Spring in Luoyang
Spring in Luoyang
The summons arrived under the guise of "rewards for the Yellow Turban Rebellion Suppression."
In truth, it was a directive from General-in-Chief He Jin ordering us to march on Luoyang. We, who had been stationed in Ji Province, immediately began preparations to depart.
"So, hey. Does this mean we're going to Luoyang to fight General Dong Zhuo and her people?"
Ji Ling asked the question while discreetly gauging my reaction.
She didn't seem particularly happy about the possibility of having to turn her blade on former comrades.
"For now, I can't be certain of anything... but depending on how she moves, we might have to see blood."
"Ugh..."
"Hoo..."
Ji Ling wore a reluctant expression, and Xu Rong let out a small, bitter sigh.
Sun Jian, for her part, had never really been connected to that side and so felt no particular emotion, but her attention was elsewhere.
"Still, the total force permitted to accompany us is fifty thousand. Why would he deliberately set such a limit? From what I hear, Dong Zhuo's total army is said to be nearly a hundred thousand strong."
In the letter of summons, He Jin had imposed a restriction on the number of troops we could move.
Ostensibly, the reason given was maintaining public order in Ji Province, but I could tell there was another meaning behind it.
"It's a way of keeping us in check. If we marched a hundred thousand soldiers into Luoyang, we could become yet another threat, depending on the circumstances."
"What? Ah... no, what exactly do those bastards take our lord for? We're all in the same Pure Stream Faction—do they really have to go that far?"
I gave Ji Ling, who was scowling, a light smile and spoke.
"That's simply how the world works. Even among allies, there's no such thing as complete trust. It's the same principle as never, ever telling Sun Jian where the liquor jars are."
"Keuh-eum..."
"I see..."
Ji Ling coughed awkwardly at words she understood instantly, while Sun Jian slowly nodded.
After that brief explanation, I turned my gaze back to the contents of the dispatch.
'That aside... who would have thought a situation would arise where the Ten Regular Attendants summon Dong Zhuo. Things are unfolding very strangely...'
In the Original Timeline, Dong Zhuo had come to Luoyang at He Jin's call to eliminate the Ten Regular Attendants, but this time, the circumstances had reversed.
It was an ironic development, but considering how things were unfolding now, it was entirely plausible.
Until Han Sui's rebellion ended, Dong Zhuo had maintained a posture of sending bribes to the Ten Regular Attendants and obeying their commands.
However, according to the Original Timeline, over the next several years Dong Zhuo would repeatedly ignore the court's directive to disband his army—or, to put it another way, the commands of the Ten Regular Attendants—while offering one excuse after another.
Dong Zhuo effectively refused to abandon her private army, revealing a dangerous side.
Such behavior would have prompted the Ten Regular Attendants, who had until then regarded Dong Zhuo as nothing more than an obedient hunting dog, to withdraw their trust in her.
With her ties to the Ten Regular Attendants thus severed, it was perhaps a natural course of events that Dong Zhuo aligned herself with He Jin.
But unlike the Original Timeline, at this point in time, with the Emperor having died far too soon, Dong Zhuo had only ever displayed the image of someone docilely following the Ten Regular Attendants' orders.
Anyone would consider her nothing other than a faithful member of the Turbid Stream Faction, and with her military strength even greater than it had been in the Original Timeline, it was only natural for the Ten Regular Attendants to place their hopes in her.
The problem was what exactly Dong Zhuo's true ulterior motives were as she headed for Luoyang.
Unable to be certain of anything, I recalled the promise I'd made her a year ago and grew uneasy.
Would she keep her promise with me?
Or... would she reach out for power, just as she had in the Original Timeline?
The answer to that was something I would only know once the lid was opened.
And so, hoping earnestly that she would keep her word, I once again hastened my preparations to set out for Luoyang.
*
A splendid building located at the heart of Luoyang.
A group of people on horseback was slowly making its way toward a banquet hall that exuded a luxurious air.
At their head was Jian Shuo, one of the famed Ten Regular Attendants and a member of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden.
Behind him were the remaining Colonels belonging to the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden:
Colonel of the Lower Army Bao Hong,
Assistant Colonel of the Left Zhao Rong,
Assistant Colonel of the Right Feng Fang,
Colonel of the Left Xia Mou
—these four were accompanying him.
"It's unusual for Cao Cao to invite all of us in the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden."
"Well, we're going since she called for us, but honestly, this isn't an occasion I'm enthusiastic about."
Jian Shuo voiced his discomfort.
To this, Colonel of the Left Xia Mou spoke with a smile at the corner of his lips.
"Please don't be so reluctant, Lord Jian Shuo. Whatever else may be, are we not all members of the same Eight Colonels? Getting along well together is a good thing."
"Do you truly think that's possible? Even now, when I think about how that bastard sent your esteemed uncle Gundam to a violent death..."
"Now, now... did we not agree not to speak of that matter? There is no need to bring up something that His Late Majesty the Emperor himself saw fit to let pass, especially on such a fine day."
"Tch..."
At Xia Mou's words, Jian Shuo scowled and held his tongue for the moment, but even so, a deep, seething rage still blazed fiercely within Jian Shuo's heart.
'Yes... wait and see. Once my Dong Zhuo arrives and the realm is turned upside down, the first thing I'll take is your head, you wench!'
For now, he could not lay a hand on her because of her family's influence and the backing of He Jin, but she was someone who deserved retaliation one day.
Grinding the blade of vengeance inward, Jian Shuo at last arrived at the banquet hall.
Immediately afterward, women of dazzling beauty greeted them from the entrance.
"Welcome. We are truly grateful that such esteemed personages have honored us with a visit."
"Oho... this isn't half bad."
"That Cao Mengde. I didn't expect it, but surprisingly, she has a finer eye for women than most men."
Women of beauty far surpassing that of average courtesans.
Guided by them, the Colonels entered the banquet hall.
"Now, Lord Jian Shuo, please, sit here in the highest seat. Truly, your commanding presence is magnificent, just as the stories say."
"Hrm-hrm... very well, I shall."
The women spoke in voices laced with coquettish charm.
Eunuch though he was, this situation—with beautiful women attending him at his side with a clinging intimacy—wasn't unpleasant for Jian Shuo... no, to be honest, he rather liked it.
However much he lacked that part, as a man through and through, it was inevitable that a woman's soft touch would lift his spirits.
After first taking a pleasant sip of the drink the women had poured for him, Jian Shuo asked with a note of puzzlement.
"But where is Cao Mengde? If one has invited guests, ought one not appear promptly and offer a greeting?"
"Now that you mention it, Colonel Yuan and the others are nowhere to be seen either. Perhaps we've arrived too early..."
"Colonel Cao conveyed that an urgent official document arrived just before she left her office, and so she will be slightly delayed. She will arrive shortly, so please, enjoy yourselves to the fullest until then."
"An urgent document? No, be that as it may... what is this, calling people here and then—"
"For your reference, Colonel Cao has already covered all expenses for what you eat and drink. Furthermore, she included a message saying that as this is a small token of gratitude for the kindness shown to her up to now, she asks that you please by no means refuse it."
"Kindness?"
"Yes. As a lowly girl, I am not privy to the details, but roughly speaking, I heard it was in repayment for the kindness of appointing her to the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden."
"Hmm... I see..."
Jian Shuo slowly nodded at the woman's words.
Unlike him, who still felt an odd sense of unease, the other Colonels were frantically indulging in food and drink to their hearts' content, enjoying the occasion with beauties nestled at both sides.
Of course, renting out an entire banquet hall of this scale, combined with lavishly providing delicacies from land and sea and a crowd of beautiful women, inevitably cost an astronomical sum.
It was an extravagance possible only because it was the household of Cao Cao, whose wealth was counted among the finest in the Han Dynasty.
Watching the Colonels, deeply absorbed in the scene and frolicking about, Jian Shuo inwardly clicked his tongue, but as time passed, his suspicions grew steadily stronger.
'Shouldn't she have arrived by now? When does this wretch intend to show herself?'
Even though this was supposedly a gathering to repay a kindness, the host herself was not revealing her presence.
At this unnatural state of affairs, Jian Shuo began to feel a creeping foreboding slithering up on him, as if perhaps something was about to happen.
At that moment.
—"Y-you bastards! Out of the way! Will you not withdraw at once!?"
—"It cannot be permitted. We cannot allow common rabble to intrude upon a place where such exalted personages are..."
—"If you do not step aside, I'll strike off your head first! I said, stand aside!"
"Hm?"
"Wha... what's that? Hic!"
A man burst into the banquet hall.
The moment Jian Shuo saw the fellow, his face began to harden rigidly.
"Ah... no... General Jeon! What business brings you here? And what of all that blood?"
Jeon Hwan, one of the officers under Jian Shuo's command.
Badly battered, he collapsed weakly to his knees before Jian Shuo.
"G... grave trouble, Lord Jian Shuo. We... we have been attacked."
"Attacked? What in the world do you mean, General Jeon?"
"A rebellion. General-in-Chief He Jin has raised a rebellion! The soldiers under the General-in-Chief are now flooding into Luoyang!"
"Wh... what?"
"Wh... what did you say?"
At the unforeseen emergency, Jian Shuo's face and those of the Colonels froze for an instant.
But soon, Jian Shuo swiftly collected himself and issued a command with cold composure.
"Everyone, get ahold of yourselves! If He Jin has raised a rebellion, we have only to stop it, do we not! We make for the Colonel's office at once!"
"Ah... y-yes."
Following Jian Shuo's order, the Colonels struggled to sober up and rose staggering from their seats.
At that moment.
"Everyone, withdraw!"
"Ah... understood."
The sound of the women abruptly filing out of the room.
Right after that, a squad of soldiers stormed inside.
They wore the uniforms of the Eight Colonels of the Western Garden, led by Colonel of the Right Chunyu Qiong. Relief crept into Jian Shuo's expression the moment he saw her.
"Colonel Chunyu Qiong!"
"Oh... well-timed, well come."
She was low in the Eight Colonels' pecking order, but in this instant, she was a more welcome sight than anyone else.
Jian Shuo and the other Colonels greeted her gladly...
"As expected of Colonel Chunyu Qiong. You have come to our aid!"
"No, I'm on their side."
"... Huh? H-hold on... what do you... kurg!!!"
Chunyu Qiong kicked Jian Shuo to the ground just like that.
The other Colonels were instantly seized by consternation.
"Colonel Chunyu... what is the meaning of...?"
"Huk!"
Two women walked out from behind Chunyu Qiong.
The moment he saw them, the face of Jian Shuo, who had been knocked down, turned stony and rigid.
"N-no..."
"Whoa... Yuan Shao... and Cao Cao..."
The two approached, one holding a blood-smeared sword and the other an iron club.
On their lips lingered a look of profound delight they made no effort to hide.
"At last... I avenge the grudge."
"I told you, didn't I? That I would repay your kindness. As a special touch, I will kill you with this—the very thing I used to beat your uncle to death."
"W-wait!... That... sto... GUAAAAAARRGH!!!!"