Hidden Tiger (4)
The third morning I woke beneath the Sima family's roof.
Just as I had the day before, I had nodded along to Sima Yi's suggestion of another game, and so there I was once more, playing Go with her.
"Should the General-in-Chief of an entire nation really be lounging about like this?"
Sima Yi set a white stone down with a sharp clack.
I had been glaring at the board; without looking up, I answered her in an even voice.
"I find myself with leisure to spare these days."
Is she aiming for this point?
The moment I read her intent and dropped a stone in her way, Sima Yi — as if she had seen it coming — calmly placed hers elsewhere.
No, wait. She plays a move like that here?
And there went another chunk of my territory, swallowed whole.
I offered an explanation.
"More and more people have been stepping into office lately, so my workload has shrunk considerably."
A renowned scholar, that was. Put simply, the term meant someone whose name rang out across the realm — and in this era, keeping even one renowned scholar under your banner meant you need never worry about recruiting talent again.
Renowned scholars mingled among themselves, you see, weaving a kind of fellowship network all their own. One scholar who had entered office would send a letter to another: the water's fine over here, come have a look. That scholar would think, this place really is something, and write yet another letter to someone else of their acquaintance…
Once the socializing began in earnest, talent came pouring in like a steady rain.
The most celebrated example of that machine at work was Xun Yu.
Talent to Assist Kings.
A mind born to stand beside a sovereign and uphold him.
Xun Yu delivered to Cao Cao a whole procession of talents whose names alone commanded a nod — Xun You, Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, Chen Qun, and on and on. Even the one who first recommended Sima Yi to Cao Cao had been none other than Xun Yu.
A brilliant head on her shoulders, and connections to match?
Truly a woman worthy of the name Talent to Assist Kings.
Our own faction happened to have Xun You, born of the same Yingchuan Xun clan as Xun Yu, and so the scholars' network was humming along quite nicely for us as well.
It stung a little to admit we couldn't hold a candle to Xun Yu herself, but well… one learns to be grateful for what one has.
My train of thought had wandered off somewhere entirely — in any case, riding the strength of the Xun You network, our faction had lately brought a whole wave of talent into the fold.
Sima Yi and I kept our conversation going without ever pausing our stones.
"With so many officials handling affairs in my stead, I can afford to be away for a few days."
"Even so, a seat like the General-in-Chief's must come with plenty that demands your attention…"
Having said her piece, Sima Yi set down another white stone.
"……"
I surveyed the shape of the board and nodded.
I'm done for. There's no winning this one.
"Rising to too high a seat is worth some thought as well."
"……"
To my muttered remark, Sima Yi offered no reply.
The General-in-Chief — the supreme military office that commanded the entirety of the Han's armies. Because it held direct authority over the mightiest of the central elite forces, only one who enjoyed the Emperor's favor could ever ascend to it. In other words, it was a post bestowed with political considerations weighed far more heavily than personal ability.
That the Emperor had once appointed me straight to that towering rank meant she intended to hoist me up exactly that high. And she had proven it in deeds, personally sweeping away those within the court who could stir discord and make my life difficult.
…Come to think of it now, that unsettles me all over again.
I felt as though a ring had long since been run through my nose, and I hadn't the faintest idea what on earth to do about it.
I opened my mouth again, picking up where my monologue had left off.
"They say every trifling move I make carries political weight. Tracking all of it, one item at a time, wears me out."
I remembered all the resplendent ornaments said to embody the office, glittering in the sunlight. Parading around in a getup like that would do nothing but chafe and draw every eye in the realm — I'd been wise never to.
Beyond that, gifts of every description poured in from the landed magnates, and depending on the political ties behind each one, some had to be accepted and others politely refused…
What an utter pain.
Thank heavens Jia Xu stood at my side offering counsel. Without her, the household would have drifted into a fair bit of disarray.
"I simply act as I please. That's all there is to it."
The game between Sima Yi and me had long since tilted entirely out of shape, so I began casually dropping my black stones wherever my hand happened to fall.
"…Much as you're now throwing stones about with no plan whatsoever, you mean?"
"……"
Stung by the sudden jab, I shut my mouth.
Sima Yi, too, seemed finished with playing in earnest; she began scattering white stones any old place, just like me.
"With talent that abundant, you'd manage fine without one more, wouldn't you? Namely, me?"
It appeared Sima Yi had already caught on that my repeated visits were for the sake of recruiting her.
"If anyone were to ask whether I'm worth the General-in-Chief's trouble, they'd shake their heads, every last one of them…"
"Didn't I say it just now?"
I cut her off and peered into the violet eyes fixed on me.
"I do only as I please."
As for the people who muttered behind my back that I lacked all dignity — I had dismissed them ages ago. I had never once in my life seen a soul obsessed with hollow ceremony amount to anything great.
Gazing into those violet eyes, still impossible to fathom, I went on.
"Right now, I'm pouring my sincerity into winning talent over. That's all this is."
"…And the constant visits are part of that sincerity?"
"They are."
I nodded, calm and even. I didn't feel much like lying anyway.
"And if you conclude that this attempt, too, has failed — what then?"
"Then I come back and try again."
"…Until when, exactly?"
"Until I get a firm answer that you'll take office."
Just like Liu Bei, who at long last recruited Liu Ba even as the man fled from her every which way. And hadn't Liu Ba, once he'd finally stopped running, put his gifts to full use and set the economy of Shu flourishing?
Having said it out loud, though, something about it nagged at me.
This is just stalking, plain and simple.
I stole a glance at Sima Yi's face.
"……Of course, if you truly refuse no matter what happens, then I'll have to give up."
"It won't come to that…… …Haah."
Sima Yi, who had been about to add something, let out a helpless sigh instead.
"You intend for me to enter service the very moment my coming-of-age rites are done. Am I wrong?"
"Hmm…"
I couldn't exactly deny it. The sooner Sima Yi came, the better it would be for me.
At my non-answer, she pulled a face that promised a splitting headache.
"Just how much work are you planning to heap on me?"
"……Honestly, I couldn't say."
One thing I could promise, though: it would never be a small amount. Chaos of the age or not, a capable talent like Sima Yi would find duty after duty raining down on her regardless. That's simply how leaders are — the more capable the person beneath them, the more gleefully they grind that talent through one task after the next.
Sima Yi seemed to have predicted as much, judging by the sigh that escaped her; but after a time, she spoke in a level voice.
"It can't be helped, then. I simply enter service. That's all there is to it?"
"Thank you."
"……Don't go misreading anything."
At my thanks, Sima Yi huffed and grumbled, as if to bury her embarrassment.
"My sister Lang's glare sharpens by the day, you know. Keep this up, and I'll be properly chewed out."
"I see."
"You are actually listening, aren't you?"
"I'm listening."
I nodded along, smiling to myself, thoroughly pleased.
"…No, you're not."
Sima Yi shot me a mildly put-out look, then carried on regardless.
"Well — I've said it out loud now, so I suppose I'm bound to it. But are you truly all right with this?"
"With what?"
At my counter-question, Sima Yi curled her lips into a sly, wicked little smile.
"Whether I will truly serve you with my whole heart…"
"……"
"Can you, General-in-Chief, swear to it?"
"Haha. What a brazen little imp you are."
I reached out with both hands and ruffled Sima Yi's hair into a complete mess.
"Eep—?!"
Startled quite badly by this, she shrank back with a cry of disbelief, her neatly combed hair now bristling in every direction, her face a portrait of pure bewilderment.
I let a small smile settle at the corner of my mouth.
"You have a genius for picking the most adorable moments to act up. Before I knew it, my hands simply went."
"…Did you just say adorable?"
"I did."
A girl of barely twelve, spouting nothing but sly, grown-up schemes — how could she look like anything but a delight?
"As the saying goes: you may sound ten fathoms of water, but you'll never sound one fathom of the human heart."
"……"
It was a rather famous proverb back in my modern world — practically everyone knew it. There was a classical four-character idiom for it, too, come to think… what was it again? …Nope. Gone.
"But there is one thing I can be certain of."
I gave my head a slow shake.
"If I meet people with trust, I choose to believe that trust will return to me in kind."
"…Not everyone under this heaven is so good, you know."
"I know."
At Sima Yi's answer, I gave a light shrug.
"But what good would suspicion do? Hound people and persecute them on pure guesswork, and what talent would ever choose to stay with me?"
Sima Yi, Zhongda. Truthfully, remembering the Gaoping Tomb Incident this very girl would one day set in motion, one's head couldn't help but tilt in doubt.
But if that worried me so terribly, I would never have dared take on Lü Bu — a woman who'd already been through three fathers — in the first place.
"Don't worry. I'm not a man who casts his own people aside on a whim."
"Wh-who ever said I was worried about being thrown away?!"
At my answer, Sima Yi stammered for the very first time, a faint color rising in her cheeks.
Having slowly gathered herself, she looked back at me.
"I despise nothing more than a bother, but… if you trust me that much, General-in-Chief, then I'll do my utmost as well."
"Good."
"…After I've held my coming-of-age ceremony first, of course."
"……"
I deflated, just a little.