Changes (9)
The year 195 arrived, and a fair stretch of time slipped by with it.
The white garbage that had poured endlessly from the sky as though the heavens themselves had sprung a leak eventually tapered off, and the cold that used to run wild at the slightest provocation finally began to settle down. Before anyone noticed, I suppose you'd say the Beginning of Spring had drawn near. Not that the name amounted to much—even with the day itself behind us, the chill in the air stayed every bit as biting. It would be a long while yet before the snow we'd shoveled into neat piles out of the way finished melting.
"G-Greetings, General-in-Chief!"
"...Mm."
Ma Chao—the girl who had sparred with Zhang Fei on the stated premise of having a favor to ask of me—stiffened up like a board the moment she set eyes on me. It was precisely how I'd picture a frog with a snake in front of it. I didn't eat people, and yet there she was, frozen solid as if she'd run headlong into her natural predator, which left me rather bewildered. She had clearly made some grand resolution and come here to ask her favor, but the one doing the asking kept darting furtive glances right in front of the very person she was supposed to ask. And so the time just frittered away, uselessly. Ma Chao had won the right to a single favor from me, yet all she ever managed was a round of empty small talk before taking her leave.
"Haha! My little girl is quite the shy one!"
That was what Ma Teng had told me right before heading back to Xiliang. We had been trading drinks, just the two of us, when the conversation turned to Ma Chao, and he had opened his mouth with a great rolling laugh.
"She must take after her mother, because when it comes to matters between men and women, she's as innocent as a maiden who's never known one!"
Ma Teng's eyes had taken on a faraway look, as though he were gazing back across the years.
"Every time she catches me looking, she keeps her distance—honest to goodness, I've wondered whether she hates me. And yet somehow, I always find her lingering somewhere close by."
"So she's shy, then."
"Haha! She is! Though she'd deny it tooth and nail!"
He roared with laughter, claiming that even to this day, any mention of the past left his wife's handprint stamped across his backside. I had more or less expected as much, but the man really was henpecked. Ma Teng, Sun Jian—none of them seemed to stand a chance before the women they loved. And his wife's looks would not have fallen short of the title of beautiful middle-aged woman. I'd wager she was quite popular among those with a taste for that sort of thing.
Ma Teng went on, his blue-silver eyes gleaming—the very same shade as Ma Chao's.
"Even if you, General-in-Chief, were to walk right up to her yourself, odds are she'd jump out of her skin and put a mile between you."
Put distance between us, he says. She wasn't some skittish wild cub; it was honestly baffling.
Ma Teng burst into laughter once more and pressed on.
"So take it slow and wait her out! My daughter may be a touch timid, but once she sets her mind on something, she has never once given up on it!"
Timid? If the Qiang tribesmen Ma Chao lorded over day in and day out ever heard that, their reaction would have been pure, dumbfounded disbelief. I supposed it was simply a parent's destiny to be blind where their children were concerned. Paternal love, maternal love—truly fearsome things, both.
"Ma Chao. Is there something you want to say to me?"
I asked, watching her, as I whiled away an easy hour at the General-in-Chief's residence just outside the Imperial Palace. Gukseo though I was, my actual office remained General-in-Chief, after all. The palace still felt foreign to me, so whenever I found a spare moment, I took my rest at my own residence. It was a truly ironic turn of affairs—a place I had once so hated going to had become my place of rest.
"W-well... u-um..."
At my question, Ma Chao began glancing about nervously, same as she always had. Eyes wandering this way and that with nowhere to land. Lips that twitched open and shut again and again, as though no voice would ever come out. Watching her face flush red enough to answer to the name Lady Boiled Beet, I took a slow sip of my tea.
Not today either, then? She couldn't go on like this forever. Once the weather began to warm, I would have to start moving in earnest myself—Yi Province and Gangdong both had to be finished within the year, and if things went well, I might even set my sights on both at once. By the time that day came, even if Ma Chao had finally steeled herself, the odds were good that I simply wouldn't have the time.
Whether some of that reached her or not, Ma Chao pulled on a resolute expression for once and opened her mouth.
"W-Won't you spend some time with me toda—owch?!"
She cut herself off mid-sentence and clapped her own hand over her mouth, wincing in pain.
Bit her tongue, huh. That had to hurt.
They say you can bite your tongue mid-word when you're wound up too tight, and Ma Chao's situation right now was exactly that. ...Still, the important thing was that she had opened her mouth at all.
Having drained my tea, I handed the empty cup to a nearby attendant and rose from my seat.
"If that's the favor, then I suppose I have to grant it."
"..."
"Have you thought about where you'd like to spend it?"
"Th-that's..."
At my question, Ma Chao, tears welling at the corners of her eyes, looked to be racking her brains. You haven't planned a thing, have you? She had apparently just blurted it out on the spot, figuring only that she had to seize this chance somehow.
"Well, no helping it. Let's start with a meal togeth—"
"General-in-Chief."
"...?"
The moment I opened my mouth with a wry smile, a woman stepped into view. Blue eyes that called a clear sky to mind. Blue hair that seemed painted from a boundless sea. I looked at the coolly composed woman in her silver armor and spoke.
"Zhao Yun?"
It felt as though I hadn't seen her in ages. Why did it feel that way, when I had crossed paths with her plenty of times while seeing to my duties as General-in-Chief?
"What is it?"
At my question, Zhao Yun continued in a calm voice that suited her appearance perfectly.
"There is someone requesting an audience with you at this very moment, General."
"Hmm?"
Hearing that report, I couldn't help but betray my puzzlement. Zhao Yun, who was currently campaigning as part of my bugok, delivering a report like this? It meant someone had formally requested a meeting with me—not on private matters, but official business. I shot a glance at Ma Chao, whose eyes had gone perfectly round, then asked once more.
"Who is this visitor?"
"A person named Zhang Song has come from Shu—another name for Yi Province—bearing tribute."
...Zhang Song?
The same Zhang Song I knew? A figure I had never once imagined, arriving at an hour I could never have predicted—my astonishment showed plain on my face.
"Tell them I will be along shortly. Serve them food and drink, and ask them to wait just a little while."
"As you command."
Having received my order, Zhao Yun bowed with impeccable courtesy and withdrew. I watched that composed stride of hers for a while before turning my head back to Ma Chao.
"Ma Chao."
"Y-You called for me?"
Her tongue was probably still stinging from the bite; her words came out slightly thick. A chuckle slipped out of me at the sorry sight, and I gave her shoulder a light pat.
"I'm afraid our time together will have to wait for another day."
"..."
"It seems now simply isn't your moment."
If the Zhang Song I knew had traveled all the way to Luoyang, this was an opportunity that could not be allowed to slip away. It was a fact that anyone with even a passing knowledge of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would agree on. But that timing—good heavens. How did an event like this land the very instant Ma Chao made up her mind? Had Heaven issued a revelation just for her—you, too, girl: your time has not yet come? Unfair as it may have been, Ma Chao had already been handed chance after chance. A good month, at the very least, had passed since her duel with Zhang Fei. Considering how many times the Peach Sisters had come calling on me in that stretch, she really had no excuse. This was exactly why they said to seize an opportunity when it appears.
I looked at Ma Chao, who wore an expression of hollow defeat, and went on.
"No need to look so crestfallen. Chances like this will come around again."
"...Yes."
That was her answer, but the way her head drooped told anyone watching that her spirit had been utterly crushed.
...Hmm.
If I left things as they were and simply walked away, I had a feeling she would lose even what little confidence she had managed to scrape together.
—Hahaha!! Take good care of my daughter for me!!
That big, hearty voice still leapt vividly to mind whenever I closed my eyes. Remembering the good-natured fellow who had sworn his loyalty to me with eyes all a-sparkle, I closed the distance between Ma Chao and myself.
"Lift your head."
"...?"
When Ma Chao raised her face at my words, I pressed my lips to hers without a single moment's hesitation.
"Mmph...?"
"......?!"
At my little stunt, not only Ma Chao but even Seo Yeo and Lü Bu standing nearby betrayed visible shock. I drew my lips back just as quickly and said, in a perfectly even tone,
"We'll leave it at that for today."
"..."
"You could stand to have a little more courage."
I gave Ma Chao's shoulder another pat.
"After all, there isn't a man alive who wouldn't be overjoyed to have you ask."
"...Yes."
This much ought to do it, I figured. Leaving behind Ma Chao, who still wore a dazed look as though the moment had yet to sink in, I turned to go.
"..."
"Don't tell me you thought you'd get away with just that?"
And naturally, it goes without saying that Seo Yeo and Lü Bu tormented me the entire way back.
"...Master."
"You're not going anywhere until you kiss me, too!"
Seo Yeo, holding me fast with her gaze, opened her mouth in a voice that begged for something, while Lü Bu grabbed hold of my waist outright and pushed her face in close. They weren't toddlers throwing tantrums—what on earth was this? With my body pinned in place as though a thousand-pound weight had dropped onto it, I heaved a sigh and gave each of them a kiss.