Shuchun (3)

The meeting that had opened at midday ran on for a good long while, but at last it drew to a close—with my formal appointment of Sun Ce as Governor of Shuchun.

"Hmm…."

Sensing how late the hour had grown, I turned my head slightly toward the window. The sun was sinking at last, and dusk was creeping down over the land. It was late—no question about it.

At the sight of me checking the view outside, the assembled generals fell silent in one motion. I caught on to what they were waiting for and let out a dry chuckle.

"It's late. Let's call it a day—everyone go on home."

All the personnel gathered in the hall bowed to me, then slipped away with all the discretion they could muster. Of course—all except the two pint-sized strategists standing right there.

….

Zhuge Liang, whose chance to plead her case before me had been snatched away by Sima Yi. And Sima Yi, who—true to the original history—was quietly banking one "loss" after another against her rival. Their eyes never actually met, but even I could plainly sense the subtle war of nerves smoldering between the two of them.

Just like a rivalry straight out of a shonen manga. Since neither was stirring up any outright trouble, I decided to write it off as healthy, good-natured competition.

"Aaargh…."

I watched Pang Tong, slowly wilting away as she was squeezed between those two, then turned my head. I cleared my throat, hard, and something surfaced in my memory—so I murmured to the woman standing before me.

"Ah, Sun Ce. Now that I think of it, there's something I never mentioned."

"…?"

Sun Ce, who had been withdrawing with measured steps, stopped stock-still and sank to one knee once more.

"Speak, my lord."

Wow, look at her—crisp as a parade drill. When it came to courtesy, she was beyond reproach, that much was certain. Sun Ce was endlessly mischievous with her sworn sister Zhou Yu and her fellow officers, yet never once let her manners slip with me. Well, one could argue that was only natural…. In this world there was no shortage of people who treated high and low exactly alike. If anything, meeting someone who kept her rank distinctions this rigorous struck me as the truly novel thing.

"…Why're you staring at me all of a sudden?"

"Just 'cause." I gave Lü Bu a brief glance, then shifted my gaze away. "Sun Ce."

"Yes, sir."

"Were you aware that your father in Luoyang has been inviting me to visit him rather often?"

"…Pardon?" She was startled. Sun Ce echoed the question back, so taken aback that she forgot her courtesy entirely.

"Now, what exactly did he say again…. Ah, that's right." To Sun Ce, whose eyes had flown wide as saucers, I continued with a mischievous look. "Lately he's been saying his eldest daughter weighs on his mind."

"Th-that's—what do you…." Her voice trembled violently; she had clearly sensed where this was heading.

"That she takes after him—so fierce and headstrong that he wonders if he'll ever live to see a grandchild…."

That was no story I'd invented. It was the plain truth. Even I had felt a twinge of nerves the first time Sun Jian summoned me. How could I not? He was that kind of man. Who was Sun Jian, after all? The one and only Tiger of Jiangdong—the man who had strung up victory after victory against Dong Zhuo in the original history, and who in this world, too, remained the most formidable foe I had ever faced. I remember genuinely worrying over what, exactly, Sun Jian could want with me.

But Sun Jian shattered those worries of mine to pieces.

And now, Sun Ce's reaction was hardly any different from Sun Quan's that day. Judging by the earthquake rippling through her pupils, she was flustered beyond all doubt.

Zhou Yu, standing nearby, fired a desperate look at Sun Ce—calm down, it most likely meant. Watching her strain to wedge herself into Sun Ce's line of sight while breaking out in a cold sweat, I felt almost sorry for her.

Perhaps Zhou Yu's feelings got through. Sun Ce, belatedly recovering her senses, asked me, "Wh-what reason could you possibly have for telling me this…."

"None in particular. I was simply curious what sort of reaction you'd show."

At my answer—that there truly was nothing more to it—Sun Ce let her relief show plainly.

"…I see."

"It seems I've wasted my breath on pointless talk. You may go."

"Yes, sir."

Sun Ce bowed to me and swiftly withdrew. Befitting the general once known in the original history as the Little Conqueror, her steps stayed measured even as she wavered—and everyone present could read the embarrassment laced through every one of them.

Just as well Sun Jian is in Luoyang right now. Had he witnessed Sun Ce at this very moment, he would surely have been beaten black and blue under the pretext of "training."

"So. You've lured in another woman, have you?"

"…How on earth did you reach that conclusion?"

The meeting had ended, and everyone had gone home. I had strolled back in fine spirits, fully intending to hole up in my room the moment I arrived and rest clean through to the next day. Yes—right up until a certain someone appeared at my door without warning.

"You hand over power, you trade playful words, you stir a woman's heart—what would you call that, if not ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seduction?"

"No."

Cao Cao Mengde. The silver-haired woman who had turned up in the dead of night with a bottle of wine in hand addressed me in her usual teasing tone.

"Hmm…. What a pity," Cao Cao said, stroking her chin. "I was so certain that a man who had come to know the taste of women would be off seducing them."

….

'Taste'? 'Taste'? No matter how she dressed it up, I could only marvel that she kept reaching for such vulgar phrasing.

Cao Cao went on with a smile. "Well, I suppose it must be the truth. Had you truly set your mind to it, you'd have had her flat on her back long ago."

What does she take me for? Anyone listening would mistake me for a consummate master of seduction. Judged by looks alone she was a woman of almost mystical elegance, yet she chose her words with the delicacy of a dockworker—frankly, it was staggering.

I let out a sigh. "…So what, exactly, brings you here?"

"I presumed the General-in-Chief had largely worked it out already." Cao Cao swirled the wine in her cup as she continued. "Namely—whether I can truly walk forth at your side."

….

"And is it not precisely because I lack ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that certainty that I've led this soft, supple body of mine all this way to keep you company in conversation?"

"…Is that so." I nodded slowly. Such was the shape of Cao Cao's power these days. Having turned the tables on Liu Dai, the former Inspector of Yanzhou who had hatched a sinister scheme against her, Cao Cao had swallowed Yanzhou whole. She had crushed Yuan Shu at the Battle of Kuangting, stretching a hand partway into Ye Province in the process, and of late had reeled off a string of victories against Tao Qian—who had been eyeing her rear—seizing as much as half of Xuzhou besides. In short, it was no exaggeration to say the heart of the realm now rested within Cao Cao's grip.

Mercifully, Cao Cao, holding only a part of Xuzhou, never went on to commit the great massacre of history. She simply governed it as placidly as she did her other territories. I'd heard her father, Cao Song, was living in style and comfort within Yanzhou these days. According to rumor, the man favored women of rather… imposing build. So an eccentric taste in the opposite sex runs in the Cao family?

In any event, Cao Cao's strength was unquestionably nothing to dismiss—but I had resolved some time ago to extend her my trust, just once. As long as she did not stab me in the back, I would not make an enemy of her first. And Cao Cao had not betrayed that trust. When I marched on Liu Biao, she had feigned a bored pretense of aiding him before wheeling straight home; and now, as I struck at Yuan Shu, she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had come to my aid even at the cost of letting the chance to claim all of Xuzhou slip through her fingers. Her goodwill ran so deep one might almost have mistaken us for a single faction.

And yet….

"That alone is bound to leave a sliver of doubt, no?" Cao Cao put on a mischievous expression. In truth, the actions I had just described had cost her little. She had lost an ally, yes, but gained Xuzhou; and though she had not taken the province entire, she had branded herself before the world as a loyal minister who honored the imperial court. Call it one step back for two steps forward, and the description fit to the letter.

"Which is why, tonight, I have come to rid you of that anxiety."

"…How intriguing." I studied Cao Cao. "Very well. And what would this method be?"

"Hehe. Quite simple." At my question, Cao Cao closed the distance between us. "We need only be bound by the same blood, no?"

"…What?"

"Ah—but I do not mean a marriage." Cao Cao's gaze drifted toward a single place. "There is a far more certain way than that, is there not?"

….

A woman's sweet, distinctive fragrance drifted up around me, and I held my silence. Cao Cao whispered: