Liu Bei POV

After that, Zhou Yu and the rest came in and asked what happened. As expected, most of them were very emotional when they heard about Bo Fu.

“Hu… Bo Fu, looks like your end isn’t here yet.”

“My lord Sun Ce is brave, virtuous and talented, how could she die here?”

Apart from the warrior generals like Lu Meng who were very emotional, Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu were exceptionally calm. Their words however, were meaningful to me.

If this would have gone as the history I know, then Sun Ce Sun Be Fu would meet her end here. Now though, my little protest was able to change her fate.

Of course, there’s no way I can tell them all this, nor would they believe it even if I did.

“In any case, thank you very much, Imperial Uncle Liu, for being able to convince that Taoist.” Lu Su who stood on the other side thanked me with an uncharacteristically serious expression.

“No, it’s something I should do. Since I could save her, why wouldn’t I?”

This was the truth, and I did indeed feel this way then.

“But what exactly did Imperial Uncle say to that person that made her give up?”

“That huh… Nothing much actually… I didn’t really discuss much of note with her.”

Zhang Zhao was sharp and asked me a question I couldn’t answer. After thinking for a long while, I tried to give an unclear answer, hoping that they would let it go. It was the truth, or at least part of it, after all. Apart from what I can’t tell them, I didn’t really discuss much with her.

“That Taoist seems very skilled in the way of the Tao so I’m afraid anything she says won’t be understandable by us.” Zhou Yu’s words saved me and stopped anyone from pursuing the matter further, “In any case, our lord is fine now so we can rest easy.”

The warrior generals didn’t object to this naturally while Zhang Zhao closed her eyes and didn’t pursue the matter.

“This matter is extremely serious so we mustn’t let too many people know about this and we should put some effort into finding that Yu Ji so that this doesn’t happen again.” Lu Su said as he rubbed his stubble, still wearing the same serious expression from before. At this suggestion, Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao nodded, and Zhang Zhao added that it was ‘top priority’ amongst secret missions.

I agreed as well, though I felt that their efforts were for naught. Naturally, I didn’t verbalise this.

“That’s that for now then. Please give Bo Fu my best when she wakes up.”

I felt that staying would only cause more problems to sprout and Bo Fu would undoubtedly have questions when she wakes up. To avoid all this, I decided to return as soon as possible, before I said something I shouldn’t.

As I thought so, I turned to leave the room and building. n.o.body tried to stop me, nor did they ask me why Yu Ji was looking for me. All they did was bow and send me off.

When she saw me walk out, Feng Xian swiftly got up and bowed before following after me.

“… Was it really alright? Did that Taoist do anything untoward to my lord?” Feng Xian whispered to me. Looks like she has been waiting to ask me this for some time now.

“Of course not. We just spoke with each other.”

Yu Ji didn’t do anything untoward to me, but I did. Naturally, I didn’t mention this to Feng Xian as it would just make her worried unnecessarily.

“Lord Sun Ce has come back to life, my lord is safe, all’s well ends well.” Feng Xian commented, and didn’t ask any further. Compared to Zhou Yu and the rest, Feng Xian was probably more oblivious as to what happened.

I looked at Feng Xian, who had the same stern look on her as always. I’d seen different expressions on her before but they were fleeting and most of the time, she would have this stern and serious look on her.

When I recalled the look Yu Ji had as she looked at Feng Xian, chills ran down my spine. If I hadn’t met with Feng Xian back then, would she have met her end in Xu state already? And would Wen Yuan have joined Meng De’s side?

Only when I thought about the things I’ve done did I fully understand what Yu Ji was about to warn me about. The things I have changed in history are far too many after all. To the all-knowing Yu Ji, my actions are probably acts of blasphemy to history.

But when I divert my attention to Yu Ji, I realised that she hadn’t given me strict instructions to follow the path of history. And why did she choose to see me at this time? If she really wanted the gears of history to continue grinding the right way, then Yu Ji didn’t need to have that discussion with me.

I don’t understand. That deity-like person seems like she is omniscient but her actions don’t make sense. There are too many things I don’t know and I have no choice but to go with the flow for now.

Forget it. I’ve made my choice, and I’ll follow through with it for now. I’ll deal with things as they come. As I came to this conclusion, I felt the feather fan with my hands as a sort of closure to this episode.

“Imperial Uncle!”

Just then, a voice came from behind me. I turned and saw the maid with a mysterious ident.i.ty running over. The way she ran was neither like that of a warrior general nor did it seem like an administrative official. It was exactly like how a maid would run in my era, making me feel that she was perhaps someone who transferred as well. Naturally, this was impossible.

“May I ask what is the matter?” I stopped and waited for her.

“Ah, nothing much.” She smiled elatedly when she came before me. Looks like she’s very happy at Bo Fu’s recovery, “I just wish to thank Imperial Uncle on behalf of all retainers of Jiangdong. I truly am grateful for what you’ve done.”

As she said so, she bowed deeply.

“Ah… Un, it’s nothing.” I hurriedly turned away as I said so. Her clothes were a little too revealing and when she bent down, her cleavage was laid bare, and I had to turn away to prevent myself from staring.

The design of this clothing… Sun Quan, you’re way too good.

I then recalled how she stopped Lu Meng earlier and wondered again what her ident.i.ty was.

“Umm, if I happen to have made a mistake, please forgive me, but may I ask if you’re just an ordinary servant?” I carefully worded my question.

“I got busted huh?”

“It would be difficult not to have noticed.”

The formidable aura she had about her was far too noticeable. Compared to most other warrior generals, it was of a higher level.

“About that… Even if you learn about my name, it’s not of much use. I’m just an ordinary has-been general.”

She continued to avoid telling me who she was, perhaps because she thinks she’s not too famous in the present.

Seeing that she wasn’t as adamant as before, I decided to press her, “I won’t know that until you tell me.”

“… Hai, I lose.” She sank into silence before sighing. She then tidied her clothing and formally introduced herself, “I am the warrior general Huang Gai, Huang Gong Fu.”

“Oh? Huang Gai huh?” After I heard her name, I repeated it once more as I took a deep breath.

She’s actually Huang Gai?!

I was quite surprised to learn of this but by now, I’ve already gotten so used to being shocked and having my worldview thoroughly challenged so this was just a small wave compared to what I’ve been through and I was able to maintain a calm countenance.

“Ah, I’ve heard of your name. Something about you being a general who’s served the Sun family for 3 generations now.” I skimped on the details, which I wasn’t that knowledgeable about anyway.

“Oh? To think you actually know who I am.” Even so, Huang Gai was genuinely surprised that I actually know who she is. Does she think her existence is that weak?

“You’re right. I have been fought in battles for a while now and I’ve recently left the battlefield. Amongst the old guard, apart from Zu Mao who has died, Cheng Pu and Han Dang are still around.”

(TL: Huang Gai, Zu Mao, Han Dang and Cheng Pu are Sun Jian’s first 4 generals.)

So she’s retired from the battlefield huh… I looked at Huang Gai and didn’t think she looked washed-out at all. In fact, she seemed a lot more friendly, lively and interesting than most warrior generals.

“What a waste…” Just then, Feng Xian who was behind me, shook her head as she said so. She then raised her head to look at the woman wearing weird clothing, “I don’t like b.l.o.o.d.y brawls but if I am able to, I would like very much to be able to spar with you.”

“Hahaha,” Huang Gai laughed when she heard Feng Xian’s words, “As you see, instead of my dual whips, I now hold a broom in my hands so let’s not talk about sparring.”

(TL: By whips, it refers to the Chinese hard whips, which are more like batons or a hard, metal version of horse whips, than the kind of Western whips.)

“Hmph.” Feng Xian gave a rare smile as she breathed out.

Thereafter, I bade farewell to her at which she bowed. Even after we left the door, she still remained bowing.

After we were some distance away, Feng Xian sighed, “What a pity…” It was rare for Feng Xian to sigh so much so I was curious.

“Is Huang Gai that formidable?”

“You can tell just by looking at those muscles under the scant pieces of cloth on her. She’s definitely very strong.” Feng Xian said with her eyes closed, “She uses whips huh… I don’t think I can hold her off in a head-on clash if she is serious.”

“That’s really humble of you…” I smiled, and decided to concentrate on other things instead.

I stole a glance at Bo Fu’s residence behind and hoped that Bo Fu would wake up soon. At the same time, I began to feel lost at the things to come.

— Starting from now, please think of Cao Cao as an enemy from the bottom of your heart. If not, you will meet with tragedy in future.

When I recalled what Yu Ji said, I knew I had to start thinking about things.