Chapter 27: Not What I Meant

  Liu Xiu looked at Wu Junhou with a somewhat strange gaze, carefully sizing him up for a while before shaking his head and saying: "Wu Junhou, do you think I'm the kind of genius who can learn something in just one try? There are only two hours left until the competition, isn't it a bit late for you to be teaching me now?"

  Liu Xiu was confident, but not to the point of being self-absorbed. He didn't believe in any mythical shortcuts that would allow him to become a master just by taking a glance at some secret manual. He thought it was ridiculous to think he could defeat someone like Yan Rou with such ease. As for Wu Junhou's proposal, Liu Xiu instinctively felt that he was being teased. Suddenly, he remembered what Mao Zong had said the night before - that Wu Junhou had been injured in the past. Could it be true? Had he suffered brain damage or something?

  Wu Junhou smiled slightly: "You also know that this matter is not a joke for either the Mao family or Quyang County, do you think I would play with such an important thing?"

  Liu Xiu narrowed his eyes, thought for a moment, and also felt that Wu Junhou was unlikely to be joking. As soon as this thought occurred to him, he suddenly became slightly excited - could it be true that there really was some kind of shortcut to becoming a master, and I'd actually stumbled upon such a great opportunity?

  ……

  The sun rose from the valley, and Liu Bei stood at the door for the third time to look outside the temple, but still didn't see a shadow of Liu Xiu. He had no choice but to put the almost cold breakfast on the table, cover it up, and then looked at Gong Sun Zan who was doing the final check, saying: "Brother Bo Hu, once you wear this black armor, you are truly a hero without equal."

  Gongsun Zan looked at him with some complacency, chuckled and was very satisfied with the armor and battle robe sent by Mao Zong. He was originally born handsome, and with this brand new battle robe and armor, he looked even more majestic and heroic. He had always been a bit arrogant, so Liu Bei's praise was nothing out of the ordinary to him. He picked up the bronze helmet on the table, carefully put it on, tied the red strap, and walked out of the door with a dragon-like stride.

  Mao Zong led the white horse, holding an iron spear in his hand and standing in the courtyard. Seeing Gong Sunyan walking out with big strides, he was also taken aback for a moment, and laughed loudly: "Brother Boke, just relying on this momentum of yours, it's enough to make that Huo Yan Yun retreat without a fight."

  "Nonsense." Gong Sun Zan cursed with a smile, walked forward, took over the reins, grasped the saddle to test his strength, and sprang onto the horse. His movements were clean and efficient, without any hesitation or awkwardness, which made Mao Zong and Liu Bei exclaim in admiration again. He took the iron spear handed over by Mao Zong, turned it around in his hand, then placed it horizontally on the saddle, looking proud: "Two younger brothers, shall we go try out this horse?"

  "Just in time to see Brother Bao's ultimate skill." Ma Zong and Liu Bei laughed loudly together.

  As Gong Sunzhan and the others spoke, more than a dozen people walked out. Seeing Gong Sunzhan standing in the courtyard with his spear and horse, shining armor and helmet, they all spontaneously praised him in unison, with cries of admiration ringing in their ears. Gong Sunzhan raised his hand with a flourish, gesturing to the crowd, and said in his deep, resonant voice: "Everyone, let's go try out our horses in the peach orchard!"

  "It is right." The crowd responded in unison.

  Gongsun Zan exerted his waist and abdomen, and with a touch of his two feet on the horse's belly, the white horse let out a long whinny and galloped towards the gate. In the blink of an eye, it reached the entrance. Just as Gongsun Zan was about to crash into the door frame, everyone was about to shout in alarm, but they saw him suddenly lean back on the horse's back, passing through the gate without a hair's breadth between them, and rushing towards Taogu Valley.

  The crowd let out another cry of surprise and rushed towards the door in a panic.

  Lu Min happened to walk out of the second courtyard gate when he heard the commotion in the front yard, and saw the scene where Gong Sun Zan rushed out of the temple on horseback. He frowned, his face somewhat displeased, turned around and went back inside, hurrying across the middle court to the main hall. Lu Zhi came out from inside, exercising his fingers as he spoke: "What's all the commotion about in front?"

  Lu Min recounted what had just happened and finally said: "This Gongsun Zan looks dignified, but is somewhat arrogant, I'm afraid he won't be a man of etiquette in the future."

  Lu Zhi glanced at him and smiled, "Young people, after all, haven't read many serious books, it's expected that some things are done improperly. Wait until he grows up a bit, reads more books, maybe he'll turn out okay. I think this young man has some arrogant air, but his personality is generous, and he's intelligent and knowledgeable, at least he's a talented person."

  Lu Min hesitated to speak again, seeing his father's approval of Gong Sunyan. He didn't dare say more and just nodded in response. As he served Lu Zhi to sit down, he said, "Father, Gong Sunyan is talented, but I'm worried that he's not a match for Yan Rou."

  Lu Zhi did not respond with a yes or no, and after thinking for a moment, he let out a sigh: "Perhaps... we were indeed a bit hasty this time."

  Lu Min was taken aback and looked at him in confusion.

  Lu Zhi raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the dark green rooftops of the front courtyard, looking towards the sky that was a bit transparent blue. His eyebrows furrowed: "I thought carefully yesterday and felt that Liu Shijun's consideration is not unreasonable. Mao Qin advocates strengthening defenses, but I think his purpose is not to benefit the countryside, he wants to take this opportunity to revive the prestige of West Mao. The other three Maos and the Li, Zhang, and Jian families are no exception, they want to show their strength to Liu Shijun and Wen Fugong, so that they can gain more benefits and power in the future, not necessarily for the people. If a fight really breaks out, even if we can defend Quyang County, can we defend the entire territory?"

  "That... can't let the Xianbei people come and go freely either?" Lu Min said with a tone of discontent.

  Youzhou has eleven counties, and Zhuo County is located in the south. The Xianbei people do not have enough strength to penetrate deep into Zhuo County, and they also need to obtain salt and iron from Zhuo County. Lu Zhi looked at Lu Min with a sigh: "Do you think those who trade with the Xianbei are what kind of people? Aren't they just these big clans? They benefited from the transaction, how could they possibly start a war lightly? Alas, my father and son are just being pushed out to be decorations."

  Lu Min remained silent, thinking that Lu Zhi's words made sense, but he was reluctant to admit it.

  The father and son sat opposite each other in silence, until the servant brought in breakfast. They began to eat quietly, listening to the occasional cheers from outside. Lu Min's heart was heavy with worry.

  In the peach valley, Gongsun Zan galloped his horse, wielding a double-headed iron spear that danced like a chaotic snowflake, striking and stabbing back and forth, with cold light flashing everywhere, unstoppable. Mao Zong and Liu Bei watched with eyes wide with excitement, clapping their hands and stomping their feet, cheering loudly. Mao Zong felt proud of himself for finding such a skilled cavalryman as Gongsun Zan, and was confident that they would defeat Yan Yu. Thinking that the Western Wei would become famous because of this, Mao Zong felt exhilarated, and no longer resented his wife Mao Jiang for forcing him to live with Gongsun Zan and others, but instead thought it was a very wise decision.

  Liu Bei was also deeply moved, he had always been somewhat arrogant, being the best among the children in his village, and even the elders of the same clan praised him. However, now that he saw Gongsun Zan, he felt a little ashamed, sincerely acknowledging that Gongsun Zan was far superior to him in every aspect, so much so that he couldn't even feel jealous, leaving only admiration. He thought that this trip to Peach Valley to study had two benefits: on the one hand, he became a student of the great Confucian scholar Lu Zhi, which would give him some pride in the future; on the other hand, he got to know Gongsun Zan, such a heroic figure. Not to mention whether it would be helpful to himself in the future, just being able to meet someone like this made him feel content and satisfied.

  Although the two had different purposes, they were both in the same mood at this moment. Looking at Gong Sun's agile figure, the two of them shouted loudly, as if competing to see who could be louder.

  Mao Qiang and A Chu stood on the small building, looking at the crowd in Taogu, watching the fiery figure flying horses and dancing spears among the lush peach blossoms, both of them couldn't help but smile.

  "Sister, what a hero!" Ah Chu laughed with narrowed eyes and said to Mao Jie with a hint of profundity: "It's just a pity that she's already married."

  "What does being a hero have to do with getting married?" Mao Jie was made to feel embarrassed by her, and she glared at her. A Chu chuckled and was about to say something else when a heavy and slow footsteps echoed from behind them. They turned their heads to see the master of the Mao family, Mao Qin, panting heavily, appearing at the staircase entrance, his somewhat dull eyes scanning the peach valley before letting out a long sigh.