“Yellow Sky”: Crisis for the Han Dynasty sample (Act I) -- T. P. M. Thorne
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“I’m scared to breathe in case it’s an offence,” Zhang Miao replied.
“Yes, you’re right, this is an ‘amazing transformation’… given you refer to the
‘unsubstantiated rumours’ about dear Mengde.”
“Cao Song’s brother once complained that Cao Cao slandered him,” Kong
Rong prompted.
“…Yes,” Zhang Miao conceded. “Mengde is… was… mischief incarnate; always
composing silly ditties, getting drunk, planning pranks… his uncle was briefly
charged with keeping a watchful eye on him by his father, who was worried that
he was becoming unruly. Mengde expected his uncle to do nothing, but he kept
going to his father and complaining. So…”
“…So…?” Kong Rong prompted.
“This is the way that I heard it… I do not know if it is true, or some
fabricated mischief, since you can never be sure with Mengde,” Zhang Miao
admitted. “He feigned a fit… writhing and uttering nonsense and such… and his
uncle ran to fetch a doctor and, of course, his own brother, Mengde’s father,
in case it was the last time that Mengde might… … …well, anyway, Mengde’s
father and uncle arrived to find him fit and healthy, doing something quite
normal like reading… and when he was questioned by the angry uncle, Mengde, he…
… …he gave the impression that his uncle must either be mad or a man of no
substance. His father wanted to believe his son more than his brother, and that
is what he chose to do, publicly at least. Oh, I suspect that his father is not
so stupid as he doesn’t know who Mengde really is, but… that was how it was.”
Kong Rong hummed thoughtfully and said, “So Xu Shao determined his
character correctly, then.”
“He can be a very good, honest, kind, thoughtful, profound man, Mister
Kong,” Zhang Miao insisted. “But… but he can be something else entirely, too,
if the mood so takes him. He can be very… unpredictable.”
“Then we have a most interesting District Captain, don’t we,” Kong Rong
said tonelessly.
Zhang Miao smiled slightly and said, “We do.”
Within weeks, Cao Cao was welcoming a very confident prisoner into his
cells at a late hour of the night.
“Captain, you are making a very, very serious mistake, and you had
better rethink yourself before it is too late,” the well-dressed middle-aged
man heckled.
Cao Cao smiled slightly, and said, “Why do you say that?”
“Do you not know who I am?” the man chortled. “Are you so ignorant of
the world that you really, genuinely do not know who I am, and yet hold this
post? Perhaps it is better held by another man with greater learning.”
“Oh, but I do know who you
are, sir,” Cao Cao replied dryly. “You are the uncle of Jian Shuo, one of His
Majesty’s most trusted attendants.”
The soldiers that worked for Cao Cao became very nervous.
“Then why am I here?” Mister Jian said with growing irritation.
“Do you by any chance read official notices?” Cao Cao asked politely.
“I do, Captain,” Mister Jian replied wearily.
“Then you will be aware that there is a night curfew,” Cao Cao
explained. “The notices regarding this are very clear… in fact, I’m surprised
that your nephew, being so close to the ones that created the curfew, did not
make you more aware of it.”
“You know who I am, and yet you insist on keeping me here, wasting my
time and issuing powerless rebukes… I’ve had enough of you now, Captain,”
Mister Jian said with contempt.
“Uh-uh-uh!” Cao Cao chuckled. “You’re going nowhere. Perhaps you are
unaware of a truth of these times… perhaps your nephew has not made you aware
of it. Nobody… not even a prince… is
immune to the law. You were out during curfew hours, and the law plainly
forbids it, on penalty of corporal punishment.”