Liu Bei POV

“Alright, I understand everything about Huang Zu now.” Liu Biao steeled himself as he stood upright, “I’ll send some men to construct a grave for Huang Zu as if she were royalty here in Xiangyang city. No matter what, she must return home.”

“Un, if you can do that, that will be good.” I nodded in agreement with what Liu Biao said.

“Ah, I feel a bit thirsty,” Liu Biao suddenly said and stood up immediately and made his way to one of the annexes, “Blood brother, what would you like? Fresh water or wine?”

“Un… Wine would be good.”

To be honest, I’m less comfortable with the fresh water of this era. I drank some at the banquet earlier and found myself unsuited to such a luxury. It’s a little too sweet and fresh, far beyond my expectations.

The wine of this era isn’t very strong and doesn’t feel all that different from juice so it can be treated as an ordinary beverage. The one thing lacking in this era is a refrigerator. The weather has been getting hotter recently so using well water to make cool wine is a good idea but by the time the water makes it out of the well and into the banquet, it’s already warm and not so nice.

Of course, I know I shouldn’t be so troublesome and make all these demands.

“Here you go.”

“Ah, thank you elder brother.”

Liu Biao made his way out of the annex and handed me a cup that was filled with a mixture. When I sniffed it, I found that it was the very same wine I drank earlier this afternoon.

*Gudu*… Un?

“Elder brother, this is…”

This wine is a little too cool.

“Hmph, don’t look down on Jing state.” Liu Biao gave a wry smile as he said so, “I have a small ice case in my room. I can’t possibly let myself be drenched in sweat when summer reaches its peak, can I?”

He took a deep draught when he finished.

“But how did you do it?”

Logically speaking, this era should not have any ice. Perhaps in the north, but there’s no way there’s any ice in a place down south like this…

“It’s very simple. If blood brother wishes to, you can get your comrades to help you with this come winter.” Liu Biao said as he pushed a cus.h.i.+on over to where I was and sat down, “At the height of winter, dig a hole near the city walls several meters deep and pour in water. When the water freezes, cover it with a wooden plank. Come summer, build a tent atop and you can retrieve the ice anytime for use.”

So that’s how he did it huh…

“I initially had it done in my residence, but the afternoon sun decreased its longevity. Having it done near the city walls s.h.i.+elds it from the sun and greatly increases its longevity.”

“I see, elder brother has given a fair amount of thought into this huh?”

Liu Biao actually put in a fair amount of thinking into this. Should I say as expected of royalty? He really knows how to enjoy himself huh.

As I thought about this, I felt that I had to try this out with the rest later on and took another swig from the ice cold wine.

“Ah right, the military exercise from before went very well eh.”

*Pu*…

Without any warning at all, Liu Biao brought up the military exercise and nearly made me spit out the wine,

Eh? Is he going to discuss this again?

“Umm, ah… I…” I stammered and was unable to give a coherent response because I simply didn’t know what I should say. Though my side won both battles, and under disadvantageous circ.u.mstances; given that we are seeking refuge under their side, this isn’t a good thing.

“Ah, no need to be so nervous. I know that we got thrashed badly in both battles and I have no intention of blaming you for it.” Liu Biao said as he hurriedly put down his wine and patted my thigh when he saw my expression. Though I don’t really like it, it’s better than having him throw his temper.

“But…”

“Ah, I know what you want to say. Blood brother’s troops made Jing state’s troops completely lose all their face so yes, it is a rather bad thing for troop morale.” Liu Biao said and sighed but for some reason, he smiled as he continued, “But to me, I think this is actually a good thing.”

“Eh?”

What did Liu Biao just say?

“A good thing?”

Liu Biao nodded, “Yes. The commanders in the military exercise were Cai Mao and Zhang Yun. I’ve spoken to both of them and made them improve the training standards. Losing a military exercise is a small matter. Losing a war is no joke.” Liu Biao paused for a moment before continuing, “The quality of Jing state’s troops are currently lacking. Jiangling and Jiangxia’s troops are still rather excellent but if you look further south, you find more problems. Jin Xuan, Liu Du and other generals have ill-disciplined troops. Neither general nor foot soldier is capable. I’m afraid that if an attack comes from the east, west or north, the reinforcements from the south will be woefully inadequate.”

Liu Biao shook his head helplessly when he finished,

“Training troops now is a little late though.” I said at which Liu Biao only shook his head wordlessly.

“The main reason for this is because we had to deal with bandits at the beginning of the year which hemorrhaged us. To lighten the burden on my citizens, I drafted as few troops as I needed to and now I’m faced with a lacking army.”

As I looked at Liu Biao who shook his head, I got the feeling that thus was just an excuse and there were other reasons behind this but couldn’t say so as I would make him lose face and I didn’t actually have any basis for what I felt as well. Just then, a question came to mind.

Early last year, I’d thought about this before but because I felt that I’d never be able to figure out, I never thought much about it. Now seems like the perfect time to revisit this question.

“By the way, was elder brother’s army sufficient and strong last year?”

“Yes it was.”

“Then why did elder brother not travel north during the Battle of Guandu?” Just as the words left my mouth, Liu Biao turned towards me with a puzzled look.

“… Hai, why is even blood brother asking me this? It’s fine for Han Song and even Kuai Yue to ask me this. But as a fellow royal, you ought to understand why.” When he finished, Liu Biao seemed a little anxious, which made me a little jittery and I didn’t know what I ought to say to defuse the situation.

“Since you didn’t launch an attack, could it be that elder brother wishes to solidify his hold over Jing state? Were you cautious of a revolt while your back was turned?” I hazarded a standard answer.

“Though that was indeed one of my considerations, it wasn’t the main reason.” Liu Biao shook his head and stroked his goatee, “Let me ask you, back when the Battle of Guandu raged on, did the Son of Heaven write me a letter asking me to join the fray up north?”

“Eh? … Doesn’t seem like there was any. But I’m not too sure about it.”

“I was waiting for one but there wasn’t any.” Liu Biao said and extended a finger as though he were teaching me a lesson, “Every dynasty has an established royal family with the goal of secure borders and a stable country. And the way of kings is to listen to the orders of the Son of Heaven. If the Son of Heaven has not said anything, what reason do I have to move north? If I were to move north of my own accord, then what difference is there between me and those traitorous retainers?”

Un…

“But even so, I had already begun preparations on my end. Around this time last year, my troops were ready to sortie any day. We would kowtow to the north everyday and I’d even prepared a temporary place for the Son of Heaven to stay along with all the necessary rituals.” Liu Biao said and waved his hands out before bringing them to his back once more, “But at the end, I never received the letter which meant that the Son of Heaven was still relatively safe and sound and Cao Cao being the Imperial Chancellor did not endanger the Han. And so, I never gave the order to move out.”

I looked at Liu Biao who got more and more agitated as he went on and eventually stood up.

Though his way of thinking was a little too pedantic, his loyalty to the Great Han was the real thing.