I'll give you the Red Hare...
I'll give you the Red Hare...
"To Her Majesty's reign!"
"To Her Majesty!"
"Come on, drink, drink!"
"Tonight we drink ourselves to death!"
A banquet celebrating the new emperor's enthronement.
It was just after she surveyed the scene, thick with the smell of wine and meat.
She.
Lü Bu let out a small sigh, her heart heavy with unease.
Just then.
"Haha! There you are! Our daughter, Fengxian!"
Ding Yuan, flushed with drink, casually slung an arm over his adoptive daughter's shoulder. As unguarded as ever, treating her like his own flesh and blood, he filled the cup before Lü Bu to the brim.
"Come now, have a drink. This is the very imperial wine Her Majesty herself drinks. Not the sort of thing you get to taste just anywhere, so you ought to drink it!"
"My apologies... but I must decline, Father. It hasn't been long since I caused trouble with drink."
"Ah, didn't I say that business was nothing? Our beloved daughter had a few drinks with a senior officer—what of it?"
At the time, though it was a situation where anger would have been justified, Ding Yuan had instead been pleased, saying his daughter was finally learning to drink.
And now, setting down a golden-glinting wine bottle, he spoke in a booming voice.
"Come on, down it in one gulp. Is today not a fine day indeed? On such a day, getting blind drunk is no trouble at all. Let's drink ourselves to death together with your old man!"
"... Yes, Father."
At Ding Yuan's urging, Lü Bu finally drained the cup.
As if proving the claim of its rarity was no lie, the taste was clearly superb, far surpassing ordinary wine from the very first swallow.
Seeing Lü Bu empty the cup so cleanly, Ding Yuan let out a pleased laugh.
The heavy drinking session continued.
Though he had become the empire's General-in-Chief and the man who seized the reins of power, Ding Yuan remained the unchanged 'Father.' Watching him, Lü Bu eventually slipped quietly away.
"Hoo..."
Escaping the banquet hall reeking of alcohol, Lü Bu inhaled the sharp, cold air.
Feeling her spinning head cool slightly, she immediately turned her steps toward her quarters.
A cool breeze blew beneath the twinkling starlight.
Yet in one corner of Lü Bu's heart, a heavy feeling was taking root.
'What in the world is Father thinking...?'
Several months had passed since her adoptive father, Ding Yuan, came to Luoyang and seized power.
Yet in this span of time, which could hardly be called long, the Ding Yuan that Lü Bu saw now was far too different from before.
In his days as Inspector of Bing Province, Ding Yuan had personally drawn his sword to protect the people from the foreign tribes.
The sight of him risking his life for the weak, stepping forward himself— it had made Lü Bu regard the man not simply as a good father, but as the guiding principle of her life, someone she respected without reserve.
But after coming to this place, Luoyang, Ding Yuan had changed far too much.
The sword Ding Yuan once drew to protect the people had turned into a blade that struck them down instead.
The people who had once cheered the Bing Province army now lived in constant fear and fled at the sight of them.
Every time she saw or heard of such things, Lü Bu's heart ached as if pricked by a sharp thorn.
'It's all because of that bastard... Father changed after he met that filthy eunuch...'
Her sworn enemy, the scoundrel who had corrupted her righteous adoptive father.
Zhang Rang, the head of the Three Regular Attendants.
A man she would tear apart and kill on the spot, but Lü Bu could not bring herself to do it.
Not only because her father had given a strict order, but even someone as foolish as her knew the current political situation was utterly precarious.
In times like these, one wrong swing of the blade could endanger her father, Ding Yuan. So she had no choice but to lie low for now, forcibly suppressing her boiling hatred.
'Father said so himself. That he'd joined hands with that wretch for now, but it wouldn't last long... Just until that time comes...'
Thus grinding the blade of revenge, Lü Bu arrived near her quarters.
Just then... someone was waiting for her upon her arrival.
"... You are?"
"Pleased to meet you. I am Li Su."
Li Su, a man who had once served under Ding Yuan but now worked in the central government. Lü Bu began to feel suspicious at this sudden visit from a familiar face.
At that moment.
—Hiiiiing!
"!"
A horse's whinny reached Lü Bu's ears.
Sensing something unusual in the sound, Lü Bu's gaze turned straight to the horse Li Su had ridden here.
A horse with a red coat, its frame seeming more than half again as large as an ordinary steed.
Captivated by the extraordinary bearing of the creature—evident at a single glance—Lü Bu, already keenly interested in horses, could not tear her eyes away for a time.
But a moment later...
After entering her quarters and hearing Li Su's story, Lü Bu spoke in an icy voice.
"... So. You'll give me that horse, and in return you want me to betray my father and come serve under that Dong Zhuo or whatever her name is?"
A figure known as Zhang Liang's trusted confidant, someone who had once achieved great merit alongside Yuan Shu in the suppression of the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
Dong Zhuo.
Outwardly on 'the same side' for now, but a woman who always wore a meaningful smile and exuded the aura of an unfathomable snake.
At Li Su's attempt to win her over by mentioning that woman's name, Lü Bu's face began to harden coldly.
"Not betrayal—she asked that we become comrades from now on. Simply... prioritizing Lady Dong Zhuo's orders over General Ding Yuan's. If you accept this offer, not only the horse, but an immense fortune in gold and jewels will also be given to you..."
—Chaeng!
"Hurk!"
Even before the words were finished, the Fangtian Halberd was poised over Li Su's throat.
Li Su's face froze in terror for an instant.
Lü Bu addressed him in a frigid voice.
"Go back and tell that Dong Zhuo, or Roast Chicken, or whatever the bitch calls herself. If she has the leisure for worthless games like this, she should take that money and buy herself a gigolo from a brothel. An old, decrepit hag like her—isn't that the only way she'll ever get to embrace a man?"
"Gulp..."
"If you understand, then get the hell out. Before I send your head flying for good."
"Ah... I understand. I'll... go."
Lü Bu poured out abuse laced with chilling killing intent.
Li Su could not even dare to say another word and hurried out of the place.
"... Ha."
Thus left alone in the room after sending Li Su away, Lü Bu.
Yet... despite her resolute attitude just now, a sliver of conflict remained in her heart.
'That horse... was really amazing...'
A horse whose spirit and appearance surpassed even the many renowned steeds she had seen in Bing Province.
To say she wasn't tempted would be a lie, but Dong Zhuo's proposal to come to her on the condition of receiving it was something Lü Bu could not accept.
For the sake of a mere horse, betray her adoptive father of all people?
Wearing the skin of a human, how could one ever commit such a beastly act?
No matter how displeasing his recent course of action...
Betraying the grace of the man who, ever since they first met, had cherished her like his own daughter—that was something Lü Bu, who valued 'goodness' above all else, could never do.
Besides, from Lü Bu's standpoint, she really couldn't stand that Dong Zhuo woman in the first place.
'Better dead than bowing my head to a whore who wags her tail for a ball-less eunuch...'
Even if it had been that man, she might have agonized a bit, but she would have refused in the end.
If it was Dong Zhuo, there was nothing more to talk about.
She brushed aside her uncomfortable mood and flung herself down on the bed.
At the same time, in her mind,
the image of that person, whom she could never forget, began to surface.
Someone she could still see from time to time even now,
but a man she couldn't bring herself to even speak to.
Since considerable time had passed, that man seemed not to recognize her,
but for Lü Bu, that was actually better.
Because her current self...
She, who had become Ding Yuan's hatchet man and was oppressing the people,
could not bring herself to dare reveal her identity to that man.
'Still, someday... if Father comes to his senses again... I'll be able to greet him once more, won't I? Who I am... what kindness I received from him...'
Thus cherishing a small hope for a future day, Lü Bu carefully drew the black war-robe she wore closer around herself.
Etching into her heart the scent of that person, which seemed to linger still even after so much time had passed...
*
"You mean it failed?"
"Yes, she refused quite resolutely. Told me that if I had nothing to do, I should go buy a gigolo or something."
"Hmm..."
With those words, Dong Zhuo pulled me tightly into her embrace and began stroking me.
Reclining in the luxury of using her ample chest as a pillow, my face burning red, I was striving to calm my pounding heart.
"To say such a thing when she already has such a fine partner—just what does she take me for... When an opportunity arises later, I truly must inform her of the facts."
"Hmm... I'll help if you wish. But... that aside, I'm sorry. For having you make such a pointless attempt because of me..."
"Fufu... well, it's fine. Still, this kind of overture might hold meaning later on."
Dong Zhuo's words, spoken to offer comfort.
But despite her consolation,
I could only let out a deep sigh, feeling considerable regret.
Lü Bu had shown a far more violent rejection than I'd anticipated.
Since she'd certainly shown a relatively more principled side compared to the Original Timeline, I had thought this outcome was a possibility.
However, in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he had been utterly captivated by Red Hare and immediately cut off Ding Yuan's head.
On top of that, in this world, Dong Zhuo was outwardly on the same side for now. So I held expectations that maybe we could at least secretly win her over, even if not by blatantly saying "screw you, father," but...
In the end, this affair concluded with Dong Zhuo merely taking abuse for nothing.
Dong Zhuo had agonized over it and resolved with great determination to hand over the tremendous card that was Red Hare, but for it to fail despite that deliberation was simply a waste.
'Damn it... at times like this, she'd have been better off as a trash human being like in the Original Timeline. Just what made that kid's personality change like this? Is it because she's younger than in the Original Timeline?'
Feeling bitter that a chance to cleanly settle that headache called Ding Yuan in one blow had vanished into thin air, I concluded that I had no choice but to give up on this matter for now.
Just then.
"That aside, is that other matter going well?"
Dong Zhuo asked with a sticky smile.
Knowing what she was asking about, I tilted my head slightly back to look at her face and answered with a smile of my own.
"Yes, the evacuation of the Yuan Clan people will be complete soon. Thank you once again for your help in that matter."
"Fufu. There's no particular need to thank me. Helping my family—isn't it only natural I should lend a hand?"
"Haha..."
Dong Zhuo laughed pleasantly at my words.
Seeing that, I let out a soft chuckle.
Using Yuan Shao's recent uproar in front of Ding Yuan and subsequent departure as a pretext, I had succeeded in persuading the members of the Yuan Clan to leave Luoyang.
No matter how you looked at it, making such a distinguished family, the most renowned in the Han Dynasty, vacate their main house was not easy in many ways, but in the end, they accepted my opinion—I, who was virtually designated as the next Family Head.
As a result, the Yuan Clan people were quietly leaving Luoyang one by one and relocating to my base in Ji Province.
Thanks to Dong Zhuo's covert concealment and obstruction of information, they were completing their evacuation safely, avoiding the eyes of Ding Yuan and Zhang Rang.
From my perspective, since it was a matter of saving my family, to whom I'd grown quite attached, it was an obvious measure to take... but I couldn't help feeling a deep irony that the one helping them was Dong Zhuo—the very person who, in the Original Timeline, had annihilated them, sparking the formation of the Anti-Dong Zhuo Coalition.
'Well... anyway, there's only one thing left now...'
Once the Yuan Clan's evacuation was finished, the task I had to handle here in Luoyang was just one.
Bringing closure to this whole plan, essentially.
Though the situation had gone a little awry, recalling the thing that had to succeed regardless, I spoke in a calm voice.
"From the looks of it... the preparations on your side are also going well..."
"Of course. Soon, the news will probably reach the ears of Zhang Rang and Ding Yuan."
I hadn't intended to go this far, but for now, it was an unavoidable measure.
Foreseeing yet another storm about to begin, I quietly turned my head.
Listening to the children's song drifting in from beyond the drawn blinds.
Fresh green grass condenses like emerald mist; a pair of swallows glide and wheel. A single clear ribbon of the Luo; all who pass speak of it with envy. Gazing far into the deep azure clouds, I see my former palace. On whose loyalty and righteousness shall I rely, to pour out the resentment in my heart?