Liu Bei POV

But will it really happen? I’ve already decided to leave Xiangyang so I shouldn’t pose as much of a threat to them from before? And they’ve already tried and failed so many times, they should be tired by now right?

“Un…” I sank into thought as I was doubtful of what Yi Ji said and looked at Yun Chang who was pondering as well, “What do you think, Yun Chang?”

“Un, it’s not impossible.” Yun Chang said as she raised her head, her sternness even more p.r.o.nounced than before, “I’ll let Lord Lu Bu and the rest know about this. We should strengthen our defences and maintain vigilance.”

Un… That’s right, no harm in being cautious.

“The young mistress has also given me further instructions on this.” Yi Ji continued, “Should there be any suspicious movements from my lord or Lady Cai, I will let Imperial Uncle know immediately so please be at ease.”

“Ah, that will be a great help.” I said and scratched my head in embarra.s.sment, “Aiya, even though I’m leaving you girls, you’re still so willing to help me.”

“No, I’m just helping the young mistress.” Yi Ji smiled, “If it weren’t for the Cai sisters concentrating their attention on you, it would be the young mistress who will be targeted.”

Ah… That’s right… But does that mean I’m some sort of body double?

“On another note, if it weren’t for Imperial Uncle, the young mistress would not have matured the way she did and I wouldn’t be here happily conversing with you right now.”

“I already said I didn’t really do anything. Liu Qi got more mature on her own.”

“Un, whatever Imperial Uncle says then.” Yi Ji clearly didn’t believe that but she still said it anyway. Thereafter she bowed and slowly got up.

“By the way, for your safety, Imperial Uncle shouldn’t come over here anymore.” Yi Ji looked at Yun Chang’s blade as she said so, “The route here is dangerous and you attract too much attention.”

“Ah, I got it.” I smiled stiffly and pointed at the 2 halves of the door, “By the way, about this…”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. As I said before, we were planning on renovating it to begin with so we can take this chance to get a brand new door.” Yi Ji kicked the 2-3m long wooden halves down the steps when she finished.

Is it really alright to just leave it lying around? …. Never mind, forget it.

“Ah…. Un, got it.” I nodded and saluted her once more, “Well then, please do pa.s.s on the message to Liu Qi that I came here today to offer my apologies.”

“Apologies.” Yun Chang echoed me and saluted as well.

“Un, I’ll do that.” Yi Ji nodded and bowed, “Leaving aside what the young mistress and my lord thinks, for me personally, I hope that Imperial Uncle can live a long life.”

Eh?

“Why is that?”

“I’m not sure myself,” Yi Ji raised her eyebrows slightly as she said so, “But from my perspective, it’s always better for weirdos like you to live longer.”

“Are you praising me?”

“I suppose so. I am indeed praising you, but it’s not very easy on the ears.”

So she knows it herself huh, I smiled as I thought so.

Ha~ I let out a long sigh as we turned into another alley as we made our way back home.

It was really nerve-racking and difficult to relax with Yi Ji’s lifeless face and the sinister atmosphere emanating from that mansion. My agenda for going there was also difficult to broach too. I really don’t know how I managed to accomplish what I set out to do and walk away alive.

“Hu~” It wasn’t just me, Yun Chang also let out a long sigh as she tapped her blade against her shoulder.

“I really hope that the mansion will have undergone some renovations by the time we come again. At the very least, they should clean it up.”

As expected, this was what bothered Yun Chang the most. I must say, even though the routine cleaning isn’t done by her, she still makes an effort to oversee it. On top of that, she also makes procurement decisions.

Speaking of which, I have no clue how we’re doing financially at all…

“Speaking of renovations, how are we doing financially speaking of late? How’s our household budget?” I asked since I thought of it while Yun Chang and I started walking again.

“Big brother should ask Lord Mi Zhu this.”

“You usually help her anyway right.”

“I only help Lord Mi Zhu reject unreasonable expenditures.” Yun Chang stretched her neck tiredly as she said so.

“Big brother, you have to know that the girls have very strange ways of spending money. Leaving aside orders for nearly a ton of food for Red Hare, we have orders for whetstones, weapons of all sorts, wood carvings… In any case, we get orders for almost anything. There was even this one time where Zhou Cang nearly fell for this medicine scam…”

Seems like Yun Chang has a lot to say about this. As I listened on beside her, I began to think that her job was harder than Zi Zhong’s.

“Ah right, there’s something you should know,” Yun Chang continued, “Our household budget is taken from the military budget since there aren’t many troops in our army that receive salaries after all.”

“Is that so?”

“Looks like big brother really doesn’t know huh. Even if you don’t spend much, you should know about these things as well.”

“Hahaha, sorry about that…”

Yun Chang looked at me angrily as she admonished me to which I could only laugh dryly.

“Normally, we leave individual rationing decisions to the hundred-man commanders. Our military budget is still rather healthy after all.”

“Ah, our military budget huh…”

I’m actually quite aware of our military budget and the circ.u.mstances around it.

I’m not sure if everyone knows, but since we came to seek refuge from Liu Biao, he has the responsibility to feed my troops. So, my 30,000 strong army, is currently being supported by Jing state.

Of course, when we left Jiangdong, Sun Quan had given us an ample amount of supplies, so we’re doing fine right now.

Which is why I’m really grateful to Sun Quan and Liu Biao. If it weren’t for their help, my army would have likely disbanded by now.

Don’t rus.h.!.+ Don’t rus.h.!.+ We have enough for everyone!

Stop squeezing!

…. Un? Just as I was silently giving thanks in heart, I heard a commotion coming from up ahead. When I raised my head to look, I saw several dozen people crowded around the entrance to the alley. It seems like they are fighting for something.

“Over there is…”

“It seems like they’re selling something…” Yun Chang hazarded a guess as she stopped me, “It’s rather crowded over there. For the safety’s sake, we should choose another route.”

Yun Chang grabbed my arm and started to head into an adjacent alley.

“Ah, it’s fine. Why don’t we go and see what’s being sold?”

I was personally rather curious about what was being sold over there.

“There’s no point, it’s most likely some second-hand goods which no one wants. If it’s not that, then it’s either something very expensive or very damaged. In any case, it can’t be anything good–”

“We have cla.s.sics and calligraphy from fallen n.o.ble houses! They’re all second-hand but in fairly good condition! 30% off until I’m sold out, no bargaining!”

Before Yun Chang could finish, the stall owner’s yell interrupted her. In an instant, I could feel Yun Chang’s hand shudder and she froze in position.

“Umm… Yun Chang…”

“… Ah, it’s fine, big brother, let’s–”

“We have here a complete set of cla.s.sics from the Eastern Zhou dynasty and also transcripts from the era of the Emperor Wu of Han, it’s an opportunity not to be missed~~”

“Wu…” Yun Chang shuddered once more when she heard the stall owner’s sales pitch. She’s clearly moved by it.

“U, umm…” Yun Chang smiled stiffly as she slowly turned to me. As for me, I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

“It’s fine, go on ahead, I’ll wait for you here.” I said, and reached out to help Yun Chang hold her blade.

“Eh? Is that really alright?” Yun Chang was still a little hesitant. Looks like she’s still worried about me.

“Why not?” I said as I reached out and took her blade off her hands, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll stay here. If anything happens, I’ll call you.”

“Un…” Yun Chang frowned as she sank into thought. After a moment, her hand which held her blade opened up, “Alright, just stay here, big brother. I’ll be right back.”

“Got it.”

As I received the blade, I found that it was much lighter than it looked. Perhaps it’s because I am holding it against the ground.

“Don’t go anywhere, big brother! And don’t speak with girls you don’t know!”

“I got it… Eh?”

What does she mean with the second sentence? It’s as if I often flirt with and hit on other girls.

I wanted to ask her what she meant by that but Yun Chang flew into the crowd in an instant and disappeared.

Ah… Never mind, it’s a small issue so I’ll let it slide.

In any case, I’m not a flighty person to begin with. Now that I have to hold onto this blade, how can I possibly go around and hit on girls?

“Umm, can you really not lower the price any further?”

“No can do. If it were a vase, I might budge. But the one you’re talking about are the flower seeds. Those are really difficult to come by.”

Just then, the sounds of haggling from a nearby stall could be heard. When I looked over, I found that it was a flower stall.

In front of the stall was a young girl who was frowning and seemed rather anxious as she held her arms in front of her chest,

“But I don’t have anymore money.”

“Then come around next time with the money to buy it.”

“No, no, it’ll be terrible if someone else happens to buy it before that.”

The girl sounded rather demure, and she was even making small steps as she spoke and seemed rather cute.