The Banquet (6)
As I turned my head this way and that to see how the banquet was faring, I noticed that Seo Yeo had fixed her gaze on a single spot.
There was only one situation in which Seo Yeo, who normally spared no attention for anyone else, would react like this: when a suspicious character had appeared nearby.
...?
I immediately fixed my eyes on wherever she was looking, but no matter how hard I scrubbed them, I couldn't find anyone the least bit suspicious.
There was Zhang Jue, humming a tune through her nose as though something delighted her, but she hardly seemed worth that level of attention. That said, why was she sitting all alone in such an out-of-the-way corner? The very fact that she had managed to find an astonishingly quiet spot in this raucous banquet hall was impressive in itself. While most of the guests gulped down their wine and grew thoroughly drunk, Zhang Jue savored her tea with the most serene expression in the world.
"Seo Yeo."
"Yes."
"Is someone suspicious here? What are you staring at so hard?"
At my question, Seo Yeo answered in a faintly puzzled voice.
"Can you not see it, my lord?"
"Huh? See what?"
I looked once more, carefully, at the spot Seo Yeo was watching. ...Hmm. Apart from Zhang Jue sitting at her leisure, there was no one there. Was it her tranquil expression that fascinated Seo Yeo? It was true that the way she sat at her ease, like an immortal straight out of a legend, had left an impression on me as well.
"...I see."
When I put on a face that said I understood nothing, the blankness in Seo Yeo's eyes deepened all the more. ...What on earth was it? Was she seeing a ghost? Because that would be a little creepy. An exorcism breaking out here of all places—this world, already fantastical enough, was turning stranger by the moment.
Since sitting still was starting to bore me, I turned my head—and came face to face with Her Majesty the Empress. I say "face to face" because before I had even turned, Her Majesty had already been gazing fixedly at me.
...
Caught in those deep, dark eyes, I froze stiff as though I had looked upon Medusa. Just how head over heels was she, that she would regard me with eyes like that? At the very least, no strange rumors about our marriage being on the rocks would be spreading anytime soon. ...And even if they did, Her Majesty would promptly hunt down everyone who spread them. The imperial palace was vast, but it was a sealed space with precious little contact from the outside, so it would be no trouble at all.
...
It was true that I felt a flicker of pressure for a moment—but who was I? Every single time Seo Yeo and Lü Bu had thrown down a staring challenge, I had claimed victory. I had already worked out that Her Majesty was strong on the attack but weak on defense, so I went on the offensive at once.
"...Mm?"
The Empress let out a puzzled sound as I began staring straight back at her. About a minute passed like that.
"G-General-in-Chief... do you have some business with Us?"
"No, Your Majesty. I was merely gazing upon Your Majesty's beautiful countenance."
"There you go again with that goosebump-inducing flattery..."
As if to prove my prediction right yet again, Her Majesty put on an embarrassed expression. I smirked and said, "And yet, contrary to your words, you're grinning from ear to ear."
"Wha?!"
At the mention of her own face, the Empress hastily covered her mouth. I had already seen the corners of her lips shooting for the sky; covering them belatedly meant nothing. Sometimes a frontal assault really was the answer.
Watching the Empress carefully dart her eyes this way and that, I tilted my head. ...Now, what was it I had wanted to say to Her Majesty? As I kept staring at her with a puzzled look, a reaction came.
"A-Are you plotting to fell Us with embarrassment? Stop staring at Us."
"Thanks to Your Majesty, I have forgotten what I meant to say."
So take responsibility for that. Like a god of wine whose festival merriment had been spoiled, I fixed the Empress with a level stare.
"A-And what does that have to do with this behavior of yours?"
...
"...General-in-Chief?"
...
"U-Uh..."
Yes. I remembered. I opened my mouth to Her Majesty, who could no longer even hold her head up properly.
"Sitting in one place has grown tedious. Might I rise and take a turn around the banquet hall?"
"...And if We refuse, what will you do?"
"Then what choice would I have?" Hearing Her Majesty's question, I answered with complete sincerity. "There is little else for me to do here, so I shall simply keep watching Your Majesty."
"...You mean, keep watching?"
"Yes. Continuously."
Her reactions were more entertaining than I had expected—how was I supposed to resist? This was a woman who buried her head after roughly five minutes of being watched; if I kept it up for ten, wouldn't she go hide in some mouse hole somewhere?
At my threat that wasn't quite a threat, Her Majesty hastily waved her hands in refusal. "G-Go on, hurry along. I have things to attend to now." She was flustered enough that she forgot the royal "We" she always used for herself. So if you stare at her like you're about to fire lasers from your eyes, she bends to your will. I had no idea how long this method would keep working, but for now, it worked beautifully.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." Having tucked away in one corner of my mind the art of wheedling the Empress, I smiled faintly and withdrew from her presence.
"...You're a real smooth operator, you know that? A master charmer."
"Hm?"
As I rose from my seat, Lü Bu, who had been watching the whole exchange from nearby, muttered in displeasure. "You sure play with a woman's heart, don't you? Lifting it up and dropping it just like that."
"That's a compliment, right?"
"How would that be a compliment?"
When I asked playfully, Lü Bu shot back in a curt voice. That was less me being skilled and more them being far too easy. Honestly, who turns scarlet just because someone looked at them a little? Unless you had never once crossed paths with the opposite sex in your entire life, you wouldn't react like that...
...And hopeless they were, weren't they? Seo Yeo and Lü Bu had been girls who looked at no one but me, ever since the day I took them in. Back when we were still brawling with the foreign tribes in Bing Province, the men who had been bewitched by their beauty, then beaten black and blue and chased out, could have filled ten laps of the training ground. Add to that the romantic streak so often celebrated in stories, and it made perfect sense that they would be over the moon at my every small gesture.
Her Majesty was much the same. She had been swept, day after day, into Luoyang's blood-draining political arena before she was even ten years old—until I rescued her. Think about it: in a situation where her very life hung in the balance, how many women would fail to warm to a man who appeared like a prince on a white horse? Had history run its original course, she would have been deposed by Dong Zhuo and put to death. Surely Her Majesty sensed that, at least dimly.
As I rose to my feet under the gazes of the lovestruck, a few officials enjoying the banquet nearby stole glances at me. One of the stars of the evening was now moving about in person, so it was only natural they took notice. Honestly, I had no intention of doing anything grand, so I walked on as if nothing were amiss. First things first—I needed to satisfy the thing I'd been most curious about.
I approached Zhang Jue, who was leisurely enjoying her tea in a quiet corner, and spoke to her. "What are you doing all alone over here?"
"...General-in-Chief?"
At my words, Zhang Jue's eyes widened slightly in surprise. But only for a moment—she quickly recovered her composure and answered in a calm voice. "Hmm... how shall I put it. I was enjoying the clamor and the quiet all at once."
"...That's another one of those impossible riddles of yours." True to her nature as a Taoist adept, her entire outlook was peculiar. In a way, it was a very Zhang Jue answer, so I smiled and went on. "Where are your sisters? Don't tell me you came alone?"
"Ah, you mean the girls." Zhang Jue nodded gently at my question. "They said they would be minding the clinic, and that I should enjoy the banquet on my own." She added softly, "They are the sort of younger sisters who find official occasions like this rather uncomfortable, you see."
I more or less took her at her word. Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, who took after Zhang Jue with their rather placid air, were at heart thorough homebodies. Birds of a feather, I suppose. Rather than sitting in some lofty seat and climbing the ladder of success, they preferred to set up a clinic and live in ease. I remembered how, once talent gathered under our banner and stability slowly returned, they had delighted in their regained freedom like house-elves finally released from service.
"I see. I ought to pay them a visit and offer my greetings before long."
"My sisters would be delighted."
Just as Zhang Jue and I were trading words, someone approached me. "General-in-Chief, an old man is wrangling with the soldiers, insisting he be allowed to join the banquet."
"An old man?" Hearing Liu Bei's report, I asked again to be sure.
"Yes. He gives his name as Zuo Ci, he says..."
"...Hm?" Why on earth was that man showing up here? Unable to hide my surprise, I turned my head toward the Empress, and she gave a small nod. Meaning I was to do as I pleased, presumably. I deliberated for a moment, then spoke. "Bring him in and let us see. I'm curious what he'll get up to."
"Yes, my lord." Liu Bei bowed to me and withdrew. Zuo Ci, of all people... Why had he come? While my thoughts deepened, Zhang Jue smiled faintly, as though she had found herself quite the amusing spectacle to watch.