This, Too, Is the Majesty of Liu Bei, Gentleman of Benevolence and Righteousness

"Guan Yu! Zhang Fei!"

"Brother!"

"Big brother!"

The three sworn brothers of the Peach Garden met again on the field at Xiaopei and clasped one another's hands. Liu Bei himself had gone into the fight with his twin swords, swept the Trapped Camp aside, and come back — and the blood plastered over his whole body was proof enough of that.

"As expected! When the three of us fight together, there isn't a man alive we can't beat!"

"Truly! This time we finish that dog Lu Bu."

"Brothers, look at that bastard, will you! He still won't pull back — he's over there in his camp, lighting fires!"

"He has no mind to withdraw. Only death will bring him to his senses! Let us strike at first light tomorrow!"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei pressed to tear Lu Bu's force out by the root, but Zhao Bao, who had led the Danyang troops all this way, only stared with a blank face and said nothing.

I heard the rest after the fighting was over. The Danyang troops had fought the Trapped Camp with desperate ferocity and been wiped out to the last man. Should I say that, being Danyang men, they had at least held that camp to the bitter end? Or should I fault them for letting the line collapse when they had more than twice the numbers?

"Come. For now, let us all enter Xiaopei and see to the wounded first. Those who need treatment shall have it, and those who need to eat shall eat."

At Liu Bei's word, everyone agreed to go into Xiaopei for the time being, and I added one thing more.

"Have plenty of hot water ready inside the city. Everyone who can wash ought to wash."

"Wash? You want us lounging in a bath in the middle of a war?"

"Because it is a war! Until yesterday we were all soaked in blood and rolling in the dirt. If one side comes out clean and the other looks like a pack of beggar dogs, what do you think that does to morale when the soldiers look at each other?"

Liu Bei thought for a moment, then smiled and nodded.

"At the very least, we ought to have water enough for every man to wash his face and his feet."

My proposal accepted, the whole host entered Xiaopei. The physicians waiting there washed the wounded with hot water, dressed the cuts with charcoal powder and dried mugwort, and set barley gruel and meat broth before them to eat.

"Haa..."

I sank into the bath in the Xiaopei yamen, and the fishy blood caked to my skin slowly loosened and ran off. Smack. Smack. I slapped my own face a few times to clear my head, washed, and changed into fresh clothes. Outside, soldiers were tending their armor.

"Ah — my lord!"

"My armor. Scrub it until there's no smell of blood and not a single red stain left."

I tossed them a tael of silver, and the soldiers fell on my armor as if they meant to polish it clean with their tongues. I was just settling in to rest with a lighter heart when a howl of anguish rose from somewhere nearby.

"Uuugh! Graaaaaah!!!"

I ran over in alarm and found Zhao Bao. Helmet off, face to the ground, he was pounding the floor with his fist and screaming. I hurried to stop him.

"Captain Zhao, what are you doing?"

"I've lost them all! The boys I raised like my own sons — every one of them!"

"Calm yourself! This is what happens in war!"

Words could hardly cover what he felt. This was the man who had boasted of Xuzhou's finest, the Danyang troops, and of the military authority that let him stand against Liu Bei, Governor of Xuzhou. He had gone to war, his elite had been annihilated, and when his own life hung in the balance, the one who saved him was Liu Bei again.

Without the slightest trace of the old friction between them, Liu Bei had rescued Zhao Bao with magnanimity, gathered up what remained of the Danyang troops, and seen them treated. The larger battle was won, and he never once mentioned the defeat against the Trapped Camp. As a warrior, as a commander, and as a great clan of Xuzhou, Zhao Bao could not lift his face. It was pure humiliation.

"I am truly sorry. I think this was a failure of my strategy as well. I knew the Trapped Camp was strong, but I never imagined they would be that monstrous."

"..."

"Soldiers can be raised again, one way or another, and I will see that the families of the dead are provided for."

"Don't... don't make me any more wretched. I have eyes and cannot look. If I had ten mouths, I would still have nothing to say."

"..."

"I thought my will to win meant I could do it. I was nothing but a common man..."

In a single stroke he had become a commander who had lost every man under him. Where military power was concerned, Zhao Bao could not rise again. Even within Xuzhou, he was no longer a man who could speak of martial talent or of factional weight. Pitiful, yes, but this was war. What else was there to say?

"The war isn't over yet. So long as Lu Bu's army keeps clinging to this place, a chance for revenge will surely come."

I handed Zhao Bao a white towel and quietly withdrew.

"Master Gongtai, is there no way?"

"In this situation, you mean?"

Had there ever been a man who fought two wars in a single year and lost them both? Lu Bu had been crushed by Cao Cao in Yanzhou, and crushed again by Liu Bei in Xuzhou.

So peerless was he that men said Lu Bu among men, Red Hare among horses — Lu Bu astride that red-coated steed of the blood-sweating breed, a warrior with no equal under heaven. When he charged, Cao Cao's men and Liu Bei's alike were beaten down by the sheer force of him. But war was never a thing one man fought alone. He would surge forward in high spirits and slaughter the enemy without order or mercy, and then, when he came back to himself, the soldiers around him had fallen one by one, and Lu Bu stood alone, cut off.

Chen Gong had told him time and again that a brawl and a war were not the same thing. Yet the moment Lu Bu climbed into the saddle, something in him snapped, and he raged like a headsman run mad. Watching him, Chen Gong felt a sincere and deepening despair.

"Trying to enter Xuzhou through Xiaopei has already failed utterly. We should do as we first intended — go down into Yuzhou, aim for Yuan Shu or for the empty lands of Yangzhou, and press farther south."

"I suppose we must. But to withdraw like this — Lu Bu's pride will not allow it."

Even now he was thinking of pride. Chen Gong's hands itched with the urge to throw something at him. He wondered if this was how Fan Zeng had felt, the strategist of old who had tried in vain to rein in Xiang Yu.

"Then, though I cannot say it will work, I will send a letter through Liu Bei, since he has come to Xiaopei in person. If we say that even now we will end the fighting and go our way, he will agree."

"Master Gongtai, is there some way we might also receive the oil and the supplies that were promised at the start?"

"Fengxian, must your greed have no end!"

At Chen Gong's cry, patience finally spent, Lu Bu set both hands on his shoulders and spoke.

"Master Gongtai, it truly grieves me that Lord Zhang was attacked and killed. And from what I hear, among my household and Zhang Liao's family — the ones those men detained and then released — one person is missing. Is there nothing to be done?"

Chen ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Gong was struck speechless, but the water was already spilled and the fire already lit. If he was to claw any kind of recovery out of this simple lump of muscle who knew nothing but fighting and loot, he had no choice but to step forward himself.

"Lu Bu's army sent a letter. At this late hour of the night, no less."

Liu Bei shook the bamboo slip as he spoke, and I answered without hesitation.

"Even when you catch a rat, you leave one hole open. Once the bastards slip out, we plug the hole again. Let them go."

"They also ask whether we can still give them the oil and the supplies promised at the start."

The moment he heard it, Guan Yu drove his fist into the floor and shattered it.

"Is that man not truly mad? Brother, give me thirty million and I will go this instant, take that Lu Bu's head, and bring it back!"

"I'll go right now too! I'll peel that ugly mug off and feed it to the dogs, the bastard!"

"My lord, this goes far beyond all bounds of reason!"

Even Zhuge Jin had put in a word when Liu Bei smiled and added one thing more.

"They also mention that, on the road from Mount Tai, when Lu Bu's household traveled together with Zhang Miao, one woman came up short."

"..."

"Baijin. Do you know anything of this?"

Ah. That cold beauty — the palace woman out of Chang'an who had kept the Diaochan coronets, Wang Yun's adopted daughter. Liu Bei smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Baijin, my decision may well depend on your answer."

"A woman of truly extraordinary beauty did end up in my arms."

"Ha — hahaha! Hahahaha! So Baijin is a man after all!"

Liu Bei clutched his belly and laughed, and Zhang Fei came running at once.

"Brother, I can explain that! She was a maid with nothing to do with Lu Bu in the first place, and she was the one who asked Baijin to save her from Lu Bu's hands!"

"Yide. I didn't ask you."

"Hey! Of course it was me! I heard the woman's story, and if she suited him I told him to take her in. I pushed him into it!"

At that, Guan Yu and Liu Bei opened their eyes like axe-blades and glared at Zhang Fei, who was practically bouncing where he stood.

"Yide. That was you?"

"Our youngest has quite the talent on the battlefield, doesn't he? Playing matchmaker, no less."

Everyone but Liu Bei and Guan Yu already knew how it stood. Zhuge Jin, wearing an expression too delicate to put into words, cleared his throat and raised a hand.

"My lord, they surely know full well, and are only poking at a persimmon they cannot eat. There is no harm in rebuking them and driving them off. Raise the army."

"Hmm. Any other thoughts?"

"I don't care how it's done, but I mean to see with my own two eyes that they withdraw tomorrow."

That was Zhang Pa's answer. Zhao Bao's... his mind was still gone. He stared blankly at the ceiling.

Liu Bei looked around at each of them, clicked his tongue, met my eyes, and asked once more.

"So. What shall we do?"

"If that will make them take it and leave, we can give it."

"Hoh..."

"Only this — where we might have given ten dou of oil, give two. Where we might have given a hundred dan of rice, give about twenty, and the moment they say a word about it, we hit them."

"I see. You mean give it to them."

"Then our lord's name will be known throughout the world in these words."

"Mm?"

Hearing that, Liu Bei's face grew complicated. He shook his head and spread a bitter smile.

"Will a story like that truly spread?"

"We'll make it spread. From the mouths of merchants who cross the whole continent, down to the common folk in the marketplace, until it reaches the ears of the other warlords."

"And where do we get the journey money to send Lu Bu's army on its way?"

"I'll bear it. I'll call it the transfer fee for walking off with one of Lu Bu's maids."

"A transfer fee... that's a curious way to put it. But did that woman truly cling to you and say she would follow?"

"That's how it happened."

"Then we give journey money to Lu Bu as he leaves, so no needless gossip arises about the woman you mean to keep."

Ah. Was Liu Bei truly thinking that far ahead? She wasn't a wife, nor a concubine, nor kin to either — just a maid who had fled. And he would throw journey money at Lu Bu to cover for her, lest she become a pretext?

"General Lu! At this moment I, Liu Bei, have with me my brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, each a match for ten thousand, and twenty thousand troops at my back!"

When morning came and the appointed day arrived, Liu Bei faced Lu Bu's army himself and shouted it.

"Here, modest though it is, I have set aside ten cartloads of oil and twenty cartloads of barley and wheat, so that you may make a fresh start. This is the last mercy I, Liu Bei, will bestow. Take it and go, and the twenty thousand soldiers here will do nothing but see you off!"

At Liu Bei's confident cry, Zhang Pa pushed the carts forward and set them down where Lu Bu's army could see them. Then a man rode up on a horse more than twice the size of any other, an iron halberd in his hand.

That man was Lu Bu. He was not tall, but the square jaw and the fierce, bulging eyes were the face of a warrior who looked as if he could cut several men apart and think nothing of it.

"Xuande! You are truly a generous man! There was a misunderstanding between us, and needless conflict came of it, but I will receive this sincerity with thanks and go down ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠toward Yuzhou and Yangzhou!"

"Brother Fengxian! Promise me only this! For the loyal righteousness of Han, you slew the tyrant Dong Zhuo and saved His Majesty the Emperor! I ask that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you put that tremendous martial skill to use for the realm once more!"

"That, time will tell!"

Lu Bu, having gotten what he came to get, gathered it up and turned away.

"Brother, shall we go after him?"

"Right? Halfway there he'll turn that horse around again, I bet."

"Enough. We have done what we can, so let us go back. Zijing in Xiapi has already urged me two and three times not to linger in Xiaopei."

If Lu Su had said that, he must have wanted them back quickly, unable to know what Yuan Shu might do while Xiapi stood empty. Whatever the case, the vast swarm of locusts that had come out of Yanzhou was trampled underfoot by the mere men called Liu, Guan, and Zhang, and fled.

Xuzhou was safe once again. All that remained was to return to Xiapi. They meant to pack up in Xiaopei and leave once the wounded had recovered, and so they settled in to pass a few easy days.

Rumble. Rumble.

With the sound of wheels, a carriage lavish with ornament came to a stop.

"Hm? Now where did that carriage come from?"

I had been hauling timber with Guan Yu when the carriage stopped dead. The people of Xiaopei and the soldiers murmured, every eye drawn to that excessively splendid carriage, wondering whose it was. Then the thin curtain lifted, and a flawless, snow-white hand rose into view.

"Huk—?"

"Ooooh—"

With the hand, a beauty slowly revealed herself: black hair, a long robe embroidered in red. Expressionless, red lips, eyes deep with paint — a proud, cold beauty. Every time she turned her head, men clutched their chests and went scarlet to the ears.

"H-huh?"

"Brother Yunchang, your face is turning red."

"Ahem!"

Guan Yu coughed a few times and returned to himself. The cold beauty came proudly to stand before me, took her skirt with crisp propriety, and bowed her head. Men had flocked like a bank of clouds just to see her face once, and she had even cracked Guan Yu's stone-faced composure. No further explanation was needed as to what order of beauty that was.

"I greet you, my lord."

"Ah. Yes."

They said Zhang Pa had pulled strings and brought her straight here from Mount Tai. For now, I took her hand and went inside. The instant ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the yamen gate shut, sighs rose on every side and came rolling over the wall!

"So I am free of Lu Bu's hands now, and you have taken me in?"

"That's true, but... your name..."

"Please bestow one yourself, my lord, using my adoptive father's surname, Wang."

"Hah... Fine. You'll be Diaochan."

"Wang Chaoxian..."

"You know how it is. Historically, an awful lot of great beauties are surnamed Wang. Wang Zhaojun, Consort Wang, Wang Yuanji, Wang Zhaoxuan."

"I have never heard of the last two. Who are they?"

"Names you'll hear in passing, someday."

"...?"

Anyway, from here on she was Diaochan, and since I had taken her in, she would live in our house.