Too Many Thieves in the World (3): The Winter Defense of Xinye
Winter. A season of cold for everyone, but for him—a youth who had only just shed the last traces of boyhood—that chill was brutally harsh.
"Your Majesty, please pull yourself together."
"......"
The emperor wandered aimlessly with a dazed expression. He wore discarded shoes from a nearby village home, but even those had torn on the rocks, reduced to rags. He lacked even the strength to walk properly and couldn't rely on aid from those around him. There was no palanquin to carry him, not even palanquin bearers. The only people nearby were his own officials, as haggard as he was.
Here was the emperor who had fled from the hordes of Zhang Ji and Guo Si.
Here were the civil and military officials to attend him.
Yet their number fell short of fifteen.
"Am I truly unfit for this?"
Whoosh— A frigid wind swept across their cheeks, slicing like a blade against their skin. Each breath stabbed their lungs with icy air.
"No, Your Majesty. Just a little more strength. Luoyang is near."
From Chang'an to Luoyang. They were heading there. It had been reduced to ruins by Dong Zhuo before, but they remembered its former glory and splendor. No matter how much Dong Zhuo had smashed and burned, surely it was still livable. He didn't dream of ruling as emperor just yet. All he needed was a single bowl of porridge to fill his starving belly. And the power to survive the pursuing forces of Zhang Ji and Guo Si.
That power, regrettably, they lacked. They would have to beg it from others.
For now, Zhang Ji and Guo Si were stalled by a few loyal retainers. Those men had let the emperor pass and blocked the path to buy time. Some had deserted midway, others fled outright, but there were those who had volunteered as bait, scattering the enemy.
If only they reached Luoyang.
Once in Luoyang, things would change.
They clung to that slender hope.
"Surely those loyal to the Han will rush to our side. We've called for reinforcements—they'll come soon."
The emperor drew a small scrap of paper from his bosom. It was covered in tiny, ant-like script, and he pulled it out several times a day to steel his resolve.
"Yuan Shao of Hebei. Cao Cao of Yan Province. Liu Biao of Jingzhou. If even one comes to save me..."
"Your Majesty, anyone but Cao Cao..."
The officials grew wary at the name.
"She is the daughter of a eunuch—and the butcher who massacred countless souls in Xuzhou."
"Why? Are we in a position to pick and choose between cold rice and hot?"
"But..."
"When the Ten Attendants rebelled, Cao Cao led troops alongside Yuan Shao to protect the late emperor. I can only hope that loyalty lingers."
"What of Liu Biao in Jingzhou, then?"
The emperor gripped the paper tightly and nodded. "Liu Biao. Yes. Understood. Is there anyone here who knows him?"
"I do, Your Majesty. We served in the same rank long ago."
"Good. You, then... go to Jingzhou. Beg him to protect me from Zhang Ji, Guo Si, and those jackals preying on the Han."
Tears streamed from the emperor's eyes.
If they were true servants of Han, devoted to the realm, they would pour everything into saving him. Yet the emperor couldn't help but worry—about who they truly were.
* * *
"Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, Liu Biao. They share one thing in common. Do you know what it is?"
"...No idea, teacher."
The middle-aged man rode alongside the black-haired woman, descending the road. Hundreds of well-armed elite soldiers trailed behind them. If they raced to Luoyang to protect the emperor, he would surely grant them generalships. But the commander leading these troops—Zhang Su—sent no forces to safeguard the emperor. Instead, he led his own seasoned soldiers southeast, away from danger.
To draw the eyes of Zhang Ji and Guo Si? No. They hadn't attacked Zhang Su's forces. His army's pace was too leisurely for a rescue, and facing such elite troops would delay them too long. Zhang Ji and Guo Si simply saw it as Zhang Su tiring of Chang'an and departing.
"Teacher."
Suppose.
"You've lured the emperor out as you wished. What now?"
If they knew Jia Xu—the mastermind behind the emperor's escape—was here, they would have charged for a head-on clash.
"Indeed."
Jia Xu just smirked slyly.
"First, decide how to survive, Lord Zhang."
"How."
"One path: race northwest to protect the emperor. Another: disband the army and scatter. Or advance to the Central Plains, seize empty land, and become a warlord there."
"You're pushing it."
Zhang Su snapped at the ever-grinning Jia Xu.
"Do I look like I'd pick either of the first two? You list options just to shove the one impossible path down my throat—what's the point?"
"Who knows? How could I guess your heart and offer just one?"
"You devil."
"Merely ways to survive."
Whoooosh.
A cold winter wind blew. Armored and bundled against the weather, it barely fazed them. But for those in thin rags trudging on straw sandals, it was torment.
"Serving the emperor means endless suffering."
"Yes. West means assaults from Zhang Ji and Guo Si. North from Yuan Shao, east from Cao Cao."
"And south?"
"South?"
"Those 'loyal ministers' dying for a post from the emperor."
Jia Xu twisted her lips at Zhang Su's sarcasm.
"They are men of loyalty, Lord Zhang."
"Loyalty my ass. Where's a collapsing dynasty like Han to pledge it to?"
"Tsk. Dangerous words."
"What? Will heaven strike me down for saying it?"
Zhang Su glanced back.
"Aunt, will you report me?"
"No. Why betray my nephew to a hollow dynasty?"
The sole woman in a palanquin kicked lightly sideways. Dressed simply, she was a beauty rivaling Jia Xu.
"We must seize from others to live. I don't fancy a harsh life."
"Seize."
Zhang Su turned southeast.
"In the end, must we live by taking what's not ours?"
Jia Xu had offered three paths. But the choice wasn't Zhang Su's.
"I wonder what became of Uncle."
Zhang Ji. Obscured by Zhang Ji and Guo Si's shadow, but a Dong Zhuo subordinate who ran rampant in Chang'an. He chose the path of seizure. To plunder his grain, Zhang Su led his army southward.
Zhang Ji forms a band of vagrants, departing Zhang Ji and Guo Si's horde.
Zhang Ji plunders northern Jingzhou for supplies.
* * *
Jingzhou was peaceful land. But as part of the Central Plains, it was ever exposed to threats.
"Bandits in northern Jingzhou?"
"Yes, teacher."
Seo Seo returned from the guards and reported in detail at Suyeon Academy.
"About five thousand, they say. Not exact, but at least that."
"Five thousand!"
"Yellow Turban remnants?"
"From the north, maybe from Yan Province."
Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang frowned, probing the bandits' origins. Five thousand didn't appear from thin air—some force had descended.
"Seo Seo, anything else?"
"Yes. Witnesses from north of here to Xinye said they moved like an army."
"An army?"
Army.
Army?
"Not Cao Cao's."
Not bias from friendship with Sun Uk and others. Quite the opposite—knowing her, Cao Cao wouldn't raid Jingzhou, mad or not.
"Saw a banner with 'Zhang,' they said."
"Zhang? Hah. Zhangs are everywhere. Dogs, cows—even I could claim it."
"Ha, but the banner was definite."
"Zhang, Zhang... which Zhang."
Whose army led by a Zhang, thousands strong, from the north.
Zhang clan. Thousands. Army. North.
"......Zhang Jue's ghost? Dead Yellow Turbans risen?"
"Teacher."
"Joking. But they couldn't just appear... No, that's not the point."
I shot to my feet.
"Prepare to evacua—"
Suddenly, wails erupted outside. Dazed, I followed the sound out of the academy.
There.
"......."
Others like me, packing to flee. Despair in their eyes, no strength in their motions.
"They're..."
"From Xuzhou," Zhuge Liang said first. Once like her, they now sighed and prepared to abandon the land.
"......."
Abandon it.
To where? I could retreat to Yangyang, but them?
Five thousand bandits. Dangerous. Plunder or slaughter, they'd ravage everything. Suyeon Academy wouldn't be spared. Sima Hui's reputation wouldn't make foes rational—I'd seen too much irrationality since Luoyang burned.
"......No. No way."
Flee like this? Never.
During the Yellow Turbans, I was powerless. But now?
Connections.
I had connections. Why become Huang Shengyan's adopted son? Why tie blood to the Cai clan, even nominally? For moments like this.
"......Yuan Zhi! Get a horse to Yangyang—"
"Golden Teacher!!!"
A booming voice from afar startled me.
"Wh-who..."
"First meeting!"
The man in silver armor clanked forward, cupping fists and bowing.
"Lend me your wisdom!"
"S-sorry, who might you be..."
"Ah, rude of me. I am..."
He glanced around, slyly removing his helmet. And...
"F-fake beard? Wait. Aren't you Wen'er's father?"
A parent from Suyeon Academy. As I recalled...
"Why armor? Have you..."
"Yes. I'm a soldier. Worried it'd taint the boy..."
"N-no issue. But why me...?"
He reattached his mustache.
"Mun Bing. Defender of Jingzhou's north. Heard from General Huang. Will you help?"
Mun Bing, confronting the plunderers invading northern Jingzhou.