Sword of Power (3)
Upon hearing the news from the palace, Cao Cao immediately donned her official robes and entered the Grand General's mansion. She promptly summoned her aide, who had acted on his own authority.
Lee Seong-hwi, who had anticipated being called upon learning of Cao Cao's arrival at the Grand General's mansion, responded to the summons with a rigid expression.
"What in the world have you done? Without so much as a word to me."
It was a question laced with icy cruelty, sharp as an awl forged from ice. Lee Seong-hwi replied.
"I saw the Grand General's troops, who were guarding the King of Bohai's palace, withdraw without any notice."
"And?"
"I feared some unfortunate incident might occur... I stood guard over the King of Bohai's palace out of concern for her."
At Lee Seong-hwi's response, Cao Cao let out a deep sigh tinged with fury. It was an indirect signal to him that she was suppressing her rage with effort.
"Why should you worry about that? You are my man."
In the process of slaughtering all the assassins who had infiltrated the King of Bohai's palace, Lee Seong-hwi had sustained considerable injuries. Not only gashes from blades, but wounds visible on the nape of his neck beyond his collar. She felt exasperated. Resentment welled up toward Lee Seong-hwi, who had plunged into action without her knowledge to protect someone other than her.
You... you belong to this Cao Mengde. Why injure yourself saving some other woman instead of me?
She pursed her lips. She had intended to berate him harshly for his reckless unilateral action, pointing out his imprudence—why such foolhardiness, what did the life of an eight-year-old girl matter, how could he bear the consequences of drawing the empress dowager's and Grand General's ire first and foremost? She meant to list them one by one and hold him accountable... but at the sight of Lee Seong-hwi wounded by the assassins, Cao Cao swallowed her anger.
Her concern for him overshadowed her fury.
"Hmph, enough! What can I expect from an aide who acts as he pleases without consulting his superior? No matter what happens to you, I absolutely won't help."
Cao Cao spoke words she didn't mean, showing petulance toward Lee Seong-hwi, who had caused her endless worry. It was the typical behavior of a woman inept at handling her affections, dishonest with her heart. She deliberately responded curtly and harshly, hiding her worried inner thoughts.
And as her feelings for Lee Seong-hwi deepened, so too grew her murderous hatred and loathing.
That girl who put you in danger, and those Grand General's men too—I'll kill them all without fail.
The greater her love grew, the more intense her anguish, the deeper it burned in her chest... the more she revealed her hatred and killing intent toward those who obstructed it and wounded him. Like lying on thorns and licking the gall in remembrance of vengeance, Cao Cao harbored an unquenchable hatred, vowing never to forgive those who harmed the one she cherished.
"Lady Mengde, I apologize for acting on my own without a word to you."
Lee Seong-hwi bowed his head and waist deeply, offering a sincere apology. Pretending reluctance, Cao Cao nodded, accepting the apology from the man who had acted without consulting her—and even gotten injured protecting another woman—despite her lingering dissatisfaction.
"Since you apologize sincerely, I shall show broad magnanimity and tolerance this once and let it pass."
Cao Cao emphasized "magnanimity" and "tolerance" deliberately. It was a ploy to make him feel indebted, to plant the notion of a debt in his mind. Given his upright and stubborn nature, he would surely repay any favor received. Cao Cao, ever cunning and meticulous, had already considered this far ahead. What repayment would he offer, she wondered.
"Then return now. Jiam seems quite angry with you, so take care. And when did you borrow the Qinggang sword from Yuanyang? You kept even that from me."
Cao Cao said, turning her head away. Unaware of her inner calculations, Lee Seong-hwi vowed silently to repay her generosity in forgiving his unilateral action.
(龍且再臨)
The palace maids, hearing of Lee Seong-hwi's feat in slaughtering all thirty assassins who attacked the King of Bohai's palace, compared him to Long Ju, the fierce general of Chu most favored by the Hegemon-King of Western Chu, Xiang Yu.
Not only had he single-handedly protected the young imperial princess, but he had also butchered every assassin who tried to scale the palace walls. The horrific hellscape of the King of Bohai's palace, piled with corpses and flowing with blood like mountains of flesh and seas of gore, left the palace maids shuddering in awe.
"Long Ju... His bravery and prowess are truly comparable to Long Ju's..."
The golden-haired woman brushed back the strand of hair falling over her forehead, murmuring thoughtfully. She furrowed her delicate features briefly, then lightly stroked her cheek with slender fingers—a habit Yuan Shao displayed when deep in thought. Tapping her pristine cheek with her fingertips, Yuan Shao soon looked up and asked Xun Yu.
"They say Captain of the Guards Lee Seong-hwi single-handedly slaughtered nearly thirty assassins. Some he even beat to death with his bare hands."
And one of them had his spine snapped while still alive. Like a savage bear crushing a man into mincemeat with its body, or a tiger tearing out a throat—it was unbelievable that human hands had wrought such devastation in the King of Bohai's palace.
"In my life, I've never seen such a monster. I heard from you during the Jian Shi rebellion suppression, but... I never imagined such a monster truly existed."
He had rampaged through the elite Western Garden Army, famed even among the Gold Army, and ultimately captured Jian Shi himself. A goblin of a man. His prowess was beyond measure. Had this occurred not in the palace but in some distant province, no one would have believed it.
"Most... enviable talent."
Yuan Shao muttered, arms crossed. The words slipped out unconsciously, laced with her true feelings. For an ambitious woman born a lowly slave girl, dreaming of becoming the pinnacle of Han and seizing the realm, no amount of capable talent was ever enough.
Thus... she coveted him. Enough to push her other subordinates to the back burner.
If only he weren't Mengde's man... I would have pulled out all the stops to bring him under me.
She had tried to recruit Lee Seong-hwi back then, but Cao Cao's fierce opposition had forced her to shelve it. Yet now, with his legendary bravery earning him the moniker "Long Ju Reborn," the desire she had buried in her heart stirred and raised its head once more.
"My lady, urgent news from the imperial family!"
As Yuan Shao conversed with Xun Yu, an urgent voice came from beyond the door. It was one of her subordinate officers. She permitted entry. Soon, the officer entered the office with a bewildered expression.
When he first laid the foundation stones, he hadn't trembled like this. Back then, he focused solely on building; even if they collapsed midway, he could simply stack more atop the base. Thus, over a dozen years passed. Methodically piling stones from the dirt ground, he finally completed a tower that seemed to touch the heavens. It appeared to reach but never quite did—yet the tower's peak had undoubtedly attained a height to rival the sky.
Just a little more! It's almost here...! Then why, with the seat above all ten thousand within reach, can't I take that final step!!
Empress Dowager He, mother of the crown prince and wife of the Han emperor, gnashed her nails viciously, lamenting and cursing the failure to assassinate King Bohai Liu Xie.
That detestable spawn of the wench, a girl who would forever be her son's bane. The greatest threat to the new emperor's ascension lived on, eyes wide open. The child still clung to her cursed luck. Despite attempts to poison her like her mother, she survived—and even swift assassins failed to kill her.
The final obstacle blocking the He clan's dominion over the realm. Empress Dowager He resolved to use any means necessary to eliminate her before her son ascended as Son of Heaven.
"The Grand General is here."
"After failing, what face does he have to... Let him in!"
To the palace maid's query from beyond the door, Empress Dowager He scowled deeply in rage but did not turn away her brother who had come to the Jadok Palace. She had no desire to hear excuses, but she would listen to why the head of the Han military couldn't even kill an eight-year-old girl.
"Captain O Gwang's elite assassins were all massacred by a single man."
Arriving at Jadok Palace, He Jin sighed deeply before his younger sister, his face stiff and hardened. Most assassins lay dead. Miraculously, two or three survived, but they were mentally shattered wrecks, unfit for further missions. What had they seen to reduce the killers who had successfully eliminated countless Grand General's rivals to such states? It was terrifying. The existence of such a monster. With one step left to the pinnacle above all, for such a monster to surface now.
"Brother, you're the Grand General! Kill him by any means right now! You command thousands of Gold Army troops—what are you hesitating for?"
"It's not that simple."
He Jin shook his head, swallowing a groan at his sister's demand to eliminate the obstacle immediately. He couldn't act now. The tale of the man who protected the little princess from the assassins had spread throughout the palace—no, beyond Luoyang to the Four Provinces. If he, the Grand General, moved against him, not only the ministers but the Luoyang populace would suspect him. It would proclaim to all under heaven that he was behind the assassins. With the new emperor's ascension imminent, he couldn't kick down the tower he had built himself.
"Do you think Left General Huangfu Song will stay quiet if he learns? Or Wang Yun, Staff Officer and Henan Governor—do you think he'll spare our clan? Even Sima Biao, Xun You, Zhu Jun, and Lu Zhi—all the old loyalists to the imperial house will come for us!"
Even as the Grand General gripping the Han military, the veteran officials long loyal to the throne and court were thorny foes. He must never clash with them. That was why he had embraced the pure-stream scholars exiled by eunuch impeachments to win them over. Having navigated politics for fifteen years, He Jin knew better than anyone the stubborn power of those old grandees.
"So don't act rashly—stay put. Once things quiet down, we'll execute him."
Even a monster rivaling Chu's fierce general Long Ju was human in the end. If thirty assassins failed, send over a hundred next. If not, hunt him with a thousand troops; if still not, dispatch ten thousand and make him pay with his life for obstructing the He clan's world.
If there's any variable...
As He Jin assured his sister he would kill Lee Seong-hwi without fail, he swallowed another groan at the sight of Crown Prince Liu Bian, who had shown excessive interest in the man.
"Is the Empress Dowager inside?!"
"Yes, but the Grand General is with her now."
"No matter. Step aside!"
As the He siblings plotted in Jadok Palace, a commotion arose beyond the door. Heavy footsteps approached the source of the uproar, and without waiting for the palace master's permission, the door swung open.
"It's finally happened!"
A middle-aged man in official robes shouted jubilantly, face flushed. General of the Household Chariots and Cavalry He Miao—Empress Dowager He's cousin and He Jin's stepbrother—entered beaming with ecstasy.
He Jin bellowed at the rude intrusion.
"You bastard!! How dare you enter Jadok Palace without the Empress Dowager's permission!!"
Startled by the furious shout, He Miao recoiled. As stepbrothers with no blood tie, He Jin and He Miao had poor relations. Moreover, since rising from Henan Governor to General of the Household Chariots and Cavalry for quelling the Henei rebellion, He Miao's arrogant antics had challenged the Grand General's authority, fueling He Jin's hatred.
"B-but... Brother! Word has come from Chongde Hall... His Majesty has finally passed from illness."
"What?!"
At He Miao's words, not only He Jin but Empress Dowager He widened her eyes in shock.
"Is that true?!"
"Yes. Confirmed multiple times by the Imperial Physician."
At last, the emperor was dead. The emperor, who had wandered at death's door from illness, departed the world without reopening eyes he had briefly closed. The emperor who purged the Zhang clan manipulating the Han court and imperial house, seizing unchecked power—ranked alongside Emperor Huan as one of the worst tyrant fools—met his end at just thirty-four.