Even If the Missing Person Is Alive, It's a Problem
Lady Zou was still alive, but that was a problem.
"General Guan... It's late at night, and you've come to pay your respects."
A man like a rock bowed his head without a word.
Guan Yu, Jo In.
Cao Cao's cousin and Xiahou Dun's older brother.
One of Cao Cao's core aides.
While his younger sister Xiahou Dun swept the battlefield like flames, stirring up bloody storms, Jo In's unit was famous for its defensive power, holding fixed positions like Mount Tai.
One of the few units that had blocked the northern cavalry charge led by the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei multiple times.
Lady Gan also knew the name and face of the enemy general that Liu Bei's faction had been wary of, Jo In.
"...You, making my wife go through such troublesome things?"
Jo In's accusation was directed at Lady Zou.
She was a body servant in the residence of the ladies.
Having Lady Gan, the mistress, personally open the door at night was evidence that the body servant had neglected her duties.
Instead of the head-bowed Lady Zou, Lady Gan stepped forward.
"I deliberately had the door opened myself. There was something else I had assigned to Lady Zou."
"...Is that so."
Jo In's expression didn't look easily convinced.
"...Understood. I caught a suspicious person wandering around the area..."
'Caught her?'
Lady Gan's heart dropped. Indeed, the reason Lady Zou had run away in panic earlier was because she had been spotted by the patrol.
'I hoped she would escape safely, but she got caught...'
"...So, we are reinforcing the patrols. I hope there were no unfortunate incidents."
Lady Gan tried to brush it off for now.
"Is that so? Nothing happened."
At that moment, a sharp young general suddenly poked his face from behind Jo In.
"Oh? That shouldn't be the case. This fellow definitely popped out from this side alley?"
After the 'special training' in broad daylight ended, he was deployed for nighttime search operations.
Ku dang tang!
And the man who was placed on the ground in the residence courtyard was Lady Zou, tightly bound with ropes.
"Kuuu..."
Bloodied Lady Zou was moaning in pain.
Lady Gan barely managed to suppress the dizziness in her head.
"G-General... Jeon?"
Named after a famous noble family, the young general appeared as a clean young man outwardly, and his expression strangely brightened upon realizing that Lady Gan recognized him.
"No, madam, you know my name? Unexpected. I haven't met you a few times, yet it's strange."
Lady Gan, responding to the lively Jeon with a quietly trembling hand clenched into a fist, answered.
"...If they are core aides of Cao Cao's faction, I would have met most of them when Lord Liu Bei was in Xuchang."
The mention of core aide made Jeon's shoulders seem to puff up.
"Is that so! I finally remember you, madam... this time."
'What did I remember?'
Lady Gan felt an oddly prying gaze from Jeon that made her uncomfortable.
But it wasn't a situation where she could show it now.
"What is this man?"
Lady Gan tried to brush it off again.
"Well, I thought you would answer, madam... The houses where people live in this side street are the last one, the residence where the ladies live. From the side of this residence, our Cao Cao army soldiers' barracks continue. So, civilians have no business passing this area at this time."
Jeon stopped there and kicked Lady Zou with his foot.
"But this fellow started walking casually in this direction, so I've been following him since earlier. But when he reached this residence, he suddenly disappeared and reappeared, so I chased him, but he entered our Cao Cao army barracks as is. He doesn't know Xuchang's geography at all."
Lady Zou kept her head bowed, silent.
'Ah, this pathetic Lady Zou. Even on the battlefield, he kept making mistakes, and here too, he got followed so easily...'
Lady Gan felt like hitting her forehead several times in her mind.
Sticking to the residence in the middle of the enemy camp without ensuring safety, just to confirm that her younger brother was alive, was too careless an action.
'By the way, it seems they placed us next to the Cao Cao army camp. And they were... monitoring the residence...'
Lady Zou, with a guilty expression, was checking Lady Gan's eyes.
Lady Gan sent a silent message.
'Anyway, for now! Pretending not to know each other is the only way to survive!'
Jo In looked at Lady Gan with a heavy expression.
"...Madam, Lord Cao said he would protect Guan Yu and the ladies... But now we are facing a war of survival with Yuan Shao's army. Dealing lightly with collusion with outsiders is not a light matter..."
"Yes, but we can't say we don't know him."
"Are you really not knowing this person? Could it be that this person was trying to enter the residence?"
The kind-faced Jeon asked, and Lady Gan almost blurted out the truth, but shook her head.
"I was outside the courtyard just a moment ago, and no one tried to enter the residence."
Actually, Lady Zou hadn't tried to enter the residence. Although Lady Gan couldn't lie, when speaking only of one aspect of the facts, her voice strangely gained confidence.
'Anyway, it's not a lie?'
But Jo In didn't waver and asked again.
"What were you doing instead of sleeping late?"
"I couldn't sleep, so for a moment..."
What Lady Gan's eyes caught there was none other than Lady Zou's face.
***
'Madam, have a good night...'
Where exactly had the Lady Zou who had bowed at the knee and entered earlier retreated to?
Lady Gan, lost in thought, hadn't checked that.
Even at the moment when Lady Zou's voice was heard, she hadn't had time to confirm if she was alone in the courtyard!
And just now, when Lady Gan opened the door upon hearing the knocking, Lady Zou had quickly approached not far away!
***
'Eh, how far did she hear? How far did she see?'
Lady Gan barely kept her almost collapsing expression, trying to calculate in her mind, but it was hard to read Lady Zou's expression.
Under the dark moonlight, the revealed white face was just quietly lowering her eyes and observing the situation...
'Eh, what to do, if this woman knows everything...'
"Madam! What were you doing without sleeping?"
Jo In's gaze became even more suspicious.
Jeon was also touching his chin as if suspicious...
There was no time.
Lady Gan looked at Lady Zou's face one last time.
"...I was worried that Lord Liu Bei might have returned, so I couldn't sleep."
"......"
Jo In was silent for a moment.
Was he lost in thought? On the rock-like face with no expression change, it was hard to notice any hint.
"...It was late, sorry for the intrusion. Have a peaceful night."
Jo In turned his body.
"Eh, are you leaving like this, general? Wouldn't it be okay not to search the house?"
Even with Jeon's words, Jo In just shook his head heavily.
"You, take good care of the madam."
After sending a final warning to Lady Zou, he disappeared beyond the gate.
Lady Gan swallowed hard and continued not to take her eyes off Lady Zou.
"Hmm... Still, we have to take this fellow with us."
Jeon lifted Lady Zou up.
Lady Gan closed her eyes tightly, only praying in her heart that Lady Zou would be safe.
"By the way... Where are the other ladies?"
Jeon asked while looking around the residence.
His expression showed obvious regret.
And slightly, he licked his lips with the tip of his tongue.
'Why... why does it seem like he's licking his lips again...?'
Lady Gan recalled the unpleasant feeling she had felt when looking at Jeon earlier.
"Ah, if it's Lady Du, after coming from the palace, her body isn't feeling well, so she's resting in the room."
"Is that so... It must be uncomfortable..."
Jeon said that and stared at the room where Lady Du lived in the residence.
"Yeah..."
'Yeah?'
Lady Gan's subtle discomfort grew even more.
But Jeon smiled faintly and returned to his kind face from before.
"Visiting the Emperor is also an unpleasant thing for us. The ladies must be tired too."
"Ah... Yes, right..."
Lady Gan answered awkwardly, staring at Jeon who was looking at her silently.
After glancing briefly at the standing Lady Zou without speaking, he moved his feet as if reluctant to leave.
Lady Gan couldn't understand why Jeon was dragging on while looking for herself and Lady Du.
What was the meaning of constantly glancing at Lady Zou? Was he trying to say something? If she opened her mouth...
"Then, I won't make Lady Du comfortable next time. Madam, have a good night."
"Yes, yes."
Now finally relieved from the pressure, Lady Gan sent Jeon off with a knee bow.
Only after confirming that Jeon took Lady Zou into the darkness beyond the gate, Lady Gan felt the lingering traces of unpleasantness again.
'What... to make comfortable...?'
And another thing.
'The young general also said "have a good night" like Lady Zou... It's not a peaceful night, nor a "sleep well" message... What exactly is a "good night"?'
She couldn't explain why this word was so bothersome to herself either.
'Other than "women's intuition"...'
However, the gaze of Jeon looking at her and suddenly looking for Lady Du... seemed to leave an inexplicably sticky unpleasantness on the place where the gaze touched...
'I don't know. Maybe it was just because he was tired from meeting the Emperor...'
Before Lady Gan turned around shaking her head, Lady Zou was standing there.
Before Lady Gan could open her mouth, she silently approached first and whispered softly.
"It seems you didn't notice, madam."
Lady Gan felt like her heart had stopped this time.