Killing the Fake Emperor
Killing Yuan Shu would let Sun Bo live. Killing Sun Bo would let Yuan Shu live. Both are provisional threats to me. Yuan Shu has Jiangdong at his back and eyes on dominating Jingzhou or Xuzhou with his ambitions, while Sun Bo suspects my involvement in his father's death. I have to back one of them and accept a threat that's not quite a threat from the other. In this situation, I had only one choice.
"Kill Yuan Shu."
No matter how I thought about it, offing Yuan Shu seemed more likely to bring peace to my life than dealing with Sun Bo. But what power do I even have to kill Yuan Shu...?
'At least I can contribute to suppressing the rebels.'
Since Yuan Shu had proclaimed himself emperor, it put my mind at ease to act. No matter how much the Han dynasty had declined, its main pillar hadn't fully snapped yet, and Yuan Shu was marching straight into self-destruction. Even without me, he'd die. But if killing the rebel, the fake emperor Yuan Shu, would help Jingzhou, I'd gladly lend my strength as a citizen of the realm to wipe out the traitors.
"Honey's worth its weight in gold now."
I personally carried a jar of honey I'd bought at the market back to the academy. Honey wasn't something we had to have to survive, but I personally loved it, and it made a great snack to share with the kids at the academy. Pick some jujubes, steep them in honey—delicious. When making proper candies, honey made it a breeze. Plus, when my brain was churning, a sip of honey water cleared the sweet fog from my headache-prone skull, and it worked wonders on hangovers too. But with Zhong clamoring to buy it up like mad, the price had skyrocketed. This one jar cost as much as a student's monthly tuition. The deficit was no joke.
"It's enough to bring tears."
"But it's true, right?"
"Can't argue that."
I climbed into the carriage with Zhuge Liang to head back to the academy from town. A woman in long robes with her head deeply hooded was already aboard. 'She looks a bit like Zhuge Liang. No, maybe a tad younger than Sima Yi?' The woman glanced at us warily before bowing her head again. Heading this way, she'd end up at Suyeon Academy or beyond—probably the mountains past it. No new student would dress like that. Turbulent times, huh. Even kids have it rough.
"Master. Mind if we talk about the letters for a bit?"
"Hm?"
Zhuge Liang perked up her ears and asked me, even with someone else there. She seemed awfully invested in where our letters were headed.
"There was a festival at the Yuan clan's village in the eastern hamlet, right?"
"Ah, the one nobody welcomes?"
"Yeah. What do you think happens to the letters we sent to the villagers?"
"Hm... Ideally they'd all get through, but some are bound to get buried."
We'd sent letters to a ton of feudal lords. Under whose name? 'Time to cash in on Suyeon Academy's reputation.'Sima Hui happily agreed to my request. To rally the warlords against the rebel Yuan Shu, she'd lent us her handwriting and name. All for the Han dynasty, of course.
"Some houses might have retainers step up and refuse outright. Not just us—others will send letters too. Ours could get lost in the pile."
"Too bad."
"Still, we're no small fry of a house. At least they'll check what we wrote."
We'd sent letters everywhere.
"To the Yuan clan's kin, the Cao clan, the Lü clan, the Liu clan, and even the Sun clan down the way."
Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Lü Bu, Liu Biao, and Sun Bo. Yuan Shao's probably wouldn't reach. Our missive would just blend into the trash heap of letters. Same for Lü Bu—they wouldn't even know Suyeon Academy existed. My focus was Cao Cao and Liu Biao.
"Will the Liu clan really move?"
"Of course. Even a guy who hates stirring won't sit idle while some fool steals the village grain and throws a party. Distance or not, who knows when those Yuan bastards might hit the rice paddies."
Liu Biao would pitch in on suppressing Yuan Shu. It'd keep his secret alliance with Zhang Su going. Linking Liu Biao and Cao Cao. Cao Cao would jump at Yuan Shu anyway, so Liu Biao had to join to brag later.
"What if the Liu clan sits it out?"
"Then they get lumped in with the partying Yuan scum and catch heat."
Tolerating rebels was as bad as rebellion itself.
"Gotta at least put your spoon on the communal table, right?"
"Spoon... Yeah, even scraps mean you need to."
"Exactly. And we don't even need to move. I'm tight with the Liu clan's lady of the house, aren't I? Sure, last time I ruffled Liu Biao's feathers, but this is different."
Yeah, different this time.
"Liu Biao'll see it as his shot—he'll move. The problem's the Sun clan down the way."
"They split from under Yuan, right?"
"Used to live separate, but after losing their father, they holed up in Yuan Shao's estate."
Sun Bo. If he didn't grab his house and land deeds now and go independent, he'd get branded a bandit with the Yuans and die. ...Come to think of it, Liang, you were handling the letter to the Suns, right?
"Yeah. Remember my brother?"
"Huh?"
Zhuge Jin. Zhuge Liang's brother—he'd fled Xuzhou to Jiangdong instead of Jingzhou.
"He became a retainer for the Sun clan. So I sent the letter through him."
"Whoa."
Connections pop up like that. Life's full of surprises.
"I asked my brother to push it, so Sun Bo'll decide for sure."
"My lord, public opinion is sour. Many noble houses fear Yuan Shu's reprisal."
Sun Bo brooded over the stack of petitions before him. They called him the Little Conqueror of Xuzhou, but he wasn't a real king, yet the local nobles had united in sending memorials voicing their stance.
"Read 'em?"
"Mostly condemning Yuan Shu's ascension to emperor. But none call for attacking him or submitting—bar some diehard literati houses."
"They don't wanna commit their private troops. Hate Yuan Shu, but scared of losing men if they move to suppress him."
Sun Bo kicked the piled bamboo slips roughly.
"Damn! Useless bastards, every one. How can Dongwu's so-called noble houses be like this? Can I really rule Jiangdong with them? They won't step up when it counts!"
"Yuan Shu scares them that much. And they fear you too, my lord. Outwardly, you're still his guest general."
"Guest general my ass—they think I'm under him. Hoo."
Sun Bo vented his frustration, pounding his chest with a fist.
"No solid solution?"
"My lord."
Another voice from outside. Sun Bo hastily tried to tidy the slips but sat back down.
"Come in, Ziyu!"
"Zhuge Jin entering."
A young man slightly older than Sun Bo entered and bowed. He glanced at the piled slips and nodded calmly.
"All nonsense?"
"Yeah. They say clashing with Yuan Shu now means we get hit first—especially Yegang folk. With his kin as governor already..."
"Let's hit Yuan Shu."
Sun Bo's gaze shifted to the youth beside him, Zhou Yu, at Zhuge Jin's words.
"Gongjin. Thoughts on Ziyu's words?"
"Zhuge doesn't speak idly. He's not just saying it—he's got a plan. Right?"
"Yes. The 'Anti-Yuan Shu Alliance' you mentioned last time, my lord—we should make it real."
"Elaborate."
Sun Bo swept the slips off the desk, unrolled a map. Zhuge Jin pulled flag markers from a drawer and surrounded Shouchun.
"Attack all four gates of Shouchun."
"Got the troops?"
"We can handle one south gate at best—others to allies."
"Cao Cao, Lü Bu."
Sun Bo clapped and stood.
"Those guys could take Yuan Shu! But will they move?"
"We move first. We worry about them, but they're most worried about us."
"Our army."
"Yes."
Zhuge Jin clutched his chest briefly before continuing.
"My lord, write the lords yourself. Rally to suppress rebel Yuan Shu. And get the throne's official nod for Jiangdong rule. Draft here."
Zhuge Jin pulled letters from his bosom. Sun Bo's eyes lit up at the surnames atop them: Cao, Liu, Lü, Yuan.
"Brilliant! Yeah... But this Liu—who? Liu Bei?"
"That's..."
"Liu Biao."
Sun Bo's face hardened coldly at Zhou Yu's words.
"To survive, join hands with my father's killer...?"
Sun Bo gripped the letters, hands trembling, then let out a hollow laugh.
"...Give me time to think. Yeah, time to sort my heart out."
He handed the letters to Zhou Yu and brooded long into the night.
"Yuan Shu has to die..."
His torment deepened till late.
"Really bloodthirsty about killing Yuan Shu, huh?"
Suddenly. Zhuge Liang clamped her mouth shut, and my gaze turned to the woman flipping back her hood.
"Thought you'd miss it 'cause I didn't name names? Big mistake. Heh."
"...Who are you?"
"Me? Hm."
The woman pointed at herself and beamed.
"Hi there."
"Oh, hi. Who might you be?"
"I'm..."
The freckle-faced woman grinned mischievously.
"Phoenix Chick. Pang Tong."
...The arrogant girl who called herself a young phoenix was named Pang Tong.
"Pang Phoenix Chick?"
"Not my courtesy name!"
Pang Tong, courtesy name Shiyuan. She dubbed herself Phoenix Chick.
"Heh heh heh, call me Phoenix Chick."
A bandage wrapped Pang Tong's left hand.
...What the heck.