Who Was the Governor of Hedong Again?
Who Was the Governor of Hedong Again?
"Whoa... They're really coming?"
"I told you they would. Show 'em an Imperial Edict and they can't refuse."
Troops trickled in one after another.
Watching the soldiers and provisions dispatched by the county magistrates and governors from Hedong and the nearby Shangdang region of Bing Province, I allowed myself a satisfied smile.
This wasn't just any letter. It was an Imperial Edict stamped with the thwack of the Emperor's Imperial Seal.
Not gonna send troops? Oh, so you're a traitor.
Think I'm forcing it?
Yeah, you're right. So what? You gonna do something about it?
What can you possibly do against an Imperial Decree?
Even if the emperor's authority wasn't what it used to be, the central government's influence still held fast at this point.
For those lords, like it or not, they had to make at least a token gesture of loyalty.
And that was how we ended up with a force of six thousand.
Sure, most of them were just peasants holding weapons rather than proper soldiers, but even gathering this many troops and enough provisions to feed them meant the Imperial Edict had already more than paid for itself.
"Still, that one guy really stands out, though. The one who sent two thousand men all by himself. And they're even somewhat trained."
"The Governor of Hedong, you mean? Honestly, I was a little shocked too. I thought a few hundred would be lucky, but I never expected him to back us this hard."
I had some expectations since he was a governor ruling a whole region, but the Governor of Hedong had sent far more than I anticipated.
Although technically he was my superior in rank, the position of General Who Guards the North was effectively a direct line to the capital, so we'd had next to no contact. Same logic as a local police precinct and a regional military base having zero overlap unless something unusual comes up. If we'd had the internet, I'd have looked him up at least once, but in a world without even that, simply learning the name of someone unrelated to me was work.
On top of that, the governor's seat was in the heart of Hedong, while I was stuck here on the border with Bing Province, a distance of several days' travel away.
I was far more likely to have some passing acquaintance with the county magistrate who directly administered this area.
I'd been too swamped training troops in such a short time to even blink, let alone reach out to the Governor of Hedong. Between that and the sheer physical distance, I hadn't just failed to contact him—I didn't even know who he was.
Even so, his taking the initiative despite never having met me caught me off guard.
It also made me curious about the Governor of Hedong.
I tried digging through the original Yuan Shu's memories, but nobody came to mind...
I couldn't tell if I simply lacked the knowledge or if he was genuinely such an unremarkable person that I'd forgotten him. But regardless, considering he'd generously lent a hand like this even if he wasn't a major figure, common courtesy demanded I thank him someday.
With that thought of paying him a visit later, I turned to Ji Ling beside me and asked.
"Now that I think about it, who is the Governor of Hedong right now? I've been too busy with things here to pay attention."
"The Governor of Hedong? Ah, what was it... wait a second... the soldiers told me... I'm sure the name was Dong..."
"General!"
"Hm?"
A soldier came running toward us in a breathless hurry.
Ji Ling and I immediately broke off our conversation and moved to meet him.
"I remember you. You were one of the scouts, right? You're back sooner than I thought."
"What is it? Did you find the bandits already?"
"Yes, General! I encountered a group of refugees while scouting and just returned with their report."
"Refugees? So you ran into people fleeing from bandits?"
"Yes, Colonel. I met roughly three or four groups. According to them, they were all driven here from the southeast by a band of bandits wearing yellow headscarves."
"Southeast, huh..."
Southeast from here meant the zone straddling the border with Bing Province.
Since the Yellow Turbans were primarily operating around Ji Province, the ones here were likely a splinter faction rather than the main force, or just copycats using the name.
But what mattered was that these bastards were pillaging the common people.
Whether they were actual Yellow Turbans, the Black Mountain Bandits who'd show up later, or just some nameless rogues destined to bite the dust without ever leaving a mark on history, the simple fact that they were looting civilians was more than reason enough to wipe them out.
"Any idea of their numbers?"
"Hard to say exactly, but the refugees claim there are at least several thousand."
People fleeing in a panic always exaggerate, so I couldn't take it at face value, but it was still clear they were a force of considerable size.
And that meant word of them must already have been spreading through the villages in this area. They weren't a bad opponent for our debut battle.
"Ji Ling. Issue orders to the whole army. We finish preparations as fast as possible and march out immediately."
"Understood, my lord."
Following my instructions, Ji Ling and the soldiers under her sprang into action at once.
Five thousand elite troops, plus over six thousand miscellaneous reinforcements.
With a combined force of more than ten thousand, we began our military campaign in earnest.
*
"Hah... hah..."
"Ah... Father... I'm too tired... I can't go on..."
"Run anyway! If they catch us, we're all dead!"
"Hurry, all of you, hurry! They sound close! Move it!"
People fled desperately along the mountain path.
Dressed in rags and clutching nothing but small bundles, every single one of them was gaunt and haggard from starvation and exhaustion.
They looked so weary they could collapse at any moment.
Yet...
Among all these people, one person stood out.
A young girl, dressed no differently from the rest in shabby clothes, showed absolutely no sign of strain.
She looked barely fifteen, merely a child, yet she sprinted along without a single drop of sweat, easily keeping up with the fleeing adults.
With tangled brown hair and emerald eyes, unlike the other parents desperately dragging their children, she was actually ahead, supporting her injured mother as she ran.
"Cough! S... Seon-i..."
"We have to hurry, Mother! They said the bandits are right on our heels!"
"Oh dear, Seon-i's mother! Just hold on a little longer! If you fall behind here, you die!"
A middle-aged woman urged them on frantically,
while the girl ran as if she were practically carrying her mother on her back.
Yet even at that swift pace, the girl's ears caught the sound with utter clarity. The sound of hoofbeats trailing them, growing steadily louder.
And then, at last.
"Hahaha! Where do you think you're running?! Halt!"
"No one escapes the grasp of our Yellow Turbans!"
The Yellow Turbans crested the ridge, closing in fast.
Armed with spears and blades, their yellow headscarves flying, they looked like demons straight out of hell to the helpless refugees.
"Ah... no..."
"Th... They're here! We're finished!"
Screams of despair erupted from the refugees.
They kept running, desperate to live, but they all already knew deep down that this effort would end in vain.
That was when...
"Ma'am, please look after my mother."
"Wh... What?"
"Quickly! I'll hold them off here!"
With those words, the girl drew the spear strapped to her back.
Turning her head, her gaze fixed squarely on the Yellow Turbans charging toward her.
"Seon-i's mother! Let's go!"
"A... No..."
Spurred by the girl's urging and the primal instinct to survive, the middle-aged woman hoisted Seon-i's mother onto her back and fled.
Just moments after her mother's group had vanished with the other refugees,
the girl stood blocking the path. Before her eyes, the bandits in their yellow scarves reined in their horses and began to swarm around her.
"What's this little brat doing?"
"Hah, does the little whelp think she can play soldier against us? Fine then, I'll just cut her down in one..."
"Hold on."
"Huh? What is it, boss?"
"Look at her closely. She's young, but isn't she a pretty little wench?"
"Hmm, you're right. She's filthy, but she'd clean up real nice."
"Exactly. And a young, pretty brat like this is exactly our Chieftain's type."
"Haha, our chieftain is famous for that, isn't he."
"We take her alive. The Chieftain will reward us richly for sure."
"Ah... Understood, boss."
Grinning broadly, the Yellow Turbans dismounted from their horses.
With physiques easily twice the girl's size, they began to approach, hefting their large blades.
Seeing them advance, the girl tightened her grip on her spear and took her stance.
"Heh, you actually think you can fight us?"
"Hey, pipsqueak. Don't even think about resisting. Just give up quietly, that is if you want to live a little longer."
"..."
The weapon was crude beyond belief, hardly worthy of the name,
yet in the eyes of the girl holding it, a formidable energy began to flow in that instant.
A flicker of doubt crossed the bandits' minds, and at that very moment...
-Snap!!!
"... Huh?"
A sudden sensation of emptiness struck them.
It didn't take long for them to figure out why.
"Wh... Wha... t...?!"
"B... Boss!!!"
The bandit's head had flown clean off his neck and was rolling across the ground.
As their leader's body crumpled, spraying blood onto the dirt, the faces of the remaining bandits twisted into masks of shock and fury.
"You... You little bitch!"
"You dare kill our boss! Unforgivable!"
The bandits charged at the girl all at once.
Behind them, tens, hundreds more swarmed forward. Watching the mass descend upon her, the girl furrowed her brow.
-Swoosh!
She reset her stance, bracing herself for the charge.
To an observer, she looked like a dauntless warrior,
but in this moment, deep inside her small heart, a desperate urge to flee was writhing.
'It's... fine. I... I'm doing the right... thing. Mom always said... if you do good things, blessings will...'
Even in that hopeless situation, she soothed herself by clinging to her mother's words.
Yet despite this, forcing herself to ignore the trembling in her hands,
she swung her weapon at the bandits hurtling toward her.
*
The refugees had fled from the Yellow Turbans in a blind panic.
Perhaps heaven had helped them, because after that near-fatal moment, the bandits' figures vanished. Still, the refugees had no choice but to keep running, gripped by the terror that the fiends might descend upon them at any second.
Thus they fled for two days.
Barely escaping the mountains, utterly lost, they finally halted to catch their breath by a small riverbank.
Exhausted to the bone from fatigue and hunger, they rested, clutching at a thin sense of relief that they had survived somehow.
But among them was one woman who had dragged her ailing body all this way.
Her face held no relief, only a hollow void and a thick, suffocating despair.
"..."
"Seon-i's mother... please, pull yourself together. You haven't slept a wink in two days, you haven't even taken a sip of water. You'll really collapse at this rate."
Despite the words of her companions, the woman sat crouched in place, her expression as empty as a corpse's. Aside from occasional, labored coughs, no words escaped her lips.
That was when...
"S... Soldiers! Soldiers are coming this way!"
"What?"
"No... Could it be... the Yellow Turban bastards again?"
A mass of figures approached through the dusty haze.
As the banners came into clear view, the refugees froze in their tracks.
"Th... That's..."
"G... Government troops?"
Warhorses and soldiers drew closer.
At the sight, a deep dread rather than relief spread across the refugees' faces.