09. Three Men and Women (2)
09. Three Men and Women (2)
Sparring with Lu Bu.
Can you really call it 'sparring' when you're just getting one-sidedly beaten up?
If you simply calculate our martial prowess, she and I have equal strength. But for some reason, even without the Painted Halberd that boosts martial prowess, I was being pushed back one-sidedly.
"You're like a bland soup without any salt."
Lu Bu tapped my head with her wooden sword with a tuk-tuk.
At this rate, my handsome head is going to get cracked open.
Just how many times had I been hit? I couldn't even count them anymore.
"You've never fought a proper martial artist before, have you? You've got strength and talent to spare, but you don't know how to use them."
Lu Bu scratched her head in annoyance.
Her bright blonde hair swayed as she moved.
Seeing that I wasn't improving at all, she stared at me with red eyes full of irritation.
"You'd need to roll around on a battlefield for a few years to be even remotely useful."
"Don't tell me you're planning to take me to Bing Province?"
"That would be great. It's a real hellhole there. You wouldn't lack for real combat experience."
Countless swarming bandits and barbarians.
On top of that, the brutal cold of the north tests the limits of human endurance to the extreme.
Lu Bu described life in Bing Province.
It must be terrible, seeing as even she, the Unrivaled Under Heaven, made a face of pure disgust.
"I'd rather not be under an incompetent guy like the Inspector of Bing Province."
"Me neither."
Lu Bu lightly agreed with my words.
Perhaps she had always thought the same, as she nodded at my insult toward the Inspector of Bing Province.
"Then why are you under him?"
"You wouldn't know, being a Luoyang softie, but there aren't many places that would hire an ignorant country girl like me. Especially in these difficult, chaotic times. If I hadn't learned martial arts... I would've been dragged off to some filthy brothel, forced to flash cheap smiles and become a plaything for men."
Her voice was filled with deep contempt.
Perhaps it was because she had seen so many such cases until now.
She hated and loathed weakness. And she was also afraid of becoming weak.
In chaotic times, there is no space for the weak to live. For her, having lived on the frontier stained by the law of the jungle, strength was nothing less than a method of survival.
"You always have to be strong. You can't show weakness. Because being weak is a sin. If you're weak, no one will acknowledge you."
She would eventually betray her foster father, the Inspector of Bing Province Ding Yuan, and submit to Dong Zhuo, who became the Chancellor of State.
I felt like I understood the reason.
Because Ding Yuan was the weak one and Dong Zhuo was the strong one. To Lu Bu, who revered power and strength, Ding Yuan, being weaker than Dong Zhuo, was nothing more than a weakling to be culled.
"So you want to be a strong person who wins and wins for their whole life? That's an incredibly arrogant belief."
"If you lose, it's over. It's a chaotic age that doesn't acknowledge the weak or the losers, so it can't be helped."
I nodded at Lu Bu's words.
I was affirming her belief.
There wasn't a single thing wrong with what she said. Because I, too, had painfully experienced this society of the law of the jungle here in Luoyang.
I want to remain a strong person forever.
I felt like I understood why she held such a belief. Because strength was the only form of justice she knew, and her way of surviving.
"I get what you mean."
I held out my hand to Lu Bu.
Then, Lu Bu pulled my hand and helped me stand up.
Diaochan, the foster daughter of the Minister of Education Wang Yun, was entertaining a distinguished guest.
She was a person so beautiful you couldn't take your eyes off her.
Beautiful black hair like ebony, and red eyes shining like jewels. On top of that, skin without a single blemish, like pure white perennial snow.
Wouldn't the term 'peerless beauty' be meant for her? When she appeared at the mansion, all the men couldn't help but cast their gazes at her.
"The Minister... the Gate Guard Colonel-nim? He's busy right now. I think he's sparring with a warrior in the garden."
"Sparring with a warrior?"
I had just stopped by to see his face.
But at the words of the maid saying he was busy, the woman had no choice but to nod and step back.
If he's busy, it can't be helped.
Today isn't the only day. I can just meet him somewhere else someday.
Because if I show that I'm trying too hard to meet him, and end up causing some strange misunderstanding later, that would be troublesome. Yes, very troublesome. Especially for me.
"The warrior isn't a woman, is she?"
The woman asked while downing her drink.
It was just a half-joke.
But perhaps the stone thrown in jest hit a frog's head, as Diaochan nodded at the woman's question.
"Yes! I don't know where she came from, but she was an incredibly beautiful person. Where on earth could someone like that have come from? She looked very intimate with the Minister."
[Kkadeuk.
The small wine cup the woman was holding was crushed in her grip.
Her grip strength was quite impressive.
As the shards of the wine cup fell with a hududuk, wine dripped down ttuk-ttuk between her fingers.]
"Oh my, are you okay? Something to wipe it with... No, first of all, are you hurt?!"
"I'm fine. I just accidentally put too much strength into it."
The woman's eyes sank coldly.
Then she stood up from her seat.
She had waited for a long time, but the Minister of Education Wang Yun did not come. Since she had come purely to meet him, there was no reason to stay here any longer.
"What is that warrior's name?"
"I'm not quite sure about that..."
At Diaochan's answer, the woman shrugged.
It was behavior unlike her.
While apologizing for accidentally breaking the wine cup, she asked Diaochan for a glass of cold water.
Her head suddenly felt hot.
Her head became confused by emotions she couldn't even understand herself.
What kind of disgraceful behavior is this? To think I was such a petty person who couldn't even handle my own emotions. I felt deeply ashamed of myself.
All the high-ranking officials discussed the purge of the Ten Eunuchs.
Those under the influence of General-in-Chief He Jin emphasized holding them responsible, claiming that the damage caused by the Black Mountain Bandits, who were protected by the Ten Eunuchs, raiding the Mengjin area was severe.
"The Ten Eunuchs are a group that gnaws away at the country!"
"They must all be severely punished. Only then can the Han Dynasty preserve its state altars!"
However, the Imperial Court rejected the high-ranking officials' memorials.
For a long time, the politics of the Han Dynasty had been swayed by eunuchs. Therefore, the Imperial Court, as the existing power, feared the changes that would occur after the Ten Eunuchs were eliminated and dared not accept the memorials.
He Jin began to feel anxious.
Because mobilizing the army of the Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, disguised as Black Mountain Bandits, to raid the Luoyang area was a huge gamble even for him.
If he couldn't gain any benefit even after taking such a risk, it would be a disaster.
"What on earth are they doing!"
He Jin stormed out of the palace gate.
The high-ranking officials, the scholars under them, and even the children of noble families in the General-in-Chief's Office.
They were all useless.
How could he keep people by his side who couldn't even properly deal with a single eunuch! He Jin couldn't help but lose his temper at the existence of the Ten Eunuchs, who kept hanging on even though they looked like they were about to collapse.
"The sick Emperor is dead, and my nephew has ascended as the new Emperor. What is there to hesitate about now! My younger sister has now become the Empress Dowager of the Han Dynasty, and the nephew I've cherished and raised since he was a child has become the Emperor! I, General-in-Chief He Jin, have become the highest authority responsible for the Han Dynasty's state altars!"
Emperor Ling passed away, and the young prince ascended the throne.
There is nothing left to fear.
The Ten Eunuchs, that group of eunuchs?
Those bastards are nothing more than guys who used to stick to the previous Emperor's ass and wipe it.
The Emperor who backed them is dead.
There is no longer anyone to protect them, and there is no barrier that can stop this anger of He Jin.
"Ready the troops! I will lead the Imperial Army myself, break down the palace gates, drag out the Ten Eunuchs who must be trembling in the inner palace, and cut off their heads!"
Now the time for raising an army has come.
Now, with the atmosphere chaotic due to the new Emperor, I will launch a surprise attack on the Imperial Palace and finish off the Ten Eunuchs.
There's no need to worry about future trouble.
My nephew is the Emperor, and my sister is the Empress Dowager, so what is there to fear? I've also won over all the imperial officials who will serve as public opinion, so there is nothing to fear.
"General-in-Chief, someone has come from the palace."
"Who did they say it was? Tell them I don't want to meet anyone right now."
"It is a court lady sent by the Empress Dowager."
"The Empress Dowager?"
He Jin raised his head at the officer's report.
Has the Empress Dowager finally made a decision?
If the Empress Dowager orders the purge of the Ten Eunuchs herself, he will have obtained the most solid justification in the world.
He brightened up greatly at that expectation.
He tried to stand up from his seat to go to the Empress Dowager's palace immediately and urge the purge of the Ten Eunuchs again.
"The army is already assembled. General-in-Chief, you must break down the palace gates right now, clearly state the crimes of the Ten Eunuchs, and behead them."
General of the Central Army Yuan Shao strongly requested.
He Jin made a sour face at her straightforward words.
Wasn't it she who planned to mobilize the Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan, to raid Luoyang?
He Jin found Yuan Shao very uncomfortable.
He was afraid of that viciousness that regarded the sacrifice of the small as nothing for the sake of achieving a goal.
"We may be a bit distant now, but the Empress Dowager is my younger sister whom I've raised since she was a baby. If I go myself, explain my decision, and ask for her participation in the uprising, she will surely follow. So don't worry about anything."
Leading an army and breaking into the Imperial Palace was something He Jin couldn't help but be cautious about.
He worried about the time after he seized power.
He didn't want to bear the stigma of being a traitor who impudently led troops into the Imperial Palace. He Jin didn't have a bold enough personality to take on such a stigma himself.
"I will prepare the escort."
He Jin shook his head at the words of the Buguo Zhang Wu Kuang.
Is there even a need to organize a separate escort? Just taking the personal guard should be enough.
Because he had filled the Imperial Guard of the Empress Dowager's palace with his own confidants, He Jin rejected Wu Kuang's suggestion.
"The Ten Eunuchs must be targeting the General-in-Chief."
Currently, the Ten Eunuchs have had all their power stripped by He Jin and are hiding in the shadow of Empress Dowager He, grinding their teeth.
You never know when they might do something unexpected.
Yuan Shao, remembering what the Gate Guard Colonel Lee Seong-hwi had said, advised He Jin to take Wu Kuang and the escort because it was ominous.
But He Jin didn't listen.
Because he thought that if he took a bunch of soldiers carrying spears and swords, the palace people would think that he was greatly afraid of the Ten Eunuchs.
"Geu-heum! I will speak with you all again after I return from the Empress Dowager's palace. Don't worry, the martial officers escorting me are highly skilled, so what could possibly happen to me?"
He Jin set out for the Imperial Palace with his personal guard.
Saying that going to the Empress Dowager's palace was nothing more than a stroll, he left the General-in-Chief's Office and headed for the Empress Dowager's palace where Empress Dowager He resided.
Having left like that, He Jin would never be able to enter the General-in-Chief's Office again. His life would be ended at Jiade Hall by the Director of the Imperial Workshop Ju Mu, who had prepared assassins in advance, and the eunuchs carrying spears and swords.
And starting with his death (Rebellion of the Ten Eunuchs), the era of the warlords, where heroes would compete for hegemony over the world, would begin in earnest.