Liu Bei POV

“But these are troubled times, if one does not fight for more land, I’m afraid…”

“So what?” Liu Biao knew what I was going to say and interjected. He then stared at me with gleaming eyes and meaningfully said, “But the Great Han needs a place that is stable, and the Son of Heaven needs royal kin who will help him at any time. And my Jing state and I, are reserved for the Son of Heaven. Should the Son of Heaven wish to come, he can come. Should he wish to retake it, then so be it. As long as the Great Han continues for a thousand years more, I, Liu Jing Sheng, am more than willing to give anything and everything.”

Wuu… I was thoroughly shaken at this display by Liu Biao. As I looked at him, I felt very small despite being royalty of similar seniority.

“Perhaps blood brother is still young and doesn’t understand but I hope that you can have the same resolve as royalty as I do.” He gave a long sigh as he said so, “My father taught me that as royalty, one should be loyal to the Son of Heaven, treat one’s kin kindly, be compa.s.sionate to the ordinary citizens and take care of one’s health and enjoy life. That, is what it means to be royalty.”

“So elder brother has no intention of conquering the world?”

“What need is there for that? The world belongs to the Great Han to begin with. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was a civil uprising. And those petty squabbles between officials are but commonplace. Now that the eunuchs have been removed, the Great Han will only get better. What I must do, is but to protect royal territory and wait for my orders.”

Ah… Even for an 18 year old high schooler like myself, Liu Biao’s thinking seems way too naive. From what I’ve experienced since I’ve come here, it feels like Liu Biao can only say such things because he hasn’t been through much hards.h.i.+p.

But at the same time, I felt like this was true royalty. Despite being royalty with the same seniority as Liu Biao, I did not have the sort of resolve that he had. Nor do I have any royal territory to defend either, which made me feel like a failure.

At the very least, Liu Biao has the best intentions for the Great Han. But be it the me now, or the Liu Bei in history, to be honest, the Great Han isn’t that important anymore.

“What elder brother said makes sense.” When I thought so, I couldn’t help but feel admiration for Liu Biao. And so, I decided to express my admiration and feign agreement while suppressing how I truly felt.

Hu… It seemed like Liu Biao managed to say what he’d wanted to say for a long time and seemed deflated for a moment before he took a deep breath and gave a long sigh.

“I was just sharing some thoughts of mine. Should blood brother feel that any of this is inappropriate, please do forgive me.” Liu Biao said and lightly bowed.

“Not at all. I feel that what elder brother said is right.”

“Hai… Be that as it may, the traitorous officials surrounding the Son of Heaven have all raised armies and have staked claims on land which belongs to the Great Han, which greatly troubles me.” Liu Biao shook his head as he said so, “I too have the bloodthirst in me to go out and kill our enemies but Jing state’s capacity and my capabilities are limited so there isn’t much I can do.”

When I heard this, I felt like there are other things he was trying to tell me with this, I’m not too sharp about such things but I do know he means for me to a.s.sist him. And so, I saluted him, “Your blood brother means what he said earlier in the afternoon. Should elder brother need anything at all, please do let your blood brother know. If I am able, I will do so.”

“Eh, that’s not what I meant.” Liu Biao shook his head but his face was all smiles. This was clearly what he meant but he continued, “Blood brother, what are your plans?”

“Ah… To be perfectly honest, I don’t actually have any plans.”

If you’re talking about plans, I only have personal plans which relate to finding out why I was sent to this era but that will have to be put on hold until I can find any traces of Zhuge Liang in Jing state.

But this is a personal issue and is something which cannot be said. So I didn’t even think about it when I gave my answer.

“Oh? Is what blood brother said really the truth?” Just as I finished, Liu Biao replied happily.

“If that’s the case, then my wish is for blood brother to a.s.sist me in governing Jing state. As I said before, Jing state is rather expansive and it’s difficult to rule alone.”

So he wants me to a.s.sist him huh… Well it’s not like I can’t stick around for a bit.

But is his intention to use me to expand his territory…? … Impossible, he just said something about Jing state being expansive. He clearly has no intention of leaving Jing state whatsoever.

“Alright, I understand. In the coming months at least, I should not be going anywhere else.” I said as I took a small sip of wine. Of course, I won’t be staying here forever but at least give me a little break. I’ve been almost constantly on the move ever since I came to this era and Jing state is rather peaceful so I’d like some rest if I can.

“Alright! That’s that then.” Liu Biao seemed to be rather excited but then he seemed to thought of something and suppressed his excitement, “But will it be inconvenient to have blood brother’s elite soldiers and generals stay here?”

“Eh?”

I’d just taken a few sips of wine when Liu Biao suddenly asked a very difficult question.

“Ah, everything is fine. Xiangyang’s citizens are really friendly. All’s good, all’s good.” I sank into thought for a moment before deciding to give the most innocuous answer possible. Unfortunately, Liu Biao didn’t let it go and looked at me with a questioning gaze as he stroked his goatee.

“That’s not what I’m asking about. My wish is, of course, for blood brother to a.s.sist me but I have heard rumours from Xuchang that blood brother had a certain discussion with Cao Cao before.”

“Un? …. A discussion, you said?”

I tried to think back to my times in Xuchang but I had conversations with Meng De practically everyday so I didn’t know which one Liu Biao was referring to.

“Yes, I heard you were having a discussion about heroes back then?”

Un… Un? Could he be talking about the time we discussed heroes over wine? Or to put it simply, the time she took me to have a bronze cauldron meal?

“There was indeed such an occasion but how did elder brother come to know of it?”

“Such things travel fast. By now, most states ought to have heard of it. I believe I am one of the slowest to receive this news.”

Hai… Why do such things travel so fast when important news takes ages?

“Back then, Cao Cao said that the only ones who were heroes were just you, blood brother, and herself. Is that the case?”

“She did indeed say that.” I couldn’t deny it as it was the truth and nodded.

What the heck? The rumours even include such details?

I looked at Liu Biao and found that he had a rather strange expression.