Liu Bei POV

Was this curtain newly washed? No, that cannot be right. Only the other side is wet…

*Shasha*…

Wu! Just as I was feeling the other side of the curtain, I accidentally applied strength and pulled it open a little, making a sweeping sound. It was not very loud but its suddenness in what was originally quiet environment and my eyes bulged as I hurriedly bent down.

… Hu… Hu…

Food thing that Feng Xian did not rouse from her sleep, as evidenced by her light, regular breathing.

Well then, let’s proceed. I slowly got up and headed towards the section of the curtain which I had pulled away. At this time, my heart was racing at an unbearable pace. But now that I have come this far, there’s no way I am giving up now. And besides, all I am aiming for is a glimpse of her sleeping face. Opening up this much should be enough for that.

… Un? But why is there steam coming from that side of the tent? I wondered when I found white steam after taking 2-3 steps in. I reached out to grab it and found that it was indeed steam.

Un? When I looked down further, I realised that something was very wrong. There was a large wooden pail with 2 feet propped up on 1 side. And that wooden pail was filled with water. This is… Could it be…

— That’s why I left Red Hare outside. I was afraid someone might come in but I didn’t think that it would be my lord who would come.

— As you can see, I just finished taking a bath.

— My lord (Lu Bu) should be waking up soon. When she does, I hope that my lord (Liu Bei) can help me take care of her~

All of a sudden, Wen Yuan’s meaningful smile and the words she said back then came to mind.

… Might come in… Finished taking a bath… Take care… And the steamy tent and curtain. In the next instant, I understood what she meant.

D-doesn’t this mean that Feng Xian fell asleep while she was bathing… Why did you have to make it seem like she was sleeping normally!

Wen Yuan, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I will definitely remember this!

This is not a love comedy anime yet developments that would only appear in such genres have begun to appear. I have to say though… It would be a lie to say that I did not want to see Feng Xian in the nude but I lack the courage to do so or to ignore my moral voice.

— Xuan De, what were you just doing?

— Feng Xian! Listen– Wah!!!!

What would follow next would probably be the sound of flesh being torn.

Wu… Just thinking about it sends a chill down my spine. Now is not the time to be staring at her sleeping face. Before Feng Xian discovers me, it’s best that I pull up the curtain and return to the stool.

Hu… I gave a long sigh and shook my head to try to get what I was thinking about before out of my head. I then stared at the curtain and reached up to the curtain. At this time, I was no longer thinking about whether it was wet or not as it was natural that it would be since someone was bathing on the other side not too long ago. And so I grabbed the curtain and pulled it across…

*Shashasha*… Eh, yes, just like that… Slowly, slowly–

*w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g* *w.a.n.g*!!

“Wah!!” I shrieked when I got a shock from Red Hare’s sudden barking. And that was how tragedy struck. Because I was pulling it with my right hand and the barking came from my right, I instinctively turned to the right with my right hand still on the curtain.

*Sha*–

Ah!!! The curtain was pulled open at an unbelievable pace and Feng Xian’s full body appeared

before me. Of course, that includes her sleeping face which I was aiming for from the very beginning but I was not in the mood to enjoy it now.

*Kaban*!

Before I could react, a cras.h.i.+ng sound filled my ears and when I looked up, I saw that 1 of the curtain’s grip hooks had fallen to the ground. When I saw this, I immediately let go of the curtain, forgetting that I was not on stable footing and lost my balance immediately.

“Wah!” I yeled as I fell over forwards. Right in front of my eyes was the pail full of water with Feng Xian in it. In that moment, I thought back to the time when I fell into the Tan stream. Was that moment more despairing than this one?

*Pu*! In an instant, my face was drenched with the warm water.

After falling in, I could feel Feng Xian’s skin and that I was in contact with certain soft bits of her. I did not know what bits they were but did not dare to imagine or check it. I hurriedly closed my eyes and held my breath as I struggled out of the water–

“Waha!” I exhaled and took a deep breath as I grabbed on the side of the pail and looked up. I do not know how to swim and did not dare to open my eyes while my face was drenched but these were extraordinary times so I wrenched my eyes open with my hands and looked at Feng Xian.

Please do not wake up! Please do not wake up!!

“Un…” Feng Xian moaned with a pained expression and looked like she was about to wake up any moment.

There is no way she will not wake up!!

I hurriedly closed my eyes and grabbed the curtain that was now fully open and quickly pulled it back. After pulling it back, I hurried over to the table by the entrance and picked up a piece of silk cloth which I used to wipe my face. Not long after I began to do so, I could hear Feng Xian stirring behind me.

“Ah… Haa~~~~ah…”

Wu!? I shuddered when I heard her yawn and took 2 deep breaths before I calmed down.

Almost… Almost… If I were any slower, I would have been caught in the act. When that time came, I would probably not be able to explain my way out of it. Really, it seemed like everything that could go wrong just now did so. First, Red Hare suddenly barked, then I pulled open the curtain by accident instead of closing it, and then I fell into the water. It really is a terrible series of unfortunate incidents.

“… Un? Wen Yuan?”

Wu! I shuddered from fright once more when I heard her speak. Because Feng Xian was asleep since before Wen Yuan left, she did not know that Wen Yuan was no longer around.

— “My lord (Lu Bu) should be waking up soon. When she does, I hope that my lord (Liu Bei) can help me take care of her~

Wen Yuan’s words reverberated in my head. She probably never imagined her prank would be this successful and probably only wanted to give me a little shock. But now, I am fearful for my life.

“Wen Yuan~ Are you there!” Feng Xian continued to call out with a dull voice as she was not yet fully awake.

She should not know about what just happened as I remember clearly that her eyes were shut tight when I pulled back the curtains. Even so, I was really tense and could not even reply her. I could have just said something along the lines of ‘Wen Yuan is out and she left you with me’ as the curtains were closed after all so there would not be any problem.

I gulped and took a few deep breaths before speaking up, “Ah, Feng Xian, Wen Yuan–”

“Wen Yuan, I just had a dream where Xuan De stuck his head into the bathtub while I was in it.”

*Pu*! No! No!

When I heard what she said, my mind went blank and I could not continue what I was about to say and hurriedly dried my hair.

“Wen Yuan? You really aren’t talking much today huh?” Feng Xian continued, still not realising that I was not who she thought I was, “Never mind, help me add some water from the pail, Wen Yuan.”

Eh? Add water? I was rather nervous and thought that it was behind the curtains but then soon realised that Feng Xian was talking about a small wooden pail beside the curtains that still had steam on top of it.

I walked over lightly and poured in the water. I was initially looking at her toes but then remembered what just happened and quickly looked away and closed my eyes.

“Ah~” Feng Xian gave a long moan, “Many thanks, Wen Yuan.”

There was no way I could possibly just stay silent when Feng Xian kept speaking to me but after thinking about it and trying it out in my head, I still could not mimic Wen Yuan’s voice. And so, I merely bowed from behind the curtain as Feng Xian could see my visage from behind it.

After I bowed, I nervously made my way to a stool and sat down. I felt my racing heard and tried to flatten my hair that was now standing.

“Now that I think about it… I really rely on you a lot huh?”

“Eh?” I uttered in surprise by accident and immediately covered my mouth. I was about to have a panic attack when I realised that it was just 1 syllable and I should not have been found out yet.

“It’s the truth really. Be it managing our troops, or issuing commands during battle, it’s all been on you and I’ve never done anything.” Feng Xian continued.

“Aiya…” Feng Xian sighed. It seemed like there was something troubling her, that she had things to say that she had been keeping in her heart for a long while now. I wanted to ask her what they were but the chance to reveal myself had pa.s.sed and if I were to say something now, I would only arouse suspicion.

“I even bragged in front of Xuan De earlier and asked him to watch me during the battle. Yet I performed so poorly in the first battle in a long while.” Feng Xian slapped the water when she finished, sending water flying everywhere.