“You broke the blockade? So quickly?!” We followed Taishi Ci to Kong Rong’s official residence and she made for us to wait outside before she went in first to report. Thereafter, we heard this loud male voice resounding from the building.
Just going from the voice, this Kong Rong should be a man. Though when I realised this, I felt like it was going against logic for some reason.
There were further discussions going on inside, and after a while, Taishi Ci slowly walked out and spoke to us, “Apologies for making you all wait. You may come in now, please follow me.”
Taishi Ci guided us in once she finished.
“Really, even though he’s the one who has been desperately seeking help, now that he’s had our help, he still has the gall to make us wait outside like that.”
“Yi De, don’t say that.” I said as I rubbed her head, “No matter what, he is still an Administrator and must still keep up appearances.”
“I wonder what kind of person Administrator Kong Rong is.” Yun Chang said as she thought. “If possible, I would hope for him to allow us to stay here for a bit, as we have nowhere to go after all.”
“… Un, I will bring this up with him later.”
“Xuan De, you still haven’t found a place to rest yet?” Gongsun Zan said with surprise. “Then why were you so unwilling to come with me to You state huh~~~”
“It’s too far.” I said with a helpless smile.
Just looking at the result, even if we went to You state, we would still be here with you. And if we went with you to You state, though we would have a destination, the journey would become even longer.
We continued walking inside the building, and after 2 doors, we finally arrived at the main hall of the official residence.
“This is it, Lord Kong Rong is awaiting inside.” Taishi Ci said before entering the main hall.
Un? Why is there such a nice smell…
“Oh~~~” Just then we saw a man with a small beard run up to us. “To my saviours, Kong Rong has been rude in his reception. Please, come right in.”
Seeing his clothing, and his manner of speech which was polite and formal, I could tell that he is an experienced official.
Unlike us who were wearing casual and rough clothing, he was wearing the proper official uniform. And though he kept a small beard, and had a big round belly, he still had a thick cultured aura about him. If he were 10 years younger, he would definitely be a celebrated student.
Now he should be a famous scholar. The young Kong Rong was after all, an exemplar student for children.
“Ah, it’s nothing it’s nothing. For Lord Kong Rong to judge that I, Gongsun Zan, am worth enough, how could I refuse? And so I rushed here as soon as I heard the news.”
Gongsun Zan also replied in the same manner, though it seemed a bit funny hearing it from her.
“Hahaha, I’m not such an impressive person.” Kong Rong laughed as he stroked his beard… Seems like this person gets disgusting when he’s praised.
“Please follow me. We can speak when we’re inside. I have already prepared the food and drink.”
Kong Rong then guided us in as he finished laughing.
Ah~ No wonder there’s such a nice smell, because the reception banquet is already set up. Though if he had the time for all this, why didn’t he come out to receive us? That would have been a better show of sincerity.
Though I must say I am surprised at Gongsun Zan. Even though she is usually so silly and carefree, she must be quite experienced and adept in dealing with officials and feudal lords and the like seeing how she responded so well to Kong Rong–
(Zi Long, how was that? I remembered the words you told me to say perfectly, though I don’t know what they mean.)
(My lord, please don’t brag about this. This should be something you come up with on your own. If you had screwed up, we know what awaits you when we go back.)
(Wu…)
…
I was still praising her in my heart, but upon hearing their whispering, I felt that changing my opinion of Gongsun Zan was foolish thinking.
“Wa~~~” Just as I was thinking about this, Yi De who was beside me let out a sigh of amazement. “This table of food is simply too magnificent!”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing much, nothing much.” Kong Rong laughed again, “Come come come, eat.”
And as he said so, he went ahead to sit at the head of the table while we went to sit at the sides.
The table was very large, and could easily seat all 10 of us with much room to spare. Yi De’s description of the food was no exaggeration, and though I could not identify the dishes, I could tell they were good just by looking.
Ever since I came to this era, I’ve never eaten well. Just having fish and meat was already considered a luxury.
Well then, time to dig in.
Let’s try this first… Un, delicious indeed.
I looked around at everyone as I ate, and saw that everyone was delightfully partaking in the delicious meal.
“Speaking of which, how did you all defeat that army?” Kong Rong began the conversation afresh as he ate, “I was late in awaking today and I heard that they were going to attack you while I was eating breakfast but by the time I finished, I found that you had already entered the city…”
“Big sister, you must try this, it feels different from the meat we usually eat.”
“That’s not meat, it’s tofu…”
“My lord, carrying the Red Hare while you eat is a bit rude… Ah! It touched me! I’m going to die!”
“Red Hare is very cute, so no problem.”
*Wang*!
“Eh~~~ There are carrots! I hate carrots!”
“My lord, will you eat some vegetables? Don’t just eat rice.”
“Zi Long, you really are rude. If you’re a northerner you got to eat rice!”
“Umm, will you all please listen to me? Don’t just focus on eating, alright?!” Kong Rong gave an awkward smile as he saw that no one paid him any heed.
“Ah, my, my lord, our saviours were truly heroic.” Taishi Ci hurriedly replied upon seeing her lord being ignored. “I was planning on dispersing the army to form a circular formation to meet the enemy’s charge but before I could say anything, they all charged into the enemy. I thought we would be utterly defeated but who knew that they successfully penetrated enemy lines and scattered them.”
“Oh~~~ But weren’t you all severely outnumbered?”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing~~” Yi De said as she age, “Fighting spirit can overcome the problem of numbers.”
(TL: The original fiction version was pretty much the same, except Taishi Ci had set out to find Liu Bei rather than Gongsun Zan. Again, those who surrounded Beihai were just Yellow Turban remnants, so the numbers issue isn’t as big.)
“Is that so? That’s the first time I heard of this.” Kong Rong said, seemingly convinced, and he took out a bamboo scroll from a drawer and began making a note of this… What a conscientious person.
“Ah, everyone, for saving me in a time of need, how should I repay you all~~” Kong Rong said with a hint of fake melancholy as he put down the bamboo scroll and raised his wine cup.
“That’s easy, just give me all of Beihai– Ouch!”
Before Gongsun Zan could finish her words, Zi Long physically interrupted her.
“Please eat my lord… Ah Lord Kong Rong, my lord means to form an alliance with you, against both Lord Yuan Shao and Lord Cao Cao.”
“Ah… That is doable…” Kong Rong smiled helplessly before clinking cups with everyone. He drank all his wine before turning to me. “You must be Liu Bei Liu Xuan De right~~~”
Heh~~~ I didn’t think that people knew me.
“You know me?”
“Aiya, just a while ago didn’t we embark on the Dong Zhuo campaign together~~~ I too was one of the 18 feudal lords there~~~”
“Oh, that time was really…”
No impression at all~~~
I left my sentence hanging and did not continue.
“But I was originally seeking aid from Gongsun Zan, so I don’t know why Lord Liu Bei came as well.”
“Ah? Ah, we ran into each other on the road, and I followed her.” Speaking of which, now was a good time to make my request, “Ah, umm… I have something to say but I don’t know if it is appropriate…”
“Just say it~” Kong Rong said as he waved his sleeve in a grand gesture.
“Actually I was hoping that you would let us stay here for a few days. We haven’t had a proper resting place in a while now.”
“Eh? Xuan De, you aren’t returning with me to You state?”
“My lord, Lord Xuan De has his considerations.”
I nodded toward Gongsun Zan who seemed a little sad. You state was really too far and I was abhorrent to making the trip. Moreover, I don’t recall Liu Bei ever going to You state. If I did go, it might be a bit strange.
(TL: You have Lu Bu under you among other things, and you don’t think that’s strange?)
“I don’t know if Lord Kong Rong is…” I turned to look at Kong Rong.
“Oh that’s nothing, stay, stay.” He laughed as he said so. “My Beihai is rather peaceful and nice.”
“Yes, I have heard tell of Lord Kong Rong’s stories.”
“Oh? And what have you heard.” Kong Rong asked enthusiastically, and seemed like he had found an opportunity to hear more praise of himself.
So you do want me to say it huh…
“Ah… I heard you gave away pears when you were young? Was there such a thing?”
(TL: Kong Rong giving away pears is one of those short stories you tell kids to teach them values, something like the story about Washington chopping down the cherry tree. The story goes that his father wanted to give his children pears and Kong Rong, being the most brilliant of all, got first pick. He picked the smallest one and his father asked him why. He said that he did not pick the largest as he is not the eldest and those ought to go to his older brothers and he picked the smallest so that his younger brothers could get a bigger pear.)
“Wu!” As I said so, I could see Kong Rong’s colour drain from his face and he only replied after a while as he chuckled, “Is, is that do… Though I don’t know where you heard that from, but you actually know of such a tasteless matter…”
“Eh?”
I could feel something wrong from the air.
“Aiya…” Taishi Ci had ‘it’s over’ written all over her face.
What’s wrong? Could it be I pushed a button that I shouldn’t have? But wouldn’t one think of him giving away his pears when one spoke of Kong Rong?
“Lord Liu Bei, though I’ve given you due respect, it seems you take me for nothing… And you actually dragged out something from the past to make fun of me…” Kong Rong stood up and took 2 steps.
“Make… Make fun of?”
Why were these words being used to describe what I said…
“Stop the act!”
“Eh?!!! I really don’t know what you’re talking about…”
I waved my hands in front of me but Kong Rong continued to point at me.
“You must be laughing at me deep down now! Because I gave pears with worms to my elders!”
“Ah? No no no, I’m not…”
“Uwaa!!!”
Before I could finish, I was met with a disgusting sight of Kong Rong running away into the building in tears.
… To think there was such a underside to that tale… If I’d know that it would be like this, I would have said something like him being the descendent of Confucius or something.”
(TL: I’m sure everyone knows who Confucius is right? Kong Rong is the 20th generation descendent of Confucius, or Kong Zi.)
“Lord Kong Rong! Ah, please don’t mind this. The incident of ‘giving away pears’ is the one flaw to Lord Kong Rong’s perfect self-image. Everyone in Beihai commandery knows this, and it will be okay after some time.”
Taishi Ci said as she smiled helplessly, in an effort to ameliorate the awkward atmosphere.
“Umm, should we go and placate him?” I felt guilty as I had not expected that things would be like this.
“Ah, it’s fine.” Taishi Ci waved her hand, and picked up her chopsticks again. “Let, let us continue eating.”
Though we still more or less felt awkward, we still picked up our chopsticks and resumed eating.
Kong Rong never returned to the table.
“Hai~~~~” I went up to the roof alone to get some fresh air after I finished eating and sighed when I thought of what I said earlier. “Looks like the matter of staying here is over.”
Must I really go with Gongsun Zan to You state? I have no choice though, Gongsun Zan is the only one willing to take me in now.
“Lord Liu Bei? Why are you here?”
I looked over to the one who called me.
“Ah, Taishi Ci, I’m just taking in some fresh air. Speaking of which, don’t you have to go and placate your lord?” I asked.
“Un? Lord Kong Rong is not my lord. I’m just here to lend a hand.”
“Eh?”
This was surprising…
“My mother received many favours from Kong Rong as a farmer, and when she saw the blockade, she implored me to help him… Maa, I do have some small fame in Beihai after all.” She said as she moved the twin short spears behind her.
(TL: This account is the same as the original fiction.)
“And so you just helped him out as a retainer.”
I said to finish her words, but Taishi Ci didn’t seem to like what I said as she frowned at my words.
“Un~~ How do I put it? Lord Kong Rong is a good Administrator but he isn’t the one I want to serve.”
“Why is that? Do you not see something to fight for in him?”
“Ah, I don’t really understand such difficult concepts. To be honest, I don’t even know what I want to fight for.” Taishi Ci said with irritation, “I just feel that serving under Lord Kong Rong feels very empty, as though I’m not living to my fullest… Ah, no, I’m sorry, I seem to have spoken out of turn!”
Taishi Ci seemed slightly withdrawn as she realised what she said.
“No, I think that way of thinking is correct.”
“Is, is that so, hahaha…” Taishi Ci said as she scratched her head.
I can more or less understand where Taishi Ci is coming from. Though Kong Rong is more than capable enough of bringing peace, stability and prosperity to Beihai commandery, he is a model official who keeps to his position without acting out of turn, which makes it difficult for him to assume greater responsibilities that extend to the whole nation. It can be said that while he is a capable person, he is not ambitious while someone like Gongsun Zan was ambitious but lacked the capabilities. What Taishi Ci was seeking for, was someone with both ambition and capability.
“… I think you can go to Jiangdong, you may find the one you seek there.”
“Jiangdong… Is it?” Taishi Ci leaned her head to the side in a very cute gesture. “If you’re talking about Jiangdong, then that means Liu Yao and Sun Jian right.”
“Un, when the time comes, it will be up to you.”
I replied as I shrugged. I had thought of asking her to join me but I felt like I might not be the one she was looking for and did not mention this.
She was Taishi Ci after all.
“Excuse me, is Lord Liu Bei here?”
I turned when I heard someone call me… It’s a signaller.
“… Ah, yes, I’m here.”
“Lord Kong Rong wishes to see you.”
He wants to see me? Could it be that he has calmed down?
“Go on Lord Liu Bei.” Taishi Ci smiled as she spoke to me. “As for what you told me, I’ll consider it.”
“I won’t pursue the matter of ‘giving away pears’. It seems you don’t know what it means either.” Kong Rong said as he sat on the main seat and wrote with a brush. “As for my acting up, please forget what you saw.”
“Ah, it’s the best if you understand.”
Looks like he has calmed down, I was still afraid of what might happen…
“But you will not be staying here.”
“Un…”
As expected, he still bears a grudge.
“What is with that look of yours, I do not mean to drive you away.” Kong Rong smiled as he looked at me. “I mean to have you and your troops camp at Qi commandery since Beihai city has nowhere you can camp at and I can’t possibly let you camp outside the city.”
“Ah, so that’s what you mean…”
“Un, that’s how it is. You can start packing up and getting ready.” He seemed to have finished writing and set down his brush before speaking in a low voice. “Honestly, I think you are a rare talent and a true hero, and I respect you for that. But it is because of that, I can only let you stay here for a short while. If you keep staying on here, then my place as an Administrator will be a bit tenuous… I hope you understand where I’m coming from.”
Kong Rong did not continue after that. Up till now, I still can’t tell if Kong Rong is antagonistic or otherwise.
But this is probably how it is as an official in the Imperial Court.
“… I understand, and thank you for the short time we will be in your care, Lord Kong Rong.”
No matter what it is, it’s good as long as we are talking terms.
I deepely bowed, before making my way out.
As I walked out of the building, I looked up to the sky. It was terribly hot, and sweat streamed down profusely from my head. When I thought about the days to come, I could not see what might come and felt like we could only follow where fate would take us.
Thereafter, we took the whole afternoon to pack up and re-supply before we headed off to Qi commandery.
“Lord Gongsun Zan seems to have gone back this time, but you were with Kong Rong then so you missed her when she left.” Zhang Liao said. “When she left, Lord Gongsun Zan told us to tell you to ‘come over to You state to play sometime okay~~~’ or something like that.”
“Is that so.” I laughed as I replied, and felt very amused at Zhang Liao’s imitation of Gongsun Zan’s mannerisms.
But Gongsun Zan is as optimistic and happy-go-lucky as always huh. I wonder when we will meet again.
“That Lord Kong Rong, though he acts like a benevolent person, he is actually quite petty huh.”
“Little sister, you shouldn’t say that. Letting big brother and us go to Qi commandery is already fairly good.”
“Qi commandery is not too far, and we should be there soon.” Feng Xian said as she held the map in one hand and Red Hare in the other. “We should be able to get there before nightfall if we keep at this pace.”
*Wang*!
“I hope we get there soon, I might fall asleep if not~~~” Hua Tuo said as she stifled a yawn.
Looking at everyone, I gave a helpless smile. In my heart, I made my resolve to acquire a proper base for us soon.
“You broke the blockade? So quickly?!” We followed Taishi Ci to Kong Rong’s official residence and she made for us to wait outside before she went in first to report. Thereafter, we heard this loud male voice resounding from the building.
Just going from the voice, this Kong Rong should be a man. Though when I realised this, I felt like it was going against logic for some reason.
There were further discussions going on inside, and after a while, Taishi Ci slowly walked out and spoke to us, “Apologies for making you all wait. You may come in now, please follow me.”
Taishi Ci guided us in once she finished.
“Really, even though he’s the one who has been desperately seeking help, now that he’s had our help, he still has the gall to make us wait outside like that.”
“Yi De, don’t say that.” I said as I rubbed her head, “No matter what, he is still an Administrator and must still keep up appearances.”
“I wonder what kind of person Administrator Kong Rong is.” Yun Chang said as she thought. “If possible, I would hope for him to allow us to stay here for a bit, as we have nowhere to go after all.”
“… Un, I will bring this up with him later.”
“Xuan De, you still haven’t found a place to rest yet?” Gongsun Zan said with surprise. “Then why were you so unwilling to come with me to You state huh~~~”
“It’s too far.” I said with a helpless smile.
Just looking at the result, even if we went to You state, we would still be here with you. And if we went with you to You state, though we would have a destination, the journey would become even longer.
We continued walking inside the building, and after 2 doors, we finally arrived at the main hall of the official residence.
“This is it, Lord Kong Rong is awaiting inside.” Taishi Ci said before entering the main hall.
Un? Why is there such a nice smell…
“Oh~~~” Just then we saw a man with a small beard run up to us. “To my saviours, Kong Rong has been rude in his reception. Please, come right in.”
Seeing his clothing, and his manner of speech which was polite and formal, I could tell that he is an experienced official.
Unlike us who were wearing casual and rough clothing, he was wearing the proper official uniform. And though he kept a small beard, and had a big round belly, he still had a thick cultured aura about him. If he were 10 years younger, he would definitely be a celebrated student.
Now he should be a famous scholar. The young Kong Rong was after all, an exemplar student for children.
“Ah, it’s nothing it’s nothing. For Lord Kong Rong to judge that I, Gongsun Zan, am worth enough, how could I refuse? And so I rushed here as soon as I heard the news.”
Gongsun Zan also replied in the same manner, though it seemed a bit funny hearing it from her.
“Hahaha, I’m not such an impressive person.” Kong Rong laughed as he stroked his beard… Seems like this person gets disgusting when he’s praised.
“Please follow me. We can speak when we’re inside. I have already prepared the food and drink.”
Kong Rong then guided us in as he finished laughing.
Ah~ No wonder there’s such a nice smell, because the reception banquet is already set up. Though if he had the time for all this, why didn’t he come out to receive us? That would have been a better show of sincerity.
Though I must say I am surprised at Gongsun Zan. Even though she is usually so silly and carefree, she must be quite experienced and adept in dealing with officials and feudal lords and the like seeing how she responded so well to Kong Rong–
(Zi Long, how was that? I remembered the words you told me to say perfectly, though I don’t know what they mean.)
(My lord, please don’t brag about this. This should be something you come up with on your own. If you had screwed up, we know what awaits you when we go back.)
(Wu…)
…
I was still praising her in my heart, but upon hearing their whispering, I felt that changing my opinion of Gongsun Zan was foolish thinking.
“Wa~~~” Just as I was thinking about this, Yi De who was beside me let out a sigh of amazement. “This table of food is simply too magnificent!”
“Hahaha, it’s nothing much, nothing much.” Kong Rong laughed again, “Come come come, eat.”
And as he said so, he went ahead to sit at the head of the table while we went to sit at the sides.
The table was very large, and could easily seat all 10 of us with much room to spare. Yi De’s description of the food was no exaggeration, and though I could not identify the dishes, I could tell they were good just by looking.
Ever since I came to this era, I’ve never eaten well. Just having fish and meat was already considered a luxury.
Well then, time to dig in.
Let’s try this first… Un, delicious indeed.
I looked around at everyone as I ate, and saw that everyone was delightfully partaking in the delicious meal.
“Speaking of which, how did you all defeat that army?” Kong Rong began the conversation afresh as he ate, “I was late in awaking today and I heard that they were going to attack you while I was eating breakfast but by the time I finished, I found that you had already entered the city…”
“Big sister, you must try this, it feels different from the meat we usually eat.”
“That’s not meat, it’s tofu…”
“My lord, carrying the Red Hare while you eat is a bit rude… Ah! It touched me! I’m going to die!”
“Red Hare is very cute, so no problem.”
*Wang*!
“Eh~~~ There are carrots! I hate carrots!”
“My lord, will you eat some vegetables? Don’t just eat rice.”
“Zi Long, you really are rude. If you’re a northerner you got to eat rice!”
“Umm, will you all please listen to me? Don’t just focus on eating, alright?!” Kong Rong gave an awkward smile as he saw that no one paid him any heed.
“Ah, my, my lord, our saviours were truly heroic.” Taishi Ci hurriedly replied upon seeing her lord being ignored. “I was planning on dispersing the army to form a circular formation to meet the enemy’s charge but before I could say anything, they all charged into the enemy. I thought we would be utterly defeated but who knew that they successfully penetrated enemy lines and scattered them.”
“Oh~~~ But weren’t you all severely outnumbered?”
“It’s nothing, it’s nothing~~” Yi De said as she age, “Fighting spirit can overcome the problem of numbers.”
(TL: The original fiction version was pretty much the same, except Taishi Ci had set out to find Liu Bei rather than Gongsun Zan. Again, those who surrounded Beihai were just Yellow Turban remnants, so the numbers issue isn’t as big.)
“Is that so? That’s the first time I heard of this.” Kong Rong said, seemingly convinced, and he took out a bamboo scroll from a drawer and began making a note of this… What a conscientious person.
“Ah, everyone, for saving me in a time of need, how should I repay you all~~” Kong Rong said with a hint of fake melancholy as he put down the bamboo scroll and raised his wine cup.
“That’s easy, just give me all of Beihai– Ouch!”
Before Gongsun Zan could finish her words, Zi Long physically interrupted her.
“Please eat my lord… Ah Lord Kong Rong, my lord means to form an alliance with you, against both Lord Yuan Shao and Lord Cao Cao.”
“Ah… That is doable…” Kong Rong smiled helplessly before clinking cups with everyone. He drank all his wine before turning to me. “You must be Liu Bei Liu Xuan De right~~~”
Heh~~~ I didn’t think that people knew me.
“You know me?”
“Aiya, just a while ago didn’t we embark on the Dong Zhuo campaign together~~~ I too was one of the 18 feudal lords there~~~”
“Oh, that time was really…”
No impression at all~~~
I left my sentence hanging and did not continue.
“But I was originally seeking aid from Gongsun Zan, so I don’t know why Lord Liu Bei came as well.”
“Ah? Ah, we ran into each other on the road, and I followed her.” Speaking of which, now was a good time to make my request, “Ah, umm… I have something to say but I don’t know if it is appropriate…”
“Just say it~” Kong Rong said as he waved his sleeve in a grand gesture.
“Actually I was hoping that you would let us stay here for a few days. We haven’t had a proper resting place in a while now.”
“Eh? Xuan De, you aren’t returning with me to You state?”
“My lord, Lord Xuan De has his considerations.”
I nodded toward Gongsun Zan who seemed a little sad. You state was really too far and I was abhorrent to making the trip. Moreover, I don’t recall Liu Bei ever going to You state. If I did go, it might be a bit strange.
(TL: You have Lu Bu under you among other things, and you don’t think that’s strange?)
“I don’t know if Lord Kong Rong is…” I turned to look at Kong Rong.
“Oh that’s nothing, stay, stay.” He laughed as he said so. “My Beihai is rather peaceful and nice.”
“Yes, I have heard tell of Lord Kong Rong’s stories.”
“Oh? And what have you heard.” Kong Rong asked enthusiastically, and seemed like he had found an opportunity to hear more praise of himself.
So you do want me to say it huh…
“Ah… I heard you gave away pears when you were young? Was there such a thing?”
(TL: Kong Rong giving away pears is one of those short stories you tell kids to teach them values, something like the story about Washington chopping down the cherry tree. The story goes that his father wanted to give his children pears and Kong Rong, being the most brilliant of all, got first pick. He picked the smallest one and his father asked him why. He said that he did not pick the largest as he is not the eldest and those ought to go to his older brothers and he picked the smallest so that his younger brothers could get a bigger pear.)
“Wu!” As I said so, I could see Kong Rong’s colour drain from his face and he only replied after a while as he chuckled, “Is, is that do… Though I don’t know where you heard that from, but you actually know of such a tasteless matter…”
“Eh?”
I could feel something wrong from the air.
“Aiya…” Taishi Ci had ‘it’s over’ written all over her face.
What’s wrong? Could it be I pushed a button that I shouldn’t have? But wouldn’t one think of him giving away his pears when one spoke of Kong Rong?
“Lord Liu Bei, though I’ve given you due respect, it seems you take me for nothing… And you actually dragged out something from the past to make fun of me…” Kong Rong stood up and took 2 steps.
“Make… Make fun of?”
Why were these words being used to describe what I said…
“Stop the act!”
“Eh?!!! I really don’t know what you’re talking about…”
I waved my hands in front of me but Kong Rong continued to point at me.
“You must be laughing at me deep down now! Because I gave pears with worms to my elders!”
“Ah? No no no, I’m not…”
“Uwaa!!!”
Before I could finish, I was met with a disgusting sight of Kong Rong running away into the building in tears.
… To think there was such a underside to that tale… If I’d know that it would be like this, I would have said something like him being the descendent of Confucius or something.”
(TL: I’m sure everyone knows who Confucius is right? Kong Rong is the 20th generation descendent of Confucius, or Kong Zi.)
“Lord Kong Rong! Ah, please don’t mind this. The incident of ‘giving away pears’ is the one flaw to Lord Kong Rong’s perfect self-image. Everyone in Beihai commandery knows this, and it will be okay after some time.”
Taishi Ci said as she smiled helplessly, in an effort to ameliorate the awkward atmosphere.
“Umm, should we go and placate him?” I felt guilty as I had not expected that things would be like this.
“Ah, it’s fine.” Taishi Ci waved her hand, and picked up her chopsticks again. “Let, let us continue eating.”
Though we still more or less felt awkward, we still picked up our chopsticks and resumed eating.
Kong Rong never returned to the table.
“Hai~~~~” I went up to the roof alone to get some fresh air after I finished eating and sighed when I thought of what I said earlier. “Looks like the matter of staying here is over.”
Must I really go with Gongsun Zan to You state? I have no choice though, Gongsun Zan is the only one willing to take me in now.
“Lord Liu Bei? Why are you here?”
I looked over to the one who called me.
“Ah, Taishi Ci, I’m just taking in some fresh air. Speaking of which, don’t you have to go and placate your lord?” I asked.
“Un? Lord Kong Rong is not my lord. I’m just here to lend a hand.”
“Eh?”
This was surprising…
“My mother received many favours from Kong Rong as a farmer, and when she saw the blockade, she implored me to help him… Maa, I do have some small fame in Beihai after all.” She said as she moved the twin short spears behind her.
(TL: This account is the same as the original fiction.)
“And so you just helped him out as a retainer.”
I said to finish her words, but Taishi Ci didn’t seem to like what I said as she frowned at my words.
“Un~~ How do I put it? Lord Kong Rong is a good Administrator but he isn’t the one I want to serve.”
“Why is that? Do you not see something to fight for in him?”
“Ah, I don’t really understand such difficult concepts. To be honest, I don’t even know what I want to fight for.” Taishi Ci said with irritation, “I just feel that serving under Lord Kong Rong feels very empty, as though I’m not living to my fullest… Ah, no, I’m sorry, I seem to have spoken out of turn!”
Taishi Ci seemed slightly withdrawn as she realised what she said.
“No, I think that way of thinking is correct.”
“Is, is that so, hahaha…” Taishi Ci said as she scratched her head.
I can more or less understand where Taishi Ci is coming from. Though Kong Rong is more than capable enough of bringing peace, stability and prosperity to Beihai commandery, he is a model official who keeps to his position without acting out of turn, which makes it difficult for him to assume greater responsibilities that extend to the whole nation. It can be said that while he is a capable person, he is not ambitious while someone like Gongsun Zan was ambitious but lacked the capabilities. What Taishi Ci was seeking for, was someone with both ambition and capability.
“… I think you can go to Jiangdong, you may find the one you seek there.”
“Jiangdong… Is it?” Taishi Ci leaned her head to the side in a very cute gesture. “If you’re talking about Jiangdong, then that means Liu Yao and Sun Jian right.”
“Un, when the time comes, it will be up to you.”
I replied as I shrugged. I had thought of asking her to join me but I felt like I might not be the one she was looking for and did not mention this.
She was Taishi Ci after all.
“Excuse me, is Lord Liu Bei here?”
I turned when I heard someone call me… It’s a signaller.
“… Ah, yes, I’m here.”
“Lord Kong Rong wishes to see you.”
He wants to see me? Could it be that he has calmed down?
“Go on Lord Liu Bei.” Taishi Ci smiled as she spoke to me. “As for what you told me, I’ll consider it.”
“I won’t pursue the matter of ‘giving away pears’. It seems you don’t know what it means either.” Kong Rong said as he sat on the main seat and wrote with a brush. “As for my acting up, please forget what you saw.”
“Ah, it’s the best if you understand.”
Looks like he has calmed down, I was still afraid of what might happen…
“But you will not be staying here.”
“Un…”
As expected, he still bears a grudge.
“What is with that look of yours, I do not mean to drive you away.” Kong Rong smiled as he looked at me. “I mean to have you and your troops camp at Qi commandery since Beihai city has nowhere you can camp at and I can’t possibly let you camp outside the city.”
“Ah, so that’s what you mean…”
“Un, that’s how it is. You can start packing up and getting ready.” He seemed to have finished writing and set down his brush before speaking in a low voice. “Honestly, I think you are a rare talent and a true hero, and I respect you for that. But it is because of that, I can only let you stay here for a short while. If you keep staying on here, then my place as an Administrator will be a bit tenuous… I hope you understand where I’m coming from.”
Kong Rong did not continue after that. Up till now, I still can’t tell if Kong Rong is antagonistic or otherwise.
But this is probably how it is as an official in the Imperial Court.
“… I understand, and thank you for the short time we will be in your care, Lord Kong Rong.”
No matter what it is, it’s good as long as we are talking terms.
I deepely bowed, before making my way out.
As I walked out of the building, I looked up to the sky. It was terribly hot, and sweat streamed down profusely from my head. When I thought about the days to come, I could not see what might come and felt like we could only follow where fate would take us.
Thereafter, we took the whole afternoon to pack up and re-supply before we headed off to Qi commandery.
“Lord Gongsun Zan seems to have gone back this time, but you were with Kong Rong then so you missed her when she left.” Zhang Liao said. “When she left, Lord Gongsun Zan told us to tell you to ‘come over to You state to play sometime okay~~~’ or something like that.”
“Is that so.” I laughed as I replied, and felt very amused at Zhang Liao’s imitation of Gongsun Zan’s mannerisms.
But Gongsun Zan is as optimistic and happy-go-lucky as always huh. I wonder when we will meet again.
“That Lord Kong Rong, though he acts like a benevolent person, he is actually quite petty huh.”
“Little sister, you shouldn’t say that. Letting big brother and us go to Qi commandery is already fairly good.”
“Qi commandery is not too far, and we should be there soon.” Feng Xian said as she held the map in one hand and Red Hare in the other. “We should be able to get there before nightfall if we keep at this pace.”
*Wang*!
“I hope we get there soon, I might fall asleep if not~~~” Hua Tuo said as she stifled a yawn.
Looking at everyone, I gave a helpless smile. In my heart, I made my resolve to acquire a proper base for us soon.
