Imperial Seal (2)
When the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition seized Luoyang, reduced to a ruin,
the local gentry of Wu Prefecture came to visit Chen Kingdom.
The Wu Prefecture Sun Clan.
They were the household of General Who Defeats the Barbarians Sun Jian.
And they were joined by many of the Yang Province gentry who had long followed the Wu Prefecture Sun Clan. Word had spread that Sun Jian, who had until then lingered in minor posts, had been appointed General Who Defeats the Barbarians in a single stroke. From this, the perception arose that "King of Chen Liu Chong shows particular favor to the scholar-officials and local gentry of the south."
"The humble scholar-officials and local gentry of the south come to seek an audience with His Majesty the King of Chen. My husband, a mere frontier military officer, was entrusted with a weighty commission, and your boundless benevolence and magnanimity have received our household as honored guests. We are overwhelmed by the imperial grace."
A middle-aged noblewoman, both demure in appearance and dignified in bearing, paid her respects with courtesy.
Lady Wu.
She was Sun Jian's principal wife and the mother of Sun Ce and Sun Quan.
Though Lady Wu was the mistress of a newly risen gentry clan, she was well-versed in rites and decorum. She must have diligently studied the formalities so as never to bring shame upon a husband destined to rise one day to high office and grand rank.
"Such praise is more than I deserve. Let the household of the General Who Defeats the Barbarians all raise their heads."
Liu Chong feted Sun Jian's household and hosted a banquet. He further extended his hospitality to the southern scholar-officials and gentry who had come up from Yang Province.
-To advance into the south, you need the aid of the scholar-officials and local gentry who wield immense influence in Yang Province. The southern gentry have long suffered contempt and discrimination. If you receive them with genuine warmth, they will lay down their lives in loyalty.
The Han Dynasty governed by dispatching regional officials from the Imperial Court to carry out smooth administration. Because regional officials governed prefectures and counties on behalf of the Imperial House and Imperial Court, their authority could only be vast.
But that only held true for prefectures and counties where law and reason still functioned normally.
South of the Yangtze River.
In Yang Province and Jing Province, the so-called south, the situation was reversed.
The authority of the regional officials dispatched by the Imperial Court was extremely weak.
Conversely, the influence of the local scholar-officials and gentry was immense.
When a regional official's term expired, he would hand over to his successor and return straight to Luoyang. But the scholar-officials and gentry wielded influence across generations, stretching over centuries, and so a distorted system of governance was born—one in which the decisions of scholar-officials and gentry took precedence over the orders of regional officials.
"To the wife and household of the General Who Defeats the Barbarians, I am truly sorry. The Crown Prince and the General Who Defeats the Barbarians have set out at the head of a great army to punish the arch-traitor of the age, and so your reunion has been thwarted. I pray you will understand that this was unavoidable."
"A great man has marched out for a just cause. How could I feel disappointment? I and my family shall wait, praying for our patriarch's brave battle."
Liu Chong's eyes turned to a young woman of marriageable age with her red hair hanging loose. The moment he saw her handsome yet valiant and imposing look, he knew her for a daughter of Sun Jian.
Sun Ce.
Sun Jian's eldest daughter, who would turn seventeen that year.
The reputation of the "Black Panther"—who had thrown even the Yangtze pirates, infamous for their savagery and cruelty, into stark terror—was well-known even in Chen Kingdom. The story of a daughter from a newly risen gentry house who swung a great sword and slaughtered pirates hideously captured the common people's imagination in particular.
"Ce. I am called Sun Ce."
The girl introduced herself in a steady, imposing voice.
Liu Chong then showed his goodwill.
"As expected, a young lady who is the very image of the General Who Defeats the Barbarians. So, have you undergone your Coming-of-Age Ceremony?"
"I am still young... and have not held my Coming-of-Age Ceremony."
Seventeen.
The moment Liu Chong learned Sun Ce's age, he could not hide his delight.
"Our Crown Prince held his ceremony last year, so the two of you are of an age! The Crown Prince has focused solely on military affairs, idling away his time and putting off all talk of marriage. If you would become the Crown Prince's match, what relief that would bring me."
"Ah, that... I am not interested in... ngh!"
She did not have the slightest intention of discussing marriage with a man whose face she did not even know—even if the marriage partner was the heir to a vassal king, promised vast enfeoffed lands, wealth, and glory.
Unless they could bring me a hero who could sweep me off my feet.
The absolute condition for an ideal type that she had boasted of to her closest friend still held. Thus Sun Ce was about to signal her refusal, even knowing it was discourtesy toward the vassal king who was her father's lord and benefactor.
Thwack—
Lady Wu's fist slammed into her daughter's flank.
The punch was quite sharp, as befitted a stalwart woman who had taken charge of her daughters' discipline in place of a husband who roamed the frontiers.
"Y-Your Majesty...! I wish to repay, even a little, the favor you have shown my father. If you would select me as a military officer like my father, I will lead the clan's household troops and sweep away the foreign enemies outside."
This is the lord my father will serve for his whole life.
If I ruin the mood here, Mother will beat me to death.
Sun Ce declared her bold ambition to shatter her bones and grind herself to powder in service. Facing this imposing young woman, Liu Chong declared, "As I thought, a peerless match for our Crown Prince!" and displayed his satisfaction.
* * *
The Imperial Jade Seal is no simple treasure.
It is in effect a sacred object that proves its bearer is the emperor of a unified empire, possessing both towering dignity and legitimacy.
Liu Seong-hwi had laid hands on the Imperial Jade Seal.
That meant
that Heavenly Fortune and the Heavenly Mandate had flown to a cadet imperial clan member of the south.
The warlords of Guandong, who prized just cause and legitimacy, reacted with meaningful looks. For the survival of the Han Imperial House and its Imperial Court was already on the verge of utter collapse.
"Now let the regional officials prepare for the withdrawal. I shall proclaim the dissolution of the Coalition Army."
Withdrawal.
Pulling the army out of Luoyang.
In other words, this meant the disbanding of the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition.
Dong Zhuo's army had stationed a large force at Tong Pass, the gateway to Chang'an City, blocking the eastern rebels from invading Guanxi. And reinforcements from Yong Province and Liang Province, loyal to Dong Zhuo, were beginning to arrive.
There is no way those bastards wouldn't guard their rear.
They would have prepared ambushes with elite troops at every road leading west.
In the Original Timeline, did Cao Cao's army not advance alone to Tong Pass, disillusioned with the vacillating Guandong warlords, only to suffer an annihilating defeat at the hands of the seasoned general Xu Rong?
"A-Alliance Leader...! You mean to disband the Coalition Army like this?!"
"It is a choice the Alliance Leader, too, cannot avoid. The Dong Zhuo forces that set Luoyang ablaze will have entered Chang'an City by now. How could we catch up with the bastards who have fled as far as the Guanzhong region?"
To recklessly attempt to break through Guanzhong—a region ringed by sheer mountain ranges and precipitous passes—was tantamount to suicide. The moment they entered the defile, their bodies would be riddled like a honeycomb.
Reckless resolve and will are nothing more than foolhardy courage.
The soldiers' exhaustion from the string of battles and forced marches had reached its limit, and their logistics had begun running dry as the Inspector of Xu Province Tao Qian and the Governor of Ji Province Han Fu colluded with Dong Zhuo's army to cut off supplies.
We did everything we could.
This was the result of giving it our all.
Had we not kept on winning one victory after another?
The Guandong warlords silently nodded along with Liu Seong-hwi's assertion to disband the coalition.
"Did the Alliance Leader not behead the enemy commander Hua Xiong and crush an army of sixty thousand? And after breaking through Sishui Pass, we recaptured Luoyang! Though we could not rescue the Emperor or the court ministers held prisoner by Dong Zhuo's army... the countless commentators and renowned figures of the realm will sincerely acknowledge our coalition's deeds and military achievements!"
The disbanding of the Coalition Army was decided.
Tomorrow.
From tomorrow the warlords would scatter, each going their own way.
Liu Seong-hwi, as Alliance Leader representing the coalition, pronounced its dissolution and at the same time discussed how to deal with the traitors who had colluded with Dong Zhuo's forces.
"Governor of Ji Province Han Fu. Inspector of Xu Province Tao Qian. Those bastards, blinded by office and rank, trampled upon the coalition's great cause. Just as the vertical-alliance armies of the Central Plains heavily invaded the State of Qi after it colluded with the Qin Dynasty, so shall I declare Governor of Ji Province Han Fu and Inspector of Xu Province Tao Qian public enemies of Guandong and issue a punitive decree!"
No mercy will be shown to turncoats.
Governor of Ji Province Han Fu.
Inspector of Xu Province Tao Qian.
I will attack their posts and show them the fate of a turncoat.
By designating Han Fu and Tao Qian as public enemies, Liu Seong-hwi hinted that he would attack their posts. The just cause for issuing a punitive decree was more than sufficient, so the assembled warlords nodded and accepted it.
* * *
In the dark, early hours,
when only the sentries on watch had their eyes open,
a young woman of marriageable age with flowing white hair appeared at the Alliance Leader's command tent. Liu Seong-hwi looked at Liu Bei, who was holding up a bottle of wine with both hands and letting out a soft grin, and smoothly permitted her entry.
"We might part tomorrow, for all we know. How about just one last drink?"
"Fine by me."
Liu Bei swayed her hips coquettishly as she stepped forward. She set the wine bottle on the table and took her seat.
It was ordinary Yellow Wine.
The most common wine, the kind even the lowliest soldiers drink.
Yellow Wine wouldn't be so bad every now and then.
Liu Seong-hwi watched Liu Bei, whose cheeks were tinged pink, and prepared a wine cup.
"One wine cup... is plenty. We can just pass it back and forth."
"..."
Liu Bei leaned her upper body forward as she lifted the cup. As she did, the lapels of her robe gaped open and her large, luscious breasts began to show, about half-exposed.
Drip-. Drip-.
Clear droplets slid down her plump lips and onto her cleavage.
Because the white-haired beauty had parted her full lips with the wine still in her mouth.