The Baibo Bandits (1)
Two days after the banquet Wang Yun had hosted, another letter from the old statesman arrived in my hands. Reading it, I wondered for a moment whether he meant to throw yet another feast, but that wasn't it at all. The letter simply carried a rather unsettling message: there was something the two of us needed to discuss in private, so I was to come to his home with no more than a minimal escort.
And so, though something about it left a faintly sour feeling in my gut, I took Seo Yeo with me and set my steps toward Wang Yun's residence.
"I have been waiting for you. Please, come inside."
This time it was no servant who came out to receive me, but Wang Yun himself. Ushered into the room under his guidance, we sat facing one another.
"...So then, Lord Wang. What is this matter you wished to discuss with me alone?"
At my question, a troubled look flickered briefly across his face.
"The business for which I summoned the General-in-Chief today is, in truth, nothing more than a single favor I wished to ask."
A favor, was it. What kind of request could put such a strained expression on a man's face? As I listened in silence, Wang Yun went on.
"You saw for yourself not long ago, so surely you already know—I have a daughter."
"Indeed. A very beautiful daughter, at that."
Even as I offered my agreement, I found myself wondering why he had suddenly brought up Diaochan. I racked my brain as hard as I could, straining to divine what Wang Yun was after. Honestly, when he had asked to meet with just the two of us, I had half suspected she would come up—but now that she actually had, I couldn't help feeling flustered.
"After the banquet ended and you returned home, I promised the girl my full support and told her to speak freely of whatever it was she wished to do with her life."
The question of a child's path in life—a trial every parent must eventually face. If he was raising it here, then this request was surely tangled up with that very matter.
"And the answer she gave me was one I never could have foreseen."
"An answer you didn't expect?"
When I prompted him to continue, Wang Yun nodded.
"Yes. She told me she wished to become a maidservant and serve at the General-in-Chief's side."
...
Something about this... something about it gave me a strange sense of déjà vu. The Lianhuan Ji—the Chain Strategy that Wang Yun and Diaochan had woven in every version of this story I'd devoured in my past life—flashed through my mind. Could they be trying to run the Chain Strategy on me? No—if so, who would they even be targeting? Was this really the Chain Strategy at all?
Just as my mind began to spin at full tilt, Wang Yun spoke.
"I quite understand why the General-in-Chief would be taken aback. As the girl's father, I was utterly bewildered myself."
...
"Still, a word once given cannot simply be taken back. Might I beg the General-in-Chief to take the child in?"
Faced with his earnest plea, I held my silence. If, as Wang Yun claimed, there was truly no hidden intent behind this request, then what exactly was Diaochan hoping to accomplish by making it?
"Before I decide anything, there is one thing I would like to ask."
"Of course. Ask away."
With his permission granted, I spoke slowly.
"Might I ask why your daughter made such a request?"
At my question, Wang Yun stroked his beard.
"Hmm... She said only that she wished to observe the General-in-Chief up close and learn what manner of man you are."
...
"The girl must have her reasons, whatever they may be, but I confess I do not understand them."
Neither did I. What on earth was I supposed to make of wanting to know what kind of man I am? The longer I talked with Wang Yun, the deeper I felt myself sinking into a maze.
"My daughter is clever and exceptionally bright, so if the General-in-Chief takes her in, I am certain she will prove a great help."
I had no argument with that. The Diaochan I had seen with my own eyes had carried an air about her that was impossible to read. Those eyes that had met mine, just for an instant at the banquet—eyes that gave away nothing—were not something just anyone could possess.
...
Still, cowering like a coward didn't sit right with me either. Try as I might, I could think of no reason Wang Yun would wish me harm now—and by the same token, no reason Diaochan would either.
Having sorted through my thoughts, I spoke quietly.
"It would be a strange thing indeed to turn away someone who merely wishes to observe me, wouldn't it?"
"Then...?"
"Yes. I will take her in."
At my acceptance, Wang Yun's face lit up.
"Haha! My deepest thanks! I entrust my daughter to your kind care!"
I still had no idea what they truly wanted—but I chose to believe nothing would come of it.
"Thank you for taking me in."
"...Right. Likewise."
Just as Wang Yun had promised, Diaochan entered my household as a maidservant and threw herself into every manner of task. The way Lü Bu and Seo Yeo eyed her was admittedly... ambiguous, but setting that aside, nothing about her seemed out of the ordinary.
"My lord. Be on your guard. Since ancient times, a woman who approaches without reason has been an object of suspicion."
So said Seo Yeo,
"I don't like her."
and Lü Bu declared, glaring daggers at Diaochan.
...This is going to be fine, right?
The day after Diaochan joined us, deciding the time had finally come, I began the final inspection before setting the army in motion. Most of the rabble who needed clearing out had been dealt with, and public order in Luoyang was settling into a steady calm. All that remained for me in the capital, for the time being, was to sit tight and collect taxes.
Which meant it was about time to start nudging Dong Zhuo out of Sili.
But the very moment I moved to summon my officers, something went wrong.
"My lord! Urgent report!"
...
A messenger came sprinting into the hall, frantic and breathless. The words urgent report sent a prickle of unease down my spine as I opened my mouth.
"...Has something happened?"
"Yes, my lord!"
Drenched in sweat from his mad dash, the messenger answered in a rush.
"A horde of bandits calling themselves the Baibo Bandits is pillaging everything from southern Bing Province clear into northern Sili!"
Ah...
Now that I thought about it, those fellows did exist. After the Yellow Turbans and the Black Mountain Bandits, the Baibo Bandits, was it? And of all places, Bing Province yet again. How long had it even been since I left that province—and already another pack of bandits had sprung up in its mountains? Bing Province and Luoyang were only just beginning to regain their footing, and these bastards wanted to shake it all apart?
That settled it. Before driving Dong Zhuo from Sili, I would teach those bandit bastards a lesson first.
Swift and decisive.
To guard against the unknown, I left the defense of Luoyang in Gao Shun's hands and resolved to lead only a small force myself. If anything, an army too large might frighten the bandits into burrowing away where no one could find them—and while that wouldn't make suppression impossible, it would drag the whole campaign out far too long.
According to the reports, the Baibo Bandits numbered around thirty thousand. Set against the Yellow Turbans, who had risen by the million across the eight provinces of the realm, or the Black Mountain Bandits and their hundred thousand in Bing Province, it was a pathetically modest size. I had no idea what possessed them to take up banditry at this particular moment, but I would make them regret it.
Together with Lü Bu and Zhang Liao, I organized a lean, fast-moving force and marched on the Baibo Bandits.
"Boss. You sure we're really safe out here?"
Deep in a forest in Hedong Commandery, in Sili, one of the Baibo Bandits spoke up, worry thick in his voice.
"I heard that Jeong Reung fellow took heavy losses fighting Dong Zhuo. You think he's really got the leisure to come all this way hunting for us?"
At this, Guo Tai, chief of the Baibo Bandits, threw his head back and laughed.
"Even so, we are camped in Bing and Sili right now. Both belong to Jeong Reung, so I can't help but wonder whether he'd truly just leave us be..."
"Then we run, and that's the end of it! However deadly a fighter he may be, if we simply keep fleeing, can that insignificant whelp actually catch us?"
...
He could, of course. That was rather the point.
The bandit swallowed the rest of his protest. His life was worth more than winning an argument, so he held his tongue.
"We are thirty thousand strong—thirty thousand! An army sent to crush a force this size would naturally have to be enormous itself, and an enormous army loses its mobility. Am I wrong?"
As if marveling at his own brilliance, Guo Tai stroked his chin and grinned.
"So he comes for us? Who cares. While we run him ragged and buy time, we send word to Dong Zhuo in Chang'an and have him strike Jeong Reung from behind. Simple!"
Would things really unfold the way he imagined?
Han Xian, the bandit gripped by an uneasy premonition, sat lost in thought, his legs trembling beneath him. And unbeknownst to any of them, a lone figure watched the scene from the shadows.
...
So that was why they had been acting bolder than your average bandit horde—they were cooking up schemes like this.
Alone, she had struggled to cull them; their numbers far exceeded what she had expected. But sooner or later, an opening would come to carve through this pack of beasts. If this Jeong Reung was truly the protector of the common people that rumor made him out to be, he would never stand idle while they plundered the innocent.
"Who are y— Aaagh!"
Slipping out through the camp under cover of darkness, the figure cut down every Baibo bandit who crossed her path, cleaving each one clean in two, and moved on at an unhurried pace. Her massive axe, dripping blood, caught the moonlight and gleamed through the gloom.
Thus passed several hours. By the time the Baibo Bandits discovered their comrades' corpses and threw up their guard, scouring the surroundings at the highest pitch of alert, the figure had long since vanished without a trace.