“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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8
Two youths stumbled along the streets of the capital, laughing
drunkenly.
“…Don’t s’pose we’ll see old Horse-face again!” one snickered.
“Don’t… don’t say that, Mengde,” the other youth scolded as best he
could. “What… what if they kill ‘im?”
“Bah… they won’t kill ‘im,” the teenaged Cao Cao replied.
Most if not all men of high standing had at least one ‘courtesy’ or
‘style’ name; to Cao Cao’s friends and those who wished to show familiarity,
his chosen courtesy name - ‘Mengde’ - was used to refer to him instead.
“But they might… the way they dragged him off,” the other youth fretted.
“D’you reckon we’ll be arrested?”
“What for…? I never said nothin’,” Cao Cao replied drunkenly. “I…
wouldn’t be so stupid. What, d’you
say somethin’ bad then, Benchu…?”
“No!” ‘Benchu’ replied. His
noble family name was Yuan, and he
was truly of that bloodline and recognised for it, despite being born of a
relationship between his high-ranking father and a household servant; his given
name was Shao. His fate was initially uncertain, but he was then adopted by his
uncle, who was the head of the Yuan clan; that made him the future heir to the
clan chieftainship, which did not suit everyone. He was many things to
different people, but to Cao Cao, he was a dear friend that he referred to
solely by his courtesy name, ‘Benchu’.
“Well, if you never said nothin’, what are we gonna be arrested for…?”
Cao Cao asked plainly. “We’re not the only ones drunk, are we…? And that’s not
a crime… so relax. If your father
finds out, tell him it was an accident, or blame
someone. …But don’t blame me!”
“You’re always leaving me behind, you!” a third youth panted as he
caught up to the two. “Why am I always behind…?”
“Because you always follow others, Wei Zi,” Cao Cao suggested. “Does a
man that always follows hope to do so from the front…?”
“Alright, alright, enough o’ the philosophy, Mengde!” Yuan Shao
complained.
“…I shall refrain,” Cao Cao snickered.
“…Maybe I do follow too much,” Wei Zi murmured.
“You do,” Cao Cao chuckled. “You should learn to-”
“Oh, isn’t that…?” Yuan Shao said as he pointed toward a tall figure at
the other end of one of the moonlit streets.
“…Yeah, that’s…!” Cao Cao said with a smile. “Hey, lets-”
But before any of the youths could hail the older student, he was
surrounded by soldiers and dragged away.
“Wait, this… this feels familiar,” Cao Cao murmured.
“…Yeah,” Wei Zi realised.
“What if we’re next…?” Yuan Shao suggested.
“My father’s father is Cao Teng,
who the late emperor loved like an uncle, and my father is the Director of
Retainers,” Cao Cao retorted. “We’re noblility:
arrest us…?”
“Quick, you three!” another voice
hissed; Yuan Shao, Cao Cao and Wei Zi turned their drunken gazes toward a
street behind them, where a youth of a similar age was urging them to pursue
him. It was their mutual friend Zhang Miao.
“It… it’s Zhang Mengzhuo,” Yuan Shao murmured.
Cao Cao stumbled toward his friend Zhang Miao and whispered, “Mengzhuo…
why di’n’t you come drinking with us…?”
“…Because unlike you, I won’t be able to lie my way out of it,” Zhang
Miao retorted.
“It’s fun,” Cao Cao chuckled. “I see why men drink; it helps you… forget
things.”
The familiarity of the sight of arrests in the streets was haunting Cao
Cao, and despite the implication of his words, he could not forget.