, a merchant who had disembarked from the ferry casually dropped my name — and pinned me as one of Dong Zhuo's would-be assassins, no less.
"What is the meaning of this? Why are they speaking your name, Do Yeop?"
"Well... maybe they heard wrong?"
"I heard them call your name with both my own ears! Don't tell me you truly attempted to assassinate Dong Zhuo? Why would you do something so dangerous!?"
The moment Yu Bi decided I had risked my life to kill Dong Zhuo, her eyes welled up. Seriously, why was my luck this rotten?
"Wooow! Then Do Yeop's got nowhere to go either. If you don't come hide with us, Dong Zhuo's soldiers are gonna catch you for sure!"
Even Zhang Fei had suddenly gotten clever and helpfully explained exactly why I had no choice but to go to Yawang. Lu Zhi piled on as well.
"I was wary of you because I had no idea what rock you'd crawled out from under. But it turns out you're a true loyalist. Come along. That will be the safest course for you."
"Ah! Then we can all go together!"
Yu Bi beamed as if nothing had ever been wrong and strode out in front. At the same time — beep! — text I hadn't seen in a long while appeared before my eyes.
Epithet changed to Loyal Patriot of the Han
Reputation +50
You are being pursued by the traitor
"..!?"
I had finally broken free of Chi-byung-nan-byung! The problem was that my new epithet made it almost impossible to operate under my own name anywhere, just as Zhang Fei had said.
At this point, how was I supposed to refuse to go with them?
"I'm not buying it."
"...?"
But then Guan Yu left a single remark as she brushed past. An icy chill shot through my entire body, freezing even my eardrums.
"What exactly aren't you buying, Guan Yu?"
"Someone like you would never have tried to assassinate Dong Zhuo. I don't know why such a ridiculous rumor is circulating, but don't even think about fooling me."
"What are you... Look, it's already out in the open, so I'll just say it — I really did try to assassinate Dong Zhuo."
"Bark all you like. I will tear that mask off you yet."
"..."
Guan Yu left those contemptuous words and that look behind her and fell in at the rear of the party. Why did this woman hate me so much?