The Gentry of Jing Province (7)

After a journey so peaceful it was almost eerie, I arrived at Jiangling Castle without a single mishap.

When I drew up before the main gate, the guards saluted as though they had rehearsed it and cleared a path for me, and I passed into Jiangling Castle without the slightest hindrance.

It was then that Lü Bu tilted her head.

"…Hmm. What is it?"

"What's wrong?"

"No, it's just… something feels off."

With that, Lü Bu swept her gaze over our surroundings.

Her eyes had fixed on the commoners passing along the street.

"There are bastards scattered through the crowd glaring with weird eyes, see?"

"…Bastards?"

I reached out and took hold of Lü Bu's cheek, which was already flushing red.

Startled by the suddenness of it, she let out a flustered yelp.

"Wha—?!"

It was fortunate the horse I rode was such a large one.

Had it not been, I never could have reached the cheek of Lü Bu sitting atop Red Hare to give it a pull.

"I told you not to talk like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that."

Saying so, I stretched her cheek out long and good.

With one cheek clamped in my grip, Lü Bu let out a muffled mmngh—, yet resourceful as ever, she still managed to make herself understood.

"M-Mahwy, wet go! (I'm sorry, so let go!)"

"…Good grief."

What was I to do with this girl, who spat out coarse words every time she opened her mouth?

Speech is a mirror that reflects a person's inner self. Let your manner of talking turn foul, and your character is bound to curdle along with it.

Even setting that aside, no one looks kindly on someone who goes around swearing all day, so whenever I judged that Lü Bu's language had grown too coarse, I kept imposing discipline like this.

And sure enough, it always cut her swearing down noticeably for the next several days.

The problem was that once those days passed, she drifted right back to her old ways.

When I let go, Lü Bu rubbed her cheek with her freed hand.

"Ugh… It doesn't hurt, but it still feels weird."

"That's exactly why you should watch your mouth a little more."

"……"

At my words, Lü Bu gave a slow nod.

Watching the scene, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

Could she be cursing on purpose, just to draw this reaction out of me?

…No, surely not. That would be me reading far too much into things.

As the saying goes, habits picked up at three last till eighty — a way of speaking formed in childhood doesn't mend easily.

Lü Bu had simply grown up in circumstances that were anything but easy, and her tongue had naturally roughened along the way.

"……"

Seo Yeo, who had been riding Ochyma pressed close to my side just as Lü Bu was, parted her lips as though about to say something — then clamped them firmly shut again.

Don't tell me she was about to curse, too — just to fish for attention like Lü Bu does. Please. Don't.

"General-in-Chief."

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.

I knew exactly whose it was, and I turned my head to find Liu Bei.

"What is it?"

"A woman wishes to have an audience with you, General-in-Chief."

"A woman?"

There wasn't a soul in these parts I knew — who could it be?

Could the local gentry be attempting some kind of honey trap?

It's true that men are weak before beautiful women, so it wouldn't be a bad gambit, but…

Without rushing to any decision, I asked Liu Bei:

"Did she say anything besides wanting to meet me?"

"…She gave no name, but she did mention that if she said she was acquainted with Zhang Ye, you would take notice, General-in-Chief."

Zhang Ye?

There was only one Zhang Ye in all the world that I knew of.

Zhang Ye was the alias Zhang Jue lived under.

For that name to be raised here meant one of only two things: either a remnant of the Yellow Turban army Zhang Jue had led, or someone who had been personally close to her.

Whichever it was, it was more than enough to prick my curiosity.

In my usual voice, I told Liu Bei:

"Bring her to me."

"Yes."

Liu Bei withdrew to carry out my order, and before long a woman made her appearance.

"……"

…Why is she showing up here of all places?

The woman standing before my eyes was no stranger to me.

White hair and azure eyes — an appearance like an immortal's, utterly detached from the mortal world.

Her white hair, the very same shade as Zhuge Liang's, was pinned up neatly with a hairpin, and those blue eyes of hers gave the impression of gazing up at a clear, unclouded sky.

The guards escorting me studied the woman with puzzled looks, while the very few who knew her true identity wore the same stunned expression I did.

Paying the stares around her no mind whatsoever, the woman walked forward until she stood before me.

She offered me a bow and spoke.

"I, Hua Tuo, pay my respects to the General-in-Chief."

"…Right."

Hua Tuo, courtesy name Yuanhua.

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, hers was the name that leapt to mind the instant anyone spoke of the Divine Physician.

In an old era like the Three Kingdoms, treating an illness generally meant a few needles, a dose of medicine, and then bed rest — and that was the end of it.

But Hua Tuo had gone a step further than that… no, several steps beyond.

She was a physician who, incredible as it sounds, fed her patients an anesthetic of her own special creation called Mafeisan and performed surgical operations on top of it.

While every other doctor of her age was still pounding herbs, Hua Tuo was practicing surgical methods one would only expect to see in modern medicine.

She simply cut the afflicted area wide open and removed the root of the disease outright — imagine how the people of old who watched her must have reacted.

Like primitive humans beholding fire for the first time, they must have erupted into irrational cries of wonder and exalted her as the Divine Physician.

And if you asked whether surgery was her only talent — it was not.

She showed exceptional ability in prescribing medicine, in acupuncture, and in moxibustion as well.

There was a man who loved raw freshwater fish so dearly that he gorged himself on it and contracted a virulent parasite; after drinking the decoction Hua Tuo brewed for him and waiting a short while, he is said to have vomited up a good three pints' worth of parasites.

Worse still, those parasites were reportedly still wriggling, alive and squirming — it must have been absolutely stomach-turning.

The problem was that the man took no lesson from the ordeal and went right back to his raw freshwater fish, which killed him.

…Raw fish is to be eaten only from the sea. Noted.

My thoughts had slipped away for a moment. Back when I was casting about for a physician to treat Sun Jian, I had once crossed paths with Hua Tuo through Zhang Jue's introduction.

Meeting someone I had never dreamed I would encounter, I was inwardly thrown into confusion, while Hua Tuo simply regarded me with tranquil eyes.

What exactly had we said to each other that day…?

A truly, remarkably brief exchange.

That was the whole of the memory: I had entrusted her with a single task, and she had accepted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it with nothing more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than calm composure.

Afterward, when word reached me that Sun Jian had been treated, I moved to grant Hua Tuo her reward — only to find she had already slipped away elsewhere, leaving behind nothing but a letter stating that her payment had already been received.

People around me had called her a person like the wind, and that appraisal fit her to a tee.

The dumbfounded feeling I'd had back then was beyond all telling.

What in the world was that even supposed to mean — payment already received?

Having dredged up the old memory, I spoke.

"It has been a while since we last met."

"It has."

The moment I heard her answer, I put another question to her.

"I hear you requested this meeting. Is there a reason?"

"Zhang Ye asked a favor of me."

"…Zhang Ye did?"

Hua Tuo had named Zhang Jue's alias, and at the puzzled look on my face, she went on.

"Is the rumor true, General-in-Chief, that you will soon be attending a banquet?"

"It is."

"The favor is connected to that."

Hua Tuo fixed her azure eyes on me.

"She asked me to keep watch over whether the wicked crowd within Jiangling Castle attempts to do you harm."

So she's lending a hand with this, too.

Had she glimpsed the future through Heaven's secrets, just as Zhang Jue herself was forever claiming?

Gazing upon this helping hand that had arrived at the perfect moment, I gave a small nod.

"Then you could not have come at a better time."

"……"

"I am on my way to a banquet as we speak. Will you come with me?"

At my question, Hua Tuo answered with perfect courtesy.

"I shall gladly follow."

With Hua Tuo at my side, there would certainly be no catastrophe born of eating something I shouldn't have.

This world carried a faintly wuxia air about it, and I had worried the gentry might produce some unheard-of, outlandish poison — but there was no longer any need for such worry.

Gazing at Hua Tuo, I found myself thinking: I had felt it for a long time now, but white hair carried a certain mysterious aura about it.

Hua Tuo had it. So did Zhuge Liang.

If either of them set her mind to it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had the feeling they could sever their ties to the mortal world and become immortals whenever they pleased.

I turned to Guan Yu, who had been watching the scene from nearby, and said:

"The banquet hall is still some distance off, so bring a horse for her."

"Yes."

Guan Yu accepted my order with the same stern expression she always wore.