Xiangyang Castle (8)
To bring Jing Province under control, I threw myself into a full-scale internal reorganization. As I had mentioned before, that meant not only reworking the disposition of my soldiers but also issuing summons to every prominent gentry family in the province.
With the first item on the agenda—the restructuring of the army—before me, I turned my gaze to Zhou Yu, who had come to deliver her report. Her hair was cropped in a bob even shorter than Seo Yeo's, yet whether out of a touch of vanity, the lock on her left side alone had been neatly kept and grown down to her collarbone, and that detail was striking. Add eyes the pale blue of a clear sky and an intelligent cast to her brow, and I could well understand why Zhou Yu was called Meizhou Lang—the Beautiful Zhou.
How should I put it—summing up Zhou Yu's looks in a single phrase? You know how, in fiction, there's occasionally a female character who, with suspicious regularity, finds herself on the receiving end of confessions from other women? She was exactly that type. Sun Ce shared a similar charm, though her long hair dulled it a touch; with Zhou Yu, there was simply no arguing it.
...Lewd as it is to say, there was also the matter of their figures.
In any case, Zhou Yu, having come to report on the army's organization, offered me a formal bow, and I received her as though nothing were amiss. The problem began right after that.
“……”
“……”
The moment the greeting ended, an awkward current began to drift between Zhou Yu and me. Which was only natural, really—it would be strange for two people with no real history to suddenly converse like old friends. Zhou Yu looked to be agonizing over how to break the ice, and I was hardly any different. A face so devastating that a mere glance could crush a man's spirit—no exaggeration there. Different in flavor, perhaps, but it reminded me of the first time I had faced Diaochan, and I couldn't bring myself to speak first.
And where on earth was Sun Ce, the one who ought to have been bridging this gap?
I opened my mouth and asked.
“...Judging by that look, I take it you didn't expect to be meeting me alone.”
“……”
“I heard Sun Ce was to assist you. Where has Sun Ce gone?”
At my question, surprise flickered across Zhou Yu's face.
“...? Then even the General-in-Chief finds something amiss?”
“Hm?”
“She excused herself, saying an urgent matter had come up, so I assumed it was business concerning you, General-in-Chief...”
I shook my head at her puzzlement.
“This is the first I've heard of it.”
“……”
Watching my reaction, Zhou Yu held her silence for a moment as something seemed to click—then ground her teeth.
“...She set me up. Bofu.”
“...?”
Set her up? What was that supposed to mean? Seeing my puzzlement, Zhou Yu drew a small arc at the corner of her mouth and spoke.
“It is a private matter between Sun Ce and myself. There is no need for your concern, General-in-Chief.”
“...Right.”
That even a clearly forced smile looked beautiful was surely thanks to Zhou Yu's overwhelming looks. ...That said, fury rolled off her in waves, so I economized on my words.
Thanks to that sacrifice of Sun Ce's, the ice was finally broken, and from there the two of us managed to talk without awkwardness.
“So the plan is to handpick soldiers already at home on the water and put them through specialized naval training?”
“Yes, General-in-Chief. The Yangtze, which flows past Jing Province, is a colossal river linking Yangzhou—Jiangdong—and Jing Province, and stretching all the way out to Yi Province there.”
I gave a small nod.
The Yangtze—Changjiang, the Long River. With the character for long built right into its name, it was, fittingly, a staggeringly long river. It began in eastern China, in Jiangdong, and ran unbroken to the farthest edge of Yi Province. How long had it been, again? At least six thousand kilometers, if I remembered right.
Perhaps sensing that I was listening closely, Zhou Yu pressed on.
“If it is not your intention to abandon Jiangdong, my lord, then surely the day will come when you must cross the Yangtze.”
“……”
She was right. How else could the kingdom of Wu have kept itself alive, warring against Wei, which surpassed it in every respect? Precisely because the Yangtze cut so neatly across the Jiangdong region, Wu could seize and repel every Wei force that tried to come over, and so hold its territory.
The Battle of Red Cliffs, where the allied armies of Liu Bei and Sun Quan won a great victory over Cao Cao, is famous enough that anyone who has so much as glanced at Romance of the Three Kingdoms knows it. On a map it hardly looks like much, but the Yangtze was so immensely wide that, with its banks properly watched, slipping across in secret was simply impossible.
It wasn't for nothing that Cao Cao's grand army of several hundred thousand burned to death atop their ships.
“...Now, who were the warlord powers across the Yangtze at present?”
Hearing my question, Zhou Yu took a moment to order her thoughts before answering.
“If my memory serves, Inspector Liu Yao of Yangzhou should have formed the largest of them.”
The Liu clan. Again. Seriously?
There was Liu Yan, who the moment he was made Governor of Yi Province had sealed off every road and taken to playing king; and there was Liu Biao, who had carried on like an emperor here in Jing Province right up until his head left his neck. Why did the ones boasting imperial blood cause trouble so reliably? While every other power was busy carving up the realm, here I was, the lone babysitter of the imperial family.
“There are other powers besides, but none that need trouble the General-in-Chief.”
Figures like Wang Lang, Grand Administrator of Kuaiji, had in an instant become something entirely beneath concern.
Come to think of it, if it was Liu Yao, wouldn't he be locked in a vicious brawl with Yuan Shu up in Shuchun right about now? After his defeat at Kuangting, Yuan Shu had lost his base and fled all the way into the Jiangdong region. I'd heard that upon seizing the Shuchun area, he had presumptuously styled himself Inspector of Yangzhou and was now at war with Liu Yao. And Liu Yao, if I recalled, had stretched a defensive line along the Yangtze to hold him back.
How very Yuan Shu of him.
Yuan Shu pulling stunts like that was hardly a day-old development, so by now I simply let it wash over me. Shuchun was one of the territories folded into Yangzhou, but it did not lie beyond the Yangtze. It sat closer to Runan Commandery in Ye Province than to Wu Commandery in Jiangdong. Yuan Shu's getaway from Yanzhou all the way to Yangzhou was, however many times I replayed it, genuinely masterful.
I wouldn't mind learning a trick or two from the way that man runs.
I spoke to Zhou Yu.
“I will grant you full authority. Go on—do as you see fit.”
“Thank you, General-in-Chief.”
“Anything else you need?”
At my question, Zhou Yu answered with perfect confidence.
“Nothing.”
“Good.”
Zhou Yu Gongjin. The genius strategist who had commanded the navy at the Battle of Red Cliffs and handed Cao Cao his crushing defeat. Thanks to the influence of the Romance, the image of Zhou Yu as the eternal runner-up overshadowed by Zhuge Liang ran deep, but Zhou Yu was in truth a talent of rare gifts in both letters and arms. Just as Shu had Zhuge Liang and Wei had Sima Yi, Wu had Zhou Yu.
...The trouble was that she was fated not to live long. Zhou Yu, I was quite sure, had died an early death in her mid-thirties.
“Ah, that's right.”
“......?”
Having recalled that, I muttered under my breath and caught Zhou Yu just as she was about to leave the room. Hearing my murmur, she stopped mid-step and turned back to me.
“Was there something you needed, General-in-Chief?”
“I intend to send you a selection of medicinal herbs said to be good for the health. Consult closely with your physicians and begin taking them.”
“……”
For some reason, Zhou Yu held her silence for a moment. Her dazzling beauty had held my eyes until now, but at last I could see it. Her skin was pale past the point of merely being called fair. Rather than fair, wouldn't wan be the more accurate word? With a face like hers, even that looked lovely, but still—this wouldn't do. Zhou Yu's martial skill might be formidable, but fighting well and being healthy were two different things entirely.
“I hear you've been burying yourself in work of late. One must know how to care for oneself before one can care for anyone else.”
As I said it, I looked Zhou Yu squarely in the eye. She kept her silence still.
“Before I entrust the navy's growth to you, I will be granting you a few days' leave. Spend them tending to yourself.”
It wasn't as though Zhou Yu was the only one who could lead the navy; there was no reason to drive her past her limits. There were plenty of commanders seasoned in fighting on water, like Huang Zu, once Grand Administrator of Jiangxia, or Cai Mao, who had held the Liu Biao faction's military authority in his grip. Besides, there was Sun Ce, who had grown up watching Sun Jian command firsthand—and Gan Ning besides. What problem could there possibly be?
“And I will not be hearing any excuse that work is, in fact, your rest.”
“……”
I issued the warning, preempting the workaholic's favorite line. Go ahead—try spouting that absurd, dreadful nonsense. I would simply double her vacation on the spot.
Whether the meaning hidden beneath my words got through or not, Zhou Yu, silent until then, flashed me a bright smile.
“Thank you for your concern, General-in-Chief.”
It was not the strained smile she had worn while swallowing her anger moments ago, but a true one, born of genuine warmth.
...Get a grip. Get it together. I had already made it past Diaochan's face, after all. If a beauty like this could still leave me spellbound, I'd have gotten into trouble long ago.
“Good. Then you are dismissed.”
“Yes, General.”
At my word, Zhou Yu bowed once more and withdrew at an unhurried pace.
...Good grief. That drained me dry.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a quiet voice sounded from nearby.
“My lord.”
“Hm?”
I turned my head to find Seo Yeo staring at me with her usual expressionless face. She spoke, an emotion I couldn't place threaded through her voice.
“Please be a little more careful with your conduct.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
“……”
“I asked what you meant.”
I pressed her several times over the out-of-nowhere remark, but Seo Yeo refused to answer to the very end.
...Don't tell me she's sulking? What on earth did I even do?