HLCOB C59

Chapter 59

Word of it all soon reached Cao Cao’s ears.

“…A cadet of the Yingchuan Suns visited the laborers’ hall, and Lord Wang has summoned Huaseo?”

“Yes, my lord. That is correct.”

At his guard’s cautious report, Cao Cao—drinking at a tavern—fell into brief thought.

“Is something amiss?”

So asked the drunken man across from him. This man was none other than the current Commandant of Cavalry, whom Cao Cao had raised up as a mere puppet. Had the man been competent, he would have obstructed Cao Cao’s every move. Better, then, to seat a fool who could be steered.

“….”

Fixing his gaze on the man cavorting with courtesans, Cao Cao curved his lips into a false smile and replied,

“It is nothing at all.”

There are, broadly speaking, two ways to handle people: one is to win their hearts through time, the other to seize their weaknesses.

Cao Cao most often favored the latter.

“Haha. Indeed. Could there be aught that might trouble you, Commander Cao?”

He concealed weaknesses to earn gratitude, then discarded men by using those very weaknesses against them when they ceased to be useful. Thus had he seized control of the Palace Guard. For nothing secured command of an organization so swiftly as a grip on its sins.

This Commandant of Cavalry was no exception.

“Were it not for you, Commander Cao, could I ever have risen to this post?”

The man simpered, presenting him a chest. Opening it, Cao Cao found it brimming with silver. Smiling faintly at the weight, he asked,

“Are affairs going well?”

“Haha! All thanks to you, Commander Cao!”

Pillaging imperial stores to amass private wealth was nothing new; it was common sport among officials.

“The only nuisance is the beggars swarming about me, no doubt drawn by word of my fortune.”

Flushed with drink, the Commandant prattled on, boasting of his riches.

“Are they not fools? In Luoyang, if one wishes to prosper, he ought to grease the court, not squander coin on feeding paupers.”

If not that, then his talk was naught but complaints about rival merchants who did not curry his favor.

“Merchants from Xu Province, street peddlers in truth. However much coin they hoard, they have no head for things.”

Cao Cao let the babble wash past—until a word caught his ear.

‘The poor?’

Had not Jaheon purchased his residence near the slums? Perhaps he meant to make use of the destitute. Yet how? What could beggars do save petition for grain or scrounge in the dust?

Then Cao Cao recalled their old conversation.

—All living things end buried in earth. Before death, you and I are naught but common men.

Jaheon did not think as others did. What the world deemed useless, he might yet wield.

‘If that is why I could not plant spies in his hall….’

Cao Cao’s lips curved. He had seeded Wang Yun’s household with ease, but in Jaheon’s hall no servant would remain. Any he sent in were soon expelled. A testament to the loyalty Jaheon inspired.

“Hahaha!”

Suddenly, Cao Cao burst out laughing, in sheer admiration.

It was, after all, an age of chaos, and the destitute were as plentiful as stones beneath one’s feet. They often fell into bondage to great houses. To harness such numbers was not unthinkable.

“…?”

His laughter left the Commandant staring, gaping foolishly. At that, Cao Cao laughed again and excused himself.

“My apologies, my lord. Some business arises—I must be off.”

“…Judging by your mirth, it must be good news?”

“Yes. A good thing, perhaps.”

“Then allow me to see you out—”

“There is no need. I am the one departing, after all.”

Waving away the offer, Cao Cao left the man grinning foolishly, sinking back among the courtesans.

“Truly, you are remarkable, Commander Cao. Then I shall…!”

With a light bow, Cao Cao slipped from the chamber. Outside, his guards awaited.

“What are your orders?”

“….”

Cao Cao gave command in an even tone. By now, surely Jaheon had discerned how he had gained control of the Palace Guard.

“This evening, send the lord a gift. Tell him the wife and child may be spared.”

So serenely did he speak of the death of a man with whom he had just been drinking.

In antiquity, lives were worth less than flies.

—Last night, the Commandant of Cavalry hanged himself, leaving a confession of all his crimes.

Had not Cao Cao seized the Guard by covering up their transgressions?

‘So he has shifted all blame onto him.’

Jaheon realized that Cao Cao had uncovered his ploy. He had meant to use the man’s corruption to topple him, but with the confession pinned on a corpse, it was useless. To press further would be to slander the Emperor’s army itself.

‘He would call it an attack upon the throne’s own guard….’

Lost in thought, Jaheon looked up at Wang Yun’s voice.

“You asked me how we might check Cao Cao.”

Before him, Wang Yun seethed, still smarting from betrayal.

“First, tell me your thoughts on setting a rival in the Commandant’s place. If he starts rooting out corruption, the court will fall to the Cao clan in an instant.”

Jaheon chuckled softly.

“Appoint whom you will—it will avail nothing.”

“…?”

“Cao Cao already holds the Guard. What use is a Commandant? The last one is swinging from a rope.”

He stated calmly the truth Wang Yun strained to deny.

“Any man raised up now will be a puppet.”

For Wang Yun could not contend with Cao Cao.

“….”

At the bluntness of it, Wang Yun’s face flushed red. But Jaheon did not relent.

“Worse yet—if aught were to happen to His Majesty, would you bear the blame? The man you appointed would be held to account. And you who raised him could not escape it.”

Perhaps Cao Cao schemed precisely for this.

‘Aman surely knows as much….’

For both he and Jaheon understood: under this Emperor, neither could claim what they sought.

“My lord,” Jaheon said at last, “if you truly wish to check Cao Cao, then raise up the Yuan clan of Runan.”

“…The Yuan clan?”

“Yes. Place one of them in the vacant command to oppose him.”

At the outrageous suggestion, Wang Yun’s brows shot up.

“And how should we? Was it not you who blocked Yuan Shu from the post?”

“I do not mean Yuan Gonglu.”

Jaheon remained composed.

“Raise Yuan Yilang.”

Yuan Benchu. A concubine-born son of the Runan Yuans—clever, yet barred from advancement, scraping along until he recently gained a petty rank.

“You would make him a soldier?”

“Yes.”

It was not so strange. Many a civil official had been reappointed to military posts, carrying their reputation with them. Indeed, such transfers were sometimes preferred. And being of concubine’s blood, Yuan Benchu’s loyalty to his house was weak.

Jaheon meant to draw him over.

For having confirmed Wang Yun could not face Cao Cao, he needed new pieces for the board.

“And yet is he not Cao Cao’s friend?”

At this, Jaheon laughed.

“In Luoyang, do you believe in friendship?”

What end befell those who boasted of comradeship in history? With rare exceptions, they ended pointing swords at one another’s throats.

“Did not Cao Cao betray you as well, my lord?”

Coolly he laid bare Wang Yun’s wound, and the older man’s lips twisted.

“….”

But Wang Yun held his tongue. Now was not the time to quarrel; better to soothe him.

“You must have some plan, then? Some way to seat Yuan Benchu in the command?”

For though the post was empty, raising him to it was another matter.

“If we were to recommend him outright, suspicion would fall upon us at once.”

Was that not why Cao Cao had pinned everything on the dead Commandant?

“It is no great hurdle.”

Jaheon’s reply was laden with meaning.

“All it takes is one memorial from you, my lord.”

And in his voice lingered the faintest trace of bitterness—directed at the Emperor himself.