Byeonju
Xiongnu and Xianbei always causing trouble.
And later, as if that wasn’t enough, the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out, followed by the addition of the Black Mountain bandits, making it a completely maddening area.
Byungju.
Having not one, but two foreign tribes overlapping in the same region, it was literally hell.
Twice the raids. Twice the looting. Twice the manpower.
Bing Province was like the bullied child of China, easy to pick on.
Later, I became the son of Zhong Yuan, not of a locust cutting heads, but the real son of Zhong Yuan.
One strange thing was that Zhong Yuan was not my father but my mother, but I soon realized that it wasn’t such an important matter.
In this place, to survive, you don’t have much time for such trivial thoughts.
I’m sure even that farmer leisurely tilling his field has learned more about wielding a sword than farming.
With a fierce face, and even fiercer red scars crossing it, his thick forearms twitched with muscle.
I wonder if he’s really a farmer?
“What are you doing here?”
The girl with a fierce gaze like facing a wild beast had deep red eyes.
Dressed in blood-red clothes and with long red hair reaching down to the ground, tied in two pigtails, she looked at me threateningly, a halberd resting on her shoulder.
Lü Bu Bongseon.
From the moment Zhong Yuan became my mother, I suspected something, but even Lü Bu, who had shown filial piety to Zhong Yuan in the original history, had turned into a woman.
“Are you wandering around again under the guise of inspection? You really will get into serious trouble one day.”
Lü Bu, who was looking at me, frowned and nagged.
As Lü Bu said, wandering alone in Byungju was indeed dangerous.
Not only the foreign tribes but also bandits appeared frequently.
In Byungju, where even the high-ranking official, my mother, worries about my safety, it was well known.
The foreign tribes might escape outside China, but I don’t know how the bandits plan to deal with the consequences of touching me.
Lü Bu’s concern made me tap the shoulder of the girl standing beside me.
“That’s why I have an escort.”
Hearing my words, Lü Bu glanced at the girl I tapped on the shoulder.
The girl, similar in height to Lü Bu and with brown bobbed hair, stood motionless.
“She might be enough but…”
Even Lü Bu, who would normally consider anyone weak, trailed off while looking at the girl beside me.
“Still, two are better than one, right? If you want, I can help too.”
Was that her intention?
It didn’t matter to me. It would be a great help if Lü Bu could escort me.
Betrayal? I’ve been observing since I came here, and this Lü Bu didn’t seem likely to betray easily.
In the original history, she was someone who betrayed her father three times, but that hasn’t happened here yet.
I was cautious, but I didn’t want to avoid Lü Bu just in case.
Just as I was about to let Lü Bu do as she pleased, the girl who was only looking forward suddenly turned her eyes towards Lü Bu.
The temperature around seemed to drop suddenly.
“So think about it and let me know when you’re free. Stop staring! Ugh, really!”
Lü Bu, facing the girl’s brown eyes, sweated and left the place hurriedly. Even Lü Bu was intimidated by that gaze.
Truly a terrifying child.
The child I met when redistributing the food looted by the foreign tribes to the people.
Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father died suddenly in a fight.
For some reason, she was left alone in the slums, called a monster, and neglected. Seeing her sitting alone in front of her parents’ graves, I took her home.
As I often did this, my mother didn’t say much about the increase in family members.
When I brought the girl home, I naturally asked her name.
“What’s your name?”
” ”
“What is your name?”
” ”
She didn’t answer whether she had no name or couldn’t speak for some reason.
“Do you know your name but can’t say it?”
Nod.
That’s honest.
She can’t say her name…
She should have a pseudonym, but this innocent girl just honestly answered my question.
Not being able to say one’s name usually means having an unsavory background.
And such backgrounds are mostly due to serious crimes.
If such a young child can’t even say her name, it means her ancestors must have been great criminals.
…A traitor?
Nah, that can’t be.
Depending on the leader, traitors are usually exterminated up to the third or even ninth generation.
How could a traitor survive? They would be pursued relentlessly and wiped out completely.
But if, by chance, a group that escaped and survived existed?
If this girl really is from a traitorous family, and if the central government finds out?
“Why are you raising a traitor’s descendant?”
“Are you a trait0)0^…?”
Just thinking about it is terrifying.
It’s not too late.
If I send this girl back to the slums and pretend I don’t know, maybe I can reverse it.
Thinking coldly, that’s probably the right thing to do.
I looked at the girl still holding my hand and trembling.
When I took her from the slums, she hesitantly and tremblingly held my hand.
What was she so afraid of?
She must have thought she was going back to the slums.
But then why did she follow me?
She must have not given up hope.
An only 10-year-old girl.
Orphaned and ostracized by everyone, left alone in the slums.
…How could I abandon such a child?
I decided to help this girl, and she didn’t refuse my help.
That settles it.
I might be wrong in my assumption.
It could just be my delusion, right?
I crouched down to the girl’s eye level.
Even while trembling, she looked straight into my eyes.
“Knowing your name but not being able to say it means you have a reason, right?”
Nod.
“Then, can I give you a new name?”
The girl closed her eyes, then opened them wide at my question. I stroked the dirty hair of the girl.
“Let’s wash up first. Change into new clothes. And eat, right?”
After a clean bath, the girl looked completely different.
Like a lifeless doll suddenly coming to life.
I unknowingly stroked the girl on my lap and said,
“So, have you thought about it?”
Nod.
“Can I give you a name?”
Nod.
The girl nodded to my suggestion.
While the girl was washing, I thought about many names but couldn’t settle on one. As long as it’s not too rustic, it should be fine, right?
After much thought, I finally came up with a satisfactory name.
“Let’s be together, Seoro (腎).”
A child abandoned by everyone after losing her parents.
“I wanted to name her with the hope that she would be with someone from now on.
“Seoyo (Planting Together)”
Surname? Well… let’s move on.
I was quite satisfied with my naming skills when the girl reacted. “Thank you…”
Hearing the girl’s voice for the first time, I looked down.
The girl was crying.
“Don’t you like it?”
She’s not crying because the name is weird, right?
I asked, just in case, but the girl shook her head.
That’s a relief.
The girl, Seoyo (Together), smiled through her tears.
‘Nangjungjichu (Talent Stands Out)’
The saying means that a talented person stands out even if they hide, and Seoyo was exactly that case.
Initially, like other orphans I brought in, Seoyo was taught to serve.
Cleaning, laundry, and such.
Though it was considered simple work, it was quite hard for a child, but Seoyo finished all tasks without any signs of hardship or complaint, always lingering by my side.
Back then, I thought she was just pretending to be okay.
Seoyo caught everyone’s eye in our house quite unexpectedly.
While the servants were moving items in the storage, a child effortlessly lifted several rice sacks that even adult men struggled with.
Yes, not one but several.
Seoyo stacked rice sacks like building a tower and then moved them all at once.
Her natural strength was astonishing.
Seeing this, my mother decided to train Seoyo not as a servant but as my guard.
Since I couldn’t stay put and was always wandering around, my mother was naturally worried.
Seeing Seoyo’s potential in martial arts and her dog-like loyalty following me everywhere, my mother must have thought there wouldn’t be any issues with her loyalty.
So, my mother invited external instructors to teach Seoyo martial arts, but her talent was beyond imagination.
Just once.
At first, I thought she was just brushing it off, but she simply threw the weapon the instructor was holding with sheer strength and struck him in his exposed side. The instructor fell with a flip of his eyes, and everyone was speechless at the fierce scene.
Back then, the instructor had only taught Seoyo basic stances like how to hold a sword.
Afterward, feeling something during the duel, the instructor ran away as soon as he received his medical fees, giving up on teaching.
My mother wondered where I picked up such a person, and I didn’t talk to her for a while, asking her not to call Seoyo ‘such a thing.’ After that, my mother became more careful with her words and invited other instructors, but they all lost to Seoyo in their first duel.
Throwing people with a wooden sword was common, plus punching, kicking, and even headbutting.
Using aggressive techniques she supposedly never learned to knock people down, everyone kept a bit of distance from her.
Seoyo didn’t care about people’s attitudes, but I seemed to be an exception, as she got hurt when I jokingly kept my distance.
Her eyes widened as big as lanterns, and then she started dropping big tears like beads, leaving me flustered as I hugged her.
People were amazed at Seoyo’s overwhelming strength and talent, and she continued to grow.
Until then, I thought this girl was Lü Bu.
Even considering she was Lü Bu, she seemed a bit too strong for Bing Province, right?
Back then, I wondered if Lü Bu had a reason to hide her name but dismissed it, thinking she must have had her reasons.
That was until I saw the red-haired girl literally blowing away the invading foreigners.
“Come on! You cowards!”
The girl, holding a foreign tribe’s sword in each hand, continued to slash at the foreign cavalry rushing at her. The man, who seemed to be the commander, stomped his feet and shouted.
“What are you doing, unable to catch a kid!”
“She’s a monster! She alone killed a hundred of our men!”
Looking at the bodies of men and horses scattered near the girl, the man sweated.
His anxiety grew as he saw her deflecting or bouncing off arrows from afar.
“We have to leave before the army arrives… Ahh!”
The commander of the foreigners, suddenly pierced in the chest by a flying sword, screamed and collapsed.
The girl, who had been fighting the foreigners, laughed crookedly after throwing a sword to kill the commander.
“Did you think you’d be safe there?”
“Run! Run away!”
“Where do you think you’re going! Come at me!”
The girl threw the swords lying around at the fleeing foreigners, and several of them were hit by the thrown swords and fell from their horses.
When the foreigners completely fled from sight, the girl looked at me.
“So, who are you?”
“Interested in advancing?”
“What?”
I quickly enlisted the red-haired girl in our army before anyone else could claim her.
“Your name is Lü Bu?”
“…I asked first.”
That was my first encounter with Lü Bu.
[TN:
*Lü Bu, historically known as a powerful and skilled yet treacherous warlord and military general, is a prominent figure in Chinese history, particularly during the late Eastern Han dynasty. His fame largely stems from his role in the historical novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” where he is portrayed as an almost invincible warrior, feared and respected for his martial prowess.]
