Chapter 303 Lu Zhi’s Scolding (1/2)
Chapter 303 – Lu Zhi's Scolding
May 17th, 185 A.D.
Liu Bei and his brother returned to Ji City, only to find a surprise change.
The city had been rejuvenated, and the soldiers had been re-outfitted. They armed with Tong's repeating crossbows and equipped with Julu's second handed iron armors.
From the first glance, they thought that this city had fallen to Tong, but the banners of Gongsun were still on top of the walls.
”What happened after we left the city!?”
Liu Bei was astonished by the change. This city used to be on the poverty side as merchants avoided this city and picked Nanpi as their primary trade hub.
At present, many merchant caravans came and went. Stalls and new shops opened around the main streets.
Everything in the city buzzed, and people were walking around, shopping or working.
While Liu Bei's mouth was agape, Guan Yu reminded him, ”Xuande, your mother's condition?”
Liu Bei snapped back to his sense, ”Right! I forgot!”
Liu Bei and everyone rushed to old Liu Bei's home.
.
On the location of Liu Bei's home, there was nothing but empty land. The shack where his mother and Liu Bei lived in was nowhere to be seen.
Liu Bei stood there, silence.
Jiang Man, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei stood behind their elder brother in solemn, waiting for Liu Bei to regain his calm.
They stood there for an entire hour, yet no one paid attention to them or came to talk to them. The people treated them as strangers.
Guan Yu and Zhang Fei began to frown. They looked around, trying to find their acquaintances in this city. Unfortunately, even another hour passed, they found no one.
”It is as if all civilians in this town have moved away.”
Liu Bei heard Guan Yu's remark. He looked around as well.
As a former local resident of this city, Liu Bei was confident that he could find one or two of his friends.
Betraying his expectation, Liu Bei could not find anyone.
”It is confirmed. All my acquaintances aren't here anymore. Excuse me, mister. Can you tell me what has happened here in recent years?”
Liu Bei waved his hands and asked around.
”You didn't know? This city had been raided by the Xiongnu many months ago! Most of the population was either killed or moved away.”
The other merchants inserted into the conversation, ”That's not entirely correct. The Xiongnu killed elders tried to enslave all of the population here. Fortunately, Lord Zhang Jiao sent reinforcements and drove the Xiongnu away, but most of the rescued people moved south to other cities since they don't want to get dragged into a war. Well, damaged houses are still around though 'cause the owners of those houses must have died during the incident.”
Liu Bei's face paled, ”Do you know what has happened to the old lady of that house?”
The merchants shook their head, ”No, sorry young lad. If that person is still alive, the guards here should have rebuilt the house.”
”Hey, dude. If you want to check if your friends or your relatives are still alive or not, go check with the city hall. They have recorded every name of the townspeople there, including the dead.”
Liu Bei widened his eyes and bowed. He left the merchants and rushed to the city hall, following by his entourage.
Upon reaching the city hall, Liu Bei requested to check his mother's name right away.
Three hours later, the workers found the name of Liu Bei's mother. She had passed away during the incident of the Xiongnu raid.
Liu Bei knelt and wailed in front of many people as he hugged the wooden token of his mother.
”I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY! I'M SO SORRY MOTHER!! I SHOULD NOT HAVE LEFT YOU!”
Every onlooker gazed at Liu Bei with sympathy. There were many relatives of the death coming here to find the bad news and collapse like him.
This kind of commotion was common during the early days when they were trying to restore the order. Seeing it again also pained their heart.
It took Liu Bei 30 minutes to stop crying. Guan Yu dragged the sorry state of his brother out of the way and took him to the nearest tavern.
Along the way, a group of guards approached them, ”Sir, are you perhaps Sir Liu Bei?”
Jiang Man stepped forward to deal with this for Liu Bei, ”Is there something wrong?”
”You have done nothing wrong, sir. Our governor has invited you to his courtyard. He asked me to tell you that he is your mentor, and he wants to see you once you return home.”
Liu Bei looked up, ”Mentor? Master Lu Zhi!?”
He wiped the traces of tears with his sleeves and patted the dirt on his knee, ”Let's go! Let's go!”