Chapter Forty-Four Not Like Human Kings

  Thanks to book friend Water Cement Forest ACE for casting a 10-point evaluation vote.

  Mi Zong's face turned iron-green as he stared at Yuan Shang and Deng Ai, the anger and grievance in his heart could be described with the four words "beyond description".

  They stole our army's horses, and now they dare to show up in front of us again just a few days later?

  Meng Zong was very unhappy in his heart, you appeared and appeared, but actually didn't even have the face to pretend to be crazy with me! Looking at me as if I wasn't familiar, not even a hint of blush on their faces. What are these two people's faces made of?

  "You... you..." At this point, the stuttering and stammering of Zou Yu's words came to an abrupt halt, his eyes which were normally filled with kindness and gentleness now bulging with bloodshot veins, gleaming with a fierce light, as he looked around frantically, starting to search all around.

  Yuan Shang's heart suddenly tightened.

  What is this guy looking for?

  Isn't he looking for a knife? Does he want to stab us to death?

  Compared to Yuan Shang, Deng Zhongbo seemed even more guilty and nervous, glancing around furtively with his legs trembling under his long shirt. After a gust of cold wind passed, the crotch of Deng's pants became noticeably damper.

  Liu Bei was shocked in his heart, but his face showed no unusual color. He just kept scanning back and forth between Mi Zhu and Yuan Shang, thinking deeply in his mind, seemingly pondering something, but nobody knew what he was thinking about.

  "My lord..." After a long silence, Zhuge Liang steeled himself and turned his head to speak, opening his mouth to offer some words of advice to Liu Bei.

  Liu Bei, however, raised his hand and blocked Zuo Ci's words.

  "That's enough." Liu Bei turned his head slightly to glance at Zuo Ci, his eyes deep with meaning, and forcefully cut off what Zuo was about to say.

  Mi Zhu saw the situation and suddenly felt a sense of clarity, knowing that Liu Bei did not want him to reveal anything. He immediately lowered his head and remained silent, as if nothing had happened or been said earlier.

  Seeing Mi Zhu no longer speaking, Liu Bei smiled again and turned to Yuan Shang: "Xian Zhong has been busy preparing military equipment recently, his body is overworked, dizzy and confused, when speaking and handling affairs, he is slightly confused, and temporarily lost his courtesy, Xian Zhong please don't take offense."

  Although it is unclear whether Liu Bei understood the situation, judging from the circumstances, Old Liu clearly wanted to suppress the matter. Yuan Shang felt a slight sense of relief and smiled: "What are you talking about, Lord Xian? Zou Jing's demeanor is elegant and refined, he is kind and courteous, and his character is noble. I have heard that even Cao Cao treated him with respect and wanted to appoint him as the governor of Yingchuan, but Zou Jing refused, choosing instead to remain loyal to you, Lord Xian. Such loyalty is truly admirable, and Yuan Shang genuinely feels a deep sense of admiration."

  Mei Zhu's face sank and she didn't say a word. In response to Yuan Shang's flattery, she silently returned a single character from her heart.

  Pffft!

  Liu Bei's demeanor remained unchanged, and upon hearing this, he burst into loud laughter. With a wave of his hand, he said: "My virtuous nephew is indeed eloquent, but in this case, you have overpraised me, making me feel ashamed as the host. In Xunyang County, the accommodations are already arranged. You must be tired from your long journey, so please take your attendants to rest first. I will order someone to prepare a banquet at the governor's mansion. Please take a two-hour rest, and at the end of the afternoon, my civil and military officials and I will host a welcoming feast for you and your fellow travelers at the governor's mansion... My virtuous nephew, please enter the city!

  Yuan Shang smiled and clasped his hands: "Thanks to Lord Xuande for being so considerate, I'm really ashamed, but it's not polite to decline... What about the soldiers and horses under my command?" Liu Bei patted his forehead with a loud laugh, saying: "Wise nephew reminded me, if you didn't mention it, I almost forgot. Yide! Lead Zhang Fei, Guan Yu, and their troops to the campsite you've prepared, provide them with food and fodder, and take good care of them!"

  Zhang Fei smiled brightly and said: "Don't worry, big brother. Generals Zhang and Gao have had a hard time, please follow me to the southern city for another stroll."

  Zhang Jiong fell silent for a moment after hearing this, then said to Gao Lan: "You follow him, I'll lead the imperial guards and escort the young master into the city."

  Gao Ling Xiao knew that Zhang Fei was cautious in his heart, so he nodded immediately and called the soldiers to follow Zhang Fei.

  Liu Bei praised and glanced at Zhang Jue, nodding: "General Zhang's thoughts are meticulous, truly worthy of the name of a famous general in Hebei. Compared to Yan Liang and Wen Chou who were only brave but not wise back then, he is much stronger."

  Zhang Jue heard this and smiled calmly, saying: "Let the gentleman praise me."

  Liu Bei swung his sleeve and said generously: "Noble nephew, please enter the city!"

  "Lord Guan also invited them into the city." Thus, all of them followed and entered the city of Runan with laughter and conversation.

  Arriving at the suspension bridge, Deng Cheng took advantage of the moment when others were not paying attention and quietly slipped behind Yuan Shang, stammering in a low voice: "Young master, things are not going well! That Zou Jiu seems to have recognized us!"

  Yuan Shang quietly stepped on Deng Chao's foot, gritting his teeth and muttering: "Don't spout nonsense, what 'recognized' are you talking about? Lord Xuande said it himself, he was just physically exhausted, dizzy and seeing stars."

  Deng Chao almost cried out in anger: "Third Master, where is your usual cleverness? Liu Bei's words are clearly considerate of our dignity, he doesn't want to make things awkward between us, how can you believe him?"

  Yuan Shang glared at him fiercely, gritting his teeth and saying: "You're so clever! Since everyone else is pretending to be stupid, you still want to argue about what's true. You don't even want to give me face, and you're only comfortable when I'm scolding you like a chamber pot!"

  Deng Xiang heard this and blinked his eyes repeatedly, suddenly saying: "What you said... is also right... but my heart just doesn't feel at ease, what to do?"

  Yuan Shang flipped his eyes, pulled Deng Ai over and said in a low voice: "I'll teach you a trick. From now on, you must forget that you once robbed Mi Zhu's horses. You must think in your heart all the time, our army's horses are all from Hebei, nothing to do with Liu Bei. Repeat it back and forth, think hard, think for a long time, and the matter will become true. This is called self-hypnosis."

  Deng Chang heard this and was speechless for a moment: "I did know that during the New Year, there's something about blowing years, but I really didn't know that in this big world, there's actually such a saying?"

  Yuan Shang nodded solemnly: "The world is vast and full of strange things, when have I ever deceived you?"

  Deng Chang heard this and didn't say a word, but instead glared at Yuan Shang with an extremely dissatisfied and disdainful gaze.

  "Alright, I admit that I often deceive you, but this time it's definitely not, believe me, if you repeat it to yourself a thousand times in your heart, it will naturally become true." Deng Xiang nodded upon hearing this and immediately lowered his head to silently mutter: "The horses are all mine, the horses are all mine, the horses are all mine..."

  Yuan Shang: "......"

  Before long, the crowd entered the city, and Liu Bei rushed to Yuan Shang with a bow, smiling: "Xian Zhong, there is still something important in the mansion, so I will go first. Zhuo Gong will take you to rest at the inn, and after sunset, the wine feast will be ready, and I will send someone to invite Xian Zhong."

  Yuan Shang smiled and said: "Thanks for your concern, Lord Guan. I'll take my leave for now."

  "Good nephew, rest well, just like you're at home, no need to be too formal."

  Yuan Shang and others followed Sun Qian to the government hostel after they had exchanged pleasantries with Liu Bei for a while, leaving behind Liu Bei and his men smiling and seeing them off until they disappeared into the distance on the bluestone road.

  Yuan Shangfang walked away, and then saw Mei Zhu's face sink, clasping his hands together in a salute: "Master, why didn't you let me expose that little man's actions!"

  Guan Yu, who was on the side, did not know the reason and had been suspicious all along. He heard this and asked strangely: "Zi Zhong, what is your relationship with Yuan Shang?"

  Her face turned red, and she sighed: "This is a long story."

  Liu Bei silently watched Yuan Shang's disappearing back, his expression gradually calming down. He said calmly: "The world is vast and full of strange things. Zi Zhong suffered a setback at the hands of this child, although it's hard to accept, but also can't be denied that it's a kind of experience... However, at this moment, remember not to let some trivial matters tear apart the face of our army with Yuan's generals, otherwise, in the end, the ones who will suffer losses are still us."

  Meng Zong heard this and felt a bit resentful, saying: "Then we've swallowed that bitter medicine for nothing?"

  Liu Bei smiled slightly and said, "It doesn't matter. In the past when Lü Bu took over Xuzhou, I was still able to form an alliance with him through words and lips. What's more...the more absurd this kid is, the more at ease I am."

  Mo Zhi heard this and was taken aback, saying: "What is Master's peace of mind?"

  Liu Bei heard this and smiled slightly, saying: "Zi Zhong, what is most important for a hero?"

  "Generosity."

  "Not bad." Liu Bei nodded slowly: "Then what do you think of Yuan Shang, this little thief, a horse thief, what kind of temperament does he have?"

  Miao Zhu heard this and snorted, saying: "A horse thief, what kind of integrity can he have? How can he be called a hero? He's simply a scoundrel..."

  At this point, however, Zhen saw Meng Yan suddenly stunned, as if he had realized the meaning of Liu Bei's words.

  Liu Bei smiled and nodded, saying: "Not bad. Before I met Yuan Shao's son, I still had some fear in my heart for him. But now that I know this, the anxiety in my heart has been completely lifted... In today's world, Yuan Shao of Hebei and Cao Cao of Zhongyuan are the two most powerful heroes under heaven. Cao Cao is a hero of his time, with both literary and military talents, and can be considered the leader among all the lords. This goes without saying! However, there are many talented scholars in Hebei, but Yuan Shao is indecisive and only appoints people based on personal relationships, so he cannot fully utilize his talent, resulting in a lack of capable men under him. This led to Cao Cao gaining a great advantage at the Battle of Guandu. I was worried that although Yuan Shao himself was not a concern, if his descendants had heroic talents and were ambitious, they would lead the Hebei army and contend for the empire, which would add more variables to the Han dynasty's fate. But now that I see this Yuan Shang... haha, he is just a petty thief, truly laughable! I'm afraid he can't even compare to half of Yuan Shao!"

  Guan Yu seemed to have understood eight or nine parts of it, stroking his long beard and saying: "Big brother's intention was originally here... Ah, younger brother just observed that Yuan Shang, although born into a noble family and polite on the surface, always sought opportunities to whisper to the chief clerk behind him, who had the appearance of a mouse. This was quite unbecoming of his status, and in the words he spoke earlier, although the surface was polite, out of ten sentences, two or three were coarse and unrefined language. He doesn't seem like a ruler at all."

  Liu Bei smiled and nodded, "As expected, not like a king... Ah, no mistake, well said. Such a person, even if he is favored by Yuan Shao, will not become a great talent in the future, and it's not worth worrying about. The Yuan family of Hebei, alas, I'm afraid they can only last until this generation."