Killing the Beast (4)
At that moment, in Yuan Shu's camp.
"Groooan, ughhh…!"
Was it the hangover from last night's banquet? Yuan Shu clutched his aching head as he ascended to the throne. He had dubbed the former Yeonam government office his imperial palace and was still proclaiming himself emperor to all under heaven.
"Bring it here."
"Y-yes? Right away…."
The attendants hurriedly fetched something, one after another. Yuan Shu gulped down the tea cup one of them offered—
"Gahk!"
The scalding heat made him spit it right back out. The attendant who had served the cup immediately dropped to his knees and bowed his head.
"I've committed a capital offense!"
"You bastard!"
Yuan Shu hurled the teacup at the attendant's head. The porcelain was so sturdy that even after striking the man's skull and rolling across the floor, it didn't shatter.
"Bring me honey water!"
Drip, drip.
Blood trickled down the attendant's forehead. But he just trembled and kept his head bowed.
"F-forgive me! We've scoured the entire Yeonam region for honey—there's none left…!"
"What, what did you say?!"
Yuan Shu recoiled as if he'd lost his kingdom.
"No honey? What nonsense is this? Honey's everywhere under heaven—how can there be none?!"
"D-during the farming season, the bees died off en masse, so supplies were already low. And the local honey has all been bought up by outsiders…."
"Shut up! Pay extra, triple the price—get it however you must! This is an imperial command!"
"Y-yes, sire!"
The attendants scrambled out. Yuan Shu gripped the armrests of his jade throne, trembling with rage.
"I'm the emperor of this land—must I rage like this over a mere cup of honey water? Grand General?"
"No, Your Majesty."
Grand General Zhang Xun merely bowed his head in silence.
"This concerns the dignity of our Zhong dynasty! Is it right for Zhong's emperor to bully his subjects over honey water?!"
"No, sire."
"Then how shall we resolve this crisis?!"
"W-well…."
Zhang Xun blinked, then finally spoke.
"We'll buy up every last drop of honey from everywhere else."
"Yes! We have plenty of money! Extra pay? No—pay the fair price if it's worth it! Get honey from wherever it is! Understood?!"
"Yes, Your Majesty!!"
An imperial decree went out across the Zhong kingdom: the Great Honey Hunt. Commoners and soldiers alike went foraging for honey and sometimes got stung by bees, but Yuan Shu simply yearned for sweet honey dissolved in water.
"Hah. I, who wielded imperial might in Shouchun Castle—how did it come to this? How can Zhong's emperor suffer such indignity?"
Yuan Shu sighed deeply, over and over.
"What of Shouchun's reconstruction?"
"We're just beginning."
Cao Cao's army had once seized Shouchun, but it was as if defeating Yuan Shu decisively was their sole goal—they withdrew to Heodo. Holding Shouchun seemed a liability to them; they left it a no-man's-land. Yuan Shu had hastily reclaimed it, but it was too precarious to reside there. Once breached, no amount of repairs could guarantee it wouldn't fall again. In the end, Yeonam became the capital, with Shouchun slated for rebuilding—like Luoyang's fall leading to Heodo as the new seat.
"Still no word from Sun Bo?"
"...He replied that if we send one more envoy, he'll kill him."
"That ungrateful bastard…."
Yuan Shu spat a rare vulgarity, seething with genuine fury.
"When his father died, I provided for all his soldiers, generals, and family—yet he seizes what should be mine and stabs me in the back? Filth who knows no gratitude!"
He cursed Sun Bo vehemently.
"Drop dead! Heaven's punishment awaits those who betray righteousness and the mandate of heaven!!"
"A-about that, sire."
Zhang Xun finally broached the main issue.
"While rebuilding around Shouchun, we got reports from the troops."
"Reports?"
"Yes. Beyond the castle, there are still unharvested crops in the Shouchun fields."
"True."
Crops growing wild, untouched by farmers' hands—like awkward leftovers, too little to bother with, yet too valuable to waste.
"So what?"
"S-someone else is harvesting them."
"Someone else?"
"Yes. To be frank…."
At Zhang Xun's words, Yuan Shu flew into a rage, roaring.
"Lü Bu, you son of a bitch!!"
"I wonder how the histories will record this."
"History is written by the victors. If we conquer the realm, today's deeds can vanish from the annals."
Lü Bu nodded at Chen Gong's words, eyeing the troops gathering grains.
"Indeed. We can't leave tales of Lady Lü Fengxian scavenging abandoned fields to survive. Haha, yes—this is no plunder!"
It was plunder.
"As servants of Han, we're taking rebel Yuan Shu's crops to feed Han's people!"
"And Zhong kingdom?"
"We'll tell Yuan Shu later. Since you rushed to Yeonam and left these behind, I'll take them—and hand over more than half. Kahaha!"
Not taking them wasn't an option.
"Aigoo, milord! Please don't take our share!!"
"Hm?"
A scuffle echoed from afar. Lü Bu and Chen Gong spurred their horses over.
"Still commoners left in Shouchun?"
"G-General."
"Eek…!"
The farmer bowed flat upon seeing Lü Bu. Lü Bu jutted his chin at the man clinging to a soldier's leg.
"Are you a subject of Han or of Zhong?"
"I-I don't know anything!! I'm just a bumpkin from this backwater!"
"Is that so? Hah, lamentable! A commoner who doesn't even know his emperor!"
Lü Bu smacked his lips and nodded at the soldiers.
"Guiding lost sheep is a ruler's duty! You there—bind them."
"Aigoo, milord!!"
"Bind them quick. We're leaving."
Lü Bu smirked at the fainted farmer, dragged by soldiers.
"One more subject for Lady Lü Fengxian."
"……."
"Haha, what's with the face? You suggested dragging them to Xuzhou while plundering Yuan Shu's territory."
"……."
Chen Gong closed her eyes and followed silently.
"If we lose, we'll be history's greatest villains."
"Haha! Worrywart. The world's strongest Lü Bu—defeat? Impossible."
Whoosh.
"Victory is mine."
Lü Bu gazed at the flames engulfing Shouchun's fields with a faint smile.
"Yes. No one can stop me."
"General!!"
A white horse rider galloped up from afar.
"What is it, Gong Sun?"
"A large force approaches from the south! Bearing Zhong banners!"
"Yuan Shu's sniffed us out. General Lü, we can't fight now."
"Mm…!"
Lü Bu lowered his halberd and bellowed.
"Can't leave Xiabi empty too long! Back to Xiabi—now!"
Lü Bu's army swiftly abandoned Shouchun. Afterward, Chen Gong appeared at the ravaged site, reported to Yuan Shu in fury, and the enraged Yuan Shu dispatched Grand General Zhang Xun to crush Lü Bu.
Though Yuan Shu's forces suffered a crushing defeat at Shouchun.
As the saying goes, even a fallen house lingers three years. It had been only one.
At that moment, in Xiaopei.
"Mm…."
Liu Bei, the long-eared man, sat deep in thought between two women.
"Um."
"Yes, my lord?"
"Did you call?"
"……."
The two women exchanged gentle smiles. Sandwiched between them, Liu Bei couldn't utter a word.
"C-can't you two just get along…?"
"We get along fine. She's the daughter of Xuzhou's mighty Mi clan—how could I treat her lightly?"
Lady Gan reached toward "Mi shi" with a soft smile.
"Right?"
"Of course, sister. Thanks to my clan, we rescued you safely from Xiabi."
"……."
"Don't be so upset. Heroes have three wives and four concubines, after all."
"Um, Yaya."
Mi Yu—from Xuzhou's Mi clan, sent to Liu Bei by Mi Zhu—bore that name.
"D-did Master Mi Zhu truly send you with those intentions?"
"Yes, my lord."
"……."
Liu Bei covered his face with his hands. Lady Gan's smile deepened.
"Thanks to Lord Liu Bei, Xuzhou's people know peace. My brother sees you as Xuzhou's hero."
"I've received much aid from Master Mi Zhu, but…."
Liu Bei glanced warily at Lady Gan again.
"D-dear wife."
"…It's fine. Go ahead."
Lady Gan nodded as if resigned.
"If she fills what I lack, I'll follow your will, my lord."
"……."
Liu Bei and Lady Gan had no children yet. It wasn't for lack of trying—or so it seemed, given their long time together.
"Once we reclaim Xuzhou, we'll hold a proper wedding then."
"Sister…!"
"Hoo. So, your bond started in Xiabi? …Behind my back?"
"No, well."
Liu Bei scratched his cheek.
"We met discussing Xuzhou's affairs with Master Mi Zhu… ahem."
"Hah. My lord, mind the age gap. People might call you a thief."
"Pah. In these times, who cares? Hehe, hehehe. Honestly, I'm better than sister, right?"
"What?"
"Not you, Gan sister—I have an older sister above me."
"……."
Liu Bei's vision darkened.
"And… I've already seen your beastly side, my lord. You stole my body and heart…."
"Ahem! Hem hem!"
"…Hah. That's why I'm letting it slide."
Lady Gan poked Liu Bei teasingly, chuckling softly.
"Tonight. I'll bathe and wait."
"……."
"Stealing's still not allowed, okay?"
"Haha, of course. Thieves are intolerable. …Yes, what I did wasn't theft. Mm. Look how virtuously I'm striving to live."
"Brother!!"
A familiar bellow erupted from outside. Liu Bei swallowed a sigh and stepped out.
"Yun Chang, what's it now?"
"Did Yi De cause trouble?"
"Hah. Did he drink again? Don't be too angry—it's my failing as—"
"Yi De stole forty of Lü Bu's warhorses!"
"……."
Liu Bei nearly collapsed on the spot.
Ah— Aaaah—