Vol 2 Chapter 11 (1/2)

Volume 2 Chapter 11: Don’t tell me this is the end of Han Fu

“*Nom* *Nom* *Nom* *Nom* … Wu!”

“Have some water, and take it easy.” I said as I quickly pa.s.sed a cup of water to Han Fu.

“*Guru* *Guru*~~~~ Haa~~~” Han Fu exhaled as she downed the cup of water in one go.

“My lord, can you please be a bit more reserved?” Zhang He said with a frown from the side.

Han Fu hadn’t eaten for 2 days, though the same could be said for Zhang He, yet she showed a lot more control.

“I really didn’t think that Lord Liu Bei would be here too.” Zhang He got up as she said so and knelt on one knee, “No matter what, Lord Liu Bei and everyone else, we apologise for the trouble we have given everyone.”

“Ah ah, it’s nothing. Please get up.”

I hurriedly waved my hands when I saw what she did.

At this time, I was sitting in the courtyard in the middle of the night with my clothes draped on me with everyone else sitting or standing around.

Of course, some did not wake up.

“You both should be in Ji state. Why did you run here?” Feng Xian asked.

This question was necessary, though looking at the state these 2 were in, one could roughly guess it. As for me, I wouldn’t be able to ask it outright.

“…” Han Fu stopped eating and Zhang He sank into silence as well.

“Pan Feng… *s.h.i.+ku*… *Nom* *Nom* *Nom*” After stopping for a while, Han Fu only spat out these 2 words before she grabbed her bowl and continued eating.

Sadness filled Zhang He’s expression when she saw how her lord was.

“… I’ll explain everything.”

Zhang He sat up straight and took a deep breath before she said.

“I think everyone can more or less guess what happened. Yuan Shao recently invaded Ji state and now Ji state has completely fallen.”

“Yuan Shao… Huh?” Yun Chang said with a frown.

“…” Zhang He wordlessly nodded.

Just then, I saw that the Xu state 3 were deep in thought.

“What’s the matter?”

“The refugees from recently.” “Most of them were from Ji state.” “That is to say that by then–”

I think that should be the case as well.

“Yuan Shao’s original territories were rich and prosperous and could shoulder the heavy taxes she imposed. But though Ji state is not poor, it is not wealthy either. Now that Yuan Shao has successfully occupied Ji state, it is natural that she will impose heavy taxes that are beyond even those in her own territories on the people there.” Zhang He continued listlessly.

“Did you say that the city was taken? I remember that Ji state city’s walls are known for their resilience, how wa sit taken so quickly…” Zhang Liao asked.

“Umm… My lord was forced to give it up.” Zhang He lowered her head even more on hearing Zhang Liao’s question.

“Eh?”

None of us understood what Zhang He meant.

“Forced to give it up?”

“Un,” Zhang He said in a smaller and smaller voice, “Yuan Shao captured Pan Feng, and used him to force my lord to give up Ji state.”

“*Nom* *Nom* *Nom*… *s.h.i.+ku*… *Nom* *Nom*…”

n.o.body spoke on hearing this. All of us merely watched Han Fu as she ate. Though she seemed to be concentrating on her food, her sobs could be heard here and there.

“And she agreed?” Feng Xian asked in disbelief.

Zhang He nodded.

I understand where Feng Xian is coming from. For a lord to give up one’s territories entirely for the sake of a single general is something utterly inappropriate and unthinkable.

But in a different sense, only someone who can do that can be considered a good lord.

“In any case we have nowhere else we can go. Lord Liu Bei, please accept us on behalf of Lord Tao Qian.”

As she said so, Zhang He got up and made to kneel once more.

“Aiya, no need to stand on ceremony!”

I hurriedly pulled her up by her sleeve before she could kneel down and helped her up.

“Even if you hadn’t asked, I was planning on letting you stay anyway.” I said and looked at Han Fu, whose face was still buried in her bowl, and asked, “Pan Feng should be back by now right? Why haven’t I seen him?”

…

After I finished, I realised I had said the wrong thing yet again when I saw that the 2 looked even more sorrowful and stony-faced than before.

“… No, he’s not back yet.” Zhang He shook her head.

“Eh? Why?!”

Wasn’t there an agreement? She already gave Yuan Shao the city, so why hasn’t she released them?

“The agreement was for Pan Feng to be returned when the Yuan Shao Army entered the city, but…”

“But what?” I pressed.

“But after we handed over the city, Yuan Shao’s side went dark and wouldn’t give us an answer no matter what.” Zhang He gritted her teeth and shook her head as she continued, “And now we don’t have an army, and we can’t stay in Ji state city, so we had no choice but to leave.”

No word at all…

“Then doesn’t that mean that–”

He’s dead?

“Don’t worry, Pan Feng will be alright.” Han Fu seemed to understand what Yun Chang eas about to say and she put down her bowl before looking over with reddish eyes. “Because my Pan Feng is an amazing guy.”

Though Han Fu eked out a smile somehow, we all know that what she said was baseless and that the worst case scenario was also the likeliest.

Moreover, it was that scatter-brained Pan Feng we were talking about.

I gave a long sigh and got up as I came to this conclusion and hugged my covers tighter.

“In any case, go have some sleep first. We happen to have some spare rooms just around here so we’ll get people to bring some bedding and blankets for you.” I pointed at the available rooms to Zhang He. “You’re both probably really tired so catch some rest and we will continue discussing this tomorrow.”

Just then, Han Fu put down the bowl and got up.

“Thank you!” All of a sudden Han Fu bowed deeply and gave me a salute as she said in between sobs, “Even though we are only acquaintances, you actually…”

Her feelings overwhelmed her and she was unable to continue without bursting into tears.

“Don’t, don’t be like that.” I said as I rubbed Han Fu’s head, “Don’t worry, I’ll see what I can do with Pan Feng.”

“… Un!”

Han Fu forced a smile and nodded when she heard me, and left with Zhang He thereafter,

Everyone was still worried after what we heard but there was nothing that could be done now so we dispersed as well.

Before I went back to my room, I called out to the Xu state 3 and asked in whispers.

(Did you 3 hear anything? About the Yuan Shao Army.)

The reason why I asked them this was because the expression these 3 had faltered upon hearing that Pan Feng had been captured… No, Sun Qian’s expression did not wave.

“…” “…” “…”

All 3 looked in 3 different directions, none of which were where I was.

As expected, they do know something.

(Tell me what you know, don’t try and hide it!)

It was already so late now, stop playing.

The 3 looked at each other before nodding and whispered into my ear.

(… We heard that some prisoners were killed by the Yuan Shao Army.) (In the past few days, some of them hatched a plan to escape but were all captured and executed.) (We feel that Han Fu’s subordinate general is likely one of them.)

I agree with their hypothesis. Pan Feng was indeed the sort of guy who would follow through with a stupid high risk low return plan like that.

But… We can’t be sure of that yet!

He is quite timid so he might not think about escaping.

“Un, alright, you all go and have a rest too.”

This matter is best left for tomorrow.

The 3 saluted before leaving.

I looked at the room Han Fu was allocated to and saw that the lights had long since gone out.

If I think about it, Han Fu has been the Governor of Ji state for quite a while now. To have lost it so quickly, who knows how difficult she must be feeling now.

And on top of that, the uncertainty about the fate of Pan Feng.

I continued thinking about this for a while at the stone table and sighed. I s.h.i.+vered and found that it was getting chilly so I went back to my room shortly after.

However…