Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)
Don’t tell me this is a short stay at Beihai
“You broke the blockade? So quickly?!” We followed Tais.h.i.+ Ci to Kong Rong’s official residence and she made for us to wait outside before she went in first to report. Thereafter, we heard this loud male voice resounding from the building.
Just going from the voice, this Kong Rong should be a man. Though when I realised this, I felt like it was going against logic for some reason.
There were further discussions going on inside, and after a while, Tais.h.i.+ Ci slowly walked out and spoke to us, “Apologies for making you all wait. You may come in now, please follow me.”
Tais.h.i.+ Ci guided us in once she finished.
“Really, even though he’s the one who has been desperately seeking help, now that he’s had our help, he still has the gall to make us wait outside like that.”
“Yi De, don’t say that.” I said as I rubbed her head, “No matter what, he is still an Administrator and must still keep up appearances.”
“I wonder what kind of person Administrator Kong Rong is.” Yun Chang said as she thought. “If possible, I would hope for him to allow us to stay here for a bit, as we have nowhere to go after all.”
“… Un, I will bring this up with him later.”
“Xuan De, you still haven’t found a place to rest yet?” Gongsun Zan said with surprise. “Then why were you so unwilling to come with me to You state huh~~~”
“It’s too far.” I said with a helpless smile.
Just looking at the result, even if we went to You state, we would still be here with you. And if we went with you to You state, though we would have a destination, the journey would become even longer.
We continued walking inside the building, and after 2 doors, we finally arrived at the main hall of the official residence.
“This is it, Lord Kong Rong is awaiting inside.” Tais.h.i.+ Ci said before entering the main hall.
Un? Why is there such a nice smell…
“Oh~~~” Just then we saw a man with a small beard run up to us. “To my saviours, Kong Rong has been rude in his reception. Please, come right in.”
Seeing his clothing, and his manner of speech which was polite and formal, I could tell that he is an experienced official.
Unlike us who were wearing casual and rough clothing, he was wearing the proper official uniform. And though he kept a small beard, and had a big round belly, he still had a thick cultured aura about him. If he were 10 years younger, he would definitely be a celebrated student.
Now he should be a famous scholar. The young Kong Rong was after all, an exemplar student for children.
“Ah, it’s nothing it’s nothing. For Lord Kong Rong to judge that I, Gongsun Zan, am worth enough, how could I refuse? And so I rushed here as soon as I heard the news.”
Gongsun Zan also replied in the same manner, though it seemed a bit funny hearing it from her.
“Hahaha, I’m not such an impressive person.” Kong Rong laughed as he stroked his beard… Seems like this person gets disgusting when he’s praised.
“Please follow me. We can speak when we’re inside. I have already prepared the food and drink.”
Kong Rong then guided us in as he finished laughing.
Ah~ No wonder there’s such a nice smell, because the reception banquet is already set up. Though if he had the time for all this, why didn’t he come out to receive us? That would have been a better show of sincerity.
Though I must say I am surprised at Gongsun Zan. Even though she is usually so silly and carefree, she must be quite experienced and adept in dealing with officials and feudal lords and the like seeing how she responded so well to Kong Rong–
(Zi Long, how was that? I remembered the words you told me to say perfectly, though I don’t know what they mean.)
(My lord, please don’t brag about this. This should be something you come up with on your own. If you had screwed up, we know what awaits you when we go back.)
(Wu…)
…
I was still praising her in my heart, but upon hearing their whispering, I felt that changing my opinion of Gongsun Zan was foolish thinking.
“Wa~~~” Just as I was thinking about this, Yi De who was beside me let out a sigh of amazement. “This table of food is simply too magnificent!”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing much, nothing much.” Kong Rong laughed again, “Come come come, eat.”
And as he said so, he went ahead to sit at the head of the table while we went to sit at the sides.
The table was very large, and could easily seat all 10 of us with much room to spare. Yi De’s description of the food was no exaggeration, and though I could not identify the dishes, I could tell they were good just by looking.
Ever since I came to this era, I’ve never eaten well. Just having fish and meat was already considered a luxury.
Well then, time to dig in.
Let’s try this first… Un, delicious indeed.
I looked around at everyone as I ate, and saw that everyone was delightfully partaking in the delicious meal.
“Speaking of which, how did you all defeat that army?” Kong Rong began the conversation afresh as he ate, “I was late in awaking today and I heard that they were going to attack you while I was eating breakfast but by the time I finished, I found that you had already entered the city…”
“Big sister, you must try this, it feels different from the meat we usually eat.”
“That’s not meat, it’s tofu…”
“My lord, carrying the Red Hare while you eat is a bit rude… Ah! It touched me! I’m going to die!”
“Red Hare is very cute, so no problem.”
*w.a.n.g*!
“Eh~~~ There are carrots! I hate carrots!”
“My lord, will you eat some vegetables? Don’t just eat rice.”
“Zi Long, you really are rude. If you’re a northerner you got to eat rice!”
“Umm, will you all please listen to me? Don’t just focus on eating, alright?!” Kong Rong gave an awkward smile as he saw that no one paid him any heed.
“Ah, my, my lord, our saviours were truly heroic.” Tais.h.i.+ Ci hurriedly replied upon seeing her lord being ignored. “I was planning on dispersing the army to form a circular formation to meet the enemy’s charge but before I could say anything, they all charged into the enemy. I thought we would be utterly defeated but who knew that they successfully penetrated enemy lines and scattered them.”
“Oh~~~ But weren’t you all severely outnumbered?”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing~~” Yi De said as she age, “Fighting spirit can overcome the problem of numbers.”
(TL: The original fiction version was pretty much the same, except Tais.h.i.+ Ci had set out to find Liu Bei rather than Gongsun Zan. Again, those who surrounded Beihai were just Yellow Turban remnants, so the numbers issue isn’t as big.)
“Is that so? That’s the first time I heard of this.” Kong Rong said, seemingly convinced, and he took out a bamboo scroll from a drawer and began making a note of this… What a conscientious person.
“Ah, everyone, for saving me in a time of need, how should I repay you all~~” Kong Rong said with a hint of fake melancholy as he put down the bamboo scroll and raised his wine cup.
“That’s easy, just give me all of Beihai– Ouch!”
Before Gongsun Zan could finish her words, Zi Long physically interrupted her.
“Please eat my lord… Ah Lord Kong Rong, my lord means to form an alliance with you, against both Lord Yuan Shao and Lord Cao Cao.”
“Ah… That is doable…” Kong Rong smiled helplessly before clinking cups with everyone. He drank all his wine before turning to me. “You must be Liu Bei Liu Xuan De right~~~”
Heh~~~ I didn’t think that people knew me.
“You know me?”
“Aiya, just a while ago didn’t we embark on the Dong Zhuo campaign together~~~ I too was one of the 18 feudal lords there~~~”
“Oh, that time was really…”
No impression at all~~~
I left my sentence hanging and did not continue.
“But I was originally seeking aid from Gongsun Zan, so I don’t know why Lord Liu Bei came as well.”
“Ah? Ah, we ran into each other on the road, and I followed her.” Speaking of which, now was a good time to make my request, “Ah, umm… I have something to say but I don’t know if it is appropriate…”
“Just say it~” Kong Rong said as he waved his sleeve in a grand gesture.
“Actually I was hoping that you would let us stay here for a few days. We haven’t had a proper resting place in a while now.”
“Eh? Xuan De, you aren’t returning with me to You state?”
“My lord, Lord Xuan De has his considerations.”
I nodded toward Gongsun Zan who seemed a little sad. You state was really too far and I was abhorrent to making the trip. Moreover, I don’t recall Liu Bei ever going to You state. If I did go, it might be a bit strange.
(TL: You have Lu Bu under you among other things, and you don’t think that’s strange?)
“I don’t know if Lord Kong Rong is…” I turned to look at Kong Rong.
“Oh that’s nothing, stay, stay.” He laughed as he said so. “My Beihai is rather peaceful and nice.”
“Yes, I have heard tell of Lord Kong Rong’s stories.”
“Oh? And what have you heard.” Kong Rong asked enthusiastically, and seemed like he had found an opportunity to hear more praise of himself.
So you do want me to say it huh…
“Ah… I heard you gave away pears when you were young? Was there such a thing?”
(TL: Kong Rong giving away pears is one of those short stories you tell kids to teach them values, something like the story about Was.h.i.+ngton chopping down the cherry tree. The story goes that his father wanted to give his children pears and Kong Rong, being the most brilliant of all, got first pick. He picked the smallest one and his father asked him why. He said that he did not pick the largest as he is not the eldest and those ought to go to his older brothers and he picked the smallest so that his younger brothers could get a bigger pear.)