Chapter 70: Liu Bei's Worries

  Liu Biao smiled and quickly went out to greet him. For Liu Biao, the benefits brought by Liu Bei's stationing in Xinye barely made up for the threat Liu Bei posed to Jingzhou. Although Liu Biao had his concerns, at least he put on a good show on the surface. He was exceptionally courteous and warm towards Liu Bei, treating him like a younger brother.

  "Xuande, I thought you'd come last night. Why did you drag it out until today?" Liu Biao said with feigned discontent.

  Liu Bei hastily bowed and said, "I had wanted to come and pay my respects to you last night, but I was afraid of disturbing you with your many affairs. I hope I haven't disturbed you today."

  "Brother, you're wrong to say that. Is your visit not a big deal? You're being too modest."

  Liu Biao smiled and invited Liu Bei into the study, ordering someone to set out wine and dishes. "Tonight I must have a good drink with my virtuous younger brother."

  Liu Bei smiled slightly, "Since elder brother wants me to drink wine, I'd better obey humbly."

  Two men sat down on the couch, and after a moment, the servant brought up seven or eight plates of exquisite small dishes and a jug of wine. Liu Biao poured a cup of wine for Liu Bei and asked with concern: "Younger brother, stationed in Xinye, is there any difficulty?"

  Liu Bei shook his head, "We have enough money and food, our soldiers are strong and brave, there's no difficulty, thank you for your concern, brother."

  Liu Biao sighed and said, "Fortunately, Cao Cao is busy with the war in the north and has no time to take care of Jingzhou. Otherwise, if Cao's army were to station a large force in Nanyang, your pressure would be great. However, when that happens, I will definitely send reinforcements to you. Alas! The army of Jingzhou is not good at fighting against the northern army, and there are no capable generals to rely on except for you."

  Liu Bei naturally understood the polite words that Liu Biao spoke without any sincerity. If Cao's army were to march south, Liu Biao would likely use Cao's army to eliminate himself, so why would he add more troops for himself? Although Liu Bei was bitter in his heart, he thanked him verbally: "I'm deeply grateful for your understanding, brother!"

  Liu Bei smiled and said, "Come! Let's have a drink first."

  Two men drank a few cups of wine, and Liu Bei said with a sigh: "Just now, brother said that Jingzhou has no useful generals. In fact, this statement is not entirely true. For example, Cai Mao, Zhang Yun, Huang Zhong, Wang Wei, Wen Ping, these are all the great generals of Jingzhou. Even in those years, Kuai Yue had led troops to conquer Sun Jian. Talents are abundant, brother worries too much."

  Liu Bei sighed, "My brother only knows one side, but not the other. Cai Mao and Kuai Yue are not wrong, but after all, they are from a noble family in Jingzhou, their will to resist Cao's army is not firm. Zhang Yun has only an empty reputation, Wang Wei has military strength, but his command is slightly weak. Huang Zhong is already old, Wen Ping can't hold on alone. Jingzhou is really lacking in talent, how can it compare with the likes of Guan Yu and Zhang Fei under my brother's command? I understand this clearly."

  Liu Bei smiled, "In that case, I can recommend someone to my elder brother. This person is young and promising, loyal and not double-hearted. If he is well cultivated, in a few years, he will surely become the pillar of Jingzhou."

  Liu Bei's eyes lit up and he hastily bowed his head saying: "Younger brother, who is it that you speak of?"

  Liu Bei smiled and stroked his chin, saying: "This person is far away in the heavens, yet near at hand by brother's side."

  "Who is the younger brother talking about? I don't quite understand."

  Liu Biao gazed at Liu Bei with some confusion, speaking so mysteriously, who was he referring to?

  Liu Bei smiled and said, "I'm talking about Master Jing, didn't you think of your brother?"

  "Him!" Liu Bei was slightly stunned, he really hadn't thought of it.

  "But he's only sixteen years old, and after New Year's he'll be seventeen! But now talking about him being the pillar of Jingzhou, isn't it a bit too early?"

  "But has brother thought about it, what he did, can an ordinary 16 or 17-year-old boy do that?"

  Liu Biao fell silent, he had actually considered it and also admired his nephew's courage and charisma, wanting to reuse him, but the words his wife said last time still lingered in his mind, would his nephew really replace his son?

  This is one aspect of his worry, which has been conflicting in his mind and making it difficult for him to make a decision.

  Liu Bei, being an old and cunning man, immediately guessed Liu Biao's thoughts and laughed as he advised: "Actually, brother doesn't need to worry too much. The nephew and the heir are two completely different things. The master of Jingzhou can only be the heir, this is a convention, all officials in Jingzhou have their own calculations. On the other hand, it is precisely because of the blood relationship between uncle and nephew that one will cherish the family business more and protect it with his life. As the saying goes, 'fighting still relies on father-son soldiers'. Since brother is willing to reuse his nephew, he should naturally reuse his son as well."

  Liu Biao recalled Kuai Yue's advice, which was almost the same as Liu Bei's, advising him to reuse his nephew. Liu Biao couldn't help but sigh, "He has performed very well, that's why I agreed to let him take on the role of supervisor at a young age. However, he needs to walk his own path and accumulate experience step by step. Because he is my nephew, I have even stricter requirements for him, and I want everyone to be convinced...

  Liu Biao hesitated for a moment, Kuai Yue had advised him, his eldest son had also advised him, and he said to consider it carefully. Now that Liu Bei was advising him too, this face, he finally felt a bit embarrassed.

  "However, my younger brother is also right. Cao Cao is eyeing us covetously, and the time given to us is indeed limited. We can't afford to follow the usual slow pace anymore. It's precisely because he's a talent that we should let him stand out earlier. Alright! I'll consider giving him a new position."

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  Liu Bei bid farewell and left, got on the horse-drawn carriage, under Liu Qi's see-off with a long wave of his hand, the horse-drawn carriage sped away into the dark night, Zhao Yun led dozens of cavalrymen to escort it on both sides.

  In the carriage, Liu Bei pondered for a long time and asked Sun Qian with a serious expression: "Gong Yu, can you confirm that this Liu Xuan is an imposter?"

  Sun Qian shook his head, "I really dare not be certain, it can only be speculation. He and the Liu Qilang I saw seven years ago are really different, unless Liu Wensheng has another son."

  "I've made inquiries and Liu Wensheng has only one son, so it must be him."

  Sun Qian hesitated for a moment and said, "However, so many of Liu Biao's clansmen, how could they not recognize the true from the false, and yet they all participated in the sacrifice together. Perhaps he is indeed real."

  "Hmph! Those foolish commoners, what do they know about truth and falsehood?" Liu Bei sneered coldly.

  Sun Qian bowed his head and pondered for a moment, but he still couldn't make this judgment. "Your Excellency, after all, it's been seven years, and we only met once. I can only say that he doesn't seem quite right, but I'm not sure."

  Liu Bei's eyes also became suspicious, was this Liu Xuan really true? The window was pitch black, and Liu Bei's gaze became even more profound. This matter was of great importance, he must get to the bottom of it.

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  The next day, another piece of news spread like wildfire in Xiangyang and Fancheng: the young master Zhen had released 500 slaves.

  Five hundred slaves would be a huge fortune even for a prestigious family like the Cai's, let alone ordinary people who have no chance to enjoy slave service.

  This news fell like a big stone into the ancient well of thousands of years, stirring up heated discussions in two cities. Countless people are discussing this matter. In comparison, Zhang Yun being stripped of his official position is still somewhat distant from ordinary civilians.

  The liberation of five hundred slaves, an act which gave up immense wealth, excited the interest and roused the enthusiasm of every one.

  Some people scolded Liu Xuan for being foolish and bringing ruin to his family, while others praised him for his righteous and benevolent actions. Of course, there were also those who said he was pretending to be virtuous in order to win people's hearts. But whether they were praising or criticizing him, the name of Master Xuan had become known even to three-year-old children.

  "When you grow up, don't be like Wang Gongzi, throwing away all the valuable things at home."

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  At noon, Liu Xuan arrived at the Wanjing Building in Xiangyang on time. This wine house is located outside the north city and only over 200 steps away from the dock. It's very famous in Xiangyang.

  The tavern occupies about three mu of land, with a backyard that is a vegetable garden and stable. Directly facing the official road is a two-story building, intricately carved and painted, entirely lacquered in red, quite elegant, but somewhat old and worn, with large patches of the lacquer peeling off.

  A three-zhang-high wooden pole held a triangular yellow and black flag with the words "Wangjiang Building" on one side, and a large character for "wine" on the other, which was very eye-catching.

  Liu Xuan rode his horse to the front of the tavern, dismounted and flipped over, a steward waiting in front of the tavern came forward and bowed, "Young Master Liu, our master has been waiting for a long time."

  Liu Xuan recognized that it was the first time he had met him, so he smiled and handed over the reins of his warhorse to him, quickly walking towards the gate of the tavern.

  On the second floor, in front of a window, a beautiful girl with a white fox fur cloak and a pink pleated skirt gazed at Liu Xuan as he approached. It was Tao Zhan, who had resumed her female attire. Seeing that Liu Xuan had actually handed over his precious horse to her steward, she smiled slightly, revealing an extremely lovely and charming arc.

  The sound of footsteps came, Tao Zhuo sat back in his seat, smiling and waiting for Liu Xuan to arrive. At this time, Liu Xuan was led by the waiter to the front of a seat with a screen, but as he walked around the screen, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

  Before her eyes was not Tao Zhuang, whom she had met two days ago, but a young girl about 14 or 15 years old, with double buns on her head, a face as lovely as a lotus flower, bright eyes and white teeth, extremely beautiful.

  "You are......" Liu Xuan asked hesitantly.

  Tao Zhu rose to his feet, gave a slight bow and smiled like a flower. "I am Tao Zhu's daughter, there is family business, yesterday my father rushed back to Chai Sang in urgency, he apologizes, especially ordered me today to entertain the young master on his behalf. I am the ninth child of the Tao family, you can call me Ninth Lady."

  It wasn't until Tao Zhu returned that Liu Xuan suddenly realized, and hurriedly smiled and bowed, "So it was Ninth Miss, I was rude earlier. Actually, there's no need to be so polite. Since your respected father has already left, let's meet again another day. There's really no need for you to take the trouble, miss."

  Taoyan's eyes rolled, and she smiled as she asked: "Are you saying that women of our kind shouldn't show their faces in public, or are you referring to the fact that we've never met before, and I was too forward in inviting you to dinner?"

  "None of these."

  Liu Xuan smiled awkwardly, this little girl's clever thoughts, he was referring to the former, letting such a beautiful and lovely daughter take the lead to entertain guests on his behalf, this father did not quite qualify.

  She gazed at him for a moment, then smiled and said, "I was just joking, young master. Please have a seat!"

  Two people sat opposite each other by the window, and several waiters quickly brought wine and dishes. The dishes were exquisite and expensive, but relatively light, such as steamed knife fish, raw mandarin fish, boiled turtle, etc.

  Tao Zhuang wanted to pour wine for him, but Liu Jing hurriedly grabbed the wine jug and said, "No need to trouble you, miss. I'll do it myself!"

  He poured himself a full glass of wine and smiled, asking "Would you like a cup, miss?"

  Tao Zhuang shook his head, "Young master, please go ahead. I ordered a jug of fruit juice, it will be delivered immediately."

  Just then, the wine keeper brought over a jug of fresh fruit juice. Tao Zhu poured half a cup into his own ear cup and raised it with a smile: "Young Master Jing's release of five hundred slaves is truly admirable; Ninth Lady offers this juice in place of wine, to toast Young Master."