“Turmoil”: Battle for the Han Empire sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“…You truly trust me…?” Cao Cao asked.
“Zhang Miao allied himself with the villain Lü Bu and tried to seize the province,”
Qin Bonan replied. “I’ve watched the rest: Xu Yòu and Yuan Shao are up north, becoming
property magnates; Yuan Shu is to the south, funding the rebels that you’re now running from;
you’re the only one that’s tried to make a difference, Mengde. I never had what it took
to be anything much, so I came here to be a farmer; you, you’re a famous hero now. My life is that
much more meaningful for having met you here today.”
“…You flatter me,” Cao Cao murmured. “I-”
The servant boy suddenly returned and said, “Master Qin! Master Qin! There are riders coming!
Twenty men at least!”
“…Hide in the kitchen, Mengde,” Qin Bonan suggested. “Lad, go and tend the horse.
Try and act normally; oh, and have my son accompany you in suitable attire.”
Cao Cao suspected that Qin Bonan was planning something and said, “Don’t waste your life, Bonan. If they-”
“If they come here, they’ll meet me, not you,” Qin Bonan interrupted. “Go and
hide in the kitchen. There are clothes in there that are due to be laundered: find a robe.”
Cao Cao wanted to do more, but the headache was impeding his vision and making it hard to focus; he staggered
into the kitchen. Minutes later, the door was being rapped upon yet again.
“Alright, alright!” Qin Bonan chuckled theatrically. “I’m-!”
The door gave way as a large bandit shoulder-barged it at speed; a dozen men entered the house and surrounded Qin Bonan.
“Where is Cao Cao…?” the bandits’ leader asked.
“What…?” Qin Bonan retorted. “Why would the governor be here?”
“Isn’t that his helmet on the floor…?” another bandit heckled.
“…No more delays,” the bandits’ leader growled. “Where is he?”
Cao Cao was crouched by the kitchen door, watching fearfully; he could only turn away and bite his hand
when Qin Bonan said, “Do you not have the breeding to know a noble when you see one…?”
The bandits exchanged confused glances.
“I entered this cottage and killed the master in order to assume his identity, but I was not fast
enough,” Qin Bonan continued. “I have lived many years, but I have sinned once too many times,
and Heaven has confounded me. Take my head to your masters, for unlike you they will recognise me straight away.”
“…This is too easy,” a third bandit said.
“Heaven is playful,” Qin Bonan chortled. “All too often, great men are thwarted by the
lowest kind; my father died at the hands of bandits, so why shouldn’t I…? Kill me and be done
with it.”
“He’s convinced me!” the bandits’ leader chuckled; Cao Cao stifled a yelp as he
heard the sounds of Qin Bonan being stabbed and then beheaded by the bandits. Cao rocked back and forth
as he waited for the inevitable suggestion that they should search the house, but instead the leader added,
“Let’s hurry! We’ll get a good reward for this!” and ushered his men from the property.
“…Heaven, you are cruel,” Cao Cao sobbed. “This… is not right…!”