Ye Province (3)
As I ran the numbers on roughly how long it would take to absorb Ye Province, I realized it wouldn't actually drag on all that long, and nodded to myself in satisfaction.
For one thing, the region sat right beside Sili Province, where Luoyang stood. For another, its small powers would very likely accept an offer of surrender if we extended one. With those two factors stacking in our favor, if everything went swimmingly we could have the whole Ye region in hand before Lidong, the traditional start of winter in early November.
We were forever trudging off to remote, treacherous corners of the world like Gangdong, Yi Province, or Nanzhong, so heading somewhere this close felt refreshingly novel.
Having neatly distilled the key points of my next plan into a summary anyone could follow, I wrote them up in a memorial and submitted it to Her Majesty.
"General-in-Chief."
"You called for me?"
The Empress, who had been looking over the memorial with a practiced hand, spoke.
"It has hardly been any time at all since you returned to Luoyang, and already you mean to go wandering off again?"
"...Your Majesty?"
When I put on a surprised expression, the Empress continued in a calm voice.
"The sight of you devoting yourself body and soul to matters of state is charming in its own right, I grant. And yet We worry that, pressed for time as you are, you may lose sight of what truly matters."
"..."
"Does the General-in-Chief not still have an infant at his side who has yet to be weaned?"
The Empress went on, deliberately putting a stern edge into her voice.
"For the sake of your health and your family alone, We cannot grant this memorial."
"Hmmm..."
This was the first time she had ever turned down a request of mine so flatly. Her Majesty genuinely seemed concerned that I was burying myself in work.
As I mulled over how to turn her around, I spoke up, treading carefully.
"Would it be acceptable if I did not personally take the field?"
"..."
"The Han has no shortage of capable generals under its banner. Even without me, the matter will be seen to properly."
If even that didn't land, things would get tricky.
In that case, I'd have no choice but to let my shoulders sag and shuffle away, dejected and defeated. Appealing to emotion rather than reason, in other words.
Just as I was quietly starting to sweat, the Empress's lips parted, little by little.
"...If that is the case, then it does not matter."
"Thank you, Your Majesty."
Fortunately my instincts proved right on the mark, and I succeeded in coaxing Her Majesty's permission out of her.
"But bear this one thing in mind. If so much as a whisper reaches Us that you have slipped out of Luoyang, We will issue a decree ordering you back to the imperial palace at once."
"..."
"If you find that hard to believe, you are welcome to test it."
Her obsidian eyes—lovely as polished black gemstone—glinted with a chilling edge. Staring into them, I could do nothing but bow deep at the waist and reply,
"Would I have any choice in the matter?"
Once I got home, step one would be agonizing over whom to appoint as field commander.
Having received Her Majesty's solemn and repeated warning, I accepted that I wouldn't be leaving Luoyang for some time and sank into thought over whom to choose as my field commander.
Commanding an entire army was not a post one earned merely by fighting well. The commander decided when, where, and how to strike, and the commander decided how the force itself would be run. It was, in the truest sense, a seat that tested both a person's military ability and their political ability.
As for me—call me the exception, since I'd been half-carried to where I stood by the sheer talent of my subordinates. March around with Lü Bu and Zhuge Liang in the same legion, and losing would be stranger than winning.
Truthfully, if we were talking field commanders, Cao Cao was the most complete candidate there was. The one person who could have unified all under heaven, had her own psycho streak not perpetually tripped her at the knees. She hadn't gone entirely without defeat, but the ability with which she clawed through every disadvantageous situation imaginable and ultimately founded the kingdom of Wei made her exactly the sort of talent you wanted for conquering territory.
So what was that very Cao Cao doing at this moment?
"Mamama!"
"There, there. Mama's right here, so eat slowly, all right?"
Like the other women who had borne my children, Cao Cao was completely absorbed in caring for her baby.
"Gyaah!"
"Oh dear. You've let it all dribble out, haven't you? Say 'ahh' for Mama one more time."
She wore that blissful an expression just feeding her child—watching her, I hardly had the heart to thrust a command post at the woman and talk state affairs. And hadn't I said as much before? Cao Cao was a live bomb; there was no telling when or where her psycho streak might blow.
Being torn from her family had already put her in a foul temper, and if the Governor of Ye Province or the King of Jin happened to scratch that temper the wrong way, I couldn't even begin to imagine the scale of the disaster that would follow. Some might wonder whether such a thing could really happen. But disasters have a way of striking precisely when you've decided they won't.
"Aboo-boo."
Nom, nom.
"That's it. Such a good little eater."
Finely minced beef, top-grade vegetables—a lavish spread of luxurious ingredients of every description. Watching Cao Ang chew down baby food steeped in a loving mother's devotion, Cao Cao flashed a smile.
Cao Ang had been born premature, in her eighth month—a so-called eight-month baby—and though her conception had come quite late, she was the first of the babies to arrive and had ended up the eldest sister. Having entered the world early, her growth had outpaced even Seo Hui's, and the result was that she'd been the first to start on solid food. Babies generally take to solids somewhere between four and six months, though naturally every child was different.
"Mamama."
When Cao Ang kept eyeing the food the grown-ups were eating, Cao Cao had risen from her seat and said,
"Hmmm. I suppose it is about time she began on solid food? There is nothing to it."
"Oh? You can cook as well?"
"Watch for yourself, and judge."
True to form for a genius with no weak spot to her name, her cooking turned out to be excellent, too. If not for that psycho streak, the Cao Cao of the original history might have blazed a munchkin's trail like Emperor Guangwu, smashing every enemy that appeared before her eyes...
"What are you brooding over so hard?"
"Just... state business, for a moment."
"Brooding over dull things again, I see."
Cao Cao shook her head before I'd even finished my answer. Well, fair enough—it was a dull worry. If I'd been the one at home watching a spouse think of nothing but state business, I'd probably have pulled the same fed-up face she was making.
When a faintly dazed look crept across my face, Cao Cao smiled and slid over a beautifully laid table.
"Now then. Along with the baby's meal, I have prepared a table for you as well, you see."
"..."
When on earth had she found the time to set all this up? I fell silent, staring at a spread refined enough to startle even the chefs who served in the imperial palace.
"What, are you worried it will not suit your taste?"
"It's not that."
"Then eat, and give me your impressions."
With that, Cao Cao turned her head toward the baby.
"Cao Ang. And how was your mama's cooking?"
"Mamama!"
Just who had she taken after, to be this adorable? At some point Cao Ang had made short work of her baby food and now answered with a beaming, sunlit smile. I couldn't say whether she understood the question, but judging by that face, at the very least the food had met with her approval.
I had come straight to Cao Cao the moment my audience with Her Majesty ended, and it was only now that I realized I hadn't eaten lunch. Right—refusing such kindness would be poor manners besides. I picked up my spoon.
"All right. I'll eat it with a grateful heart."
"Fufu. Then my efforts were not wasted."
Grinning ear to ear, Cao Cao declared that this was exactly why she cooked.
And so I polished off Cao Cao's cooking in deep satisfaction. In truth, sitting at the top of the food chain had made my palate rather particular—no wonder Cao Ang had babbled her little "num-nums" so happily. Judged on ability alone, Cao Cao was an all-round prodigy without a single rough edge, and true to form, her cooking skills were first-rate.
"Zzz..."
"Adorable little thing, isn't she."
Once her belly was full, Cao Ang had snuggled deep into her mother's arms and dropped into a sound sleep. Cao Cao gazed at the sight with tender eyes for a while before tossing a question my way.
"So. What was it you were brooding over earlier?"
"Ah, that. Well..."
At the question, I gave a plain, level explanation, and when I finished, Cao Cao spoke.
"You mean the field commander."
"Right. I was wondering whom to entrust with the mission of taking Ye Province."
If everything went smoothly, we would seize Ye Province without fighting a single battle—but nobody could say how the world would actually turn. Ideally, I wanted someone with an even temperament and a real gift for big-picture judgment to shoulder it...
Cao Cao looked faintly disappointed.
"Hmmm. Were it not for the mopping-up still owed in Xuzhou and Qingzhou, I would have recommended Zixiao—Cao Ren, that is."
Now that was someone I could vouch for. Barely a whisper of presence in the Romance, yet in the official Records praised to the skies as a general sent down from heaven itself—and the only officer under Cao Cao's command ever to defeat Liu Bei single-handedly. Looked at that way, Cao Cao's faction truly was stacked with remarkable people far beyond Cao Cao herself.
At her words, I let out a short laugh.
"No need. I settled on someone just now."
"And who might that be?"
"The most senior member of our entire faction."
At my deliberately vague answer, Cao Cao tilted her head in puzzlement. Someone of even temper, who knew precisely when to hurl themselves forward and when to act with caution. The hour had come for that general to step into the light—the one who, while Cao Cao traded blows with Liu Bei on the left flank, had utterly demolished Sun Quan on the right and shouldered an entire front alone.