Liu Bei POV

Bo Fu had said that it would take 3 days or so, and it did take 3 days or so. Whilst I was counting the days every day on the s.h.i.+p, we reached land by the 4th day. Everyone has been suffering all this while so it’s good that our sea journey has come to an end.

As I left the s.h.i.+p, I got a good feel of land underneath my feet before looking afar. Out of the corner of my eye at the edge of my field of vision was Shouchun city.

Its city tower wasn’t tall but the continuous pillars of smoke that rose above the forests gave it away.

I then looked downwards and saw that beneath my feet, the road to the city was not a dirt road that resulted from haphazard clearing of the forest but a proper road that was paved with stones that was more comfortable to walk on. In fact, it felt like the sort of running track you see in parks. Looks like Bo Fu and her people have put in quite a bit of effort into building up the infrastructure.

“How is it? Jiangdong hasn’t disappointed Xuan De right?” Bo Fu smiled confidently with a look that said ‘praise me quick’ as she folded her arms across her chest.

“Un, we haven’t entered the city yet but I can smell the scent of peace.”

The air here doesn’t smell of blood, or of dirt, only of fresh greenery. Besides that, it was quiet as well, a peaceful quiet.

“Huhuhu, I’m very impressive, aren’t I~” Bo Fu said proudly as she stuck her chest out.

“Even though this was all Zhang Zi Bu’s work…”

After Bo Fu came out, Zhou Yu emerged from the s.h.i.+p as well, and happened to hear Bo Fu’s words at which she delivered this remark with a look of contempt.

“Wu…” Bo Fu, who was exposed, withdrew her neck but then raised her hands immediately as she protested, “M, my decisions were on point as well! Back then, Liu Yao actually wanted to turn Shouchun city into a military complex!”

“Alright, alright, alright, Bo Fu’s decisions are the best.”

“Stop patronising me!”

“To be honest, our lord’s decisions then were indeed helpful. If it weren’t for that, this would have become our advance base.” Lu Su added in, hoping to end this conversion well.

“Zi Jing, I see you think the same way as well!”

“Lu Zi Jing! Can you stop spoiling Bo Fu! The more you praise her, the more she loses her drive!”

“I don’t, Gong Jin. Gong Jin! Don’t walk so fast.”

Zhou Yu huffed and puffed as she took big strides forward, completely ignoring any manners a retainer ought to have to their lord. Lu Su followed quickly after her as well. At this, Bo Fu didn’t seem to mind, and seemed to be pleased at Lu Su’s support just now.

Compared Meng De’s side which places a lot more emphasis on the difference in positions, I feel that Bo Fu’s side which is more like that of companions suits me more.

A retainer-lord relations.h.i.+p is undoubtedly a complicated one and it is necessary to draw certain lines but being too serious about things is a little too much especially for me when I have neither a country nor have I declared myself Emperor.

“Come, Xuan De. I’ll show you around Shouchun city.” While I was thinking, Bo Fu had held my hand and was pulling me along as she ran towards Shouchun city.

“Ah… The rest at the back haven’t even come ash.o.r.e yet!”

“It’s fine, it’s fine! Tais.h.i.+ Ci will help to settle them in! Don’t need to worry, Xuan De.” Bo Fu turned and flashed me a bright, refres.h.i.+ng smile as she said so.

Back when we first met, she would never have shown me this sort of smile. Looks like she feels a lot better without her obligations weighing her down huh.

Alright, I came here to see Bo Fu to begin with anyway.

Awesome.

I couldn’t but be amazed at the sight before me.

Back in the present day, I would read some novels when I was bored. The capital cities described in these novels always had peach trees with flowers blooming in the distance, green trees providing shade, neat rows of houses made of green bricks and grey tiles, and the pa.s.sers-by would greet each other amicably and engage in lively conversion. From near to far, from the outside to the inside, it would look like the perfect image of a golden age of peace and prosperity.

And the present day Shouchun, fit the image of that story.

“To be honest, if I could, I would have waited for another 2 years for the revitalisation of Jianye to be completed and then I would have brought Xuan De to Jianye. Jianye then would definitely be more beautiful than this place.”

As Bo Fu said so, a look of pride appeared on her face beneath her fringe. It was as though Shouchun city was a child she had painstakingly raised. Perhaps for Bo Fu, she has probably put in more blood, sweat and tears into Jiangdong’s initial development than she would into raising a child.

“Come.” Bo Fu said as she pulled my hand and led me into the city.

“Oi, won’t you get found out if you just walk on in like this?”

“Hehehe,” She laughed cheekily when she heard my words, “Honestly, I don’t make a lot of public appearances so the ordinary people don’t really know what I look like.”

“Eh? Is that so?”

“Of course. I feel that it’s so much more exhausting to speak to the ordinary people instead of soldiers. They admire and respect you but they always ask you for this and that.”

Looks like Bo Fu is the type who is afraid of the ordinary people huh. But this works in our favour so that’s good.

“Seeing how well Shouchun city has been built up, Bo Fu must have put in a lot of effort. You should show your face a little and let the ordinary people shower you with admiration–” When I said this, I saw that Bo Fu was looking at me with her eyes fully revealed, and I got the hint that Bo Fu wasn’t happy and didn’t continue.

After a short while of silence, Bo Fu’s expression returned to normal, and she slowly said, “I don’t need to be admired. It’s more tiring that way.”

Bo Fu’s words felt nostalgic as she’d said something similar the last time we met. I couldn’t help but guess that Bo Fu just hated others to have expectations of her.

“Alright, let’s leave this aside for now. Xuan De, where do you want to go to first? A confectionery stall or the weapons shop at the race course?” She pointed about the city as she said so. Looks like she knows the city well.

“Bo Fu, you’re really familiar with this place huh.”

“But of course I am,” She puffed out her chest again, “Before we moved the capital to Jianye, I lived here for a very long time. I even know the names of the oldest inhabitants of the city.”

Looks like Shouchun is something like a second hometown for Bo Fu huh.

“But even if you said all that, I can’t really think of anything immediately.” Honestly, there’s no place I want to go to in particular, “And I also thought that the first thing I needed to do after coming here would be a meeting in your guest hall or something…”

Hahahahaha– As I finished my words, Bo Fu broke into raucous laughter as though she had heard a joke, and only stopped after several minutes.

“B, bo Fu?”

Was it really that funny?

“I’m sorry, I just thought of something interesting, that’s why.” Bo Fu immediately explained probably because she felt it was not very respectful to me, “Honestly, there was supposed to be a meeting but it has been postponed due to a comical reason.”

So she was triggered by that comical reason. Whew, that scared me.

“Honestly, you were scheduled to meet with my little sister now but…”

“But?”

Bo Fu paused and shrugged her shoulders, “But she’s ran away and we can’t find her.”

Eh?!

“Ran away?!”

“Unfortunately, you heard it right.” Bo Fu nodded. I can’t really see what her expression is right now but she should be having a helpless smile on, “How should I put it? She got forced into my position all of a sudden so she probably isn’t very used to it.”

Even if you aren’t used to it, you don’t need to run away right?

“Xuan De! Where have you run to?”

“My lord, don’t think you can skip today’s finance lesson just because you’re quick with your feet.”

Wu… Is this Zi Long and Mi Zhu?

I just got to Shouchun so why do I have to be studying!

“Bo Fu, please help me stall them.”

“Eh? Xuan De?”

Before Bo Fu got what I meant, I’d already rushed into the crowd. I finally got to land today so I’m having a holiday!

I don’t know how long I’ve been running for but I was beginning to feel tired and decided to stop as I looked about. Seeing that Zi Long and the rest couldn’t be found, I figured that Bo Fu has probably helped me stop them somehow and heaved a sigh of relief.

I was actually admonis.h.i.+ng that Sun Zhong Mou whom I haven’t met yet but now I see that I’m no different from her, so I thought self-deprecatingly as I slowly walked in Shouchun city’s residential district and calmed my breathing down.

“Watch out! Dodge!”

Eh? Before I knew what was happening, a force came at me from the right. There wasn’t too much power behind that force, but because I was still drained from the trip, I lost my balance and fell to the ground.

And in the next instant, all I could see was a tiger skin hat.