Cove Confrontation
“What is the meaning of this?” asks Zhou Dingqiu, standing at the head of a hundred fighters. They had been forced to change their plans upon spotting you awaiting them at the cove where the pirate ships had been moored. Instead of coming onshore quietly to scuttle the ships, Zhou had decided that his element of surprise was likely lost. Of course, it was lost from the start. “When you didn’t showed up, I thought something like this would happen. Have you taken the pirate leader’s head before us?” asks Master Gong. You shake your head. “Nothing so easy as that. I’m here to warn you,” you say. “It turns out that the pirates have already known of your coming from the start.”
“How could they have-“
“If you’re going to advertise your recruitment publicly in the city, anyone would know about it,” you interrupt. “I’m afraid that pressing on right now is only going to result in pointless deaths. They are prepared for you.”
“It doesn’t matter, does it? Unless you’re a coward,” taunts some nameless Songfeng disciple.
“It matters because this fight appears to be rather pointless,” you say.
“How so? You seem to know something we don’t,” remarks Zhou Zhideng, the scion of the Zhou clan. He seems worried that things are not going to plan. You nod and begin to explain what you have found out, carefully leaving out his daughter’s plan so as not to incite any more unwarranted excitement, as well as Yorimitsu’s offer of a reward. After you have finished, Zhou sighs deeply and says, “A strange story indeed. I am not sure what to think, having sailed all the way out here.”
“It’s all a lie! He’s failed to take their leader’s head and now he seeks to scare us off doing the same so that he will not lose face!” shouts one of the pugilists. “Don’t fall for Man Tiger Pig’s lies! He’s only backpedalling now because he put his own reputation at stake!” A chorus of agreement echoes amongst the crowd, such is your reputation for trickery that they are eager to believe you are not telling the truth.
“If you do not trust me, I can show you the village, and their people. I can arrange for an audience with their leader, too,” you offer.
“He’s just going to lead us into a trap!”
“Yeah, don’t trust him! I say we go ahead and show him the power of the orthodox sects, doing what he has failed to do!” As one the crowd surges forward, but when you fail to budge even an inch in the face of their advance, their steps falter. You grin.
“I will say this – if you go forth, you will die, and I will not even have to move a finger.” It is not a lie. The Minamoto had already set archers in position, having spotted the pugilists’ approach from far away. They would have been met by a hail of arrows had they proceeded with their original plan of setting fire to the ships. Thankfully the archers seem to be disciplined enough to refrain from a volley until you have exhausted your options – but if you fail to turn them away here, you have no doubt they will fire.
“Please, listen to him, father! Brother!” The young lady of Zhou Manor, Zhou Zixia, runs out besides you. The scholar runs after her, helplessly asking her to wait. This wasn’t the time for her to make her appearance. Zhou Dingqiu’s face darkens when he sees his daughter. His son steps forward, surprised. “Sister! What are you doing here? I thought-“
Zixia tries to support your story, but she is drowned out by a shout from her father. “Enough! This is shameful behaviour indeed! Zixia, come over here. This is no way for a respectable lady to behave – you promised me that you would stay obediently! And you, Xu Jing, I thought better of you. I suspected that she might try asking you for help with her foolish errand, but I did not think her actually silly enough to try, and you disreputable enough to accept!”
“Father, perhaps it was nothing more than coincidence. We should reconsider-” begins Zhideng, but Zhou Dingqiu shakes his head angrily. “This has shamed our entire clan. I must apologise to all the brave fighters here for showing such an embarrassing side of our family. Dirty linen should not have been aired in public.”
“That is alright, Master Zhou,” says Master Ji awkwardly, “but what do we do now?”
“The pirates have broken the law, and caused suffering,” he replies. “That is the truth. For these foreigners to come to our land and pillage our property is inexcusable, no matter what reasons they may have. This is not their country.”
“Down with the foreign devils!” shouts a Songfeng disciple that you mark and decide will go down first when the fighting starts.
“Will matters be solved with just my life alone?” To your surprise, Yorimitsu appears, stepping out of the darkness in full battle regalia. His uncle does not seem to be anywhere nearby, but you have no doubt that the man is watching and ready to strike. Unexpected things are happening faster than you can respond; this is not what you had in mind. “I am Yorimitsu of the Minamoto, leader of my people on this island. The responsibility is mine to bear. If I fall here, will you judge justice served?”
“Why would that be, young man?” snorts Master Gong. “We have no guarantee your people will not continue to pirate. Who would trust the word of a pirate?”
“Not even if I lay down my life to bind an oath?”
“Your oaths have no value to us, Wo,” says Zhou Dingqiu. “This problem must be solved, and solved decisively. When the grass is cut the roots must be plucked. The Imperial Court has expressed their desire to clean up the coast and free the people from the plague of piracy. Though they are not able or willing to do it directly, as loyal subjects the orthodox sects are more than willing to do it on the Emperor’s behalf. I am afraid this can only end in one way.”
“Is that so?” murmurs Yorimitsu, his hand laid on his sword. The crowd tenses. You rather suspect arrows will begin flying at any moment.
“If you fight now, your daughter will be caught up in the fighting,” you point out.
“You-“ grimaces Zhou Dinqiu, his expression full of anger. “Are you threatening me?”
“Of course not! I would not dare, Master Zhou,” you say. “I am merely pointing out something to watch out for.”
“A daughter that would rebel against her father to such an extent is no daughter of mine,” he scowls, though you can tell he does not mean his words. Still, he seems resolved to go on the attack. “For that matter, Xu Jing, why are you siding with these Wo? Are you betraying your own country?”
“I am not siding with them,” you reply, “merely trying to prevent needless loss of life. Would you serve your country better by continuing to live, or by bleeding out here by the sea? What can you accomplish if you drive these people to extinction? Will there be no more raids? Of course not. There will always be pirates.”
“That is right,” Xiahou Yu speaks out, having found his courage from somewhere – you stare at him as you catch a whiff of just where he had found his courage. Hopefully he had not partook of too much courage. “Even if you stamp out these pirates, more will come. Can you hire boats every month, every year, trying to keep them under control? Piracy is a symptom of the greater disease that ails our empire, not a cause. It is not the pirates we must strive against! It is those who have strayed from the Will of Heaven!” Ah, yes. He definitely took too much. You resist the urge to bury your head in the sand. Even though you agree with him, this is not the time and place to speak out against the government.
“Treason! He speaks treason!” screams the pugilists.
“They have betrayed us to the foreign devils! Gut them all!”
It looks like this will all spiral into a fight rather soon. Yorimitsu is on edge, as are the pugilists. “I thank you for your efforts,” mutters the young Minamoto leader, “but it seems that it was a lost cause in the first place. You have my apologies for getting you involved in this – my own judgment was lacking. You should leave now. I would not ask you to turn your sword on your own people. I will arrange for your payment, so do not worry about that.”
***
A. You accept Yorimitsu’s offer and leave, returning Zixia to her father. You will have no part in what is to come. Best to retreat and let them sort it out themselves; you have no obligations to them. It seems that the idea for this campaign actually originated from within the Court; you are under no impressions that they are a monolithic bloc, but as you have no idea of just which factions are behind this and what games they are playing, you do not want to get involved any further.
B. You take Miss Zhou hostage to force all attention back to you. From there you can dictate your terms. It is unlikely that you can force unilateral retreat, but a challenge would be acceptable. You are still a member of the jianghu yourself, and they will find it hard to turn down. The best way would be to challenge all of them – one at a time, all at once, they can come at you however they wish. If the pirates kill even a single pugilist, things will never be salvaged. Of course, if you mess up you are probably dead.
C. You decide to fight alongside the Minamoto pirates to repel the pugilists. It is probably safer and less risky this way for yourself, and it would result in less loss of life in comparison to letting them sort it out themselves. By ending the fight decisively at the cove and turning them away before they get deeper into the island, you can minimize the bloodshed.
D. You decide to fight alongside the pugilists, turning on Yorimitsu and taking his head. You are close enough to do so quickly, before any intervention can happen. This is for the best – with a brutal show of force, if you are on the side of the pugilists, you could at least prevent an outright massacre from happening when they descend upon his womenfolk and children.