The Imperial Bloodline Shield
In the game, Han Hao was nothing more than a typical politics one-trick civil officer reserved exclusively for the Tuntian events. But the woman I actually met was a little different.
She was the living incarnation of honor who lived and died by her reputation, and thus hated the word “bookworm” more than death itself. The problem was that her never-look-back personality had completely wrecked my operation.
Stride after stride!
Having been chewed out and driven off by Wang Guang, Han Hao was heading back to her own camp. I quickly fell into step beside her and asked,
“Commandant Han? You’re not seriously thinking of killing Du Chi, are you?”
“Why are you still hanging around in front of me? Didn’t you just hear the Grand Administrator’s words? That Du Chi tried to deceive me. I nearly became a shameless wretch who abandoned the greater cause because I was blinded by a man!”
“You must feel betrayed, but how many people would stay calm after hearing their own father had been captured by Dong Zhuo? Even so, killing your fiancé is a bit much, isn’t it?”
Shing!
Han Hao flared up again and drew her sword. Come to think of it, I’d been taking far too lightly a woman ready to cut down even her own fiancé.
“Whoa, whoa… You’d better put that sword away. I…”
“I know! If Yuan Benchu didn’t value your master so highly, I would already have taken your head several times over. Stop spouting nonsense and get lost right now!”
“…”
Worry filled Han Hao’s face as she spoke. Of course—even a typical scholar who lived and died by honor wouldn’t keep her reason intact when she had to cut down her own fiancé.
In the end I had no choice but to follow at a distance. The moment she reached her camp she kicked open the tent flap and shouted at Du Chi.
“Did you try to deceive me?”
“W-what are you talking about, Yuan-sa? I was just…”
Slash! But Han Hao immediately raised her sword and leveled it at his throat. In that instant a thousand emotions crossed Du Chi’s face.
“You… heard the news?”
“I grieve that the elder has met with such misfortune. But you should have told me the truth from the beginning! How… how could you make me so ashamed?”
“…”
Du Chi could give no answer. Whether it was regret for trying to use his fiancée to save his father’s life, or disappointment in a fiancée who placed honor above him, I couldn’t tell.
“The Grand Administrator has already proven his innocence by beheading Hu Moban. So I have no choice but to do the same.”
“You’re going to cut me down? Can you really do that?”
“Y-you think I can’t? Now you’re trying to persuade me not for your father, but to protect yourself?”
“…”
That’s not it, you woman! What do you think Du Chi feels watching you declare without batting an eye that you’ll kill your fiancé?
No matter how hard a person tries to stay rational, they are ultimately slaves to emotion. So aren’t you just raising your voice for no reason, trying to deceive yourself?
“Wait a moment! Commandant Han, you’d better stop that sword.”
In the end I had to rush into the tent myself. Interrupted once more, Han Hao exploded in fury and thrust her blade at me.
“So you really don’t want to live out your natural lifespan? Fine—all the better. I’ll cut down both Du Chi and you, and devote this one life solely to the country…”
“Talk sense. That man simply loves Commandant Han too much, doesn’t he?”
“What are you saying? This man deceived me. Using his position as fiancé to try to make me into a disloyal person…”
“Was it really only to save his father? The most confused person is Du Chi himself! He wanted to save his father and save his fiancée, so he only asked Commandant Han to endure a moment’s shame, didn’t he?”
“…”
Even Han Hao couldn’t dare answer that. Because someone of her caliber couldn’t possibly fail to understand such a simple principle.
“Besides, the situations are completely different. Wang Guang beheaded Hu Moban, right? At least he steeled himself for resentment and sent the man’s two daughters away alive. So by what right does Commandant Han intend to cut off the Du family’s line?”
“…”
Moreover a brother-in-law and a fiancé are different in rank. Even if family, Hu Moban was an outsider to Wang Guang. But the two of you were about to become family, weren’t you?
“How about this? Imprison Du Chi and leave his disposition until after the battle. You’re already prepared to throw away Du Yang’s life and go into the fight, right? But if Commandant Han dies in that battle, what good will any of it do then? At least one of the three should live, shouldn’t they?”
Intelligence check and charm check—this was the perfect match. If you’re going to die anyway, honor and everything else is gone, so why stake all three lives?
“F-fine. As you say, I’ll imprison Du Chi.”
Fortunately Han Hao listened to me. Seeing that, Du Chi turned to me with a resentful face and said,
“Who the hell are you to help me?”
“I’m currently unable to even save myself, so help whom?”
“Just what is your relationship with Yuan-sa?”
“Can’t you tell just by looking? I’m the person her fiancé hates most in the world.”
“…”
But then why is she listening to me here? The thing is, Han Hao wasn’t listening to me.
In truth, the faint voice inside her that didn’t want to kill Du Chi had simply been given form by the pretext I provided.
Whirl!
Leaving those words, Han Hao left the tent first. Soon her soldiers came and bound Du Chi. With that, I was left alone.
Whew… Thank goodness. Of course the situation hadn’t improved in the slightest, but the fact that Han Hao hadn’t cut down Du Chi meant a last hope remained.
Honestly, whether Du Chi lived or died had nothing to do with me. But I could at least put one small latch on Han Hao.
Wang Guang would lose this battle. And if, at the very last moment, Han Hao had nothing left, she would risk death to resist the enemy to the end.
That couldn’t be allowed. Even if defeated, she had to preserve as much of her forces as possible to plan for the future.
So I could only hope that at the decisive moment Han Hao would think of Du Chi and advise Wang Guang to retreat…
I returned to the camp. Since I couldn’t break Wang Guang’s resolve, it was time to use the final trump card I had put off until the very end.
Look around! Look around!
But first I had to properly check the surroundings. Of all people I had to meet Yu Bi, and because of that damn Dae-ia title I couldn’t risk another stroke of misfortune.
Fortunately the night was deep and the surroundings were quiet. Especially since it was a night of the new moon, aside from a few sentries no one seemed to be coming out of their tents at all.
For the sake of secrecy I opened Yu Bi’s tent and entered without even her permission. Yu Bi had just been about to undo her collar when our eyes met with a snap!
“Do… Do Yeop-nim? Have you been peeping at me changing this whole time?”
“Of course not! I have something really important to discuss and didn’t want others to notice, so I barged in. I’m sorry…”
“Ah… Just how important a matter is it… Hup! Don’t tell me you want to perform the Gun-shin-yu-hui right now…”
“We’ll do that later when we have free time. I failed to persuade Wang Guang. Defeat is certain, so it seems we have no choice but to go rescue Wang Guang ourselves.”
“What do you mean? So you’re saying you’ll move Yawang’s forces to help Wang Guang-nim?”
Correct. Honestly I’d wanted to preserve Yawang’s forces as much as possible, but now I could no longer look back.
The new moon had risen, so I’d full-spec combat power and help Wang Guang. Of course, under the premise of minimizing force consumption.
“I understand. Then I must return to Yawang at once and prepare…”
“No! I’ll take the other officers and go, so Yu Bi-nim stay here. Ab-so-lute-ly do not follow.”
“Why is that? When Do Yeop-nim is risking your life on the battlefield, how can I simply stay still?”
That’s because if you follow, that damn Dae-ia title will definitely cause more misfortune! So you just stay here, drink tea elegantly with Yuan Shao, and race horses or whatever.
“Because it literally means risking our lives. Yu Bi-nim has already been put in danger several times because of me—how could I take you to a place like that?”
But I couldn’t say that to Yu Bi, so I told her all of this was to protect her precious self. Yu Bi flushed again and covered both cheeks with her hands.
“Ah… Is it for my sake? But I am worried. If Do Yeop-nim were to be injured…”
“There’s no way I’ll get hurt. It’ll just end with minimizing Wang Guang’s crushing defeat and preparing an escape route. I’ll also preserve Yawang’s forces as much as possible.”
“I understand. Please do not do anything dangerous and be sure to return safely. If Do Yeop-nim does not return, I will… sniff… sniff…”
“…”
We haven’t even saddled the horses yet and you’re already blubbering—what am I supposed to do? But perhaps because her feelings for me were so lovely?
Before I knew it I was approaching her. And because her crying had doubled her charm, I couldn’t control the urge to pull her into my arms and comfort her right then and there…
“What are the two of you doing?”
“Wha—Yuan Benchu!?”
But what was this? Of all times, Yuan Shao appeared. And in exactly the same way I had—opening the tent flap without permission.
The one silver lining was that he came in just before I completely lost it and hugged Yu Bi. Of course, seeing Yu Bi’s half-undone collar, his two hands began to tremble violently.
“Yuan-sa? About how this came about…”
“This is no place for you to speak, so shut that mouth! Young Lady Yu, why is this man inside your tent at this hour?”
“Ah… He said there was an urgent matter to discuss…”
“Even so, is it not far too late? Does that man, as a retainer, lack even that much courtesy? Or else…”
“…?”
Or else what? Both Yu Bi and I blinked, not knowing what words would come next. Yuan Shao, as if he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud, whipped his head away and said,
“I have wanted to ask this for some time but my pride would not allow it, so I held back. But now it seems the time has truly come to ask.”
“Just… what do you intend to say?”
“Are the two of you in a relationship of enjoying Gun-shin-yu-hui?”
“…”
What… is… this? So that’s why Yuan Shao was so uncharacteristically agitated—he was suspecting that?
Well, the situation was ambiguous. It was far too late at night, and Yu Bi’s collar was half undone.
On top of that, the fact that I had been approaching her with bloodshot eyes was also true, so there was no way that guy wouldn’t notice.
“Talk sense, Yuan-sa. Of course there’s no way…”
“Didn’t I tell you to shut your mouth!?”
Yuan Shao overwhelmed me with his characteristic low voice. There was no need to sour his mood here, so I’d leave the rest to Yu Bi.
Come on, hurry up and say no!
“Th-that is…”
“…?”
But what was Yu Bi doing? One “no” would end the situation, so why was she fidgeting alone and hesitating?
“Seeing that you cannot answer, it seems I have struck the mark. Haa… How could you with such a rootless man…”
“No! Yuan-sa, I know you hate me talking, but I have to clear this injustice. Common sense says there’s no way someone like me and Yu Bi-nim would do that… that embarrassing Gun-shin-yu-hui thing, right?”
“Yet Young Lady Yu herself cannot answer, can she?”
“Don’t you think her mouth is sealed because it’s such a blow to her pride? Haa… I really didn’t want to go this far, but Yu Bi-nim is a collateral member of the imperial clan of the Former Han. Would an imperial clanswoman enjoy something like that with a lowly guy like me?”
I had no choice but to thrust forward the imperial bloodline shield. I’d planned to say it someday anyway, so it worked out well.
“R-really? Young Lady Yu, you were of the imperial clan?”
“That is true, but… I am such a distant collateral that I can hardly be called imperial clan.”
“When imperial blood flows, what does near or far matter? I nearly made a great misunderstanding.”
As expected… Bone-deep aristocrat Yuan Shao judged that an imperial clanswoman would never enjoy Gun-shin-yu-hui with the likes of me. Having barely weathered the crisis, I wiped the drop of sweat from my forehead and…
“Ehyo… That is correct. Do Yeop-nim is such an upright person that he has not the slightest interest in Gun-shin-yu-hui…”
“…?”
But. Then. Here Yu Bi added an unnecessary footnote that pushed the situation back into a maze. The moment Yuan Shao heard that, he clenched the fist he had just opened again.
“What do you mean by that? It sounds as if it is not Young Lady Yu who refuses the Gun-shin-yu-hui, but that man?”
“I-I was merely stating Do Yeop-nim’s usual position…”
“I do not wish to hear it! I came because the new moon seemed about to rise, thinking I would comfort you in case you feared the dark. Yet not only have you openly taken a male retainer, but you intend to arbitrarily send out troops?”
“Hup… You heard?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t? I absolutely cannot permit it. Wang Guang is a veteran general who has passed through death’s door several times in Bing Province. If Young Lady Yu arbitrarily joins as reinforcements, he will certainly be displeased. Moreover, if you meddle needlessly and ruin the battle, what will become of the coalition’s future?”
“B-but according to Do Yeop-nim here, we are only preparing for the worst case…”
“I will not say it twice. This is not as Young Lady Yu’s friend, but as the leader of the coalition. Absolutely do not move your forces.”
“…”
Leaving those words, Yuan Shao stormed out fuming. Why does it keep turning out like this?
Yu Bi, how on earth can you piss him off even in this situation?
“Yu Bi-nim!! What the hell are you doing? Just saying no would have been enough—why did you bring up unnecessary talk there?”
“But is it not also true that Do Yeop-nim has always made excuses this way and that to refuse the ‘Gun-shin-yu-hui’?”
“Guh… So that was it? No, Yu Bi-nim, what on earth were you thinking wanting to do that with me?”
“Th-that is because I have never once performed the Gun-shin-yu-hui, so I was far too curious…”
Yu Bi’s ears turned bright red, as if embarrassed at having her true feelings exposed. Now even covering them with both hands wasn’t enough.
But the reason is too funny, isn’t it? So you’re a virgin and this is the first time you’ve taken a male retainer, so you were curious what Gun-shin-yu-hui was?
Every strategy had ended in failure. I could neither persuade Wang Guang nor lead troops myself to rescue him—a complete dilemma.
Since Yuan Shao had personally given the order, not a single soldier of Yawang could move. No matter how much I wanted to save Yu Hyeop and Chosun, I couldn’t wreck the carefully cultivated relationship with Yuan Shao just to save one Wang Guang.
Scratch… scratch…
There was nothing I could do but hang my head and tear at my hair. As expected, what can’t be done simply can’t be done.
Even if I can reallocate my stats, it’s impossible. With these pathetic stats that end up dead weight on the other side, I won’t achieve a single thing I want.
“Young Master Do… Why are you suffering so?”
“Miss Sima?”
Just then Sima Lang appeared before my eyes. Looking down at me with the world’s most pitiful eyes, as if she’d found a lost puppy crying in the rain, she only deepened my misery.
“It’s nothing.”
“Don’t be like that—please tell me. Is it because of Wang Guang? You failed to persuade him, right?”
“It’s not just failing to persuade. As a last resort I tried to go rescue Wang Guang myself, but even that was blocked. I can’t wreck the relationship between Yu Bi-nim and Yuan Shao that we’ve built up until now.”
Literally the worst of the worst. Now I would have to suck my fingers and watch from afar as Wang Guang’s army was trampled.
The coalition would hit the brakes from the start, and while they squabbled among themselves they would watch Dong Zhuo flee to Chang’an like a distant mountain fire.
And Chosun, disappointed by my powerlessness, would finally end up with Dong Zhuo…
“It’s not as if there’s no method left, Young Master Do.”
“There is none. The moment Yuan Shao forbade the sortie, it was already over. I absolutely…”
“I’ll lend you the Sima clan’s private soldiers. They belong neither to Yawang nor to the coalition, so even if they appear on the battlefield it won’t be a problem, will it?”
“…?”
Sima Lang immediately offered a method to resolve this crisis. But this didn’t make sense.
“You’re joking, right? If you move the clan’s private soldiers arbitrarily, the family will certainly be greatly angered. Moreover, your father in the court could be put in danger.”
“If it’s merely lending the private soldiers, we can somehow talk our way out of it. Of course I will receive quite a scolding from the clan…”
But why are you trying to help me? You’ve already done so many things as a guest retainer. On New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day you spent them enduring the cold in the mountains just to earn a living, didn’t you?
Then Sima Lang revealed the reason. Her moist eyes sparkling.
“But… it won’t be harder than watching a great man frustrated with his grand ambitions blocked.”
“…”
The reason every plan I made was blocked one after another was because my stats were insufficient. I had nearly given up on everything once more, blocked by that wall.
But I had forgotten. There was one thing here that exerted a force greater than stats, and that was the “intimacy” Sima Lang and I had built over the past few months.
No, perhaps it was something that went beyond “intimacy.”
“Especially… if that person is someone I deeply love…”
Her unexpected confession of love. Truly, even the timing overflowed with elegance.