Stirrings (1)
Time flowed on and on, until at last the day came when we simply had to leave.
At the main gate, I gave a small nod to Sima Fang, who had come out to see us off.
"Thank you for the fine treatment, despite how suddenly all of this came upon you. I won't forget what you've done."
"I merely did what had to be done."
Sima Fang answered without a single lapse in courtesy, his manner humble as ever.
"Have you spoken with Sima Yi?"
"I have."
Having answered me, Sima Fang stole a sidelong glance at Sima Yi, who stood nearby.
Sima Yi moved forward slowly, step by measured step, closing the distance between us.
I looked down at her and asked.
"So? What's your decision?"
"…"
She hesitated, letting the silence stretch for a moment, before finally opening her mouth.
"…I look forward to serving you."
"Good."
Her manner was nothing like the one she usually showed me. Evidently the situation itself was still deeply unfamiliar to her — for all that she was hailed as a prodigy of the age, she was, in the end, still a child.
"General-in-Chief. Might you take me along as well?"
While I was still watching Sima Yi, someone else addressed me. I raised my head to see who had spoken.
If Sima Yi grew taller all over and let her hair grow out far longer — would this be what she looked like?
Sima Lang, Sima Fang's eldest, bowed with perfect courtesy as my gaze came to rest on her, and continued.
"I had meant before long to take up office and devote myself to the affairs of state, so I thought to seize this chance to follow you, General-in-Chief. Would you grant me leave to do so?"
"Suits me fine. I look forward to it."
When talent of this caliber asks to enter one's service, there is no reason on earth to refuse.
As far as I could recall, Sima Lang was recorded as an official beloved by the common people — a civil officer of tragic fate, who had caught the plague herself and died while personally handing out medicine to its victims.
This time, I would have to pull some strings to make sure nothing of the sort came to pass.
Smiling, I turned to Sima Fang.
"Pass my regards along to the rest of your children as well."
"Is there any doubt I would?"
Sima Fu, the third child, and the rest of Sima Fang's offspring were at that very moment receiving their lessons inside the family residence. Ordinarily, Sima Fang would have called every one of them out to see us off, but when I declined — saying their studies mattered more — he had fixed me with a look of genuine being moved.
The Sima Fu sisters, at precisely the age when studying is at its most hateful, had apparently wanted to come see me off instead of their books…
Not a chance.
Go and devote yourselves to your learning, girls.
Grow up sharp and clever, and someday work like oxen for me.
That's the only way I get to live a little more comfortably, isn't it?
And so I returned to Luoyang bearing two of the talents who would one day be known as the Eight Da of Sima.
We quickened our pace on the road back to Luoyang. The reason was simple: any more aimless dallying, and I'd be catching another earful the moment I got home.
Lü Bu I could let slide — all that muscle, and she palms nearly everything off onto her subordinate officers — but Jia Xu was a precious talent with a mountain of work waiting for her.
Even so, I had brought Jia Xu along for exactly one reason. If some great crisis broke while I was out roaming, the only souls who could sketch the whole board for me were Jia Xu and Xun You. And between the two, I had chosen Jia Xu, with her genius for scheming.
And in practice, traveling at her side — tossing out questions, harvesting answers — had proven genuinely entertaining.
Yes. Let's put one to Sima Yi this time.
I turned my gaze to Sima Yi, who had mounted up beside Sima Lang nearby.
"Sima Yi."
"…What is it?"
At some point she had already snapped back to her usual brusque tone. It was far too late in the day to start policing her manner of speech — not with the likes of Lü Bu around — so I let it pass without comment and put the question to her.
"You're aware of the all-out war raging between the White Horse General Gongsun Zan and Han Fu, Governor of Jizhou?"
"Yes. I've heard of it."
"How do you expect that war to end?"
It was a question I had once put to Jia Xu as well, and she, riding close by, looked curious to hear what answer Sima Yi would give.
At my question, Sima Yi answered on the spot, as though deliberation were beneath her.
"One of two outcomes."
"…"
"Either Gongsun Zan devours him as he stands, or he's absorbed by some other warlord who's been biding his time."
She recited the possibilities in a perfectly level voice.
"If it's the latter, then I'd wager the Administrator of Bohai — Yuan Shao — is the one who takes Jizhou."
"And why do you think so?"
"I've heard it said that Governor Han Fu is weak of character and timid by nature. If that's true, then with nothing more than gentle coaxing — a threat folded in here and there — he's exactly the sort to hand over all of Jizhou on a silver platter."
From rumor alone, from what merely drifted about the realm, Sima Yi had rendered a spot-on assessment of Han Fu.
"From where Han Fu stands, Gongsun Zan, the man marching on him, is an enemy — while Yuan Shao is at the very least an ally dwelling in the same land…"
Her voice trailed off for a moment, and then Sima Yi broke into an impish smile.
"He'll let himself be swallowed by Yuan Shao without a shred of suspicion."
"Oh."
I couldn't help marveling at her conjecture. What Sima Yi had just laid out was, to the letter, a summary of the process by which Yuan Shao devoured Jizhou in the original history.
"Impressive."
"That much is only natural."
That was what she said — while her face glowed with unmistakable pride. Watching her, I let slip a quiet chuckle.
"…?"
Lü Bu — who knew only two settings, charge or retreat — wore an expression of pure bafflement.
Right. For Lü Bu, trusting instinct beats grinding the gears over anything ambiguous.
Stay exactly the way you are, please.
Nanpi County, Bohai Commandery, Jizhou.
The seat of the Administrator of Bohai.
There, a woman sat reading through reports, her expression calm and impassive.
The recent war between Gongsun Zan and Han Fu that had erupted within Jizhou. Gongsun Zan's pretext for making war on Han Fu was a simple one.
— I shall borrow the road for but a short while, to drive out the traitors of Luoyang and attend upon Her Majesty the Empress.
Waving a justification that amounted to little more than a child's tantrum, Gongsun Zan had led his army across Han Fu's borders without so much as a by-your-leave.
Caught off guard, Han Fu scrambled to assemble a defensive force and met Gongsun Zan's army in the field.
Contrary to everyone's expectation that he would crumble before Gongsun Zan in short order, Han Fu fought with unexpected mettle, blunting Gongsun Zan's offensives again and again. It seemed a first-rate military officer served under him.
But no matter how brilliant a commander might be, when the quality of the soldiers themselves gaped that wide, the most he could manage was to stall for time. Han Fu, who had let military training slide ever since digging himself into Jizhou, was never going to overcome Gongsun Zan's elite army.
Given time, defeat at Gongsun Zan's hands was a foregone conclusion. That their position was dire, Han Fu and the civil officials beneath him alike surely understood.
Sooner or later, Han Fu's camp would make a move. And that move, in all likelihood, would be…
"My lady."
Just as the woman's thoughts were carrying her forward, a civil official arrived and offered a respectful bow.
"An envoy from Han Fu, Governor of Jizhou, has arrived."
"…Tell them I shall receive them shortly. Have them wait."
"As you command."
With her answer received, the official withdrew at an unhurried pace.
The woman rose from her seat, ran a quick check that nothing about her appearance was amiss, and set off. In time with her steps, the golden hair braided elegantly down her back swayed gently from side to side.
"It has been some time, General."
"…"
The woman — Yuan Shao — greeted Han Fu's envoy without a word, her bearing coldly imperious.
The man who had come as envoy paid her manner no mind whatsoever and, as though there were no time to waste, went straight to the heart of the matter.
"My lord requests reinforcements to stand against the lawless horde of Gongsun Zan."
"Reinforcements, you say…"
Letting the words hang, Yuan Shao skewered the envoy with an emotionless stare.
"Were we ever so close as to send one another reinforcements?"
"…"
The envoy, lacking the nerve to meet the frost-sharp glint of her eyes, bowed his head deep.
"Governor Han Fu, so wary of me, cut off every last bit of support that had been flowing my way."
"That is…"
In truth, Han Fu had feared Yuan Shao's power swelling beyond the reach of his influence. With her renown climbing by the day and every manner of talent flocking to her banner, it was hardly a charge that could be flatly denied. And so Han Fu had severed every shipment of provisions bound for her, meaning to strangle her strength slowly.
Yuan Shao continued in an even voice.
"Had we been unable to lean on our family's aid, we would have had no choice but to disband our army then and there."
"…"
"Let me ask you once more. Were we truly so close as to send one another reinforcements?"
To Yuan Shao's question, the envoy answered with difficulty.
"…If the Governor of Jizhou falls, General, then you are next."
Considering Gongsun Zan's ambitions, it was no impossible scenario. Yet even in the face of the envoy's veiled threat, Yuan Shao's expression did not so much as flicker.
"That is not yours to worry about."
"…"
Did she have some hidden card to play? A quiet confidence that she could repel even Gongsun Zan's invasion showed through Yuan Shao.
In the end, it was Han Fu who stood to lose — and so the envoy, choosing his words, had no choice but to speak.
"…Then what must we do, for you to grant us reinforcements?"
"The condition I set is one thing only."
Yuan Shao let a single word pass her lips.
"Vassalage."
At the word that left her mouth, the envoy's composure shattered — he forgot even his courtesies, his face going white with alarm.
"Swear fealty to me, and I promise you protection — even from that White Horse General."
As she spoke, Yuan Shao's golden eyes brimmed full with an emotion no one could name.