Vol 1 Chapter 14 (2/2)

… I just hope it goes as he says…

“But now that Sun Jian, the only one who knows how to lead the shock troops is gone, what do we do?” I said as I looked at the by now far off uncle Sun Jian.

These words were directed to both myself and Meng De as I felt she had already predicted and planned for this.

“What to do?” Meng De turned to me and gave a truly bitter smile as she said, “Do nothing.”

“Eh?”

Meng De did not explain any further and entered Yuan Shao’s tent.

“Based on a reliable source this time, we know that Dong Zhuo is dead already!” On the same noght, Yuan Shao gathered the feudal lords and said these farcical words. “This is all thanks to the hard work of everyone here. As for Chang’an, we can leave them be as they will probably destroy themselves. Alrighht, have a good night’s rest and tomorrow we can be all on our way home.”

As soon as she finished, the feudal lords could be seen to be br.i.m.m.i.n.g with joy. From the very beginning till now, this was the first time they were all in such a good mood. Though they had not attained much in this campaign, finally being able to go home at this point was perhaps a great blessing.

And yet they did not know, that Dong Zhuo was long dead, and that this tenuous coalition had long lost its reason for existence.

“Xuan De, did you hear. Yuan Shao said we can go home already!” Gongsun Zan happily repeated this ‘great news’ that everyone already knew as she tugged on my sleeve.

“Ah, that really is great.” I was too lazy to say much, nor was there any value in doing so anyway.

“Everyone, I would like to say a few words.” Just then, everyone became silent while Meng De smiiled as she stood up and raised her wine cup. “From the very beginning, it was my intention to rid our nation of a traitor when I issued a call to arms. And so, I, and the Imperial Court, am both grateful for everyone who was driven to answer my call by your loyalty to the Imperial Court. But truly, the one who has been the most instrumental to our success is not me, but our coalition leader Yuan Shao Yuan Ben Chu.”

“Eh? … Maa, i, it’s what I should do anyway.” Yuan Shao stammered in response.

“Ben Chu is too humble.” Meng De followed up after Yuan Shao and continued. “Now Dong Zhuo is dead. Of course, this result is not independent of everyone’s hard work. We have gathered from all corners of the country for the sake of ridding Dong Zhuo together… At the start, the words ‘Dong Zhuo is dead’ were on the walls of Sishui Pa.s.s. We thought it was a scheme then… Why? Because we had not attained what we had set out to achieve–”

When they heard this, quite a few feudal lords lowered their heads in guilt as they felt that they had been thoroughly read.

“What we want– Is not something as simple as Dong Zhuo’s death. We want a stable Imperial Court and a peaceful nation.” … Meng De stopped to catch her breath, “Am I right to say this, everyone?”

This time, everyone seemed relieved that their ugly ulterior motives were not seen through and smiled as they went ‘right, right.’

“… Maa forget it, I said a bit too much but let me finish this with a toast! Everyone, please!” Meng De raised her head and downed her cup in one go as soon as she finished.

I followed suit as well and raised my cup… Ha~~~~ This liquor was strong enough, unlike the one I had in Zhuo commandery.

The majority however, left their cups untouched and just sat where they were motionlessly.

“Ha~~~~… I’m a little tipsy and will be excusing myself first.” After finis.h.i.+ng her drink alone, Meng De exited the tent.

Meng De had left, but there was no cheer whatsoever in the tent.

“… Maa, maa, it’s not getting any earlier so let’s head off to bed.” Yuan Shao gave a few dry laughs and dispersed the feudal lords on seeing the awkward atmosphere.

I exited the tent and looked for Meng De, who was already preparing to leave.

“Meng De, you’re…”

“There are still the remnants of Dong Zhuo’s forces in Chang’an so I’m bringing my own troops to save the Son of Heaven.” Meng De said as she mounted her horse.

“… You persuaded Yuan Shao to break up the coalition when you went to find her.”

“Un, there’s no way the Son of Heaven can be saved with the feudal lords who will only hold me back .” Meng De said mercilessly. “In any case, farewell. I believe we will meet again.”

I looked at Meng De and I saw that her usually confident smile was slightly diminished.

“Maa, I think so too.”

Meng De merely chuckled in reply before she rode off and brought her own troops, which weren’t all that many, out of the west gate, in the direction of Chang’an.

By the time we woke up the next day, most of the feudal lords had already left. Though it’s natural that n.o.body would want to stay for long.

Gongsun Zan had offered to let me go with her earlier. Though it was a good idea, I still felt that You state was a little far and had no choice but to part with Gongsun Zan.

As they left. Zi Long was muttering things like ‘Ahh~~~ What a waste, if only it were Lord Xuan De’ or ‘My lord, please learn from him’ and so on… Which made me feel that Gongsun Zan was really pitiful.

The person herself on the other seemed unperturbed by this and was still happily calling out to me as she left, “Bye bye~~~ My childhood friend~~~~”

… Maa, she is a naturally big hearted person, to the point where she can accept everything that comes.

And so we began to pack and get ready to leave thereafter.

“Lord Xuan De, we’re almost done.” Feng Xian walked over as she pulled the Red Hare along with her injured arm.

“Un, I got it… Eh? You haven’t left?” I asked.

“Eh? Leave… Why?” She seemed surprised at my question.

“What I meant was, you don’t need to follow me anymore.” I calmly explained. “The coalition is no more and the trainwreck is over. The shadows cast by Ding Yuan and Dong Zhuo’s deaths should have dissipated by now and you can follow your own raison d’être from now on.”

Though our time together was short, I keenly understood that Feng Xian was different from the Lu Bu Lu Feng Xian I knew before. Feng Xian enjoyed a good fight but she also loved peace, and was an upright person; she was brave and fierce in combat but also had a cute side to her.

Even though this is just me saying it, I am more than willing to acknowledge her as the real Lu Bu.

“What is Lord Xuan De saying? Isn’t my raison d’être right here?” Feng Xian said as a matter of factly, upon which Zhang Liao smiled from behind. “Moreover, Zhang Liao has been speaking of a lot of good things about Lord Xuan De recently.”

“Eh? … But.” I was at a loss as to what to do on hearing Feng Xian’s words.

“As for myself, I too feel that staying with Lord Xuan De is better, that I can truly see the world for what it is as long as I’m at Lord Xuan De’s side.”

Feng Xian said as she looked straight at me with resolute eyes. Although I really cannot meet the glance of such a beautiful girl head on.

…. Hai, they really think too highly of me.

“Maa, since you’re willing to follow me, I don’t have any objections.”

“… Many thanks, Lord Xuan De.” Feng Xian said. Upon finis.h.i.+ng she prepared to kneel down but I quickly rushed forward to stop her.

“Eh eh eh! Don’t need to be so formal about it…” The one who should be grateful is me.

“And so Lord Xuan De is now my lord’s lord.” Zhang Liao seemed to be very happy as well. “From now on, I’ll have lots of time to chat with my bosom friend.”

Bosom friend? Yun Chang?

“My bosom friend, I must say, your lord has indeed made the right choice.” Yun Chang nodded with a look of satisfaction as she spoke to Zhang Liao. “Big brother may not have much of a name now but I’m sure he will achieve great things in the times to come.”

… What’s with this pressure?

“And so, we now formally have another 2 members huh?” Yi De said as she counted with her fingers.

“Eh? Eh? Which 2? Is it Lord Pan Feng and Lord Han Fu?” Hua Tuo squinted and looked about.

“It’s a good thing they’re gone.”

If those 2 joined us, that would be bad.

But speaking of members, members of what? … Maa, never mind, if I ask, they’ll probably tell me a bunch of incomprehensible things.

(TL: Your harem duh. Yun Chang even brainwashed Zhang Liao so all you neeeded to do was to focus on Feng Xian.)

Seeing them happily discussing away, I took out the feather fan.

Before I knew it, it had been a while since I’ve been here but I still have no clue on how to go back home…

Maa, I’ll leave future matters to the future. As I said at the very beginning, now is not yet the time for me to stop.

“Alright, let us get going.” I said as I kept the feather fan and clapped to get their attention.

And Yi De, Yun Chang, Hua Tuo (Zhang Jue), Feng Xian, Zhang Liao looked at each other before laughing and facing me with a helpless smile–

“Go where?!~~~~~”

Haha, what a recurrent problem.

I too was infected by their laughter and smiled as I gave the reply I always did.

“Who knows?! Walk first think later!”

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