Chapter 45: Painting Beauty, I'm the Most Awesome

  Liu Xiu sneered: "The beauty you painted, although dressed in noble attire, has the demeanor of a servant girl, with her head bowed and shoulders slumped. Not even a hint of the confidence and composure that a noble should have, only the humble reserve of a serving girl, having only looks but no bearing."

  Zhang Fei was taken aback, stretched out one hand to scratch his lips, and pondered for a moment. A look of sudden realization flashed in his eyes, and he softly exclaimed "Oh" and nodded repeatedly.

  Liu Xiu saw the change in his expression. In his previous life, he had studied Tang Bohu for over a decade and the paintings of beauties he produced were so good that even experts in the field found it hard to tell whether they were genuine or not. Teaching Zhang Fei, a young beginner, was child's play. He continued, "If I'm not mistaken, this maid you've painted probably hasn't been with your family for long."

  "You... you can even see this?" Zhang Fei could no longer pretend to be calm, his eyes wide with astonishment.

  Liu Xiou pursed his lips and didn't explain. Zhang Fei's technique was not yet mature, but the proportions of the human body were basically reasonable, the facial features were also accurately painted, and the expression was also at a certain level. It should have been painted from life, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to see the problem with this painting. However, these things didn't need to be explained to Zhang Fei, only the unknown is mysterious. Zhang Fei's painting of beauties in Zhuo County might be an expert, but compared to this professional forger, Zhang Fei was still at the beginner stage, and the two were far apart, not even on the same level.

  Liu Xiu waved her hand grandly: "Alright, I've explained it clearly enough, haven't I? You should apologize to my brother now. After apologizing, leave immediately and don't stand at my door like a wooden stake. I'm not a weak woman who needs someone to guard me."

  Next door, a loud "thud" was heard, as if something had fallen to the ground. Zhang Fei's small face turned bright red and twisted in distress, wanting to speak but hesitating. He sneaked a glance at the next room, lowered his head, rubbed his hands anxiously, and after a moment of hesitation, bowed to Liu Bei: "I, Zhang Fei, was rude earlier, please forgive me, brother."

  Liu Bei hastily returned the courtesy: "Since it was a misunderstanding, then let's just forget about it."

  "Many thanks, General. I'm deeply grateful and will take my leave for now. I'll send someone over with some soup and medicine expenses later." Zhang Fei hastily bowed his head a few times, sneaking a glance at Liu Xun, seeing that he had entered the door without any expression, completely ignoring him, so he swallowed his words and bowed to Liu Bei instead, leading those originally fierce and menacing but now bewildered attendants away in haste.

  Liu Bei let out a sigh of relief, turned around and followed him into the door, and said to Liu Xiu with joy: "Big brother, fortunately you are proficient in painting, otherwise today would be troublesome."

  "Xuande was insulted by someone, can he really kill people?" Liu Xiu asked with some disbelief.

  "Alright." Liu Bei said without hesitation: "In our great Han, we govern with filial piety and do not prohibit revenge. If someone insults their elders, the younger generation must avenge them. If it's an insult to oneself, one must engage in a contest of strength with the opponent and defeat them before yielding. Otherwise, they will be ridiculed by others." He paused for a moment, then explained: "Of course, killing is not allowed unless absolutely necessary. However, even if someone kills another person, the authorities won't pursue it vigorously. As long as one escapes and hides for a while to avoid the storm, once the imperial court issues a general amnesty, everything will be fine."

  He said with some embarrassment: "I didn't expect that beautiful painting was his work, I just heard someone mention it at the door and casually criticized it a couple of times, didn't think he would hear it, a few people surrounded me, didn't say a few words before they started fighting." He touched the wound on his face, took a cold breath: "This kid is as strong as Big Brother, I wasn't careful and suffered a loss, was forced to bring him back to see Big Brother. Fortunately, Big Brother just said a few words and persuaded him, otherwise it would have been a real trouble."

  "Trouble hasn't ended yet." Liu gave him a white eye, thinking that from Zhang Fei's expression earlier, he definitely wouldn't let go of this cleverness and would come to ask for guidance again. He only said half the sentence just to tease his appetite. Just thinking about teaching the future Five Tiger Generals to paint beauties made him feel some dark humor and a sense of unknown accomplishment.

  "What's going on? Is he going to cause more trouble?" Liu Bei immediately became tense again.

  "Didn't you hear him say that he'll come back later to deliver the medicine and collect the fee?"

  "Oh, it's nothing." Liu Bei let out a sigh of relief and smiled wryly to himself.

  "If I'm not mistaken, it's probably him who came to deliver the medicine fee." Liu Xiu hummed and pointed to the next room, lowering his voice: "Xuande, have you seen that woman?"

  "No." Liu Bei shook his head and thought for a moment: "However, I think one of the men following her seems somewhat familiar, like someone from the Mao family."

  "Is that the Mao family?" Liu Xiu was startled, and suddenly remembered. He had felt that this woman's voice was familiar earlier, and now he finally recalled that she should be the woman who chased him with a knife in Taogu Valley that day. But wasn't that woman either Mao Zong's sister or the one wearing the yellow goose shirt? However, this face clearly didn't belong to that woman, and... her chest seemed to be much bigger than that of the woman in the yellow goose shirt.

  Liu Xiu subconsciously touched his hand and rolled his eyes: "Xuande, did Mao Zong ever say how many sisters he has?"

  "Only one."

  Liu Xiu became even more confused, since there was only one, which one was it after all?

  "Big brother, or else... I'll go ask?" Liu Bei said hastily seeing Liu Xiu's puzzled face. Liu Xiu thought for a moment and nodded: "Go ahead, go ahead."

  Liu Bei turned around and walked out of the door, came to the next door, and bowed to the two strong men standing at the door, politely asked: "Excuse me, are you two gentlemen, is it Miss Mao's house inside?" Seeing that the two men looked suspicious, he quickly explained: "I am Liu Bei, I was studying with Mr. Lu in Taoyuan Jing She a few days ago, and lived in the same room as Young Master Mao. This morning, I just returned to Zhuo County from Taoyuan Jing She."

  "It turned out to be a student from Jing She." A sturdy man suddenly realized, not daring to slack off, and hurriedly returned the courtesy, politely nodding and saying: "That's right, it's my family's daughter inside. Do you have any business?"

  "Oh, nothing much, just came to pay my respects." Liu Bei's face wore a respectful smile: "I'm friends with Chengming and also received hospitality from the Mao family, so I should come over to express my gratitude."

  "No need to be polite." Mu Qian walked out of the house, took a glance at Liu Bei's swollen face, and wanted to laugh but hid it well. Liu Bei hastily paid his respects to her, and she returned the courtesy with a bow, saying: "Before Cheng Ming left, he specifically mentioned you, but I was busy going to Zhuo County on business and didn't have time to visit you. I didn't expect that you would also come to Zhuo County with Mr. Lu, it's an unexpected surprise, please help me more in the future."

  Liu Bei hastily made a few humble remarks and then retreated. Mao Jie saw Liu Bei back to the house with great courtesy, but when he returned to the house, he changed his expression to one of regret and muttered: "As fellow descendants of the Liu family, why is there such a big difference in our character?"

  Liu Xiu had already heard their conversation clearly, and his mind was even more confused. This woman was Mao Zong's sister Mao Qiang, but who was the other woman? Unfortunately, Mao Zong had gone to Liaoxi, otherwise he would have been caught and asked for clarification. Liu Xiu rubbed his hands, suddenly thinking of a question, Mao Zong went to Liaoxi to send a relative on an errand, could it be that the woman was the relative Mao Zong was sending?

  Liu Xiu's eyebrows rose with joy, he had no interest in Mao Jie, but the only one who was unforgettable to him was that yellow shirt woman. The image of her being like a startled little deer, yet deliberately showing off her fierce side, lingered in his mind for a long time and wouldn't go away. He raised his hand to touch the eyebrow that was injured that day, blinked his eyes, and smiled silently to himself, secretly deciding that when Mao Zong returned, he would definitely ask him about it. Before that, he first wanted to resolve the grudge with the actual master of the Mao family, Mao Jie's sister, Mao Niang.

  However, it seems that this is not easy. The other day, in a moment of urgency, he used the Black Tiger Heart-Grabbing Technique, but unfortunately, it was not in the right place. Liu Xiu secretly smacked his lips and felt somewhat worried.

  Liu Bei saw that Liu Xiu's face was calm, but his eyes were flickering, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled, so he asked in a soft voice: "Big brother, do you have any past dealings with Sister Mao?"

  Liu Xiu was taken aback and calmly covered it up by saying: "There's a bit of... misunderstanding."