Indeed I hadn’t concealed that very well and it was easily seen through by the young mistress whose expression changed significantly and she turned around and looked at me with a frown as she folded her arms across her chest.

“You on the other hand, seem to be interested in uncle from the very beginning.”

“… Have I been found out already?”

“I actually think everyone realised that from the very beginning more or less.” The young mistress gave a helpless smile as she said so, “Your actions are far too obvious. Your eyes are practically glued to him the whole time. Even if you are interested, you should have been more subtle.”

The young mistress seems to have a lot of experience with such things. No, she does indeed have a lot of experience.

I’m rather curious about this, but she’s my lord after all so I shall not ask and leave her some face.

“Alright, I’ll admit to it. I was indeed curious about Imperial Uncle Liu Bei as a person.” I honestly confessed, “At the beginning, I could not understand how an Imperial Uncle without strength or wits could make it this far. No matter how I tried to think about it, I couldn’t figure it out so I observed him.”

“And now?” The young mistress smiled as though she knew what I was about to say.

Of course, it is as the young mistress has predicted.

“I believe the Imperial Uncle is indeed capable. He can hold his own on the battlefield and break through the surround for us. Most importantly, I feel a sense of security from Imperial Uncle.”

Yes, a sense of security.

Even though saying this seems a little childish, I feel that if I follow Imperial Uncle, I won’t feel lost about my path, as though everything will eventually fall into place.

“Un, I understand.”

The second part was left unsaid so no matter how sharp the young mistress may be, she wouldn’t be able to read that but she agreed with me nonetheless. Looks like the young mistress and I are in agreement on this.

Before long, Imperial Uncle will be travelling to Xinye, if I have to say what really depresses me–

That would be that I can’t see Imperial Uncle as easily.

As I thought so, I s.h.i.+fted my gaze to the young mistress. Coincidentally, the young mistress was looking at me too. On her face, I could see a kindred spirit with regards to my feelings about Imperial Uncle’s leaving.

When our eyes met, we both laughed. There was no need to exchange any words.

After Lady Cai bade Cai Mao farewell, she returned to her residence with joy in her heart. In just the span of a few hours, practically everything she’d been wis.h.i.+ng for had happened.

Liu Bei was being sent to Xinye and Liu Qi was left alone while Liu Cong’s governance has been going well. All that remains is the matter with Liu Biao.

Cai Mao was getting impatient even thought the matter with Liu Biao is not something that can be rushed. If they were to be found out, it wouldn’t end with their exile, Lady Cai thought as she recalled what Cai Mao said.

The gates opened with a creak as Lady Cai entered. Just as she did so, she didn’t forget to quietly close them–

“The Lady is back huh.”

“Yaa!”

All of a sudden, a grown man’s voice could be heard from further in the room. It was rather loud too and scared Lady Cai badly enough for her to scream.

“Who’s there!” Lady Cai exclaimed as she turned around, the handkerchief in her hands flying out as she did so.

*Hu*~

Every oil lamp in the room lit up in an instant. Though it wasn’t as bright as day, it was more than sufficient for Lady Cai to see who the man was.

When Lady Cai’s eyes got used to the light, she got a shock, “Eh!? Jin Sheng, why haven’t you gone to sleep?!”

Liu Biao was currently sitting on a cus.h.i.+on in the room, gazing up at the roof with a lost look on his face.

“Ah, un. I don’t feel very sleepy.”

“I, I see.”

Liu Biao seemed like he didn’t particularly care but Lady Cai was extremely nervous, as she was afraid Liu Biao might ask her what she did and who she met so late in the night.

Good thing that Liu Biao didn’t seem to care about this. Lady Cai looked at him for a long while but Liu Biao didn’t say or do anything.

“Jin Sheng?”

“Ah?”

“Are you thinking about something?”

“Un… I guess so.”

When Liu Biao said this, Lady Cai’s sensitivities were triggered and she questioned him, “Does it have to do with what happened with Imperial Uncle from before?”

“… No, that’s not it.” Liu Biao lowered his head as he said so.

When Lady Cai saw this, she hurriedly took a bowl of water from the side and handed it to Liu Biao, “Here, Jin Sheng.”

“Ah un, thank you.” Liu Biao took the bowl but did not drink. In stead, he stared at the waves and then suddenly asked, “My Lady, do you think I should choose Qi’er or Cong’er?”

It’s here!!

As Lady Cai expected, Liu Biao broached this topic. Of course, the answer was obvious and was something Lady Cai had practised many, many times over now.

“For this issue, I feel that it is better if Jin Sheng decides.” Lady Cai said but quickly continued, “But from the perspective of your Lady, I hope that you can choose the smarter child. The path of a ruler requires compa.s.sion. While both Qi’er and Cong’er are just as capable children, Cong’er wins in terms of compa.s.sion. Qi’er is, of course, a capable child so she can a.s.sist Cong’er.”

In one breath, she said all she wanted to.

Liu Biao then sank into thought. Clearly, he had not come to decision on this.

“But… What about Qi’er–”

“Qi’er will understand. You’re her father after all.” Before Liu Biao could finish, Lady Cai quickly interrupted.

“Un…” Liu Biao sank into thought once more and nodded, “Give me more time to think this over once more.”

“Jin Sheng! How long have you taken with this already?!”

“But this is– Wuu!”

*Dong*

While Lady Cai was still thinking of ways to push her case through, Liu Biao suddenly keeled over.

“Jin Sheng!?” Lady Cai exclaimed as she rushed over and helped Liu Biao up.

“*Kekekeke*– Ah– *Kekeke*–” Immediately, Liu Biao began coughing incessantly in between gasps. From the perspective of a bystander, it wouldn’t seem strange if Liu Biao were to die anytime.

“Jn Sheng!! Jin Sheng!!” Lady Cai yelled out loudly over and over again, as though she were hoping that her voice could somehow help. Of course, this was impossible, and only exacerbated the problem.

“Kuh!” Liu Biao gave one last violent cough and spat out fresh blood on his chest. After this, he looked somewhat better as he slowly gasped, “Haa…. Haa…”

“Here, let me bring you today’s dose of medicine.” Lady Cai said when she saw this, and promptly went into her annex and brought out medicinal soup for Liu Biao, “The physician said that you need to be more careful with this illness of yours. Have some of this medicine.”

“Ah… Un.”

When Lady Cai finished, she handed the bowl to Liu Biao who stared at the bowl for a few seconds before finis.h.i.+ng it in one gulp.