“Assemble the soldiers!” The order was given. As their shift was just about to end, the soldiers could only gather exhaustedly.
“Move faster!” All the commanders pushed their subordinates. This is because Liu Biao gave a death order. If they do not gather within an hour, all of their heads would roll.
“Li Er! What is going on? Why are we gathering the troops at this hour?” One soldier asked.
“How would I know?” The soldier named Li Er replied in a bad mood. He was just hit in the face by his superior officer for being slow. There were many other victims who cursed like Li Er.
“Did Jiangdong attack?” One person asked skeptically. Xiangyang was one of Jingzhou’s richest area and it was far behind the front lines. If the enemy could reach Xiangyang, then it would mean Jingzhou was about to fall. The soldiers stationed in Xiangyang also seldom seen battle. Plenty of influential people have their children serve here because it was safe.
The possibility of this being an attack from Jiangdong was shocking to many. Although the frontlines was far and a distant thing to them, Jingzhou had more losses than wins. So these soldiers were aware of the enemy’s strength.
“If the soldiers in Jiangxia can’t win, how could we?” One person panicked. Although these people all looked down on the soldiers in Jiangxia for needing to brave death despite not having plenty of provisions, they all knew that these soldiers were superior in war.
“Win? Are you all idiots? If the Jiangxia troops cannot win, we would most likely end up surrendering immediately!”
“That’s right! But then why are we gathering here?”
Meanwhile, the soldiers were being observed by Kuai Yue and the others.
“Brother Degui. Are these your elites?” Kuai Yue asked his friend in disappointment as he looked at the panicking soldiers.
“Haha. This is simply too sudden.” Cai Mao awkwardly gave an excuse. Normally, Cai Mao who had direct control of Xiangyang’s troops could be seen bragging that his army was better than Huang Zu’s. He would say that Sun Ce would have long been defeated if it was not because he had to protect Xiangyang. However, others could now see that his men were all pathetic.
“Brother Degui. You should not only think of money.” Kuai Yue patted Cai Mao’s shoulder.
“Kuai Yidu! You say it as though you would earn less!” Cai Mao replied in a bad mood. One third of the employees were noble children that paid money to Cai Mao to slack off in the army. One third went to curry favor with Liu Biao and the last group went to Kuai Yue.
“Really?” It was Kuai Yue’s turn to feel awkward. He could not remember but there was a person that curried favor with Kuai Yue and ended up recommended as a 1000-man commander.
“Aside from Wen Pin and Huang Zu, isn’t the two of us the one having complete control over the flow of money?” Cai Mao smiled confidently. The army needed provisions so Cai Mao paid a lot of attention to his navy. His navy were genuine elites. However, Cai Mao’s real trump card was his wealth. If he controlled the flow of money, Wen Pin and Huang Zu would be forced to obey him.
Kuai Yue did not agree or refute Cai Mao. He looked at the disorderly mob for a while and then asked, “Have you sent the messenger?”
“I have already dispatched him.” Cai Mao nodded. He did not know what was going on but it was better to be prepared.
“I have to really thank you for having this position. Otherwise, the messenger would not have arrived in time!” Kuai Yue teased. These men were so disorderly that they took a very long time to assemble. This bought them time. If the soldiers were properly trained, they would have already set out for Jingshan.
Liu Biao waited for an hour. He then got up on his horse and coldly looked at Kuai Yue and Cai Mao. After giving the order to set out, he and five thousand soldiers galloped to Jingshan.
***
“Miss Xiao Cui! Someone wants to see the Lady!” The guard Zhang Hong reported.
“Didn’t I say that she is not seeing anyone?” Xiao Cui immediately refused.
“No, this is not an outsider but someone sent by Military Advisor Cai!”
“Military Advisor Cai?” Xiao Cui quickly stood up. Cai Mao was her Lord so the person he dispatched would be an important person.
“Why did Military Advisor Cai sent someone over for?” Xiao Cui asked. Lady Cai could not meet anyone at the moment and Xiao Cui was also unable to go and personally receive this guest.
“I don’t know. That person did not say. He simply said that he needed to meet Lady Cai.”
“I understand. Bring this person to the lobby and tell him that the Lady will come soon.” Xiao Cui wanted to reject the man entry but as the man may have something important to discuss, she could only let him him.
“I understand.” Zhang Hong replied and left.
Meanwhile, the messenger was anxiously waiting for Lady Cai. Initially he thought of rushing in but the guards stopped him. Even if he was one of Cai Mao’s men, Cai Mao would not be able to protect him from Lady Cai’s anger.
When he saw Zhang Hong come out, he immediately stepped forward to ask for Lady Cai. “Where is the Lady?”
“Do not be so anxious. The Lady said to wait at the lobby for a while. She will come out soon.” Zhang Hong replied to the messenger.
“No! There is not enough time! Let me see her immediately!” The messenger said and tried to rush in again. He was immediately stopped by two swords being pointed at his face.
“How dare you!” The guards shouted. In the end, the messenger could only grit his teeth and left for the lobby.
At the lobby, the impatient messenger walked back and forth endlessly. Xiao Cui who approached with a tray also saw this and furrowed her brows.
When the messenger heard someone approaching him, he turned and immediately shouted. “Milady!” However, when he saw that it was Xiao Cui, he quickly asked, “Where is the Lady?”
“The Lady will come soon, she told me to serve you tea first.”
“No! There is only about an hour left before he comes!” The messenger’s anxiety worsened.
“What do you mean? I am the Lady’s personal servant. I can relay any message for you immediately.” Xiao Cui replied.
“Sigh. I will just say it then! The Lord of Jingzhou will arrive in less than an hour!” The messenger made up his mind and explained. If he had waited any longer, the message won’t be delivered in time so he did not have much of a choice.
“What? What did you say? Say it again!” Xiao Cui asked again. She could not believe her ears. The messenger then repeated himself.
“No. This is not good.” Xiao Cui shook her head. How could Lady Cai meet anyone right now? If Liu Biao saw Lady Cai in that state, everyone in this residence would die.
“Did Military Advisor Cai say why the Lord of Jingzhou is coming?” Xiao Cui asked wanting to know why.
“Military Advisor Cai himself does not know. There was an assassin earlier. A guard was killed and a letter was found on his body. The Lord of Jingzhou decided to come here after reading the letter! Military Advisor Cai did not know the reason for this but told us to come here ahead of time to inform the Lady when he saw the Lord of Jingzhou’s expression! Please quickly inform the Lady!”
“I understand! Please rest here for a while, I will notify the Lady immediately!” Xiao Cui knew how serious this was and immediately started running. She had to stop that sexual activity no matter what. When she arrived, her face started to grow hot again from the sounds of moaning. Yet, she ignored all that and intruded anyway. This time, she saw Liu Mang on top.
Xiao Cui started by calling out to Lady Cai but it didn’t work. Then she called out to Liu Mang only for him to pull her down and started raping her as well. Xiao Cui found the experience initially painful but then started to immerse herself in it. Suddenly she was pushed aside by Lady Cai who immediately took over.
At this moment, Xiao Cui finally remembered why she was here. She gritted her teeth to resist the pain she felt from the experience and took the cold water that was placed nearby. She then apologized before pouring the cold water on their sexual parts.
As it was winter, the cold water was colder than usual. Liu Mang’s hot body immediately cooled down and he regained his sanity.
“What did I…?” Liu Mang opened his eyes and vaguely remembered having sex with the whitish figure. However, he could not remember which of his three wives this person was.
“Your Highness!”
“Hm?” Liu Mang turned around and saw another girl with blood on her body. “Miss Xiao Cui?”
“Your Highness! You have finally woken up!” Xiao Cui started to cry.
“What happened?” Liu Mang asked as he looked at her appearance. He then realized that he had probably raped her.
“Miss Xiao Cui! Don’t cry! I will take responsibility!” Liu Mang quickly blurted out. He was afraid of crying women. He was able to resist Qian Yu only because that woman was too strong headed. However, when he tried to console her, she cried even harder.
“Where is the Lady?” Liu Mang tried to change the subject.
“Milady is… Milady in your arms!” Xiao Cui cried out.
“What?” Liu Mang was flabbergasted and took a second look at the naked woman in his arms. It was indeed Lady Cai.
“More!” Liu Mang’s movement was felt by Lady Cai and she moved to kiss Liu Mang.
“No! We cannot do this!” Liu Mang was about to lose himself again but he struggled to keep himself sane. He realized that his reactions were not normal. Even a vulgar person would have retained more control of himself from just skin contact. He looked at the nearby wreckage they caused from their activity and found a porcelain shard.
“Your Highness! Don’t!” Xiao Cui shouted as Liu Mang stabbed himself with the shard. Liu Mang had to do this to keep himself sane. Blood flowed down from his wound to the floor.
“Ah!” Xiao Cui covered her eyes and screamed.
“Haha.” Liu Mang laughed as his thoughts became clear. His sexual drive was replaced with pain. The unnatural heat in his body also dissipated.
He then looked at Lady Cai and understood what just happened. “Zui Xian Si!” Liu Mang gnashed his teeth in anger. He really did not expect to encounter this drug a second time. On top of that, he and Lady Cai both consumed it.
“Could it be that drink?” Liu Mang wondered as he thought of how he ended up poisoned.
“What drink?” Xiao Cui asked.
“Xiao Cui. What is in that drink you served us?” Liu Mang asked as Xiao Cui was the one that served the drink.
“That drink? Your Highness! Are you suspecting that drink?”
“Yes! Xiao Cui! What did you put in that drink?” Liu Mang questioned. He wanted Xiao Cui to immediately give him an answer.
“I did not prepare it!” Xiao Cui tried to defend herself.
“It was not you?” Liu Mang looked at her with a bit of distrust. He eventually believed her because Xiao Cui was now also a victim herself. Besides that, she seemed genuine to Lady Cai. She would be too frightening if everything had been fake.
“It is Xiao Liang! Yes! It must be her! She is the one that said she wanted to meet Your Highness!”
“Xiao Lian?” Liu Mang finally remembered the other girl. “Why did she want to harm me?” Liu Mang thought to himself. Now that something happened between him and Lady Cai, what would the consequences be? If Liu Biao or Lady Cai pursued this matter, he would not be able to obtain provisions for Yangzhou. There might even be war between Jingzhou and Yangzhou. Who would benefit from this?
“No, it is not Xiao Lian!” Liu Mang gnashed his teeth angrily. The only possible suspect was Pang Tong. Although Liu Mang was also enemies with Cai Mao and Huang She, Cai Mao would not harm his own sister to get to him. His sister has already give birth to a son. This method could cause Liu Zong’s demise. When that happens, the Cai Family would not be far off. On the other hand, Huang She is too stupid to make such a plan. The only one who could do this was Pang Tong.
“Your Highness! This is not the time to be thinking of such things! The Lord of Jingzhou, Liu Biao, is coming soon!”
“Liu Biao is coming?” Liu Mang felt like he wanted to cry. If Liu Biao sees this, even Lu Bu would not be able to save him. “When is he coming?”
“Just now, a messenger said that he would be coming in less than an hour!” Xiao Cui replied. It was not like she could tell Liu Mang how long he had been having sex.
“Milord! This is good news! For some reason, Liu Biao is coming here!” Jia Xu’s voice was suddenly heard from outside Lady Cai’s room. Since Liu Mang was spending time with Lady Cai, someone else would be entertaining Jia Xu. Jia Xu obtained information from them that Liu Biao was coming. This is good news because Liu Mang could not meet Liu Biao at all before this. Now that Liu Biao was coming personally, the chances for getting Liu Biao to provide provisions would be much higher.
“What do you mean good news? If he sees this, you might as well prepare a funeral!” Liu Mang replied in a bad mood. “Jia Xu! You must go and stall Liu Biao as long as possible!”
Liu Mang looked back at the mess in the room. This mess had to be cleaned up or he would die. Since cleaning up the mess would take some time, he could only get Jia Xu to stall Liu Biao.
“Huh?” Jia Xu was confused.
“Why are you still here? If I die, I will definitely drag you down with me!”
“Why would Milord die when Liu Biao comes?” Jia Xu asked himself. As he was good at gathering information, he easily reached a conclusion just by following the clues. Jia Xu laughed bitterly at this but secretly approved. He then left to wait for Liu Biao.
Meanwhile, Lady Cai was still possessed by the Zui Xian Si. If Liu Mang wanted to awaken Lady Cai, he needed to first detoxify her.
“Xiao Cui. Give me half an hour. I will wake the Lady up! If Liu Biao came first, tell him that the Lady is sick!” Liu Mang said. Although he was honest with Xiao Cui, he still needed to chase her away first.
Xiao Cui nodded and left understandingly. She knew about the drug and the detoxification method. So she left to look for clothes for both Lady Cai and Liu Mang.
As Liu Mang’s hands was still injured, he could not use it to detoxify Lady Cai and had sex with her again.
Meanwhile, Liu Biao was rushing towards Jingshan on his horse. This was the second time he personally rode out on his horse towards his destination. The first time was when he went to fight against Sun Jian. This time, he rode to Jingshan because of a letter.
He did not show the contents of the letter to Cai Mao and Kuai Yue. This is because the contents written in it was a humiliation. He would lose face if he showed it to anyone.
Kuai Yue and Cai Mao were riding behind Liu Biao. Their butts were sore as they also had not rode the horse for a long time. However, the two kept silent and did not voice their complaints. This is because Liu Biao was cold and frightening. The letter Liu Biao received said that Lady Cai was making love at her residence at Jingshan.
