Hidden Tiger (2)
The House of Sima.
This family produced Sima Lang, the eldest daughter and a politician of the very first rank, along with Sima Fu, the third daughter, whose command, strategy, and administrative ability were above average in nearly every field. Beyond the two of them, the clan boasted a veritable constellation of members who had served term after term in high office — and yet ask anyone to name the most famous among them, and every mouth in the realm would speak the same name.
Sima Yi, courtesy name Zhongda.
In most tellings of the Three Kingdoms, Sima Yi is portrayed as Zhuge Liang's destined rival — and yet, for a rival of that stature, he never once defeated Zhuge Liang in open-field battle. At best, he would turtle up behind an unbreakable defensive shell while slowly turning Zhuge Liang's plans inside out.
But unless you were someone like Hao Zhao, there was simply no withstanding Zhuge Liang's offensives — and Sima Yi managed it anyway. Identifying the weaknesses of the Northern Expedition army in the first place, drawing up a plan, and driving a blade into that gap — that alone was proof of the man's brilliance.
Sima Yi dug into a defensive stance against Zhuge Liang only because Zhuge Liang was so extraordinary a foe. Remove Zhuge Liang from the equation, and Sima Yi shattered every opponent who crossed him in the blink of an eye, demonstrating to the world exactly what maneuver warfare taken to its limit looked like.
Where Zhuge Liang advanced slowly and safely, squeezing the enemy under methodical pressure, Sima Yi prized speed — striking into the enemy's gaps and finishing battles before they could even begin.
And what of his gifts as an administrator? He personally oversaw the reclamation of vast tracts of land and displayed remarkable talent in the field of development, civil engineering among them. In recruiting talent, too, he showed an eye as keen as Zhuge Liang's, keeping many capable men close at hand.
...Even so, put him beside Zhuge Liang on the domestic front, and he ultimately came up short there as well.
Still, within the state of Wei there existed no talent who could stand shoulder to shoulder with Sima Yi. That he was the finest talent of his age was a fact no one could deny.
And yet there was one thing about the man that made historians tilt their heads: his loyalty to his country. Look upon him kindly, and that damned Incident at the Gaoping Tombs trips you at every step; look upon him harshly, and his many other deeds stir up fresh doubts all over again.
Sima Yi, powerful minister of the court that he was, could clearly have climbed to an even higher post — yet he let his own advancement stop at a suitable rank and died a natural death. True, his sons went on to bring Wei to its knees, but Sima Yi himself never destroyed Wei, never monopolized its power, and closed out his life as an official of Wei.
Which is to say — it all depends on how you read him.
A genuinely slippery character, that one. The sort of man whose verdict flips this way and that depending on who's doing the interpreting.
A sharp weapon, that — mishandle it, and it cuts the hand of the very person wielding it.
Or so I've always thought of Sima Yi.
Which raises the question: what was that same Sima Yi doing right now?
"Uuugh..."
"......"
She was groaning over a game of Go she had just lost to Jia Xu. Still a child at heart, it seemed.
As I watched the scene in silence, Sima Fang, standing at my side, spoke up.
"You seem to take quite an interest in Sima Yi."
"One look at that match, and how could I not?"
I turned my gaze to the board where Jia Xu and Sima Yi had been playing. Sima Yi had ultimately been caught off guard once and lost, but the stones told the story of a game that had hung in perfect balance all the way into the mid-stage.
I had played Jia Xu at Go myself, once. I was annihilated so thoroughly that I never even managed to complete a handful of the territories by which a game of Go is won. Apparently the fact that I was their lord earned no mercy whatsoever.
A single move I had sweated over for several good minutes, Jia Xu had dismantled in a matter of seconds. The memory alone was enough to bring the bitter smile back to my face.
Best, I decided, to leave battles of wits quietly to the experts.
I turned to Sima Fang.
"If your second daughter is this good, I confess I dread to imagine what her father's own skill must be."
"Not at all. Sima Yi's Go has long since left mine far behind."
"Truly?"
"Yes. And not merely at Go — her brushwork and her powers of memorization are every bit as formidable."
I was at a loss for words for a moment before I finally managed to speak.
"How old did you say the second child was?"
"Twelve this year."
"She hasn't even reached fifteen — the age at which a scholar sets his heart upon learning — and already she is like this."
If she was like this at twelve, what on earth would she become once she was fully grown?
"A fine match. Now then—"
"...One more. Just one more game."
The moment Jia Xu rose from her seat, offering her praise of Sima Yi's skill, Sima Yi clutched at her.
"......"
At the glance Jia Xu threw me — and what would you have me do? — I gave a small nod. Do as you please.
Jia Xu closed her eyes briefly, lost in thought, then settled back into her seat.
"...This is the last one."
"That's all I could ask for."
Young as she was, and clumsy at hiding her feelings, Sima Yi was soon blazing with the sheer competitive fire of it.
"We'll play it fast again this time, as before."
"Yes — please do!"
Speed Go.
A rule under which a match that would normally run well past an hour at a leisurely pace had to be finished within thirty minutes. Its opposite was the endless marathon game, where each side deliberated for ages over every stone... In a true marathon, the game could stretch from dawn until dusk, and unless you were one of the so-called real masters, you'd collapse and drop out long before the end.
As I watched the restarted match, Sima Fang, standing nearby, put on a sheepish expression.
"I beg your pardon. Sima Yi is clever, to be sure, but she is still young — she has kept a man of your burdens tied up like this. I shall see to it that she is sternly reprimanded later."
"No, it's no trouble at all. I don't mind."
Truthfully, it was trouble. With a brain like mine, I couldn't hope to follow a game between those two, and it was getting a little dull. But what could I do? A lord had to rack up goodwill wherever he could get it.
"...Ah."
At that moment, the expression on Sima Yi's face, mid-game with Jia Xu, froze solid. She had been caught off guard by something yet again.
Indifferent to whatever Sima Yi was going through, Jia Xu gazed at the board with her usual blank look.
"Uuugh..."
After a moment of groaning, Sima Yi at last placed two stones down upon the board at the same time.
Resignation.
In the language of Go, it meant surrendering outright — conceding defeat without even counting the territories that decide the winner. They had been playing boldly, without hesitation, from the very first move, and yet it was already over.
I had a feeling Sima Yi's preference for fast play reflected her own temperament — her love of settling things in a single swift, decisive stroke. By the same logic, then, would Zhuge Liang — the type to advance safely and apply slow, patient pressure — favor the marathon game?
A match between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang... I admit I would love to see that, just once.
Not that I'd understand a single stone of it.
I called over Sima Fang, who had been watching the match alongside me.
"Sima Fang."
"Yes."
"You said your eldest would be entering official service before long?"
"That is correct."
Sima Yi was still far too young, so today, as ever, her visit had been purely a matter of putting a face to a name. There was nothing to lose in staying close to the Sima clan, one of the most renowned great families of Sili, after all.
Gazing at Sima Fang, I gave a nod and spoke plainly.
"I'll be looking forward to it."
"Boda looks forward to it as well."
Perhaps it pleased him to see a grown child rise into office, for a faint smile had touched Sima Fang's face.
"It's getting late, and the day is darkening. I should rest."
"Yes. I will show you to your chambers."
Sima Fang bowed his head and went ahead to lead the way. As I set my feet moving, Jia Xu drew up beside me, and Seo Yeo, Lü Bu, and the rest of my guards all closed in around me.
The chamber, once the General-in-Chief's party — along with Sima Fang, the elder of the House of Sima — had slipped from view.
The sheer scale of the residence spoke volumes for just how powerful a force the Sima family was within Sili.
Someone drew near to Sima Yi, who sat before the board, slowly replaying the game move by move.
"Hmm... if I had set this stone down here, at that point..."
"Yi."
At the slender voice calling her, Sima Yi raised her head.
"...Sister Boda?"
Her eldest sister — who towered over her in more senses than one, and who, taking after their father, was strict to a fault.
In this household, overflowing with little sisters younger than herself, she was the one sibling Sima Yi found genuinely intimidating.
"What is it?"
"Do you truly not know, that you even have to ask?"
Sima Lang made a show of anger as she spoke.
"Sitting there playing nothing but Go, right in front of the very man we are all bound to serve someday. What on earth were you thinking?"
At Sima Lang's tone — one of sheer incomprehension — Sima Yi tilted her head.
"Ah... I did that on purpose."
"What did you say?"
"I don't want to work."
"......"
What kind of childish nonsense was that...
...Right. A child she was.
"Obviously, if I show them a side of me this off-putting, then even if they know I'm capable, nobody will actually want to put me to work. See?"
"Yi..."
A talent acknowledged by every soul in the House of Sima. To call her own younger sister a genius sent down from heaven would scarcely be an exaggeration — and yet that same sister took a firmly negative stance toward entering official service.
By any measure, an outrageous course. In an age when scholars counted a rise into office among life's highest glories, Sima Yi had stood up tall and declared that she simply would not work.
"...And what will you do if the court one day commands you to take office?"
"Hmmm..."
At Sima Lang's question, Sima Yi tilted her head and sank into thought. As she did, the violet hair particular to the Sima line swayed gently about her cheeks.
"Maybe I'll tell them my joint aches are so bad I can't move an inch from my bed?"
"......"
Does she genuinely believe that excuse would fly?
Gazing at her hopelessly naive little sister, Sima Lang heaved a long sigh.