Dongtan... No, Lady Dong Zhuo Who Lived Next Door
Dongtan... No, Lady Dong Zhuo Who Lived Next Door
A female general who displayed tremendous martial prowess against the Yellow Turbans.
Still thirsting for talent after missing out on Gung Seon, I started working on a recruitment angle the moment I laid eyes on her.
After rescuing her from danger, I deliberately acted as warmly and kindly as possible to win her favor.
Perhaps because of that, she began to express gratitude despite her slightly haughty tone, and seeing this, I flashed a triumphant smile and asked for her name.
So far, so good...
"You fucking..."
A curse that nearly burst out of me the moment I heard her name.
Just barely swallowing it, I began managing my expression as quickly as I could before it rotted away.
"M-my apologies. I never imagined you were the famed Governor Dong."
"Fa... med? Me?"
"Of course. Are you not the hero of Xiliang, a paragon of the self-made who rose from humble beginnings to the post of Governor? I never thought I would hear a name I so personally admired in this manner."
"I-is that so?... The Young Dragon of the Yuan Clan thinks of me so... Heh heh..."
Words of praise I had frantically pieced together by squeezing every last drop of knowledge out of my head.
Hearing them, she... Lady Dong Zhuo... fortunately let out a small chuckle, seemingly not displeased.
I was a little bothered by her face, which looked considerably relaxed, but still, I watched her while inwardly letting out a sigh of relief...
At the same time, the unease chilling my spine from the mine I had unexpectedly stepped on remained.
'Shit... Why didn't I think of that? To think the Governor of Hedong would be that Dong Zhuo...'
Dong Zhuo.
In the Original Timeline, the fourth great traitor of the Han, counted among Wang Mang, Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao, and Sima Yi.
Wang 'Mang', who destroyed the Former Han.
Cao 'Cao', who effectively wrote the Later Han's epitaph.
Sima 'Yi', who plunged a knife into the heart of the Wei kingdom founded by that same Cao Cao.
And... apart from the crimes, and aside from Wang Mang, who lived two hundred years earlier and doesn't appear in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, making his notoriety somewhat obscure, Dong 'Zhuo' was hands-down considered the worst of them.
He was the man who pulled the plug on the Han Dynasty's life support after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, and the principal architect of the grand clusterfuck known as the Age of Warring Lords.
From the treason of arbitrarily changing the emperor,
to the brutal executions of countless ministers and innocents,
to turning Luoyang, the capital for two hundred years, into ashes during the relocation to Chang'an in order to shake off the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition that threatened him,
and all the while engaging in such arbitrary rule, he plunged countless commoners into misery through harsh taxes and corvée labor without a shred of concern for their livelihoods.
Dong Zhuo was an entity who committed countless atrocities too numerous to list.
Even Cao Cao or Sima Yi arguably have space to weigh their achievements against their errors, but Dong Zhuo had no such thing.
The kindest assessment might be that he had the ability to seize power, but regarding the actual governance he exercised, he was an entity worthy of nothing but the foulest curses.
This Dong Zhuo was the arch-villain who thoroughly demonstrated what happens when a person who must never hold power reaches the highest seat, and
at that very moment, she was the original identity of the woman receiving treatment for her wounds before my eyes.
Dong Zhuo, having her bandages wrapped inside a temporary tent.
Studying her appearance from nearby, I felt strangely odd in many ways.
'How to put it... her aura definitely isn't ordinary, that's for sure...'
Dong Zhuo of the Original Timeline was known for a menacing appearance that projected overbearing pressure and monstrous strength, characterized by an enormous physique and a large, protruding belly.
After Dong Zhuo died, the enraged people stuck a wick in his navel and set it ablaze, and it was said the fire did not extinguish for days because the amount of fat and oil from the corpse was so plentiful.
And now, those original aspects were reflected in various ways in the feminized Dong Zhuo I saw before me.
A bewitchingly beautiful face that seemed to draw from the 'menacing appearance brimming with charisma,' exuding a beauty that felt both gorgeous and subtly spine-chilling.
A physique that stood a full head taller than me despite being a woman, with broad shoulders lending a commanding and robust air.
And then... a large and beautiful bosom and hips that seemed to show where the belly fat of the Original Timeline had gone.
If Cao Cao and Yuan Shao felt like the charismatic neighborhood big sister next door,
was this more like the Dongtan big sister who lived in the neighborhood?
Feeling a different kind of pressure than I had from anyone I'd met so far,
I began contemplating how best to deal with this person going forward.
For now, although she was the future arch-traitor and worst villain, I could not do anything about her at once.
Although the atrocities Dong Zhuo committed in the Original Timeline were unforgivable, they occurred only after he seized power.
Separate from her later seizure of power and reckless rampage after her brakes failed,
Dong Zhuo at this point was merely a capable general who defended the country against border tribes in Xiliang and Bing Province, and a competent administrator governing her region reasonably well as Governor.
In fact, contrary to Dong Zhuo's infamy, the situation in Hedong was relatively decent, and seeing that she had personally come to eliminate Yellow Turbans and ended up in danger, she was far better than most officials who merely fleeced their people and ran the moment the Yellow Turbans arrived.
Although she possessed her own greed and ambition and a cunning side, and thus had been regularly bribing the Ten Regular Attendants during this period,
given that the so-called emperor himself was already selling government posts for money, such behavior could be seen not so much as corruption but as necessary greasing of the wheels for normal career advancement.
Even in the Original Timeline, had people like Liu Bei or General Lu Zhi not been unfairly expelled from their official positions simply for failing to pay bribes?
Moreover, considering the other party was Dong Zhuo, the gift probably had some bribe-like character,
but in any case, having received considerable support in troops and provisions, I was feeling somewhat grateful to her.
I was reluctant to antagonize her merely on the possibility of a future that had not yet happened, nor was I in a position to openly point a blade at her, the Governor of Hedong and my clear superior.
Yet when thinking of the future, Dong Zhuo was a more dangerous figure to get too close to than even Cao Cao or Yuan Shao.
Her ambition would be colossal, and her martial and political abilities were no joke. Was not her very current rank already Governor, a higher office than mine?
Of course, it would be wonderful if I could somehow make her my subordinate or reform her to be different from the Original Timeline,
but if I had such ability, I wouldn't have been sucking up so blatantly to ladies like Yuan Shao or Cao Cao in the first place.
As it was the right choice to avoid the folly of mounting a horse you can't handle only to be thrown off,
I ultimately judged it best not to think of getting deeply involved here but to wrap up my relationship with her at the level of 'acquaintance who provided help' after showing appropriate goodwill.
Be it good or bad,
just enough so that my ultimate goal — 'a quiet life sweet as honey in a position nobody can touch' — wouldn't face complications in attaining.
"How does your body fare?"
"I am fine. Though I bled quite a lot, the wound itself is not deep. After a few days of rest, I will be able to return to battle."
"That is a relief."
"It is all thanks to you. Truly... thank you."
Lady Dong Zhuo, flashing me a bewitching smile as she expressed her thanks.
Looking at that face, I wondered if, in this world, Lü Bu might be seduced by Dong Zhuo's charm and accept her as a foster mother.
Not that my heart would waver over what was clearly little more than a visible venomous snake.
"I merely did the natural thing as a fellow government soldier. Rather, I am simply glad to be able to repay the favor Your Excellency has shown me in this manner, however small."
"Heh heh... a favor, was it... Considering that, I feel what I have received in return seems far greater. But that aside... What business does one who should be on the border region of Xihe in Bing Province have here? Could it be you heard of the Yellow Turbans in this area?"
"No. We are currently leaving Hedong to head for the Henei region."
"Wh... what? Leave Hedong? Why on earth?"
Dong Zhuo looked considerably more flustered than expected.
To her, I showed the imperial edict I had received from the emperor this time.
"By the express command of His Majesty the Emperor, we have been ordered to suppress the Yellow Turbans swarming toward Henei. It seems a large-scale battle will erupt there soon."
"Is that... so. His Majesty has..."
Watching Dong Zhuo unroll the edict with a faintly regretful expression, I inwardly felt relief.
'How to put it... seeing this, the emperor's edict does make me a little grateful.'
Although she bore me reasonable goodwill for now, unlike Yuan Shao or Cao Cao, the Dong Zhuo before me was essentially an uncontrollable, potential bomb.
Getting entangled with her wrongly could mean becoming a public enemy and arch-traitor of the Han later on, perhaps even losing my head before the Original Timeline's honey water.
Leaving Hedong, her sphere of influence, at such good timing could be called fortunate for me in many ways.
That was what I was thinking as I watched Dong Zhuo, who seemed to be deeply contemplating something with the edict still in her hand.
-"We've come knowing everything it is! We must see our lord immediately it isss!"
-"P-pleash move aside sho..."
-"Further hindrance. Cannot be permitted."
Suddenly, a commotion of voices came from outside the tent.
The women's voices, delivered in strangely peculiar tones, stirred my curiosity.
Before I could ask what they meant,
"It would seem my subordinates have arrived. Would you let them in?"
"Yes... of course."
Suppressing the urge to ask why her subordinates spoke like that, I immediately granted permission to enter.
Then...
"My lord!!! This Hua Xiong has come it isss!"
"Hooeeeng... This Li Jue has also come sho~!"
"Lord's wounds appear severe. Guo Si. Worried."
'... Huh?'
Three women who came bursting in, swarming in like a horde.
All three possessed blue-tinged hair and dark pupils, and with their respective lush drill curls, long ponytail, and bob-cut, their appearances struck me as cute yet quite distinctive...
However.
At that moment, more than their looks, I was shocked by the names that had come out of their mouths.
"W-wait a moment... you are... Hua Xiong... Li Jue, and Guo Si?"
"Huh? This person knows our names it is?"
"H-have we also become quite famous sho?"
"Cannot be certain."
"..."
Watching their reactions, which seemed to confirm it, I lost my words for a moment.
In the Original Timeline, the subordinates of Dong Zhuo, and apart from Lü Bu who was recruited later, the figures who essentially constituted Dong Zhuo's main line of generals.
Hua Xiong, and Li Jue with Guo Si.
Among them, based on the Romance, Hua Xiong was effectively the strongest ace of Dong Zhuo's forces aside from Lü Bu, a general of tremendous martial prowess who chilled the hearts of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition, and Li Jue and Guo Si, though treated as lesser than Hua Xiong, were also known as generals of considerable valor.
The problem was that all three of them met rather... unpleasant ends.
Hua Xiong was famously cut down by Guan Yu 'before the drink could cool,'
while Li Jue and Guo Si, after Dong Zhuo's death, would cling to the emperor and wage the so-called Rebellion of the Three Auxiliaries, only to be crushed by Cao Cao and ultimately end in the miserable annihilation of their Three Clans.
But apart from these Original Timeline images, the three before my eyes right now...
How to put it... if I had to make a comparison, they were exactly like that.
Three puppies wagging their tails in front of their mother.
"My lord, are you unharmed it is? This Hua Xiong's heart nearly sank it did."
"I-I'm sho relieved you're shafe..."
"Guo Si failed to protect lord. Guo Si's fault is large. Requests punishment."
Three female generals—bright, timid, and dry—each with a distinct feel and speech pattern, all gathered snugly around Dong Zhuo and worrying for her safety.
At this, Dong Zhuo smiled a merciful, motherly smile and gently stroked each of their heads.
"I am alright. I was not badly hurt. And all of this stemmed from my own carelessness; I underestimated the enemy, grew complacent, and was ambushed. None of you are at fault, so there is no need to carry it in your hearts."
"Sniff... My lord... you are too kind it is..."
"Hooeeeng..."
"I hardly know how to respond."
At first glance it was a heartwarming scene, but it still sent goosebumps crawling over me.
Aside from Hua Xiong, whose sole visible trace as a warrior was dying, every person there would later transform into villains who threw the realm into chaos after seizing power.
Not only Dong Zhuo, but especially considering that Li Jue and Guo Si are recorded as the worst villains, who after Dong Zhuo's death would commit massacres and plunder no less terrible, the gap from their current appearance felt too vast.
If they went on to follow the Original Timeline, it would demonstrate just how much Dong Zhuo had meant to them—and how completely her death and the power that followed would later ruin them.
Feeling a slight bitterness at that fact, I left the tent for the moment, leaving the four to their reunion.
In that final moment, I thought it was my imagination — the feeling that Dong Zhuo's gaze, somehow, had been fixed on me and not her subordinates...