Enemy Phase - The Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition
In the first month of the first year of Chuping, January of 190 AD.
Not long after the new year began, Zhang Chao, the Grand Administrator of Guangling, arrived at the administrative seat of Chenliu with a man in tow to meet his younger brother, Zhang Miao.
“This is Zhang Ziyuan—Zhang Hong—who serves under me as a clerk. He says he has something urgent to tell you.”
“I have already spoken of this to Grand Administrator Zhang of Guangling, but word has it that Dong Zhuo, who has seized control of the court, recently murdered the King of Hongnong.”
“Has he lost his mind?! Not content with deposing the Son of Heaven, he goes so far as to assassinate him! That Dong Zhuo will never die a natural death!”
Zhang Miao flew into a rage at the news that the King of Hongnong—Liu Bian, the former Emperor Shao—was dead. Zhang Hong fully understood the reaction and pressed on to the heart of the matter.
“You two brothers are heroes who command the respect of the realm, and each of you holds office as Grand Administrator—one of Chenliu, the other of Guangling. Men such as yourselves can surely check Dong Zhuo’s tyranny and set the House of Han aright. What say you to raising a righteous army?”
That was the original blueprint for the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition. Zhang Miao agreed and turned to his brother.
“We alone won’t have the strength. If we make our intentions known to Inspector Liu of Yan Province and Inspector Kong of Yu Province, they will surely join the uprising, don’t you think?”
“The more the better. Clerk Zhang, you are well-versed in court affairs—have you any ideas?”
“It is a little dangerous, but… what if we forged an imperial edict in the Son of Heaven’s name? Had the King of Hongnong still lived, he would surely have ordered Dong Zhuo’s execution.”
Forging a command from the emperor was unquestionably a perilous notion. Yet the dead cannot speak. Zhang Chao and Zhang Miao immediately took the suggestion and fabricated an edict calling for Dong Zhuo’s destruction.
The man who proclaimed it was Qiao Mao, the renowned Grand Administrator of Dong Commandery and nephew of Qiao Xuan. At once the warlords of Yan Province answered the call in unison.
Thus was born the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition. For the first time in Chinese history, local governments banded together to topple the central court.
Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Cao Cao—once hailed as the rising stars of the court—answered the summons without a moment’s hesitation.
Yuan Shao in particular, who had long harbored the intent to strike Dong Zhuo, sent a messenger to Han Fu faster than anyone else.
Will you not join us in the campaign against Dong Zhuo? The loyalty of Inspector Han of Ji Province will surely be remembered for ten thousand generations.
Han Fu was little more than Dong Zhuo’s trusted agent, posted to keep watch over Yuan Shao. To request cooperation from such a man was an audacious stroke indeed.
Very well. I shall lend you the roads and the grain.
Yet here a miracle occurred: Han Fu accepted without a second thought. The realm marveled at the uncanny development, and once more Yuan Shao’s name thundered across the Huai River.
Yuan Shao at once took his subordinate officers and a portion of his troops and swept through Ye like a gale, arriving in Henei before long.
“Lord Yuan! How have you come so swiftly?”
Wang Guang himself rode out a long way to welcome him. Yuan Shao dismounted in person and clasped his hand.
“With a man like Grand Administrator Wang of Henei at my side, my heart is at ease even before a traitor. Inspector Han of Ji has agreed to lend us the roads and the grain.”
“To have persuaded that fellow—truly worthy of Lord Yuan. Come, let us enter the administrative seat.”
“No. If I go all the way to the seat after coming this far, everyone will think I fear Dong Zhuo. I will pitch camp in plain sight, right across from Hulao Pass.”
When it came to showmanship, Yuan Shao yielded to no one. Word that the local officials of Yan and Qing had risen must already have reached Dong Zhuo’s ears.
Trusting in the Yellow River’s defenses, the man would have stationed the bulk of his forces at Hulao Pass.
Of course Yuan Shao, standing on the far bank, would never have to fight them—but simply flying the Yuan banner there was enough.
“By the way… have you been in contact with the magistrate of Yawang?”
“You mean Yu Bi? She already knew of our plans. She will join us before long.”
“Is that so…”
Yuan Shao fell into thought despite himself. The mere mental image of Yu Bi’s figure—so striking it set his fingertips tingling—made the corners of his mouth curl upward of their own accord.
“Heh… What is your relationship with Yu Bi? I have seen her myself; her beauty is enough to be called the finest under heaven.”
“Merely a disciple of the old lord whom I came to know briefly while in the capital. Yet she and I share a certain understanding; we crossed the river together when I went to Bohai.”
“She is quite the remarkable person. Not only did she abduct this Wang Guang, she has firmly won the people’s hearts in the vicinity.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Wang Guang explained the events of those days he had been too embarrassed to mention until now. When he added that she had also annihilated a Black Mountain bandit stronghold and taken in the refugees, even Yuan Shao could not help but be astonished.
“Grand Administrator Wang of Henei has endured great hardship, it seems?”
“It is all in the past now. We are comrades; old grudges ought to be forgotten, no?”
“But to topple a stronghold in the Taihang Mountains and take in refugees as well… I never knew Yu Bi possessed such talent.”
“It was probably not her doing, but that of the fellow under her. Quite the clever little fox, from what I saw… Eh? Come to think of it, what was his name?”
Only then did Wang Guang realize he still did not even know the name of Do Yeop, the man who had kidnapped him. Yuan Shao, however, grasped the other’s identity at once.
So he is still with her?
That Do Yeop was the assassin who had targeted Dong Zhuo was a fact Yuan Shao knew perfectly well. Yet at Mengjin the man had been nothing more than a courier delivering the emperor’s edict, had he not?
Yuan Shao had assumed they had long since parted ways—yet he was still clinging to her side?
“Mengde! We’re ready.”
Xiahou Yuan and the other Cao sisters had packed their military gear with care and now stood before Cao Cao’s door. Yet the man who was supposed to emerge was nowhere to be seen.
Only the ecstatic cries of pleasure drifted out.
Haah… Aah… Cao… yes… right there, Lord Cao… t-too intense! Anh! Anh! Grrraah…
“…”
Beads of bewildered sweat formed on the brows of Xiahou Yuan and her sisters. The moans that had gone on and on finally ended with Cao Cao’s lion-like roar of “Kraaaah…”
The door slid open with a rattle.
Cao Cao appeared at last—not in military kit, but stark naked save for a single robe he was still fumbling to tie.
“What is it?”
“W-what do you mean, ‘what is it’? Bao Xin told us to get ready and come at once!”
“Ah, that? Even if we arrive early they’ll just be toasting one another and drinking. Why rush? The only one there worth fighting is me anyway—no need to tire the soldiers for nothing.”
Cao Cao’s manner seemed excessively leisurely. Yet it was not mere laziness.
He had already planned every detail in his head: how he would fight Dong Zhuo, and how he himself would become the star of this coalition.
“Where… are you going, my lord?”
Chen Gong poked her head past the doorframe. Her bare shoulders were fully visible; she had only a blanket covering the essential places.
“Get ready, Gongtai. Looks like we’ll be wandering outside for a while. Ah… come to think of it, you rather like doing it outdoors, don’t you? While we’re at it, how about gagging you right under the enemy’s nose? Whoa… I’m getting excited already.”
“L-Lord Cao? How can you say such things where your subordinates can hear…?”
Chen Gong flushed crimson with shame. Looking at her, Cao Cao was reminded of the late Lü Boshe.
When he had taken her from Lü Boshe’s house she had worn the empty eyes of a walking corpse. The first time he stripped her to take her, she had merely shed tears as though resigned to everything.
But once Cao Cao’s dazzling technique came into play, her eyes had gradually opened.
She must have been unable to accept that she felt pleasure from the man who had murdered her husband. That was why he could never forget the scene of her desperately stifling her moans—so deliciously full of moral corruption.
“Maybe put some clothes on before you talk like that? And we’re not Mengde’s subordinates—we’re his little sisters, remember?”
Xiahou Yuan shot Chen Gong a glare as she spoke. She already disliked that he had killed a friend just to obtain this woman; now the girl got to spend every night with Cao Cao—something Xiahou Yuan herself could never dream of—and a little jealousy was only natural.
“W-why are you saying that to me?”
Chen Gong lowered her head, face full of fear. Xiahou Yuan scolded her as if she could not believe the girl did not understand.
“You’re asking because you don’t know? Spreading your legs for the man who killed your husband and you still aren’t ashamed? A slut like you should just—kyaa!!”
Slap!
Lightning struck her cheek. The sisters all turned in shock to see who had delivered the blow—none other than Cao Cao himself.
“What did you just say to Gongtai?”
“D-did I say anything wrong? Mengde, what the hell do you even see in a girl like that?”
“She’s pretty and her body’s nice, isn’t it? She was even Lü Boshe’s wife—how could that not be hot? And I get that you feel inferior around big-chested women, but it’s not Gongtai’s fault you were born with empty udders a newborn would spit out.”
“…”
It was a vicious insult that shattered a woman’s pride into dust. Yet Xiahou Yuan, face flaming red, could not utter a single word in reply.
“All of you listen carefully. If I catch any of you being rude to Gongtai one more time, sister or not, I won’t hold back. Miao Zai, go fetch a horse for Gongtai to ride.”
“…”
He was even making her play groom. What was family worth, really, if this was the treatment she had to endure while serving him…
Heh…
But no one noticed. Chen Gong, who until now had only watched others’ faces like a borrowed sack of barley, was secretly sneering at Xiahou Yuan.