The Time to Sharpen Our Blades
When I finally managed to pull myself together with the strong liquor Cheng Yu had given me, it happened.
“Ah, my lord!”
“Hm?”
“Wenyeol, you were still here?”
Cao Cao had personally led his personal guard into the market.
I tried to stand and greet him, but he grabbed me firmly before I could.
“You overexerted yourself protecting me yesterday, didn’t you? Go back to the barracks and rest at once.”
“That won’t do. We don’t know when something else might happen…”
“Hey, you crazy bastard! Stop talking nonsense and go rest!”
Suddenly cursing at me…
Cao Cao pulled me into a rough embrace and thumped my side.
“Ugh!”
“What the hell is your body made of, some kind of lizard? You’ve got this many wounds and you were just stubbornly pushing through? Medic!”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Take this fool right now, treat him properly, and make sure he rests thoroughly!”
Only after Cao Cao’s words did my eyes finally close.
When I woke up next, I wondered if I would even remember any of this…
…Mm.
“Ah, young master!”
When I opened my eyes, the ceiling was unfamiliar, but the woman’s voice was not.
Once I regained my senses, I realized I was only wearing a single layer of undergarments. My entire body was covered in something sticky that gave off a strange smell.
“Ugh!”
“You mustn’t get up yet.”
“That’s right. You need more rest.”
What? These voices really do sound familiar.
When I looked closely, these women were the ones who had been involved with me back in Puyang.
“Young master, do you recognize us?”
“Miaomiao?”
“You remember. That’s a relief.”
Miaomiao, Jinlian, and Dayuan.
They were the three courtesans the local clans of Puyang had assigned to me.
And now they were carefully wiping my body with damp cloths, checking my condition.
“You were bedridden for two full days. Yesterday your fever was so high we had to wash you with cold water several times.”
Two days?
Well, waking up after only that much rest was actually an incredible recovery speed.
“What is this stuff stuck to my body? It smells weird.”
“It’s a medicinal paste for your wounds. We mixed mugwort powder with various herbal extracts and applied it.”
Following Miaomiao’s explanation, I checked my side.
Where the sword had struck me, the mugwort paste had been applied and then covered with a thin layer of leather.
“Treating a sword wound in just two days…”
“Young master, the wound could still reopen. The bleeding was severe, and even stitching it was difficult, they said.”
“I’m fine. Just wipe this off and help me get dressed.”
“Then I’ll call for the physician first.”
Among the three women, Dayuan rose and hurried out with quick steps.
The other two removed the clumps of mugwort paste from my body and washed me clean.
“Now that I think about it, you three managed to survive.”
“It was truly a stroke of heavenly luck.”
“Thanks to you, young master, we were all able to live.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Just then the physician entered, examined my wounds, and paid special attention to the stitched injury on my abdomen before disinfecting it again.
After receiving treatment and getting dressed, I stepped outside to find people waiting for me.
“Young master, you’ve awakened?”
“Oh my, what a relief. Truly wonderful.”
What? These people…
Elder Noh, one of the local clansmen from Puyang, along with several others, kept bowing deeply and speaking to me with utmost respect.
How had these gentlemen survived?
“What exactly happened to all of you?”
“Young master, you are safe? What a relief.”
“Hm?”
The graceful woman who approached after dismissing the local clansmen was Wei Hong.
The fact that Wei Hong, who should have been in Chenliu, was here meant the Chenliu merchant group had come up.
“My lord asked me to check on Young Master Cao’s condition. I’m glad to see you well. Would you come with me?”
“Ah, yes. Since I’m awake, I should greet him.”
As I followed Wei Hong, I was able to look around.
The burned ruins of Puyang were being restored at an astonishing speed.
Beyond the walls, countless soldiers were hauling carts to clear away the charred debris, while laborers with hoes and various tools repaired the collapsed buildings.
“Most of Puyang’s citizens survived. What remains now is restoring the areas the flames passed through.”
“The local clansmen from earlier…”
It was unexpected.
Given Cao Cao’s personality, I had thought he would have rounded up the surviving Puyang clansmen and made them disappear without a trace. Yet he had spared them.
Wei Hong smiled at my words and explained.
“They made a very wise decision for my lord’s sake.”
“What did they do?”
“They integrated all their assets and distribution rights into the Chenliu merchant group, sent their families to Chenliu as proof of loyalty, and my lord accepted their submission.”
“My uncle actually… accepted that.”
“The condition was that both Young Master Cao and General Xiahou would safely awaken.”
Ah, so that’s why those courtesans had been attending to me so diligently.
From the clansmen’s perspective, they had been forced to take responsibility for treating me and Uncle Xiahou Dun under the threat that ‘if they couldn’t save us, they would die.’ They had desperately called physicians and assigned women to nurse us.
“Thanks to them, the funds needed to restore Puyang and even the military funds for recruiting new soldiers were handled with surprising ease.”
Understanding the situation, I looked at Wei Hong once more.
She wasn’t just a beautiful face running a massive merchant coalition for the Wei family. In the midst of this chaos, she possessed remarkable political skill in absorbing the Puyang clans’ power while also securing benefits for her own merchant group.
If Wei Hong was already this capable, I was curious how Wei Jin—the young son of Wei Zi, whom she was raising as the next head of the family—would grow up.
With that, we arrived at the place where Cao Cao was staying.
Instead of the burned-out government office, he was using the annex beside the office where I had once stayed. It had also served as a tented lodging before.
“My lord, Wenyeol has arrived.”
“Let him in.”
When the door opened, Cao Cao was eating inside.
On the table was an entire boiled chicken, and he was picking the meat off with chopsticks.
“I greet you, Uncle.”
“How is your body?”
“Thanks to your care, I’ve recovered well.”
“Don’t give me that. You took a sword, got hit by a spear shaft, and rolled around. There’s no way you’d recover that quickly.”
“Ah, well…”
“Sit beside me and eat.”
Cao Cao had me sit, then snapped his fingers at Wei Hong.
“Prepare a table of nourishing food for this fellow.”
“Yes, my lord.”
Thanks to that, I was able to eat properly for the first time in two days and speak with Cao Cao alone.
“Wenyeol.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“That fellow Dun suffered severe injuries and is still being treated.”
“The fact that Uncle protected me in that situation… I will never forget that grace, even in death.”
Even now, the memory made my chest tremble.
I had thought I had barely stopped Lu Bu, but when he suddenly charged again, Xiahou Dun blocked him. Dian Wei then rushed in and chased Lu Bu away, but ultimately failed to catch him and suffered heavy losses among the soldiers.
“He’s not the kind of man who dies easily, so go greet him soon.”
“I will visit him right after speaking with you, Uncle.”
“Good. Do that.”
Cao Cao drank his tea and gave a bitter smile.
“We have decided to take ten days. It is the minimum time needed to reorganize the army.”
He then spoke about the situation ahead.
“Zhang Miao and Lu Bu are said to be in Yongqiu, Juye, and Shengshi. As soon as preparations are complete, we will strike them immediately.”
“Please use me as the vanguard without fail. I want to take revenge no matter what.”
I too wanted to go and kill those bastards myself.
I had nearly died, yet Zhang Miao and Lu Bu’s forces had the audacity to gather troops from various counties and districts after their failure in Puyang and were preparing to resist again.
“The fortunate thing is that the two centers of Yan Province—Dong Commandery, Chenliu, and Puyang—remain safe. Their forces are now at the very edge even within Yan Province, so while mopping up the remnants will be troublesome, it is only a matter of time.”
“That is why I want to be the one to sweep away the remaining remnants.”
“Provided you take good care of your body until then.”
Understanding my determination, Cao Cao nodded.
He clapped his hands, and Cheng Yu, who had been waiting, approached quietly.
“My lord, you called?”
“Cheng Yu, is the army’s reorganization proceeding well?”
“During the day they restore the damaged areas of Puyang, and at night they train. They are sharpening their spears and swords once more and maintaining watertight defenses.”
“Good. That is how it should be. By the way, about the Military Affairs Attendant position we originally prepared to attack Xu Province. Since Chen Gong has disappeared, what shall we do?”
“The Military Affairs Attendant is a post that manages local troops under provincial officials, but it is not a permanent office. We can fill it later with a suitable talent.”
“No. I already had the Military Affairs Attendant appointment in mind when I came to operate the army. That position must be filled.”
Then Cao Cao suddenly pointed at me.
Wait, is he talking about me?
“As expected, in difficult times there is nothing more important than family. Especially on the battlefield where military authority is involved. Therefore, I shall appoint Wenyeol here as Military Affairs Attendant.”
“My lord, under the current circumstances, I believe appointing Young Master Cao to the position is an appropriate measure.”
Cheng Yu smiled in a way I had rarely seen before and nodded toward me.
“Did you hear that, Wenyeol? You will take over the position in Chen Gong’s place. Do you have the confidence to do it well?”
“Uncle, I will devote my whole heart to the task.”
“It is not about effort. You must do it well.”
Having said that, Cao Cao immediately appointed me to the position of Military Affairs Attendant on the spot.