Liu Bei POV

It’s already been a few days since we’ve packed up and left Gucheng. That said, the time we took to prepare was unexpectedly long.

On one hand, the resignation procedures that Yi De had to go through were extremely complicated. On the other, the ma.s.sive number of troops Yun Chang needed to be re-supplied and re-organised. Some other smaller matters cropped up here and there as well and so the original date which we planned to set off got pushed back quite a bit. This was before we left, there were naturally more problems after we left.

I’ve always thought that leading troops for expeditions is difficult, especially since the troops we had now were all ours so I had to fulfill the role of the highest authority for various matters. As someone completely new to this, I was thrown into the deep end right away with problems that cropped up with or matters pertaining to our supplies, logistics, rest times, military regulations and discipline, and even the compensation structure and merit system. I had to be on the ball with all this as with our present army size, if they were to mutiny, we wouldn’t be able to fend against them.

Coming back to the present day, it’s been about a week since we’ve left Gucheng. Looking at the map, we’re quite a distance away from the riverside port so it will still be quite a few days before we reach the port in Shouchun.

“It’s getting hot…” I said as I undid the collar of my thick outer clothing, letting out a stream of hot air that floated up to the skies.

The sun today was s.h.i.+ning down strongly while the cold, chilly winds were weak. In just the blink of an eye, it’s now reached the point in the season where thick winter clothing is almost unneeded.

With the end of winter at hand, the buds of spring could already been all over the tree branches. By the time we reach where Sun Ce is, it should be the height of spring.

“Xuan De, please don’t be so undisciplined.”

“Yes…”

Zi Long’s eyes were locked straight ahead but she still watched me out of the corner of her eyes and was able to notice this fine detail. I hurriedly tidied up my clothing and tolerates the torturous heat as we marched on.

“May I ask, are you Imperial Uncle Liu Bei?”

“Un?”

A girl on a horse rode up to me and began to ask me about my ident.i.ty.

She had very resolute eyes, and a pretty noticeable scar down her left eye. Her hair was tied up, and was probably tucked into that thing on her head that looked like a flying saucer that even had a veil at the back. I wonder if she will feel hot when summer comes? Or does that veil have some heat emitting ability?

I was puzzled at the choice of headgear but what made me even more puzzled was what she had hanging by her waist: A whetstone and a bamboo scroll. This was clearly a very weird pair of items to have with oneself.

“Ah, I am.” Because we’d been introduced before, I still remember who she is, “You’re Liao Hua right?”

“I am indeed Liao Hua Liao Yuan Jian. My lord has a pretty good memory huh.”

“That’s… Yeah, pretty good.”

I don’t know what Liao Hua is supposed to have done but that name is pretty familiar to me. Add to that her frosty demeanor which stood out quite a bit, and it’s quite easy to remember her.

She was however, busy with military affairs before so I hadn’t had the time to speak with her at length.

*Jii*…

“…”

*Jii*…

“U, umm, does Liao Hua have anything with me?”

It’s a little too much to keep staring at me but not to say anything.

“Ah, I apologise for my rudeness.” She said with a tone that made me feel like she didn’t actually feel that she thought she was rude in the least as she rubbed the scar below her eye, “I’ve heard from General Guan that you are a peculiar individual so I wanted to have a good look at you myself.”

Peculiar individual? That Yun Chang. Why does she have to use adjectives with such weird connotations to describe me?

“I’m just an ordinary person with nothing peculiar about me as well.” I said as I shook my head to deny whatever labels Yun Chang had placed on me.

“Well then, I do have a question for my lord, what is the path you seek?”

My path?

“Un… Restoration of the Han–”

“Please don’t give me such empty, grandiose-sounding words.”

Ah… Looks like those words won’t work on everyone. But I’m really too much. By now, I can just say such words instinctively. As expected of me, Liu Bei.

But my path huh. Honestly, I haven’t actually thought too deeply about it. Yun Chang had mentioned it before, so did Feng Xian, Tais.h.i.+ Ci, and Sun Ce. But what is my path?

Not as ‘Liu Bei’, but as ‘me’.

“Un…”

“You’ve sunk into thought huh?” Liao Hua seemed to be disappointed at what I was doing, as though I’ve failed to live up to her expectations, “Is someone who can’t even say what his path is fit to be a feudal lord?”

“Oi, watch it.” Zi Long, who was listening by the side all this while, couldn’t listen any further and stared at Liao Hua. Even I felt scared but Liao Hua was unperturbed at all.

It wasn’t easy to answer Liao Hua’s question but I could give an answer if I had to, especially if I thought about it from a more micro perspective.

“Liao Hua, I have thought about it, and I feel that my path is to fulfill my destiny.”

“… Destiny.”

This phrase doesn’t seem like it’s used much in this era, or perhaps she was just surprised and puzzled at what I was trying to say as she frowned slightly.

At her bafflement, I nodded as I continued, “Yes, what I must do is to finish what Liu Bei has to do in these troubled times as Liu Bei.” I slowly raised a finger as I continued what I had to say that may or may not actually be answering her question, “To put it simply, I will finish all that Liu Bei has to do before Liu Bei died.”

When I finished, I wondered if I had divulged a little too much. But honestly, this was actually my path, or rather the direction I was heading in.

At this point, it doesn’t seem like I can return to my own era, so all I can do as Liu Bei is to follow the course of history and do what Liu Bei is supposed to do. I don’t know what Liu Bei’s path is but since the role I’m playing is Liu Bei, then I should at least inherit all that he had to shoulder.

Even if I’m not actually capable enough to.

That said, reality is different of course. There are already a lot of things I have changed, and Yi De now has an amnesia problem, so I’m not too sure what I should do anymore.

Moreover, I’m not actually that knowledgeable on the Three Kingdoms. After having lived through so many high-key events, I’m starting to recall more and more of what I read from the abridged versions when I was in my childhood. But all I can really recall are just the big stories like Guandu, Red Cliff etc.

Ah, now that I think about it, the ‘path’ I seek to walk isn’t easy at all.

“I see, I understand now.” Liao Hua seems to have been thinking while I was embroiled in my own thoughts all this while, and she continued to speak to me as she pressed down on her hat, “So my lord is also one who goes with the flow then?”

“No, I will seize any opportunities to control the situation when there are any.”

“How does my lord know when such an opportunity arises?”

“Intuition.” I just gave a vague answer to this as I couldn’t actually say that I knew how things would develop long before they did.

“Then does my lord believe in fate?”

“I do.”

“Then does my lord believe that he will die in the next moment?”

“No.”

“What if that is your fate?”

“No, that is not my fate.”

“Why is my lord so definite on this?”

“Intuition.” I said, and couldn’t help but to add on, “By the way, you won’t die in the next instant as well.”

“Eh? Why do you say so?”

“Intuition.”

From what I can remember, Liao Hua seems to have lived for quite a long time. Wasn’t there some saying, something about there being no great generals left in Shu or something.

(TL: The saying is [If there are no great generals left in Shu, Liao Hua will be the vanguard.] It can be interpreted as Shu having no talent by its end that even the elderly Liao Hua had to lead the army.)

“Eh…”

The more we chatted, the tighter her frown became. By now, her eyebrows were already looking like 八.

“Umm, if I have said anything that has displeased you, please do forgive me. But what I have said has indeed come from my heart.”

“… No, I just feel that what General Guan said is right.”

Eh?

“A peculiar person… Right?”

“I personally believe in fate, and even if I should die in the next instant, I will wholeheartedly accept it. Of course before I die, I hope I can bear witness to these troubled times.” Liao Hua nodded as she continued, “My lord is the same as me, but only on the most broadest sense. Compared to me, my lord is far more resolute in his belief in fate, as though my lord knows what will happen.”

“Eh… I, is that so?”

I can’t believe she got it right just like that.

“Of course, when I first met my lord, I thought that my lord was the kind of fellow who could only live on by depending on his generals.”

That’s actually the truth.

At her delivery of the piercing truth, all I could do was smile bitterly.

“But following the course of history huh…” She closed her eyes and stoked her scar once more. When she opened her eyes, she looked at me and said coldly, “I don’t dislike such a lord. I want to see where my lord’s path leads.”

“Ah… Th, thanks?”

“You’re welcome.”

“But,” She added on, “I can tell from my lord’s eyes that my lord seems to have strayed from his path. I hope that my lord can resolve his doubts and troubles soon and return to his path.”

“Ah…”

— Lord Liao Hua, please look at this.

“… I’ll be right there.”

Before I could ask her what she meant, she had disappeared like the wind. But honestly, I could largely understand what she meant.

Path… Huh? I should probably think about this a little more.