[The Three Kingdoms] Golden Sun Exhibition

80 – Collaborator (3)

“hahahaha.”

The young man ran.

Without even saying a word, I ran with straw shoes that looked like they were about to fall off at any moment.

“hahahahaha! Chase after him! But never kill him!”

Someone’s shout echoed loudly in the wilderness.

The young man and the civil servants assisting him became contemplative.

“elongation…!!”

“Chase! The one who catches it is the owner!”

“Even Gwaksa!”

As soon as Dong-tak’s misdeeds ended, they became a pair of mischievous acts.

They emptied the room and rode their horses directly.

“Stop! I searched all over the place like teeth, looking for you!”

“Where is that bastard?! You lied to us that you went to Pachok! I will kill you!!”

It had been two months since the emperor escaped from Chang’an.

“You covered a distance that would have taken less than five days on horseback in just two months! Are you crawling?!”

“Even if a baby walks, it’ll be faster than this! Damn it!”

Lee Gak and Master Kwak did not expect that it would be dark under the lamp and that the emperor would move east so slowly.

“There is no longer a funeral to protect you!”

“You can’t even see the family lord! She uses the emperor as bait and throws herself out as a fool. That b*tch is poisonous too! Vicious!”

Lee Gak and Gwaksa chased after the emperor, screaming.

“There! How long do you think you can run?!”

From noble mtl dot com

“Stop! If you get caught now, you’re going to live quietly!”

If it had been a place where they could run on horseback, the emperor would have been caught long ago.

But the terrain is wasteland, over mud.

A small amount of snow had piled up in the winter, but it began to slowly melt, and the emperor was running on a ‘mountain road’ that had become rough due to rain just a day before.

I escaped from the imperial palace in Luoyang and ran blindly to the southeast.

In the east, cavalry could run, so they would be caught up quickly, and in the north, there was the Yellow River, so it was an excellent choice in a situation where there were no ships arranged in advance.

No, it was just a choice for survival.

I was afraid of those chasing me from behind, so I just ran away and ran away.

Who is in the south?

I don’t know that.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha.”

It’s just that the nightmare in the market will continue as soon as they catch you.

If the arduous march from Chang’an to Luoyang, which I managed to survive by running away as slowly as a slug, ends like this, I feel like I will go crazy with injustice.

Like the rice in the bamboo tube that was cold but still had some warmth.

I just run and run to a place where I can feel warmth.

however.

“ah…!!”

The emperor was in despair.

I risked my life to climb over the mountain, but what I could see was a wide plain.

It didn’t look like a village, and beyond the wide plain stood a tall castle wall that looked like a gateway.

“ha ha ha….”

One of the civil servants who had been assisting the emperor until the end sat down as if in despair.

“It’s over now….”

One by one, the other civil servants began to lose strength in their legs and sit down.

The rice balls in the bamboo tube they had shared four days ago were the last food they ate, and they had nowhere else to live.

Wow!!

The emperor also closed his eyes at the sound of shouts coming from behind.

But the emperor continued to walk forward, even though it was difficult.

Under his torn straw sandals, even as the snowy field turned red, the emperor walked forward and walked again.

“It’s over! No more—!”

The moment Lee Gak and Gwaksa’s vanguard left the mountain.

Doo doo doo doo.

In the distance, the sound of horses’ hooves began to echo.

As the expressions of the emperor and his civil servants grew darker, the person who climbed on top of the leading black horse and aimed his bow was-

“female?”

New love!

The woman shot a bow.

The arrow flew above the emperor and hit the head of the soldier who was running towards him from behind.

Wow!!

Cavalrymen with blue-painted armor scattered left and right and began running as if to protect the emperor’s party.

The soldiers who had just come down the mountain were embarrassed by the cavalrymen, who, unlike themselves who were lightly dressed, were thoroughly armed, and began to back away.

“Ahhh…!”

The cavalry’s movements were clearly intended to protect the emperor.

Even though he didn’t know who the other person was, the emperor was just grateful that the woman in front of him had saved him right away.

“Your Majesty, please forgive my disloyalty.”

As soon as the woman jumped off the horse, she took off her shoes.

Holding out her fur-lined leather shoes, the woman got down on one knee and pushed on her shoes.

“Please wear your shoes.”

“You…”

“Conviction.”

The woman raised her head and faced the emperor with her arms raised.

“My name is Jo Maeng-deok, who was former military leader.”

Jo Maeng-deok of the All-Army Committee.

The last official position given by a legitimate imperial family.

Wow!!

With a shout, Cao Cao’s army swung their swords at the bandits in Chang’an.

* * *

“You’ve really changed a lot.”

Cao Cao glanced at Luoyang and shook his head.

Starting from the place he guarded in the past when he was a member of the Seowon Palgyowi, he looked around Luoyang, but there were almost no traces of people.

All there is is a dead body.

There was not even a hint of death in Luoyang.

The bodies of the dead, left for years, were eaten by wild dogs, bugs, and crows, leaving only white bones behind.

“Moon Yak.”

“Yes, Duke.”

“Have you seen Luoyang too?”

“…Unfortunately, I didn’t last as long as Zhou Gong.”

“Really? Then how is Luoyang then and Luoyang now?”

JoJo spread his arms and shook his head.

“This is a dead land. It has become so ruined that it can no longer be recovered. Personally, I think it is at a level where we have no choice but to rebuild the city looking decades away, or even over a hundred years away.”

“What the Duke of Zhou said… are you thinking about transferring the capital?”

“I see.”

Heavenly capital.

It is not something that can be said easily.

“Is Luoyang the capital? Is Changan the capital? No. Wherever the Emperor is located is the capital of this country.”

Cao Cao pointed in the direction of the crumbling imperial palace.

“Look at that. Is that the imperial palace, or the palace of a fallen country? By all accounts, it’s the latter. Does it make sense to eat meat soup and rice over there?”

Cao Cao defeated the armies of Li Gak and Guo Si.

He took care of the emperor and some civil servants, but they wanted to stay in Luoyang for a while.

He even insisted on eating the rice and meat soup that Jojo brought as a gift at the imperial castle.

“I don’t understand. Why?”

“…Isn’t this a sacrifice?”

“ancestral rites?”

“It is a memorial meal for those who starved to death while escaping from Changan.”

“indeed.”

JoJo twitched the corners of his mouth and placed his hands neatly together.

“I’ll have to hold a big memorial service later.”

“Do you believe in superstitions?”

“I don’t believe in superstitions. I believe in their effectiveness.”

Sunuk smiled bitterly at Jojo’s words and turned his head towards the east for a moment.

“To appease the vengeful spirit, we will have to hold a very large memorial service.”

“hahahaha, you. Are you singling out me now?”

“Now that you are the Emperor, don’t you need to be a little more considerate?”

“…You mean to stay in shape? I understand. Now that you say that, I feel it again.”

Jojo patted Sunuk on the shoulder and laughed.

“If at any time I try to go astray, please tell me directly. I will listen to you at any time.”

“The Duke has never gone astray.”

“What about Seoju?”

“It’s not that you went astray, it’s that you completely changed direction.”

“Okay….”

Jojo scratched his cheek at Sunuk’s words.

“I can’t say anything to you. Could it be that you, Jeongin-”

“If you’re going to talk about it, I’ll go.”

“Hmph. Are you really my subject?”

“A true lord would not take advantage of his subjects’ weaknesses and bring them out whenever they were at a disadvantage.”

“…I have nothing to say.”

Jojo twitched the corners of his mouth and chuckled.

“Just get married. I won’t leave you alone.”

“I can’t get married because I’m scared, my lord.”

“Ahahahaha! It’s just a joke. Won, whenever you talk about marriage, you give me a straight face.”

Jojo slapped his thigh and laughed.

“…But wouldn’t a new house be better for the newlyweds?”

“It has to be a new house.”

“Yes. That’s right. At least, if I were to live in a crumbling house like this for the rest of my life, wouldn’t my wife be bound to run away with another man?”

Cao Cao turned his gaze to the southeast.

“…As soon as the newlywed house is prepared in Heohyeon, we will welcome Your Majesty there. Please inform us.”

“As the Duke of Zhou wishes.”

Cao Cao assists the emperor.

* * *

-hahahaha, Teacher Geum! If anything happens, tell me! If you need anything, I’ll do it for you!

I received the utmost hospitality from the Sima family.

To the extent that I wondered if this was okay, Simabang checked my hair and identity and treated me as if I were real family.

Honestly, it’s scary.

He didn’t know anything about me when he left Sugyeong Academy. How much has he learned about me in that time?

At least the question he asked was to ‘confirm’ me, and not because he didn’t know.

“Uiya. Can you tell me now?”

“Oh my, I don’t like it.”

From noble mtl dot com

Maybe it was because Sima Yi was at home, but he stood in front of me wearing quite bold clothes.

If you wear it to school, it’s so frivolous that I’ll immediately yell at you.

No, to be honest, the color is too much.

The color of the clothes worn is all black, but from which country is the color of the clothes with the armpits completely exposed and the sides of the clothes open?

Food that looks good is good to eat, but for her to dress like this just for me…

“Uiya.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Thank you for growing up well.”

“Oh my, are you my father? Well, I guess he is. He raised me for several years.”

Sima Yi covered his mouth with his fan and smiled.

“dad?”

“Uh huh.”

“It’s a cough. But, Master, can I make a more serious joke?”

“How severe of a deaf person must you be to even ask for permission? Okay, tell me.”

“hmm….”

Sima Yi folded his fan and looked directly at me.

“Master, what would you do if the monarch you follow wants to rebel against the Han imperial family?”

“If my lord decides so, I must follow it.”

“…Oh my, that’s surprising.”

“I’m already in the same boat. If I’m in a situation where I can stay still, but if I’m in a situation where I’m going to die…”

“Bite with all your might.”

“Okay. If I don’t kill the enemy, I will die?”

I pretended to strangle myself.

“I will make my lord emperor. …But what, is that going to happen? hahahaha.”

“That’s true. Ah, look at my spirit. My father asked me this. I told him my teacher’s creed, and he said, ‘So, if my wife becomes a monk, will she even lick her shoes?’”

“Hey, how do you lick your shoes?”

“Yes?”

“You can at least kiss the top of the foot.”

“…….”

I don’t know why Sima Yi looks at me like that.

“I’m serious.”

Isn’t being the leader of a country enough to ask your husband to kiss the top of your feet?