Chapter 451 (1/2)

“Uncle Chen! You are back!” Aside from a few women, a group of people gathered around Chen Kang the moment Chen Kang came out. As Chen Kang had gone in for quite a while, the end results should be good. However, the others had also heard Kuai Liang’s angry shouts.

Chen Kang still had a lifeless expression. He had never seen Kuai Liang act this way before. He was so chocked he did not hear Kuai Ran’s question. On the other hand, his actions caused the others to think that Kuai Liang still refused to come out.

“Brother w.a.n.g. I suggest you go and take a rest for tonight and discuss things in the morning.” Kuai Ran said as he tried to console Liu Mang.

Liu Mang was disappointed. Did Kuai Liang have to be so stubborn? Keeping to his principles was a good thing but not during emergencies. Liu Mang did not even know how to describe this kind of stubbornness.

“Milord. Let us wait for tomorrow.” Jia Xu also patted Liu Mang’s shoulder. It was better for them to just take a rest now.

“Seems like this is our only option.” Liu Mang sighed.

“Wait!” Chen Kang regained his wits just as Liu Mang was about to leave.

“Uncle Chen. Is something wrong?”

“Sir. The Master said that he will meet you.” Chen Kang quickly shouted to Liu Mang’s group.

“Huh?” The sudden information made surprised Liu Mang. He looked pleasantly surprised and stopped walking. “Is Uncle Chen speaking the truth?”

“Yes!” Chen Kang replied as his hand was grabbed by a very excited Liu Mang.

“I am sorry, Uncle Chen!” Liu Mang quickly spoke.

Meanwhile, Kuai Ran was feeling baffled as he wondered what kind of relations.h.i.+p his uncle shared with Liu Mang especially when Kuai Liang would not even give face to his own nephew.

After a short moment, a middle aged man came out from inside the courtyard.

“Uncle!” Kuai Ran greeted and quickly cupped his fist. The person that appeared was his uncle Kuai Liang.

Kuai Ran stepped forward thinking that his uncle would reply his greeting. He also wanted to introduce ‘Brother w.a.n.g’ to his uncle and talk about how they became friends. After all, he and his uncle seldom saw each other after his uncle moved out. However, Kuai Ran soon found out that he was just an extra.

“Move aside.” Kuai Liang simply said as he pushed his nephew aside. The reason he did this was because Kuai Ran was blocking his way.

“Uncle!” Kuai Ran felt a bit discontented but that feeling immediately turned into shock.

“This Duke Kuai Liang of Jingzhou did not realize Your Highness is the one visiting this late at night. Please forgive me!” Kuai Liang lowered himself and cupped his fist at Liu Mang.

“Uncle?” Kuai Ran was confused. Kuai Liang only had a few people that were superior to himself such as Liu Biao, Cai Mao, and Kuai Yue. However, people like Cai Mao wouldn’t be able to move Kuai Liang while Kuai Yue would not be able to do so because of a difference in opinion between the two brothers. Kuai Liang and Kuai Yue were now cold to each other. Kuai Liang would definitely not bow respectfully to Kuai Yue. There were no others in Jingzhou with higher rank. Kuai Ran initially thought that w.a.n.g Shu was just his father’s old acquaintance which is why he was even more confused about this situation.

“Stupid boy! This is His Highness, the King of Shu!” Kuai Liang scolded as he slapped the top of Kuai Ran’s head.

“Huh?” Kuai Ran voiced out.1

“The King of Shu? Brother w.a.n.g? The King of Shu?” Kuai Ran looked at Liu Mang and then back to his uncle.

“Your Highness. This is Your Highness’s seal. Please keep it properly!” Kuai Liang returned the token. As the box carried by Chen Kang had broken2, the returned token was wrapped in a silk cloth.

The token was a seal. It was Liu Mang’s signature and proof of ident.i.ty. Looking at it was like looking at Liu Mang himself. Normally, it was already a huge crime to even hold it, not to mention drop it like Chen Kang. The large seal here was the genuine article.

“We greet Your Highness!” Chen Kang and the other servants quickly knelt down. Kuai Ran also needed to kneel even if he was the heir to the Kuai Family as he had no post.

“Brother Kuai. I am sorry for hiding this from you!” Liu Mang apologized as he helped Kuai Ran stand back up.

“w.a.n.g Shu! Shu w.a.n.g3! I should have known!” Kuai Ran laughed bitterly.

“Is there a reason Your Highness paid me a visit?” Kuai Liang asked. He heard about Kuai Ran and Liu Mang going to the brothel and that Liu Mang bought Kuai Ran a woman. Liu Mang would also not visit him so late unless there was something important.

“There are important things I need your help with! Is it possible for Mister Kuai Liang to spare some time?” Liu Mang asked happily. Meeting up with Kuai Liang was half the work done. After all, everyone in Jingzhou hated Liu Mang. This is because Liu Mang and Lu Bu captured their land and caused huge damage to their army. Liu Mang even recruited troops that initially fought for Jingzhou such as Gan Ning and his navy. All of this were like destroying people’s livelihood. On top of that, he even made the recruitment order.

Only Kuai Liang was friendly towards Liu Mang because Kuai Liang was friends with Yang Hong.

“Of course! I haven’t slept! We can discuss until morning!” Kuai Liang replied. His reply made Kuai Ran secretly hold a grudge. Initially, he would not come out even though his own nephew called for him. Now, he was willing to talk to Liu Mang throughout the night. The disparity was too big.

“That’s great. Let us talk in a quiet place!” Liu Mang said happily. The two of them then continued to exchange courtesy while Kuai Liang led Liu Mang to the study. Meanwhile, the others go to the rooms that were already prepared by Chen Kang.

When the two reached the study, they found that the room was bright. One servant had already gone ahead to light a candle and even prepared tea.

“Your Highness. Have some tea!” Kuai Liang said as he poured tea for Liu Mang. Liu Mang was also thirsty so he picked up the cup and drank the tea.

His movements were not hurried but he somehow agitated his wound, causing him to frown.

“What’s the matter?” Kuai Liang noticed Liu Mang’s pained expression and not long after that, also noticed the wound on Liu Mang’s arm.

“Who dared to injure His Highness? Is the law still being upheld in Xiangyang?” Kuai Liang shouted angrily after he saw Liu Mang’s injury. As he was the one in charge of Xiangyang and the guards, he would definitely be angry that Liu Mang got injured in Xiangyang.

“Don’t mind it.” Liu Mang waved his hand. He did not know how to explain the incident involving the barbarian to Kuai Liang. It is not like he could just say that he got injured saving Kuai Liang’s nephew. That would be like purposefully taking credit for things.

“This Xiangyang is in a mess. I should go out and put things in order!” Even though Liu Mang did not say anything, Kuai Liang still knew that Liu Mang got injured by a weapon in Xiangyang. Even if he had already been promoted, he was still in charge of the guards in Xiangyang. Liu Mang did not realize he had accidentally made Kuai Liang determined to put things in order. This would eventually cause a lot of suffering for the children of the n.o.bles.

“Mister Kuai Liang. I came here this time for the sake of the people in Yangzhou! I hope that you will be able to extend a helping hand to save the people!” Liu Mang said as he bowed towards Kuai Liang.

“Your Highness. You must not do such things.” Kuai Liang quickly hurried forward and supported Liu Mang. Liu Mang was the King of Shu while he was only the Duke of Xiangyang. The differences in their position was huge. As a stubborn person, he had high impression of Liu Mang and respected Liu Mang.

“The people in Yangzhou? Is this concerning the provisions?” Kuai Liang asked.

“Yes!”

Kuai Liang frowned the moment he heard this. In his opinion, they should sell the provisions to Liu Mang since Liu Mang was already here. His brother and Cai Mao wanted to use Liu Mang as a hostage to keep Lu Bu in check. It would be dishonest to not sell provisions to Liu Mang now.

To Kuai Liang, there was nothing wrong with selling Liu Mang provisions. They would be able to form an alliance and defeat Sun Ce, along with any other invaders from across the Yangtze River. Cao Cao was about to win. Once he did, the Central Plains and Yangtze would be next.

Lu Bu was strong and could become a s.h.i.+eld that helps Jingzhou fight Cao Cao. Jingzhou could simply sit at a side and provide Lu Bu with provisions while watching Lu Bu and Cao Cao kill each other.

If Lu Bu were to win, his army would be exhausted as it did not have a strong foundation. Jingzhou would easily be able to move North and take over. On the other hand, if Cao Cao were to win, he would be too weak to launch another invasion. This meant Jingzhou would have at least another fifty years of peace.

This was something beneficial for Jingzhou, yet n.o.body proposed it. It is definitely not because they lacking talented people. After all, Jingzhou was extremely populated.

Kuai Liang even understood what the n.o.bles were doing. All of them were simply waiting for opportunity4. Even Cai Mao and Kuai Yue had already sent envoys to Xudou, Cao Cao’s territory, to make connections. The same Cao Cao that was the reason for many of Liu Biao’s sleepless nights.

“A few days ago, Liu Biao promised to sell me three hundred thousand provisions. My army was prepared to transport the provisions and had already given advance payment. However, Liu Biao suddenly changed his mind and said that he had to prioritize the war at Jiangxia!” Liu Mang poured out his grievances to Kuai Liang. This was fraud.

“The situation at Jiangxia may be pressing but they do not need provisions!” Right now, the battle going on at Jiangxia was a battle of attrition. Both sides already had plenty of provisions, enough to last for two years. While the soldiers do need provisions, they do not need it urgently. This meant that someone is playing tricks.

“I will not hide this from Kuai Liang. I have already dispatched someone to investigate and have found out that this is because of that Blacky5 Pang!” Liu Mang spoke hatefully when he mentioned Pang Tong’s. He called Pang Tong with a nickname due to his intense hatred for the man.

“Blacky Pang?” Kuai Liang was stunned for a while and then smiled. “How fitting. Blacky Pang truly describes that youngster!”

Kuai Liang was very familiar with Pang Tong. A long time ago, Pang Degong had brought Pang Tong with him and encountered Kuai Liang. Pang Tong bragged that he would become an accomplished person with rank equal to theirs.

Now, Pang Tong had already proven himself. Pang Tong was accomplished and talented. Although Liu Bei was a weak leader, he was still the one governing Yuzhou. He was the Left General while Pang Tong was his military strategist. In Yuzhou, Pang Tong had higher rank than him.

“The provisions stopped after Pang Tong went to see Liu Biao.”

“This Pang Tong cannot be underestimated!” Kuai Liang said as he helped Liu Mang a.n.a.lyze Pang Tong. Pang Tong was Pang Degong’s nephew and had the support of the Lumen Academy. Right now, Pang Tong was helping Liu Bei who was Yangzhou’s mortal enemy. Liu Bei was also the first one to send troops against Yangzhou