Chancellor Cao Desires the Mandate of Heaven
The procession was immense—Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, the sworn brothers, followed by the powerful clans of Xu Province and their soldiers stretching into the distance like a great river of men.
“Lord Xuande’s virtue must be truly remarkable,” I observed. “To see so many people willingly follow him speaks volumes.”
“I thank you for those kind words. And you, commanding elite cavalry at such a young age—you truly seem to be the general Minister Mengde trusts most.”
We exchanged compliments while Guan Yu and Zhang Fei remained silent, following their elder brother with steadfast loyalty.
The moment we reached Xuchang, Cao Cao himself came out to greet us all.
“Xuande! How long has it been!”
“Brother Mengde, have you been well?”
Whatever might happen in the distant future, for now the two men met with genuine delight.
“You’ve suffered much.”
“Not at all. I was moved to come here after you safely installed His Majesty and began working to restore the Han. Moreover, I am glad to see my sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei again. They are warriors who could stand beside Xiang Yu and Fan Kuai.”
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei offered quiet bows to Cao Cao.
“Xuande, where are your family members? I meant for all of you to greet His Majesty together before I showed you to your residence.”
“…”
“Come now, why the silence?”
“In the chaos, I managed to bring the loyal officials and soldiers who wished to serve His Majesty, but I could not bring my family from Xu Province.”
“Then you’re saying your family is currently held hostage by that scoundrel Lu Bu in Xu Province?”
Liu Bei gave a calm, wordless nod.
“Ah…”
Cao Cao offered sincere condolences, then arranged for Liu Bei to enter the imperial palace. As the throng of officials followed him inside, I prepared to withdraw, my own mission complete.
Someone was watching the scene from a distance.
“Ah, Brother Fengxiao.”
“What was the point of all that purging in Xuchang? Our lord has gone and invited his own opposition in from outside. I truly cannot understand him at all.”
Guo Jia shook his head, his expression genuinely sour as he watched the local clans Liu Bei had brought with him.
“After Minister of Works Yang Biao’s fall from power, those rats who had been hiding from our lord’s blade will now flock to Liu Bei. Just watch.”
Among all of Cao Cao’s advisors, Guo Jia was the most negative toward Liu Bei. Xun Yu always wore that benevolent smile and simply said, “It shall be as our lord wishes.” Xun You would reply, “I oppose it, but if it is truly our lord’s will…” And Cheng Yu took the stance of, “If our lord has done it, there must be a reason.”
“Liu Bei is a sword without a hilt. No one can truly wield him, and anyone who tries will only cut themselves.”
“The water has already been spilled. At this point, the only option is to absorb Liu Bei’s faction.”
“That’s easier said than done…”
Guo Jia shook his head wearily and headed toward Wei Hong’s courtesan house. He had a habit of appearing out of nowhere and vanishing just as suddenly—usually found at brothels or drinking parties whenever anyone went looking.
And just as Guo Jia had feared, Liu Bei settled into Xuchang with startling speed. Before long, he and the clans from Xu Province had become the very alternative to Cao Cao that we had only just managed to eliminate.
“Magistrate Chen Jun is originally from Yingchuan in Yu Province like myself. After his father, Lord Chen Yuanfang, fled to Xu Province, he followed both Tao Qian and Liu Bei.”
“That fellow seemed quite capable. Xun Yu, keep an eye on him. He is still young, but he will become an official who serves the state well in the future.”
In his office, Cao Cao received detailed reports from Xun Yu about every talented individual Liu Bei had brought.
“Among those who arrived this time is a man named Mi Zhu. He comes from one of Xu Province’s great clans with deep roots there. He managed Tao Qian’s military funds through his merchant network and later sponsored Liu Bei’s army. He even married his younger sister to Liu Bei.”
“So he is the ‘Mi clan merchant lord’ of Xu Province that Wei Hong mentioned. If not for him, conquering Xu Province would have been far easier.”
Cao Cao added Mi Zhu’s name to his list alongside Chen Jun’s. I, too, had to recommend people based on the instruction to “build close ties with Liu Bei’s faction.”
“Ziye, have you noticed anyone worth watching?”
“Among the officials from Xu Province, there is a man named Chen Deng. Though he is here now, his parents remain in Xu Province, so he plans to return. However, his true feelings are that he wants Lu Bu driven out. He would make an excellent spy in the future.”
“Hmm… Chen Deng…”
Cao Cao carefully wrote down each name. As for the true pillars of Liu Bei’s army—Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun—the Cao clan’s own Xiahou Dun, Cao Ren, and Cao Hong were already meeting with them separately to build relationships.
“Brother Xuande truly possesses great virtue. Wherever he settles, he gathers the local talents like picking mushrooms and brings them into his fold.”
Cao Cao wrote down every name Xun Yu and I mentioned, preparing to absorb them all in the end.
“My lord, while this is your will, whether we can fully absorb Liu Bei’s faction remains uncertain.”
“Yet if we do absorb them, no one in the world will be able to oppose me.”
The blinders Cao Cao wore were fastened very tightly indeed.
“It is true that the clans and generals under Liu Bei are all capable. Absorbing them would be ideal, as you say. The problem is the discontent it will breed among our existing officers.”
“Do you think I am giving Liu Bei’s people too much? That I risk losing my own hares at home?”
Cao Cao turned to me sharply after hearing Xun Yu’s words.
“Ziye, do you feel the same?”
“To be honest, if they truly become your loyal force, Uncle, it would be wonderful, but…”
“Hmm~”
Cao Cao nodded as if he understood perfectly. He kept us with him late into the evening, organizing rights of appointment and other administrative matters without pause.
When it was finally time to leave the office, he spoke again.
“Ziye.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Shall we share a drink, just the two of us for once?”
“Just the two of us?”
“Why? Are you suddenly too shy to drink with your uncle?”
“Not at all.”
Cao Cao laughed heartily and took me to Wei Hong’s courtesan house. As soon as he arrived, Wei Hong naturally guided us to the largest room and prepared a lavish spread.
“Bring the women later.”
“Understood, my lord.”
Unlike his usual habits, he told her to bring the women only afterward. So there we sat, just the two of us facing the wine table.
“Here, drink.”
“Thank you, my lord.”
“It’s been a while since we drank like this. We did it often enough back in Yan Province.”
Cao Cao filled my cup, and after I filled his, we clinked them together and drained them in one go. He then picked at his favorite dried abalone dish, chewing with obvious pleasure as he enjoyed the various delicacies.
“Does Brother Xuande seem very different now that he’s come to Xuchang?”
“He does seem to be the hero you recognized, Uncle.”
“Indeed. That’s why I told everyone to befriend him.”
Cao Cao nodded and drank again.
“It is heartbreaking that his family is held captive by that wild boar Lu Bu. No wonder he cannot return.”
“It seems so, Uncle.”
He drank cup after cup. Today he was drinking unusually fast, and true to his words that he “hated leaving wine in the cup,” he kept refilling and emptying it the moment it ran dry.
When his face had grown pleasantly flushed, he looked at me and asked.
“Ziye.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“Do you know why I pay Liu Bei so much attention?”
Until now he had called him “Brother Xuande,” but suddenly he used the man’s proper name.
“Speak your mind freely. Tell me why you think I am trying so hard to keep Liu Bei close.”
This was the question none of Cao Cao’s advisors or generals could understand—why their lord was so infatuated with Liu Bei.
“Not long ago, Liu Bei received the title of Imperial Uncle after being recognized as a member of the imperial Liu clan. Are you keeping that in mind, Uncle?”
“That is part of it.”
“And because this Imperial Uncle rose from the lowest ranks as a wandering hero, gathering a force built on righteousness and chivalry from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to the campaign against Dong Zhuo, you wish to obtain that power for yourself?”
“That is also correct.”
But these answers were the same ones all of Cao Cao’s advisors gave. They all said that while Cao Cao wanted to absorb Liu Bei’s power, Liu Bei was a sword without a hilt and could never be wielded by another.
If Cao Cao was thinking back to his own past as “Yuan Shao’s blade, Cao Cao” and imagining a future “Cao Cao’s blade, Liu Bei,” that was a grave miscalculation.
“Ziye, come closer.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
Suddenly he beckoned me to his side. When I sat beside him, he lowered his voice and whispered in a way he had never done before.
“I will tell you this in confidence, Ziye.”
“Yes, Uncle.”
“How much do you believe in the Mandate of Heaven?”
“Pardon?”
Cao Cao smiled and finally revealed his true heart to me.
“Liu Bei is necessary for my Mandate of Heaven.”
He lifted his cup with a laugh and continued.
“Anyone who is not of the imperial Liu clan cannot follow the will of Heaven, no matter how much they wish to. I entered the family as the adopted son of a eunuch household and have always been classified as part of the turbid current.”
His reflection in the wine cup wore a subtle smile.
“When I raised my army with Wei Zi’s support, those proud members of the pure faction only ran after Dong Zhuo to Chang’an with their tails between their legs. Only Liu Bei followed me.”
“I have heard that story.”
“Even though we were soundly defeated by Lu Bu and Xu Rong.”
“…”
Cao Cao delved deeper into the past.
“After that, Liu Bei and I parted ways to rebuild our forces. The reason I was able to take Yan Province was because Inspector Liu Dai—himself a descendant of King Moping of the imperial Liu clan—bequeathed it to me.”
Liu Dai, who had been part of the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition, was also a member of the imperial family, though few remembered it.
“After Liu Dai came Liu Yao of Jiangdong, Liu Biao of Jing Province, and Liu Yan of Yi Province… Every province is held by someone of the imperial bloodline. And yet.”
Cao Cao filled his cup to the brim and spoke his true mind at last.
“If all those imperial Liu clan members were to gather and support me, crown me—would that not be the Mandate of Heaven?”
“!?”
Uncle—no, Cao Cao—was thinking… the Mandate of Heaven?
“That is enough for now. I will speak of what comes after another day.”
As he spoke, he placed a finger to his lips. I immediately bowed deeply to him. He understood the meaning of that bow perfectly.
“I shall return to my seat.”
Only then did Cao Cao release the voice he had been suppressing and laugh with his usual boldness.
“Hahaha! The wine tastes especially fine today! It must be because I drank it while talking with you, Ziye!”
“I, too, would like to have more occasions like this with you, Uncle.”
“Oh, that would be excellent. Next time, come to the detached residence where you stay and prepare a grand feast. Use anything you need from our family storehouse.”
Cao Cao had connected three mansions, placing Xiahou Dun and me on his left and right, sharing all the rare goods and treasures gathered from across the realm.
“So, Ziye, what do you intend to do from now on?”
After subtly revealing his intentions, he asked me directly.
“You should become close to Brother Xuande as well, no?”
If Cao Cao was thinking of the path that would follow—where the imperial Liu clan would support and elevate him for the sake of his Mandate of Heaven—then I needed to create an unforgettable debt of gratitude with Liu Bei as well.
What could I do that would make betrayal impossible, no matter what? After thinking it over, I spoke.
“Uncle, please send me to Xu Province.”
“Xu Province? Why?”
“I will negotiate with Lu Bu in Xu Province and rescue Imperial Uncle Liu’s family and the others being held there.”
“What? Do you truly believe you can do that?”
“I will go, negotiate with Lu Bu, and bring them all back safely.”
Upon hearing my words, Cao Cao threw his head back and laughed so loudly the entire courtesan house seemed to shake.