Chapter 29: The True and False Liu, Guan, Zhang

  From ancient times to the present, there have been no shortage of people who pretend to be clever. They don't have much ability and their IQ is not high, but they all share a common problem: they like to show off.

  It's clear that the county magistrate of Nandu County is also one of them, but his way of showing off is a bit special. Other people's show-offs harm both themselves and others, but he didn't harm himself or the Yuan army; instead, he completely dragged down Liu Bei's unrelated army.

  The officials in the courtyard of the hall looked and listened, and Gao Lan confirmed Zhang Fei's identity again. It is feared that this black pot will be thoroughly determined for Liu Bei's army in the future.

  Before even meeting, he had already given Liu Bei a bad name. This young master Yuan Shang is truly not a good person.

  Not long after Gao Ying entered the county government, Yuan Shang and Zhang Jue also occupied all four gates of Nandu County, major street intersections, key points in the county seat, as well as military camps.

  As Nandong County is a small county, there are not many people in the county town, with only about less than a thousand people, and most of them are still asleep. When they encounter Yuan's army of thousands of elite soldiers, they will be defeated at once.

  So, Yuan's army occupied the entire county town as easily as autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.

  With the entire Nandun County under control, Yuan Shang immediately arranged for his subordinates to handle the trivial matters of restoring order in the county seat, while he himself led Zhang Jue and a group of elite troops to rush to the county government office to meet Gao Lan.

  After entering the county government office, all the officials in the entire county government were concentrated in the front yard of the main hall. Gao Lan himself was sitting on the main seat in the main hall with a swaggering air, looking like an ignorant and uneducated county magistrate. The real Nan Dun County Magistrate was nodding and bowing beside him, flattering Gao Lan like a teacher's assistant, the scene was quite strange.

  Yuan Shang and Zhang Jiong entered the main hall of the county government, and Gao Lan's face suddenly lit up with joy. He jumped up from his seat and laughed loudly: "The Nan Dun Cheng district is just a small county, but it has a lot of grain and fodder. This will be enough for us to support ourselves for a while."

  Yuan Shang smiled and nodded, just about to express his feelings, when he saw Nandun County Magistrate hastily running over with a flattering smile on his face. He bowed deeply towards Yuan Shang and Zhang Jue, saying in a soft voice: "I am Nandun County Magistrate Deng Chang, at your service...Liu Yuzhou, General Guan!"

  Here is the translation:

  "Alright, this county magistrate of Deng County has started being clever again."

  It's a coincidence that Zhang has a handsome appearance, is quite tall, and also has three strands of long whiskers on his chin. Except for the fact that his face isn't red, everything else really does resemble the legendary Guan Yu.

  He stroked the whiskers on his chin, furrowed his brow, and turned to look at Gao Lan with a puzzled expression. However, he saw that Gao Lan's face was slightly distorted, his eyes rolling around in confusion, as if hesitating about something.

  After a while, he finally saw Gao Luan slowly opening his mouth and shouting at Zhang Yun.

  "Second brother, stop pretending, our identities have already been guessed by him."

  Zhang's face suddenly turned black.

  Yuan Shang's eyes rolled over once, and in his heart he had already thought it through.

  He pointed to his own nose and asked Deng Xian with a smile: "If he is Guan Yu, then guess who I am?"

  Deng County Zai had just seen through the true identities of "Zhang Fei" and "Guan Yu", his confidence soaring to unprecedented heights, it was a moment when everything was going smoothly.

  But seeing him wave his large sleeves, pinching his fingers, pacing in the main hall, as if he had the talent to plan for heaven and earth, the unpredictable art of a military strategist, he spoke with an air of elegance.

  "I had just entered the county office when I saw you, and observing your sword-like eyebrows and heroic eyes, I thought you were Liu Yuzhou himself. But upon closer inspection, I found that you are actually too young, seemingly not even twenty years old, so I guessed that you must not be Liu Yuzhou after all. Yet, you can rank alongside Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, your status must be extraordinary. And yet, I have long heard that Liu Yuzhou has no son..."

  Just then, Deng Xianzhi walked up to the desk and picked up a feather fan that was used for fanning on ordinary days. With an air of a renowned military strategist, he pointed at Yuan Shang from afar and asked: "Sir, aren't you some relative of Liu Yu's, also a member of the imperial clan of Han?"

  The entire county government office fell silent at once.

  Yuan Shang, Zhang Jue and Gao Lan were dumbfounded as they stared at Deng County Magistrate, who was carrying a fan with one hand on his back, pointing to the mountains and rivers as if he owned them. Suddenly, they were speechless.

  After a long time...

  Yuan Shang was the first to come back to his senses, and he coughed softly before nodding and saying: "The world is so big, with so many heroes! It's truly unexpected that a small county like this would have such talent. With my low-key identity, I didn't expect him to see through me..."

  Zhang Jie was rendered speechless by Deng Xian's self-proclaimed cleverness, while Gao Lan tightly pursed his lips, afraid that if he couldn't hold it in, he would burst out laughing.

  "However..."

  Yuan Shang looked up and glanced at the county magistrate of Deng, who was fanning himself with a feather fan, and said: "Such an able person, if he is reused by Cao Cao in the future, it will be troublesome. It's better to get rid of him early."

  The feather fan in Deng Xian's hand stopped waving suddenly.

  "Come on, take this talented person away and cook him, don't leave a single dreg for Cao Cao."

  Deng County Zhai's feather fan fell to the ground with a "pop" sound as he knelt down.

  "General, I am being wronged!"

  Yuan Shang chuckled and said, "What's wrong with that? You're a genius who's hard to predict! Those who don't know you might think you're a fortune-telling master. This is something I've personally witnessed."

  Dengxian Zaile's tears fell like pear blossoms in the rain. I saw him and said, "But what about those who are still suffering under oppression?"

  "Since you're so accurate, then it's even more impossible for you to stay... Come on, take him away, drag him away!"

  In a burst of loud wailing, Deng County Magistrate was dragged out of the county government office by a group of Yuan army soldiers, and the officials standing in the courtyard were all pale with fear, each secretly sighing in their hearts.

  Who says Liu Bei's army is all about benevolence and righteousness? Isn't this also a case of killing people just because they can be killed?

  But thinking carefully, it seems that we can't blame everything on Liu Bei's army. Deng Xian was purely asking for trouble himself. What's the point of showing off when you're idle?

  Look at what he just did, if it were me, I'd kill him too.

  Watching Deng Xiang being dragged out, Zhang Jiong immediately whispered to Yuan Shang: "Third Master, this muddle-headed county magistrate, do we really have to kill him?"

  Yuan Shang smiled and shook his head, saying: "No need, I was just teasing him. Later, I'll quietly bring him and his family to the military camp to settle down, and take them away at the same time. This is killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, making these county officials behave themselves, not having any crooked ideas, and incidentally confirming the fact that we are Liu, Guan, and Zhang."

  Zhang Jiao nodded upon hearing this and immediately turned around to make arrangements.

  Yuan Shang walked out of the main hall and smiled at the officials in the courtyard, saying: "You don't have to be afraid. I came here today only to requisition grain, not to kill people indiscriminately. As long as you listen to me, your lives will naturally not be harmed!"

  The county officials and clerks heard this and one by one hastily nodded in agreement.

  Yuan Shang nodded and said, "I have received the order from Liu, the Governor of Yu Province, to lead five thousand troops with a imperial edict. You two go and arrange for people to cook meals, prepare rations for five thousand people, and also prepare ten days' worth of food in advance. Do not delay, if you do, it will be considered disobedience to the Emperor's order, and the consequences will be... just like what happened to that county magistrate earlier!"

  The officials and officers of the county government were stunned upon hearing this.

  The Emperor's sacred decree? To obey the imperial edict and have a meal?

  "What's wrong with you? Hurry up and go!"

  "Promise!"

  Before long, various camps in the county seat of Nandong County, including the main hall of the county government, began to ignite firewood, build bonfires, and set up cooking stoves. White smoke from boiling water rose from the pots, and the aroma of cooked rice, vegetables, and meat spread throughout the city.

  The Yuan army officers and men, who had been hungry for a long time, surrounded the bonfire in groups, their eyes gleaming with an eerie green light, staring at the steaming white rice, green vegetables, and cooked meat in the cauldron, swallowing hard to hold back their saliva.

  As soon as the food in the pot was cooked, people swarmed up, either grabbing or pinching, snatching or stuffing, filling their mouths to the brim, as if they had never seen rice before. The county officials who prepared the meal were shocked with wide eyes.

  In the county government's main hall, Yuan Shang, Zhang Jue and Gao Gan were also not polite, taking pork from the tripod and stuffing it into their mouths with a whoosh.

  The county officials standing by the side couldn't help but turn red in the face, watching Yuan Shang and the others eat, smelling the fragrance, their Adam's apple moved slightly, and they too were overcome with craving.

  Yuan Shang ate while nodding his head: "Not bad, the dishes are very well done. The Emperor will remember your merits. When the day comes and the Imperial Uncle recovers the Central Plains, exterminates the national thieves, and the Great Han is restored, there must be a thick stroke of yours in the merit book."

  Gao Lanwen heard this and let out a "pu" sound, almost choking on her rice.