Becoming a Master (4)
After guiding Sun Uk to the guest room,
I compiled all the information she'd brought with the knowledge I already had.
Everything that had happened so far.
The Ten Attendants' chaos. Dong Zhuo's reign of terror. The alliance of the feudal lords.
Putting it all together, I reached one clear conclusion.
"Blue Heaven is dead."
I'm no Yellow Turban rebel. Nor am I advocating for them. But the banner they raised rings true like prophecy.
This country's fucked.
"The Han imperial line is finished."
No matter how I looked at it, the Han had no way left to sustain its national power. With one man treating the emperor like a puppet, who would dare step up to restore imperial authority?
The heroes seizing power in the provinces? Hell, they'd be lucky not to declare, "The Han's fate is sealed—now it's time for my empire!" and kick off a new dynasty.
The emperor was little more than a gauge to measure where power was shifting.
A living Imperial Seal, in other words.
With someone brazenly forging edicts and sitting pretty as prime minister, the Han emperor was no longer an emperor at all.
So for me, there was just one move to make going forward.
"First off, we need to buy land near the hometown of whoever solidifies imperial authority."
"Why?"
Sima Yi was jotting down a summary of my words with her brush.
"Shouldn't we buy near someone like Dong Zhuo's hometown?"
"Dong Zhuo's done for. And Yang Province is too far."
"Even Dong Zhuo falls? Then we're all screwed?"
"Nah. When one falls, someone else rises by exploiting it."
I gathered the names of those who'd decided to join Yuan Shao's anti-Dong Zhuo coalition. Some I'd heard of before, others were new. But nearly all were locals Dong Zhuo had appointed as governors, inspectors, or administrators after breathing down their necks.
"Right. They're all beasts. Bandits. Jackals banding together to tear at the giant wolf that is Dong Zhuo."
"Bandits... Little bandits gathering to catch a big one."
"Exactly. Look at Yuan Shao's proclamation. 'Righteous ministers, assemble!' But he's not even gathering people with true loyalty or virtue himself—how many real righteous ministers do you think there'll be?"
Those afraid of Dong Zhuo. Those who judged him a threat. Those who saw this as their chance to eliminate him. Those plotting to kill him and win the emperor's favor for a shot at prime minister or grand commandant.
"Every ambition converges there. But we can't deny it or condemn it."
"Why not?"
"Because otherwise, Dong Zhuo burns the whole Central Plains to ash."
I pointed to Luoyang Castle on the map-like diagram scratched onto the bamboo slips.
"If Dong Zhuo takes power, even Jingzhou won't be safe. Henei neither—hell, nowhere in the Central Plains. To curry favor with him, they'll bribe their way to governorships and squeeze us common folk even harder than before. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say the Way of Peace rebellion rises again."
"So Dong Zhuo has to fall, no matter what?"
"Yeah. Motives be damned, the cause is just."
Down with Dong Zhuo.
It might not represent the will of the masses across the realm, but everyone—from the commoners to the elites—despised seeing the emperor jerked around like a marionette.
"For the Han court... Hardly anyone left with that kind of loyalty. Folks like us just pray they don't take our grain."
"But that person said they want to act for the Han court."
"True enough."
Sun Uk. She was a rare true loyalist, deploying her scholarship and strategy for the Han dynasty.
But that's why she was blind to it. Or rather, she knew but looked away.
The Han court was a sinking ship. Bailing water from the holed hull was futile against the flood from the nine provinces; no tools or hands left to patch it anyway.
Others had already jumped ship. Those still aboard would have to choose soon.
Sink with the Han... or board a new vessel.
"Just five years ago, talk like this would've gotten you beaten to death. But now? I can say it to your face, and it's even whispered openly outside."
"The mood of the times?"
"Exactly. Everyone feels it in their bones, even if they don't say it. The Han's decline."
"So how'll you put it? Tell someone who wants to serve the Han that it's doomed?"
"Yeah. I don't beat around the bush. I call it like I see it. But since I feel for them, I'll point out a path."
I tapped the map of the northern regions.
"At least back someone who'll keep the imperial line alive."
"Introduce them to someone who'd at least preserve the Han bloodline?"
"Right. Smart as always."
One thing I'd realized teaching Sima Yi: she meshed with me better than expected.
"Whether they force their daughter on the emperor to become in-laws, or marry their son to an imperial princess for a family alliance—anyone but Dong Zhuo types. Though in truth, they'll grasp even more power."
"Who?"
I held up two fingers toward Sima Yi.
"Two men Dong Zhuo sees as thorns in his side. Guess who."
"Yuan Shao, who sent the proclamation?"
"Bingo. He's been clashing with Dong Zhuo since Luoyang days. Yuan Shao couldn't touch him there, so he went home to build his base. Dong Zhuo tried to win him over but failed—now it's kill or be killed."
"Kill him, or he kills you."
Not the mind of a ten-year-old. She grasped the brutal political games with cold precision. I stroked her head in praise.
"Sharp girl. Makes me feel like I'm actually teaching you something."
"...Keep it up, then. Hmph."
Still prickly, but those occasional honorifics were adorable. Hopefully, when she climbs high, she'll send her old master some fine silk. Not soldiers with iron flails.
"Yuan Shao's one for the coalition. Who's the other?"
"...Yuan Shu or Cao Cao?"
Sima Yi wasn't certain yet. Judging from what I'd said alone, she couldn't pick between Yuan Shu and Cao Cao.
"Cao Cao's just an assassin type—Yuan Shu's the real threat, right? His forces rival Yuan Shao's. Plus, Cao Cao..."
She hesitated, sighed deeply, then continued.
"...is a woman."
"Yep. A woman."
The lords trickling into the anti-Dong Zhuo coalition were all men. The sole exception? Jo Maengdeok. Because she's a woman.
"A woman... really?"
"Who knows. Think of Han Xin plotting against Liu Bang. No law says a woman can't rise."
"They say if the hen crows, the house falls."
"Who?"
"My father."
"If a hen crows and the house falls, it was doomed anyway."
"......."
Sima Yi stared wide-eyed, speechless. I patted her shoulder and nodded toward her room.
"Off to bed. It's late."
"...And Master?"
Oh!
"Does Master not mind a woman on top?"
"Course not."
I don't care about gender. "As long as she keeps the wars away and the hunger at bay, what's age or sex matter?"
* * *
"......."
Sima Yi lay quietly in her room.
-Jingzhou's quieter and better for living than here. You'll be able to settle there peacefully.
-Once the chaos here dies down, I'll send for you. Until then, learn embroidery and study.
-I've spoken to Master Sima Hui, but what you can learn will be strictly limited...
"Pfft."
Sima Yi scoffed at her father. He'd shipped her off to distant Jingzhou without even assigning a watchdog.
Master Sima Hui had refused. She'd threatened to take only Sima Yi and leave the rest behind. She'd take full responsibility for Sima Yi's education, but...
"Geum Taeyang."
Sima Hui had handed her education to Geum Taeyang. In mere days, he'd shown her Jingzhou's harsh realities, farm labor, and the era's currents.
"...Sigh."
This was it. What Sima Yi had longed for.
Trapped in her clan's shadow as a woman, he'd shone like sunlight, letting her exist as Sima Yi.
Recognition. She needed it. Not just youthful bravado that she outshone boys her age—but this rundown academy felt more comfortable than her Henei estate. Maybe tomorrow she'd call him Master.
As she pondered deeply,
"...Huh?"
A faint light flickered from Geum Taeyang's room.
"......."
Sima Yi slipped quietly out the door. And then.
"Too... deep..."
"!!"
Sleep fled her in an instant.