Vol 9 Chapter 33 (1/2)

VOLUME 9 CHAPTER 33: DON’T TELL ME THIS IS AN EMOTIONAL ENCOUNTER (10)

Liu Bei POV

“Oh~ Imperial Uncle still remembers huh?” Huang Zu said with a nostalgic smile that also seemed a little lonesome at the same time, “Ah… I haven’t touched liquor since then. Now that I’ve been drinking more of this sweet water, I’m beginning to crave something a little bitter.”

She clearly wants to drink liquor. And since there are no battles for her in the foreseeable future, she should not need to follow the rule she set for herself back then.

“Your wounds have yet to fully recover. If you drink now, they might open again.” Yuan Zhi voiced her disapproval.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Just then, Zi Long spoke up in support of Huang Zu, “It’s fine to drink a little. I’ll drink with her, in celebration of finding Xuan De and meeting you both.”

“Xuan De, what do you think?” She whispered softly at the end. I am not particularly attached to liquor but this time and day seems a good time to have some liquor.

“Un, sure.” And so I nodded, and looked up at Yuan Zhi, seeing that she had her head lowered and seemed troubled.

“That’s fine, if you don’t want to drink liquor, then you can drink your sweet water with us.” Zi Long seemed to understand Yuan Zhi’s hesitation and quickly said so.

“… Alright.” Yuan Zhi sank into silence for a moment before accepting and then looked at Huang Zu, “Huang Zu, just drink a bit.”

“Alright.” Huang Zu very quickly a.s.sented and nodded several times before pa.s.sing her gourd to the waiter.

“By the way, Yuan Zhi won’t drink at all?”

The liquor in this era is not very strong at all, and the mood in gatherings tend to lead to drinking at some point.

“No,” Yuan Zhi replied almost immediately and looked at me from the side as she continued, “Because it doesn’t taste good.”

I could never have guessed that it was such a childish reason. But now that I think about it, it really is convincing. When I turned to look at Huang Zu, I saw that she still had her head lowered and was fiddling with the carvings on the table. Looks like she is rather troubled after all.

Alright, I have to admit that I am going to be a busybody again.

“Lord Huang Zu, are you thinking about what will happen after you return?” I asked, because I felt that being this direct was the only way to make her open up.

The first few days when I met Huang Zu, I could feel that she seemed more pleasant and less gloomy than before, as though she was free from her chains before. But these last couple of days, she seemed extremely indifferent and distant– Though she does seem that way usually.

I do not know if her happy countenance from before was just an act or if her later gloom was because she felt troubled at the thought of returning to Xiangyang. Probably both, I guess.

“Un… I suppose so.” Huang Zu did not react to my question with hostility. Instead, she just gave a long sigh and sank into thought.

“You’re probably going to ask for forgiveness after you return right?” I asked, remembering what she said before.

“Yes, I will be asking for forgiveness.” Huang Zu repeated and raised her head to look up at the sky, her fringe parting as she did so.

Though I could not see her face clearly, she was definitely beautiful. Even if she was scarred.

“But I don’t know what I should do after that.”

“Eh?”

“I think that being executed would be a lot better. I’m

actually afraid if I succeed in getting a pardon.”

“Afraid?”

“Afraid that you will continue to lose battles in future and let your lord be more disappointed?” Just then, Zi Long cut in and explained.

“Un.” Huang Zu honestly nodded and did not say anything else.

“Victory is indeed important, but if there are victories, there will be losses. At times like those, it all depends on one’s state of mind.” I said to Huang Zu, feeling confident that these words made sense.

“Xuan De, what are you even saying?”

“Eh?”

Zi Long frowned and had a ‘don’t try and mislead others when you are nothing’ expression on as she continued, “If you can win, of course you must win. Even if you can’t win, you have to create a chance to win. Because if you lose, there is no way you can answer to your dead troops. The things you lose can never come back.”

“Ah…” I was completely shut down by Zi Long and realised that the remaining value system I had from my era was not really useful here and hurriedly lowered my head, “I’m sorry, I take back what I said before.”

As I hurriedly apologised, Zi Long sighed and looked at me with a slight gleam in her eyes, “Xuan De is really alike with Bo Gui on these things huh…”