Chapter 62: Going Straight

  "Aren't you a bookworm?" Wen Hui's face turned red with anger and he retorted.

  "I read books, but I don't just read books to death." Liu Xiu burst out laughing and said without any modesty: "If I were to enter the imperial court, you'll see how I deal with those eunuchs. Being taken care of by them? What a joke! If I couldn't even handle a few physically disabled eunuchs, what's the point of reading all these books?"

  Wen Hui looked at him with a slanted gaze for quite a while, then suddenly burst out laughing: "If you weren't already Lu Jun's student, with your future prospects secure, I'd really like to suggest that my father appoint you as the chief officer in charge of accounts and send you to Luoyang to deal with those eunuchs. Let's see how you can help the great Han dynasty eliminate its remaining evils."

  "Hehe, you don't have to say that, I'm just not having the chance now, but once I get it, I'll definitely give you a surprise."

  Wen Hui smiled coldly and said: "I'm waiting with bated breath." After finishing speaking, he stood up, cupped his hands together in a salute, and walked away.

  Liu Bei, who was joking with the beautiful maid outside, saw Wen Hui rushing in and didn't know what had happened. He went back inside to ask Liu Xiu, and Liu Xiu told him about what had just happened. Liu Bei blinked his eyes and suddenly said: "Actually, even if we don't use the plan of the official, the governor still has a way to send you to the capital, such as recommending you as a filial and incorruptible official or a talented scholar, it's just... can you really deal with those eunuchs?"

  "Even if I couldn't handle the eunuchs, as long as he's willing to recommend me, at least I'll have an official position, right?" Liu Xiu blinked his eyes and laughed. Liu Bei heard this and couldn't help but smile wryly, shaking his head and saying: "So that was your plan all along? I thought you really had some clever trick up your sleeve."

  Liu Xiu didn't bother to argue, and he wasn't entirely deceiving Wen Hui either. In his past life, he hadn't dealt with evil people for nothing. Although the price he paid was indeed not small, the outcome of that industry's tyrant who had been rampant for decades was even more miserable - a downfall in both reputation and family, resulting in a broken home and loss of life. I suppose the old man didn't die but was left with only half his life.

  Liu Xiu insisted that a gentleman who cannot deal with petty people is not a worthy gentleman. He believed in being kind to good people and harsh to evil ones, which was his guiding principle. Having the ability to uphold justice and defend what is right gave him the motivation to endure hardships that ordinary people could hardly imagine.

  He is not a bad person, but he is absolutely not a pedantic and incompetent gentleman. Or rather, he is not a gentleman at all, because he does not practice the way of forgiveness. He practices the straightforward way: if others do not offend me, I will not offend them; if others offend me, I will definitely offend them back.

  Zhang Fei ran over from the front and asked from a distance: "Sir, what did you say to Wen Hui? His face doesn't look too good."

  "There's nothing, just some differences." Liu Xiu suddenly remembered something and called out to Liu Bei and Zhang Fei: "Today we invited Yan Rou brothers over, it was to understand the situation on the grasslands from them. He has been on the grasslands for so many years, there are many situations that we normally can't understand, you can't just listen to it as a story, you must pay attention and remember, best to write it down later, organize it into an article, and then also give it to Lu Jun for reference."

  Liu Bei and Zhang Fei looked at each other, feeling that he was being a bit too cautious, but after thinking about it, they also felt that it made sense, so they nodded in agreement.

  "Not just that." Liu Xiu's mind was broadened and he continued: "Yi De, get me some more paper."

  "Does sir want to teach me calligraphy or painting?"

  "Pfft!" Liu Xiu scolded him with a mouthful, his eyes rolling: "You still have the mood for this at a time like this? I was thinking of drafting some outlines, so that later on we can have a clear direction and not be all over the place. Since we invited him to drink wine, we should dig up more things to make it worthwhile."

  Zhang Fei rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "You're really stingy, even when treating someone to a drink, you want to make back the cost."

  "What did you say?" Liu Xiu frowned.

  "Nothing... nothing." Zhang Fei turned around and left, shouting as he walked: "I'll go get a roll of paper, let you write slowly."

  Liu Xu looked at him inexplicably and then turned to Liu Bei: "What did he just say?"

  Liu Bei suppressed his smile and shook his head repeatedly: "No, he didn't say anything."

  "However!"

  Zhang Fei quickly had someone bring over a stack of paper, and Liu Bei had already ground the ink. Liu Xiu picked up his brush and began to write down questions to ask Yan Ruo, from the tribal leaders on the grasslands to the population, mountains, rivers, and streams - anything he could think of was written down. Beautiful cursive script filled two large sheets of paper. He was afraid that one person wouldn't be able to remember everything, and besides, it would be embarrassing for one person to ask too many questions. So he divided up the tasks among Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, having each of them ask a portion, and then be responsible for recalling the content and putting it into words later. Zhang Fei and Liu Bei looked at each other with bitter faces, reluctantly beginning to memorize their parts.

  Liu Xiu's efforts were not in vain, as night fell, Zhang Fei and his friends arrived one by one. Liu Xiu brought Liu Bei to personally invite Yan Rou brothers to the post house. Those young men who were excitedly chattering and eager for adventure suddenly became thrilled when they saw that the person in front of them was actually Huo Yan, the notorious horse thief. The people of Youzhou are naturally generous and these young people were at an age where they admired heroes and yearned for adventure, so not only did they not have any prejudice against Yan Rou's identity as a horse thief, but instead became even more curious, surrounding them and asking questions from all sides, competing to offer them wine. If Liu Xiu hadn't been afraid that they would get Yan Rou drunk and affect the important matter at hand, probably by the end, there wouldn't have been many who could still stand up.

  After drinking enough, it was time for Yan Rou's performance. He first talked about the general situation on the grassland and explained in detail the legendary story of Xianbei Daxia Tan Shi Huai unifying the grassland. This made those young people hot-blooded, some clapped their hands and shouted loudly, wanting to cut off Tan Shi Huai's head as a trophy to avenge the people of Youzhou and Bingzhou who were harmed by the Xianbei people. Others admired him secretly, hoping that one day they could compete with such a person on the battlefield and establish an eternal military achievement.

  Among these vigorous peers, Liu Xiu appeared somewhat aloof. He didn't show any obvious excitement or indignation, and even spoke in a low voice. He just listened attentively to Yan Rou's account, raising his own questions at key points, asking Yan Rou to elaborate more meticulously and deeply.

  After asking a few questions, Yan Rou's eyes changed significantly. He simply sat next to Liu Xiu and answered one question after another. For some questions he couldn't make up his mind about, he even sought Yan Zhi's opinion. The whole banquet turned into a Q&A session between him and Liu Xiu.

  Those young people gathered around, curiously watching Liu Xiu ask questions while scribbling on paper. Some secretly rolled their eyes, thinking that Liu Xiu was a bit too book-smart, drinking and boasting at the same time, and even taking out pen and paper to record it, which seemed a bit pedantic. Others were amazed by Liu Xiu's beautiful calligraphy, and quietly asked Zhang Fei if they could also learn from him, making Zhang Fei so happy that his eyebrows twitched with excitement and his chest puffed out proudly.

  Only a few people seriously listened to Liu Xiu and Yan Ruo's question-and-answer session, occasionally interjecting a sentence or two. Among them were Liu Yu's son Liu He and Li Ding's son Li Cheng. Liu He and Li Cheng had little contact with Zhang Fei in the past, although they received Zhang Fei's invitation, they didn't plan to come at all. Later, Wen Hui was said a few words by Liu Xiu, feeling somewhat unhappy, he turned his sleeve and left, but soon regretted it and couldn't save face, so he let someone inform them to come and listen to what Yan Ruo would say.

  The two of them never spoke, the young people at the banquet were too far apart in status and identity from them, they only had a respectful share, the bold ones who came forward to chat for a couple of sentences were blocked by their seemingly gentle but actually distant reserve, and could only retreat with embarrassment. Among the many people present, only the two of them were there talking in low voices, looking particularly out of place.

  Until Liu Xiu took out paper and pen and began asking Yan Rou questions.