04. Struggling to Prevent the Worst (3)
04. Struggling to Prevent the Worst (3)
Luoyang is like a detonator that could go off at any moment.
What kind of incident will break out today?
My heart was pounding so hard that I couldn't even sleep properly.
"Long live Taiping Dao! Long live the General of Heaven!!"
"Taiping Dao is not dead. The yellow sky will rise again someday!"
Zhang Jiao died five years ago.
However, the sparks sown by the Yellow Turban Rebels still remained in the hearts of the people.
The flames that had once burned the country were still alive, developing into a fire demon that would consume the Han Dynasty.
The people gathered and wrapped yellow headbands around their heads.
They shouted the names of the cult leader Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turban Rebels loudly, spitting out curses that the Han Dynasty would one day perish.
"What are you doing! Catch those bastards right now!"
"They are remnants of the Yellow Turban Rebels. Catch them and uncover who is behind this!"
The name of the Yellow Turban Rebels was back on the chopping block.
This happened in the middle of the Luoyang city streets, of all places.
Even after the Yellow Turban Rebellion ended, the people, still in dire poverty and difficult circumstances, voiced their condemnation of the Han Dynasty, claiming that the Yellow Turban Rebels were better.
'It looks like a planned action, though...'
I stepped on the man wearing the yellow headband.
With his head pressed firmly under my foot, I watched the soldiers capture the people who claimed to be Yellow Turban Rebels.
"Argh!"
"Dirty government troops!"
There were about 300 people who claimed to be Yellow Turban Rebels.
They were a diverse group, regardless of age or gender. Judging by appearances, it seemed like the citizens of Luoyang, exhausted by the cost of living, had voiced their dissent out of desperation.
"Colonel-nim."
"Take them all into custody. Report that there was a brief disturbance in Luoyang."
"Yes."
I removed my foot from the man's head.
Then, the military officers and soldiers escorted all the people wearing yellow headbands away, and the disturbance that had occurred seemed to settle down just like that.
"You look very busy?"
A large man approached.
He had a menacing look, looking like a mountain bandit at first glance.
However, because he was wearing expensive clothes that made him look like a young nobleman, I didn't mobilize my subordinates to stop him.
"What is it? I'm busy with official duties."
"So it seems. I never expected the Yellow Turban Rebels to be running wild in Luoyang again."
The man burst into hearty laughter.
Someone is dying of trouble because of a sudden incident, yet here he is, laughing leisurely as if he's not a person involved in public office.
This is the sorrow of a civil servant.
Isn't a civil servant a job where you only get cursed at by the public even if you work hard?
Besides, this is the end of the Han Dynasty.
Luoyang military officers were often pointed at by the people as dogs of the corrupt court, and now it had become difficult to even walk down the street alone.
"You seem quite confident in your skills."
"Do I look that way?"
The man asked at my words.
To that question, I nodded and pointed at the man's expensive clothes.
"You must be from out of town, so you might not know, but if you wear such expensive clothes in Luoyang, you're likely to run into angry bandits. They'll take everything, from your underwear to your trinkets."
"Hahahaha!"
The man burst into loud laughter at my words.
He laughed so hard his face turned beet red.
"I will be careful. I shall not forget the Colonel's teaching."
"By the way, who are you? Judging by your accent, you seem to be from Yan Province. If you just wore a yellow headband, you'd look exactly like a Yellow Turban Rebel."
"It would be best if you just thought of me as someone from the Xiahou clan. Oh, look at me! I came to pick up our cute young lady."
The giant who identified himself as being from the Xiahou clan.
With his well-trained arms crossed, he waited for someone to come out of the gate I was in charge of.
A moment later,
A petite woman wearing an official uniform that was so big it looked loose came out, wearing a sword.
"Mengde!"
Beautiful black hair like the night sky.
Along with red eyes that shone bewitchingly.
The beautiful woman who would stand out at a glance even among a crowd as large as clouds was the person the man from the Xiahou clan was looking for.
"What brings you here..."
The woman raised her head.
She looked back and forth between me and the man from the Xiahou clan, then focused her gaze on me.
"Hahat! I was waiting with this fellow who looks like a gatekeeper. He's a pretty decent guy, and good with his words too."
"Yuanrang, you didn't say anything unnecessary, did you?"
"Of course!"
Mengde. And Yuanrang.
I realized that the woman in front of me was the famous Cao Cao, and the man who identified himself as being from the Xiahou clan was Xiahou Dun.
No wonder she looked familiar.
Isn't she one of the three main heroines of the dating sim Three Kingdoms, along with Liu Bei and Yuan Shao?
By the way, she looks a bit younger than the images I saw...
Was it because it started not long after the Yellow Turban Rebellion ended?
Cao Cao had a quite young appearance.
"You are the Colonel of the Vanguard."
"Yes, Gate Guard Colonel. Nice to meet you. I am Cao Cao, Colonel of the Vanguard."
I exchanged introductions and greetings with Cao Cao.
Afterwards, Xiahou Dun, who was talking to Cao Cao, looked at me and made an expression full of embarrassment.
"Ah, that time...! The one I saw yesterday...!!"
Just before Xiahou Dun could shout something at me,
Cao Cao tapped Xiahou Dun's abdomen with her sword hilt to calm him down.
What was he trying to say?
When Cao Cao stopped him with an angry expression, Xiahou Dun shut his mouth and stepped back, making a hmph, hmph sound.
"Ahem!"
Wasn't he clearly friendly to me?
Ever since he talked to Cao Cao, he treated me as if I were a hostile person.
The change was too blatant, I should say.
It seemed like he was showing discomfort because I was in a position that followed imperial officials.
"Benchu... I heard you spoke with the General of the Central Army at the General-in-Chief's Office."
"Yes, there were things to discuss."
"I see."
Cao Cao nodded.
While she looked convinced, on the other hand, she seemed to be thinking, 'I desperately want to know what that conversation was about!'
Of course, that might be my misunderstanding,
but at my words that I had seen Yuan Shao, it seemed like there was a momentary change in Cao Cao's face.
"However, the atmosphere in the streets is chaotic."
Cao Cao, who was observing the city streets, said.
The expressions of terrified people, and even the citizens trying to leave the place in a hurry. Someone without intuition might have just dismissed it, but Cao Cao, who had a quick eye, grasped the change at once.
"The Yellow Turban Rebel remnants were running wild."
"Yellow Turban Rebels?"
Cao Cao raised her head at Xiahou Dun's words.
It seems she never imagined that such a disturbance would have occurred in the Luoyang city streets, and at the gate leading to the Imperial Palace at that.
"Thanks to that, I've become busy."
I said, scratching the back of my head.
Is this what you call the sorrow of a middle-ranking civil servant?
Because when a big incident breaks out, I had to write and submit detailed reports from A to Z.
From the statements of witnesses to the detailed information of the culprits. As someone who experienced the incident directly on the scene, the work I have to do today is giving me a headache.
"Then, take care."
Cao Cao bowed her head.
Is it because our ranks are similar?
Cao Cao maintained a polite demeanor and did not show any weaknesses until the end.
When she turned her back with Xiahou Dun,
Cao Cao turned her head again and threw a question at me as I was heading to the gate.
"What do you think about the Yellow Turban Rebels?"
Cao Cao asked.
I answered at that.
"No matter what, they are ultimately enemies of the court, aren't they? As a military officer who eats the government salary, I think it's a job that naturally must be handled. And I don't particularly feel any pangs of conscience."
I worked in Luoyang for two years.
The first things I lost after falling into this world were the cheapest and most worthless emotions: 'sympathy', 'pity', and 'conscience'.
For my survival,
they were things I could rightfully discard.
"I see, understood."
Perhaps satisfied with my answer,
Cao Cao moved her steps again with Xiahou Dun, and we parted ways.
Of all days, today is the day I'm on duty.
I ended up spending the dark night at the Colonel's Office.
While reading various books by candlelight, I stretched my arms out long and yawned.
Damn it, duty again.
It felt like just yesterday I was serving as a duty NCO in the army.
"Then I will leave the office now."
"Take care."
As everyone left the office one by one,
I ended up staying with a few Colonels and night-duty soldiers.
Naturally, I ended up talking with them.
It seems that even in the Three Kingdoms era, there's nothing better than shooting the breeze to pass the time quickly.
What they heard.
What they were told by someone.
They gathered in small groups and spent time sharing trivial stories.
"I heard His Majesty the Emperor's condition is very serious? This is what my friend heard."
"Surely Colonel Pang's friend..."
"Yes, he's a friend working at the Imperial Medical Bureau, so it must be reliable information. We're from the same hometown, and he only told me. They say the Imperial Medical Bureau is on emergency alert because his condition is worsening day by day."
I thought they were just extras until now.
My ears perked up at the conversation of the Colonels who were delivering quite useful information.
Now, the life of Emperor Ling, Liu Hong, is over.
And after that, Empress He will use the power of her brother He Jin to enthrone her son, Liu Bian, and the chaotic era will begin in earnest.
"Gate Guard Colonel-nim, is something wrong?"
As I, who was joining the conversation, kept my mouth shut, the Colonels started to watch my reaction.
Come to think of it, I was the highest-ranking superior here. When the superior made a serious expression, the Colonels were busy watching out, afraid they might get scolded.
"I was thinking about whether I should go down to the countryside and farm."
"Haha! What kind of farming would you do, Colonel... Just meet a daughter from a wealthy noble family and live as a kept man, that's the best."
He says something very sharp.
I want to break that cheeky mouth with my own hands.
"Then the successor..."
"Naturally, it will be the eldest Prince, who is the nephew of General-in-Chief He Jin and the son of Her Majesty the Empress."
We were all thinking that.
Although I already know the scenario, judging by the fact that the Colonels were also speaking with confident voices, it seemed almost certain.
It's the backing of the Empress and the General-in-Chief, no less.
It would be strange if he weren't called the next Emperor while receiving such backing.
The problem is,
the result that General-in-Chief He Jin, who enthroned the young Emperor, will wield absolute power and further provoke the cornered Ten Eunuchs.
'It seems the butcher who used to slice meat at the butcher shop lost his mind after tasting the sweetness of power. If he was going to die, he should have just died with a knife in his mouth alone, but why did he have to leave such a huge pile of shit behind before dying...'
I've been feeling a sense of déjà vu lately.
I am worried that the plan to stop the atrocities of the General-in-Chief and the Ten Eunuchs' faction through imperial officials might go wrong.
A major event that pierces through the Three Kingdoms.
Perhaps the appearance of the great warlord Dong Zhuo from Xiliang might be an inevitable certainty.
However, I chose the foolish recklessness to stop it.
BAM!!
"It's a big problem!"
The door opened violently and a military officer came in.
The military officer who ran in urgently, forgetting even that his helmet had fallen to the floor and was rolling around, shouted in a desperate voice.
"As, assassins! Ah, an ambush... The Imperial Palace has been turned upside down! We must close the gates and issue an emergency order immediately!!"
CRASH!!
At the military officer's words, the military officers who were sitting together shooting the breeze jumped up.
"Fucking hell!"
"I was on vacation tomorrow!"
It happened.
The Colonels who had worked in the palace for a long time sensed a crisis piercing their temples.