Chapter 12: Instant Kill Target (Part 1)

  "Really?" Xu Shu's eyes widened in incredulity as he sat up straight and stared at Wang Xu.

  But then he said disdainfully, "Even if that's the case, it's not a big deal. During the late Han and Three Kingdoms periods, things had already thoroughly declined, and apart from Wang Can, no one else of any worth emerged."

  "This is not necessarily the case! In my estimation, there are probably three that I should have known before. Although their reputation is small, they can also be considered to have made a name for themselves. In the late Han and Three Kingdoms period when such talents were as common as cow hair, it was extremely difficult to get the opportunity to step onto the edge of the stage."

  "Huh? Really? How is that possible? I should know the famous figures of the Three Kingdoms!" Xu Shu looked at Wang Xu with a puzzled expression and asked.

  "I didn't say they were very famous." After smiling slightly at Xu Shu, Wang Xu furrowed his brow again. "Actually, our records here are different from the official histories, adaptations, plays, and folk tales, so I don't dare to confirm many things. At least I didn't know before that my current grandfather Wang Chuan had so many sons. In history, it seems only his son Wang Qian was mentioned, who is now my third uncle. He seemed to have served under He Jin. And did we even know about the existence of internal skill techniques before? It never occurred to me that internal skills were real, I almost thought this was some senior's martial arts novel."

  "Haha! It's not the same, so what's the difference? What's the big deal? Why bother? Just tell me about the famous people in the Wang family and their stories, I'm super interested now!"

  Seeing Xu Shu not taking his words seriously, Wang Xu let out a faint sigh. His heart was as clear as a mirror, so he would naturally worry. If this world had completely surpassed his grasp and there was no knowledge from later generations to pave the way, then he would be on the same starting line as ordinary people of this era.

  If so, he really had no bottom in his heart for the future. But Wang Xu didn't want to bring these troubles to Xushu, so he didn't want to say much about this issue.

  Putting aside his worries, Wang Xu carefully recalled the books he had read before and slowly began to tell Xu Shu.

  "Let's start with the more famous ones! First, there is Wang Kai, the son of my uncle. According to the records in 'Museum Records' and 'Wang Bi's Separate Biography', during the late Han Dynasty, Wang Can and his cousin Wang Kai fled to Jingzhou to avoid disaster. At that time, Liu Biao valued Wang Can's talent and wanted to marry his daughter to him. However, he also thought that Wang Can was not very good-looking, so he turned around and married his daughter to Wang Kai instead."

  "The two people had a few children, but the book doesn't say. However, they had one son named Wang Ye who was quite famous. This is because Wang Ye had two outstanding sons, Wang Hong and Wang Bi. The older brother Wang Hong became a high-ranking official, while the younger brother Wang Bi was a philosopher of the Wei Dynasty's later period. I don't remember what kind of official he held, but his works include 'Commentary on the Book of Changes', 'A Brief Explanation of the Book of Changes', 'Commentary on Laozi', 'A Brief Explanation of Laozi', and 'Interpretation of the Analects'. He also had remarkable achievements in philosophy and had a great influence on later generations."

  As he spoke, Wang Xu looked at Xue Shu, who was listening with great interest, and added: "By the way, in 'Weishi Chunqiu' it is said that after Wang Can's death, his two sons were killed by Cao Pi for their involvement in Wei Ao's rebellion. In 'Wenxian Zhi', it is also recorded that at that time, Cao Cao was very regretful and thought that if he had not been on the front line fighting against Han Zhong, but in the rear, Wang Can would not have died without an heir. So, Cao Cao adopted Wang Kai's son, Wang Ye, as Wang Can's son, to inherit his title, and became a official until he was dismissed due to illness and died at the age of 24! Unfortunately, many historical records are lost, and I only saw them in Pei Songzhi's annotations on 'Records of the Three Kingdoms'."

  Xu Shu was extremely surprised after listening to Wang Xu's long speech. "Your memory is really good, you can actually remember so much, I didn't know you knew all these things before?"

  Before Wang Xu spoke, he doubted and continued: "However, I really didn't expect there to be so many connections. But didn't you just say that Wang Kai was Wang Can's cousin? I remember you telling me before, according to the Han Dynasty's terminology, in this case where the father is a close brother, Wang Kai should be Wang Can's older male cousin, right?"

  Facing Xu Shu's relentless questioning, Wang Xu scratched his head in frustration. "Dear! This is also what I want to know. Maybe the historical records are wrong, or maybe it's just different in our time. Who knows? Anyway, that's how it is now, my uncle's son Wang Kai should be the one recorded in history. But it seems like this Han dynasty we're living in right now is already different from what I knew about orthodox history, novels, and even those unofficial histories, plays, and storytelling. So don't ask too many details, because I'm also getting a headache!"

  Seeing Wang Xu's embarrassed look, Xue Shu smiled and said in a soft voice: "Okay, I know! I was just teasing you. But how did your younger brother Wang Can really die?"

  "You've been with me for so long, and you don't even know something as famous as this? Our family used to have so many electronic classics at home, didn't I let you read them?" Wang Xu asked in confusion as soon as he heard Xu Shu's words.

  Xu Shu smiled awkwardly and said: "I just looked at especially famous people!"

  "Whatever! You're right too, they aren't very famous people, can't even be considered household names. No point in watching these anyway!"

  After finishing, Wang Xu sorted out his thoughts and continued to explain to Xu Shu: "The situation with Wang Can is actually recorded in Zhang Ji's biography of Zhang Zhongjing. It was probably when Wang Can was over 20 years old that he met the medical sage Zhang Zhongjing. At the time, Zhang Zhongjing examined him and said that he had a terrible disease, and wanted to treat it. But Wang Can didn't believe it, thinking he was fine and didn't need any medicine. Later, Zhang Zhongjing saw that his advice was ineffective and gave up. As a result, contrary to Zhang Zhongjing's expectations, Wang Can's eyebrows began to fall out 20 years later, and he died in 217 AD while following the Wei army on a campaign against Eastern Wu.

  "Really! Not even listening to the words of a famous doctor like Zhang Zhongjing, this is really... Can't believe that little guy who loves playing with mud so much would be so stubborn, joking with his own life." Xu Shu was deeply moved by Wang Can's cause of death.

  "What about the others in the house? Don't you know a few more?"

  Looking at Xu Shu's big, watery eyes, Wang Xu hesitated for a moment before responding somewhat uncertainly: "How should I put it? Actually, I'm not entirely sure about these two people either. I just feel that they should be. One of them is my current younger brother, Wang Xiong, and the other is the son of my uncle, Wang Qian - Wang Fei. However, neither of them has appeared in any historical records, and I've only heard of two people with the same names in storytelling and Ming-Qing operas."