Life (4)
Perhaps a week had passed since Lü Bu had given birth to the child in her womb. My hunch that Guan Yu's turn would come before long proved right on the mark.
"…Ugh."
Guan Yu, who had never once slackened her martial training even at full term, suddenly cried out in pain and sank to the floor.
"…Guan Yu?"
"Sister Yunchang?"
When the great Guan Yu dropped to one knee, Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, who had been standing nearby, stared in open shock.
"E-Emergency! Somebody help—!"
Still, I did wish she'd shown a little restraint about smashing the door to pieces. It wouldn't be me repairing it, granted, but restoring the thing to its original state promised to be a considerable nuisance. I heaved a sigh as I regarded Zhang Fei, who had come storming in through the wreckage of a perfectly good door.
Nothing much happened after that. Having already lived through this twice, I delegated the errand to my quickest-footed attendant, who fetched Hua Tuo with impressive speed.
"I'm counting on you again."
"…Yes."
The look Hua Tuo gave me just then—unreadable, inscrutable—left me feeling a touch sheepish.
…Even I have to admit, it is rather impressive. If a man had fathered three children in the span of barely a month, I'd have shot him a funny look too.
"…Yunchang."
"Sis! If it hurts too much, deep breaths! Deep breathing!"
The three sisters were so devoted to one another that a reenactment of the Oath of the Peach Garden would one day be born from their bond. True, there had been that incident where the two of them charged ahead and left Liu Bei behind, but theirs was a bond no one had any business belittling.
"D-Don't be ne-nervous! You can do it, Sis!"
"…It seems you are more nervous than I am."
At the sight of Zhang Fei's eyes spinning in circles, Guan Yu seemed to recover her composure, one corner of her mouth curling faintly upward.
She turned to Liu Bei, who was watching her with anxious eyes.
"Do not worry. It is trying, but… have we not endured worse than this?"
"…I see."
That confident voice coaxed a smile out of Liu Bei.
"That night certainly was an ordeal, wasn't it?"
"…?"
"The sight of Yunchang flopping over limp as a rag doll, again and again, left quite the impression on me."
"Lady Liu Bei?"
Don't tell me she means the first night Guan Yu spent with me.
Seeing Guan Yu far calmer than expected, Liu Bei seemed to find her own ease again.
"…My lord."
"Hmm?"
Guan Yu then turned her head toward me, standing close by. For all her feigned composure, the cold sweat she could not quite hide betrayed just how grueling a battle she was waging. She drew one steadying breath, then spoke in a level voice.
"The child's name… might I ask you to choose it…?"
"…Of course."
So the moment to name a child had come at last. Everyone, with one heart and one mind, was putting my naming sense to the test.
I was no literary talent like Cao Cao, so reeling off names on the spot was simply beyond me. But what could I do? A father who couldn't manage even a single name for the woman bearing his child had no business being one.
Fortunately, Guan Yu had at least two children on record in the official histories and the Romance. There was Guan Ping, presented in the Romance as an adopted son but in truth her firstborn, and Guan Xing, the second son who, alongside Zhang Fei's son Zhang Bao, left a deep impression on all who knew their story.
Guan Suo, like Zhou Cang, was a fictional figure who sprang from folk legend before being folded into the Romance, while Guan Yinping was the heroine of the famous anecdote in which Sun Quan got branded a dog—though in fairness, the name Guan Yinping, like Sun Shangxiang's, was itself a product of folk tradition. Unlike Liu Bei's children, Guan Yu's left nothing to be desired, so I could simply pick whichever suited.
Eyes closed, I let the thought settle for a moment, then spoke to Guan Yu in an even tone.
"…How does Guan Ping sound?"
"Guan Ping… Yes. It is a fine name."
Perhaps the name stirred some feeling of familiarity in her, for Guan Yu offered a faint smile.
With Hua Tuo's help, Guan Yu delivered the child safely and soon slipped into sleep, her breathing slow and even.
If there was anything unusual about the occasion, it was that Guan Ping had been born a girl, unlike in the original history.
…Nothing strange about that, really. This was a world where Liu Bei and Cao Cao were women, after all. I was hardly so green as to be flustered by such a thing at this point.
"…So you're telling me I looked like that while giving birth?"
Lü Bu, who had sidled up beside me on the pretext of being curious about the sight of childbirth, tossed the question my way. I nodded calmly and answered.
"Mm. The sight of you clutching my hand for dear life, bawling that I wasn't to go anywhere—"
"Wh-What was that?! It never went that far!"
"So you'll admit at least part of it, then?"
"Ugh…."
It seemed Lü Bu had a hazy memory of just how desperately she had clung to me.
"E-Enough already! Just hold your own child! I've been carrying her forever—my arms are dead!"
Liar. She wasn't tired in the slightest. This was the woman who could swing the Sky Piercer Halberd—a weapon few grown men could even lift—all day long without turning a hair. Did it make any sense for that same woman to be worn out from cradling a baby? Her transparent bid to steer attention away from this mortifying subject wrung a chuckle from me.
"All right. Hand her over gently."
"Hmph! Who do you take me for?"
Who did I take her for? A first-time mother, obviously. Every time Yeo Hwa fussed, Lü Bu would break into a cold sweat and flutter about in a panic—a rookie mom to anyone with eyes. …Not that I was any different, so it wasn't as if I had the standing to say so. I'd looked after countless little ones back in my Bing Province days, but raising my own child was still uncharted territory. Far better to stay humble than to nurse an unearned confidence.
I took the baby carefully from Lü Bu's arms and dipped my head a little.
"…Ooh."
The baby slept soundly against my chest. They say infants run warmer than adults, and cradling her like this, I could indeed feel her warmth seeping into me. Just looking at her, I felt strength I never knew I had welling up from somewhere deep inside. I was beginning to understand why some parents call their little ones baby angels.
That said, Lü Bu had been speaking rather loudly, so it surprised me that the baby hadn't woken this time as she had before. Perhaps she knew her mother's voice completely by now, and instead of startling, drew a sense of security from it.
"…It really is fascinating."
Lü Bu murmured, gazing at the child sleeping peacefully in my arms. I turned to her.
"Hmm? What is?"
"It's just… if anyone but me tries to hold her, her eyes fly open and she starts bawling on the spot."
Ahh. So that was why Yeo Hwa sometimes wailed loud enough to bring the house down. She was Lü Bu's flesh and blood, through and through—those little lungs of hers were second to none.
Even as I wandered down memory lane, Lü Bu kept talking.
"But strangely enough, she's fine when you hold her, Jeong Reung."
I gave her the most self-evident answer imaginable.
"I am her father, after all."
"Hmm… so that's how it works?"
"Naturally. Whose daughter is she, that she wouldn't know her own father?"
"Oh… right…."
At my deliberately smug tone, Lü Bu pulled a faintly bemused face.
"Suck-up."
Just then, Yeo Hwa opened her eyes in my arms.
"Oh? Hungry already?"
Lü Bu tilted her head at Yeo Hwa, awake earlier than usual. Thinking much the same, I was about to hand the baby back to her when Yeo Hwa did something remarkable.
"Aba-ba!"
She thrust both her tiny hands up into the air and began waving them at me.
"Good heavens…."
Lü Bu and I traded looks of pure astonishment at the sight of an infant who could barely aim her own body pulling off such a feat. Her growth was unmistakably faster than other babies'. Of course, I hadn't the faintest idea what she was actually saying. If only I could decipher that, no childcare challenge on earth would daunt me….
Even so, I had a fair guess as to why she was doing it. Babies are brimming with curiosity, drawn to whatever sits right before their eyes. Having heard that such exchanges were vital to forming an attachment bond, I dipped my head slightly and let those little hands roam across my face. The soft, squishy feel of them was rather like being kneaded by Yaongi, the cat Her Majesty kept. …No wonder parents are hopelessly wrapped around their children's fingers.
Back when I was a newborn myself, my mother had rejoiced over my every tiny movement as though her heart might burst at any moment. At the time, I had been nothing but bewildered—but now I understood. There had been a reason for it all.
"My lord."
Just then, a woman's voice called to me from nearby—a beautiful voice, the kind that set any man's heart smoldering. I recognized its owner as Diaochan in an instant, gave Yeo Hwa's cheek a few pokes with my finger, and lifted my head.
"What is it?"
"…It appears Cao Mengde has begun to move."
…
Now that was news of a very different weight. For a report to climb all the way to my ears meant she had marched out in person at the head of her army.
'What name would you like best?'
The woman who had tossed that playful question at me just before we departed Shuchun. For reasons I couldn't fathom, Cao Cao Mengde had begun to move in earnest.