Xiangyang (6)
I received word that Huang Zu, the commander defending Fancheng, had surrendered to us. Apparently, the moment he learned that Xiangyang Castle had fallen, he threw open his own gates. Quick to read a situation—I liked that. I had half feared he would cry, "I shall avenge my lord!" and fight to the bitter end.
Xiangyang and Fancheng stood so close together that Huang Zu's arrival did not take long. Before long, I looked down at the general who had come before me and spoke.
"Are you Huang Zu?"
"Th-that is correct!"
The moment Huang Zu reached Xiangyang Castle and laid eyes on me, he had flung his head down and prostrated himself outright—the bearing of a man who had discarded his pride at the door.
I remarked offhandedly to Huang Zu, who was breaking into a cold sweat while stealing glances at my face. "I hear that some days ago, you gave orders to launch a night raid against my soldiers..."
"...That was..."
Huang Zu trailed off, groping for words, utterly at a loss for what to do with himself. Cold sweat poured down him as though it were raining; it was nearly pitiable to watch.
"...Well, when you meet as enemies on a field of battle, that much can't be helped."
Huang Zu held his tongue.
"I shall not hold you accountable for it."
Huang Zu had only done his utmost to hold Fancheng on Liu Biao's orders. Were I to take his head as payment for it, no one would ever surrender to me again. 'They say the General-in-Chief doesn't spare even those who lay down their arms?''If I die whether I resist or submit, then I may as well fight to the very last!' Rumors to that effect would spread far and wide, and they would drag at my ankles for years to come.
And if I meant to behead everyone who had ever wronged me, the list would hardly stop at one or two names. There were the Black Mountain Bandits who had tormented me without end during my days in Bing Province, to say nothing of Sun Jian's family and Liu Yu, both of whom had once stood against me at Hulao Pass. Even the state of Chu, which toppled the unified empire of Qin and could fairly be said to have all but conquered the realm within a mere three years.
I found myself recalling one of the reasons the Chu of Xiang Yu, the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, lost the Chu-Han Contention and vanished into the back pages of history: repaying blood with blood. A method like that does nothing but spill all the more of it.
At my words, a flicker of relief crossed Huang Zu's face. Watching him, I went on. "In return, however, you will carry out whatever duties I assign you with your utmost effort. Am I understood?"
"I am deeply grateful for the General-in-Chief's mercy!"
Bowing lower still, Huang Zu swore his loyalty. If he had any sense at all, then as a surrendered general he would work himself to the bone without trying a single trick.
I posed a question of my own. "Before you were given charge of Fancheng, you took office as Administrator of Jiangxia and kept watch over the Yangtze, did you not?"
"That is correct! Whenever bands of river pirates disturbed the peace, I suppressed them, and I barred the forces of other warlords from crossing into Jing Province!"
Perhaps he took it for a chance to display his competence, for Huang Zu eagerly elaborated on the duties he had once shouldered. I took a moment to gather my thoughts, then issued his orders. "Very well. You are to devote yourself to the defense of the Jiangxia region, together with Wen Ping."
"Together with General Wen Ping, my lord...?"
Doubt showed plainly on Huang Zu's face—a natural question, all things considered. Wen Ping was, at present, merely one of the generals holding Xiangyang Castle, and with me abruptly reassigning his post, curiosity must have struck Huang Zu before anything else. I nodded, recalling the tale of Wen Ping, who had held the Jiangxia region against the Kingdom of Wu to the very last. "I have my reasons. You need not question them."
"...I shall follow your orders!"
Perhaps he decided that voicing his doubts had displeased me, for Huang Zu's face went deathly pale. Why did this man seem cut from exactly the same cloth as Cai Mao?
I spoke again to Huang Zu, who was still studying my every expression. "Ah, and one more thing. If you find any of the people eating bat meat, tell them to stop."
"Bats...? ...Yes! Leave it to me!"
At my out-of-nowhere instruction, Huang Zu all but voiced his confusion a second time before snapping back to his senses and shouting his assent instead. The origins of that disease were never definitively pinned down, but a little caution never hurt anyone. I nodded, thinking of the Jiangxia region—the land known in modern China as the city of Wuhan.
"Now then, you are dismissed."
"Yes, my lord!"
As though he had been waiting for nothing else, Huang Zu vanished from my presence in a scurry. Watching him go, I thought to myself: yep. Same cloth as Cai Mao, no doubt about it.
"Lü Bu."
"What?"
"Come to think of it, you've been awfully quiet this time around?"
At that, Lü Bu blinked and turned to look at me. "...What's that supposed to mean?"
"Last time we accepted a surrender, you wouldn't stop grumbling about how unsatisfying it was."
This had been the first large-scale battle since the Coalition's assault on Hulao Pass, and yet it had ended after a few volleys of lobbed stones. For a woman who lived for the fight, it must have been a thorough letdown. Truth be told, even before now, Lü Bu had shown a trace of disappointment every time I extended an olive branch to an enemy. Thankfully, that disappointment had never curdled into resentment—but this time, there wasn't even a whisper of it. Had something changed in her heart?
"Ah... that?" When I raised the subject, Lü Bu tilted her head and answered with perfect calm. "If you don't want to fight, Jeong Reung, it'd be pretty ridiculous of me to keep moping about it all on my own, wouldn't it?"
"And... hmm..."
There she let her voice trail off. For some reason, she looked almost embarrassed.
"And what?"
When I pressed her for the rest, Lü Bu whipped her head away and muttered, "What am I supposed to do if you end up hating me for it? I can't do that sort of thing."
Was that honesty, or sheer audacity? Looking at Lü Bu, who had a knack for striking straight at my heart when I least expected it, I answered, "I see. Thank you."
Lü Bu said nothing at all in return.
With Huang Zu's fate settled, it was time to deal with the real matter at hand. I gave a small nod to Liu Bei, who stood nearby; she returned a courteous bow and relayed the order to her adjutant. A short while later, the doors opened, and Guan Yu stepped through.
"I, Guan Yu, offer my greetings to the General-in-Chief."
"Mm."
True to her grave disposition, Guan Yu had offered her greeting the instant she laid eyes on me. I acknowledged it and addressed her. "I hear you captured the enemy commander who had been raiding our camp."
"That is so."
Guan Yu replied in an even voice, as though stating nothing more than the bare facts. "Good. And her skill—how was it?"
"She was no match for me."
There it was again—that insufferably haughty phrasing. Guan Yu's self-regard was extraordinary, and her peculiar choice of words made her arrogance impossible to miss once you had spoken with her for any length of time. No doubt it was precisely this side of her that had brought her into such bitter conflict with Sun Quan in the original history. Honestly, calling the ruler of an entire state a dog or a rat was crossing the line. True or not, stirring up fights that never needed to exist was poor conduct for anyone.
I paused to choose my words, then asked Guan Yu again. "...And her exact level of skill?"
"...Ah."
Whether she had caught the intent behind my question, Guan Yu's voice wavered with a faint fluster. At the sight, Liu Bei wore a wry smile, while Zhang Fei stood on the very brink of bursting into laughter. Blood rushed to Guan Yu's head, reddening her ears, and she hurried to reply. "Against Zhang Liao, she would surely give a fine contest."
"And if she falls short of even that?"
"...Regrettably, her head would go flying."
Hearing Guan Yu's assessment, I nodded. A commander worth measuring against Zhang Liao, hm. Among those serving under Huang Zu right now, only one person fit that bill. "Very well. Bring her to me—let us have a look at this face."
"As you command."
Guan Yu carried out my order with a signal to Zhang Fei behind her. I watched as a figure bound fast in rope was hauled out at her side. The woman, blessed with a pair of wild, untamed eyes, spoke up. "...Come on, I already told you I've no mind to resist, so quit yanking me around."
"Prisoners certainly do chatter."
At Zhang Fei's single sharp rebuke, the bound woman pulled a thoroughly weary expression.
This was the woman who, at the Battle of Ruxu, had pulled off a night raid against Cao Cao's grand army of several hundred thousand with a mere hundred men. Cao Cao, having been dealt so uncanny an affair from the very outset, abandoned her designs on conquering Wu and turned back for Wei. And Sun Quan, beholding that feat, sang her praises in these words: 'Cao Cao has her Zhang Liao, but I have my Gan Ning—more than a match for one another!'
For Sun Quan, who had been slammed face-first into the dirt at Hefei, the sentiment must have been overwhelming. After that nightmare in which her hundred-thousand-strong host had been ground up like meat in a blender by the eight hundred under Zhang Liao's command, now one of her own generals had forged a legend of the very same mold. When even Guan Yu—revered as a god of war in modern times—kept a wary eye on Gan Ning and dared not cross the river carelessly, one can well imagine the stature Gan Ning commanded in her day.
I addressed the bound woman. "Are you Gan Ning?"
"...Yes."
Gan Ning, who had been wearing that weary look, answered my question in polite, formal speech. I had expected her to be as rough-tongued as Lü Bu or Zhang Fei, so this came as a surprise of its own.