Events That Occurred in My Absence
I arrived at Xiapi. The soldiers verified our identities first, and the moment the gates began to swing open, Lu Ming, who had stayed inside the carriage, suddenly seized me in a fierce embrace.
“Wha—hey? What’s gotten into you?”
“I… never wanted to come here. This is where my father died!”
She was right. Xiapi had been the site of the final battle before Cao Cao claimed Xuzhou. It was here that Lu Bu met his end, and Lu Ming had fled with her mother only to lose her as well, leaving her utterly alone. The trauma must have resurfaced; seeing her tremble like this, I knew any lewd teasing would be out of the question.
Instead, I wrapped my arms around her, patting her back gently until her breathing steadied.
“We’ll finish our business in Xiapi quickly and head straight to Hudu.”
“If we have to stay here at all, I don’t want to step out of this carriage.”
“Fine. If that’s how it is, I’ll finish my duties, persuade General Gao, and return the moment I succeed.”
Lu Ming nodded repeatedly against my chest. She was far more fragile than she appeared, her mental scars deeper than I had realized. When I first met her she had been a wild mountain tigress. Then a spoiled young lady who brandished her sword because she trusted in her father’s name. Later, a vengeful white-haired swordswoman charging through snow. Now only a broken young woman remained—someone who had lost her entire family and carried the weight of that trauma alone.
Come to think of it, Lu Bu suffered the same sort of mental frailty, didn’t he? The man had a habit of self-destructing the moment his spirit cracked at the critical instant.
In the end, I had not tamed a vengeful white-haired demon. I had taken in a lonely swordswoman who had cast everything aside and now had no one left to rely on but me. Well, perhaps “maiden” was no longer accurate. Regardless.
I left extra blankets inside the carriage for her, along with the new clothes and undergarments I had prepared for the cold nights. “I’ll be back soon.”
“All right.”
She nodded firmly, making it clear she had no intention of leaving the carriage. I stepped out, stroked the neck of my loyal steed that had guided us here, and gave strict orders to the soldiers.
“Until I call for you, no one is to open this carriage. If anything happens inside, report to me at once.”
“Understood, Colonel.”
“Colonel, I will remain here. You need not worry.”
Yue Jin spoke with a valiant expression. I shook my head at him.
“I truly have no face left. First with Lady Yuan, and now my own lieutenant personally guarding my concubine.”
“Are you not my superior? Pay it no mind and go handle your affairs.”
Yue Jin shrugged, promising he would protect Lu Ming well. Satisfied, I entered the government office and met with Uncle Xiahou Dun and Xun You.
“Uncle, I have returned.”
“Ah, so you have. I heard the full story. They say you picked up yet another girl near Huiyin?”
The rumor had spread faster than I expected. I handed over the inspection ledgers and seals before speaking to Xiahou Dun.
“Once that tigress was captured, she became as docile as a kitten.”
“A brave girl, to charge onto the battlefield with a blade for her father’s revenge.”
“She lost her mother as well. I buried her on the snowy mountain outside Huiyin.”
“Lu Bu was executed for insubordination rather than outright rebellion, so only he was put to death,” Xun You added.
Xiahou Dun nodded. “They say the scoundrel was buried north of Hudu. Before winter sets in, gather his wife’s remains and bury them together.”
When I relayed this to Lu Ming later, she would feel relief knowing her parents would rest side by side and that she herself bore no guilt.
“Still, it is rather amusing. A girl riding onto the battlefield with a sword, then fighting the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry on a snowy mountain for revenge.”
“But the moment I overpowered her and broke her blade, she resigned herself to everything.”
“She must have sought death from the beginning. Revenge was one thing, but she probably wanted to follow her parents into the afterlife.”
Xiahou Dun spoke as though he could see the entire situation without being told. “In any case, the month you promised Aman is nearly over. What do you intend to do with the prisoner in the underground jail?”
“I plan to wrap that up before I leave.”
“Lord Zayul, you must resolve it quickly. The Chancellor’s office in Hudu is currently swamped with troublesome matters.”
Xun You handed me a single bamboo slip. Curious, I unrolled it and felt a headache coming on. The contents were utterly absurd.
A giant of a man nearly nine chi tall, his face flushed crimson from drink and his beard flowing long, rampaged through the Chancellor’s office. Armed with nothing but his fists, he single-handedly defeated the entire guard detachment.
His sworn brother, another giant of similar stature, soon arrived and repeated the feat.
The cause: While Lord Guan Yu was away at war, his wife passed away in Xiaopei. Out of pity, the Chancellor sent Diaochan—formerly a concubine of the executed Lu Bu—to become his new wife. Upon learning this, Lord Guan Yu flew into a rage.
I descended into the underground prison and saw Gao Shun once more. The once-robust general had wasted away until his cheekbones jutted sharply and his massive frame had shrunk to that of a man awaiting death.
“I heard you have not starved yourself entirely and have accepted wine, yet you refuse proper side dishes. Were you planning to drink yourself to death?”
“…”
Only one day remained of the time promised to Cao Cao. Today, I would persuade Gao Shun no matter what.
“I pursued them all the way to Huiyin and located Lu Fengxian’s last surviving family. Sadly, his principal wife had long suffered from asthma. She perished on a cold night.”
“…!”
Gao Shun’s body twitched once more.
“I also captured his daughter. She truly was a formidable tigress—skilled enough to exchange blows with me. But I caught her, and she now rests surrounded by my subordinates.”
Gao Shun opened his eyes. He turned his head and stared at me with icy pupils. Had my wording made it sound as though I had taken his wife’s life and captured his daughter to be ravished by my men?
“Do not worry. She has been treated with utmost care. Since Lu Bu’s daughter is exempt from the laws of collective punishment, I have taken her under my protection.”
“…Hmph.”
Gao Shun turned away again and closed his eyes. But that was only the beginning of the story.
“Moreover… while I was away persuading you, General, and stabilizing Xuzhou, all sorts of incidents erupted in Hudu because I was not at my uncle’s side.”
The bamboo slip Xun You had given me contained a truly preposterous event that made me sigh. How could something like this have happened in Hudu of all places?
“A major incident occurred at the Chancellor’s office in Hudu. A giant with a beard nearly nine chi long, drunk and red-faced, caused a violent disturbance. Without any weapon, he beat down every military officer in the guard detachment with his bare fists alone.”
It was almost comical.
“And then his younger sworn brother, another nine-chi giant, arrived and did exactly the same.”
“…Guan Yu. The man who killed our lord.”
Suddenly, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei had gotten roaring drunk and wrecked the Chancellor’s office where Cao Cao resided. From Cao Cao’s perspective it was utterly ridiculous. Had they not been Liu Bei’s sworn brothers, he would have executed them on the spot and hung their heads in the market.
“Do you know why? While Lord Guan Yu was fighting in Xuzhou, his wife in Xiaopei passed away. He could not even attend her deathbed because of the war and became a widower.”
“…”
“After the funeral, Uncle Mengde took pity on him and sent Diaochan—Lu Fengxian’s former concubine, one of the widows we gathered in Xuzhou—to become his new wife. That is when Lord Guan Yu exploded in fury.”
Guan Yu had lost his wife while raising two young sons. Cao Cao, feeling sympathy, had sent Diaochan to be his new bride. Why, then, had Guan Yu become so enraged?
“Lord Guan Yu reportedly shouted, ‘Do you think I would take a enchantress who was possessed by traitors like Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu? Are you equating me with those two?!’ He was absolutely livid. A ridiculous affair, is it not?”
Reading the exact words on that bamboo slip had given me a genuine headache. Had I been present, I would have said, “Should we not first ask Uncle Yunchang for his own thoughts?” and attempted to mediate the match. After all, she was simply a widowed concubine of Lu Bu, an unrivaled beauty known as one of the Four Great Beauties. The gesture had been sent in good faith.
“In the end, Imperial Uncle Liu—sworn brother to both Lord Guan Yu and Lord Zhang Yide—personally came to the Chancellor’s office, stopped them, and apologized directly to Uncle Mengde. The matter was overlooked as an incident caused by intoxication.”
“…”
“Sigh… that is the current state of affairs in Hudu.”
At that moment, Gao Shun’s shoulders began to shake. Was the man… laughing?
“Kuhaha… hahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
“It is a ridiculous story, but to laugh this hard…”
Gao Shun laughed like a madman inside his cell. After a long while, he wiped away tears and spoke.
“So even Chancellor Cao is human. The entire Cao clan is human after all!”
“O-of course they are. When you hear of such an absurd incident, it becomes obvious.”
“You are the Chancellor’s nephew, Cao Zayul—the one who defeated me twice in combat.”
“Indeed.”
“I will trust you and the Chancellor and surrender.”
“Truly?”
So this was how it ended… The tale of Hudu’s absurdity had convinced Gao Shun that Cao Cao was truly human? His heart had finally turned.
Before leaving, however, he stood and raised three fingers.
“First, regarding the Camp Crushing Unit that perished. I disliked their commander, but his remaining family is innocent. Please look after them well.”
“That is only natural. We punished only the guilty. No one will suffer collective punishment.”
“Second, return all my remaining subordinates still in Xuzhou. Provide them with generous retirement funds so they may lay down their spears and take up farming tools instead.”
“The surviving officers of the Camp Crushing Unit had gathered in Xiapi, vowing to commit suicide the moment you died. I will convey your wishes, reward them generously, and send them home.”
It was a shame to lose such elite soldiers, but if Gao Shun joined us, we could always train new ones of equal caliber.
“Finally, I cannot lead men to conquer others. However, if you employ me as a trainer, a local administrator, or a defender of a city, I will gladly carry out those duties.”
So he was willing to defend fortresses but refused to participate in offensive campaigns. Uncle Mengde would surely accept these terms.
“Jailer.”
“Yes, Colonel!”
“Open this cell immediately.”
“Pardon? But this man is…”
“Watch your tongue. He is a General of the Household. Open it without another word.”
“Understood.”
“Remove his shackles as well.”
“Y-yes!”
The jailer unlocked the door and freed Gao Shun’s ankles. As the general stood, shaking out his wrists and ankles, I added one final remark.
“General Gao. Why only three conditions? You could have asked for four.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your family.”
“!”
“I made inquiries. Your wife was originally a merchant’s daughter from Bing Province who sold goods to noblewomen in Xuzhou. You have two young children as well.”
“Hmm…”
“Through the merchant guild, we can locate them quickly. Once we reach Hudu, you may reunite with them.”
I had expected him to request his family’s safety as one of his three conditions. Since he had not, I decided to handle it as a personal favor.
We left the prison together and headed to report to Xiahou Dun and Xun You.
“Ah, Lord Zayul.”
“Yes?”
“What became of the Chancellor’s new concubine in Hudu?”
“You mean Lady Diaochan?”
I told him the rest of the story as well.
“Despite everything that happened, Lady Diaochan is apparently caring for Lord Guan Yu’s young sons with great devotion. So he accepted her after all.”
“Hmph… that is fortunate, at least.”
With Gao Shun’s matter resolved, Xuzhou was now fully under control. Lu Bu was dead. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun had surrendered. The independent warlord Zhang Ba had submitted to Cao Cao. Diaochan had become Guan Yu’s second wife. The remains of Lu Bu’s wife, Lady Yan, would be collected and buried alongside her husband. And finally, Lu Bu’s last blood relative, Lu Ming, would live comfortably as my concubine.