Military Law Binds Even the Supreme Commander
Military law was the solemn code binding everyone in the army. It was the rule all soldiers had to obey, and even a general would face strict punishment for breaking it. But what if the supreme commander herself violated it? Cao Cao's horse had slipped in shock, trampling the fields! The incident spread like wildfire.
The troops were already on edge from Cao Cao's preemptive threats before departure. Whispers rippled through the ranks as they watched closely. One: This battle to suppress rebels forbade plundering nearby fields under the guise of "supply." Two: As it was fought by the emperor's command, no one could dare violate military law. Three: Not even the Supreme Commander for the Defense of the State could flout it.
Confusion among the soldiers following Cao Cao and Liu Bei began to spread outward. Cao Cao stared silently at her horse for a moment before finally speaking.
"Liu Gong!"
She drew her sword and thrust it into the ground before Liu Bei.
"Military law is inviolable! Since the supreme commander has broken it, she must be punished accordingly! Though this land belongs to Shouchun, it is still His Majesty's territory. My horse panicked and ruined the fields! Come, strike off my head at once!"
"What madness is this? Please retract your words!"
Liu Bei dropped to one knee, bowing his head. His eyes flickered with complex emotions as he glanced around, shaking his head vigorously to dissuade her.
"General Cao is the Great General of Han. Soldiers are risking their lives to breach the gates, with Han's traitors right before us. If the supreme commander changes now over this, how greatly would the troops be shaken?"
"But military law is supreme! Strike off my head! Now!"
Cao Cao knelt demurely before him like a condemned prisoner at the execution ground. Liu Bei was losing his mind, wondering why she'd thrown her sword at him of all people.
"The classics say one does not recklessly change generals mid-war. Wasn't the law you set meant for human error? If the horse slipped in fright, issue the order to the horse—it's not the rider's fault."
"If the horse erred, its master must bear the blame!"
"Why repay it with death? For the Great General of Han to seek suicide before the traitors is disloyalty to Han and betrayal of the generals who follow you in trust."
"Who would follow a man who makes exceptions to military law's measure?"
Words weren't getting through. Liu Bei felt like he was going insane. Cao Cao was using him to draw out some response, knowing full well he wouldn't raise the sword—yet she kept demanding it.
"Behead me. Now!"
"...Understood. I will behead you."
Liu Bei finally gripped the sword. Cao Cao lifted her head calmly, gazing up at him with an expressionless face.
"The Supreme Commander for the Defense of the State has violated military law, so she must be punished accordingly!"
As Liu Bei raised the sword high, murmurs rose from the surrounding soldiers. Before anyone could rush in to stop him, he was too close to Cao Cao.
"Yet no matter how strict military law, a subordinate punishing a superior is the ultimate taboo! If the Supreme Commander truly wishes punishment for breaking it, that falls to His Majesty!"
Liu Bei placed the sword before her with both hands—one on the hilt, the other supporting the blade—as he bowed his head.
"After suppressing the traitors, report it to His Majesty in Heodo! Retract your order, Supreme Commander!"
"......."
Cao Cao gazed at Liu Bei offering the sword, then slowly rose.
Snatch.
She seized her own sword from his hands.
"This blade is called the Sword of Righteousness."
With her beloved sword, she slash! severed her long hair to shoulder length. Black locks tumbled down as she tilted her head skyward and spoke calmly.
"Severing my head would be proper, but as General Liu says, my death now would be irreverence to His Majesty! Since I cannot cut it off immediately, I cut my hair instead! My head remains only until this war ends—the emperor will judge military law's sanctity upon me!"
Cao Cao, now with short hair, thrust her sword toward the heavens.
"I, Cao Cao, swear: if I fail to suppress the traitor Yuan Shu, I will behead myself!"
The subjugation army's morale soared to the skies at her spirited self-punishment.
"A woman cutting her hair? That's straight-up crazy bitch territory, right?"
"Hey now, Yide. Don't say it like that."
Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei gathered in their assigned tent, sipping tea and chatting. The topic was, naturally, Cao Cao.
"What do you mean 'don't say it'? Brother, a woman's hair is like her life. Same as Brother Yun Chang's beard."
"Hey. Yide, are you calling me a woman?"
"So could Brother really cut off that beard you've grown for over twenty years instead of your head?"
"......Just behead me."
Guan Yu's face flushed deeper. He stroked his beard with one hand and continued.
"One must punish violators of military law strictly—even write it in the military code. Right, Brother?"
"True. Cao Cao had no real intent to punish herself by law. If I'd beheaded her there, Cao Cao's hundred thousand troops would've captured and killed us all."
"Hm..."
No matter how peerless a warrior, surviving a hundred thousand's encirclement was tough—especially if enraged by their lord's death.
"Brother, can we really let Cao Cao live like this?"
"Yeah. Big Brother, Cao Cao's the one who massacred Xuzhou so brutally. She'll keep attacking until she takes it."
"......."
Liu Bei closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"Once this battle ends, what will Cao Cao do?"
"Obviously attack Xuzhou. You protested to Lü Bu about relying on Cao Cao, but we haven't fully allied with her, have we?"
"Right. Didn't she use her daughters to marry into the rear enemy's family? She's definitely eyeing Xuzhou."
"Xuzhou falls to war again."
Liu Bei sighed deeply.
"All this suffering because of Lü Bu. Sigh."
Without Lü Bu, they wouldn't have lost Xiapi and fled to Xiaopei. Cao Cao wouldn't dare strike Xuzhou so boldly, and they'd just need to hold off Yuan Shu from below.
"Was accepting Lü Bu the mistake?"
"That's why I said cut off that bastard's head and give it to Cao Cao back then!"
"Yide, that's hindsight. If we had, Cao Cao would've marched straight into Xuzhou and planted her ass there."
"Hmph, let that Cao bitch sit—it's just a woman anyway."
"Yide. Don't speak so crudely of a lady."
At Liu Bei's stern glare, Zhang Fei scratched his head sheepishly.
"Damn. If it were a man, I'd curse him out. What's this? Gotta tiptoe 'cause she's a woman?!"
"Not a situation to belittle her for it. Weren't all her advisors women? They blocked Lü Bu, enthroned the emperor, sealed alliances with generals. Like Liu Bang with Zhang Liang and Han Xin—exceptional women shaking the world."
"It is oddly full of renowned women..."
Guan Yu shook his head uncomfortably.
"Still, no famous female warriors. They're all desk-bound scribblers."
"Who knows? Not your level, but someday a peerless woman mastering civil and military arts might appear."
"Hmph, unicorn talk from legends. Oh, there is one—Big Brother's wife who leaves red handprints on his back every night—"
Thwack.
Guan Yu smacked Zhang Fei's head.
"Nothing comes out of your mouth but filth."
"Ow, hell, I wasn't lying! Who doesn't know Lady Gan trains with the bow, saying she'll join the battlefield to help Brother?"
"Yide. Don't even joke."
Liu Bei paled, shaking his head.
"Since fleeing Xiapi, I'm terrified she'll actually don a helmet and charge out."
"...Ahem, sorry about that."
After losing Xiapi, Lady Gan had returned to Xiaopei and practiced archery daily to hone her skills.
"Every night she vows to shoot arrows into Lü Bu's eyes. Scares me to death. Heh."
"But at night, Brother still wins, right?"
"Yide..."
"Heh, Yun Chang. True enough, let it slide."
Liu Bei shrugged.
"Cao Cao, Lü Bu—we've got plenty of true enemies. Even if chances arise to kill Cao Cao or Lü Bu, we can't take losses. Remember: fortune favors the patient. We wandered ten years but gained Xuzhou. Hold another ten—who knows if a Zhang Liang won't appear?"
"True. Our gathering is fate."
"Hm. Never forget the Peach Garden oath."
"Though born at different times."
"We brothers swore. To die on the same day, same hour."
"May our bond last a lifetime! Kahaha!"
Clink. The three tilted their cups.
"Finish this and sleep early. Tomorrow morning, gotta beg Cao Cao for rice rations."
"Brother, when'd you buddy up with her quartermaster?"
"Haha, it's all about connections! Remember when we smashed Yellow Turbans at Yingchuan with Cao Cao? Says we saved her life back then! Hahaha!"
The moon sank.
"We're short on provisions."
Cao Cao clutched her head at Xun You's words.
"How short?"
"Three days' worth."
"When do Sun Uk's supplies arrive?"
"At least ten days."
Rice dwindling, mouths to feed aplenty.
"...Summon the quartermaster."
Killing intent filled Cao Cao's eyes.