“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…Ah, I see… a potential rival to the eunuchs for power!” Cao Cao said
with a smile. “The irony… the ‘Old Mistake’ will serve some good! The brother
will doubtless be given command of the army, and perhaps be another Liang Ji, a
dangerous foil! Perhaps your boundless, irritating optimism is not unfounded
after all… provided this ‘brother’ learns from the recent past, as men so often
fail to do.”
“When we are the men of influence,” Yuan Shao said surely, “we will not
make such obvious mistakes, Mengde; we will be just what this country needs.”
“Speaking of men of good character, how’re Mengzhuo, and your cousin
Yi?” Cao Cao wondered.
“They’re fine,” Yuan Shao replied. “They’re fine, and they share my
belief that we all need to stay strong.”
“‘Strong’,” Cao Cao
chortled. “The land is ruled from the shadows by the weakest, greediest and
most cowardly of all creatures… what good is strength?”
Cao Cao’s melancholy was beyond ignoring: he travelled around the
northeast, spent a lot of time in brothels in various towns and drank heavily
as he contemplated his situation. One place that he ventured into in his
earliest travels was in Langya Prefecture’s capital in Qing Province: a
yearning brought him back there many times, and for one woman in particular.
She was radiant but understandably sad, although her strong demeanour and wit
hid it well and attracted the cynical Cao Cao.
“You’re here again, my lord,” the young woman said as Cao Cao took a
favourite seat. “Pei must be very boring.”
“Not really,” Cao Cao chortled. “My wife is though, the poor thing: it
is entirely my fault for wanting her to be something more than just nice to
look at.”
The young woman smiled and started to pour tea for her client.
“…I’ve never asked before, and probably shouldn’t, but… how old are
you?” Cao Cao continued.
“Almost twenty, my lord,” the woman replied.
“…Three or four years younger than me, then,” Cao Cao noted. “Although…
I could have sworn that you were three or four years younger than you say.”
“That’s good,” the woman retorted. “I will age well, then, and stay in
work.”
Cao Cao laughed and said, “You’re wasted here. You’re beautiful, you’re
witty… far too good to be here. Why are you here?”
“…Because I am poor, my lord,”
the courtesan replied with the first raw emotion that she had shown.
“…I’m sorry,” Cao Cao murmured. “I’m sorry for a lot of things… the ones
that cause all this misery are still not dealt with, and I feel personally
responsible for that.”
“You’re but one man,” the courtesan replied. “One man cannot fight the world’s
woes alone. Get an army, if you want to fight someone.”
Cao Cao smiled sheepishly and said, “I… I’ve never asked the next
question before, and certainly should have… What’s your name…?”
“Lady Bian,” the courtesan replied. “My given name is… not important.
It’s a name of a flower, but… flowers are out of place here.”
“And you are,” Cao Cao decided. He placed his hand on Lady Bian’s and
said, “You’re coming home with me.”
Lady Bian giggled dryly and replied, “I have debts to pay off.”