Hulao Pass (11)
The Yellow Turbans had struck without warning, and the coalition's leadership, still smarting from the losses they had suffered, sat steeped in gloom. This was the first council to be held since Yuan Shu, the coalition's leader, had refused to meet with the other lords and shut himself away in his own camp.
"It's been quite a while since we've all gathered like this."
The one to break the silence was Gongsun Zan — arguably the foremost military power among the lords who had joined the coalition.
It was, after all, hardly more than a remark to himself, and no one offered a reply. Gongsun Zan, seemingly expecting none anyway, simply turned his head with indifference.
"So our esteemed leader is still in a sulk?"
At the end of his gaze sat the seat of Yuan Shu, who had sent a proxy in his stead rather than attend in person.
Yuan Shu's proxy, who had been holding his breath at Gongsun Zan's words, turned to face him.
"Mind your tongue! Everything spoken in this room will be relayed to the leader in full!"
"Fine, fine. Can't even take a joke."
At the proxy's intimidation, Gongsun Zan merely shrugged and fell silent.
If it starts like this, I doubt this meeting will go smoothly at all.
Convinced he had somehow managed to steer past the danger, the proxy set his mind working at full tilt. He was no child, and yet here he was, attending a gathering of such consequence in his lord's place — all because the man couldn't stand the sight of the others!
No doubt Yuan Shu was lounging about at this very moment, leisurely sipping honeyed water.
I should have taken a seat further back. Catching Yuan Shu's eye while everyone else was keeping their heads down — that was my mistake.
Outwardly he betrayed nothing, but surely at least one of the warlords present had noticed that he was quaking inside. Then again, it would have been stranger for a mere civil official to keep his nerve in a den of wolves like this, so that much was no great concern.
What the proxy truly feared lay elsewhere.
If this meeting goes awry, I am finished!
Not only would he be stripped of his post — knowing Yuan Shu's petty, spiteful nature, there was every chance it would not end there.
It wasn't as though being drawn to the legitimacy of the rightful heir of a clan that had produced Three Excellencies for four generations, or to the vast wealth he commanded, was the problem in itself. What mattered most, in the end, was the character of the man who would have to put such assets to use.
Lamenting now that his own judgment had been narrow would change nothing, and so the proxy had no choice but to simply give it his all.
Watching the proxy roll his eyes with all the subtlety he could muster, Cao Cao let slip an amused smirk.
"Everyone here knows full well why we've gathered, don't they?"
"…"
The proxy broke into a cold sweat before the silver-haired girl presiding over the council.
Oblivious to his plight — or indifferent to it — Cao Cao carried on without missing a beat.
"Of late, with the bulk of our soldiers away on coalition operations, the Yellow Turbans have been seizing the opening to run wild in every way imaginable."
The proxy kept his mouth shut. In truth, he had known all along that no matter how he stalled, the conversation would arrive here eventually.
"The garrison troops left behind are too few to stamp them out, so it seems to me the wisest course is to wrap things up here and head home."
"Th-that is—!"
"What is it? Have you some better idea?"
At what looked very much like the beginnings of an objection, Cao Cao's silver eyes swung toward the proxy.
"If you do, speak up at once, and I shall weigh it as best I can."
"…"
In truth, the proxy had come up with nothing either. The Yellow Turbans were men with whom negotiation was a dead letter from the start. Breathe the words 'government troops' and they came charging, foaming at the mouth — negotiation? What negotiation? You'd count yourself lucky if the envoy you sent even came back alive.
But subduing them by force would be no simple matter either. They might have begun as a peasant uprising, yet years spent rolling across the battlefield had long since made them hardened veterans for whom war was second nature.
Just as the proxy was wringing his brain to its last drop, Cao Cao spoke again.
"Even at this very moment, while you drag things out, the Yellow Turbans are burning our supplies. I'd wager the leader has suffered for it too, no?"
"Ngh…"
"If there is no proper countermeasure to be had, then as I said, the only course is to return—"
"You never once took an active part in this coalition, and yet now you presume to steer its council!"
It had come to the point where changing the subject was his only option. If he could keep them bickering over something provocative for a while, the warlords grown weary of waiting would naturally scatter the council of their own accord.
Meager as her pride might be, a warlord was still a warlord. Surely, if he seized on the point, she would flare up and the war of words would—
"Why, that is quite true."
"…"
"Oh, nothing. I was merely making known that such an opinion exists. The judgment belongs to the others."
At the sight of Cao Cao nodding and withdrawing with such perfect meekness, the proxy found himself at a loss for words. Hounding a woman who had already conceded and stepped back would likely do him more harm than good.
And so a hush settled over the chamber, and a short while slipped past.
"…I find myself in agreement with the Commandant of the Army."
The first to second Cao Cao was Liu Dai, Inspector of Yanzhou. He governed Yanzhou, the very heart of the realm, and of late he had been gravely troubled by the Yellow Turbans, whose numbers had swollen all at once.
"They say the Yellow Turbans in Yanzhou grow more numerous by the day. No doubt the bands scattered in small groups are merging their forces."
The man who, in the original history, had met his end in the course of suppressing the Yellow Turbans pressed on.
"It is self-evident that unless we hunt them down soon, they will become a great menace to all under heaven."
"N-now, wait just a moment, please!"
"Tell your leader I am sorry."
With those words, Liu Dai walked out of the council.
Cao Cao, watching him go, remarked:
"Since the Inspector of Yanzhou has withdrawn in such a fashion, I suppose it is time I did the same."
"…Lady Cao Cao."
"Just as a certain someone observed, I'm sure the coalition can spare one member who never took an active part in it. Don't you agree?"
Cao Cao, who clearly remembered having her words turned against her, curled her lips in a hint of mockery as she threw the jab back.
"I'll trust you all to manage without me."
Thus, after Liu Dai the Inspector of Yanzhou, Cao Cao the Commandant of the Army also left the council.
"Ahem! I, too, really must be off to sweep up the Yellow Turban remnants…"
"And do give our regards to your leader!"
The warlords, sensing their moment, tossed out one excuse after another and rose from their seats. The proxy was powerless to stop them.
And so the bulk of the lords departed, leaving just three souls in the chamber.
"…Hmm. So this is where the coalition ends, is it?"
Gongsun Zan, who had watched the entire council from beginning to end, was the one to speak.
"I hear the northern tribes have been stirring up trouble again of late."
Word had it, apparently, that the White Horse General's absence from his post had already made the rounds among them.
"Honestly, I have left the north empty for far too long."
With Gongsun Zan away in the heartland, the tribes had judged this the moment and were throwing themselves into their raids with a fervor unlike anything before.
Gongsun Zan chuckled and went on.
"The north is a land I defended with my own two hands. I'll hardly stand by and let these tribes run riot across it."
With that, Gongsun Zan rose from his seat like all the rest.
"I'll be heading back as well."
Knowing there was no turning Gongsun Zan's mind, the proxy did not try to hold him.
"Haah…"
Sensing just how dire his situation had become, the proxy heaved a sigh.
What do I do now? Should I slip away, even at this late hour? If he reported this exactly as it had happened, Yuan Shu would most certainly not let the matter rest. He would doubtless insist the coalition had collapsed because of him, and vent his spite through every punishment he could dream up.
It would be laughable, really. This coalition had held little promise of success from the very start.
Yuan Shu was a past master at laying blame on others; rather than see it as his own failing, he would sooner heap the whole affair onto someone else's back. Perhaps installing a proxy in his place had been part of that design all along — so that he might claim the coalition had fallen not to his own mismanagement, but to a subordinate's blunder.
Anyone with half a wit would recognize it as nothing more than self-serving rationalization, but when had Yuan Shu ever been the sort to concede such a thing gracefully?
The price of serving the wrong lord had proven far too steep.
Yes. I'll simply run. If he fled far away, toward Yi Province, even Yuan Shu would hardly be able to pursue him.
Unable to bear any longer the gaze of the woman who had never stirred from her seat and continued to watch him, the proxy at last opened his mouth.
"…"
"Why do you keep staring at me so?"
It was, frankly, unnerving.
The blonde woman — the one whose relations with Yuan Shu were the worst of anyone's — was still fixing him with her gaze.
"I have nothing more to say either, so take your leave."
Yuan Shao Benchu.
That woman had been set against Yuan Shu from the very beginning. While every other lord had scrambled to win glory at the vanguard, she had done nothing but guard the main camp, taking on no offensive whatsoever. The blonde woman had, in truth, brought nothing here but her soldiers, offering the coalition no active cooperation and simply observing how matters unfolded — much as Cao Cao had.
The proxy was still plotting out his escape route when Yuan Shao spoke.
"Are you perhaps thinking of running away?"
"…! Kghem! Hk!"
At a question that seemed to see straight through him, the proxy choked out a cough before he could stop himself.
Hastily composing himself, he answered.
"What a preposterous question."
"There is no need to hide it."
With those words, Yuan Shao's lips curved into a beautiful smile.
"If it is flight from Yuan Shu you intend, there is another door open to you — mine. What do you say?"
"…"
The proxy held his silence as Yuan Shao proposed he change his allegiance.
Was Yuan Shao not a fine lord in her own right? She had a wealth of talented people about her, and above all, Yuan Shao herself was a capable ruler.
For a man who had suffered so long under the incompetent Yuan Shu, there was nothing to hesitate over. Entering Yuan Shao's service would be far better than starting over in Yi Province, where he had not a single connection.
His deliberations complete, the proxy bowed his head to Yuan Shao.
"…I am Wang Lian, courtesy name Wenyi. I shall serve you, Lady Yuan Shao."
"A wise choice."
Yuan Shao broke into a radiant smile.