“Are we still unable to see Lady Cai?” Liu Mang frowned inside a carriage. This was the third day Lady Cai had went to the courtyard at Jingshan. It was a nice place with mountains and rivers. Liu Mang also found this place delightful but he did not have the mood to enjoy it.
Liu Mang and Jia Xu followed Lady Cai out three days ago. However, every time Liu Mang came for a visit he was turned away. He was either told that Lady Cai was not in or there is no Lady Cai at that place. It was ridiculous because Liu Mang had obtained information about Lady Cai’s location from Jia Xu.
“That’s right.” Jia Xu replied helplessly. He was good at scheming against others but making people agree to meet him was a different matter entirely. It is not like you can beat them and drag them out if they refused to meet you.
“There is still two more days!” Liu Mang could not wait anymore. After two days, Lady Cai will return to Xiangyang. At that time she would be in Liu Biao’s residence. It would no longer be possible for Liu Mang to meet her.
“Jia Xu Jia Wenhe! If you don’t figure something out, don’t even think of taking that pill anymore!” Liu Mang said angrily. In the past few days, Jia Xu was always by Liu Mang’s side spouting nonsense and asking for the blue pills. This is because Jia Xu finally had the energy for sex. If he doesn’t do it, he may no longer have the chance to. However, Liu Mang didn’t have many of those pills and he could not recreate this genuine imported item. Liu Mang was angry because he believed that Jia Xu prioritized obtaining the pills more than his job.
“Milord! Please don’t!” Jia Xu wanted to cry. His desire for pills had nothing to do with the current problem and if he doesn’t get those pills, he would be no different from an eunuch.
“How about we break in?” Jia Xu suggested.
“Break in? Why don’t you try it first?” Liu Mang kicked Jia Xu unhappily. It was a terrible plan. Liu Mang may be skilled but even he would not be able to fight against all of Lady Cai’s guards. Those guards may not be as powerful as he is and they were not in Xiangyang. However, it was enough to alert the defenders of Xiangyang. At that time, Liu Mang would become outnumbered.
“I never said go during the day! We could go at night!” Jia Xu staggered from Liu Mang’s kick but he regained his balance faster than youngsters.
“Go at night? What do you want to discuss at night? Sex?” Liu Mang is starting to want to kill Jia Xu. Even if they visited her at night for an innocent reason, others would definitely call him a rapist.
“Then we are out of options! Nobody is allowed in except for the female servants that went out to buy cosmetics!”
“Buy cosmetics?”
Jia Xu nodded in reply. All women want to be beautiful including Lady Cai. They would want to look beautiful even if they were on holiday.
“That’s it!” Liu Mang suddenly laughed.
“Milord? Please don’t tell me you want to disguise as a female servant and put on cosmetics! You absolutely cannot do this!” Jia Xu shook his head. He might agree to break into Lady Cai’s residence. However, he would rather die to avoid crossdressing as a woman.
“You wouldn’t even be able to pull it off!” Liu Mang replied. Jia Xu had triangular eyes and a hooked nose. Who would want a female servant that looks like that? “I am talking about the female servants! Where do they go to buy cosmetics?”
“Of course they buy it inside Xiangyang!” Jia Xu replied.
“Of course! But Xiangyang is not exactly near! The travel time would be at least an hour and the journey would be uncomfortable!” Liu Mang explained. During ancient times, the people never thought of making proper roads so carriage rides were bumpy and uncomfortable. Women especially, found those journeys extremely taxing. However, these servants had to do it to buy cosmetics for their master. As women, they were the only ones who could understand cosmetics. This meant that were also unable to pass the job over to a guy.
On the other hand, it would be a different story if those selling cosmetics were the one to drop by. The servants would definitely be overjoyed with his visit.
“But Milord, even if you do that, you would not be able to enter Lady Cai’s residence.” Jia Xu commented. Once you sell the cosmetics, the buyer would simply go back into the residence. There would be no chance for Liu Mang to follow them in.
“Haha! That is only for normal cosmetic merchants. The cosmetics I sell will be different!” Liu Mang laughed.
“Different?”
“You will find out when the time comes! Let us go back and make preparations. We will return here tomorrow!” Liu Mang said. It was already dark and buying cosmetics was not possible. Liu Mang could only choose to return the next day.
****
Meanwhile, two people were playing Go in the Cai residence. One man, one woman.
“Milady, it is your turn.” The one who played white was Pang Tong, an elegant yet ugly man.
“I have lost.” Lady Cai resigned. While she was also proficient at Go, she was not good enough. She was also not a sore loser.
“Haha. I was just lucky. Milady had let me win.” Pang Tong laughed.
Both he and Lady Cai knew that while the battle on the Go board was fierce, neither of them had their hearts in it. Their true thoughts were still hidden from the other.
“This is already the third day. I hope Master Pang Tong would honor his commitment!” Lady Cai said.
“Of course! I, Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan have never broken my promise before! This is only the third day. After two more days, Miladys’ thoughts will come true.” Pang Tong replied with a smile.
“Then that would be great!” Lady Cai nodded and then added. “It is getting late and I am also getting tired. I won’t accompany you anymore.”
“I also will not bother Milady anymore! Please.” Pang Tong nodded and then stood up to send her off respectfully.
After Lady Cai left with her servants, Pang Tong smiled.
“Military Advisor is talented. With this stratagem, that Fake King Liu Mang will definitely have to return feeling disappointed! Yangzhou will also collapse from not having enough provisions!” Pang Tong’s subordinate flattered.
“We cannot be careless! There is still two more days. Things would only be certain after two days!” Pang Tong did not immediately revel in joy and remained cautious. He cannot keep on losing. The only time he won was when he killed Liu Mang’s envoy. He lost every other time. That was why he had to persevere until the end.
“I must give Liu Mang a crushing defeat after two days!” Pang Tong said fiercely.
“Military Advisor. What should we do about the Lumen Academy?” Pang Tong had used the Lumen Academy to entice Lady Cai to not meet Liu Mang. Normally, Lady Cai would have to meet Liu Mang as he was the King of Shu and also technically her nephew. There was also the Cai Family’s relationship with the Kuai Family so she had to give Liu Mang some face.
However, the Pang Family was the family that established the Lumen Academy so they had plenty of influence that they could use. Pang Tong had told Lady Cai that he would have the Lumen Academy support her son-in-law Liu Zong.
Although the Lumen Academy was not a governmental group, sixty to eighty percent of the government officials all came from their academy. This meant that they had that influence.
The reason why Lady Cai was worried about the Lumen Acadmey is because of Liu Biao’s eldest son Liu Qi. The Lumen Academy followed Confucianism which says that the eldest son was the one to inherit the father’s position. The Cai Family and the Kuai Family supported Liu Zong so they were not afraid of Liu Qi’s influence. However, if the Lumen Academy got involved, Liu Qi would still be the one inheriting the position.
Pang Tong simply told Lady Cai that as long as she cooperated, the Lumen Academy would support Liu Zong. It was convincing as Pang Tong was potential successor of the Lumen Academy. His words in the Lumen Academy held weight. There was also Pang Shanmin. However, Pang Shanmin was an honest person. It was a trait as a model nobleman but it also meant that he was naïve. This meant that it was more likely for Pang Tong to be named the successor.
Lady Cai did not need the Lumen Academy’s support. She just needed them to not support Liu Qi. That was why she did as he asked.
Pang Tong’s subordinate asked that strange question because moving the Lumen Academy might be a problem.
“My uncle would probably name me successor.” Pang Tong muttered. Before this, he would say that his uncle will name him successor but now he himself is not so certain. This is because his uncle’s attitude towards him had changed a lot. Pang Tong did not know what his uncle was thinking of. Although his uncle still showed him love, Pang Tong could sense the man’s unease.
“He definitely will!” Pang Tong said again to set his mind at ease. If the Pang Family was given to Pang Shanmin, their family would stop being influential. Their family would only become a normal noble family. This is because Pang Shanmin does not strive for anything.
“Whether I actually give them my support once I become the head of the Pang Family is a different story!” Pang Tong sneered. He had no intentions of following up with his promise since it was normal for influential families to deceive each other. If it was beneficial for him, he would betray her interests.
First he had to deal with Liu Mang and annex Yangzhou. Jingzhou would then be the next target. Whether he supported Liu Zong or Liu Qi depended on who would be more useful to Liu Bei.
“What great talent!” Pang Tong’s subordinate flattered again. After that, Pang Tong also went and rest after a long day.
***
“Milady. Can this Pang Tong be trusted? Would he really support Lord Zong?” If Pang Tong had a subordinate, Lady Cai would also have one.
“Could it be a lie?” Lady Cai herself did not know. However, she valued the Cai Family too much. If her husband becomes the successor, the Cai Family would be in a lofty position. If Liu Qi becomes the successor, the Cai Family might be purged just like the Deng Family. Lady Cai would not permit such a conclusion. That was why she immediately agreed when Pang Tong said that the Lumen Academy would support Liu Zong.
“It does not matter whether his words were a lie. I simply wanted to befriend that Pang Tong Pang Shiyuan. It would be great if we could at least guarantee that he stays neutral!” That was all Lady Cai asked for.
“Alright, that is enough of this topic. There is still two more days. Go and prepare for our return trip to Xiangyang!”
“Understood.” The female servant nodded and went to make preparations.
***
“The barbarian woke up?” Liu Mang received this information once he returned to Kuai Liang’s residence. Using the marital reasons as an excuse, he had continued to stay at Kuai Liang’s residence just so he could leave the city easier.
The barbarian who had been unconscious for the past few days had finally woken up. If he had not been given medical treatment, he would have died much earlier.
“I will go and see him first.” Liu Mang said. He was the one that took the barbarian in so naturally he had to be the one to solve this issue.
Chen Kang then led Liu Mang to a heavily guarded room. The outside of the room was in a mess.
“What happened here?” Liu Mang asked.
“Your Highness. The barbarian ran amok after waking up and injured a few female servants. A few of Master Jia Xu’s warriors then forced the barbarian back into the room.” Chen Kang replied. He was saying that he did not dare to personally handle this matter since Liu Mang was the one that brought the barbarian in. Chen Kang could only keep the barbarian in the room until Liu Mang returned to handle this matter.
“He injured others?” Liu Mang’s expression worsen. This is because the barbarian had almost killed him before. Finding out that the barbarian did it to save his princess didn’t make him feel any better.
“Come here!” Liu Mang called out to two of the female servants at the side. He could see that they had been crying earlier.
Those female servants were scared witless as they approached Liu Mang. They feared that they would get punished for whatever reason.
“How are you all?” Liu Mang’s words helped them to relax.
“We are all right, there are no problems!” The servants shook their heads. They did not dare to tell Liu Mang that they had been beaten up. Chen Kang also did not bring the matter up. Since the barbarian had been brought over by Liu Mang, he was afraid that Liu Mang would feel awkward if he were to mention this.
“If that is the case then why are you all crying?” Liu Mang asked back. “Eh? Weren’t there three of you?” Liu Mang remembered that three servants were assigned by Chen Kang to take care of the barbarian.
“Sister Yun Er had already gone to take a rest.” The servant carefully replied.
“Rest?” Liu Mang sneered at the lie. Female servants have no status so they generally had no breaks. If their master needs them, they had to stay behind. Even if they wanted to rest, they had to rest outside their master’s door.
“Explain it to me properly. What happened here?” Liu Mang’s expression turned cold. He knew that the female servants and Chen Kang would not give him a proper explanation to make things less awkward for him. However, the female servants are the only ones that would get hurt from this. As Liu Mang was already exposed to the battlefield, even veteran soldiers would be terrified of his cold expression. The female servants were no different.
“Sister Yun Er was injured by that man and was taken away to be treated!” The servants spoke out.
“Injured?”
“She spat out blood.” They continued.
“Your Highness, it is just a female servant.” Chen Kang tried to downplay this incident.
“That’s right. It is just a female servant.” Liu Mang sighed. He had already accepted that this was no longer his time. Even in his time there were privileged people and the not privileged people. Female servants belong to the latter.
The two servants became downcast. They initially thought that Liu Mang would stand up for them.
“However, she is still a Han person. One needs my permission if you want to hit them. Other people have no qualifications to harm them!” Liu Mang coldly added.
“Your Highness!”
“Hmph! Impudent barbarian! Men! Bring me my sword!”
After grabbing his sword, Liu Mang rushed into the room.
“A Han? A worthless person!” The barbarian saw who intruded into the room and sneered. He could remember Liu Mang and stepped forward to face him.
“Courting death!” Liu Mang sneered. He was looking for the barbarian to settle accounts with him. It saved him time now that the barbarian also came after him.
Before this, he was almost killed by this barbarian because of Kuai Ran. Now, Liu Mang was able to fight properly. The moment the battle started, Liu Mang could tell that the barbarian was physically stronger than him but less skilled. As Liu Mang had a sword, the barbarian soon found himself at a disadvantage.
“Despicable Han! You have a weapon!” The barbarian complained. As a powerful warrior, he was angry that he was suppressed by Liu Mang.
“Fine! Take your weapon!” The barbarian’s pitchfork also happened to be in the room. Liu Mang sent the pitchfork over with his sword
“Let’s go!” The barbarian twirled the pitchfork with a satisfied expression and then asked with disdain. “Are you afraid?”
“Afraid? I am only afraid this place is not suitable to be your grave! Let us go to the courtyard!” Liu Mang replied and started walking. The barbarian followed behind him.
“Alright. This is a good place!” Liu Mang stopped.
“Accept your death!” The barbarian became stronger after obtaining a pitchfork but it was not good enough. Liu Mang had learned plenty of sword techniques from Xu Shu. Although Xu Shu was now a scholar, he was initially a knight-errant. Xu Shu’s style was quick and heavy which his suitable for Liu Mang who used a heavy shield for a weapon.
“Han person! You are not strong enough!” The barbarian said to Liu Mang as their weapons locked. If the barbarian put in a little more strength, Liu Mang would have been cut by his own blade.
“Are you sure?” Liu Mang increased the amount of strength he used. He didn’t know why but his strength had multiplied ever since coming to this world. The barbarian who had the benefits of a longer weapon and had been prepared to capture Liu Mang realized that he had made a mistake.
“Come and kill me!” Liu Mang shouted and attacked with his sword. When the barbarian tried to receive the attack, he became shocked. The force was so strong that the barbarian dropped his weapon.
Liu Mang then took this opportunity to advance and slap the barbarian in the face.
“You are courting death!” The barbarian shouted angrily. It did not matter what race they were, people generally hated getting slapped in the face.
“This is only the beginning!” Liu Mang mocked.
“Die!” The barbarian imposing manner erupted like a tiger, pushing Liu Mang back. As Liu Mang had wrestled with a tiger before, he felt as though he was now fighting a tiger instead of a man.
The barbarian then threw himself at Liu Mang like a tiger leaping towards its prey.
“Bring it on!” Liu Mang advanced without the use of his sword when he saw the barbarian pounce at him. As the two struggled, they crashed into one of the rooms in Kuai Liang’s residence.
“Hm? Hu Zi?” The barbarian princess who was in another room suddenly stood up. “Hu Zi is still alive!” She shouted and rushed out of the room.
“Miss! You cannot leave!” One of Jia Xu’s subordinate tried to stop her.
“Move aside!” The barbarian princess shouted but Jia Xu’s subordinate did not move. Feeling desperate, she shouted for him to move aside again as she charged towards him.
“Excuse me!” The third grade warrior lowered his head and stepped forward. It was his responsibility to keep her in the room. He saw that the barbarian princess was rushing at him fiercely so he prepared to defend himself.
Instead, the barbarian princess took this chance to grab onto the beam of the building and quickly climbed onto the roof.
“What? Stop right there!” Jia Xu’s subordinate was shocked and he was unable to keep up with her. Initially there were three guards posted here but two were sent to deal with the barbarian. Now he was the only one watching over the barbarian princess but she managed to get past him.
“Hu Zi! Hu Zi!” The barbarian princess ignored Jia Xu’s subordinate and desperately rushed towards the tiger’s roar that was growing louder. Others would not know but she could tell that this was the roar of a tiger willing to risk his life to kill his mortal enemy.
