HLCOB C51
by berryChapter 51
The Emperor, in the original history, had once carried out the state-led sale of offices.
It had been inevitable, for after a massive purge the court was left vacant and no political strife could erupt. And in this altered history, where Jaheon’s intervention had twisted events, the same large-scale purge had taken place—yet the sale of offices never came to pass. This was because Jaheon had satisfied the Emperor’s desires.
In other words, this audience with the court was but the Emperor’s bait.
Had Jaheon failed to divide the court, another storm of blood would have swept through the halls—until a court that pleased the Emperor was firmly in place.
Only a handful had realized the truth. Wang Yun, too, must surely have sensed it, yet he clearly had no leisure to concern himself with that truth.
“How laughable.”
The reason was that a considerable number of Qingliu officials had already been coaxed over by the Cao faction.
“Perhaps it was only to test the loyalty of the Qingliu men…”
Jaheon lifted his head.
“Huaseo.”
Before him stood Cao Cao, clad in black ceremonial armor. Behind him the soldiers stood taut with discipline. Had it not been scarcely more than a month? For him to have taken command to such a degree—astonishing speed.
“…Or perhaps it means Wang Yun cannot be relied upon to deal with Cao Cao.”
As Jaheon sank into thought, his vision was suddenly blocked.
“I am the one who came to see you—where is it you are looking?”
Cao Cao asked slyly as his eyes rested on Jaheon.
“Aman.”
Jaheon’s fine brows furrowed in open displeasure.
“Restrain yourself.”
“…Huaseo. Do you not think such words are rather cold toward me?”
“And what of it?”
“When a beauty treats a man with such chill, is it not sorrowful?”
At his gesture, the soldiers scattered in perfect unison. In the broad passageways of the imperial palace, none remained save Cao Cao and Jaheon. Not even a single palace attendant passed by.
“Speak your business.”
Jaheon raised his gaze, weary of such meticulous theatrics.
“Surely you did not come only to gaze upon my face.”
“Now, what if indeed I came solely to behold your face?”
Cao Cao asked again with that sly smile.
But Jaheon, who had already been roused to irritation over Lü Bu, had no patience left to endure Cao Cao’s jesting. Grinding his teeth, he retorted,
“Then send a painter to my house. I will at least send you my portrait.”
“Hm.”
At those words Cao Cao stroked his chin, as though weighing the suggestion with utmost seriousness.
“…?”
Jaheon’s elegant brows furrowed in disbelief. With a sigh, he moved to brush past Cao Cao, ignoring him.
Thock—
But Cao Cao’s hand closed firmly around Jaheon’s wrist.
“….”
“….”
Jaheon’s brows arched sharply as he glared at him.
“Release me.”
“Yet if you leave like this, you will regret it.”
Cao Cao replied with leisurely menace. But Jaheon was not one to yield so easily. With a derisive laugh, he called him by name.
“Aman.”
How could he forget?
This man before his eyes was the very one who had used his sister.
“Do not worry.”
Had Cao Cao not been drawn into matters, Choseon would never have been driven to self-reproach.
“My regret began the very day I allowed you to be entangled.”
“….”
At Jaheon’s words, cold as ice, Cao Cao fell silent for a moment. Then his expression twisted strangely.
“…I do not know how to ease a beauty’s wrath.”
“Have you thought of first conceding it cannot be eased?”
“Yet I long to see the beauty smile, and so I persist.”
At that scornful reply, Cao Cao asked,
“…Hm. If I were to use that token of favor you once granted me, would you then ease your anger?”
But it had the opposite effect. Jaheon seized the hand that held his wrist and cast it aside.
“…Did I not tell you already?”
He murmured,
“That token cannot be used in any matter involving my sister.”
Cao Cao stared at his empty hand, now without its hold. For a long while he gazed at it, then clicked his tongue.
“Huaseo, do you not think you are being too harsh?”
He even feigned pity.
“Not even a lover who desires only the body would cast me away so easily once I am deemed useless…”
“How laughable. It was you, at that time, who came to offer your body.”
When he saw Jaheon yield not a single step, Cao Cao at last abandoned the act of pitifulness.
“…Then I shall speak plainly.”
“…?”
It was as though he sought to halt Jaheon, who was ready to leave.
“To make use of Boncho—that I did not expect.”
Thus Cao Cao’s tone was different from his usual relaxed manner. Yet it did not reveal urgency. It was something else entirely.
“….”
At that tone Jaheon turned his head back to look at him.
“I thought you would at last bring the Runan Yuan clan to heel and make blood rain within the court.”
Cao Cao’s dark-blue eyes narrowed upon Jaheon.
“…But do not think this is the end.”
His voice dropped low as he declared,
“For I truly intend to attempt what you spoke of.”
It was a voice that could not conceal its seething desire.
Cao Cao’s method was akin to a drive hunt.
“…And merrily so.”
Did not the prey in such hunts know full well it was walking into the jaws of death? To miss even a single trace was already to stand within the killing ground.
Seated in the carriage, Jaheon bit down hard upon his lips.
“What further schemes is he preparing?”
Yet at present, no matter how audacious Cao Cao was, it would be difficult for him to strike at the Lady of the He clan. The Empress investiture of the Lady He had already received the Emperor’s sanction. To assault her now and overturn the Emperor’s decision would more likely provoke the Emperor’s wrath. But Cao Cao was not the sort to make such a foolish move.
“How vexing.”
To become Chancellor, Cao Cao first had to seize the next seat of power. To rise as Chancellor under the present Emperor was nigh impossible. Thus the Cao faction must secure the Crown Prince. Moreover, to suppress Jaheon, the Lady He must not become Empress. For she trusted Jaheon, and besides—did she not already bear the Emperor’s son?
“Surely, Aman will desire the Prince…”
At that moment, realization struck Jaheon.
“The Prince…?”
A thought flashed across his mind. He cried out,
“Stop!”
At his command the carriage halted.
Clatter—!
To assault the Empress sanctioned by the Emperor was tantamount to declaring suicide, given the Emperor’s disposition. Then how could one drag down an Empress the Emperor himself had approved?
By creating a circumstance in which all would demand her removal.
“….”
A situation where not even the Emperor could stand on her side. A situation in which Lady He herself committed an act that invited universal condemnation.
Jaheon’s face hardened as he envisioned the worst.
“…If there is a concubine with child?”
In the original history, about this very time, there had indeed been a pregnant concubine.
Concubine Wang.
Mother of Liu Xie, the last Emperor of the Han. And she had been slain by Lady He.
“Damn it.”
The He clan was of butchers’ stock.
A family of slaughterers who rose to wealth through the selling of meat. However rich they became, they could not deny their scorned origin among the gentry. Yet in the original history, Lady He ascended as Empress.
And how had she managed to become Empress?
“She killed them.”
She slew every other concubine who might have been made Empress. Because of that vicious nature, remembered in later generations as cruel and malicious, Lady He survived and became Empress.
“That Concubine Wang, and even her child—she would kill them both, as in history.”
But this time, she must not.
“Damn it.”
The throne of the Empress was almost within her grasp.
Mother of the nation, ruler of the inner palace on behalf of the Emperor—that was the rank of Empress. For such a woman, even the smallest blemish could not be allowed. Should Lady He seek to slay another heir to the throne, she might well provoke the Emperor’s most inviolable fury.
The problem was that this could not be prevented.
In these ancient times, the only way for a concubine’s life to be lengthened was for her son to be named Crown Prince. And what fate befell those concubines who were not mothers of the Crown Prince?
In the end, Lady He had no choice but to kill.
Truly, it was a move worthy of Cao Cao.
“A vile stratagem indeed, Aman.”
Cao Cao had ever been praised as a capable minister in times of peace and a cunning hero in times of chaos. This was precisely such a move—driving people into a corner with emotion, until emotion clouded reason and prevented sound judgment.
“Turn the carriage.”
Recalling Cao Cao’s face, Jaheon murmured,
“I must go see the Lady Gui.”