Sorry for posting part 2 first! Part 1 will be out tomorrow. You don’t miss an awful lot, but it’s nicer to read from Part 1 on. TL: Part 2 of 3.
Liu Bei POV
Ah.
Just as I went around, it felt like a really glaring light was shining on me. In that instant, I even thought that this whole Three Kingdoms thing was a prank show and that was the signal for the end of the show.
“Xuan De?”
“Ah… Ah?”
I was in a daze and unsure of what was going on but I was pulled back to reality by Meng De’s voice. I raised my head and looked up, and found that it was just the moon shining down on me.
But why is the moon so bright?
I shifted my gaze downwards and discovered why.
Most of the buildings in this so-called courtyard house have been taken down apart from the most distant residence and the adjoining buildings.
I must say, the moon seen from here seems larger than that in the streets.
No wonder they want to view the moon from here.
“How is it? I was right, no?” Meng De smiled at me. Under the moonlight, the smile that usually had other things hidden behind it was just a beautiful smile at this very moment.
“Come on.” Meng De turned back and continued walking as she waved at a few people sitting on the lawn, “I’ll introduce you to my father.”
“Father, I brought Xuan De here.” Meng De called out, and the ones sitting in the distance engrossed with the moon looked over. When I looked over, I saw that the one sitting in the center was the old man with 2 people sitting on either side.
“Ah! Big sis is back.” One girl on the left looked a lot like Meng De and was the first to see us and she waved at us with a smile.
“Big sister.” Beside this girl, another girl stood up out of respect and was similarly smiling. If I had to say how she differed from Meng De, it would be that she looks gentler.
Ah, if I’m not mistaken, the 2 on the left should be Cao Hong and Cao Ren. I haven’t spoken with them before but I have seen them around.
“Do you know everyone, Xuan De?”
“Ah… more or less.” I said as I looked further and saw the 2 on the right waving at me. It was the Xiahou sisters who I couldn’t be more familiar with.
“I have a lot more brothers and sisters but the only ones in Xuchang now are these.”
(TL: Xiahou Dun and Yuan are cousins with Cao Cao.)
“I knew a little about the Cao clan before this but the Cao clan really is large huh.” I gasped.
“Not really, just an ordinary countryside noble clan.” Meng De’s smile was as radiant as ever. Seems like she’s happy about what I said about her family.
Of course, I know that the Cao clan isn’t just some countryside noble clan. Even someone like me who knows only a little about the Three Kingdoms knows that Cao Song himself is a very high-ranking official.
“Is Man’er back?” The old man only spoke up when we got closer.
(TL: Cao Cao’s childhood name is Ah Man 阿瞒.)
“Father, I’m back.” Meng De repeated the words she said when she just opened the door, and looked at me as she raised her hand to introduce us, “This is my father, Cao Song.”
When she finished, she looked at Cao Song once more, “Father, this is Imperial Uncle Liu Bei.”
“Ah, Lord Cao Song, it’s been a while since we’ve met.”
I went up and bowed to Cao Song. As I said so, I was rather worried to be honest. He was an old man after all, and might not remember what I look like.
“Ah yes, it has indeed been a while.” Cao Song seemed to recognise me instantly as he didn’t even pause to think, “If you hadn’t come to save me then, I would be roaming in hell now. Hahaha.”
When he finished, he looked at Meng De and smiled.
“Don’t look at me, father. I brought Xuan De as you asked, so you should be looking at Xuan De.” Meng De’s smile wavered and she walked over to the side as she said so.
Looks like Meng De behaves differently with her father as expected huh.
“Aiya, I never thought I’d ever see my own daughter shy again. I wonder when was the last time.”
“I’m not shy, and I don’t know why father thinks so.”
Yeah, why do you think she is?
“Hahaha, never mind. Here Lord Liu Bei, a cushion.” As he said so, Cao Song bent to the side and took out 1 cushion out of a stack of 6 under him which he placed beside him, and called me over. As I went over, he took another 1 out and placed it on top of the first one.
“Ah, is that really okay?”
“What’s not okay about it, Lord Liu Bei is an important guest.” As he said so, he patted the cushions and indicated me to sit before looking toward Xiahou Yuan, “Miao Cai, get a bowl of porridge for Lord Liu Bei.”
“Okay~” Xiahou Yuan replied and got up as she headed toward a building nearby that’s probably where the kitchen is.
“Thanks for the trouble.” I saluted as I said so, and sat down on the 2 cushions.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You saved me back then, and I still don’t know how I should repay you for that.”
“There’s nothing to repay for that, all I had to do was lift a finger after all.” I smiled as I said so.
“Lift a finger huh…”
Un? When I finished my reply, Cao Song gave a world-weary look as he squinted and stroked his beard while viewing the moon.
“May I ask if there is a problem?”
“If it were someone else, perhaps what he would have lifted a finger to do would be to help that man kill me and split the loot with him.”
“No, how could that be–”
“Or if it were someone else,” Cao Song interrupted me, and continued, “Then he might have recognised that I once held 1 of the 3 Excellency positions, and might have extorted me after he saved me.”
“That’s…”
To be honest, I have to admit that if it weren’t me, those 2 scenarios would have been rather likely.
“So,” Cao Song looked at me with a kind expression, “You are different from them. And that is why I wish to thank you.”
The Cao Song now gave me a very different impression from the Cao Song back then. I don’t know if it’s because of the exquisite clothing now, but compared to the ordinary old man from before, Cao Song feels a lot more like an official now. So when he thanked me, I felt a little awkward.
“No, I really feel that what I did was what should have been done.” I too looked at the moon like Cao Song as I said so, “From my perspective, what I did was something very normal. If I did it for the sake of getting something in return, then that wouldn’t be right.”
“Un~” Cao Song didn’t say any further and closed his mouth as he nodded.
“Alright, since you said as much, I won’t say any further.” He shifted his gaze back to the moon as he said so.
Just then, I felt a gaze at me from the other side. I looked over, and saw that it was Meng De, who was smiling at me. I raised my eyebrows at her as a gesture to ask why she was looking at me but she only smiled and shook her head before returning her gaze to the moon.
“Coming~ The porridge is coming~” Before I could understand what Meng De meant, Xiahou Yuan had brought me a bowl of porridge,
“Ah, thanks.” I nodded at Xiahou Yuan as I received the porridge.
I looked down and found that there were quite a lot of ingredients. Apart from corn rice as a staple, there were pieces of meat and vegetable leaves. For this era, this sort of porridge was rather top class.
“Come, have a taste.” Cao Song said softly as he looked at the moon as usual, “You should always have some porridge when you view the moon.”
Un, I’ll have a taste then, I picked up a spoon nearby and stirred it a little before I picked up some porridge and delivered it into my mouth.
Un~ This taste is just like century egg and pork porridge. There’s no century egg but the meat is superb.
“Is it good?” Meng De asked.
“It’s good.” I smiled as I replied at which Meng De smiled back.
It really is good, I thought as I raised another spoon towards my mouth–
“If you don’t mind, you can have your pick of any girl from either the Cao or Xiahou family for your bride.”
Sorry for posting part 2 first! Part 1 will be out tomorrow. You don’t miss an awful lot, but it’s nicer to read from Part 1 on. TL: Part 2 of 3.
Liu Bei POV
Ah.
Just as I went around, it felt like a really glaring light was shining on me. In that instant, I even thought that this whole Three Kingdoms thing was a prank show and that was the signal for the end of the show.
“Xuan De?”
“Ah… Ah?”
I was in a daze and unsure of what was going on but I was pulled back to reality by Meng De’s voice. I raised my head and looked up, and found that it was just the moon shining down on me.
But why is the moon so bright?
I shifted my gaze downwards and discovered why.
Most of the buildings in this so-called courtyard house have been taken down apart from the most distant residence and the adjoining buildings.
I must say, the moon seen from here seems larger than that in the streets.
No wonder they want to view the moon from here.
“How is it? I was right, no?” Meng De smiled at me. Under the moonlight, the smile that usually had other things hidden behind it was just a beautiful smile at this very moment.
“Come on.” Meng De turned back and continued walking as she waved at a few people sitting on the lawn, “I’ll introduce you to my father.”
“Father, I brought Xuan De here.” Meng De called out, and the ones sitting in the distance engrossed with the moon looked over. When I looked over, I saw that the one sitting in the center was the old man with 2 people sitting on either side.
“Ah! Big sis is back.” One girl on the left looked a lot like Meng De and was the first to see us and she waved at us with a smile.
“Big sister.” Beside this girl, another girl stood up out of respect and was similarly smiling. If I had to say how she differed from Meng De, it would be that she looks gentler.
Ah, if I’m not mistaken, the 2 on the left should be Cao Hong and Cao Ren. I haven’t spoken with them before but I have seen them around.
“Do you know everyone, Xuan De?”
“Ah… more or less.” I said as I looked further and saw the 2 on the right waving at me. It was the Xiahou sisters who I couldn’t be more familiar with.
“I have a lot more brothers and sisters but the only ones in Xuchang now are these.”
(TL: Xiahou Dun and Yuan are cousins with Cao Cao.)
“I knew a little about the Cao clan before this but the Cao clan really is large huh.” I gasped.
“Not really, just an ordinary countryside noble clan.” Meng De’s smile was as radiant as ever. Seems like she’s happy about what I said about her family.
Of course, I know that the Cao clan isn’t just some countryside noble clan. Even someone like me who knows only a little about the Three Kingdoms knows that Cao Song himself is a very high-ranking official.
“Is Man’er back?” The old man only spoke up when we got closer.
(TL: Cao Cao’s childhood name is Ah Man 阿瞒.)
“Father, I’m back.” Meng De repeated the words she said when she just opened the door, and looked at me as she raised her hand to introduce us, “This is my father, Cao Song.”
When she finished, she looked at Cao Song once more, “Father, this is Imperial Uncle Liu Bei.”
“Ah, Lord Cao Song, it’s been a while since we’ve met.”
I went up and bowed to Cao Song. As I said so, I was rather worried to be honest. He was an old man after all, and might not remember what I look like.
“Ah yes, it has indeed been a while.” Cao Song seemed to recognise me instantly as he didn’t even pause to think, “If you hadn’t come to save me then, I would be roaming in hell now. Hahaha.”
When he finished, he looked at Meng De and smiled.
“Don’t look at me, father. I brought Xuan De as you asked, so you should be looking at Xuan De.” Meng De’s smile wavered and she walked over to the side as she said so.
Looks like Meng De behaves differently with her father as expected huh.
“Aiya, I never thought I’d ever see my own daughter shy again. I wonder when was the last time.”
“I’m not shy, and I don’t know why father thinks so.”
Yeah, why do you think she is?
“Hahaha, never mind. Here Lord Liu Bei, a cushion.” As he said so, Cao Song bent to the side and took out 1 cushion out of a stack of 6 under him which he placed beside him, and called me over. As I went over, he took another 1 out and placed it on top of the first one.
“Ah, is that really okay?”
“What’s not okay about it, Lord Liu Bei is an important guest.” As he said so, he patted the cushions and indicated me to sit before looking toward Xiahou Yuan, “Miao Cai, get a bowl of porridge for Lord Liu Bei.”
“Okay~” Xiahou Yuan replied and got up as she headed toward a building nearby that’s probably where the kitchen is.
“Thanks for the trouble.” I saluted as I said so, and sat down on the 2 cushions.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. You saved me back then, and I still don’t know how I should repay you for that.”
“There’s nothing to repay for that, all I had to do was lift a finger after all.” I smiled as I said so.
“Lift a finger huh…”
Un? When I finished my reply, Cao Song gave a world-weary look as he squinted and stroked his beard while viewing the moon.
“May I ask if there is a problem?”
“If it were someone else, perhaps what he would have lifted a finger to do would be to help that man kill me and split the loot with him.”
“No, how could that be–”
“Or if it were someone else,” Cao Song interrupted me, and continued, “Then he might have recognised that I once held 1 of the 3 Excellency positions, and might have extorted me after he saved me.”
“That’s…”
To be honest, I have to admit that if it weren’t me, those 2 scenarios would have been rather likely.
“So,” Cao Song looked at me with a kind expression, “You are different from them. And that is why I wish to thank you.”
The Cao Song now gave me a very different impression from the Cao Song back then. I don’t know if it’s because of the exquisite clothing now, but compared to the ordinary old man from before, Cao Song feels a lot more like an official now. So when he thanked me, I felt a little awkward.
“No, I really feel that what I did was what should have been done.” I too looked at the moon like Cao Song as I said so, “From my perspective, what I did was something very normal. If I did it for the sake of getting something in return, then that wouldn’t be right.”
“Un~” Cao Song didn’t say any further and closed his mouth as he nodded.
“Alright, since you said as much, I won’t say any further.” He shifted his gaze back to the moon as he said so.
Just then, I felt a gaze at me from the other side. I looked over, and saw that it was Meng De, who was smiling at me. I raised my eyebrows at her as a gesture to ask why she was looking at me but she only smiled and shook her head before returning her gaze to the moon.
“Coming~ The porridge is coming~” Before I could understand what Meng De meant, Xiahou Yuan had brought me a bowl of porridge,
“Ah, thanks.” I nodded at Xiahou Yuan as I received the porridge.
I looked down and found that there were quite a lot of ingredients. Apart from corn rice as a staple, there were pieces of meat and vegetable leaves. For this era, this sort of porridge was rather top class.
“Come, have a taste.” Cao Song said softly as he looked at the moon as usual, “You should always have some porridge when you view the moon.”
Un, I’ll have a taste then, I picked up a spoon nearby and stirred it a little before I picked up some porridge and delivered it into my mouth.
Un~ This taste is just like century egg and pork porridge. There’s no century egg but the meat is superb.
“Is it good?” Meng De asked.
“It’s good.” I smiled as I replied at which Meng De smiled back.
It really is good, I thought as I raised another spoon towards my mouth–
“If you don’t mind, you can have your pick of any girl from either the Cao or Xiahou family for your bride.”
