“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“I will be fine as long as I don’t have to converse with the likes of Chunyu Qiong,”
Xun Wenruo replied. “In fact, I hear that… … …never mind.”
“…What…?” Cao Cao prompted.
“…I would prefer not to make promises,” Xun Wenruo said. “There’s
nothing worse, I think, than promising a good thing and delivering nothing.”
“…Agreed,” Cao Cao chortled. “That’s the cause of all of our woes,
methinks. In fact, as I will doubtless mention at some point, it’s Benchu’s failure
to-! …But then, I cannot mention it, can I…? I can mention nothing…
nothing that would either make me a hypocrite or him an enemy. …In which case, I have to make
discussing the weather last for the entire evening… … …should I turn us
around…?”
“You know as well as I do that we’re really here to determine his state of mind, Lord
Cao,” Xun Wenruo replied. “Do not let fear of what you will learn-”
“‘Prevent you from moving forward’: yes, I remember Mister Cheng’s words
as well as you do, Wenruo,” Cao Cao interrupted. “I admit that I am afraid… of
what I will learn about us both… he and I.”
Xun Wenruo was about to reply, but he was halted - and startled - by a sudden cry:
“MENGDE…!”
Cao Cao leant out of the carriage and smiled cynically: he knew that the voice was that of Xu
Yòu, a mutual friend of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao that knew the two from their shared days at school.
“…Why that face, Mengde…?” the short, nondescript Xu Yòu asked as he
neared the carriage and fidgeted with the sleeve of his brown robe. “Do you
doubt my honesty as well…?”
“Not at all, Ziyuan,” Cao Cao replied. “I just marvel at how old we all look these days.”
“…You once composed a poem, if I remember, where you said that great power actually
robs you of freedom,” Xu Yòu said. “You forgot to mention that it puts twenty
years on you as well.”
“…I should really write them down,” Cao Cao chuckled. “But yes, I do remember
that one vaguely… it was when I was…”
Suddenly, Cao Cao’s expression changed.
“It was… when I was appointed for… some role or other…”
Xu Yòu coughed nervously; Cao Cao was feigning his inability to recollect the day, and the reason was
obvious. Cao Cao had been appointed as the District Captain of Luoyang, and he had invited his friends to
celebrate the moment. Among that circle of friends were Yuan Shao, Xu Yòu, and three other men whose
faces and names haunted Cao Cao: the reckless Wei Zi, who had died during a badly-planned attack on Dong
Zhuo’s forces that Cao had personally ordered; the honest Lü Boshe, whose family died at Cao
Cao’s own hands during an unfortunate misunderstanding; and Zhang Miao, who was loved and respected
by all who knew him but died at Cao’s command after he turned against Cao Cao and allowed the notorious
wandering warlord Lü Bu to invade and seize Yan Province.
“…It is no surprise that the memory is blurred, Mengde, since much time has passed,” Xu
Yòu said carefully. “My point is made, so let’s say no more of it.”
“…Zhang Miao betrayed us all,” Cao Cao retorted. “He did not merely betray me,
Xu Ziyuan: as Benchu’s appointed governor of Yan, he-!”