Liu Bei POV

“Blood brother, did you know? Your 2nd contingent ran into a band of mountain bandits on the way back.”

“Eh?”

Mountain bandits?

“Because it was a military exercise, practically everyone did not have weapons. And so roughly 1,000 men with wooden sticks faced off against over 2,000 men fully armed to the teeth.”

I was beginning to sweat as I listened to Liu Biao, as I began to be worried whether anything bad had happened to Feng Xian, Wen Yuan or Zi Long. I quickly suppressed these emotions as I looked at Liu Biao’s elated smile and softly bade him to continue, “How did they deal with it?”

“They dealt with it brilliantly, and defeated them in no time at all, capturing their enemy and even bringing back a good amount of resources as well.” Liu Biao looked at me with a bright smile as he said so, “Your subordinate generals really are impressive.”

Hu… I softly breathed out. I didn’t think they would deal with that situation that easily. It seems like I always worry too much.

“That’s good. They are precious comrades of mine after all.” I said proudly as I raised my cup, “This is for you, and for them as well.”

“Oh? Very well then.” Liu Biao raised his cup too as he said and downed its contents.

“Haa~~ But the most important thing is that horse the leader of the bandits was riding on. It really is a thing of beauty. I can show you later on.” Liu Biao paused and tried to recall something but couldn’t and called out to Kuai Liang beside him, “Kuai Liang, that horse, what was its name? I forgot just after you told me too. Ah, my strategist Kuai Liang is a good judge of horses.”

He casually introduced her as he said so. Kuai Liang smiled as she saluted and replied, “To my lord, the horse which has a teardrop mark on its eyes and a white mark on his head is called Dilu.”

Eh?

“Dilu?”

“Oh? Does blood brother know about it as well?”

“Ah… No, I just felt that such a name was a little weird.”

Of course I’ve heard about it. It’s supposed tobe my personal horse in the future, but not yet clearly. To be honest, I was actually quite excited when I heard about Dilu. One of the few events I know a good amount about in the Three Kingdoms is Dilu’s Leap. But that’s going a little too far. In any case, it is definitely a good horse.

“Its name huh? Well it won’t be weird after you get used to it.” Liu Biao said as he took another swig of wine before continuing, “Blood brother, blood brother, you really have good fortune huh? Not only do you have royal blood flowing in your veins, you have prodigious generals serving you, and you often meet with lucky coincidences too. I’m afraid the world is yours for the taking.”

“Elder brother always gives me too much credit. Your blood brother is not such a capable person.”

As expected, Liu Biao went into dangerous territory as he talked on and on. I looked at Liu Qi and saw that she had put down her chopsticks as well. In the entire room, only the sound of song and dance was still ongoing.

I sank into thought, unsure of how to continue the conversation. I had the feeling that everyone, and not just Liu Biao, was waiting for me to continue the conversation.

I looked up and saw Liu Biao’s eyebrows slightly locked and said, “… Could it be that elder brother has some troubles plaguing him?”

“Oh? You can tell?” Liu Biao’s eyes widened and looked at me with surprise, before sighing, “Hai, yes. I have a lot that troubles me.”

Just as he finished, a woman with short hair sitting across from me spoke up, “The young mistress is here to relieve you of your troubles should my lord not feel up to task.”

Her voice wasn’t loud but her speech shook me to the core. I looked over and saw that the one who spoke was Cai Mao. The young mistress she was talking about was probably Liu Cong sitting beside her, and not Liu Qi.

If Liu Biao was the more sensitive sort or if he was unhappy, he would probably be enraged by now. I looked at Liu Qi and aaw that she was blanched and had her head low and eyebrows locked, looking like she was trying to hold back.

“My daughters are indeed intelligent and capable. But with Zhang Lu, and the father-son pair of Liu Yan and Liu Zhang; and the Sun family in the east, I’m afraid my daughters are still too young to take on the responsibility for this.” Liu Biao did not seem to take offense at what Cai Mao said at all and relaxedly replied, bringing in Liu Qi casually as he did so.

“…” Cai Mao looked like she had more to say but felt like it wouldn’t be appropriate and decided to shut up and not speak anymore.

Since he said as much, it looks like I’ll have to carry on the conversation again. And so, I saluted as I said, “If elder brother has any worries that troubles him, and if your blood brother is able to be of a.s.sistance, then please do let me know and not hold back.”

“Oh?” He seemed to regain some liveliness when he heard this from me, “Nothing could be better. If blood brother does not mind, then I’ll be very happy to seek your a.s.sistance.”

“My lord really enjoys his liquor.”

“How could we hand over Jing state affairs to an outsider?”

Just as Liu Biao finished speaking, Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue whispered. They weren’t loud but it was enough for me to hear it.

“Should my lord have any difficulties, my lord can share it with your retainers. We, are more than willing to share in your burdens.” Cai Mao spoke up once more, her eyes flitting over to look at me as she said so. I caught her eye, and more or less understood what Liu Biao’s troubles were over.

I looked at Liu Biao again, but his eyes were glazed over as he sipped his wine.

Haa~ He sighed, “Enough~ The Battle of Jiangxia was troublesome enough. Now that my blood brother and daughter have returned safely, we should be celebrating and making merry instead of ruminating about difficult matters.”

“Yes, your subordinate spoke out of turn.” Cai Mao said very naturally, and turned to me as she raised her cup.

“Imperial Uncle Liu, the fault with the loss at Jiangxia is with me. I raise a cup to Imperial Uncle’s good fortune that has allowed him to miraculously escape from danger, and hope that you can share some of your good fortune with the rest of us as well.”

Cai Mao said all this with a very calm look on her expressionless face. There was no cheer, or any other emotion I could detect at all in her words.

I looked at her for a long while, but still couldn’t see a hint of emotion at all. I thought that after spending so long with Gong You, I would be rather sharp when reading people’s emotions. But after meeting Cai Mao, I found that I was still lacking in this department.

But her words are a little too much. If it weren’t for all of her machinations, I wouldn’t have had to be forced into such a dangerous predicament. By asking me to share my good fortune, she clearly hopes that my luck will run out.

“… There are limits to what I can do, but I’m willing to share my good fortune.” To be honest, I was rather angry inside but this wasn’t a place where I could lose my temper and run my mouth so all I could do was raise my cup in response.

“Ah, yes yes. We all need to share our good fortune.” Liu Biao seemed to regain some of his spirits and everyone else raised their cups as well.

The last one to do so was Liu Qi, the one person in the room who probably felt the same way as me. She probably thinks I need to be luckier.

“Alright! Thank you, everyone.” I didn’t mean any of this at all but I still had to say it anyway, “I will be here for a while longer, should I, Liu Bei, do anything to offend anyone, please do forgive me.”

I delivered the contents of my wine cup into my stomach after finis.h.i.+ng my loud speech. As for the rest of the people, only about half gave a reply while the other half were wordless. Looks like I’m not very welcome here.

Oh well, I’m here to seek refuge after all, I thought as I looked at Liu Biao who was wiping his mouth. It really wouldn’t be strange for him to deem me a threat and just kill me one day.

Ah… I’m so tired.

“Today was difficult for uncle, to have to deal with so much pressure in that room.”

“No, I was actually prepared for that.” I said, feeling a little weird to hear words of respect coming from Liu Qi. And to be honest, I wasn’t quite prepared for what came my way during this banquet.

After the banquet ended, Liu Qi walked with me on the way back. Her residence wasn’t very close to mine, but the route back home was the same for a good distance so we went back together. I only learnt of this after the banquet ended.

“Ah, by the way, I don’t feel like Liu Cong is a particularly devious person. She even shoots you glances from time to time.”

“Uncle, I’ve said this before.” When Liu Qi heard ‘Liu Cong’, her face darkened instantly, “Trust me, she might look like that  but she is evil and poisonous inside.”

“But you said you’d trust others, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but only those who are trustworthy.” Liu Qi said, pausing between words, hoping that she could get across to me, “Liu Cong betrayed me once before. I cannot possibly trust her again.”

“Un…” It’s not like what Liu Qi said doesn’t make sense but I still feel that Liu Cong is harmless.

… Aiya, what do I always have to be so adamant about my opinions? Liu Qi went through all that personally, so she has more say on this than me.

“Alright, I understand. You should understand Liu Cong better than I do.” I did what I could, I thought, as I nodded.

“Uncle should just give up. I won’t give way on the matter of Liu Cong at all.” Liu Qi’s anger seemed to subside for a moment, but then surged again soon after as she continued, “Cai Mao was too much today. I can’t believe she said what she did.”

“Eh? Is she not like this usually?”

Liu Qi’s eyebrows tightened and she shook her head.

“She is like that usually, yes, but she’s always been a lot more prudent and not so outspoken like today.” Liu Qi sank into thought for a moment before continuing, “If I’m not wrong, then they should be moving again soon.”

“What could they be planning?”

“No clue.” Liu Qi said as she shook her head, and raised her finger as she said definitively, “One thing I’m sure about is that father will definitely seek you out soon.”

“Seek me out?”

“Yes, I can tell.” Liu Qi reiterated her point, “Father has things to say which he couldn’t at the banquet. He will likely seek an audience with you alone, on the difficulties he is facing.”