Liu Bei POV

Just as I’d mentioned before, the entire residence is actually very expansive. Even though there are quite a number of us and we’ll be living here for a rather protracted period of time, the only number of rooms and areas we actually utilise are about half. And so the rest were naturally left as they were.

Of course, since it’s only a temporary abode, there is no need for us to clean and clear up the areas we aren’t using.

However, cleaning up the so-called unused half of the residence has now become a necessary task. And the ones to complete it are us 4 returnees from Jiangxia.

“*Ke* *Ke* *Ke*~ Zhou Cang! Can you be a little more careful! Don’t you know you should sprinkle a little bit of water when you sweep!”

“You’re so noisy! Do your own work!”

“Will you both just quit it! If it weren’t for that d.a.m.ned scheme of yours, Chen Gong, we wouldn’t be subject to this punishment!”

Chen Dao was still in her usual role of defusing their arguments at first but she’s started to join in as well.

Hai… I sighed as I swept the floor with the broom, inadvertently breathing in copious amounts of dust flying about.

“Don’t slack off, Imperial Uncle. You’re also an accomplice so you must bear equal responsibility.”

“If it weren’t for your cajoling, I wouldn’t have done that!” I couldn’t help but to retort Chen Gong when she delivered a barb to me.

“Then Imperial Uncle could have come out earlier, no? Why did you have to wait for things to get so far before coming out?”

“Wu…” I couldn’t explain myself at this question as what she said was indeed right. If Mi Zhen hadn’t discovered me, I might still be there watching.

Ah… I gave a long sigh. Being punished wasn’t the main issue here. The main issue was whether this joke of ours was a little overboard.

In my mind, everyone’s eyes when they saw me came to mind once more. Eyes filled with shock and disbelief.

“Ah… We finally came back after so much difficulty! I was still thinking of having some good food too.”

“Be contented that all we have to clean is just the residence.”

“Chen Gong has no right to speak! If you hadn’t told me not to do anything and just remain silent, would I have gotten punished?”

So that’s what Chen Gong told Zhou Cang then. No wonder Zhou Cang did not explain things to them when they came out.

No no no, now isn’t the time to be impressed by this. I should think of what I need to do to clear things up with them…

“Big brother.”

I was startled when I heard this and turned back to find that it was indeed Yun Chang, who was standing there with her arms folded and a terrible look on her. Looks like she’s still not over what just happened.

“Eh! Yun Chang, I’m here!” When I heard her call out to me, I knew that this must be a chance to explain or apologise so I hurriedly ran over to her.

“So now you’re coming over so quickly huh. It’s a little late, isn’t it?” Yun Chang got even more angry when she saw how anxious I was and turned away.

“Lord Guan Yu, we were–”

“Lord Chen Dao, please clean up properly. If you don’t you will find that you won’t have time to eat.”

“How can that be~” At the mention of food privileges being taken away, sadness filled Zhou Cang’s face.

“Zhou Cang, it’s all because of you! If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have believed it for real!”

So it really was because of Zhou Cang’s performance huh? It was simply too realistic after all.

“In any case, get to work you 3.” Yun Chang pointed at the 3 of them before turning to me, “Big brother, follow me.”

“Eh?! Okay!”

Yun Chang turned and left the room when she finished. It seems like there’s more she wants to say to me so I hurriedly followed after her.

Thereafter, Yun Chang and I traversed the corridors and moved toward the big courtyard. I looked at the main hall and found that everyone was currently eating.

Mi Zhen tried to wave at me when she saw me but was stopped by Gong You beside her, who didn’t even look at me and continued to nibble at her food.

As for the rest, their att.i.tude towards me was roughly the same as her’s.

Ah… Looks like we did go overboard with this prank.

“Here, big brother. This was just sent over.” After about 30-40 paces, Yun Chang pa.s.sed me a piece of silk, “Seems like the preparations for the banquet are almost finished so hurry and go.”

“Ah, oh.” Only now did I remember the matter of the banquet.

Time really pa.s.ses so quickly. I raised my head and looked at the sun and found that the time which Liu Qi had said that the banquet would begin was fast approaching.

But… As I looked at Yun Chang who still had her back to me, guilt filled my heart and I wondered if I ought to apologise and make amends to everyone first.

“Umm, Yun Chang, I’m really sorry about it.” Leaving aside whether it works or not, I feel that I should apologise first anyway. “Honestly, I didn’t have any–”

“Big brother, did you know? When I heard that Jiangxia was lost, I was very worried.” Yun Chang interrupted my clumsy explanation and continued, ” So when I came out and saw that big brother wasn’t there, I felt like my whole world had collapsed.”

“… Un.” All I could do was nod as I had no idea what I ought to say.

“I have never thought about life without big brother so when I heard that big brother had died, I felt completely lost.” As she said so, Yun Chang turned on her right heel and looked at me, “So when I saw big brother emerge from the shrubbery, instead of rage, what I felt was relief. ‘Ah, I’m so thankful big brother is still alive’ is what went through my mind.”

I looked at Yun Chang and saw that the corners of her lips were slightly curled upwards. But when I looked upwards, I could still see clear streaks from the tears before.

“I’m really sorry.” I bowed deeply and apologised. After listening to Yun Chang’s words and finding that she felt the same as I did for them, I finally realised how to express how I felt, “I was very worried about everyone during the entire expedition, about you, about Feng Xian. I was afraid you all might meet with mishaps and if any of you were to be injured or hurt, I’m not sure I can take it.”

“Eh? Really?” For some reason, Yun Chang seemed flabbergasted at my answer as her mouth opened wide which I thought was a very normal one.

“Is there anything strange about it?”

“Ah, no. I just felt that it sounded a little too exaggerated.”

“I’m serious.”

Yes, I genuinely care and worry for every one of my companions. It might seem a little exaggerated but this is how I truly feel.

I have lived in this era for close to a year now and have been through many events and have met with many people. Personal experiences trump what I had in the modern era through books and video games by far.

When playing video games, perhaps I might pay attention to generals or officials who are more outstanding and wave away all the generic characters. When reading books, I wouldn’t feel pained at anyone’s death.

But right now, it has become my reality. Everyone I’ve met is not a faceless generic mob. They all have flesh and blood, and complex feelings. Some of them ay be a little weird, but this only deepens my impression of them.

Along the way, I’ve picked up some companions. Isn’t it natural to be saddened if I were to lose any of them? Perhaps I wouldn’t lose sleep over the death of those whose strength do not match up to the likes of Yun Chang or Feng Xian?

No, I don’t think so. This feeling has become even more resolute after this expedition to Jiangxia with the 3 less famous characters and after meeting with Huang Zu and the rest.

(TL: Chen Dao is actually a big name in history but was culled from the story as he was deemed to have too much character overlap with Zhao Yun. Chen Gong was a small fry to be honest. Zhou Cang wasn’t exactly a generic though.)

Capability does not matter when it comes to one’s companions. They are all important, and distinctions only come into play in books and video games.

“… Alright, I don’t know why, but I always feel like big brother truly means what he says sometimes.” Yun Chang finally said after looking at me for a long while.

“I do mean what I say.” I smiled bitterly as I gauged her reaction, “Then are you willing to forgive me?”

“Keke,” She laughed at my question, “There’s nothing to forgive. I wasn’t angry to begin with– Un, maybe a little. Making you all clean up is just to teach you all a lesson not to go overboard with jokes again.”

“… Hu, that’s great.” I could finally rest easy after hearing Yun Chang’s words.”

“Un? Could it be that big brother has been worried that I might be mad since a while ago?”

“Yes, and not just you, I’m worried that everyone else might be mad as well.” I said as I turned and looked at the rest, “I need to personally apologise to every one of them when I return from the banquet.”

“No need for that, no need for that.” Yun Chang said as she patted my shoulder.

“I don’t think they’re angry at you, they’re just being moody with big brother.”

“Moody? Because of the prank?”

Yun Chang glanced at me and paused for a moment before she continued, “Un… Half of it, yes.”

“And the other half?”

“Ah yes, the other half would be because you only bought hairbands for Lord Chen Dao and the other 2.”

Eh!!! They found out about that already?!

“Umm… That… I should have brought back some souvenirs…” I stammered, not sure what I ought to say.

“Souvenirs?” Yun Chang returned with a question.

“Eh? Am I wrong?”

“… Alright, I understand.” Yun Chang’s look of surprise turned to understanding. What did she understand?

“It’s fine. I don’t feel very strongly about this as I have the green coat armour big brother chose for me after all.” Yun Chang muttered. I could hear this but I didn’t know what she meant by this and Yun Chang didn’t seem to want me to know either, “Big brother should hurry along to the banquet. No need to worry yourself with the matters over here.”

“Ah… Alright.” I don’t quite understand, but in conclusion, it seems like everyone isn’t mad at me. Well, it’s not like I can think of a solution if I continue to think anyway.

I’m rather dumb in the area of relations with women after all. So it’s best I avoid thinking too much about this.