The Man Who Brought Her Shame
The Man Who Brought Her Shame
The first time she heard his name, not a single flattering word was attached to it.
A spoiled brat born into the prestigious Yuan clan, a family of three generations of Three Excellencies.
An arrogant, eccentric, inept, and insatiably greedy jackal.
A worthless son whom it was an insult to even compare to his sickly elder brother.
Hearing nothing but such harsh criticism, she too concluded that it would be best to keep her distance from him in every possible way.
Yet.
Not long after, when she happened to meet the boy by chance as the younger sibling of a close friend, he was utterly different from the rumors she had heard.
The boy was far more handsome than she had imagined, but what astonished her even more was something else entirely.
Though born and raised in a house of wealth and power, she had always been subtly disregarded among the scions of distinguished families because of her eunuch lineage.
It was likely on account of this background that she had become friends with someone similarly mistreated for being an illegitimate daughter.
But unlike herself, despite being born the legitimate heir of a supreme clan to whom all others had to bow,
the boy showed her nothing but unreserved and courteous respect from the moment they met.
An attitude that conveyed sincere esteem, utterly devoid of mockery or veiled sarcasm.
Having always been subtly ridiculed and dismissed, this side of the boy stirred not only surprise but also a feeling of shame within her heart.
To think she had so carelessly judged such a person based on mere rumors.
Did the Master not say, 'If the multitude hate him, you must investigate; if the multitude favor him, you must investigate'? (衆惡之 必察焉 衆好之 必察焉).
A boy who gave her a significant realization from their very first encounter.
And now, that boy.
No,
that man who bears the name Yuan Shu.
To the woman named Cao Cao, he was once again, in this moment, bringing her the feeling called shame.
"Aaargh! Sp... spare us! W-we were wrong—gwaaauuk!!"
"My lord! I won't do it again! Please, just this once! Just one act of mercy! Urghk!!"
The stout men of Gundam who had been raising a violent ruckus just moments ago.
But now, they were surrounded by government troops in the middle of the main avenue and receiving a collective flogging.
"Don't hold back, strike them harder! Let's thoroughly teach these people who tormented the common folk what happens to them!"
"Understood, Colonel!"
"Y-you bastard Yuan Shu! Stop this at once! No matter that you are the main line of the Yuan clan, do you think you can do this and remain unscathed!"
Gundam, bound tightly to a chair, shouted in a voice full of fury.
But Yuan Shu merely retorted without batting an eye, in a voice so calm it was maddening.
"And if I'm not unscathed, what of it? Tell me, Ji Ling. Is what's happening here a violation of the national law?"
"Not at all. If anything, the law stipulates that an official who witnesses such things and pretends not to see them is to be punished."
"Right? For a moment there, he was making such a damned racket I wondered if I'd misunderstood the law. Well, well... I never imagined the uncle of the great Jian Shuo himself could be this ignorant."
"Indeed. Though I suppose with nothing in his head, he has to go around milking the common folk under the pretense of protection fees!"
"You're right, Ji Ling! This is the perfect chance to give him a very clear education on what the law is! Everyone! Ignorant fools like these only learn from a beating! Swing those clubs harder!"
"Understood! Colonel!"
"Grrrrgh..."
Watching his subordinates being brutally beaten, Gundam gnashed his teeth.
Yet, far from being intimidated, Yuan Shu's confident mockery made Cao Cao feel as if she were being rebuked for her own actions moments before.
'If I had been in his place... no... even that's just an excuse. Because if I had only set my mind to it, I was in a position to do exactly the same.'
As the officer in charge of this northern gate, Cao Cao had a duty to protect the nearby populace.
Yet she had hesitated to raise a hand against those people and ended up doing nothing.
For the sake of the future... she had to endure for now.
To climb higher and then cut them down decisively, she had to bend, however frustrating it was.
She could not ruin a great undertaking because of a single moment's discomfort.
But.
Unlike herself, who turned a blind eye to today for the sake of tomorrow, that man did no such thing.
"Will you be alright? Doing something like this?"
"Of course I won't be alright. No matter how great our Yuan clan's power is, it'll be hard to completely cover... defend against this level of incident."
"..."
Yuan Shu spoke of such grave matters in a nonchalant tone.
For a moment, Cao Cao was speechless.
The opponent was the uncle of none other than Jian Shuo.
Even if it did not technically violate the law and despite the Yuan clan's strength, this incident would never simply pass.
Given the course Yuan Shu had charted until now, it was clear the Ten Regular Attendants, who had been waiting for a chance, would see that he suffered some kind of disadvantage.
Perhaps he might even be forced to surrender the office of Changshui Colonel he had barely risen to.
But.
In this moment, Yuan Shu's face held not a trace of hesitation or fear.
What it held was confidence.
And an unconcealable joy.
"Knowing that... how can you smile in such a situation? No. How are you able to smile?"
"... And how is it that you, elder sister, cannot smile?"
"What?"
Yuan Shu instead turned the question back on Cao Cao.
He then pointed to the scene before them.
"Look, elder sister. See how much they are enjoying this? This many people are happy watching what is happening right now. For one who lives on the state's stipend, what could be better than the smiles of the common people?"
"!"
Cao Cao belatedly took in the scene.
Just as Yuan Shu said, the faces of the common people were full of cheers and smiles.
"How refreshing!"
"Serves you right, you damn bastards!"
"Does it hurt? We've hurt worse than that!"
The just execution of legal punishment was being carried out to a fervent reception.
Watching Gundam's untouchable gang get beaten like dogs released some of the resentment pent up in the common people's hearts.
The powerless common folk who had unfairly suffered at the hands of the powerful.
The only ones who could ease their pain were, in the end, the powerful like herself or Yuan Shu.
"I think I'd best wrap this up now. No matter what, if even one of them dies, it'll only make things more troublesome."
"Ah... yes..."
"Then, as the work is finishing up, I shall see you again soon. Elder sister Aman."
"... Yes. Until later..."
After giving a final polite bow, Yuan Shu moved to settle the situation he had stirred up.
Gazing at his retreating figure, Cao Cao remained still for a long time, keeping her silence.
And after a moment.
"... Hmph."
"? What is it?"
"Nothing at all, Yuanrang. Let us also return. The work is done, and above all, we've left the gate unattended far too long."
"Yes, my lord."
Cao Cao's bodyguard Yuanrang followed behind her at her command.
Together with him, Cao Cao departed that place with a much lighter expression than before, leaving behind the cheers of the people still ringing in her ears.
Just as when she had first met him.
This time too, once again,
she held a heart grateful to the dear junior brother who had brought her the shame called realization.
'It is said that when three walk together, there is always one who can be my teacher. (三人行, 必有我師焉) On this road called life that we walk... my teacher, this Cao Cao's teacher, might very well be you, Gonglu.'
Someone who, as she had just done, brought clear answers whenever she was seized by inner conflict—a rare source of vitality in her difficult bureaucratic life in Luoyang.
Hoping earnestly to continue walking with him as she had until now.
And hoping that eventually, he would become her right arm for achieving her dream.
Cao Cao resolved that she would soon formally reveal her intent... the ambition she had kept hidden from that child.
'It will not be simple, but... surely Gonglu will understand. His usual thoughts are not so different from my own.'
She had watched over him for several years, not someone else's word.
As she trusted her own discernment, she was also confident in the outcome.
If she reached out her hand,
Yuan Shu would undoubtedly take it.
Yet.
This plan of Cao Cao's, which was to begin with a heart full of expectation,
unfortunately fell to the ground without even blooming.
"Wh... Yuanrang... what did you just say?"
"Lord Yuan Shu has left Luoyang. No... he was demoted to a provincial post by the machinations of the Ten Regular Attendants."
"..."
At Xiahou Dun's words, Cao Cao maintained silence for a moment.
She had expected it to some degree.
Both Yuan Shu and Cao Cao herself had known that retaliation for this matter would come.
But even so,
Cao Cao truly had not imagined things would go this far.
With the eldest son Yuan Ji constantly on the brink of death due to chronic illness,
and the eldest daughter Yuan Shao burdened by the limits of being adopted and a child born of a concubine,
Yuan Shu was practically marked as the successor to carry on the main line of the Yuan clan in their stead.
That Yuan Shu had been driven out to the provinces, not by a simple criminal demotion, meant the Ten Regular Attendants had deliberately and maliciously screwed him over.
No.
Perhaps this was not simple retaliation...
but a sort of domestication.
'They mean to correct his habits with this occasion... is that it? So that later, they can make that child their tool. An obedient hunting dog.'
The moment her thoughts reached that conclusion,
the light in Cao Cao's blue eyes slowly began to fade.
A deep darkness settled in them.
With a dark void in her eyes,
she rose from her seat.
*
"Hahaha! That fledgling of the Yuan clan! Didn't know the fear of the world and threw his weight around, and now he's gotten what he deserved!"
"Indeed, Lord Gundam. He's probably leaving Luoyang right about now, bawling his eyes out."
In the dead of night, Gundam and his subordinates were heading for Luoyang with carts heaped full of various smuggled goods.
Yuan Shu's demotion left them feeling as refreshed as if a rotten tooth had been pulled.
"Did I not say it? A person must always think ahead. Before daring to lay a hand on this Lord Gundam, he should have thought about what he would suffer in turn."
"Hoho, what would that fool know."
"Young masters who know nothing of the world are all like that."
Chattering gleefully, Gundam and his subordinates finally arrived near the gates of Luoyang.
The curfew hour had long passed, and they were even carrying carts of smuggled goods.
Yet not one among Gundam's party cared.
Even that Yuan Shu had been demoted to the provinces for standing against them.
In such circumstances, who would dare block their path?
More swollen with arrogance than usual and without a care in the world, Gundam and his men approached the northern gate before them.
It was then...
"Halt. You cannot pass."
"Huh?"
Soldiers of the northern gate blocked their path.
And standing among them, a woman with crimson hair.
Cao Cao.
As it had been in the past,
but today she was casting an especially cold gaze at Gundam's group...
precisely at Gundam's face.
"It is now curfew. Return once the day has dawned tomorrow."
Cao Cao spoke in an icy voice.
But to this, Gundam put on an arrogant expression and spoke toward the soldiers guarding the gate.
"Huhu... you fellows. No matter how dark it has become, can it be that you do not recognize who I am?"
"This man is Lord Gundam, uncle to Lord Jian Shuo. Step aside at once if you do not wish to be flogged."
"Surely you, wench, do not also wish to be driven out to the provinces like that Yuan clan fool?"
Speaking in mocking tones, Gundam and his subordinates approached the soldiers.
It was then.
"Khuheo-eok!!!"
"Grruuk!!!"
"!?"
The soldiers abruptly speared the bodies of the foremost subordinates.
Taking that as the signal, the soldiers guarding the gate immediately leveled their weapons and surrounded Gundam's party.
"Wh... what is this?"
"Y... you bastards, what is the meaning of this?"
Gundam belatedly sensed something had gone terribly wrong.
But it was already too late.
"Kheuuk!!!"
"S... spare... urghk!"
Cao Cao's subordinates mercilessly butchered Gundam's party.
Unlike when Yuan Shu merely had them beaten, witnessing his men being gruesomely killed before his eyes, Gundam was seized by an unimaginable terror.
At the same time, he began to see.
Alongside a giant of a man holding a great blade,
Cao Cao walked forward with an iron club in hand...
"Those trying to infiltrate the capital at this late hour... Yuanrang. What do they call such wretches?"
"I believe they are called bandits, my lord."
"Yes... that's right. Bandits."
With those words, Cao Cao slowly raised the hand holding the iron club.
Looking at her, as if she had become an entirely different person, her vacant eyes emitting a ghastly bloodlust,
Gundam was seized by a monumental fear unlike any he had experienced since the day he was born.
"Wa... wait! S... stop! Stop d..."
-Thwack!
A single blow landed on Gundam's skull.
Looking down at Gundam collapsed on the ground,
Cao Cao, with a chilling smile, lifted the bloodied club once more.
"Bandits... must be killed. Especially bandits who try to steal what belongs to this Cao Cao."