The Crouching Dragon (3)
Zhuge Gui, father of Zhuge Jin, Zhuge Liang, and Zhuge Jun, had breathed his last around the year 187, which meant the one leading the Zhuge family now could only be Zhuge Jin, the eldest, born to the household relatively early.
The second child, Zhuge Liang, was still only eleven; as for the third, Zhuge Jun, born of the stepmother, he hardly even bore mentioning.
Zhuge Liang had lost both father and mother at a tender age and been left an orphan, yet she paid it no mind in the least. Under her stepmother's roof, she simply honed her studies in silence and prepared for the future.
Not long after the General-in-Chief's messenger departed, an envoy sent by Tao Qian, the Inspector of Xuzhou, likewise came calling at Yangdu County, where the Zhuge family made their home.
"The Inspector of Xuzhou wishes to make great use of you."
"...Give me a little time to consider."
"Of course."
Hearing Zhuge Jin's reply, the envoy offered a brief bow.
"Then I shall look forward to a favorable answer."
"...Yes."
The moment Tao Qian's envoy withdrew, the members of the Zhuge household standing at Zhuge Jin's side spoke up carefully.
"What will you do, my lady?"
"Well, now. What would be for the best..."
Just as Zhuge Jin sank into deliberation, a familiar voice drifted over from beside her.
"You're not thinking of going over to Tao Qian, are you?"
It was her darling little sister, asking with what sounded like genuine puzzlement.
"You know perfectly well what the rumors about Tao Qian have been like lately."
"..."
Just as Zhuge Liang said, the reputation of Tao Qian, who presently ruled Xuzhou, was none too kind. He kept a pack of flattering small men close at hand, and even the punishments he handed down for crimes were wanting in fairness, so the word going around was one of disappointment — was that truly the same Tao Qian who had once personally crushed a rebellion in Xiliang? Indeed, the people, unable to endure his oppression any longer, had risen up en masse as great bands of bandits; how he stood in the people's hearts was plain as day.
"Even if you accepted this offer, you'd never receive proper treatment. You'd simply end up tucked away in some corner, watching everyone's face."
"...And you're saying the General-in-Chief would be any different?"
"Yes."
When Zhuge Jin asked, Zhuge Liang answered on the spot, as though there were nothing worth pondering.
"I sent a servant to a merchant in our village to ask around. Nearly all of those the General-in-Chief has invited are noble houses of great name."
From what she'd heard, he had called in a powerful magnate family from the Wu Commandery region of Gangdong, and likewise a celebrated house of Jing Province with which one of his own kin was soon to be joined.
"The General-in-Chief, for his part, handpicked the noble families who will reside in Chang'an. He would hardly seat, right beside Chang'an, households he intended to treat however he pleased, would he?"
"Then do you also know why our family ended up on that list?"
"Oh, that?"
At the question, Zhuge Liang smiled — just a shade infuriatingly.
"I haven't the faintest idea."
"..."
"If it's really weighing on you, why not simply ask the General-in-Chief yourself?"
"...All right. Let's do that."
Even if they received the same cold treatment there, Sili Province had to be better than Xuzhou. She knew it from having watched Xuzhou with her own eyes: Tao Qian was nothing more than an old man long since blinded by desire. Rather than serve such a man, it would be far better to entrust themselves to the General-in-Chief, in whom at least some faint possibility still remained.
The Zhuge family's decision came swiftly.
To reach Sili Province from Langya State in Xu Province, one had in the end to pass through Yanzhou — and Yanzhou's roads were none too dangerous these days, Cao Cao having recently swept the bandits out on a massive scale. Compared against other noble houses, the Zhuge family was small enough in scale to go largely unnoticed, and with nothing but simple bundles in hand, they arrived in Sili Province in short order.
"...Whoa."
"..."
"Doesn't the city look even bigger than it did when I was a child?"
Zhuge Jin marveled at the sight of a Luoyang that seemed, somehow, transformed. The dark, dreary air she remembered hanging over the city back then had vanished without a trace; now nothing met the eye but the bustling vigor of its people.
"If it's this fine, those rumors have to be rubbish. I'd say we've nothing to worry about."
Relief showed plainly on Zhuge Jin's face. Zhuge Liang watched her sister for a moment, then blurted out:
"There is one surefire way to know for certain whether Luoyang is truly a good place to live."
"Hm? And what's that?"
"..."
Asked, Zhuge Liang — without a flicker of hesitation — dropped the bundle she was carrying right onto the middle of the street.
"L-Liang? That's—"
"Shh. This is a critical moment."
"No, what I mean is—"
"I'm telling you, it really is critical?"
"..."
Wait. Isn't that my money?
Loosening her pouch to check for herself, Zhuge Jin found that the coin within had dwindled somewhat. No wonder her hip had felt a touch lighter of late — her little sister had, at some point, quietly helped herself to it.
Being gifted is all well and good, but who knew that list of talents included picking pockets...
Zhuge Jin resolved, then and there, to do her utmost to keep her sister from sliding down some crooked path.
Zhuge Liang said:
"You see, when something lies dropped by the roadside, a person simply cannot help picking it up. Whether it holds any value, or none at all."
"Liang..."
The Zhuge sisters deliberately let their steps drag.
Perhaps the fault lay in a world grown far too harsh. Or perhaps in a child who had lost both parents before her time. Her little sister, brilliant far beyond her years, was so parched of feeling that no one would take her for a girl who had only just passed her tenth birthday.
Perhaps that, too, was why Zhuge Jin could never quite bring herself to be stern with her sisters.
Zhuge Jin asked, worried:
"But what if someone really does sneak off with it?"
"Then we simply kick up a fuss, shouting 'Thief!' in every direction. Wouldn't that do?"
"..."
Watching that, though... maybe it's less the times than the temperament she was simply born with.
The purse Zhuge Liang had dropped on purpose still lay exactly where it had fallen, even after the sisters had walked a good distance away.
The townsfolk passing to and fro saw the money lying out in the open on the road, and did nothing whatsoever. They turned their heads for a single glance, then simply went on their way.
"It seems the rule of law truly is upheld to the letter here. Even I have never laid eyes on such a sight."
Watching the citizens refrain from even the pettiest of crimes, Zhuge Liang murmured the words flatly.
It was one of the laws born of the age when Qin Shi Huang had raised the rule of law as his banner. Picking up money dropped in the street was itself a crime — and yet, resisting that temptation was no easy thing.
Zhuge Jin looked at her sister and opened her mouth.
"...Can we go take it back now?"
"Yes. I've learned everything I wished to know by this point."
Zhuge Liang gave a nod and turned her gaze back toward the spot where the purse lay. Then she tilted her head.
"...Where did it go?"
In the few breaths their exchange had taken, the purse had vanished without a trace.
At the sight of a piece of her painstakingly hoarded fortune evaporating in a single instant, Zhuge Jin murmured, hollow-voiced:
"M-my money..."
"Now this is an unforeseen case that lies entirely outside my calculations..."
The kind elder sister who couldn't bring herself to scold, and the younger sister pondering something intently over a wholly unexpected turn of events. Just as the two struck their odd harmony in the middle of the street, a girl made her appearance.
"Hey. You dropped your money."
"R-really?!"
Hardly had the words reached her ears before Zhuge Jin whipped her head around toward the voice.
"Uh — yeah. Here."
At a reaction far more intense than she'd expected, the girl blinked her blood-red eyes, wearing a faintly dazed look. A weapon that seemed born for piercing and slashing hung slung across her shoulder, and a greatbow that looked heavy at a single glance dangled from her hip; with her empty hand, the girl held out the purse.
"It's pretty hefty, so you must be from a well-off household. Watch yourselves from now on."
"Yes! Thank you so much!"
"Right then. I'm off."
Hair red as blood gathered into twin tails, the girl ambled away, her steps loose and unhurried.
Zhuge Jin let out her relief in a long breath.
"Phew. Thank goodness. To think such a benevolent soul walks these streets..."
"...Sister. Do you have any idea who that was?"
"Why, a kind soul who so graciously returned what we dropped, of course."
"..."
Zhuge Liang held her silence. How, exactly, was she supposed to put this?
Her sister, who had taken up the headship of the clan at a remarkably young age, could sometimes show a meekness that bordered on the excessive. For a young head of household still short of twenty, the wall of the real world stood very high indeed.
Looking upon her pitiable sister, Zhuge Liang said:
"That was Lü Bu. Lü Bu Fengxian."
"Huh?"
Zhuge Jin's eyes flew wide at her sister's words.
"With a face that conspicuous, who else could it be but the Peerless Under Heaven herself?"
"...Well. True."
Only one general in all the land carried a weapon as unmistakable as the Sky Piercer Halberd — and, as if that were not enough, went about with an enormous bow slung at her hip besides.
Watching the crimson-haired general amble off down the street, swaying as she went, Zhuge Jin asked:
"But why does that matter?"
"You just seemed completely oblivious, so I thought I'd mention it."
"..."
Just as her sister said — her mind had been fixed on nothing but the money — Zhuge Jin fell silent.
"First things first, this money is confiscated."
"Oh. Certainly. Do as you please."
She didn't much care either way; after all, the coin had been quietly lifted in the first place for the sole purpose of dropping it into the street.
"..."
Zhuge Jin rapped her thoroughly unrepentant little sister on the head.
"Ow!"