Vol 9 Chapter 1 (1/2)

VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 1: DON’T TELL ME THESE ARE THE VARIOUS REACTIONS (1)

Meng De POV

My lord… My lord…

Imperial Chancellor…

“My lord!”

“Ah, ah?!”

Several voices that called out to me jolted me awake. I got up and looked about and found that I was sitting on a chair and looking up at the ceiling. I tried to look down and found that my neck was exceptionally stiff.

Ah… It took me some effort but I managed to return my head to a more natural position and looked to the side where I saw several people standing there. They were all frowning and looking rather anxious and troubled as they looked at me.

“What’s the matter?” I asked as I looked at each of their faces, curious as to why they were like that. I looked at Cheng Yu and Xun Yu first. Their expressions were bland but it was still there. When they caught my gaze, they gave a long sigh.

I looked to the right next and saw Jia Xu who is quite the tall one. She always has a distressed look on her and usually wears clothing that resembles that of Taoist priests. Today is no exception. She looked at me quietly and nodded with her hands in her sleeves.

Further back were several more people who were looking over at me. They were the new recruits, Chen Qun, Mao Jie and Yang Xiu. They were currently huddled together and discussing something. They usually put on airs but they’re almost like completely different people now.

And since I spoke, n.o.body has answered me.

“As I asked before, what’s going on?”

I rubbed my eyes, and found that my eyes were rather dry, and s.h.i.+fted my body, only to find that my body was rather stiff. Every motion made my bones crick.

If I’m already like this when I’m so young, how bad will it be when I get old? I involuntarily shuddered from the prospect.

This feels like the most busy period 2 months ago. There were so many things to do with respect to internal and external affairs so I had to pull many all-nighters and put up with much hards.h.i.+p. After the ordeal, my body was stiff and ached all over, just like it is now.

Haa… Ahh… I gave a big yawn. But n.o.body still responded to my question which made me begin to feel irritated.

“Everyone, what is it that has made you all look so surprised? Will someone please say something?”

I was very perturbed and reached out instinctively for my tea cup and opened the lid only to find that the leaves had already disintegrated. There wasn’t much water inside and it had more or less become a tea stain.

Eh… When was this tea made? I put down the tea cup and had no choice but to swallow some saliva to whet my thirst for now.

“Aiya, umm… Meng De…” Just then, a figure came from behind the crowd. Xun Yu and Cheng Yu deftly parted to allow the person over.

Her expression was grave as well and she looked at me aggressively at first but her aggression quickly subsided. When I looked closely at her, I saw a black eyepatch which meant that it was Xiahou Yuan Rang.

“Yuan Rang, you came at the right time. Can you please explain to me what is going on? Why is everyone looking at me like that?” I asked as I pointed at everyone around. Unexpectedly, they turned away when I pointed at them.

“Meng De… Have you really forgotten?” Yuan Rang seemed at a loss for words as her only eye bulged while she said this.

I, however, had had enough. I raised my hand and slammed it on the handle of the chair, “As I was saying! Tell me what exactly is–”

“Lord Liu Bei has pa.s.sed away.”

“Going on…”

Before I could finish, Yuan Rang

interjected in a soft voice. She said something but because I was talking at the same time so I couldn’t quite hear what she said.

“… What… Did you say?” I asked again as I lowered my head. I don’t know why but I feel like I don’t like what she just said, “Yuan Rang, you better not–”

“Based on the reports from our spies, Lord Liu Bei has pa.s.sed away.” Yuan Rang, cutting across my weak attempt to silence her, and so I was able to hear loud and clear what she said.

Lord Liu Bei has pa.s.sed away.

Xuan De has pa.s.sed away.

I lowered my head and everything I’d forgotten came back to me now.

“When you heard this news, you didn’t say anything at first. After a while, all you said was ‘leave me alone for a bit’ before driving us out.” At the same time, Yuan Rang helped me piece together my lost memories by recounting what happened, “That, was what happened 3 days ago.”

“… Eh?” I raised my head in disbelief at what she said.