AN: Let's pretend while we read this story that age and time is not a factor. It would be simply too difficult to write a fic while making sure the calculations of years between each event are still true.
Disclaimer: There wasn't copyright back in the days Luo Guanzhong wrote this but I'll respect him and say it anyways. I do not own any Romance of Three Kingdoms characters because they were real people and since slavery has been abolished and they've been dead for 1800 years, I can't own them even if I wanted to.
Chapter 2The year is 207. 12 years after the end of Dong Zhuo's tyranny. Just the beginning of Cao Cao's reign of terror.
I softly exited Madame Gan's quarters and entered the hallway. My soft footsteps echoed in the quite stillness. Soft voices could be heard coming from my father's chamber. I stopped and pressed my ears on the door. The soft murmuring of voices continued but I could not make out the words nor the voice of the man that was speaking. Gently I pushed open the wooden doors and stepped into the outer waiting room of my father's chambers. With a wave of my hand, I dismissed the two servants who stood on each side of the door.
Quietly, I tiptoed across the room and approached the door to my father's inner chamber. The voices were quite clear now.
"My Lord, there is nothing to fear."
I smiled at the sound of his voice. It was Master Kongming. He was always so calm. Like the flowing stream of a quite mountainside.
And then there was my father's voice. He spoke quickly, so quickly I could not catch onto his words. His voice seemed stressed and troubled.
I knew I shouldn't but I was very curious. Softly I pressed my head against the wooden door and listened to their conversation.
"How can I not worry? There is so much I must worry about! For one, the growing threat in the North!"
I gasped for I was well aware of it meant. "Threat. North." Cao Cao was coming… I suddenly felt deathly faint and cold sweat formed on my palms and brow. I could still hear their screams…
I watched helplessly as Cao Cao's soldiers broke through our small, pitiful defenses. They slaughtered everyone. Soldiers, peasants, men, women, the old, the young. No one was spared. Lifeless bodies piled everywhere. Chang Ban Po became a crimson sea of blood.
I felt so weak, so helpless. I had been trained in the art of fighting for several years now, but against the intimidating size of Cao Cao's army, what could I have done with no armor nor weapon?
The carriage was small and cramped. All I could hear was the dying cries of peasants, victorious shouts of soldiers and the constant crying of Liu Shan in Madame Mi's arms.
The carriage's speed slowly diminished until it came to a complete halt. We abandoned it and traveled by foot, hoping to make ourselves into a crowd of people hoping to lose the attention of Cao Cao's pursuing generals. But instead of losing them, we only lost each other.
I made for the northern slope. Reaching the top, I looked around frantically for any sign of Madame Mi or Madame Gan. I could find neither. I spotted a house to the east. It was old and broken down, apparently been abandoned for many years now. The walls of the yard were cracking. It was a good hideout, Madame Mi and Gan must be there. They had to be.
Pushing open the heavy wooden door, I scrambled into the courtyard. All heads turned and fixed their gaze on me.
"Is-is," I choked out gasping for breaths, "Is Madam Gan and Mi here?"
They looked at each other, exchanging confused glances. An elder man, probably in his 60's stepped forward and answered, "No my Lady, were the two Madams not with you?"
My heart sank and my head became hot and dizzy. What was I to do now? I could not panic. They were all counting on me, all of them, every last man, woman, and child. They were all depending on me to lead them to safety. But what was I to do now? I had neither horse nor map of the area. And with the pursuing soldiers of Wei outside, I had no chance in escaping Cao Cao's clutches.
Murmurs of panic broke out among them as they read the worried expression I wore on my face.
"What are you going to do now?"
"Even the Lady cannot help us!"
"We are certainly doomed!"
Above all their voices, my ears picked up the sound of approaching footsteps, the clanking of armor and the deep voices of men. Swiftly, with a movement of my hand, I silenced them. I listened as the footsteps came closer to our hideout, my eyes wide with alert.
"I'll check over here and you go the other way." spoke one voice.
"All right." Answered the other.
My heart raced faster and pounded harder as the soldier's footsteps came closer to us. There were only two of them, only two voices. I could take them, I hope. I turned to look at the peasants. Most were the elderly, women and children. They looked back at me with fearful eyes and shivering hands. I could expect no help from them. I had to do this by myself. I had to protect my people.
I pulled off a large chunk of debris from the cracking wall as the door creaked loudly as he entered. I pressed my body tightly against the wall, still holding on to my weapon, hoping to avoid being seen by him so I could catch him off guard.
He looked around cautiously and spotted the peasants. With a cruel smile, he drew his sword and approached them. A young girl screamed and clung tightly to her mother. That was my signal. Carefully, I snuck up behind him. He never saw it coming. With all my strength, I raised the chunk of debris over his head, smashing his skull with it. With a painful yell, he crumpled to the ground, fresh blood pouring from his head, dyeing his indigo uniform a scarlet color.
I felt both mixed emotions of disgust and happiness. The sight of his body bathed in that bloody puddle made my stomach quench. Yet I was glad I had killed him. I had protected my people. I quickly snapped out of my little celebration at the sound of the other soldier's voice. I picked up the dead man's weapon, an iron sword, and held it tightly in my sweaty palms.
"What?! What happened?!" cried the soldier as he stormed into the courtyard.
With a swift show of swordsmanship, I slitted his throat. His dying body fell to the ground, joining his companion.
A shout of triumph ran through my head. "I did it! I had slain my enemies!"
What a foolish thought to think. For that brief, yet arrogant moment, I had broken the first rule in fighting. Never turn your back on the enemy.
I was struck down heavily on the back of the head with the handle of a sword. I fell to the ground with a groan. I could hear the gasps from the villagers. I opened my eyes but could see nothing but a black, then white light. I tried to get up, but the surges of pain were too great.
I'm not sure for how long I was down. It must've been a while for when I came to regain my sight and consciousness of the surrounding, dozens of feet and the legs of a tall white steed had spread across the floor of the yard.
I waited for my deathblow but no such thing came. Instead, I was picked up by my arm by a firm yet gentle hand. I groaned, keeping my head down, still feeling dizzy from the blow. I kept my eyes closed for I dared not face my enemy again. But then I realized if I were to die now, at least see who it was that brought death upon me.
Then suddenly, I felt the cold touch of metal slide smoothly against the skin of my chin, lifting my head up. My eyes shot open and gazed into his face.
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AN: Sorry about the lack of updates. I've actually been quite busy with schoolwork and such. But the biggest reason I didn't write this chapter sooner was because I wasn't sure how to continue it. But I've got the whole story planned out now so expect more updates in shorter times! ^__^
As you can tell by the title, this is only the first part of the Chang Ban memory. I was planning to make the two into one chapter but it would've taken me a little longer to write it out and I felt you guys probably wanted to read some chapters ASAP.
