Chapter 11
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: volt
Chapter Title: The Mandate of Heaven
-----------------------------------------------------------------
[A short while later, in the Bing Province Army camp stationed south of Anyi in Sanyeyu Commandery.]
"Governor Ding Yuan, sir. Reporting in. Lü Fengxian has exterminated the bandit horde."
Ding Yuan silently nodded at the scout's report.
"I see. He's wiped them out. And after that?"
"......"
"Are they on their way back?"
"They're pursuing the escaped bandits and collecting the corpses, so returning will take some time......"
"Uaaah!"
Ding Yuan bellowed.
"Tell them to return at once! Hurry!"
"My lord!"
"Does that fool truly not know what's important right now?!"
Ding Yuan pounded his chest and roared.
"It's time! Time! Tell the locals in Henei to handle the dead, and we need to head to the capital right now!"
Ding Yuan was clearly anxious.
"Even now, someone else might beat us to the palace gates at any moment, and yet he......!"
"My lord......"
"Thinks he's righteous! Can't see the forest for the trees! And with nothing but brute strength to show for it......!"
Ding Yuan's hands trembled violently.
"If only, if only I were twenty years younger......!!"
Those hands were wrinkled and gnarled like a withered old tree.
"Mok Sun."
"Yes, my lord."
"Who is the Governor of Bing Province?"
"Naturally, it is you, my lord Ding Jianyang."
"Right. But did you see it? How the cavalry moved in perfect unison the moment I gave the order, following Lü Bu."
"......"
"It's absurd. That cavalry captain especially. Swore loyalty to orders, then followed Lü Bu like a faithful dog the instant he raised the standard!"
"That's......"
"Uaaah!!"
Ding Yuan's shout tore through the tent and shot toward the sky.
"The Heavenly Mandate is with us right now, so why does heaven send me such trials!!"
Heavenly Mandate.
A word not easily spoken, yet Ding Yuan uttered it as if he could no longer hold it back.
"All the power is converging on Luoyang right now! It's a race to see who arrives first! Vultures from everywhere are heading to the capital, and where's the time to clean up these corpses!!"
"......"
"Can heaven truly do this? I've lived past my allotted span, following that Mandate!"
"My lord......"
"It's not too late. Go now and tell Lü Bu to return! If there's even a moment's delay, then...... then......!!"
Ding Yuan's hands trembled, but he couldn't voice the rest.
Because Lü Bu was here?
No.
By now, that man was surely digging graves with a shovel.
Simply.
Even if Lü Bu refused to return, what power did he have to force him?
"......Kuhk!"
"My lord!!"
Ding Yuan vomited blood.
"The opportunity heaven gave, that opportunity......!!"
His aides couldn't grasp what grieved him so.
"No, it surely can't be too late."
Seeing hope flicker in his eyes even as he spat blood, chills ran down their spines.
"Yes. A few days, no, one or two days' delay won't spell disaster."
Ding Yuan lifted his head, an eerie glint in his eyes.
"The Heavenly Mandate is with this Ding Jianyang......!"
"Heavenly Mandate, my ass."
"Aak!"
Hou Cheng winced in pain.
I'd merely smacked his helmet with the back of my shovel, but he retreated from me with a look of utter grievance.
"Isn't that too much, General?!"
"Just trying to catch a rebel. What's the problem?"
"Rebel?!"
"Not hit enough yet, huh. Zhang Liao. Tell him why I'm hitting Hou Cheng."
"Isn't it because 'Heavenly Mandate' is a term tied to rebellion?"
"Exactly."
Zhang Liao, as expected.
"Heavenly Mandate. Heaven's will. Also called fate, but in turbulent times, the context is......"
"Revolution against tyranny."
"General."
"Not saying we'll do it, just that the term exists, so be careful."
Proclaiming the Heavenly Mandate could easily turn into mist on the execution grounds if mishandled.
"This guy's getting carried away."
"G-General! That's......!"
"If you wanted to boost the soldiers' morale, why not keep saying we're with Bing Province's Undefeated War God? Why drop that bomb?"
The more I thought, the angrier I got.
"Sigh. Count yourself lucky I'm not your teacher."
"Your teacher?"
"Yeah."
In truth.
"I said it once and got an earful...... no, lectured all day long."
I hadn't grasped the weight of that word.
'Thought it was just some lofty term.'
I'd tossed it out casually in front of my teacher, thinking it meant fatalism or something, and suffered for a week.
"Now then, what is the Heavenly Mandate? It is......"
My teacher's machine-gun lecture suddenly flashed in my mind, but no time to recite it now.
"Enough. Hou Cheng. We'll call it ignorance on your part. Punishment: ten strokes of the rod."
"Unfair!"
"Fair or not, some words you can say, some you can't."
"Did the General get hit by his teacher?!"
"Thwacked on the thighs with a bamboo tube."
Prone position.
He told me to bend over for the caning, and I did it instinctively; teacher was thrilled at my proper form.
"Pardon?"
Zhang Liao looked shocked.
"The General...... got hit?"
"How could a disciple evade the loving rod swung in guidance by his teacher?"
It was the same before reincarnation, and now too.
"The rod is violence, yes, but the hand and heart wielding it hold intent of enlightenment and discipline."
I didn't know back then.
Just desperate to chant 'my apologies' to escape the pain.
"A rod swung out of unavoidable necessity, wishing for your betterment. Thus, the rod of love."
I realized it as an adult.
"Dodging it is choosing the beast's path, knowing you're straying."
"......Not the type to take it lying down."
"If he were a thug getting thrills from beating students, I'd have beaten him dead. Our teacher wasn't that kind."
"......"
"After he hurt more than I did, punishments shifted to copying the Analects on rocks, but that's beside the point."
Thwack.
"It hurts!"
"Don't forget. Some words mustn't be tossed around."
"......"
"Hou Cheng."
I set down the shovel.
"Hou Cheng. The Heavenly Mandate you spoke of is literally heaven's command, right?"
"Well......"
"Whose is this land's heaven?"
"......"
"His Imperial Majesty the Emperor."
I nodded emphatically at Hou Cheng.
Many eyes watched us.
"We follow the imperial edict and the Son of Heaven's decree. His Majesty ordered us to suppress bandits, so we've upheld the realm's dignity in accordance with that solemn heavenly will. Right?"
"......Next time."
Hou Cheng closed his eyes heavily.
"I'll refrain from careless words."
"Good. If I slip up later, let me know. So people don't mistake us for rebels."
I approached Hou Cheng and gripped his shoulder.
"I know what you meant by it."
"General."
"I do, so let's end it here. ......Lots of eyes watching."
Bing Province cavalry, yes, but soldiers I trained—not 'my' soldiers.
Never planned private troops anyway.
"Sometimes, playing the fool is the wisest path."
"......"
Hou Cheng nodded silently.
"If you get it, that's enough. Cavalry captain!"
"Yes."
The captain, who'd been directing mounted soldiers, approached me.
He'd waited silently behind since I struck Hou Cheng's head.
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"No issue."
The captain dismounted and clasped his fists in salute.
The general leading the cavalry under Ding Yuan's command.
Blood stained his armor, yet impeccably neat.
A man of strict hierarchy, Ding Yuan's limb.
'Less Ding Yuan's man, more like an FM company commander.'
If there's an archetype of the ideal soldier, it's him.
In battle, I charged first so we didn't fight together, but after I felled their leader, he followed and mopped up the remnants.
"So, what's the matter?"
"Governor Ding Yuan has sent a man."
"An order?"
"Yes."
The captain glanced between my shovel and the fresh mounds, eyes closing briefly.
"......Governor Ding Yuan says the capital's crisis is dire; we must cross the river without delay."
"Hm."
"His order: General Lü—"
"We're cavalry. Gallop hard, and we'll be back soon. Two shi hours? That should do."
"......"
The captain scanned the area.
Many unburied bodies remained.
"General. Right now......"
"Leave them, and maggots swarm, crows peck. They're fathers too; no kid wants to see that."
"......"
"And abandoned corpses breed disease via scavenging beasts up to Bing Province."
"......"
"One shi hour. Won't ask more. We'll gallop our best on return—"
"Half."
The captain stepped toward the bodies.
"I'll help finish in half a shi hour."
"Appreciated."
The 1,500—or slightly fewer—cavalry dismounted to collect the dead.
On the return journey.
With Lü Bu leading the charge, Zhang Liao sidled up to Hou Cheng.
"You alright?"
"Tongue's numb; don't talk while galloping."
"Bing cavalry can't talk at a gallop? That's an issue."
"True enough."
Hou Cheng scratched his head.
"Got a lump?"
"Just loud noise. You know the General's temper."
"Still."
"Cheap price for one big slip."
Hou Cheng sighed deeply.
"What a mess I am. Couldn't hold back and blurted it. Got drunk on battlefield fervor."
"......"
"Heavenly Mandate. Yes, dangerous. Not for casual use...... but in this chaos, the phrase that'll echo most."
"General Hou Cheng."
"What do you think? Does the General have the Mandate?"
"That's......"
"Not calling for rebellion. Just frustration overflow."
Hou Cheng smiled bitterly and spurred his horse.
"The General hates treason. Makes him a bandit stealing the realm."
"......"
"Unless it's a resolute move to save the state, he won't lightly topple superiors. I know, but still."
"He does when he does."
"I know. Better than anyone. Just......"
Hou Cheng rubbed his nape.
"Just hoping my slip might nudge his resolve, even as a catalyst."
"......So all us generals hope, and we'll follow if he decides?"
"Obviously."
"Then......?"
"Though I said it alone, didn't the whole cavalry agree?"
"......"
Zhang Liao couldn't flatly deny it.
"Battle heat deafened them? No. Every cavalryman felt it: where heaven's will points."
"Topic's getting heavy."
"Chat lighter? Look, sun's setting."
Hou Cheng pointed to the horizon, where sunset bled.
"The General's the rising midday sun; Governor Ding's the sun past dusk, into night."
"......"
"If folks pitied Ding's waning vigor, the General would've forced him back to zenith. If he were that man."
Hou Cheng's face hardened coldly.
"He'd have accepted that proposal ten years ago."
"Proposal......?"
"Ah, you don't know. Hm. Don't say it was me."
Hou Cheng lowered his voice; Zhang Liao leaned in.
"The first rift between them was......"
"Lü Fengxian. From now on, you're my adopted son."
"......What boneheaded nonsense is this all of a sudden?"
No sooner had we reached camp than Ding Yuan dropped that line; I couldn't help a hollow laugh.
"Still peddling that?"
"Different from back then."
"Different how?"
"Then, I truly meant to make you my heir. Not now."
Ten years ago.
I nearly became Ding Bu, not Lü Bu.
Ding Yuan had no daughter to marry me off to, so he chose a surer way to bind me.
"No. Then and now."
And I refused.
"You want me to spell out why, Governor Ding Jianyang?"
In life, some become like fathers.
'Father's serial number' is a joke, but teachers or life-savers qualify.
"Listen, General Lü!"
"Enough."
The bandaged aide tried to interject, but Ding Yuan silenced him.
"All of you, withdraw."
"But!"
"Now."
At Ding Yuan's word, everyone else left.
"Lü Bu."
Me too.
"Support for Bing Province."
"......"
I paused on my way out.
"Appearances suffice. I won't make you my son, so act the part."
"Act like a confidant?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"To win Grand General He Jin's favor."
A line to He Jin.
"Care to explain in detail?"
"Grand General He Jin needs troops. He's rallying local warlords to muster forces and eliminate the Ten Eunuchs. Needs vast numbers and quality."
"......Isn't that civil strife?"
"There's a fine phrase: suppressing rebels."
Feels packaged, but eunuchs as target makes it palatable.
"That's why I rushed: He Jin lacks time."
"Lacks time......?"
"Yes. Though Grand General, his enemies control the center. Eunuchs seem pressed now, but they've gripped court power since the previous reign."
"......"
"One misstep, and He Jin falls."
"He's the Empress Dowager's brother."
"That Empress Dowager...... is thick with the eunuchs. Her sister married Ten Eunuch Zhang Yang."
"Zhang Yang?"
"Not the last visitor. Separate Ten Eunuch Zhang Yang."
Indeed.
"Still, blood brother."
"Half-brother."
"......"
"Grand General wants the eunuchs dead; Empress Dowager restrains him. That's why he called us."
Ding Yuan lowered his voice.
"Help He Jin, and we'll gain massive Bing support as reward. He favors martial prowess. Aid him greatly, earn fitting recompense."
"......"
A faint.
Unpleasant something brushed past.
Insight, perhaps.
From long observation of Ding Yuan, a glimpse of that first meeting's feeling.
"Governor. Be frank."
I asked.
"Rushing to the capital because you're worried someone else catches He Jin's eye first, making you latecomer?"
From the impatience in his eyes.
"Worried others help He Jin and finish the deed before you?"
"......"
"And furthermore."
I asked.
"If He Jin falls, aren't you eyeing his seat?"
From the ambition oozing through his skin.
That ambition otherwise called 'old man's greed'.
"......"
Ding Yuan said nothing.
"Beyond Bing Governor, coveting the court's Grand General post?"
"At least."
Ding Yuan glared.
"Better this Ding Jianyang as Grand General than that butcher's son from my step-sister birthing imperial bastard?"
"......"
"I promise. If I become Grand General, Bing gets top talents. Or you take Governor."
"Already divvying spoils."
"Lü Bu."
"No interest. Whether you become Grand General or not. I respect your decades for Bing, but ask no more."
"......"
"From the start, I—"
Shrrk.
"Governor!!"
"In crucial talks...... Wait. You're Zhang Yang's......?"
"Urgent news!!"
The black-clad man knelt desperately.
That black garb seemed familiar yet—
"Grand General He Jin has been assassinated!!"
"......?"
```