Dangtugo (5)
Jiujiang Commandery. No — Huainan Yin, as it was now called.
There resided, at this very moment, the man who had proclaimed himself Emperor of the Zhong dynasty, within a colossal edifice that by now could only be called a palace.
"...Heh heh."
A giddy, pointless chuckle slipped from the lips of the man gazing up at it.
Dangtugo — truly, was there ever a name that suited him better? The image of himself striding down a great road no one else had dared even contemplate. Standing tall right where he was, he would crush — openly, honorably — every last soul who came rushing at him in envy. He would show a new path to those still clamoring for a Han dynasty already in ruins, and at the last, amid the ten-thousand-fold cheers of all the people under heaven, he would seat himself upon the most dazzlingly resplendent throne of all...
"Your Imperial Majesty! A crisis!"
The man, who had been slowly raising his arm as his fantasy took wing, froze stock-still at the voice that abruptly rang out.
When he did not move from that pose, the civil official in attendance asked, puzzled.
"Your Majesty...?"
"...Tsk. What is it?"
Yuan Shu, self-styled Emperor of the Zhong dynasty, wore a distinctly sour look, plainly displeased that his reverie had been interrupted.
"An urgent report!"
Yuan Yin, his cousin, delivered the news to Yuan Shu, who still stood with his back turned.
"The Grand General of Han and the Governor of Yanzhou are advancing upon us — the former from the west, the latter from the north!"
"What?"
"Their stated justification: the punishment of a traitor!"
Yuan Yin pressed on, visibly flustered and at a loss.
"They have marched forth to topple the false emperor who seized the throne in pursuit of his own ambition!"
"A f-false emperor?"
At the report, Yuan Shu's face flickered with panic for an instant — and then began to burn a furious red.
"How dare these mongrels forget their own place—!!"
Yuan Shu spun around with a roar, and Yuan Yin, facing him, shrank into himself.
"C-calm yourself, Your Majesty!"
"Do you think YOU could stay calm if you were me?!!"
"It is nothing but the drivel of ignorant fools! Pay it no heed!"
"Grrgh...!"
Yuan Shu shook from head to toe. Then something clicked in his mind, and all at once he began to laugh.
"Hahahaha! Yes — of course! That's what this is!"
"...?"
Yuan Yin stared at him, bewildered, but Yuan Shu had already vanished into his own world and saw nothing.
"This, too, is a road I must walk!"
His path had only just begun. First, he would strike down the enemies who came rushing at him in envy of his greatness! That, and that alone, was what the moment demanded.
"Summon every last soldier! This is total war!"
"Y-yes?"
Yuan Yin's voice wavered with bewilderment at the abrupt declaration. What on earth was he saying, all of a sudden? Total war?
Even as Yuan Yin reeled, Yuan Shu was not finished.
"Recall the soldiers and commanders stationed on the Yangtze as well — every one of them!"
At that, Yuan Yin ventured his own opinion.
"B-but then Liu Yao might fall upon our allies as they withdraw."
"Worrying over nothing!"
Yuan Shu swept the concern aside with a single stroke.
"If that man crosses the Yangtze of his own accord, is that not all the better for us?"
"..."
"What, are you afraid of a coward who does nothing but hide behind a river because he dreads facing me head-on?!"
"N-no, of course not."
Yuan Yin answered in haste.
"Then where is the problem? Have this order delivered to the entire army at once!"
"I obey your command!"
Something about Yuan Shu felt deeply off, and Yuan Yin beat a swift retreat. Yuan Shu watched him go, murmuring.
"Yes. This is only the beginning..."
The pioneer's road: to crush, fair and square, whatever enemy blocked his way, and to hold out a new path to those who wept for a fallen nation. Let them all call him mad today — posterity would surely hail his stride as the greatest the world had ever known.
"...Cao Cao."
Yuan Shu called to mind the one who had once handed him a bitter defeat. Hair like silver a master craftsman might have melted down and woven, strand by painstaking strand — and those unreadable silver eyes that seemed ready to pull you in and swallow you whole. Recalling that face, which had shone more beautifully in his eyes than anything else in the world, Yuan Shu let a laugh escape him.
"Even you, you bitch, will come to follow me in the end..."
"Yuanrang."
"Hm?"
"Did you, by any chance, curse me out just now without my even noticing?"
"...What is that supposed to mean, all of a sudden?"
Cao Cao, in the thick of leading her army, studied Xiahou Dun's strange expression and murmured, puzzled.
"Hmm. How odd. I distinctly felt displeased for the briefest of moments there."
"...No, hold on — how do you leap from that to the conclusion that I was cursing you, Mengde?"
Xiahou Dun sounded utterly dumbfounded. Cao Cao replied as though nothing were the least bit strange.
"If it wasn't you, Yuanrang, then tracking down the culprit becomes rather difficult."
"Oh, come on. That's going too far."
The two of them traded words with such easy familiarity that anyone watching would know at a glance how close they were. Cao Cao — two eye-catching famous swords hanging at her waist — looked over at Xiahou Dun and asked,
"How much farther now?"
"Hmm... We should be arriving any moment."
"I see."
Cao Cao answered with a perfectly composed face. Watching her, Xiahou Dun put on a teasing voice.
"Is our Mengde all aflutter at the thought of meeting her husband?"
"Hm? Her husband? What is that supposed to mean?"
"Huh?"
Cao Cao and Xiahou Dun blinked at each other.
"..."
"..."
After a moment of staring, Xiahou Dun asked, baffled.
"Weren't you in love with the Grand General?"
"I am."
"And weren't you aiming to marry him?"
"That is also true."
Xiahou Dun's face twisted in confusion at these answers.
"Then isn't he your husband?"
"...Aha. I see."
Cao Cao, catching on to what Xiahou Dun was trying to say, explained in her usual tone.
"Yuanrang. Did I not tell you plainly before?"
"Hm?"
"My dream is to become a woman who is loved more than the wife."
...
"You crazy bit—"
Ah, right. Lovely words. Lovely words.
Xiahou Dun, who had very nearly let something far cruder fly, swiftly mastered body and mind, as befitted a first-rate warrior. Whether she knew what was in Xiahou Dun's heart or not, Cao Cao carried right on.
"Surely one can bear a child without necessarily tying the bond of husband and wife?"
"..."
"Hmm, I distinctly recall there being a word for an arrangement rather like this..."
Peculiar tastes that no ordinary person could ever hope to comprehend poured smoothly from Cao Cao's lips.
"Ah, there it is. Wasn't it 'keeping two households'?"
"Good grief..."
At that, Xiahou Dun felt her head begin to swim. To shake a person's sanity this thoroughly with nothing but words. Having tried to tease Cao Cao only to be soundly counterattacked, Xiahou Dun seriously debated whether she ought to gag her right then and there.
"Big sis!"
Just then, from far off, a silver-haired girl — her hair the very same shade as Cao Cao's — came riding up on horseback. Cao Cao addressed the girl, Cao Hong, by her courtesy name.
"Zilian, is it? What is it?"
"The scouts say they've spotted a unit?"
"A unit?"
Cao Cao asked, curiosity piqued.
"Who commands it?"
"Er, um... Ah! The character 'Ding' was written on their banner!"
Hearing Cao Hong's explanation, Xiahou Dun murmured.
"Ding, as in..."
"I see."
Cao Cao nodded.
"It's the Grand General's army."
An army that some hailed as the last hope of the Han — and that certain fools sneered at as no different from any other pack of rebel warlords. A commander under her banner named Bao Xin had belonged squarely to the latter camp. Perhaps it was resentment over his younger brother's death at the hands of Lü Bu, the so-called Peerless Under Heaven, at the Battle of Hulao Pass; whatever the reason, every time talk of the Grand General came up, Bao Xin would declare the man untrustworthy and kept angling for a confrontation.
Then, after Cao Cao had fixed that attitude of his with a long, level stare, not long afterward Bao Xin met an unfortunate end — reportedly falling in battle while out suppressing bandits. So fierce had the fighting been, they said, that not even his body could be recovered; on hearing the news, she had mourned the loss of a capable officer and seen him laid to rest with a generous funeral. Whether he had truly died at bandits' hands, or for some other reason entirely, she had not troubled herself to find out. The dead tell no tales, after all.
A faint arc curved across Cao Cao's lips as she spoke.
"It truly has been far too long since I last saw that face."
"You're meeting him in person?"
When Xiahou Dun asked, Cao Cao answered without a beat's hesitation.
"What a strange question. Of course I am."
"...Right. Do as you please."
Having just heard something ominous slip from Cao Cao, Xiahou Dun couldn't help but dread what was to come. All she could do was pray that this Jeong Reung fellow would hold Cao Cao firmly in his grasp.
The Grand General, having apparently spotted Cao Cao's host as well, was drawing slowly nearer, and Cao Cao directed her troops in answer, the two forces closing the distance together. And then, just as each side came within naked-eye view of the other—
"Oh ho."
Cao Cao's expression turned to one of intrigue. Xiahou Dun, watching her, spoke up.
"What is it this time?"
"I am looking at a very entertaining sight."
But as she said it, Cao Cao's gaze was not fixed on the Grand General at all — it was riveted on the commander beside him. She looked for all the world as though the slightest push — the very, very slightest — would send her hurtling forward of her own accord. Cao Cao smiled as she gazed upon the woman warrior who stood, quite literally, at the absolute limit of her patience.