Liu Mang walked towards the front hall where he found a man walking back and forth anxiously. Liu Mang looked at the man in doubt. Against his expectations, the man looked more like a warrior instead of a scholar. This was the first warrior to approach him in Jingzhou.
When Liu Mang called out to the warrior, the warrior immediately turned towards Liu Mang and knelt down. “This Deng Tian kowtows to His Highness the King of Shu!”
“Deng Tian?” Liu Mang was stunned. He remembered seeing Deng Tian when he was travelling to Kuai Liang’s place with Kuai Ran. He almost had a conflict with Liu Mang over the barbarian princess.
As Deng Tian was someone from the Huang Family, it was abnormal for him to go looking for Liu Mang.
“Quickly get up. There is no need to be too courteous.” Liu Mang was filled with suspicion but he still stepped forward to support Deng Tian.
“Many thanks, Your Highness.” Deng Tian stood up but remained respectful. Liu Mang did not bother rectifying him.
“Brother Kainan. Come and sit! Someone bring over two cups of tea!”
“Yes!”
“Brother Kainan. Is something the matter?” Liu Mang inquired. He had tried to bring Deng Tian over to his side before but Deng Tian had rejected. He never expected Deng Tian to visit now.
The moment Liu Mang asked, Deng Tian immediately knelt down again. “Your Highness! This peasant requests Your Highness to save him!”
“Hm? Stand up and speak.” Liu Mang could not have understood what Deng Tian wanted.
“Your Highness! I beg you to save my family!” Deng Tian refused to stand without Liu Mang’s promise.
“Family?” Liu Mang was moved. Liu Mang appreciated Deng Tian, not just because of Deng Tian’s own talent but also because of his son Deng Fan, who would later become Deng Ai. If it was just Deng Tian, Liu Mang could act indifferent but he would not pass up the chance of obtaining Deng Ai.
“Brother Kainan. Why did you come to me for help?” Liu Mang wanted to ask for the real reason. The Deng Family’s enemy was the Cai Family while their protectors were the Huang Family. So it was strange for Deng Tian to ask Liu Mang for help.
“Your Highness, it is a long story.” Deng Tian smiled wryly.
When Deng Tian allowed Liu Mang to go that day, he did not know of Liu Mang’s identity. He only found out about Liu Mang’s identity when he accompanied Huang She.
It was also because of Liu Mang that Deng Tian ended up in his unfavorable situation. He caused Huang She to be thrown into prison. Although Huang She was later released, many others suffered as backlash.
Huang She’s hatred for Liu Mang grew. The Huang Family’s housekeeper took this opportunity to curry favor and retaliate against Deng Tian. He told Huang She about that day’s event, immediately bringing disaster to Deng Tian.
Originally, Deng Tian’s ‘punishment’ given to him by the Huang Brothers was to have his son become an apprentice to a craftsman. This would make sure that Deng Tian’s son would never be able to reach the upper layer of society. Deng Tian did not mind this at all as he wanted his son to live peacefully. It was a better option than how the Deng Family fought for influence and wealth only to get schemed against.
However, Huang She now wanted to send Deng Fan to a place where they train death soldiers. Deng Tian who used to be the head of the Deng Family naturally knew what death soldiers were. They were a group of people that would sacrifice their lives for their Lord.
To become a death soldier, one must go through hellish conditions to enforce their loyalty. They were not only brainwashed but also tortured. Some even had their tongues cut off so they were unable to leak secrets or made deaf so that it would be harder to instigate them.
Besides that, the ‘training’ also had high fatality rate. Out of a hundred children, only about four would manage to become death soldiers. The others either died in training or killed by their own companions.
Deng Tian wanted to resist but his wife and his children was still in the hands of the Huang Family. Others would have just abandoned their son and give birth to another one. However, Deng Tian could not do this having treasured his family even more after the downfall of the Deng Family. Deng Tian did not go to the Kuai Family for help due to their relationship to the Cai Family. Desperate, he ended up going to Liu Mang.
“Deng Ai is being made into a death soldier?” Liu Mang stood up in shock. Deng Ai was like the Zhuge Liang of the later stage of the Three Kingdoms. For a person like that to be made into a death soldier was truly bad. He would rather have Deng Ai be killed by Huang She. If Deng Ai was brainwashed into an enemy, there would be huge problems in the future. One Pang Tong was already enough to keep him busy.
“Who is Deng Ai?” Deng Tian was confused.
“This Huang She wants to make Deng Fan a death soldier? Ridiculous!” Liu Mang responded properly this time. Deng Fan haven’t changed his name yet.
“Brother Kainan, please stand. I will help if I can.” Liu Mang promised but then his shoulder was immediately pulled back by Jia Xu.
“Milord. We have to discuss about this matter.” Jia Xu interrupted after having stayed silent for so long.
“What is there to discuss?” Liu Mang asked. The Huang Family was already his mortal enemy, there was no harm in offending them even further.
“Milord. This does not offend only the Huang Family. You will also offend the Cai Family!”
At this point, Liu Mang remembered that the Cai Family was the one that wiped out the Deng Family. Protecting the Deng Family meant offending the Cai Family. It would not have mattered last time but now Liu Mang and the Cai Family were allies.
“Your Highness! I beg of you to save my son!” Deng Tian slammed his head on the floor, staining it with blood.
“Brother Kainan, get up first. Let us take our time to make a decision.” Liu Mang felt unpleasant looking at Deng Tian but also knew that he could not offend the Cai Family anymore.
“Milord. Do not forget the dinner invitation by Cai Degui.” Jia Xu reminded. He was not heartless but as a strategist, he had to consider obtaining the best deals for his Lord.
Deng Tian was just one warrior. To offend the Cai Family for Deng Tian was not worth it.
“Take the time to make a decision?” Deng Tian smiled wryly and shook his head. This was the result even though his forehead was bloody. He believed that Liu Mang was only procrastinating. At the same time, he also knew that his son was running out of time. His son had already been dragged away after all.
“Your Highness. This peasant won’t make things difficult for Your Highness. Just pretend that this peasant have never visited. This peasant will take his leave.” Deng Tian said. He also knew that he alone was not worth offending the Cai Family and the Huang Family.
Liu Mang felt very awkward seeing Deng Tian’s dull expression.
“Milord. Do you remember Lady Cai’s words?” Jia Xu dispelled Liu Mang’s urges.
“I…” As Deng Tian walked further, Liu Mang’s quickly considered his options.
“Wait!” Liu Mang suddenly shouted to Deng Tian.
“Milord! Please reconsider!” Jia Xu could not understand Liu Mang at all as the Cai Family brought more benefits than Deng Tian.
“Wenhe. Isn’t the White Horses lacking a Deputy General? This man is sufficient!” Liu Mang laughed.
“The Deputy General of the White Horses?” Jia Xu felt helpless. He appreciated Deng Tian’s talents but still could not consider offending the Cai Family.
Liu Mang also would not have considered it if Deng Tian was alone. However, he felt that his decision would be worth it if it also included Deng Ai. On top of that, he may not necessarily offend the Cai Family with his plan.
“Brother Kainan! I can help you with your problem!” Liu Mang said to Deng Tian.
“What? Your Highness, can you say that again?” Deng Tian was shocked due to the sudden blessing.
“Milord said that your son and family can be saved!” Jia Xu repeated in a bad mood.
“Your Highness! This is…” Deng Tian did not know what to say. He really had nowhere else to go and Liu Mang unexpectedly offered him help.
“Brother Kainan. I can help you but I must say that after I help you, you can no longer appear at Jingzhou! On top of that, you must change your name! I am sure Brother Kainan can understand why.” Liu Mang gave his conditions. Deng Tian had to change his name or else they would offend the Cai Family.
“Of course!” Deng Tian nodded. This was not an issue for him at all. He also knew of the relationship between the Cai Family and Liu Mang. “Your Highness. I can change my name but what of my son?” Deng Tian then asked. The people of those times placed heavy importance in their surnames. Deng Tian was willing to change his surname but if his only heir, Deng Fan, were to change his surname as well then Deng Family would disappear.
“Brother Kainan. Your son have to change his name but he can keep his surname.” Liu Mang said selfishly. Only Deng Tian actually needed to change his name as no one would pay attention to his son. Even so, Liu Mang wanted Deng Fan to change his name to Deng Ai.
“Ai? Deng Ai?” Deng Tian read the name. He initially named his son Deng Fan, inspired by the words written on Chen Shi’s tombstone. The word Fan itself meant role model.
“Ai can mean the medicinal grass. It has a pharmaceutical meaning. The Han Dynasty is sick so I hope your son can learn enough to become the medicine that will save the people!”
“Help the people and save the world?” Deng Tian did not dare have such aspirations. He only hoped his son could live peacefully. Yet, he could not refuse when the King of Shu already said this much.
All of this because Liu Mang hated the name Deng Fan. It was a “good for nothing” (fantong) name.
“Brother Kainan. Do you have anywhere to go once you leave Jingzhou?” Liu Mang asked, revealing his true intentions.
After thinking for a while, Deng Tian shook his head. He had nowhere to go but he was smart enough to know that Liu Mang would already have thought of a place for him. “I will do as Your Highness instructs.”
“In that case, go to Yangzhou. My White Horses at Yangzhou is currently lacking a Deputy General. I hope Brother Kainan can consider.”
“The White Horses?” Deng Tian was surprised as he had heard of the famous White Horses before. The fact that Liu Mang requested for him to be a Deputy General in the White Horses showed how much respect Liu Mang had for him. Deng Tian had expected to become a guard or the leader of a small group. He had also planned to strive his best even if that was the case. Yet he was suddenly nominated as the Deputy General of the White Horses.
“Your Highness! How can this Deng Tian receive such a huge favor?” Deng Tian tried to refuse.
“If I said you can do it that means you can do it. Why do you need to refuse?” Liu Mang laughed knowing that Deng Tian had the skillset to be a Deputy General.
“In that case, this Deng Tian can only spare no effort for Your Highness!” Deng Tian said gratefully. Liu Mang had promised to help his family and even given him back his position.
“You are still addressing me as Your Highness?” Liu Mang laughed.
“This Deng Tian greets Milord and will dedicate his life for Milord!” Deng Tian knelt down again, happily.
After that Liu Mang summoned Guan Hai and Zhou Cang. He also got the layout of the Huang Family’s home from Jia Xu and Deng Tian. There, they planned how to rescue Deng Tian’s family. Although Guan Hai was injured, Zhou Cang was still around. On top of that, Deng Tian also wanted to participate. It would be unlikely for the Huang Family to have someone that could best the three of them.
“Go!” Liu Mang ordered. Helping Deng Tian needed to be done quickly or Deng Ai would be in peril.
