The Lord-Vassal Ceremony
The moment I returned to Yawang, I threw myself into full-scale technological development. First I used a Land Survey to sort out the landowners inside the county and confirm vacant ground suitable for military farming.
After that I would teach agricultural techniques to the county folk and the soldiers, fattening the harvest even if only by a little. Developing Military Farming would finish the job.
“Ugh… another day well spent.”
Yu Bi wiped the beads of sweat from her brow as she came toward me. Truth be told, she had worked far harder than I, who had only drawn up plans and loafed about.
She might lag behind Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and the Sun clan, yet aside from pure combat she was a solid B-rank all-rounder who could be put to use anywhere. I gave that Yu Bi her due praise.
“I’m not the one who suffered—you are, Yu Bi. Let’s call it a day and work hard again tomorrow.”
“Oh my… come to think of it, I overheard what Sima Lang and Shang Lin were saying. That Do Yeop called me ‘my lord’…”
“Ah, that? Well, given how things have turned out, it seems unavoidable. I’ve decided to enter your service.”
“Ah… then will we finally perform the ‘lord-vassal ceremony’?”
“Just what is this lord-vassal ceremony that has you so obsessed… We’ve been ridiculously busy lately, so how about we keep it simple and do a shortened version?”
“Truly? Then please come to my room this evening. And then… ah! I’m far too embarrassed to say another word with my own mouth.”
“…?”
Yu Bi’s face flushed crimson; she primly dashed away. What on earth was this lord-vassal ceremony that made her carry on so?
That evening I went to Yu Bi’s room exactly as promised. The moment I opened the door the atmosphere felt oddly charged.
“Yu Bi? Why have you shut every window and made it so dark?”
“Ah… but I’ve lit candles instead, haven’t I?”
Just as she said, only a few candles glowed in the pitch-black room. I understood we were about to perform some sort of rite, yet the tension was climbing fast.
“Yu Bi, that’s an outfit I’ve never seen before.”
“Hehe… I bought these new clothes with the salary I just received. Do you like them?”
“…”
It was an utterly feminine winged robe. If you had any conscience you’d have remitted every last coin of that salary back into the county to fatten Yawang—what was this wasteful spending?
“Yu Bi? I know you like pretty clothes, but how can you throw money around like this?”
“Ah… I really only bought this one set. I didn’t want to appear before you looking shabby…”
“You’re the one who wanted to buy it, so why pin the excuse on me? And what’s with this wine?”
On the table sat simple side dishes, a wine bottle, and a single cup. Yu Bi’s cheeks colored again as she answered.
“Jian Yong said that before the ceremony we ought to warm up a little… That aside, I hardly know what to do with myself now that you’ve come to my room. Above all, this is the first time I’ve ever allowed a man inside, so I’m terribly nervous.”
“…”
Well, every one of Yu Bi’s retainers was a woman, or else her teacher Lu Zhi. I was the first man to take formal office under her, so of course this was new.
I sat in the place she had prepared. Clutching the wine bottle, she wriggled her hips and pressed herself snugly against my side.
Glug, glug…
Then, with both hands demurely cupped, she poured a full measure. I swallowed a dry lump and asked,
“Y-Yu Bi? Do we really need to sit this close?”
My hand holding the cup trembled without mercy. She might be a bit dense, yet she possessed the greatest beauty under heaven.
When a girl like that poured wine in ultra-close contact like some tavern girl, how was anyone supposed to keep a clear head?
“Ah… but when I’m pressed against you, Do Yeop, I strangely feel warm…”
“That’s only because body heat is shared… Yu Bi? The cup is overflowing.”
“Hup! Forgive me.”
I wasn’t the only one nervous. Yu Bi lifted a scrap of silk and carefully wiped the spilled wine from my fingers.
Thump, thump…
If you thought about it, this too was skinship. And the way she so painstakingly cleaned each finger made my heart feel ready to burst.
“Now drink it all down~”
“Is it all right if only I drink?”
“Hup… do you wish me to drink as well? Perhaps you want to watch me grow disheveled…”
“No! I’ll just drink alone.”
Gulp, gulp.
I downed the wine without knowing whether it entered my mouth or my nose. Yu Bi picked up chopsticks and lifted a piece of pickled vegetable.
“Aah~ open wide.”
“Yu Bi? You’re my lord in name—this is a bit…”
“But you still have the ‘great matter’ ahead of you, do you not? I know nothing, so the least I can do is this…”
“That’s not true. Thanks to you the military-farming work is progressing smoothly.”
“Oh my… that isn’t what I meant.”
“…”
Then what did you mean? At that very instant our eyes locked.
In the darkness her black pupils shone, glittering with ardent hunger for me.
Gulp…
I had thought there was no saliva left to swallow, yet my throat still worked. I was alone with Yu Bi in a single closed space.
True, we had spent several days together in the stable. But stepping into her most private room was a first.
And after only one cup of wine she was already feeding me side dishes like a brand-new bride—what kind of situation was this?
“Why are you looking at me with… ‘those eyes’?”
“W-what kind of eyes am I using?”
“I cannot say it aloud. Perhaps… is there something you desire of me?”
“…”
To claim there was nothing would have been a lie. I had drunk only a single cup, yet the atmosphere and her beauty had already left me thoroughly intoxicated.
Suddenly I wanted to hold her. I wanted to pull her into an embrace so fierce she could not even breathe, then make certain no one could ever take her away.
After that I would steal those soft, luscious lips. Not a lewd, wet kiss of raw lust, but a simple press of mouth to mouth that sent sweetness all the way down the spine.
Rattle!
Yet none of that happened. Someone flung the door open without leave and barged straight in.
“G-Guan Yu?”
It was Guan Yu. Paying not the slightest heed to her elder sister Yu Bi, she fixed me with blazing eyes and said,
“A guest has arrived. Come out.”
“A guest? There shouldn’t be anyone looking for me.”
“There is. Think carefully.”
“…?”
Sima Lang and Shang Lin had already come and gone; that business was finished. And it was already evening—what guest?
I had no choice but to excuse myself to Yu Bi and step outside. Beneath the mulberry tree where I had once met Sima Lang, a visitor truly waited for me.
More radiant than any star embroidering the night sky, a born dancer who gave the illusion of dancing even while standing perfectly still.
“Chosun…?”
It was Chosun. I could not tell whether this was dream or waking life, or whether I had died without noticing and set foot on the soil of heaven.
“Your complexion has brightened.”
Yet one word from Chosun yanked me back to reality. Instead of the choked voice I had last heard, a clear melody struck my eardrums as purely as on the day we first met.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Foolish. Whom do you think I serve?”
Of course—Yu Hyeop must already have announced that she had appointed Yu Bi county magistrate. There was no guarantee I would be here, yet it was the only clue, so Chosun had no choice but to come.
“Have you been well?”
“If you ask whether my body is unharmed, yes. But while a traitor’s faction insults the Son of Heaven, how could any subject of Han know peace of mind?”
“Haa… I suppose so. Then His Majesty must be suffering greatly as well?”
“She lives each day reproaching her own powerlessness, forever guilty before the previous emperors. Yet there is a reason she can endure from dawn to dusk.”
“Well, she must be hoping someday to restore the authority of the throne…”
“Foolish. I am speaking of you. That is why she sent me here.”
“What great person am I supposed to be… Wait—then Chosun, you came looking for me solely on the Son of Heaven’s order?”
I had gotten my hopes up for nothing. In the end Chosun had merely run Yu Hyeop’s errand; she had never once longed for me.
“Well… it may not be only for that reason.”
A shiver ran through me. This cunning woman refused to let me abandon hope even at the last. I stepped closer, eyes full of expectation.
“Then perhaps Chosun also wanted to see me, or…”
“Who would not wish to see the face of the assassin Dong Zhuo is so desperately hunting? Word has it you seized the Henei commandery seat with thirteen riders and took the governor prisoner. Curiosity about the truth of that rumor alone would have brought me.”
“Do you have to cut me down like that… By the way, how is the matter of Wang Guang being reported at court? We’ve received no word yet.”
“The rumor is so absurd no one believes it. And since Wang Guang has merely changed location while still performing his duties properly, there was nothing to suspect.”
Exactly as my scheme had intended. The court never imagined we had truly installed our own governor.
“But… why Yu Bi of all people?”
Chosun’s tone suddenly grew cautious. At a glance every earlier question might have been mere smoke; this seemed to be what she truly wanted to know.
“Chosun? Before long Yuan Shao will raise an army to strike Dong Zhuo. The forces of Hebei, Qing-Yan, Yuzhou and Jingzhou will join him.”
There was no longer any need to hide things from her. Since we could not always stay in contact, better to tell her as much as possible.
“Fortunate… Once they drive Dong Zhuo out, the glory of the Han can be restored.”
“No. It is not that simple. I crossed the river with Yuan Shao at Mengjin, and that man has no intention of recognizing the present Son of Heaven. If Yuan Shao wins, occupies Luoyang and seizes the throne, he may simply repeat what Dong Zhuo did.”
It was true. Yuan Shao was a master of framing and propaganda.
In the end he would claim that Yu Hyeop, installed by a traitor to oppose Dong Zhuo, lacked legitimacy.
Later he would even try to set up Liu Yu as a rival emperor. Ironically, the very anti-Yu Hyeop frame that raised him among the warlords would become the greatest weakness that kept him from ever defeating Cao Cao.
“Has he lost his mind? When did he ever act so upright, only to dare challenge the authority of the imperial house now?”
At the news that Yuan Shao refused to acknowledge Yu Hyeop, Chosun’s face crumpled. Yet hadn’t she herself once been ready to abandon Yu Hyeop?
Or was it that any Han emperor would do, so long as the house itself remained?
“You should have recognized how dangerous he was the moment he staged that self-made farce at Mengjin. In any case the Son of Heaven must prepare for the day after Dong Zhuo falls. She needs someone nearby who can become her sword.”
That was the real reason I had posted Yu Bi to Henei. Even if Dong Zhuo withdrew, Cao Cao would come. Depending on how I rewrote history it might be Yuan Shao or Yuan Shu instead.
Someone had to protect Yu Hyeop through all of it. Drawing in Sun Jian, whose loyalty to Han was genuine, was one option—yet he stood in Yuan Shu’s shadow and was therefore unsafe.
From the beginning there had been no one but Yu Bi. Only an imperial clanswoman who would shield Yu Hyeop could fill that role.
“So Yu Bi possesses sufficient qualifications—and she is easy for you to manipulate at will. Yet… is that truly the only reason?”
“Huh? What other reason could there be…”
“Do not play dumb. I am asking whether ‘selfish desire’ is mixed in.”
Chosun’s eyes were full of suspicion. Did she think I was doing all this simply so I could enjoy lord-and-vassal games with Yu Bi?
Well. Of. Course I would take what was offered. But to claim that was my first motive was an insult.
“You’re really too much. How can you say such a thing?”
“It is also true that you have always stuck especially close to Yu Bi, is it not? Then answer me once. Where did you just come from?”
“From Yu Bi’s room… but there is a reason for everything. Something about having to perform the lord-vassal ceremony or whatever. Anyway, she’s a complete idiot.”
“The fool is not that woman—it is you! How can you see a thousand li of the world’s affairs so clearly yet understand nothing of the heart standing right in front of you?”
Chosun clicked her tongue as though I were pathetic. Yet was it only my imagination that she seemed rather fond of that very pathos?
“What do you mean by that… It’s cold out here; don’t just stand outside—come in. I have no tea, but I can at least boil water with tree roots.”
“His Majesty is waiting. I must return.”
“What is this… you haven’t even been here a single shichen. Shouldn’t we at least catch up on old times?”
“If I stay longer, lingering attachment will remain. If I do not wish to be shaken, I should leave now.”
“Lingering attachment…? Chosun, do you feel lingering attachment for me?”
“…”
She gave no answer. Instead she simply gazed at me with deep, uncharacteristic eyes. That only made me more embarrassed…
“Chosun? Don’t just stare—say something at least…”
“That day I believed you had died. You will never know how many times I turned my body while blaming myself.”
“I’m sorry. At the time I myself had no sure guarantee of escape…”
“No. It is fortunate you survived. Having seen you again like this, I have nothing more to wish for.”
“…”
Was it sincere? She never spoke empty words, yet she was also someone who casually employed beauty schemes to get what she wanted.
Still, I sensed no skill at work. She was simply, exactly as her words said, relieved that I was alive.
“Chosun? I have a request.”
“Speak. If it is something I can grant, I will.”
“You don’t say you’ll grant anything? Afraid I might make some lewd demand, are you?”
“It will certainly be so, yet I will listen for now.”
“You’re generous to me today… What I want is only one thing. Since I am working hard even from outside, that you, Chosun, take no action of any kind.”
“For example?”
“I told you then as well—sacrificing yourself to subjugate the traitor. Keep firmly in mind that that is the very last resort. Only when I have failed everything and am no longer left in this world will I permit it.”
Even with Intelligence at 100 I could not foresee how the future would unfold. I might fail thoroughly and come to regret these bold days.
But so long as the attempt continued, she must never go to Dong Zhuo or to Lü Bu. Did she still not understand?
I was doing all of this for her as much as for Yu Hyeop.
“I will do so.”
“You’re speaking sincerely? After saying this you won’t go behind my back and…”
“You say you do not want that, do you not? Then no other reason is needed.”
“Huh? What does that mean…”
Whoosh!
At last Chosun held out a long stick wrapped tightly in cloth.
“What’s this?”
“The heart of the Son of Heaven who cherishes you.”
“…?”
When I unwrapped the cloth, a precious sword nestled in its scabbard appeared.
“Chosun, this is a treasure of the imperial house—how can you give it to a nobody like me…”
Hyah!
Yet Chosun offered no further explanation. She turned as if dancing, vaulted onto her horse, and without a single word of farewell galloped away toward Mengjin.
“…”
My sincerity had gotten through, right? She would absolutely not sacrifice herself with beauty schemes or anything else until I made the first move, right?
I had no choice but to believe. When I turned around, leaving only hollow regret behind, Yu Bi was standing there.
“Huh? Yu Bi, what are you doing here?”
“…”
Yu Bi did not answer. And she was no longer the woman I knew.
Like a poison toad swollen with venom, her two unusually bulging eyes blazed. She trembled from head to toe, lips thrust out in a pout.
“Yu Bi? If you’re cold…”
“Did you call me an idiot? Have you been thinking that all along?”
“…”
This girl had eavesdropped on our entire conversation.