Liu Bei POV

I stood atop the city walls as I gazed at the clouds which floated in the blue skies and the civilians of Xu state who were enjoying their safe and prosperous lives. It seems like my anxiety has finally begun to recede.

The G.o.ds of autumn sent some autumn breeze blowing my way from time to time which made the weather nice and cool.

I’m back once more to Xu state city.

It’s been about half a month since we left Xuchang. I’d thought I would never have a chance to return to this place but in the blink of an eye, here I am once more.

Everything here was the same as before. And like before, it was a little noisy.

We should have returned to Xuchang directly after taking Shouchun but I felt some responsibility for General Che Zhou’s death and I though I ought to come over to Xu state and explain what happened. When the officials came out to welcome us, we saw that it was the father and son pair, Chen Deng and Chen Gui, as well as a bunch of familiar faces. Since there was no antagonism between us, we decided to station our troops here.

Of course, there are other reasons for coming here.

“Big brother, what are you doing here?” Just then, Yun Chang’s voice could be heard. I’ve already gotten familiar enough that I can easily recognise her voice.

I turned back and saw the red haired girl who was filled with ideals and aspirations standing there. As the autumn winds whipped up her hair which were lit up by the suns.h.i.+ne, it felt like her hair was ablaze.

“Ah, I’m just here to get some fresh air.” I said as I flashed a smile to Yun Chang before turning back to the city, “I also thought I’d get a look at the civilians in the city which we haven’t seen in a while.”

“Hou hou~~” Yun Chang sighed and walked over to where I was and looked down, “I was still thinking that big brother was reminiscing about Lord Tao Qian~”

Honestly, I was indeed reminiscing about him, and Lord Han Fu. The pa.s.sing of lifeis something that I can never forget, especially when it all happened in front of my very eyes.

Fate.

That’s all I can say.

And leaving aside the others, my fate as Liu Bei has progressed thus far.

“… Big brother, are you still thinking about the matter with Che Zhou?”

Perhaps the feelings I am finding increasingly difficult to keep inside are showing on my face.

“That’s right~~ Che Zhou’s death has really caused me a lot of trouble.” I scratched my head as I laughed dryly, and thought back to what the Xu state 3 suggested to me this morning at Shouchun city.

(We cannot return to Xuchang.) (That’s right, this matter is extremely problematic since Che Zhou died in our presence.) (Leaving aside what Cao Cao herself thinks, her subordinates may seek vengeance against you.)

And so, to buy time, we came to Xu state. But even so, we will still be defeated by Meng De.

As someone who has come from the future, I wanted to voice this out but I couldn’t in the end.

Where else could we go, besides Xu state? I couldn’t think of an alternative and so I had no choice but to let myself be swept by the currents of history.

“Yun Chang.”

“Un?”

“Do you think that Meng De will attack us?”

“Un…” Yun Chang closed her eyes and sank into thought before answering, “I think not.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because she is a virtuous person.”

Virtuous huh?

“Indeed,” I said, almost half to myself, “But there are times when one has to make choices that one doesn’t believe in.”

Even if Meng De does not decide to act, and her subordinates believe that I am innocent, I still can’t get rid of the label from outsiders that I killed Che Zhou. And thus, Meng De will definitely be forced to respond in some way.

“Never mind, no point thinking about this now.” I sighed slightly and put my hands on my waist as I stretched my back, “Speaking of which, why are you alone? Where are the others?”

As I said so, I reluctantly parted from the weathered dark grey bricks and descended to the city. Yun Chang followed behind me.

“Ah, Yuan Shu said she wanted to tour the city, and the others had some shopping of their own to do so they all went to the market.”

The market huh… Xu state city’s market is indeed a good place to kill time. Apart from everyday goods, I even saw some clockwork toys which you can’t find in the future. It is indeed interesting.

“And what about you? Is it because you don’t find anything interesting there?”

After she heard what I said, Yun Chang pouted for some reason.

“I was late because I was inspecting the stables and missed them.” She said as she looked at me disdainfully, “Could it be that big brother thinks that I’m a boring person?”

“Ah, ah? How can that be!”

“Please look at me when you speak.”

Indeed, the Yun Chang in my impressions has always been someone who only discusses official matters, aspirations and martial arts. I’ve never seen her do anything else.

Ah, could it be that she likes rearing small animals?

“Really, big brother doesn’t observe me enough at all.” She lowered her head in disappointment when she saw my lost look,

“…” My heart hurt from the surge of guilt and I was unable to reply, and could only continue descending wordlessly.

“Big brother really can’t be helped huh… Though it feels like it wouldn’t be big brother otherwise…” Yun Chang said as she held her forehead and then smiled as she folded her arms across her chest and continued, “I like playing chess and reading in my free time, big brother better remember from now on.”

“Reading? The Spring and Autumn Annals?”

(TL: Spring and Autumn Annals is a series of records which are basically just that – Records. Chinese scholars from later dynasties produced literary commentaries that attempted to understand the meanings behind them, and these have become the source of many Chinese idioms and sayings.)

“I do read some others,” She laughed dryly, “But does big brother like playing chess? Why don’t you play with me some time?”

How can I say that I only know how to play Gomoku?

(TL: That’s the j.a.panese name, and it appears to be the more well-known name. In short, it’s 5-in-a-row played on a Go / Weiqi board.)

Ah, but I really don’t know what everyone is like huh. We’ve been together for so long so I really want to get to know them well.

Perhaps I should start being more proactive on this front?

“I don’t really know the rules but I wouldn’t mind playing some time.”

“Oh? If you don’t know, I can teach you big brother.”

I nodded, to which Yun Chang replied with a smile.

Yun Chang really is a good girl.

“Yun Chang, let’s go.” I grabbed Yun Chang’s hand and quickened the pace of descent.

“Ah ah~~ What’s the matter? Why so sudden?!” She was confused at my sudden act and stumbled behind after me.

“We’re going to the market,” I turned back to face the red haired girl, “I’ll accompany you.”