Luoyang (2)
Wang Yun.
Anyone with even a passing interest in the Three Kingdoms would know the name.
There was the Lianhuan Ji—the Chain Strategy—one of the most famous episodes in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It was Wang Yun who wielded Diaochan to drive a wedge between Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu, hounding Dong Zhuo all the way to his death.
And he was hardly a one-trick figure. Handing the Seven Star Sword to Cao Cao while she was plotting Dong Zhuo's assassination—every time the man appeared on the page, some fresh scheme came with him. In the end, his rigid, straight-as-a-pole character cost him his life, but it would be no exaggeration to say his devotion to the Han was the genuine article.
"To be welcomed so warmly by you, though I am nothing but a plain old man—it is simply a joy."
And that very man was standing before me now, offering his greeting.
I returned his bow and said, "If you had only sent an invitation, there was no need to come calling in person like this. I would have gladly come to you…."
"Haha! For the hero who drove out that tyrant, this much is nothing at all!"
Wang Yun laughed it off as if it truly were nothing.
Dong Zhuo hadn't even been in Luoyang all that long. What on earth had he been doing with himself? The man really had been a magnet for enemies.
Stroking his white beard, Wang Yun spoke with courteous warmth. "Yes. As you mentioned before, Lord Ding, I intend to hold a modest banquet at my home before long. Will you honor us with your company?"
"I would gladly accept."
And yet, hearing it was a banquet hosted by Wang Yun made me uneasy. And no wonder—every banquet of Wang Yun's depicted in the Three Kingdoms had been a plot to murder Dong Zhuo. Handing Cao Cao the Seven Star Sword, or summoning Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu to spring the Chain Strategy….
…It would be fine, right? I hadn't made a single enemy yet. I chose to believe this would be an ordinary banquet.
Whether he could see right through me or not, the Wang Yun before me simply chuckled.
"So what are you going to do with him?"
"Him?"
The sun had set and the moon had risen. Lü Bu struck up a conversation while I was resting after finishing the day's work.
"That Dong Zhuo fellow. Or Rotisserie Chicken, or whatever we're calling him. We've got to finish him off, don't we?"
"…."
Come to think of it, in my past life a few people really had called Dong Zhuo by that ridiculous nickname. Well, given the historical record of a wick being planted in his navel and his body roasted to a golden brown for days on end, I figured it suited him perfectly.
"Xiliang I could take or leave, but Chang'an does tempt me, I'll admit."
"Right? I made off with all his treasures, so he must be fuming clear to the tips of his hair."
Lü Bu chattered on, plainly delighted by her own imagination.
I had believed she would never betray me, but seeing her actually stay by my side without doing so stirred up a strange, new feeling.
"Thank you."
"Ehh? What's that for, all of a sudden?"
"For not betraying me."
At that, Lü Bu pulled a face that said obviously.
"Ahem. Do you finally understand how many people out there want the Peerless Under Heaven on their side? You'd better be grateful to me."
"Sure."
"…Why does it feel weird when you just agree so easily?"
Leaving her reaction behind, I laid out my plans for Dong Zhuo and what would come next.
"Dong Zhuo lost to me and bled out a heap of officers and soldiers, didn't he?"
"Yeah."
"And thanks to that, word is everyone and their grandmother is just waiting for a chance to stab him in the back."
Tyranny built on fear and brute force may pay off in the short term, but stretched over years it always turns sour. Look—even now, having lost the army he once swaggered about with, rebellions were stirring in every corner of the lands Dong Zhuo ruled.
"Before long I'll send Zhang Liao and Gao Shun to take Chang'an as well. The moment word spreads that I'm on the move, his own people will rise to answer us from within—I'd bet anything on it."
An internal feud erupting out of nowhere, for instance. Or a city gate swinging open all by itself in the dead of night. The possibilities were endless.
Lü Bu tilted her head at my words.
"You don't need me? I want to fight."
"It's not that you can't, if you've got your heart set on it…."
But if she came along, I would have to lead the entire Luoyang garrison out myself. A hassle on top of a hassle, and an efficiency problem besides.
Luoyang, where bloody fighting had raged until only recently, still needed the name of the Peerless Under Heaven. With Lü Bu simply present, order kept itself and the soldiers held their discipline razor-sharp.
"Uuugh. But still—isn't there some way you could work it out?"
I explained my reasoning, but Lü Bu only squirmed and whined, her whole body itching for a battlefield.
I heaved a long sigh and opened my mouth.
"I'd rather you stayed here, honestly."
"…."
"All right. It's a shame, but you can keep Zhang Liao company inst—"
"No!"
I turned to look at Lü Bu, who had cut me off out of nowhere.
"What? You said you wanted to go."
"You've noticed, haven't you? The way her eyes go all weird whenever she looks at you these days?"
"??"
What exactly was supposed to have changed?
At my utterly clueless response, Lü Bu thumped her own chest in frustration.
"How do I even put it. Like a thieving cat…. Anyway! I'll stay in Zhang Liao's place, so that's settled!"
"…Well, all right then."
It suited me fine either way.
Just then, Seo Yeo came up behind me and whispered into my ear, her voice barely there.
"Everyone but me is a beast hungering for you, my lord. Be careful."
"…."
And what had brought that on all of a sudden?
The Imperial Palace, where the Emperor dwelt.
"…Your Majesty. It is Jeong Reung. May I enter?"
"Y-yes. Enter."
When I requested an audience, Emperor Liu Bian granted it.
Hmm… this wouldn't breach court etiquette, would it? I had no confidence whatsoever.
How many times in my life, past or present, had I actually met an emperor? Never once, unless you counted glimpsing one from far, far away.
The moment I stepped into the audience chamber, every attendant serving at the Emperor's side—and every minister lingering nearby—turned to look at me.
Ugh. The pressure. Say my piece and get out, that was the plan.
"Your Majesty. Though my talents are meager, I have uncovered the corrupt officials who have been gnawing away at the state."
"I… see."
I could feel the Emperor nodding along to my report. A trembling voice anyone could have identified in an instant. What kind of life had she lived, to grow this wary of her own shadow?
"I intend to strip these parasites of their offices and punish them, so that one may stand as a warning to a hundred. What is Your Majesty's judgment?"
"D-do as you see fit."
Still, the way she stumbled over the first syllable of every sentence was a little hard to listen to. With an Emperor this frail of nerve, what subject would ever put their faith in her and follow?
"Your Majesty."
"Wh-what is it?"
I spoke up, hoping to plant a little confidence in her.
"You are the Son of Heaven, Your Majesty—the sovereign who watches over every soul beneath the sky."
"…."
"Stand firm. Only then can this troubled world be set right."
"…."
My head was bowed, so I couldn't see what expression the Emperor wore, but I waited calmly for an answer all the same.
After a short silence, the Emperor asked:
"…Will you do me harm?"
"…."
"Like Dong Zhuo—that wolf who once sat where you sit now—will you never turn against me?"
Listening to that voice, thick with unshed tears, I understood. However high the world held the throne, the one sitting upon it was, in the end, nothing more than a child.
The year was 186. Liu Bian, born in 173, was still a child-emperor of thirteen.
"My uncle, my mother—all of them were swept away when the Ten Attendants rose in revolt."
So Empress Dowager He—the woman who in the original history would have died at Dong Zhuo's hands after her deposition—had perished in the Ten Attendants' Rebellion instead? …Aigoo. I'd been thinking about it all wrong. No wonder she had turned out like this.
An Emperor with not a single soul left to lean on, balanced so precariously that the next gust of wind could have carried her off.
Her half-sibling, Liu Xie the Prince of Chenliu? The girl wasn't even six yet. Worse still, Liu Xie's mother had been killed by He Jin's faction in the struggle for power—if anything, that child's situation was the graver of the two.
"Answer me. What do you intend to do with me?"
To the Emperor's voice, straining to hold back its tears, I answered evenly.
"Do not be afraid. I am on Your Majesty's side."
"…."
"And should anyone ever dare to threaten you, I ask that you tell me at once."
I had chosen the Emperor's side.
There were many reasons for it. The Han was teetering, true—but if it truly collapsed, this age of chaos would spin even further out of control. The warlords nursing ambitions in every corner of the realm still could not bring themselves to cross that final line called the Han. The moment even that line vanished, they would tear loose like colts with snapped reins.
And besides, my heart simply ached for her. Had she squandered the realm like Emperor Ling before her, that would be one thing—but this Emperor had done nothing but be born, only to be worked like a puppet on strings. I was not cold-hearted enough to turn my back on a child trembling all alone after losing her family.
After a silence following my answer, the Emperor spoke.
"…Raise your head."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
When I lifted the head I had kept lowered ever since entering the chamber, I saw a small-framed girl seated upon the throne. A girl draped in imperial vestments, her hair a jet black untouched by any other color. And she was watching me with eyes of that same jet black.
"Will you truly stand at my side?"
"I will."
"Even though I am an Emperor with nothing left but the name?"
"I will."
What could have frightened her so terribly? The tears still clung to the Emperor's voice.
"Then—then you must protect me."
Eyes glistening with held-back tears, holding herself stubbornly upright so as not to cry, the Emperor opened her mouth slowly.
…Whoa. I just got one hell of a promotion.
What would Mother, all the way out in Bing Province, say if she found out?
The Emperor, who had held her tears back until now, broke into a smile brimming with everything she had swallowed—and let them fall at last.