Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 72: Appreciating Song and Dance, Re-encountering Yuan Shu

  After the martial arts competition, Liu Hong made an exception and did not go to Wang Meiren's place, but instead came to Jianzhang Palace. Because he knew that Liu Zhang was a staunch supporter of Empress He. Since Liu Zhang won, Liu Hong could no longer treat Empress He as before, after all, without He Jin, Empress He had the even more powerful Liu Zhang.

  Empress He heard that Liu Hong had arrived, and she was also quite surprised. To know, Liu Hong hadn't come to Jianzhang Palace for nearly half a year. After careful consideration, Empress He suddenly understood that Liu Zhang must have done something again. Recently, Liu Zhang made such a big noise, if she didn't know about it, it would be strange. Besides, the matter of Liu Zhang and Xiliang army competing in martial arts, Empress He was also one of the earliest people to know about it.

  "See Your Majesty!" Liu Hong was still an emperor after all. He Ling thought to herself, no matter how dissatisfied she was, she wouldn't be foolish enough to go against him directly.

  "Empress exempt from courtesy!" Liu Hong and He Lingsi's simultaneous gesture of raising their cups to their eyebrows left the eunuchs and palace maids in surprise.

  "Father!" A delicate little doll rushed into Liu Hong's arms, surprisingly it was Liu Bian.

  Liu Hong picked up Liu Bian and said: "Bian'er has grown a lot stronger recently, it's all thanks to the Empress taking care of him!"

  "Father, recently I and the young prince learned a set of fist techniques, that's why we're so strong!" Liu Bian had never seen Liu Hong be so affectionate towards him since he was old enough to remember. Of course, there were times before he could remember, but he didn't know about them.

  "It's Liu Zhang!" Liu Hong smiled and said: "Your little uncle is not simple, you should get closer to him in the future!"

  "My mother said so too!" Liu Bian originally liked Liu Zhang very much, and when he heard Liu Hong praising Liu Zhang without stopping, he was also happy for Liu Zhang!

  "All right! You go out and play! The Emperor has something to say to the Empress!" Liu Hong put down Liu Bian and drove him out.

  After Liu Bian had gone far, Emperor Liu Xie smiled and said: "My imperial brother is indeed formidable. Empress, do you know that today in the Western Garden, he defeated Dong Zhuo's Western Liang soldiers with equal forces, and they were even riding horses - the iron cavalry of Western Liang!"

  "This..." He Ling thought it was also unbelievable, although she had more confidence in Liu Zhang than others, but not to the extent that she believed Liu Zhang could defeat cavalry with infantry!

  "I also have some doubts!" Liu Xuan smiled and said: "Empress, I watched a wonderful battle today, so I want to stay with you tonight, what do you think?"

  "Your Majesty is willing to stay, I am overjoyed!" He Ling thought heard Liu Hong's words and was stunned for a moment. However, she quickly reacted and felt even more grateful to Liu Zhang. Since Wang Meiren entered the palace, He Ling had not received Liu Hong's favor for a long time. This night, He Ling let out a sigh of relief, releasing the depression in her chest.

  A duel changed the lives of many people, but for Liu Zhang, nothing has changed. Because in his eyes, victory is what should be, and defeat is strange. Life returned to calmness again, and Liu Zhang resumed his usual leisurely life, only that his great name echoed throughout Luoyang once more, making the sons of noble families in Luoyang gnash their teeth in hatred.

  Strolling the streets has become Liu Zhang's daily compulsory course, not for shopping, but to find talent. Although there is a sense of guarding the tree and waiting for the rabbit, it is better than doing nothing. As for searching for talent in various places, he handed it over to Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang!

  "Champion Hou, please!" A young man who was not tall but very burly blocked Liu Zhang's way. Liu Zhang took a closer look and felt that this person was extremely familiar!

  Liu Zhang asked somewhat puzzled: "Who are you?"

  "The champion Hou Guiren often forgets things, under Cao Cao!" The young man reported his identity, and Liu Zhang suddenly realized, no wonder he looked so familiar, it turned out that he had seen him before, but at that time Liu Zhang was busy collecting the Yuan brothers, and didn't notice him.

  "I don't know what important matter Brother Cao has stopped me for?" Although he didn't know Cao's purpose, Liu Zhang didn't resist him. He still admired this Han dynasty hero very much.

  "There's nothing else, Crown Prince Hou is a hero, I just wanted to get acquainted with him!" Cao Cao appeared very polite, but made Liu Zhang feel like he was being overly flattering and insincere.

  "Cao brother, what kind of person are you? I know. What kind of person am I? You also know. Let's just speak plainly!" Liu Zhang was too lazy to waste words with Cao Cao. For this kind of cunning hero, every sentence would make people think for half a day. Moreover, Liu Zhang had two beautiful women at home that Cao Cao had his eyes on!

  "In the past, I had the good fortune to meet with General Hou once, but when I wanted to get to know you better, you had already gone to Youzhou. Not long after, news arrived of your great victory over the Wuhuan. Although I come from a humble background, I have always admired heroes who defend against foreign tribes. I once said that if I could inscribe on my tombstone 'The Tomb of Cao, Marquis of Western Campaigns', I would be content for life. But you achieved what I had hoped to achieve in my lifetime at the age of 13, and even surpassed it! That's why I especially wanted to meet with you!"

  Cao Cao's words were filled with sincerity, and Liu Zhang couldn't help but reevaluate this treacherous hero. Suddenly, Liu Zhang smiled and said: "Brother Mengde's ambitions are indeed lofty. But the reason I'm cleaning up the foreign tribes is because I am a member of the Han imperial family. Isn't it one's duty to sweep the house for one's own family?"

  "Champion Hou, your words are quite wrong! There are many people in the world who want to make great efforts for the Han Dynasty, but only Champion Hou has done what others cannot do! Meng De is not talented, and I would like to ask Champion Hou to teach me the art of training soldiers. I hope that Champion Hou will not despise my ignorance!" Cao Cao's face was full of modesty, if Liu Zhang didn't know who he was, he might have been deceived by him.

  "To be honest, my military training methods are nothing special! As long as you're not afraid of hard work, I can let you train with my soldiers to experience my training methods!" Liu Zhang wasn't stupid, the more he hid and concealed things, the more these people wouldn't give up. Since Cao Cao wanted to know, he might as well let him participate in the troop's training directly, anyway the first month of training was just basic stuff like standing at attention, marching left, marching right, nothing he was afraid Cao Cao would learn!

  "Is this for real?" Cao Cao had no idea what Liu Zhang's plan was, and he had already prepared himself to be rejected by Liu Zhang. But what he didn't expect was that not only did Liu Zhang agree, but also let him enter the military camp to experience it, which made Cao Cao somewhat suspicious.

  Liu Zhang waved his hand and said, "What's the point of showing off such trivial skills? It just so happens that after the new year, Feng Fang's troops will be coming under my command. How about you come to my troops for a month of training?"

  "Cao Cao said with some difficulty: "Can I let my two brothers go? I was appointed by the imperial court as the Northern Commandant of Luoyang, and after the new year, I will take office. I really don't have time to go to the military camp for training."

  "Alright!" Liu Zhang readily agreed. If Cao Cao were to come, Liu Zhang would still worry that he might discover something, after all Cao Cao was a treacherous hero known to the world. But as for Cao Cao's brothers, whether it be Xiahou brothers or Cao Hong and Cao Ren brothers, they were all easily deceived in Liu Zhang's eyes.

  Liu Zhang agreed so readily that Cao Cao was somewhat taken aback. However, Cao Cao was a cunning hero and quickly regained his composure. He patted Liu Zhang's shoulder and said, "General, you are very generous, I also cannot be petty. Let's go! To show my gratitude to Your Excellency, I invite you to the Fragrant Ze Pavilion for a drink and enjoy the singing and dancing of the beauties!"

  "Is she coming?" Liu Zhang looked at Cao Cao with some doubt, and suddenly he thought of a person, the woman who was said to be the first to give Cao Cao a green hat: Lai Ying'er. It is said that Lai Ying'er was a songstress in the late Eastern Han dynasty, and Cao Cao was deeply infatuated with her. However, later on, when Cao Cao went on his military campaigns, he neglected her feelings, and as a result, she fell in love with one of Cao Cao's guards! Thinking of this, Liu Zhang did not refuse Cao Cao, and he also wanted to take a look at this beauty who had abandoned Cao Cao.

  Under Cao Cao's leadership, Liu Zhang and others arrived at the Fangze Pavilion. As expected, a beautiful woman was dancing on stage, and Cao Cao was already enchanted before he even entered the door, which made Liu Zhang feel somewhat depressed. It wasn't that Liu Zhang had high self-control, but this coming Ying'er was obviously not an absolute beauty. She was indeed pretty, but if you really compared her, let alone He Lingsi, even the still immature Da Qiao and Xiao Qiao were stronger than her. Of course, it's also possible that Liu Zhang was a loli control and didn't like this kind of mature beauty, Ying'er.

  "How is it?" Cao Cao excitedly looked at Liu Zhang.

  "Hmm..." Liu Zhang said: "That's right!"

  "Not bad?!" Cao Cao exclaimed: "The song and dance of our gathering is renowned throughout Luoyang, how can it be just 'not bad'?"

  "That..." Liu Zhang said with some embarrassment: "Meng De brother, I'm only thirteen this year, and you're bringing me to appreciate beauties. Not to mention whether I have the ability to appreciate or not, even my understanding of music and dance is not very thorough. You know, I'm just a martial artist! Killing people and setting fires are what I'm best at, appreciating music and dance is not as practical as giving me a good wine!"

  Cao Cao broke out in a cold sweat, and he regretted it. If he had known that Liu Zhang was so unromantic, he would have gone to an ordinary tavern instead of coming to such a high-end place.

  "Hmm! It seems our champion Hou still has some self-awareness!" A detestable voice sounded in Liu Zhang's ear, and when he turned his head to look, it was indeed an enemy on a narrow road - the one who had spoken was Yuan Shu!

  "I said, Yuan Xiaopang, haven't you been beaten enough?!" Liu Zhang snapped his fingers and pointed at Yuan Shu as he walked away, looking like a bloody incident was about to occur.

  Cao Cao hastily stepped forward and persuaded: "Huang Zhong, this is after all a place where everyone comes, can you give me some face?"

  At this time, Yuan Shu also recovered from his fright. He disdainfully said to Liu Zhang: "A military general is just a military general, being coarse and crude, coming to such an elegant place and resorting to violence. If you have the ability, let's compete in reciting poems and composing essays!"

  "Recite poetry and compose essays?!" Liu Zhang burst out laughing: "Pigs can also recite poetry and compose essays?! Don't mention that I'm just a martial artist, even if I could recite poetry and compose essays, why should I listen to your arrangements? You're trying to manipulate me, you're the pig, don't treat others as pigs!"

  "How dare you speak so bluntly, why must you be so verbose!" Yuan Shu's disdainful expression scared Cao Cao half to death. You see, Liu Zhang was not someone who came to stir up trouble or cause jealousy. If he were to get angry, he wouldn't care whose territory this was!