Chapter 56 A Thousand Rivers of Weak Water
Liu Bei slowly walked towards me, as if the flames of war and the cries of slaughter behind him did not exist. "I heard that Miss Pei left Xuchang. I didn't expect to meet her here."
"Hehe, this really shows how unpredictable life can be," I said, looking at him with a laugh.
Amidst the scattered, broken, and incomplete corpses, we seemed like two old friends reunited after a long separation, chatting happily—a truly bizarre scene.
"My lord, all the rebels in the city have surrendered!" Zhang Fei said casually as he stepped forward.
"Miss Pei, I wonder why you are here?" Liu Bei waved his hand, still looking at me.
I slumped my shoulders slightly. He was clearly suspicious of me, suspecting me of being Cao Cao's spy? Oh no, oh no, I'm on his turf now. If I'm not careful, I might be reduced to ashes.
"Alas, my lord, you do not know, I escaped!" I shook my head and sighed, my face full of bitterness, and hurriedly tried to distance myself from Cao Cao.
"Oh?" Liu Bei raised his eyebrows slightly, looked at me, and smiled calmly.
Looking at that ambiguous smile, my heart started pounding, and I wished I could go up and crush that unfathomable smile into a ball.
He must be suspicious of me. Last time I was so desperate to get into the palace to see Cao Cao, but now I'm saying I escaped from the mansion. No one, not even a ghost, would believe that, let alone him...
"That Cao Cao has a multitude of wives and concubines in his mansion! He actually... he actually wanted to..." I said with a face full of shame and indignation, my acting superb.
"It's common for men to have three wives and four concubines, Miss Pei, why do you say that?" Liu Bei raised his eyebrows.
"What?" I was slightly taken aback, then unconsciously clenched my fist and frowned. "Love cannot be divided! When you truly love someone, it's like choosing only one from a vast ocean! Having multiple wives and concubines is promiscuity! Such people don't understand what love is at all!"
"Of all the waters in the world, I only need a single sip..." Liu Bei was still looking at me, but a mocking smile unconsciously crept onto his lips, a smile that inexplicably ruined his gentle demeanor.
Seemingly sensing my surprised gaze, Liu Bei lowered his eyes slightly, his thick eyelashes concealing the mockery in his eyes. In just a moment, he returned to his calm and gentle demeanor.
"What you say, young lady, is truly astonishing," Liu Bei said with a smile after a long pause. "I wonder where you intend to go from now on?"
"I've traveled the world and made my home wherever I go," I replied with a smile.
“But it seems that Prime Minister Cao has already sent the young lady’s portrait all over the provinces…” He raised his sleeve and took out a portrait from his sleeve pocket, which was exactly the same as the one Che Zhou had shown me. “I’m afraid that before the young lady has even traveled all over the world, she has already been taken into Prime Minister Cao’s arms.”
I looked at him with suspicion, trying to find a trace of schadenfreude on his face, but I couldn't see a hint of it.
"My lord." Not far away, Guan Yu leaped down from the slightly loose drawbridge and walked forward, holding a bloody head in his hand. It was Che Zhou's head. I looked down at it, somewhat dazed. This afternoon he was riding so majestically on his horse, but now he was decapitated and had no body left.
"Hi!" I sensed he was looking at me with some surprise, so I forced a smile, perked up, and waved to him.
Guan Yu paused slightly, his fair face beginning to flush...
I stared wide-eyed at the astonishing change of expression, and then involuntarily recalled the day he led his troops to pursue Cao Cao in the palace and witnessed the exposure of spring's beauty.
"Second Brother?" Zhang Fei stepped forward curiously, casually getting close to Guan Yu. "Your complexion looks very strange!"
Guan Yu tilted his head slightly, his face as red as a jujube, and said expressionlessly, "Stained with blood."
I chuckled awkwardly.
That night, the city gates were closed and the inns were shut. Under Liu Bei's smiling suggestion that "why don't you come to my residence to rest first," I shamelessly followed the large group back to Xuzhou and stayed at Liu Bei's residence.
Every time I saw Liu Bei smiling, I would break out in a cold sweat for no reason. Thus, I learned the true meaning of "smiling tiger".
The guest room was spacious, a world of difference compared to the inn I had stayed in before. Lying on the soft bed, I couldn't sleep, only thinking about how to say goodbye to Liu Bei the next morning.
My fingertips unconsciously touched the cheap jade pendant in my pocket. As if burned, I quickly pulled my hand back. After thinking for a moment, I sat up, took out the silver hairpin from my temple, and threw it into the shoulder bag next to me along with the jade pendant.
I reached into my bag and pulled out a simplified Chinese version of "Records of the Three Kingdoms." I hesitated for a moment before opening it.
Volume One of the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Annals of Emperor Wu: When the Duke was about to personally lead an eastern expedition against Liu Bei, all his generals said, "The one who rivals you for the empire is Yuan Shao. Now that Shao is coming, if you abandon him in the east, he will take advantage of your retreat. What will you do?" The Duke said, "Liu Bei is a man of outstanding talent. If we do not attack him now, he will surely become a future threat. Although Yuan Shao has great ambitions, he is slow to act and will not make a move." Guo Jia also advised the Duke, so he attacked Liu Bei in the east, defeated him, and captured his general Xiahou Bo alive. Liu Bei fled to Shao, and his wife and children were captured. Liu Bei's general Guan Yu was stationed at Xiapi, and the Duke attacked again, and Guan Yu surrendered.
The candlestick wick flickered slightly, a breeze blew in from the window, and the room flickered between light and shadow. I lowered my eyes, slowly closed the book, and drifted off into thought.
In this chaotic world of warlordism, the overall structure gradually became clear, like a network of threads.
As for me, like a piece of duckweed adrift in a chaotic world, where should I go?
Feeling an indescribable sense of oppression, I took a deep breath, turned around, and opened the door.
As soon as the door opened, a person was sitting in the doorway. Although it was a slender figure, he sat there so firmly, like a guard on night duty.
I was surprised, then smiled faintly.
The image of that boy's back at that moment remains etched in my memory many years later.
In this chaotic world, the first boy to extend a helping hand to me; in this chaotic world, a boy as lonely as I am...
The feeling of anxiety and frustration gradually subsided and disappeared, leaving only the silhouette of a boy in front of me, an indescribable warmth.
"Sister?" Hearing the door open behind him, the boy turned around, his clear black and white eyes looking at me. The moonlight was like water. He patted his clothes, stood up, and stood in front of me, about the same height as me.
"Why aren't you asleep so late? What are you doing at my door?" I looked at him and smiled. "Are you afraid of the dark and need your sister to lull you to sleep?"
"No, that's not it!" Gou'er was eager to clear his name. When he saw me smile, he blushed and lowered his head stammeringly. "I was just keeping watch for my sister. I was afraid I wouldn't hear her calling me at night if I slept in the next room."
"You're so cute!" I couldn't help but reach out and pinch his cheek.
The dog obediently let me rub it, its face slightly flushed, but it didn't make a sound.
A cool breeze was blowing. I sat with my dog at the door, gazing at the twinkling stars in the dark sky.
"Dog, do you still blame your mother?"
"I don't resent it anymore." (3F)
Why not complain?
"I have a sister, I only have a sister." Turning his head, the dog looked at me and said slowly, as if making a promise.
I paused for a moment, then reached out and patted his head, smiling. What an adorable child.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
