Liu Bei POV

“… My lord?”

“Ah, ah?” I was deep in my thoughts when I was called out to by Yi De and raised my head to see her troubled face, “What is the matter?”

“That’s my question to my lord, why did you go into a daze all of a sudden?”

Only then did I realise that I’d entered a state where I completely forgot everything around me.

“Ah, ah, it’s nothing, it’s nothing.” I hurriedly gathered myself together and picked up a thin brush from the table, “Alright, I’ll sign it. Where do I sign?”

“Just here.” Yi De placed the silk on the table and pointed at its lower left corner.

Un, un. I nodded as I signed and did my best forget about what I was just thinking about and clear my mind.

“My lord, why have you written my name? And my ‘飛’ isn’t written like that either.”

When she said this, I took a closer look and realised that I’d written her name without thinking. And I even used the modern simplified script for ‘飛’ instead of the traditional script ‘飛’.

“Ahhhh! Sorry about that!” I blanched and hurriedly raised my brush to write over it and write ‘劉備’ beside it. — Not to be a whiner, but it took me a month’s worth of practice before I could properly write these 2 characters.

“We can’t be playing around at a time like this. I beseech my lord to be more serious.”

“Ah, un.” I obediently nodded but complicated emotions continued to swirl in my heart. There was much I wanted to say to her but I couldn’t get the words out of my mouth.

“Umm, my lord…”

“Un?” I raised my head and looked at Yi De. She seemed like she wanted to say something to me and looked at me fervently for a long while before she finally spoke.

“Has my lord been hoping all this while–”

*Dong* *Dong* *Dong*

Before Yi De could finish, loud and heavy knocks could be heard coming from the main door.

“Coming~” Almost immediately, Guan Ping began to run over while giving a reply.

“Ah… Yi– Lord Zhang Fei, what did you want to say?” I looked up and waited for her reply.

As I looked at her, her expression grew worse and she frowned as she said, “… It’s nothing.”

She then took the piece of silk and left soon after.

Un… That’s weird. I was rather puzzled by her actions but didn’t dare to ask her as I was afraid of triggering her.

It’s fine, we still have a lot of time. If that question she was meaning to ask is truly important, she will come to look for me again. I’ll just patiently wait for her to come.

“Lord Yi Ji? What are you here for?” Guan Ping’s loud voice could be heard from inside.

Un? Yi Ji is here?

When I heard this name, I immediately got up and headed to the door. Just as I made my way to the main hall, I saw Guan Ping helping Yi Ji in. Yi Ji was holding her hips with one hand and was stumbling as she walked.

“Lord Yi Ji, what’s happened to you?” I was very anxious at first and thought that she had a.s.sailants after her but after sizing her up, I saw no wounds, “Did you run here?”

“Ah, yes.” Yi Ji said and hurriedly sat down on a stone seat before continuing in a soft voice, “Sorry… I’m a little…”

“It’s fine, just rest for a bit first.” When I saw Yi Ji having trouble speaking, I hurriedly stopped her. It’s clear that her physical capabilities are rather lacking as an administrative official.

“Guan Ping, get Lord Yi Ji some water.” I said as I waved ta Guan Ping.

“Alright.” Guan Ping said and made her way into the house.

I then sat beside Yi Ji and looked at her as she caught her breath, “What is the reason for you coming here today?”

“Haa… Haa… Imperial Uncle, someone will send you something in a bit. Imperial Uncle must not accept it at all costs.”

Ah? What is Yi Ji talking about?

“Umm–”

“Lord Yi Ji, have some water.” Just as I was about to ask her what she meant by that, Guan Ping came running back out and handed her a bowl of water.

“Ah, thank you very much.” Yi Ji received the bowl and drank many mouthfuls, her eyes bulging as she did so, “Your water is quite cool huh.”

“Yes, they found a deep well in the back.” I pointed at I said so. Yi Ji’s gaze followed my finger and she nodded as she looked toward the back.

“It’s a pity that the young mistress’ mansion doesn’t have these sort of luxuries, much less my own.” Yi Ji muttered as she looked about.

“Lord Yi Ji is here huh?” Chen Dao said as she came out carrying boxes of various sizes and saluted Yi Ji.

Yi Ji was caught by surprise and nodded, “Ah, un.”

“Imperial Uncle, this is…”

“We’re about to set off for Xinye soon and we still have a lot of last minute work to do so we’re all rus.h.i.+ng.” I nodded and took the bowl Guan Ping got for me and took a sip.

Ah, this water is indeed very cool. It doesn’t lose out to Liu Biao’s too.

“So what is Yi Ji here for today?” I returned to the original topic now that Yi Ji has mostly recovered, “What did you say was going to be given to me?”

“Ah, about that, if my lord should send a gift to Imperial Uncle later, please do not accept it under any circ.u.mstances and do your best to refuse it.”

“Eh? A gift, what is it?”

Yi Ji picked up her bowl once more and downed its contents before she continued, “Do you still remember the Dilu horse?”

“Of course I do, isn’t that the prize horse which Feng Xian captured?”

“Yes, that’s the one,” Yi Ji’s face was expressionless as ever as she lightly nodded, “During this morning’s Court session, my lord raised the issue of Dilu and wished to give it to you as a gift in repentance.”

“Oh, I see.” I nodded as I took another sip of water nonchalantly.

“… You don’t feel surprised at all?” Yi Ji tilted her head and looked at me curiously.

“Ah… I’m okay I guess, just a little surprised.” I realised that my reaction was a little too dull and hurriedly tried to cover it up.

“Imperial Uncle is as strange as ever huh? I can’t believe you had such a bland reaction to receiving a prize horse.”

Yi Ji will never know that I knew about Dilu long before coming here.

No matter what, anyone who knows about the Three Kingdoms knows that Dilu is Liu Bei’s personal horse. So when she told me that Liu Biao was going to give it to me, I’m not surprised in the least.

Of course, all I know about the horse is just 2 things. One, is as I mentioned, that the horse will be mine. Two, the horse will save my life in the near future. That’s all I know about Dilu.

“And what about Dilu? Why can’t I accept this horse?” I wasn’t planning on giving too many excuses for my reaction and decided to advance the main topic, “Since elder brother is giving it to me, then there shouldn’t be anything wrong for me to accept it right?”

It’s my horse after all.

“Imperial Uncle, you must not ride this horse.” Yi Ji leaned forward as she said so and continued in a whisper, “This horse brings bad luck to its owners.”

I sank into silence after Yi Ji finished. Not because I was afraid but because I was puzzled by what she meant.

“Bad luck? So… It’s something like a curse?”

“Yes.” Yi Ji vigorously nodded. She looked like she was trying to look as serious as possible but she always has a blank, serious expression on so I don’t feel affected at all.

“Do you have any basis for this?”

“Before Court was in session today, Kuai Liang said the nature of the horse was such that no ordinary man could ride it and that bandit who did so received retribution for doing so.”

“Un, un, I see.”

Ah… Isn’t this just simple superst.i.tion at work?

As a youth from the 21st century, I don’t really buy what Yi Ji said. However, in this era, spells and Tao seem to exist here so I can’t deny it for sure.

But did Dilu really have this characteristic in the Three Kingdoms? I don’t know.

“Yi Ji, do you buy that explanation?”

“I didn’t at first, but Kuai Liang is an expert with horses and these aren’t baseless guesses.” Yi Ji said and leaned back into her seat, “The reason why I’m here to warn Imperial Uncle is because I’d rather err on the side of caution for this.”

“Un…”

But it’s not like what she said is impossible. I came here through some supernatural means and Yu Ji’s disappearance into thin air in Jiangdong isn’t scientific either. If science can’t explain these things, then superst.i.tion is not as baseless as it might seem to be.

But…

“Yi Ji, I’m really grateful to you for sharing this with me but I cannot possibly turn down Dilu.”

“… Why?”

“I don’t know.” I said as I shook my head.

“… You, don’t know?”

“Yes, I just feel that I ought to accept this horse.” I ignored Yi Ji’s puzzled stare and continued, “This is not out of greed, nor is it because I don’t trust you. Perhaps it’s a misconception of mine but I feel like I have no reason not to accept it. And no matter what, it’s a gift from my elder brother.”

As Liu Bei, I feel like Dilu should be my horse. Even I am surprised by this feeling I’m getting, a solid conviction that Dilu belongs to me, as though Liu Bei would be missing something without Dilu. Like Lu Bu without Red Hare, even if Red Hare is just a dog here.

Leaving that aside, this is something given to me by Liu Biao. He has decided it and it will be impossible for me to refuse it.

“But, should it really bring bad luck to you, what will you do?” Yi Ji asked with a frown.

“If it should bring bad luck to me, then I just have to accept my fate as such.”

I don’t have much to say about this. No matter what, I don’t believe that Liu Bei’s fate will end here.