The Sharpest Blade in Xudu
“Chiyaaat!”
“Hmph!”
I thrust my spear at Dian Wei without hesitation. The moment his iron staff blocked it with a resounding clang, I planted both feet firmly, centered my balance, and met his incoming strike head-on with the shaft of my spear.
“Uuuugh…”
The instant I gave even an inch, the blades of his twin iron staffs would slice into my neck. I held my ground through raw power, then deflected his attack and immediately counter-charged, slamming the shaft into his side.
Clang—clang—
Dian Wei raised his staff vertically to block, then twisted the blade sideways to pull my weapon off course. I changed the angle and knocked it away again.
“Iyaaat!”
I roared and pressed the assault, unleashing a storm of strikes, but Dian Wei refused to yield even a fraction. He met every blow with equal force. Sparks flew from our spearheads in the snowy winter cold, and the ground around us had already melted into slush from the sheer heat of battle.
Still, I charged at him without pause. This was truly a duel waged at the edge of life and death. When he deflected me once more, I spotted a gap beneath his spear and immediately kicked upward.
“Kgh!”
The blow landed squarely in his gut, but he twisted his massive, bear-like frame and shoulder-checked me with brutal force. The moment I tried to regain my footing—
“Enough! That’s far enough!”
Dian Man, Dian Wei’s son, shouted, and we both froze. He had been timing us with a primitive sundial—a simple stick placed on a clay tablet.
“Thank you for your hard work. Let’s rest a little, then go again.”
“Aigoo~ Zhonglangjiang, this is already the tenth round. Haven’t you been pushing yourself too hard since arriving in Xudu?”
Dian Wei complained while stretching his limbs, as if he couldn’t stop me. But if we were talking about the strongest warrior in Xudu for one-on-one combat, wasn’t Dian Wei the undisputed champion? Even in Yenan, he had fought Zhang Fei twice, both matches ending in brutal stalemates where neither could claim superiority.
Honestly, if I were to name warriors stronger than me that I personally acknowledged, the list would be Guan Yu, Lu Bu, Zhang Fei, and Dian Wei. As for Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Xiahou Yuan, Xu Chu, and Li Tong… I hadn’t fought them in true life-or-death battles yet, so they remained on hold for now.
“Zhonglangjiang, would it comfort you to know that this old man went through the same thing in his youth?”
“What?”
“When I was about Dian Man’s age, I lived as a wandering hero. Back then, I feared nothing in this world. Even so, there were plenty of monstrously skilled warriors.”
Dian Wei spoke as if he truly couldn’t continue. It made sense—he had just gone ten full rounds with real iron spears, not practice wooden ones.
“Very well. Let’s stop here for today.”
“Zhonglangjiang, since you’ve come all this way, at least have some hot soup before you leave. My wife makes an excellent mallow stew.”
Come to think of it, after losing his first wife, Dian Wei had lived alone with his son Dian Man until I arranged his remarriage to the head maid of the Cao household. Their marriage seemed harmonious; even at her advanced age, she had borne him a daughter.
“Everyone, please eat. The mallow stew is ready.”
“Zhonglangjiang, have a bowl before you go.”
After a hearty meal following training at Dian Wei’s house, I left. My next destination was the Office of the Chancellor to visit Xu Chu, the Colonel of the Chancellor’s Guard.
As expected, he too threw himself into training with desperate intensity every time I came looking for a match. I simply refused to stop. After the conquest of Xuzhou and Lu Bu’s death, I had grown somewhat lax thanks to Guan Yu being my mentor. This rigorous regimen had sharpened my mind once more.
The shoulder wound treated by Hua Tuo had fully healed after rehabilitation. All that remained was training and more training.
When I finally returned home late in the evening, my wives greeted me warmly. Cai Yan, in particular, had put the baby to sleep and prepared a separate meal just for me.
“I prepared it exactly as you requested, husband. Is this acceptable?”
“It’s perfect.”
What Cai Yan had laid out was completely different from what the other wives ate. While the concubines enjoyed oily white rice, mine was coarse millet—the kind servants usually ate. The main dish was chicken boiled until the meat practically fell off the bone, then carefully picked clean. Alongside it were boiled eggs, leafy greens, bok choy, and mallow.
“What kind of combination is this? What does it even taste like?”
Lu Ming muttered in genuine curiosity, shaking her head as if she would never touch it—then suddenly flinched.
“Ah, it moved.”
Her belly was now quite round. She clutched it, saying the baby had kicked. After finishing my high-protein meal, I went over, placed a hand on her stomach to feel the movement, then washed up and fell into a deep sleep. This routine repeated day after day.
At some point, my muscles had grown even more defined than before. During the military’s mounted combat drills, I could now handle any horse with ease, steadily accumulating experience.
“Whew~”
That day, after another brutal training session, I returned to the city of Xudu before sunset. There had been several occasions when I failed to make it back in time and had to spend the night at an inn outside the walls, only entering the city the next morning.
“Zayul Gongja.”
“?!”
“You must have had another intense training session today. I can tell just from your eyes.”
“Gongda, sir.”
Xun You approached with a cheerful grin, waving his hand.
“Word has spread across all of Xudu that you’ve been devoting yourself entirely to martial training lately.”
“There will be a great war soon, won’t there?”
“Indeed. However, I’ve heard concerns that you are overworking your body. Knowing when to rest is also a virtue.”
Xun You nodded and made a suggestion.
“I wonder if you have time tomorrow. I have taken a new concubine, and I thought I would host a meal to show off her beauty and invite everyone.”
Even Xun You knew how to enjoy himself in this regard. Unlike his uncle Xun Yu, who lived like a lofty immortal, Xun You had already taken a woman from the Wei trading company after his primary wife. Now he was adding another?
“I’ll be there. Many others will attend that day as well.”
“So… how many is this now?”
“Come now, compared to you, Zhonglangjiang, I am positively restrained. About four?”
Well, in this era, the number of concubines was indeed a symbol of status. After finishing training, I returned home and told my wives about the banquet the next day.
Cai Yan quietly prepared some fine Jiangnan tea to be used as a gift and handed it to me. The other wives also sent me off with warm encouragement.
“Come now, greet our guests.”
“This servant is called Qinghua.”
Xun You introduced his stunning new concubine to the gathered guests and had her personally serve the wine.
“Is this really acceptable?”
No matter how you looked at it, having one’s wife serve wine to guests seemed terribly rude. Yet when Xun You did it, it somehow felt strangely appropriate.
“It’s fine. She’s a concubine.”
“Hm?”
Guo Jia, seated beside me, spoke while chewing his food.
“Of course, if you did that with a highborn primary wife, it would be a disaster. That would truly violate etiquette—the host would be criticized, and accepting such behavior while looking a man’s wife in the face would be an enormous breach of decorum!”
That was true. In the original history, when Cao Pi held a banquet, Zhen Fu served wine to the guests. Liu Jing had stared openly at her, and was driven out for violating propriety.
“But a concubine is different. It is the host’s way of showing off that he has taken such a beautiful woman, and of introducing the star of the evening to everyone.”
Well, it was common in Eastern history for powerful men to hold banquets simply to boast about their beautiful concubines. I decided to accept it as such.
When Xun Yu received his wine first, he greeted the concubine politely despite her being his nephew’s woman. Then Cheng Yu, Liu Ye, Yang Xiu, Guo Jia, and the others received their cups in turn until it was finally my turn.
“For Zhonglangjiang as well.”
“Ah, thank you.”
When she filled my cup and placed it before me with a bow, I returned the courtesy with equal respect.
“Now, everyone, raise your cups and drink!”
As the host, Xun You lifted his cup, and we all drank together. It didn’t seem like he had thrown this banquet merely to show off his new concubine. There must be something important to discuss.
“The reason I invited all of you here today is not only to boast about my beautiful fourth wife, but also because I have something else to tell you.”
As I thought.
“Recently, the Office of the Chancellor has been looking for an envoy to send to Liu Biao, the Governor of Jingzhou who has gathered significant forces there.”
So the concubine was just an excuse to gather everyone. This was the real purpose. After the recent Battle of Yenan, Liu Bei had been defeated and fled south of the Yangtze. The Cao army had decided to prioritize conquering Hebei over Jingzhou. In that situation, they had declared a so-called ‘non-aggression pact’ stating they would not interfere with Jingzhou until Hebei was pacified, and an envoy was needed to convey this.
“We need someone with a brilliant mind and a silver tongue capable of humbling the famous scholars of Jingzhou.”
“Hah~ If I could, I would go myself.”
My words immediately drew laughter from all around. Guo Jia was the first to clutch his stomach.
“Aigoo~ If Zayul Gongja went, that would be a real catastrophe. What kind of disaster would occur if a Zhonglangjiang personally went? Still, I can imagine it. After Yuan Shao, Liu Biao would probably clutch the back of his neck and collapse from your sharp tongue, right?”
“Cao Zhonglangjiang, we all know how fierce your debating skills are, but you must not go on such missions anymore. No matter what anyone says, you are a central pillar in the upcoming conquest of Hebei.”
Even Cheng Yu now spoke of me with recognition. It was truly a sign of how far things had come. When I had taken office in 194, during the first year of the Xingping era at the age of twenty, Cheng Yu had already been a stubborn, middle-aged man well over fifty. Six years later, Cheng Yu, now approaching sixty, remained a straight-backed minister of eight chi in height, while I had become one of the core generals of the Cao army, having accomplished numerous military feats in that short time.
“What about me?”
Guo Jia asked Xun You in a deliberately slouched posture.
“Well~ I’m the kind of person who’s often absent from the Office of the Chancellor anyway, and the lord doesn’t seem to mind. Shall I go this time?”
“Having Bonghyo go wouldn’t be bad at all. Who else?”
“I would like to go.”
“Hmm?”
The one who raised his hand and spoke confidently was Yang Xiu. Everyone acknowledged that Yang Xiu had taken on the role of a capable administrator in the Office of the Chancellor after the conquest of Lujiang. For him to volunteer personally as envoy to Jingzhou must be an attempt to stand out among the real powers there.
“Hmmm, may I speak my thoughts?”
“Director of the Secretariat, please speak.”
Although Xun You was the host today, Xun Yu held higher office, so everyone focused their attention on what he would say.
“For Jingzhou, it is right for Yang Zhubu to go. As for Guo Junshi, he has separate work to do together with Liu Zhubu.”
“Hah, me and Ziyang? What would that be?”
“The matter of Jiangdong.”
The fact that Xun Yu was bringing this up meant Sun Ce must truly be in dire straits.
“The affairs of Jingzhou and Yangzhou must be handled on the same level. If Yang Zhubu takes charge of Jingzhou and Guo Junshi handles Yangzhou, preparing firmly for invasion, then the rest of us can devote our full strength to the conquest of Hebei.”
Xun Yu looked at me and smiled as he continued.
“People like Zayul Zhonglangjiang here, for example. Surely, at a separate gathering of military commanders rather than this one, you will be the central figure discussing the strategy for conquering Hebei, will you not?”
Eh? No, I… hadn’t thought about that. The way Xun Yu said it sounded exactly like, “This came up in the military staff meeting, so hold a separate meeting with the generals and gather their opinions.” I wasn’t imagining it, was I?
Then what should I do? Should I follow Xun You’s example and, in celebration of my new concubines, invite Zhang Liao, Dian Wei, Zhang He, Xu Chu, Yue Jin, Li Dian, and Man Chong to my house and… do the same thing?