A guy who unexpectedly switched sides often
A guy who unexpectedly switched sides often
The figure walking into the barracks.
Turning her head cautiously, Zhang Liao felt a flicker of worry that it might be Liu Bei.
And then.
'Huh? This person is...'
The moment she recognized the face,
a single thought flashed through Zhang Liao's mind.
'If it's him... this is an absolute win.'
The man standing before her was familiar, the very person she had been so desperately hoping to see.
Yuan Shu.
Still impossibly handsome, he looked at Zhang Liao and spoke in a calm voice.
"It's been a while. I trust you've been well, Zhang Liao."
"!... You remember me?"
"Of course. We met a few times in Luoyang. Though it's a real shame to meet again like this."
"Ah..."
Zhang Liao, of course, remembered Yuan Shu perfectly well. Yet she couldn't help but be genuinely surprised that he had remembered her.
Everyone under heaven knew the name Yuan Shu, hero of the Yellow Turban suppression. Meanwhile, she was just a general under Ding Yuan, someone whose name wasn't even widely known.
Feeling a small rush of joy at this unexpected fact, Zhang Liao began to study Yuan Shu with renewed caution.
Up close, his handsome features were even more striking.
It wasn't the best way to meet, as he'd said, but even so, Zhang Liao felt her heart beat a little faster as she waited for his reaction.
Just then.
"I watched your performance closely. You cut down three of our generals in an instant. I knew you were strong, but I didn't realize you were that outstanding."
"Erm... that's just the basics for me. Honestly, if it weren't for that monster woman, the likes of you would've been dealt with in one go... erm... erm..."
Catching herself about to needlessly provoke him, Zhang Liao trailed off.
No matter what, she was clearly a prisoner right now. Running her mouth risked shortening a lifespan that was already hanging by a thread.
Watching Zhang Liao begin to tactfully gauge the situation, Yuan Shu spoke with a far more serious tone.
"Your skill was truly astonishing, even for an enemy. But right now, you are a defeated general and our prisoner. You know well enough the fate of those in that position, don't you?"
"Erm... in normal circumstances, they'd be executed for morale... especially a commander who led the enemy forces, like me."
"You know it well. To be honest, quite a few people suggested just that, led mostly by the lords who lost subordinates to you. Bao Xin even argued you should be boiled alive in a cauldron."
"Gulp..."
She had come prepared for death, but faced with such a brutal method, Zhang Liao unconsciously swallowed hard.
Seeing her flinch, Yuan Shu continued in a measured tone.
"However, I've decided to put that on hold for now, exercising my authority. It all depends on your decision."
"My... decision?"
"Yes. Whether you'll be boiled and die now, or renounce the traitors and sincerely atone for your past mistakes and live."
"!..."
He called it a decision, but it was essentially a threat: become a slave or be cooked into meat.
Realizing she had no real choice, Zhang Liao let out a deep sigh internally.
But then...
'Huh? Wait... when he says slave, don't tell me...'
A thought flickered through Zhang Liao's mind.
Connecting it to her earlier worries, she asked Yuan Shu in a careful voice.
"Erm... hey... can I ask one thing? I... I mean. May I?"
"Ask."
"It's... well... you know... bowing my head... is that to you... I mean, to General Yuan Shu? Or to that... that wench Liu Bei? It's just... up north where I'm from, the captor usually owns the prisoner, but I heard things are a bit different here in the Central Plains..."
The fact that Yuan Shu was here and not Liu Bei had already given her a good idea of the answer, but she still asked out of a lingering sliver of worry.
A smile as picturesque as a painting spread across Yuan Shu's lips.
"I've already settled that matter. Liu Bei has no particular interest in prisoners. If you bow your head, it will be to me..."
"Master! I accept!"
"!?"
Before he could even finish, Zhang Liao prostrated herself without a shred of hesitation.
Yuan Shu looked slightly flustered, but quickly composed his expression and smiled again.
*
She dove in faster than expected, immediately pressing her forehead to the ground.
I was a little taken aback, but on the other hand, it made perfect sense.
Overshadowed by Lü Bu—who had been adopted three times over—the Zhang Liao of the original timeline was also someone who switched allegiances pretty frequently.
A general who was under Ding Yuan, then joined Dong Zhuo alongside Lü Bu, then followed Lü Bu after they backstabbed Dong Zhuo, and later, when even Lü Bu fell, just went straight over to Cao Cao.
Sure, there's a story about her trying to keep her loyalty to Lü Bu midway but ultimately being moved by Cao Cao's mercy and changing her mind... but the fact that she became a subordinate that way suggests there was never much regard for loyalty or faith to begin with.
After surviving tooth and nail like that, she eventually went on to carve her legend at the Battle of Hefei.
The Cao Cao who gave that frequently switching Zhang Liao the chance to create such a legend was an impressive figure himself. Still, knowing from the Original Timeline that Zhang Liao had no qualms about changing sides, I figured this sight of him instantly prostrating himself was, in its own way, very much like him.
"Good. From this hour forward, Zhang Liao, you belong to me. Serve me loyally and earn merit, and I will reward you accordingly. But if you betray this grace shown today, you'll die a more agonizing death than boiling. Keep that firmly in mind."
"Yep! I, Zhang Liao, will absolutely remember that! I'm lacking in many ways, but I'll do my best for you from now on, Master!"
Zhang Liao spoke with her eyes sparkling brightly. She seemed to try using a polite tone at first, but at some point dropped back into casual speech; I decided not to mind that part.
The Central Plains was vast enough that plenty of regions found formal speech awkward anyway.
Ji Ling was already tossing casual talk at me left and right... and with Hua Xiong, her half-crazed Xiliang dialect made even serious conversations sound like comedy.
Zhang Liao's manner of speech was downright courteous in comparison. More importantly, regardless of how she talked, the key point was that this Zhang Liao had become my subordinate.
'That's a relief. Feels like my luck's been turning lately. Chen Gong, then Zhang Liao. And soon, I need to formally recruit the three Liu Bei sisters too...'
With those thoughts, I began to harbor hopes that maybe, just maybe, I could even get my hands on Lü Bu in the coming Hulao Pass campaign.
But then.
"So, Master! Should I undress now?"
"Huh?... Undress...?"
"Ah... you prefer to keep your clothes on, Master? Well... it's my first time so I don't know much, but I've heard there are people like that."
With those words, Zhang Liao flopped down flat on the floor.
Then, her eyes sparkling with anticipation, she said,
"Come on! Let's start quickly, making babies! Isn't that the first thing you do with a woman who's become a slave!"
"..."
Zhang Liao spoke with an attitude of pure innocence.
Seeing that, I... ah, shit, I was at a loss for words.
In the end, it took considerable time and effort to sort out the situation, which was no less bewildering than what happened with Sun Jian.
*
"Wha... what? Zhang Liao was defeated?"
"Sob... yes... it was good up to the point where she gallantly cut down three enemy commanders in succession, but then she fell to that person called Liu Bei. In the end... Sishui Pass, too, fell into enemy hands... sniff... sniff..."
The adjutant was covered in wounds from head to toe. Kneeling on the ground, his voice thick with tears, he reported the situation to Ding Yuan.
"Th... then Zhang Liao? What happened to Zhang Liao?"
"General Zhang Liao, saying she would take responsibility for the failure, charged at the enemy even with her injuries. I don't know what became of her after that, but most likely..."
"Tch..."
"Ah... aahh..."
Ding Yuan furrowed his brow, while Lü Bu wore an expression of despair.
There was no way a wounded general who plunged into the enemy ranks could be safe. Surely she was either suffering cruel humiliation at the hands of the coalition, or had already met her death.
Ding Yuan ground his teeth, devastated by the crushing defeat in the first battle and the loss of such a capable general.
At that moment, Zhang Rang and Duan Gui, who had been watching him, spoke up with worried voices.
"Calm yourself, General-in-Chief Ding Yuan. If what this man says is true, we don't even have the time to be angry."
"That's right, General-in-Chief. If those bastards have broken through Sishui Pass, Hulao Pass is within spitting distance. If even that falls, Luoyang is next, isn't it?"
As the two said, there was no room for complacency. Sishui Pass was at most a day's march from Hulao Pass.
There were small forts and outposts along the way, but they couldn't be relied upon with a massive army of 250,000 bearing down, not just 10,000 or 20,000.
Now only one option remained.
The only way was to repel the enemy at Hulao Pass, no matter what.
"General Gongsun, and Lü Bu, prepare to march. I will lead the entire army to Hulao Pass immediately."
"Understood. I'll get ready at once."
"I shall... obey. General..."
The two started moving immediately at Ding Yuan's order.
Ding Yuan, too, rose from his seat.
"Then while we are gone, I leave Luoyang in your hands, Lord Zhang Rang. I'll leave Gao Shun and some soldiers with you. If anyone shows signs of insolence, you must have them removed at once."
"Erm... ah... understood. I will do my utmost."
Zhang Rang answered Ding Yuan's 'order' in a stiff voice. The coalition army itself was worrying, but more than anything, seeing how Ding Yuan's presence had grown so much lately made Zhang Rang sigh deeply inside.
It was only natural for someone holding military power to gain clout in wartime. Yet even considering that, Ding Yuan's conduct, as if he were the emperor himself, was making every official in Luoyang feel like they were suffocating.
'Tch, acting so high and mighty...'
'Let's see how long that swagger lasts...'
Leaving the eunuchs grumbling internally behind,
Ding Yuan, the Bing Province army, and Gongsun Zan's White Horse Cavalry immediately began marching for Hulao Pass.
*
'Zhang Liao... you're dead...'
The news of Zhang Liao's defeat and death reached them far faster than expected. It hit Lü Bu not just as the loss of a comrade, but with the shock of losing a sister.
People dying on the battlefield was common, but the fact that it was someone so close stabbed deeply into Lü Bu's heart, bringing intense agony.
Lü Bu had already been feeling considerable pressure at the prospect of facing Yuan Shu's army.
But the death of a comrade she'd considered family fanned her once-hesitating will to fight into a raging blaze.
And the target of that fury...
'Liu Bei... I will definitely have your head!'