Enemy Phase - Decided on the Inside
“Sob… sob…”
Meanwhile, upon hearing that Liu Bian was dead, Yu Hyeop sat alone in her bedchamber and wailed. It was the moment Do Yeop’s promise—that at least his life would be spared—had completely fallen apart.
“Your Majesty…”
Chosun appeared behind her and gently stroked her shoulder. Yu Hyeop shook even that touch away and glared with wide eyes.
“Let go! You’re just like that man Do Yeop. You kept your mouth shut and deceived me until the very moment my brother died, didn’t you?”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty. But neither I nor Do Yeop ever imagined Dong Zhuo would truly assassinate the Prince of Hongnong.”
“You call that an answer!? Sob… I have become a sinner of the realm. Posterity will remember me as the shameless tyrant who stole my brother’s throne and killed him. Sob…”
“…”
It was only natural for Yu Hyeop to worry so. That very fear was why she had refused the throne to the end, even under the threats of Empress Dowager He and Liu Bian.
“That will never happen. Right now, local officials from every region are gathering in Henei and Sanzhao to strike Dong Zhuo. If they did not support Your Majesty, why would they risk their lives raising righteous armies?”
“Sob… Is that true?”
Half true, half false. Others might, but the coalition leader Yuan Shao did not even acknowledge Yu Hyeop as emperor.
Yet from that angle, Dong Zhuo’s murder of Liu Bian could ironically help. They needed a cause to attack Dong Zhuo, and for that they would have to swear loyalty to Yu Hyeop whether they felt it or not.
“Then… is Do Yeop there as well?”
“Of course. If not, why would he have asked for an official post for Liu Bei?”
“Then I will be able to see him soon?”
“Pardon? Was Your Majesty not resenting him?”
“I do resent him! But as you said, it might have been a mistake on Do Yeop’s part, might it not?”
“…”
She might be emperor, but she was still a child. Even while shifting the blame for her brother’s death, a corner of her heart was already filled with the hope of seeing him again.
“I am certain Your Majesty’s will can be fulfilled. I will go observe Dong Zhuo for a while—please take heart.”
“Very well. Someday I will surely make Dong Zhuo and that woman Li Ru answer for the crime of killing my brother.”
Yu Hyeop steeled herself, following Chosun’s words. Chosun, reassured by the sight, left the bedchamber.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
From Dong Zhuo’s residence, even in broad daylight, came the lewd sounds of flesh striking flesh. A naked woman was on all fours like a dog, tears streaming down her face, while a naked man gripped her hips from behind and pumped his waist with abandon.
The strange part was that it was nothing more than empty thrusting. The man had no “thing” attached to him.
“Put a little more heart into it. Even if you are a eunuch, you were once a man, were you not?”
Dong Zhuo lounged in a chair wearing only his trademark animal hide and sneered. The pale-faced eunuch trembled with fear as he answered.
“I-I will try harder.”
They were the palace maids and eunuchs brought back after Liu Bian’s murder. Rather than bury the now-useless lot alive, Dong Zhuo had decided to use them to satisfy his sadism.
Lately his hobby was watching the masterless palace women and eunuchs couple while he looked on.
Sob… sob…
All around, the weeping of stripped palace maids and eunuchs rolling on the floor filled the air.
“This… I truly cannot watch any longer. I shall demonstrate myself!”
Bang! Dong Zhuo kicked the eunuch aside, seized the weeping maid’s hips, and drove his massive, pearl-studded manhood into her with all his strength.
“Guh…”
The maid let out a moan of pain as if her lower body were being cut open. Dong Zhuo paid no mind and savagely butchered her unprepared precious place with his meat club.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
It was closer to violence than intercourse. Every time Dong Zhuo’s enormous, pearl-ringed member pistoned, screams burst from the mouth of the maid whose arms were pinned behind her.
“Kyaa! Uwaa! Hyaat!!”
“Heh heh heh… Does it taste that good? Well, after dealing only with that worthless Liu Bian in the palace, you must have longed for a real man.”
“P-please! Stop now… Uhaaat!!”
Thudthudthudthud!!!
Dong Zhuo never stopped swinging his heavy waist. Soon, with a guttural “Guaaah!!,” a mass of lust erupted.
Gush gush gush…
When Dong Zhuo pulled free, blood-tinged white fluid ran down the maid’s crotch. He flung her aside like discarded rags, then looked down at her panting form and laughed.
Dong Zhuo… if I cannot kill you, I am no human being.
Hidden atop the beam, Chosun watched every second of the scene. Not content with assassinating a royal prince, he was humiliating the eunuchs and palace maids who were practically the dead man’s legacy?
But…
The moment her gaze reached Lü Bu standing by the door, halberd in hand and watching it all, fear surged ahead of everything else. Even Do Yeop and Xiahou Yuan had failed—could she possibly succeed?
Above all, she had not forgotten the days of that time, had she?
Creak… creak…
The old bed swayed precariously. Just like Dong Zhuo’s residence now, two naked figures—a man and a woman—were lost in utterly different states of mind.
“Sob… sob…”
A peerless beauty shedding tears. And above her, a handsome beast riding her like an animal, pumping his waist with abandon.
Huff… huff…
Lü Bu’s body, honed by martial training and sleekly defined, thrashed powerfully like a freshwater eel in summer. With every motion, sweat poured like rain, dripping drop by drop onto the woman’s flushed skin.
“Now… please stop now…”
“Huff… huff… Stop? I haven’t even started. You like it too—why are you like this?”
Yes, it was always that way. The endless chain of utterly selfish answers: since I am enjoying myself, you must be enjoying yourself equally.
“Uuuuh… I’m about to come. Inside! I’ve decided on the inside!”
“N-no! Please, not there…”
“Uwaaaah!!!”
She should have known long ago that forbidding something only excited Lü Bu more. He trembled from head to toe for all to see and poured out everything he had.
Pop! Squirm squirm…
When he pulled free his still-erect manhood, cloudy white fluid spilled from between the woman’s thighs, so abused they were swollen red.
The sticky sensation sliding down her crotch was as repulsive as if Chosun herself were feeling it.
Don’t look… please don’t look…
The woman, having resigned herself to everything, turned her head; her eyes met Chosun’s. Back then, just like now, she had been hiding in the cabinet, too terrified to make a single sound.
Those terrible hours, repeated how many times. She would have cut out her own brain to forget them if she could—yet now the man himself stood before her eyes, forcing the memory back.
Shake shake…
Chosun shook her head hard and cast the stray thoughts aside. Dong Zhuo was committing such an atrocity—what ugly state was she in?
It would be a lie to say she did not fear Lü Bu. Yet Do Yeop had known that truth and still chosen to face him, had he not? And she…
“Word has come from Xu Rong of a sortie. She is heading to Hayangjin.”
At that moment Ho Jin approached and reported the new development. Dong Zhuo, wiping the love juices from his cock, tossed the silk cloth aside and asked,
“Is there any guarantee Wang Guang will come there?”
“Xu Rong is that confident, so why would he not? She has always been a fine woman.”
“If anything, it might not be bad if she comes back thoroughly beaten…”
“Pardon? What do you mean, Chancellor?”
“Nothing. How many troops did she take?”
“As per the Chancellor’s order, limited to under eight thousand. Of course Wang Guang will only be able to bring half that…”
“But that means if Yuan Shao covers his rear, Xu Rong could be at a disadvantage. Understood.”
Dong Zhuo dismissed Ho Jin and sat astride one of the dead Liu Bian’s eunuchs. Letting the coalition keep its momentum was a little unpleasant, yet he could not give up the chance to ravage a dejected Xu Rong after her defeat, could he?
That was why he had deliberately limited her forces. If that Yuan Shao had even a shred of brains he would certainly back Wang Guang, but Xu Rong could not possibly have failed to consider that far.
Hayangjin…
Separate from all that, it was more than enough help for Chosun. The next destination had just been revealed, and her task was now set.
Meanwhile, Wang Guang arrived near Hayangjin only ten days after finishing his reorganization. Establishing a camp and stockpiling provisions came first.
“Governor! Enemies sighted on the riverbank!”
Han Hao entered the tent to deliver the scout’s report. At the word “enemies,” Wang Guang’s face turned the color of dirt.
“E-enemies? How could the enemy already know our movements and act first?”
“That I cannot say…”
The core of the operation had been to cross the river in secret and strike Dong Zhuo from behind. If the enemy had already crossed, the plan was wrecked before it even began.
“How many are there?”
“Roughly two thousand.”
“Very few, aren’t they? If they have only just finished crossing, our side is not at a disadvantage.”
“But the fact that they seized the position first bothers me. Governor? I know you will doubt me again if I say this, but would it not be better to watch the situation for now?”
“Bah! What nonsense are you spouting now? Come to think of it, how did that go? Did you really behead your fiancé?”
“That is… I have him confined for now. But I intend to execute him the moment we return.”
Han Hao was badly flustered when Wang Guang asked about Du Chi. And Wang Guang grew even angrier that Du Chi was still alive.
“As expected, an untrustworthy bitch. I don’t need you. If your life and your fiancé’s are so precious, go guard the granary. I will attack them alone.”
“That is impossible! Haa… I will go with you. Now that it has come to this, we move the entire army and strike in one blow. Even the enemy could not have expected that far.”
In the end, Han Hao had no choice but to agree with Wang Guang if only to dispel suspicion. Besides, the enemy’s numbers being smaller than expected was not exactly a bad omen.
They might simply be a token force that crossed as a precaution. They would never expect an attack from this side, so a sudden ambush might still work.
Thud… thud…
Wang Guang’s unit moved under cover of night. The soldiers were told the enemy was resting carelessly and that they would launch a surprise attack; as a result the army’s morale itself was soaring.
We can see them!
A scout approached and whispered. From horseback Wang Guang saw a force of two thousand that had only just finished crossing, lining up their troops for inspection.
They do not seem to have noticed our approach.
Han Hao said, smoothing her chest. Even in the darkness the enemy looked completely unprepared.
“Just as I expected. Now! Sweep them away in one stroke!”
Waaaa!!!
At Wang Guang’s command the centurion at the vanguard bravely charged the enemy. When the entire force followed, Han Hao could finally relax.
Du Chi… it looks like we might make it back alive for now.
Of course another enormous torment would wait afterward. Yet why was it?
If they crushed the enemy like this, hope might appear. Once they toppled Dong Zhuo and occupied Luoyang, if Du Yang were still alive, then she would not have to kill Du Chi, would she?
“They are heading toward the river.”
But Han Hao’s expectation was neatly overturned. Xu Rong had already seen through Wang Guang’s movements completely and received the scout’s report the instant he moved his troops.
“Circle the mountain and move the forces. Surround them front and rear and they will fall into chaos at once.”
Xu Rong decided to give Wang Guang enough rope to hang himself thoroughly, circling the mountain before attacking. While her officers explained the plan to the centurions she sank into thought for a moment.
Chancellor Dong, why did you give me only this many troops?
Xu Rong had brought eight thousand. Of those she had left two thousand on the riverbank as bait.
The strategy was perfect, yet with this difference in numbers there was still a chance Wang Guang could escape alive. Ideally she wanted a great victory, the enemy commander’s head, and the coalition crushed before it even began.
Yet Dong Zhuo had never permitted a large army to move. He still did not trust her after all.
If I granted his demand…
Would sharing his bed change anything? She had always seethed watching women like Ho Jin—who had no ability yet gained military authority by coming and going from Dong Zhuo’s bedchamber.
Shake shake…
She could not. Dong Zhuo was certainly a great hero, yet she still did not want to earn trust with her body.
She would succeed by ability alone, no matter what.
It’s a trap…
Meanwhile Chosun had already infiltrated Xu Rong’s unit. She had slipped into the main force Xu Rong herself led and been stationed in the foothills for half a day already.
Yet the force on the riverbank was still pretending they had only just finished crossing. The moment Wang Guang charged them here, the main body would cut off his retreat.
Do Yeop? Are you there as well?
Liu Bei was clearly a member of the coalition. Moreover it was hard to believe Do Yeop would sit out a battle this important.
But if so, should she not stop the advance even now? In the worst case Wang Guang would suffer a crushing defeat. Only a handful, including the leadership, would survive.
Then what was she supposed to do here?
Waaaa!!!
Exactly as Xu Rong predicted, Wang Guang pushed in without delay. Han Hao, too, was so intoxicated by the thought that victory was nearly theirs that her judgment had failed.
“Foolish…”
Xu Rong sneered at Wang Guang. When half his force had passed through the foothills, she gave the order to the main body waiting to sortie.
“Now. Encircle them.”
Waaaa!
Xu Rong’s main force immediately burst from the foothills to seize Wang Guang’s rear. And then—
Waaaa!!!
From the vast reed field another unidentified force of about a thousand suddenly appeared, advancing to strike Xu Rong’s rear.
“What are those?”
“I-I do not know either. There was no sign of Wang Guang dividing his forces.”
“…”
So they were a completely independent force? Yet from their direction their target was clearly her own army.
“We have been had.”
“What do you mean, Lord Xu?”
“It means they knew in advance that I would use an ambush. They even knew when, and are trying to reverse-encircle us.”
“…”
Xu Rong explained with perfect calm just how deep a crisis they had fallen into. Her subordinate officers, however, were seized by collective terror.
“Th-then what do we do?”
“Do not worry. The enemy is only about a thousand. Judging by their completely ununified armor and weapons, they were hastily scraped together—”
Yet Xu Rong could not finish the sentence. From the enemy’s condition it was clear they were green troops who had only just prepared for battle, exactly as she thought.
But their perfectly coordinated movement was never that of beginners. No—even if one brought any general, one could not move troops with such uncanny skill.
A true master recognizes another true master. The opponent was by no means inferior to Xu Rong.
Her gaze soon fixed on the center of the enemy force: a man flanked by two soldiers carrying the army banner, carefully surveying the battlefield with a face full of resolve, eyes gleaming with a light that sent chills just to look at.
Had the coalition possessed such a creature?