The Inspector of Youzhou (8)
One piece of news reached my ears.
A commotion had broken out in a city under Gongsun Zan's control — and when I asked what sort of commotion, it turned out there had been a jailbreak. Not just any jailbreak, either: a prisoner under Gongsun Zan's special, personal watch had slipped free.
There was only one person Gongsun Zan could be pouring that much attention into right now, so I nodded along. It seemed Liu Bei and her party had pulled off Liu Yu's rescue after all.
Jia Xu had warned me the odds of failure were high, which was why I'd taken the whole plan with a grain of salt — but Liu Bei was Liu Bei, in the end.
Word from You Province had traveled far enough to reach my ears, which meant Liu Bei's party would be arriving here before long.
And that was where the real problem began.
Liu Bei's party occupied a strangely ambiguous position within our faction. They weren't generals sworn to us, nor even guest generals — merely people who had agreed to take on my request. In game terms, you'd call them free-agent officers who pick up a quest at an inn and roam the realm. Then, the moment an opening appears, they up and raise a faction of their own... Should I be filing them under "dangerous elements"?
With the reason for keeping Liu Bei's party here now gone, Liu Bei could walk out of this faction whenever she pleased.
From here on, I would finally learn what kind of person the real Liu Bei was. A true idealist who pursued benevolence and virtue — or a sinister schemer who had merely kept her ambitions hidden.
It felt rather rich saying this with my own mouth, but I believed our faction held to benevolence and righteousness admirably well. We levied no crushing taxes, saw to the people's petitions as thoroughly as we could, and devoted ourselves to their peace and security. We had no soldiers who tormented the populace without cause — any who did had long since departed on a one-way journey to the afterlife.
Above all, the fact that Zhang Jue — the person who showed the most heartfelt devotion to the people's welfare of anyone I knew — still chose to remain with our faction was proof enough that we were no band that betrayed benevolence and righteousness.
Whatever intentions the Liu Bei of original history had in pursuing virtue, in the end she could still fairly be counted among the warlords who nursed ambition in their hearts.
Ambition itself was no crime. Wouldn't even some ordinary commoner off the street dream, at least once, of becoming emperor? What mattered in the end was simply whether one could give up that ambition to sit upon the throne — or not.
Even I harbored an ambition: to live out my days in peace and quiet.
...Wait. Is that an ambition, or just a dream?
"General-in-Chief! Liu Bei has just arrived in Luoyang!"
"I see. Have her rest up, and come see me once she's settled."
"Understood!"
I gave my nod to the messenger's report. If Liu Bei truly was a sinister schemer, the odds were good she'd spend her first several days in Luoyang getting cozy with the Empress.
After all, should she win formal recognition from the throne of her rights as an imperial clanswoman of the Liu house, it would become a towering asset for raising a faction of her own. In an era where legitimacy outweighed everything else, imperial blood vouched for by the sovereign herself was a colossal thing.
I had spun my thoughts out at great length, but the decision itself was simple. The moment she received that recognition of her royal blood and, on the strength of every excuse under the sun, broke away from us to build an independent power of her own — she was an enemy. Unless she'd raised a banner for some truly unavoidable reason, she would be no different from any of the other warlords who had risen with ambition in their hearts.
A pity — but that would simply mean we couldn't walk the same road together.
Short of that, I had no real intention of doing anything to her. Unless she found herself on the receiving end of the murderous counsel she'd endured while serving under Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in the original history, I figured she wouldn't run. If some chief minister hounded my lord day in and day out — "That big-eared wretch is dangerous, kill him!" — I'd bolt too. It's foul, underhanded business.
When it came to survival, Liu Bei's instincts had always been sharper than anyone's, so such episodes must have loomed all the more vividly in her memory.
Still, actually picturing the sisters of the Oath of the Peach Garden coming under my command left me feeling oddly dazed. Liu Bei, of all people — the woman who, alongside Cao Cao and Sun Quan, could rightly be called a protagonist of the Three Kingdoms. How should I put it — like an enormous dragon I could never hope to tame coming and curling up in my lap?
...Then again, I might simply be flattering myself. Best to watch how things unfolded first.
With my thoughts settled, I set my arms moving again and got back to work.
The next day, Liu Bei did as I'd asked, took a full day of rest, and then requested a meeting with me.
"I, Liu Bei, have returned safely, the General-in-Chief's command fulfilled."
"Good. You've done well."
I regarded Liu Bei as she bowed with due courtesy, then turned my head to one side. Standing near her was a beautiful woman whose whole bearing spoke of age and maturity.
...Was she really the person I thought she was?
"The lady beside Liu Bei — could she perhaps be...?"
"I am Liu Yu, Inspector of Youzhou."
I couldn't hide my bewilderment at how different Liu Yu looked from what I'd imagined.
Liu Yu's gender... was female?
Right. I had half expected as much, on the off chance. Cao Cao was a woman, Liu Bei was a woman — what would be so strange about one more? But Liu Yu looked far too young for her years.
I had said before that she gave off an aged impression, but that hadn't meant she looked like some ancient crone. It was simply that her every gesture radiated a deep maturity, which was why it had struck me that way.
...How old was Liu Yu supposed to be now, again? Going by the epithets — venerable elder of the imperial house, the gentleman of benevolence and righteousness — she had to be well past forty.
Liu Yu offered me a courteous bow. I returned it in kind, receiving her greeting with a respectful posture of my own. Watching me do so, Liu Yu continued in a voice as calm as still water.
"Setting pleasantries aside — thank you for saving my life."
"Losing someone like you would be a great loss to all the realm. It was only natural."
"That you should think so well of me — I am merely grateful."
Once a round of pleasant words had passed between us, I came to the heart of the matter.
"Would you grant me one more request?"
"Speak, and I shall listen."
Liu Yu heard me out without so much as shifting her posture.
"Would you stand at Her Majesty's side, and hold her up?"
"That is to say..."
"I have, far beyond my deserts, been graced with Her Majesty's favor — yet my station does not allow me to remain always at her side to lend her my support."
Sooner or later, a day would come when I had to march out on campaign, just as I had during the Battle of Hulao Pass. When that day arrived, the Empress would no doubt lapse into her anxious fits again — afflictions of the heart were simply made that way. I had given her a pet to keep her company, but that could hardly pass for a complete cure.
All I wished for was that Liu Yu, a kinswoman of the imperial house, might stand beside the Empress and keep her steady. A woman who had heaped generous grace upon the nomadic tribes and won the deep devotion of the common people. Someone whose humility and frugality never wavered, and who was regarded warmly even within the court itself.
"Your condition cannot yet be good, and I am truly sorry to be pressing such a request upon you."
After surrendering to Gongsun Zan and living as his prisoner, she must have endured a wretched stretch — yet there was not the slightest disarray in Liu Yu's bearing.
"...No. If anything, it is I who must beg the General-in-Chief's forgiveness."
"......"
"I believed the venom spat by a pack of treacherous men, and made an enemy of one so merciful as you."
I said nothing, and let her words wash over me in silence. The me of the past would have answered that I was hardly the sort of man to deserve such praise — but a conversation I'd once shared with Jia Xu rose unbidden to mind. She had told me it did no good for the General-in-Chief to keep demeaning himself, that a little confidence would serve me far better.
"The duty you have entrusted to me, General-in-Chief — even should it cost my life, I will see it through to the very end."
"Thank you."
Having finished speaking with Liu Yu, I turned my head back to Liu Bei.
"Liu Bei, I intend to bestow a separate reward upon you in due time, so rest well until then."
"I am grateful for your consideration, General-in-Chief."
Liu Bei favored me with an easy smile and bowed. She hardly seemed the type to covet riches — I wondered whether she might be pleased with an official post instead.
"Then we shall take our leave."
"Very well."
As Liu Bei and Liu Yu stepped out of the chamber, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had been standing guard in the hallway, fell in at Liu Bei's flanks.
Guan Yu on the left, Zhang Fei on the right. It was the sort of fantasy any man who knew the Three Kingdoms had dreamed of at least once. Every time I laid eyes on generals worthy of the title Match for Ten Thousand flanking someone on both sides, I couldn't help thinking how damn cool it looked. It was the very same reason I made a point of taking Seo Yeo and Lü Bu along together whenever the chance allowed.
Lü Bu herself and Xiang Yu herself, at my side! The mere thought was enough to make my shoulders square with pride.
"......"
Even now, Seo Yeo and Lü Bu were standing guard at my side. Since the day-to-day command of soldiers usually fell to the likes of Zhang Liao and Gao Shun, Lü Bu had comparatively more free hours than they did.
"...Is there something on my face?"
"No."
When I went on staring at her, Lü Bu asked me with a puzzled expression.
"Then why do you keep staring?"
"Am I not allowed to look?"
"...Er, that's not it, but..."
At my question, her eyes suddenly rolled this way and that, as though her supply of words had run dry.
"Hmmm..."
While Lü Bu, still hunting for something to say, flushed pink to the ears, Seo Yeo was looking at me. It was a rather passionate gaze, so I answered it in kind and met her eyes.
"......"
"......"
She's holding out quite a while this time.
Normally, if I stared at her this hard, Seo Yeo was the one who reddened first and looked away — had something changed in her heart?
"...Nngh."
But no, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. The staring contest that had erupted out of nowhere ended, just as it always did, with Seo Yeo letting out that familiar little sound — and with my victory.