We begin the conquest of Yang Province
Inside, Ze Rong retreated with curses.
Watching his receding figure, Lu Kang, Governor of Lujiang, sank into his chair, a throbbing ache building in his skull.
And then.
His granddaughter approached Lu Kang and placed a cup of tea beside him.
"You restrained yourself admirably, Grandfather."
"Haa... yes, thank you. I nearly brought disaster on us because of that ill-bred cur."
The girl spoke with a gravity far beyond her years.
A bitter smile tugged at Lu Kang's lips as he looked at her.
Lu Kang had nearly let his temper get the better of him, only to be restrained by a child barely fourteen years old.
For an instant, Lu Kang had nearly been swept away by a surge of fury. It was his young granddaughter, barely fourteen, who had held him back.
She had always been exceptionally bright for her age, but above all, her patience was remarkable.
Recognizing, then, that he had truly grown old, and at the same time feeling, as her maternal grandfather, a deep joy in this child who would one day succeed him, Lu Kang stroked his granddaughter's hair and spoke quietly.
"In any case, the sudden guest must have unsettled you, so thank you for helping. Go and rest now."
"Yes, Grandfather."
The young granddaughter bowed and pattered out of the room. After gazing at her retreating form with a brief smile, Lu Kang's expression hardened once more, and he began to contemplate the predicament before him.
It was true that, just as Ze Rong—or, to be precise, Liu Yao—had judged, the likelihood of war breaking out from this direction immediately was not high.
Yet that cunning Cao Cao would surely find some scheme to exploit, now that Liu Yao's attention was fixed elsewhere.
It might begin with a minor probe at his borders, or perhaps, in some manner he could not yet imagine, she might sweep through Huainan in an instant and then aim for Lujiang itself.
But in the present state, where not only was Liu Yao's support nonexistent but the troops he did have were being stripped away, even formulating a proper defense was no simple matter.
He had no confidence he could bring that monster down in the first place, and he faced an absolute numerical disadvantage. Even terrain, his one advantage, would not be decisive, for the other side counted no small number of soldiers from Jiangdong among its ranks.
Either way, stopping Cao Cao with our own strength is nearly impossible. If it has come to this, must we, for better or worse, simply hope for Liu Yao's support...
The assessment that, urgent as the Jing Province situation was, they would not stand idly by even if Cao Cao truly invaded—that was the best Lu Kang could hope for now.
Even so, feeling his insides burn at the realization he was reduced to clutching at a rotten rope, Lu Kang drained the teacup his granddaughter had given him in a single swallow.
At that moment.
"G-Governor! Urgent! An urgent report!"
"—! An urgent report? D-Don't tell me Cao Cao's army has already invaded?"
He had considered the possibility fully. Alarmed that it might have come sooner than anticipated, Lu Kang sprang to his feet and fired questions at the attendant who had entered.
But.
"I-It is not Cao Cao's army! Y-Yuan Shu... General-in-Chief Yuan Shu's forces have reportedly just seized Shouchun in Huainan."
"H-Hold a moment. Wh-What did you say? Who has come? Did you say Yuan Shu?"
"Yes, my lord! General-in-Chief Yuan Shu, I said."
"Kh—!"
A sensation like his heart folding in on itself seized Lu Kang. He had braced for a wildcat, and instead a tiger had materialized. He could only sink into deep bewilderment.
"H-How can that man, who was in Jing Province, be here? Is it not a mistaken report?"
"It is not. Scouts verified it several times: there is no doubt it is General-in-Chief Yuan Shu. What is more, the vanguard commander is said to be the famed Tiger of Jiangdong, Sun Jian."
"Su-Sun... Jian?"
Names he had never expected to hear in succession battered him.
Lu Kang felt his vision darken and slumped back into his chair as if collapsing.
He still could not grasp how matters had come to this pass.
But if the report he had just received was true... then it meant that Yuan Shu, and Sun Jian, were truly marching upon Yang Province.
What was more, they had already taken Huainan, so the next target could only be Lu Kang himself and the land of Lujiang here.
"Damn it! Summon the commanders at once! This is an emergency! The enemy is advancing!"
"Y-Yes, my lord!"
Having issued the urgent order, Lu Kang was left alone in the chamber. Closing his eyes, he agonized in mounting impatience over how to survive this catastrophe.
*
Shouchun, Huainan.
The moment I arrived, an odd sense of nostalgia washed over me.
The reason was simple: this was the place that had been Yuan Shu's seat of power in the Original Timeline, the very place where he had proclaimed himself emperor.
Frankly, the territory itself was not so large, but the land was fertile and the transportation routes developed; it was, in a word, the golden yolk.
But good transportation also meant a position easy to invade.
Xu Province, Yan Province, and Yang Province. Cornered by enemies on all sides, Yuan Shu, after recklessly declaring himself emperor, was pummeled from every direction and fell to ruin.
What in the world had possessed the fellow to draw such wide-area aggro is something I still cannot fathom.
In any case, shortly after Cao Cao and Sun Jian had swiftly swallowed that troublesome Huainan area, my gaze now turned south toward Lujiang.
Its importance as the gateway into Yang Province needed no explanation, but there was one difficulty: this place, too, was tied to the original Yuan Shu.
The current Governor of Lujiang was Lu Kang.
He had a late-born youngest son (born when Lu Kang was sixty-two) named Lu Ji. While Lu Ji was still a young boy, at a banquet hosted by Yuan Shu, he was caught pilfering the mandarins served as refreshments. When Yuan Shu asked why he tried to steal the mandarins, the boy replied that he wished to bring them to his parents who were not present. Hearing this, Yuan Shu praised his deep filial piety and sent him off with a bundle of mandarins—a heartwarming tale.
This anecdote, known as Hiding Oranges for One's Parents, or sometimes Lu Ji Hides Oranges, emphasized filial devotion... but the affair ended by illustrating Yuan Shu's cruelty and pettiness, since soon after, Yuan Shu dispatched Sun Ce to slaughter Lu Kang for refusing a request for provisions.
In any case, although I had neither met Lu Ji nor given him any oranges, my situation, identical to the Original Timeline, required me to strike down Lu Kang, who defended Lujiang.
Since the matter had to be concluded before Liu Yao could grasp the position on this front, I resolved to act decisively.
Just then.
"General-in-Chief, I have a request."
"What is it?"
"I know the situation is urgent. Nevertheless, I beg you to grant me a little time."
"For what reason?"
I could roughly guess, but I asked to hear the precise details. Sun Jian replied in a formal tone.
"The truth is, Lu Kang, Governor of Lujiang, is a man to whom I once owed a debt of gratitude. I rescued his nephew, and aside from that, in matters such as bandit suppression and so forth, he has received my help on several occasions. Furthermore, though he now serves under Liu Yao, Lu Kang was a man who bore loyalty toward the Han Imperial House. If I urge him to surrender, there is a chance he will come over to us."
"Hmm..."
The proposition was not without appeal, but I judged the likelihood was not high. The reason was simple. In the Original Timeline, even when Sun Ce faced a similar situation, Lu Kang flatly rebuffed him, benefactor's son or no.
Of course, Sun Ce was present here too, but the fact that Sun Jian, the principal party, was here made the situation somewhat different. Yet turning the heart of Lu Kang, who in the Original Timeline was depicted as a stubborn old man, was unlikely to be any easier.
Still... we do hold the emperor's edict, so it wouldn't hurt to try once.
Naturally, I had secured in advance an imperial edict commanding the lords of Yang Province to submit. I did not know how much effect it would have on a subordinate of Liu Yao, who was allied with the Emperor of Bing Province, but I figured I should at least toss the stone. So I nodded at Sun Jian's request.
"Very well. Make the attempt."
"Thank you, General-in-Chief!"
Sun Jian lowered her head with a deeply pleased smile. Feeling a passing curiosity at her oddly buoyant mood, I decided to observe how events unfolded.
*
Lu Kang rushed to concentrate his forces, but the army he managed to scrape together numbered a mere thirty thousand, and once again, confronted with the scale of the approaching enemy, Lu Kang and his subordinates could only lose heart.
"A Grand Army of one hundred fifty thousand... you say?"
"Yes, Governor. The scouts report it is at least that many."
"And the greater problem is that the enemy's vanguard commander is General Sun Jian. The soldiers, already aware of the fact, are deeply shaken."
"Kh—"
Sun Jian was a hero the people of Jiangdong took pride in, and Lu Kang's own benefactor besides.
Having witnessed her fearsome presence up close in the past, Lu Kang and his subordinates knew all too well the terror that tigress inspired. A figure of admirable ability who, toward her enemies, was also infinitely merciless.
Although full-scale battle had yet to begin, the report of Sun Jian's participation cast the chamber where the commanders of Lujiang had gathered into a heavy pall.
At that moment.
"Governor! An envoy from the enemy... no, an Imperial Envoy from Her Majesty has arrived."
"What?"
An enemy strategist was approaching, bearing a banner symbolizing the emperor's authority.
Hearing this, Lu Kang sensed the situation drifting down a strange path and frowned slightly.