The Fat Dong's Rule 6 - (Supernatural Asia, DongZhuo!SI)
It's been months since I took over and 190 was about to be over.
I would say that I succeeded in stabilizing the South as planned, with most of the 'late-game' warlords appeased for the time being by giving those that would remain loyal enough resources to consolidate their domain and not consider expansion.
That didn't mean the south was fully obedient however, as their primary allegiance was towards the Emperor.
In terms of personal gains, I managed to reinforce the capital's defenses and slightly expand my own fief within the region by having the traitorous Wang Kuang in the north be removed through poison. The governor replacing him was one of those I considered most loyal to me, so I labeled that small area as now mine to rule.
A look into the map, and I felt somewhat less worried about surviving for three and a half years, with relations with Cao Cao as stable as they could be as I endorsed his petition to see the recently-died Kong Zhou's domain in the Yu Province. Cao Cao, Tao Qian, and Liu Dai thus evenly split the domain and normalized the borders issue within the now disassembled region.
Zhang Yang and Gongsun Zan had taken slices out of the rioting domain of the Yuan family. The great divide after the passing of Yuan Shao was still evident as his sons, cousins and other relatives were battling it out for the sake of succeeding in gaining more control over the region.
All in all, the situation was tenable within the unstable north, but, to make things worse, my 'charges' have now increased under a weird request by Qiao Yu of the Rencheng Province. He mentioned that his situation with warlord Kong Rong has deteriorated to the point where he feared the safety of his daughters and... he suddenly pledged their guardianship to me.
If the name doesn't ring any bell to those listening to my lonely musing, then I wouldn't blame anyone. After all, the parents of the 'Two Qiao Sisters' was still reason of confusion for many historians due to the denomination provided to their father a 'Lord Qiao/Qiao Gong'.
The 'Two Qiaos of Jiangdong' are pretty renown due to their marriages. These siblings were helpful of their husbands and succeeded in supporting them for as long as they lived. Heck, Cao Cao desired them for a time and... I didn't. I don't. I was unsure if I wanted to in the future.
To put it bluntly, time was indeed the issue. The two cunning women that would be influential within the mid-to-late parts of the Romance were not women at the moment. They were both 10 and 9 years-old.
"Uncle Zhongying! Uncle Zhongying! You are so slow!" Da Qiao squeaked, the dark-haired brat enticing a giggle out of her younger sister as the guards monitored them had failed to catch up to them. They were some of the nimblest brats in Luoyang and... while I did train a lot, my belly could handle so much physical effort.
"If- If I catch you two, it's going to be a whole world of spanking for both."
They shrugged at the threat of some intense punishment as they continued with the chase and... stopped only as soon as they realized I just couldn't pull that for long. I just took a seat, the two would try to worm their way out of punishment by trying to bribe me with water, but once I had my hands on them I would just put them over the knee and hand out the promised spanking.
They were upset, obviously, but it felt like the punishment was doing nothing to correct this kind of attitude. I could tell that it wasn't the right course to take after having those brats under my care for two weeks and... I decided to entertain conversations on the matter with two individuals that were familiar with parenthood.
"Perhaps the girls appreciate your attention, hence why they are so keen to accept being spanked for the sake of having you around."
That sounded adorable, and I nodded at the words of Empress He.
"It's possible they like being spanked. Some girls are just born that way."
That sounded very perplexing, but I still nodded at the words of Lady Zhurong.
I didn't have much to verify if either was the truth, and while the former option sounded like the most reasonable, I also knew that a degree of lewd logic was imprinted on this crazy world. So, rather than see how deep the descent was, I just planned to switch out my punishment tactic from physical to 'prison-like'.
The ensuing time I caught them, I had the guards split the two and keep them in two distant rooms for four long hours. The rooms had food, water, a bathroom near that they could visit by being escorted by one of the guards.
The results were immediate as the girls were suddenly very upset for this development.
"It was horrible, Uncle Zhongying," Da lamented angrily. "We were stuck there and be bored!"
"Yeah, at least leave us in the same room."
The two brats were, obviously, stepping into a huge trap as they lodged a complaint over that different punishment.
"So, what you two are saying, is that if someone keeps you from doing what you wish and need to do, it is bad, yes?"
"Yeah!" Da whined and I snorted. "What's that, uncle?! It was bad."
"So, when you two behave naughtily and cause me and others grief, it is bad, yes?"
The two paused and frowned.
"I-It is not the same-"
"Indeed, because I am handling way more important affairs than what two boisterous youths can hope to do at their age. And yet you constantly demand my attention which, albeit understandable, creates issue when happening so much. If you want to speak or play with me, just ask."
I half-snapped at the two, and their reaction was shock and unease.
"I am not going to tell you to never play, but at the same time don't expect me to just be appeasing all the time. I am your guardian by your father's request. The man has to face his own troubles, so I decided against giving him grief through the way you are behaving. I can't keep you around if you keep being so disrespectful."
The message was sent across as both girls looked very nervous now.
"I wish for you both to be willing to spare the proper amount of time between playing and studying. To be diligent and self-disciplined. Only then you can grow into two fine and wonderful ladies. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Uncle Zhongying." Both answered together, their heads bowing at me and I sighed.
"Just get some snack and play on your own if I am busy. I am sure there's plenty of books you can read to pass your time. Or even ask some of the guards to play. I have chores so that people can be happy, understood?"
They nodded, and soon were allowed to leave. I wouldn't say it was a full win, but I could tell these two got the message properly this time around and were not going to cause too much problem with their stay in Luoyang.
Going back to my businesses, I could tell I may have to send Lu Bu to assist Yang Zhang against the Xiongnu tribes. They were getting too bold with some of their raid attemps, and since they weren't too connected with the large decentralized Xianbei tribes, I was less worried of a major Mongolian invasion just yet.
As I wrote down those orders as a message for Lu Bu, I felt the aching feeling that, while things have been quite smooth up to this point...
I may have to face something concerning quite soon.
Being a Teng can be difficult. Being 'Wushe' was even more boring than most entities would be happy for.
The serpentine frame composed by acquamarine blue scales was keen to cause trouble in the domain of the deities, never enough to warrant a exile, but always to make her name be known to all those around. She was smooth, clever, and yet a troublemaker at heart.
Today was not supposed to be anything new compared to usual. Siming, the God of Lifespan and Fate, was currently absent from his papers. The most powerful tool to influence mortal lives was... well, easy for her to access.
That being said, the Teng had hardly used those to change destiny. Small pushes and nudges that could not be noticed by the ever-so distracted deity. Siming overworked himself so much that his 'breaks' were hardly scheduled. He vanished at odd times, and returned at odder times.
Still, Wushe was feeling particularly giddy today as she had been hearing some interesting rumors about Siming. Mother Goddess Nuwa had approached him with a 'simple' request. It was unusual for Nuwa to ask for favors, and it was even more unusual for Siming to accept such favor.
All she knew was that Siming had been tasked to 'change' one individual's fate, but Wushe had no clue on who it was and why was his relevance so important.
All she knew had was a trail left by the fresh ink that stained the paper, replacing a particularly old page or two about a certain... Dong Zhuo. She wondered within the papers and frowned at his sketch. Siming just had a funny way to draw people and it made them look so goofy to look at. But this one was fat. Like, really fat. And didn't look that nice.
Reading the papers, Wushe's frown deepened with the way this Dong Zhuo's fate was altered. He had it so easy! It baffled Wushe. Sure, she was a snarky troublemaker, but that didn't mean she was accepting of this much 'mortal-worship'. No, that would not do.
Carefully lifting the pen that contained the divine ink with her claws, Wushe licked her lips as she carefully scribbled a few changes through the lines. Nothing changed much within the general fate, she was just going to make it tougher for him, and then maybe give him a chance to fail.
Nodding to herself, Wushe was so into the chore she didn't notice a certain deity had returned from a rather brief bathroom break. And he was looking down at the giggling teng with an annoyed look.
"What are you doing, Wushe?"
The dragon stopped, her eyes widening astronomically as she slowly turned to greet Siming.
"A-Ah, Master Siming. I was- Well, I thought I could just witness your good work-"
"You wrote. You changed someone's fate. Who did you influence?"
She stammered with her words as she found her frame softly pushed aside as Siming read the paper and... the god's face paled.
"I-I mean, it's not bad- you can just nudge it a bit and-"
"No. Enough is enough, Wushe," Siming sharply interjected, growling and displaying a level of anger never once felt by the teng. The serpentine dragon shuddered then bowed down to him. "Praying for mercy will not work. A punishment is needed- your redemption is long overdue."
"P-Please- I- I was just playing about. I didn't intent-"
"The life you troubled is one that Lady Nuwa is watching with some attention. And now you troubled it. Your fate shall be... tied to his!"
A fingersnap made her vanish. She did not die, but she was no longer back in the safe haven of the Heaven. Her frame was no longer a noble dragon-like one, replaced by a humane one. Her white and bluish mane now a soft blue one that rained over her back- her humanoid bipedal body's back.
She was wearing clothes, but she had some curves fitting of a human woman and she squeaked as two letters appeared. One was meant for her to read and another to... Dong Zhuo?
Ignoring the second letter, Wushe opened the envelope meant for her.
Wushe,
Your punishment shall be simple but longlasting. You shall be a servant to the mortal 'Dong Zhuo' for the duration of ten years. You have been given a mortal-like body, but your spirit shall be immortal as usual. Still, to uplift this punishment, you shall serve Dong Zhuo however he sees fit and lead him to complete his five years of peace.
"Well, that's not going to be too tough. After all, I still remember what I wrote so... wait," Wushe's smugness vanished as soon as her mind drew a blank over what she wrote on that paper. She couldn't remember anything of what she wrote there. Her gaze was drawn back to the letter.
P.S. I saw fit to remove your memories of what you wrote. You shall suffer for all you did, you brat!
Her jaw dropped. "T-That old man just- just put me in the worst spot possible!?"
Bowing her head and letting out a loud growl, it took her a few minutes to calm down. She then realized she was not too far from a large city so... maybe it wouldn't be too tough. Sure, she had to convince the fat man that she was a former-teng now-mortal meant to assist him but... will the letter meant for him be enough?
Wushe shook her head, knowing it was going to be rough nonetheless and that she had faced worse.
She was going to be victorious!
AN
Wushe: So, I may have fucked up your plans because now a few people may be aggro at you.
Dong: You fucking WHAT?!
For FFN Readers, References for new characters are:
-Xiao and Da Qiao - their version from 'Shin Sangoku Musou';
-Wushe - Original Form (Sisu from 'Rayla and the Last Dragon'), Human Form (Tomoe from 'Tsukimichi');