The Inspection (7)
Our modest gathering with Ma Teng came to an end, and I wore a thoroughly satisfied expression.
"You were right—your wife's cooking truly is superb. It's been a long while since I ate my fill like that."
"Haha! I'm simply grateful to hear you say so!"
Ma Teng laughed heartily at my words, making no effort to hide his delight.
"Will you come visit us again sometime?"
Ma Chao, standing beside her father, seized my hand with eyes that sparkled. Despite her young age, her face was already brimming with striking beauty—an appearance that proved the epithet Splendid Ma Chao was no empty flattery. I fell into brief deliberation, then slowly opened my mouth.
"Of course. Whenever business brings me out to Xiliang, I'll be sure to stop by."
"Yay! Thank you!"
"Though I can't say when exactly I'll make it back to Xiliang."
At my words, Ma Chao—who had been bouncing in place with joy—froze stiff as a board. Was it really that shocking? Her reaction was so utterly honest that I found myself slightly flustered.
"I'm a very busy man, you see," I said, my expression turning awkward. "Even this trip alone was a painfully tight schedule."
Xiliang was harsh enough already—a barren land of rugged terrain and notoriously fickle weather. As if that weren't bad enough, the territory itself was staggeringly vast. The roads were properly maintained nowhere, leaving every route bumpy and rutted, and the sandstorms swept through often enough to ruin a man's health from the battering alone.
And that wasn't all. The Qiang and Di tribes had once raided the region day in and day out at the slightest provocation—only recently had their numbers thinned thanks to my policy of appeasement. Crisscrossing that land to handle one problem after another, I had somehow ended up covering every last corner of Xiliang. More hours were spent in transit than actually inspecting and resolving matters in each city.
Still, all that travel meant I could drop in on village after village along the way and come away with a solid grasp of how Xiliang actually worked. The natives who had survived so precarious a land possessed the same stubborn, unbreakable temperament as the people of Bing Province. Whatever they set out to do, they saw through to the end. They hardened their bodies to protect their families. They banded together with their neighbors and pooled the strength of their villages.
Certain officials at the central court seemed to sneer at Xiliang as a land of savages, but that was pure ignorance talking. I had been sending regular letters to Luoyang to report on my wellbeing, yet even that had its limits. If my stay stretched out any longer, someone—anyone—would come marching an army over to drag me home. The people of Luoyang did not care for me emptying my seat for long. Truthfully, it already felt like I'd been away more than long enough, and if I lingered any further, I dreaded what would be waiting for me on my return.
The nagging would be one thing, but I couldn't begin to guess what sort of madness the little Emperor who depended on me might get up to. Ah, come now. I did have the merit of stabilizing Xiliang to my name—surely even she wouldn't rake me over the coals that badly.
...She wouldn't, right?
"..."
Hearing my answer, Ma Chao remained rooted in place, still frozen in the very same posture. I leaned toward Ma Teng and murmured under my breath.
"What am I supposed to do at a time like this?"
"Truth be told, this is a first for me as well—I couldn't say."
Even the girl's own father, who had raised her from birth, had apparently never witnessed such a thing. As Ma Teng and I stood there awkwardly eyeing the statue that was Ma Chao, she produced a new reaction.
"Uuu..."
"...Ma Chao?"
"Uuuuu..."
A trembling voice. Eyes brimming with tears. Don't tell me she's about to cry?
Panicking, I traded whispers with her father.
"Wha—what do I do about this?!"
"I haven't the faintest idea!"
"What kind of father are you?! Has it truly never once occurred to you to soothe a crying child?!"
"My wife has always handled every household matter, so I genuinely don't know!"
"Good grief!"
So this was why Ma Teng was forever at his wife's mercy!
Her ladyship was inside the house at that very moment, tidying up after the meal—running to fetch her would already be far too late. I frantically dredged up old memories and threw my brain into full gear, hunting for some way to comfort a child on the verge of tears.
Now was the hour for my experience raising the orphaned children I'd taken in back in Bing Province to shine! Yes—that ought to do it!
Memory recalled, I scooped the teary-eyed Ma Chao up into my arms.
"...?"
She stared up at me with eyes one blink away from spilling over. Without a word, I hugged the girl tight and gave her back a gentle pat-pat.
Pat her head. Hold her close. Tell her she's done well. There is no child alive who doesn't thrive on positive attention from someone they adore. Do it to a child who hates you, and it would only backfire—but Ma Chao showed no sign of disliking me, so I committed to it.
"..."
Perhaps I'd found the right answer, because the trembling girl in my arms slowly steadied. Good. Now, then—time to ask, nice and gently, what had nearly brought her to tears.
"What's got you so sad you wanted to cry, hmm?"
"...Because you said you can't come visit often."
Oh dear. I'd hoped I was wrong, but no—that was exactly it. Was that really worth crying over? Ma Chao and I had known each other barely any time at all. A bond might form between us, surely, but not one bound so deeply as all that.
"To grieve this much over rarely seeing someone you only met today... You truly are a good child."
"..."
"Meeting a girl with so much affection to give—I couldn't be happier, you know?"
"...No, I'm not."
Huh?
Midway through my cooing round of comfort, the girl nestled against my chest suddenly spoke up.
"I'm not that affectionate of a child. Not at all."
"..."
"It's because you're the General-in-Chief. That's why I'm sad."
What on earth was that supposed to mean? Ma Chao fixed her gaze squarely on my eyes, and I found myself utterly unable to answer her.
"I understand how you feel—but I still can't come out to Xiliang often," I managed at last. My hand, which had been patting her back, moved up to stroke her hair instead. "If you truly want to see me that much, then come to Luoyang yourself once you're all grown up."
"...Okay."
"I hear your martial arts are exceptional, no? Talented young commanders are always welcome at my side, any time."
We had known each other for barely a single day, yet Ma Chao showed me a favor so intense it bordered on the strange. Could it have something to do with how the children I'd taken in back in Bing Province used to adore me? Having cared for so many bereaved children, whenever one stood before me now I couldn't help but instinctively reach for whatever would please them most. Practically second nature by this point, really.
...Well, at least childcare won't be a problem in the future.
"What in the world..."
Ma Teng, who had been watching the whole scene unfold, stared bug-eyed with his jaw hanging open.
"I've never once managed to soothe her successfully myself..."
A heartbreakingly sorrowful thing for a father to admit.
"Hee hee."
Lü Bu looked back and forth between Ma Chao and me, smirking as though enjoying some private daydream.
"..."
Seo Yeo, for her part, briefly closed her eyes—perhaps recalling her own days of being cuddled just like this. That one had her own odd brand of chaos going on, it seemed.
Ma Chao nodded at my words.
"Yes. When I come of age, I'll come find you for certain."
"Thank you."
And so Ma Chao and I smiled at one another.
"This time, you were without question reckless."
The moment I returned to Luoyang, Zhang Jue—who had been waiting for me—launched straight into a lecture.
"I don't care that Lady Seo Yeo and Lady Lü Bu are warriors worth a thousand men apiece. To march into the enemy's midst trusting in those two alone—what were you thinking?"
I was the one sitting comfortably in my seat while Zhang Jue knelt before me, so why did I feel like the one at a disadvantage?
"You were fortunate the enemy soldiers' morale had already broken. Had they refused to retreat and fought to the last, what would you have done?"
"...I was planning to just run."
"That suicidally dangerous 'strategy' is precisely the problem."
"..."
Every syllable was irrefutably correct, so I kept my mouth shut. Frankly, I had my doubts it even qualified as a strategy. Can a man really call "charge in, and if that fails, flee" a plan?
"Sometimes I think, my lord, that you hold your own life far too cheaply."
Having said her piece, Zhang Jue turned her clear eyes upon me.
"Please remember this. Your life is no longer yours alone."
"That's a heavy thing to say."
"It is meant to be heavy."
Zhang Jue pressed on.
"Why do you suppose Lady Seo Yeo never leaves your side for even a single hour?"
At that, I glanced back at Seo Yeo, standing guard behind me, then turned my head forward again. When I shook my head, Zhang Jue kindly supplied the answer.
"Because she is terrified that you may lose your life at any moment."
"..."
"Whether it comes by another's blade or by calamity—it makes no difference to her."
One could call Seo Yeo's behavior overprotective, but there was a reason behind every last bit of it.
"Lady Seo Yeo is always guarding you from all of those things, you see."
"So that's how it is."
Truthfully, looking back on everything that had befallen me thus far, I was plainly not a man fated for a long life.
What was I to make of that? Easy enough to dismiss as nonsense—had it come from anyone else. From Zhang Jue of all people, it needled at me. Before I could even pose the question, she smiled serenely.
"I shall leave it there for now. Her Majesty is asking for you."
"Ah."
Straight from Zhang Jue to the Emperor? Merely imagining it was enough to make my stomach twist. As I groaned, Zhang Jue gave a soft chuckle.
"You had a fair idea already, didn't you?"
"...That I did."
I heaved a sigh and rose from my seat.
It was time to go see Her Majesty the Emperor.