Preparing for Another Sword Dance
The place where I now stood was Wei Hong’s giru. It had been some time since I last saw the likes of Hua Yan, Miao Miao, and Geum Ryeon. The fleeting thought of leaving my wives behind to enjoy their company had indeed crossed my mind… but that was not why I had come. I was here at someone’s invitation.
“You even cast aside your seat beneath the Chancellor, and yet here we are,” Guo Jia remarked with a wry chuckle. “So that’s how it turned out. Well, nothing to be done about it now.”
“People say that since you resigned your office you’ve done nothing but drown yourself in wine and women. At least take care of your health.”
“Then what am I supposed to live for?”
He had a point, but Guo Jia, you really do take it too far.
Just then the door opened and Wei Hong herself entered, followed by servants bearing trays of wine. She offered us both a respectful bow before pouring for Guo Jia and me.
“Have any interesting stories surfaced lately?” I asked.
“The Lord visited my establishment not long ago.”
Wei Hong was referring to Cao Cao’s recent appearance at her giru. Of course, the moment this story left her lips it would find its way back to Cao Cao’s ears. Still, I needed to know.
“What did you speak about?”
“He suddenly declared that he required time to look around him. Then he issued an unprecedented and rather peculiar order.”
“What order?”
“He commanded a thorough investigation into the families of all his wives and concubines.”
“!”
Oh no. That careless remark I had let slip during our last drinking bout. Cao Cao had been teasing me relentlessly about “taking in daughters of ruined houses,” so I had shot back that such families had no in-laws to nag them. For a split second his eyes had flashed with real interest. It had weighed on my mind ever since, and now it seemed the man had decided to act on it.
“Just from the look on your face I can tell exactly what’s happening,” Guo Jia said. He drained the cup in front of him in one long pull. “Everyone who follows the Chancellor knows how much trouble he’s had with women over the years. After he took in Lady Yun and Lady Du of Xuzhou, he absorbed their entire clans as well, didn’t he?”
“That’s right.”
“It always happens that way. When a husband’s power grows too great, the wife’s relatives start getting greedy. Before long the wife herself becomes overbearing.”
Guo Jia spoke as if he had seen it a thousand times, laying out the pattern with casual precision. Yet preparing such a purge was the work of a political monster who left nothing to chance… though it was true that Cao Cao’s political acumen was monstrous.
“It was only a thoughtless comment on my part. If it causes discord between the matriarchs, I won’t be able to handle the fallout.”
“Young Master Zayul, do you honestly believe this will stop at disciplining a few in-laws?”
“!”
Guo Jia swirled his empty cup. Wei Hong smiled and refilled it. He lifted the brimming vessel and held it before me.
“Look here. The first sip is his own in-laws. The second sip is his blood relatives. The third sip is his own household. Now that he understands his own house, he has the perfect justification to clean up everyone else’s, doesn’t he?”
“…Oh?”
“And it will be an unmistakable demonstration to the newly appointed Left General of exactly who holds power these days.”
So that was it. After the incident with the Emperor’s abdication, before the move to the new capital, Cao Cao had already conducted a preemptive “weeding” of those who might oppose him. He had sent the head of the prestigious Yang clan—Minister of Works Yang Biao—to the Court of Judicial Bills for a taste of interrogation, then forced him into retirement, intending to fill the vacancy with Xun Yu. Once the entire anti-Cao faction in the court had been dragged down and punished, another storm of blades seemed inevitable.
“You’d better watch yourself for a while. If things get ugly, you could always do what I did—resign dramatically, take a nice long rest, and return once the typhoon has passed.”
“Since the words were mine, I must bear the responsibility. Starting with myself.”
Wei Hong glanced at each of us in turn and offered a quiet smile.
When I returned home after gathering information at the giru, the entire household was in an uproar.
“Husband, you’ve returned?”
“What happened? Why is the atmosphere like this?”
“It’s… I went out to reconcile the two ladies, but we were harassed by some vile men.”
“!”
What was that? Who would dare mock my wives?
I started toward Yuan Jing and Lu Ming, but Cai Yan caught my hand and gently shook her head.
“They’ve only just fallen asleep. It would be better to speak with them later.”
“Where can I find the bastards who insulted my concubines? Where did this happen?”
“They have already been seized by the guests of the Supervisor of the Imperial Household—your uncle, Lord Zilian.”
Cao Hong’s retainers?
The moment I heard that name I downed a cup of cold water to clear my head, sobered up, and prepared to head out again. I didn’t know who the fools were, but they had dared to humiliate my wives. Those men were already dead.
I left the house and made straight for Cao Hong’s residence. Even among the grand mansions of the Cao and Xiahou clans in the capital, his four-sided courtyard complex was noticeably larger than Cao Cao’s own. I had known he was obscenely wealthy and a hedonist who loved luxury and pleasure, but though I had visited him often in Yan Province, this was my first time coming to his house in the capital.
When I knocked, a servant announced me and the chief steward came running to greet me with the utmost courtesy.
“Young Master Zayul, what an honor to receive you at this late hour. I will escort you to the master at once.”
“Is my uncle still awake?”
“The master is actually more active at this time of night.”
He led me past the main hall and into the rear garden. The estate was enormous to begin with, but the deeper we went the more it resembled a private palace wing. When the final door opened, an astonishing scene greeted me.
“Wahaha! That’s it, well done!”
“Don’t lose, Dorong! Bite him! I’ve wagered three hundred taels on you!”
Good heavens. Cao Hong’s mansion was filled with retainers who had piled mountains of gold, coins, and silk around themselves and were holding a raucous festival. The men in particular were absorbed in cricket fighting. To wager a fortune on mere insects—was this how the rich squandered their money?
“You bastard, swim faster! Go, go!”
“Excellent! Keep pushing straight ahead!”
“Aigo, why did you stop?”
In another corner, several large fishbowls had been joined together for a “loach race.” An equally staggering sum—enough to feed an entire market district for decades—sat in the betting pool.
“Wine for the master.”
“Set it down over there. And this is for you.”
“Ho ho ho, my thanks.”
Women in scandalously thin, revealing gowns with slits at the chest and hips attended the guests. One of them received a gold ingot as a tip, slipped between her breasts. I had known Cao Hong was enormously rich, but I had never imagined his fortune was built this way. Running an outright casino inside his own home in the second century—only he would dare.
“The master is in the innermost chamber.”
The steward guided me through the gambling halls and banquet rooms until we reached the deepest building. When the doors opened, another world unfolded.
“Oho, who do we have here? If it isn’t Zayul!”
“Uncle, forgive me for coming so late.”
“Come, sit. Steward, prepare a table for him.”
“At once, my lord.”
Cao Hong lounged in splendor, surrounded by several courtesans whose fluttering silk garments barely covered their voluptuous curves. Women with crimson lips fed him precious grapes from the Western Regions, peeling each one with their teeth before placing it in his mouth. Others poured wine into the valley between their ample breasts and offered him the “cleavage cup” directly from their cleavage. Still another peeled tangerines with her bare feet and fed them to him; he accepted each piece greedily, then kissed her pale, wriggling soles. It seemed my uncle truly did have a fondness for women’s feet.
“So, what brings you at this hour? Who told you we were having such an entertaining gathering?”
“No one. I heard what happened to my wives while I was out.”
“Ah, that matter?”
Cao Hong suddenly seized the ankle of the courtesan who was peeling a tangerine with her toes.
“Kyaa?”
“Stop peeling and go fetch Huangfu Jing.”
“Y-yes, my lord.”
When the woman tried to put on socks and a robe, Cao Hong stopped her.
“What are you doing? Who told you to wear socks?”
“My lord…”
“Hurry up and go.”
Her outfit already revealed her buttocks with every step; now she was being sent outside barefoot on those snow-white legs. The courtesan trembled with shame as she went to find the man called Huangfu.
“I was told that your people rescued my concubines after they were harassed in the marketplace. Thank you.”
“Wahaha, of course I had to help. Any lunatic who behaves that way in the capital deserves to be dragged off and beaten.”
A short while later the half-naked courtesan returned, her entire body flushed crimson with embarrassment, leading a man named Huangfu. His swaggering gait and face screamed “marketplace thug,” yet Cao Hong seemed to trust him completely and beckoned him closer.
“Supervisor of the Imperial Household, Huangfu Jing has arrived.”
“Mm, good.”
When Cao Hong rose, the women immediately draped a robe over his shoulders.
“This is Zayul.”
“Colonel Cao, it is an honor.”
“Ah, yes.”
“I look forward to working with you.”
His insolent manner made him exactly the sort of man one could entrust with every dirty job. Cao Hong brought him along as we moved to the rear courtyard of the banquet hall and opened a storage shed.
“Ugh—”
The thick stench of blood hit us. Several men, bound and covered in gore, lay inside. They had been beaten so savagely that their flesh had split open and pools of blood had formed beneath them. Cao Hong’s retainers, holding iron clubs, greeted their master.
“My lord, you’ve come.”
“Two are already dead. We were thinking of burying the rest soon.”
“Remove the gags.”
Even while enjoying a grand feast inside, the shed radiated the casual killing intent of men who could make a few bodies disappear without a trace.
“Haa… huff… huff… Aaaagh!”
“How many more blows before this one shuts up?”
Slap— When the man thrashed and screamed in agony, Huangfu Jing delivered a vicious slap that silenced him.
“Have you come to your senses yet? You lot have stepped on the wrong tail this time.”
Since these were the men who had insulted my women, I reached for a club, intending to beat them myself. At that moment one of the bloodied prisoners cried out.
“Wait… wait! Just let me say one thing!”
“Colonel, what should we do?”
“They’re going to die anyway. We can hear their last words.”
The bloodied man immediately prostrated himself and spoke desperately.
“We beg the lord’s forgiveness a hundred times for insulting members of your household! But we were hired!”
“Hired?”
“We are originally a troupe of entertainers from the capital. A certain scholar approached us and offered thirty taels of gold. He said that if we mocked the silver-haired woman and the daughter of the traitor’s family in a public place, he would pay us another hundred taels if we made the powerful minister’s household a laughingstock.”
“What madness is this?”
Even Cao Hong and Huangfu Jing looked stunned.
“Who was it? Describe his appearance.”
“He called himself Scholar Gong and Scholar Ye from Qingzhou…”
“!”
Scholars Gong and Ye from Qingzhou.
“Those two scholars said that since a powerful minister was currently making a show of influence in the capital, if we turned his family into a complete joke they would give us another hundred taels of gold.”
“Is that all?”
“Y-yes. Please, spare my life—”
I drew my sword and drove it straight through the man’s chest.
“Hiiik?!”
“You accepted money to harass another man’s wife in the middle of the marketplace?”
I cut down every last one of the remaining wretches with my blade.
“Who exactly is this ‘powerful minister making a show of influence’?”
I flung my blood-soaked sword aside and kicked the corpses.
“Colonel, I will clean this up. I will dispose of them cleanly, so leave it to me.”
Huangfu Jing stepped forward with another servant and began removing the bodies one by one. I was about to thank my uncle and leave when Cao Hong called out.
“Zayul.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
He snapped his fingers. Seven maids from the inner chamber emerged, each carrying three bolts of silk. Twenty-one bolts in total—every color of the rainbow.
“Take these and have new clothes made for your wives and concubines.”
“You really don’t have to—”
“Take them. And tell your wives this: vile outsiders deliberately targeted our clan. Tell them not to mind it.”
In his own way, Cao Hong had prepared rainbow-colored silks as both apology and comfort for my wives. I bowed deeply in gratitude and relayed the warning I had come to deliver.
“Uncle, you should be cautious in your current position for the time being.”
“What?”
“My uncle—the Chancellor—has ordered a thorough investigation into all irregularities involving relatives and in-laws. Sparks may fly in your direction, so I am telling you now.”
“Hoh, who told you this?”
“The Chancellor personally ordered the intelligence network of the Wei Trading Company to gather the information. Manager Wei herself told me.”
“Mm… if Wei Hong says it, then it must be serious…”
Cao Hong thought for a moment, then grasped my hand.
“Thank you for the information. It was very useful. For a while I shall have to live a little more respectably.”
He thanked me sincerely, then turned to his trusted subordinate.
“Close the rear banquet hall after today. Send all the courtesans back to their original giru.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes, understood, my lord.”
Only then was I able to leave Cao Hong’s mansion.