Life (3)
Ever since my child had been born, the estate had grown considerably livelier.
"Haha! Congratulations, my lord!"
"How could wine possibly be absent on such a joyous day!"
The male generals on good terms with me came calling as though they had been waiting for precisely this moment, and promptly set about draining bottle after bottle. They were so utterly devoid of dignity that they might as well have been a pair of drunk uncles from the neighborhood. Had their families witnessed the spectacle, they would no doubt have heaved a sigh.
...Setting aside Sun Jian, who was staying in Luoyang anyway, how on earth had Ma Teng arrived so quickly? Did he go everywhere on a Ferghana horse, just like his daughter?
Of course, these were not the only visitors to my estate.
"My, my. So you've finally made your dream come true."
"Shut it!"
When Zhang Liao spoke with a contented grin, Lü Bu — cradling the baby tenderly against her chest — hollered right back.
"Waaah..."
"Ah—!"
Sure enough, the baby fast asleep in Lü Bu's arms whimpered once at the loud voice. At the sight, Lü Bu jolted in alarm and threw herself into coaxing and soothing the child.
"I'm sorry, sweetie! Let's go night-night again, okay?"
"Uuu..."
Whether her desperate efforts had paid off, Yeo Hwa drifted back to sleep without any further fuss. Lü Bu let out a sigh of relief and muttered,
"Whew... That was a close one."
"Heh heh."
Zhang Liao flashed a smile, evidently finding it delightful that the Peerless Under Heaven herself was being run ragged by a single baby.
"A baby... night-night... I never imagined I'd hear such adorable words coming from the great General's lips."
"Like you'd be any different—?!"
On the verge of roaring again at Zhang Liao's teasing, Lü Bu clamped her mouth shut, mindful of the sleeping child. After a moment of pressed lips, she tried once more in a hushed voice.
"...Like you'd be any different? Babies like it when you talk to them like this...!"
Lü Bu had a point.
Num-nums for meals. Snackies for treats. Spankies for discipline, yuckies for anything dirty, and so on... Words like these are what we call baby talk, and baby talk genuinely helps form bonds of attachment and develop a child's language ability.
The trouble is that such words take root in a parent's own mouth as well, slipping out in everyday life without the speaker even noticing.
Well, hardly a grave problem...
...Or was it, in fact, a grave problem?
Suppose you meant to tell a coworker, "Let's head out for lunch!" and it came out as, "Let's go have our num-nums!" What then?
Naturally, the mortification would be yours alone to bear.
And with no one else to blame for it, all the more embarrassing besides.
Lü Bu said, her expression turning a touch fierce.
"Zhang Liao, just you wait until our next sparring match...!"
"I shall look forward to it."
It was a glare that would have set most people trembling on the spot, but Zhang Liao, seemingly well accustomed to it, absorbed even that look with perfect composure.
As close as ever, those two.
As I was chuckling at the scene, Seo Hwang drew near.
"Um... my lord?"
"Hm? What is it?"
Having called for me, Seo Hwang kept darting glances at something as she asked, her voice brimming with curiosity.
"What exactly is she doing right now...?"
"Ah, you mean Seo Yeo?"
Turning my head toward Seo Yeo, I answered as though it were nothing at all.
"Beats me."
"...?"
Seo Hwang cocked her head, evidently not having anticipated that answer in the slightest.
But what could I say? When you don't know something, you say you don't know.
Seo Yeo sat with her eyes closed, her child sleeping soundly in her embrace. She might have been meditating, or she might simply have been dozing... Yet whenever my gaze found her, her eyes would open at once and meet mine, so I suspected the former. Meditation with a baby cradled in one's arms — a thoroughly incongruous pairing, and yet, in its own way, perfectly Seo Yeo.
"..."
"..."
Guan Yu, whose belly had grown round enough that even a total stranger could tell she was with child. Zhang Fei, oddly enough, holding her tongue in a silence so complete it was almost eerie. The second and third of the Peach Sisters had wrapped themselves in a strange air, as though some terrible calamity had just befallen them — and no matter how I looked at it, they were both stealing glances at their eldest sister, Liu Bei.
...It really was getting on my nerves.
This was no one-day affair. Anyone who kept behaving so unlike themselves would stir curiosity even in people who weren't close to them.
Seated where I was, I addressed Liu Bei.
"Liu Bei."
"Yes."
Liu Bei, who had been directing my bugok while keeping watch over our surroundings, responded the instant I called. I looked her straight in those black eyes of hers — living proof of her imperial blood — and asked,
"I'll come straight to the point. Is something the matter?"
"..."
"From what I've observed lately, something about the mood among the three of you has felt strangely off."
I went on in the measured tones of a counselor.
"If you have worries, I will hear them. So speak freely, with an open heart and nothing held back."
"That is..."
At my earnest tone, Liu Bei's lips quivered, while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei looked on with faintly hopeful eyes.
Frankly, I couldn't bring myself to believe that Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had done anything drastic enough to genuinely wound Liu Bei. Even had they caused some trouble, considering the bond the three of them shared, Liu Bei would surely have forgiven it without fuss. And had anything truly serious occurred, the report would have reached me long before now.
Bearing all that in mind, it was clear the odd atmosphere had sprung from something deeply personal — and unless one were exceptionally close to them, few would dare pry into such private territory.
Fortunately enough, Liu Bei and I happened to be quite close.
"...I..."
"Hm?"
Then Liu Bei, whose mouth had stayed sealed as if locked shut, at last forced it open with her head bowed deep. The problem was that her voice was so tiny not a single word carried.
If Liu Bei — who so rarely let her emotions show — was reduced to this, the matter must have been mortifying beyond measure.
I waited calmly for her answer, then asked once more.
"Your voice is too soft for me to hear. Could you speak up a little?"
"...I am the only one... who could not... carry a child..."
Ah.
"..."
"..."
The moment her answer landed, a peculiar silence settled between Liu Bei and me.
Come to think of it, even in the original history, Liu Bei had only welcomed his first son when he was nearly fifty. Counting the two daughters Cao Cao's men carried off at the Battle of Changban and the two daughters born later, he had a mere five children to his name — a gulf as wide as heaven and earth compared with Cao Cao, who had left behind more than thirty. In matters of that particular sort, Liu Bei had always trailed far behind his great rival.
...Now that I thought about it, there was a reason Cao Cao had conceived on the very first try. Call it historical fidelity, if you like.
Well, five children was no small number in itself, so this time Liu Bei had simply run out of luck, it seemed.
As I racked my brain for a way to break the mood, I turned to Zhang Fei, who had been watching the whole scene from nearby.
"...Zhang Fei. Come here a moment."
"U-uh, sure."
Zhang Fei sidled over, carefully gauging Liu Bei's mood as she came.
"Hmm..."
I studied her for a long moment as she drew near, then reached out and gave her belly a gentle pat.
"Hyaaah?!"
"Your belly has certainly started to show."
Startled by my sudden move, Zhang Fei scrambled backward in a flurry.
"Wh-what are you doing out of nowhere! That's sexual harassment!"
"Er... sorry about that."
Though I did wonder whether the woman who had once plied me with drink and tried to pounce on me was in any position to complain.
Coming from someone who used to throw herself at me day after day, insisting she would get with child just like Sister Yunchang, this bashfulness was honestly hard to get used to. Great on offense, hopeless on defense, apparently.
In any case, judging by the feel of her belly, the report that Zhang Fei was pregnant appeared to be true. If she had conceived right before I departed on the Yi Province campaign, then a good four months must have passed already.
And come to think of it, wasn't Guan Yu nearing her time as well? Considering when we had lain together on the return to Luoyang after the subjugation of Yuan Shu, it would hardly be strange if she gave birth tomorrow.
...The rate at which children were multiplying in this household was, frankly, alarming.
Perhaps I ought to start practicing a little restraint, beginning now. At this rate, I might well end up leaving behind thirty-odd children, just like Cao Cao of the original history.
Not that I could ever dream of overtaking Prince Jing of Zhongshan, whose offspring had numbered in the triple digits.
Stroking my chin through a brief moment of contemplation, I then spoke in my usual tone.
"Guan Yu will remain at my residence until she has safely delivered the child."
"Yes."
"Zhang Fei, it's no trouble either way — do as you please."
"...Hmph!"
Guan Yu answered in her even tones, but Zhang Fei turned her head away with a distinctly sulky air.
That sulk of hers was going to last a while.
"And as for Liu Bei..."
I turned to Liu Bei, who still had not managed to lift her face for sheer embarrassment.
"Well then, shall we set a date?"
"...Please do."
However mortified she might be, Liu Bei never failed to see to what needed seeing to.
That aside, I did find myself pondering what to name Liu Bei's child. Should I go with Liu Feng, the adopted son of history? Or with that Liu Shan? The name Liu Shan, somehow, felt as though it would saddle my darling child with something strange, and I couldn't help but shy away from it.
...I really couldn't decide.
I would think about it when the time came.