Let's make a baby quickly!
Yuan Shu had hesitated even to take a new wife, thinking of his existing marriage.
As his wife, that consideration was certainly something Dong Zhuo was grateful for...
but lately, the one who was truly in a hurry was none other than Dong Zhuo herself.
It had already been half a year since she married Yuan Shu.
Her married life over that period had brought Dong Zhuo to one perfectly clear conclusion.
'At this rate, I'm the one who'll die first...'
Yuan Shu's monstrous 'vigor' exceeded all expectations.
Still, as time went on she'd managed to adapt, and now she could endure it fairly well... the hell she could.
No matter how much Dong Zhuo adapted, Yuan Shu's momentum grew stronger by the day, practically soaring into the heavens.
Not as a figure of speech. Literally.
Even early on it had been nearly unbearable, but lately she'd been passing out and waking up in a cycle, and when she came to she'd only find herself collapsed from exhaustion with the morning already bright outside.
The pleasure was the height of bliss, as close to paradise as one could come, but the growing sense that it was shaving away her lifespan drove her to one firm decision.
'Wives... I need more wives. People who can handle that man...'
In these turbulent times she knew well the political necessity.
Yet above and beyond that, a monster like her husband needed more than just her alone to manage his 'vigor.'
And for that purpose.
Ji Ling was one of the best candidates Dong Zhuo could imagine for another wife.
She was deeply close to Yuan Shu, and her loyalty to him left no room for doubt.
Like Hua Xiong, Li Jue, and Guo Si—subordinates completely devoted to her—the bond between those two was something no one could sever.
But.
Beyond all of that, there was another decisive reason Dong Zhuo threw her support behind Ji Ling.
Ji Ling, like Dong Zhuo herself, had been born into an unremarkable family of humble origins and had risen to this position through sheer ability.
And while her martial prowess was such that even Dong Zhuo had to concede a step, Ji Ling was about as far removed from so-called cerebral 'wit and cunning' as a person could get.
In other words, even if she became the principal wife, she posed no danger to Dong Zhuo. And if Dong Zhuo treated her generously, Ji Ling would become a stalwart ally against any other women who entered the household later on.
For that reason, Dong Zhuo had actively championed marriage to Ji Ling... and had pushed for taking her as a principal wife. Yuan Shu, expressing his thanks for her 'consideration,' had accepted.
'Well then... here's to us fellow principal wives getting along from now on. Heh heh heh.'
*
"Gulp..."
"... That... that's really... true?"
Sun Jian swallowed dryly while Xu Rong asked in a trembling voice.
At that, Ji Ling let out a laugh, her face faintly flushed as if embarrassed.
"Ahaha, well... that's right. Honestly, when Sister Aman said she'd help I had a tiny bit of hope, but I never imagined our lord would go this far for me."
"... Must be nice. Principal wife..."
"Hmm... well, congratulations for now. That said... someone of General Ji Ling's caliber is certainly worthy of being a principal wife. You have served our lord longer than anyone, after all."
"Hahaha, thank you. Still, it's thanks to you two as well that I've ended up a principal wife like this. If you ever need any help..."
"They say the bedroom matters are something else with him..."
"Huh? What matters are something else?"
"No... nothing."
Ji Ling was now joined to Yuan Shu not merely as an ordinary wife but as a principal wife.
Given her origins, it could not have been easy, but thanks to Cao Cao's aid—or so it seemed—the main branch of the Yuan Clan had passed on nothing but congratulations, and Dong Zhuo, whom Ji Ling had expected to object, had instead actively supported the match.
And that fact had stirred considerable surprise and anxiety in Xu Rong and Sun Jian... especially Sun Jian.
Frankly, considering Ji Ling's background, she'd expected at best a concubine position, but a principal wife of all things.
With that decided, Ji Ling becoming principal wife was one concern, but more pressing was...
'This means... there are two principal wife positions left.'
'The competition... is going to get a lot fiercer.'
What was done was done.
What mattered was who would claim the remaining spots, and how.
Alongside a deep anxiety, and half-thinking, 'If even Ji Ling can become a principal wife, then surely I...?' the two of them kept smiles on their lips while their insides burned, and offered their congratulations.
*
"How is it?"
"Ah. Your collar is a little askew. One moment."
With careful hands, Dong Zhuo checked my attire.
Receiving help from my own wife for a wedding to another woman—a situation that would have been unthinkable in the modern era—I felt a certain awkwardness and gazed at her with an apologetic expression as she meticulously went over my appearance.
Then.
"Do not make such a face. Today is a day for your second wife, is it not? Smile brightly for her sake."
"... You're right. You are correct, wife."
With her words, I set down the burden in my heart and smiled.
Today really was for Ji Ling.
I could not keep carrying around an apologetic feeling on a day meant for her happiness.
"There, all done. Off you go now."
"Thank you, wife."
After expressing my thanks to Dong Zhuo, I headed straight to the banquet hall where the ceremony was taking place.
Unlike the rushed first wedding in the past, this ceremony had been arranged with more leisure.
With the clan members from Ji Province all attending, the scale had grown even larger. And there,
at the woman standing beside me decked out in full floral splendor—at Ji Ling—I smiled deeply.
"You look really quite pretty dressed like that."
"Pretty, nothing... it's just uncomfortable. No need for this sort of thing; I'd be fine just throwing something on."
"Heh heh. That won't do. You're the principal wife of none other than Yuan Shu himself. Naturally we have to observe the formalities, don't we?"
"Hmm... is that how it works?"
"That's how it works."
"Well, if my lord... no, if my husband says so, it must be right."
"Hrrm..."
There was a slight cringey awkwardness at hearing 'husband' come out of her mouth, though it felt new.
It was almost like marrying a childhood friend... no, even taking off the label of lord and vassal, marrying her, who could practically be called a childhood friend, filled me with a certain flutter of another kind alongside the awkwardness.
I'd always been personally fond of sweet childhood-friend romances, but I never thought I'd get to realize that particular fantasy—or something like it—in this way.
'Come to think of it... the time I mistakenly thought Ji Ling was with another man, I felt pretty unpleasant. Maybe this was the reason.'
Even I hadn't been aware of it, but at some point she had become someone I couldn't do without.
She knew me better than anyone,
and I felt more at ease with her than with anyone.
Feeling joy that I was able to be joined with such a woman,
I slowly walked with her across the banquet hall toward the ceremonial dais prepared for us.
*
"Now, now! Drink, drink! Today is the day our Lady Ji Ling gets married! This Assistant General Zhang Fei is treating you all, special!"
"Waaaah!"
"Long live General Zhang Fei!"
Brandishing a liquor bottle, Zhang Fei shouted in high spirits.
Having finally been granted a general's rank over the Xu Province campaign, she was thoroughly elated at the marriage of her close sister and superior officer, Ji Ling.
"That girl... I worry she'll cause another incident like this."
"Let her be, second sister. Is today not a truly fine day? Drinking is only natural at a time like this. You have a cup yourself."
"Ah... yes. Thank you, eldest sister."
Liu Bei and her sisters thus claimed one corner, pleasantly sharing cups together.
Liu Bei seemed slightly more intoxicated than usual, but her two younger sisters simply assumed their eldest sister was in a very good mood and kept refilling her cup as it emptied with startling speed.
Meanwhile,
"Well, if it isn't General Cao."
"Chen Gong! I never thought I'd see you here. Have you been well?"
"Yes, it has been too long, General Cao."
The woman in spectacles offered a calm smile as she greeted her.
She pushed back her thick, curled brown hair a little and sat beside Cao Cao, who was glad to see her.
Though they had parted ways when she decided to become Yuan Shu's strategist, the two had maintained a certain friendship.
Even if Cao Cao felt some regret over it, she still harbored fine feelings for Chen Gong, who had once saved her life.
"So, have you been well? I hear you've been kept busy doing this and that under Yuan Shu."
"Yes, for the moment I'm at work restoring Sishui Pass and Hulao Pass, which were left in ruins after the last war. The enemy could return anytime—we never know how or when—so we must remain ready. And how have you been, General?"
"Busy as ever on this side, same as you. Qing Province and Yan Province are being sorted out more or less, but Xu Province is a bit tangled and..."
The two tipped their cups, exchanging recent news in a light manner.
Then, once the atmosphere had mellowed sufficiently,
Chen Gong asked with a touch of gravity in her voice:
"By the way... General Cao. There is one thing I would like to ask you, personally."
"What is it?"
"This marriage. You had a hand in it, did you not? From General Ji Ling becoming a principal wife rather than a concubine, to the elders of the Yuan Clan standing there smiling without a word of objection..."
"... Heh. Who knows? I'm not sure what you mean?"
Giving a small laugh, Cao Cao evaded the question.
Chen Gong could read that this was both a refusal to answer and, at the same time, a confirmation of the question itself.
Though she still could not divine the real intent behind Cao Cao's obviously excellent mood at that moment.
*
The second bridal chamber I had entered in my life.
Yet the atmosphere was different in many ways from the first.
Back then, both Dong Zhuo and I had been seized by a deep embarrassment,
and because of that, everything had begun cautiously, full of fluttering feelings.
Well, both of us had heated up and that awkwardness had vanished quickly enough, but the start had been like that.
In contrast.
"Now! Let's make a baby, quick! Lie down, husband!"
"Haha..."
My second wife boomed it out with a spirit that felt like she'd blown away any quiet mood long ago.
Watching her, I felt a slightly different kind of flutter, and reached out my hand toward her.
