Liu Bei POV

No way… Is what I thought at first but then I soon realised that it was very possible that Cai Mai would go that far.

“In any case, the situation is still murky, and we don’t have any information on what is happening in Xiangyang.” Yuan Zhi said as she pulled out a plate from a stack and began wiping it with a piece of white cloth, “If what Huang Zu said is true, then Xuan De should be more careful until he reaches Xinye.”

“Looks like I’ll have to do that.” I nodded, beginning to feel anxious.

“Don’t worry, Imperial Uncle. After we’ve reached Xinye, I’ll help you check out the situation in Xiangyang when I go back to ask for forgiveness.”

“Ah, un. Many thanks for that.” I saluted Huang Zu.

Huang Zu seemed to be thirsty as she licked her lips and raised the pot to pour herself some tea but stopped halfway, “Benefactor, do you still have ‘that’?”

“Un, I do.” Yuan Zhi nodded and put down the plate as she got up and made her way to her pony. Looks like Huang Zu is quite taken with that sweet beverage.

Yuan Zhi then pulled out the gourd and shook it. The sound was rather loud and hollow, looks like there is not much of the sweet water left.

Un… In that case, I’ll drink it too. I will not have any opportunity to do so in future anyway.

“Xuan De wants this too?” Yuan Zhi seemed to see through my thoughts and asked.

“Ah,” I hurriedly replied and pushed my bowl to Yuan Zhi, “Yuan Zhi, to be honest, you can probably make a living off of this.”

“Eh?! Really!” Yuan Zhi shook violently when she heard my words for some reason and looked at me very excitedly and seriously.

“Ah~ A good amount was spilled.” Huang Zu was not perturbed by Yuan Zhi’s reaction at all unlike me who was shocked.

“Ah… Un.” I nodded, unsure how I ought to react and clueless as to why she would react so violently, “Is there any problem?”

“Ah… No, n-no…” She immediately placed the gourd on the table and waved her hands as she stuttered, “I, I’m fine…”

… That’s really weird. Why is she being so frantic about?

When she finished, she pulled her bandana down and covered her eyes again. From how red her cheeks look, she’s probably feeling shy again. This is not very nice to sat but Yuan Zhi is really fun like this.

Speaking of which, what was the historical version of Xu Shu Xu Yuan Zhi like? The name is really familiar but my knowledge of this person is about the same as Zhang Liao and Zhang He — I only know their names and nothing else.

With Xu Shu, I am not even clear which side she belongs to. From what I remember, she seems to belong to Shu but it also seems like that is not the case.

Un… Forget it. Thinking about this now is no use anyway since what happens here has significant differences with what I remember. Like Dilu leaping across the Tan river for example.

“Ah, that’s right!” Just then, a forgotten question sprang to mind while I was engaged in random thoughts, “Umm, Yuan Zhi. Do you know Teacher Shuijing– Sima Hui very well?”

“Un?” When she heard my question, she pulled up her bandana a little, revealing one eye as she replied, “I do. What’s the matter?”

If she knows Sima Hui well, then she should know the people that Sima Hui knows very well too right?

“Umm, I was wondering if you knew someone.”

“W

ho?”

“Zhige Liang, Zhuge Kong Ming.”

“Eh?” Yuan Zhi gasped when she heard what I said. When I looked over, I saw that her single revealed eye bulged. But it was just a single moment. When I blinked, her expression returned to normal and she had replaced her bandana so both eyes were showing. It was so fast that it was as if the expression of shock I saw was a hallucination of mine.

“Ah… I do indeed know her.” Yuan Zhi nodded.

I did not expect this even though I tried it anyway.

“Umm, may I ask where Zhuge Liang is right now? Do you know?” I asked immediately.

“I…” Yuan Zhi began to speak but she stopped at one word for a long while before she closed her eyes and said in a resolved tone, “I can’t tell you that for the time being.”

“Eh? Why?” I frowned and felt puzzled. Yuan Zhi, on the other hand, continued to keep her eyes closed and sighed.

“I do indeed know Kong Ming very well. Personally, I think that Kong Ming is the most talented refines scholar I have ever met. She’s been compared with Guan Zhong and Yue Yi before and these are not exaggerations in the least. She is that formidable.” Yuan Zhi opened her eyes as she said so. Within those eyes were an indescribable surety, “But this dragon cannot be awakened yet.”

(TL: Guan Zhong – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guan_Zhong, Yue Yi – https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yue_Yi)

Why not? This question reverberated in my head several times. I thought of asking this but I gave up in the end.

Perhaps it’s because Yuan Zhi’s words and expression were convincing enough. Perhaps I’m not that urgent in seeking Zhuge Liang as I was before. I cannot split myself into 2 after all and right now, getting to Xinye as soon as possible is the most urgent task at hand.

“Alright, I understand. I’m just a little anxious.” I said as I nodded to Yuan Zhi.

“Ah… No…” Yuan Zhi seemed to be at a loss as to how to respond as she held her bowl and placed her lips on it.

It’s fine for now to be honest. I now have a trail to Zhuge Liang after all. When the time comes, I’m sure I can find her.

“Ah, u, umm…”

Un? Just then, I heard Yuan Zhi speak up again and when I looked over, I saw Yuan Zhi holding her bowl in front of her nose and looking a little withdrawn.

“I, if you’re l– lacking a good s, strategist, I, I can–”

*Ta* *Ta* *Ta* *Ta*

Yuan Zhi began stuttering again because she got nervous and before I could listen to her words, there was a sudden thundering os horse hooves which drowned out Yuan Zhi’s voice.

Un? That horse was really loud, the horse is probably the faster sort of breed, I thought as I leaned forward to listen more clearly what Yuan Zhi had to say.

“Yuan Zhi, could you repeat what you just said?”

“I said–”

“Oi! Wait!” Just as Yuan Zhi was about to repeat what she said somewhat despondently, Huang Zu interrupted her.

I looked at her and saw that she was looking at something behind me and seemed to be on guard.

“Ah… What’s the–” I said as I made to turn back.

“Please wait, Imperial Uncle!” Huang Zu quickly warned and held my face in place.

I was thoroughly shocked by these actions, “Lord Huang Zu, may I ask what–”

“Don’t ask, get below the table now, quick!”

Eh!? As Huang Zu said so, she stuffed me under the table and gave no explanation.

“Quickly! Imperial Uncle!”

Oi… Eh!

“Oi! Huang Zu!”

“Shh, be quiet Xuan De…”

I thought that this was some harebrained move by Huang Zu and was about to yell at her angrily when Yuan Zhi came to join me below the table and looked at me seriously as she told me to be quiet.

I was befuddled but Yuan Zhi quickly pointed the answer to me.

I looked into the direction where she was pointing and saw someone who was wearing a cape and hood jump down from a horse. The person was fully covered and only a chin was revealed. From the figure, the person is most likely a woman.

All in all, her get up was far too suspicious given that it was still summer.

“Lord Huang Zu, do you think that–”

“I think that she might be Cai Mao’s subordinate and has arrived here after searching all the way downstream to confirm or affirm your death.”

I knew she was going to interrupt me ans very naturally let her continue.

“It’s not impossible,” Yuan Zhi said as she stared at the person in the distance, “If they didn’t find your corpse, they would definitely send out search parties.”

Looks like Yuan Zhi and Huang Zu are in agreement on this.

“Didn’t I say so when we arrived? Cai Mao would definitely send people to search every village.” Huang Zu added.

Having her prediction come true really sucks. But is that really the case? It’s been more than half a month after all. If it was me, I would have given up searching and convinced myself that the corpse has sunk to the bottom and has been eaten by fishes.

But Cai Mao might not react the same way indeed. Since Huang Zu who has worked with her before thinks so, then I should be careful no matter how remote the possibility might be.

By now, I have been convinced by them and began to feel afraid of the hooded woman and curled up into a ball under the table.