Lü Bu Subjugation War (12)
Everything was packed. We'd received travel funds. Zhuge Liang was all set. All that remained was a farewell.
"Are you sure you don't need to see Lü Bu die with your own eyes?"
Xun You was convinced of Lü Bu's death. So were we, which was why I'd decided to leave with Zhuge Liang. No matter how much of a genius she was, I didn't want her witnessing someone dying. And Zhuge Liang felt the same.
"I'll miss you."
"I'll visit Heodo often. It was a long trip, but it seems to have been a great opportunity for Liang. Haha."
"Yeah."
Xun You knelt before Zhuge Liang. The spot her gaze fell on was meaningful in all sorts of ways, leaving Zhuge Liang's expression far from pleased, but she still "acknowledged" Xun You.
"Concubine."
"Principal wife."
"What the hell kind of talk is..."
Xun You pulled Zhuge Liang into a hug and grinned at me. "Liang permitted me as your concubine. What do you think? It's fine, right?"
"No, what am I supposed to do if you go along with it too?"
"What's wrong with it? You hate it?"
"It's not that I hate it, but..."
"Then we're good."
Xun You accepted Zhuge Liang's playful words with surprising ease. It was embarrassing even for me.
"Wol-yeong, now that I've been acknowledged by the two-horse carriage at your side, I'm official, right? Hehe."
"...I should ask Yi."
Xun You was Sima Yi's teacher. And now she'd received Zhuge Liang's "acknowledgment." That made her my concubine, didn't it?
No. What am I thinking?
Taking Xun You as a concubine meant marriage, which meant wedding a woman with an official position. Her rank was high, but I had no intention of marrying her right now. Cao Cao's forces were still precarious. We'd talk about it after surviving countless crises. If I were the type who enjoyed danger, I'd have joined Liu Bei. But I wasn't some pervert, nor was I the kind who'd grovel afterward out of pride.
-The realm is unified. Suck honey water or do laundry under me?
-Aigoo, shall I make you food? Clean? I'll do anything you command. Strip if you say so! What do you desire, master!
-Just suck the honey water.
'Kim Taeyang vividly licks the honey water.'
...Probably something like that. What? Disappointed? That's just who I am. I've shown a different side sometimes for convenience, but objectively, my ideal retirement is trash-tier. Suffer little in youth, live easy in old age. That's universal happiness. If Xun You rose to a position that secured that, I'd naturally get very close to her.
But marriage? My thinking had shifted. Marrying nobility used to be the dream; now, close ties with them was the goal. Knowing marriage's weight now, I couldn't propose lightly.
"Anyway, think it over. I'm already a woman who can't think of anyone else."
"Don't say dangerous things."
"What's wrong? It's true. Lucky our lord's a woman, or I'd be serving two suns—body to one, heart to the other. Hehe. Oh, right."
Xun You grabbed Zhuge Liang's shoulder, face serious. "Marriage talk must never reach Cao Cao's ears."
"Why Cao Cao?"
"Just our guess, but she seems to want to steal married men and marry them."
"What..."
Zhuge Liang paled at Xun You's words.
"Not joking. She keeps pushing us to marry—not just for heirs."
"How could anyone...?"
"Right? Knew she was unique, but this hobby? What can we do about our lord? Sigh."
Xun You gazed emptily at distant mountains.
"Sometimes makes me wish she were a man."
"Nah, I don't think so."
Xun You and Zhuge Liang whipped toward me.
"What do you mean?"
"If a man had that taste, how many husbands would weep blood? Their wives ravaged by the powerful."
Lucky Cao Cao's a woman. A man ravaging me... that'd be the issue.
"If Cao Cao were a man with that taste? She'd be dead at Wan. Like what Cao Ang did—but worse."
"......."
Xun You closed her eyes, speechless. Even I thought it plausible.
"Xun You, be grateful she's a woman. Some injustices, sure, but more upsides."
"True. More good because she's a woman."
Xun You placed a hand on her chest and beamed. "Only a woman can advance beyond friendship with you."
"......."
Before leaving, Xun You met Zhuge Liang privately. They'd joked about concubine and principal wife earlier, but now it was serious.
"Who will you use that brain for?"
"My husband."
"No need around me."
"I'll keep doing it. Once my husband, forever."
Xun You let out a hollow laugh. "He overlooks your stubbornness because he's kind-hearted. Another man would've smacked you."
"That's why I do it—he's not that kind."
"Seriously."
"Not wrong. I trust Master, my husband. So... I chose to serve him."
Conviction shone in Zhuge Liang's eyes.
"No other lords deserve my full abilities. Just my husband."
"What did you see in Wol-yeong? A kid with Zhuge Liang-level brains reborn in modern times—how'd she fall so hard?"
"That."
Zhuge Liang toyed with her lips.
"He shared a secret I'd harbored forever."
"Secret?"
"Yes. The world's laws, you could say. He told me."
"How?"
"Hehe."
Zhuge Liang covered her mouth laughing.
"The realm."
Clop, clop.
Two horses headed west. Cao Cao stood atop an earthen wall, watching them endlessly.
"Liu Bei made contact at the end?"
"Yes. What should we do?"
"Leave it. If even I can't sway him, how could Liu Bei? If he wanted Liu Bei, he'd have joined ages ago."
Plip, plop.
Rain began falling from the sky.
"Support him when he drifts like duckweed to Jingzhou? Not Kim Taeyang's style. Once he grabs the reins, he charges ahead single-mindedly. Don't you think, Fengxiao?"
"Agreed, but..."
Whoosh.
Rain poured harder. Guo Jia opened a wide umbrella, sharing it with Cao Cao.
"If he decides to serve, he'd enlist immediately—hates dawdling, pushes forward decisively once decided. True. However."
"However?"
"He dislikes Liu Bei, sure, but his disciples might differ?"
"What do you mean?"
"Kim Taeyang prioritizes his disciples' thoughts over his own. If a disciple thrives under Lü Bu or Yuan Shu, he'd recommend them—and others."
"His life and theirs are separate?"
"Yes. That's why I'm worried."
Guo Jia couldn't hide her unease.
"If one of his disciples serves elsewhere—not us?"
"Worrywart. So what? Talent means nothing if not ours."
Screeech—
A chilling sound echoed somewhere. Cao Cao spread her arms to the sky, letting rain soak her.
"Let's focus on Lü Bu."
"That..."
"Yeah. We know it's over. Just a matter of time. But it's Lü Bu. Expect a final struggle."
Screeech.
"He won't just sit until chaos hits Xiabi, right."
A desperate ploy from the besieged.
"Soon..."
Suddenly.
BOOM—!!
A massive explosion shattered the levee like a dam. Pent-up water surged into Xiabi all at once.