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“I am not happy, rather I am… I am what you might call ‘grateful for an
opportunity’,” Lu Kang explained. “I don’t want to end up like my grandfather,
nor do I want to be idle like my father. But the ‘Ten’, they won’t let us do
what we want to do here in Luoyang. But I have found that outside of Luoyang,
there are opportunities. They are not for everyone, of course…”
Cao Cao smiled and said, “You refer to my post in Dunqiu. There was
nothing to do there, Mister Lu. Gaocheng, on the other hand, was a challenge,
and it was an incredible feat on your part, I should say.”
Lu Kang bowed slightly and said, “You are too kind.”
“Ayah! A man of your age should
not bow to a pup like me!” Cao Cao pleaded as he matched and bettered the bow.
Lu Kang laughed and said, “You are a very odd ‘Crafty Villain’!”
“…That really has got about,” Cao Cao murmured. “But I prefer ‘Hero of
Chaos’, as melodramatic as either of them sound. And what have I done for such
a title?”
“As you said, you’re young,” Lu Kang replied. “To answer your ‘question
of sorts’, I am going to request that I be sent to Lujiang Prefecture to-”
“Ayah. You’re another one that
cannot accept his age, like Qiao Xuan!” Cao Cao exclaimed. “Lujiang??? I’ll go, and earn my epithet!”
“Hush, now,” Lu Kang whispered. “The court is gathering.”
The courtiers were entering the hall in greater numbers, and the
appearance of the Excellency of Works meant that Emperor Ling would soon
follow.
“…Save your strength for others,” Lu Kang continued. “A few bandits are
not worth your time, ‘Hero of Chaos’.”
“A few-! …A hundred thousand is not a few!” Cao Cao hissed.
“Silence, please,” the
Excellency of Works demanded. “His Majesty
approaches.”
The last few murmurs disappeared, and Emperor Ling’s entourage entered
the hall from their side entrance. Once the sovereign was seated, he said, “We
understand that a peasant uprising has broken out in Lujiang.”
Lu Kang got permission to speak and said, “Your Majesty, I am only
recently returned to court and grateful for it. But I cannot render Your
Majesty good service by standing here. I once pacified Gaocheng: let me do
something about these latest rebels.”
A courtier in the employ of the eunuchs got to his feet, sneered and
said, “Aren’t you Lu Kang, son of Lu Bao that refused to serve the Han?”
Lu Kang snorted angrily.
“Aren’t you Lu Kang, grandson of Lu Xu, who conspired with an ungrateful
prince to overthrow Mingdi?” the courtier continued: the eunuchs tried and
failed to hide their delight at the anger and distress that the words were
inflicting on Lu Kang. The official laughed and added, “And aren’t you Lu Kang,
who was ‘only recently returned’, as you say, from being arrested and exiled?
And now you’re a ‘Consultant’? Why should anyone listen to you?”
“Stop it, sir,” Magistrate Sima Fang ordered. “Lu Kang has been
exonerated, and his ancestors are not the issue.”
“As an imperial relative and clerk of the Secretariat, I looked into
that case and no more was to be said!” Liu Dai declared. “Why is this matter
raised again?”
The courtier flicked his sleeve and sat down, and the eunuchs grumbled
quietly.