Chapter 24: Yan Rou

  Liu Bei rubbed his eyebrows awkwardly and explained a couple of sentences. Li Ding listened, remained silent for a while, didn't say anything, just let out a long sigh, shook his head, took a step forward and left Liu Bei standing there in confusion.

  "Li Jun?" Liu Bei was getting anxious, almost losing control of himself and going up to grab Li Ding's sleeve. Li Ding's expression was too unexpected for him. In the past, when Li Ding came to their village, he would always say a few words of encouragement to him, with an attitude even warmer than when he saw Liu Yuanqi. What happened today? Was it because he became the governor's assistant and got promoted?

  Li Ding didn't look back, as if Liu Bei didn't exist, and walked forward. Liu Bei was stunned, his heart chilled, standing there not knowing whether to go or stay. In a moment, Li Ding and the others had already left the courtyard, leaving him helpless, so he reluctantly returned to the dormitory, sat down and thought for a long time, but still couldn't figure out what was going on.

  "What's wrong?" Liu Xiu saw Liu Bei looking dispirited and asked with concern.

  Liu Bei sighed and recounted the encounter with Li Dian, finally looking at Liu Xu with a pleading expression: "Big brother, what do you think is going on? Shouldn't I go ask for an audience?"

  Liu Xiu was also bewildered, he blinked his eyes, looking at Liu Bei's anxious face, wanting to laugh and feeling sorry for him, so he comforted him saying: "It's probably just the temperament of a famous scholar, don't worry about it, you'll have another chance to ask later."

  Liu Bei furrowed his brow in distress, wincing as he touched the wound on his eyebrow. He raised a hand to stroke the injured area, but suddenly froze, his eyes becoming uneasy at once.

  "Xuande, what's going on?" Liu Xiu asked somewhat nervously. Isn't that just the famous scholar who hasn't been seen? Is it that serious?

  Liu Bei raised his head, his eyes somewhat cold, but soon softened again, his expression stiff, the corners of his mouth twitching as if he wanted to smile, his voice a bit dry: "Nothing, I just... don't quite understand."

  "Oh." Liu Xiu was made somewhat uneasy by his gaze, thinking to himself what's wrong with this kid, is Li Ding not giving you face, what does it have to do with me, looking at people with this kind of eye?

  Liu Bei sat for a while, picked up the water jug and said he was going out to fetch water. He left the temple and went to the Peach Creek to fetch a jug of water, but instead of returning immediately, he found a shaded place to sit down. With his hands clasped around his knees, he gazed at the lights in the Mao family's estate, shrouded by the dark mountain shadows in the distance, silent as a black stone statue.

  ……

  For Li Ding's arrival, the Mao family showed their most sincere enthusiasm. The lazy master of the house, Mao Qin, arranged a grand banquet to welcome Li Ding. Lu Zhi was naturally also an indispensable guest, and he was even more honored than Li Ding, being seated in the uppermost seat. Lu Min accompanied him on one side. Li Ding sat in the lower seat, with a sturdy middle-aged man with a dark face sitting beside him.

  Ma Qun, with a round face, looked at Lu Zhi and then at Li Ding, his eyes narrowing into a smile. The Ma family's estate had never had such an honorable guest before, and he felt that even the walls of his home were brighter now. Looking at his daughter, Ma Dang, who was standing beside him, he felt both proud and regretful - if only she were a son, how great it would be!

  Li Ding, although a famous scholar, had an unusually humble demeanor in the presence of Lu Zhi. After three rounds of wine, he stood up to toast Lu Zhi and then danced in his honor. It was common for Han people to dance during banquets, sometimes even singing and dancing together. Dancing after toasting someone was also a way to show respect. As Li Ding's status would normally have others performing for him, but in front of the great scholar Lu Zhi, who made the entire Zhuo County proud, Li Ding had no capital at all. In some ways, he even took pride in being able to drink with Lu Zhi at the same table.

  Lu Zhi bowed his head in gratitude and apologetically said, "I'm not feeling well and it's inconvenient for me to return the courtesy, so I'll have my son Lu Min take my place." Li Ding was slightly disappointed but didn't force the issue. Lu Min stood up and danced once as a sign of appreciation.

  After Lu Min finished dancing, the robust man also stood up and offered a toast to Lu Zhi. Then he laughed loudly and said: "Rong has lived among the barbarians for a long time and has seen many of their dances. I dare to dance another tune for Lord Lu to help with the drinking excitement. If there's anything improper, please forgive me."

  Lu Zhi smiled faintly and bowed: "A heroic man who harmonizes Han and Hu, although living among the barbarians, does not forget his hometown feelings. I, Lu, admire him extremely."

  Yan Rou bowed her head and raised the wine cup in her hand, drinking it all at once. Then, with one hand holding the wine cup and the other holding the wine pot, she flew up and danced, singing loudly and proudly, bringing out the unique heroic spirit of the northern land. Her voice was very sonorous and had great penetration power, not only could the people in the hall hear it clearly, but almost everyone in the entire courtyard could hear it too.

  Wu Junhou, who was eating in the outer courtyard, suddenly furrowed his brow, and the chopsticks in his hand slowed down. He slowly swallowed the rice in his mouth, his eyes flashing, and he got up and walked out of the door, looking towards the brightly lit hall. At a glance, he saw Yan Rou dancing, and his eyes suddenly froze. He quickly hid behind the wall, his thick eyebrows furrowed.

  After a while, he got up and went out of the door, walking towards the valley.

  Yan Rou sang a song on the hall and then toasted Lu Zhi with another cup of wine before retreating. Everyone chatted and laughed, the atmosphere was very relaxed, until it ended at midnight.

  When Mao Zong returned to the dormitory, Liu Xiu and the other two had already gone to bed. However, as soon as Mao Zong pushed open the door, Gong Sun Zan sat up in bed, put on his clothes, lit the lamp, and quietly looked at Mao Zong. Although Liu Bei did not get out of bed, he turned his body over and stared at Mao Zong with wide eyes, and due to the light, there seemed to be some bloodshot in his eyes.

  Only Liu Xiuzhen remained motionless, without any reaction at all.

  Although Mao Zong had drunk a lot of wine and his face was somewhat red, his eyes were very clear. He looked at Gongsun Zan, then at Liu Bei, and finally cast his gaze towards Liu Xiu, thought for a moment, and shook his head to give up.

  "This matter doesn't need De Ran's help, so I won't call him up." Mao Zong said in a low voice, his two eyes staring tightly at Gong Sun Zhang: "Bo Ke, brother, I have one request for you."

  Gongsun Zan smiled and didn't say a word, quietly listening to what came next.

  Mao Zong explained in a low voice. It turned out that after Lu Min went to Zhuo County to see Li Ding, Li Ding reported the situation to Governor Liu Yu, but Liu Yu did not immediately agree with Lu Min's suggestion. He asked Li Ding to find Yan Rou, who was handling affairs in the city. Yan Rou had been traveling between Han and Hu for many years and was familiar with both sides of the situation. As soon as he heard Li Ding's intention, he shook his head repeatedly in opposition.

  Yan Rou's view is that Zhuo Prefecture is different from Shanggu and Liaoxi, among the various prefectures of Youzhou and the dependent states, Zhuo Prefecture is the farthest from the Hu people. Although the Xianbei people have invaded Han territory year after year in recent years, they have never reached Zhuo Prefecture. If Zhuo Prefecture prepares for war, it will inevitably restrict trade with the Xianbei people. Once this happens, the Xianbei people will certainly be very angry and may invade Zhuo Prefecture to retaliate, which would bring disaster.

  Lu Min immediately expressed his opposition, saying that just because the Xianbei people will come to retaliate, they cannot not make preparations. On the contrary, they should do a good job of preparing for battle. Yan Rou turned around and asked, "Do you think making good preparations can prevent it?" Now the main force of Youzhou is on the border, and in recent years, facing the Xianbei people's invasion can only be defended passively, and there is no power to fight back at all. Where is there still troops to defend Zhuo County?

  Lu Min mentioned the household troops of the Mao family, saying that although the main force of Youzhou could not come to defend Zhuo County, there were still many local forces in Zhuo County. As long as several large clans' guards and household troops were organized, it would be more than enough to defend Zhuo County. Yan Rou showed disdain for this, saying that the main force of the Great Han was not a match for the Xianbei people, let alone these private soldiers, who were only good at protecting their own homes and defending against mountain bandits, and would not last in a real battle.

  Lu Min strongly disagreed with this view, and the two men argued endlessly. Li Ding was also unable to make a decision, so he reported back to Liu Yu, who did not entirely agree with Lu Min's suggestion either. However, as he respected Lu Zhi, he had Li Ding and Yan Rou go to Taoyuan to meet with Lu Zhi.