The Dragon-Coveting Cao Cao
The road back to Namyang was far lighter than the journey there. Strapped to my saddle was the trophy that would shake the realm: Hua Xiong's severed head, bouncing with every step of my horse.
Capturing Hua Xiong was just the beginning. Our army's true enemy wasn't Dong Zhuo's forces outside, but the incompetence and corruption festering within. Yuan Shu's army was utterly inept—a glaring contradiction for a force backed by the wealth of central China's richest lands.
The reasons were twofold: Yuan Shu's generals were genuinely talentless, and corrupt officials were siphoning off military provisions and city treasuries for their own gain.
When we arrived at Namyang Wanhyeon, Yuan Shu's home base, a strange tension hung in the air. The guards at the gates eyed us uneasily, and the common folk held their breath.
I headed straight for the command hall without delay. My armor was still stained with Hua Xiong's blood and the dust of the battlefield. I took a deep breath. Inside, Yuan Shu's irritable shouts echoed out.
"Where the hell is that bastard Sun Jian?! He's probably scarfed down thirty thousand dan of my rice and run off!"
His sycophantic cronies chimed in from the side. "Indeed, my lord. Sun Jian's always been a faithless bumpkin from Jiangdong. His eyes must've lit up at all that grain—he fled without even fighting Hua Xiong."
I curled my lip in a smirk. Perfect timing.
Ignoring the guards' attempts to stop me, I kicked open the doors to the hall.
BAM!
The heavy doors flew open with a thunderous crash, drawing every eye in the hall to me. Yuan Shu, lounging crookedly on his throne and sipping honeyed water, startled and dropped his cup.
"Wh-who dares...!"
He started to bellow but froze when he recognized me. The blood-soaked armor, the chilling gaze, the overwhelming aura radiating from me—it was a far cry from the lowly clerk he'd sent off just days ago.
I strode toward Yuan Shu, stopping right before his throne. I untied the heavy bundle from my belt and slammed it onto the table.
Thud.
The bloodied cloth fell away, and a massive head with bulging eyes rolled across the table before coming to a stop.
"Eek!"
"Wh-what is this...?"
The advisors around us yelped and toppled backward in horror. Yuan Shu rubbed his eyes and looked again. The ferocious face, the distinctive Xiliang helmet—it was Hua Xiong, the vanguard who had terrorized the realm under Dong Zhuo.
A suffocating silence fell.
I spoke slowly. "My lord, your ordered snack has arrived."
Yuan Shu's mouth slowly gaped open, his face flushing with ecstasy. He leaped from the throne and seized the head.
"This... this is Hua Xiong's head? You? You really cut it down yourself?"
"In cooperation with General Sun Jian, we annihilated the enemy with fire tactics, and I personally beheaded Hua Xiong as he fled."
I paused for effect, then added the highest praise he craved. "This triumph is all thanks to your lordship's keen insight in promoting me and boldly supplying the grain. Your virtue proved stronger than Hua Xiong's blade."
"Hahaha! See that?!"
Yuan Shu sprang up, prancing like he was dancing. "This is Yuan Shu! My general felled the Hua Xiong that made my half-brother Yuan Shao tremble! Even Cao Cao and Gongsun Zan couldn't do it—but I did!"
Unable to contain his excitement, he bounded down from the dais and gripped my shoulders. "Well done, Seowon! Recognizing you was the greatest stroke of luck in my life! I'll reward you handsomely. What do you want? Gold and jewels? Beauties? Or shall I make you a prefect?"
Now's the moment. I'd been waiting for this—when his mood peaked and the sycophants who doubted me cowered in fear.
I dropped to one knee and spoke firmly yet deferentially. "I need no treasures, my lord. But I have one request."
"Name it! Anything you ask, I'll grant!"
I lifted my head and pointed at a pale, trembling man beside Yuan Shu—the corrupt quartermaster chief, Yang Hong, who had blinded his lord to the truth.
"Grant me that man's head."
The air in the hall froze solid. Yuan Shu's laughter vanished.
"What... did you say?"
Yang Hong shrieked like a banshee. "M-my lord! He's mad! Drunk on his achievement, slandering a loyal servant!"
I pulled a ledger from my bosom—the secret record of Yang Hong's corruption, obtained through my intelligence network over the past days.
"My lord, Hua Xiong is merely an external foe. But a parasite within will fell even the mightiest tiger."
I offered the ledger. "Yang Hong embezzled forty percent of the grain you ordered sent to Sun Jian. He bought a brothel in Luoyang with the proceeds and sold offices to his relatives. The supplies I took were scraped together from empty warehouses."
Yuan Shu flipped through it with trembling hands. His face twisted in rage. Lavish and vain he might be, but his obsession with his possessions bordered on madness. He couldn't abide anyone touching his money.
"This... this...!"
His face turned beet red. "You touched my money? Dared to steal my wealth?!"
Yang Hong threw himself at Yuan Shu's feet. "My lord! I'm innocent! He forged it!"
I drove the nail home with a cold stare. "My lord, had I not secured proper supplies this time, Sun Jian would have lost, Hua Xiong would live to mock you, and the realm would finger-point at Yuan Shu as a lord who can't even manage his subordinates. Especially Yuan Shao."
At Yuan Shao's name, Yuan Shu's reason snapped.
"Guards! Drag this worm out!!"
He hurled his cup and roared. "Stealing my money and sullying my name?! Off with his head—exterminate his clan!"
The guards rushed in and hauled Yang Hong away, screaming. "Mercy, my lord!"
Moments later, a gut-wrenching scream echoed from outside. Then silence returned.
The officials prostrated themselves, not daring to breathe. They understood now: the true power in Yuan Shu's army was this bloodstained young general.
I bowed to Yuan Shu again. "My lord, with the rotten flesh excised, now we must grow new. Grant me authority over personnel and training. I'll forge this rabble into an elite force and place you at the pinnacle of the realm."
Enthralled by Hua Xiong's head and Yang Hong's execution, Yuan Shu nodded without hesitation. "Done! Seowon, I appoint you Adjutant under the Rear General and delegate full military authority. In my name, command as you see fit!"
Three days later, at Yuan Shao's camp in Shanzong—the allied coalition leader's base—the lords of the realm gathered for council. The mood was grim, thanks to reports of Sun Jian's vanguard vanishing and rumors of Hua Xiong's ferocious momentum.
Alliance leader Yuan Shao stroked his goatee and sighed. "What a pity. Had my prized generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou been here, they'd have cleaved Hua Xiong in one stroke."
The short man beside him, Cao Cao, narrowed his eyes and jabbed. "My lord, lamenting absent generals won't topple Dong Zhuo. We must decide who leads the next vanguard now."
"Well, Mengde, why not send your own Xiahou Dun or Xiahou Yuan?"
"My generals haven't arrived yet."
Even Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were just eyeing each other warily. Gongsun Zan, Liu Dai, Wang Kuang, and the other lords sat mute as graves, terrified of Hua Xiong's prowess.
Then, a guard's urgent shout rang from the entrance. "Rear General Yuan Shu has arrived!"
Yuan Shao frowned. "What a racket."
Yuan Shu entered haughtily in resplendent silk robes. Normally he'd slink to a corner, wary of his half-brother, but today his shoulders were sky-high, a smug grin on his lips. Trailing him like a shadow was a young general in gleaming black armor—Seowon, slayer of Hua Xiong.
"Gonglu, you're late to council. What kept you?" Yuan Shao scolded sternly.
Yuan Shu snorted and strode to the center, ignoring his seat. "My lord, what's the point of talk? Rebels are quelled by the sword, not words."
"What? Gonglu, how dare you...!"
Yuan Shu beckoned me. I tossed the bundle from my bosom onto Yuan Shao's table.
Roll—thud.
The cloth unraveled, and Hua Xiong's rotting, foul-smelling head knocked over Yuan Shao's wine cup before stopping.
"Urk!"
"What the hell?!"
The lords leaped up in horror. Yuan Shao recoiled. But Cao Cao recognized it first.
"This... this is... Hua Xiong?!"
The hall erupted. "Hua Xiong?" "You killed that Hua Xiong?!"
Yuan Shu casually pinched his nose with his sleeve. "Picked it up on the way—bored, you know. Use it for drinks."
The lords who'd scorned him moments ago now gaped in awe. Yuan Shu savored it, calling for honeyed water.
Then Cao Cao rose and approached. His sharp eyes gleamed. "Gonglu, impressive. Felling the realm's Hua Xiong. I heard even Sun Jian struggled—who felled this monster? Surely not you personally."
Yuan Shu shrugged and nodded toward me. "Haha, not me. My subordinate here routed his unit and took his head."
Cao Cao's gaze locked on me. A chill ran down my spine. He wasn't just looking—he was appraising my physique, weighing the latent talent buried in my bones with a predator's scrutiny.
The ambitious schemer of chaos. Cao Cao's talent scanner had activated.
"Hoo..."
Cao Cao's keen insight pierced me. Even restrained, my heroic aura leaked out, striking his heart. A foundation like bedrock, eyes unshaken. Too vast to hide behind Yuan Shu's skirts.
A dragon, Cao Cao thrilled inwardly. To think a monster like that lurked under Yuan Shu...
He addressed me. "What is your name, sir?"
I bowed politely. "Seowon."
"Seowon... A new name to me. Did you trade fifty bouts with Hua Xiong, perhaps?"
Glancing at Yuan Shu as if for permission, I replied humbly. "By good fortune, I took him in fifty exchanges."
"Fifty...?"
Cao Cao's eyes narrowed. Unscathed after fifty bouts with Hua Xiong? By "luck"?
He saw through it. This youth was hiding his prowess—not barely winning, but dominating.
"Haha! Humility too— the mark of a true general. Gonglu, I'm envious. You've unearthed a jade among jades."
Cao Cao clapped my shoulder amiably, but his eyes burned like a hawk's on prey.
His aura's too grand for Yuan Shu's shadow. How long will that dragon wallow in this mud? Soon, he'll grace my tent.
Cao Cao's heart swirled with fierce ambition. Oblivious, Yuan Shu preened, claiming the praise. "Mengde, drool all you want—Seowon's mine."
"Gonglu, you're too much. I merely admired the talent—no need for anger."
Cao Cao laughed heartily, defusing it, but behind his smile lurked a raging thirst for me.
He returned to his seat but kept stealing glances throughout. I ignored them, guarding Yuan Shu's back.
Not content with annihilating Hua Xiong's unit, Yuan Shu's army—and its severed-head trophy—now pierced the heavens in prestige. Lords vied to pour his wine; even Yuan Shao praised him, wary. "As expected of our Yuan bloodline. Gonglu's done great deeds."
As the mood warmed, a mud-caked messenger tumbled in from outside.
"R-report! Emergency!"
Yuan Shao asked irritably. "What now? Hua Xiong's dead—what's the rush?"
"D-Dong Zhuo's main force has arrived! They've camped before Horoguan—their momentum blankets the mountains!"
"Dong Zhuo himself? Well, without Hua Xiong, our numbers will overwhelm—"
"No! The vanguard... the vanguard's changed!"
The messenger stammered in terror. "Who? Li Jue? Guo Si?"
"Lu Bu! Lu Bu! He's mounted his Red Hare before the gates, taunting us!"
Clang. A cup shattered.
The hall fell deathly silent, like ice water doused over it.
Lu Bu. That name's weight dwarfed Hua Xiong's. If Hua Xiong was a wolf, Lu Bu was calamity incarnate.
"L-Lu Bu...?"
Gongsun Zan's face blanched. "The unparalleled Lu Bu himself?"
All eyes turned to one place: Yuan Shu, who'd just boasted of slaying Hua Xiong, and me behind him.
Yuan Shu paled too. He turned, panic in his eyes: Seowon... what now?
I sighed softly and whispered to him alone. "My lord, an opportunity."
"O-opportunity? With Lu Bu?"
"The one who steps up when all fear becomes the hero. And I... have a plan to take him."
"A plan?"
"Slicing Lu Bu with blades would cost our army dearly. I'll use your mightiest weapon, my lord: money."
Yuan Shu recalled the gold I'd seized from Yang Hong and the treasure wagons I'd ordered prepped. Fear turned to curiosity. He cleared his throat and scanned the lords.
"Ahem! Lu Bu, eh? A name worth something at last. Everyone scared?"
Yuan Shao flushed. "Wh-who's scared?!"
"Then brother, you go. Yan Liang and Wen Chou still not here?"
Yuan Shao was speechless. Yuan Shu rose triumphantly.
"Fine. I'll step up again. With my general Seowon, we'll crush Lu Bu's spirit. But..."
He eyed Cao Cao and Liu Bei. "I'll need help. Mengde, and that big-eared fellow behind Gongsun Zan—lend a hand."
I smiled inwardly. The board was set. Before Lu Bu's absolute might, I'd crack it with the basest weapon—gold—and unite the heroes to hunt him.
This was my script.
My eyes met Cao Cao's. He smirked, intrigued. Show me, Seowon.
I bowed silently. Watch closely, Cao Cao. See how the talent you crave wages war.
Horoguan. The Three Kingdoms' greatest battle was about to unfold there.