Chapter 11

There is a saying in the memories Jaheon recalled from the 21st century: nothing drives people mad like words cut off halfway.

On reflection, Jaheon’s present situation upon arriving in Luoyang was exactly that. Along with the rumor that Wang Yun had taken in an adopted daughter of peerless beauty, there came a single carriage entering Luoyang. Yet if no one could learn any information about Wang Yun’s adoptee thereafter?

Naturally, the people of Luoyang—fond of grinding others’ stories on their gossip mills—would grow even more frenzied. All manner of rumors would swirl, and some would want to verify them.

Men like Cao Cao, for instance.

“You mean, young master intends to meet Young Lord Cao…?!”

Realizing this, O Juk‑yeop’s mouth fell open.

What on earth did the young master intend to do by luring Young Lord Cao out? No matter how dissolute or filthy the rumors, he was still the grandson of the eunuch Cao Teng. O Juk‑yeop, white as a sheet, cried out.

“If something goes wrong, young master, it will become a very big matter…!”

But at that, Jaheon smiled.

“It will be fine.”

Because Jaheon, recalling the memories of the 21st century, knew.

“That big catch is not so small‑minded.”

What kind of man Cao Cao was.

Four days since Jaheon’s arrival in Luoyang.

Thanks to Jaheon largely staying in seclusion and even restricting his outings, all manner of rumors about a peerless beauty began to roil through Luoyang.

Some houses even sent marriage proposals without asking or checking anything at all. Without knowing Jaheon’s name, or even gender. Hearing this, Cao Cao snorted.

“…There’s no point in sending a proposal.”

Cao Cao said with a smile. At this, Cao Cao’s kinsman and close retainer, Xiahou Dun, asked,

“What do you mean, A‑man?”

At Xiahou Dun’s address, Cao Cao looked down at him and said,

“I mean there’s no point in proposing marriage to that adopted ‘daughter.’”

“What?”

“Because that ‘adopted daughter’—is not a woman.”

“What do you mean, an adopted daughter not a woman?”

Even at Xiahou Dun’s question, steeped in incredulity, Cao Cao gave no answer. He only thought deeply. Sensing ill omen at Cao Cao’s manner, Xiahou Dun asked again,

“Don’t tell me you mean that adopted daughter of Wang Yun’s the city is buzzing about?”

“……”

The rumor about Wang Yun’s adopted daughter had been spreading quietly; after the carriage with white wheel‑skirts entered Luoyang, it spread like wildfire.

Because the person riding in that carriage with white skirts was truly beautiful.

Cao Cao could swear to it.

The most beautiful thing he had seen since birth, likely. At that beauty, even Cao Cao had, for a brief instant, mistaken the youth for a girl. But the relatively bold lines, the Adam’s apple peeking forth, the not‑so‑slight frame, and the attire—these quickly dispelled his mistake. He was unmistakably a boy.

Not a girl.

Then Cao Cao wondered.

“Why leave the rumor be?”

The boy was offering no clarification. That fact irked Cao Cao. And more than that, the boy’s face would not leave his mind’s eye. Cao Cao kept seeing that boy’s face.

“Nothing.”

It was a craving he had not felt even when his grandfather Cao Teng piled treasures before him and told him to choose what he desired.

Cao Cao was intensely curious about the boy. Yuan Shao also took him for an adopted daughter—so why an adopted son? No—was the boy even an adoptee at all? Had Wang Yun truly adopted him? If, as with rumors, there was not a shred of truth? What did that boy want? Thoughts rose and fell without cease.

It was at the moment Cao Cao, lost in thoughts of the boy, rested his chin on his hand—

“Don’t tell me, A‑man. You’re not thinking of vaulting someone’s wall to enter Wang Yun’s residence, are you?”

Xiahou Dun asked, face gone white.

“Did you forget how, two years ago, you were nearly caught trying to abduct a bride with Yuan Benzhong?”

“…What? I only helped because the bride didn’t want to marry.”

“Help, my foot! And then you carried on an affair with that bride for quite a while!”

“How could I turn away a woman who liked me?”

“A‑man!”

Cao Cao listed only the unvarnished facts, and still Xiahou Dun would not believe him. Cao Cao’s past exploits were too spectacular.

“No matter how peerless that adopted daughter is, still! This time it’s Wang Yun—Wang Yun, I say! A man bound to become a high official! If you’re caught, even your uncle won’t let you off!”

Cao Cao, bemused at Xiahou Dun’s sudden scolding, asked,

“Why so angry?”

“A‑man, because every time you rest your chin and fall into thought, trouble always follows! Didn’t you break into Zhang Rang’s house after mulling it over just so?”

At Xiahou Dun’s rebuke, Cao Cao, expression unchanged, pondered and asked,

“…Did I?”

“‘Did I?’ ‘Did I?’ Is that even something to say now, A‑man…?”

And who paid the price when Cao Cao caused a stir? None other than Xiahou Dun! Because he was both Cao Cao’s confidant and friend, Cao Cao’s father, Cao Song, would rake Xiahou Dun over the coals mercilessly.

“In that case, it must be done.”

“What?”

“Seeing once is better than hearing a hundred times.”

By instinct, Xiahou Dun reached out to seize Cao Cao.

Whoosh—

But Cao Cao was already standing atop the wall. If he was anything, he was a man of arms—his movements were truly swift. Flushed with rage, Xiahou Dun shouted up at him,

“Cao A‑man! You damned cur…!”

Was this not the same Cao Cao who had been handed a month’s confinement for drinking all night at a brothel? Xiahou Dun had been tasked with keeping an eye on him. Yet, having neatly shaken Xiahou Dun, Cao Cao waved his hand and said,

“Then tell Father that this cur is off to see that peerless beauty.”

Cao Cao grinned at Xiahou Dun, whose face had gone beet red.

There was no one in Luoyang who did not know Cao Cao’s name.

So famous was he that not a courtesan in Luoyang failed to know him, even though he had not yet undergone the capping ceremony; and because his face was fairly pleasing, husbands with wives would often cover their wives’ eyes when word spread that Cao Cao was coming. All because of his record of an affair with Zhang Rang’s wife, a woman more than ten years his elder.

What would such an avatar of lechery do upon hearing that Wang Yun’s adopted daughter was a peerless beauty?

It was obvious.

He would vault the wall and come see in person.

“It would be convenient if he came.”

A late night with the moon risen.

Jaheon sat in a pavilion overlooking the garden, waiting for Cao Cao. Of course, there was a possibility that Cao Cao would not have discovered the truth that Jaheon was male.

“If that youth seen upon entering the city was indeed Cao Cao…”

Cao Cao had likely perceived Jaheon’s gender. Yet somehow Jaheon thought that even knowing the gender, Cao Cao was likely to come.

“If anything, the chance is high he’ll come out of curiosity alone.”

An emotional, impulsive crafty hero of troubled times. Jaheon turned over the historians’ assessment he had given Cao Cao. Truth was, Jaheon had to lure Cao Cao out, no matter what. The situation in Luoyang was not favorable to him. Like a bomb before detonation.

“Or else, abandon it and quickly devise the next stratagem?”

From the rumors now swirling in Luoyang, there were two major events that would occur within at most three years.

[Deposition of the Empress]

[Death of Cao Teng]

These events signified a change of the faction embedded in the court.

Emperor Ling consolidated power by balancing the outer‑clan faction, the eunuch faction, and the scholar‑officials. If the Empress were replaced and thus the outer‑clan faction changed, it was certain that many officials at court would be swept out.

Then what use was it to enter literary salons and befriend the incumbent officials? They would be purged in any case. And Wang Yun’s disposition made it impossible to cozy up to the eunuchs whose power would persist until death.

“My head aches.”

At the very moment Jaheon, sunk in such thoughts, closed his eyes—

“Well now.”

A stranger’s voice was heard. At the sound, Jaheon, seated on a chair, slowly opened his eyes.

It was a dark night.

A neatly kept garden, not ostentatious but refined, and under the moonlight—there stood a youthful man dressed in black.

A familiar young man.

At the same time, a youth Jaheon could never forget. Was he not the one who had stood out with palpable presence even amid the teeming masses in Luoyang? The youth with eyes and hair so black they seemed to gleam blue smiled at Jaheon.

“Have I kept a beauty waiting?”

It was Cao Cao—fated to become a hero who would one day swallow the realm.