“Intention”: War for the Han Frontier sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“He’s drunk so much of my wine!” Xiahou Yuan complained. “Has he
forgotten that wine is still a bit of a luxury in famine-hit areas like this
one?”
“He’s a pain,” Cao Xiu admitted. “I really don’t like him.”
“Look, gentlemen, he is who he is, and that’s that!” Cao Cao said
desperately. “Can I really worry about ‘annoying people’ when I have far worse to deal with…?”
“…Sorry, Mengde,” Xiahou Yuan replied. “It’s my fault for moaning about
him. It’s because we’re all tired, I suppose… even though we’re not talking
about Yellow Turbans, bandits, Yuan Shao and all the rest of it, we’re still
thinking about it.”
“We are,” Cao Cao said. “Sad to say… we are.”
“…Miaocai, is… is it true that your daughter was taken by Zhang Fei…?” Xiahou Dun asked.
Xiahou Yuan nodded silently.
“…I’ll kill them all,
Miaocai,” Xiahou Dun promised. “All of them.”
“…But how is it not my fault…?” Cao Cao asked. “How is it-?”
“It… it was Zhang’s choice, and he alone is to blame,” Xiahou Yuan said.
“Say no more, Mengde… I beg of you, say no more.”
The mood worsened, and the banquet ended sourly with each man retiring
to their quarters with a frown on his face, despite the best of intentions.
Cao Cao’s next stop was Nan County in northern Jing Province, where
Zhang Xiu was a squatter-tenant with the power of a county magistrate. Zhang
had erected a memorial site to the fallen at Wan City that recognised both
sides of the conflict; Cao Cao had nonetheless allocated a different, separate
place to mourn his fallen son, nephew and bodyguard, and he established his
camp at that place.
“I am not going into Wan City, nor am I stopping,” Cao Cao said to Jia
Xu. “Please compose a letter that conveys my respects to Zhang Xiu for his
ensuring our safe passage through this region.”
“I shall,” Jia Xu replied.
“…If only Tao Qian had been as trustworthy,” Cao Cao said suddenly. “And
did Tao and I have the difficult past that I share with Zhang Xiu…?”
Jia Xu frowned silently.
“…Things like this are all that’s left of my poor Ang,” Cao Cao
whimpered as he stared at a small pile of rocks, an incense stand and a small,
inscribed tablet that had been shielded from the elements by a small wooden
shelter. “I want to commission something bigger, but what for…? He’s still
dead.”
The rest of the ensemble - Cao Xiu, Xiahou Dun, Assistant Officer Man
Chong, Cheng Yu, Xu Yòu and Cao’s bodyguard Xu Chu - were painfully silent.
“I… I’m sorry,” Jia Xu pleaded.
“Oh, yes, right… it’s I that should apologise to you, Mister Jia, for I
did not intend our conversation to imply some attack on you,” Cao Cao replied.
“I had better leave this place soon. Ma Teng and Han Sui await me… this isn’t a
pilgrimage.”
Cao Cao took one last look at the hastily-assembled shrine to the fallen
at Wan and returned to his carriage with Xu Yòu, Man Chong and Xu Chu.
“…You are sorry, aren’t you,
Mister Jia…?” Xiahou Dun prompted.
“My intent was never to harm good men or the Han,” Jia Xu replied. “I
forgot that I am not an inanimate object to be wielded by others, that I had
the option to refuse to serve. I serve a wise lord now, and I won’t falter
again.”