Liu Bei POV

Yuan Zhi could not take it anymore and her cheeks began to redden as she stuttered and pulled down her bandana. She’s been shy a lot today huh?

Just as I was trying to guess why Yuan Zhi was silent, she raised her head and looked at me.

“Xuan De, I was going to tell you this before but I was interrupted.” Her voice was steady but I could tell that she was suppressing her stuttering and nervousness.

She then stood up and very elegantly saluted and bowed as she declared, “My capabilities may be limited and I am no genius but I hope to join you!”

“Eh?! Is that what my benefactor wanted all this while?”

“As expected huh~”

Huang Zu was extremely surprised while Zi Long responded as though she already saw this coming and sighed as she smiled stiffly. I, however, did not understand what she meant immediately.

Oh~ I see, I see, so she wants to join me… Eh? What did Yuan Zhi just say?

“You said,” I paused for a moment to gather my thoughts, “You want to join me? You mean you want to join my faction?”

“To put it simply, yes.” Yuan Zhi said.

Eh?! D, did I even do anything to arouse her interest in joining me?! Why did she just want to join me all of a sudden?

“Th-th-th-then, when you said you were going to Xinye, what were you going to do?” I got infected by Yuan Zhi as well and began to stutter.

“I can’t tell you the details but I did have business at Xinye. And I also had to learn singing.” Yuan Zhi said as she looked at me, “But after I met Xuan De, I understood everything.”

… What is she saying? I do not understand anything at all.

“So what did you understand?” I was a little afraid but I still followed through and asked.

Yuan Zhi then looked at me and her cheeks reddened as she replied, “I understood that, the reason why I had to go to Xinye was so I could meet you, Xuan De.”

W, wah… How could she so relaxedly and calmly utter such direct words that seemed almost like a confession? And what’s going on? What did I ask for her to answer me like that? What’s this about having business at Xinye but meeting me?

I have absolutely no idea how I ought to respond and just sat there as Zi Long and Huang Zu stared at me. I do not know why Huang Zu is staring at me though I doubt there is any specific reason behind it. Zi Long’s stare was different however, and I began to panic.

“So that’s it. Now I get it.” Zi Long nodded as she said so and with every nod, my heart skipped a beat, “Xuan De, I never thought you were such a pa.s.sionate one.”

“Ah… It’s not me who’s pa.s.sionate, it’s Yuan Zhi. Yuan Zhi is pa.s.sionate.” I said as my palms began to sweat. I felt as frantic as I did when I fell into the river, especially when I looked at her feigned smile.

I am unable to guess what Zi Long is thinking right now but it cannot be anything good. I have a feeling that she is going to question me on this at some point in the future though I do not know what she could possibly ask. Could it be that Zi Long feels Yuan Zhi’s unknown origins can pose problems?

“By the way, Lord Zhao Yun, your voice is…” Just then, Yuan Zhi spoke up.

Speaking of which, why was Zi Long’s voice so hoa.r.s.e. If her voice were like how it usually was, I would have been able to identify her right away.

“Ah, my voice huh?” Zi Long cleared her throat and ma.s.saged her vocal chords before she continued, “It’s fine, nothing muc

h. I just expended my voice a fair bit while looking for Xuan De, that’s all.”

I had already guess this, which was why I have been pouring water for Zi Long.

I looked at Zi Long with grat.i.tude but she did not look at me probably because she’s acting up because she thinks that I acted inappropriately somehow. This was a rare show of childish tantrum from her.

But now that I think about it, I do have to admit that this whole mess was my fault to begin with. If I had taken Zi Long’s advice to be more cautious, none of this would have happened.

“Lord Zhao Yun, I have some sweet water here which should make your throat feel better.”

“Ah, no. How could I?”

Yuan Zhi ignored Zi Long’s refusals and turned as she made her way to the horses. Looks like she has more than 1 gourd after all.

“I’ll be troubling Lord Xu Shu then.” Zi Long graciously accepted when she saw Yuan Zhi’s actions. She definitely needs some drink that can soothe her throat right now.

“It’s fine.” Yuan Zhi replied without turning back and then waved at Huang Zu, “Huang Zu, come and help me take this carpet down.”

“Ah, alright.” Huang Zu said as she got up and went to help Yuan Zhi. I just realised that she had never interrupted her so-called benefactor. Looks like she refrains from rude actions towards those she respects. This probably applies to Liu Biao as well.

“Xuan De… Shouldn’t you be telling me about what happened on the way here?” Zi Long whispered into my ear as she looked at Yuan Zhi and Huang Zu.

“That’s easy.” I said and thought for a moment before giving her a quick rundown on how I got saved by Sima Hui, set off for Xinye and met Huang Zu and Yuan Zhi on the way there.

“That’s it?” When I finished, Zi Long sai this with a dissatisfied look.

“That’s it.”

Of course, all that was rather boring. I’m really sorry for the lack of explosive and heart-stopping events.

“But you both are calling each other by your courtesy names, that’s hardly how people who just met behave…” Zi Long said with suspicion in her eyes.

“That’s not much, is it? Haven’t we both done practically the same after all?” I said, seemingly shutting down Zi Long’s suspicions in that regard.

However, she still seemed dissatisfied and frowned as she asked me further, “But why does she want to join us all of a sudden?”

“That, is something you will have to ask her.” I smiled stiffly as I patted her shoulders, “Please believe me when I say I have no clue about this.”

“Un…” Zi Long frowned, still looking a little suspicious and dissatisfied. Just as I was anxiously considering how I ought to explain myself further, Zi Long spoke up, “Never mind, I’m fine with this anyway.”

“And besides,” Zi Long continued as she looked at Yuan Zhi, “I can tell that Lord Xu Shu is no ordinary person.”

“Un, I agree.” I said as I nodded. Though I do not remember what sort of person Xu Shu was supposed to be in history, from what I have learnt about her and how she knows Zhuge Liang and Sima Hui, she is definitely not an ordinary person.

But now that Xu Shu wants to join me, I get the feeling that I have heard that name somewhere before but I cannot put my finger on it…

As I looked at Yuan Zhi’s back, I thought about what Sima Hui mentioned and realised that I had a solution to the problem he mentioned for now.

Soon, Yuan Zhi brought her sweet water over to Zi Long, who sang praises about it after she drank it. Looks like it’s really good stuff, everyone seems to enjoy it. Huang Zu and I drank some as well and I wondered if Yuan Zhi had a 3rd gourd.

“Ah, right. Huang Zu, is it alright for you? If you’re tight in time, you can rush to Xiangyang now.”

Huang Zu, who had been drinking the sweet water cup after cup non-stop, stopped drinking as she replied, “Eh? Why? Is benefactor driving me away?”

Yuan Zhi shook her head, “No, I’m not. My aim of going to Xinye has been realised now so I thought that you might not need to travel with me anymore.”

Based on what Yuan Zhi said before, it seems like she had business at Xinye and required a travel companion. Now, her business at Xinye has been abandoned and she is joining me so Yuan Zhi no longer needs a travel companion.

“I’m fine. I owe benefactor and I have promised you to accompany you to Xinye and I will fulfill this promise.” Huang Zu said as she shook her head. I could, however, tell that she was a little frustrated, probably because she feels just like I do with regards to rus.h.i.+ng to Xinye.

“Is it really alright?” Yuan Zhi asked, still worried.

But Huang Zu shook her head, “It’s fine, the journey is not long anyway.”

When she finished, Huang Zu pulled out a sack which hung by her waist and placed it on the table. When she pulled the cloth, the object wrapped inside spun around, revealing a gourd.

“Eh? Lord Huang Zu, isn’t this the gourd you use to drink liquor with?”

I still remembered what this gourd was used for as Huang Zu would always bring it around while I was at Jiangxia. Before and after every battle, she would take a few sips. Outside of battle, it would always be that huge water jug.

Looks like the gourd survived huh.