A request I can only make to you
A request I can only make to you
"Ah..."
The sight that met me the moment I stepped out of the Imperial Palace.
It made me realize
that there was something I had to do today—not tomorrow.
Dong Zhuo, leaning against Red Hare and waiting for me.
And alongside her stood Yuan Shao and Cao Cao,
and the three Peach Sisters, Liu Bei's sworn sisters.
I felt a little bad for them—they'd been waiting to share in today's joy with me.
But the moment I saw them, light began to fall across my mind, which until then had felt blanketed in fog.
The situation had unquestionably taken a turn for the worse. That was a fact.
But right now, gathered here before me, were the heroes who in the Original Timeline had played the lead roles in the coming chaos.
Dong Zhuo, who held the Emperor and commanded the realm.
Yuan Shao, who pacified the north and for a time built the mightiest power.
Cao Cao, founder of Wei, who among the first generation of heroes came closest to unifying the land.
Liu Bei, who rose from the very bottom to sit as Emperor of Shu Han and captured the hearts of the people.
With those women who had originally shaken the realm now standing with me, there was no reason to be shaken by someone like Zhang Rang's petty schemes.
And so, as I looked from face to face—each of them still unaware of the whole story and watching my side—
my mind began to combine the knowledge of the Original Timeline with the current situation, and the shape of things to come unfolded quickly before me.
At the same time...
"... Hm?"
"..."
"... What is it? If you have something to say, say it, Gonglu."
"... It is nothing, Zhongying."
What I had to do, too.
*
"..."
"I see..."
"Haha... good grief. I knew that old bastard wasn't in his right mind, but still..."
"This is not good at all. I, too, am of the Imperial Family, but I never imagined something like this could happen..."
They spoke with grave expressions.
A gathering meant to celebrate official appointments had turned into a somber council of war. In these circumstances, I kept my own tone cool as I opened my mouth.
"For now, the most urgent task is to clearly draw the line between friend and foe. Zhang Rang has lit the spark, which means lords who have been keeping quiet until now will soon begin stirring up trouble on all sides. Before that happens, we on our end must also make every effort to win over those who have not yet plainly declared themselves."
"Yes, I was thinking the same."
"The first step from our side is to send official decrees to the various lords. In a situation like this, anyone who shows deference to a decree can be roughly sorted that way. It would also discourage unnecessary defections."
You obviously could not place a hundred percent trust in that alone, but as Cao Cao said, it should at least let you draw a rough line.
While we calmly discussed the tasks before us, step by step.
I looked over at her, the one who had kept silent the whole time— Dong Zhuo.
The others were troubled, too, but in Dong Zhuo you could see, with remarkable clarity, that this situation was distinctly not to her liking.
As for why,
I could work it out surprisingly well by now.
And then.
"Well... then, shall we leave the discussion at this for now?"
"Is that all right?"
"I feel we ought to discuss things a bit further. I had meant to drink properly anyway, and there's plenty of time tonight..."
"I agree. The peace of the country is a candle in the wind..."
"For now, this is just right. If we go too deep on our own here, it will look a certain way to the other lords, and above all, are we not all quite worn out already? Since we have gathered, let us drink as planned today and continue the discussion at court tomorrow."
"..."
"... Mm."
"Well... if that is your thinking, Gonglu."
"Understood."
Having thus ended the council with only a rough framework in place, I gave the order to bring in the wine and dishes, which I had intended to present in a livelier atmosphere.
And then...
"...?"
As the drinking began in earnest, I quietly caught Dong Zhuo's eye, then slipped outside.
*
"Drink up, drink up!"
"Mood's terrible, so let's just get properly drunk tonight!"
Though it had begun heavily, the drinking had quickly turned noisy.
But amid all that, one person stood out.
Dong Zhuo alone had worn a dark expression the whole time and had not even touched her cup.
She wasn't in the mood to drink, and her heart wasn't in it.
'Is it... being put off again... like this, again...'
With the Imperial Palace reconstruction roughly complete and Rewards According to Merit finished, Dong Zhuo had truly been looking forward to this moment.
The promise she had once made with Yuan Shu.
The promise of marriage they had agreed to carry out
once the situation stabilized.
The fact that what she had waited so patiently for was finally about to bear fruit had filled Dong Zhuo's heart with tremendous joy, but after the news of the rebellion she had just heard, that joy had now turned into even greater disappointment.
She knew well enough that she could not idly speak of marriage when such a thing had erupted.
It was something she could understand, as a hardened general and as a vassal.
She could rationally accept it.
However...
Understanding a situation
and the despair it brings you are two separate things.
How much longer must she keep waiting?
When she had held back and held back, done her utmost and tried so hard...
when would she be allowed to be happy?
It wasn't that her affection for Yuan Shu had cooled because of this.
It was only that her hatred for this predicament itself, and for Zhang Rang who had caused it, kept growing.
If anything, her longing for Yuan Shu was only growing...
No, to be precise, it had grown to a point that was almost a little dangerous.
The rivals that kept multiplying;
and besides, she could hardly be called young anymore,
and no one could know what might happen in the endless wars that lay ahead.
Snared by such dark feelings, such worries and misgivings,
Dong Zhuo had simply been sitting quietly in a corner of the banquet hall, her hands empty.
That was when...
"..?"
Yuan Shu glanced her way.
As Dong Zhuo watched his back, slipping quietly outside under cover of the noise, she felt a vague curiosity and followed him.
She arrived at the rear garden behind the residence.
There, by a small moonlit pond, Dong Zhuo walked up toward Yuan Shu, who was standing wordlessly before the water.
"What is this about? Perhaps you have something you wish to tell me?"
"It is nothing... significant. I simply... noticed that your expression has been poor for a while now."
"... Hoo-hoot."
At Yuan Shu's words, spoken in concern for her,
Dong Zhuo let out a small, bitter laugh at this man's consideration—he had been watching her condition even through all of this—and she answered.
"How could it be good... I had thought we would finally be able to breathe, but if anything, now things are even more utterly bleak."
"Yes, they are... I hurried as much as I could to prevent this situation, but in the end, it has come to pass."
"You need not say so. I know well enough that you did everything you could at the time."
Right after capturing Hulao Pass, Yuan Shu had pushed on and ordered the advance toward Luoyang.
The Zhang Rang faction had escaped one step ahead, rendering the plan itself pointless, but at the very least, Dong Zhuo knew well that Yuan Shu had done everything in his power to prevent this.
"Besides, what would be the point of lamenting the past? What matters is what we do going forward. So that we can bring this anarchy to order a single day sooner..."
"I... think the same."
There was no avoiding the situation at this point.
There was no path left now but to strive to end everything even the slightest bit sooner.
With that thought, Dong Zhuo offered Yuan Shu comforting words.
At that moment,
"Ah... Zhongying?"
"Mm?"
Looking into Dong Zhuo's face,
Yuan Shu spoke in a solemn voice.
"On that subject, there are actually a few... requests I would like to make of you. Would you hear them?"
"Oh-ho..."
Yuan Shu looked as if he were having some difficulty speaking, suggesting that these were rather demanding requests.
The fact that he had not brought them up during the council but had called her aside like this to speak suggested they were likely quite heavy and significant.
Which would naturally be a great burden, and normally she would not find that entirely welcome...
but to Dong Zhuo right now, it instead brought her a small, quiet joy.
After all, the thought that he was saying, "I can ask no one but you" meant that, unlike other women, he considered her the most special of all.
"Hoo-hoot... since it is you who asks, how could I refuse? Tell me anything."
Dong Zhuo accepted lightly.
Yet even at this reaction, Yuan Shu seemed to hesitate once again, before at last he opened his mouth as if resolving himself.
"First, one matter is... an extension of what we discussed earlier, regarding bringing people over. Personally, I have in mind Han Sui and Ma Teng, currently in Liang Province. Would you be able to handle that matter yourself?"
"Ma Teng and Han Sui, you say..."
Those two had risen in rebellion long ago, only to be savagely beaten by Dong Zhuo and hide themselves away deep in the mountains like cowed dogs.
But while Dong Zhuo had been staying here in Luoyang, they had slowly rebuilt their power, until they had grown into a force you could no longer ignore, even within Liang Province.
"With a greater enemy before us now, placating them would be the wiser course. And if you—of all people, Zhongying—step forward, the effect will only be greater. Will you do it?"
"If that is your will, I shall gladly do so."
They had once crossed blades, but from Dong Zhuo's perspective, she bore them no especially deep grudge—handling this much was no real difficulty.
Of course, the biggest factor was that the one who had asked it was Yuan Shu.
"Next, a matter that... strictly speaking, I should have handled myself, but I expect I will be hard-pressed to give it proper attention for some time, so I am asking you."
"What is it?"
Unlike just before, a cold look flickered across Yuan Shu's face for an instant.
Reading the subdued killing intent it carried, Dong Zhuo asked him in a quiet voice.
"As you know, plenty of corrupt officials who latched on during the Ten Regular Attendants' days are still entrenched inside this very court. No matter how thoroughly you crush the insects outside, if you cannot deal with the ones gnawing from within, the tree will fall in the end. Do you... see what I am saying?"
"I understand perfectly. I will take it upon myself to handle them."
Those who know the meat eat it best, they say. As someone who once took part in the Turbid Stream Faction and had paid tribute to the Ten Regular Attendants, there were very few people as deeply familiar with that world as Dong Zhuo.
The "requests" Yuan Shu was making were things she felt confident she could carry out better than he could himself.
Watching Yuan Shu ask things that truly no one else could do for him—while simultaneously showing her this degree of faith—
Dong Zhuo felt a curious sensation: that the more she had to do, the more a deep sense of happiness grew inside her as well.
But then.
"Thank you. And... there is... one more."
Yuan Shu's tone grew even more hesitant than before as he watched for her reaction.
If this was bigger than the previous requests, just how large could it be, Dong Zhuo wondered, and she let out a small, hopeful laugh as she spoke.
"Hoo-hoot... do not be burdened; say it. Who do you need me to deal with this time, and how?"
"..."
Dong Zhuo asked, imagining he might have someone else for her to beat into line.
And then.
"..."
Yuan Shu slowly raised his finger toward her.
And
the person he was pointing to was...
"Z-Zho... Zhongying!"
"Hm? Me... why?"
For a moment, unable to grasp the situation, Dong Zhuo voiced her confusion.
Toward her,
Yuan Shu spoke in a trembling voice.
"Will you... m-marry... me?"
"... Huh?"