The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: Lu Bu is good at being filial

Chapter 3

＜ I thought it was a martial arts novel, but it was Lü Bu (3) ＞

After defeating the bandits that appeared in Anmun County, Ma’eup-hyeon, and cleaning up the surroundings.

Waaah─!!

As soon as we returned to Byeongju Castle, we were greeted with cheers.

“Yeobongseon! Yeobongseon! Yeobongseon!”

Cheers for the victorious general are always expected.

Unless the general is an unprecedented scoundrel, if he is popular with the people, they will leave what they are doing and come out to cheer.

This time is no different.

The people on the streets, regardless of age or gender, are rejoicing in our victory.

They had already heard the news of our victory through messengers.

-When Yeobongseon led a thousand soldiers to the battlefield, thousands of bandits were killed in an instant!

The number of bandits defeated is about three thousand.

I wonder where such a large group of bandits came from again.

‘It’s not like they were hiding somewhere.’

Every time I experience killing two thousand bandits and three thousand more pop up, I am reminded that this place is ancient China.

There are too many bandits.

Before that, there are really a lot of people.

‘Indeed, the spirit of the continent.’

It is no exaggeration to say that the population is overflowing.

‘More than half of that population must be bandits.’

There are more bandits than soldiers.

No matter how chaotic the times are and how we have entered an era of turmoil, there is no sign of the bandits decreasing.

Especially in this Byeongju land.

The best thing would be not having to go out to battle like this-

“Th-there!”

A group of children burst out from the crowd.

“Gasp!”

“Oh, my goodness!”

“Sangu! What, what are you doing!”

The surrounding adults all try to stop the children, but the snot-nosed kids, with sparkling eyes, hand me something.

“General, it’s a gift!”

“…….”

A child’s mistake.

Blocking the march of a general returning from battle is certainly a problem.

The piece of wood they offer as a gift is probably a warhorse they carved themselves.

The child is just conveying goodwill with a pure heart, but this child has now blocked the ‘advance of the regular army.’

“General.”

Songheon follows behind me, urging me.

“Shall I handle it?”

The look in his eyes in that brief moment conveyed many meanings.

“Child.”

Without dismounting, I raised my hand to stop the adults who were urgently trying to pull the child away.

“Is that all?”

“Pardon…?”

The child’s expression hardens.

“I asked if that is all.”

“Well, that is.”

The expressions of the surrounding adults also harden and turn pale, and the children finally seem to realize that they have done something wrong.

“I did not fight alone, so how can I be the only one to receive a gift.”

“Oh…!”

“Look.”

I pointed behind me.

“Those who fought with me also deserve your gift, don’t you think they would feel left out if I, as the commander, receive the only one?”

There, a thousand soldiers who had stopped their steps in line with me were standing silently.

“If you are to prepare gifts, you should prepare a thousand warhorses. Isn’t that right, Deputy Song?”

“You’re doing this again. Haa.”

Songheon openly sighed and glanced around.

“…Someone who dislikes good people is watching. General.”

Over there, if you look down from the top of the pavilion, you can see this side clearly from the inner wall of the fortress.

“For now-“

“We’ll talk about that later.”

I nodded at Songheon’s gesture and lightly raised my hands towards the child.

“If you really want to give a gift, why not give this to all the soldiers who fought with me?”

Clap.

“So that a thousand people can hear it.”

“…….”

“Give them applause.”

Clap, clap clap.

As soon as the child clapped his hands while holding the warhorse in his arms-

“Waaah─!!”

Along with the cheers, the sound of clapping echoed through the street like the drumbeat of a military band.

“You’ve done it again.”

“That’s why the governor of Jeongwon keeps… sigh.”

Although Wisok and Huseong grumbled behind me, I lightly nodded towards the child and turned my eyes forward.

“It’s just the thought that counts, just the thought.”

Clatter.

After the child moved out of earshot.

“But you can’t govern everything by military law.”

Those who block the army’s path will be governed by military law.

“And you can’t harshly govern with the rod.”

“You should have shown a governing stance. Even if you had to order me to do it.”

Songheon followed closely behind me and spoke in a subdued voice.

“By showing mercy, the people praise you, General….”

“I know. Even now, I’m more popular than the governor of Jeongwon, and actions like this will only worsen our relationship.”

I wonder if the child knows.

Because of the consideration I showed towards him, I was once again politically misunderstood.

“Are you doing this again, knowing full well?”

“How could I abandon my duty just because of that?”

Even if it causes political problems.

“How could I harshly punish a child under military law because of the politically biased and misinterpreted views of others towards the child’s goodwill?”

Above the gate leading to the central government office in the inner city of Byeongju Fortress.

“I don’t want to do that.”

Jeongwon was looking down at us from the fortress wall of the inner city.

* * *

A moment later.

“You’ve worked hard. As expected, the undefeated martial god of Byeongju.”

“I merely eradicated some bandits.”

Jeongwon sarcastically remarked as soon as he reported to the government office.

“Just bandits. Yet, aren’t you undefeated?”

Sometimes, even when words are meant to sound good, they can feel like they are meant to mock.

Is this one of those times?

Is it because I hold a grudge against Jeongwon that I feel this way?

“Undefeated, yes, but not a martial god. And there might be a defeat someday.”

Let’s not pay attention.

“Not once in the past ten years?”

“The world is wid-“

Ahem.

“The central plains are vast, and I am not the only warrior in this country.”

Before he died, my master called me the strongest warrior in Byeongju.

A person who seemed to have served in the court called me ‘the best in Byeongju.’

‘It means I’m not yet the best in the world.’

To become the best in the world, my name must be widely known throughout the central plains.

Yeobongseon’s name is widely known in Byeongju, but I don’t know about other places yet.

“However, if the title of undefeated warrior can boost the soldiers’ morale, I will uphold that title at least until I am defeated.”

“Ahem.”

He clicked his tongue as if he didn’t like it.

“Alright. I will make sure to record your achievements and report them to the court. I’ll say you eradicated the Yellow Turbans.”

“…….”

Will it be reported as my achievement, or will it be reported as ‘Jeong Won sent a thousand soldiers to eradicate the Yellow Turbans’?

No, they weren’t even Yellow Turbans in the first place.

‘Trying to inflate the achievements.’

Should I argue?

No.

This is really thinking too negatively.

Even though there is already too much friction to restore my relationship with Jeong Won, I shouldn’t maliciously slander my superior.

Obedience to orders.

If it is filial piety for a child to follow their father, then it can also be said that it is filial piety in the government for a subordinate to follow their superior.

Well.

If the father is so evil that he needs to be reported to the authorities, then at that time-

“General Yeo.”

“Yes.”

“I heard that you personally saved a woman. Do you perhaps have feelings for her?”

“Of course not.”

Suddenly, he strikes at my greatest weakness.

“Is that so? I thought you might have a preference for married women who have become someone else’s.”

“…….”

What does he take me for?

I want to say, but right now, I am at a significant disadvantage.

“Are you saying you didn’t save that woman to take her as your wife?”

“That is correct.”

“You just saved her because she was a mere commoner?”

“I received orders from the magistrate of Byeongju to eradicate the bandits and protect the people of the county, so I was just being loyal to those orders.”

“I see. You are truly a model soldier recognized by this era.”

Clap clap clap.

Jeong Won clapped his hands.

For some reason, that applause is annoying.

“But the more such a person is, the more they should set an example for others.”

“…….”

“Isn’t there a saying by Confucius that you like?”

Confucius.

Confucius (孔子).

“修身齊家治國平天下.”

“…….”

“You practice 修身 (self-cultivation) daily by honing your martial skills, you are loyal to the country, and you pursue the stability of the world, thus following the saying 治國平天下 (govern the country and bring peace to the world).”

“…….”

“But what about your family?”

Currently, I am 29 years old.

“How long do you plan to live as a bachelor?”

From the perspective of the Central Plains, it’s natural for people to say, ‘Isn’t there something wrong with that guy?’ at this age.

“Surely, you don’t plan to live your whole life lonely without a wife, do you?”

“Of course not.”

I will get married.

Someday.

“Or do you have some unspeakable secret about your body?”

“Not at all. Regarding that part-“

“Then why do you refuse to marry the daughter of the Um family? There’s nothing wrong with that woman.”

“……Sir, this is not something to discuss in such an open place.”

“That’s exactly the problem!”

Jungwon got angry and hit the armrest of the chair with his hand.

“Why does someone who has no problem with their body and can embrace a woman not want to have a family!”

“…….”

“I can’t face Mr. Um every time I see him! I personally suggested that you take the daughter of the Um family as your wife, but you only embraced her and didn’t even hold a wedding!”

“…Since we haven’t even slept together, you can’t say I embraced her.”

I have never slept with the woman from the Um family.

“Then why don’t you start a family!”

“…Just.”

If I were to make an excuse, I would have to tell the same story every time.

“If someday the fated partner destined by the heavens appears, then I will take her as my wife and live together for a hundred years.”

Whether the garden bursts or not, there is a part I cannot back down from.

* * *

A while later, at the military camp in Byeongju Fortress.

“Did you say that again? The fated partner?”

“How else could I get through it without saying that?”

As soon as I returned to my office in the military camp, Songheon chuckled and took my official hat.

“The daughter of the Um family has become quite pitiful. How did she end up falling in love with such a stone-like man?”

“…….”

“Why don’t you just be honest? No matter how much you apply perfume to your body, you can’t stand the smell, so go scrub yourself clean first.”

“Are you crazy, Songheon?”

“Hehe, Captain. No, brother.”

Songheon lowered his voice as he laughed softly.

“Let’s speak comfortably since it’s just us. Brother. If you’re going to break up with her anyway, it’s better to do it decisively and coldly. Tell her the truth.”

“That I can’t hold her because of the smell?”

“That’s the only way the Um family will give up, isn’t it?”

“It’s not me giving up, it’s life. Imagine a woman hearing ‘I don’t like you because you smell.’ She would throw herself into a pond.”

“Into the pond you dug yourself.”

“Revenge, revenge.”

I tapped the teacup on my desk.

“Songheon. Do you know why I go out to the farm and dig water channels every time I’m off duty?”

“Of course, it’s for ‘hygiene,’ isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Songheon pointed to my head.

“You want to go wash right now, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

Although I had no choice but to press down my helmet, my hair was stuck together with what they call oil.

“How could I not? Ever since we first met, you have been obsessively clean about washing.”

“Thanks to me, you have also come to know the joy of washing your body, haven’t you?”

“You threatened to kill me if I didn’t wash, didn’t you?”

“Thanks to washing thoroughly, many things have been good. Your wife too.”

“Hehe, yes. Thanks to you, I have come to know how attractive a woman who washes cleanly is. Hehe.”

Ancient China.

Even in the Three Kingdoms period, there were definitely parts I couldn’t stand.

“Cleanliness and hygiene. The general who tries to wash his hair with lye water once a day is probably the only one in Bingzhou.”

“I can’t understand the practice of considering hair full of oil as beautiful without washing it.”

The past.

When reading martial arts novels, I had seen the protagonist obsessing over strange things.

Soapstone, soap, surfactants.

‘There was a reason for everything.’

They were made not to sell, but because they were really needed.

So, did I make them?

Failure.

‘I learned that if you put oil and something else in a milk carton and harden it, it would work, but I don’t remember exactly what to put in.’

It was too long ago, even including before and after reincarnation.

Nevertheless, as a result of researching and finding something similar, I am washing my body using dried powder from tree fruits.

“Can’t you just endure it a bit?”

“I’d rather live alone for the rest of my life.”

Ancient China had many things that were unbearable for a modern person like me.

“If I ever have enough to save my manor, I will make sure that the servants working in my manor wash their hair and bodies once a day.”

“Even though there’s a water shortage, there will be an uproar about using water to wash the body.”

“That’s why I’m making waterways and reservoirs every day, aren’t I? In this harsh land of Bingzhou.”

The past 10 years.

“The role of a soldier is in national defense.”

“Are you trying to make me work by changing the subject? I’m not fooled.”

“But during the time outside of training?”

“You don’t listen to me at all. Ha, yes. I understand. During the time outside of training, we should rest.”

Songheon answered with a resigned look.

“You’ve been resting all day, so if you’re going to rest, you should at least do some physical training while you’re at it.”

“Physical training, you say? Isn’t that just going to the farm with a shovel, digging wells, reclaiming land, and catching moles?”

“What are you saving your strength for?”

I tapped my solid muscles with my hand.

“Would it be faster for three or four strong men to struggle to move a heavy rock, or for me, Yeobongseon, to lift and move it alone?”

“Sigh. I understand. It seems you still have no intention of changing your mind, brother.”

“Rather than me changing my mind, it would be better if those rotten guys, including Jeongwon, changed theirs. Their intentions are impure from the start.”

I shook my head firmly.

“What do you think their reason is for wanting me to start a family? Is it simply because they feel sorry that I haven’t settled down even as I approach thirty?”

“That could be part of it.”

“That’s a generous way to think about it, but in the end, isn’t it just to put a leash on me?”

I mimicked grabbing my neck.

“I don’t think of family as a leash. But they would see it as one if I had a family. Even the daughter of the Eom family is being used for such political purposes.”

“The person herself is even asking to be taken as a wife, saying she’d be fine with it…”

Songheon shook his head.

“Isn’t that ‘common sense’?”

“…Yes.”

It’s only natural to get married and start a family when you reach a certain age.

I am abnormal and irrational.

I am fully aware of that.

“But I have no intention of giving up.”

“I know. I was just asking.”

Songheon, Wisok, and Huseong have been with me for ten years, and they’ve given up trying to break my stubbornness.

“But.”

Songheon picked up several wooden tablets placed on one side of the office.

Not just any wooden tablets, but luxurious ones with gold strings wrapped around them.

“It’s not just those related to Jeongwon and the local gentry of this Byeongju land who are sending marriage proposals, brother.”

“…….”

“Just as Jeongwon is trying to marry you off to keep you in Jin Yangseong, other governors are introducing you to suitable women to make you their subordinate.”

“……Is there another one?”

“Yes.”

There are countless others besides the garden who try to break such stubbornness.

“Where is it this time? You’re not trying to poke around in some unheard-of place again, are you?”

“A marriage proposal has come from a collateral branch of the Yuan family.”

“……?”

Yuan (袁)?

＜ I Thought It Was a Martial Arts Novel, But It Was Lü Bu (3) ＞ End