× Master of My Soul × [ Dynasty Warriors ] [ Slowly Updating ]

× 11 - Omen of Pitfall ×

When I arrived at the office, Cao Cao was having an afternoon snack with some tea while Dian Wei and the guards stood watch outside of the room. They seemed slightly more alert than usual, though it was hard to tell. I furrowed my brows slightly, wondering if anything had happened, but entered anyway.

"Hello uncle," I greeted Cao Cao at the entrance with a bow, then proceeded towards his desk. As I expected, it had a small pile of scrolls upon it, and the ink in the plate beside it looked ready to be used. I felt a slight tug of worry in my heart, knowing that the man worked too hard. "Is there something you needed of me?" I asked with a soft smile.

My uncle gave me a nod of acknowledgement and then gestured to the cushion opposite from him. "Have a seat, Xue," he spoke and looked through the stack of scrolls before pulling one out. I did as he told, watching his actions with a curious tilt of my head. "Take a look at this," he then said and handed me the scroll. I first stared at it, reluctant to read its contents, but then did it anyway. The script was in the Han language, which only confused me more because I was usually given documents in other languages to examine. This one, however, was from my cousin Cao Pi.

In the beginning I had kept a calm mind as I read through the letter, but the further I got the more upset I became. By the time I finished reading, I could feel a cold fire burning in my chest. "'Unrest within the Court'? What is the meaning of this, uncle?" I questioned, staring at the man with a frown. Other than the obvious, I wanted to know, to verify, the exact meaning behind my cousin's vague words.

In Cao Pi's message, he mentioned that some of the officials seemed to be resistant towards Cao Cao's plans, and this is causing some minor disputes in the Court. In any other situation, this might be regarded as typical disagreements between officials, but with my uncle it was different. Cao Cao's influence is still considered green, and it was worrying that someone else might take advantage of this kind of unrest and use it against his forces.

Cao Cao sighed and rubbed his temples before handing me another scroll. "This one is from Cheng Yu, it should clear things up a little more," he said and I began reading immediately. This report mentioned the implicit anti-Cao emotions among some groups of individuals in the Court, but listed specific names as opposed to Cao Pi's ambiguous mentions. As I finished, a cool laugh escaped my lips and I clenched my fists, hurting as my nails dug into my skin.

"Seems that these officials want to play a political game with you, uncle," I stated coldly. "'Accepting Yuan Shao to the Capital', they're crazy!" I exclaimed angrily. "And to think that they would openly suggest this kind of thing to the Emperor, what in the name of Heaven are they thinking?" According to Cheng Yu, there was also a growth in the number of officials who are beginning to question Cao Cao's plans unreasonably.

Were they blind to Yuan Shao's intentions? Were they forgetting Cao Cao's grace to their very positions within the Court? They call themselves honorable and loyal subjects to the Han, but all they were were mere borers of the state! I let out a deep sigh at all the words I could not speak out loud, but I wanted to make it clear that I was not pleased by this at all.

My uncle reached out and placed a hand on my fist, which calmed me down immediately. I gave him an apologetic look and shook my head. "I'm sorry, I'm just..." I was at a loss for words to describe what I felt. It was like a mixture of anger, betrayal, disbelief, and humiliation was thrown into my stomach and lit on fire. The worst of it all was the sorrow. The Han Court, to which so many people, even my own uncle, have thrown their faith and loyalty, was nothing but a rotting vessel now. Just the thought was depressing, so much that it was almost justifiable for the Rebellion to have taken place. Almost.

"I understand how you feel, Xue, but you must remember, we have more important things to do before dealing with them," Cao Cao said calmly, though I could not imagine how he could keep such a cool exterior. "We may not be powerful enough to contain them entirely at this point, but they are also not powerful nor organized enough yet to stop our steps," he mentioned with clear and powerful words, and from them I could detect my uncle's discontent. There was also consideration for what is to come, which I found that I was still lacking a sense of.