Liu Bei POV

“Imperial Uncle, please continue this way.” “Be careful of where your footing and take care not to trip over any protruding stones and die. Hmph!”

Wu… The moment I reached the entrance of the residence, I found that the twin sisters were waiting for me there. When they saw me, they used very different words to welcome me in.

Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue. To be honest, I still can’t quite differentiate who is who. But I do feel that these 2 are rather dangerous people and are difficult to approach so I decided to keep my distance from them for now.

“My lord, my lord.”

“Un?” I turned back, and saw that my ‘attendant’ was at a loss.

“Is it really alright for you to bring me amongst all the generals you have?”

“What’s not alright?” I tilted my head, as though I didn’t understand what she was trying to imply, “You’re talented in both administration and martial arts. You may have forgotten the latter, but I still remember it very clearly.”

“Wu…” Looks like my words have troubled her again. But if it’s now, a little bit of incitement should be fine.

I looked at the rather reserved, short girl in front of me, and still couldn’t feel any familiarity. Zhang Yi De has not returned to my side yet. This was within expectations though this whole affair wasn’t.

The reason why I chose to bring her along is because she is actually a rather capable administrative official now. I also wanted to get a little closer to her through this.

Whether it was the her now, or the her who I lost.

“Let’s go.”

I said, and reached out to grab Yi De’s hand, but felt that it would be inappropriate to do so, and patted her shoulders instead before stepping in first.Thereafter, Yi De’s footsteps could be heard from behind. It made me feel a little sad hearing how uncharacteristically solid her footfalls were.

But it’s still better than nothing, I thought, as I caught up the sisters in front, and bowed, “Thank you both for today.”

The one with the more relaxed expression turned around and smiled at me, “Imperial Uncle, please mind your position and not say anything to my lord that is outside of what you ought to in your position. No matter what my lord chooses to speak with you today.”

When she finished, she covered her mouth and laughed. Her laugh didn’t seem friendly in the least to me. In fact, I got gooseb.u.mps hearing it.

“Elder sister, you need not speak too much with him,” Her little sister beside added, with a look of disgust, “Imperial Uncle, at the end of the day, you’re just an outsider and know nothing about Jing state. My lord treats you as his own brother but the people of Jing state do not think much of this. So please, watch yourself.”

“Isn’t this a little inappropriate of you?” I instinctively shot back as it felt a little too much.

“Hmph! You best not have any evil designs.” She seemed unhappy at my protest, and continued even further, “Imperial Uncle’s troops outside the city have been practicing siege tactics. This much, we are aware. So I hope your troops can watch themselves as well.”

Wu… I can’t refute this at all.

I didn’t respond to this immediately, as I still keenly remember what Gong You said last night. Whether they were practicing with taking Jing state in mind or not, I felt that it wasn’t right or them to say that. But at the same time, I can’t argue this. The more I tried, the worse it would get.

But at the end of the day, all they said was for the good of Jing state, and Liu Biao. So it’s clear that they are loyal retainers.

“My lord won’t defend himself?” Just then, Yi De who was behind me spoke up softly, “They are just 2 administrative officials.”

“About that… Forget it.”

I got a slap in my face by 2 administrative officials the moment I entered but it’s not a serious problem. I will be meeting Liu Biao soon so I just need to endure it for a while more.

“…” Yi De didn’t say anything in reply, and closed her eyes before she sighed. Looks like she dispelled all her anger.

Un, what Yi De is doing now is good. If it were Yi De from before, she would have just went at it…

“My lord can endure it, but I can’t.”

Eh?

“Esteemed lords, don’t you think that what you just said is a little too disrespectful to a member of the royal family?”

Before I realised who said these words, Yi De caught up and stopped in front of me before bowing and speaking up for me.

“A mere attendant dares to lecture us?! Stand down!” The little sister got enraged and yelled out.

“Those words are a little out of place,” Yi De took a deep breath and spoke in the loud and resounding voice I was very familiar with, “Protecting one’s lord’s pride and honour is the responsibility of a retainer, and has nothing to do with the retainer’s rank. My lord is presently being threatened and maligned with false charges. As a retainer, should I not be standing up for my lord?”

“But your lord isn’t even speaking up, aren’t you acting out of turn here?” The elder sister spoke with a smile. The gleam in her eyes looked like there were daggers in them.

“My lord is benevolent and kind, and has always been very understanding of useless retainers who know nothing but to use coa.r.s.e words. My lord returns hatred with virtue, and is a true gentleman. But a rebuke to my lord, is a rebuke to his retainers. I am not a lady and do not understand what it means to return hatred with virtue, and all I know is to return what I am given manifold. If I have acted out of turn, my lord will punish me himself. But that is not up to you 2 to decide.”

“You–”

“Moreover, Lord Liu Biao has not spoken anything untoward of my lord, so aren’t you both the ones acting out of turn? Or do you both question your own lord’s judgement?”

“Wu…” The little sister had more to say but she was soundly refuted by Yi De and had nothing to say.

“Umm…”

Seeing how the situation was like, I went up and tried to defuse the situation but I didn’t know what to say I looked at the 3 of them who were staring at each other.

I looked at Yi De and saw her eyes gleaming brightly. Her eyes now looked exactly like the ones that she had when we first met in Zhuo county. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Yi De be so energetic.

“Alright, please stop making a ruckus out here, everyone.”

Just then, a voice came from a room some distance away. I looked over, and saw a short-haired woman standing there with her hands in her sleeves with a relaxed expression on her, as though she was unaffected by the mood here.

She the bent down slightly and took 1 hand out of her sleeve and pointed at the room she was in.

“My lord has been waiting for a while now, please come in quickly.”