Vol 2 Chapter 16 (2/2)
Meng De sip her wine refinedly, without a ‘ha~~’ or ‘good’ after she swallowed.
Looks like she’s okay or maybe the alcohol isn’t too much. Let me try–
*s.h.i.+ku*~
“So strong!” *Ke* *Ke* *Ke*
I grabbed my throat with both arms and stuck my tongue out like a puppy.
“Un? Xuan De hasn’t drank the wine in Xuchang yet? The wine here is famous for its strength.” Meng De drank her wine nonchalantly as she looked at me.
Meng De’s drinking capacity is not just good, it’s seriously good. She probably trained it up from her long time in the Central Plains. As expected, hard liquor is a bit too much for me.
“Right,” Meng De spoke after her second cup of wine, “Xuan De, who do you think is able to prop upthe Han?”
All of a sudden, Meng De who was just drinking a moment ago threw out a curveball at me.
“Eh? Prop up the Han? Ah…”
‘Isn’t that you?’
Though I wanted to reply her with that, I should probably abide by social niceties and suggest someone else.
“Ah… What about Yuan Shao in the north? She has a high official rank, a strong army and rich lands. If she wants to prop up the Han, I’m sure she can do it.”
Of course, that is if she wants to.
“Ben Chu huh… Indeed, with her power, propping up the Han shouldn’t be an issue.” Meng De said as she took a bite of vegetables, “But I’ll eventually consume all the power she has so she doesn’t count.”
… You actually said such aggressive words in a direct manner. It’s almost as if she is waiting for me to say ‘It’s you Meng De.’
“Then the only one left is you, Meng De.” I submitted my answer script, without any inhibitions.
Honestly, there really isn’t much point to that question. Who else could there be besides Meng De?
“Un…” Meng De nodded slowly then shook her head and said, “No, there is one other person.”
“Ah? Who?” I said as I took more vegetables and stirred them in the cauldron, not really paying attention.
“That person,” Though it could be me thinking too much, but it really seemed like Meng De was looking at me with a look at admiration as she said so, “… Is you.”
Ah?
“I– Hot!!!!” I placed the vegetable in my mouth and got a shock from it being too hot and dropped the vegetable as well as the chopsticks.
I’d forgotten while talking with Meng De that I’m bad with hot food.
“Xiaoer, get me a new pair of chopsticks.” I hollered toward the inside of the stall as I picked up the chopsticks from the floor and turned to Meng De and said, “You think that the other person who can prop up the Han is me?”
Meng De nodded.
Maa, that is indeed true since I am Liu Bei after all, though I myself do not have such lofty ambitions.
“Un, since you said it, then I guess I’m good as well.”
“Oi, what kind of reply is that, you’re clearly patronising me.” Meng De said unhappily.
“No, I mean what I said.” I didn’t have any mood to argue and so I just gave a reply so she wouldn’t think that way.
“In that case, you’re my rival then.” Meng De probably has some hidden meaning behind those words.
But I can’t read them of course.
“…” After Meng De said that, I could only ask, “So?”
“So,” Meng De said, and walked right up to my side before continuing, “Why not come and work for me.”
Eh!?
She suddenly came up close and whispered in my ear, so I heard her loud and clear but at the same time I could feel my face getting red hot. as I got so nervous that the chopsticks I had just picked up fell to the ground once more.
Where did that invitation come from.
Though I hoped very much that Meng De was just joking, I could tell from her expression that she was dead serious.
“Wh, when did you…”
“I’ve wanted you as a subordinate for a while now.” Meng De smiled as she interrupted the fl.u.s.tered me. For some reason, the smile this time seemed especially captivating. “I have political reasons, and personal reasons, for doing so.”
“But, even if Meng De says that…”
“It’s nothing, no need to rush. Think it over think it over.” Meng De returned to her seat after she was finished and then resumed eating.
Though my chopsticks were moving, I wasn’t thinking about eating at all and was considering 2 matters.
One was the edict in the sleeve, another was what Meng De just told me.
As I continued to think, I could no longer taste anything I ate from the hotpot but still continued eating anyway to stave off hunger.
“How was it? Not only was this meal delicious, it’s also inexpensive.”
“Un, indeed.”
All things considered, being able to have a nice hotpot in the era of the Three Kingdoms is very wonderful indeed.
And it’s about time I made a decision about what Meng De said. This is, after all, my own path.
While I’m still in this era, as long as I have not returned to the future, I’m Liu Bei.
Un.
“Meng De.”
After we finished eating, I stopped Meng De just as she was about to leave.
“Un?”
“Though I feel bad about it, I won’t be joining you as your subordinate.” I said with all seriousness.
“Is that so. I thought so too.”
“Eh? You thought so too?”
“That’s right. I felt that you wouldn’t join me but I just asked anyway.” Meng De seemed to have known what my reply was and merely smiled without a shred of surprise or shock, “Perhaps some day we may meet on the battlefield as opposing sides.”
I smiled in response, as that was, after all, the fate that awaits Liu Bei and Cao Cao.
But for some reason, I hoped that such a hateful scene would never come to pa.s.s.
“Un,” Of course, I feel that Liu Bei and Cao Cao’s relations.h.i.+p is not limited to the battlefield. “Even if that comes to pa.s.s, we will still be friends.”
“Friends… Huh.” Meng De said discontentedly and then began uttering under her breath, “The very reason why I wanted you under my command was so that we wouldn’t stop at being just friends…”
“Eh?”
What did Meng De just say?
“Un… As expected I can’t be too hasty and rush things.”
“Don’t leave me hanging…”
Now I was getting nervous.
“No, it’s nothing.” Meng De shook her head, “In any case, just rest for now. If there’s anything, I’ll come and find you.”
“Un, I’ll go and collect my salary as Governor of Yu state sometime over the next few days.”
Though I don’t know yet how much I can collect.
After that, I parted ways with Meng De. Nothing big happened for the next few days, not even with the State Uncle and his faction.
But peace in a time of chaos is something that goes against logic and so this day, something happened.
Yuan Shu declared herself Emperor.
(TL: I’m using the term Emperor here for 2 reasons. First, Wu Zetian is also called Emperor for the period when she officially took the role. Second, in Mandarin, the term 皇帝 is actually gender neutral but since there has never been a female monarch except Wu Zetian, it has male connotations.)
(TL: This scene is actually a brilliant remake of the original. In the original, Liu Bei had started gardening to throw off Cao Cao’s suspicions after he joined Dong Cheng’s conspiracy. After a few days, Cao Cao invited him for wine and Liu Bei thought that Cao Cao suspected him. But Cao Cao only wanted to invite him for wine and the conversation they had was similar to the one here.)
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