Yi Ji POV

My lord began his morning prayers a little earlier than usual today. And this time, he let most of his officials follow him in.

After they entered the altar hall, the 2 young mistresses stood at my lord’s sides. Behind them was Cai Mao– The aunt of the 2 young mistresses. If it weren’t for Lady Cai, she would never have been able to ascend to such a position.

5 steps behind Cai Mao were us retainers. At the head were Kuai Yue and Kuai Liang, while Han Song and I as well as the rest of the administrative officials stood behind. As for the warrior generals, my lord seems to think that it’s not too appropriate to have them inside as they have been engaged in much bloodshed so they waited outside. At times like thes, my lord really acts like a wuss. Although he usually does that anyway.

Before my lord began paying respects, he reported to the ancestral tablets that Imperial Uncle Liu was due to arrive by noon today. From his voice, it seems like he’s actually rather happy about this.

Thereafter was the usual boring rituals. The official of ceremonies on duty gave the instruction to pay our respects, and we knelt down and did so; when he told us to rise, we got up and bowed. And after that we burnt joss sticks and offered prayers. We repeated this process for a few times more and were only done after about an hour. Compared to the cooling environment outside due to early spring, the fires that burned in the altar hall made it really hot. It was also enclosed, which trapped the heat in the hall. I was bad with heat and was thus, drenched in sweat.

Winter pa.s.sed by so quickly. How am I going to survive summer?

“The ceremony has concluded, you may rise and leave–” The official said loudly. The rest of us hurriedly got up and made a path for our lord to go through first.

My lord got up, tidied his clothing and swung his luscious hair that would make any woman envious as he turned and walked towards the gates with big strides.

I looked upwards as best as I could while my head was lowered, and aaw that my lord did not even have a single bead of sweat on his forehead, and had a big smile plastered on his face as he strode past like a deity.

Following behind him were the 2 young mistresses– Liu Qi and Liu Cong who were completely different from each other. Young mistress Liu Qi had a refres.h.i.+ng look with big, bright eyes. At this moment, her twin tails were slightly drenched with sweat and she was in the midst of letting her hair down when she detected her father’s gaze on her. She realised it was rude and left her hair tied up. She didn’t say anything but her eyes were filled with fury.

Young mistress Liu Cong was a more delicate girl. She was younger than her elder half-sister young mistress Liu Qi by 3 years and her mother was Lady Cai. She was beautiful and captivating, and seemed a much gentler person than her elder sister. She looked like she was even worse than I with heat as her clothes were soaked and she was panting hard.

Before she could take out her own handkerchief, Cai Mao quickly stepped up and wiped her niece’s sweat.

Un… I had some thoughts about this person which I found difficult to keep down but it’s best not to think of such things.

What has my attention though, is that Imperial Uncle Liu Bei. I wonder what kind of fellow he is?

He’s someone whom I’ve heard of since the Yellow Turban Rebellion. Since then, his fortunes have not improved much and he’s probably been hanging on by the skin of his teeth. I’m really curious about his experiences, how he’s made it this far and what he’s been through.

“In a while, when our lord has changed his clothes, we will be following our lord to receive Liu Bei. Look sharp, people. Don’t embarra.s.s the Governor of Jing state.” Kuai Yue said coldly, at which everyone started inspecting their clothing. Compared to Kuai Yue who was stony-faced, Kuai Liang seemed jovial.

“Elder sister! What are you so happy about~ Imperial Uncle Liu is almost here! I wonder what trouble he is going to cause.”

“Don’t spout nonsense little sister. This is what our lord has decided and we need only obey.” Kuai Liang said as she placed her hands behind her back, “Our lord also has some private matters of importance which he can only speak of with his blood brother.”

“What do you mean by that, elder sister?”

“I mean what it means.”

Kuai Yue sighed and seemed like she didn’t want to pursue the matter. Kuai Liang didn’t look like she wanted to explain further either. I looked about and saw that everyone was discussing Liu Bei.

“Lord Yi Ji, what do you think about Liu Bei’s arrival?” Han Song beside me asked.

“I don’t have any strong opinion about it.” I just have an ambiguous reply.

I said I didn’t have an opinion but I was actually really eager to meet this Liu Bei. O’m really, really curious about him. More so than I was about my lord when I first chose to serve him.

“Ah, young mistress Liu Qi.” Just then, young mistress Liu Qi came out from her annex, and we hurriedly bowed.

“No need for that.” She gestured and walked quickly up to us.

Young mistress Liu Qi deliberately wore her tight fit clothing, and seemed energetic. Looks like she’s really eager about meeting this Liu Bei. More so than me, even her father.

By the way, we’ve already pa.s.sed young mistress Liu Cong’s annex but she hasn’t come out yet. Looks like she probably went to fing my lord and go with him.

Young mistress Liu Cong is a lot more socially aware. No, that could be Cai Mao’s idea.

And just like that, we exited the city directly from the inner part without pa.s.sing through the outer city. My lord has instructed that we erect pavilions along the way to receive Imperial Uncle Liu.

As we rode out, I looked at the mist in the distance but didn’t see any sign of that Imperial Uncle.

From how things look, the arrival of Imperial Uncle Liu Bei coincides with a bad time in Jing state, internally and externally speaking.

How will you solve this, Imperial Uncle?

I’m really curious.