*Pu*!

“*Ke* *Ke* *Ke* *Ke* …”

“Aiyaya, Lord Liu Bei, take your time to eat.”

Cao Song just whispered some incredible words into my ear which made me spit out the porridge I just placed in my mouth.

“Please wait, please wait,” I grabbed Cao Song’s arm and looked at him with bewildered eyes, “What, did you just say?”

Cao Song had a bright expression as he smiled at me, and came up close once more.

“I said that, since Lord Liu Bei doesn’t want anything, then what do you think about the Cao clan girls?” Cao Song said and smiled bitterly, “I’m not bragging when I say people from our clan are talented but all our girls are a little too strong-willed. They’re almost 20 but they don’t even have someone in mind yet. How about it?”

Cao Song elbowed me as he said so.

“No no no, how can I do that,” His elbow made me regain my senses but I was still rather awkward as I looked at them, and hurriedly shook my head, “Every one of them are good girls but I don’t know them well and–”

“If you don’t know them well, get to know them then. What’s so difficult about that?” Cao Song smiled as he stroked his beard, and then he seemed to have thought of something as he looked at me, “Ah, or could it be that Lord Liu Bei has someone in mind already? If that’s the case, then the old man won’t say any further.”

“Ah… No…”

Someone in mind for marriage huh? There are a lot of people by my side but if I had to say if I had someone in mind for that, then I don’t. I have very good relations with Yun Chang and Yi De but we’re sworn siblings after all. Personally, I’ve never considered getting married in this era either.

“— Could it actually be my family’s Ah Man?”

“… Eh?”

“Un? Was I on the mark?”

I looked at Cao Song who had an eager look on him.

Ah… No…

Or so I wanted to reply him, but from this angle, I could clearly see Meng De from here and when I saw her face, it was difficult for me to say this.

“Er… Umm…”

“How about it, how about it?” Cao Song was like a kid as he looked at me eagerly and pestered me profusely.

But how should I answer this…

“Father, apologies for interrupting your conversation.”

All of a sudden, a voice came from the other side of Cao Song, and the tense atmosphere was slightly alleviated. Cao Song and I looked over, and saw that the one who spoke was Meng De herself.

“Meng… Meng De?” The tension I had wasn’t completely dispelled and so when I saw Meng De speak to us, I felt anxious. As for Meng De, she looked at me and gave her signature confident smile.

“Man’er, what is it?”

“Father, I think Xuan De is tired. Why don’t I send him home?”

“Eh?”

Tired? I looked at Meng De, and saw that her smile hadn’t changed and understood what she meant,

“Ah, right, right, right. I am indeed rather tired today.” I didn’t bother with trying to put up a convincing act as just saying these words was already difficult enough.

“I see~” Cao Song said as he looked at me and stroked his beard. After a moment of silence, he smiled at me.

“It’s alright. We have a lot of time in future.” As he said so, he turned to Meng De, “Man’er, make sure you get along well with Lord Liu Bei in future as well.”

As for Meng De, her smile was still there and didn’t waver.

“… Yes, father. I know.” After a moment, Meng De replied, and then she got up and walked over to me.

“Xuan De, let’s go back.”

“Ah… Oh.” I got up and didn’t even salute and bow, and walked out briskly with Meng De almost as if I was trying to escape.

After I got past the screen wall, I felt a lot more at ease, and by the time I got out and into the streets, I felt alright again. I was still rather troubled though as the question that Cao Song asked me continued to swirl in my mind.

— Could it actually be my family’s Ah Man?

Wu… Please, stop thinking about it.

“Hai~”

Un? Just then, Meng De let out a sigh beside me. When I looked at her, I found that though she was still smiling, her brows were creased, and she’d bent over as though she was really tired out.

“I’d told father not to ask any weird questions beforehand but in the end he still asked you some questions that weren’t easy to answer right?” Meng De said as she turned to look at me.

And it was precisely because Meng De’s guess was perfectly on the mark that I didn’t know how I should respond, and could only nod my head timidly.

“Relax, I won’t ask. Though I can largely guess what he asked.” Meng De said and sighed once more, though her smile never withdrew, “You too. I told you to just give some casual answers.”

“I’m sorry,” I did indeed forget what Meng De said back then, “But I really couldn’t give casual answers to what your father asked. It feels like… I had to respond seriously.”

“Ah,” When she heard this, Meng De turned away and didn’t let me see her face, “Is that so.”

“Yes.” I nodded, “But I’m really sorry about this. I gave you so many problems even after you took the trouble to invite me here.”

“Ah, no no no.” Meng De turned back to face me slightly, and waved her hands, “There aren’t any problems or trouble. It was father who wanted you to come and it’s the best if you weren’t troubled.”

“It wasn’t any trouble.” I said, and then thought of something and smiled, “But when Meng De came to me all of a sudden and asked me to meet your father, I thought it was like a meeting with the parents before a wedding.”

“Is that so? Well if you want to think of it that way, you can.”

“… Eh?”

What did Meng De just say?

“No, nothing. Just a joke.” As she said so, Meng De moved her hands to her back and closed her eyes as she looked down with a really sweet smile on her.

Hu…

“You always have such a serious look on when you joke.”

But really, how could Liu Bei and Cao Cao be family members? That’s impossible.

Un?

“Ah!”

“Un? What’s the matter, Xuan De?” Meng De turned and looked at me when she heard my cry.

“I brought your bowl out, Meng De.”

Only now did I realise that I still had the bowl of porridge that Xiahou Yuan gave me. In my panicked state just now, I brought it along with me.

“Ah, that works well.” Meng De seemed happy at this, and turned and pointed behind me.

What’s there?

Ah… I turned back and found that there was a good view of the moon in this street. Though the street wasn’t as broad as the courtyard, it was still a decent view.

“We can share this bowl of porridge as we view the moon here with just the 2 of us.” Meng De said with a broad smile as she went to a stone ledge nearby and sat down.

That, was a good idea.

“Is it alright if you don’t go back?” I asked as I walked over and sat beside Meng De.

“It’s fine. If I go back, I’ll just be questioned by my family.”

“Questioned?”

“Never mind.” Meng De said, and continued to view the moon. She reached out with 1 hand and took the spoon which she delivered to her mouth, “Un~ It’s good.”

I looked at Meng De and seeing that she had no intention of continuing from the topic before, decided to leave it be as well. You only get problems from asking after certain things after all.

And so, Meng De and I enjoyed the midautumn moon that night.