Meng De POV

I walked down the terrace of the inner city walls and went straight before turning left after pa.s.sing through the gates. Just ahead after that were a row of beautiful houses. Li Ru had carefully selected them and was planning to offer them to Dong Zhuo but Dong Zhuo died and his factions was defeated so this area was abandoned. When construction works were in progress to make this the new capital, I decided to make this area a temporary residential district for myself and other Court officials. Feng Xiao didn’t let me stay here as it was bad luck to do so but I had decided to use this area as such.

At this time, the inner city was closed off and there was no carriage to bring me out so I could only stay here for the night. Of course, I wasn’t the only one staying here. Chen Yu can’t get out as well, and Ben Chu and her little sister are probably staying here as well. There might be others as well.

These houses weren’t very luxurious but they were decent by most standards, and they were built near to the center of Xuchang. Back then when I first decided to move the capital here, I found that a lot of foundation works were already done here. Which meant that Li Ru had already made preparations to move the capital here as well. Bu who knew that Dong Zhuo would meet an untimely end.

It’s all down to fate, I guess.

Alright, enough of that, I need to sleep now. I have a lot of things to do later.

“My lord.”

“My lord, we finally found you.”

Up ahead, I spotted 2 people who wore hats. I know who they are and wanted to sneak away quickly before they noticed me but was ultimately detected.

I turned towards them as they ran over to me.

“I was thinking of giving you our report before the inner city was closed but you disappeared.” Li Dian said angrily with her arms folded across her chest.

“But it’s good that our lord is still in the inner city. It’s better than our lord being in the outer city while we’re here.” Yue Jin smiled as she patted Li Dian’s shoulders.

“You both have come already huh. How was the rebellion in the east?”

“I would give full marks for our mission this time as we’ve completely quelled the rebellion in the east.”

“I would only give 90 marks. Some of them managed to get away, and if we chased them down, we would have gotten them all.”

When they finished, they gave me several pieces of cloth that were the corners of flags. These were the symbol that the leaders of the rebellion had been killed.

“The leader has been executed and the subordinates are now far away so there is no need to chase them down. The reason why they rebelled to begin with was because they didn’t have enough basic necessities. Now that things are improving from our reforms, there shouldn’t be a repeat of this.”

“Whatever you say.”

Clearly there were differences between how they viewed the outcome. I feel that I don’t need to pa.s.s too much judgement as these were their personal opinions after all.

In any case, it’s good that it’s all settled. With this, the area that includes Chenliu and Xu state is now fully under our control.

“Ah, right, how is it with the military ‘tuntian’ system? Has it worked?”

(TL: Tuntian is basically a system of a.s.signing plots of land to soldiers and providing equipment and cows to plow the land in return for a portion of the harvest. This is something like Napoleon’s policy of having his troops grow food.)

“General Xiahou has begun the preparations. The results should be good.”

“Miao Cai?”

“Yes, she is currently in Yingchuan.”

“I heard that there is a rebellion there as well, and General Xiahou is attending to it with Yu Jin.”

“Oh~ I know.”

Even though the north has been unified, it is only in name and there is still much internal strife. With uprisings happening here and there, how am I supposed to begin my southern campaign when I can’t even get a short rest?

“Yue Jin, Li Dian, if I said that we will launch an offensive on Jing state within the next 3 months, what do you think?”

“60 marks, my lord.”

“65 marks, my lord.”

“Un, I got it, no need to explain further.” I extended a hand to stop them from giving their a.n.a.lyses, and bowed, “It’s been a tiring time for you both so go and have an early night. I’ll give you both a few days of leave starting tomorrow so get some rest.”

When they heard me say this, they both bowed and saluted me before turning around and leaving.

The reason why I stopped them from saying what they wanted to say is because I know what they were going to say.

Because I am of the same opinion.

If my subordinates are of the same opinion, then it should be fine to delay it. I thought, feeling relieved inside.

Personally speaking, I hoped the world could give me a month or 2 of leave.

But conflict is about to begin in Jing state huh. The flashpoint will be at Jiangxia. Huang Zu is there and Sun Quan has a grudge with her, so this battle will be an especially b.l.o.o.d.y and violent one.

… Hai, Xuan De. Why do I get the feeling that you will be pulled into it? Is it a misconception or is it because I’m used to you being pulled into such things?

As I thought about this, I couldn’t help but to picture that troubled face of Xuan De’s as he gets dragged into the mess. And behind him are his beloved companions who protect him with a smile, and will never let harm come to him. This is probably what they mean by the saying ‘heaven always provides for the good’.

My mood got better when I thought of such things. Compared to Xuan De’s life, I can’t really say that mine is a lot more tumultuous. All I can say is we both have our own problems.

As I lay on my bed, I could not feel sleepy at all. For me, closing my eyes has become something difficult to do.

If it were before, I wouldn’t be afraid of any a.s.sa.s.sination plots but now I feel eyes on me everywhere I go. The feeling I get is antic.i.p.ation for my fall, and hope for a new round to begin again. I know. I have become important. Far more important than ever before.

I won’t let these people get their way. I have my path to walk. Even if, as I predicted, it gets windier and winder, and more difficult to continue on.

Ah…

Sometimes, I will think back to the days of the Dong Zhuo campaign. Back then, I didn’t feel so burdened, nor did I have so much troubles, and I could stand with the feudal lords, the people, and the troops.

Wherever I went, there were allies, and I felt invincible no matter who I had to face.